Featherglass (30 books)

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All the Days and Nights by William Maxwell

All the Days and Nights: The Collected Stories
by William Maxwell

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Featherglass rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Brokedown Palace
by Steven Brust (Goodreads Author)

read in February, 2013

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Apparently the title of the book was inspired by a song of the same name by The Grateful Dead, other than that, there isn't much of a link.

As fantasy stories go, it started off promisingly with a Note on Fenarian Pronunciation, which is a copy of Hu...more

Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars

The White Spider
by Heinrich Harrer

read in February, 2013

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Featherglass rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? the Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World
by Richard Stearns

read in June, 2012

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Richard Stearns writes compellingly about what it truly means to say 'I want to serve God' because deeper questions reveal how much we don't want to give up. The more honest we are with ourselves, the more we realize how much we *don't* want to give...more

Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death
by Jean-Dominique Bauby

read in August, 2012

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Imagine writing a book without the luxury or pleasure of seeing the words, and thus the story unfold, on paper or screen, editing every sentence to make each say exactly what you want it to say, then spelling out each alphabet of every word you've ch...more Imagine writing a book without the luxury or pleasure of seeing the words, and thus the story unfold, on paper or screen, editing every sentence to make each say exactly what you want it to say, then spelling out each alphabet of every word you've chosen by using your left eyelid to communicate all these words to someone who comes every afternoon to transcribe your thoughts.

This kind of endeavor requires not just discipline to see the entire project tthrough, but also the ned to refine and memorize each sentence, line by line. Every word in this thin volume of 200,000 words, the work of two months of tedious work, has a reason for being there. So when your eyes travel across the page, be aware that each alphabet was communicated to another person by the blink of an eyelid. Treasure each word, as the writer invariably did.

Such is Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir of his life after a massive stroke left him a paraplegic, a Frenchman who was editor of one of France's leading fashion magazines, who loved his work, travel, who had many friends, and who now lived in imposed solitude, imprisoned, whose more painful moments included having to grapple with the notion of what it meant to be a father who can no longer ruffle the hair of his son Theophile, or sing pop tunes with his eight-year-old daughter, Celeste.

"Hunched in my wheelchair, I watch my children surreptitiously as their mother pushes me down the hospital corridor. While I have become something of a zombie father, Theophile and Celeste are very much flesh and blood, energetic and noisy. I will never tire of seeing them walk alongside me, just walking, their confident expressions masking the unease weighing on their small shoulders. As he walks, Theophile dabs with a Kleenex at the thread of saliva escaping my closed lips. His movements are tentative, at once tender and fearful, as if he were dealing with an animal of unpredictable reactions."

The writing is sharp, witty, funny, and one gets the impression Mr Dauby lived life to the fullest until the stroke. There is no sentimentality in his writing, nor does he indulge in self-pity though he has every right to. Instead, this is a memoir brimming with a love for life, and living, though the writer is reduced to being a bystander.

"I receive remarkable letters. They are opened for me, unfoled, and spread out before my eyes in a daily ritual that gives the arrival of the mail the character of a hushed and holy ceremony. I carefully read each letter myself. Some of them are serious in tone, discussing the meaning of life, invoking the supremacy of the soul, the mystery of every existence. And by a curious reversal, the people who focus most closely on these fundamental questions tend to be people I had known only superficially. Their small talk had masked hidden depths. Had I been blind and deaf, or does it take the harsh light of disaster to show a person's true nature?"

This book is the result of Mr Dauby's indomitable spirit. He passed away two days after the French publication of his book.(less)

Featherglass rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

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A love story, a travelling circus, all magic and illusion. The boy-meets-girl story is set in the Victorian era, mostly in a beautifully-imagined circus that feels modern yet is lovingly set in a more handcrafted, mechanical age. Each chapter is a se...more

Featherglass rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Visible World
by Mark Slouka

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Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Goodbye to All That
by Robert Graves

read in May, 2012

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I consider it my good fortune to have picked this book out of a buy-2-get-1-free bin because of a slight interest in the First World War (1914--1918) and what life was like in the trenches on the Western Front.

At the start, I was smitten by the pros...more I consider it my good fortune to have picked this book out of a buy-2-get-1-free bin because of a slight interest in the First World War (1914--1918) and what life was like in the trenches on the Western Front.

At the start, I was smitten by the prose of Robert Graves, whom I now know is a well-known English war poet. His is among some of the clearest writing I've come across in a long time. For instance, he tells the reader about his vocation from the angle of how passport officials would view different kinds of job descriptions and how he chose the words to put down (very much the approach of a poet): " I thought of putting 'Writer', but passport officials have complicated reactions to the word. 'University professor' wins a simple reaction: dull respect. No questions asked."

Most of this autobiography comprises his first-hand account of life in the trenches of World War One in France fighting the Germans on the Western Front. Graves fought in the regiment known as the Royal Welch Fusiliers and weaves in succinct but well-detailed military histories of various elite regiments in the British military. I'd forgotten that as a colonial power, the British Army have a history that spans the world and across centuries. Graves' thumbnails of military highlights of the various battalions he fought with are at best intriguing, at worst, simple narrative history.

World War 1 is associated with mud-soaked soldiers living miserably in trenches, mines, barbed wire, No Man's Land, machine gun fire, sniping, hand-to-hand combat, gas. Goodbye To All That fleshes out the detail of trench living, trench warfare, soldier solidarity, culture, the reigning pessimism, and miraculous survivals, many acts of valour (a lot unrecognized), a general loss of ideals and innocence.

Amid the details of skirmishes and raids and planned attacks to capture strongholds, there are descriptions of the human touch and Graves shows the friendlier side of the enemy, making clear that perhaps in war, the enemy isn't so much the other side as it is the politicians and army generals who command the masses and are indifferent to the plight and pain of its fighting youth.

He describes arriving at his first trench at Cuinchy, France. "The Germans opposite wanted to be sociable. They sent messages over to us in undetonated rifle-grenades. One of these was evidently addressed to the Irish battalion we had relieved: 'We all German korporals wish you English korporals a good day and invite you to a good German dinner tonight with beer (ale) and cakes. Your little dog ran over to us and we keep it safe; it become no food with you so it run to us. Answer in the same way, if you please."

Robert Graves highlights his friendship with fellow war poet, Siegfried Sassoon, who also fought in the trenches in the Royal Welch. Much of their friendship is described here, and he writes about Sassoon with much affection and respect.

Graves was extremely fortunate to survive the War and went on to study at Oxford, where he met Lt. Colonel TE Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, who was given a fellowship at Oxford to write his autobiography The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. At Oxford, Graves was briefly tutored by Sir Walter Raleigh, was friends with George Mallory (who disappeared on Mt Everest), Thomas Hardy, Robert Bridges, John Masefield, and Robert Nichols (also a war poet).

Goodbye To All That is so much more than a memoir; it is a well-thought out pronouncement on war and an insider's look at the chasm between soldier and general. It is about the class system in England, the English public school system, love and friendship, courage and valour in the face of pain, misery and evil.

It is writing at its finest.(less)

Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Tamsin
by Peter S. Beagle (Goodreads Author)

read in April, 2012

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It's already amazing that this story is convincingly told through the eyes of a young teenaged girl. The subtleties, the thought patterns, of an angsty American teen dealing with her mother's second marriage and move across the Atlantic is told in su...more

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Featherglass is now friends with Lauren Chong Sng
Apr 23, 2013 09:41am · like
Featherglass is currently reading All the Days and Nights: The Collected Stories by William Maxwell	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 12, 2013 04:59pm
Featherglass rated a book 2 of 5 stars Brokedown Palace by Steven Brust (Goodreads Author) read in February, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apparently the title of the book was inspired by a song of the same name by The Grateful Dead, other than that, there isn't much of a link. As fantasy stories go, it started off promisingly with a Note on Fenarian Pronunciation, which is a copy of Hu...more
Feb 12, 2013 04:56pm · see review
Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer read in February, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 12, 2013 04:45pm
Featherglass rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? the Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World by Richard Stearns read in June, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Richard Stearns writes compellingly about what it truly means to say 'I want to serve God' because deeper questions reveal how much we don't want to give up. The more honest we are with ourselves, the more we realize how much we don't want to give...more
Feb 12, 2013 04:30pm · see review
Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death by Jean-Dominique Bauby read in August, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Imagine writing a book without the luxury or pleasure of seeing the words, and thus the story unfold, on paper or screen, editing every sentence to make each say exactly what you want it to say, then spelling out each alphabet of every word you've ch...more
Aug 07, 2012 05:45pm · see review
Featherglass rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A love story, a travelling circus, all magic and illusion. The boy-meets-girl story is set in the Victorian era, mostly in a beautifully-imagined circus that feels modern yet is lovingly set in a more handcrafted, mechanical age. Each chapter is a se...more
Jul 25, 2012 07:32am · see review
Featherglass rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Visible World by Mark Slouka	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 15, 2012 03:21am
Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves read in May, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I consider it my good fortune to have picked this book out of a buy-2-get-1-free bin because of a slight interest in the First World War (1914--1918) and what life was like in the trenches on the Western Front. At the start, I was smitten by the pros...more
May 27, 2012 03:35am · see review
Featherglass rated a book 5 of 5 stars Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle (Goodreads Author) read in April, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It's already amazing that this story is convincingly told through the eyes of a young teenaged girl. The subtleties, the thought patterns, of an angsty American teen dealing with her mother's second marriage and move across the Atlantic is told in su...more
Apr 26, 2012 10:59pm · see review

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