Greg’s Comments (group member since Jul 02, 2014)

Greg’s comments from the All About Books group.

And I'll nominate How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

I second Gilded Needles

All of the nominations look good - I had to struggle to figure out which to second! Thanks everyone!

Nidhi wrote: "Or in March, as you prefer. The book has 'feminism' tag so i will not nominate it for a group read."

March would be perfect!

Nidhi wrote: "Group Reads
Demon Copperhead
Dust Tracks on a Road
The Accidental
My Several Worlds
Gilead
The Age of Innocence
..."

II really loved Gilead Nidhi! It's slow moving but so beautiful, both in terms of style and content. And Wharton is always wonderful, for me anyway.

Hope you have a great reading month!

Nidhi wrote: "Yes Greg, I saw your reading plan for February. I myself have a full schedule but sometimes I take books whimsically , i may read it or may not. ( here buddy reads are very motivating)"

That book does look really good though! Could we read it starting in the middle of the month? I can make room to join you then.

This is my current plan

Finish up from last month:
for once, nothing from last month

Definitely:
✔ Estoril by Dejan Tiago-Stanković ★★★ (3.0)
in progress Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
✔ The Creeper by A.M. Shine ★★ (2.0)
✔ Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda ★★★★ (4.0)

Probably:
✔ The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole ★★★ (2.5)
✔ All Systems Red by Martha Wells ★★★★ (4.5)

Possibly:
skipped Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
✔ Artificial Condition by Martha Wells ★★★★ (4.0)
delayed Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas

Unplanned:
✔ Swing Time by Zadie Smith ★★★★ (4.5)

Moved to March:
My Work by Olga Ravn

LauraT wrote: "To start with:
Barbara Kingsolver Demon Copperhead
Winston Graham The Twisted Sword: A Novel of Cornwall, 1815
Marina Sereni "

A great variety Laura!

Nidhi wrote: "Hi everyone. I am planning to read My Work by Olga Ravn in February. I will be glad if someone joins me."

The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century was a very weird but also wonderful book! I am intrigued to read that author again, but I don't think I can fit it in February.

Nidhi wrote: "Doc Roberts was a doctor, he was trying to get to feel Chona's body beneath her clothes to relieve her from trauma due to seizure....later he was himself surprised by the rumours. It is true that h..."

It could be. The book was a little ambiguous on the Chona incident.

But remember in the kitchen when the young Italian woman implied that she herself had also been raped by Doc Roberts? If he did something to her too, that would lend some credence to the others' suspicions about him.

I'll try to find that passage in the book tonight. Maybe I am not remembering correctly.

Nidhi wrote: "It is every where the same division of thoughts, half of the population holds tenaciously to the culture and the other half thinks that in order to move forward they have to forget their roots , bo..."

I suppose that's true Nidhi. There is akways a balance between cherishing old things and grasping something new.

Nidhi wrote: "After finishing the book I was wondering about the necessity of killing Doc Roberts, as he was not a villain, then my mind reverted to the very beginning of the book, where a body is found with a l..."

Yes, in the beginning the locket in the well made me think it was one of the Jews down there, but then it turned out to be stolen by Doc Roberts. Doc isn't exactly a villain, but he's a fairly despicable character. It suggests earlier in the book that he did something bad to one of the young Italian women too.

He's a man who feels aggrieved continually, and he blames the immigrants for all his problems - that feeling of grievance and entitlement makes him bitter. He can't imagine why Chona, as his social "lesser" would reject him. He feels that she should have been grateful for the attention from her betters. Those feelings distort his innocent crush into a much darker urge for ownership, revenge, and control that exists mostly subconsciously. Although several of his actions are evil, he isn't aware of that because his world view is so distorted. I find him a pitiful character.

I guess I saw Doc Roberts' death as a sort of justice for his attempted rape of Chona and his shortening of her life. But I can understand others feeling differently.

LauraT wrote: "I've finished it coming back from Milan two days ago. I liked it quite, also the highly improbable "happy ending".
What I've appreciated most is the working together of Jews and black against oppr..."

I liked that too Laura, and also the other immigrants, like Big Soap and the Italian women, and even the white child Monkey Pants. Several different types of people come together in the book, and that's very heartening.

There are several lucky breaks in the ending, such as Doc Roberts happening to fall into the well, but I enjoyed it regardless. After spending time with these people who went through all that they did, I wanted that happy ending for Nate, Dodo, and the others. McBride made me really care about them!

Cleo wrote: "This story is a favourite of mine. It's been a couple of years since I read it but I didn't feel Tolstoy was criticizing his society. In Ivan, he was giving us an "Everyman" but perhaps one whose s..."

Some great points Cleo! Certainly it's a result of Ivan's choices. Also, it's for sure true that in any culture there are some who live very materialistically and others who do not. I love your final question especially - it's a great question for everyone to consider!

I wonder though if Tolstoy is also criticizing pre-revolutionary Russian culture. There are some periods of time in some cultures where classes of people live more materialistic lives. And in a culture where appearances have big reprecussions, there might be a lot of pressure to conform to those values. In some eras and places, wearing less opulent or less stylish clothing might be enough to get ostracized. It is a very particular class of people that Ivan belongs to.

Just like The Great Gatsby says something about people on a personal level as well as commenting on the shallowness of the culture of the post-war 1920s, I feel lile Tolstoy might also be doing both. But that culture Tolstoy is describing is much more remote from us nowadays . . . if the story were only a social commentary on his day, it would just be a curiosity now, but I agree that this is not the case. The story also speaks to aspects of the human condition that are timeless.

Nidhi wrote: "I just want to add that whatever the situation must be, a person should interact with society and make positive relations, he should give back to society what he got from it since he was born. Lack of this results in a parched spirit which could not connect neither with men nor with god. This is a short story but I had this feeling that Ivan was disconnected."

Absolutely Nidhi, I love the way you put this! His spirit is definitely parched, and he is disconnected for sure. It's so sad!

There are ways to think of this in every reiigious or spiritual tradition, but thinking of it in the language of Christian traditions, he is like the man in the parable who built his house upon sand. There is nothing substantial in the life he has built; so when the crisis comes, he has nothing to hold him up. Even in non-religious terms, this is true. There is no depth to any of his relationships. It's so heartbreaking!

For me, there's two aspects of the narrator's suffering. First, there's the suffering of his illness, which anyone going through a serious illness would undergo.

But then beyond this, he undergoes a second suffering . . . of realizing the emptiness of all of his former ambitions, compounded by the staggering callousness of all the people who surround him. All those people who should care about him are instead obsessed by fruitless worries for empty things, about possessions and appearances rather than anything substantial or "real." It's so heartbreaking!

As people finish the book, I'm curious what everyone thinks.

Although Tolstoy is criticizing aspects of the particular culture of his period, I wonder how much of it still applies today? For my part, I suspect it still applies, in some social circles more than others, perhaps in some cases as strongly as ever.

But I'm curious what others think?

Nidhi wrote: "I read this short book or story last year. As with all the works by Tolstoy, this too contains reflections on social, political and religious aspects of Russian society of that time.
This year also..."

That's true Nidhi, and it is interesting how very different his works are from each other, though they all share his philosophical perspective in one way or another. Definitely this book comments on social trends of the time (as well as political and social realities to some extent). It's a searing social indictment of that culture's priorities and obsessions.

This is more a question for the spoiler thread, but I wonder how much of this still could apply today? I'll post more there.

Maria wrote: "I'm about to start reading this now. I've read a few of Tolstoy's short stories before, and I keep thinking I should read his novels, but I never seem to get there. This is less of a commitment len..."

Hope you like it Maria.

This is my favorite of Tolstoy's works actually. It's affecting and beautifully done.

One interesting tidbit: some medical programs in the United States required this as reading for prospective medical professionals. I think they missed Tolstoy's main point, but anything that encourages empathy for people in bad situations is good thing I suppose.

I have read this book four or five times and don't know if I'll read it again, but I will certainly comment in spoilers after others do.

Cheryl wrote: "Greg wrote: "Thanks, Greg. I'm reading the discussions for this book while awaiting getting it in from my library. It sounds interesting! I read The Good..."

Great Cheryl!

I will certainly read the author again someday; so it's good to have the recommendation. Also looking forward to your comments after you get your copy of this one - there's lots to talk about. I'll keep watching the thread after I finish; it's definitely worthy of deeper discussion!

Cheryl wrote: "Oh, sorry! I am still learning my way around the group. Thanks for this info.
"

Very glad to have you in the group Cheryl!