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1arubabookwoman
Hello Everyone. I'm back again to enjoy another year of good book talk. I have no goals this year other than to participate more. To that end I plan to visit my thread once a week instead of every two months. Since my failure to appear was due primarily to my backlog of unreviewed books (I reviewed less than half of the 153 books I read last year), I'll just comment on what I'm reading and have read, and if it turns into a review so be it.
So let's go!
So let's go!
2arubabookwoman
FIRST QUARTER
JANUARY
1. Command and Control by Eric Schlosser
2. Fukushima by Mark Willacy
3. Toms River by Dan Fagin
4. Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominique Lapierre
5. Dr. Neruda's Cure For Evil by Rafael Yglesias
6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
7. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
FEBRUARY
MARCH
JANUARY
1. Command and Control by Eric Schlosser
2. Fukushima by Mark Willacy
3. Toms River by Dan Fagin
4. Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominique Lapierre
5. Dr. Neruda's Cure For Evil by Rafael Yglesias
6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
7. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
FEBRUARY
MARCH
3arubabookwoman
SECOND QUARTER
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
4arubabookwoman
THIRD QUARTER
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
5arubabookwoman
FOURTH QUARTER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
6arubabookwoman
Nobelists
7arubabookwoman
To give an example of how my reading habits work, I am currently reading Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Incident and the Illusion of Safety. I had first read Melal, a novel about the Marshall Islanders who were relocated and whose lives were disrupted, and in some cases shortened, by the atomic testing there. This led to Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island, the memoir of a volunteer teacher on one of the atolls in the Marshall Islands. Thus to Command and Control, which will at some point lead to a book newly purchased based on the above reading, The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground by Michael Harris.
8Cait86
Hi Deborah! I too am trying to be more constant here this year. Would you recommend Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island? It sounds fascinating.
9rebeccanyc
Interesting to see how your reading works, Deborah, and welcome back! I am planning on reading Command and Control but I'm waiting for the paperback because I know I won't get to it in the near future.
10fannyprice
>7 arubabookwoman:, I had Command and Control from the library, but ended up having to return it before I even got a chance to read it because (as usual) I checked out too many books. Interested in your thoughts & definitely planning to check it out again in the future.
11Linda92007
I'm looking forward to your posting your Nobelists, Deborah!
12labfs39
I love when my reading links into themes like your Marshall Island/Atomic reading stretch. Then something else will catch my eye, and off I go in a totally different direction.
13arubabookwoman
Hi Cait--Yes I would recommend Surviving Paradise. It sometimes seemed to read like an anthropological study though--i.e. chapters on the role of women in their society, the role of men, educational traditions, food, etc. etc. I was not surprised to learn that after his year on the island, the author went back to school to get a graduate degree in anthropology, and in fact returned to the island to study the attitude of the islanders to the fact that their island is disappearing.
Hi Rebecca and Fanny--my review of Command and Control follows. I'm sure you will both like it (as well as be disturbed by it).
Linda--the first Nobelist I am reading this year is Roger du Gard. I am reading Lieutenant Colonel de Maumort, which is going rather slowly, although not because I don't like it. He is apparently part of the French literary canon, but is less well-known in the US. Here's something he said: "The supreme problem for the artist is precisely to separate what is time-bound from what is permanent, what is the current, short-lived debate of contemporary humanity from what is the anguishing enigma of eternal humanity."
Hi Lisa--looking forward to seeing you next week for our jaunt to Powells and the Portland meetup.
I thought I'd try to catch up with my reading by commenting on my non-fiction reads first, since the first book of the year was non-fiction, and most of my other non-fiction reads are related in some way (at least in my own mind) to that book.
So I think I'm going to comment on my nonfiction reading and get to the fiction after. First book finished this year, as noted above, was:
1. Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser (2013)
This is a sobering look at U.S. nuclear policy from immediately after WW II until the end of the Cold War. Inserted among this history is a minute by minute account of an accident in a nuclear missile silo in Damascus Arkansas in the 1980's.
After the end of WW II, there was no cohesive plan for how to handle nuclear weapons, and in fact no one was even sure that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki could be replicated. A rivalry between the military and civilians for control of nuclear weapons immediately began, with control swinging toward the military each year until there was no longer even the pretense of civilian control. Each successive president was pressured by the military to to delegate the authority to "push the button," to the military, as well as to allow foreign governments, i.e. NATO) to possess and control some of the bombs.
There has also been an ongoing conflict between policies of safety and reliability, with the scientists arguing for more safety controls to prevent accidental detonation, and the military pushing for bombs that would go off every time. Needless to say, the military has won, and each time defense spending is authorized the funds are used to make bigger and better bombs, rather than to alter the bombs we already have to make sure they don't accidently go off.
Throughout this history, Schlosser details the thousands (yes I said thousands) of nuclear accidents that have occurred, many minor, but an unsettling number major, including crashes of planes carrying nuclear weapons and the accidental dropping of nuclear bombs. I personally remember the incident in which a plane crashed near Spain in the mid-60's and weeks were spent looking for a lost nuclear bomb. (The other two bombs the plane was carrying were immediately found). And a lot of us of a certain age remember the Cuban missile crisis, and many think that this incident was the closest we've come to nuclear war. Not true--behind the scenes we apparently came even closer during the Berlin Wall crisis.
My criticism of this book is that it basically ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the so-called end of the Cold War. I don't think anyone can assume that because the US and the USSR are no longer facing each other down the barrel of a nuclear bomb we are safe, or even safer. There is obviously the problem of the possibility of regional nuclear wars (Indian/Pakistan; Israel/Arab country). Many experts believe, however, that if there is a nuclear holocaust it will most likely be because of a mistake or accident. One of the scariest events the book describes took place during the early 60's when the early warning radar screens at NORAD showed dozens of Soviet missiles headed for the US. The officer in charge had mere minutes to decide whether to launch in retaliation. Fortunately the officer remembered that Khruschev was at the UN in NYC that week, and reasoned that the Soviets wouldn't start a nuclear war while their leader was in the US. It was later determined that the "missiles" that showed up on the radar screen was the moon rising over Norway.
Highly recommended.
Hi Rebecca and Fanny--my review of Command and Control follows. I'm sure you will both like it (as well as be disturbed by it).
Linda--the first Nobelist I am reading this year is Roger du Gard. I am reading Lieutenant Colonel de Maumort, which is going rather slowly, although not because I don't like it. He is apparently part of the French literary canon, but is less well-known in the US. Here's something he said: "The supreme problem for the artist is precisely to separate what is time-bound from what is permanent, what is the current, short-lived debate of contemporary humanity from what is the anguishing enigma of eternal humanity."
Hi Lisa--looking forward to seeing you next week for our jaunt to Powells and the Portland meetup.
I thought I'd try to catch up with my reading by commenting on my non-fiction reads first, since the first book of the year was non-fiction, and most of my other non-fiction reads are related in some way (at least in my own mind) to that book.
So I think I'm going to comment on my nonfiction reading and get to the fiction after. First book finished this year, as noted above, was:
1. Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser (2013)
This is a sobering look at U.S. nuclear policy from immediately after WW II until the end of the Cold War. Inserted among this history is a minute by minute account of an accident in a nuclear missile silo in Damascus Arkansas in the 1980's.
After the end of WW II, there was no cohesive plan for how to handle nuclear weapons, and in fact no one was even sure that the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki could be replicated. A rivalry between the military and civilians for control of nuclear weapons immediately began, with control swinging toward the military each year until there was no longer even the pretense of civilian control. Each successive president was pressured by the military to to delegate the authority to "push the button," to the military, as well as to allow foreign governments, i.e. NATO) to possess and control some of the bombs.
There has also been an ongoing conflict between policies of safety and reliability, with the scientists arguing for more safety controls to prevent accidental detonation, and the military pushing for bombs that would go off every time. Needless to say, the military has won, and each time defense spending is authorized the funds are used to make bigger and better bombs, rather than to alter the bombs we already have to make sure they don't accidently go off.
Throughout this history, Schlosser details the thousands (yes I said thousands) of nuclear accidents that have occurred, many minor, but an unsettling number major, including crashes of planes carrying nuclear weapons and the accidental dropping of nuclear bombs. I personally remember the incident in which a plane crashed near Spain in the mid-60's and weeks were spent looking for a lost nuclear bomb. (The other two bombs the plane was carrying were immediately found). And a lot of us of a certain age remember the Cuban missile crisis, and many think that this incident was the closest we've come to nuclear war. Not true--behind the scenes we apparently came even closer during the Berlin Wall crisis.
My criticism of this book is that it basically ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the so-called end of the Cold War. I don't think anyone can assume that because the US and the USSR are no longer facing each other down the barrel of a nuclear bomb we are safe, or even safer. There is obviously the problem of the possibility of regional nuclear wars (Indian/Pakistan; Israel/Arab country). Many experts believe, however, that if there is a nuclear holocaust it will most likely be because of a mistake or accident. One of the scariest events the book describes took place during the early 60's when the early warning radar screens at NORAD showed dozens of Soviet missiles headed for the US. The officer in charge had mere minutes to decide whether to launch in retaliation. Fortunately the officer remembered that Khruschev was at the UN in NYC that week, and reasoned that the Soviets wouldn't start a nuclear war while their leader was in the US. It was later determined that the "missiles" that showed up on the radar screen was the moon rising over Norway.
Highly recommended.
14arubabookwoman
Next I read a book about the tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima:
2. Fukushima by Mark Willacy
Mark Willacy is an Australian reporter who happened to be stationed in Japan at the time of the tsunami. He has written an informative and compelling book about the tsunami and nuclear meltdown that is still on-going at the power plants. Regarding the meltdown, he gives us just enough technical information for a basic understanding of how a nuclear power plant works, and what can go wrong, but not so much technical information that the reader's eyes glaze over.
The book narrates an hour by hour account of the events occurring inside the plant. It also tells the stories of a cross-section of the people living and working in and around the power plant, including a nuclear engineer (who spent days inside the plant after the tsunami), a pig farmer, a teacher, a fisherman, and so on. We learn of their lives before the event and how they cope after the event, each suffering different degrees of loss.
Willacy also was able to interview the Japanese prime minister while the events were on-going, and these interviews provide a chilling glimpse of just how unprepared the Japanese government and the power company were to deal with the situation. Indeed, their primary concern at first was to cover up just how serious the event was. This resulted in many people being exposed to much more radiation than they could have been, due to the failure to order evacuation in a timely manner, and also ordering evacuation in the wrong direction, i.e. to where the fallout was the most dense.
This book was published fairly soon after the tsunami. We know that the full extent of the damage is still unknown and ongoing. I'm going to try to find something more up-to-date, although that is not a criticism of this book, and I still recommend it.
2. Fukushima by Mark Willacy
Mark Willacy is an Australian reporter who happened to be stationed in Japan at the time of the tsunami. He has written an informative and compelling book about the tsunami and nuclear meltdown that is still on-going at the power plants. Regarding the meltdown, he gives us just enough technical information for a basic understanding of how a nuclear power plant works, and what can go wrong, but not so much technical information that the reader's eyes glaze over.
The book narrates an hour by hour account of the events occurring inside the plant. It also tells the stories of a cross-section of the people living and working in and around the power plant, including a nuclear engineer (who spent days inside the plant after the tsunami), a pig farmer, a teacher, a fisherman, and so on. We learn of their lives before the event and how they cope after the event, each suffering different degrees of loss.
Willacy also was able to interview the Japanese prime minister while the events were on-going, and these interviews provide a chilling glimpse of just how unprepared the Japanese government and the power company were to deal with the situation. Indeed, their primary concern at first was to cover up just how serious the event was. This resulted in many people being exposed to much more radiation than they could have been, due to the failure to order evacuation in a timely manner, and also ordering evacuation in the wrong direction, i.e. to where the fallout was the most dense.
This book was published fairly soon after the tsunami. We know that the full extent of the damage is still unknown and ongoing. I'm going to try to find something more up-to-date, although that is not a criticism of this book, and I still recommend it.
15arubabookwoman
3. Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin
At first the people of Toms River, New Jersey didn't notice. Then one of the nurses at a children's hospital recognized that there seemed to be a disproportionate number of childhood cancer cases from Toms River. When the parents and other residents became involved, attention focused on a chemical plant which had been the mainstay of the economy of Toms River for many years and which employed many of its residents. This book is the story of the children and families affected by the chemical plant, the attempts by the citizens and governments at local, state and federal levels to establish that the chemical company was polluting the environment (primarily drinking water), that the pollutants were carcinogenic, and that these carcinogens were the cause of the Toms River cancer cases. This was more difficult than might be assumed. In fact the only other instance in which this has been accomplished was the W.R. Grace chemical plant case which was the subject of the book A Civil Action. (A book I highly recommend by the way.)
This book suffers much by way of comparison with A Civil Action. A Civil Action had a strong narrative arc, and it read like a thriller. It focused on the legal maneuverings of the lawyers for both sides, the scientific difficulties encountered by the plaintiffs, and the suffering of the families. It was a sort of David and Goliath story, and the plaintiffs' attorney ultimately ended up bankrupt. In Toms River, the author ranges broadly, which makes the book choppy and sometimes difficult to follow. For example, he goes back to ancient Egyptian times as part of his discussion of garbage disposal methods. It seemed to me the author was saying, "Look at all this research I did, and I'm going to tell you every single iota of information I learned."
The book is not bad, and it is an interesting look at what can be described in no other way than as corporate crime, and the apparent helplessness of the government to deal with this. It is an informative but sometimes tedious book
At first the people of Toms River, New Jersey didn't notice. Then one of the nurses at a children's hospital recognized that there seemed to be a disproportionate number of childhood cancer cases from Toms River. When the parents and other residents became involved, attention focused on a chemical plant which had been the mainstay of the economy of Toms River for many years and which employed many of its residents. This book is the story of the children and families affected by the chemical plant, the attempts by the citizens and governments at local, state and federal levels to establish that the chemical company was polluting the environment (primarily drinking water), that the pollutants were carcinogenic, and that these carcinogens were the cause of the Toms River cancer cases. This was more difficult than might be assumed. In fact the only other instance in which this has been accomplished was the W.R. Grace chemical plant case which was the subject of the book A Civil Action. (A book I highly recommend by the way.)
This book suffers much by way of comparison with A Civil Action. A Civil Action had a strong narrative arc, and it read like a thriller. It focused on the legal maneuverings of the lawyers for both sides, the scientific difficulties encountered by the plaintiffs, and the suffering of the families. It was a sort of David and Goliath story, and the plaintiffs' attorney ultimately ended up bankrupt. In Toms River, the author ranges broadly, which makes the book choppy and sometimes difficult to follow. For example, he goes back to ancient Egyptian times as part of his discussion of garbage disposal methods. It seemed to me the author was saying, "Look at all this research I did, and I'm going to tell you every single iota of information I learned."
The book is not bad, and it is an interesting look at what can be described in no other way than as corporate crime, and the apparent helplessness of the government to deal with this. It is an informative but sometimes tedious book
16arubabookwoman
4. Five Past Midnight: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster by Dominique Lapierre
Last year I read Animal's People by Indra Sinha, an excellent novel about the slum dwellers who lived around the Union Carbide plant releasing the deadly chemicals. The novel was set years after the release, and focused on the tragic effects the disaster had on those people and their attempts to hold the company responsible.
This book sets the stage for the disaster with the history of Bhopal, how the plant came to be built, its executives and employees, and the manner of its operation, from the beginning until the accident, which occurred during a period of time the plant's operations were being phased out. It also introduces us to a number of the families who resided in the makeshift dwellings surrounding the plant.
It may be my imagination, but having read Animal's People, I think that this book is slightly too sympathetic to Union Carbide, or at least to the American employees who were running the plant. For example, in the acknowledgements section the author thanks the individual "who made us welcome in their charming house..., enabling us to reconstruct the happy years when Warren was in charge of the Bhopal factory." Or, "The pursuit of perfection was Carbide's hallmark." The accident itself occurred when Americans were ceding management to Indian employees, and it was those employees whose mistakes or inaction caused the chemical release. However, it was the American owners who stinted on proper safety equipment when building the plant, on maintaining what safety equipment there was, and who failed to provide adequate training for the employees.
The book was written shortly after the accident, and does not stress that Union Carbide has failed (and has actively resisted) to pay adequate recompense to the victims. The long-term health problems of the victims is also not completely considered, although the author has a charity which does provide some assistance to victims with health issues. With those caveats, I can state that the book is informative and moving. It is well-written--certainly in such way that it is a page-turner, and tells a compelling story.
Last year I read Animal's People by Indra Sinha, an excellent novel about the slum dwellers who lived around the Union Carbide plant releasing the deadly chemicals. The novel was set years after the release, and focused on the tragic effects the disaster had on those people and their attempts to hold the company responsible.
This book sets the stage for the disaster with the history of Bhopal, how the plant came to be built, its executives and employees, and the manner of its operation, from the beginning until the accident, which occurred during a period of time the plant's operations were being phased out. It also introduces us to a number of the families who resided in the makeshift dwellings surrounding the plant.
It may be my imagination, but having read Animal's People, I think that this book is slightly too sympathetic to Union Carbide, or at least to the American employees who were running the plant. For example, in the acknowledgements section the author thanks the individual "who made us welcome in their charming house..., enabling us to reconstruct the happy years when Warren was in charge of the Bhopal factory." Or, "The pursuit of perfection was Carbide's hallmark." The accident itself occurred when Americans were ceding management to Indian employees, and it was those employees whose mistakes or inaction caused the chemical release. However, it was the American owners who stinted on proper safety equipment when building the plant, on maintaining what safety equipment there was, and who failed to provide adequate training for the employees.
The book was written shortly after the accident, and does not stress that Union Carbide has failed (and has actively resisted) to pay adequate recompense to the victims. The long-term health problems of the victims is also not completely considered, although the author has a charity which does provide some assistance to victims with health issues. With those caveats, I can state that the book is informative and moving. It is well-written--certainly in such way that it is a page-turner, and tells a compelling story.
17arubabookwoman
Currently my nonfiction read is Visit Sunny Chernobyl And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places by Andrew Blackwell. This book narrates some very sad things, but with black humor. So far I've read the chapters about his visit to Chernobyl (tourists can actually walk right up to the reactor building), to an oil sands mining facility in Northern Alberta, to Port Arthur Texas refineries, and to the great Pacific garbage patch.
So far this year, my fiction reads have been Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil by Rafael Yglesias, The Sunne in Splendour, and Gone Girl. I'm almost through with Orfeo, Richard Powers's latest novel.
So far this year, my fiction reads have been Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil by Rafael Yglesias, The Sunne in Splendour, and Gone Girl. I'm almost through with Orfeo, Richard Powers's latest novel.
18fannyprice
Oh my goodness - what an intense sequence of books. #1 and 2 sound like definite musts. The tale told in #3 seems sadly all too common - people in West Virginia recently couldn't drink their water for a week after some chemical leaked into the water supply - but not the best book.
19Linda92007
A fascinating series of reviews on an important topic, Deborah. I would like to read Command and Control.
Thanks for mentioning Lieutenant Colonel de Maumort. I am going to look for something by Roger Martin du Gard, although his books seem somewhat difficult to find and a major commitment to read!
I have been curious about Orfeo: A Novel and am looking forward to your review.
Thanks for mentioning Lieutenant Colonel de Maumort. I am going to look for something by Roger Martin du Gard, although his books seem somewhat difficult to find and a major commitment to read!
I have been curious about Orfeo: A Novel and am looking forward to your review.
20Polaris-
Great reviews. Certainly unsettling what you say about Dominique Lapierre's acknowledgements given his subject matter.
I also really want to read Command and Control - looks like a unique and riveting approach to Cold War history.
I also really want to read Command and Control - looks like a unique and riveting approach to Cold War history.
21arubabookwoman
Thanks, Kris, Linda and Paul.
I don't know if you've been following the news, but the concerns raised by Command and Control has become even more relevant in light of recent disclosures about the agency that replaced SAC. First, the commanding officer was fired after he went on a 4 day drunken spree in Russia bragging of his power to "push the button." He also engaged in long conversations with "bar maids" discussing nuclear physics.
Then another leading officer at the facility was fired after he tried to use counterfeit chips at a casino. Apparently he had a bad gambling problem, as well as issues with alcohol.
Within the past few weeks some other high-ranking officers in this group which controls the nuclear bombs were discovered to be engaged in drug-dealing activities, including cocaine and meth. (Drug usage among enlisted men was previously known). Then it was learned that these officers were all cheating on their periodic nuclear proficiency exams.
The latest disturbing event involves the break-in of a nuclear facility in Tennessee by three elderly activists (one is 84). Using just wire cutters, they got through the protective fence, broke into one of the buildings, and then sprayed graffiti messages and splattered blood around. They then just sat there for one hour waiting to be arrested. It took one hour for them to be discovered.
Very reassuring to know that our safety from nuclear holocaust is in the hand of such competents! (Not).
I don't know if you've been following the news, but the concerns raised by Command and Control has become even more relevant in light of recent disclosures about the agency that replaced SAC. First, the commanding officer was fired after he went on a 4 day drunken spree in Russia bragging of his power to "push the button." He also engaged in long conversations with "bar maids" discussing nuclear physics.
Then another leading officer at the facility was fired after he tried to use counterfeit chips at a casino. Apparently he had a bad gambling problem, as well as issues with alcohol.
Within the past few weeks some other high-ranking officers in this group which controls the nuclear bombs were discovered to be engaged in drug-dealing activities, including cocaine and meth. (Drug usage among enlisted men was previously known). Then it was learned that these officers were all cheating on their periodic nuclear proficiency exams.
The latest disturbing event involves the break-in of a nuclear facility in Tennessee by three elderly activists (one is 84). Using just wire cutters, they got through the protective fence, broke into one of the buildings, and then sprayed graffiti messages and splattered blood around. They then just sat there for one hour waiting to be arrested. It took one hour for them to be discovered.
Very reassuring to know that our safety from nuclear holocaust is in the hand of such competents! (Not).
22fannyprice
21, Aruba, I just heard about all these scandals on The Daily Show/Colbert Report, of all places. Sometimes I really want to live in a cave.
23AnnieMod
You seem to be on a roll of disaster-related books. Nice reviews - every time I read such a book, I wonder how this world had not evaporated yet - considering just how negligent people are and how easy things can go wrong...
24Polaris-
I had not previously been aware of these 'events', but it certainly starts to makes one of my favourite films - 'Dr Strangelove, or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb' - not seem quite so far-fetched! Or even fictional for that matter...
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
26labfs39
Ok. You can be vice-president in the Depressing Books book club! I know it's important to be informed and aware, but like Fanny, sometimes I just want to live in a cave (preferably one with clean drinking water and a built-in bunker). I finished Five Days at Memorial a few days ago, and thought I would take a break with A Tomb for Boris Davidovich. Even my tolerance for depressing books reached its end. I'm now recovering with The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.
Excellent reviews all. When you jump in, you really go to town!
ETA: You forgot to post your last two reviews on the books' pages.
Excellent reviews all. When you jump in, you really go to town!
ETA: You forgot to post your last two reviews on the books' pages.
27RidgewayGirl
Visit Sunny Chernobyl sounds like it has potential. I'm looking forward to finding out what you thought of it.
28labfs39
I have created a thread to discuss the book Five Days at Memorial. Please join me there if you have read the book and would like to discuss it.
29dchaikin
Our future is looking bleak. Great reviews. I like Schlosser, so Command and Controls appeals a lot.
#15 - I'll skip Dan Fagin's Toms River, but, in his defense, it's very difficult to replicate what Harr did in A Civil Action.
#15 - I'll skip Dan Fagin's Toms River, but, in his defense, it's very difficult to replicate what Harr did in A Civil Action.
30janeajones
aruba -- I'm double appreciative of your informative reviews as they liberate me from having to read these horrific accounts of disasters. I think, anymore, I can only deal with nonfiction dealing with events at least 100 years oldn -- the daily news is bad enough.
31mkboylan
Hi Deborah - getting caught up.
Loved following your reading path from one book to another. Have you read The Girls of Atomic City I loved that book!
Maybe you could post your review of Five After Midnight as there is only one other one up and it sounds interesting (the book and your review, not the other review ;) )
Sunny Chernobyl sounds interesting - now if someone would write about visiting the places that have made comebacks. Did you see that documentary about how when people left Chernobyl animals and plants came back? Beautiful and very intriguing.
Paul - LOL.
Such great reviews.
Loved following your reading path from one book to another. Have you read The Girls of Atomic City I loved that book!
Maybe you could post your review of Five After Midnight as there is only one other one up and it sounds interesting (the book and your review, not the other review ;) )
Sunny Chernobyl sounds interesting - now if someone would write about visiting the places that have made comebacks. Did you see that documentary about how when people left Chernobyl animals and plants came back? Beautiful and very intriguing.
Paul - LOL.
Such great reviews.
32stretch
Great reviews, but now I don't know if I want to read Command and Control. It's all rather frightening.
33rebeccanyc
I am definitely planning on reading Command and Control once it comes out in paperback; thanks for your review.
Great reviews of the other books, too.
Great reviews of the other books, too.
34labfs39
I see you are reading Young Stalin by Montefiore. What do you think of it so far?
35rebeccanyc
Echoing Lisa . . .
36arubabookwoman
Well, I was debating dropping out altogether and coming back next year, but I do want to keep some sort of record of my reading, so I'm jumping back in. My plan is to make this thread more journal-like, with ongoing comments, not reviews. I have been trying to make comments on my reading in My Library (the comments section), and although I'm way behind with that too, I'll paste some of those comments on some of the books I've read this year in this thread. I get so many great additions to my wishlist/library from CR readers I want to return the favor. :) I also intend to paste a list of all the books I've read this year at the top of the thread, so if there are any books listed you want to comment on, please jump in.
Mr. Theodore Mundstock by Ladislave Fuks
"It was almost dark when he got back with his shopping, and so he switched on the light in the hall. His shadow appeared, and before he could summon up the courage to turn round and look at the door, his shadow rushed at the letter box and back into the room."
Thus begins this novel, a novel of the Holocaust from a perspective I've not read before, that of the psychology of Jews whose lives were suspended between fear and false hope during the early stages of Nazi occupation.
Theodore Mundstock is an elderly Jew living under the Nazi occupation of Prague during World War II. He and other Jews are aware of the ongoing deportations, and live in daily fear of being summonsed. Yet they also seek confirmation that their worst fears are unfounded. People react in different ways, some go into hiding, some commit suicide. Mr. Mundstock decides to prepare himself mentally and physically for deportation and life in a concentration camp, so that he can survive. He does this by creating a pseudo-camp in his apartment--no heat, he sleeps on a plank, he tortures himself with hunger. The novel is at times hallucinatory--he frequently consults with his shadow, and his life in his imagined concentration camp is psychically devastating. We experience his mental deterioration, and ultimate death, before the actualities occur.
Highly recommended.
Mr. Theodore Mundstock by Ladislave Fuks
"It was almost dark when he got back with his shopping, and so he switched on the light in the hall. His shadow appeared, and before he could summon up the courage to turn round and look at the door, his shadow rushed at the letter box and back into the room."
Thus begins this novel, a novel of the Holocaust from a perspective I've not read before, that of the psychology of Jews whose lives were suspended between fear and false hope during the early stages of Nazi occupation.
Theodore Mundstock is an elderly Jew living under the Nazi occupation of Prague during World War II. He and other Jews are aware of the ongoing deportations, and live in daily fear of being summonsed. Yet they also seek confirmation that their worst fears are unfounded. People react in different ways, some go into hiding, some commit suicide. Mr. Mundstock decides to prepare himself mentally and physically for deportation and life in a concentration camp, so that he can survive. He does this by creating a pseudo-camp in his apartment--no heat, he sleeps on a plank, he tortures himself with hunger. The novel is at times hallucinatory--he frequently consults with his shadow, and his life in his imagined concentration camp is psychically devastating. We experience his mental deterioration, and ultimate death, before the actualities occur.
Highly recommended.
37arubabookwoman
Fury by Salmon Rushdie
Professor Malik Solanka has left his wife and child, and is residing purposelessly in NYC. An extremely successful media personality/intellectual, he found himself one night standing over their sleeping bodies with a knife, and so filled with fury that he feared he would kill them. Now they are safely behind him in London, and he is trying to "find himself."
Rushdie writes beautifully, of course, and eruditely and wittily and....so on. But this theme of the middle-age male crisis is no longer one I care to indulge in, so I found myself skimming a lot. I've been considering reading Joseph Anton, and have Shame on my shelf, and I wondering whether these will be more like his earlier work, or more like Fury.
Another issue I had with the book was its unending references to popculture ephemera. The book was written in 2000 (and set then), and although that is the not-so-distant past, I couldn't remember many of the things referred to. (Coincidentally, I was reading this while Boden was visiting, and during the visit we watched the Disney Robin Hood movie. Rushdie does a long riff on this movie, which Malik's son watches, featuring, "a singing C & W rooster, cheap rip-offs of Baloo and Ka from the Jungle Book, unadulterated American accents all over Sherwood Forest, and the frequently uttered, if previously unknown, Disney Olde Englishe cry of 'Oo-de-lally'!"
Quotes: "America, because of its omnipotence, is full of fear; it fears the fury of the world, and renames it envy...." (written before 9/11)
One of Malik's projects: "The film would of course use anthropomorphic animals to represent human originals.....The golden age of Florence...Simonetta Vespussy, the most beautiful cat in the world, being immortalized by that young hound Barkicelli. The Birth of Feline Venus. The Rite of Pussy Spring! Meanwhile Amerigo Vespussy, that old sea lion, her uncle, sails off to discover America! Savona-Roland the Rat Monk ignites the Bonfire of the Vanities! And at the heart of all, a mouse. Not just any old Mickey, though; this is the mouse that invented realpolitik....Mousiavelli...."
I loved Midnight's Children and The Moor's Last Sigh. This one, not so much, although Rushdie's brilliance is still present.
Professor Malik Solanka has left his wife and child, and is residing purposelessly in NYC. An extremely successful media personality/intellectual, he found himself one night standing over their sleeping bodies with a knife, and so filled with fury that he feared he would kill them. Now they are safely behind him in London, and he is trying to "find himself."
Rushdie writes beautifully, of course, and eruditely and wittily and....so on. But this theme of the middle-age male crisis is no longer one I care to indulge in, so I found myself skimming a lot. I've been considering reading Joseph Anton, and have Shame on my shelf, and I wondering whether these will be more like his earlier work, or more like Fury.
Another issue I had with the book was its unending references to popculture ephemera. The book was written in 2000 (and set then), and although that is the not-so-distant past, I couldn't remember many of the things referred to. (Coincidentally, I was reading this while Boden was visiting, and during the visit we watched the Disney Robin Hood movie. Rushdie does a long riff on this movie, which Malik's son watches, featuring, "a singing C & W rooster, cheap rip-offs of Baloo and Ka from the Jungle Book, unadulterated American accents all over Sherwood Forest, and the frequently uttered, if previously unknown, Disney Olde Englishe cry of 'Oo-de-lally'!"
Quotes: "America, because of its omnipotence, is full of fear; it fears the fury of the world, and renames it envy...." (written before 9/11)
One of Malik's projects: "The film would of course use anthropomorphic animals to represent human originals.....The golden age of Florence...Simonetta Vespussy, the most beautiful cat in the world, being immortalized by that young hound Barkicelli. The Birth of Feline Venus. The Rite of Pussy Spring! Meanwhile Amerigo Vespussy, that old sea lion, her uncle, sails off to discover America! Savona-Roland the Rat Monk ignites the Bonfire of the Vanities! And at the heart of all, a mouse. Not just any old Mickey, though; this is the mouse that invented realpolitik....Mousiavelli...."
I loved Midnight's Children and The Moor's Last Sigh. This one, not so much, although Rushdie's brilliance is still present.
38arubabookwoman
The Fishermen by Hans Kirk
This book, originally published in 1928, is the best-selling Danish book of all time (according to the forward). It is the story of a small group of pious fishermen and their families who uproot themselves from the wild and dangerous open coast of the North Sea to a village on a fjord, with safer fishing grounds. It is a "collective novel" (like William Heinesen's Windswept Dawn, set in the Faroe Islands, which I read last year), in which a group microcosm rather than an individual main character is the focus. In this book, we follow the lives of these insular fishermen as they try to maintain their religion and style of living, yet incorporate themselves into their new town and fishing grounds. Highly recommended.
This book, originally published in 1928, is the best-selling Danish book of all time (according to the forward). It is the story of a small group of pious fishermen and their families who uproot themselves from the wild and dangerous open coast of the North Sea to a village on a fjord, with safer fishing grounds. It is a "collective novel" (like William Heinesen's Windswept Dawn, set in the Faroe Islands, which I read last year), in which a group microcosm rather than an individual main character is the focus. In this book, we follow the lives of these insular fishermen as they try to maintain their religion and style of living, yet incorporate themselves into their new town and fishing grounds. Highly recommended.
39arubabookwoman
The Convent by Panos Karnezis
A newborn baby is discovered on the doorstep of an impoverished and isolated convent. The Mother Superior sees the infant as a sign from God of forgiveness for sins she committed in her past life, and resolves to keep the infant in the convent and raise him there. There is a lovely evocation of life in the convent, and the characters of the nuns are all well-crafted and have depth. The Sunday Times blurb: "We witness justice and injustice, theological controversy, the politics of a tiny enclosed society, despair, cruelty, generosity, scandal, suspicion and suicide..."
Beginning and end:
"Those whom God wishes to destroy he first makes mad."
*************************************************
"But the driver had already shut the door and the rest of what she said was lost in the noise of the engine and the cloud of exhaust in which the priest also vanished."
A newborn baby is discovered on the doorstep of an impoverished and isolated convent. The Mother Superior sees the infant as a sign from God of forgiveness for sins she committed in her past life, and resolves to keep the infant in the convent and raise him there. There is a lovely evocation of life in the convent, and the characters of the nuns are all well-crafted and have depth. The Sunday Times blurb: "We witness justice and injustice, theological controversy, the politics of a tiny enclosed society, despair, cruelty, generosity, scandal, suspicion and suicide..."
Beginning and end:
"Those whom God wishes to destroy he first makes mad."
*************************************************
"But the driver had already shut the door and the rest of what she said was lost in the noise of the engine and the cloud of exhaust in which the priest also vanished."
40arubabookwoman
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly
The Black Plague was called the Great Mortality by Medieval Europeans, and this history of the plague is jam-packed with information and with quotations from and references to such diverse contemporaneous sources as property records and The Decameron and Journal of the Plague Year. It also provides a great deal of historical, scientific, religious and cultural context for its subject.
Generally the history is presented chronologically, which is also geographically, since the plague seems to have descended on a place, devastated it, and then moved on. "In a century when nothing moved faster than the fastest horse, The Black Plague had circumnavigated Europe in a little less than four years."
My complaint about the book is that it frequently used what I would call "purple prose": the plague "slithered", "crept", "devoured", "stopped to admire the piles of waste and refuge", "killed with ferocity, as if killing was the only happiness it knew."
The Black Plague was called the Great Mortality by Medieval Europeans, and this history of the plague is jam-packed with information and with quotations from and references to such diverse contemporaneous sources as property records and The Decameron and Journal of the Plague Year. It also provides a great deal of historical, scientific, religious and cultural context for its subject.
Generally the history is presented chronologically, which is also geographically, since the plague seems to have descended on a place, devastated it, and then moved on. "In a century when nothing moved faster than the fastest horse, The Black Plague had circumnavigated Europe in a little less than four years."
My complaint about the book is that it frequently used what I would call "purple prose": the plague "slithered", "crept", "devoured", "stopped to admire the piles of waste and refuge", "killed with ferocity, as if killing was the only happiness it knew."
41arubabookwoman
Review from a long time ago:
Someone Else by Tonino Benacquista
This is one of those quirky European character studies I like so much. In this one, two strangers are randomly paired for a tennis game at their club. Their hard-fought game is described in detail, if you like tennis. If not, bear with it. After the game over more than a few drinks the two men, both approaching middle-age, confess their dissatisfaction with their lives, and their regrets at how different from their youthful dreams their lives have turned out. A challenge is proposed: they agree to meet in three years to see who has been able to change his life the most--who succeeds in making himself "someone else."
The two part, and do not meet again for most of the book. The stories of their lives over the next three years are told in alternating chapters. One of the men takes logical and planned steps to change his life; the other merely drifts along. Will they remember their plan to meet in three years? Which one will have changed the most?
Someone Else by Tonino Benacquista
This is one of those quirky European character studies I like so much. In this one, two strangers are randomly paired for a tennis game at their club. Their hard-fought game is described in detail, if you like tennis. If not, bear with it. After the game over more than a few drinks the two men, both approaching middle-age, confess their dissatisfaction with their lives, and their regrets at how different from their youthful dreams their lives have turned out. A challenge is proposed: they agree to meet in three years to see who has been able to change his life the most--who succeeds in making himself "someone else."
The two part, and do not meet again for most of the book. The stories of their lives over the next three years are told in alternating chapters. One of the men takes logical and planned steps to change his life; the other merely drifts along. Will they remember their plan to meet in three years? Which one will have changed the most?
42arubabookwoman
old review:
A True Novel by Minae Mizumura
This Japanese novel is a reworking of Wuthering Heights to 20th century Japan, although this connection is not slavishly in your face. The author writes well, and the characters and their development are excellently portrayed. The structure of the novel is complex (and I believe that in some ways it reflects the structure of Wuthering Heights, though it's been many years since I read that). The first narrator is a Japanese woman who as a teenager lived with her family on Long Island. During her time in America her life crossed paths several times with an enigmatic Japanese man named Taro. When she first meets Taro, he is working as a chauffer, and cannot speak English. Later he comes to work for her father, first as a repairman and then as a salesman. He becomes fabulously successful and moves on to fame and glory.
When the teenage girl is a middle-aged college professor, she is approached by a young man who has had a "ships in the night" meeting with Taro. He takes over the narration, and within his narration, Fumiko, a Japanese woman living in the countryside who seems to be a domestic servant, but whose relationship with Taro is somewhat ambiguous, narrates large portions. These portions, which constitute the bulk of this nearly 900 page tome, besides being an engrossing story with complex characters, give us a fascinating view of Japanese culture, particularly its social stratification.
Although the book is long, and its narrative structure is unusual, it is not a difficult read, and it was one that called to me to pick it up when I wasn't reading
A True Novel by Minae Mizumura
This Japanese novel is a reworking of Wuthering Heights to 20th century Japan, although this connection is not slavishly in your face. The author writes well, and the characters and their development are excellently portrayed. The structure of the novel is complex (and I believe that in some ways it reflects the structure of Wuthering Heights, though it's been many years since I read that). The first narrator is a Japanese woman who as a teenager lived with her family on Long Island. During her time in America her life crossed paths several times with an enigmatic Japanese man named Taro. When she first meets Taro, he is working as a chauffer, and cannot speak English. Later he comes to work for her father, first as a repairman and then as a salesman. He becomes fabulously successful and moves on to fame and glory.
When the teenage girl is a middle-aged college professor, she is approached by a young man who has had a "ships in the night" meeting with Taro. He takes over the narration, and within his narration, Fumiko, a Japanese woman living in the countryside who seems to be a domestic servant, but whose relationship with Taro is somewhat ambiguous, narrates large portions. These portions, which constitute the bulk of this nearly 900 page tome, besides being an engrossing story with complex characters, give us a fascinating view of Japanese culture, particularly its social stratification.
Although the book is long, and its narrative structure is unusual, it is not a difficult read, and it was one that called to me to pick it up when I wasn't reading
43arubabookwoman
My comments from when I was reading The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker:
This book has received rave reviews from France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany etc., as well as winning some prestigious literary prizes. I'm about 3/4 this 600+ page tome, and not sure what to think of it.
The plot involves the disappearance of a 15 year old girl in 1975. The girl had been having an affair with 34 year old writer Harry Quebert. 33 years later her body is discovered buried on Quebert's New England beachfront home, and he is arrested for murder. Quebert's friend, student, and fellow-writer, Marcus Goldman wants to prove Quebert's innocence.
First, we have Dicker, a Swiss/French writer (who admittedly spent summers in New England) setting his novel in America and peopling it with American characters. The novel is also primarily set against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential election. I'm puzzled by the author's intent regarding his characters. Many of the females in the small town are portrayed (almost to the extent of parody) as social-climbing snobs, constantly trying to be "chic" enough for Harry. Their husbands are all thoroughly hen-pecked (to the point of being almost verbally abused by their wives). And Marcus's mother is the quintessential Jewish mother carried to the nth degree. It's unclear to me whether the author intends these people to be real--or if they are just intended to be caricatures in a satire or a parody.
Then we have the "romance" between the 15 year old Nola and the 34 year old Harry. Her side: "I love him. He's a famous author. He's so wonderful. I love dancing in the rain. I want to run away with him. He's a famous writer. I can take care of him. And I like dancing in the rain on the beach." etc. etc. His side, "I love her. I adore her. She's beautiful. I can't live without her. But it's criminal. She's 15. I love her. You can't do this--she's 15." etc. etc. There truly is nothing in the way the characters are developed to explain the sudden infatuation--especially that of the supposedly intelligent 34 year old man. (Who ultimately comes up with a plan for them to run away to Canada, where she will complete high school--she's just finished 9th grade.)
Nevertheless, the book is keeping me reading and reading, and I'm not sure why. I'm just going with the flow, while in the back of my mind wondering if I'm missing something, or whether the whole thing is meant as a joke. We shall see.
Current comment: I kept reading. I finished it. It didn't get better. Don't read it.
This book has received rave reviews from France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany etc., as well as winning some prestigious literary prizes. I'm about 3/4 this 600+ page tome, and not sure what to think of it.
The plot involves the disappearance of a 15 year old girl in 1975. The girl had been having an affair with 34 year old writer Harry Quebert. 33 years later her body is discovered buried on Quebert's New England beachfront home, and he is arrested for murder. Quebert's friend, student, and fellow-writer, Marcus Goldman wants to prove Quebert's innocence.
First, we have Dicker, a Swiss/French writer (who admittedly spent summers in New England) setting his novel in America and peopling it with American characters. The novel is also primarily set against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential election. I'm puzzled by the author's intent regarding his characters. Many of the females in the small town are portrayed (almost to the extent of parody) as social-climbing snobs, constantly trying to be "chic" enough for Harry. Their husbands are all thoroughly hen-pecked (to the point of being almost verbally abused by their wives). And Marcus's mother is the quintessential Jewish mother carried to the nth degree. It's unclear to me whether the author intends these people to be real--or if they are just intended to be caricatures in a satire or a parody.
Then we have the "romance" between the 15 year old Nola and the 34 year old Harry. Her side: "I love him. He's a famous author. He's so wonderful. I love dancing in the rain. I want to run away with him. He's a famous writer. I can take care of him. And I like dancing in the rain on the beach." etc. etc. His side, "I love her. I adore her. She's beautiful. I can't live without her. But it's criminal. She's 15. I love her. You can't do this--she's 15." etc. etc. There truly is nothing in the way the characters are developed to explain the sudden infatuation--especially that of the supposedly intelligent 34 year old man. (Who ultimately comes up with a plan for them to run away to Canada, where she will complete high school--she's just finished 9th grade.)
Nevertheless, the book is keeping me reading and reading, and I'm not sure why. I'm just going with the flow, while in the back of my mind wondering if I'm missing something, or whether the whole thing is meant as a joke. We shall see.
Current comment: I kept reading. I finished it. It didn't get better. Don't read it.
44arubabookwoman
Another review from a long time ago:
The Kennedy Half Century by Larry J. Sabato; The Man Who Killed Kennedy by Roger Stone and JFK and the Unspeakable by James W. Douglass
I was never a conspiracy-theorist, but as more and more secret evils the US government has perpetrated become known, the more inclined I am to believe that we do not have the whole story of the Kennedy assassination. For the most part, these three books relate much of the same evidence (and there is a lot) indicating that there is reason to believe that Oswald did not act alone. The Sabato book is more cautious in the conclusions it draws, and does debunk, or at least question, some of the witnesses the other two books accept at face value.
All three books agree that the Warren Commission was rushed and deeply flawed. LBJ began pushing for a quick conclusion to the investigation almost immediately after the assassination, and at the onset of the hearings made it clear that the commission had to find that Oswald acted alone. There may have been good reason for this--there was some justified fear that if there was any reason to believe that if Cuba, the USSR, or Communists were believed to be involved in any way, some trigger-happy generals would gladly resort to nuclear weapons in revenge. Nevertheless, the consensus of the books is that most of the problems created by the Warren Commission's sloppiness cannot at this late date be corrected.
The Douglass and Stone books both conclude that the CIA was deeply implicated in the assassination, and Stone goes one step further and lays the blame primarily on LBJ. As noted, all three books present ample evidence that Oswald did not act alone, although Sabato cautions that the evidence is not conclusive--merely that it exists and is left unexplained by the Warren Commission. The other two books accept the conclusion that Oswald did not act alone, and may have been a pawn. Both present credible evidence that JFK was about to make some major policy shifts that deeply disturbed the CIA, the Generals, and many conservatives. JFK intended to withdraw from Vietnam. He was also involved in some behind the scenes détente negotiations with Khrushchev, and was beginning plans for nuclear disarmament. While I can accept that these assertions may be true, I have a hard time making the leap from disagreeing with his policies to assassinating him. In the case of the Stone book, which concludes that LBJ was behind the assassination based on the fact that LBJ was under investigation by the Department of Justice and was about to be indicted for numerous felonies, the leap of faith required is even greater. Even with someone as brutally ambitious as LBJ, I have a hard time making the leap from motive to act.
I found all three books to be enlightening and I'm glad I read them Last year I read Oswald by Norman Mailer, which concludes, through an in depth examination of the Oswald's life, that he acted alone. On the other hand Family of Secrets by Russ Baker definitely comes down on the conspiracy theory side.
Also, late last year I read Dallas, 1963 by Bill Minutaglio which is a more general examination of the state and psyche of the US, and particularly the south and Dallas, in the months before the assassination. It is chilling how similar some of the things coming out of the mouths of the tea-baggers and the likes of Rick Perry echo what was going on in 1963.
The Kennedy Half Century by Larry J. Sabato; The Man Who Killed Kennedy by Roger Stone and JFK and the Unspeakable by James W. Douglass
I was never a conspiracy-theorist, but as more and more secret evils the US government has perpetrated become known, the more inclined I am to believe that we do not have the whole story of the Kennedy assassination. For the most part, these three books relate much of the same evidence (and there is a lot) indicating that there is reason to believe that Oswald did not act alone. The Sabato book is more cautious in the conclusions it draws, and does debunk, or at least question, some of the witnesses the other two books accept at face value.
All three books agree that the Warren Commission was rushed and deeply flawed. LBJ began pushing for a quick conclusion to the investigation almost immediately after the assassination, and at the onset of the hearings made it clear that the commission had to find that Oswald acted alone. There may have been good reason for this--there was some justified fear that if there was any reason to believe that if Cuba, the USSR, or Communists were believed to be involved in any way, some trigger-happy generals would gladly resort to nuclear weapons in revenge. Nevertheless, the consensus of the books is that most of the problems created by the Warren Commission's sloppiness cannot at this late date be corrected.
The Douglass and Stone books both conclude that the CIA was deeply implicated in the assassination, and Stone goes one step further and lays the blame primarily on LBJ. As noted, all three books present ample evidence that Oswald did not act alone, although Sabato cautions that the evidence is not conclusive--merely that it exists and is left unexplained by the Warren Commission. The other two books accept the conclusion that Oswald did not act alone, and may have been a pawn. Both present credible evidence that JFK was about to make some major policy shifts that deeply disturbed the CIA, the Generals, and many conservatives. JFK intended to withdraw from Vietnam. He was also involved in some behind the scenes détente negotiations with Khrushchev, and was beginning plans for nuclear disarmament. While I can accept that these assertions may be true, I have a hard time making the leap from disagreeing with his policies to assassinating him. In the case of the Stone book, which concludes that LBJ was behind the assassination based on the fact that LBJ was under investigation by the Department of Justice and was about to be indicted for numerous felonies, the leap of faith required is even greater. Even with someone as brutally ambitious as LBJ, I have a hard time making the leap from motive to act.
I found all three books to be enlightening and I'm glad I read them Last year I read Oswald by Norman Mailer, which concludes, through an in depth examination of the Oswald's life, that he acted alone. On the other hand Family of Secrets by Russ Baker definitely comes down on the conspiracy theory side.
Also, late last year I read Dallas, 1963 by Bill Minutaglio which is a more general examination of the state and psyche of the US, and particularly the south and Dallas, in the months before the assassination. It is chilling how similar some of the things coming out of the mouths of the tea-baggers and the likes of Rick Perry echo what was going on in 1963.
45arubabookwoman
The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney by Henry Handel Richardson
This is a 19th century Australian classic. It's big, with lots of characters, and most of all it conveys a sense of what it was like to live in Australia, while still thinking of Great Britain as "home," the sense of feeling an exile where you live. Richard Mahoney came to Australia voluntarily at the height of the gold rush north of Melbourne. When he failed to make his fortune in gold, he returned to his original profession of doctor. The book tells the ups and downs of his life, but it is also as much the story of his wife, Polly, and her extended family, and the characters they come in contact with. There is an extended episode in the middle of the book when Richard believes himself entirely fed up with Australia, and returns to England with Polly. Their stay in England is a study of contrasts with life in Australia. This is a lovely book, especially if you like big 19th century novels, family sagas, or stories about Australia.
This is a 19th century Australian classic. It's big, with lots of characters, and most of all it conveys a sense of what it was like to live in Australia, while still thinking of Great Britain as "home," the sense of feeling an exile where you live. Richard Mahoney came to Australia voluntarily at the height of the gold rush north of Melbourne. When he failed to make his fortune in gold, he returned to his original profession of doctor. The book tells the ups and downs of his life, but it is also as much the story of his wife, Polly, and her extended family, and the characters they come in contact with. There is an extended episode in the middle of the book when Richard believes himself entirely fed up with Australia, and returns to England with Polly. Their stay in England is a study of contrasts with life in Australia. This is a lovely book, especially if you like big 19th century novels, family sagas, or stories about Australia.
46arubabookwoman
review from a long time ago:
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
This is categorized as a crime novel, but it is so much more. It is set in a small seaside town outside of Melbourne, and the ostensible story is about the investigation of the murder of its wealthiest inhabitant. In prose that is precise, crisp, and beautiful Temple develops his complex characters--a wounded detective, a wandering "swaggie" (handyman), disenchanted aboriginal youths, local politicians, and elderly pedophiles--while also immersing us in life in the life of a small Australian town.
This book won a prestigious British award for best crime fiction, and Temple's next book Truth, which features some of the same characters as The Broken Shore, although another crime novel won the Miles Franklin Award in 2010, the first time a crime writer has won an award of this caliber anywhere in the world.
Highly recommended even if you think you don't like crime novels.
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
This is categorized as a crime novel, but it is so much more. It is set in a small seaside town outside of Melbourne, and the ostensible story is about the investigation of the murder of its wealthiest inhabitant. In prose that is precise, crisp, and beautiful Temple develops his complex characters--a wounded detective, a wandering "swaggie" (handyman), disenchanted aboriginal youths, local politicians, and elderly pedophiles--while also immersing us in life in the life of a small Australian town.
This book won a prestigious British award for best crime fiction, and Temple's next book Truth, which features some of the same characters as The Broken Shore, although another crime novel won the Miles Franklin Award in 2010, the first time a crime writer has won an award of this caliber anywhere in the world.
Highly recommended even if you think you don't like crime novels.
47arubabookwoman
Pompeii: a Novel by Robert Harris
This is historical fiction about life in and around the Roman city of Pompeii, and its destruction by the volcanic eruption. The actual plot is somewhat lurid and silly (love story between daughter of evil aristocrat and "working class" guy), but what saved the book was the extensive information about Rome's aqueduct system--how it was built, how it moved the water (i.e. calculations were made as to the slope it needed from the source to the destination in fractions of inches), how the water was allocated and how it was stored and used. Worth reading for that part alone.
This is historical fiction about life in and around the Roman city of Pompeii, and its destruction by the volcanic eruption. The actual plot is somewhat lurid and silly (love story between daughter of evil aristocrat and "working class" guy), but what saved the book was the extensive information about Rome's aqueduct system--how it was built, how it moved the water (i.e. calculations were made as to the slope it needed from the source to the destination in fractions of inches), how the water was allocated and how it was stored and used. Worth reading for that part alone.
48arubabookwoman
Journey Into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg
This is a memoir of Ginzburg's life as a loyal Communist, and then her arrest, interrogation, and transport to the Siberian gulag during Stalin's reign of terror. She tells us her story without a hint of self-pity, yet she conveys the immensity of the tragedy that has overcome her, her family and friends, and all those she comes into contact with during her journey.
I read Gulag, Anne Applebaum's excellent history of the gulag last year, which in part was structured by considering separately each aspect of the process, i.e. the arrest, the interrogations, the transports, etc. I was struck by how closely Ginzburg's experiences matched those described in general by Applebaum. Ginzburg's memoir, however, conveys these events as unique and personal, and so all the more tragic.
I'll be reading the sequel, which focuses on her time in the gulag rather than her journey to the gulag, as soon as I can get my hands on it. This is a book everyone should read.
This is a memoir of Ginzburg's life as a loyal Communist, and then her arrest, interrogation, and transport to the Siberian gulag during Stalin's reign of terror. She tells us her story without a hint of self-pity, yet she conveys the immensity of the tragedy that has overcome her, her family and friends, and all those she comes into contact with during her journey.
I read Gulag, Anne Applebaum's excellent history of the gulag last year, which in part was structured by considering separately each aspect of the process, i.e. the arrest, the interrogations, the transports, etc. I was struck by how closely Ginzburg's experiences matched those described in general by Applebaum. Ginzburg's memoir, however, conveys these events as unique and personal, and so all the more tragic.
I'll be reading the sequel, which focuses on her time in the gulag rather than her journey to the gulag, as soon as I can get my hands on it. This is a book everyone should read.
49arubabookwoman
Methland by Nick Reding
Exploration of Oelwein, Iowa and the ravages the meth epidemic inflicted on it. It explores the economic and societal causes of the epidemic. There are some personal stories, as well as discussions on the how US drug policies have contributed to the problem, and stories of the battles between some local meth cookers and the Mexican cartel. It wasn't presented in a compelling narrative, however, and sometimes seem disjointed, although it is informative.
Exploration of Oelwein, Iowa and the ravages the meth epidemic inflicted on it. It explores the economic and societal causes of the epidemic. There are some personal stories, as well as discussions on the how US drug policies have contributed to the problem, and stories of the battles between some local meth cookers and the Mexican cartel. It wasn't presented in a compelling narrative, however, and sometimes seem disjointed, although it is informative.
50arubabookwoman
The Inferno by Henri Barbusse
A man finds a hole in the wall separating his room in a boarding house from his neighbor's. He begins to obsessively spy on various inhabitants as they occupy the room, and ponders the differences between the way we act in private (our real selves?), and the way we act in public or with others. This is an introspective and intellectual book. It did not captivate my mind in a visceral way, and sometimes moved slowly and required will power on my part to finish reading. I read Barbusse's Under Fire, a novel about life in the trenches in WW I not long ago, and it touched me in a deep way, and was beautifully written. Although this is more philosophical (or perhaps because this IS philosophical) I did not like it nearly as much as Under Fire. Both books are on the 1001 list.
A man finds a hole in the wall separating his room in a boarding house from his neighbor's. He begins to obsessively spy on various inhabitants as they occupy the room, and ponders the differences between the way we act in private (our real selves?), and the way we act in public or with others. This is an introspective and intellectual book. It did not captivate my mind in a visceral way, and sometimes moved slowly and required will power on my part to finish reading. I read Barbusse's Under Fire, a novel about life in the trenches in WW I not long ago, and it touched me in a deep way, and was beautifully written. Although this is more philosophical (or perhaps because this IS philosophical) I did not like it nearly as much as Under Fire. Both books are on the 1001 list.
51SassyLassy
>36 arubabookwoman: I want to return the favor
Well I did pick up some recommendations from your wide and varied reading! Number one would be Dallas, 1963 (for some inexplicable reason the first touchstone for this is The Art of War. Have you read the other great conspiracy novel of this particular assassination, Libra by Don DeLillo? They make quite a pairing.
You remind me too that I have yet to read The Fishermen, also recommended by others on LT.
Good to see you back.
Well I did pick up some recommendations from your wide and varied reading! Number one would be Dallas, 1963 (for some inexplicable reason the first touchstone for this is The Art of War. Have you read the other great conspiracy novel of this particular assassination, Libra by Don DeLillo? They make quite a pairing.
You remind me too that I have yet to read The Fishermen, also recommended by others on LT.
Good to see you back.
52rebeccanyc
Wow, it is so great to catch up with your reading, Deborah, and it is just as interesting and varied as I remember. I was particularly interested in your description of The Fishermen as a "collective novel" because there was an aspect of that in We, The Drowned, and I didn't like it, but now maybe I think maybe it is something that is used in Danish literature or that the author, Carsten Jensen, was trying to echo something from The Fishermen in his book. But I enjoyed all your other reviews too. How do you find some of the more esoteric ones?
And welcome back!
And welcome back!
54janeajones
I think we all need to drop in and out now and then. Good to see you back and intrigued by some of your discussions.
55baswood
Enjoyed reading all your reviews, particularly your comments on the books about the Kennedy assassination.
56labfs39
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to catch up on your thread--I too have had a hard time spending time on LT this fall. I love reading your reviews. They tell exactly enough to get me excited (or not) to read a book, and I like that you give your honest opinion as to whether you liked it. I added several to my wishlist. I'm glad you enjoyed Journey into the Whirlwind. I think it is as important a classic as Gulag Archipelago because of it's female perspective. I haven't been able to find the sequel yet, or rather, I should say I haven't broken down and ordered it online. I keep thinking it will show up at TPB someday.
57RidgewayGirl
I'm catching up, myself. I agree that The Broken Shore is more than just a crime novel and well worth reading. I keep seeing The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair everywhere and am glad to hear that I can now safely ignore it.
58arubabookwoman
I can't believe it's been 3 months. So much for good intentions!
Sassy--Yes I have read Libra--a long time ago, and I remember liking it very much. It might be one I would read again, were there time enough.
Rebecca--I think the "collective" novel is a feature of some Scandanavian literature. I think it is also used by William Heinesen, a Faroese author I've read and liked. I haven't read We, The Drowned yet, though I do own it (I think I bought it after reading your review, and reading The Long Ships which you also recommended). We, The Drowned may not have worked for you, but I think some of these other Scandanavian novels might.
Hello to Poquette, Bas, and Jane!
Hi Lisa--I haven't found the sequel to Journey Into The Whirlwind yet either, and I also keep hoping it will turn up at TPB, which by the way I don't think I've been to since I was there with you last. I've been doing mega-traveling.
Kay--stay as far away from Harry Quebert as you can!
As I said I've been doing some mega-traveling. Because of my husband's illness (he's doing fine, but this is subject to change at any time), he's decided not to wait til total retirement to travel. I was in Houston in October for the International Quilt Festival, then we were gone the entire month of November. We were in London for 4 days, then we were in France. We took a riverboat cruise on the Seine from the Normandy beaches (Honfleur) to Paris. We returned to the states Thanksgiving week, which we spent in NYC with our 3 sons, daughter-in-law, and grandson Teddy. I made one trip to the Strand bookstore on "Black Friday," but ventured only into the Children's Books department to replenish Teddy's library. He's 18 months now, and loves to listen to Dr. Seuss books over and over and over. I wanted to provide some variety.
Right now we are scheduled to go for a long weekend in Monterrey and Big Sur (not romantic--a visit to our daughter at Stanford which we thought we'd make partly touristy) at the end of January. In February, we are going to Texas again to visit grandkids Boden and Madeleine. My husband wants to go to Hawaii for a week in March, but that is not finalized yet. In May, we're going on a cruise of the British Isles, which I'm excited about. It will include Guernsey, Cornwall, the Scilly Islands, some of the Hebrides, St. Kilda's, and some other places. Earlier this year I read --will insert the name of the book here when I remember it--, historical fiction based on a minister who was stationed on St. Kilda's in the 1800's. St. Kilda's is now inhabited only by birds, I believe.
So far in December, I've read The Prisoner's Dilemma by Richard Powers and The Waiting Years by Enchi Fumiko.
ETA: The name of the book is Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg
Sassy--Yes I have read Libra--a long time ago, and I remember liking it very much. It might be one I would read again, were there time enough.
Rebecca--I think the "collective" novel is a feature of some Scandanavian literature. I think it is also used by William Heinesen, a Faroese author I've read and liked. I haven't read We, The Drowned yet, though I do own it (I think I bought it after reading your review, and reading The Long Ships which you also recommended). We, The Drowned may not have worked for you, but I think some of these other Scandanavian novels might.
Hello to Poquette, Bas, and Jane!
Hi Lisa--I haven't found the sequel to Journey Into The Whirlwind yet either, and I also keep hoping it will turn up at TPB, which by the way I don't think I've been to since I was there with you last. I've been doing mega-traveling.
Kay--stay as far away from Harry Quebert as you can!
As I said I've been doing some mega-traveling. Because of my husband's illness (he's doing fine, but this is subject to change at any time), he's decided not to wait til total retirement to travel. I was in Houston in October for the International Quilt Festival, then we were gone the entire month of November. We were in London for 4 days, then we were in France. We took a riverboat cruise on the Seine from the Normandy beaches (Honfleur) to Paris. We returned to the states Thanksgiving week, which we spent in NYC with our 3 sons, daughter-in-law, and grandson Teddy. I made one trip to the Strand bookstore on "Black Friday," but ventured only into the Children's Books department to replenish Teddy's library. He's 18 months now, and loves to listen to Dr. Seuss books over and over and over. I wanted to provide some variety.
Right now we are scheduled to go for a long weekend in Monterrey and Big Sur (not romantic--a visit to our daughter at Stanford which we thought we'd make partly touristy) at the end of January. In February, we are going to Texas again to visit grandkids Boden and Madeleine. My husband wants to go to Hawaii for a week in March, but that is not finalized yet. In May, we're going on a cruise of the British Isles, which I'm excited about. It will include Guernsey, Cornwall, the Scilly Islands, some of the Hebrides, St. Kilda's, and some other places. Earlier this year I read --will insert the name of the book here when I remember it--, historical fiction based on a minister who was stationed on St. Kilda's in the 1800's. St. Kilda's is now inhabited only by birds, I believe.
So far in December, I've read The Prisoner's Dilemma by Richard Powers and The Waiting Years by Enchi Fumiko.
ETA: The name of the book is Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg
59arubabookwoman
Richard Powers is one of my favorite contemporary (hmm--should I limit this further with the modifiers "male" "American"?) authors, and Prisoner's Dilemma, his second novel, was one of only two of his novels I haven't yet read. (The other is his first novel, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance.
I read a fascinating interview with him in Paris Review, Winter 2002-3 (will add link) which describes Powers as writing "stereoscopic" novels, which I agree is a good description. His novels often include the themes of art, music, medicine, science, artificial intelligence. His latest novel is Orfeo, which I read earlier this year, and admit to being somewhat disappointed with. It involves an avant garde composer who in his retirement is dabbling in his home laboratory with genetic modification. When he comes to the attention of Homeland Security as a potential terrorist, he goes underground. One of the concerns I had with the book was the description of the music. I was a music major in college, and have retained some familiarity with the technical aspects of music, but I found some of the terminology and descriptions too esoteric. However, I have read many reviewers who enjoyed the book. The Time of Our Singing, is an earlier novel of his dealing with music (in this case juxtaposed with the theme of racism, rather than terrorism, and I liked that one immensely. My favorite novels by Powers are The Goldbug Variations, Operation Wandering Soul and Galatea 2.2.
Back to The Prisoner's Dilemma--in which a Midwestern family falls apart. There are 4 adult children, visiting their parents due to the unnamed illness of their father, who has for years suffered from mysterious symptoms, resulting in multiple job losses (he is a history teacher), but who refuses to see a doctor. Various chapters are narrated by each of the children, and by the mother, depicting the difficult family relationships over the years. All of this is done with wit and black humor. The father's relationship with his children is one in which he engages with them in logic and philosophical puzzles, and these puzzles prominently feature in each of the children's narratives, including the eponymous "prisoner's dilemma."
Interspersed with the family narrative is a portrayal of life in the US during WW II, and particularly of the uses of propaganda, focused around Walt Disney. At first, I thought these sections of the novel were factual, but it eventually became apparent that much of this story is the product of Powers's imagination. But what an imagination!--in the narrative, Disney is part Japanese, and hugely affected by the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. Disney therefore devised a scheme, approved at the highest levels of government, for the release of a vast number of the internees (a number of whom had been "creatives" at Disney Studios) to produce a propaganda film on a scale until then unknown. Ultimately, the whole propaganda film aspect of the novel is tied into the father's story.
I would recommend this novel if it sounds like a subject you'd be interested in. I don't rank it with his best, because to a certain extent I found some of his characterizations of the children a bit too "cutesy" (always ready with the witty reply), but overall very moving, and I learned a lot from it.
One other interesting note from the Paris Review article, this quote:
"Contemporary humanity has lost the ability to engage in productive solitude."
This thought arose when Powers was discussing the inspiration for his book Plowing in the Dark, which deals with virtual reality. Powers said he was struck when Terry Waite, released after a 5 year captivity in Beirut was asked what was the main thing he learned after being shut away for 5 years. The quote above was Waite's response.
I love my "productive solitude."
I read a fascinating interview with him in Paris Review, Winter 2002-3 (will add link) which describes Powers as writing "stereoscopic" novels, which I agree is a good description. His novels often include the themes of art, music, medicine, science, artificial intelligence. His latest novel is Orfeo, which I read earlier this year, and admit to being somewhat disappointed with. It involves an avant garde composer who in his retirement is dabbling in his home laboratory with genetic modification. When he comes to the attention of Homeland Security as a potential terrorist, he goes underground. One of the concerns I had with the book was the description of the music. I was a music major in college, and have retained some familiarity with the technical aspects of music, but I found some of the terminology and descriptions too esoteric. However, I have read many reviewers who enjoyed the book. The Time of Our Singing, is an earlier novel of his dealing with music (in this case juxtaposed with the theme of racism, rather than terrorism, and I liked that one immensely. My favorite novels by Powers are The Goldbug Variations, Operation Wandering Soul and Galatea 2.2.
Back to The Prisoner's Dilemma--in which a Midwestern family falls apart. There are 4 adult children, visiting their parents due to the unnamed illness of their father, who has for years suffered from mysterious symptoms, resulting in multiple job losses (he is a history teacher), but who refuses to see a doctor. Various chapters are narrated by each of the children, and by the mother, depicting the difficult family relationships over the years. All of this is done with wit and black humor. The father's relationship with his children is one in which he engages with them in logic and philosophical puzzles, and these puzzles prominently feature in each of the children's narratives, including the eponymous "prisoner's dilemma."
Interspersed with the family narrative is a portrayal of life in the US during WW II, and particularly of the uses of propaganda, focused around Walt Disney. At first, I thought these sections of the novel were factual, but it eventually became apparent that much of this story is the product of Powers's imagination. But what an imagination!--in the narrative, Disney is part Japanese, and hugely affected by the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. Disney therefore devised a scheme, approved at the highest levels of government, for the release of a vast number of the internees (a number of whom had been "creatives" at Disney Studios) to produce a propaganda film on a scale until then unknown. Ultimately, the whole propaganda film aspect of the novel is tied into the father's story.
I would recommend this novel if it sounds like a subject you'd be interested in. I don't rank it with his best, because to a certain extent I found some of his characterizations of the children a bit too "cutesy" (always ready with the witty reply), but overall very moving, and I learned a lot from it.
One other interesting note from the Paris Review article, this quote:
"Contemporary humanity has lost the ability to engage in productive solitude."
This thought arose when Powers was discussing the inspiration for his book Plowing in the Dark, which deals with virtual reality. Powers said he was struck when Terry Waite, released after a 5 year captivity in Beirut was asked what was the main thing he learned after being shut away for 5 years. The quote above was Waite's response.
I love my "productive solitude."
60SassyLassy
>If you're going to get to St Kilda, and have read Island of Wings, here's a nonfiction title that gives the background to the island: The Life and Death of St Kilda.
Interesting idea about the "collective" novel in Scandinavian literature. I am one of those who really liked We the Drowned, and of course The Long Ships. The author of Island of Wings is actually Swedish, but studied at Reading. Maybe the collectiveness has something to do with the harsh climates, that historically forced people to work together for survival.
What an amazing travel schedule. Enjoy!
Interesting idea about the "collective" novel in Scandinavian literature. I am one of those who really liked We the Drowned, and of course The Long Ships. The author of Island of Wings is actually Swedish, but studied at Reading. Maybe the collectiveness has something to do with the harsh climates, that historically forced people to work together for survival.
What an amazing travel schedule. Enjoy!
61rebeccanyc
Nice to see you, Deborah, and wow, you certainly have gotten around!
>58 arubabookwoman: >60 SassyLassy: I loved The Long Ships but not We the Drowned.
>59 arubabookwoman: I read one book by Richard Powers, The Echo Maker, and was underwhelmed and decided not read anything else by him. But you make me think I should try something else by him -- which of your favorites would you recommend as a first choice? And I'm definitely interested in reading the Paris Review interview, which is here: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/298/the-art-of-fiction-no-175-richard-p... (link from his author page).
>58 arubabookwoman: >60 SassyLassy: I loved The Long Ships but not We the Drowned.
>59 arubabookwoman: I read one book by Richard Powers, The Echo Maker, and was underwhelmed and decided not read anything else by him. But you make me think I should try something else by him -- which of your favorites would you recommend as a first choice? And I'm definitely interested in reading the Paris Review interview, which is here: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/298/the-art-of-fiction-no-175-richard-p... (link from his author page).
