JanOMalleycat's comments (member since Apr 02, 2009)

JanOMalleycat's comments from the Readers and Reading group.

Beleeby wrote: "I am currently reading The Help by kathryn Stockett and so far I am enjoying this new author. Came upon this book by the NYtimes bestsellers list of 2009. Has anyone read this yet?"

I think several here have read it, Beleeby. I found it a fun, light read but, being of a certain age, some of the anachronisms grated on me.

Jan O'Cat

JoAnn said: "Jan, I also think that at the time he taught and wrote his book, many people in the deep South (of whom he was one) were insensitive to subcultures within our country. I think this book of his book should probably be read (and judged) in that context, and like any other book written in the late 60s."

JoAnn, I think you're right. At the time Conroy was teaching he may have actually been MORE sensitive to the racial/cultural issues than another person might have been but I was shocked by his never-say-die approach to teaching White European Male Culture to the islanders. My shock was as much a product of my fond memory of the book as anything Conroy wrote. I have to realize that it was I who had changed, not the book.

Jan O'Cat

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "The Conroy book about his teaching experiences is THE WATER IS WIDE. I really liked it too. I think he taught on that island in 1969 and then wrote the book."

I first read The Water Is Wide as a teenager shortly after it was first published. I loved it and it probably contributed to my wish to be a teacher.

I reread it a few years ago and found Conroy's younger self to be. . .not racist, but insensitive to the culture of the islanders he taught. If not racist, then certainly young and an egotist.

I was sorry I reread the book.

Jan O'Cat

JoAnn said: "I just finished my second Maisie Dobbs book, Birds of a Feather. I have her next two on audio (I bought them at a big discount)."

JoAnn, I don't do audiobooks so I can't have a personal opinion on this, but there was a discussion recently on M/T Reading Friends about how good the Maisie Dobbs audios are. One poster said that the reader depicted Maisie's voice just as imagined.

Jan O'Cat

Lois said: "Do I want to know the proper way if it takes even five minutes more than what I've been doing especially since I've had no complaints? I find myself saying I'd like to see this..... even though I might not implement the Child way! "

Lois, I like to cook but have no aspirations to be a great cook or to try French cooking. That said, I'll confess that I found watching the Julia Child show hugely fun just as entertainment--with no particular attention to what she's doing. Her personality, humor, and joie de vive are captivating.

Jan O'Cat

Schmerguls said: "(Such a relief that they had a cover for subscribers with the 50 books list on it rather than Michael Jackson. There is a section on him, which is easily skipped, but the book lists are right interesting.) "

The mailman hasn't brought my Newsweek yet, but this IS a relief to hear. I don't much like Newsweek's new format, though I'm trying to give it time while I adjust. I'm hoping that a "book" issue will help me with the adjustment.

Jan O'Cat

JoAnn said: "I finished it this afternoon, and cannot remember the last time I completed a book within 24 hours. "

LOL, JoAnn, I was wondering where you were yesterday. Turns out you were reading!

Jan O'Cat

JoAnn said: "I like one voice the same throughout the reading, as if I were reading it to myself. When I am reading, I do not "hear" dialects, accents, or changes in voice, and that is how I like my audios to be. What can I say, I am boring? "

This leads to the interesting question of what voice we hear in our heads when we read silently. I do sometimes hear dialects and accents. Most of the time I hear a voice that must be my own, but which doesn't exactly sound like me (when I'm able to "catch" it at all). I suspect the difference must be when the characters and their voices are rendered so vividly that they actually take a voice of their own.

I don't usually listen to audiobooks at all; I just don't have the concentration when I'm only listening. But the few writers I do enjoy on audio, David Sedaris, David Rakoff, Sarah Vowell, and Bailey White, are all authors whom I first heard reading their essays on the radio. When I read their works I can hear their voices, but it's much more fun to listen to them read their works rathering than listening to my inner voice impersonating them. :-)

Jan O'Cat

Cathy said: "I like the depth his characters have though. You know them. Even if you don't LIKE them. "

Well, that's true, Cathy. I don't think I'd have so much antipathy for Delores if she weren't so well-drawn. In her annoying ways.

Jan O'Cat

JoAnn said: " What a memory, Jan....Boatman WAS in "China Beach", a show that I loved. More than several years ago....it was 1988-91! WOW, time has flown."

JoAnn, I'd completely forgotten Michael Boatman in Spin City, but I loved the first couple of years of China Beach and especially enjoyed the part Boatman played. (If "enjoyed" is the right word for any part of that show.) That's why I recognized the name.

Interesting to hear that he's performing audio books. That would be an unexpected career turn for an actor, I'd think.

Jan O'Cat

Cathy said: "First - I hated the obvious "beached whale" symbolism. Delores was extremely obese and the dead beached whale was clearly about her. The triumph of the live whale at the end and her life turnaround - well, I rolled my eyes. Come on now. "

Cathy,
I wasn't as charitable with She's Come Undone as you were. I had the exact same complaint as yours that is quoted above. The symbolism was heavyhanded. There were other motifs besides the one you've mentioned that were pounded into the ground, like all of the water images. Was this the book that had a lot of moving upstairs and down?

I've read this and I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. I liked IKTMIT better, but I can't say that I'm as big a Lamb fan as many others are. He always seems to be over-striving for The Big Message.

Jan O'Cat

Jan said: "I'm currently reading The Given Day by Dennis LeHane, read by Michael Boatman. He is about the best narrator I have heard. He gives wonderful intonations and dialects appropriate to the book and has a very listenable voice. "

I think Michael Boatman is an actor. If I'm remembering correctly, he was on the TV series, China Beach, several years ago. Unfortunately my connection is so slow that I can't open IMDb or Google while I'm on Goodreads and find out for sure!

Jan O'Cat

Marcy asked: "Just started Test Of Wills by Charles Todd (Ian Rutledge, Scotland Yard series) which was recommended by a friend and I'm really enjoying it so far. Has anyone read this series? "

I've read the first two or three of them, Marcy, and I've got the next one on my TBR. I like the anguish of the main character (does that make me a bad person?) but I got a little tired of Hamish and his intrusions and went off the series for a while. I wonder if in the later books Ian ever works out his demons and we see less of Hamish?

Jan O'Cat

Lynne in PA/Lineepinee wrote: "I am trying out a Phryne Fischer mystery,"Murder in Montparnasse". I am only starting chapter 4 and so far so good. I guess once I get into it it will move right along, but the style is different..."

Lynne, I read the Phryne Fischer books when I want something ultra-light and quick. I love all of the flapper stuff and the Australian version of between-the-wars.

I started with the first one, which I loved (and can't remember the title of at the moment), and have read 6 or 7 of them. I can't remember if I've read Montparnasse or not.

Anyway, as is my relationship with a lot of series books, I love each one a little less than the one before. I'm a little worn out on Phryne's perfection. She smokes! She flies! She drives fast! She takes lovers! She solves mysteries! Cheesh. But it's a good series for what it is intended to be.

Kerry Greenwood has another series which features a contemporary bakers. I've only read one of those.

Jan O'Cat

Bunny said: "I loved Mickey in Barfly, still one of my favorite movies, and The Pope of Greenwich Village - after that he lost me. "

Yeah, somewhere along there he did a full turnaround from intriguing to wretched. I haven't seen Barfly, but for me it was Diner and The Pope of GV. After that, not so much.

Jan O'Cat

Deborah said: "Jan, your comments on Age of Innocence were a pleasure to read, returning me to my own fascination with the book. On another thread we discussed books to movies and i must admit this one is both an outstanding book but also a delicious movie. The details in both help make one feel & understand the era better than many other genres about the era. "

Thanks, Deborah. I've had another thought since last night when I said that there must be something to be gained from living in a society where the rules are highly defined, if difficult to follow. I was thinking about the sheer money and what it can buy, not to mention the comfort of knowing exactly what to expect from any circumstance. (Remember the ritual involved in the opera season?)

Why else, I wondered, would Newland Archer not leave to be with Countess Olenska? That question led me to think of another aspect of what can be gained from understanding the strictures. What Newland gained was some easy rebellion. It didn't take so very much for him to achieve a hint of the renegade. He may have gained for himself the satisfaction of a daring self-image as rebel or rake or avant-garde. I can't remember if there's any hint of this in the book.

And thinking of Newland being reeled back in by May makes me think of the power those social rules could give to women. May (I sure hope I have her name right) is a slight and reticient character, but she doesn't let her man get away.

Think also of the grandmother, somewhat of a rebel herself living all the way up at what street? And ruling the family with the classic iron fist in a velvet glove.

Jan O'Cat

Michael said: "Those strictures bound up a certain code, but the choices that code forced upon people are still very real today -- so, in the end, I simply accepted the rules of the game, as Wharton depicted them, and followed the fates of the characters as she delivered them. "

And JoAnn asked: "have you see the movie made from this book (Age of Innocence)? I see that it is in my ON DEMAND choices.... "

Michael, I like the point you made here and you've made me realize that I read the book much as you did. Yes, there's a sense that Wharton intends the reader to be affronted by the awful strictures of this social group, but I read it as an exploration of another culture. Instead of being horrified, I was intrigued, in much the same way I am when reading a book set in colonial Vietnam or 19th century India.

That's not to disparage Wharton's craft (there can be no disparagement there) nor her perspicacity in recognizing the intricacies and demands of that culture without being very far removed from it in time or place.

JoAnn, I've seen the movie and liked it. It's especially fun in depicting the lushness and opulence of this society. The visuals show so much MORE than I'd imagined as I read. Scorsese's sweeping camera that suddenly hones in to direct our eye to a peculiar detail is a perfect vehicle to portray this world.

It seemed such an odd outing for Scorsese, but you immediately perceive the similarities to the movies for which he's famous. He's always giving us an insight into a closed society that plays by very strict rules. The meanness of Wharton's streets may be very discreet, but no less cruel than that of the low-level mafia in Good Fellas or the boxing world in Raging Bull.

There's a lot to be gained from maintaining a place in those worlds, not least money and pleasure. But there's also the comfort of being an insider and knowing the rules, however much they may chafe from time to time. Why else wouldn't Newland simply leave to be with Countess Olenska?

Jan O'Cat

Shomeret wrote: "I have The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on hold and I am currently reading Cracking India on Jan O'Malleycat's recommendation.

Shomeret, I'm so excited! I loved this book and hope you will as well. But I have that nervous feeling about recommending, especially because you and I seldom read the same books.

Cracking India is set on the border between India and what became West Pakistan during Partition. It's told from the point of view of a young Parsi girl who is bewildered by the turmoil after years of living in a very diverse yet mingled household and society.

Jan O'Cat

Leslie is reading Among the Mad and said: I actually think the books get better as they go along. Reading from the murderer's viewpoint isn't bothering me, but now I will most likely think about it more than I would have!

Always happy to contribute to anyone's obsession, Leslie. ;-)

Jan O'Cat

JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "On Leslie's (and then Jan's) recommendation, I started [b:Maisie Dobbs|462033|Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs Mysteries)|Jacqueline Winspear|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174960194s/462033.jpg|97640..."

So glad you're enjoying it, JoAnn. I know your propensity for putting books down!

I will say that I found the latest Among the Mad less fun than the others. But that's mostly because it had sections told from the point of view of the murderer, a particular bugaboo of mine.

Jan O'Cat