Constant Reader discussion
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Constant Reader
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What I'm Reading August 2012
Larry.I think Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War IIis a very good book, with a wealth of detail that has slowed me down. I have read most of it, but put it down months ago to read fiction, and still haven't got back to it. I do plan on finishing it.
I was interested in how the United States had a reasonably successful occupation in Japan, while those in Iraq and Afghanistan have been such disasters. I hadn't realized the extent of the wartime damage in Japan. The country was truly devastated, even without the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese had little choice but to accept American direction. Of course, a very large occupying force also helped convince them.
I am glad that you are reading Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. I liked it too. Considering how little is known about Shakespeare, I though Greenblatt did a fabulous job of showing his world and deducing his ideas from his plays.
I think you will also like The Swerve: How the World Became Modern.Greenblatt's enthusiasm for his subjects is really contagious.
Marjorie wrote: "Thanks Jennifer for reminding me to put Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher novel, A Wanted Man, on hold at the library (it's due out Sept. 11). At the end of Worth Dying For Reacher had been headin..."
Yeah, that's the impression I got too. sigh!
Ann wrote: "Larry.I think Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War IIis a very good book, with a wealth of detail that has slowed me down. I have read most of it, but put it down months ago to read f..."
Ann, I am especially interested in Japan during the Occupation since I was a child there from 1950 until 1954. All my first memories begin there ... as an Army brat on a U.S. Army base in Tokyo. And you're right about the successful Occupation. Some of the reason for its success in Japan and also in Germany can be tied to facilitating domestic agricultural policies in those countries. After helping put those policies in place, the United States turned around and began excoriating the Japanese and Germans for the same policies for the last 40 years. Many of our own policymakers are ignorant about where those policies came from. ;-)
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War IILarry,
How interesting that you were a child during the occupation. I think you would like this book. John Dower, the author, is a Japanese scholar and is married to a Japanese, who helped him with the book. He is very good at presenting the Japanese perspective and the cultural undercurrents of the time.
I finished Victorine recently -- this is one of those neglected books being republished by the New York Review of Books publishing imprint. Author Maude Hutchins was for a time, a pretty long time, married to the youngest president of the University of Chicago, Robert Hutchins, but began writing seriously after they were divorced. It was a lot of fun to read, different, and also captured a slice of how I remember life was in the 1950s and early 1960s; it was originally published in 1959. Why this never found its audience I don't know, because I sure found it a pleasure to read.
Started Brains: A Zombie Memoir. Because the first day of school is tomorrow? I wonder....
Geoff wrote: "Started Brains: A Zombie Memoir. Because the first day of school is tomorrow? I wonder...."You have to undo those zombie brains and whip them into shape, Geoff.
I finally finished Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. I was waylaid by the Olympics. Now I have decided to readBeloved , I have had this book on the shelf for years.
I started Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Please tell me it gets better.
Ruth wrote: "I started Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Please tell me it gets better."I thought it was intersting, she does a lot of repeating though.
I don't know how to include a prior post you're replaying to, but in answer to Sherry, I went to get Family Matters at the library, but from reading the book jackets ended up with A Fine Balance instead. And I think The Big Rock Candy Mountain is somewhere on our schedule; I put it on hold on the library when the schedule came out and read it when my number for the hold came up.
Lyn wrote: "I don't know how to include a prior post you're replaying to, ..."Click "reply" at the bottom of the post you're replying to.
Lyn wrote: "I don't know how to include a prior post you're replaying to, but in answer to Sherry, I went to get Family Matters at the library, but from reading the book jackets ended up with A Fine Balance in..."You won't be disappointed with A Fine Balance. It's more intense than Family Matters, I think, but richer. One of my favorite books. I still gave FM five stars.
I am reading Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. I will have the opportunity to meet the author when she comes to Pittsburgh in December.
Mary Anne wrote: "I am reading Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. I will have the opportunity to meet the author when she comes to Pittsburgh in De..."I have that one near the top of the TBR stack, it does look good. Fortunate you!, to be able to meet Millard. :)
I recently finished The Chaperone, the fictional tale about a middle-aged Wichita, Kansas woman who is the chaperone for the 15 year old (going on 50) Louise Brooks, who was later to become a movie legend. It was a good story.I also finished Henning Mankell's novel The Man from Beijing. The suspense in this one didn't hold together. The story ranged over too many places and times (China, U.S., Sweden, Africa, as well as both the 19th and 21st centuries).
Sherry wrote: "Lyn wrote: "I don't know how to include a prior post you're replaying to, but in answer to Sherry, I went to get Family Matters at the library, but from reading the book jackets ended up with A Fin..."I concur about A Fine Balance--good stuff. I wrote Mistry a letter after I finished it and actually got a very kind reply.
Fever 1793 - Laurie Halse Anderson
Audio book performed by Emily Bergl
4****
In 1793 an epidemic of yellow fever severely affected the population of Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. Anderson crafts a very good work of historical fiction based on the actual events. The young heroine is Mattie Cook. Barely out of childhood, Mattie lives with her widowed mother and her grandfather above the family’s coffeehouse and grudgingly helps around the house and shop. But as disease spreads among the population, Mattie finds that she has to take on more and more responsibility, and use every ounce of her strength, resolve, ambition and determination to survive and thrive. Not everything goes her way and there is much hardship to endure, including illness and separation from her family.
I really like how Anderson has given us a strong heroine who survives by her wits and hard work. Matilda truly matures in the course of the novel, yet remains true to her basic personality.
The audio book is capably performed by Emily Bergl, whose voice brings 18th-century Philadelphia to life. Both the text and the audio versions include an appendix which outlines basic historical facts about the epidemic and history of the country in that time period.
Sherry wrote: "Lyn wrote: "I don't know how to include a prior post you're replaying to, but in answer to Sherry, I went to get Family Matters at the library, but from reading the book jackets ended up with A Fin..."I did too, Sherry!
Geoff wrote: "Sherry wrote: "Lyn wrote: "I don't know how to include a prior post you're replaying to, but in answer to Sherry, I went to get Family Matters at the library, but from reading the book jackets ende..."Very cool Geoff!
I recently finished Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them and posted the following review:This is one of the better celebrity memoirs that I have read. Langella is witty,articulate and quite a good writer. He was a young Italian boy who had grown up in New Jersey and was working at the Cape Playhouse when he became friends with Bunny Melon's daughter. Through his warm relationship with her family, he met people like John and Jackie Kennedy. As an actor on the stage in both the U.S. and London, he has known fascinating people from the entertainment business. As he tells about his impressions of these people, he also manages to tell you a lot about his own life story but in a more entertaining way than a straight biography. I've always liked him as an actor but was impressed by him personally after hearing him interviewed by Sam Tanenhaus on the New York Times Book Review podcast. The book did not disappoint.
I've started The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner and am hooked. A good, sprawling novel about the western U.S., particularly at the turn of the century tends to be one of my cups of tea. I also have liked everything I've read of Stegner's prior to this so I'm immediately happy with the writing style.
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History - A. Lazar, D. Karlan & J Salter1*
I read this only because it was a book-club selection. The authors decided to put together a list of the most influential fictional characters/ icons from books, movies, television, and advertising. I don’t necessarily agree with their choices (No. 1 is The Marlboro Man), but more importantly, I really didn’t like how the book was organized and written. They spent far too many words trying to be cute and far too little time explaining how these characters influence America and Americans. There were a few interesting tidbits, for which I give it 1 star. Mostly, however, I was just bored.
"I imagined I heard a slow, steady drumbeat wherever I went." -- the character of Marie Antoinette in Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow as things begin to deteriorate. What. A fabulous. Line.
Barbara wrote: "I recently finished Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them and posted the following review:This is one of the better celebrity memoirs that I have read. Langella is witty,articulate a..."
Langella has always been a particular favorite of mine too. I first saw him decades ago in a production of Dracula. I've seen his book, and wondered about it. You've made up my mind. :)
I recall him as playing the main character in the film version of Brian Morton's book: Starting out the evening.
John wrote: "I recall him as playing the main character in the film version of Brian Morton's book: Starting out the evening."Yes, that is correct. He also played Quilty in the later version of Lolita. Fantastic in both I might add.
Just finished Still Alice Here's the review I posted.I wanted to like this book, I really did. I picked it because my mother suffered from dementia and I expected to relate to it.But I almost gave up on it in the first few chapters. Good writing is of paramount importance to me, and the writing here, while not godawful, has first book written all over it. Way too many "information drops," where the author tells us all about something or somebody in a chunk of info instead of just letting it unfold in naturally ocurring parts of the story. I'm glad I stuck with it though, because the book improved considerably as it went on.
I know, of course, that Alzheimer's varies from patient to patient, but I have to say that much of this did not seem to reflect my experience with my mother. My mother was every bit as intelligent and involved in things as Alice. She was Phi Beta Kappa in Zoology,later became a professional landscape designer, read voraciously. Yet she never had the insight that Alice did about what was wrong with her.
As I said, each case is different, but I felt that the author gave Alice too much insight and self-awareness, especially when the disease was pretty far advanced. Granted, Alice couldn't express her articulate thoughts in words to her family, but I had a hard time believing someone as far gone as she was would have such insightful, articulate thoughts at all.
Still, I found the last 1/3 of the book to be interesting and affecting. I especially liked the way the Alice's answers to her self quiz deteriorated without her being aware of it. That was spot on.
Almost halfway through The Descendants now, and it's a lovely book. Get the feeling it will end up making me sniffle later on but I'll fight through it ;)
John wrote: "I recall him as playing the main character in the film version of Brian Morton's book: Starting out the evening."John, he said that Starting Out in the Evening was one of his favorite films. I meant to post that tidbit yesterday since many of us read that book on CR.
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt - Beth Hoffman
Audio book performed by Jenna Lamia
5*****
Cecilia Rose Honeycutt is in trouble. Although only 12 years old, she has become the principle caretaker for her bipolar mother, while her father travels on business. Her mother’s antics – going about town with her tiara, cast-off prom dresses, and lipstick smeared face – have isolated CeeCee from her peers. She is friendless except for an elderly next door neighbor, and the hundreds of books she reads. When a major crisis occurs and CeeCee’s father cannot cope, her previously unknown great aunt Tootie comes to the rescue and takes CeeCee back to Savannah with her. With Tootie, her cook Oletta and the society of other gracious and eccentric Southern women, CeeCee will slowly heal.
This is a lovely book dealing with a serious subject. To her credit, Hoffman does not gloss over the difficulties CeeCee endures. Her wounds are not physical, but psychological and emotional, so they are not so easily discerned by those who might help her. A resourceful, intelligent and courageous girl, CeeCee has the summer to explore and begin to feel secure, but still must deal with her guilt, anger and fears – of inheriting mental illness, of being abandoned, of being friendless. There is a lot to worry about in CeeCee’s life, and not everything goes smoothly in Savannah, but Hoffman includes moments of joy and hilarity to ease the tension and give us hope.
Jenna Lamia is an accomplished actress and does a marvelous job of this audio book. There are a lot of characters – virtually all of them female – and she is able to give them sufficiently distinct voices so that the listener can easily distinguish between them.
I'm reading the new Tana French book Broken Harbour. All of her mysteries are linked in some way, usually having as the main character a minor character in a previous book. I have to admit, I don't remember Scorcher Kennedy at all. Maybe it's been too long since I read her last one. But it certainly doesn't detract from the story. The writing is crisp and it's one of those books you want to keep reading, no matter what you're supposed to be doing that day.
I'm partway through Nothing Is Quite Forgotten in Brooklyn, agreeing with many GR reviewers that the author has talent, but the constant shift between past and present is far from seamless much of the time.
Jennifer wrote: ""I imagined I heard a slow, steady drumbeat wherever I went." -- the character of Marie Antoinette in Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow as things begin to deteriorate."And what she got was a sharp roll on the snare drum instead?
Michael wrote: "Jennifer wrote: ""I imagined I heard a slow, steady drumbeat wherever I went." -- the character of Marie Antoinette in Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow as things begin to deteriorate."And what sh..."
Yeah, but not until book three of the trilogy, I suspect.......
Finished two today: A Stab in the Dark
as part of my rare-for-me reread of Block's Scudder series, and Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow
, the second in Grey's Marie Antoinette trilogy, wherein Marie starts wending her tragic, hapless way toward doom.
Kindred - Octavia Butler
3.5***
Edana is a young Black woman living with her new husband in their new home in 1976 Los Angeles. While unpacking books she suddenly feels dizzy. Dropping to her knees in a fugue state, she awakens to the screams of a child. She’s on a riverbank and the boy, Rufus, is in danger of drowning. What she doesn’t realize is that she has been transported in time and place to 1812 Maryland. Rufus is the only son of a white plantation owner, who is none too happy to see a “nigger” hunched over his child. But before either Dana or the man can get any further explanation, she is instantly back in her living room – muddy and wet, but alive.
Thus begins a series of time travels for Dana, all precipitated by some crisis in Rufus’s life that puts him in mortal danger. Dana has no control over these episodes, but quickly determines to be prepared with a bag of clothes, and such modern conveniences as aspirin, antiseptic, pen and paper; she keeps the bag tied to her waist, just in case.
This was an inventive and interesting plot, and I was caught up in the story of this ante-bellum Maryland plantation and those living and working on it. But I was somewhat disappointed in the execution. I did not think that Butler sufficiently developed her characters. Rufus and his father were one-sided, Margaret miraculously morphed from a mean-spirited tyrant to a gentle old woman. Kevin’s story is never fully explored or explained. Dana acts neither like a modern-day black woman, nor like a submissive, scared slave. While I understand the situation would lead to confusion, Butler could have done a better job of giving her some internal dialogue to explore her feelings and emotions. The dialogue was repetitive; I really got tired of the constant reminders to “watch what you say.”
I’m glad I’ve finally read this work, however. Butler shines a light on a very dark period in America’s history. The picture isn’t pretty. There is a lot of violence, hatred, ignorance and cruelty depicted, and some of it is just gut-wrenchingly difficult to read. I do like the metaphor of the scars carried from the past to the future. I can definitely see why this is frequently chosen by book clubs.
Marie wrote: "I'm reading THE DEAD DO NOT IMPROVE and about to start THE CHILDREN'S WAR by Monique Charlesworth. Anyone read either one?"I read The Children's War right after it came out and found it to be quite good. Enjoy!
Started four last night/ today: The Dressmaker
, which has already sent me scurrying to Wikipedia to see what fashions by Lucille looked like; Murder With Puffins
, which is the second in a cozy mystery series that I read the first of several months ago; Sand Sharks
, which is one of two or three later books in this series that remain as part of my "batting cleanup" project, and Eight Million Ways to Die
, next in my series reread of the Scudder books. Hoping to race through a couple of these mysteries because I really want to read Gone Girl
and Rules of Civility
.
Just finished City of Thieves by David Benioff. Here's the review I posted.Benioff writes for a living, and it shows. He knows what he’s doing. This is not earthshakingly beautiful writing, but it’s strong, competent and tight.
All the time I was reading this book, I kept envisioning it as a movie in my head. So I wasn’t surprised to discover later that Benioff is a screenwriter. However, he’s a Hollywood screenwriter, and that’s not the film I was envisioning. Hollywood would turn this into a saga larger than life, of the Heroic pursuits of a Hero. The film I saw was smaller, and grittily realistic, a Polish film, or Finnish.
Be that as it may, this book is a good read. Never a dull moment. If our heroes got through more scrapes than is quite believable, I was willing to suspend my disbelief and go along with the ride.
I loved this book , Ruth. I mean those two got into something everytime they turned around. It was very believable.
I think it was New England that recommended it, Carol. Or was it you? Anyway I liked it a lot.
Ruth wrote: "I think it was New England that recommended it, Carol. Or was it you? Anyway I liked it a lot."It was NE , Ruth. He also recommended Soldier X it's not a bad read either.
Reading Sometimes a Great Notion I don't know how successful I will be. It is coming to fast on the heels of The Big Rock Candy Mountain, which by the way I enjoyed.
I'm almost halfway thru Ken Follett's FALL OF GIANTS; A NOVEL OF WORLD WAR 1. Almost 1,000 pp, but it's so good it moves you right along. I'm finally finding out why all those European countries got into the war. Great book. I love Follett's writing.Marge
I've finished reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and I've started The Last Girl by Jane Casey this morning.
I'm taking a break from my "serious" reading and enjoying The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill. Next I'll be reading The Harafish by Mahfouz and Faulkner's The Hamlet.
I'm about one-third through with The Big Rock Candy Mountain and loving it. This is the kind of big, sprawling novel that I read constantly when I was younger and I think I miss them.
Mike, Big Rock is definitely moving at a good clip for me. I think it will for you if you've always liked Stegner.
I have All the Little Live Things on my TBR pile (I've already bought it from Audible), after liking The Spectator Bird, which features the same protagonists; that one actually happens later, but I felt it stood alone well.
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Constant Reader
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At the end of Worth Dying For Reacher had been heading back to Virginia to meet up with an interesting women he'd only talked to on the phone. But reading the description of this, his latest, it sounds as if he's going to get sidetracked and might take another book to get there. Oh well....
Marge