Tag: Books

The Savage Pen of Philip Roth

3 Comments

A local university, Case Western Reserve, offers continuing ed classes each semester.  Since they are taught in various suburbs I can usually find one of these classes within a 10 minute drive.  In the past I’ve taken classes on the First Ladies, Greatest Trials of the 20th Century (both of which I loved), and one on English Cottage literature.  This time I’ve decided to try the class on Philip Roth.  I’ve not read any of his books, but am looking forward to the three books and, of course, the class discussion.  This is the class description.

The Savage Pen of Philip Roth
Philip Roth is a savagely astute and witty writer of our times. The three novels we will explore are the Pulitzer prize winning “American Pastoral” dealing with the pre-Vietnam era, “I Married a Communist”, the McCarthy era, and “The Human Stain”, Roth’s final offering of this trilogy spotlighting his astute analysis of human psyche and his inventive linking that is terrifyingly funny and alarmingly heartrending. Books: American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, The Human Stain, P. Roth

If anyone on the east side of Cleveland is interested, the class is in Bainbridge on Wednesdays from 10-11:30am starting September 10.  The cost is $50.  Let me know if you want to sign up and I’ll get you the info.

Has anyone read any of these novels and what did you think?

Splendor, by Brenda Joyce

2 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 8-19-08, rating 4.5/5, romance, pub. 1997

Brenda Joyce’s historical romances are always top notch and this is no exception.  It’s the summer of 1812 in England and Napoleon is on the move across Europe.  The Russian Prince, Nicholas Sverayov, is in London to broker a treaty, but he finds himself the target of malicious gossip.  Carolyn Browne, the daughter of a bookshop owner, is the anonymous columnist that writes about the foibles of the powerful and Nicholas is her latest target.  Nicholas finds her out and begins a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Nicholas is married to a beautiful woman and while Carolyn knows this she is drawn to him and unable to stop herself from loving him.  Nicholas, for his part, is falling in love with Carolyn too, and offers her the job as companion to his young daughter which she accepts with trepidation.  As war continues, Nicholas must go back to Russia to lead his men to battle and the story moves to St. Petersburg and Moscow.  The setting and the history make the story all that more compelling.

There is no shortage of obstacles for the two of them.  Her father is embroiled in the war, but on the wrong side and her grandmother has entered her life after disowning her mother before Carolyn was born.  Nicholas and Carolyn are two great characters and I was sorry to see their story end.  Carolyn is smart, audacious and witty, while Nicholas is strong, powerful and smart.  If you like romances, especially historicals I think you’ll fall in love with Carolyn and Nicholas and their story.

Libraries

5 Comments

“Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library.  The only entrance required is interest.”                 -Lady Bird Johnson

Last week the Cleveland Plain Dealer did a story about the increased use of the local libraries.  Some already know everything that libraries have to offer, while some think there are just lots of books.  If you haven’t been to your local library lately I suggest that you visit soon and see what’s there.  There are books (surely), movies (of course), cds of music and books (without a doubt), but you will also find a multitude of other things.  There are programs for adults and kids, computers to use for free, paid subscriptions to online websites, old magazines (great to get ideas if you are renovating a room in your house like me), games…the list goes on and on.  And if you are having trouble finding what you’re looking for go to the reference desk and ask for help (maybe the person helping you will be me!).

Anyway, it is a great way for you and your family to spend an hour or two and it will also save you money.  And since your tax dollars are already funding the library, why not take advantage of everything it has to offer.  I saw a man come in today, sit down at a table, pull out his own book to read, and stay for a few hours enjoying the library without ever checking out a book.  That is a dedicated patron!

“I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.”     -Jorge Luis Borges

3rd Degree, by James Patterson

3 Comments

Cover ImageFinished 8-6-08, rating 3/5, thriller, pub. 2004

“I have this very nice dog.  And my friends.  And this job.  And I’m good at it.  But I have no life.”   -Chapter 111

This is the third installment of the Women’s Murder Club.  The four women… homicide detective Lindsay, assistant DA Jill, medical examiner Claire, and reporter Cindy.

Lindsay witnesses a townhouse being blown to bits and rushes into the burning building and saves a child.  This begins the deadly terror that grips San Francisco at the hands of August Spies.  After the townhouse, a mall is blown up and ricin proves a bad end for a world renowned economist.  At the same time Jill comes clean about the abuse she’s suffered at the hands of her husband and Lindsay feels sparks around Joe, the point man from Homeland Security.  Then a shocking thing happens.  One of the four Murders Club women is murdered.

These books are so fast paced that I was almost done in no time at all, which was exactly what I wanted after Pillars of the Earth.  The problem is that nothing sticks.  The story was fast and kept me turning the pages, but I had no real emotional investment with the characters.  The death, while surprising, did not pack an emotional punch.  And I still think the relationship between the women feels off.  It is written by a man and you can tell.  For the page turner that it was it was good.  If you are looking to delve into the life of another character then you many need something more substantial.

The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

8 Comments

Finished 8-3-08, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 1989

This book takes place in 12th century England after King James has died and his crown is seemingly up for grabs.  While that is the backdrop the real story takes place at Kingsbridge, where the good Prior Philip has been appointed amidst some ugly politics.  Tom Builder has is a master builder who has a family to feed, but no job.  Tom ends up at Kingsbridge after losing his wife and child, but gaining a mistress and stepson.  Aliena, the privileged daughter of an earl, is brutally raped after her father wastes away in prison and she must rise above her circumstances to protect herself and her brother.  William is the heartless beast who becomes earl through devious plotting and help from a clever and power hungry bishop.

The quest of the story is the building of a great cathedral at Kingbridge.  All of these players and a few others, Jack and Alfred, are directly involved in getting the cathedral built (or not built).  The hardships and triumphs of these people pack an emotional punch.  The history of the time period is spectacular and the building of the cathedral from its first stone was fascinating.  There is a love story that spans most of the book, but the love for the cathedral overshadows it.

England is in a civil war, there is famine, and poilitical and religious intrigue abound.  I think everyone will learn from this book in an easily accessible way.  I would never pick up a book about building cathedrals or 12th century England, but this book with its many characters and stories made it interesting. 

I did enjoy it, but have some reservations about recommending it.  This is a book about good vs. evil, the good guys vs. the bad guys, but it is always very clear which side a character is on.  A good guy may do something questionable, but it is always explained in a very sympathetic way so that the halo around them is still intact.  While this always gives you someone to root for (and against) it seems too simple for such an epic novel.  When something good happened, you knew it would be countered with something awful and that did become predictable.  There are also some vulgar and graphic scenes that will repulse you.  I can get past them, but I know some can’t.

I enjoyed this book.  I know there is a sequel that takes place at Kingsbridge 200 years later, but I must admit I have no desire to read it.  The good outweighed the bad, but I was more happy to be done than with the so-so ending.  If you like grand sweeping epics or historically accurate fiction this is the book for you.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Leave a comment

“I lost in court, he thought, but that was only about stones.  What I gained was something infinitely more valuable.  Today I won a man’s soul.”      page 880

I just finished the mammoth that is Pillars of the Earth.  I started it on June 20 and 973 pages later I am done.  My goal was to get it back to Eric before he and Virginie moved back to France and I have done it 🙂

I’ll write a review tomorrow.

What book are you?

8 Comments

Have you ever wondered what book you are?  Well over at, http://bluepyramid.org/ia/bquiz.htm , there is a very short quiz you can take to find out.  I took the quiz three times, changing the few answers I felt inclined to and came up with three very different books.  I tend to like the first one, but the other two are a little… dark?  Scary, yes, but pretty interesting too.  Take the quiz and tell me what book you are.

You’re Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!
by Mark Twain
With an affinity for floating down the river, you see things in black and white. The world is strange and new to you and the more you learn about it, the less it makes sense. You probably speak with an accent and others have a hard time understanding you and an even harder time taking you seriously. Nevertheless, your adventurous spirit is admirable. You really like straw hats.

my comment-I like hats, but not straw ones.

You’re The Things They Carried!
by Tim O’Brien
Harsh and bitter, you tell it like it is. This usually comes in short, dramatic spurts of spilling your guts in various ways. You carry a heavy load, and this has weighed you down with all the horrors that humanity has to offer. Having seen and done a great deal that you aren’t proud of, you have no choice but to walk forward, trudging slowly through ongoing mud. In the next life, you will come back as a water buffalo.

my comment- Maybe it is my bitterness that’s weighing me down around the middle.  Maybe if I listen to the birds sing and to the children play I can lose 10 pounds.

You’re Siddhartha!
by Hermann Hesse
You simply don’t know what to believe, but you’re willing to try anything once. Western values, Eastern values, hedonism and minimalism, you’ve spent some time in every camp. But you still don’t have any idea what camp you belong in. This makes you an individualist of the highest order, but also really lonely. It’s time to chill out under a tree. And realize that at least you believe in ferries.

my comment-I’m pretty set in my values although I like to know what other people’s values are so we can coexist.  And I don’t think they mean ferries.  Who doesn’t believe in boats?

A box full of old friends

4 Comments

“Footfalls echo in the memory              

 Down the passage which we did not take                                                                                              

Towards the door we never opened.”            TS Eliot

I’ve always been a reader.  I’ve always loved books and growing up as an only child I viewed my favorites as friends.  When I was in junior high and early high school I would read them over and over.  When I went away to college my grandmother moved into my bedroom and my dad packed up my stuff and boxes full of friends got shoved in the basement.  

This past weekend I had room in my car to bring a few boxes back to Cleveland.  Dad randomly chose two and I didn’t know what they were til I got home.  One was full of college memories–graduation tassels, an address book full of long forgotten names, a shoebox full of letters from an old boyfriend, evaluation sheets from all the students in my student teaching classes (I read them all and realized that I didn’t do half bad), a few letters from old friends, literature books, old tapes…  Anyway, after I was sufficiently in the past I opened the other box to find my old friends!

I have always loved romances, so there were lots of teen romances.  I got so excited that I chose three and read them yesterday.  Kiss Me Creepby Marian Woodruff held up surprisingly well for what it was.  None But the Braveby Krantz and I Can’t Forget Youby Fisher were okay.  The surprising thing to me was all these years later I could look at the cover and remember the names and the storyline of each one.  I found a Choose Your Own Adventure book that I made Jason read with me last night.  We never did find the answer.  There were a few Sweet Valley High and a whole stack of Christopher Pike.  I found Today’s Top Stars and TV Today.  Wanna know the the top stars of 1979?  Andy Gibb, Kristy McNichol, Robin Williams, Donny and Marie, Leif Garrett, Kiss, Olivia Newton-John, Peter Frampton, Scott Baio, and the Bee Gees.   I must confess that I still have a thing for the Bee Gees.  I also found Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Beezus and Ramona, Amelia Bedelia, and The Wednesday Witch.

Since graduating from college 13 years ago I’ve moved 7 times.  I am sure those boxes would have been lost or downsized by now.  If my dad hadn’t kept all those boxes stuffed in the basement I never would have had the joy of opening my box of old friends yesterday.  I’m looking forward to seeing what memories the other boxes down in my parent’s basement hold.

Do you have any old friends that you’ve kept through the years?

I’m going to add a photo, but it will be later after Jason tells me what’s wrong with this silly camera!

Fluke, Or I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings, by Christopher Moore

2 Comments

Cover ImageFinished audio 7-28-08, rating 3/5, fiction/sci-fi, pub. 2003

“The science you do not know looks like magic.”

Nate Quinn is a marine biologist who studies whale songs and his partner Clay is the underwater photographer.  They have been set up in Hawaii for years and Clay hires a wanna be native, Kona, although his real name is Prestin Applebaum and he’s from New Jersey.  They also have a research assistant, Amy, who they all agree looks fantastic from behind.  The ‘Old Broad’ funding their research can hear the whales and lets them know when one lets her know he wants a pastrami on rye.

One day Nate sees a whale with Bite Me written boldly across his fluke.  He takes a picture, but it never comes back from the photo lab.  Their lab and boat are trashed and Clay almost drowns.  When Amy sees Nate swallowed by a whale mahem ensues.  The whole second part of this book after Nate is swallowed is a sci-fi story under the sea.

I liked it, but didn’t love it.  It made me laugh out loud more than once and the characters were quirky and fun.  The first part of the book I felt like I waited a long time for something to happen and when something did happen I wan’t sure how much I liked it.  Read it if you like Moore’s other books or if you want to know why the whales sing.  I would tell you here, but if I had to read the book to find out, so do you.

My shattered goal

4 Comments

My goal for starting this blog in January was to keep a running tally of the books I read for the year with a review.  Every year it is my intention to read a book a week, but I never quite make it and I thought the blog would keep me honest.  I decided to count my books so far for the year and I’ve already read 59!  I can’t believe it.  This blog has been a great motivator.

As I looked through my list I picked my five favorites so far this year.  On Writing by Stephen King is my favorite this year, hands down.  I also really liked Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr, Fear & Trembling by Amelie Nothomb, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore, and The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver.

Anyone else have a favorite for the year so far?