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| 1504052552
| 9781504052559
| B07CMK81TT
| 3.80
| 15,734
| 1969
| Apr 10, 2018
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liked it
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A standalone biographical novel about a retired bank manager meeting his aunt for the first time. The story begins in England in, I'm guessing, the 19
A standalone biographical novel about a retired bank manager meeting his aunt for the first time. The story begins in England in, I'm guessing, the 1960s and continues through several continents. My Take I gotta confess that I thought this would be similar to Patrick Dennis' Auntie Mame , so I was floundering through the first bit, wondering when the fun would start. Nope, the "fun" turned out to be more of a floundering right along with Henry as he gets to know Aunt Augusta from first person protagonist point-of-view from Henry's perspective, even though it's Augusta who does almost all the talking. Why am I saying it's biographical? It's a fiction of Henry's life, Augusta's life, and Greene re-visiting places he's been. It's not, however, so much an action-packed tale unless you count all the travel. It's more of a satirical talk travelogue via Aunt Augusta's stories and Henry's thoughts. It's first class all the way, between the actual transportation and Augusta's memories. She has no shame about anything she's done, and I don't think I'll ever understand her approach to life on that practical level, although I do appreciate her philosophy on life. Greene does do a lovely job of depicting Henry as staid and respectable, and it's rather difficult to comprehend that change in his perspective at the end. I confess that I thought he would do the opposite of what he did choose while deciding to change up at home! Henry's trip up river in South America was my favorite part of the story. It almost makes me wish travel still required a few days, if only to give the traveler a chance to see the countryside. As for Aunt Augusta, I was blown away by this woman and the truth of her relationship with Henry was slow for me to grasp. Well, okay, she was blowing me away from the start with her free spirited ways, and by the time that truth occurred, I could not believe the selfish stupidity, her amorality, her cheerful acceptance of criminal behaviors. I did have to admire her for her enjoyment of life, if only it hadn't been such a sleazy one! Henry's parents? Oh. Boy. I do have to wonder what Henry might have been like if his cheating father had survived instead of having only his puritanical mother to raise him. Seems as if Augusta got all the life that her sister did not. Wordsworth? He's colorful. He's like the other men in Augusta's life — without shame, although I do feel for him. Ercole Viscontin is scum, essentially. He sees nothing wrong with cheating, swindling, backstabbing, or taking all of Augusta's money. Wait until you read the description of the man!! I just gotta wonder! I am confused about how Superman inspired sex. As for the cannabis, it distracted me so well that the cigarettes and whiskey were a total surprise. Henry's thought about how "we have been conditioned by what we have read" reminded me of my own realization of how reading influenced me in good ways and in bad. I wish I'd realized how the bad would affect me, so I could have protected myself against that influence. I can understand Henry pulling away from his boring retirement, but I'm not sure that, that ending partnership is all that practical. Henry is inept at paying attention to what's around him. I don't see a long life for the boy. While Travels with My Aunt is written well, I won't be re-reading it. There are plenty more books in my sea. The Story Now that the dullish Henry Pulling has left his job with an agreeable pension and a firm handshake, he plans to spend more time weeding his dahlias. Then, for the first time in fifty years, he sees his aunt Augusta at his mother’s funeral. Charging into her seventies with florid abandon, not a day of her life wasted, and her future as bright as her brilliant red hair, Augusta insists that Henry abandon his garden, follow her, and hold on tight. With that, she whisks her nephew out of Brighton and boards the Orient Express bound for Paris and Istanbul, then on to Paraguay, and down the rabbit hole of her past that swarms with swindlers, smugglers, war criminals, and rather unconventional lovers. With each new stop, Henry discovers not only more about his aunt and her secrets but also about himself as well. The Characters Henry Pulling has been retired from his job as a bank manager in Southwood for the past two years. His greatest joy is tending his dahlias. His joyless mother, Angelica, has just died. His lazy father, Richard Pulling, was a building contractor who died forty-plus years ago in an unknown place. A man who enjoyed his books. Aunt Augusta Bertman has never married and (almost) never been alone. Zachary Wordsworth is a Black man from Sierra Leone enticed from his job as a doorman at the Grenada Palace in London. Ercole Viscontin is a war criminal without conscience, a swindler, a collaborator, a thief, and worse. Mario is Viscontin's gigolo son. Southwood, England Sir Alfred Keene was an important depositor at the bank. Barbara Keene is his daughter who loves tatting and sees Henry as her only friend. She moves to Koffiefontein, South Africa, and meets Mr Hughes, a land surveyor. Major Charge is Henry's next door neighbor and not very reliable. Rose was the first woman Henry's father slept with. William Curlew had been Richard Pulling's partner whose wife, Melany, was too smart for him. The stone-deaf Mrs Blennerhasset was married to the mayor of Southwood. The Abbey Restaurant is run by Miss Truman, a.k.a. Peter, and Nancy. Detective-Sergeant John Sparrow is with the Southwood PD. Detective-Inspector Woodrow is with Special Branch. Mrs Brewster is pursued by the vicar. Charles Pottifer, an income tax consultant, had quite a way with taxes. He set up Meerkat Products Ltd. Brighton Hatty now runs Hatty's Teapot where she reads tea leaves. Mr Curran was the ringmaster and then the head of the doggies' church. Hannibal was the elephant that trod on Curran's toe. Italy Wolf was the Irish wolfhound loved by Frau General. Henry's uncle Jo Pulling was a bookmaker who fell for a house in Italy. Paris Rita is a "schoolteacher". Achille Dambreuse, the director of a metallurgical company was one of Augusta's lovers as was Louise Dupont. Anne-Marie Callot was a victim of the Monster of the Chemins de Fer. Boulogne, France The doubly spoken Miss Dorothy "Dolly" Paterson, a.k.a. Poupée, still loves Richard Pulling. And I do not see where Augusta has any right to that jealousy! The Orient Express "Tooley" is a fellow traveler (majoring in English Literature) whose father is in the CIA. She says. Julian is her jerk of an artist boyfriend. Istanbul General Abdul, whom Augusta had known as the Turkish ambassador in Tunis, made a fatal mistake in Istanbul. Weissmann was a German connecting with Harvey Crowder, a meat packer in Chicago. Colonel Hakim is with the police. South America James O'Toole from Philadelphia has some odd facts he likes to track. He has a daughter, Lucinda, studying in London. Asunción, Paraguay The Chief of Police has a beautiful daughter named Camilla. Maria is the daughter of the chief customs officer. Dr Rodriguez can be counted on to massage statistics. More of Augusta's friends include Mr Fernandez who had a cattle farm in Camaguey, Tiberio Titi, Stradano, Passerati, and Cossa. The Cover and Title The background of the cover is a patchwork of varicolored browns and pale, pale green with a large brown suitcase? trunk? overlapping? on a luggage stand. A tiny brown case appears to the left. The title is in the upper half in a dark brown. The author's name is in a pale yellow, except for the "m" which is partially overshadowed in a mint green. The title is Henry's Travels with My Aunt, a journey through Augusta's history and his own thoughts. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jan 25, 2022
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Feb 14, 2022
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Jan 25, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| B00A3HQJPK
| 4.04
| 1,074
| Jan 01, 2003
| May 19, 2003
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really liked it
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A standalone biographical historical military story revolving around Jake Mcniece. It is the story that inspired The Dirty Dozen which bears little re
A standalone biographical historical military story revolving around Jake Mcniece. It is the story that inspired The Dirty Dozen which bears little resemblance to the truth. Others who contributed included Jack Agnew, Herb Pierce, and Virgil Smith with a long list of other contributors at the back. There's also a great list of military books. You may also want to read Jack Womer's Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen: The World War II Story of Jack Womer — Ranger and Paratrooper . My Take They were a small group compared to the entire army, and yet they played such a huge part in the war in this legend about the "smallest unit of reputation shaped around the personality of its founder to come out of the war". It's that same personality that kept Jake a private throughout the war, despite the occasional acting sergeant roles. (Jake keeps saying he never made it above private, but he sure did play acting sergeant frequently and he was separated from the service as a staff sergeant.) Why haven't we heard more about them? Men of whom we should be so very proud, who should be recognized by all Americans. Well, quite a bit of this non-recognition probably comes from the military always hushing up their antics. Jake's section was where they all sent the men no one else could handle — they all knew there was no discipline with Jake. Yep, Jake hadn't joined to play "military discipline"; he joined to fight. And these boys were such good fighters that the army couldn't afford to lose them. The story is primarily told with the writer as a third person objective who switches off into first person plural point-of-view from a number of perspectives with Jake as the primary perspective. There's an interesting prologue giving background on Jake's childhood which helped enhance and hone his abilities. Some of which included plenty of pranking. That joke later on involving the pinups for family pictures was a crack-up. We go through training, some of their English hijinks, and then straight into Normandy where we live through an abbreviated version of lost troops, siege, and snipers. The same occurs in Holland and Bastogne, next to the Battle of the Bulge, where Jake's Pathfinders save the 101st. It's Jake's voice we hear, as though he were telling us these stories just as he and the other survivors told their remembrances at their annual reunions. Jake notes that the Depression had left a lot of men without jobs and the military offered opportunity. Top Kick sounds like a really decent person, standing up for what's right. One of the very few who earned a soldier's respect. Oh, yuck. Why wouldn't the tents have some sort of floor? Although, that dirt is what led to the start with the "Dirty Five". As for the food. Hoo, boy. The powers-that-be were aware that strong men, who've been fed decent food, perform better, right? I sure can't blame Jake for setting up Jake's Bar and Grill, lol. I do find it hard to believe Jake had never had a chicken soup made up from the carcass. "That barracks of yours smells like a damn hamburger and barbecue joint twenty-four hours a day."It does pay to get in on the ground floor of something. It lets you get away with anything! That "payback" at Fort Bragg for putting the boys on restriction was so dang funny! Being paratroopers also gave the boys the joys of landing in houses, knocking down chimneys, beehives, snakes, mules, rivers, ditches, trees, and so much more. The sad part of this was how many men didn't make it on a jump. Part of that reality that appears throughout The Filthy Thirteen. Jake was a very practical thinker, and I particularly enjoyed how this "Dirty" group timed their showers so well, lol. It does seem rather hypocritical to limit showers for the men while Sir Ernest had his six or seven cars washed every day. Hullo. Oh, boy, lol, Browny's comment after the war about Jake's being platoon lawyer was yet another crack-up. Hmm, a scalp lock to prevent lice from digging in?? Wow, there was a big difference between jumping into Normandy versus Holland. At least all the Dutch were welcoming! I love that Jake understood the importance of writing to the families of those who died, of connecting to the survivors and/or their families. That these men got together for reunions and talked. Had more reunions as their own group and finally talked about their war experiences, letting the wives in on what they had gone through. It wasn't a matter of consciously joining the Filthy 13; it was more a matter of "They just came in. I was always the financial advisor. I handled the money and bought the booze. We spent the rest of our time getting ready for the next jump."And as the men constantly defended themselves from how they were depicted in The Dirty Dozen, they nearly all "returned home to lead productive lives . . . [after experiencing] . . . an adventure to last a lifetime". The Story It was a particularly vicious beating that sent Jake to sign up for the paratroops. A lucky choice as it gave him and his unit so much leeway. Not interested in military discipline — the saluting, keeping themselves or their quarters neat and tidy, picking up cigarette butts, following orders blindly — Jake and his people were fighters through and through. In fact, after Normandy, the Germans called paratroopers the "Big Pocket Butchers". The Characters Jake McNiece worked as a firefighter, gang pusher, until he joined up with the 506th, the first parachute regiment activated. Camp Toccoa, Georgia Jake was put into the demolition platoon of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) as acting staff sergeant for 1st Battalion. Jim Davidson was the sergeant of the 3rd Battalion and Charge of Quarters; William H Leach, a second lieutenant, was the officer of Jake's section; First Lieutenant (Lt) Gene Brown was the platoon leader. Albert H. "Top Kick" Miller was their first sergeant and a great guy. Colonel (Col) Robert Sink is the regimental commander; he was a good fighter who knew tactics and later made two-star general. Lt Col Charles "Uncle Charlie" Chase was the regimental executive officer. Sink and Chase regularly called in Top Kick for advice. Platoon Sergeant (Sgt) Leonard "Truck Horse" Leonitus Johnson was regular army with a speech impediment. Corporal (Corp) Eddy Malas was a by-the-book army man. This is where the "Dirty Five" began with Charles Lee, Louis "Loulip" Lipp, Martin "Max" Majewski, and Frank M. "Shorty" Mihlan (a drunk who became the alcoholic Sink's orderly). Another group in Jake's platoon were the Warsaw Seven: Edmund Lojko, Frank Palys, "Deacon" Salinas, George Baran, Joe Baranosky, Joe Oparowski, Herbie Pierce , and Joe Oleskiewicz, who was a great soldier. Dirty Johnson was a tough guy. Armando and Mike Marquez were brothers. Lt Sylvester Horner raised Cain about the party. Captain (Capt) Hank Hannah was the company commander who was later replaced by Lt "Browny" Brown as acting company commander. Arthur "Red Gulch" Hayes. Malcolm Landry was with the communication platoon. (The Dirty Five and the Warsaw Seven combined to become the 1st Battalion-Saboteur Section of the Demolition Platoon — Jake stayed with that battalion throughout the war.) Camp Mackall, North Carolina, was . . . . . . named after John Mackall, the first paratrooper killed in North Africa It was 26 February 1943 when they became part of the 101st Airborne Division. Second Army Tennessee Maneuvers No 1 Lt Leach eyed a coral snake. Harold Scully had a close encounter with a beehive. Jake went AWOL with Tom Young. Corp Brincely Stroup and Ed Pikering, who was the medic for one operation. Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was . . . . . . their last stop before England. "Maw" Darnell, a real Georgia cracker, transferred over from a chemical warfare unit. George Underwood and Frank Pellechia were the only two barbers in the company. Lt Charles Mellen, Staff Sgt Earl Boegerhausen, and Platoon Sgt Johnson. Lt Shrable "Willy" Williams. Corp Johnnie "Peepnuts" Hale was a wild man off duty. Three Rangers transferred in: Jack "Hawkeye" Womer, William Myers, and John Klak. Jack Agnew was the best qualified combat man. Robert "Ragsman" Cone was all muscle. George "Googoo" Radeka was dumb at most things but was smart in combat comprehension. Roland "Frenchy" Baribeau. William "Piccadilly Willy" Green was young and slow-thinking, but rolled with the flow. Chuck Plauda was hot-tempered. They all called Jake "McNasty". Capt "Dapper" Daniels eventually transferred to the OSS. Sir Ernest Wills, Littlecote Manor House, England, was . . . . . . where Jake and his unit were stationed. Chuck Cunningham seems to have had a mad-on for everyone. John "Dinty" Mohr got into it with Jake one night. Hayford, Steve Kovacs, Milo Kane, Stacey Kinglsey, and John Klack. Lt Gordon Rothwell wasn't happy about Jake beating on a fellow paratrooper. Lt Edward Haley was stationed in another demolition section. Staff Sgt Charles "Chaplain" Williams was assigned to their platoon in the hopes he'd inspire them to clean up. John Dewey. Chaplain John Maloneuy said Mass just before Normandy. In the next Quonset hut over, Corp Tom Young, Burl Prickett, and Sgt Myers were determined their section would look great. Kaiser Young was Tom's brother. Lt Truman Smith was from Jake's hometown. Lt Peter Baranowski's dog jumped with him in Normandy and Holland (but went nuts in Bastogne). General (Gen) Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery. Gen Maxwell Taylor set up the 506th to blow all the bridges. Gen Don F Pratt came into Normandy on a glider holding his jeep . . . and lost his head. Gen Bill Lee was the father of airborne units in America until he became disabled. Col Howard R Johnson was the commander of the 501st. General Higgins joined a number of other generals and colonels on the podium at an award ceremony. Charles "Trigger" Gann, Clarence Ware, George Baran, and Thomas E "Old Man" Lonegran were added to Jake's unit for the bridges mission. Andrew E "Rasputin" Rasmussen, a T-5 bridgeman, was supposed to be part of it. After the Normandy jump, paratroopers joined up willy nilly including Manual Cockeral, the kid who enlisted along with Jake in Tulsa; Keith Carpenter; and, Capt Tilden McGee, a chaplain. Sgt Bruno Schroeder missed the gathering place. Wilbur Shanklin almost got court-martialed. Burl Prickett, George Smith, James "LaLa" Leach, and Lt Carl Bedient were taken prisoner. Capt Edward Peters took out three tanks. Back in England Lt Virgil Smith was another of Jake's homeboys; he became Higgins' aide. Jake's unit's replacements included Manny Freedman, Prvt William Coad, Clarence Furtaw, AJ Bini, Richard "Dick the Raper" Graham, and Paul Zemedia. "Operation Market Garden" Holland Gen Miles Dempsey commanded the British Second Army. "Sonny Boy" Browning was the head of all English airborne forces and wanted the glory the 101st and 82nd had achieved. Jerk. Major Brian Urquhart in charge of their British intelligence section told Browning his mission idea wouldn't work. An American, a Tech-5 David Marcus from S-2, was another idiot. Lefty McGee, another Ponca City homeboy, was shot in the head. Winsor "Ink" Ellefson loved the libraries and museums. Lt Eugene Dance transferred over from the Rangers, but was pretty new to the paratroopers and got Sgts Myers and Davidson killed. Stanley "Speedwack" Spiewack. Bobby Reeves. Push to the Rhine Doesn't sound like Dempsey was much of a general. He used paratroopers as shock troops when the rest of his plans showed up as a farce. Brig Gen Jerry Higgins was the American assistant division commander. C Company of the 506th was the disaster company, losing most of their men with each battle. Lt Albert H Hassenzahl was their only remaining officer. Lt Lucian H Whitehead was assigned to C. Sgt "Guinea" Campiello came in as a replacement after Normandy. Robert Reeves. Nathan "Cigar" Sieger. Pete was a Dutch civilian who joined the paratroopers on the ground and coordinated communications between the British, the Americans, and the Dutch hiding trapped British and Polish troops. Malcolm Landry was a line man. Mourmelon, France Corp Frank Kough. Jake joined the Pathfinders, essentially a suicide group, to get a clean record. Majewski, Bill Coad, Corp John Dewey, Pfc Jack Agnew, and Lt Williams joined with him. Others in the Pathfinders included White, Lockland Tillman, Charles Parlow, James Benson, Richard Wright, Irving Shumaker, Sgt John Roseman, Sgt Leroy Shulenberg, Sgt Cleo Merz, Pfc George Slater, and T-5 George Blain, who was a good cook. Reims, France, was . . . . . . SHAEF headquarters for Eisenhower that was invaded by the 82nd which resulted in Reims being put off limits to all airborne troops. 9th Troop Carrier Command Pathfinders, Chalgrove, England Captain Frank L Brown is the company commander of a bunch of goof-offs. Bastogne Jump and the Battle of the Bulge What was left of the 28th "Bloody Bucket" Division was stationed at Bastogne. Gen McAuliffe was sent in with the 101st. Lt Col Joel L Crouch and 1st Lt Lionel E Wood flew the Pathfinders in to refit the remaining troops. Young Loui Massen helped the landing paratroopers. Lt-Col James "LaP" LaPrade was the commander of the 1st Battalion. Dr Kurt Yeary, also from Ponca City, was taken prisoner. Maxwell Taylor, the commanding general of the whole corps, reinforced Jake's request to have Browny sent back. Vick Utz, a full-blood German who spoke the language like a native, was an All-American out of Rutgers. He would later marry Dotty and raise four children. A chaplain at the aid station, Capt Maloney, later asked Jake about Utz's watch. The Prume Jump Jake had a ten-man team including the whistling Malcolm, Lockland Tillman and George Blain (Jake and these last two had three combat jumps when the average life expectancy of a combat paratrooper was one-and-a-half jumps.) After the Bulge William H Leach was promoted to major and he finally decided to lead a patrol, including Frank Pellechia, Alfred Tucker (also in S-2 section), and three others. He got all but Tucker killed. In on the Practice Jump at Zell-am Zee, Austria, May 1945 Lt Robert Haley, Lt Ed MacMahan, Lt Sterling Horner, Lt Leo Monoghan, Lt John Stegeman, Jake McNiece (Pathfinder), Harold Anderson, Leonard Cardwell, Ed Borey, Stacey Kingsley, and John Dewey (Pathfinder). Troy Decker, with the communications platoon, had a dog named Mopey, a cocker spaniel. Media Feistower was an Austrian girl Jake dated; her father had been the commander of the Hitler Youth. CP is a command Post. PFC is a Private First Class. OP is an outpost. A stick is a group of men who jumped out of a plane on one pass. The Cover and Title The cover is an old black-and-white photo of Jake putting warpaint on a fellow soldier, both men facing each other and sporting a scalp lock. Irreverent and determined. The top quarter of the cover uses a black background to showcase the two authors' names at the top with a horizontal rule in red separating their names from the title (in red) and the subtitle (in white). A narrow black banner runs the width of the cover just below the man on the right's gloved hand with its story info in red. A red triangle in the lower right corner declares, in white, that this tale is now in paperback. The title is how the men in Jake's section became The Filthy 13. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 30, 2021
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Aug 30, 2021
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Aug 30, 2021
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1982141468
| 9781982141462
| 1982141468
| 3.82
| 90,609
| Jul 14, 2020
| Jul 14, 2020
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it was ok
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A standalone biography about our current president, Donald Trump, and the family forces that created him. My Take It's a reasonably fast read, although A standalone biography about our current president, Donald Trump, and the family forces that created him. My Take It's a reasonably fast read, although it does bog down a lot with all the repetition about how awful Donald is and how he got that way. I had to push myself to keep reading. In fact, you may want to explore one of the many "summary" books that are out there instead. It's probably not fair to say the point-of-view is that of the unreliable narrator — which could probably be combined with the naive. Lord knows Mary, her brother, and her father, Donald's brother, were all naive when it came to finances. Well, the whole family really. It was Fred, the father (Mary's grandfather), who actually made the money. All the rest of them seem to have been good only for spending it. I do feel sorry for them all — but I wouldn't want any of them as friends! That Fred sounds like a real piece of work and reinforces my wish that people had to get licensed to have children. His wife doesn't sound much better. Mary does provide an excuse for why Donald is the way he is, why he is so very broken. It's too bad he's not smart enough or adult enough to fix himself. This account does bear out what I've heard over the decades about the Donald. Sad. And so pathetic. Of course, the whole family sounds like they need help. Major, major help. The Cover and Title The cover has the appearance of a newspaper photograph of a young Donald Trump's head. Who knew? He was actually cute. All the text is embossed with the author's name at the very top in an orangish burgundy, including her PhD. A double rule separates her name from the primary title which is in black with another double rule separating it from the subtitle, which is also in the burgundy. The title is too true and applies to the entire Trump family, for nothing, everything, is Too Much and Never Enough. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Aug 04, 2020
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Aug 05, 2020
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Hardcover
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| B0023SDR02
| 4.01
| 4,421
| 2009
| unknown
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it was amazing
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First in The Horse Boy nonfictional autobiography series that revolves around the autistic Rowan Isaacson and the adventure that took him and his fami
First in The Horse Boy nonfictional autobiography series that revolves around the autistic Rowan Isaacson and the adventure that took him and his family to the outback of Mongolia. My Take God, the patience Rupert and Kristin had with Rowan. The dreams that were dashed, of having a life of adventure with their son. Of being able to communicate. And yet. They turned Rowan's diagnosis of autism around by being open to the possibilities. By being open to their son and loving him so very much. It certainly helped that Rupert had been an avid horseman (and became the founder of The Horse Boy Foundation, which helps to make horses and nature available to other children, autistic or not). Using first person point-of-view from Rupert's perspective, The Horse Boy is an easy read that pulled me in. It's not only a trip for the Isaacsons but for us as well as we learn what it's like to live with an autistic child. It's both heartbreaking and heartwarming as Rupert notes those small victories only to face regressions over and over. Their trip via "pimpmobile" and on horseback brings us up close and personal with Mongolian culture, the gorgeous countryside, and the people. Talk about accepting. And I do mean accepting as Rowan hasn't any filters, and yet the people are so welcoming. I don't know about you, but I've had the same reactions as some of the other people in the story, condemning those parents who don't control their children in public. For the most part, it's a righteous condemnation (IMO *grin*), but for parents dealing with children who have issues like autism, I can only applaud their patience and their willingness to be embarrassed in public, helping their child experience being in public. "Self-compassion allows you to look clearly at yourself, forgive yourself, and then make the necessary changes to achieve mental equilibrium."Obviously, I enjoyed the book since I gave it a "5", and I'd love to see the documentary that was made of their trip, if only to bring the story to life even more. The Story Rupert and Kristin are desperate for help for their beloved son, caught in a hell of autism. Unable to communicate with Rowan, it was a horse ride with his son that inspired Rupert into wondering if therapy that involved shamans and horses could help. The Characters Rowan Besa Isaacson, a.k.a., "Scubs", is a five-year-old boy with autism. Rupert (a leopiard is his totem) and Kristin Isaacson are his parents. Rupert is a travel writer with an interest in riding semiprofessionally; she's a psychologist and a Buddhist. Rupert also has a connection by marriage with the Bushmen of the Kalahari. Rupert's mother is an artist; his father an architect. Daisy and Howard are their pygmy goats. "Uncle" Jeremy is a family friend who comes along on the trip to help. Clue is a horse they buy after the trip. Michel Scott is a filmmaker. Justin is a friend of Michel's who comes along to help. Ulaanbaatar (UB), Mongolia is... ...the capital of the country. Tulga is a tour operator specializing in unusual back-of-beyond trips. Bodo, his nephew, is his assistant. Tomoo is Tulga's six-year-old son who becomes Rowan's first friend. Naara is Tulga's wife. Haada will be their driver. Blackie is one of the horses. Mr Sukhbat is the chairman of the Shamans' Association of Mongolia. The shamans who help include a Buryat from the far north and Gildma, who is also Buryat. Ghoste of the reindeer people is the last shaman in this story. Betsy is the bay quarter horse of Stafford O'Neal's, a neighbor, who allows Rupert and Rowan to ride her whenever they can. His other horses include Benally, Batman, Taz, and Chango. Terry looks after Stafford's place and has a bird dog named Bo. Katherine is another neighbor with an autistic child of her own who set up a school at Greenbriar. Camilo also works there. Besa is a Bushman healer to whom Rupert is close. Dr Simon Baron-Cohen is the UK's leading autism researcher. Charles Siddle is an animal healer in England. Cait is a South African translator. Antas was a healer in Africa. Mandaza is a healer from Zimbabwe, Christo is a Carib Indian healer from Trinidad, and Flore de Mayo is a Guatemalan Mayan healer. Dr Temple Grandin is an autistic professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University. England Billie is a horse trainer who lives near Rupert's family in Leicestershire. Dottie is a quiet gray mare. Whipsnade Wild Animal Park is a zoo where Asha and Lee Lee live. Buster is an imaginary friend. Gavin is the stepson of a friend. More friends (after the trip) include Adelina, Honor, Ariella, Annie, and Bessie. The Cover and Title The background of the cover is a photograph of the plains with a close-up of Rowan standing on the saddle with his father's arm around him. The horse is involved as well with head up and mouth open. Most of that background is a summer blue sky with the title in white in the top third. The subtitle is in black and beneath the title to the left. The author's name is in white at the bottom. The title is literally about Rowan, The Horse Boy who came to a more rounded life. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jun 13, 2020
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Jun 13, 2020
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Kindle Edition
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| 0060885386
| 9780060885380
| 0060885386
| 4.09
| 69,827
| 1933
| Jan 01, 2007
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really liked it
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Second in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that looks in on the young Almanzo Wilder's childhood in New York s
Second in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that looks in on the young Almanzo Wilder's childhood in New York state near Malone. (Yeah, this is second, at least in Wilder's opinion.) My Take I was taken aback by this whole new set of characters that seemed to have nothing to do with Laura Ingalls until I got through the first four books in the series and learned that Almanzo marries Laura. So, just persevere. Sometimes, ya gotta wonder if we weren't better off back then. Oh, sure, I know that's the romantical(?) side of me that is fascinated by self-sufficiency...'cause I surely do love today's hot-and-cold running water, indoor toilets, whole-house heat, and the grocery store! Maybe it's just that the idea of spinning and dyeing your own thread, weaving your own cloth, and having the ability to control the quality of your fabric is the fascination?? Wilder brings the schoolroom (and the teacher) to life with that range of ages and knowledge as well as the teacher's living conditions. Throw in the information about harvesting ice, the manners the children display, the chores required of each child, the food that must be preserved and how it's stored, and how the family celebrates Christmas to bring their entire world into perspective. What dropped Farmer Boy down to a "4" is the confusion I experienced in reading it. I kept going back and forth trying to figure out who fit in where. "[America] is the biggest country in the world, and it was farmers who took all that country and made it America..."Ain't it too bad that America has turned into big-business farming...? The Story Growing up on his family's farm in New York, Almanzo Wilder wishes for just one thing — his very own horse. But Father doesn't yet trust him with such a big responsibility. Almanzo needs to prove himself — but how? The Characters The not-quite-nine-year-old Almanzo Wilder is the youngest of the family. Thirteen-year-old Royal is his brother, and he has two sisters, twelve-year-old (and bossy) Eliza Jane and ten-year-old Alice. Father raises horses and is very picky about the kids touching them. Star and Bright are Almanzo's two calves he'll be responsible for training. Blossom and Bossy are the two cows Almanzo can milk. Boss and Beauty are a team of work horses Almanzo can drive. Starlight is Beauty's colt. I think Lucy is the pig. Aunt Lindy and Uncle Wesley — he owns the potato-starch mill — their children include the bragging Frank, Fred, Abner, and Mary. Uncle Andrew and Aunt Delia's son is James, I think. Mr Corse is the schoolteacher. Miles Lewis is in the primer class along with Almanzo. Previous teachers driven out included Jonas Lane. The French boys are Pierre and Louis, and they rarely come to school. Pierre's father is Lazy John and Louis' father is French Joe, and they hunt, fish, and pick berries for a living. Mr Case owns the store. Nick Brown is a tin peddler. Mr Haddock is the wagon-maker who offers up an apprenticeship. Mr and Mrs Webb are neighbors; Aaron is their son. Mr Paddock is in charge of the Fair Grounds. Mr Thompson lost his pocketbook. Hardscrabble Settlement is... ...home for Big Bill Ritchie, who is the leader of the bullies, which include John. Mr Ritchie, Bill's father, approves of his bullying. The Cover and Title The cover begins with a soft blue top border with its bottom scalloped to frame a black outlined box with the series information, also in black. The cover's bottom has a simple blue rectangle, which repeats the series information. Blue scrollwork sprouts toward the center from the edges of those borders. The majority of the cover is a browns and cream graphic of Almanzo caressing the side of a horse's face. The author's name is at the very top in white while the title is also white with a shadow outline that spans Almanzo's chest. The title is all about Almanzo, the Farmer Boy. ...more |
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Sep 11, 2019
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Oct 16, 2019
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Paperback
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| 0060885408
| 9780060885403
| 0060885408
| 4.22
| 103,172
| 1937
| Jan 01, 2007
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it was amazing
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Fourth in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that travels with the Ingalls family from Indian Territory in Kansa
Fourth in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that travels with the Ingalls family from Indian Territory in Kansas to a sod house in Minnesota. My Take It keeps getting scarier and scarier in Laura's life! Of course, it doesn't help that Laura is being quite naughty. Nor that she and Mary will have to go to school! Worse, there's a plague that will force Pa away for months. Wilder introduces that tension quickly with Pa's concerns about the soldiers in Kansas, the turbulence of Plum Creek, and my own worries about Pa's naïveté when it comes to business deals. It sure doesn't help when he takes out that loan to build Ma that house. And then...that plague. In between it all, we experience a life of subsistence that struggles to survive through blizzards, floods, fire, and crop failures. Wilder uses that third person objective point-of-view, so we know what's happening through what the characters see and hear. The flavor of life in the 1870s comes through with settlers who don't speak English; salvaging Charlotte; a visiting preacher; the aid of neighbors; the fear for survival; entertaining themselves without the Internet or television with games, stories, and Pa's violin; and, that we should be thankful for all that we take for granted today. We should be glad that we've got the resources for all the clothing we have too, especially when we read of the excitement of the Ingalls' ladies getting new dresses and stretching out those shoes. And a Christmas that continues with the Ingalls' traditions, adapting to their new life in Minnesota. The Story It's the threat of government interference that sends the Ingalls to Minnesota and yet another homestead. This time, one that's close to a school and a church. From a cozy sod house to a house built with lumber, the Ingalls are coming up in the world, and all it will take is a bountiful wheat crop in summer. The Characters Pa (Charles) Ingalls leaves Kansas before the soldiers can arrive. His wife, Caroline, and he have three children: Mary (she's almost nine), Laura (almost eight), and Carrie. Jack is their brindled bulldog. Bright and Pete are their oxen. Reet is a good little milch cow; she'll become Spot. Sam and David are the Christmas horses. Charlotte is Laura's rag doll who gets rescued. Johnny Johnson is the herd boy. Sandy Kennedy is a red-headed boy whose siblings include Christy, Nettie, Cassie, and Donald. Nellie Oleson is a too-pretty bully; Willie is her equally rude little brother. Their father runs one of the stores. Revered Alden is the home missionary who goes from church to church. Mr Fitch also runs a store and had loaned Pa money. Miss Eva Beadle is the schoolteacher. Mrs Tower is the Sunday school teacher. Mr Hanson is selling his Plum Creek property with its sod house and stable. The Norwegian Nelsons live a half mile farther up. They have a baby, Anna. The Cover and Title The cover is bordered top and bottom with mauve pink. The bottom edge of the top border has a scallop on either side of a same-colored box, outlined in black, with the series information and a little house with smoke coming from its chimney. The author's name is in white at the very top in the border. The bottom border is a simple rectangle with the series information repeated. Mauve scrolls intrude into the central graphic that focuses on a happy Laura, her brown hair in braids, wearing a gold dress with brown ribbons on the sleeves and a cream apron tied around her waist with straps going over her shoulders. She's sitting astride a white log, her legs dangling in the culvert it spans. In the background is Plum Creek, roaring out of a cavern-like mouth of stone. The title is in a shadowed white, just below Laura's knees. A silver medallion is emplaced to the left of Laura's waist. The title reflects where we now find the Ingalls On the Banks of Plum Creek in Minnesota. ...more |
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Sep 12, 2019
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Sep 13, 2019
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| 4.21
| 294,061
| 1935
| 1994
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really liked it
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Third (per Wilder) in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that travels with the Ingalls family from Wisconsin to
Third (per Wilder) in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that travels with the Ingalls family from Wisconsin to Indian Territory in Kansas. My Take Whoa, it's definitely scarier living in Kansas...wait'll you read Pa's tale of that pack of wolves that surrounded him! Of course, Jack's adventures are pretty scary too, as are the Ingalls family's experiences with the Indians. Wilder uses third person objective point-of-view that relates only what is seen or heard to tell us her tale of family life in the early 1870s on the desolate prairies of Kansas. It's a fascinating combination of building one's house overnight with a neighbor's help — and without "benefit" of building codes, lol; the simple wealth of building the furniture one needs; and, a primary perspective on settler-Indian interactions — and the hypocrisy which frames them — and ain't it sad that it's the children who see it? And, we experience another Christmas with this one on the prairie. The Story Pa has decided to sell their little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. He's heard that there's good farming land in Indian Territory! The Characters Pa (Charles) Ingalls has the wanderlust while his wife, Ma (Caroline), is the practical one. Mary, Laura, and baby Carrie are their children. Pet and Patty are the mustangs for which Pa traded their ponies. Bunny is Pet's colt. They're lucky that Jack, their protective brindle bulldog, is still with them. Mr Edwards is a wildcat from Tennessee and their new, very helpful, neighbor. More neighbors soon include the Scotts. Pure luck brings Dr Tan, a black man, to help. Soldat du Chène is an Osage Indian. The Cover and Title The cover has a country feel with that muted red and cream gingham check framing it on all four sides. An oval badge (intersecting with the border and the center graphic) in a deeper cream with a thin dark brown border provides the series information along with a log cabin graphic. The author's name in dark brown is below this against the pale summer blue sky. The title is immediately below this in that muted red with a dark brown outline, set against the top of the Conestoga wagon in which Mary and Laura are peeking out the back with Ma and Pa behind them on the driver's seat. Jack walks beneath the wagon. A round gold badge announces that this book is the 65th anniversary edition. Below Jack and the wagon wheels is the illustrator's name in the dark brown. The title finds the Ingalls have moved to another little house, this one is the Little House on the Prairie. ...more |
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Sep 10, 2019
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Sep 11, 2019
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| 0060264306
| 9780060264307
| 0060264306
| 4.21
| 274,009
| 1932
| Oct 14, 1953
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it was amazing
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First in the Little House autobiographical series for middle-grade readers that begins in the Big Woods of Pepin, Wisconsin, in 1871, revolving around
First in the Little House autobiographical series for middle-grade readers that begins in the Big Woods of Pepin, Wisconsin, in 1871, revolving around Laura Wilder as a four-year-old and her family. (I'm not sure why the series is considered fiction. It is historical, and since it's Laura's recollection of her life, it would appear to be autobiographical nonfiction.) In 1958, Little House in the Big Woods won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. My Take I knew of the popular Little House on the Prarie television series, but I never have seen it. At the time, I hadn't realized it was based on a book series, and of course, once I did, I thought I should read it. Well, as the decades rolled by... What kickstarted my reading the series was a friend who went on and on about how wonderful the books were. She was right. The Little House series is wonderful, especially for readers interested in stories about living off the land, Indians, and/or early pioneer life. The prose is straightforward, simple, and quite descriptive. In Little House in the Big Woods, Wilder focuses on day-to-day life in her family with a third person objective point-of-view telling the story in a neutral, objective, unbiased manner. It's a life of mutual cooperation with slaughtering and sugaring time in the fall. Pa's violin playing entertains the family each night and comes in handy for larger celebrations when the extended family gathers and dancing is one of the activities. The girls are quite creative in their play. Ma's expertise in making straw hats is fascinating. My taste buds went into overdrive with the different uses to which they put the maple syrup. Their Christmas celebrations are simple, homemade, and quite sparse compared to the excess to which we celebrate. It does make me think of my mom's descriptions of her Christmases as a child during the Depression. The difficulties of travel and how self-sufficient the Ingalls are is pointed up when Laura makes her first trip to the nearest town, which is all of seven miles away. It's a lovely tale that will engage your kids and help make history real. The Story Pioneer life was never easy for anyone, and the Ingalls must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But they make the best of every tough situation. They celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do their spring planting, bring in the harvest in the fall, and make their first trip into town. And every night, safe and warm in their little house, the sound of Pa’s fiddle lulls Laura and her sisters into sleep. The Characters The tomboyish Laura Ingalls is four years old and lives in a log cabin with Ma (Caroline), Pa (Charles), older sister Mary, and baby sister Carrie. Jack is their protective brindle bulldog. Black Susan is the cat. Susan is Laura's corncob doll who will be supplanted by Charlotte; Nettie is Mary's rag doll. Sukey is their brown cow; Rose is another of their cows. Uncle Henry and Aunt Polly with their lazy son Charley; Aunt Eliza, Uncle Peter and their children Peter, Alice, Ella, and little baby Dolly Varden, have a very protective dog named Prince; Aunt Docia; Aunt Ruby; Uncle George had been in the army and is a bit wild; Uncle James and Aunt Libby have a little girl, also a Laura; Aunt Lotty and, Grandpa, who concentrates on making troughs and buckets to harvest maple syrup, are all Ingalls. Mr and Mrs Peterson are their new Swedish neighbors who have just moved into a new house. Mr and Mrs Huleatt and their children, Eva and Clarence, are friends who would spend the day. The Cover and Title The cover is a simple graphic with the log cabin's inner walls forming the background. Ma, in her long white nightgown, holds baby Carrie in her long gown, as she stands on the left. On the right, a bearded Pa is sitting on a log bench in his green trousers, blue shirt, and red suspenders with Mary hugging him from behind, his hands clasping her wrists. All four of them are looking on at the brown-haired Laura in her red flannel nightgown embracing the blue-gowned Charlotte, looking down at her new rag doll with love. The author's name is at the very top in black. The title is below that in a paler green outlined in black above everyone's heads. At the very bottom is the illustrator's name in black. The title is the home in which Laura grew up, the Little House in the Big Woods, on the border with Minnesota on the Mississippi River. ...more |
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Sep 09, 2019
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Aug 30, 2019
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Hardcover
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| B079S4HYDK
| 4.54
| 13
| unknown
| Feb 12, 2018
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it was amazing
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A memoir of Handler's life expressed in a standalone collection of essays from her perspective, a first person protagonist point-of-view, if you will.
A memoir of Handler's life expressed in a standalone collection of essays from her perspective, a first person protagonist point-of-view, if you will. This ARC was sent to me by the author for an honest review. My Take Oh, honey, if you can't relate to something in this collection, you ain't right. In a series of essays that veer from the glass is half-empty to the glass is overflowing (and does she ever remind me of Erma Bombeck!), Handler starts with her first dates to meeting the one, family pets, a memory of childhood summer and one of punishment that segues into reading and games with her daughters, the joys and trials of marriage with all the support, love, and blowups that come with it. "When we took our vows, it was part of the deal. I had to love, honor, cherish, and relinquish all rights to the TV flipper."The good and the bad that ranges from Uncle Seymour leading the raid at Stonewall and a brother's secret, the necessary fairies that keep a house running, and the running act of squeezing in the middle that can apply to so many items and people. There's the mistook care package which is both horrible and funny. Urk. The homophonic mishaps. Handler's love of children and the lessons they experience to Jane Elliott's experiment in racism in the classroom. Her deep love for her husband comes through despite the frustrations of living with him, lol — she's been a very lucky lady. Her death date approach cracked me up and made perfect sense. If only... Then Handler comes along with "stuff". All our stuff that we accumulate, and I can appreciate her view that we are only "renting" our stuff. I'm guilty of that one. I have a lot of stuff. And I love my stuff and all the memories they stimulate. It's about diet and a wonderful mother-in-law, about walking in another person's shoes and the many pairs she's gone through herself. Having friends and the drama of letting another one in. And I completely agree with her take on the pitfalls of naming one's children. What is with parents?!? Don't they think!?? There are more thoughts of queuing up in lines only to be cut out. The horrors of growing old — it's that eyebrow plucking! Clothing and shoes — socks and granny panties, egads! Towards the end, Handler muses on life in general. Senior moments that are not always an age thing, although technology is. Fortunately her smartphone and TV knows what she likes. As for doctors today, she's right. Any doctor who looks like a kid to me has got to be a fake. Her confessions regarding Murphy's Law, and now we know who to blame! That perfect diet plan. I know, I know, Handler would hate my using that word, "perfect". But that's the plan. It's the best way I know to lose weight. The lost art of grammar due to texting, the word crisis, and the jingle of past commercials versus the emotional guilt of today's. Her thoughts on why she shouldn't run for president in 2020...then she realizes she should, but I'm not sure what the Secret Service would think of her Boob One and Boob Two plan. And my favorite essay is the one about practicing kindness, moderation, and passion, keeping regrets small and success abundant. It's a life that finds that glass at varying levels from bone dry to overflowing. And thank god for the little things. The Cover and Title The cover is too cute with its icy blue-on-blue background and tan linoleum floor just in front of that mouse hole with the happy mouse focused on that wedge of cheese. All the text is black from the title that descends in size in the top half to the author's name below the cheese with a testimonial below that. The title cracks me up — Rats, Mice and Other Things You Can't Take to the Bank — and Handler explains it in the prologue, for rodents are survivors...and so is Handler. ...more |
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Sep 24, 2018
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Oct 01, 2018
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Kindle Edition
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| B01N6CJWVB
| 4.26
| 1,876
| Mar 07, 2017
| Mar 07, 2017
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it was amazing
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Fifteen mini biographies of women artists through history representing different periods in art. My Take Consistently throughout these fifteen biographi Fifteen mini biographies of women artists through history representing different periods in art. My Take Consistently throughout these fifteen biographies, we learn that Quinn had to hunt and search and struggle to find information on these women, of the obstacles, denigration, and deprivation that each woman struggled through. The "introduction" to Broad Strokes explained how Quinn came to find a need for it. Fascinated by these incredible painters in her art history classes, Quinn began to question where the women artists were. You'd think in our day and age that professors would be pulling them in, providing more of a balance, and taking the opportunity to note the social histories of their times. Instead, as soon as the establishment realizes the painter is a woman, the work is suddenly inferior or she's sleeping with her models or other artists or a man actually did the painting for which she's claiming credit? Are men that insecure? Quinn came to believe that women couldn't be great artists, especially when Janson's 800-page book, History of Art, 2nd ed., only noted sixteen women, including Mary Cassatt and Georgia O'Keeffe. Just a few of the women not in Janson's book included Edmonia Lewis, Frida Kahlo, and Lee Krasner. All had certainly been around long enough to be included! Quinn weaves in a quick biography of each woman with her own autobiography of where she stood at each stage of her research and has included at least one example of each artist's paintings as well as a contemporary portrait of her. I very much enjoyed Quinn's assessment of the paintings. What underlies the painting and how it reflects the culture of the day. As well, Quinn includes a quick biography of the artist's life, the good and the bad. A comment Quinn makes in reaction to another artist made sense to me. We've all seen art that we know our three-year-old could do, and somehow, the critics believe it's great for whatever reason. But I like the idea "that a good erotic jolt is appropriate..." The Artists The talent of Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1656) was recognized by her father, Orazio Gentileschi, who was an admirer of Caravaggio, which he taught her. The work of Judith Leyster (1609–1660) was a shock when the conservation department discovered that a painting by Frans Hal was *omigod* actually painted by a woman. From great rejoicing over having acquired a fabulous painting to total rejection, simply because the painting was done by a woman. As late as 1964, her work was denigrated for "the weakness of the feminine hand". A Dutch Golden Age painter, Leyster was of a time when artists no longer had to depend upon the Church or wealthy patrons. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803) painted textures so beautifully that people commented on "how amazingly like real silk her dress was", and she managed to force the Academy to recognize her talent through a brilliant stratagem, lol. I love the purpose behind her self-portrait. Another "up yours", *more laughter*. She managed to survive the French Revolution, partly by burning her most ambitious composition. I think she's one of my favorites in this for her intelligence, ability, and the romance. Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755–1842) was a famous portrait painter and was considered a rival of Adélaïde's. While the men put down her work, she was court painter to Marie Antoinette. Marie-Denise Villers (1744–1822) was a French Neoclassicist who specialized in portraits. She "returned" to fame when the Met thought they were getting a Jacques Louis David painting, Portrait of Charlotte du Val d'Ognes, a landmark work. That turned out to be painted by a woman. Popular with the public, the "establishment" suddenly found reasons why it was so bad. Villers' bio includes a condemnation of Napoleon for shutting down education and exhibitions for women artists, which lasted way too long. Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899) was known for her "big and muscular and naturalistic art" — particularly animals, her preference for women, and being an avid hunter and horsewoman. Her section includes a gorgeous portrait of Buffalo Bill Cody and her painting Ploughing in the Nevernais looks like a photograph. She and her three sisters all became renowned artists. Hmmm, she also needed a license for cross-dressing...I told'ja we learn about the culture of their times, lol. Edmonia "Wildfire" Lewis (d.1907) was a nineteenth century Neoclassicist sculptor born of a Chippewa woman and a Black. It was hard enough to be a woman artist, but adding in her ethnicity made it harder. She states "The land of liberty had no room for a colored sculptor." I did enjoy Quinn's comment in reaction to pejoratives from Henry James that white marble was the medium in which fine artists work. That it was not a self-hating message. She goes on to note that Caucasians aren't white either, and it's why sculpture was always painted in the ancient world. So take that, James. Born 1876 and died 1907, Paula Modersohn-Becker's oeuvre was German Expressionism, and "her work was among the first of ... German modernism". If she hadn't persevered and escaped her father for an artists' colony, she would have lived and ended her life as a governess. Vanessa Bell (1879–1961), Virginia Woolf's sister, was part of the Bloomsbury Group and caught up in paintings of daily life — and the opposite of her sister in confidence. Alice Neel (1901–1984) is considered the greatest American portraitist of the twentieth century, but almost missed living long enough to create. Suicidal and raving, she was forbidden to draw or make art. That'd be enough to drive me bonkers! She certainly was a free-living woman who stuck to her guns! Lee Krasner (1908–1984), an abstract expressionist, discovered Jackson Pollock and eventually married him. She was the more famous of the two at the start, and "so accomplished that her instructor, Hans Hofmann, paid her the ultimate compliment: 'This is so good you would not know it was painted by a woman." Excuse me? And it's an attitude that prevails with most women artists. How sad. I appreciated Quinn's defense of abstract art and understand it much better...but I'll never be able to accomplish it. Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), becoming an artist in spite of her father, was a Surrealist sculptor and painter who also created installation art. Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), a victim of the Japanese internment camps during World War II, was known for her wire sculptures and activism. And her sculpture are gorgeous! Ana Mendieta (b.1948, murdered 1985) was a Cuban American artist most known for her performance art, earthworks, and portraits-cum-crime-scene-outlines, creating a "new and powerful art form", inspired by the racism she and her sister were exposed to in Iowa. Kara Walker (1969– ), the daughter of an artist, is a Black contemporary painter, silhouettist, and installation artist who is comfortable poking at race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. I do like the concept of her mammy sphinx *grin*. Walker is quite accepting of the negatives people say about her work: "People respond ... in the way that they do. It's not unexpected." Susan O'Malley (1976–2015) was a text-based artist whose mother's condition focused her into her art, fascinated by how we live. She sounds like she was a beautiful woman who shared with everyone. And don't forget: "Art Before Dishes". Now that I can get into, lol The Cover and Title The cover has a white background with broad brushstrokes of red as a backdrop for the white text, the title taking up most of the cover with the author's name quite tiny below it. The illustrator's name is even tinier under that. The title is what we get, Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order), as Quinn realizes how little is known about women artists famous in their day. ...more |
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Jun 21, 2018
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Feb 28, 2018
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 0689830416
| 9780689830419
| 0689830416
| 3.85
| 225
| Mar 08, 2011
| Mar 08, 2011
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it was amazing
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A standalone biography about Mark Twain as told by Huckleberry Finn. My Take Now this would be a handy tome for you writers wantin’ to write dialect for A standalone biography about Mark Twain as told by Huckleberry Finn. My Take Now this would be a handy tome for you writers wantin’ to write dialect for your characters. You can hear Huck’s larnin’ and status so easily through his speech. Be sure to explore the front endpapers with all those ink sketches of times in Twain’s life. The kids will adore all those splotches! And the “Warning to the Reader” page is quite handy to explore the use of dialect with the kids…if you can figger it out from the variety of fonts and sizes! The graphics are all awash in pale inks. The color comes in with Huck’s language and sentence structure. And them verbs are all askew as well. It literally is Huck talkin’ Twain’s life and how it relates to his own. Burleigh slides in some commentary about critics not liking how Huck’s dialogue was written, so undereducated and all as well as Twain’s anger about how blacks were treated. Lots of possible discussions in this. There’s a very handy list of dates that relate to the important events in Twain’s life at the very end. It could be interesting to match up world events with these years to see what was happening when Twain was. Happening, that is. All in all, read it. It’s fun to “hear” Huck a’talkin’ away and bringing the time to life. The Characters Huckleberry Finn is our naive narrator. Mark Twain, a.k.a., Samuel Clemens, is the subject of this picture biography. Olivia “Livy” Langdon was Sam’s wife. Susy was Sam’s favorite daughter. The Cover and Title The cover is pale with a pale blue river for Huck, barefoot in rolled-up brown trousers, a slingshot in his back pocket, a wide-brimmed and raggedy straw hat, his white shirt with the sleeves rolled up as he poles his way along with that fountain pen, standing on a raft of a book that features Mark Twain himself with the author’s and illustrator’s names below Twain’s portrait. It’s all quite inky looking, especially most of that title at the top with its scratchy font done up in deep blue ink and some of it (along with Huck’s name) in a brown to match Huck’s pants and hair. The title is exactly that, The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn, as he remembers Samuel Clemens. ...more |
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Oct 30, 2017
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Oct 30, 2017
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Hardcover
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| B008K4JKJK
| 4.04
| 6,454
| 2012
| Oct 11, 2012
|
it was amazing
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A slew of thirty-two short and even shorter stories in this fanciful anthology, some touch on Discworld, some make fun of it, and some are…just for th
A slew of thirty-two short and even shorter stories in this fanciful anthology, some touch on Discworld, some make fun of it, and some are…just for the fun of it. Do read A.S. Byatt's foreword. As a writer, you'll appreciate the insight she has on Pratchett and his world. As a reader, you'll enjoy her reviews and the mini re-caps *grin* I also enjoyed Pratchett's commentary before each of the short stories, although some of them almost seemed to be part of the story to come. Those Shorts in the Discworld Series: "FTB" (Evolved into Hogfather, DEATH, 4; Discworld, 20) "Troll Bridge" (16.5)" "Theatre of Cruelty" (Ankh-Morpork City Watch, 1.5; Discworld 14.5) "The Sea and Little Fishes" (The Witches (before Tiffany appears)) "The Ankh-Morpork National Anthem" "Medical Notes" "Thud: A Historical Perspective" "A Few Words from Lord Havelock Vetinari" "Death and What Comes Next" (10.5) "A Collegiate Casting-out of Devilish Devices" “Minutes of the Meeting to Form the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts" (23.5??) “The Ankh-Morpork Football Association Hall of Fame Playing Cards" (37.5) The Stories "The Hades Business" starts right off with one of the many things I adore about Pratchett's writing: his descriptiveness. "Imagine the interior of a storm cloud. Sprinkle liberally with ash and garnish with sulphur to taste."I am amazingly impressed with how well-educated Pratchett was at 13. I don't know many kids who would already know who Dante was at that age. In this case, it's the Devil, a man(?) who needs the Square Deal Advertising Company as run by Crucible. Seems Hell has gotten quite boring, and Nicholas Lucifer wants to liven things up. It's so bad that even the demons have left, and you'll believe Pratchett when he explains what those guys are doing these days! First published in the Technical Cygnet, a high school magazine, and then in Science Fantasy magazine. No. 60, Vol. 20, August 1963. Oops, looks like that "Solution" wasn't the one Pyecraft had planned on. Reminds me of the mine employee who was making a nice living with wheelbarrows, lol. First published in the Technical Cygnet, a high school magazine. "The Picture" is just plain devious! Pratchett literally “paints" a picture with quite the forbidding, “escapist" ending. First published in the Technical Cygnet, a high school magazine. "The Prince and the Partridge" is a fairytale that reveals the true origins of the Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas", as it developed from a courtship ritual. First published in Bucks Free Press, 6, 13, 20 December 1968 under the pseudonym, Uncle Jim, as one of seventy-odd tales in the Children's Circle. "Rincemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor" is a cute angle on the country dwarf who comes to the big city. First published in Bucks Free Press, 16 March-18 May 1973 under the pseudonym, Uncle Jim, as one of seventy-odd tales in the Children's Circle. Pratchett says it's an earlier, shorter version of “Truckers". "Kindly Breathe in Short, Thick Pants" made me think of our current presidential election campaign with the Rt. Hon. Duncan Disorderly, the member of Parliament, who has been made the new Fresh Air Supremo…that's the man in charge of ensuring an equal sharing of fresh air. Yep, it's a lot of stumping about, making silly demands with lots of harrumphing, and how to force those with more to suffer with those with less. First published in the Bath and West Evening Chronicle, 9 October 1976. "The Glastonbury Tales" is a silly bit of poetry about a van driver who picks up assorted hitchhikers. First published in the Bath and West Evening Chronicle, 16 June 1977. "There's No Fool Like an Old Fool Found in an English Queue" continues the political theme with the Rt. Hon. Maurice Dancer who has been appointed the Minister for Queues. I think we need one of these in charge of slow traffic on the highway as well as for standing in lines. And for those queues where you wait forever only to find you're waiting in the wrong line…driver's license, anyone? First published in the Bath and West Evening Chronicle, 14 January 1978. "Coo, They've Given Me the Bird" gives Communism and production lines in factories the bird. First published in the Bath and West Evening Chronicle, 8 April 1978. "And Mind the Monoliths" cracked me up as Pratchett pokes away at reality shows (who knew Pratchett was omnisicient?) and theme parks. First published in the Bath and West Evening Chronicle, 1 April 1978. "The High Meggas" slowly evolved into a terrifying futuristic apocalypse with a negative comparison to Daniel Boone and his preference to having no neighbors. This evolved into the first book, The Long Earth , in The Long Earth series. "Twenty Pence with Envelope and Seasonal Greeting" starts with Pratchett's prologue on how Dickens shaped Christmas, and now I'm wondering… A difficult story to delve into, I had to struggle with that combination of the terrified coach driver and his madness derived from a greeting card world of rectangles and giganto Christmas card metaphors that interfered with a very British Pratchett reality. First published in Time Out, 16 December 1987. "Incubust" will have an unfortunate meaning for those who take that little blue pill, lol. Ooh, baby, Pratchett wasn't kidding about that …bust… First published in The Drabble Project, a 100-words or less story, through Beccon Publications, 1988. "Final Reward" is a close encounter between a writer and his hero. And what a crack-up this one is…! Somehow…somehow, Dogger has pulled his protagonist into his world, and how embarrassing is it to have this Neanderthal of a thug to have to deal with! Sure wish I could write my own ticket! First published in G.M. The Independent Fantasy Roleplaying Magazine, October 1988. "Turntables of the Night" is a missing persons tale of a geek into records. A nice enough guy, as long as you wanted to talk recordings, vinyl. First published in Hidden Turnings , 1989. "#IFDEFDEBUG + 'World/Enough' + 'Time'" is a pip! And any geek's idea of the perfect afterlife, lol. First published in Digital Dreams . "Hollywood Chickens" had me thinking apocalypse and Animal Farm all rolled into one as Pratchett led me down the freeway of escaped — THINKING — chickens! "We bankrupt all invaders, we sell them souvenirs…"Oh, god, then Pratchett, er, I mean, Überwald goes on to celebrate those words dear to everyone's memo…, er, heart, ner, ner ner ner hner ner…, ROFLMAO. "Medical Notes" was an advertising bit Pratchett wrote for a Discworld Convention in August 2002. It's a collection of short medical notes about various medical issues suffered in many worlds: Attention Surplus Syndrone (I do suffer this one unto others), Florabundi's Syndrome, Annoia is also known as Paranoia Inversa, Planets (my sister's dog suffers from this one, lol), Scroopism which can go either way with naughty bits in books, Signitus, and Bursaritis (chronic continence). "Thud: A Historical Perspective" was written to go along with Thud: The Discworld Board Game. It's about the only game of which Pratchett approved, and in the story, is intended to replace fighting. "A Few Words From Lord Havelock Vetinari" cracked me up with Vetinari's first words, reassuring the citizens of Ankh-Morpork that Wincanton really is a real city and had not been made up. Whew, I was so worried. "DEATH and What Comes Next" was written to go along with an online game, TimeHunt. "A Collegiate Casting-out of Devilish Devices" was another request, for the “Times Higher Education Supplement", discussing issues about government telling schools how to use their money. I quite see the wizards' point: How do you measure thinking? I had to laugh at the idea of Unseen U advertising for students. Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully is in charge at Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork. Lord Vetinari rules Ankh-Morpork. Concerned wizards include Dean, Lecturer in Rcent Runes, Senior Wrangler, the Librarian is an orang-utang, and Ponder Stibbons is the Head of Inadvisably Applied Magic and the Praelector. Mr. A.E. Pessimal is the Inspector of Universities. "Minutes of the Meeting to Form the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts" explores how to give the young people of Ankh-Morpork something to do, something that “did not actually involve the death of innocent, or presumably innocent, bystanders". Characters participating in the meeting include Captain Carrot (whoa, this must be in the distant future of Discworld!), Sergeant Angua, and Sergeant Detritus from the City Watch; Josiah Boggis of the Thieves' Guild; Miss Alice Band of the Assassins' Guild; Grag Bashful Bashfulsson, a dwarf community leader; Miss Estressa Partleigh from the Campaign for Equal Heights; Crysophrase from the Silicon Anti-Defamation League; John Smith from the Überwald League of Temperance; and, Lord Vetinari, the ruler of Ankh-Morpork. "The Anhk-Morpork Football Association Hall of Fame Playing Cards" is another marketing request for playing cards when the soccer satire, Unseen Academicals , 37 (RW, 8), was released. Ah-hah! The Librarian is Dthau, a professor of L-space Studies. The Cover and Title The cover is of a be-hatted Terry Pratchett sitting at a desk, arms crossed, looking off to our right. Behind him is a book-laden set of shelves with a world of creatures swarming in the corners of the cover. I think the title refers to how quickly those stories finish, in A Blink of the Screen. ...more |
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Oct 11, 2016
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Oct 11, 2016
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| 0395570352
| 9780395570357
| 0395570352
| 4.15
| 16,739
| Oct 25, 1993
| 1993
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A standalone biography of a grandson's remembrances of his grandfather's life that should really get a "6". In 1994, Grandfather's Journey won the Cald A standalone biography of a grandson's remembrances of his grandfather's life that should really get a "6". In 1994, Grandfather's Journey won the Caldecott Medal, and in 1993, it won the California Book Award Silver Medal for Juvenile. My Take It's beautiful yet sad. Say reminisces about his grandfather, his journey to America, his life, and his return to the Japan he misses. Say doesn't stop there, for he continues with his parents, and then to his own experience and feelings. Beautiful. I know I said it before, but it does bear repeating. The paintings are so gorgeous, and the stories Say writes encapsulate the experience of many immigrants to America, only Say's version has such a lovely peacefulness to it. The folded paper boat on the title page induced nostalgia when I saw it. That feeling of olden days carries through in the watercolor "photos" Say created as "Grandfather" provides a tour of America, from its plains to trains, the majesty of tall mountains and cities with their factories, from deserts to rivers, as Say slips back into life. It's a life bridging two cultures, and as Say explains at the end: "The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other". The Story A young man yearns for more and travels to America where he finds that more. A young man who grows older and appreciates what he has and has had. The Characters Grandfather is the subject while his grandson, Allen Say, narrates a simple story of what he knows of his grandfather. The Cover and Title The cover is subdued in its khaki brown frame of an inset picture with a young grandfather standing in front of the ship's rail with the heaving ocean in the background while he's wearing Western clothes for the first time: a black homburg and double-breasted black coat that comes to his ankles. The title is in white above the picture while the author's name is below. The title is the journey we all take through life, and this story is Grandfather's Journey. ...more |
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Jun 19, 2016
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Jun 24, 2016
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Hardcover
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| 0152996249
| 9780152996246
| 0152996249
| 3.92
| 750
| Sep 15, 1992
| Jan 01, 1992
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it was amazing
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A standalone picture book that reflects Williams' early life as a child in the cotton fields in Fresno. In 1993, Working Cotton won the Caldecott Hono
A standalone picture book that reflects Williams' early life as a child in the cotton fields in Fresno. In 1993, Working Cotton won the Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrator Honor. And I thoroughly understand why! My Take There's a rhythmic quality to Williams' words as she remembers her childhood, as she pulls you in with that dreamy quality, in to Shelan's world, to show you what a day in the fields was like. The sense of competition between the sisters, that need to be like each other and yet not. Especially, *laughing*, as Shelan wishes to both grow up and be young enough to sit at the end of the row and watch the baby. The manner in which Williams manipulates the grammar and sentence structure is another way to pull you in and indicates Shelan's educational level. I know Byard's illustrations are in acrylics — it says so in the front of the book! But there's a feel of pastels about these intense colors, the soft smudgy feel of the graphics that make you feel the seriousness of it as well as that dreamy feel of Williams' memories. It's a beautifully illustrated and written story of a day in the life of a family picking cotton. The Story It's cold that early in the morning, although the day will heat up fast enough, Shelan notes. I'm growing up, but not enough yet to have my own sack while Daddy picks cotton so fast that you never see him do it while Mamma sings to while the day away. The Characters Shelan is the young girl, the storyteller; her sisters include Ruise, Jesmarie, and baby Leanne. Mamma and Daddy are the kind of people who should have children. God knows, that's rare enough! The Cover and Title The cover has an Impressionist feel to it with its hazy cotton, blue summer sky, and Shelan in her turquoise green dress and brown jacket. The title is in a white serif font with an orange outline. The title is what the day is all about, Working Cotton. ...more |
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Mar 08, 2016
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Mar 08, 2016
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Hardcover
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| 1476773556
| 9781476773551
| 1476773556
| 3.62
| 396
| Mar 15, 1980
| Apr 01, 2014
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A brief documentary look into Bette Midler's 1978 world tour and her musings, thoughts, and reactions. My Take Melodramatic and free-wheeling, ridiculo A brief documentary look into Bette Midler's 1978 world tour and her musings, thoughts, and reactions. My Take Melodramatic and free-wheeling, ridiculous chatter that feels as though you're listening to Midler talking at you. It's crazy and revealing, sad and ditzy, happy and nuts, and too funny for words. Do be sure to read Midler's "Band Application". You'll crack up. An interesting tidbit about growing up in Hawaii surrounded by all that gorgeous color. It certainly makes sense about Bette, and I'm completely with her on this. Color is too important to ignore! "Being moral isn't what you do … it's what you mean to do." Color and black-and-white photographs are scattered throughout the book. Pictures that will make you laugh out loud and others that will pull you in. Midler free associates in her humorous style about each country she visits with comments about the food, the money, going through customs, the audiences, styles, and more. Midler doesn't spare anyone, including herself. I particularly enjoyed her point about always taking characters on the road with her — masks she can hide behind. Reading her process for how she determined the identities of the characters was a fascinating look behind-the-scenes. For the most part, the chatter holds together, although there are great lengths that you simply read without worrying about what it means. It's rather scattered at times nor am I always sure what's truth and what's said for the fun of it. The Characters You all know Bette Midler. Miss Frann Frank was her prim and proper companion and wardrobe mistress. She mentions her mother and her siblings: Daniel and her twin sisters, Judy and Susan. The Harlettes are Katie, Franny, and Linda. At least to start. Vilmos Angst is a determined film director. Yes, there are more characters, but these were the ones who stood out. The Cover The cover is a bright pink with Bette Midler in a mermaid costume, hip cocked, head shyly tilted, and arms raised in a Y-frame as though she’s holding up the Hollywood-lights title. It’s perfect. The title keeps cracking me up for its literal and humorous interpretation, as this is indeed A View From a Broad. ...more |
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Sep 07, 2014
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Sep 09, 2014
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Hardcover
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| 0345453239
| 9780345453235
| 0345453239
| 3.85
| 5,565
| Jan 27, 2009
| Jan 27, 2009
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it was amazing
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A nonfictional, biographical account of Katherine Swynford, mistress and finally wife to the Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt. The time period covered
A nonfictional, biographical account of Katherine Swynford, mistress and finally wife to the Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt. The time period covered begins in the mid-1300s. I recommend this to anyone interested in writing about the time period between the 1330s to the early 1400s and/or if you have an interest in the Tudors, Stuarts, Yorks, the War of the Roses, the 100 Years War, or the medieval time period. My Take It’s a fascinating love story of an orthodox yet unconventional man who ignored the social conventions of his time, who adored a woman of learning, wit, and discretion, and she loved him back for himself as well as the financial security it brought her and her children. Hers with her husband, Hugh Swynford, as well as the Beaufort children she bore the duke. Weir is primarily clinical in her reporting on Katherine, and mostly because, as she says, there is so little primary material available about her. Women were not important in that time, so emphasis was not placed on them. Instead Weir has pulled together facts and extrapolated events. No, she hasn’t made a thing up. In fact, Weir has been extremely careful to note what is possibility and what is specific. And still, she brought enough heart to this story to make me cry and marvel. Weir impressed me with what she brought to this biography. It also made me wish there could have been more Queen Phillippas and more Katherines if only because of the way in which they approached child raising. History would have been much less vicious. Weir’s focus is on Katherine but as there is so little available on her, most of the text is of John, and so it becomes an assessment of the times, a gloss of how the politics and infighting affected Katherine and John. It’s a different perspective on the times, more of a surface look with no dipping underneath to examine events in any depth, but then the focus of Mistress of the Monarchy is not events but on a single woman of whom there isn't much information but what Weir can glean from legal documents, births, deaths, marriages, and household movements. Weir does look at almost everything about the time period: the peasants, the lords, the politics, the royals, food, clothing, mores, architecture, gifts, customs, child rearing, the time’s idea of Chivalry and what constituted "courtly love", the Church, how foreigners saw England, Chaucer’s life, laws of inheritance, obligations, and the like. What Weir has to say about the Church will make you understand more why Wycliffe and Martin Luther took the positions they did. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to live under a Church-influenced government: ”…all sexual acts were sinful… It was fascinating to read the bits of Chaucer and how the verses related to events in his life. The ending will make you cry and cause you to wish you could go back in time to warn John. To list the what ifs and if onlys. As it is, I drew some satisfaction for the promise they gave for the future. The Cover The cover is gorgeous, but then I’ve always had a weakness for medieval tapestries. The title is too accurate for Katherine’s descendants "would become the direct forbears of the Royal Houses of York, Tudor, and Stuart, and of every British sovereign since 1461, as well as six U.S. presidents". And those are just the highlights of her descendants, for Katherine was truly a Mistress of the Monarchy. ...more |
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Aug 17, 2014
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Aug 17, 2014
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Hardcover
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| B00GXV1B6W
| 4.45
| 33
| Nov 22, 2013
| Nov 22, 2013
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it was amazing
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An autobiographical horror of World War II as seen from the eyes of a German child, Renate, living in Plauen in the German state of Saxony. A tale tha
An autobiographical horror of World War II as seen from the eyes of a German child, Renate, living in Plauen in the German state of Saxony. A tale that follows Renate through escape, emigration, and life as an adult. I did receive this from the author. My Take Oh, wow. This was a horror of a story and a fascinating perspective from the eyes of a child who lived through it. I’ve always seen, thought of, the war and the Germans as horrible people who allowed this to happen. But the truth is that the average German was as helpless against Hitler and his SS as we are today against Homeland Security. Imagine a war breaking out here in America. On our streets. How much say do you think you would have in how it’s conducted? How much influence would you have on how food is distributed, how you’re allowed to travel? Renate sets up the contrast with this beginning of an idyllic world with a loving family until a few years into the war when their lives flew apart. Losing their father to the army, the Dresden-style bombing of their city, Plauen’s occupation by Americans and its contrast with the Russian occupation, and worse, life as Plauen and its surroundings became the new DDR with the Russian obsession with re-education on the party line. I love the sound of the country cottage in Joessnitz with its huge variety of produce, the camaraderie, the family’s luck in escaping to it before April 10. It’s an opportunity to learn about the German way of life for a normal family, and its segue and descent into the horror of war. Jesus, it’s such a contrast between the before and after and makes a tremendous impact. My generation has been lucky in many respects. I know my mother still talks about the rationing Americans had to accept during World War II, and yet it’s nothing compared to what Europeans had to endure. Nor do many books (that I’ve read anyway) address the effects of rationing on German children. It’s also heartbreaking to read of the effects of the bombing on Renate and her family. It’s almost worse than reading of the bombing on the Allied cities, if only because the war was started by her own government. They brought this down on everyone on both sides of the war. And still, a part of me in the beginning, felt the German people deserved this. It’s not rational, I know, and it’s an attitude that changed as the story continued, as I came to realize, remember?, that the average German had no say over the war. That they had to contend with the idiocy of the SS and later with the Russians. Oma’s proverb: “Better a horrible end, than horror without end.” I never knew that Disney’s Fantasia immortalized the German annual celebration of “Walburgisnacht”. Proves that there’s nothing new under the sun, lol. ”…setting Christmas trees…” Not even the end of the war brought any relief. ”…in truth we were liberated from all we owned, from freedom of movement, and we still had no freedom of speech.” The story certainly hasn’t changed my mind about the “joys” of Communism where everyone is equal, as long as you’re one of the Party elite. One thing I don’t understand is, if Russian and the DDR were so fabulous, why would so many people be trying to escape? It does make me laugh (not the happy kind) that from being a prosperous country, the Russian takeover created a disaster. The Russian Communist Party destroyed all production for every region they took over. When capitalism or socialism is allowed to flourish, the people and its way of living flourishes as well. I’m embarrassed as well by my own memories of how I treated displaced persons in high school. Renate mentions how the people of Burghausen treated her and her fellow refugees, not understanding the ordeals they had undergone. Displaced people who lost everything and were treated so poorly. I wish the administrators at my school had used the influx of our D.P.s to educate us, to help us understand what these kids had suffered. A good example of how cruel children can be. Wow, the educational programme Renate went through…talk about demanding! Makes me question our current educational system — all their instructors held doctorates. I know my German nephew and niece are very well-educated with inquiring minds and active lives. Very different from the majority of American kids. Even back then, the Germans were way ahead of us. I do prefer the German approach to alcohol as well; the same as my parents had, and I never did develop any great need for it. I do enjoy alcohol, but it’s not a necessity. It took years after the war ended before life became truly better for Renate and her family, and her impressions of Americans when they first arrived in America are fascinating. I loved her first experience with pizza, lol. Her exposure to how women were treated in America was also…”fascinating”… I can certainly see why women’s lib took hold! Imagine having to have a male escort if you were out in public! Her career in lace and embroidery design, which carries on a family tradition. Renate’s cooking skills cracked me up, and her marriage to Fred was truly an American success story…but only because it happened in America. I suspect she and Fred would have been successful wherever they were, as Renate understood the value of work and frugality while Fred was ambitious, opening his own investment firm. Nor was he the only success among the people Renate knew as her world continued to expand. Oh, man, I’m so jealous! Renate got to ride elephants!! Although, I don’t think it was worth her earlier life. Nor would I want to undergo that tick scene! Wow, Renate is a force of nature. In dealing with her father’s illness, she explores the history of Native Americans and learns the depths to which the U.S. government sank to eliminate the tribes. I never knew that the people who were the original natives of American were never “granted” citizenship until 1925! I liked Renate’s commentary on the Lakota religion which sees life as balance and not the Christian version of good and evil. The end of her story is her memories of her mother couched as dreams in which she remembers so much of the sacrifices her mother made to ensure Renate and Margit’s survival. You’ll cry, and you’ll appreciate her mother’s approach to raising children. Definitely a parent who should be granted that license! My only real niggle was the major info dump at the start. I think Stoever should have integrated this into her reminiscing more. ”There’s no such thing as can’t.” The Story Even at the war’s beginning, life was idyllic for Renate. Well-off grandparents, a happy extended family with traditions and rituals. It was as the war continued that things worsened, but war’s end only signaled worse under Russian occupation. The Characters Margit is Renate’s baby sister, born after rationing is instituted. Inge is a cousin and playmate. Aunt Traudl and her family, including cousin Ursula, live in Markneukirchen. Ursula’s grandfather had a workshop where he made violins. Aunts Else and Frieda take refuge at the cottage. Her mother’s parents, Oma and Opa are there as well. Uncles Oskar and Arthur were with the German army; luckily for the family, Uncles Carl and Rudy, were with the Americans. Yes, her paternal grandparents were alive through the war as well. Aunt Marie Gross was her father’s aunt who had gone to America well before the war --- it's the gold necklace she sends back to Germany for Renate that starts us off. Steffen Kollwitz, Renate’s cousin’s son, was one of the principle opposition leaders in Plauen when the Berlin Wall finally fell. Inge’s husband is Heinz, a former submariner in the German navy. Anna is a friend of Renate’s mother’s; she had a white Spitz named Putzi who had his own opinion about the Russians, lol. Lanie owned the house where Renate and her family took refuge after the cottage. Magda is the friend Renate met during the Russian occupation. When the 347th U.S. Infantry Regiment occupied the area around Plauen, it brought Charlie, the first African American the family had ever met. When the Russian army moved in, it brought Gregor, a young lieutenant. In Burghausen, Sister Kunigunde was kind while Sister Teresa was tough. The bigoted Father Venus and his pronouncements against anyone not Catholic. Annie was a newlywed with a sense of humor in the barracks opposite theirs and married to Luggy. Ingrid was one of the children whose lot was not improved by being out of the DDR. Karin is a fellow artist and a refugee from Estonia. Abdul Aziz Al Futaih was a pen pal with whom Renate began to correspond; he later became the Yemeni ambassador to the United Nations and States. And another Traudl became friends with Renate, and they met up with Alec, a coworker of Traudl’s. Cousin Roswitha appears. In America, they finally meet Uncle Rudy and their children, the twins Robert and Elise and Uncle Carl’s daughter, Diane. Evelyn and Ed are their new neighbors at their new house in America in Teaneck. Elio and John are Renate’s first bosses, at the moccasin beading factory. Tippy is Margit’s new puppy. Mr. Weber of Stein Tobler becomes a long-term boss; Willy Michl was one of their designers and the president of the Designer’s Association. Pierre is a French coworker who recommends her to his parents. Fred Stoever is a friend of Abdul’s. Ludwig is a Hungarian aristocrat who fled the Communists, joined Stein Tobler, and opened up a higher class of world to Renate, Margit, and her friends. Ingeborg was a fashion designer for Oleg Cassini. Renate heads to Paris to represent Stein Tobler. Jean and Nani are Pierre’s parents, and Nani takes Renate in hand, teaching her how to dress. Hank is a young American she meets there. Jean is a dancer at the Lido while Gerard dances at the Crazy Horse, and Maurice are more people she meets. Amelie is the chambermaid at the hotel. Married life with Fred Stoever — who turns out to be quite the artist — included Carmelita and Frank Braddock as friends. Roland was their son, named for Fred’s dad. Frank Ianoucci was Fred’s father’s foreman at his stoveworks. Dr. Kevin Cahill is a specialist in tropical medicine. Dr. John Wood handled Fred’s medical program. Their Indian travels found them making friends with Ranjit Singh, the collector in the Mandla District in Central India, who also turned out to be the son of the Maharaja of Wanaker and Badri and John at Kanha National Park. Razza was their guide in Jaipur. Pushpa is Ranjit’s aunt who was married to Dr. Nagendra Singh. Renate’s Native American experiences included Marvin Ghost Bear who organized dispersement of donations to those who most needed them. His Lakota Sioux name was Mato Wanagi, and his stories of growing up in the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania are hideous. The school’s motto was: “To save the child, kill the Indian!”, which I find appalling. What those schools did to the children destroyed their family bonds. Freedom of religion certainly did not apply. Reading of Ghost Bear and the reservation reminded me of one of John Sandford’s stories from his Lucas Davenport series, Shadow Prey. Christine Red Cloud was Ghost Bear’s cousin. The Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD) was what we knew as West Germany while the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) became East Germany. It took me awhile to remember to only write Germany on mail I sent my sister once the Wall came down. The Cover The cover is a firestorm of Dresden proportions with Renate and Margit holding onto each other for dear life as Plauen goes up in flames. The title is their only hope, an Escape From Plauen. ...more |
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May 18, 2014
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Jun 13, 2014
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1250006015
| 9781250006011
| 1250006015
| 3.41
| 339
| Jul 23, 2013
| Nov 26, 2013
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liked it
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An autobiography about growing up in Leeds Castle in England and taking it all for granted. My Take The memories are from a child’s perspective, and a s An autobiography about growing up in Leeds Castle in England and taking it all for granted. My Take The memories are from a child’s perspective, and a shy one at that. It reads like a sanitized version of a dysfunctional childhood, all very surface with little revealed. Sorry, read that as “understated”. Oh, perhaps that’s not a fair comment, but I grew irritated with Russell harping on about how living at Leeds Castle and having everything done for him didn’t prepare him for the real world. No kidding. What bugged me was Russell never gave any examples of how this screwed things up. It was so generalized. As for his outrageous fortune in living and growing up in such a fabulous setting, that’s all it was…a frame. There was nothing substantial inside it. His nanny was more of a parent to him than his own parents or his grandmothers. In spite of living with his maternal grandmother, he reckons he only actually spoke to her a handful of times. How sad is that? As fabulous as the house was, I didn’t feel as if Russell appreciated the history of where he grew up. Instead, lol, it was a child’s concerns and fears, which were all too similar to children growing up at any social level, although I think most children at the lower levels had it better with parents and grandparents who spent time with their kids, compared to what Russell was given. Yes, he’s never had to worry about paying the rent or affording food, but he’s never had the love or interactions one would expect from a family. I regret that his parents ignored so much of what could have benefited him as opposed to what’s always been done. It certainly sounded as if there was no interest in helping Anthony find purpose or find him playmates, and instead he spent his days with Nanny. He does mention the people who were guests at the castle, frequent and occasional, the famous, the political, and merely noble. He refers to the perpetual bachelors, a euphemism for gay, who paid court to his grandmother. How his grandmother’s “court” spent their year, the poor treatment meted out to his mother, his own experiences at boarding school. His father’s mother, Granny A, sounds like a single-minded rebel, a poor one compared to Granny B, but much more real. He mentions that she insisted there be no sex when Granny A married his grandfather, and I find that a truly odd insistence. Why would John Russell, Anthony’s grandfather, even marry a woman who didn’t want to produce children? I thought that was always the be-all, end-all for the aristocracy? Producing an heir? The Cover The cover is sweet with a faded family photograph of Anthony and his brothers in front of Leeds Castle: David on his bike and Anthony leaning on the toy car in which James is sitting. A nice blend of the normal with the grand. The title is how Anthony sees his childhood, a bit of Outrageous Fortune. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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May 09, 2014
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May 20, 2014
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Hardcover
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| 1590171993
| 9781590171998
| 1590171993
| 4.34
| 183,435
| 1965
| Jun 20, 2006
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it was amazing
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A fictional biography of an English literature professor who tried. My Take I have to agree with Steve Almond's assessment of Stoner. Williams does trea A fictional biography of an English literature professor who tried. My Take I have to agree with Steve Almond's assessment of Stoner. Williams does treat his characters with brutal honesty, and it's a story that is so incredibly depressing. A life that is not so much lived as endured. It is a life that is a series of disappointments, that makes one question why one must live at all. Except for one brief period of actual joy in his life before it's torn from him by an enemy. Williams does write beautifully, if depressingly: "Her needlepoint was delicate and useless, she painted misty landscapes of thin water-color washes, and she played the piano with a forceless but precise hand…" I do commend Stoner for the stance he takes on Walker, and I can't believe Lomax was allowed to get away with this...I'm astonished. And, even more depressed. I do love the steps Stoner finally takes to readjust his schedule. He realized it was the first time [in five years] anyone had spoken his name since he had come there. Stoner is a decent man who deserved so much better. And the best he received is in Williams' writing of him. Williams' depiction of the time period and the intra-departmental politics was very well done. It certainly brought home to me how very lucky we are to be living now with the relaxed manners of today and our acceptance of mental health---although I'm not sure it would have done any good if Williams had set Stoner in today. Perhaps it might have allowed for a change in Will and Edith's circumstances, perhaps greater education would have saved them both. Yes, if you are a writer or simply appreciate excellent writing, I do recommend Stoner. However, be aware that it's so incredibly depressing that it may be difficult to read. God knows it took me five weeks to get through this...and mostly because I'm stubborn and wanted to understand why, suddenly, Stoner was being promoted everywhere as such a good read. The Story It's a life like most. An unexpected opportunity results in a switch of Will Stoner's aim in life, and he becomes a teacher of English literature at the university in Columbia. War breaks out and the inevitable indecisions arise with life proceeding along. It's after the war that Will meets Edith in an awkward courtship which leads to an horrific marriage. And on down, down, and down. The Characters The son of an impoverished farmer and his wife, William Stoner is sent off to University with hopes of what Will can learn at the College of Agriculture. Jim Foote is his mother's cousin and has a farm where Will works for his room and board. Edith Elaine Bostwick is the daughter of a well-to-do family in St. Louis with an interest in the arts. Emma Darley is Edith's aunt. Horace and Mrs. Bostwick are Edith's parents. Grace is Will and Edith's daughter, committing a slow suicide. Ed Frye is the man Grace marries. Professor Archer Sloane arranges for Will to teach at the school, and war creates its own demands. David Masters and Gordon Finch are schoolmates and acting instructors in the department with whom he becomes friendly. Caroline Wingate is the girl whom Finch marries. Josiah Claremont is the dean of Arts and Sciences. Hollis Lomax and Jim Holland are a couple of the professors; Rutherford is dean of the Graduate College. Professor Joel Erhardt arrives later to the department. Dr. Jamison works for the University. Katherine Driscoll audits the class in which Walker is the fool; she is an instructor in the English department while she writes her dissertation. Charles Walker is a pet student of Lomax's. I do wish we had eventually learned the why of it. The Cover The cover is grim with its mustardy yellow background and Will Stoner, hands in the pockets of his ill-fitting suit, contemplating his life. The title is the man about whom we'll read, Stoner. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 23, 2013
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Jul 25, 2013
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Jul 26, 2013
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Paperback
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| 0465065740
| 9780465065745
| 0465065740
| 3.64
| 977
| Jan 01, 2013
| Apr 09, 2013
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it was amazing
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It rates a "5" for how well Moore wrote, although I would dearly love to give it a -5 for her subject! I hate to think what Moore's state of mind was
It rates a "5" for how well Moore wrote, although I would dearly love to give it a -5 for her subject! I hate to think what Moore's state of mind was upon finishing this... A biography about the Georgian poet, Stoic, philosopher, and hypocrite—Thomas Day. My Take Right out, I'm telling you that I greatly disliked the subject of this biography. My god, the man was an egotistical, selfish, rude, obnoxious hypocrite. Moore did write this very well---it read like a story. Only, it's a story I kept wanting to put down. The more I read, the more I despised Thomas Day. The best I can say about his story [as opposed to Moore's story *grin*] is that I enjoyed the connections with scientists, thinkers, and writers. The way in which Rousseau's Émile was distorted out of context and how many children had to suffer because their parents were nuts! I'm so angry with Richard Edgerton for putting his son through this and then abandoning him when it wasn't Dick's fault! Arghhhh!! The one benefit to it was that Edgerton tried to find a compromise between the previously accepted method of educating children and Rousseau's general theory, and eventually he and his daughter Maria wrote Practical Education, a book that influenced education for decades and promoted "educational toys, models, books, maps, and scientific apparatus" in the playroom. A poet, Day, and his best friend, John Bicknell, wrote The Dying Negro. Day later went on to write a popular children's series, Stanford and Merton, which promoted "innocent virtue and stoical courage". Other friends included Richard Warburton-Lytton who helped found Oxford's Grecian Club, and William "Oriental" Jones, an expert linguist, who was translating the Arabian Nights back into Arabic. Erasmus Darwin (Charles' grandfather) was part of the Lunar Society of Birmingham (dubbed the Lunaticks) whose other members include James Watt of steam engine fame; Matthew Boulton, an industrialist; the potter Josiah Wedgwood; Dr. William Small, who was the closest to a father figure Day had; the vicious and selfish writer Anna Seward; and, James Keir, who was a chemist and inventor. Part of the oddness of this story is Moore's assuring us that so many people liked Day, and yet, it's all tell. Which probably isn't a fair comment as this isn't fiction. But it doesn't change the fact that I don't understand why anyone would like the man. He had no manners and would hold forth forever on his ideas, running roughshod over anyone. The heart of this story is Thomas Day, a young man-turned-Stoic as a result of his time at boarding school. And what a nut job! It's appalling that his friends all went along with his "enlightened attempt" to "educate"---hah, torture and abuse is more like it!---the perfect mate for this selfish, hypocritical jerk. He wanted a woman who would slavishly hang on his every word, accept it as law, and be willing to undergo the most horrible hardships—Day was greatly influenced by Rousseau's Émile and took Rousseau's words as hard-and-fast rules—giving up all forms of enjoyment, and be willing to live totally isolated in the worst sort of house. Oh, god, just thinking of it has me furious all over again. I'd love to get my hands on that ass! Naturally, Day continued his socializing and the pursuit of his interests. Only his wife must be willing to give up her writing, music, socializing, family, and any other enjoyments, so that she could cater to all his needs. A philosopher and poet, Day soon determined to "become the very model of the model virtuous man". He was also determined to "create" the model of a perfect mate and was influenced by Ovid's Metamorphoses and the myth of Pygmalion. Ovid's story and the books Seward and Edgerton wrote about Day's experiments with Sabrina influenced George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion , Fanny Burney's Evelina , Henry James' Watch and Ward , Maria Edgeworth's Belinda , and Anthony Trollope's Orley Farm . Ann Kingston was how the London Foundling Hospital named the baby they accepted; Day renamed her Sabrina Sidney. Ann Grig, the second orphan who became Lucretia, got lucky fast. Sabrina's friends included Dr. Charles Burney, a musician who eventually opened up a boy's school in Greenwich. She eventually took over managing the Burney School whose students included James Haliburton, Thomas Foxwell Buxton---and Thomas Griffiths Wainewright. The best you can say of the man is that he was generous with his money to the poor and friends whose businesses needed a loan; was anti-slavery; pro-education; and, thought women were equal to men, insisting on protecting them whether they wanted it or not... ...as long as you weren't his idea of a mate! Interesting side mentions included David Hume; Laurence Sterne (we keep meeting him in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series); Marquis de Sade; Captain Thomas Coram who founded the London Foundling Hospital; John Constable who married one of Sabrina's nieces, Maria Bicknell; Samuel Johnson; Mary Wollstonecraft; Joseph Wright; a fascinating reveal about John André who has appeared in a couple of other books I've recently read—C.C. Humphreys' Jack Absolute and Donna Thorland's The Turncoat (odd that Humphreys and Thorland both depict André as gay, but Moore only mentions that his proposal was rejected by Honora Sneyd); Benjamin Franklin; and, the Americans, Henry and John Laurens. The comment about the Rhône in Avignon as a refuge for upper-class people on the run was interesting. The Cover The cover is curious with its geometric splits: the two shades of beige for the general background cuts the primary title from the subtitle and the author's name, nothing unusual there. It's the four slices through the 18th century figure of a woman that have me wondering. What's the purpose? I have to wonder if it's a subtle indication of the different stages of Day's interference with Sabrina. The title sums up the entire story as it's Thomas Day's theory on How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain's Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate. Pay attention to italics on the book's cover---there's irony in every word! ...more |
Notes are private!
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not set
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Jun 17, 2013
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Jun 21, 2013
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Hardcover
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my rating |
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| 3.80
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liked it
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Feb 14, 2022
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Jan 25, 2022
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| 4.04
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really liked it
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Aug 30, 2021
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Aug 30, 2021
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| 3.82
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it was ok
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Aug 04, 2020
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Aug 05, 2020
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| 4.01
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it was amazing
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Jun 13, 2020
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Jun 13, 2020
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| 4.09
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really liked it
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Sep 11, 2019
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Oct 16, 2019
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| 4.22
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it was amazing
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Sep 12, 2019
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Sep 13, 2019
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| 4.21
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really liked it
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Sep 10, 2019
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Sep 11, 2019
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| 4.21
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it was amazing
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Sep 09, 2019
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Aug 30, 2019
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| 4.54
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it was amazing
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Sep 24, 2018
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Oct 01, 2018
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| 4.26
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it was amazing
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Jun 21, 2018
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Feb 28, 2018
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| 3.85
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it was amazing
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Oct 30, 2017
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Oct 30, 2017
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| 4.04
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it was amazing
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Oct 11, 2016
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Oct 11, 2016
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| 4.15
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it was amazing
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Jun 19, 2016
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Jun 24, 2016
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| 3.92
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it was amazing
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Mar 08, 2016
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Mar 08, 2016
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| 3.62
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liked it
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Sep 07, 2014
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Sep 09, 2014
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| 3.85
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it was amazing
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Aug 17, 2014
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Aug 17, 2014
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| 4.45
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it was amazing
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May 18, 2014
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Jun 13, 2014
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| 3.41
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liked it
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May 09, 2014
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May 20, 2014
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| 4.34
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it was amazing
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Jul 25, 2013
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Jul 26, 2013
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| 3.64
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it was amazing
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Jun 17, 2013
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Jun 21, 2013
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