Schmerguls's comments
(member since Oct 28, 2008)
Schmerguls's comments from the Readers and Reading group.
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I just saw Time's list of non-fiction good reading in the Nov. 2, 1959, issue. The only one I have read is:
1413 The Armada, by Garret Mattingly (read 17 Oct 1976)
My comment thereon:
This is a well done book, albeit footnoteless, and its English bias is muted. In fact Mattingly is quite favorable to Medina Sidonia, the Spanish commander. Mattingly lays the ground carefully, and the book is half over before the Armada sails. Nevertheless, on the whole I read the book without much interest. I knew the outcome. The book begins with Mary Stuart's execution at Fotheringhay on Feb 18, 1587, and ends Jan 1, 1589.
Lois, I am glad that Let the Great World Spin won, since I was intending to read it becaues of its neat title resonating Tennyson and I always read the National Book Award fiction winner--I've read 49 of such, and since the awards began in 1951 you can see that there are only about 10 or so I've not read--so that reduces my TBR list by one...
Lois, here are the last seven verses of Locksley Hall:
Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward, forward let us range,
Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.
Thro' the shadow of the globe we sweep into the younger day;
Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.
Mother-Age (for mine I knew not) help me as when life begun:
Rift the hills, and roll the waters, flash the lightnings, weigh the Sun.
O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set.
Ancient founts of inspiration well thro' all my fancy yet.
Howsoever these things be, a long farewell to Locksley Hall!
Now for me the woods may wither, now for me the roof-tree fall.
Comes a vapour from the margin, blackening over heath and holt,
Cramming all the blast before it, in its breast a thunderbolt.
Let it fall on Locksley Hall, with rain or hail, or fire or snow;
For the mighty wind arises, roaring seaward, and I go.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Thanks, JoAnn. I guess I am not very astute, for here is what I said after I read A Fine Balance:
4021. A Fine Balance a novel, by Rohinton Mistry (read 11 May 2005) This book by a man born in Bombay, India, and living in Canada, is laid in India during the time, around 1975, that Indira Gandhi was ruling by Decree. The novel reminds one of Dickens, at least in the beginning, but the story is stark and all of the characters are daunted by events. There is much violence and apparently no effective rule of law. I could not like the book much, since its theme is so stark and the characters live such alienated lives--at least after the evil befalls them. I like a more affirmative theme in a novel and so this long (603 pages) novel was not greatly appreciated, though Mistry is a facile and clear writer. But it is not a joyful book to read.
Thinking further about dark novels I know Hardy's Jude the Obscure was on the list. But Hardy's Tess is a far more memorable book I think and surely as bleak as a book can be...
As to the 'happy' books mentioned I know The Shipping News is a great favorite but my crabbed reaction to it was:
2628 The Shipping News, by E. Annie Proulx (read 19 Jul 1994) (Pulitzer Fiction prize in 1994) (National Book Award fiction prize in 1993) This tells of a guy who goes to Newfoundland and works for a paper there. It is full of local color, which would be of interest to Newfoundlanders but left me only vaguely interested. Besides dullness the free use of scatology in this book repelled me.
But I do agree as to Cold Comfort Farm:
3340. Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons (read 28 Aug. 2000) When I read Precious Bane in October of 1992 I came to know that this 1932 book was a spoof on it and its dreariness and pessimism. This book is so funny, it is best read with no one else in the room cause I could not help laughing out loud many times. It is actually grotesque and airy and ends unbelievably happily.
I guess I will have to read some of the other books mentioned. I have been attracted to the title of Let the Great World Spin, but only because it reminds me of one of my favorite poems, Tennyson's Locksley Hall. Has anyone read Let the Great World Spin?
If we go to non-fiction, one of the most wrenchingly sad books I have ever read is:
Chronicle of Youth: The War Diary 1913-1917, by Vera Brittain (read 14 Jul 1988) (Book of the Year)
Obviously I 'liked' the book very much, but it is the somberest book I think I have ever read.
I read The Dollmaker in 1956 and my personal life that year was so momentous that I am not sure I even realized how somber The Dollmaker was.
I read this description of Now in November:
Like Ethan Frome, the relatively brief, intense story evokes the torment possible among people isolated and driven by strong feelings of love and hate that, unexpressed, lead inevitably to doom. Reviewers in the thirties praised the novel, calling its prose "profoundly moving music," expressing incredulity "that this mature style and this mature point of view are those of a young women in her twenties," comparing the book to "the luminous work of Willa Cather," and, with prescience, suggesting that it "has that rare quality of timelessness which is the mark of first-rate fiction."
And Ethan Frome is a book which belongs on that list too, not?
Back when I was on my kick to read all the Pulitzer-prize-winning fiction I read Now in November (read Nov 28, 1958) and was mightily impressed and have remembered it all these years. I liked it for the same reason I liked The Grapes of Wrath. Depressing but engaging.
I have read every Pulitzer-prize winning work of fiction...
Looking at the blog "A commonplace Blog" I found a list of the 10 most depressing novels:
Scott Laming has compiled a list of the top ten depressing novels of all time:
( 1.) Cormac McCarthy, The Road
( 2.) Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
( 3.) Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure
( 4.) George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
( 5.) Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
( 6.) John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
( 7.) Elie Wiesel, Night
( 8.) Nevil Shute, On the Beach
( 9.) Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
(10.) William Golding, Lord of the Flies
I have read all of the books listed except Atlas Shrugged (which I refuse to read since I was so put off by The Fountainhead (read June 15, 1951)). One has to agree that the other nine probably belong on the list. Any other candidates you can think of?
The only ones I find in libraries I have access to are;
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4 titles matched: Yerby, Frank, 1916-1991.
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1. A darkness at Ingraham's Crest : a tale of the slaveholding South / Frank Yerby. *
by Yerby, Frank, 1916-1991-
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2. The girl from Storyville : a Victorian novel / Frank Yerby. *
by Yerby, Frank, 1916-1991-
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3. A rose for Ana Maria : a novel / by Frank Yerby. *
by Yerby, Frank, 1916-1991-
New York : Dial Press, 1976. 1976.
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4. Western : a saga of the Great Plains / by Frank Yerby.
by Yerby, Frank, 1916-1991-
New York : Dial Press, 1982. 1982.
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Morningside Branch Western Section Yer In
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So what is his best one? The only one I remember hearing about is The Foxes of Harrow. I never read any thing by him, but would willing read one, preferably the best one he ever wrote, if I knew what that was.
Thank you, JoAnn. I would hope that whenever an author you have read dies you would all note it and tell what you have read by her or him and what you though of what you read,
4629 The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, by Jaroslav Hasek, in a new and unabridged translation by Cecil Parrott (read 18 Oct 2009) I've thought of reading this famous novel for many years and now finally have. It is often listed on "100 best books" lists. It started out funny and in its 754 pages I am sure I laughed more than 754 times (well, maybe) but there are tedious stretches, too. It tells of Joseph Svejk, a native of Prague who was a seller of stolen dogs and of his time in the Austrian Army in the First World War. He is mostly a likeable guy, though the book seldom says anything good about the Catholic church, and some of its humor is crude and relies on stories re excretory functions. Svejk professes to be a very loyal soldier while emphasizing the stupidities of officers and others. Svejk always has a story to tell relating to what occurs, and sometimes those stories get tiresome--as they do to those to whom he tells them. He gets captured by the Austrian Army and they threaten to shoot him since he had put on a Russian uniform. But he gets back to the 91st regiment. There are good and laughable things about this book, but it is long and I was glad when I got to the last page--though the author died before he finished the book so we never know how Svejk did make it through much of the War. I am glad I read this book and that I won't have to read it again.
4630 The Lost Symbol A Novel, by Dan Brown (read 19 Oct 2009) I previously read a couple of Dan Brown's books but have never read The DeVinci Code because it seemed blasphemous to me nor did I read the one entitled Angels and Demons for a related reason. This is his 2009 book and I decided to read it after reading the New York Times review of it and because it is laid in D.C. , where I spent a few happy years over 50 years ago. Robert Langdon is called to D.C. to give a lecture but when he gets there the hand of the guy who supposedly called him is in the Capitol rotunda. There follows much running around, narrow escapes, etc., as an evil person seeks to learn a great Masonic secret. The first part of the book is exciting and one is eager to keep reading, but after awhile it all palls since it is so far-fetched and incredible and fantasy-like. In the denouement it becomes even crazier as the evil guy seeks to have himself killed! The wrap-up consists of a lot of philosophizing which is kind of pantheistic and seeks to mollify people of belief by saying good things about the Bible. At times as I read I thought the book was awful and should have only one star--but I will rate it better than that for the exciting and non-boring parts. It is interesting that on Amazon there are more one-star reviews (303) than 5-star reviews (232)
4631 Stones for Ibarra, by Harriet Doerr (read 21 Oct 2009) There is a list called "100 Great American Novels You've (Probably) Never Read. I've read 10 of the 100 and this book was on the list. It tells of an odd California couple who go to Mexico to take over an abandoned mine Richard's grandfather had. They fix up the mine and the home there and end up having a mine with over 100 employees. The story is told from the wife's view, she being utterly devoted to her husband who has only six years or so to live. Most of the account tells of the Mexicans in the town and their idiosyncrasies--some appealing, some decidedly not. The ending is hauntingly sad and while literary critics talk of being reminded of Katherine
Anne Porter, I thought of the poetical prose of W. H. Hudson. Much of the novel is overly sad and I thought that a mark against it, but the end is so dramatically moving I will give it five stars. A stunningly moving book I am glad I read.
4632 The Executioners, by John D. MacDonald (read 21 Oct 2009) This is a 1957 novel and the author's most famous. It tells of a guy whose testimony put a guy in prison and when he gets out he aims for revenge. This is hard-boiled crime fiction and really quite exciting. Well worth reading.
4633 The Judas Tree, by A. J. Cronin (read 23 Oct 2009) When I was a teenager I read five Cronin novels and thought highly of them, especially Cronin's first, the stark Hatter's Castle. This 1961 novel is very easy to read although quite predictable. David Moray, a Scottish medical student, meets Mary Douglas, who is engaged to an awful bore. David woos and wins her, but before marrying goes on a ship to India during which trip he is snared by Doris--an obvious loser--and marries her and never tells Mary. He has a terrible life till Doris dies. He then goes back to Scotland and meets Mary's daughter and woos and wins her. But said daughter wants to go to Africa as a missionary and won't marry David unless he goes with her. He agrees. It is kind of a soap-opera-like story but one wants to keep reading,even though one knows David is a loser. It was an enjoyable book, and since David was the central character and not, basically, admirable, the ending did not dismay.
4634 My Experiences in the World War Volume I, by John J. Pershing (read 26 Oct 2009) This tells of Pershing's time from when he was named commander-in-chief of the A.E.F. in May 1917 to April 1918. It is full of interest, though it is a straight-forward workmanlike account with no literary embellishment. The job of getting an American army to Europe before the Germans won was a tremendous one and one gets the idea that Germany surely would have won the war if the U.S. had not joined when it did.
4635 My Experiences in the World War Volume II, by John J. Pershing (read 28 Oct 2009) (Pulitzer History prize in 1932) This covers Pershing's time from April 1918 to the end on Nov 11, 1918. By Oct 31, 1918, there were 76,800 American officers and 1,397,825 enlisted men in Europe. In general, Pershing did not seem greatly interested in minimizing casualties but was eager for victorious results. Reading this account was more interesting than I expected and I am glad I read it.
4636 A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah (read 30 Oct 2009) The author was born in 1980 in Sierra Leone and by the time he was 13 he was a soldier in the civil war there. His time as a soldier is extremely horrific and is not fun to read--killing, drug abuse, etc. He is eventually rehabilitated. There is some question as to the accuracy of the account. In fact it is so wildly gruesome one hopes it is not true. The account of his rehabilitation and his trip to New York and his escape from Sierra Leone is of much interest and is good reading. The author graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 and now lives in New York. The book was named as one of the three best non-fiction books of 2007 by Time.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but it was a good reading month, I thought
4624 Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (read 1 Oct 2009) In 1999 librarians picked the top 150 books of the 20th century and this was No.. 85 on the list. So I read it. It was also picked as one of the ten best books of the 1910's. It is a kids' book, and I think the Rover Boys books were like this. It tells of Tarzan, son of an English lord, raised by apes in Africa. He is mighty strong and overpowers lions, etc. and swings through the trees. He learns to read and write English, but cannot talk it till near the end of the book. It is not an unpleasant book to read, but is mighty non-subtle. It was published in 1914 and is said to be the best of the author's some 70 books--so I need not read any more of them. There are now only 14 of the 150 books librarians picked as the century's best that I have not read.
4625 Lying with the Enemy, by Tim Binding (read 4 Oct 2009) This is a 1998 novel laid on Guernsey island during the German occupation (1940-1945). It spends most of its time talking about the Germans having sex with the natives, and I found it very boring. There is a murder and the investigation is treated as a sideline. I could not get too interested in the incredible story and was glad to get to the last page. The author was born in Germany but grew up in West Yorkshire, England. How he knows what went on in Guernsey before he was even born I don't know--but reading this book was not a worthwhile use of time. (Sorry, Laurie--who asked me to read it to see if it was worth reading.)
4626 What Happened at Vatican II, by John W. O'Malley (read 6 Oct 2009) This is a 2008 book by a Jesuit who was a student in Rome while Vatican II was going on. But it is based on the accounts of others and tells well the story of the events at the Council, in good chronological order. He shows that the "progressives" had a healthy majority at the Council, but the conservatives were able to prevent changes that the majority of the bishops would have made. I found this absorbing reading and a good refresher as to the events at Vatican II--the most important religious event of the 20th century.
4627 The Ruin of the Roman Empire, by James J. O'Donnell (read 10 Oct 2009) This is a very erudite book, dripping with evidence of the author's great knowledge and learning.(though, sadly, also showing the author's skepticism as to religion). He spends much time on Theoderic, who he says was more properly the last western Roman Emperor--he died in 526, long after the date (476) usually assigned as the end of the western branch of the Roman Empire--and also much time on Justinian, of whom he is very critical, and on St, Gregory the Great--who he says good things about. Some of this was not too interesting but it had its moments, and is a book which I should have devoted more study to if the subject had been of more interest to me.
4628 The Coming of the Third Reich, by Richard J. Evans (read 12 Oct 2009) This is the first book of a trilogy on Nazidom by an English historian. It relates the events of the Nazi rise to power up to the summer of 1933. It tells the sad story very ell and shows that it was not only the Versailles Treaty but the dire economic conditions which enabled Hitler to come to power--and the divided forces opposed to him. Nazis never before assuming power ever got the votes of a majority of German voters, but Nazis became the largest party in Germany because the opposition was divided between right and left. The way Hitler took over when he on Jan 30, 1933, was named Chancellor is an appalling and sad story--there really was no way he could be stopped after he gained power. Nor can one fault too much the fact that Germans did not do the heroic things which would have been required to have stopped him once he was in power. This is an excellent account of a doleful time in German history.
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In connection with the Ludovic Kennedy book I read usually I tell what I thought of the book, but in my post neglected to do that so I will do that now:
1964 The Airman and the Carpenter: The Lindbergh Kidnapping and the Framing of Richard Hauptmann, by Ludovic Kennedy (read 5 Dec 1985) On July 9, 1962, I read Kidnap and was convinced Hauptmann was guilty. On Dec 4, 1976, I read Scapegoat and came to believe he was not guilty. I have now read this book and am thoroughly convinced Hauptmann was not only innocent but framed. In fact the book was depressing and saddening. When I read Kidnap I thought the attic board was proof positive. Now it seems ridiculous to think anyone could believe Hauptmann would take a board from his attic floor to build a ladder, when he could use wood much more easily from some other source. This book is well-written, although it is confessedly written to prove Hauptmann was framed. A better book would have been more objective, and have proved the same thing. The book is by an English writer who has written other crime books I'd like to read: 10 Rillington Place; A Presumption of Innocence; and Wicked Beyond Belief. [But I never have, yet.:]
In line with noting the death of people whose book(s) I have read I note:
The Airman and the Carpenter: The Lindbergh Kidnapping and the Framing of Richard Hauptmann, by Ludovic Kennedy (read 5 Dec 1985)
The author died Oct 18, I learned today. Wikipedia has an article on him.
I am reading Stones for Ibarra, am about half way through, and so far it has much to be said for it. But what I will think when I finish remains to be seen. When I finish it will be the 11th book on the "forgotten" list I've read. I am looking for other books available at libraries I can borrow books from. As if there are not enough unforgotten books I wan to read!
National Book short lists
Thanks for the link, JoAnn.
Depennding on what wins, I will read two of these books:
FICTION
Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage (Wayne State University Press)
Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin (Random House)
Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (W. W. Norton & Co.)
Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite (Alfred A. Knopf)
Marcel Theroux, Far North (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
NONFICTION
David M. Carroll, Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Sean B. Carroll, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Greg Grandin, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt)
Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy (Princeton University Press)
T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
(Alfred A. Knopf)
Of the ten, the one on Vanderbilt seems to be the only one I might read even if it doesn't win.
What I Read in October 30 Years Ago (1979)
Not too extensive a list:
Critical, Historical and Miscellaneous Essays and Poems Volume I, by Thomas Babington Macaulay (read 28 Oct 1979) At a used book sale I picked up a 3-volume set of Macaulay's Essays, which books are over 80 years old. I paid 75 cents for the set! I have now finished Volume I, and must say it is well worth a quarter. Some of the essays are really a joy to read, allowing of course for the author's bias. He writes with a magnificent sweep. True, many of his essays only remotely deal with their supposed subject, e.g., the one entitled Mirabeau says very little of Mirabeau, but sweeps through the history of France for 150 years. The final essay in this volume, entitled "War of the Succession in Spain," tells much I did not know or had forgotten about that war--and tells it with verve and sweep. An excellent book.
Lois, I see Stones for Ibarra is still in our library, and based on what you say I think I will read it.
I don't find No Country for Old Men on the neglected list, and since it only was published in 2005 it is maybe too new to be called neglected. The newest book on the list seems to be a 1997 book, In Memory of the Forest, by Charles T. Powers.
