SeinLanguage, by Jerry Seinfeld

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Book CoverFinished 10-9-08, rating 3.5/5, humor, pub. 1993

“There are many things you can point to as the proof that the human is not smart.  But my personal favorite would have to be that we needed to invent the helmet.  What was happening, apparently, was that we were involved in a lot of activities that were cracking our heads.  We chose not to avoid doing these activities but, instead, to come up with some sort of device to help us continue enjoying our head-cracking lifestyles.  The helmet.  And even that didn’t work because not enough people were wearing them so we had to come up with the helmet law.  Which is even stupider, the idea behind the helmet law being to preserve a brain whose judgement is so poor, it does not even try to stop the cracking of the head it’s in.”  -The Thing is the Thing chapter

Jerry Seinfeld makes me laugh.  I loved his tv show.  I am amazed at how many times I catch myself or my husband referencing that show.  We’ve seen every episode more than once because it’s on all the time now and when I’m aimlessly flipping through channels I’ll always stop at Seinfeld.

This is a book of full of his observations, sometimes witty, sometimes sarcastic, but usually entertaining.  If you’ve ever seen his stand up then you have heard some of these nuggets of wisdom before.  It’s been in the family room for a month now and every few days when I needed the lighten my mood I’d read a few pages and it worked.  It’s 15 years old, but still capable of being relevant.  I loved it.

I Married A Communist, by Philip Roth

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Finished 10-8-08, rating 2.5, fiction, pub. 1999

Nathan Zuckerman, the narrator from American Pastoral, is back and this time he is tackling the McCarthy era.  Nathan reconnects with his high school English teacher, Murray Ringold, after many years and the two reminisce  about that turbulent time in their lives.  Murray’s brother, Ira, was a famous radio actor back in the day and took Nathan under his wing.    Now that Ira is dead Nathan gets to find out everything he had not known about his mentor when he was younger.

Ira was a Jewish communist and marries a beautiful actress in hopes of living the American dream.  He had money, a beautiful wife, an expensive home, fans who loved him, and hopes for a child one day.  Instead he was thrust into an unsatisfying marriage that came with a troubled and spiteful step daughter.  When the marriage went south, his wife fingered him as a communist.

I really didn’t like this book much.  It lacked a story I cared about it.  I wasn’t drawn to the characters.  It made some fine points about that period in American history, but I found myself skimming paragraphs at a time.  I much preferred American Pastoral.  The next book for the class is The Human Stain.

Tell No One, the movie

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Tell No One (2008) Poster

Yesterday Jean and I went to see the French film, Tell No One, adapted from Harlan Coben’s wonderful thriller.  Both Jean and I read the book a few years ago and we didn’t remember every detail so it is hard to say for certain how much was changed for the movie.  The most obvious change is the film takes place in Paris and the book in New York.

The premise is childhood sweethearts and now happily married Alex and Margot Beck are separated by murder.  Alex cannot get over Margot’s death and eight years later he is still suspected of being involved.  Then he receives an anonymous email with a link to a video that shows a very alive Margot looking at the surveillance camera.

I loved the book and really enjoyed the movie.  I didn’t even mind the subtitles.  If you watch carefully author Harlan Coben makes a cameo appearance.  Francois Cluzet and Marie-Josee Croze were Alex and Margo.  The only actor I recognized was Kristin Scott Thomas who played Alex’s best friend.

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin

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OSU 20  Wisconsin 17

Last night we had 3 couples over to play cards, so I didn’t get to watch the game until there was about 5 minutes left in the game.  And I’m glad I got to see the last Ohio State drive.  I cannot say enough good things about our freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor.  He’s only going to get better.  And Beanie Wells was back in form rushing for 168 yards.  Ohio State snapped Wisconsin’s 16 game home winning streak.

Highest Paid Authors

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The new Forbes just listed the world’s 10 best-paid authors (from July1, 2007 to June 30,2008 ).

1. JK Rowling – $300 million – I have nothing but the highest respect for her (and a special wizard named Harry).  Good for her.

2. James Patterson – $50 million – I’ve read several of his books this year.  I think he may be a bit overpaid, but hey, I’m sure that comes from jealousy.

3. Stephen King – $45 million – Good for him.  Well deserved!

4. Tom Clancy – $35 million – I’ve only ever read The Hunt for Red October, so okay.

5. Danielle Steel – $30 million – She writes the same book over and over and women love it.  If it ain’t broke…

6. John Grisham – $25 million – Seems about right since many of his books are made into movies.

7. Dean Koontz – $25 million – He deserves every penny.

8. Ken Follett – $20 million – Oh, the power of Oprah who chose Pillars of the Earth for her book club (and I reviewed it here).

9. Janet Evanovich – $17 million – I like her books and it’s nice to see another woman on this list.

10. Nicholas Sparks – $16 million – That’s why there was a four hour wait to meet him, Kathy 🙂

Banned Books Week, day 6

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I wrote a post on Sarah Palin’s involvement/noninvolement in banning books as mayor of Wasilla.  I thought it would be a timely post during Banned Book week and on the eve of the Vice-Presidential debates, but after reading it was not sure if I wanted to open up a political can of worms on my tame book blog. 

I am editing myself to this…Palin did not ban books.  Palin may have wanted to ban books, but it never progressed that far.  This issue is very important to me because there is no more basic freedom than the access to information.  I think the fact that it was brought up as an issue is a good thing.  I think it made more people aware that libraries are always fighting off the threat of censorship and we all need to be aware of the dangers of erasing opinions that are not our own.

FREE books for October

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Leave a comment, tell me which book you want and I’ll get the book to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  The first one to request each book wins.

Once you’ve ‘won’ the book I can get your shipping address if I need it.  Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want. 

1. The Husband by Dean Koontz (brand new paperback) – thriller  for Satish

2. Drive: the Story of my Life by Larry Bird (paperback in excellent condition) – autobiography for JerNeal

3. Widow’s Kiss by Jane Feather (paperback in good condition) – romance for Heather

4. Shameless by Tori Carrington (Feb 08 Harlequin Extreme Blaze paperback in good condition) – romance

Thanks for helping me make room for new books on my bookshelf.  Happy Reading 🙂

A few words on censorship

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“All of us can think of a book… that we hope none of our children or any other children have taken off the shelf. But if I have the right to remove that book from the shelf – that work I abhor – then you also have exactly the same right and so does everyone else. And then we have no books left on the shelf for any of us.”
— Katherine Paterson, American author of childrens books (1932-)

“Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”
— Mark Twain

“The sooner we all learn to make a decision between disapproval and censorship, the better off society will be… Censorship cannot get at the real evil, and it is an evil in itself.”
— Granville Hicks (1901-1982)

 

 

 

Banned Book Quiz

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Go ahead and guess.  It’s fun!

1. Most challenged book between 2000-2005?  The Harry Potter series, from the muggle Kathy

2. Why was Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll banned in China in 1931? The portrayal of animals on the same level as humans – thanks to the adventurous Don

3. Why was the American Heritage Dictionary banned in a Missouri library in 1987?  In 1978, an Eldon, Missouri library banned the dictionary because it contained 39 “objectionable” words. And, in 1987, the Anchorage School Board banned the dictionary for similar reasons, i.e., having slang definitions for words such as “bed,” “knocker,” and “balls.”  – Cindy

4. What were the top 5 reasons given for a challenge between 1990-2000? (Hint-#6 is homosexual theme or promoting homosexuality)

 1. Sexually Explicit – Cindy

 2. Offensive Language – Cindy

 3.Unsuited to Age Group – Cindy

 4. Occult theme or promoting occult or Satanism

 5. Violent – Cindy

5. What Aldous Huxley novel was banned because it “centered around negative activity”?  Brave New World, from the positively centered Elena

6. What book was banned in 2 California schools in 1989 because parents were concerned of the use of alcohol in the book? Little Red Riding Hood (an illustrated version) – for a display of alcohol (taking wine to grandma)  – a toast to Don

7. Why was Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck banned? Vulgar language

8. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner was banned in Kentucky for being anti–Christian? bless you Kathy

9. Why was Anne Frank:The Diary of a Young Girl challenged?  It’s a “real downer” (1983, Alabama), a perky thanks to Cindy

10. What group of people is the largest initiator of banning attempts? Parents, of course!, the answer initiator Cindy

Banning Books, day 2

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“Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there.” — Claire Booth Luce

“Every burned book enlightens the world.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

 “Censorship of anything, at any time, in any place, on whatever pretense, has always been and always be the last resort of the boob and the bigot.”
— Eugene Gladstone O’Neill, American playwright (1888-1953)

Why do people attempt to ban books?  I think the biggest reason is fear.  Fear of the unknown, or in some cases the known but despised.  The problem with banning books is who decides what is offensive?  As I was looking around at the multitude of sites out there about challenging books I found more than one offensive, but that doesn’t mean I am going to try and deny access to these sites or flood their message boards with hateful email. 

Also, I do see the difference between finding a book that is required reading in high school offensive and trying to get offensive books removed from the public library.  I tend to think that they are both misguided, but the intent from the parent is from a different, more understandable place.  But, unless the parent plans on keeping the child at home or on a commune for the rest of his or her life I think it’s important for said parent to realize that there is a big world out there that kids need to be aware of.  Find a book distasteful or dangerous?  Why not use it for teaching a life lesson instead of trying to hide from them what is out in the big, bad world. 

Judy Blume has written some wonderful things about censorship and she should know since many of her books have been challenged.  http://judyblume.com/censorship.php

I was surprised that so many books are still being challenged and in some cases banned.  Too many to list today, but tomorrow I’ll have a quiz to see if you can guess why a book was banned.  Some of them are pretty funny.