Five Weeks in the Amazon by Sean Michael Hayes

FIVE WEEKS IN THE AMAZON by Sean Michael Hayes has been released through Amazon this month. I was asked to review this book and have done a small review on Amazon. Would I have taken this adventure, probably not. Though I want to visit South America and experience the culture, I do not think that I would take part in the Ayahuasca ritual that Mr. Hayes does for 5 weeks.

This is a journey of self awareness and finding a way to be better, in health, love and overall well being. It is a full of raw emotion about what drew him to this place and the events leading to and after the rituals. There is also plenty of philosophical debates with the understanding of self and existence of  a godly being. With all that happening we are given a wonderful description of this trip through the jungle, the people he meets and the life in this small town that is surrounded by jungle. We are also part of the Ayahuasca ritual, living the moment with Mr. Hayes and his struggle with finding what he is searching for with this ritual.

Again, I have a hard time being sick in front of people or taking any type of medicine, let alone going someplace and doing it on purpose. More power to the people who can let go and take that type of adventure. I am content to read about other people's adventures into this realm. I will think of other less risky ways to determine myself. You are a brave man Sean Michael Hayes.

Review: Serena by Ron Rash

SERENA by Ron Rash was a very interesting book. I had to take it back to the library and realized that I had not copied down pertinent information on publisher and date of publication. This book is one of the 16 to read before it comes out in movie form.
The main characters are as the title suggest Serena, a woman who is used to getting her way and will do anything to stop people from stopping her. I lose count of the number of people she had murdered in cold blood. She is the wife of Mr. Pemberton who has a logging camp in North Carolina. Her father also was in the logging industry so she is very comfortable as the ruler of the camp.

You first get an inclination of her character when she comes into camp sees the girl, Rachel and her father. Rachel is pregnant by Mr. Pemberton and her father has come to settle a score. Serena immediately accesses the situation, arms Pemberton and enjoys it when Pemberton kills the father. Then she turns to Rachel and tells her that she is to expect nothing from them. Fortunately, Rachel is mountain strong so she expects nothing.

I did not see the movie, but saw that it got terrible reviews. The story falls apart a little, but the essence is psycho woman will do what she needs to surround herself with yes men and do away with anyone who she feels thwarts her goals, even if that goal is to kill a child and his mother.

I like books with strong women, but do I like strong women portrayed as psychopaths, not so much. However, having said that during the depression if a man murdered someone to get ahead, would we call him a psychopath or just a good business man?

Review of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury was first seen in the issues of Galaxy Science Fiction under the title "The Firemen." My copy is from Del Ray books of the Random House Publishing Company. Its was republished several times my copy is from 1996.
I had a powerful reaction to this book for several reasons: The first being my house would be burned because of the treasure trove of books I have on my shelves, second the burning of books just makes my skin crawl, and third is because we have come to a time when people do not like to read as much and would prefer a story on the big screen instead of reading the story.

It is kind of eerie that this story was written in the 1950's originally, because it describes some things that are happening now, big screen TV's that take up a whole wall and commercials that make you believe that you just have to have this item or be incomplete. We do not have spider dogs, thankfully, but we do have the capability to spy on the actions of people. Camera's line the intersections of streets and of course we have the ability to see what others are watching on there computers. Not so far off the mark from this story.

I was at a writer's conference and was told there are two types of writers, ones who want to see their name in print and do not care what they write and those who want to write the best story they can no matter how long it takes. Maybe this is the sentiment of Mr. Bradbury when he wrote this book, so many just write with no substance that people lose interest. I do not know, all I know is that I had a visceral response to this book, I wanted to display the books for all the world to see. Would I burn with my books? No. Life is more important because that is how you are able to write. Enjoyed the reading of this book and liked the writer's comments at the end, especially how if he was inclined to do so he would have changed the book.

Number left to read.

Of the 100 books I am suppose to read I have 28 left.  I have finished SONS AND LOVERS by D. H. Lawrence and have to say that if you want to talk about or read about dysfunctional families, this is the book to read. Oedipus Complex would be a good title for this book. No girl good enough. Life seemingly over when mother dies. Then their are the girls who want to mother him, of course he compares them to his mother. Life, love in all the wrong places. Still a good book. Enough about that book, here are the next books that I will be reading.

16 books to read before they come out at the movies: Unbroken-Hillenbrand and Dark Places-Flynn

From the 100 book list: Fahrenheit 451-Ray Bradbury and Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky

I have read excerpts or abridged copies of many of the 28 books I have left on the list, but I want to read them again. This includes the two above, so though I have the gist of these books, I feel like I am cheating if I do not read them completely. I hope to have all 4 of these read by the end of the month. We do not have a book for December's book club. I also will probably add a few other books into the mix.

After all of my 100 books from the reading challenge are done I am going to make a list of the 100 books that I wish to read. Ones that are in my personal library that I have been meaning to read or that someone has given to me as a present or that someone wants me to read for a review. It is going to be a very diverse set of books. I may even finish my own book and review it. No bias on my end I am my harshest critic.

Review: WILD by Cheryl Strayed

WILD From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed was published in 2012 by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York and also in Canada by Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.

This adventure is true and based on the life of Cheryl Strayed after a death, adultery, divorce and heroine fascination. It is a true finding oneself while traveling on a trail that is not heard about hear on the East Coast as much. Over here on this side of the USA we tend to think about the AT or Appalachian Trail which runs from Georgia to Maine. So I was intrigued by the fact that there was a PCT or Pacific Crest Trail.

If you are going to do this type of hiking I think this would be a good book to read. As a woman I do not know if I would have attempted this by myself. I have always traveled with a companion. In the book, Cheryl does meet several trail hikers and forms a bond. They are inspired by her and she is inspired by them. I wonder if I traveled with someone on a trail whether I would give up if they wanted to stop. Maybe it would be a good idea to be on ones own, not to be pressured to stop or go on if you were feeling really vulnerable.

I was surprised she met only good folks with good intentions, except for a couple of times. The book lets you know the pratfalls of not being prepared, ill fitting equipment and how to make sure the boxes you ship to yourself actually make it in time.

The real story of course is the feeling of being lost in life. Not finding what you are looking for in the relationships that push you out into a world of exploration. I am not sure my natural thoughts after the bad events that happened in my life would be to hike a trail. I probably would be more of a run away to Europe for a month or drive across country type. I think that I would be to chicken to walk on a trail without a companion, no matter how much I could reflect on life without other input. Maybe a cabin in the woods with running water, showers and a fireplace would be a good compromise.

I liked the book it took her over 18 years to put this adventure into book form, I think it would be difficult to put your life on a plate for others to push around with their forks. I liked that she found herself in the end.

Review of: Where'd You Go Bernadette, by Maria Semple

Where'd You go , Bernadette by Maria Semple was published in 2012 by  Little, Brown and Company a division of Hachette Book Group.
The narrator of this book is a little girl nicknamed Bee by her mother, because when Bee was born she has a heart defect and she was blue so her mom Bernadette, thought to name her Balakrishna. This God was blue. Bee is a smart girl who spend more time with her mom than anyone else. The people in her life are her mom-Bernadette, her dad- Elgin, her friend Kennedy. All the other people in her life are the school folks and their moms. Bernadette lovingly calls them gnats. The story is set in Seattle, with flashbacks to a time before Bee was born, provided by letters to a person named Manjula Kapoor and Paul Jellinek from Bernadette.

Everything centers around Bernadette, the gnats are constantly doing things to annoy her and are just mean. One gnat in particular Audrey Griffen even pretends her foot is run over by Bernadette's car to get sympathy from her fellow gnats. Elgin is not around to see any of this because he is ensconced in his Microsoft world trying to make Samantha 2 online for the vets to use. Samantha 2 works by turning on and off things with just a simple thought from the person wearing the headgear. But one of the gnats starts working with him and she idealizes him. She starts putting thoughts into his head about him being abused and they should have an intervention.

This book is about disappearance, see Bernadette removes herself from the public eye as an architect when her baby the Twenty Mile House, is bought and knocked down by her neighbor. She goes into a deep depression and add several Seattle. She buys a school to live in which she  initially intends to revive, but starts dealing with the gnats and well nothing happens with the house. Their is a trip planned for Antartica, which initially Bernadette does not want to go to, she hates people. AN intervention is planned and Bernadette disappears again. The gnat at Elgins office takes advantage of this and gets Elgin to sleep with her, ONCE.

I am not going into all the details, but it was a fun read. I relate to Bernadette in a weird way. When I first moved into my home I was meet with people who really wanted to get into our lives. I am reticent about this and so I did not join Bunko or other things that were supposed to be want the IN moms did. When we first moved to the area we were coming from DC and moving into this small own town on July 4. There was a block party scheduled that they wanted us to come to on the third. That was when our movers were coming, we could not drive 5 hours away for a block party. They never forgave us, we were the outcasts, not born and bred in this city. Things are better, but I definitely identified with Bernadette and just wanting to be able to do my thing without being scrutinized about my  choices.

Another apology

I have been substitute teaching and trying to write a story, so by the end of the day I have not the eyes to read. I am almost through SONS AND LOVERS, by D. H. Lawrence, but it has been a few days since I have visited the Paul, his mother, Miriam and Clara. I have been really amazed at the sexual tension between, Paul and his girls,, that includes his mother. No girl is right for him and even though she says she wants him to find a nice girl, she refuses to let that girl be Miriam. Of course, if Paul had his way I think he would marry his mother. His fantasy is to have her and him live together in a nice house, just the two of them until she dies. I get the creepy feeling he would be like one of those people who keep the dead mother preserved in the bed she died in.

At this particular time Paul is infatuated with Clara Dawles, a married woman who is reseparated from her husband. Everyone knows this, but he is pretending that they are mere acquaintances, though his description of her neck and breasts when she bends over lead you believe otherwise.

Very interesting book.

MAZE RUNNER THE MOVIE

Maze Runner, the movie definitely lost something in translation. My son and husband were like this is Lord of the Flies meets the Goonies. I kept trying to tell them that this is not what the place looked like in the book. There were so many missing concepts, the code, the telepathy, the beetles, and the serum. My only comment UUUGGGHHH. No explanations left my family feeling lost. The ending totally different from the book, yikes.

1/4 through

I am currently 1/4 of the way through SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence. The thing I like about this book so far is that it is set in Nottinghamshire, where my daughter just finished a Masters Degree. I went to visit her twice and went to Sherwood Forest and saw the castle on the hill up from the train station. I even road the train from London to Nottingham and from Nottingham to York. It is know your surroundings while you read a book. My son, daughter and I even did a few pub crawls while in Nottingham. I keep hoping that he would mention some of the older pubs that we went to while we were there.

D.H. Lawrence went to the University of Nottingham though it was in another location and had a different name University College Nottingham. They hold a collection of his works. Again fun to be apart of history and recognize a location.

Being a mother I am intrigued by this book and again I am only 1/4 of the way through, but I have done some of the things that Mrs. Morel has done, like disapprove of a girl that my son has brought home. However, my son never once did what William did and criticize the girl and tell his mother that he hated the woman he was involved with. William I think was embarrassed by not only his family but his girlfriend, what person has not dealt with those emotions.

The father Morel is in a loveless marriage and it shows in how he treats everyone in the family. I know a person like this, he was a mean drunk and pity the fool who got in his line of sight. Many a times we had to intervene between my stepfather and mother. It is rare to have incite into a book when you have been in similar situations.

I am not sure where the book is going in regards to the relationship between Paul and his mom, but some of the passages make me wonder where D.H. Lawrence is heading. Paul certainly says things that seem awkward to me such as "I say, little woman, how lovely!" (pg. 437-kindle) and "Awfully! You ARE a fine little woman to go jaunting out with." (pg. 440). Neither of these things would I expect my son to say. Fine little woman, instead of mom, it is like he is going out with a girl. All around these two passages are flirtatious remarks.

Well, back to reading and hopefully some better understanding of the characters.

Calling Invisible Women-review

CALLING INVISIBLE WOMEN, by Jeanne Ray B\D\W\Y Broadway Books, New York, Random House copyright 2012 by Rosedog, LLC.

I thought I might just make this blank so that you would think the writing was invisible, to bad you cannot mimic the lemon water trick on the computer.

I suggested this book for book club back in January or February of 2014, I was feeling quite invisible when I read the first few pages I was hooked. But I did not read the book until October so that would be fresh in my  mind for book club. The other lesser reason I picked the book is that I host book club right before Halloween, and who want a book about invisible women close to Halloween. I think both reasons paid off, because I finished the book and I think it works perfectly.

So the question is how would you feel if you became invisible in your household and nobody notices? While I was reading this book I had to laugh several times because it is so true. At breakfast my husband puts his head either into his paper or his computer before he goes to work, he will talk but seldom looks up, so would he notice? Also, there are many times, I am quietly reading or working and my husband or children will walk right past me calling for me, so did I become invisible?
I thought it was thought provoking which is one of my criteria for a book.

I also like some of the quotes:
From Irene the mother-in-law, "Invisibility can be an impediment or a power depending on what you decide to do with it." (pg. 89-90 on my I-pad)

I liked this because I thought what would I do if I were invisible, would I stay locked up in the house or would I go on an adventure? I would hope to be adventurous, finding problems and correcting them.
One of the things I would have done, if I had the power to be invisible in the book, would have been to remove the products that would have caused me to be invisible off the pharmacy shelves and not wait for the company to do it. That would have certainly made the reps sit up and take notice.

If you are feeling invisible and want a fun book that makes you think pick up this book.

Gone Girl the Movie

STOP: SPOILER ALERT

If you have not read the book and plan to do not read this blog. If you have not seen the movie and plan to, you may not want to read the blog.

Wow, yesterday I went to this movie with my husband. http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2583211289
I kept telling him it was a dark book, but he had been intrigued by the trailers for the movie. He has told me now that he is going to remove all box cutters from the premises. Through out the movie theater there was an audible intake of breath on several parts, when they realized he had been set up, when she uses the hammer to sock herself in the face and when she uses the box cutter. They do not mess around with the graphic detail. Rosamund Pike plays a great psychopath, I would not want to cross her.,  Of course, the book talks more on the details of the past males she manipulated and especially her box cutter friend.

The one thing the movie and book did was make me look crimes in a new light. Sometimes there is more to a case and we sometimes overlook something, because it does not fit into a nice neat package. History has proven many times, that people stop looking for a criminal when someone else fits so nicely in the box. This does not happen too many times, but it makes you wonder about the hype of the media in skewering the wrong person, because it is too easy. Once you find out who the real culprit is you feel a great disdain for the media. Well done producers and directors.

Next please

I have decided my next line up of books:

SONS AND LOVERS, by D.H. Lawrence- I realized that though I have read excerpts, I have not read the whole book. This is one of the 100 books.

CALLING INVISIBLE WOMEN, by Jeanne Ray-It is my turn to pick a book for book club, so this is how I felt and since it is in time for Halloween, who would not like an invisible woman.

I am in a toss-up for one of the sixteen books before they come out as a movie, it is either: DARK PLACES by Gillian Flynn, WILD by Cheryl Strayed, or UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand. It is up to which is in the library when I go. I may have to download a book if I cannot find one of the 16.

Midnight's Children-review

MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie, a wonderful tale bringing together India/Pakistan history, gods, and wonderful characters. I like a variety of books, but my favorites are ones that make me think and ones that bring alive a place that I have never been before. This book does both of these things. I was only 6 years old in 1965, what did I know about strife between countries, I was two worried about going to school for the first time. This book makes me want to look up the history and the wars (or not wars) that occurred during the 1960's. I remember some of the things that were going on in the 70's but once again vaguely, as I was too worried about surviving high school and the endless array of bullies. Did my history teachers talk about India/Pakistan? I do not remember them mentioning at all. I do remember Ghandi and Indira Ghandi because I remember thinking are they related. I remember the name Nehru. I remember the gods names because I took a religion class and I read Siddartha. So now I must go and look up history, this is the thinking part.

As for the places, the descriptions like that of his characters are fantastic. I read the Life of Pi, and that made me have a fear of mangroves appearing or disappearing. But this book took it to another level. You wanted the three men and the man-dog to get out of there as soon as possible. I kept waiting for teeth to appear in the trees, but instead we got insects, snakes and scorpions. Just recently, I read an article about mangroves, moving north. All I could think is, how are they moving north. I  now have to look up mangroves. Are these really places our author is telling us about or just works of fiction? 
I truly like this book. I may have to read it again, just to pick up things I may have missed while my eyes were heavy with reading so late into the night.

In the middle

I am now squarely in the center of MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN. I thought I would be further but I will finish it by the end of the weekend. I find it interesting that he introduces the Midnight Children and their gifts exactly in the center of the book. Our author is 31 and talking about his tenth birthday and then goes into the description of the how his gift has given him the ability to find the others. I find it interesting that it is on middle ground in the book.

Well back to reading and thinking.

Midnight's Children-still reading

MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie, published by Alfred A. Knopf, INC., a Borzoi Book. My copy was published in 1981.
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I am in love with this book. I love the quirkiness of the characters, especially our storytellers wife Padma. My favorite part is her bugging him to hurry up and tell the story. Close to the end of book one we have a fast .synopsis of what we have been told so far, and Padma makes the best statement, 'At last,' Padma says with satisfaction, 'you've learned how to tell things really fast.' (page 108)

There have been many books I have read where you just want them to get on with the story, there are sometimes in this book that happens for me, but not too often. I love the descriptions and the mannerisms of the people, it builds a richness of character. I am in the middle of Book Two and hope to finish by this weekend or sooner. So far a great read.

In the back of the book it is compared to One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Marquez, I can see the connection and the richness of the both cultures from the development of characters in both stories.

Trailer for Maze Runner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwwbhhjQ9Xk

So I watched the trailer for The Maze Runner on TV and on the above youtube video and the maze and it's components are not what I imagined after reading the book. I am pretty sure the box Tom came up in was completely dark and the walls in the maze were thick with vines. In the TV trailer you get your first look of the Grievers, but again my imagination and the movie producer's imagination saw things a little differently. I am sure it is going to be a good movie, but I will have to reimagine the Glade, the Maze and the Grievers.

Kite Runner

KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini, my copy was printed by Riverhead Books at the  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2005. Copyright 2003.

I went into this book with an open attitude, I thought. But as I read and realized the time line and what is going on in that country today I had to readjust my thoughts. My heart wanted this to be set in an ancient timeline with everything in the end super rosy, but even in todays paper we see groups calling the Shites mules. The book is set in Afghanistan in a period of time fraught with tension, Russian takeover, Taliban takeover and none of them in anyway bringing light and helpfulness to the region.
This books shows that like the US, their are divisions of cultures. Even when we worship the same God. This book helped me see the divisions and the blindness that comes in the culture. I am not trying to be mean. Clearly our central character loved his Hazari, but not when he felt his father  paid more attention to the Hazari then he did to himself. He clearly felt some animosity towards his friend. The underlying current that the Shi'a are just animals who are not smart, that they only can be the servants of the Sunni. Where have I seen that in American history?

So politics aside. I finished this book fairly quickly. I could not put it down. I wanted Amir to stand up for his friend. I wanted Baba to accept Amir, for who he was. If those things happened the story would maybe change. I felt the story line was built really well. This book made me have sympathy, empathy  and just made me mad at the characters. The thing is that these are fictional characters, but these are things that really happen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and the mid-east. On group constantly fighting another all because of how they are perceived.

The concept of eye for an eye is also played out in the book. In the beginning with Amir and Hassan against Assef, Wali and Kamal after the Assef vows to get them back. Then in the assault and the paybacks. It made me want to go after Assef myself. I was also very upset with Amir on many levels throughout the book. Even when he was trying to do good, he makes a mess of things.

I was told it was a good book and it is. It made me think, made me feel many emotions and made me want to understand that bit of country just a little bit more. Like the Irish in the 1840's there is a migration to  the United States to escape tyranny, this is still happening in Mexico with people coming to the States. Do we really represent freedom? People who come here do not always find that, as in this book Amir and Baba come here to live a life not of wealth but poverty. I think we are misrepresented as a land of plenty, it is only a land of plenty if there are not as many people. Too many people without jobs causes a land of emptiness not plenty.

Okay I am going to stop rambling. As I said before this book made me think. Now I get to think some more as I start MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdi.

THE MAZE RUNNER- finished

THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner is the first book in a four book series. It was published in 2009 by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

What happens when you wake up in a dark box with no memories of how you got there or who you are, except you have the name Thomas? Well, you get scared, confused and really terrified when you see faces and hear voices coming from above you. You are pulled out, no one answers your questions and you eventually find that you are in a maze.

There are monsters, moving walls, antagonists and people who befriend you. What do you do with your day? Try to find the end of the maze so you can escape from the area called the Glade and get back to your previous lives, if only you could remember what they were.

I thought the book started off a little disjointed but then we were getting Thomas's reaction to his new surroundings. The Glade is the safe zone at night, to stay away from the Grievers, monster creations of blubber, metal spikes and clanking noises, that will rip you apart or sting you so that you go through a Changing. The only protection from death is a serum to keep you from changing.

The book picks up pace and draws you in so that you want to find out what happens next. It is a science fiction book made for teens. It was a pretty fast read, it took about 2 days or about 8 hours max to finish. Some of the scenes still feel a little far fetched, but it is coming out in the movies, so I will see how it plays on the big screen. It ends in a cliff hanger, so I guess I am somewhat hooked, but will not read the rest until I have finished all the other books that I am reading.

3 books up for review

Okay, so now that I have finished the books that took me a month to read, I will begin anew with the next 3 books, plus the book club pick, so that is 4 books total that I promise will be read by the end of the month. This is the list:


Yes I figured out how to get the picture of the books. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN and KITE RUNNER are part of the 100 books challenge. THE MAZE RUNNER is part of the 16 before they come out as a movie. That means I have to read that book by Sept. 19. My book club book is called BEFORE I WAKE by Robert J Wiersema, which is still sitting at the library. I thought it would be fun to read  THE MAZE RUNNER and THE KITE RUNNER at the same time. I  am not sure if any of these books are uplifting, but I guess that is why we read. Not everything is going to be puppy dogs and rainbows, because if it was, wouldn't we be bored?

The Hundred-Foot Journey, finis

I have been reading books that start off strong in the beginning and then start to fade. I am worried, because I need to see how to write to get maximum effect. It guess I have been reading books where the main character continues on in life so we are abruptly left short of his life. This book would not have a sequel, I think, but you want it to continue. The imagery is lovely and the history brought into the book is equally satisfying. I could even smell what was coming out of the kitchens.

Richard C. Morais did a wonderful job at depicting the characters, but I am not sure the people that they have in the movie fit the characters. I have not seen the movie, so I am not sure I can accurately make this statement. They may bring the characters to life, I will just have to go and see. I am glad that he got to honor his friend Ismail Merchant with an actual movie.

It is a read where you do not need to rack your brain and try to figure out the talk of the time, or  too many foreign language quotes, though it take place in France. Once I was able to sit down and read, it only took me a couple of days to finish the book. I definitely wanted both French and Indian cuisine when I finished reading. I had heard that chefs do not have lots of time, once they open their restaurants and that is evident in the fact that only death seems to bring Hassan back home. Fortunately he has his sister with him, but at the end you realize that the rest of his sister and brothers are scattered to the winds, so I guess there is no going back. But what will happen with him and Margaret?

My copy of the book has the movie characters on front, but the original copyright is 2008. My copy is the 2014 version from Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc.

THE WAY OF ALL FLESH-Finis

I have finally finished THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler, I was not happy with the ending but I guess if a man has not completed his life and you are no longer around to write about it then you do not get a satisfactory ending. It seemed that the front of the book was so filled with detail, but as we got to the closing it seemed rushed. All events wrapped up in one or two pages.

The characters in the book were based on the acquaintances of Samuel Butler. In fact, I am pretty sure the narrator is Mr. Butler, expressing himself about his life events in the form of fiction. Throughout the book are pictures from Mr. Butlers life, that coincide with the events in the book. For example in my copy, from the New York Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. published in 1957, there is a picture opposite page 242, that shows Samuel Butler with his friend Henry Festing Jones, who later wrote his biography. He gave him 200 Lbs per year to be his companion. In the story, to help Mr. Pontifex, his godfather who has been left the executor of Miss Althea Pontifex trust for Ernest, hires him to look after his books for a similar amount, they become good friends. Our narrator is tasked with the writing of Ernest's biography.

I do not agree with the parenting techniques of Ernest's parents Christina and Theobald, but it made Ernest a richer man once he broke with them. It is hard to imagine why they became parents, except that it was expected. Theobald certainly did not like being a father to any of  his children, though he pretended very well in front of his congregation. Christina seemed to care but only to the point that she got them to tell their secrets so she could share them with her husband, who then punished them.

But I liked the booked, wished it ended differently. This book was heavy in its critique of class differences, religion and politics. I believe that Samuel Butler was a freethinker and the people who come off the sincerest are the freethinkers. Everyone else is bottled up in what they think the current religion should be and how they are better for being in that religion. I am a Methodist, so it was fun to read about Wesley and the Methodist family that lived up above Ernest. He liked them so much that he thought maybe I should be a Methodist. They religions were divided in to  high and low religions, with Methodism being considered low, Church of England and the Catholics considered high.

I loved the history portrayed and the characters were well developed, but I was not sure I liked the timing of the book. Sometimes it read a little haphazard to me. I also was not a fan of the Latin phrases strewn throughout the book that I had to figure out. I wanted them explained, I had to find my husbands Latin book to figure out some of the context.

I will be finishing my next book by the end of the weekend, with a post Sunday.

Unending

Did you ever have one of those books that you enjoyed reading, but wanted to get to the end? Well that is the book I am reading right now. It is the book by Samuel Butler, THE WAY OF ALL FLESH. I keep thinking surely this is the end, but it keeps going. I know I should be able to see the pages and know it is still not ended, but I look and the book just looks like it got bigger. Of course, it could also be my eyes are just numb from the small print. Anyway, in the midst of this book, I realized that I had not read my book club book, so I put this book aside to read that book. I will describe that book below. I have to say that both books deal with some pretty bad parenting techniques, but that is about as close as they come. I am also about half-way through THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY, but should be finished it by Sunday.

What book did I read for book club? LIFE ON THE COLOR LINE, The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black, by Gregory Howard Williams. Truly a fascinating book about Gregory Howard Williams life. I was cannot imagine how hard this had to have been for him and his brother. I wanted to shake not only his mother, but her parents and relatives. The father was no better, but at least he was there, even if it was on the other side of a bottle. The time the 50's and 60's, the problem as the title suggests, what do you do if you look white but are considered black because of an interracial marriage?
This made me think of the time my study buddy and I were in my dorm room, door open, and another boy who was just a little stalkish came by and made a big deal of a black man in my room, that was 1978. Needless to say I shut the door in his face and told him to leave me alone. Then we got back to studying. The problem was it put a wedge between me and my friend, because everyone seemed to think this was a bad idea. Since we were not in the same class next semester, I did not hang out with him. I found him in classmates and he has a lovely family, but I wish I had handled things differently. It may have been seen as an attempt not to draw notice to myself, instead of my attempt to tell someone that they were an idiot.

The tale of two books

I am reading two books, THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler and THE HUNDRED- FOOT JOURNEY by Richard C. Morais. Why do I call it the tale of two books? Well, I noticed some similarities. The narrator in both stories are recollecting their past, while going into the future. Second very early in the book we have two deaths of very significant people in the narrators life. People that they admire that change the life of the narrator, one not as much as the other, at least where I am currently in the books, which is actually not that far.

In  THE WAY OF ALL FLESH the death of Mr. and Mrs. Pontifex causes the children of their son to not visit. But more significantly the death of Mr. Pontifex is a loss in the narrators life because the narrator really admired him and watched his actions while he was growing up. Mr. Pontifex was like a grandfather to him. In THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY  (spoiler alert) the two people who die that change everything are the grandfather and the mother. One naturally and one brutally, the deaths caused them to leave Bombay for London. In fact while I was reading one I realized that I joined the books together so I need to try to keep the stories straight.

The big difference so far is the language, since we are dealing with two different time period. Also we are dealing with language of Pakistani and Indian, versus the language of the English. Our writer Samuel Butler is a native of Nottinghamshire in England and it is said that the book THE WAY OF ALL FLESH is slightly autobiographical. There are even pictures throughout the book about his life.
I cannot wait to see if there are other similarities.

The Bride Says Maybe, by Cathy Maxwell

A breather book before starting the books on my list yesterday. The book THE BRIDE SAYS MAYBE by Cathy Maxwell is in the series called THE WISHMORE BRIDES. These books are set in Scotland. The first book saw drama between the oldest sister from the Davidson clan who was a divorcee and shunned in London. She is at home when her sister, Tara, who is supposed to be marrying in a few days arrives at home dressed like a boy to get out of the wedding. The father brings the intended to their house in Scotland, where he falls in love with Tara's sister.

This second book in the series finds Tara being bought by the Black Campbell because her father is in debt and he now holds the deeds to all the property. He makes a bargain, Tara for the payment he is owed. This causes all sorts of drama as Tara is still mourning the fact that the man she thought she loved, head horseman Roury Jamison is now married to a local girl. She makes a deal with the Breccan Campbell, she will marry him but only if she allows him to let her live in London after the first child is born.

Nicely written romance novel and apparently there is another book in the series that involves the cousin to Tara. That will have to wait till the time I finish these other books.

A 100 book, a 16 book and a random books

On my list of books to read next I have made sure that I used a book from the reading 100 challenge, the read the book before the movie comes out challenge and a few random books, including the August pick for my book club.

SO the list is:
Reading the 100- The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
16 books to read before the movie- The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais
Book Club- Life on the Color Line by Gregory Howard Williams

These will be the three main ones I will be reading, but I am sure before the end of August there will be a few more sprinkled into the mix. In fact, I am reading a sequel to a Romance Novel by Cathy Maxwell and a Sigma Adventure by James Rollins. Both who appeared at the Roanoke Book and Author Dinner.

I am going to try to keep this more up to date as I have fallen behind schedule and to anyone reading I am sorry for the delay.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. FINISHED

There are some books that just speak to you, that make you want to meet the characters. I think that is this book for me, I empathize with the girl Mick and the feeling of escapism that occurs with her music. For me in my life I would escape to books or poetry. The feeling that you are tied down to a life that is not your choosing. That is how I felt around her age, you want to see so much, but family circumstances keep you from that choice.

All the characters in this book seemed to find their center around Mr. Singer, but Mr. Singers center was always around his friend Spiros Antonapoulos, even when this friend was taken away and put in a home. Mick was infatuated with Mr. Singer, following him around and thinking he was the best thing in her whole world. Jake Blount also befriended him because he would pay attention to what he was saying. Jake Blount was a communist and believed that there should be no division of classes. All the people in the bar he frequented made fun of him and his first meeting with Mr. Singer, he felt here was someone who could listen. He did not realize he was a deaf mute, but even when he did learn this he still would visit and express his ideals. Then there was Dr. Copeland, a black doctor in a time when black people were still very much oppressed and thought of as less than human. He also believed that something should happen to elevate the human condition and would frequent Mr. Singer's apartment just to talk things out. The final character in the book centered on Mr. Singer was the bartender Biff Brannon, especially after his wife died. I think he was trying to figure out who he was throughout the book.

All these characters live in the 1930's. The book was initially published in 1940's and yet there are some freaky references, in part two chapter 13: Dr. Copeland is talking to Jake Blount about equality. He has a solution that is shot down by Jake Blount. He says on page 303, "I have a program. It is a very simple, concentrated plan. I mean to focus on one objective. In August of this year I plan to lead more than one thousand Negroes in this county on a march. A march to Washington. All of us together in one solid body." This sounds very much like what Martin Luther King does on August 28,1963, he leads 250,000 to the Lincoln Memorial, yet this is written by a woman in the 1940's. I wonder if Martin Luther King ever read this book. Another eerie description comes in the form of a dream by Jake Blount on page 348, he describes this scene: " He was walking with a great crowd of people... there was something Eastern about the people... There was a terrible bright sun and the people were half naked. They were silent and slow and their faces had a look of starvation." For some reason when I read this all I could think about were photo's of holocaust victims.

I will not reveal the ending of the book, but I did not want it to end, I wanted to know what became of the characters, especially Mick. Did she ever get to follow her dreams? What happens to the others, Jake, Dr. Copeland, Portia, Willy and Biff?  A really good read and I agree with the back cover a book to reread.

A little about the author, according to the back page she was 23 when she published the book and died at the age of 50. That means she would have died in 1967, I wonder if she was associated with Martin Luther King. Things I learned from Wikipedia, McCullers  went to Julliard to study piano, Mick in the book is writing music and longs for a piano. McCullers father is a watchmaker, Mick's father is a watchmaker. So apparently she did write what she knew. She died from a brain hemorrhage. She had multiple famous friends, but unless I read her autobiography, they do not mention her meeting Martin Luther King. I wonder if I can find that biography. I will have to find her other books, glad that this one was suggested by the reading challenge.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers

I have just started this book and I have been trying to figure out where it is going in terms of plot, characters, etc. I think I need to stop speculating and just read the book. I did not take it with me to the beach as it is a library book and what if I left it behind, not that I have ever done that. Plus the picture on the cover of my copy is so sad, it did not belong at the beach. So I will give you some incidentals, copyright is 1940, first published in June 1940 by Houghton Mifflin Publishing. My copy was published in 2000 by First Mariner Books a division of Houghton Mifflin.

Characters so far include a two deaf mutes Mr. Singer and Mr. Antonapoulos, who were roommates.  Mr. Antonapoulas ends up in a home at the beginning of the book. As I have said I am not far into the book. Other characters that look like they will take center stage are a girl named Mick who is almost an errand girl for her family. A man named Jake Blount who Mr. Singer takes in after he has a drunken bout. This is probably a temporary thing, but we will see. Also the bartender and his wife who have been dealing with Jake Blount. Mr. Blount has been so drunk that he did not even realize he was talking to a deaf mute and was just happy to have someone listen to his ravings, without comment.

We will see where this leads.

(For my beach read I went with a romance novel by Cathy Maxwell, "The Bride Says No." This was a fun read and is first part of a sequel. I met Cathy Maxwell at the Book and Author dinner that RAMA holds in Roanoke, she is a delightful and dynamic speaker. Her book was equally delightful and was just the right size for my beach trip.)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and Ada's Rules by Alice Randall

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison was first published in 1947, my copy was published in March 1995 by Second Vintage International a division of Random House, Inc. The introduction is by Ralph Ellison. I have to say I did not read the introduction, though in this case I probably should have, but I will give you my opinion and after I have given my opinion I will read the authors thoughts on his work.
I found this book intriguing as recently I have read several accounts of black history in the United States, and have read several books from black authors. I loved the idea of the invisible man because I understand the concept. In fact as a woman, who had her share of trauma, I too decided to be somewhat invisible when I was growing up, never trying bring notice to myself. I can never be part of the feelings that different races have who have felt the injustices of slavery, bigotry and many other opinions and actions. I can say that I hate that part our history.
So how about this story we have a young black man in the time of zoot suits and race riots, who lives in the South. There is a college that he has the fortune of getting into because of a speech that he made, to some white affluent people in the community. But in order to give this speech he had to fight other men, in nothing but his boxers, blindfolded and pushed, traumatized and all for sport of these affluent men.
He goes to school and is given the task when the shareholders of the school come to be their chauffer, lovely thought don't you think. His Dean is also a black man who plays the game of seemingly  influenced by the shareholders. But the minute there is a problem, our young man is dismissed from the school though he was not the cause of the problem. He is supposedly given a letter of recommendation but finds this not to be true. So he is in New York without a job and no references.
He gets a job but the person he is under also a black man thinks he is after his job and I am pretty sure causes him to get hit by equipment on his first day of work.
Many more conflicts, people trying to control him for their own gain, and he decides to become invisible, just living off the grid in a basement that no one goes into. We hear his whole life story up to his invisibility and then we see a change.
Many ideologies of the times expressed and many problems in New York and never a chance to become who he thought he should be, until maybe the end of this tale.

Now why do I mention this other book by Alice Randall, in ADA'S RULES we have a black woman who is the preachers wife. She has been slowly gaining weight and is at crossroads and a conflict. In her mind the women that are most powerful are the black women who are larger. Does she give this up by being a skinnier version of herself? Does she risk dying as her three sisters did because they were overweight because of the sugar? She is dealing with many things, her mother with dementia, a father who has sown wild oats in the past as a musician, her husbands mother, the congregation, the school she runs. I know this feeling, when you are always on the run, fast food becomes your best friend. Then one day you look in the mirror and another person looks back. Ada feels that if she loses weight she will become invisible, she already thinks her husband does not see her.

Both of these books address societal problems, race and then in the last book obesity. How do we overcome something that we have lived with all our lives. How do we strive to move forward? Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there to make the changes you need, sometimes they maybe subtle and sometimes they may hit you full in the face. I maybe naïve but I believe change is power and power is change.

Finished with REMAINS OF THE DAY

In my last post I promised to finish his book while I was traveling, which I did. Now the coincident part of this is that this book involves someone traveling within his countryside, looking back on his life and his job. I have also traveled and I too will look at this butler's life. REMAINS OF THE DAY was written by Kazuo Ishiguro. Mr. Ishiguro was born in 1954, so a contemporary. This book was finished and first published in 1989 and is published both in England and the New York City. My copy was published in 2012 by ALFRED A KNOPF in their Everyman's Library edition. I am glad to have learned this because in the introduction by Salman Rushdie, he makes reference to Downton Abbey (vii), so I had been thinking that the show was either longed lived or I had a later copy.

This is about and told by our Butler Mr. Stevens, who has been given permission to tour the country side in  his current employers Ford. They reside at Darlington Hall in 1956. Mr. Stevens is reluctant to do as instructed because he does not think that it is proper and believes Mr. Farraday is not sure of English customs. But two things make him change his mind, one he is having trouble keeping staff, and he receives a letter from the former person in charge of the housemaids, her name is Miss Kenton, but actually we learn later she is married.

Mr. Stevens, brings up to Mr. Farraday about his suggestion several days later, and is happy to know that he still has permission. Though Mr. Farraday jokes about him meeting up with a woman. This causes Mr. Stevens to talk about the bantering of Americans. The whole time he Mr. Stevens is driving to Miss Kenton's area in Cornwall he is reflecting about his life, those who were and are in it and how a butler should be dignified giving the best service he can.  He is questioned several times about his previous employer, who seems had connections to Germany before WWII, and is not looked on favorably by the people in England. Mr. Stevens tries to justify his employers position though time and time again he denies that he knows him. Reminded me of Peter with Jesus. Most of his reflections are about Miss Kenton, you get the feeling that opportunity was lost. But man with a stiff shirt such as Mr. Stevens, one can see why.

I really liked the book, makes one reflect about ones own life and opportunities we miss because we let others dictate our lives.

Sorry

I am sorry I have not started my next book, but have every intention of finishing it this week. Once again I am traveling, I am beginning to loathe traveling, especially back to back events. My husband has a conference and I am taking lots of reading, though I will also be exploring. The book is REMAINS OF THE DAY by Kazuo Ishiguro and from what I have read so far it is written in the voice of the butler who is in the employ of an American named Mr. Farraday. They reside at Darlington Hall in England. From what I have read so far Mr. Farraday has left to go back to America on some form of business, leaving the butler, Stevens, the use of his car to go see the countryside. Stevens is not sure that this American understands the rules in regards to relationships with staff. That is all I have for now, I will let you know how it plays out.

A Separate Peace- Finished and Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

I went to England and left A SEPARATE PEACE behind about three quarters of the way finished, so as soon as I got back I finished the book. Why not take the book with me, well, it was a library book and I do not travel with library books on a plane. So home and finished. I will also talk about another book I did take on the plane and finished while on my 8 hour flights both ways.

A SEPARATE PEACE, by John Knowles first published in 1959, my copy was published in 1996 by Scribner publishing. There is no introduction or follow up essay, so you will need to deal with my take on the subject.

Setting: Starts during the summer at a boys school in New England. Time: During WWII. Main Characters: Phineas (Finny), all star athlete, breaker of rules, wants to have fun during summer instead of being locked up studying. Narrator Gene, studious, jealous of Finny, but his best friend. Supporting people: Brinker, Leper, and rest of the Lower Middler Class at Devon.

This is a sad story, a tale of jealousy, betrayal, hardship with the war in the background as these boys are close to turning 18 and being eligible to be drafted. They are at the start of the story being led by Phineas, who thinks that they should do the same exercises as the Upper Middler Class who are preparing for their time in the services.  He is a leader and likes to invent games, so he climbs a tree and jumps into a river. He calls out Gene to climb the tree and jump. Gene is not as athletic as Finny, but to save face he climbs the tree and jumps. Gene is resentful of Finny and in some moment of shear spite for not letting him study, he jumps on the tree branch Finny is standing on and causes him to fall off the branch, where he hits the ground.  Gene instantly regrets what he has done, but must deal with the guilt. He even goes to Finny's house to confess but Finny gives him an excuse. Back at school, Finny is able to return for fall, he makes Gene go in training for the Olympics. This is so Gene can carry out Finny's dream of being in the Olympics. Gene follows this because of the guilt he feels. Other bad things happen and you just feel sorry for all the young men in this book.

As I said before this book has betrayal, jealousy and hardship, but it does not end with the above tale. It is sad to think that we still have the pressures that we put on our kids to be the best, and this encourages jealousy. Set during war times with the possibility of losing your life, these kids are aided by Phineas to enjoy life before it ends. Our hopes and dreams for our children sometimes do not come to fruition because life steps into the picture and makes them grow up too fast. It would be nice if we could let our children have the life they should, without adult problems and fights putting pressure on them to be grow up. A sad but reflective book.

The book I read on the plane is called MRS. LINCOLN'S DRESSMAKER by Jennifer Chiaverini. It was published in 2013 by PLUME a Penguin Random House Group. Jennifer Chiaverini is known by her ELM CREEK QUILTS books, which are based on history of the United States. This book is also based on history, a work of fiction but all people represented are real. Mrs. Lincoln, the modeste to Mrs. Lincoln named Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. The book is about Mrs. Keckley, a freewoman who purchased her own freedom to become a seamstress to Washington Elite, including Mrs. Jefferson Davis before the start of the Civil War. It is a great book and I am glad that I picked it up to read based on my familiarity with her Elm Creek Books. I enjoyed reading about a part of history that I knew nothing about in terms of the Lincoln's and the personalities of the people in the White House. I had read somewhere that Mrs. Lincoln was considered mad, but now I know the reasons. I really liked Mrs. Keckley for her fortitude and compassion in a time where black members of society were treated like second class, if even that, people. I cannot wait to delve into other historical novels by Jennifer Chiaverini if they are this well written. Kudos on the research of a hidden person and making her come back to life.

THE CRUELEST MONTH

One of my fast reads between reads, THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny. My book has a copyright of 2007, published March 2008 in the United States by Minotaur Books. This is the third in the mystery series by this author. I was first introduced to this author by my father who is also an avid reader. It is a Three Pines mystery starring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec, his team and the village of Three Pines. All three books involve a murder, mystery section, and the Old Hadley House. Now I have to go to the library and find the rest of the series. A good quick read. If you like mysteries this is a good series. But now I need to finish A SEPARTE PEACE and REMAINS OF THE DAY, one of them has to be finished before my trip on Wednesday because I will not be bringing my computer with me. So I think my Mother's Day will be spent reading, hopefully, my two men will just have to cook.

THE GOOD SOLDIER- Finished

THE GOOD SOLDIER, by Ford Madox Ford. The book was first published in 1915, after the start of the Great War. My book was published in 2005 for Barnes and Nobles Classics in New York. There is a timeline, an introduction by Frank Kermode and a letter to Ford Madox Ford's "wife" Stella, that he wrote in 1927, in actuality she was his mistress, his wife would not grant him a divorce. In the letter to Stella, we find out some interesting facts, one that this is supposedly a true story and that the author had to wait until all the characters in the story were dead before writing it. This is found on page 5 of the book: "I wrote it with comparative rapidity, I had it hatching within myself for fully another decade. That was because the story is a true story and because I had it from Edward Ashburnham himself and I could not write it till all the others were dead." This is why I am to believe that this book is semi-autobiographical, though the narrator of the story Dowell sets about trying to convince us that he is not like other males and their dalliances. We also find that the book started out called THE SADDEST STORY, but because it was published during the war, his publisher gave it a new title. So what is the story like, it is about the narrator being told about events that occurred that he was too blind to see at the time they are occurring. He does not find out about his wife until after she is dead, or the character Ashburnham's secret life until after he is dead. The narrator goes back and forth in his reflections, characters are introduced, but we do not find out their name or their importance until the book is almost done. The girl Nancy is always referred to as "the girl" (page 23-he told the girl and the girl told the wife.) Now Captain Ashburnham had other girls, so I it was hard for me to figure out at first who they were talking about, and if I am honest I had to read the footnote first. Captain Ashburnham is called sentimental and that is why he cannot help falling with pretty young things who will listen to him and make him feel good about himself. He is furious with his wife because she took over running his house and grounds, because he had an affair which cost him 20000 pounds with the Grand Dukes mistress. His wife Leonora took over the estate giving him a stipend, at the cost to her good looks, and got him a job as Captain in India, so they could make up the 20000 and other debts. Leonora only wanted to be loved but she would not lose all their money. She had been taught a different way to run things, which is why Captain Ashburnham, even though he was a good soldier, was not a good husband. He met another soldiers wife who would listen to him and ended up having to pay 300 pounds a year to keep her husband quiet. SO Leonora does a lot of scheming and trying to bide time till her husband comes around, but she is replaced every time you turn around with someone new. This includes the narrator of this sagas wife. Florence, who in herself is a piece of work, never having sexual relations with her husband because of her "heart", but having sexual relations with others behind his back, insisting they sleep in separate rooms so as not to cause her heart to act up. So the Narrator, Mr. Dowell is either a very naïve fellow or he is blind as a bat when it comes to things placed in front of his eyes. So I could go on and on about this book, the reason why August 4th is important, but I will let you read the introduction. Also there is a great amount of commentary on the Roman catholic and protestant differences and how that plays a roll in this book. Then of course the war. So if you like a little bit of history, a little bit of sabotage, and affairs of the heart, then read this book. It is a good one and I have my favorite character and it is not the narrator Mr. Dowell. Reading the authors timeline and the fact that he too had a mistress, that he was in the war, I wonder if it is not slightly autobiographical. Well, they say a good writer writes about what he knows, so who knows.

The Good Soldier

I have not finished this book yet, but I should be done by tomorrow. I can say that the "Good Soldier" was a cad. The narrator of this stories wife was one of this soldiers flings. Of course, his wife was also a piece of work. Hopefully, my first thoughts on this story will end with a miscommunication or error in judgment on part of the narrator but I do not think so. I will give more details later.

Tell No Lies-Gregg Hurwitz

This book is not on the Reading the 100 list or on the 16 before the movie comes out list, but I wanted to read it anyway. It is TELL NO LIES by Gregg Hurwitz. It was released August 2013 by St. Martin's Press. Gregg Hurwitz spoke at the Book and Author dinner for RAMA in Roanoke, Virginia. Suring his speech he gave us an excerpt from this book, so I could not ignore it as it spoke to me, what happened and why. This is a thriller, based on an event that no one can figure out that linked people in horrible deaths and threats that eventually link back to one person. Just when you think you have it figured out, think again. I was in the middle of THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford which I knew had to be a daytime read, so I started TELL NO LIES as my night time read. Okay, I started it and then I could not put it down. I knew I had to finish it before picking up the other book. So now that I am finished, in two days, I need to get back to the other book. However, I am still haunted by the book I just read. Not only is MR. Hurwitz a good speaker but he is a very god writer. I cannot wait to find more of his books to read. Nothing like a thriller to get you checking around corners for people in yellow slickers, especially when it is raining outside.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS-finished

I just finished reading THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green. This book can be found in the young adult section of a bookstore or in the library. It was published in 2012 by Dutton Books, PENGUIN GROUP. The book is dedicated to Esther Earl a 16 year old, who died of thyroid cancer. The book is written about a 16 year old girl, Hazel with thyroid cancer with mets in her lungs. She goes to Support group after being coerced by her mother, where she meets a boy named Augustus Waters. They develop a friendship and love, that helps them through the worst of times. They are on a mission to find out what happened to characters in a book called An Imperial Affliction by an author named Peter Van Houten, it is this quest that brings them closer together and Hazel's attitude about her condition. I will not be going to see this in a movie theater, this movie will be viewed best in my own home with Kleenex nearby. I hope that the young people who read this understand that these are true emotions. Death happens all the time. Cancer, unfortunately, plays among us, it is not fun, speaking from my own knowledge, but it is even more sinister when it takes a young person. I like Hazel's character she is feisty, she knows what is going to happen to her, she does not put up with platitudes from others. She gets strength from the relationships that are near and dear to her. Good book, if you read it, have tissues handy, especially if you have a propensity to cry. I cried when Miss Jane Pittman took a drink from a water fountain, and when The Champ died on the boxing table. My sister however, laughed at me, so now when I feel the need for a good cry I move to another room and then come back. This book is one of the 16 to be read before it comes out in the movies, not one of the hundred I am supposed to be reading. The next on that list is THE GOOD SOLDIER, by Ford Madox Ford.

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf- finished

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, by Virginia Wolf, published first in 1927 in Great Britain by the Hogarth Press, my edition is included in the Everyman's Library through the publishing company ALFRED A. KNOPF, 1991. I like the Everyman's Library books, they always give a time line that gives information about the author, current events, and other books and writer's at that time. It also gave an introduction by Julia Briggs, I have not read this yet as I like to form my own conclusions first, but after I write this I will go back and read that section. My first comment about the book is that it is divided into three sections: The Window, Time Passes and finally The Lighthouse. Each of these is written in a slightly different way with different points of view. The Window, encompasses the whole family and friends of the Ramsay's, mostly focusing on Mrs. Ramsay and her opinions and peoples opinions of her, her husband, each other. It starts in a summer house that more people are invited to because she cannot say no to people who want to visit. She wants to go to the lighthouse because her youngest son James wants to go. But the weather does not look like it is going to cooperate, so they are all having arguments, unspoken arguments sometimes. Mr. Ramsay is older than his wife, they have 8 children. He hates that they have so many people, long dinners and just about everything, he is often wandering around spouting out quotes. We find that even though his wife loves him in her own special way she does not ever say it, nor he to her. They are always tip toeing around one another. Apparently Mrs. Ramsay is a great beauty but people have differing reactions to her, which he is well aware of. You get to see many expressions of the rest of the people in the group. Mostly you are hearing their thoughts about everything. And windows are key, Mrs. Ramsay does not like the doors open, she wants people to open the windows so she goes around doing this. She is sitting at a window with her son reading, while Mr. Ramsay is ranting and Lily Briscoe, a guest is out on the lawn trying to paint and capture the window. We are also told about Mrs. Ramsay's love for the lighthouse, her watching for the long light that passes through her window. I feel that THE WINDOW is about the soul. We do not hear the words we are looking at what each person thinks, a window into the soul. A window into the life of these people, their likes, dislike the interactions. We see love lost, foundering, trying to find itself. We see the light house with its illumination, the center of a major fight. Disappointment in not getting to go because of things outside of their control, but wanting them none the less. There is a method I find that Mrs. Woolf used that was interesting in this section, whenever people intersected we would jump to the persons thoughts who they passed and stay with that character until they intersected someone else. I liked that, at first confusing, but then you get the rhythm. The second section, TIME PASSES, is about the house. The only voice we hear is that of the housekeeper. It is all about the house falling down. There are snippets of information about the family in this section, the sudden death of Mrs. Ramsay and two of her children who she had high hopes for. No one comes back to the house. There are rats, leaks, ceilings falling, butterflies beating their wings against the windows from the inside. Just a mess and the housekeeper lamenting that she is too old to keep this up. She also notes that the only constant is the light from the lighthouse trying to get in. Then after 10 years the family wants to return. They want the house to be as they left it, so this means the housekeeper has to hire people and get the place tip-top shape. The third section THE LIGHTHOUSE, this is mostly told through Miss Briscoe, who has come to the house with the family and several of the people who had been there ten years ago. She is trying to wrap her head around why she is here, why she is missing Mrs. Ramsay or is she, why she does not want Mr. Ramsay to pay any attention to her, because she feels that is what caused Mrs. Ramsay to perish. His always wanting praise, which Miss Briscoe is not willing to do. She watches as Mr. Ramsay, Cam (his daughter) and James(his son) go off to the lighthouse. Mr. Ramsay is urgent that they should do this. He is in his 70's and has never been the favorite of these his youngest children who are now 16 and 17. James has several times contemplated killing Mr. Ramsay if he speaks to him. He has had this hatred even before his mother died. I think that they are actually very much alike, both needing Mrs. Ramsay approval and praises. You the thoughts of the children in regards to the trip, there father on the way to the lighthouse. Cam is the first to acknowledge that her father is not as bad as she thought he was. It is not until he gets his first praise from his father that you see a positive but veiled response from James. The arriving at the lighthouse is the culmination of the trip needed so long ago. It is the acceptance of life lost, a reconciliation of what is left of the family. It is also where Miss Briscoe finishes her painting, though she is believes it will be thrown out. She draws a line between the two parts of the painting, across the wall that separates everything. Virginia Woolf had experience much loss at an early age her she has the death of her mother when she was 13 followed by the deaths of a half-sister, her father and her brother all within the first 23 years of her life. She starts with depression shortly after her mother dies (Everyman's Library timeline.) In 1941 she commits suicide because she does not want to succumb to more illness. We are never told how Mrs. Ramsay dies, just suddenly. We know that Mrs. Ramsay was in her 50's when she dies. There are several scenes in this book where the characters stand on the edge of a cliff thinking it would be so easy to go over, but then something holds them back, family, work unfinished. Virginia Woolf left a book unfinished when she walked into the River Ouse, the power of depression is so debilitating sometimes that nothing can hold you back. I do not know if I could do it, I always think what devastation that leaves behind for others.

The Maltese Falcon-fini

Yesterday I finished the MALTESE FALCON, by Dashiell Hammett, it is a fun read based on characters you would find in the real world of 1939. What I mean by that is that he did not fancy them up and Sam Spade is a reflection of our author, who was a Pinkerton Agent. Mr. Hammett was born in Maryland, yeah Maryland. He was born in St. Mary's County, I wonder if he knew any of my relatives. Anyway, he wrote several books, but when he felt he was repeating himself he stopped writing (page xv in the introduction.) Not to be mean but that should be the mantra of many writers. The book I read was published by Alfred A. Knopf in the Everyman's Library edition. It has a copyright of 1929, 1930 by Alfred K. Knopf, renewed in 1956 and 1957 by Mr. Hammett. This publishing was released in 2000. Also included in this book are two other stories by Dashiell Hammett, THE THIN MAN and RED HARAVEST. Neither of these books are on the 100 books to read, so I must take this book back to the library. The book is set in the 1920's, we have a artifact that everyone is looking for, we have three murders, several beatings and if you have ever watched the movie, you can add the twangs and voices of the characters as you read. When I see Sam Spade in the book, I do not see Humphrey Bogart, but that is the who we get to see in the movie. It is a perfect story for a movie. Short and to the point, my favorite kind of book. Sometimes I do not want to have to figure out what someone actually is trying to be symbolic about. For example, I do not want to believe that a rocking horse is sexual tool. Good Read.

Maltese Falcon

Now that I have finished ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, I am well on my way to finishing the THE MALTESE FALCON, by Dashiell Hammett. In between time I have read and listened to the following books, AMAZONIA, by James Rollins, SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES, by Alan Bradley, THE LAND OF MANGO SUNSETS, by Dorothea Benton Frank. Books I listened to while traveling included ALTARS OF EDEN, by James Rollins and THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES, by Alan Bradley. I love to travel and listen to books. It passes the time, but sometimes I find myself paying more attention to the book than the road. That is usually when I tell my husband it is his turn to drive. Since both of us read the Alan Bradley books, I got him hooked, we figured we would listen to his last book together. I was not as impressed with this one as I was with his previous books, but towards the end it really picked up, the beginning was just a little slow. James Rollins was a guest speaker at the RAMA Book and Author dinner, so I had to read some of his books before the event. I have not read his Sigma series but some of his stand alones. The audio I listened to was also a stand alone. His books combine some of my favorite things, mystery and science, specifically genetics. Genetic mutations, treks in foreign places, death, mystery all the things to make a thriller. Plus I got to sit with him at dinner and he was great. Dorothea Benton Frank is an author who I like to read when I go to the beach, more specifically when I go to Hilton Head. But I am afraid that I had read this one before, so I was disappointed, but I read it anyway. I should have looked at my reading list. The MALTESE FALCON, was started before I went on vacation, but I could not find it while I was packing so it got left behind. It is a fun book, Sam Spade, womanizer, private eye. I will have to watch the movie and also look up the significance of this novel and the genre of mystery. After this book I will start TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, by Virginia Woolf and A FAULT IN OUR STARS, by John Green.

One Hundred Years of Solitude- finished

I have been talking about this book for at least 4 blog posts, so of course I have to post when finished. This book was originally published in 1967 in Argentina. The book I am reading appears to be published in 2006. I say appears because that is the date that I see, so it has to be at least 2006. In the back of the book we have the Gabriel Garcia Marguez inspiration for the book. This inspiration is the visits to his grandmother's house when he was a boy. The stories that she used to tell and her face as she told them. His quote "In previous attempts to write, I tried to tell the story without believing in it. I discovered that what I had to do was believe myself and write them with the same expression with which my grandmother told them: with a brick face."(page 9: About the book section, HARPERPERENNIAL MODERNCLASSICS) The woman in this story seem to have lived a long time, for example we have Ursula living to be over 140 years old. She is not the only one, and they all seem to be the ones that keep things moving forward. It is only after all these strong woman die that you have the ending of the Buendio family. There is a family tree at the beginning of the book, which is helpful and you can see that the names: Aureliano, Jose, and Arcadio are very popular. You will note that there is a notation for 17 Aurelianos but no mother names. These Aurelianos were born to Colonial Aureliano during his war campaign by different women. Each Aureliano used his mother's last name and each had a tragic outcome. So read this book it is full of male bravado, female strength, ghosts, miracles and just an interesting tale.

Vacationing

Reading ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE while vacationing, almost finished. I can tell you right now the women in this book were due for a vacation, girls night out, just about anything to get them to relax. While the men were out sowing their seed, fighting, and just being a pain in the ..., the woman were trying to hold down the fort keep things moving along. They needed to relax because sometimes they did not think things through, an example, Ursala talking to her dead husbands ghost who had been tied under a tree, when he died, so that is where she goes. Then there is Fernanda, who has been told from birth that she is to be a queen, she has married into the family and wants things to be civil. She sends he daughter away to save face and has mysterious conversations with who she calls invisible doctors about an invisible operation she should have. Of course there are two other females of the family that could have used a break from Macondo. Also some mean playing around with peoples lives. Almost finished and then I have some other books I brought with me and when I get back home I will finish up THE MALTESE FALCON. Did not want to bring a library book with me and leave it behind by accident. Happy reading and greet the sunrise with a smile.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I am still reading ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE but was dismayed to find that the author is in the hospital in Mexico. He is 87 years old. This book according to an article in the Roanoke Times, April 4th, 2014 edition has sold more than 50 million copies in more than 25 languages. It has also outsold everything published in Spanish except the bible. It is a pretty impressive book I do not think I could have remembered all the names and kept them in order. I said before the only name that is not repeated is Ursala, Rebeca, and Amaranta. All the male names repeated over and over. So I will report on more when I finish. But it is full of description and in my humble opinion the woman are the strongest. They are the ones that keep everything on track, though those characters are somewhat weird.

A HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE (Midway), plus two other books.

I am in the midst of A HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, it is an interesting book, rich with characters and history in this small town. I am enjoying it immensely and will have further review when I have finished the book. I am trying to guess what could possibly happen next, we have had science, pregnancies, deaths, unexplained relatives, firing squads, revolutions, premonitions, seers and gypsies. All brought forth in interesting manners. The only difficulties is keeping the names straight as they are very similar to one another, except Ursala and Rebeca. Lots of variations of Arcadia or people with that as part of their name. Also, we see into the future as well as the past, which s all being experienced at the same time as the present. A little confusing, but it is manageable, just have to connect the dots sometimes. Other books I have read: THE EARL CLAIMS HIS WIFE by Cathy Maxwell, this was a fast read. It is a romance novel and the author is going to be speaking at our Book and Author dinner. She weaves a nice tail of betrayal and hurt feelings, with some sexual tension. Not a bad book, but I have to say I am a fan of Kathleen Woodiwiss's romance novels because they are full of history, which I did not get much of in Cathy Maxwell's book. AMAZONIA by James Rollins, another author speaking at the book and author dinner. This is an adventure that takes place as you can seen the Amazon. I really liked this book and get a chance to sit with this author over dinner. He takes you into the jungle with these fantastic genetically modified creatures, a tree that uses existing and past life to create these creatures, a very intelligent tree. The story is woven well and there is death and mayhem throughout. I liked so much that I have taken out some of his other books from the library. SPEAKING FROM THE BONES by Alan Bradley, this is a Flavia Deluce Novel. She is still 11, but is having some emotional turmoil because their life is changing drastically and of course there is another murder. I just finished this book, 5 minutes ago and found out that it definitely has a sequel which is the new book THE DEAD IN THEIR VAULTED ARCHES. The last words in SPEAKING FROM THE BONES is............ Did you really think I would tell you. Read it yourself and find out. But if you are going to read this book, read the first one and work your way through all 6 books.

Howards End the Movie

Yesterday I borrowed from the library HOWARDS END the movie. They did not put all the extra things in like the bitterness towards Germany or delve to deeply in the politics regarding the poor. As in any movie, you do not hear the inner workings of the mind, but the actors did a pretty good job of displaying these emotions on there faces. With a cast like Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Vanessa Redgrave and Anthony Hopkins you can't go wrong. However, it did seem rather drawn out, it was a 2 hour and 20 minute movie. It also fell flat with some of the explanations, especially why Helen was coming home after being so secretive. In the book you got a clear explanation but in the movie, it is really not answered, I had to explain to my husband why certain things occurred. Plus they used a weird technique in which we would be in the same scene but they would go black of a second and we would come back to the scene but the characters were in different positions. This would happen several times during that particular scene. All in all it was pretty true to the book, but seemed to lack energy.

A Long Way Down: Finished

I have completed A LONG WAY DOWN by Nick Hornby. This book was published in 2005 by Riverhead Books a Penguin Group. This is a very amusing but troublesome book because it deals with suicide. I will not spoil details but in my last blog I tell you about 4 people who meet on a roof, thinking that they will be the only one trying to commit suicide. From that point on they make dates in the future and start hanging out together. In some ways it puts suicide in perspective, you do not know who you are going to meet and what their circumstances are that would lead them to kill themselves. I had a professor of Psychology in college who received a note from his friend saying he as going to kill himself, immediately upon receiving this letter my professor called his friend. He missed him by an hour. Suicide is not funny, but this book looks at relationships, misunderstandings and the character of 4 people who become friends. That is the part that is amusing. To anyone out there thinking this is the route, find someone, talk to them and make a date in the future to talk to them again.

Books read

Last blog I stated that I was going to read 75 books this year 2014. I have read a fast book called A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD by Alan Bradley, which is a good series if you like mysteries. It is about an 11 year old girl around WWII, who has a chemistry lab inside her house thanks to a deceased uncle who was a chemist. She also is a inquisitive little girl with two sisters, her father, but her mother is deceased. The mother died climbing a mountain and from what is implied Flavia is very much like her mother. She tends to get into lots of mischief unfortunately for the father who is on his way to being broke. A good book but not for young children because there are some adult topics brought into play. Another book I am in the middle of reading is A LONG WAY DOWN by Nick Hornby, this book is on the list of 16 to read before they come out in a movie. I am rather enjoying this book though it is on the topic of suicide. Four random people meet on the top of the Topper, a place tall enough for people to die if they jump off. It has been covered by wire mesh to keep people from doing this. It is New Years Eve, and you meet the first person Martin and his tale, followed by Maureen, Jess, and JJ. Martin is a talk show host who got in trouble for going out with a 15 year old, Maureen is a woman with a disabled son, Jess is a 18 year old who just lost her boyfriend and JJ is young man who feels worthless since his band broke up. All think this is the perfect night to kill oneself, but they really are struggling with the actual deed. The book relates what is going on in each characters minds through all this process. I am hoping for one ending but we will see where the book goes. The only downside, in which I agree with the character Maureen, is too much cursing, though there are times they just use f____, but you get the meaning. I am also in the middle of SNOW CHILD this is a book club pick about a couple who lost their child and move to the wilds of Alaska. Their marriage is struggling and they are about to give up hope when a young girl appears in the woods after a snow. She is like the wind and knows her way around the woods. More later. My next 100 book is ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I hope to start right after I finish A LONG WAY DOWN. Happy reading

Howards End- Finished

I really liked this book and I think that I may have to read some more of E. M. Foster. It has all the goodies that make a book worth reading, intrigue, social clashes, layers of personalities. The main characters as I said the day before are the Schlegel's and the Wilcoxes, with a Mr. Bates thrown in to turn up the volume. The Schlegel's and the Wilcoxes do not get along due to two things: the first is the impetuous flirtation that had the Schlegel's Aunt Juley jumping on a train to stop an engagement that had already run its course. The second is the fact that Mrs. Wilcox left Margaret Schlegel her home when she died. Now though the men and daughter in this family do not want Howards End, because they dislike the Schlegel family they do not tell her this and say it is the whim of a sick woman. The Schlegel family consists of two woman and a brother, who really does not play apart in this book, except to sit back and refuse to get involved. The Wilcoxes consist of the father, two sons and a daughter. Both the families feel superior to each other. Where does Mr. Bates come in, he is thrown in around the 6th chapter, he meets the Schlegel girls at a concert that he has spent considerable money to go to. His umbrella is stolen by Helen Schlegel and he goes with Margaret to retrieve it, realizes he is outclassed and leaves in distress. We learn he is in a miserable relationship, wants to improve himself by reading and reciting passages. He is a clerk and somehow ends up ruining his life completely after meeting with the girls once to clear up the matter of his wife. A carefully woven story that takes us into social conflicts of the time, snobbery, woman's rights, rising fear of England and Germany having a war, and the life of English people and the changes with time. There is even a woman's reading club, so might be fun to discuss this book at a book club. Highly recommended Oh I did read the introduction and I am glad I waited until I finished the book because it would not have nearly been as fun, if I had known all that was going to happen before reading it.

1/2 through HOWARDS END

I am currently at the 1/2 way point in HOWARDS END. Howards End is a place that is owned by the Wilcox's, well actually it was the dowry for Mrs. Wilcox. The main characters so far are the Schlegel's, Margaret the oldest who had to take over the family after her mother died in childbirth with the youngest brother Tibby. The middle child is Helen. There father also dies leaving them in charge of the house that they rent and the upbringing of each other. I think that there is a part where you get the feeling that Tibby may possibly be gay. A quote is made by his sister, when they are arguing about the feminine feeling in the house she says that Tibby is a man, just the other half of a man. MArgaret also accuses the sister of making the place more masculine by smoking cigarettes. It is a very funny book, in my opinion. It was first published in 1910, which makes the comments about Germany and England very interesting, especially since is so close to the beginning of WWI. The Schlegel's are part German, father, and English, mom. There all these comments about the Germans being boorish and that is why the father left. There are also mentions of hostilities rising between the two countries. So in between the banter about social justice and life in England you get a good picture of what the times are like through this book. Howards End is near a town called Hilton and a quick trip from London, because when Helen at the beginning writes a quick note to Margaret that she is engaged, her aunt jumps on the train and heads that way. Also in the time it takes her to get on the train and arrive, Helen has sent another telegram telling them it was a mistake and Margaret has time to respond while the aunt is still on the train. More later.

Howard's End and misc. stuff

My next book of the Reading the 100 is HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster, first published in 1910. The edition I am reading was published by Alfred A. Knopf, in an edition called Everyman's Library. There is an introduction by Alfred Kazin. I will not read the introduction until after I read the book, so that I will not be swayed by any commentary. The book has 359 pages without counting the introduction, but it has wide margins and is no bigger than a paperback. So I feel that this is going to be read by this coming weekend. Also I love the quote at the front page before the title page, I usually call this the front piece but I am not sure if this is a quote associated with the book or the Everyman's Library. Here it is: EVERYMAN, I WILL GO WITH THEE, AND BE THY GUIDE, IN THY MOST NEED, TO GO BY THY SIDE Okay so I went online and found that this is the quote by the EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY people. I like it, maybe I should start trying to collect their books, the originals. I am also will be starting WINTERS TALE and SNOW CHILD this week. I think that there is a new challenge for book reading but this is how many books do you think you will read in 2014, I am going to make an estimate of 75. So far I have read 7 books in 2014: THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG by Alan Bradley THE ORCHID HOUSE by Lucinda Riley STILL LIFE by Louise Penny ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline GRAVITY'S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon MONUMENTS MEN by Robert M Edsel LABOR DAY by Joyce Maynard 75 should be easy since I have 9 books for my book club, though I did read one already, the 42 of the 100, 10 for the movie challenge and my personal reading should get me to that magical 75 number. I will keep you posted on that as well, 68 more books to read this year. For the movie challenge I am a little behind, since I wanted to finish GRAVITY'S RAINBOW and MONUMENTS MEN, two large books I put off reading WINTER'S TALE, so I missed the movie coming out deadline, and as mentioned before decided since I was not going to see the movie I did not read VAMPIRE ACADEMY. I may miss another movie deadline but then I should be good for all the others. A LONG WAY DOWN comes out this week and I do not have that book. All the other books I have either read or the movie does not come out until after May. Three cheers to snow, reading and writing.

Finished: The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter

THE MONUMENTS MEN by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter is a book that required lots of research as it seems this was not something that either the service or the men themselves promoted. There were several books at the time but the dedication is lost to us now, except for maybe this book. I am not happy with the people who wrote the movie, but my husband said because they changed the book, that is why they had to change the names of the men. So the movie has some parts of the book in it's scenes, but it misses some key elements. In the movie we have a team that was started by personal invitation, he goes to each character and invites them on this mission. They all work together with some going off by themselves, but they still seemed to form a cohesive group. In the book this is not what happens, they do not even meet each other except towards the end and then that is just a few of them. At the end the book, you find that the main character Stout does not even like to talk about his time over in Germany. So yes artifacts were recovered and yes there are still artifacts unrecovered, and yes two men died in their attempt to find artifacts. But it is not the movie version. If you love history and if you have always wondered about what happened to the art, treasures taken from other countries and from the Jewish population, then read the book. But is you want the drama only the movies can give, but in my thoughts didn't, then see the movie.

The Monuments Men, Vampire Academy

This is the extra book I was reading for those with movies coming out. I started to read the book, but the movie came out before I could finish it. I am still in the process of reading, but went to the movie just to see how it would play out. I was a little upset, they have changed all the characters names, the beginning is nothing like the book and I can only imagine the rest of the differences. I kept thinking did I make a mistake on the names of the Monuments Men, but no they just changes James Rorimer to James Granger, Rose Valland is Claire. So basically, from the first half of the book to the first half of the movie, there is nothing alike, except the names of some of the places and paintings. Very confusing, I was hoping to see a representation of art and places, and I think that they did that to some extent, but the events and people names are just off. As For Vampire Academy, another book in the list of 16 to read before going to the movie, I failed miserably with this book. I had to take it back to the library, because it is popular with the younger crowd and sis not finish it. It was not difficult to read, but definitely young adult/teen. I probably will not see the movie, in fact I may have missed it. If that is the case it was short lived. My next book is HOWARDS END, by E.M. Foster (one of the 100), and WINTER'S TALE by Mark Helprin, (one of the 16, which is currently in the theater.) I have finished a book club pick and will be starting another for March. The book club book I finished is called ORPHAN TRAIN and will be discussed tonight, so I am waiting to review it after the meeting. Heads up, I really enjoyed it. The March book club book is called SNOW CHILD. Happy Reading

GRAVITY'S RAINBOW finished yeah

As you know I love to read and I will read just about anything, but if I was an editor of this book I would have probably asked for a minimize the book. About the author Thomas Pynchon: He was born in 1937 and educated at Cornell University. He was in the US Navy and worked at Boeing Aircraft Corporation. First Novel published in 1963 and he is still writing his latest novel according to Wikipedia is called BLEEDING EDGE and was published Sept. 17, 2013. It is only 496 pages. He is hard to find, likes his privacy. These are notations I have found in Wikipedia. GRAVITY'S RAINBOW was written and published in 1973 I have to say that this book made me look up facts, were these cities real, was this kind of psychic and psychological thing done during WWII. I am not that familiar with specifics of WWII except what I have read or what is always mentioned, D-Day, certain battles, the key players, the holocaust, etc. Gravity is the actual name one of the woman characters has, it is actually I believe what she calls herself. But does this book relate to that, in the later chapters we get all these color connections, but does the title relate to that. The main focus of the book is a rocket, who is the rocket, there are times that it seems that actual people are the components of the rockets. There is a character who I have mentioned in previous blogs whose name is SLOTHROP, he is being monitored because he is somehow linked to the rocket hits sexually. But later in the book, I get the feeling that he is actually, made up of robotic parts, that he is only part human. That he has been altered, in the last chapters (if you can say chapters), this character is talked about being taken apart and placed in different locations. This is also what is happening to the last rocket in the program. So I see a parallel between the two. The Rocket seems to be mentioned both sexually and scientifically. Many references are made to the rocket by the men in the book. So if I was sitting in my literature class during college we would look at the symbolism of the Rocket and sexuality. It seems when rockets go up the male anatomy goes up as well, when rockets are not working neither is the male counterpart. There is a lot of overt sexuality in this book, maybe too much to my liking. It somehow distracts me from what I want to know, is Slothrop a rocket or part of a rocket? The book takes us on a journey that seems to be Slothrop based, but is also about various other concepts. The espionage, conspiracy, Hitler, psychological warfare, mathematics, mechanics, sex, race for the power of the Rocket, psychic phenomenon, and a myriad of other things that have to do with WWII and its aftermath. This Journey starts with WWII but has references to JFK later in the book. So it is about time and how key players during that time continue into the future with a dismembered Slothrop and rocket. The places are real Peenemunde is actually where rockets were produced during WWII. Swinemunde was close by and according to Wikipedia the USAAF, did bombing raids and the refuges on this island were killed, about 5000 to 23,000. I have no way to verify this. Anyway, it made me look up other things especially about the divisions sited in the book, the psychological and psychic aspect of this time period. I knew that in Germany that there were medical and other weird experiments done on mostly Jewish populations but also on other Prisoners of War. But the US and Russians also did some forms of experimentation, mostly in the area of psychological warfare. However, I also found during my very brief research that after WWII, the Russians also were experimenting with Psychic connections after they heard that this was being studied by others. They tried this with people on land trying to communicate with submarines. I believe this book should be read and analyzed but I do not have the time I would like to take to figure it out. It took me forever to read it. I could have done without the sex scenes. Thomas Pynchon is very descriptive, and I do not mean just the sex scenes. You could be taken to these places, this is a very visual book. I think that if the type had been bigger this would be a thousand page book, but my eyes would not have suffered so much at the small print. So why the title: The rainbow is and arch, gravity pulls things down, physics shows us the arc projectiles, so the rocket would follow the arc of this rainbow being pulled down by gravity. Or the gravity of the war pulling us down from the sunny rainbows of color to the dull, drab realities of war. The END.