The Dollmaker is a tragedy, pure and simple, from beginning to end. The made-for-tv movie had a happy ending, but when I found a copy of the book at a...moreThe Dollmaker is a tragedy, pure and simple, from beginning to end. The made-for-tv movie had a happy ending, but when I found a copy of the book at a Friends of the Library sale, I scooped it up because I am all too familiar with the ways television has of bastardizing good reads.
The story opens with the last success of Gertie Nevels, a Kentucky hill woman, a woodcarver, mother of five youngens, the youngest, Amos, sick with diptheria and in need of medical care. Through force of will, Gertie stops a passing vehicle carrying a military officer who, after observing her perform a field trach, takes her and the child into town to the doorstep of the doctor. Gertie, who had never been to a doctor before, hesitates before the door. The officer's driver, after helping her steady Amos while she trached him, gently shoos her forward, telling her she should be afraid of anything.
It is the latter years of WWII. Clovis, Gertie's husband, was called up to help the war effort by working in a factory in Detroit. Gertie has her eyes set on buying a farm that the family can call its own, without having to sharecrop and rent any longer. She's been saving every cent she could, concealing the monies in the lining of her coat. She has enough to pay cash for the Tipton place, and enters into an agreement with the owner for the place, but is thwarted in her efforts by Clovis and her mother, who has long been an affliction to Gertie. Clovis wants the family to join him in Detroit, and her mother insists she go with her husband and stop denying the children their father's presence. Reluctantly, Gertie does what she is loathe to do, giving up the Tipton place and taking all the children to Detroit on the train. She also ships a large piece of cherry wood that she has been carving; it looks like the body of Christ, but she cannot find a face for the figure.
From the peace and self-sufficiency found in the Kentucky hills, Gertie and her family are transported into the bowels of urban hell, into a government-built project erected for factory workers, that is little more than boxes on either side of an alleyway. She is admonished by her husband and everyone around her to adjust, conform to the city ways, and help her children do the same. The story goes downhill from here.
While Gertie's story is unsettling and heart-wrenching, and set against a backdrop of war and increasing industrialism, it could just as well be a contemporary tale. Most of us are now so far removed from the earth, nature, doing for ourselves, that we are reliving this tragedy every day. Unlike the movie, Gertie doesn't get to go home again, doesn't get to reclaim the dignity and pride that were her birthright.
This book should not be overlooked. It is a tragically good read.
Items to knit for various charities. From cancer patients, to premies, to homeless animals, foster children, people victimized by disasters of every s...moreItems to knit for various charities. From cancer patients, to premies, to homeless animals, foster children, people victimized by disasters of every stripe, there is a project to make and a list of organizations with which to get involved.
I've finished reading the introductory information and plan to make several of the project items, especially the snuggle for animal shelter inhabitants.
Rand still demonstrates a bias towards men as the Golden One is described as obedient.
Favorite quote:
I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but...moreRand still demonstrates a bias towards men as the Golden One is described as obedient.
Favorite quote:
I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but such as each of them shall deserve of me. And to earn my love, my brothers must do more than to have been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passer-by who may wish to claim it. I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing to be earned. (less)
Was the teensiest disappointed with how Hand's relationship with his mother was resolved, but overall a good treatment of loss, abandonment, and compa...moreWas the teensiest disappointed with how Hand's relationship with his mother was resolved, but overall a good treatment of loss, abandonment, and compassion within a family context.(less)
The Qur'an is the most readable of all the Books for the people. Completed every year during the holy month of Ramadan, and often memorized by the mos...moreThe Qur'an is the most readable of all the Books for the people. Completed every year during the holy month of Ramadan, and often memorized by the most well brought up muslims, the essentials of Islam are presented succinctly and clearly in Cleary's translation.
However, reading the Qur'an in English is a rather tedious business. The sound of classical Arabic does much more to soothe the soul and lift the spirit. The essentials are clear: no compulsion in religion, no God but God, do good, take care of the poor and orphans, pray, and remember that God is compassionate, merciful, oft-forgiving.
Cleary's notes are worthwhile reading, but I continue to prefer the Qur'an in Arabic.(less)
The more I read Hedges, the more of his work I want to read.
Hedges references a distinction between comradeship and friendship, concluding that they...moreThe more I read Hedges, the more of his work I want to read.
Hedges references a distinction between comradeship and friendship, concluding that they are opposites.
He also discusses the violation of the commandment to refrain from theft within the context of insider trading and the further development of the American oligarchy that is currently living it up like the robber barons they are on the hard won funds of the middle-class poor. This oligarchy is formed by the fusion of economic and political power, and has been in the making since the Reagan-era.
My favorite quotation is: "A society without the means to detect lies and theft soon squanders its liberty and freedom."
My favorite decalogue: Number 5: Honor your parents. Hedges recounts a commencement address he presented at Rockford College in IL to an intolerant, belligerent graduating class who did not want to hear his brand of truth. In the main, he honored his father who taught him that being responsible was neither easy nor comfortable.
The commandments are guides to considering the needs of others ahead of our personal aggrandizement. They are meant for all of us, in our ordinariness, to use in making this place we are fated to leave a bit better for the others we will leave behind.
Chris Hedges speaks a truth that is sorely in short supply. Where do I begin in recommending this set of essays? Of course, there are abundant resourc...moreChris Hedges speaks a truth that is sorely in short supply. Where do I begin in recommending this set of essays? Of course, there are abundant resources for further reading and an index that makes for quick location of topics and individuals you'll want to review. The essays cover the years 2001-2010 and have appeared in various publications. If you've read other of Hedges' work, you will recognize some of his words. They bear repeating and rereading, I assure you.
I learn and am exposed to material that is historic and glossed over in this Information Age that serves me pablum and pap instead of fact. There are discussions of the manipulation of public opinion and the role of propaganda in taming the populace. There are many references and discussion of the permanent war economy in which we are currently engaged and its contribution to the destruction of the working and middle classes, our way of life in this country.
The rights we have given up and other crimes against the working class include NAFTA, welfare reform, the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act that gutted 1933 Glass-Steagall Act which was designed to prevent banking crises like the current ones, the refusal to restore habeas corpus - the means of obtaining a federal court examination of the validity of a state criminal conviction or illegal state imprisonment.
Favorite essays include: Calling All Rebels (3.8.2010); Do Not Pity the Democrats (pp. 125-134); Celebrating Slaughter: War and Collective Amnesia (10.5.2009).
Description and analysis of the machinations of Israel and her allies against the Palestinian people is presented. Arguments for the ending of war are discussed along with the work of Peter van Agtmael and Lori Grinker. I learned about the American secessionist movements (The New Secessionists, 4.26.2010).
I would recommend this book as an overview and digest of Hedges' thought over the past decade. The man's thinking and clear address take my breath away.
I was most struck by the following, taken from my notes:
"History has shown time and again that when the liberal class ceases to function, as happened...moreI was most struck by the following, taken from my notes:
"History has shown time and again that when the liberal class ceases to function, as happened in Tsarist Russia, Weimar Germany, and the former Yugoslavia, it always opens a Pandora's Box of evils that infect the remnants of a civil society."
Mass communication technologies and propaganda killed populism.
The cultural embrace of simplification has banished complexity and pushed to the margins difficult, original, or unfamiliar ideas. (p.88)
"...mediocrity makes its own rules and sets its own image of success." (p.122)
The discussions of Dorothy Day, Phillip and Daniel Berrigan, Thomas Merton, the Catholic Worker, MLK as political revolutionary, and Malcolm X as cultural revolutionary were illuminating. The processes of the marginalization of Ralph Nader and the surveillance of Howard Zinn were also informative.
"Democracy, a system designed to challenge the status quo, has been corrupted to serve the status quo." (p.198)
Death of the liberal class has been accomplished by a shift from print-based to image-based culture. Verifiable fact, which is rooted in the complexity of print, no longer forms the basis of public discourse or collective memory. Images and words defy the complex structures of print when isolated from context.
"Oh my soul, do not aspire to the immortal life, but exhaust the limits of the possible." Pindar, Greek poet.
In short, rage against the machine that would destroy our compassion, sense of self and community. Defy the machine that would have us give up our humanity to behave as sheeple as we are quickly destroyed by the corporate elite and their propaganda. Don't swallow the illusions. (less)
Believing in the perfectibility of man leads atheists and fundamentalists alike to commit similar errors in argument in order to advance their ideolog...moreBelieving in the perfectibility of man leads atheists and fundamentalists alike to commit similar errors in argument in order to advance their ideological projects.(less)
I'd advise reading this book from back to front. It is written like scientific research paper or manuscript and the appendices provide crucial concept...moreI'd advise reading this book from back to front. It is written like scientific research paper or manuscript and the appendices provide crucial concept information, protocols, and background information about the disease and the research work group.
The redefinition of what it means to be human and what it means to be dead provoke ethical mental debate. For this alone, I'd recommend this gory bit of medical science fiction, but the drawings are exceptional. Glad they are in shades of gray instead of shocking color.
I learned that Kuru is caused by prions, learned what prions are, what the effects are of prolonged base pH, and that I really don't want to become a doctor! Perhaps a medical ethicist...
Now I know why zombies walk with their arms stuck out in front, what ataxia is, and how challenging it is to read tongue-in-cheek medical science fiction.
I think I was expecting more for what I paid for this book and I didn't get it.
The best essay for me came from Jennifer McIlwee Myers who related the...moreI think I was expecting more for what I paid for this book and I didn't get it.
The best essay for me came from Jennifer McIlwee Myers who related the AS rules for dating, relationships, and marriage. Her advice was practical, funny, and sensible. (less)
John Leonard's use of the English language is inspiring, but I was particularly intrigued by the essay on Primo Levi. Also covered are Mary McCarthy,...moreJohn Leonard's use of the English language is inspiring, but I was particularly intrigued by the essay on Primo Levi. Also covered are Mary McCarthy, Arthur Koestler, Rimbaud, Podhoretz, Bellow, and a host of other wordsmiths.
I especially liked learning the particulars of Levi's suicide. What a heart the man had.
The essays included in this compilation are often good introductions to works no longer discussed today. (less)
There are five stories in this collection that I absolutely love. The rest of the stories are extremely lucid, written plainly and straightforwardly,...moreThere are five stories in this collection that I absolutely love. The rest of the stories are extremely lucid, written plainly and straightforwardly, but they may be a bit too subtle for me.
Levi's stories are unlike any I've read before in that they seem to be more like anecdotes, or stories shared between friends before a fire, over a snifter of brandy. They don't have traditional beginnings, middles, and endings. The stories are more like scenes that we are brought to in the middle of the action.
My favorite of the five is The Magic Paint, which offers no excuses for the accidental killing of a colleague whom the replicators of the paint's constituents hoped to help by applying the paint to his glasses. I'll tell no more.(less)
Human beings, primarily male human beings, seem determined to destroy the world so that they can get on a space craft and escape what they wrought. Ho...moreHuman beings, primarily male human beings, seem determined to destroy the world so that they can get on a space craft and escape what they wrought. Hopefully, there will be some who take it as their duty to protect the knowledge so painstakingly gathered over the millenia. The brothers of the Leibowitzian Order were such people, but they knew their work was being done in a world that still hadn't learned that war is not the answer, and a nuclear war destroys every chance to ask more questions.
I learned that I really don't like apocalyptic tales. I need optimism to overcome the economic and social nightmare in which I live at present.(less)
No matter how odd he is, Jesse Saperstein can laugh at himself. I'm particularly taken with his explanations of popular culture. His descriptions of h...moreNo matter how odd he is, Jesse Saperstein can laugh at himself. I'm particularly taken with his explanations of popular culture. His descriptions of his personal quirks, how some have been overcome and others simply adapted to, are howling good laughs in some instances, painfully touching reads in others.
While similar, every person with Asperger's is unique. There may be a little bit of Asperger's in many of us. We would all do well to get past tolerating quirkiness to accepting it and recognizing the differences as strengths instead of defects.
Best book I've read yet about Asperger's. I'm now encouraged to write my own.(less)
In only 84 pages, Balmer provides a brief history of evangelical christianity and their involvment in politics from the 19th C to the present.
I learn...moreIn only 84 pages, Balmer provides a brief history of evangelical christianity and their involvment in politics from the 19th C to the present.
I learned that abortion wasn't the issue around which the evangelicals originally coalesced, but racial discrimination. And that is only one of the bombshells dropped in this lucid little book.
Fast read and slow reread for this text. Informative history.
My copy is an advanced reading copy in paperback even though the ISBN is for the hardback edition.
Mortenson is a climber who, because of his separation from his guide in the Central Asian mountain range and subsequent saving and restoring to health...moreMortenson is a climber who, because of his separation from his guide in the Central Asian mountain range and subsequent saving and restoring to health by the people of that region, decided to build schools to repay the good will shown him.(less)
Actually rereading this book because of a recent encounter I had with a male who interprets the Qur'an and Islam in ways that frightened me.
This text...moreActually rereading this book because of a recent encounter I had with a male who interprets the Qur'an and Islam in ways that frightened me.
This text explains the gendered nature of the Arabic language used in the Qur'an and how translations of the text do not provide the nuances necessary to interpret the text in any way other than an androcentric manner. Also, native Arabic interpreters of the text often provide notoriously inflexible readings rendered to keep women in a subservient position rather than that of equality. (less)
The success of outliers, or those who fall outside of the bell curve, is more a function of opportunity, legacy, and luck than of the mythology of the...moreThe success of outliers, or those who fall outside of the bell curve, is more a function of opportunity, legacy, and luck than of the mythology of the self-made man.
Particularly interesting was the discussion of the logic of the rice paddy in relation to Asian students' math ability, the translation of this same logic in the KIPP schools among lower-income students of color, and Gladwell's family background.
Gladwell's argument informs us that success is possible for far more than the outlying few and that success is integrally related to hard work, chance, opportunity, and available options.(less)
Easy suggestions for meditative practice while knitting. Good projects that build skills as you progress through the book.
Plan to buy this one for my...moreEasy suggestions for meditative practice while knitting. Good projects that build skills as you progress through the book.
The descendants of Gabalawi live over generations trying to rid themselves of gang oppression, poverty, and ignorance. They succeed temporarily, but a...moreThe descendants of Gabalawi live over generations trying to rid themselves of gang oppression, poverty, and ignorance. They succeed temporarily, but always relapse into the old ways. At the end of the stories of the generations, there is still hope that things will change. (less)
wa Thiongo continues the discussion of the use of language to decolonize the mind and re-member the past with the present. The African renaissance can...morewa Thiongo continues the discussion of the use of language to decolonize the mind and re-member the past with the present. The African renaissance can be assisted by reclamation and use of African languages and translation of literature from European languages to African languages.
I became sensitized to my own reactions to reading English coming from a Black ethnic culture, understood my conflicted resentment of a language that connects black with so much negativity while simultaneously loving what is my mother tongue for its fluidity, diversity, and malleability.
Decolonization of the American Black mind is made extremely difficult because of this conflict.(less)
This book challenges assumptions about the nature of God and interpretations of the book of Job. I read it whenever I feel overwhelmed by the evil in...moreThis book challenges assumptions about the nature of God and interpretations of the book of Job. I read it whenever I feel overwhelmed by the evil in the world and the prosperity of malcontents. It reminds me that those who anthropomorphize God have a long way to go in developing their spiritual nature and understanding of life.(less)
I am learning to better interpret the hexagrams and get in touch with my intuition. The oracle is a great help in leading one to develop greater inter...moreI am learning to better interpret the hexagrams and get in touch with my intuition. The oracle is a great help in leading one to develop greater internal stability.(less)
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