Book Nook Cafe discussion
100 Book Prompt Challenge -2023
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Deborah's 100 Book Challenge - 2023
James wrote: "Congratulations on those, madrano, and as for being too far behind, yes, I know that feeling, too…”Thanks, James. I kept hoping i could “catch up” but realized i would not. I appreciate the commiseration, James.
Enjoyed reading your accounts of the books you've read. Thanks.Michele
madrano wrote: "Working in a prestigious law firm was the yuk. The novel was fine but reading more in this series seems unlikely for me. A different concept is that each book in the series apparently has a different main character, all from the same law firm...."
Thanks for the clarification. From what I've read working in a high powered law firm can be brutal. You work long hours and always have an eye towards billable hours. The pay is good but I wonder at what cost.
That is an interesting take to have the same law firm and different main characters in each book. I sort of like the idea.
Thank you, Michele.Alias, one billable point which bugged me is that when one law partner chastised the work of one of their non-partner lawyers, they charged the client for those minutes! It sounds like a in-house issue to me!
Two fresh prompts completed.39- A book published before you were born—Obelists at Sea—C. Daly King
This mystery was first published in 1933. First of all, the title. As it happens, obelist is no longer found in most dictionaries. Author King coined the word initially to mean “a person of little or no value”. In a later book in the series, he creates a new definition, “one who harbors suspicion”. Author’s privilege?
Set on a cruise ship, two murders have occurred and four psychologists are asked for help in solving it. Those interested in the state of psychology at that time would find it more absorbing than i did, yet i liked the exploration of solving crimes without DNA, fingerprints and such. Instead, the ship’s captain asks, in turns, as theories fail, professors and doctors of the subject for assistance. For me, it was rather boring but i saw glimpses of King poking fun at the professionals, too.
As mentioned, this is the first in a series, called Michael Lord series but i couldn’t figure out why. Later i realized that was the real name of one of the passengers, who helped. I doubt i’ll read further in the series but i might, strictly for the description of travel in that age. Other settings include a train and a plane. Oh! And there are floor plans of the ship.
16- A book translated into English from another language. Time Shelter. Written in Bulgarian, by Georgi Gospodinov, and translated into English by Angela Rodel, the book received the 2023 International Booker Prize. And what a concept! Both the reader and the narrator/author are unclear if the main character, Gaustine, is real or a character he created. Does it matter?
The premise, as i see it, is that people with memory loss, including Alzheimer’s, seem calmer, and remember things better when visiting rooms with a decades theme—1930s, 60s, 90s, and on. So, apparently Gaustine creates a business by converting apartment buildings with decade-themed floors. Loved ones bring their memory-challenged family or friend for visits, sometimes just to communicate the way they once did, albeit usually about that decade. It’s worth it to them.
Cities and nations are taking note. (Anyone thinking “Make America Great Again” nationalism here? Brexit? Please do!) Soon, entire nations are voting on which decade their citizens will live! Debates about those decades and what it will mean ensue. Fascinating idea and novel.
Thanks for the information and especially for the final paragraph. I will vote for the 1960's. Or maybe the 1900's before the wars. After November, my hope is that I can pick the 2020's.Michele
Two interesting titles! I could understand not wanting to read the others in the first series. As for the second, sadly there are folks trying to re-create the past now (when People Knew Their Place). Speaking of memory loss, are you familiar with Elizabeth Is Missing?
John wrote: "Speaking of memory loss, are you familiar with Elizabeth Is Missing?"Wow that book was incredible!!
I thought it was a murder mystery, so I had mixed feelings about it in that regard. But then turns out it was about dementia? I thought the author portrayed the emotions wonderfully!!! It was interesting, eye opening and bittersweet.
I don't know much about dementia, but it's similar to how my friend describes her grandmother!
Congratulations on those two and thanks as always for your comments -- they are both informative and well said.
Michele wrote: "Thanks for the information and especially for the final paragraph. I will vote for the 1960's. Or maybe the 1900's before the wars. After November, my hope is that I can pick the 2020's.Michele"
I would probably vote for the ‘60s, too, Michele. In the book, primarily set in Europe, the sixties were popular at first but in Eastern Europe history was harsh to those who succeeded with rebellions, so it lost! That was part of the interesting aspect of elections, thinking about what followed the heydays.
John wrote: "Two interesting titles! I could understand not wanting to read the others in the first series. As for the second, sadly there are folks trying to re-create the past now (when People Knew Their Plac..."We’re on the same page with the King mysteries, John. Even descriptions of the travel conveniences would be outweighed.
I read & saw the PBS film of Emma Healey novel. As I read the beginning of Time Shelter, i thought about that book/character, wondering if such rooms would help. First, the person would need to cooperate, i suppose. Then, who knows?
Reem wrote: "John wrote: "Speaking of memory loss, are you familiar with Elizabeth Is Missing?"Wow that book was incredible!!
I thought it was a murder mystery, so I had mixed feelings about it in that rega..."
I agree, Reem. If you have an opportunity to see the filmed version, starring the late Glenda Jackson, treat yourself. Her portrayal was perfect, imo.
James wrote: "Congratulations on those two and thanks as always for your comments -- they are both informative and well said."Thank you, James. For both novels, i feared giving away too much.
4- A book you chose simply because of its coverI like old-fashioned art for book covers, so for this year’s cover, I selected a mystery with one, Mystery in White—J. Jefferson Farjeon—
.Published in 1933, it’s about strangers on a stranded train on Christmas Eve. Six of them leave the train, ending up in a country home which seems prepared for guests but no one is home. They settle in before discovering a dead body. It’s a fine example of mysteries of that era wherein ghosts and psychic senses are possible.
In trying to find who drew the cover art (i never did), i found a website with many, many old time drawings, so i’m in heaven.
https://www.maryevans.com/ For an eye fest, if you like them, too.
The second completed prompt of the last week is 77- Education or teaching profession or has teacher or student in story F or NF. I selected Pat Conroy’s The Water Is Wide, a recounting of his year, teaching a class of 18 black students on a South Carolina island, near Beaufort. Oddly, it appears many are uncertain whether it is fiction or not, as Conroy apparently claimed both at different times in his life.
It is his second book, set around 1969, while the South was still giving appearances that they were integrating schools, at least with an eye toward equality. They weren’t. His enthusiasm was grand and many students came to appreciate him, unlike the administration. He was full of himself, but he realized that as he wrote. It wasn’t certain that the superintendent realized the same about himself.
madrano wrote: "4- A book you chose simply because of its cover..."Congratulations on two more, and thanks -- the Mary Evans Picture Library is very cool!
Congrats on those prompts! I've added the mystery story to my TBR pile!
James wrote: "madrano wrote: "4- A book you chose simply because of its cover..."Congratulations on two more, and thanks -- the Mary Evans Picture Library is very cool!"
I meant to mention, James, that i never found the drawing used for my mystery’s cover. One thing which charmed me about it was the small, askance evergreen tree attached to the train’s engine.
madrano wrote: "I meant to mention, James, that i never found the drawing used for my mystery’s cover.Here it is . . .
https://www.maryevans.com/search.php?...
Got it! Thank you, James. I’m having such pleasure in suggesting themes and finding new/old art.
I will be slowly updating my Challenge list, based on books i read from August and up to today. There were 8 but today i only added two, the following:52-A book set in Asia. Fiction or nonfiction. I selected a novel i began over 5 years ago but couldn't get into, Tokyo Year Zero--David Peace. The prologue begins with a murdered woman found on the very day the Emperor informed the Japanese people that the nation had surrounded. From there, the novel moves up in time, as the Tokyo detectives try to solve a different but similar case.
The mystery was interesting, as well learning the difficulties US supervision of all aspects of Japan caused the citizens and police. While trying to follow the new rules, detectives sometimes resorted to old ways, which produced results quicker. Still, the crime was unsolved.
A major deterrent, at least for me, was that the Main Character, Detective Minami, inner dialogue or, if you will, aural echoes the man experiences, apparently as a result of war memories. For instance, the sound of jackhammers and bells. And they were repeated throughout the book! Too much, imo. Were they in his head? I presumed they were but by the end, i was somewhat unclear.
Based on a true post-War murder, this is the first in a series of mysteries (more police procedural book) by Peace. I do not care to revisit his writing but must say the mystery was solid. The synopses of the subsequent books intrigue but i need to be prepared to delve in. :-)
THE SECOND book i posted about is #82 Book with a 4 word title--The Color of Lightning--Paulette Jiles, was my selection. Having previously read her News of the World, and liking it enormously, i was eager to get this one, which was already on my TBR.
Yet again, the story is mostly set in North and Central Texas in post Civil War 1800s. The book is loosely based on a true story of a man who tracks down the tribal members who kidnapped his wife and a child. The man, who is African American, is a successful rancher, granted his freedom after helping his "owner" move from Tennessee (i think it was) to Texas.
There is some graphic material, as far as the abduction and murders go. While not to be totally unexpected in describing such a horror, it surprised me, based on the earlier novel.
It's tough to name only one Main Character because i felt another kidnapped woman was a much the lead as the other. The point, no doubt, was to illustrate the ways people could survive such treatment.
Another character, which i felt wasn't needed but who had a different story, was a Quaker man from Pennsylvania, as he takes over the Office for Indian Affairs, mostly with the Kiowa tribe. While some characters meet, others are only heard of, and i felt this man's story was hanging, somewhat.
I think Jiles is a treasure in her ability to tell a story with meaning, despite the tragedies, setbacks and setting. For my money she runs a distant second to Cormac McCarthy, whose westerns set in the 1800s shine in brilliance (as well as deprivation, i hasten to add).
The Jiles book sounds a bit grim for me, but thanks for the excellent descriptions of both stories!
Glad to share, John. Most of the Jiles book isn't that grim but the beginning was, which flavored the book for me. She can write, though.
Adding two more books, read while asea. 83- Famous author you've never read--The Mediterranean Caper--Clive Cussler. While on our cruise, i heard two men talking about their appreciation for Cussler's adventure novels. Never having read him, despite seeing ads for him over the decades, i decided to give him a try for this category. I'm sorry i did.
Actually, starting with one of his earlier novels in the Dirk Pitt series ( https://www.goodreads.com/series/4065... ) may have been a poor choice. The sexism ran rampant through the prose anytime a female was in the area. I was surprised by how repugnant it was, including striking a woman he just met hard because she was still sad about her husband's death! Nope, not for Deb.
Still, i persisted. And i actually liked the action and some of the facts/ideas about underwater exploration and such. It was quick reading, as long as i didn't dwell long on the "girl" issue, and a neat idea. Being set off a Greek island didn't hurt any, either, as i like that nation enormously.
I will not be reading another Cussler novel, but i can see why he's popular. The underwater adventures are a neat setting.
87- Book about or set in, the state or country you live in--Night Will Find You--Julia Heaberlin is a mystery, set in Texas. The main character, Vivvy Bouchet, is an astrophysicist in the Big Bend area of Texas. Her mother died, so she has taken a leave of absence, returning to Fort Worth, her hometown. As a result the psychic insights she had as a child and young woman return and she finds herself trying to find a child who was kidnapped years earlier.
I have lost my notes on this novel but i liked the character, the scientific facts she sprinkles in her conversations and her professional work. Overall, the resolution and other characters were satisfying, although i could have done without the hostile right wing talk radio character.
I would read another novel by this author, even with the same character, although it would be cool if more of it were set in Big Bend.
The Clive Cussler doesn't sound like my cup of tea, either, Madrano.
John wrote: "Great job - congrats!"Thanks, John. I'm pretty darned happy to have those two crossed off my list.
Kiki (Formerly TheGirlByTheSeaOfCortez) wrote: "The Clive Cussler doesn't sound like my cup of tea, either, Madrano."He's certainly been around a long time and has many series. He must have been one of the early ones to situate dramas undersea.
madrano wrote: "Kiki (Formerly TheGirlByTheSeaOfCortez) wrote: "The Clive Cussler doesn't sound like my cup of tea, either, Madrano."He's certainly been around a long time and has many series. He must have been ..."
Seems like I've heard of him almost all my life, Madrano, but I've never read any of his books. I just hear about him a lot. I know he has a huge fanbase. He doesn't need me. LOL
True, Kiki. That's pretty much the way i feel, too.
Two more to add. Well, one to add and another to replace. First, the replace.As i read books which work for another prompt, i thought i would substitute them. In this case i am replacing 40- A Young Adult book- YA- Fiction or nonfiction. I read & enjoyed reading The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate--Jacqueline Kelly, set in Texas but felt it was not quite YA as i view the genre.
Instead i found, read and liked Queen of the Tiles--Hanna Alkaf, set in Malyasia, mostly at Scrabble tournaments for teenagers. Each chapter begins with a good Scrabble word which usually fits the upcoming events that narrator Najwa Bakri shares. Sometimes the word was a stretch, but as a gimmick it works because (if i remember) they are good Scrabble or Words With Friends words.
ANYway, at the last tournament Bakri attended, her best friend and title holder died during the final game. The police determined it was natural causes but some other players are not convinced. This iffy nature is a part of this tourney, as well as a way to relate the different characters. I liked this very much, although the ending fell flat.
67- A book having to do with travel- fiction or nonfiction. My thanks to John for this title, which i never would have found on my own. The delightful A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush--Eric Newby is about a 1956 attempt to walk and climb to Nuristan, by Newby & his acquaintance, diplomat Hugh Carless.
Even looking at a map, i had no idea where they were. Where is Nuristan? It a mountainous territory in the north-east of Afghanistan, the name meaning "The Country of Light". As i read about their adventure, i sometimes recognized place names and other details from the US years in that nation. It's hard to imagine the nerve it would take, even back then, to decide to attempt Mir Samir, a glacial and then unclimbed 20,000 foot peak in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which is west of the Himalayas. This is especially true of two men who had never much scaled mountains. Indeed, we travel with them as they practice mountain climbing for the first time in Wales, hardly similar to their Asian destination.
It is a well-written, often humorous account of their bickering, the long entanglements to entail helpers to tote their goods and cook for them. Along the way, i learned plenty about the rugged life the Afghani people lead and how delicately some must be approached. That the two men are willing to sleep on high ridges, scaling iced heights and eat cold food from canned goods tells us much about them. After detailing their rigid efforts, the ending is very funny.
Thanks to John for sharing about this winner.
madrano wrote: Instead i found, read and liked Queen of the Tiles--Hanna Alkaf, set in Malyasia, mostly at Scrabble tournaments for teenagers. Each chapter begins with a good Scrabble word which usually fits the upcoming events that narrator Najwa Bakri shares. Sometimes the word was a stretch, but as a gimmick it works because (if i remember) they are good Scrabble or Words With Friends words.."
That sounds like a really fun YA book.
.
It is. And it worked on a couple of levels, so a larger audience could like it, not just Scrabble freaks like me.
Re:
Queen of the Tiles by Hanna AlkafI enjoy Scrabble but I'm not a good speller. Weird I know for a reader.
I see the book also was named
-- A Kirkus Reviews Best of YA Books 2019
I'm putting it in my TBR notebook.
My sister is the same way but likes Words With Friends. She cannot spell well but can play that game with no problem. It won't let you score with misspellings, so at least it isn't demoralizing. I hope you like the book, Alias.
For prompt #6- A book set on a farm or a ranch, I originally selected Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land--Leah PennimanIt is a nonfiction book about farmers of African American descent. What i didn’t understand is that it is more a how-to book than the strictly narrative book i’d been seeking. I was 280 pages into the 800+ page book when i abandoned it. Meanwhile, i learned much history, particularly about organic farming and the cooperative food movement.
Penniman began her co-op in an urban neighborhood in Albany, New York! Wanting to find healthier food opportunities for her family, she sought land and grants to be able to do so. Soon she realized the best bet was to begin a food cooperative, because she was living in a “food desert”, as defined by the federal government, meaning that despite a commitment to feeding young children fresh food and “despite our extensive farming skills, structural barriers to accessing good food stood in our way.” (For instance, all chains had left the neighborhood and corner markets offered soft drinks, canned veggies and snacks.) Eventually their cooperative expanded to the point where they had hundreds of people working together (not all in one cooperative), serving a wide array of people, some outside the city, and creating a spiritual component as well.
Again, there was plenty of history involved in those chapters, but often of a practical nature for those using the book as a guide. She detailed city, county and state agencies to help claim property no one uses/owns, how to legally create a cooperative and such. In-between she shares some of the land usage options employed in African communities, which they used as guidelines for land (even heavily leaded land) restoring healthy soil by terracing and healthy initial plants. Who knew? Not me!
There is a spiritual component to the book, as well. Penniman details ceremonies and activities which imbue participants and the land with an emotional well-being. While those would be great for such communities, as reading, they did nothing for me. In fact, upon completing that chapter, i decided the book was not for me. Still, i would HIGHLY recommend it for people who want to consider such alternatives.
In the past we have belonged to two cooperatives, although in neither case did we actually grow the food, despite food being the reason for the group. In one, we were really a food-purchasing co-op, in the other we helped run a healthy food co-op grocery store. As it was in the 70s & 80s, in both cases, we ended up eating better because such healthy and organic foods were not then available in the grocery stores. Hard to believe in this day & age, eh?
SO…I stopped reading that book but still needed a book set on a farm or ranch, and preferred that it be about black farms. And so, i began--[see next post]
Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement--Monica M. WhiteWhite began by introducing her understanding of how farmers of African descent began their cooperative movement even while slaves. Apparently, many slave owners “allowed” the slaves to plant gardens in their own quarters, from which they could feed their families. (Of course, this meant owners could provide less, as well.) Additionally, i learned that some seeds had been saved in the hair of those coming from Africa, which they planted in their new land, which are now considered basics in the US, such as rice. (https://blurredbylines.com/blog/west-... )
Next White, assistant professor of environmental justice at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, shared her intention in the book with a three-pronged definition of “Collective Agency and Community Resilence” (CACR). This is a term she coined, which she calls a “theoretical framework that builds upon and amplifies the social movement concept of everyday strategies of resistance.” Within that, she created three primary strategies she believes other theories of resistance do not have--(1) commons as praxis, (2) prefigurative politics, and (3) economic.”
The next three paragraphs explain the above concepts. It was new to me, so I share here. If you are not interested, feel free to skip down to the fourth paragraph for the rest of the book.
[First, the development of “commons as praxis” is a transition in the ways that members of oppressed communities think and organize. It engages and “contests dominant practices of ownership, consumerism, and individualism and replaces them with shared social status and race and class. It functions as an organizing strategy that emphasizes community well-being and wellness.”
Second, “Prefigurative politics” starts with an awareness that members of a group have been excluded from the political process. They then respond “by developing free spaces to meet without fear of repression to share their grievances and to foster and discuss innovative ideas that will help them move toward freedom and liberation.”
Finally, the pursuit of “economic autonomy” allows “communities to provide for their members financially and to help them move from dependence to independence and from powerlessness toward a position of power.”]
The first few chapters are about historic figures and their understanding of how those of African descent will benefit from growing their own food, for family and to sell. Here she shares the work of Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and W.E.B. DuBois. In talking about the way Washington created the Tuskegee Institute and all it did for blacks, she perfectly adds, “…even reclaiming Washington’s legacy is critical. It can be done without ignoring those public statements he made that reflected the profoundly racist system in which he functioned.”
My husband & i fell in love with Carver when visiting the National Park, https://www.nps.gov/gwca/index.htm . There we learned that he was so much more than the guy who worked with peanuts. His talents including spreading the news about composting, organic gardening and other vegetable products. (Rodale Press, who gets the credit for organic gardening took most of their first ideas straight from Carver, without sharing that fact initially.)
Another controversial figure is W. E. B. Du Bois, who also saw land ownership and production as key to the improvement and inclusion of those of African descent to gain their place in US prosperity. Calling cooperatives the “realization of democracy in industry”, he declared this the best path forward for those who stay, particularly in the South.
From that history, she shares examples of cooperatives, illustrating how her theoretical framework fits three cooperative in success of a group, even if they end up failures. The first example was fascinating to me because I only knew Fannie Lou Hamer as a civil rights activist, one who made national history when she led her Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to be seated in the 1964 National Democratic Convention. There was an awful row, with her moving testimony about how she was beaten after leading local voting registration was memorable. To hear that testimony, try here--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRCUU.... Her beating begins about 6:00.
What I didn’t know was that Hamer created the Freedom Farm Cooperative
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom... ) to help black families support themselves through growing their own crops on 40 acres of land. From that beginning, with fundraising help from Harry Belafonte and the National Council of Negro Women, they purchased and bred pigs, selling some when fattened for profit but saving some to begin the next year. The enterprise was prosperous but a combination of bad weather, including drought, helped doom their cooperative because UNLIKE WHITE FARMERS, they received no help from the Department of Agriculture. And so, while the cooperative ultimately failed, it is deemed a success because it did, in fact, improve the lives and opportunities of members, leading the way to subsequent co-ops.
In December 1967, sixty-four residents of Bolivar County, Mississippi started the North Bolivar County Farm Cooperative (NBCFC). They were mostly sharecroppers, tenant farmers, day laborers or domestic workers. Two Black landowners allowed the cooperative to use their land and another loaned his tools. White shares their story next. At the end of their first year, 953 families had joined and 120 acres, feeding their own families, as well as selling surplus. As the years passed, they moved into processing and selling their goods, avoiding middle-marketers, who upped the price and garnered benefits they felt should be theirs.
While she tells other stories of cooperative, i was surprised to learn one of the most successful is the still-ongoing Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), telling the stories of some of the descendants of those who migrated north, specifically to Detroit, for work. Their story begins in the ‘70s with white flight into the suburbs. Beginning with goals into five substantive areas: the development of a citywide food policy, political and agricultural education, cooperative economics, marketing and farming, and using agriculture as a strategy to rebuild community.
It has now become a major influence in the national food justice movement and since 2006 has redirected the attention of organic and local food activists to issues of racial and economic in equality and food access. Their work today includes agritourism, as well. Reading about them, one realizes political awareness is an important part of their work. Echoing back to where i began, with Perriman’s book, i became aware of the magnitude of their success. This is an exciting front, imo.
What profoundly saddened me was that these efforts to help themselves were met by obstacles wherein those in the white community blocked the work by using their access to elected officials of like mind to thwart the cooperatives. Not only were laws and ordnances altered but Senators and U.S. cabinet departments were used to deny funds to the self-helping groups. I suppose i should have known this would happen but i truly thought the wider community would at most ignore the work those poor workers were attempting. Not so. It seems i was blind to that, to my sadness. I put too much faith, i guess, in people's acceptance of change.
Well, i see that was Quite Wordy. Apologies. The book (actually both of them) was fresh-to-me info, which i decided to share. I was impressed by what i learned.One thing i realize is that i really want (need?) to read a biography of Hamer. Likely i will select the most recent, Walk with Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer--Kate Clifford Larson. However, i like the spirit behind Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer--Carole Boston Weatherford.
Deb, it's been in the news that Target and I think also Walmart are closing stores in some areas leaving a food desert. The stores say they are closing due to thefts.
Thank you for the terrific reviews.
I appreciate your comments, Alias. I've read those reports and am sad to see this happening. I didn't even think about the food aspect of the closings.
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets--Svetlana Alexievich46- A book written by a Nobel prize winner- any topic or genre
92 - History
Alexievich is an exciting writer. When she won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature, the committee cited her for inventing “a new kind of literary genre,” describing her work as “a history of emotions—a history of the soul.” This is the third book i've read by her, the first, The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II, then Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster. She records her interviews with people, then, using their words, tells readers about their personal experiences. The writing is exuberant, even when relating very sad stories, because they are the words of the one sharing family history with emotions.
In this book she offered a prologue in which she explained, "I would divide the Soviets into four generations: the Stalin, the Khrushchev, the Brezhnev, and the Gorbachev. I belong to the last of these. It was easier for my generation to accept the defeat of the communist Idea because we hadn’t been born yet when it was still young, strong, and brimming with the magic of fatal romanticism and utopian aspirations. We grew up with the Kremlin ancients, in Lenten, vegetarian times…” (Elsewhere "vegetarian times" are defined by using a quote from Russian and Soviet modernist poet Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966), as "a period when her work was merely suppressed and not published, as opposed to the “cannibalism” of Stalin’s purges, when Soviets, including many of her fellow poets, were murdered by the millions."
Secondhand Time is about the collapse of the Soviet Union, mostly told by those who survived it, both the true believers in that system, as well as those who now profit by it, not the mega-rich, but those who live what we might consider a middle class life. It was eye-opening for me, who believed US propaganda about that nation as much as the Soviet citizens believed what they read about the US.
Pride of two accomplishments shined through the prose. First, and foremost, the first flight into space with a human being, Yuri Gagarin. Secondly, their victory over Nazi Germany. As one man put it, "...the Siege of Stalingrad, the first man in space—that was all us. The mighty sovok! I still take pleasure in writing “USSR.” That was my country; the country I live in today is not. I feel like I’m living on foreign soil.”
While i never thought much about the consumption of salami in the USSR, apparently this is a product savored by many. I came to this conclusion from the number of times purchasing it is mentioned. Some felt that freedom was being able to choose from 100 kinds of sausage, instead of only one or two, as under the Soviets; others mentioned with bitterness that they had sacrificed communism for having a choice in which sausage to buy. It was used in the pros and cons for many. And on.
A large hunk of the book has people describing their lives during WWII, particularly Jews, who were hounded by some Russians and protected by some. Frankly, it seemed to me this deserved a book of its own, so overwhelming were the events. Yes, it fit the story but they more deserved their own book, imo.
I suppose what made the biggest impact on me was learning how much the people blindly believed their leaders. And why not? It was usually all the news they had available. One woman described the horror of reading how some leaders thought of their citizens. Particularly jarring was this one, when Moscow was literally dying of hunger in 1919, advisor N. G. Kuznetsov told Trotsky about it. Trotsky replied, "That’s not hunger.When Titus was taking Jerusalem, Jewish mothers ate their children. When I have your mothers eating their young, then you can tell me you’re starving.” It sickens me & i never believed it the wonders of Trotsky, so imagine those for whom he was a hero.
Imagine being told FDR said that. Such released information disturbed many to the core, leaving them with a deep sense of depression. Neighbors tell of a number of True Believers who killed themselves after weeks of such releases. They lived and died believing the all their lives working under Communism was worthy.
Another aspect i didn't expect were thoughts about the Gorbachev years, which began the end of USSR. As one interviewee said about her neighbors “…no one had told them that there was going to be capitalism; they thought that socialism was just going to get fixed."
Or this one, about protestors, "Today, they accuse us of fighting for capitalism…That’s not true! I was defending socialism, but some other kind, not the Soviet kind—that’s what I was standing up for!”
Some quotes are interesting because they sound like folks in the US. I share some of those below.
“Today, no one has time for feelings, they’re all out making money. The discovery of money hi tus like an atom bomb…”
“People are constantly forced to choose between having freedom and having success and stability; freedom with suffering or happiness without freedom. The majority choose the latter.”
“I don’t go to the demonstrations, and I don’t vote. I don’t harbor any illusions…”
“Someone put it very accurately: In five years, everything can change in Russia, but in two hundred—nothing. Boundless open spaces and yet, a slave mentality…”
I'll close with these thoughts from the Chapter entitled, "On the Beauty of Dictatorship and the Mystery of Butterflies Crushed Against the Pavement"
“Did I believe in communism? I’ll be honest with you, I’m not going to lie: I believed in the possibility of life being governed a fairly. And today…as I’ve already told you… I still believe in that. I’m sick of hearing about how bad life was under socialism. I’m proud of the Soviet era! It wasn’t ‘the good life,’ but it was regular life.”
“Our Soviet life…you could say that it was an attempt at creating an alternative civilization. If you want to put it in dramatic terms…The power of the people!I can’t calm down about that!”
“What exactly are we building? We advance toward the victory of capitalism. Is that it? For 100 years, we castigated capitalism: it’s a monster, a fiend… Now we’re proud that we’re going to be like everyone else. But if we become a like everyone else, who will care about us anymore?”
Excellent write-up! I have not been to Russia, though my parents went many years ago.
Thank you, John. I don't know why i didn't count this as my "place i've never been" prompts but i didn't. I suppose that is because i wanted something colder...or maybe wanted to fulfill four prompts for my next selection.My sister-in-law went to Russia, St. Petersburg, but really only for The Hermitage Museum. We learned more about the expensive time she spent in Finland than about her observations of Russia. And of the museum, she only said it was too crowded to enjoy.
I'll bet your parents had a much better experience. At least i hope so!
Pym--Mat Johnson fulfills the following prompts:41- Book with a name in the title
57-A Novel related to Classics, such as a character from Moby Dick with his/her own story/book.
61- One word title
79- set in a country you have never visited
This novel uses the title character from Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. This was the sole novel Poe published and there is controversy about the ending. Included in the debates are whether Poe meant for that to be the ending. This novel picks up there, in a way.
In this fresh novel, professor of American Lit Chris Jaynes is fired from his university job, eventually leading him to mount a 6-man crew to head toward the South Pole. Why? Because he believes Poe's title character was real. Poe left his character headed toward the Pole but research indicated to Jaynes that Pym was real and has found some way to live forever.
Rich in humor, we meet the professor as he learns of his university ouster, which also resulted in the ruin of his long-accrued research/collection of literature by those of African descent. With the funds the university gave him to cover that loss, he decides to pursue Pym. How he persuades the other five to join him, as well as the search for relatives of Pym, is only the beginning of this novel. For me, it is the best part.
Cloaked with witty sarcasm, wonderful observations about American Literature, and telling firsthand experiences of a biracial man, this book shines. The fantasy element of the novel rambled too much for my taste (not unlike Poe's original, i hasten to add). To be fair, though, fantasy is not my favorite. I feel the same way about H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.
Really well done on knocking off 4 prompts, deb !Nice review, too.
Thank you, Alias. I was pleased to have knocked off four!
Talk about an awesome score! I don't think I'd get into the book, but could understabd its attraction.
Thanks for the enlightening reviews of both Pym and Secondhand Time, and congratulations on the prompts!
Thank you, John & James. As you can tell, i was pleased with the books. And not just for the prompt elimination, either!
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Working in a prestigious law firm was the yuk. The novel was fine but reading more in this series seems unlikely for me. A different concept is that each book in the series apparently has a different main character, all from the same law firm.