History is Not Boring discussion
What are you reading?
I found from the web a scanned English translation of a Finnish memoir from 1929, "In the Clutches of the Tcheka". I hadn't known it had been translated, except to Finnish from Russian, and had only heard about it earlier. So I read a lot of it, from here and there, at one go.https://archive.org/details/1929InThe...
Cederholm was held illegally in the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1926, but in the beginning he tells about the life of some of his old friends in Petrograd and mentions some foreigners, too. (He meets more foreigners later.) Already some are more equal than others. Then he gets to spend some quality time at Shpalernaya (from where they took prisoners to be executed every Thursday) before being sent to Solovetsky. He also mentions some info about Sidney Reilly, the British secret agent. One of the "spies" he met at the prison was a 12-year-old Estonian boy who hardly spoke any Russian. But that probably didn't save him from the (death) sentence.
There had also been an even worse place than the others at the Solovetsky prison camp that had had 3000 prisoners and the Tchekists working there had been sent there as a punishment. But then it happens that all the prisoners had died (shootings, sicknesses) and only the guards were left. The Tcheka had an easy solution to the problem. They sent some men to kill the guards, too.
Funny, I have now been reading three books that explain the code system used in Russian prisons. The author of the first had used it in 1938, the second was the one above, and now I read that it was used already during WWI. But the difference was that they also had a telephone in the Tsarist time, they used the WC for talking. This hasn't been mentioned in the later memoirs even though they were in the same prison. But I'm not sure they even had a toilet in the cell then, they were so crowded... I own one book about the late 1940's, I wonder if it's mentioned there, too.
And of course the author of the book met a man in the prison who was a character in the last novel I read. I had forgotten he had been there, too.
I'm reading Don Quixote, a wonderful translation by Edith Grossman. It's a history about writing history, really. Mirrors and wheels within wheels. Plus it's funny.
Mob Cop: My Life of Crime in the Chicago Police Department by Fred Pascente was great. Johnny Heller & Sam Reaves did an excellent job bringing Pascente alive in this memoir. If you liked the Sopranos, you'll love this. I gave it 4 stars here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire by David Mattingly
Finishing up Barchester Towers which is Book 2 of the Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony Trollope.
Reading two biographies about two very different women in two very different times: Harriet Beecher Stowe byJoan Hedrick and Sally Ride by Lynn Sherr. Both are wonderfully written and give many insights to not only who these women were in their time, but what their times/environment were like and how it effected each woman. The HBS book won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994. A superficial glance may put you off, it is 400 pages of narrative and has 100 pages of footnotes which may lead you to think it is too "academic" to be interesting. It's not! The Beecher family lives are interesting; Harriet is often humorous, and it is a delightful read.
Lynn Sherr's book on Sally Ride is also a great read. Lynn Sherr covered the space program in her reporting and became friends with Sally Ride soon after her adventure as the first American woman in space. Sherr gives us a very personal look at Ride's personalty and her motivation to be a part of the NASA program, and of her life after returning from space. Ride spent a lot of time providing programs to encourage girls to enter STEM courses and careers, as well as continuing her NASA work as an astrophysicist. She also has a fun-loving, humorous personality.
Both women had a huge influence on women and the country. HBS is credited for informing the American public of the evil of slavery and encouraging abolitionists to become more militant against slavery through her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is on every list of "most influential books in American history."
I reccomend them both to all who are interested in American history, women's history, or biographies in general.
A friend of mine, Judith Kalaora, a professional actress, who gives living history performances of a variety of notable women in American history, has just debuted a portrayal of Christa McAuliffe, the school-teacher astronaut who was killed with the Challenger explosion. She opened her performance in Framingham, MA, where McAuliffe grew up. Her performance was well received, which speaks well for Kalaora's attention to balance the history of the event with its tragedy, which is still fresh to those close to McAuliffe, to provide enough details and personality without striking too deeply into the hearts of those who love her and cherish her memory.Live portrayals can be a valuable means by which to get to know a historical character on a more personal level, to suspend disbelief long enough to get a true sense of having met that person. Those who give such portrayals do LOADS of research, including reading excellent biographies like these mentioned here.
I think the previous, fifty-year-old biography of HBS is the one on my book shelf. It's well done, but it should be interesting to see what more recent research has to offer about Harriet.
Lately I must be into English novelists. Just finished a book by Anthony Trollope and now I am reading God Is An Englishman by R.F. Delderfield. This is the first in his Swann Family Trilogy and begins back in 1856. No idea why I have been attracted to that time period lately, but I am truly enjoying this book.
Blaine wrote: "Lately I must be into English novelists. Just finished a book by Anthony Trollope and now I am reading God Is An Englishman by R.F. Delderfield."English novelists are the best - I love Trollope! Funny story about him, actually. I read "Phineas Redux" all the way through without realizing it was number 4 in a series of 6. Now I have to go back and read the prequels!
I had high hopes for Heroes of History by Will Durant & it started out great, but lost it about halfway through. I could only give it 3 stars in my review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm reading "Alexander Hamilton" By Ron Chenow
Today I finished listening to Pope Francis: From the End of the Earth to Rome by Wall Street Journal. Interesting guy & well done look at who he is as well as what his new position is like. I gave it a 4 star review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I also listened to Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It was an audio production by the LA Theater Works. Not recommended if you're not familiar with it since there's no stage direction, but I really enjoyed it. I gave it a 5 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Richard Feynman's autobiography, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character, was great. A little long, but quite a journey with this remarkable man. I gave it 5 stars in my review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is fantastic. I first read it as a teen over 4 decades ago. Then it was the other world power, the country that we half expected to mutually destroy the world with us in a nuclear war. As a teen, I wondered how they could continue with such inefficiencies as I read in this book. About 15 or 20 years later, I found out they couldn't. It didn't change the novel much for me, though. It's just fantastic & horrible, but I can't recommend it highly enough. Here's my 5 star review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Old Filth by Jane Gardam, and now I am working on My Last Continent by Midge Raymond.
Jim, if you are interested, here is one of the first accounts by a prisoner in a Soviet system, in prisons and at a Gulag camp. It was published in 1929 and the writer spent there two years in 1924-1926.https://archive.org/details/1929InThe...
We don't have a shortage of Gulag memoirs, there have been dozens published since the early 1920's. Everyone knew already before and during WWII what "Siberia" meant. But I have always found it interesting that Americans started fearing the Soviet Union only after WWII and in the 1950's, when we already breathed a little easier...
Mod
Finished my review of Parliament of Whores. It was good for what it set out to accomplish: a satire of the U.S. government.
The Great Courses: Forensic History: Crimes, Frauds, and Scandals wasn't what I hoped it would be. It was too much about the sensations & not enough about the science, so I only gave it a 3 star review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Salt to the sea - by Ruta Sepetts - pretty capturing with every page -!!!
I recently read a "documentary" novel "The Great Weapons Train from Petrograd" which was quite interesting a story about a train going through a country in the beginning of the civil war. The leader of the train was a comrate of Lenin and had been his bodyguard on his way to declare a revolution (he really was, it's a historical fact), so Lenin was willing to give him weapons and cannons. Luckily they lost the war, though.
"Deep Play" by Diane Ackerman, about how the spirit of play in all of us gives depth and meaning to our lives, manifesting itself in many ways, such as religious experience, ecstasy in pushing the body to and beyond its physical limits - that sort of thing. Beautifully written and well developed. Her prose is poetical, but not lofty. And this need for deep play is evident in the animal world as well, when we see animals engage in playful activities that do not reflect survival strategies. A good read, to coin a phrase. ;-)
"The Art of the Commonplace," a collection of agragrian essays written by Wendell Berry in the 1970s-1990s, reflecting on different aspects of the historical separation of ourselves from the physical land that sustains us, and observations on the resulting consequences - social, cultural, political, etc.
I'm currently reading the Illiad and The Illustrated History of the World Vol. 2: Eastern Asia and Classical Greece by JM Roberts.Its a general history of the world but, it hits all the important things you should know without being too dry. The big plus are the plethora of maps, artifacts, and paintings in the book.
Right now I'm reading about Early Chinese history.
Sadly I'm gonna have to buy a new copy as this one got badly water logged due to some water leakage from a recent thunderstorm. :(
I am reading The Trail of Tears. I've had the book for several years and am just getting around to reading it. I had miss-remembered it as a book just about the travels of the Cherokees when they were forced to leave their homelands. It is much more.
The book starts out with a lot of history of the years before.
I became interested in reading it because I'm researching for a book based on the life of my great-grandfather, a Cherokee himself. He was born after the "Trail".
The book starts out with a lot of history of the years before.
I became interested in reading it because I'm researching for a book based on the life of my great-grandfather, a Cherokee himself. He was born after the "Trail".
Tytti wrote: ""Let’s see—what else—oh yes, hygiene. It didn’t exist. There was usually a pan with water in it (that you carried from the well in a bucket) for rinsing your fingers before meals and washing your f..."
When I was a kid in the 50s we washed our feet in a tub of water on the front yard before bedtime. We, the kids, had gone barefoot and the water had been warmed in the summer sun. That water felt sooo good. It watered the grass or flowers when we were done and we went to bed with clean feet.
When I was a kid in the 50s we washed our feet in a tub of water on the front yard before bedtime. We, the kids, had gone barefoot and the water had been warmed in the summer sun. That water felt sooo good. It watered the grass or flowers when we were done and we went to bed with clean feet.
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, quite good."
I read a book simply titled Michelangelo a while ago. I really enjoyed it.
I couldn't believe how his life was totally controlled by the pope who was always demanding some work from him. It didn't matter what else he had been contracted to do. He had to drop it and do the pope's bidding. That chapel job was torture!
I read a book simply titled Michelangelo a while ago. I really enjoyed it.
I couldn't believe how his life was totally controlled by the pope who was always demanding some work from him. It didn't matter what else he had been contracted to do. He had to drop it and do the pope's bidding. That chapel job was torture!
I just finished An Edible History of Humanity & gave it a 5 star review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I highly recommend it to one & all.
Neither Snow nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service was fantastic. It's an incredibly complex & needed service that is constantly fighting to stay afloat. Why? This book answers that & more. Highly recommended! I gave it a 5 star review here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
While I disagree with a few generalizations (I think the straight-lasted shoes were a 18th century fad based on the desire for symmetry) this article sums up why people are crazy when they say we live in "hard times" these days.Jim wrote: "Here's an interesting article about how things were done in the early 1800's.
http://www.countrysidemag.com/97-1-ho...
Hurray for living today!"
Emily wrote: "Tytti wrote: "There must be something wrong with me. It's pretty difficult to make me laugh out loud but then I start reading a book about the war and I can't stop giggling because it has so many f..."
Jim wrote: "Richard Feynman's autobiography, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character, was great. A little long, but quite a journey with this remarkab..."My brother gave me a copy of one of Feynman's books, about the evolution of everyday items like the fork (which started out as a knife), and I quite enjoyed it. I have another on my shelf I haven't had a chance to delve into yet. Feynman has an easy writing style. I might even say that he writes joyously!
Sally wrote: "My brother gave me a copy of one of Feynman's books, about the evolution of everyday items like the fork ..."What's the title? (He's written a lot!) It would be interesting. In some ways, he reminds me of Asimov who also wrote on a variety of things in an understandable style.
Kate wrote: "While I disagree with a few generalizations (I think the straight-lasted shoes were a 18th century fad based on the desire for symmetry) this article sums up why people are crazy when they say we l..."I agree, times are far easier in most ways. Could you expand on the shoes a bit? I don't know anything about it but have always heard/read there was no right/left shoe or boot until recently. I realize that's often incorrect & likely varied by area a lot. If you know of a good article that traces this a bit better, I'd be interested in reading it. Not a book, though. I'm not that interested!
;)
Jim wrote: "Sally wrote: "My brother gave me a copy of one of Feynman's books, about the evolution of everyday items like the fork ..."What's the title? (He's written a lot!) It would be interesting. In some..."
You know, I don't know the title, and in perusing the titles he wrote, I'm wondering if I didn't read about the history of the fork in another book that I received from my brother at the same time that he gave me the Feynman book. (Brain fart...)
I did read "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman." I do remember enjoying one of Feynman's books!
Jim wrote: "Kate wrote: "While I disagree with a few generalizations (I think the straight-lasted shoes were a 18th century fad based on the desire for symmetry) this article sums up why people are crazy when ..."I do 18th and 19th Century reenacting, and straight-lasted shoes were the primary footwear of those days. Not so much a fad as the practicality of a cobbler making 'generic' shoes by hand. No shoe factories in the 18th Century, and much easier and cheaper tooling of 19th Century shoe factories. If you wear the same shoe on the same foot every day, the shoe takes on a 'left' or 'right' shape, because it's real leather and your foot molds the shoe to suit your individual foot.
Sally wrote: "JI do 18th and 19th Century reenacting, and straight-lasted shoes were the primary footwear of those days. Not so much a fad as the practicality of a cobbler making 'generic' shoes by hand...."Interesting. Thanks. I've never done any of the reenacting myself, but have known quite a few others who have. Neat stuff & many of you are very well versed in your areas. Friends in high school were very into Civil War reenactment & two of my kids belong to the SCA. I lend them a hand with some of the woodworking. Roy Underhill is one of my favorite authors. I made a few projects just with Colonial style hand tools, but appreciate my power tools too much.
There is a cobbler who sometimes works at the Shaker Village which is near us. We go riding there a couple of times a year plus it's a good place to take guests. Very interesting & pretty. Anyway, I'll have to chat the cobbler up a bit more. I've only seen him there once & heard a woman replaced him recently. Haven't seen her at all, but we generally don't tour the village when we're there to ride. We're not allowed to ride in the village for obvious reasons, but they do have about 3000 other acres we can use.
History is Not Boring
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Unless you were a Finn of course. The first thing that was built was the sauna, and then people lived there before they had finished the house. A weekly bath was normal, more often if needed. Other than that, it doesn't sound very different from the lives of my grandparents, or at least my great-grandparents... Many summer cottages still don't have an indoor plumming. That's also why Finns got along better with the Native Canadians, both knew how to live "with" the nature.