On the Southern Literary Trail discussion
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General Bookishness
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Retired: What are you reading?
Patricia wrote: "Mike wrote: "I received a message from one of our members requesting a place to discuss book recommendations and reviews. So here's the spot. The books you list here need not be Southern literatu..."Glad to hear that about "O Lost" as compared to LHA as I have been contemplating whether to buy the longer version.
What I'm doing, Beverly, is pretty much skipping the passages that feature Eugene and focusing on the other family members, as LHA made me want to understand more of this family's story.
Patricia wrote: "What I'm doing, Beverly, is pretty much skipping the passages that feature Eugene and focusing on the other family members, as LHA made me want to understand more of this family's story."It will be a while before I am able to read it but that sounds like a good plan especially since it took me so long to read LHA
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Trish, that sounds like an excellent approach. I do hope you'll keep us updated and how this compares to the Perkins' edit. I so want to get to the original. However Sophie's Choice is calling and I'm wrapped up in the five volume biography of Ernest Hemingway by Michael Reynolds. It is the best Hem bio I've read since Carlos Baker. Listening to the Audible edition of A Death in the Family which is susperb!
Not southern, and quite contemporary (1980s), I can recommend Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson to those who have a bent toward gritty, disturbing stories and can stomach less than pretty plot elements. Superbly written from several viewpoints, featuring a cast of messed up nitwits.Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Now onto something lighter in Tomato Red (haha)
I just saw the winter's bone.
Is the book any good or should I stay away from it?
Is the book any good or should I stay away from it?
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Is the book any good or should I stay away from it?"
Book better than movie! Don't shy away from it.
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does any know of any more good books from thomas wolf
I have been gone too long.Sophie is waiting at the library for me. I'll meet her again in two or three days. I remember her from my younger days. She broke my heart. Or rather the world broke hers.
I have a quiz to post, The Clearing.
Finished that Blood Meridian by McCarthy.
Have started 'The Camp Grant Massacre' about an Apache / Anglo mix-em-up around Tucson. Kinda nice to read something that takes place in familiar territory. Sure to be a nasty story.
My best to all of you. JT
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Diane, I have that in my read stack. I'll be interested in your thoughts and impressions of it.
Thanks so much, Mike, for recommending in your updates today (9/25) Heart of A Small Town: Photographs of Alabama Towns. It's on its way to me--I didn't know it existed. And my husband, although a Yankee, will love it too!
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Patricia, this is an exceptionally beautiful book of photography. Robin McDonald is a fine photographer and a regular contributor to Alabama Heritage Magazine. I rarely miss an issue. Also for photography in the South, I highly recommend the books of Chip Cooper. Silent in the Land is simply haunting, a collection of photographs of antebellum homes, most falling into ruin. He is a master of capturing light and its play on architectural detail. HisCommon Threads: Photographs and Stories From The South is a collaboration with Kathryn Tucker Windham, Alabama's nationally known storyteller. We lost her about two years ago. Her son Ben is a retired editor of the Tuscaloosa News and has written a column called Southern Lights for many years. He still writes that column. It appears in the Sunday edition of the News. I've encouraged him over the years to publish an anthology of his columns. I had hoped that in his retirement he would do that. I'm still waiting. Both of these additional books are must haves if you enjoy the McDonald. I think you will!
I'll report back to the group re Heart of a Small Town. And in taking a look at the others you suggested, I came across this: Gone: A Photographic Plea For Preservation, Nell Dickerson and Shelby Foote. Sounds interesting. Thanks!
Have begun The New Mind of the South by Tracy Thompson. Has anybody read it? I loved the beginning--couldn't put it down. But now am kind of bogged down at between a third and a halfway point.
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You hit the jackpot, Diane. Nice. We have a Friends of the Library Store open every day except Sunday. There are some real gems donated regularly. Working there is a trip. We give back over $100,000 to the library every year although all our prices are bargains. I especially enjoy the high school and college students who come in and scarf up the classics for $1-$3.00. Libraries who limit themselves to an annual sale are really limiting themselves on a great source of revenue. Heck. It's completely volunteer driven.
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Diane wrote: "I wish we did have a library store. There are 8 or 9 libraries in the Charleston County system, and they have smaller sales about 4 times a year, but the October one is the biggie. I got a kick o..."I see NO future for them. You should have intervened.
Diane wrote: "I just returned from my library's yearly big book sale. I picked up paperback copies of Eudora Welty's [book:One Writer's Beginnings (William E.Massey Senior Lectures in the History of American Ci..What a haul! You must really want to take time off work and just fiddle around and read.
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I'm with Howard. You should have screamed in his ear, "WAKE UP! Before it's too late! Your mind is a terrible thing to waste. Have you considered Ourtime.com? Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. Dante! The Inferno!"
Then again, Andalusia, AKA Martha Jo, lived across the way from an eighty year old Monegasque named Ysette, an actress in her youth, and subsequently Princess Grace's nanny. Ysette's attitude and advice to MJ: "Meen ohr sooch DAWGS !" *ahem*
Hey Yall - just letting you know I am still around and listening to your good recommendations!!! I have had a great bit on my plate lately so I have just been reading and not quite finishing and then going back . I have at the moment about 5 books going !!! HA! I go from one to the other depending on my mood that day or night. I did start a new Tara French Detecteive Series which i like because she is a quick read and an easy solve but a puzzle none the less. I really like the feel of being in another country and culture for escape so Ireland is great and one of my favorite places to go and that is where Tara is from and writes lovely descriptions about in her stories of thrill . My next favorite mystery thrillers that I have started reading take place in Sweedish and are written by Jo Nesbo and he is an addiction which really takes me away too. So if anyone wants a break from Southern to escape our world , that is partly where I have been. Next, I keep rereading Kaye Hinckley 's Bird's of A Feather short stories because at times I have found myself in need of inspiration in a bad way and she has been what I have wanted to read over and over in that direction. I owe her an Excellent review right now as well as our groups Randy Thornhorn because I have found many things other than Kestrel Waters I am reading that are wonderful. His writing is very good and I am so happy he has found his way to our group. I love to read such good characterization, great descriptions of setting and FOOD , and I can' put things down when I am waiting for the next thing to happen in Randy's fast moving plots. It seems like I can hear Kes and Gynn harmonise while singing great Gospel Bluegrass songs along with Betilia in a lovely Savannah, GA environment I am so familiar with in Geaorgia . The humor , emotion, and fear in the anxiety at times leads me to feel sympathy for all the main characters and I was not ready for the book to be over. I have since found more of Randy Thornhorn to read and that is on my list to read too !!! I Randy a nice solid review right now before I contiue and then I will review the next books I have found . ., I am also in love with Daniel Woodrell after Tomato Red and I did read his new book this year , The Maid's Version which was slightly based on a true setting. The Maid's version was very different for Woodrell compared to Winter's Bone and Tomato Red , but still a great book none the less . I have started rereading Absolom ! Absolom! By FAULKNER . I am having trouble concentrating lately to keep up . I love my man Mr. Bill, but I am just so tired at night , where as I usually unwind at night and read unto 3:00 AM in the past. My favorite has been William Stryon and I was so up for Sophie's Choice , but the length again is throwing me off. I did read The Devil All the Time and it deserves its update. It was great. So , under Josh's recommendation I went for Twilight by William Gay as of now and he is making me happy ! I am fighting the writing thing because it has not been easy sitting at my new Mac computer. EVERYTIME I get on the thing I mess up something. I just need a week alone with technology and room service !!! Oh ! And , some nice wine and a place for fresh air walks with my new camera. So, I am reading the world to stay sane , yet not helping my lovely groups on goodreads very much ! I will be sharing more soon , I promise. My Daddy has been going through some health issues and as you probably already know my Mamma Betty Rose is Blind and now my lovely Biscuit Boogie is going down hill too. I am just Thankful for each day that comes . I am also thankful for all of you . I have made some notes to most of you newcomers and I will get those out after lunch . Love and prayers to all of you ... Dawn
Dawn wrote: "Hey Yall - just letting you know I am still around and listening to your good recommendations!!! I have had a great bit on my plate lately so I have just been reading and not quite finishing and th..."
Buy the way - let's keep our eyes open for some new post 1980 reads ! There are some new books out and about that I have been seeing around !!! CHRISTMAS is coming up and I would love to here Mr. Mike make an audio reading available online in character of Capote's A Christmas Memory ! You'll tape it really easy on You Tube and WoW !!! That would be so Awesome !!! You may get 1, 000, 000 hits on your version !!!! Just think about it . YALL keep at him !!! Dawn
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Hmmm...With technological support, I'll do it! I've never created a youtube video. So, anybody know how to do this? In the words of the former spokesmen for Bartles & James Wine Coolers (I never drank them. Shudder.), "Thank you for your support!"
"Buddy, it's fruitcake weather!"
Diane wrote: "I wish we did have a library store. There are 8 or 9 libraries in the Charleston County system, and they have smaller sales about 4 times a year, but the October one is the biggie. I got a kick o..."Great story, Diane. This doesn't sound like it will work to me either. Or they will have to agree to disagree--A LOT!!
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Shhhhhhh. Don't give Amazon any ideas. *laughing* goodreads compatibility could take on an entirely new meaning!
Mike wrote: "Diane wrote: "Maybe there should be an online dating site that matches people up by reading interests. Or maybe not, my husband and I would NEVER have gotten together."Shhhhhhh. Don't give Amaz..."
LOL
Mine reads technical and gaming books, with some VERY light reading, vs my taste in literature and my guilty pleasures of zombie (I have no idea why...), fantasy and scifi. I got him to read The Sotweed Factor by John Barnes (not the popular author) once. He skimmed it, didn't get the point. I'm usually pleased when I can get him to read something I enjoyed.And yet, we get along. A lot like Frick and Frack ;) Last year I read over 180 books. He read probably 25. We're different. Yet we've been together 22.5 yrs. :)
So, it can work.
Strangely enough, I find it common that women read Romances and men read heavier. (not typical in this group, which is why I'm still here ;)
My husband never read anything but the newspapers until he retired. Now he reads a book a week, biographies, non fiction.... and he and the other retired men in our neighborhood exchange books. I am now reading The Narrow Road to the Deep North and A Rose for Emily, both very good.
My good spouse is an extreme workaholic and never reads anything outside his field! There once was a time, 30 plus years ago, when we just might happen to be reading the same novel. . . . Maybe when he retires. It would be such fun to read something simultaneously with one's spouse/significant other. As it is, he gets a lot of telling about and reading passages from. (Plz to pardon the dangling prepositions.)
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I "read the law" for many, many years. However, my love of literature was always a necessary respite from the requirements of work. In the process, the words of a number of authors found their way into closing arguments. Always preceded by my comment "A man much smarter than me...John Steinbeck/William Faulkner/ or others whose words fit the facts. The jurors connected with those words. So much of literature, though fiction, speaks truth as it relates to the human condition.
Andalusia, better known to me as Martha Jo, and "The Queen" and I, (notice that's the Queen and I, not the King and I, around here I refer to myself as Jeeves) are both avid readers. Our tastes are quite diverse. Over morning coffee we share our favorite passages of what we are reading. We derive great pleasure from that. We have shared the same reads and almost uniformally share the same opinion of them. Our favorite sharing has been my read alouds of my favorites, even lengthy tomes such as East of Eden. Along with Steinbeck, there have been reads of Capote, McCullers, Edgerton, and, of course, "To Kill a Mockingbird," although I have always thought a woman's voice was the necessay reader for that. Her ultimate compliment is "It seems as though you know these people." On read alouds of books that I have read and re-read, I feel that I do know them, for ages. They have become a part of who I am. Interestingly enough, she is more inclined to non-fiction, history and biography, with a leaning to Greco-Roman history, the Renaissance, and English history. At the same time she loves anything Arthurian. I have worn her down with my pestering to explore Southern Lit. She lurks here on the Trail. However, she was particularly intrigued with Sophie's Choice and we had fine discussions over it. Although horrified over my dramatization of "A Good Man is Hard to Find," she has become intrigued with O'Connor and found O'Connor's Andalusia one of our more intriguing visits. So, in time, I can see you and your retired husband enjoying similar experiences. That he listens to your passages is a welcome sign. Persevere.
Since I don't have someone in my home to share with, I share passages I love with my GR friends in my status updates and my reviews. This is such a wonderful outlet. What would I do/what did I do before? I can answer that...I believe I noticed less as I read, or forgot more quickly some of the beauty and/or wonder of my reading.
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Sue, I can't tell you how much I enjoy sharing those passages and thoughts with you. It is a very special thing. Our own mini-duet read of Flags in the Dust was especially memorable to me.
Mike wrote: "Sue wrote: "Since I don't have someone in my home to share with, I share passages I love with my GR friends in my status updates and my reviews. This is such a wonderful outlet. What would I do/wha..."Oh yes Mike. I forgot to include such "duets" in my message above. That was a wonderful experience for me too. We will have to do that again.
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Patricia wrote: "My good spouse is an extreme workaholic and never reads anything outside his field! There once was a time, 30 plus years ago, when we just might happen to be reading the same novel. . . . Maybe ..."I always wanted to marry a man who would read to me and me to him !!! A romantic , yes I am and yes , lazy too ! LOL!!! No , really , I just wanted that connection with someone close to me . Reading is an emotional and passionate experience to share !!! Ooolala !! HA!
Dawn
Mike wrote: "Diane wrote: "Dawn has thrown down the gauntlet, Mr. Mike. Think about it...... What a treat for your Trail members!"Hmmm...With technological support, I'll do it! I've never created a youtube..."
DID I HEAR YOU SAY YES !!!! I am too excited and everyone on the trail should be too !!! What a wonderful gift to all of us !!! As my Mamma use to say , " you are the bees knees !!" Now what that means , you will have to ask her ? Unless all of these years I have been saying it wrong! That is a possibility! I have not ever said this wrong : So sorry Bama Man !!! But, HOTTY ! TODDY! Anyway !!! I know it may have been a fluke but it sure was a lovely game with ALABAMA last weekend ! ❤️ Dawn
Diane S. wrote: "Finished The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."I am adding this Ms Diane S. I have been wanting to read this for some time. One of my favorite genres is memoir , auto and bio . That is really what I see myself writing one day if ever . I just have to find the right approach . Real name, fake name, no names, or release when I am dead or I may end up that way ! LOL ! I have wriiten down names and notes for introductions and I will post them soon . My bookshelves are a mess. I am so very sorry. Now IOS 8 may have chaged some things again . I need to redo my shelves and add a bunch of reviews. I have been holding onto because I do not know how to work my new MAC !!! I have been typing on my little IPad Air and it makes me so tired. My blog I'd just sitting too ! Chat soon ... Dawn
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On the Southern Literary Trail
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Must confess that I am already into Sophie's Choice. It arrived. What more need be said? But on another note: as I posted to the group, I bought O Lost. It's interesting that from page one--not exaggerating, here--I knew that I preferred this original to LHA. It opens, after a 10-line prologue, with "One morning at the beginning of July, sixty-five years ago, two boys were standing by a Pennsylvania roadside. . . ." and continues just that straightforwardly for a good while. Above all, I got the strong sense on beginning the book that this writer really wanted to tell me a story. That was what was missing for me in Perkins' edition: the element of story.