Is anybody out there?

Hello? Hello? Echo! Echo!

Long time!

Hello all-- Hope you're enjoying a wonderful summer and finding time to relax with a good book.
Things have been fairly "nutty" around these parts lately so reading is something I've had very little time to do, but with my husband getting ready to do some exercising and my daughter nestled safely in the confines of her crib, anticipating a nap, I might be able to steal a few minutes with my latest read, "The Other Boleyn Girl". So far (and I'm only about 1/4 of the way through), King Henry VIII is sizing up to be the scumbag that we all know and despise, and Anne Boleyn, from what I can tell already, had it coming.
And you? What are you reading?

Fado

Fado

Ladies, I left off reading Frances Mayes "A Year in the World" for some reason, who knows what. I picked it back up as they were headed to Portugal. Now I know about fado. Here is a little sample for you:



If anyone has been to Lisbon or to any part of Portugal, I am interested in your impressions of the place. I had never really thought about going there but things change...

Finally finished Wicked

"In the life of a Witch, there is no after, in the ever after of a Witch, there is no happily; in the story of a Witch, there is no afterword. Of that part that is beyond the life story, beyond the story of the life, there is--alas, or perhaps thank mercy--no telling. She was dead, dead and gone, and all that was left of her was the carapace of her reputation for malice."

I just finished Wicked! Although, it was a major struggle to finish for me, I am glad I did. I thought the plot was rather dry and slow-moving but, in the end, everything sort of came together. It definitely puts a whole different spin on the story of The Wizard of Oz. After reading Wicked, I actually feel really bad for the Wicked Witch and the hand life dealt her. At any rate, I don't think I will continue to read the series; again, it was just a little too dry for me.

At this point, I have several books checked out from the library! I am still reading If I Did It-the OJ Simpson book and, upon Carlin's recommendation, am also checking out Moose by Stephanie Klein. Trying to get as much reading in as I can before graduate school starts! Hope everyone is doing well!

Still working on Wicked!

So I just thought I would stop by and let everyone know I am still struggling to get through Wicked! I find that when I sit down to read it, it goes by pretty fast but I have to force myself to pick it up in the first place! There is not even really anything interesting happening at this exact moment in the book to report! But I will keep everyone posted and hopefully stick with it and finish it soon enough!
I have also just picked up "If I Did It," the book where OJ Simpson tells how he WOULD commit the murders of Nicole and Ron Goldman if he had actually done it. Mostly I am checking this book out because when I worked at Borders Bookstore EVERYONE was interested and so I want to see what the big deal is!
Hope everyone is doing well and finding some good books to read!

A Trip to Andalucia

Just stopping by to say "hello" from Spain. Well, it FEELS like I am there with Frances Mayes and her husband Ed. Am just getting started and love "A Year in the World"...thank you for picking this book, Annelle.

It's Tuesday...Where Are You?

I'm always in the middle of several books, so I decided to "go" to Montenegro this Tuesday. The time is early 1900's, before WWI, the place is in what was the wild borderlands between Turkey and Montenegro. The book, "Land Without Justice" by Milovan Djilas is a beautifully written autobiography. He describes how his father moved to this area of Montenegro when he was released from jail. He had run afoul of a local Prince and was allowed out of jail if he would renounce revenge. At that time, blood feuds were still a powerful force in the culture.

"The land had to be cleared, and a house had to be built. Father at first erected a sod house, just a place to lay his head. For years, frugal as he was, Father saved, and, when he had something, built a solid house of stone, two stories, like the houses in his old home. That house stood, and stands, in the middle of the Podovo bluff, a very windy place, but with a commanding view.

Father's main concern was that his chimney be seen from everywhere around, from all the roads and hills. But Mother, who worked around the sheep and the house, had trouble with the wind and cared little enough for the view. She always cursed Father for building the house on just that spot. Though she was right, we children were truly glad to be able to see the house from afar, on a hilltop, no matter where we were coming from. Sturdy and gray in the middle of the bluff, it greeted us from a distance. There it lay on the green meadow between the Tara and Stitara Rivers, among the crags and hills, waiting to give shelter to tired and frozen travelers.

It seems impossible in life to have something both useful and beautiful. So men are divided. Some are for the useful, some for the beautiful. I placed myself on the side of beauty."

Where Am I?

I LOVE this idea-how interesting to get a sneak peek into what everyone else is reading! Besides pulling my hair out waiting for my first group interview for grad school, I have been trying to relax myself with a little reading! I am reading "Geek Love" STILL! I have been struggling to pick it up in my free time but it has been getting better and better as I go along!
For those of you who haven't read one of Carlin's previously blogs, I love the strange, demented, CRAZY storylines, with as much gross-out as possible. My favorite author, Chuck Paluhnuik, recommended this author and book in his Portland travel book. So I thought I would check it out!
Geek Love is a story about a carnival family, the Binewskis, who strive to have a family of "geeks," or circus freaks. During the mothers pregnancy, they try all sorts of things to ensure the unborn will come out with some sort of "power" or oddity. The story basically outlines circus live with the various family members.
At this point in the book, with only 40 pages to go, the Siamese twins Iphy & Elly just birthed a 26 lb. baby named Mumpo, Oly (the albino, humpback, bald, dwarf) just asked her youngest brother Chick, to impregnant her with her older brother Arty's semen using only his (Chick's) mind to do it. Arty is Aquaboy and he has a series of followers called the Arturans who are willing to shed their limbs for him! The book also goes into the future every once in awhile where Oly is watching both her mother and her daughter without them knowing! Thankfully, her daughter Miranda was born with a tail! At least she wasn't a "norm!"
Wow-what a storyline! Will keep you updated on how it ends! Can't wait to hear what everyone else is reading!

Where Are You?

OK, OK so it's Wednesday...Anyway, where are you? This "book challenge" comes from raidergirl3 and it seems like a fun thing to post about once a week. Here is how it works...each Tuesday we can write about "where we are" in whatever book we are reading. Even though it's Wednesday, here is where I am:

In 1929 Baghdad with Freya Stark, subject of the biography "The Passionate Nomad" by Jane Fletcher Geniesse. Freya is a fearless traveler, intent on learning about and seeing as much as possible in the Middle East. She is a self-taught expert in the varied cultures and languages, and loves to take expeditions into the desert to meet with nomadic tribal chieftains. To the officers at the British colonial club, Freya is a pain in the neck. In one instance, she is headed to Sheikh Ajil's encampment and:

"...talked it up to numerous ladies as well as to Stefana Drower, urging them to come along -- no doubt puckishly aware of the implications if they accepted. Most wanted to and scuttled home to ask permission of their husbands. To a man, with the exception of Mr. Drower, who respected his wife's scholarly leanings, the husbands forbade the excursion, and the ladies dropped out. Freya and Stefana went anyway and were deeply moved by the peace and grave dignity of nomadic life."

Next time, I will try to post on Tuesday, in keeping with the theme of this challenge. But for now, this Wednesday, where are you?

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

So, a few weeks ago I saw the movie trailer for the movie The Reader. The trailer was vague at best, but it has two of my favorite actors: Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. The movie then went into the back burner of my brain filed under 'to watch at some point'.

While perusing the books at Barnes and Noble, I saw the book The Reader. I always like to see how a book begins...chapter one, first paragraph. I liked it. It pulled me in.

When I was fifteen, I got hepatitis. It started in the fall and lasted until spring. As the old year darkened and turned colder, I got weaker and weaker. Things didn't start to improve until the new year. January was warm, and my mother moved my bed onto the balcony. I saw sky, sun, clouds, and heard the voices of children playing in the courtyard. As dusk came one evening in February, there was the sound of a blackbird singing.
Not ever needing to buy another book, I had to buy this one. I think I actually bought it, and finished reading it in a couple of weeks. Which for me, is impressive. Most books don't usually hold my attention.

I found Schlinks writing style to be simple, but richly effective in telling the story. The story itself was also simple in idea, but was as vast and complex as love is, yet, still maintaining an elegant simplicity.

The story spans the adulthood of the narrative male Michael Berg ( I think that's his name...clarification is not of of this books strong points). I don't think the reader is ever actually given a date in which the story begins, but you get the idea as you move through the book. If I had to guess, I'd say the book begins in the late 1950's. In post war era Germany.

I particularly enjoyed that I had not yet seen the movie, but was able to visualize Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes in their roles. I think Kate Winslet was cast perfectly.

This has been my favorite book since we started the book club (even though it wasn't a club pick). The sentiments and philosophical points of the story I think will stay with me for many years to come. The story is both sad and poignant. But not so sad that it puts you in a foul mood after reading it. It's a sad that you can disconnect from, yet understand and empathize with at the same time. It's also short. Around 200 pages.

This is my favorite little tidbit from the story. Which happens to be at the end.

But if something hurts me, the hurts I suffered back then come back to me, and when I feel guilty, the feelings of guilt return; if I yearn for something today, or feel homesick, I feel the yearnings and homesickness from back then. The tectonic layers of our lives rest so tightly one on top of the other that we always come up against earlier events in later ones, not as matter that has been fully formed and pushed aside, but absolutely present and alive.

There you have it, a little review on The Reader. Definitely worth my time. Maybe yours?!

Happy Reading

Maggie

Back to reading!

I just wanted everyone to know that I finally finished my application to graduate school and I am back on the reading bandwagon. I have been reading Geek Love, a glorious book about a family of "geeks" or circus freaks as we more commonly refer to them. Pretty interesting so far! After that I am planning on reading Wicked as it has been recommended to me by several of my good friends, Carlin included! Hope you are all finding some good reads while bookclub is on stand-by!

Just dropping by...

... to say hi!

We've been combating bronchitis at my house: first Mia and now myself. We'll both be off to the babysitter and work tomorrow because life just keeps on livin'. :)

I'm reading the new Wally Lamb, "The Hour I First Believed". It's the story about a high school English teacher who teaches at Columbine High School. His wife also worked at the school and was in the school library when the 1999 shootings happened. I know, grim, right? She has PTSD and they figure out how to deal with the aftermath of it all and how it affects their lives. It is fiction, but Lamb definitely did his research about the Columbine tragedy. I still haven't finished Suite Francaise. I will, though...

I bought Jesse an early Valentine's Day gift- The Yankee Years by Joe Torre... his story about managing the Yankees. I am interested to read it when he's finished.

That's about all from this neck of the woods.

Carlin

Hola from Mexico

Happy new year everyone (wow, it is already February!). Bruce and I were suppose to travel back to Oregon on Feb. 2nd but we extended our stay down here in Cabo San Lucas until Feb. 18th....lucky us.

I have been keeping up on the blogs, and want to contribute my two cents worth:

1) My passions.....I really am passionate about everything I do. I have always been the kind of person who throws herself wholly into any endeavour, having said that if I had to pick a few favorite passions they would be:

a) TRAVEL, I have been to 17 different countries and have many I want to visit and revisit. I love the smell of a new country, trying the food, digging into the history, walking on cobblestones streets that were built centuries before, sitting in a cathedral and having the light from the stained glass fall on my face as I picture what it was like in the past. Crawling over crumbled castle walls, lifting a pint in a local pub, seeing the dungeons and running my fingers over the crevasses of some one's scratchings that are long dead....., trying the mass transit whether it is the bullet train in Japan, a cruise up a fjord in Norway or the crazy taxi ride in Mexico it always gives me a thrill.

b) BOOKS, my mother gave me the gift of reading when she signed me up for the "Happy Hollisters" book club. I use to anticipate my next months books and read them cover to cover, then reread them again and again. I have memories of going on camping trips with my family and staying in the back of the suburban and reading a Happy Hollister book. Later in my teen years my mother gave me the J.R. Tolkien series and I lost myself in the fantasy land of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series. I love to read anything from a good "slutty" historical romance to something deep and disturbing (not scary). My love for books has been a gift I have been able to share with my sister Kay, she has opened my mind and heart to so many things with her passion for reading. I will never forget the thrill she got when she purchased a "library" of books from someone, it was very moving watching the emotions on her face when she would describe her new treasures.

c) ALL THINGS GROWING IN THE GARDEN, my earliest memories of growing things are from our little house we lived in in Creswell. My father tended a flower garden....I have grown many things over the years and have always carved out a little space for plants everywhere I have lived. My house at the beach was overgrown with blackberries, now I have over 50 lavender plants, it makes me feel good.

1) My favorite reads of all time:
a) The J.R. Tolkien series
b) The Diary of Anne Frank
c) The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follet
e) Atlas Shrugged - Ann Rand
f) The Angelique series (period romance set in France)
g) Snow falling on Cedars

3) My Thoughts on Suite Francaise - I really enjoyed this book and felt heart broken that she could not complete her Suite of novels. I liked Storm in June better than Dolce because I felt closer to the characters for some reason. It was very interesting to see how the "class" system was in place but how war stripped that away. The conflicting emotions in Dolce reminded me a little bit of the Welsh girl, you almost felt sorry for some of the Germans. I enjoyed the book, but really enjoyed reading the Appendices at the end, it humanized the whole book for me.

So, I think this brings me up to date. I read the blog from Linda about taking a time out on the book club. I would really like to continue, so maybe she can just rejoin the rest of us later?????

Toni

Wuthering Heights

Am I ever glad to be finished with this classic! If anyone is reading my blog, I posted awhile back about feeling a "lack" of grounding in the classics so I am working my way through a "must read" list of same. I have had a copy of Wuthering Heights languishing on my bookshelf for years, so decided to have a go.

The beginning of this gothic novel is very good. The setting is perfect...the dank, dark bogs and moors, blinding snowstorms, a menacing house, sinister landlord, skulking servants. The characters are all demoralized. The plot unfolds around a theme of hatred, violence, and revenge. Pretty grim stuff, but kind of expected. One scene in particular gave me high hopes that this was going to be a good read, given the genre (I usually avoid "horror" stories). This was a dream sequence where our narrator has a nightmare involving a ghostly child.

After the dream, the story is told by Nellie, a servant. She uses flashbacks and time shifts to describe how the residents of Wuthering Heights and its surrounds came to be such a woeful bunch. Hundreds of pages of grim. I am still not sure why this book is considered such a classic. It was not the first gothic novel after all. So, I consulted the Oxford Companion to English Literature. Here is what it says:

"Early reviewers tended to dwell on the novel's morbid and painful aspects, but their neglect has been overtaken by what is now a general recognition of the mastery of an extremely complex structure, acute evocation of place, poetic grandeur of vision, and a highly original handling of Gothic and Romantic elements inherited from lesser works."

OK, now I get it. That said, I admit to a big sigh of relief as I placed Wuthering Heights back onto the bookshelf. Been there, done that.

ON OUR OWN

Hi Gals.... I propose that we give the book club a hiatus. I am having trouble completing the readings.... I continually find other books that catch my eye, and spring is fast on the way! What do you gals say????

I propose to send out my book that I chose because I have already purchased it and it's pretty darn cool. It will just be for you gals to enjoy.... it's not a regular book. And then, Maggie will keep up the BLOG so that we can all stay in touch and share what cool things we are reading at the time. Let's see if that works.... if folks fall by the wayside, well, so be it. It's been fun.... let's give it a break and we can always start again later.

I have loved getting to know you all, and that can keep right on keepin' on! All the best, Linda

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things.....

Here are the names of some books that I have read that really made a difference in my life. They are divided into categories for easy reading.

HISTORY

l. No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin About the US effort at home during World War II
2. Land of the Firebird by Suzanne Massie Easy to read history of Russia
3. Playing for Time by Fania Fenelone She played in the orchestra at Auschwitz
4. The Lost Life of Eva Braun by Angela Lambert Fascinating look at Hitler and those around him

TOUCHED MY HEART and SOUL
l. Harvest of Hope by Jane Goodall She took time out to write a book that she felt the world needed to read.
2. Into the Blue by Virgina McKenna Featuring "Flipper's" (dolphin) trainer who realized how much destruction his life's work had caused for other species.
3.Providence of a Sparrow If you love animals, you will LOVE this book. One man's extraordinary friendship with a little bird.
4. Expecting Adam by Martha Beck She completely rejects her Harvard education and teaching position, and her life's values when she gives birth to her son who is retarded.

BIOGRAPHY/ AUTOBIOGRAPHY
l. Act One by Moss Hart The great playwright entertains with his autobiography.
2. Portrait of Myself by Margaret Bourke White She gave up a "normal" woman's life to be a world class photographer. ( And she is an excellent and entertaining writer!)
3. Steichen by Penelope Niven Another photographer who changed the face of modern photography. (Who retreated to Paris for some years.)
4. Yamsi by Dayton Hyde He owned and ran a huge ranch in Eastern Oregon
5. Only When I Laugh by Gladys Workman Maybe the best autobiography I have read.... at least the funniest. She and "Norman" (her husband) move to Scottsburg, OR to start a new rural life.

PURE ENTERTAINMENT
l. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens My favorite book
2. The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher England, cooking and gardening fill the pages and embellish the wonderful life of the heroine.
3. The Mitford Series of books by Jan Karon The people are wonderful and the writing is charming
4. Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter An old book with immense atmosphere.
5. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne The wisdom in this book rivals Socrates in my mind!!

Hope you had fun reading through these. I had fun gathering up the titles... Happy reading. Linda

New Book, New Year

Hi all,

I realize that not all reviews are in for Suite Francaise, or perhaps not everyone is even done with Suite Francaise (me in particular). This post is by no means meant to rush anyone. Review and read at your leisure!

But, here is the new book. Picked by Annelle, it is now in circulation among some of the readers.

For those of you that read and enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun, here is another work by Frances Mayes. Myself, having enjoyed the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, I am equally as enthused to visit her European world!

Happy reading to all!
Magpie

Unfinished Symphony

Let me second Linda's "thank you" to Kerry for picking such a great book. I was overwhelmed, as the length of this post will attest. Please bear with me.

The framework for Suite Francaise, literally an "unfinished symphony", was written "real time", an incredible achievement considering the stress, personal and collective, Irene Nemirovsky was experiencing and observing. Not only was Irene a writer, she was a wife, a mother, and a Jew in Occupied France. Her achievement boggles the mind.

The first part of SF, "Storm in June", opens with the shelling of the outskirts of Paris by the Germans. This sets the scene and sets up an atmosphere of dread. "To them it began as a long breath, like air being forced into a deep sigh. It wasn't long before its wailing filled the sky." Poetry indeed... What would you do? You would probably do the same thing the Pericands, Charlie Langelet, and Gabriel Corte do. Panic, throw together a few possessions, and flee. This is where Irene shows real genius. She takes a few characters from across the "class" spectrum, and tells their stories using spare elegant prose. Her characters join thousands of others on the road headed "out of town". The few represent the whole.

Never again will you wonder how the "civilized" human animal responds to unbelievable stress. The thin veneer of civilization falls away. Would you forget your invalid father-in-law in your panic? Maybe you would. Would you steal gasoline from a young couple for your own selfish reasons? Maybe you would. I am sure we think we would not, but this is where Irene pushes through the veil and uncovers our naked fear for all to see.

Like Linda, I was having a little trouble at first keeping track of who was who. But as the story unfolded, the pages turned. Two characters stood out for me. Charlie Langelet, the gasoline thief, who stole to return home to his prize possessions ends up losing his most precious one...his life, in a random accident. No one can be prepared for life's endless possibilities, I guess.

My favorite character was the writer, Gabriel Corte. He is so full of himself, so superior, he oozes arrogance. I pictured him played by Max von Sydow in Linda's movie. Remember him in "Hannah and Her Sisters"? After Gabriel returns to Paris, "That winter Gabriel Corte's terrace was covered in a thick layer of snow; he and Florence put the champagne out there to chill. Corte would write sitting next to the fire, which still didn't quite manage to replace the lost heat of the radiators. His nose was blue; he could have cried from the cold. With one hand he held a piping hot-water bottle against his chest; with the other he wrote." But, he had champagne on the terrace! I wonder if the scene by the stove is Irene's own and the champagne is a dream.

The second part, "Dolce", is much more restrained. This is a story of interiors. We spend much of the time indoors or inside the minds of various characters. We are introduced to the German occupiers as individuals, undergoing their own traumas and dramas. We almost sympathize with the plight of these young men, away from home, lonely, disappointed by the war's intrusion into their lives. This is exactly the point of "Dolce". Irene gets to the nub of how easy it is to "sympathize", and then, eventually, to "collaborate".

I found "Dolce" less interesting than "Storm in June" but no less compelling. The young Madame Angellier, early on, while saying a rosary for her captive husband, Gaston, lets her mind wander and "Lost in thought, she let the rosary slip from her fingers and fall to the ground..." A portent of the familiar, the accepted, falling away in the Occupation. As Irene says in her notes, "People get used to everything..."

Finally, the Appendices. I was very interested in Irene's notes about the craft of the writing, her doubts and frustrations. I see her sitting alone in the woods, among the fallen leaves, reading Anna Karenina and writing in her tiny script to preserve paper. And, in the last Appendix, letters tell the sad story of Irene's final days and her husband's frantic efforts to find her.

As we know, the symphony was unfinished. However, its melodies will live on and that is the gift she left to the world.

Glad I Read It!!

Thanks to Kerry for selecting a fascinating book that allowed us to see into one person's very personal view of war in France.

At first I was starting to think that Suite Francaise was going to be another Marge Piercey debacle. Too many characters, nobody tied into each other and not time enough to get to know each character. After the first exodus part, I wasn't too excited to read Dolce. But I read on and I am certainly glad that I did. After the book about Eva Braun, that I recently read, Suite Francaise is the next best book I have read about World War II. It gives you the real feeling about what life must have been like under the Nazi Regime.

I consider Irene a poet. Her turn of phrase and her attention to odd details makes her writing some of the best that I have read. I realize after reading the entire book, that her idea was to write a "symphony". If she had been allowed to complete this 5 part epic, it would, in my mind, be a huge classic. What a shame, what a loss for all of us.

After reading the book, I continued on into the appendices. That actually gets a little eerie. And very sad. Her husband's search for her was heart breaking. The letters back and forth becoming more and more desperate..... it's a valuable part of the book. I am so glad that it was added because it "made" the book.

Originally, I thought that Suite Francaise was a book about Irene. I was a little disappointed when I figured out that it was just a work of fiction written by her. I now think that a book about her life would be as interesting as the work she wrote and hope someone sees fit to tackle that in the future. Or... wouldn't this make a good movie?? Linda

What Is Kay Talking About???

About a week ago Kay posted a note about Suite Francaise. She said something like, "Read every word and all the way to the end." I kinda wondered where her mind was.... or was she accusing us of skipping big chunks of the book. (How does she know?) Anyway... I am writing to back her up totally on that advise!! I finished the story and started to close the book without reading the appendix (there are a couple). Wow!! It's better than the book!! Not really, but it makes the book a bigger book and a more important book and made me really glad that I read this book. So, if you have the time, read EVERY word and don't skip the appendixes. More on Thursday.... Linda