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

Greg’s comments from the All About Books group.

Leslie wrote: "So glad to hear you are enjoying Death Comes for the Archbishop Greg! My parents gave me a copy for my 11th birthday and though many years have passed and I have reread it since, I st..."

It's funny the way a child's mind works - thank goodness you were wrong!! - but wow, your parents gave you a pair of wonderful books! I wish my parents had been readers. It must have been wonderful to have that to share with them growing up.

As I'm getting further, Cather does touch just slightly upon some of the bad behavior of other priests in the area, though Latour still seems mystified as to why the Indians would revolt or rebel and thinks of those rebelling as "savage." So, it seems he hasn't put the two things together and hasn't connected them somehow.

But I'm very willing to overlook this.

Latour is such a compelling character - his humility, intelligence and grace feel so genuine; the depiction touches my heart! And I love all the various episodes of his interactions with the "simple" people in his huge parish and his respect for all of their various local traditions. It's an extraordinary book!

I'm about 1/3 of the way through now. The book is somewhat episodic and not very tightly plotted, but I'm enjoying it so much that I'm moving through it quickly anyway. I expect I will be done soon.

LauraT wrote: "(if I remember well, it was what Jo broght to Laurie the very first time she went to see him at his grandfather's as he was not well, with flu; it was prepared by sweet motherly Me..."

Love it Laura! :)

I'm in:

Total Pages= 2,017 pages (so far)

Books Read:
The Vanishing Half (page 170-389) - 219 pages
Dead Silence (page 193-343) - 150 pages
Death Comes for the Archbishop (page 1-297) 297 pages
The Queen of Spades and Selected Works (page 1-160) - 160 pages
A Good Man Is Hard To Find (page 1-13) 13 pages
Paul's Case (page 1-48) 48 pages
Roman Fever (page 1-25) 25 pages
Heart of a Dog (page 1-123) 123 pages
Rubyfruit Jungle (page 87-246) 159 pages
Ymir (page 1-416) 416 pages
Brick Lane (page 1-192) 192 pages
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (page 1-190) 190 pages
Flowers of Evil and Other Works/Les Fleurs du Mal et Oeuvres Choisies : A Dual-Language Book (Dover Foreign Language Study Guides) (page 1-25) 25 pages

Book covers finished:

I'm in the second half of the space horror Dead Silence, and I'm about a quarter way through Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. It would be hard to imagine two books more different, but I'm enjoying both.

The Cather book is just lovely - in the writing, the characters, and in the sentiments. It's touching me deeply, and I love it.

It's hard not to think that the history of the missions in America's West is being whitewashed a bit here though. For sure there were some men like Latour, both kind and intellectually humble. But there were other leaders of the effort who did not have either of these qualities, and there's a darker side of some of the mission work with the Native Americans and some of the Western missions that is not portrayed here at all so far. By coincidence, I just finished a book by a Native American (White Horse) that touched on the other side of some of the missions, with forced labor and family separations. The difference in depictions could not be more stark!

None of this prevents me for enjoying Cather's story for what it is, but those other depictions are looming in the back of my mind.

I had a bad day at work on Friday Laura, and I thought of you with your work irritations. I usually love the people I work with, but Friday we were not at our best. It's been a long time since I experienced that level of frustration.

Hopefully my coworkers will be in better form today!

Kati wrote: "I really enjoyed this book, too"

Great Kati! I'm really glad it was chosen for the group read - I don't know if I would have ever gotten around to reading it otherwise.

Leslie wrote: "Greg - I love Wives and Daughters! I hope you do too."

Good to hear Laura and Leslie!!

Esther wrote: "I hope to finish The Vanishing Half today too."

I loved it Esther! I thought it was beautifully done!

X: Xocolatl Drink (Aztec Hot Chocolate)

V: Vanilla Cupcakes

My plans for April:

finish up from last month:
1. The Conference of the Birds (Attar of Nishapur)

very likely:
✔ 1. Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir (Akwaeke Emezi) ★★★★ (4.5)
✔ 2. Heart of a Dog (Mikhail Bulgakov) ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ 3. Ymir (Rich Larson) ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ 4. Brick Lane (Monica Ali) ★★★★ (3.5)

probably:
1. Wives and Daughters (Elizabeth Gaskell)
in progress 2. The Library at Mount Char (Scott Hawkins)

possibly:
1. Queen of Sorcery (David Eddings)
2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
3. Daisy Jones & The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)
4. The Symposium (Plato)
5. Lean Fall Stand (Jon McGregor)

unplanned:
✔ 1. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (Michael Moorcock) ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ 2. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Gabriel García Márquez) ★★★★★ (4.5)
✔ 3. Flowers of Evil and Other Works/Les Fleurs du Mal et Oeuvres Choisies : A Dual-Language Book (Dover Foreign Language Study Guides) (Charles Baudelaire) ★★★ (3.5)
✔ 4. The Deep (Rivers Solomon) ★★★ (2.5)

What are you planning to read in April? Anything you're looking forward to?

Just finished - I'll head over to the spoiler thread after I gather my thoughts Overall, I loved it!

I'm finishing up The Vanishing Half today and about to start Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Leslie wrote: "Is there such a thing as too many cupcakes Greg??

Your bakery seems to have an alcoholic theme!"

Lately, it seems so! Or maybe that has to do with the ones I am choosing, ha ha. Oh my, those gin and tonic cupcakes were so good!

As far as what I want, there definitely could never be too many of anything sweet and tasty! Though, I'm not sure my doctor would agree. :)

I was supposed to be driving to Arizona today, but the trip has been postponed another week because my nephew Dylan has a cold. So Ron & I are just relaxing here and enjoying what feels like a rare non-rainy night in California.

We got some Gin & Tonic cupcakes today from the shop that had Guness cupcakes on St. Patrick's Day. Very tasty, almost too good! Lately I've been downing far too many cupcakes! :)

Leslie wrote: "It's a little after 10 p.m. here on a Friday night. I am watching the movie 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' (again!), sipping some red wine and checking in here..."

I like the original Jumanji & Zathura movies, though I haven't seen the new ones.

I'm 3/4 done now, on chapter 13. Anyone else still reading?

I'm eager to see if Jude (view spoiler)[will finally make contact with Stella. Not sure if it will happen. (hide spoiler)]

The ending of chapter 5 is just exquisite!

I love how the focus enlarges and drifts through the city and then comes back to the characters, as seen from the outside, before drifting back in. That panoramic perspective shift reminds me of some of the best moments in books by Virginia Woolf. I'm struck by the endings of some of these chapters. Bennett has such a knack for resonant moments.

Oh, and Resse is another favorite character. Like Early, he's indelible.

Q: Quince Pie