Rebecca Moll's Blog, page 14

Disappointment River by Brian Castner, A Book Review by Rebecca Moll

Are you guilty of romanticizing the past? Find yourself dreaming of bygone days, eras, placing yourself among the people, places, and events with rose-colored glasses? Well, join the club! Membership is free and the benefits are endless. Unless, of course, you cross the realm of imagination into reality as Brian Castner did in Disappointment River: Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage.
As real as the waters of the De Cho, the continual onslaught of les moustiques, and the extreme toll lodged deep within his bones, Castner tested his membership in a way few would dare.
Alexander MacKenzie. 1789. The great Deh Cho. Brian Castner. 2016. The Mackenzie River (formerly, Deh Cho). Past meets present upon the water, in a canoe, a paddle and a hull of provisions for a grueling 1200 miles.
In alternating chapters, Castner tells the story in relief of his voyage against that of Mackenzie's. Although armed with a few modern navigational aides, the grueling menace of the raw Northwest Territories, the Pays d'en Haut, is much unchanged from the voyages 200+ years before.
Yet, it is the writing that held and spellbound this reader, allowed my own transport to the great Deh Cho, my placement upon the river, in the canoe with Mackenzie and Castner. With each song of the voyageurs, each stroke of the paddle I, too, rode the rapids, in the company of The English Chief, his Chipewan wives, hunters and guides, descended canons, passed sheer cliffs, and traded with Native Nations. And lest you lull too long in the sepia of the past, the river will wash you anew with a deluge of waters, toss you upon the shores of present day, portage you in the company of Castner himself and one of his four venerable canoe-mates, hunger, extreme heat, and 12 hour days of labor. Casnter has the unique ability to render the beauty and grandeur of the Northwest Territories, the romantic realm of the past and the humiliating vigor of the present with the language of love.
Disappointment River is both a historical recount and a modern memoir.
If you love the beauty of raw nature, respect the worthiness of its armaments, yet applaud the defiance of man, his singular belief that he will conquer at all costs, then this is a book for you.
Begin with the Epilogue, nestled at the end. Seed the story, the raw ingredients that made the men who dared to conquer, to voyage lands unknown.
In 1789, Mackenzie's voyage ended in disappointment, upon the Artic Sea, far from the intended Pacific. Yet, he lost not one person and returned to give account. Unknown to him, his story was seeded for those of the future. So, too, is Brian Castner's journey. A sapling in the making, a towering topiary to come, Brian has rendered his account into the logbook of God's creation, written his memoir upon the waters of the great Deh Cho, a gift for those of the future.
So, pack your canoes and ready your paddle, the journey has just begun.

Excerpt from Nadia Knows by Rebecca Moll:

It's never too late for second chances, or is it?

"Through the ancient numerical system of tally marks used by 19th century Italian and Dalmatian shepherds, Zoltan made his pledge. Burned into her brain, these numerals would forever stand for freedom, for life, for love, but most of all, for Zoltan."

Putting the World Together (My Father Walter Reuther: The Liberal Warrior) by Elisabeth Reuther Dickmeyer, A Book Review by Rebecca Moll

My foray into history has been recent (last 20 years), outside formal education, and quite nomadic. Through historical fiction and non-fiction study, I place one puzzle piece at a time onto a time map of our world, the people and places, experiences and consequences thereof. Yet, every now and then, a pick from the library shelves of our past proves to connect multiple planes of understanding. Like glue, it fixes pieces together, creates new vistas. One such pick, Putting the World Together by Elisabeth Reuther Dickmeyer is not only cohesive in the realm of understanding our past, it makes one question, makes one wonder if, perhaps, we can create our own pieces to the puzzle, join parts to create a whole new world, a better place for all.
In writing of her father, Elisabeth Reuther Dickmeyer shares an integral part of world history with personal perspective and love, only a daughter can offer. I, too, am blessed with a great father, one who has shown me helping others is at the very core why we were created. Thank you, Elisabeth, for sharing your father's story, your labor of love, the price you paid, all we've gained.
I don't recall learning about Walter Reuther in my formative schooling, nor in the education my children received, interestingly enough, in the State of Michigan. How many other great men have changed the world for the better, with those of the future none the wiser?
Regardless of color, race, or creed, politics, wealth, or personal power there is much to learn from Reuther's life story, for his story is at its heart, the story of man, the sum of his parts and the glorious assembly of his goodness, his interconnection with all people, all things. Walter Reuther said it best, "Let us remember...when we put man together, we put the world together."
This pick will stay at the forefront of my shelves, a reminder of how one person can change the world, one person at a time.

Take a Trip to Lands Unknown, Thoughts upon reading Disappointment river by Brian Castner

Crooked, Drunken, and Dancing Forests

Two-thirds into Disappointment River by Brian Castner, I came across an interesting natural phenomena, Drunken Trees🤨

In traversing the great Deh Cho river in 1789, Alexander Mackenzie, after whom the river is now named, made note in his diary of trees tipped and dizzy, tumbling about.

Aptly named a Drunken Forest, this effect of alternating freezing and thawing of permafrost in our globe's most northern circumference proves an interesting sight.

Yet, "Drunken" falls short of the talented displays our timbering friends behold. Did you know they dance, strike poses, as well? Spruce ballerinas pirouette to a fault, Pine saplings tango in twos, and in Poland, they strike crooked poses, a forest of Vrikshasanas.

Dr. Suess said it true, "Oh, the Places You'll Go."

Take a trip to lands unknown,
Travel mighty rivers to forgotten seas,
Dance with trees,
Strike a pose,
Throw too many back, Forward you may go,
See the world in a whole new look,
All from the pages of one little book.
~Rebecca Moll

Crooked, Drunken And Dancing Forests | Amusing Planet
https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/11...

Excerpt from Nadia Knows by Rebecca Moll:

"In the back of the drawer, time stood still, the hourglass halted, its sand, for now, on even terms. It was a time of anticipation, a time of preparation, a time of impending change. Things were falling into place, everyone was ready, as they should be."

Caesar's Women (Masters of Rome #4) by Colleen McCollough, A Book Review by Rebecca Moll

My first foray into Roman history, I have ready, my next conquest, Colleen McCullough's First Man in Rome. I have joined the throng of plebs that find anything and everything about Caesar fascinating. In starting at the end of the series, Masters of Rome, I will now move onto the first. I am a time travel hopper, a binocular spotter, a historical plotter, an out of water otter. I find this method of attack, this guerrilla foray, a fun and interesting way to discover the past.
Never fear, fellow novice to Roman reading, an exceptional glossary makes light the task. This novel, woven in and around the noble women of Rome is both captivating and thought provoking. Oh, the influence of Rome, over 2000 years later, part of the very fabric of today's western world, the very streets we tread, the very laws with which we govern.
But it is McCullough's characters that nail you to this novel, provoke laughter out loud, make the pages fly. The politics, intrigue, masterminding, collusion, pave the road to, fro, and within Rome, above which rises the dignitas of our most memorable Roman. Yet, the rise of one man is never autonomous, and although when in Rome, (you know the drill), one is wise to remember, the part played by those without a voice, vote, or visage, a part both part and parcel and foundation to his lofty rise, Caesar's Women.
Thanks to McCullough we can do just that.

In the Shadow of Faith by Shara Russell, A Book Review by Rebecca Moll

"Sins of the Father, Sins of the Son."
As I read this emotional tale of Irish immigrants and their descendants, this mantra held refrain. The Troubles are not confined to the island. Carried across the sea, well-planted, fed and fortified, they made a new home in the land of opportunity, just like their fathers.
Shara Russell's characters carry the authenticity of an author who does her homework. Courageous, Russell exposes the sins of another father, upon those too young to understand, who bear his betrayal, his sin. The slaughtering of lambs in secret. The son becomes the repeated refrain.
Yet, there is reformation, a new horizon, the kind that has the power to set the sun on both sides of the sea, coloring the sky with courage, compassion, and hope.
Engaging and enlightening, Russell tells a compelling story, one that reincarnates the mantra, a repeated refrain for generations to come: "Love of the Father, Love of the Son."

Quote from Nadia Knows by Rebecca Moll

“Know where you go.” ~ Nadia’s father, Bertalan

Excerpt from Nadia Knows by Rebecca Moll:

"..Nadia looked at the letter and her jaw dropped. Gripping the back of Monika’s chair, her hands rippling with the effort, she mouthed the opening line, those unbelievable words, “Dear Aunt Nadia…”

Excerpt from Nadia Knows by Rebecca Moll:

"All those years ago, his silence, meant only one thing. No obstacle would have been too much. He would have found her. Somehow. Some way. Five-hundred rubles, a pittance, she thought, pressing her hand to her abdomen."