Rules of Civility: Review

RULES OF CIVILITY: by Amor Towles, published by Penquin Books in 2012.  A great book, but I had to go back a couple of times to remember the front of the beginning of the book. This is why, it starts off in the 1966 New York where Katey, our narrator for the most part, and her husband are at a gallery looking at portraits taken by Walker Evans in the 1930's. As they are walking along, Eve notices a man she knew in the 1930's Tinker Grey. He is in the photo's twice. Once looking dapper and once looking disheveled. This starts Eve to remember that time and when she met Tinker.

We are zoomed back to New Years Eve 1937, Katey Kontent and her friend Eve have sneaked out of the boarding house to enjoy New Years Eve. Lovely name for our narrator, throughout the book I wondered was she ever really content. This is where they meet Tinker Grey and so the tale begins. We are taken From Winter through Fall as the main section headers, with titles throughout. There are several twists and turns in the life of Katey, Eve and Tinker. Many things I would never have thought to do, but I have never lived in New York of in the 1930's.

So where does the title come from? There is a book that the young George Washington wrote called "The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation." This is wonderfully placed in the back of the book, but it is also the motivation behind Tinker Grey, who has a copy in his drawer. I loved the list and wonder what George Washington would say today, especially when it comes to clothing and grooming. My favorite of the 110 is number 2: "When in company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body,  not usually discovered." What would he think of the crotch hold?

Good book, I like all the photo's of the 1930's.

the sound of glass by Karen White: review

(I was in the middle of reading one book when I decided to read my November book club pick, not the smartest thing to do. So I am almost finished Golden Notebook, so I hope to have a blog by the end of the week.)

the sound of glass by Karen White ( and yes I realize I did not use capitals in the title, but neither did she,) published by New American Library a division of Penguin Group, May 2015. This book starts off with a plane crash, accident and a young woman afraid of her husband. Then we jump ahead 2 generations to an accident which leaves a young widow looking for answers about her husband and an inheritance of his family home in Beaufort, South Carolina.  We also have a step-mother, half-brother Owen to Merritt, the second generational widow, and Gibbes the brother to Merritt's husband Cal. All these lives are weaved within a tale of abuse, suffering, hardship and mystery that gets centered around a plane crash that happened when Edith Heyward finds a note in the bottom of a suitcase that had blown up over the skies of Beaufort. This book is written in two voices one is Merritt whenever we are in a chapter about her and the second is third person narration when we are in other chapters.  This is a bit confusing at first, but makes sense.

The only other thing that was really troubling in the read was the fact that each generation of abusers in the narrative were named Cal. I had to think which Cal were they talking about, but eventually I got used to it and settled in for the read. The domestic abuse in this narrative was both physical and psychological, making the woman feel less than adequate, playing on their fears, until they were lucky enough to escape, unfortunately one was through death of the woman.

Characters that I loved:
Loralee- Merritt's very young step-mother who writes down sayings in a journal for her son, some of her own and some her mother uses to say to her. She also spouts of sayings from her mother to Merritt, which annoys Merritt immensely, as she has never liked her step-mother for taking place of her mother.
Owen- the half-brother who is the only one who seems to be able to bring a smile to Merritt's face. He is very much like his big sister and Loralee loves to make the comparisons.

Okay I liked all the characters, but the two above were my favorite. Merritt for her strength to face her demon. Gibbes for his gentleness towards this new family, especially since he knew nothing about Merritt as his brother never mentioned her and vice a versa.

There are so many plot twists, some more obvious then others but still essential to the telling of the story. A good book all around.

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain: Review

CIRCLING THE SUN, by Paula McLain is published by Ballentine Books in 2015. The setting Kenya and Europe. The time starts in 1932 with the prologue but jumps back to 1904 and as the author writes " Before Kenya was Kenya...".  The heroine one 4 year old who moves from England with her family to the British East African Protectorate, her name Beryl Clutterbuck.

This story is a historical fiction about Beryl Markham and the life she lived as a single, sometimes married, independent woman in the early 1900's. Headstrong and unwilling to be compromised, she left most men bewildered by her inability to be feminine or controlled. She becomes a horse trainer after years watching her father and training. She becomes an aviator and circumnavigates the world. Many misfortunes befall her, but she picks herself up and continues.

The author Paula McLain does a wonderful job with scenery and the story line, citing the many books she read to understand Beryl Markham. This research included a book that Beryl Markham wrote about herself called West with the Night, written in 1942. A book that Ernest Hemingway proclaimed as a "... really a bloody wonderful book."

I was so enthralled with CIRCLING THE SUN, that I read it in three days. It is wonderfully written from scenery to emotions that I could not put it down. It also made me want to read other works about Beryl Markham, so I purchased West with the Night which was republished in 1983, my copy is a paperback published in 2013.  I will review this as soon as I finish the autobiography.

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I am still reading The Golden Notebook, but had put it aside because I needed a brief break. It will be done before August ends.

2nd book mentioned in previous blog: Review of THE NIGHTINGALE, by Kristin Hannah

THE NIGHTINGALE, by Kristin Hannah, published by St. Martins Press in 2015. The book is set in France during WWII and is the story of two sisters, family, french resistance and German occupation of France. The book encompasses the whole time period of the war from the Germans breaking through the Maginot Line, which had been set in place after the Great Conflict or WWI. The sisters father served in WWI and came home a different man, lost his wife and turned to drink and sent his daughters far away from him. One daughter finds love and the other finds herself rebellious.

This story starts off in 1995 on the Oregon Coast with an older woman about to be moved into a nursing facility as a way to save her son Julien from taking care of her as she is dying. She goes to the attic and goes through an old trunk, which starts her on a journey of remembering the past and how her son really knows nothing about her. We quickly slide over to France 1939 and start the story of the two sisters. Once in awhile we go to the 1990's but for the most part the book is written from the past.

The two sisters are very different, Vianne the older sister, tries to be in control of her emotions, falling in love after being deserted by her father, getting pregnant at a young man and marrying him. Having no time for her baby sister, who handles this abandonment by her father by being rebellious and being sent to a boarding schools, as she keeps being kicked out because of her behavior, this is Isabelle. She has issues not only with her father but with Vianne, because Vianne is the second person to abandon her when she was just a small child.

Then the war presses in around them, Isabelle gets thrown out of another school at 18, goes home to her father who sends her to live with her sister after the Germans have broken through the Maginot Line, he sends her with a family headed that way but they run out of fuel and she has to set off on foot. She decides she need to get away from the mass exodus from Paris to the country and sets off in a different direction, running into a man named Gaeton. Who walks with her to  her sisters house, with a promise that when they see that Vianne is okay, he would take her to the front with him.

While all this is going on Vianne is getting overrun by the people looking for food. She goes into hiding with her daughter locking all the doors, so she does not answer when her sister knocks. Starting off the reunion with bitter emotions from Isabelle the next morning, as she chastises her sister for having the door locked and being mad at Gaeton for abandoning her with a note pinned to her dress.

Okay enough of this or I will tell the whole story and Kristen Hannah does a much better job. This story is well written and it kept me guessing until the end on who the old woman was in the beginning of the book. The end of the book when the Germans realize that they might not win and start getting even more brutal is very graphic, so beware. The book takes its name from two sources on being the name of the person who take fallen air force members from the US and RAF across to safety using the Pyrenees mountains and the last name translated for the two girls. It is not only about relationships between the family and lovers, but relationships between occupied countries with their oppressors.  How a whole country let atrocities happen because of fear and or gain, but not the whole country because there were resistance fighters and people who hid others in the face of danger to their own lives.

This book hits a variety of genres, mystery, history, romance, tragedy and a few more. A well written book, that took four days to read.  I probably could have done it in two but other obligations got in the way and I sat up till 130 AM reading last night as I wanted to find out who was our woman. But as I said before the last chapters are pretty graphic, so reader beware. if I was to rate it with a five star system, it would receive all five stars.

Still reading The Golden Notebook, but....

I am still reading the Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, but I have also read two book club choices for last month and nest month, so I thought I would review them least I forget.

This month the book was A WRINKLE IN TIME, by Madeleine L'Engle, my copy was printed in 1997 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc for the Quality Paperback Book Club. I read this book when I was not a child, but later on in life, then again when I had children, and now for a third time. When I was younger I did not pick up on some of the religious themes in the book, but concentrated on the fact that there were two children rescuing their dad from an evil entity. I was heavily into science fiction, so this fell into my favorite kind of read. When I read it with my children, we were looking at it through eyes of book reports. In each read I found myself being drawn to the character of Meg. I was a little different from my family, though they loved me they did not understand me. I also had a mass of curly hair in the era of Twiggy and straight hair. This made me the butt of jokes in school. I also had to explain why my father mysteriously disappeared, to people who would come up to a seven year old and say things in a snide tone, "Where's your father?"

It is a cleverly written book that can follow you from childhood to adult and still be able to find different meanings. I believe the author when she was asked who this book was written for and she said people. She did not want it to be a specific age group and I applaud her for making it a book that can be enjoyed on many levels.

At our book club we talked about the time frame this book was written , when the start of cookie cutter houses started showing up, where whole neighborhoods looked exactly the same and if you did not fit the mold you were ostracized. A time when individuality might have been frowned upon. Also discussed were the religious concepts of dark overshadowing the light. Love conquering all. That maybe the Mrs's were also seen as the holy trinity. So many concepts in such a small powerhouse of a book.

I think the only thing we did not like was how the book ended so abruptly, one minute we are in conflict and the next we are back in the garden and the story ends. I felt like she wanted to go on but decided this was a good place to stop, leaving you with the feeling that there should be more. I have not read the other books with these characters so maybe that will be when I finish the rest of my 100.

Also, I think I will end here with this is a good book to read with your children, you may want them to be in 6 grade so that they can understand it a wee bit better. I will do another blog for the next book.

The reading has started.

I have started the book THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK by Doris Lessing, once again we have a 600 page book, at least it is not 1000+ pages. It is also not printed in teeny pinhead print, so my eyes may be saved. I love the letters that Doris Lessing put in describing what not to think this book is about, such as feminism. She wrote both in 1971 and 1993, both letters are in the book. I will not try to paraphrase her words, but do read them if you are inclined to read this book.

The central characters so far, are Anna, her friend Molly start off the book, but it quickly drops back in time, when Anna leaves Molly to go back home and look at her notebooks, which are described by color as the black, red, yellow and blue. Anna chooses the black notebook to start writing in which is about her time with a group of people she refers to as the Colony, which resides in Africa. The group is made up mostly of Brits with the tentative leader named Willi. That is where I am so far, and currently I am enjoying the book. I think the black notebook definitely has a dark side. I wonder what the other three notebooks will reveal.

Happy Summer Reading

Next book

Tomorrow I start the next book in my finishing the 100 books on my list that was part of the 100 book challenge. It is a book by Doris Lessing called the GOLDEN NOTEBOOK, published originally in 1962, my book is a reprint from 1999 through First Perennial Classics. Now here is the kicker, on the back of my copy, yes I bought the book, so I would not have to keep returning it to the library, it says it is a great work of fiction. However, when I have looked for it in  the library I have always found it in the non-fiction section. So I am going to have to do a little research to find out if this really autobiographical. Or does the library just assume it is non-fiction, or was it just misfiled, but the card record online says it is in non-fiction. Alas we have a mystery to help us read the book.

Have a pleasant summer and fun reads.

C'est fini- The last review of Les Miserables.

I have finished LES MISERABLES  by Victor Hugo. I have read it in two formats, book form and on Kindle, as the library would not let me recheck it out for a fourth time. I am sorry that it has taken me so long to finish and I feel I had abandoned my readers to other pursuits. That being said I decided enough was enough and I will finish it this weekend. I did not realize how far I had come in the book and how little I had put off reading. I also know that reading on a phone such a lengthy book is very tiring on the eyes. I one again apologize.


At the end of the Kindle version there are over 100 questions to review if you read this book for a book club, they are broken down into areas such as characters, settings, history, etc, I have not looked at these questions, but did read the notes that Monsieur Hugo wrote to an Italian publisher about his book. I agree with him that this is not a book for just France but for all mankind. He talks about countries with poverty and wealth, of money going to military and not to education, and I see this in the US currently. Is the book idealistic? Maybe. Is the book concerned about mankind and its search for improvement by any means necessary? Yes, I believe it does address that from one mans struggles to feed his family, to the street poor trying to make something of themselves through thievery. This book carries many of the tones found in Dickens, but it carries the struggle to be a better person, even if in the end you are defeated.

I mentioned I had read this book in high school french class, but we only looked at the Jean Valjean parts. I realize now that we looked at very few passages and a very abridged edition. There is so much more to this book then the validation of an ex-con, there is history, romance, betrayal and a thousand understandings of the human condition. Having said that I still do not understand the concept of rebellions over and over again. The snuffing out of lives that apparently occurred so often in France. I am saddened by all of the men Marius knew dying in such a manner and not changing anything. It was strange to me that these doctors, lawyers, students at a University would willingly die, knowing that they may not produce change, that the same scenario happened over and over again in France. I could imagine that the poor and lower waged workers may have had a rebellion, bit it was not them who started the rebellions. I thought do they really care about their fellow man or are they being romantics. I am still not sure.

Jean Valjean is indeed the hero throughout the book. He rescues so many and in the end though forgiven suffers the most. It is a tragedy, showing that no matter what your circumstances, that you can change for the better, which he showed in so many ways. His counterpoint is Thernadier whose only redeeming quality was at the end of the book when he unwittingly gave Marius information that changed his opinion of Jean Valjean, other then that Thernadier showed the ugly side of man, in all it's forms.

I could go on but this is not a dissertation, nor is it a thesis, a book report, or a news item. I loved this book, though it took me forever to read it. I liked hearing the history, the romance, the subtleties of the characters, the notions of the time period. It was an eye-opening book, a good read, but you must be prepared for the areas of long explanations of wars, Frances architecture, the long windiness of the grandfather, these took pages and chapters in the book. If you have time it is a good book to read.

Out of the Revolution

I have finished the section on Waterloo and how it connects to Cosette and the Thernadieres, Mr. Thernadier being one of the robbers of the dead after the war. Cosette and Jean Valjean have once again escaped the clutches of Javert and are hiding inside a convent. A very weird convent of which it is easier to read then describe. I think this is why it is not shown in the movie, or why we did not discuss as a class.

Anyway I am in a new section Part 3 Marius. Book one in this section is all about the street urchins of Paris, it is very descriptive and almost makes you want to be one of the carefree ones with no chores, except to make some coin for food or play five finger discount. I am sure this is where we will be introduced to the Thernadiers son who is a non-entity, he was described as a baby who kept crying in the last section. The Missus was all about her girls and did nothing for her son, I am not sure how he survived but we are several years into the future from Part 2 where he was first brought into play.

         This almost puts me half-way through the book. YEAH. With this cold and flu I am able to     read, so who knows when I will finish. Pleasant journeys and be happy to be part of a family.

Battle of Waterloo

Who knew, not me, that there was so much information about the battle of Waterloo and surrounding areas in the book Les Miserables. I am part two of the book entitled Cosette and the first book in this section is entitled Waterloo. It is about 45 pages long going into detail about the battlefield and the plans of Napoleon, number of people who died, etc.  Anyway,not sure where this is going, being that Cosette was born about two years after this battle. I guess if you want to study the battle of Waterloo, then I would also look at this section in the book. Makes me want to find it.

Historians there are monuments including the place mentioned in Les Miserables called Hougemont. In fact on the website for this and other monuments in the area, is a notation about the fact that there are two chapters in Les Miserables that mention this battle. So new things to learn everyday.

Les Miserables a beginning.

I have started the book, Les Miserables, and I realized that my French teacher back in high school, only had us read the parts about Jean Valjean in class. I have seen the movie and we were given the general gist of the book in class, but there is a so much backstory that we did not read in class. Anyway, I am at the pass the part where Fantine has given her daughter to people she thought she could trust and back with Jean Valjean being the benefactor for the M and M district. Though they have not said that it is Jean because he did not show his papers when he was being a hero. Though it is inferred by the way he was dressed and his desire not to be given titles.

I love getting the backstory and can put things in better perspective. I liked the movie but I did not realize how Fantine became with child and what drove her to leave her child with the Thenardiers. Where did the young men and women go that were with Fantine in the book, but I do not recall those scenes in the movie. Anyway, still lots to read.

Where have I been? How many books got read?

I hate to say I was out of country without access to the internet, but unfortunately that is exactly what happened on my trip. It was truly horrifying to be out of touch. While I was away I did read a book and got further into Les Miserables. Here are the books that I read:

Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall. This book was published in 2014 by Penguin Random House Company. This is a non-fiction book about the friendship that developed between Carol Wall and her gardener Mister Owita. He helps her look at life a little differently, she is up against cancer and quite frankly scared, which makes her defensive.

This was a good book but brought me back to my days of fighting cancer, we had a different view of people helping. I eventually accepted help and relied on my friends and family to get me through, and I did have days of doubt, but I prayed through these times. However, her cancer was certainly more pronounced due to her history.

A good book, but I caution you if you have cancer depending on your mindset this may help you, but there is the possibility it may make you sad.

The Game: A Mary Russell Novel by Laurie R. King, published in 2010 by Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks. It has a copyright 2004. If you like Sherlock Holmes you will like this book series. The series starts with The Beekeepers Apprentice, where we first meet Mary Russell. The author starts our book by saying she has found or received a set of letters and notebooks written by Mary Russell that the author is putting to print. The book I just read is the 7th book in the series, which sends us on an adventure in India. What I thought was funny was Holmes and Russell set off on their adventure on a ship heading to India, why funny is that I was on a ship and some of Miss Russell's thoughts were exactly what I was feeling at the moment. Nice adventure, especially if you are on one.

The Uninvited Ghost by EJ Cooperman, published by the Berkley Prime Crime Books, 2011. This is the second in a series based on a woman and daughter by a home to turn into a seaside retreat. Unfortunately the house is haunted by a couple of ghosts who had been murdered in the house. One is a detective who was trying to help the previous owner find out who was threatening her. The other, of course,  is the previous owner. We find out the daughter can see them, mom cannot, until an accident gives her the ability to see and speak to them. She solves the murder and this brings us to the second book, in which a ghost at another house has been commissioned to scare and older woman. He is blind and thinks he has killed her, so he goes to see his the ghosts at the seaside retreat to help him find out if he actually killed someone. Interesting book and a very fast read.

Next in line

Finishing Don Quixote left me with mixed emotions, but now I can immerse myself in Les Miserables. In addition, I still have to work on The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing and In Search of Lost Time by Proust. Then maybe if I feel I can tackle The Ambassadors again, I will be finished.

Book Club: I will review a book called Three Wishes, by Liane Moriarty, tomorrow. I will be reading Mr. Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall, for February.

After I finish the 100 books I will have to decide what else I want to do- continue this blog or start a new one. It has been fun to write down my thoughts about books, but I need to challenge myself. I could make my own list of 100 books to read, hmm. I will think about it as I have several books to complete before making my final decision.

Happy Reading
       

IT IS DONE: Review of DON QUIXOTE

I have finally finished the book DON QUIXOTE, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600's. I started out reading this in book form, but jumped to my Kindle to finish, since I had to return the book back to the library. As I was reading the book I asked myself the question who had time to read or write such a lengthy book. But then I remembered we are talking about the 1600's. What we know about the writer according to BIO, is that he was wounded in battle with the Turks, who come up on several occasions in this book. Also, that he was imprisoned for 5 years before being ransomed out. Again, this theme appears several times in this book.

I think about what we do today that keeps us from reading and exploring. We have so many connections through electronics that we tend to keep busy playing on computers and phones,instead of exploring the world or reading about adventures. Through history we have the production of newspapers and magazines, but then we added radio, television, and a myriad of electronic devices  Who has time to sit and read a thousand page book? I found it to be a great difficulty to read, as I had many other things to do. I forced myself to finish because it deserved to be finished.

How would I rate this book, 5 stars, because I have to consider the time, the tumult and the life of Cervantes. I think that he certainly had a sense of humor, especially when he talks of burning books, except those he had written. Or when he introduces us to Sancho an unlikely companion to Don Quixote, who imparts to us several words of wisdom throughout his time with the knight-errant. As you read you will come across a few phrases that we still us in modern times, one saying is " the proof of the pudding is in the eating", which many times gets translated into the 'proof is in the pudding."

I enjoyed this book, but it was again too long form me to finish in the original time I had allotted to this book. Though I said I was tired of the adventures in my last blog, now I will miss the characters. In effect, I read two books. The first part was written around 1605, though I have seen some say 1602, the second part was written about ten years later. Probably at the insistence of friends and families and publishers. Or as may be alluded to in the second book, that people were making up Don Quixote adventures and trying to sell them.

If you have the time, it is well worth the read.

Tired of Don Quixote

I am so tired of reading about these adventures and having my computer trying constantly to reboot, that I have stopped reading for a bit. I promise that it will be finished soon, but I started reading Les Miserables just keep going on the 100 and catch a breather from the Don. I have some down time coming up, so I will be able to read more prolifically, I have spent way to much time reading Don Quixote. Anyway, thought I would just catch you up on my status.

Also will blog about another book I am reading for book club, called the Three Wishes. I am going to wait to hear what my book club friends say, it was unique.

Happy reading.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

It is often said that when life gives you lemons make lemonade, this is very true in Don Quixote because it seems that he and Sancho have found themselves swimming in lemons and still manage to get out of there predicament.

I am watching a series called the EXPANSE,  and in this series are some direct references to Don Quixote that I find very interesting. The character James Holden has named the Martian ship Rocinante, which makes me rethink who the Don Quixote reference is: Is it James Holden who is finds himself in situations that he put himself in by responding to a distress call. Or is it Miller who is trying to save a girl who disappeared, he is mesmerized by her, and she is not whom she seems to be. So a very interesting contrast as I finish reading Don Quixote.


I hope you all had a great holiday and find yourself on fun adventures.