Extremely informative piece that provided method for the creative madness that can be poetry. An extremely insightful guide not only for writing, but ...moreExtremely informative piece that provided method for the creative madness that can be poetry. An extremely insightful guide not only for writing, but understanding the creative landscape of poetry.(less)
This book has been on my bookshelf since just before college and for good reason. The experience of studying poetry in high school would have been tra...moreThis book has been on my bookshelf since just before college and for good reason. The experience of studying poetry in high school would have been transformed if this book were one of its texts.
I flip through the pages over and over again, reviewing old familiars and finding new gems. The collected poems span such a long period that it provides for a literary study of the progression of Black expression in a land both hostile and available.
Reviewing the works of such great writers as Langston Hughes, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Sonia Sanchez, Don L. Lee (Haki Madhubuti) is priceless. This is required reading for my children and a necessary reference in their transformation into adulthood.
I would recommend this not only for blacks, but anyone truly interested in the beauty of expression that can grow from the collective experience of a people in land.
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I'm ashamed to say that I'd never taken the time to read the 1987
Pulitzer prize winning play "Fences" by writer August Wilson. I've really hurt myself by not
reading it, it is an enjoyable, informative and instructive play.
The play centers around Troy Maxson. He reminds me of the
quintessential black patriarch. Consumed with his own understanding and
experiences with the world, he narrows the scope of life to that which
is comprehensible to him. Anything outside of this sphere is nonsense.
His tendency to judge his son's future by his past is deceptively
destructive to not only his relationship with his son Cory, but Cory's
future and subsequent generations. In Troy we find that cantankerous
man growing old and struggling to stay afloat in a world changing
around him. His life is like concrete quick sand both knocking him
about and swallowing him up at the same time.
His love for his wife seems to be of legend, yet and still, he ends
up having a relationship outside of his marriage that produces a child.
He judges his actions by his heart, failing to consider how his actions
jeopardize the relationship he had so fully built with his wife. In him
we find the drive which insecurity breeds in clinging to one's own
understanding in the midst of a complex world of complex relationships.
The workmanship of Wilson's dialogue is amazing. I found myself
reading out loud, portraying the gruff, shortened sentences of Troy and
the seemingly long and thoughtful words of Rose. The dialogue rolls
along pushing into the next idea and thought, wrapping the reader up
and placing them in the yard surrounded by the fence.
Throughout the play, Troy transforms before our eyes as he is played
against the supporting characters who reflect his goodness, his
stubbornness, his selfishness. In them we see the irony of the fence he
slowly builds over time. Even as the play states, a fence is not only
used to keep others out but also to keep some in. At the conclusion of
the play, we find those who are within and without the gates that
Troy's life has constructed.
Lemony Snicket should be purchased and perused by audiences of all ages: that is to say, despite the gruesome awful and terrible events befalling the hapless children in this story, it was a completely charming, dry heavingly funny, oddly sad and amazingly disturbing tale.
I cheated on reading this book in that we acquired it on audio tape to calm the family as we made a six hour trek with an eight and nine year old in tow. To my chagrin, not only did the children remain quiet, but the adults were riveted to the tale as well. A year later with only adults traveling in the car, it was still a hit.
The power of this tale is generated by the strong writing and unique literary devices employed by the author Lemony Snicket (a.k.a Daniel Handler) and Brett Helquist. The fictional tale recounts the lives of the Baudelaire children: Violet, Klaus and Sunny. The children are orphaned after an unfortunate fire claims the lives of their wealthy parents and their home. After staying with the manager of the family estate temporarily, the children are shipped off to live with a distant relative. Just when their luck seems to be looking up, it comes crashing down around them. The relative the children are sent to live with is a less than blissful individual. Blissful here meant to insinuate that he, being Count Olaf, was a repulsive, repugnant, dreadful man who was despicable in every sense if ever the word had applied to a human.
Throughout, the writing for The Bad Beginning is witty, precise and comical and oddly dark. The writing is so tremendous that adults with no children around will find themselves captured by the language, the story and the situations the children find themselves in. I believe the writing is so good that it overcomes the fact that nothing ever really seems to go right for the children and at its core, the story really is tragic and dark.
As previously stated, the orphaned children are sent to live with Count Olaf who treats the children terribly. In addition to plotting for their fortune, Count Olaf and his friends are not very fond of children and go to great lengths to make life uncomfortable and miserable for the children. At every turn as things seem to get brighter for the children, misfortune seems to magically appear to place yet another road block to happiness.
Throughout, the children rely on themselves to avoid catastrophe. Klaus at the tender age of 12, proves extremely bright and is able to keep the kids one step ahead of the man made traps placed before the children. Violet, who is 14, is the ranging thinker and tinkerer whose inventions and analytical mind serve to both escape and ensnare the children. Sunny, the baby, is simply an intuitive baby unable to do anything but incite laughter: loved her.
I've heard some rubbish masquerading as criticism bantered about labeling the tale formulaic and repetitive, however, for my first brush with the series I simply say bravo: here bravo means tremendous, wonderful and ppppllllgggghhhhhhh to all the naysayers.
When I endeavored to begin a 500 book reading voyage, I asked friends and family for suggestions of "the most life altering books." There were quite a few responses, but The Shack, written by William p. Young,was continually nominated so I grabbed a copy and dived right in.
The Shack is an engaging story that intertwines Christian theology within a modern tale of tragedy and struggle. The language is straightforward and places the subject matter into an understandable and digestible format accessible to all. Some criticisms attack the straightforward style, but I think it works for this story. Be mindful, there are some deep reactions from the Christians as to the accuracy and even heresy of some of the books content. To look into some areas of the skirmish, you can visit: http://www.boundless.org. Much of the criticism circles around the interaction and usage of the trinity in direct communication with Mack(Mackenzie) Phillips, the main character of the story.
As we meet Mack, he has entered into a period of his life he dubs, "The Great Sadness." This period is ushered in by the abduction and murder of a close and vulnerable family member. In the midst of his pain, Mack grapples with the reconciliation of his faith and the atrocity visited upon his family. The plot, though not unique, delivers a compelling exposition of the Christian trinity and the attendant love gracefully bestowed upon mankind through the creator.
I found the book to be a quick read due to not only the subject matter, but the fresh approach in explaining such complicated topics as the trinity, forgiveness and redemption.
The trinity consumed a large portion of the book. Young spins a tale where Mack, against common sense, heeds a call to revisit the site of the horrendous crime. Once there, Mack begins a journey in conversation with The Father, represented as, for lack of a better metaphor, "Aunt Jemima," Jesus as a man of "Middle Eastern" descent, and The Holy Spirit as an ethereal woman of Eastern descent.
Although the name Aunt Jemima doesn't appear in the book, the images of God as a portly African-American woman, cooking in the kitchen plays on the obvious stereotype. The problem with the stereotypes is that they erect a philosophical barrier, for those observant of them, that the user must grapple with prior to moving forward with the book. As in any writing, cliches are to be avoided, well, "like the plague " - couldn't resist.
Utilizing a stereotype is a weak way of not developing characters. By relying on the images and baggage generated by the stereotypes, the writer doesn't have to develop the characters. The unintended consequence, however, is that the stereotype carries baggage that each user will interpret to their own understanding which may prove detrimental or helpful to the writer. In my case, it wasn't as bad, but in many cases, it became a huge flaw that soured readers on the whole experience.
One of the redeeming aspects of the book, however, is the confrontation of forgiveness, which is a complex emotional issue. The interplay between The Father, referred to as "Papa", Mack intertwined with his tragedy, Young does a great job in illustrating the interplay of forgiveness in it's multiple facets as he weaves the conept through The Father, Mack and the perpetrator of the deadly deed.
All and all, I liked the book and would recommend it. If pushed for a grade on the book, I'd give it a C+.
Finding your life's purpose and changing the lives of nearly 24,000 children and their parents in the process is sometimes less about running after de...moreFinding your life's purpose and changing the lives of nearly 24,000 children and their parents in the process is sometimes less about running after defined dreams and sometimes more about listening to the wind. Three Cups of Tea is the story of Greg Mortenson, an extreme mountain climber, who in failing to conquer the second highest mountain in the world, stumbled across his life's work, changing the future of 24,000 impoverished children and their families in the process.
The book was written by Mortenson and writer David Oliver Relin and published by Penguin in 2006. It was a New York Times best seller and 2007 winner of the Kiriyama Book Prize for Nonfiction. It's easy to understand the book's popularity given the region which Mortenson's work finds him in. The mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan are now at the heart of the war on terror and central to winning that war, says Mortenson, is educating the children, especially the girls.
Mortenson's story is vividly detailed in this well written book which provides and understanding of village life high in the mountains of the Karakoram Mountain range located in Pakistan and bordered by China to the east and India to the south. The strongly Christian Mortenson is taken care of by a village of strangers after losing his way on an expedition in the mountains. He is cared for with kindness by the residents of the Korphe village and eventually comes to see their leader Haji Ali as his mentor. Through Ali's eyes, Mortenson begins to realize how inaccessible education is in this part of the world. He also begins to understand that the inhabitants of the area would give anything to have a school and makes a fateful promise to help the village build a school, and in so doing sets his future in motion.
As a precursor to understanding the war on terror and its root causes, this book is invaluable. Throughout the book we see first hand how brutal poverty and lack of access to the essentials of life make them easy targets for Islamic extremists who provide food, clothing and an extremist education that fuels the war on terror. By educating the girls, not just boys, Mortenson believes that the society will in turn become more educated.
Throughout the book we watch as Mortenson is kidnapped, swindled, caught in firefights and even has local Muslim leaders issue religious pronouncements, Fatwas, against him and his work. The journey is an inspiring story that displays how one person's promise and determination can change the fate of a nation and indeed,the world.
The writing style is fluid and quick. There are some gaps in the writing, for instance the time he initially spends in Korphe is abbreviated and we miss understanding some of the passion that fuels his initial promise. But at 336 pages, the adventure and the rich characters more than make up for it.
Another interesting subtext for this book is religious tolerance and respect for other cultures. As a Christian, Mortenson is primarily educating Muslim children. Rather than providing a Christian based indoctrination, Mortenson strove to provide the children with a balanced education that could save them from the extremism that was popping up everywhere in the country. As an infidel, the Muslim word for a non-Muslim, his mission was that much harder and that much more improbable. When asked if he was a Muslim while in the region, his response was that he was a Christian, but that he respected Islam. That respect ultimately allowed him to go in places and meet people the U.S. military could only hope to know.
Dr. Greg, as he came to be known, was more popular than the president in the region as he served the needs of the poor in exemplary fashion. For Christians called to serve and for those interested in understanding exactly why there is a war on terror and for those daring to be inspired, I highly recommend Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.(less)
A cottage industry of writers survives thanks to the concise yet profound knowledge found in The Elements of Style. It was required reading in college...moreA cottage industry of writers survives thanks to the concise yet profound knowledge found in The Elements of Style. It was required reading in college and should be part of the standard work contract. Weighing in at a nimble 95 pages, including the glossary, there are few books more densely packed with wisdom.
In the age of blogs, tweets and megabyte data streams, crisp clear communication is seldom seen. Few endeavor to contemplate how to communicate clearly. The Elements of Style is the guide post in this blizzard of messages. The books is tremendously old, but still recommended reading in writing courses and newsrooms around the world. Why?
Is humor possible while discussing grammar? Uhm, yes. The trick, evidently, is in clarity.
The Elements of Style covers grammar usage, composition, form expressions and style. All of which are critical elements in communicating tone, style and information. Even if I get labeled a nerd, I have to say one of the best books I CONTINUE to read.(less)
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