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April 25
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Scott
gave  to:
The Complete Stories (Paperback)
by
Flannery O'Connor
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my rating:
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read in April, 2009
Scott said:
"Dumb me. . . all this time I thought Flanner O'Connor was an an Irishman! No, she was from Georgia and wrote some pretty edgy short stories in her time (40's and 50's). Died at the age of 39. I've read about half the stories so far. The Turkey made m...more
Dumb me. . . all this time I thought Flanner O'Connor was an an Irishman! No, she was from Georgia and wrote some pretty edgy short stories in her time (40's and 50's). Died at the age of 39. I've read about half the stories so far. The Turkey made me laugh out loud and A Good Man is Hard to Find is very disturbing. She writes in interesting southern dialect at times and inserts some shocking observations about race as just part of the story. (less)
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March 03
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Scott
gave to:
Dean and Me: (A Love Story)
by
Jerry Lewis
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my rating:
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read in March, 2009
Scott said:
"As obnoxious as Jerry Lewis can be this book (with a helping author) is great. It's a great look into a strange and mostly ignored time period in America - 1946 to 1956. After the war but before Elvis. A time of night clubs, tuxedos, smoking (everyon...more
As obnoxious as Jerry Lewis can be this book (with a helping author) is great. It's a great look into a strange and mostly ignored time period in America - 1946 to 1956. After the war but before Elvis. A time of night clubs, tuxedos, smoking (everyone), highballs. During those 10 years the partner ship of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis was the biggest thing to every hit show business. I had no idea how hugely popular this team was. Jerry gives lots of insights into their relationship (he worshiped Dean while maybe Dean tolerated him while the money was rolling) and even better into the night club world of the early 50's. Read it if you were alive then or even if you were not. (less)
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January 05
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Scott
added:
The Good German (Paperback)
by
Joseph Kanon
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my rating:
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read in January, 2009
Scott said:
"This is a great wwII book. Well actually just after the war. Takes place in Berlin where the main guy in the story is writing for Colliers and looking for his lost love. He finds a murder as well and the idea of 'who were the good Germans' recurs fre...more
This is a great wwII book. Well actually just after the war. Takes place in Berlin where the main guy in the story is writing for Colliers and looking for his lost love. He finds a murder as well and the idea of 'who were the good Germans' recurs frequently in the book. Quite stimulating and thought provoking. Great characters and an accelerating plot. (less)
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Scott
added:
The Good Fairies of New York (Paperback)
by
Martin Millar
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my rating:
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December 11, 2008
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November 29, 2008
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September 12, 2008
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Scott
gave  to:
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (Paperback)
by
Adam Hochschild
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my rating:
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read in September, 2008
Scott said:
"King Leopold’s Ghost, Adam Hochschild, First Mariner Books, 1999
Leopold II - King of the Belgians wanted his own colony. He wanted to be like the big guys. England had India, Spain had huge colonies in South America. The planet was runn...more
King Leopold’s Ghost, Adam Hochschild, First Mariner Books, 1999
Leopold II - King of the Belgians wanted his own colony. He wanted to be like the big guys. England had India, Spain had huge colonies in South America. The planet was running out of places to colonize. In the early 1890’s he set up a shell outfit that was allegedly for driving the slave traders out of the Congo. Over the next 20 years or so these so called humanistic endeavors were actually realized in the Congo in the form of forced labor and taking of the land by Belgian (actually Leopold’s) soldiers. Through a maze of shell companies the profits from ivory and later by the harvesting of raw rubber the riches of one person were sent into the stratosphere. That person was Leopold II. Interestingly at the time Belgium had a parliament but the official government had no real part in the rape of the Congo (although they loaned Leopold millions to help his “humanitarian” efforts. Never repaid). It was one man’s personal colony. Leopold.
It is estimated that during this reign of terror in the Congo the population was reduced by half meaning that approximately 10 million innocent people had been either shot, worked to death, tortured to death, or died of starvation or disease. Bullets were given to soldiers only for shooting the natives. Missing bullets had to be matched with proof of a kill which meant delivering the severed right hand of the deceased. To get the native men to go off in the jungle and search for natural rubber without simply disappearing the soldiers kept wives and children hostage. If a man returned with less than the amount of rubber he was supposed to he was either beaten or shot outright. Missionaries told stories of visiting busy villages before the rubber work and finding them abondonded or only populated with a small fraction of the original inhabitants. The remaining natives were typically starving, or dying of disease. Joseph Conrad visited the Congo around 1900 and got a good look at conditions there inspiring him to write Heart of Darkness.
The book reads like a novel with rich characters. Especially interesting is of course the King himself with his quirky ways, crazy sister, and disenfranchised daughters but also a hero, E. D. Morel. Morel worked as a clerk in a shipyard where ships would arrive from the Congo carrying the riches of ivory, lumber, etc. What Morel noticed though was that the outgoing ships carried nothing for trade. They only carried more soldiers, guns and ammunition. He started investigating more and over the next 20 years or so he, more than anyone else, started a world wide cry for justice in the Congo.
A fascinating read about a piece of history about which few of us are educated and a look at the bigger picture of how the age of colonialism still has it’s after shocks today in nations all over the world. Get it. Read it. It’s not a happy tale though.
(less)
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July 28, 2008
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Scott
gave to:
The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition (Paperback)
by
Upton Sinclair
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my rating:
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read in July, 2008
Scott said:
"This book made quite a stir in 1906. It is a well researched novel that describes the unbearable conditions in Chicago's meat packing industruy circa turn of the century. It's not great literature but certainly is facinating to read the horrors of th...more
This book made quite a stir in 1906. It is a well researched novel that describes the unbearable conditions in Chicago's meat packing industruy circa turn of the century. It's not great literature but certainly is facinating to read the horrors of the working stiffs in 'Packingtown'. The main character is Jurgis who comes over with about 12 family members from Lithauania. Don't expect anything good to happen in this book. . . ever. As I say, the novel is just a vehicle to describe the impossible conditions. With apologies to Robert Frost, Chicago may have been the hog butcher to the world but this was achieved on the backs and in the blood of the poor and unprotected working man. This novel caused such a stir that it got the government to start the FDA.
The men work in freezing cold in the winter and blazing heat and stench in the summer. Each guy knows he better show up and better not get injured because there are about a thousand guys just like him waiting by the gate every morning to take his place. Living hand to mouth, not speaking the language, and being the target for every sort of swindler Chicago could come up with, this is the life of Jurgis and his family.
Anyone who complains, and rightly so these days perhaps, about union workers and the power of some unions should read this book to understand the conditions that gave rise to the unions. Blame the workers or blame the conditions and outright thievery perpetrated by the owners?(less)
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May 19, 2008
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Scott
gave to:
Bad Luck and Trouble (Jack Reacher Series, #11)
by
Lee Child
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my rating:
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read in May, 2008
Scott said:
"5 stars? OK, this is not Crime and Punishment (3 stars) but if you get into a genre you just love the books. This is the 11th Jack Reacher novel. Jack Reacher, 6-6 240 can kill a man with his little pinky. No driver's license, no credit cards, just a...more
5 stars? OK, this is not Crime and Punishment (3 stars) but if you get into a genre you just love the books. This is the 11th Jack Reacher novel. Jack Reacher, 6-6 240 can kill a man with his little pinky. No driver's license, no credit cards, just a foldable toothbrush and 50 bucks for a bus ticket. Out of the MPs in the army and, well, trouble finds him! In this one someone is targeting his old squad from 15 years ago. The remaining members get together and, really, you should not have messed with this squad. Nice revenge. And yes, every guy who reads these books wants to be Jack Reacher on some level and every woman who reads these books wants to have Jack Reacher and I think you know what level I'm talking about! Read 'em all!(less)
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May 16, 2008
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Scott
gave  to:
Last Bus to Woodstock (Mass Market Paperback)
by
Colin Dexter
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my rating:
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