Reading with Style discussion
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FA 2014 RwS Completed Tasks - Fall 2014
20.6 UnderratedThe Asti Spumante Code: A Parody by Toby Clements
+20 Task
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 800
20.3 Thieves & MysteriesThe Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
+20 Task (thieves list)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 820
20.9 War BabiesEaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in A.D. 922 by Michael Crichton
+20 Task (author born 1942)
+10 Combo (10.9-Beowulf retelling; 10.4-manuscript)
+5 Oldies (1976)
Post Total: 35
Season Total: 855
10.4 9, 10, 11The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark
+10 Task (Sandalwood)
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 865
10.4 9, 10, 11Loss of Innocence by Richard North Patterson
+10 Task (Innocence)
Post Total: 10
Season Total: 875
15.9 - BtW Constant Traveler1921-22: The Enormous Room by E.E. Cummings
+15 task
+15 bonus
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 805
20.1 - 19th CenturyThe Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
+20 Task
+ 5 Combo (10.9)
Task total = 25
Points total = 170
15.7 BtW Constant TravelerThe Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett ( published 1931)
15 pt task
+15 pt. bonus
Task total: 30
Grand Total: 340
15.8 BtW Constant TravelerThe Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain ( published 1934)
15 pt. task
15 pt. bonus
Task Total: 30
Grand total : 370
Task 20.6 - UnderratedThe Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield: A Tragedy of the Gilded Age (2011) by H.W. Brands (Paperback, 206 pages)
Review:This book is part of Brand’s American Portraits series. The series is designed to be the “smaller stories” of “vividly rendered accounts of lost or forgotten lives and crucial historical moments.” Jim Fisk was a financial speculator who was murdered on January 8, 1872. Josie Mansfield was a young woman, living alone in New York City, and working (occasionally) as a showgirl. Both Jim Fisk and his murderer appear to be in love with her, even though both are married to respectable women and so should not be pursuing attractive young showgirls. Despite the title of the book, Josie is not a prime focus of this book.
The first half of this book recounts details from Jim Fisk’s life and details from the lives of people important in Fisk’s life (including his murderer). The second half of the book is the murder trial. In New York City in 1872, this trial got the “OJ Simpson” trial treatment. Tabloid style newpaper articles breathlessly reported every detail, the trial was closely followed, and, afterwards, those involved worked hard to regain their anonymity.
Brands has a just-the-fact, straightforward style of explaining events. I’d recommend this book for fans of “true crime” books and for those interested in history books about “the Gilded Age”.
+20 Task (#20.6 Underrated)
+10 Not-a-Novel: Non-fiction
+10 Review
Task Total: 20 + 10 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 1125 + 40 = 1165
20.7 Make It StrangeInvisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Review:
Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.
I could never be quite sure what I was reading here, to the extent I wasn't even entirely sure whether this would be ‘not-a-novel’, as a collection of inter-related short stories. But even ‘short stories’ is misleading. This is really just a series of vignettes, many barely a couple of hundred words long, framed as Marco Polo describing to Kublai Khan the cities he encountered on his expeditions, though with occasional jolts back into the present, such as when he muses on how the airport → suburbs → downtown → hotel → shopping experience in many cities is now so identical in many places you can only tell where you are by the large lettered sign of the airport name. It's the sort of thing that would make an excellent Peter Greenaway movie.
The book is fully of pithy little aphorisms (“You take delight not in a city’s seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer it gives to a question of yours.” / “Each man bears in his mind a city made only of differences, a city without figures and without form, and the individual cities fill it up.” / “The unhappy city contains a happy city unaware of its own existence” etc), and though I raced through it in a few hours, it seems like the sort of book that would repay a much, much slower reading. Though, of course, it's also the very epitome of a book that, per Heraclitus, you can never actually read twice. ★★★★
+20 Task
+15 Combo [10.4 9,10,11 (Invisible); 10.7 Honored (Calvino Prize); 20.10 Higher Education (UT Austin)]
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (1972)
Post Total: 50
Grand Total: 2660
20.9 — War BabiesClear and Simple as the Truth: Writing Classic Prose by Francis-Nöel Thomas and Mark Turner
Review:
I discovered this through the first half of Stephen Pinker's new book being little more than an extended advertisement for — and extended summary of — it. It wasn't until reading this, however, that I realised I'd been placing the emphasis in the wrong place when telling everyone about Pinker's version of it. I'd previously been talking about ‘classic style’ as if it were style that is, er, classic. But it really makes much more sense to stress it the other way around — it's not so much about style-that-is-classic, as the-style-of-a-classic.
The author set out various characteristics of a classic (non-fiction) book, but they mostly boil down to the classic being the book that clearly expresses the truth of any topic to an intelligent, but non-specialist reader, in a way that starkly reveals how every other book was simply too complex to be widely understood.
Then they proceed to describe how exactly to write a book like that, and demonstrating, with copious examples, how it's generally superior to many other styles of writing. (They certainly don't believe it's the only valid style of writing; more just that writers should carefully choose which style they're going to use, and know the strengths and weaknesses of each for getting their ideas across.)
This is not only the best book I've ever read on how to write, but even as someone who simply reads a lot of non-fiction, it has given me a lot more clarity on why I find the style of a lot of books difficult or infuriating. Increasingly I'm finding authors falling back on a style of writing that is more characteristic of a college essay, and this book did a great job of helping me understand why exactly that grates on me so much. Very highly recommended for both readers and writers. ★★★★★
+20 task: (b. 1943)
+5 combo [20.6 Underrated (76 ratings)]
+10 not-a-novel
+10 review
Post Total: 45
Grand Total: 2705
20.9 - War BabiesPsyche by Paul Claes
Author born in 1943
+ 20 task
+ 15 combo (20.2 - born in Belgium, 20.6 - 2 ratings, 20.8 - set in Egypt)
task total: 35
+ 100 RwS finish = 135
Grand Total: 885
15.3 - Constant TravelerThe Prophet by Khalil Gibran
pub 1923.
+15 task
+15 bonus
Task total = 30
Grand total = 915
20.4 RealismMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
+20 task
+ 10 combo (10.5 - Dr. Salk, 20.1 - 19th Century)
+10 review
+15 oldies (1856)
I've had a copy of this on my shelf for at least ten years, so thank you, RWS, for pushing me to finally read it. I finished it last night and I can't get it off my mind - Emma Bovary is a despicable character in so many ways. In fact, almost every character in this novel is pretty vile and unlikeable. Yet there is something so human in Emma that draws you in, it's like she has the ability to express sentiments that we probably all feel from time to time throughout our lives, but that we never say out loud - or even to ourselves - because we have a hard time believing we would think such thoughts, or have the capacity to be so cruel to others.
Take this quote from the novel, when Emma and her lover are discussing the merits of reading books: “What better occupation, really, than to spend the evening at the fireside with a book, with the wind beating on the windows and the lamp burning bright...Haven't you ever happened to come across in a book some vague notion that you've had, some obscure idea that returns from afar and that seems to express completely your most subtle feelings?”
This book is tragic, and ugly, and sad for so many reasons - betrayal, unrequited love, the impossible situation that many women face (still to this day) with marriages they can't escape. But it's a beautiful novel, even in its boring, quotidian nature. I loved it, and look forward to reading more Flaubert in the future.
Task total: 55
Grand total: 355
20.9 War BabiesRestoration by Rose Tremain
First paragraph:
Look at me. Without my periwig, I am an affront to neatness. My hair (what is left of it) is the colour of sand and wiry as hogs' bristles; my ears are of uneven size; my forehead is splattered with freckles; my nose, which of course my wig can't conceal, however low I wear it, is unceremoniously flat, as if I had been hit at birth.And I knew I was going to like this.
The prose tends to be quite formal. Tremain has written this in such a way to help the reader feel with the times - the 17th Century. She is not as obscure as often Shakespeare was and her spelling is 100% better! This is Merrie Olde England with its bawdiness and drunkenness and perhaps a serving wench or two. At least one review says it is close to historically accurate, though with an occasional error. I am not at all familiar with the time period, so I could just go with what was on the page. (Another review considers this erotic, but don't you believe it.)
This is just my type of book being largely a character study. I don't know about you, but I am not quite the same person I was 10 years ago. As I learn, as life happens, I grow and change with that growth. So, too, does Robert Merivel grow and change over the course of this novel. I enjoyed the beginning with its humor as much as later that was serious.
I will definitely be reading more of Rose Tremain. The strong beginning, and superb ending have me sliding this into my list of 5-star reads, though the middle sections might just be a good quality 4 stars.
+20 Task (b. 1943)
+ 5 Combo (10.4)
+10 Review
+ 5 Oldies (pub 1989)
Task Total = 40
Grand Total = 670
Elizabeth, what book is this?
Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Elizabeth, what book is this?"Ha! A new mistake for me! Thanks, Theresa - fixed!
Thanks! I've added it to my TBR list.
Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "Thanks! I've added it to my TBR list."I thought of you while I was reading.
Claire wrote: "20.4 RealismMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
+20 task
+ 10 combo (10.5 - Dr. Salk, 20.1 - 19th Century)
+10 review
Eleanor wrote: "+ 100 RwS finish = 135"Congratulations, Eleanor!
Task 10.8 - Comfort Reads –In 2011 I gave 5 * to:
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes
Orlando Figes is the Oxford University expert on Russian History 1850-1950. He writes clearly and accurately about Russia, and I’d recommend all of his histories to anyone interested in Russian post-1700.
Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia (2002) by Orlando Figes (Hardcover, 728 pages)
Review: The Cultural History begins with the establishment of St. Petersburg in 1702 and ends with Russian culture during the Soviet Union era of the 20th century. There were more details about theatre and painting than I was interested in (but expected in a book about “cultural history”). Included were topics related to what I was interested in – how did the people actually live in Russia during those years. Occasionally the author digresses to what was happening historically (like the invasion by Napoleon in 1812, or “the Decembrist Rising” in December 1825). Then he ties in the historical with the cultural. Works for me! Figes quotes liberally from the great Russian 19th century writers, likeLeo Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol. The title “Natasha’s Dance” refers to an event in War and Peace wherein the character Natasha spontaneously begins dancing a traditional Russian dance. Recommended for those interested in Russian history and for those interested in Russian Culture (art, music, dancing, poetry, etc.).
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel: non-fiction
+10 Review
+10 Jumbo 700-799 Pages:
Task Total: 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40
Grand Total: 1165 + 40 = 1205
10.2 HalloweenThe Damnation Game by Clive Barker
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.4)
+5 Oldies (1984)
Post Total: 20
Season Total: 900
10.6 Short StuffToo Much Happiness by Alice Munro
+10 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (10.4)
Post Total: 25
Season Total: 945
10.8 Comfort ReadsIn a Country of Mothers by A.M. Homes
+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.6)
Post Total: 15
Season Total: 960
20.6 — UnderratedFuture Positive by Edward De Bono
de Bono has averaged almost a book a year for close to fifty years now. Some of the early ones have held up remarkably well. This one hasn't. He wrote it over a one week period in 1978, and it shows — both as to when it was written, and how.
The first half is largely a recap of his general thinking on thinking — ways we go wrong, ways we can do better, and why it's important that we take steps to do so. Most of it is stuff he's expounded on much better elsewhere, though I was quite taken by an extended summary of the multiple different forces that can cause change, that I haven't seen before.
The second half, however, starts to go quite badly wrong. Here he sketches some ideas he has for making better society, in terms of politics, economics, government, policing, education, etc. It's important to note the context here: this is late 1970s Britain, just before Thatcher comes to power (or as Francis Wheen put it: Strange Days Indeed). British society did indeed change dramatically in the decade after this books and the arguments over the extent to which these changes are a good thing or a bad thing still run deep. In some ways this can be read a useful reminder of how bad many things had gotten just before then (which enabled Thatcher to make such sweeping changes); but many of de Bono's "cures" seem laughable — albeit with the gift of lots of hindsight.
Of course he warns in the introduction not to take his ideas too seriously. His goal was to stimulate new thinking, and set people on a path of exploration, not to provide a well-reasoned and -argued set of coherent policies. I have no context now for how successful that goal might have been at the time; but although many of the issues he addresses are still relevant, or are becoming more timely again (in particularly his thoughts around the nature of employment and unemployment; sortition; and the role of technology in society — not to make complexity tolerable, but to make simplicity possible — are all being echoed quite strongly in certain quarters again today), the 1970s setting obscures much of the value, leaving this little more than a curious historical relic. ★★☆
+20 task: (5 ratings)
+10 not-a-novel (non-fiction)
+5 oldies (1980)
+10 review
Task total: 45
Grand total: 2750
20.4 — RealismThe Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories by Mark Twain
“The Mysterious Stranger” was Twain's last major piece, and was left unfinished. Several major versions of it exist, both in terms of Twain's own rewrites of it, and in terms of how it was finished-off after his death. I'm in two minds as to whether I'd like to try out some of the others or not. I found this version deeply unsatisfying; most particularly with the ending, but also in with some of the characters and plot points, but I'm not convinced any of the others will be much better.
The core story is quite interesting: some young boys encounter an angel, called Satan, who explains that he's actually his more-famous-namesake's nephew. But they're never quite sure what to make of him; and in particular whether he's actually good or evil. Twain plays a lot with the old Taoist parable of how you can never tell whether something is good or bad unless you can also see all the repercussions of it over time; and with the notion that an angel (and presumably by implication a God) is so far removed from a human — even more distant than an elephant from an ant — that to ascribe notions of good or evil to most of their actions simply makes no sense. But how these ideas actually play out in the story vary wildly. Some of it is excellent; much of it is decidedly not. If I were feeling charitable, I could assume that Twain would eventually hit on the right way to tell the tale — but the version here definitely isn't it.
This volume also includes several other short pieces too. “The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm” is the best of a pretty bad bunch, but the fable with the artist and the mirror could have worked much better were it not for the explicit Moral oddly tacked on at the end. ★★
+20 task
+15 combo [10.4 9, 10, 11 (Mysterious), 10.7 Honored Authors (Mark Twain Prize for American Humor), 20.6 Underrated (813 ratings)]
+10 not-a-novel (short-stories)
+10 oldies (1916)
+10 review
Task total: 65
Grand total: 2815
Thanks, Kate!Kate S wrote: "Claire wrote: "20.4 Realism
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
+20 task
+ 10 combo (10.5 - Dr. Salk, 20.1 - 19th Century)
+10 review
+10 oldies +15 Oldies (1856)""
10.4 9. 10, 11The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
+10 Task ("impossible")
Task Total = 10
Grand Total = 245
20.6 UnderratedMen in Love: Masculinity and Sexuality in the Eighteenth Century by George E. Haggerty
+20 Task (5 ratings)
+5 Combo (10.4-Masculinity, 11)
+10 Not-a-Novel
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 290
20.5 — PoliticsCommon Sense by Thomas Paine
Next in my continuing exploration of Hugely Important Historical Arguments is Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”, and it does nothing to shake my ever-growing conviction that even those works that were most successful at massively changing public opinion, with significant ensuing consequences (or indeed perhaps especially those works), are approximately 10% genius, and 90% crazy. My knowledge of political history is hugely deficient in many areas, and I’m well aware that the proper way to draw value from something like this is with careful study that draws out all the nuances that depend on vital historical context. But it’s fascinating to simply read things like this in a plain, naive manner, and count my “Huh?”s and “Eh?”s.
Some of these are at things that just seem wildly out of place (like the tables of calculations to estimate the cost of the British navy, that have all the hallmarks of someone {{citation needed}}-ing his earlier drafts), but most are of the form “Erm… how badly argued must the opposing side have been for this to have been so effective?” Works like this seem like they should be used much more often as evidence by those cognitive psychologists who keep insisting that most of the time people tend not so much to be actively persuaded by argument, as to look for arguments that seem good enough to let them feel content that holding a particular position is OK.
And, of course there are also many cheap jabs to be had here at the extent to which the US ended up mirroring so much of what Paine was holding up as the worst of British rule (“England is so exceedingly complex, that the nation may suffer for years together without being able to discover in which part the fault lies; some will say in one and some in another, and every political physician will advise a different medicine.”), but I suspect that’s probably a standard High School essay topic (or at least should be). By serious reviewing metrics I’m sure this should be ★★★★★, but it only gets ★★ from me.
+20 task
+10 review
+10 not-a-novel
+15 oldies (1776)
Task total: 55
Grand total: 2870
15.9 BtW Constant travellerDeath in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh, p.1938
+15 task
+15 bonus
Task total 30
Grand total 895
15.10 BtW Constant travellerThe Chief Witness by Herbert Adams, p. 1939
+ 15 task
+ 150 BtW finish bonus
+ 200 Mega finish bonus
Grand total 1260
Task 20.1 19th CenturyFrankenstein by Mary Shelley
Review:
Sometimes you read a classic and think "What's the big deal?". Other times you read a classic and immediately feel a connection and an understanding to the timeless quality that makes a classic. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is one of the latter books for me.
I've tried to read it a number of times but never got past the first few pages. This time, I chose to alternately read and "listen" to the book via the Kindle's whispersync capabilities. The narration was lovely (read by Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame) but even better was the story. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was a story of such deep insight into the human psyche that I am utterly amazed that it was written in the very early 19th century. The wants and desires that she gave the creature were the same wants and desires that every human being has. Shelley used the creature to look at what the result is when the basic human need for love and acceptance are withdrawn. As someone who had only had experience with Hollywood's version of Frankenstein, I loved being able to read the creature's viewpoint. It was painful at times, as he had his hopes continually dashed by the so-called civilized society.
It was scary at times, as well. The creatures determination to ruin Frankenstein was scary as well as Dr. Frankenstein's own willingness to destroy his creation without even trying to understand his (it's?) needs.
Now, I understand why this book is on every book list. It is not on enough lists! Everyone should read Frankenstein. I am so glad that I finally gave the time to read it. Now to find the time to give it a second reading.
+20 task
+10 review
+15 oldie
+20 combo (10.2/#80 on first list, 10.5/#5 on list, 10.7/approved, 10.9/approved)
Task Total = 65
Grand Total = 65
Task10.7 Honored Authors The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_...
Review:
I've read one or two novels by Agatha Christie in the distant past but have never read her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I picked this book up as part of a reading challenge and am so glad I did. This was a delightful short read, with quite a you-won't-see-it-coming twist at the end .
Not only is this Christie's debut but it is also the debut of one of literature's best loved detectives, Hercule Poirot. I found the relationship between Poirot and his narrator,Hastings, to be quite interesting. At times, they seemed both friends and adversaries, at least from Hastings' viewpoint. Actually, Hastings was sometimes a bit whiny and seemed to overshare a bit much. I found myself wondering why, he as the narrator would be sharing some of his more embarrassing moments. But all that aside, I enjoyed Christie's first novel and will be reading more of them soon. Perfhaps, I'll even figure out which ones I've already read.
+10 task
+10 oldie (pub 1920)
+10 review
+5 combo (10.4)
Task Total 35 points
Grand Total = 100
Task 10.8 Comfort ReadThe Secret Place by Tana French
(I've previously rated three of her books with 5 stars)
Review:
I love Tana French. I've devoured every one of her novels and could not wait for #5 to come out. I quite literally counted the days until The Secret Place was available for purchase. I did the "whispersync" thing and alternated between reading on my kindle and listening via the audible app. So, I read and listened to The Secret Place and I have to say that I was not as completely impressed with it as I have been with her past novels. I think my main disappointment was French's attempt at alternating viewpoints. I didn't love that. I generally love French's characters so much that I enjoy getting immersed with their thoughts and perspectives. I wasn't able to do that with this book since the chapters were constantly switching between teenage Holly and Detective Moran.
That being said, the story was great. Wickedly good as only a Tana French novel can be. There were so many twists and reveals that I felt like I was going to have whiplash at times. With some authors, this many reveals could feel forced but with French's writing and with the setting being an all girls school, the secrets and the reveals were seamless. I loved French's ability to really get into the mind of a 21st century teenage girl and show us all the intricacies of not only friendships but also the father-daughter relationship of Holly and her father, Frank (one of my favorites of Tana French's past protagonists).
The story had some great bones and still had all the strength of Tana French's storytelling. I think I just didn't like the change of perspectives since it isn't something that I usually expect from this author. I will probably give The Secret Place a re-read at some point in the near future.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 120 points
10.1 - Square PegBook of Shadows by Phyllis Curott
I read this book based on the fact the author is a lawyer and I being a professional in the Human Services field necessary to read up on as many social topics as is important because you never know what type of person you will meet on the job, and what religion they practice. I wanted to know Ms. Curott's personal experiences with Wicca. I favor the book as an autobiographical account of her personal interests and struggles, especially with that sexist pig of a boss (small spoiler alert). I am glad to have read her struggle with how to deal with sexual harassment in the work place; it provided a personal testimony of why she chose the Wicca path and her written portrayal of how she would deal with the individual problems as they arose. It is integral that Ms. Curott acknowledged negative consequences of using magical alchemy to protect herself against negative people she came into contact with and the repercussions she herself had determined an unfavorable working environment regardless of using magic, she finally quits her job to find hospitable employment. I don't discount her psychic dreams; however the goddess chose to speak to her, seems to be a lack of spatial development and interlude of the dreams themselves that would enlighten the reader into delving deeper into her decisions to follow the pagan path. The lack of information and details based on her psychic dreams sometimes left me guessing and I believe the public scrutiny, personal perceptions and interpretations of what determines a person’s life journey is as determinable as the outcome itself. However, Ms. Curott spent time talking about her own personal growth and understanding of Wicca, she also talks about the bonds of friendship she created while in attendance with her coven. I would have like to have read more of her personal experiences in circle as well as out; she has said she did spend time with several of her coven mates. However, she kept the circle life much like you would have a supporting character in the background, as well as any notable experiential growth that occurred in the coven.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 20
20.5 — PoliticsSecond Treatise of Government by John Locke
100 things I’ve learned† from
1. God gave the world to Adam, and his successive heirs
2. Therefore, by the natural laws of succession (i.e. primogeniture), that means everything in the world should now be owned by one supreme King
3. Hmmm. That doesn’t sound so good.
4. Hey! What’s that over there!?
5. As I was saying, everything in the world is owned in common by everyone.
6. But not like the stupid way the English do it with “Common land”, where no-one can do anything without getting everyone’s permission first.
7. If that were the natural state of things, then father couldn’t just put lots of meat on the dinner table for the whole family to eat, he’d have to tell everyone what their portion was first, and that would be madness.
8. Rather, anyone should be allowed to just take anything they want. The very act of taking it makes it theirs.
9. This is clearly how God intended things, as he commanded man to work, and thus my labour in picking up an apple makes it mine. […continued]
+20 Task
+5 combo [10.4 9, 10, 11 (Government)]
+10 not-a-novel
+20 oldies (1689)
+10 review
Task total: 65
Grand total: 2935
10.4 - 9, 10, 11: Columbine by Dave Cullen
I have struggled with whether or not to read Columbine since its publication. Just this year, I retired from my job as a high school librarian, and I just couldn’t face the terror of reading about these events when they felt awfully close to home, even though they occurred quite a while ago now. It was still a difficult and emotional reading experience, but I am glad I took it on. I grew up in Colorado (now living in WA state) and went to Wheatridge High School in Jefferson County, so when I heard about the shooting (I was teaching in an elementary school at the time) it hit me hard. I followed the story closely at the time and remembered a lot of the details Cullen writes about. The structure of the book moving back and forth in time and reporting on the build up, the aftermath and the ongoing lives of those involved was what made the book a riveting read and earned it 5 stars from me. I wasn’t convinced that every single bit of the book was accurate, but there were certainly many details brought out that painted a different picture of this event from the original story and I am glad to have learned of them. My husband worked as an orderly at Craig Hospital, so Patrick’s recovery story was also engaging and encouraging.
I was interested in the backstory for how the book She Said Yes was published even though the story was not accurate. As a librarian, I had already heard of this lack of accuracy, but not learned of the reasons behind it. We had an event called “Rachel’s Challenge”, an anti-bullying program, at my high school a few years ago. It is named in honor of the first girl killed and her brother is the speaker. I was surprised that program wasn’t mentioned in the book since the author makes a case against bullying as the cause of the Columbine shooting. As a high school teacher, I can attest that bullying is a definite cause of concern in our high schools and whether or not it played a significant role in this horrific event at Columbine, it certainly exacerbates problems for any student struggling. At the very least, we are more vigilant in our efforts to stop bullying regardless of whether it caused this shooting or any other mass murder. The portrayal of the mental health issues of the boys was frightening and informative. I hope we can learn to deal with mental illness better as a society in general: treat it early when the signs are there, recognize and isolate those who are truly deemed dangerous (and this book makes a case for that being true in the case of these boys), and stop criminalizing those who are not dangerous but just different and struggling to deal with the challenges of their condition. The problem comes in recognizing the differences between the benign and the toxic, and that’s what Cullen helps us sort out in Columbine.
+10 Task: columbine
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel (nonfiction)
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 2260
20.4 - Realism: An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen
The play An Enemy of the People was amazingly quite relevant to environmental issues of today in it’s subject matter. I listened to a full cast version of the play and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The question of money and political gain before doing what is right came to the forefront. How quickly the doctor was made “an enemy of the people” when he was actually the person with their best interests in mind. The audio was followed up with an interview about pre-hurricane Katrina knowledge of work that needed to be done and how it was silenced for the same bad reasons. Even though Ibsen was exaggerating to make a point about the people to his play Ghosts, the doctor’s efforts to close the baths because of pollution rang true, perhaps truer than the author imagined when he wrote the play in 1882. There was both humor and tragedy in this play and I recommend it highly.
+20 Task: on realism list
+10 Combo: 10.3 - Leif Erikson / 10.7 - Honored Authors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegia...
+10 Review
+10 Not a Novel (Play)
+10 Oldies (1882)
Task Total: 60
Grand Total: 2320
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Reading with Style
Books mentioned in this topic
Quantum Leap: Obsessions (other topics)The Secret Place (other topics)
Dracula (other topics)
The Trial of Andrew Johnson (other topics)
Stranger Things Happen (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Carol Davis (other topics)Tana French (other topics)
Bram Stoker (other topics)
Noel B. Gerson (other topics)
Noel B. Gerson (other topics)
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Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan 11/12/14
The Wheel of Time series was approved for this task by Karen Michele in the discussion thread.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Combos:
10.4 - Crossroads has 10 letters
Review:
Crossroads of Twilight is the tenth book in Robert Jordan’s fourteen book series, The Wheel of Time. After finishing the book, I must agree with other reviews which state that this volume was not as interesting as the earlier ones. It was more what I would consider a “bridge” book, advancing the story further and moving the characters to be positioned for more exciting adventures in the books to come. I first became aware of the fantasy series in 2009 when the twelfth book was extremely popular on Audible. The books average about 700-800 pages each, and I’ve now got only four to finish. My taste generally runs more to classics, biographies, and historical fiction, but occasionally I enjoy a good fantasy, too.
+10 task
+5 Combo (10.4)
+10 review
+10 jumbo (700 pages)
Task total: 35
BtW total: 75
RwS total: 955
Grand Total: 1030