Richardderus the Sixteenth...nugatory, but well-furnished

Books Off the Shelf group thread is there, where I will review 25 books that've sat on my shelves since who-whipped-the-cat and also 75 new books...published no earlier than 2008...this year.

Reviews 1,2,3: first thread
Reviews 4-7: second thread
Reviews 8-12: : third thread
Reviews 13-20: ... fourth thread
Reviews 21-30: ... fifth thread
Reviews 31-37:... sixth thread
Reviews 38-42: seventh thread
Reviews 43-46: eighth thread
Reviews 47 & 48: ninth thread
Reviews 49-51: tenth thread
Reviews 52-57: eleventh thread
Reviews 58-65: twelfth thread
Reviews 66-71: thirteenth thread
Reviews 72-77: fourteenth thread
Reviews 78-81: ...fifteenth thread

I now have a second Homeless Reviews thread in Club Read 2010. I've set a completely arbitrary goal of 50 books to review that I don't own, and were published before 2008, so they don't fit anywhere else.

FOR THOSE JUST TUNING IN: I don't know the readers of my reviews personally, for the most part, so I don't have any way to gauge whether you'll agree or disagree with me. It's always perfectly fine with me either way, and I invite comments from all.










Books are reviewed in post number:

86. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe...#148.

85. The Blind Contessa's New Machine...#102.

84. Eye of the Red Tsar...#90.

83. Trespass...#68.

82. John Paul Jones...#5.

Am I first?!

ETA: Huzzah! I am! Hello there, Padre. I hope the eye is less of a bother today.

Hope that nasty ole headache has found another pate in which to nest.

Hello Richard, hope you're feeling better.

Review: 82 of seventy-five

Title: JOHN PAUL JONES: A Sailor's Biography

Author: SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Book Report: Rear Admiral Morison, USNR, was also a professor of American History at Harvard back when that meant something. His reconsideration of the life of Scottish naval hero John Paul Jones did much to strip away false and misleading stories accreted around the American Revolution's most famous navy man, and issuer of the famously defiant "I have not yet begun to fight," which has ensured his place in the American Pantheon of Heroes. What emerges is not quite a modern warts-and-all diminishment of Jones, but a close cousin to it. Jones's many character flaws are not shied away from, nor are they "glorified" in any way. They're merely reported, and even commented upon, as the inevitable consequence of heroes being humans first.

My Review: Informative. Precise. Very well handled in its absence of hero worship or iconoclasm.

Breathakingly boring. The literary equivalent of Xanax. Would not be any more effective at inducing heavy-eyed torpor if one were to be struck repeatedly with it about the head and shoulders. To be avoided unless one is passionate about American Revolutionary figures, and is unfamiliar with Jones's legend. If already familiar with legend, stick to that as there is NOTHING INTERESTING ABOUT THIS MAN.

Hi y'all, no the eye's not better and the headache now feels like a permanent resident. Dragging myself around doing some chores, and hating every second of it, but they MUST be done before 3p as the first houseguest descends then.

Yech.

Found You...Starred You!

Consigning John Paul Jones to, uh, DAVY JONES' LOCKER.....and don't knock Xanax...it's saved my sanity many a confuzzled time.

;-}

(didn't see the above message)
Sending you a "pin-you-to-the-wall" SMOOCH...hey, you'll forget the headache for a second, at least

;-)

Hi Richard. Liked your two latest reviews. The first one sounded like an interesting topic but the poor execution is a turn off. Loved your description of the John Paul Jones book as "the literary equivalent of Xanax." I'll steer clear of that one.

Hope you're feeling better SOON.

You have a headache AND houseguests??? This is a very bad combination, mon cher.
Rx: Get thee to a dark room, with gel-filled ice pack, and lotsa drugs. Tell house guests to fend for selves, or amuse themselves caring for Auntie.

You said "Rear Admiral"

*insert childish Beavis and Butthead laugh here*

(Note: I spent a good portion of a meeting at work tonight trying NOT to laugh at the pipe noises in the ceiling which sounded like the building letting out long, slow, loud farts)

>7 jdthloue: Hi Jude...please have mercy on me...I'm longing for death just at the moment, the headache from hell's going balls-out to make me miserable.

>8 phebj: Hi Pat, I hope I feel better soon, too! Thanks. And really, if you need sleep badly, pick this book up. Sleep will follow by p12. Guaranteed.

>9 Chatterbox: No, never a good combo, Suz, but an unavoidable one since *I* invited the guests! Silly moi. I'm putting warm compresses on the eye, so perhaps that's part of the trouble.

>10 ty1997: I've always loved that particular Naval tradition, Tom, that of promoting Captains to Admirals after they've left active duty...then callin' 'em Rear Admirals! *snigger*

Shoulda laughed. Mighta made the meeting go faster.

No words, just {{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}} and a little neck massage...

*Struggles mightily opening new-thread door*

My goodness!

*Puts his back into it, and slips into door when it cracks open*

Geez! That thing is heavy! What's it made of, cast iron? :o

Richard Richard Richard since no one else wants to scold you, I'm going to. You need to go to the quick clinic to get a scrip for eye drops!!! What will you do if it spreads to the other eye!! hmmm. I'm quite sure a moist compress is good, either warm or cool. Hope you feel better soon!!

Phew!!! when I saw that you had read and actually FINISHED a Samuel E. Morison book, I got nervous. Thought perhaps my less than enthusiastic opinion of his work was about to be overturned. Thank goodness we continue to share opinions of certain writing styles. S.E. Morison is just plain BORING.

Now....darling, please listen to all your friends and to grandma TUtu:

1. Get thee to someone who has the power to issue good drugs. NOW.
2. After completing #1, tell your houseguests to fend for themselves. PERIOD.
3. Tell someone else, anyone else, to look after Auntie.
4. Go to bed, do not pass Go, do not collect anything except a bottle of water, your meds and some thing to be used as a noise abatement tool. CLose the door, pull the curtains, turn off phone, radio, and GO TO BED. Do not come out (except for nature calls) for at least 48 hours.
5. Get better.

IOW, screw LT, screw Auntie, screw the guests (not literally of course) screw the computer, etc etc etc. Get yourself well.

Mama Tutu has spoken-- no glitter graphics needed.

The literary equivalent of Xanax

Boy now there's a descriptive phrase that says it all. I know exactly what you mean Richard.

What Tina said!!

*Waves* Ah, nice new thread- seriously, I hope you are feeling better soon. :(

RD- Found you, once again! I hope that nasty headache is on its way out!

HI Buddy

So sorry that you are not well. You take care of others, now please take care of yourself in the lovely manner you give to them.

Do hope you are not here because you have listened to Tutu-the-Oracle...

Just found this. I was not online much yesterday.. talking, rolling dimes, quarters etc..for a saturday morning project. Hope today brings some relief at least in the for of DM, so that you can have a break. How can you read with a headache? I have a hard time with that.. not to mention only one eye....?

Feel better soon!

Ditto what Oracle Tutu said .... how else will you get to enjoy Halloween tomorrow?! Then again, if your eye and head still hurts tomorrow, you could wear an eye patch, grimace and moan .. and scare all the little Trick or Treaters who come up to your door.

Ditto what #15 Mama Tutu said and one other thing pinkeye is HIGHLY HIGHLY contagious so unless your guests also want to enjoys its pleasures, they must keep away from you!! So get well soon!! For our family usually within several hrs of rx drops--the eyes were so much better....

unsettling when he is absent isn't it?

Listen to the Wise Tutu, Darling...oh. Apparently you have already.

We so hope you feel better in a very short time. I don't know what's worse, the head-banging or the gushy eye. Urk. Surely you don't deserve this.

Love and a sweetly warm but dry smooch, Dearie.

I hope you are feeling much, much better!

Hope you have found some peace and quiet, Rx eyedrops and pain relief from the headache. Must reduce stress to a bare minimum for a quick recovery.
Rest well... :)

No prescriptions are necessary, thank goodness, because it's getting better. I spent the day in a car being driven to Sag Harbor, out on the east end of Long Island; my guest was empathetic with my misery, so we spent the day out of the house in the fresh air, having a DELICIOUS brunch in a lovely renovated hotel, and wandering around the outlet mall in Riverhead. I found my new chair at Renovation Hardware, a beautiful wing chair that's deep enough and tall enough to be comfortable; only $899, down from $2000! *snort* back the truck up and put two on it! *double snort*

The art galleries in Sag Harbor had beautiful work, by artists so young one feels the need to offer them help with their sippy-cups of milk as they create gorgeously executed surrealist canvases; the trip from Sag Harbor to Riverhead, back west on the North Fork of Long Island, involves two fun, short ferry rides between the forks and the south and north coasts of Shelter Island; and the men...! My friend Suse and I were absolutely AGOG at how many gorgeous men there were traipsing all over the East End today! My CutieMuffin Alert System blew a fuse from acquiring so many targets!!

Yeah, I still have some ookieblurgh coming out of my eye, but the headache evaporated in the sea air, and the flirtations with no fewer than a dozen guys magazine-cover-ready buoyed (pun optional) my mood into good cheer.

Then I got home, and back to dealing with Auntie because the health aide called in sick. And I still have a spootch of good mood left. Such, my angels, is the power of sex in history, to quote Queen Eleanor of England in "The Lion in Winter."

My CutieMuffin Alert System blew a fuse from acquiring so many targets!!

ROFL!

Glad it is getting better Richard!

Glad you eyesight improved in time to check out the gorgeous "scenery".... ; )

well done!

I enjoyed your synopsis of Saturday, Richard. Sounds like a delightful day - and glad to know the health issues are looking up!

Ookieblurgh coming out of your eye? Flirting with dozens of magazine-cover-ready CutieMuffins?

Here we were all worried about you and you were out galavanting!! Lucky you, finding a brand new reading chair and eye candy!!

Richard--so glad to hear you are on the mend and sounds like you had a delightful day!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and Happy Halloween!

I'm glad the visit from your guest turned out so pleasant! It sounds like a perfectly pleasant Saturday. :-*

Glad you could dump the stress for awhile and get your head back in order. Sounds like you have a great friend - and now a great reading chair! :)
Have a spooky day!

Ahh, sea air! And a new reading chair. Sounds wonderful.

Glad you're feeling better Richard. And new furniture to boot. Heavenly.

Good lawsy me, it's Halloween! I'd forgotten about it. I don't care a lot, I have to admit. The Divine Miss and her Mister Man are at some sort of do this evening, so have gone back to the city to prepare their cones.

I plan to have a boring dinner of pasta and pasta and pasta, then sleep. *aaah*

Can someone tell me what the fuss about Rose Tremain is? I've finished a first read of Trespass and feel strongly disinclined to make the effort of a second read. It's not *bad*, just...well...it's, I don't know, an awful long way to go for no obvious reason or result.

dinna do it

No, you're wihtout sin in this event.

BTW...everyone...go here and have a look at Constance's post, #4. I'd love to know what y'all think.

...

LOVE the nausea green! So perfect.

44... That's kind of.. completely insane, totally sick and somewhat weird.. perhaps they thought it was April 1st?

*shrug* I was verschmeckeled by it, but thought perhaps I was simply being a slowtop.

46: You try spending 10 posts in rigorous prostration in the name of someone who clearly isn't human! It's exhausting.

yes, it is verschmekling for sure.. and I wonder if you are ever a slowtop?
Never in my experience :)

It does get your attention though...

As Jon Stewart said ( not direct quote) yesterday at the Rally for Sanity, 'we're all entitled to our views, and we can all get along' --we just don't have to agree. Guess that's why Tim & Co, included the delete and hide buttons.

And she does say she's brand new....so I'm sure she will quickly be over-reacted to (nice word heh?) by all those thought police who have no mercy.

I like the response a couple of posts down that asks what that has to do with new features. Hahaha.

What do I think? Pretty weird.
To each their own.... as long as it is non-violent.

#44 : woah... that's pretty bizarre, even in my estimation ..... and I've heard of some really weird fantasies from various friends, acquaintances and strangers over the years.

How's the eye today, Ricardo sweetie? Are you prepped for all the wee costumed trick or treaters who will ring your doorbell in search of candy this evening?

>44 richardderus: She also posted #8, #10 and #15. #15 is just as strange.

hmm she has a webpage.. seems she is serious and not a troll..
wow

Eye report is very favorable! Little itching, no more headache, and a huge relief it is. Curiously, this entire experience, while new to me, has followed exactly the course of a standard incident, right down to the duration: 4 and a bit days, then back to normal.

This Constance person is, well, oddly assorted with the rest of LT. She seems harmless, in that one doesn't get a sense that she's sizing the place up to determine how much C4 it will take to blow it up, but she's not a run-of-the-mill bibliophile at all. It's just weird to see someone so at right angles to the way normal people interact.

*skritchskritch*

Scary, and just a wee bit over the top (Constance, that is).

Maybe Constance was on strong medication and very tired?

Either she was on strong medication or needs to be on strong medication.

>60 kidzdoc: That's my thinking. Her profile shows a pretty lady with a beautiful smile, but her posts make me think "CHLORPROMAZINE, STAT!"

#57: I am glad to hear that the eye report is a good one, RD!

I shouldn't be so quick to think troll,but after years online..
well...

Huzzah for a nigh of rest and an improving eyeball!

People choose some interesting platforms to express their views. In my opinion? Express away - I can always ignore you, and you can ignore me - but for the loveofallthatisholy stop sending me Christian catalogs.

On a personal note, I tend to ignore differences in faith in social settings. If my extremely religious mother-in-law can ignore my pentagram and still be perfectly wonderful, then I can sit quietly and hold hands while she says a prayer over dinner.

Here's hoping for a gunk-free, flirtful Monday, Richard.

A library implies an act of faith.
--Victor Hugo

Love the quote Richard! I'm stealing it!

Review: 83 of seventy-five

Title: TRESPASS

Author: ROSE TREMAIN

Rating: 2.8* of five

The Book Report: Two pairs of aging siblings, all damaged goods from various sorts of parental abuse and neglect, collide in one of France's most beautiful areas...the Cevennes range...and manage to make a complete hash of their own, their friends', and even perfect strangers' lives while imagining themselves to be acting in accord with the highest and best principles of mankind. Nothing good comes of anyone's best-intentioned acts because no one has learned what good intentions look like. Tremain explores the results of repression and suppression to their logical extremes in this book.

My Review: There are no new stories, only new ways of telling them. This isn't even a new way of telling an old, tired, and frankly quite offensive story. I will not scruple from spoilers from this sentence forward. Stop reading now if you want, despite my urgent advice, to read this tiresome bilge.

Audrun Lunel is a slow child, youngest of her family, and probably not the daughter of the man who raised and molested her, as she was born very shortly after the end of WWII and her mother was alone...well, anyway, incest is about more than genetics. Her brother, at the very least her half-brother that is, molested her too, all after her saintly mama dies. This is a story I simply do not want to read again, ever, since I survived incestuous abouse by my mother and don't care to see the culturally acceptable image of men as abusers continue unchallenged.

Anthony Verey, English poofter and antiques dealer, is in thrall to his memories of his glammy mommy, Lavender, a South African transplant to England, and a woman without a maternal bone in her body. (My mother was Southern, but that's a good description of her, too.) His fat lesbian older sister comes in for most of the verbal abuse his mother can deal out (same with my family), because the sister is not a fashion accessory child. The sister works hard to protect little Anthony, and sets up a lifetime pattern of dependency.

In the end, Anthony is shot by Audrun for being a rosbif carpetbagger, after which she frames her disgusting older brother for the crime. Yay. Creepy queerboy is dead, not before killing his sister's relationship to a perfectly nice if deadly dull woman, and nasty abuser boy goes to prison.

Which is where I want to send these goddamned woman novelists who, when they are absent an idea, think it's perfectly okay to portray their fellow women as victimvictimvictim of horrible, slimy men. It's shouting down the well to say this, but do you not see, Womankind, that this is INSULTING TO *YOU*?!? No woman I know...not one, without exception...is a victimvictimvictim by virtue of her womanliness. Each and every one of the women I know is strong and capable. I resent on their behalf the unquestioned rightness of this kind of claptrap built on the false dichotomy between male abuser and female abused.

Bah. Rotten stuff.

Richard, don't you know that it is better to be hot or cold about a book rather than simply tepid? All these tepid reviews you've been churning out--sheeeshhh!

;-)

>69 ronincats: LOL Yeah, it's a problem being such a shy, retiring violet.

>67 leperdbunny: He'p yerself, Tamara!

>65 ty1997: Flirtful! That's a word English has needed forever. Good on ya, Tom, for inventing it!

>64 London_StJ: Ignoring is bliss, indeed, m'lady Luxx.

>63 mckait: Trolls abound...though I think this lady isn't one, just a little...misinformed...about LT's purpose.

Flirtful, like impactful, is clearly nonwordful!

I don't even know what to say....

I finally finished my review of Trespass today (it only took me a month to reduce my reaction to virtual paper), Richard, and it seems we are of one mind on this. I was kinder than you, but I suspect I usually am. I would just point out that not all the abuse was perpetrated by males upon females. The title here links to my review.

Ok, haven't read anything by Tremain and still not tempted to push her books up the tbr pile. Thanks for your advice on the Janet Frame books over on Caroline's thread, I have a few of her books though, of course, not Living in the Maniototo. I think the one of hers that I read back back as a teenager was The Adaptable Man, all I can remember was that it was different to anything I'd previously read and I liked that experience.
You might like to read about the latest JF indiscretion by CK Stead in his memoir - "C K Stead, author of 'South-West of Eden', and its publisher, Auckland University Press, regret quoting from the work of Janet Frame without permission and apologise to the Janet Frame Literary Trust for doing so."

Hmm, admit I don't feel like a victim as a woman. But I do feel judged as a woman -- actually, more so now than I did when I was younger, as I have made more choices about my life that both men and women like to judge. Just rambling.

Haven't read this book yet, and am starting to regret having purchased it, but I wonder how much of the "abuse as writerly theme" might have to do with the age of the authors? After all, many of them went through that period of time when suddenly it became possible to discuss things that had been hidden for so long.

Wow, dunno about Constance. Think she might have accidentally inhaled. And all those exclamation points!!!!

72: Wait...ummm...did I just render Richard speechless? Me?

Do you have Halloween Candy Hangover or something?

humph

I am of a mind to give Tremain a shove off the TBR Tower onto the Only If Nothing Else to Read pile down in the basement.

>76 Ape: You accomplish that feat simply by talking about zombies. *yawn*

>77 mckait: grumph

>78 cameling: Do. This book, at least, shove into a handy receptacle and forget it exists. Bah.

Molto spiffyoso! I snagged Popular Hits of the Showa Era from Early Reviewers!

>73 laytonwoman3rd: No, no, Linda3rd, I never said it was! I was commenting that it was the central trope of the book, because Audrun and Aramon are the central characters. The veddy veddy Vereys are a crummy second.

>74 avatiakh: Oh, that wascally wabbit Stead! *snort* Forgiveness easier to get than permission, eh?

>75 Chatterbox: Good point, Suzanne. An age-cohort relationship isn't out of the question at all. Hmmm

*waves*

howdy -- checking in after discovering to my horror that I was 3 THREE tres, drei, threads behind!!

#68: I guess I have a different take on the man as abuser, woman as victim theme, since I grew up in a household where that was the case. I do not, however, want to read about it in fiction since I grew up with it in real life. Trespass is not going to be read at my house.

I can deal with my own history in print -- it's movies that I can't watch. I can skip pages, but somehow it's harder to shut your ears and eyes and pretend it's not happening.

I snagged Final Flight from ER..no zombies in it, I checked.

#80 The veddy veddy Vereys I like that.

>81 Berly: Hey there Kimmers!

>82 suslyn: SUSAN! I was thinking about you on Sunday, wondering where you'd got to and how hard it would be to set up a posse to search Bucharest. Glad you're back!

>83 alcottacre: I totally agree with your decision.

>84 Chatterbox: So true, Suzanne, and one of the many reasons I've almost stopped going to movies. I just don't like most of the stories, and I find most of the gore and uccch unendurable.

>85 mckait: YAY!

>86 laytonwoman3rd: Thenkewveddymahch, Milady Linda3rd.

I feel the same way about rape scenes. :( I find it very difficult to deal with them in film and books.

Review: 84 of seventy-five

Title: EYE OF THE RED TSAR

Author: SAM EASTLAND

Rating: 3.6* of five

The Book Report: Pekkala is the Tsar's most powerful subject, the only one with the power to arrest even the Tsar himself for crimes against Russia. The Revolution, naturally enough, ends that power, and Pekkala endures torture and isolation for more than a decade before Comrade Stalin needs Pekkala's unique skills and knowledge to solve a lingering mystery: Who actually killed the Tsar, since it wasn't Moscow's orders to do so? Did any of the Romanovs survive Ekaterinburg? The answers to the questions posed takes Pekkala, his estranged brother Anton, and a young chef-in-training reassigned to political censorship because there is no food to cook, all over Siberia and the trans-Ural region, and once discovered, allow some of Pekkala's old scores to be settled.

My Review: A perfectly pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

>89 leperdbunny: Tamara, that's one big reason I disliked those awful Larsson books, or at least the part of the first one I read...I do not find violence aimed at women or children at all entertaining, so I don't like reading about it. It feels the way collaborating with the Republicans would if I were in Congress (HA!): Filthifying.

#90: Jim sent me that one to read. I need to see where I put it :)

So now I actually have to interview a movie star for the Barron's philanthropy opus I'm working on, and I realize I've only seen two or three of his movies... *eyes roll* Well, hopefully he won't want to discuss them. Sigh. Have I become a celebrity journalist in spite of myself?

>92 alcottacre: Don't sprain anything, believe me.

>93 Chatterbox: Whatever pays the bills, m'dear, that's what we do. Oh, and on the hunt I've been conducting for your benefit...several people tell me the same tale of woe. You are not, sad to say, alone!

#94: I will do my utmost not to sprain anything, Richard.

Susanne... just have fun with it :)

rd... you have got to start behaving yourself..

Richard - found you again...trying to keep up. Too bad about the "tiresome bilge" (er, Trespass). I enjoyed The Road Home from a few years ago.

PS : I'm looking forward to your forthcoming review of River of Lost Footsteps.

#93 : Suz - Maybe he'll be really interesting in person and you'll enjoy interviewing and then writing about him. Will you tell us who this person is after you've interviewed him/her?

*Waves*

>96 mckait: I am too old to start a new way of life now.

>97 dchaikin: Hi there, Daniel, and glad to see you around! I am stalled mid-second-read on River of Lost Footsteps because so many liberry books need to go back SOON. Once those are gone, I can finally get moving again.

>98 cameling: I confess to a great deal of curiosity about that, too.

>99 leperdbunny: *waves back* at Tamara

Oh, it's Edward Norton. No big secret. He does a lot of interesting philanthropy stuff.
the really big question now is whether I might actually get a phone interview with Clinton (Bill). His "people" haven't ruled it out yet.
*musing* wish I had "people". I'm sure my life wouldn't hit roadbumps so often.

Review: 85 of seventy-five

Title: THE BLIND CONTESSA'S NEW MACHINE

Author: CAREY WALLACE

Rating: 4.4* of five

The Book Report: On the eve of her wedding to the most eligible, handsomest bachelor in her small world, Contessa Carolina Fantoni announces to him that she is going blind. He laughs dismissively, kisses her indulgently, thus setting the tone for their entire relationship. After full blindness sets in, her eccentric childhood friend and neighbor, an eccentric married inventor and amateur scientist, creates for her the world's first typewriter, that she may continue to communicate with the outside world. And thus the passionate affair begins, one that would, if either had let it, have destroyed two marriages and possibly four lives. That, in the end, the two people remain married to spouses less than perfect is hardly a new plot or a shocking denoument. But in its bittersweet presentation, it's clear that the author understands the losses of compromise and accommodation that relationships demand of us.

My Review: I am mortally afraid of only a few things in this life: 1) Blindness; 2) being eaten by a shark; and 3) suffocating/drowning. My mother went blind a year or more before she died, and it was a torture. She read passionately, and suddenly couldn't; she was never able to adapt to audiobooks. This rings me like a bell, a tocsin of terror that has me sweating and crying as I type this on a c-o-l-d night. And this book's careful, polished prose made that horrific nightmare (literally for me, at least once a year) endurable, survivable, where in less skilled hands I would simply have burned the book and paid the library for it.

How she did this is, she presented the onset and completion of the process in a series of vignettes that define what it is to see, and to judge the world on what is seen; Wallace makes that process so arbitrary, so essentially meaningless, that as the Contessa charts her progress into eternal night, she and the reader understand that vision as primary perception is a habit of mind. The Contessa plumbs the darkness fearlessly. She lives in it, after she accepts its permanence, with more grace than she appeared to muster during her sighted years.

It's quite a lovely achievement, and it's told in lovely sentences. Wallace, whose author photo rather distressingly resembles a high-school senior picture, had an excellent editor, and handed that editor a lovely book to begin with, you can be sure. This sort of prose doesn't get forged into being on an editor's anvil, it gets the spurs and cracks annealed out of it. Something of the book's raw state remains, thank goodness, because there are some places where opportunities are missed and others are simply AWOL where they would have been welcome. Why thank goodness? Because if this effort were to be perfect, I'd have to hunt this youngster down and kill her in furious writerly envy, that's why.

And I don't want to go to jail over a book.

Love this review. Especially the last sentence! If there is one thing I would go to jail over, it is probably a book...

Loved your review. This sounds especially intriguing as blindness is also a mortal fear of mine (as is your #3 incidentally - specifically of drowning after my car plunges into some body of water).

#102: I already have that one in the BlackHole after seeing several good reviews of it. I hope the local library gets a copy soon.

I too, fear blindness....and deafness.. not being able to see my children or read.. or hear the voices of my children and other loved ones..
gak!

Book sounds really good.

>103 Chatterbox: Why, thank you, Miss Suzanne! Yeah, probably some time after the Repulsivecans have begun banning books again, I *will* go to jail over some free-speech issue or another.

>104 madhatter22: THAT is a very specific fear. I don't know that the possibility has ever occurred to me before. I have this tool dingus that helps me get up out of the car, and it's also an emergency window hammer.

>105 alcottacre: I think you'll love it!

>106 mckait: Book is, read soon. *smooch*

#107: If the Republicans start banning books, Richard, I will be in jail right along with you!

The troubling thing about our government is this.. Many members of the Republican party made up their minds to block everything ( and anything) no matter how beneficial.. that this president is trying to do.

This in no way does anyone any good. Will the Dems do the same someday?
Will it shut down our government? It certainly renders it ineffectual. Sad and sick imo.

#109: Will it shut down our government? It certainly renders it ineffectual. Sad and sick imo.

I agree, Kath, and as long as party lines are more important to the politicians than the people of this country are, it is going to continue to be a problem. Frankly, I am tired of both parties. I am staunchly Independent. I think LTers would do better as politicians than the politicians do. We have more sense.

I am staunchly Independent me too... left leaning...

and this after many years of being a democrat. When they had the majority during the Bush years and did nothing.. I left them behind. Even while a registered Democrat though.. I rarely voted a straight ticket.. not my style. I vote for person and platform and hope for the best.

#111: Even though I am right leaning, I know what you mean. These days, I do not care if they are purple with pink polka dots, I vote for the candidate whose platform I think is the closest to my ideal. Unfortunately, those people are few and far between.

Richard - such a wonderful review of The Blind Contessa!! As I mentioned in my review earlier this year, this one is especially enchanting in audio. Because the words are not in front of your eyes, but are processed audibly, your brain is forced into her world of picturing inside your head.

PS...I too share your dread of blindness, although I could probably make it through as long as I didn't go deaf also--I depend too much on audio and speech in my life.

edited to correct spelling -SIGH..........

I voted for the Green Party ticket. Sick of the big ones, they are more interested in re-election than in doing the work I've voted them in to do. As a result of the number of others who felt this way too, the Green Party at last has a ballot line.

Of course I don't agree with everything they espouse, but I agree with a lot more than I do with the big boys. Maybe the Socialist Worker's Party needs me. THEM I agree with. I not only don't fear socialized medicine, I actively invite it into being.

>113 tututhefirst: Oh yes, Tina, your review was the one that made me put the book on hold!

Richard, fantastic review of The Blind Contessa. It went right onto my wishlist. Although I may try it in audio. I've never listened to an audio book and liked Tina's description of it.

Wow, fantastic review! I added this to my wishlist.

Hi RD! Love your review of The Blind Contessa.
Thumbed and wishlisted.

This is weird to find others with fear of blindness and drowning... me too.
The blindness thing is obvious for a reader. Would be very sad.
I love the ocean - well all water - and live next to it - but have a healthy respect for it. I can never decide in my mind... what would happen if I were actually drowning?
Do I hold my breath till I pass out? which I don't think I could do...
Or do I breathe in and fill my lungs with water? Fearful either way! :{

This thread is evoking too many terrors! :-)

Drowning is high on the list. ETA...which is odd because my favorite place to be is near water.

The problem is that once in office, people rapidly get sucked into the system. They begin focusing on what is in their self-interest (i.e. re-election) just as they become experienced enough to be truly effective. That's why term limits won't fix this -- you don't get the kind of Senate veterans who know how to work to get stuff done in the broader public interest, or the wit to see beyond their narrow self-interest via term limits. I'd be willing to bet that every republican who said obnoxious things about Ted Kennedy to their constituents because that was what the latter wanted to hear was glad that they had someone more or less pragmatic, a bit of a horse trader, to help get stuff done. We are losing that now, as people get bogged down in ideological quagmire -- and yes, I see it on both sides. Makes me want to retreat to a cabin in the woods with all my books. Except that my wilderness survival skills are non-existent.

Hi There Richard

Checking your thread today. I'm adding book #84 and 85!

Re: the political discussion, I am in total agreement with all of you! It's amazing to me that out of all of the people I know (and I know a fair few), NO ONE votes straight for either of the big parties, no one really agrees with a lot of what people are saying, and no one is happy with the choices we have. There needs to be some kind of a Common Sense person out there willing to work with any and all parties who uses logic and deductive reasoning to make decisions that are for the best for most people. UGH! I'm beyond relieved that this election is now done and over with, so my mailbox/voicemail/doorjam can remain relatively crap-free (Wisconsin was #1 in political advertising for this election and BOY did it feel like it).

Along with fear of losing my sight and hearing and drowning/suffocation, I'm also afraid that something will crawl into my ear whilst sleeping and then I'll be able to hear these awful buggers scrambling round inside my head. I even sleep with my ears covered. Hello, Crazy!

Adding Blind Contessa to my wishlist. Richard, you are becoming one of my worst offenders!

" I'm also afraid that something will crawl into my ear whilst sleeping and then I'll be able to hear these awful buggers scrambling round inside my head. "

Didn't that happen in a book somewhere? Can't recall it's been so long.

>115 phebj: THank you, Pat! Let me know about the audio-book experiment. I've dabbled the occasional toe into the waters, but so far I am not a convert.

>116 leperdbunny: Tamara! You flattereuse you!

>117 -Cee-: Well, you know, Claudia, blindness and drowning are fears that rank high on the scale, though far below public speaking (#1) and general "death". As we're an intelligent group, it doesn't surprise me we share a lot of fears that smarter folk would dread. *aims snoot in air*

I predict you'll enjoy Blind Contessa, though I expect you won't really fall in love with it. Something...well, almost sappy about it, and my observation of your reading shows me you ain't much on sappy.

>118 TadAD: Tad, that's not weird to me at all, because I love to be near water too. BTW, I really don't suggest you read Blind Contessa if you were even vaguely tempted.

>119 Chatterbox: Makes me want to retreat to a cabin in the woods with all my books. Except that my wilderness survival skills are non-existent. Sing it, Sister Suzanne!

>120 Whisper1: LINDA!! **Delighted** to see you here! *smooch* to you for healing purposes only, no need to tell Will....

>121 LauraBrook: *evil Muttley laugh* at Laura's predicament.

Claustrophobia. I dread being shut up in a coffin alive... or anything like that. I couldn't watch the trailers for that new movie in which a guy is buried in a box with a cellphone.

>122 -Cee-: There was a "Rod Serling's Night Gallery" episode like that...an "earwig" got into this guy's ear, he couldn't dig it out, and the damn thing crawled through his brain causing untold agonies. Then it came out the other side, and everyone was amazed he survived. In walks the local doctor..."it was a female. And females lay eggs." Cue hysterical screaming. End of show.

And I don't want to go to jail over a book.

There are worse reasons.

Delightful, beautiful review once again, Padre.

I'd much rather go deaf than blind, but I know a decent bit of ASL, so it doesn't seem like that great of an impairment.

>125 Chatterbox: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

*pants desperately*

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

*faints*

>127 London_StJ: Why thank you, crypto-daughter dearest! I studied ASL waaay back when and remember the alphabet...but my hands are so screwy and inflexible that I'd have a severe speech impediment in ASL nowadays.

public speaking

EEEK! RUN AWAY! So, I scare you from my thread with the mention of zombies and you scare me from your thread with the mention of public speaking. We're even, I think!

Claustrophobia

I have anit-claustrophobia, I think. I get really comfortable in small, confined spaces. If you wedge me into a place I can barely move in, I relax to the point where I could just fall asleep, because I'm so comfortable. For whatever reason I tend to like that sort of 'crushing' feeling.

...which, considering my social anxieties, might make perfect sense! *shrug*

>126 richardderus: What a delightful memory you have, RD! Now I remember that! :{
I remember it caused a bit of panic on my part. I had many painful earaches as a kid and couldn't bear the thought of something in my head.

127- I agree with Luxx. I'd rather go deaf than blind. If I was deaf, I could still read and write. Blind? ((shudders))

Hi Richard! Nice review. I think I might like The Blind Contessa.

>129 Ape: Anxiety-prone people, for reasons I wot not, like smaller spaces as a rule. The Divine Miss, a WAD of anxieties, chose for her own the smallest room in our house when the family moved in 52 years ago, and still is in it now...her bedroom in her city apartment makes me *frantic* from its teensytinsyitsybitsyness...she adores it. It's manageable, no one can enter without you *knowing* about it, and there isn't an unscannable corner.

Which makes me nutso.

>130 -Cee-: I will never, ever, ever forget that show, even after electroconvulsive treatments. It shows up in my nightmares once in a way.

>131 BookAngel_a: If we're choosing senses to lose, I say "none, thank you, please." And yes, I feel sure you'll love Blind Contessa for its excellent character-building.

fun reading here :)

I don't have a small space thing.. other than I don't like them....

I've known a number of blind people; I've always been impressed with how well they deal with the world. But deafness---that's scary. Spend a day paying close attention to how much input comes through your ears. And there is no braille to replace the sound of a beloved voice, or an approaching car, or the wind in the pines.

Richard, after your enthusiastic tear through Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series, you'll be glad to hear that the new one, The Track of Sand, just hit the shelves.

I've got to get through the bunch I've got on hand so I can dive into it.

There is a copy of the blind contessa book at the library across the street. so I don't need to put it on my wish list or buy it... and can thus sustain the book buying fast... :-)

Richard, wonderful review of the Blind Contessa. Now I have to add to my list.

I too fear all of the above blindness, drowning, suffocating, small spaces, bugs, heights and the list goes on......

136 Library across the street? nice!

Indeed, Kath. Since my last post, I have been across the street, picked it up, and gotten home again. :-D

*tries to avoid turning green with envy*

Don't envy me, Kath. It's a tiny branch, with only about four short rows of adult fiction -- maybe 1,500 books total? And it's closed on weekends and most mornings. Just oddly that it happened to be open to 8 tonight -- only late night opening.

>133 mckait: You're not used to this yet? o.O

>134 laytonwoman3rd: Linda3rd, there isn't a sense I'll give up without a fight! Not one.

>135 jnwelch: Joe. You. Are. Satan.

>136 Chatterbox: It gets you a few more precious hours, perhaps, but not much more than that...*evil Muttley laugh*

>137 momom248: Perhaps bookish people are anxiety-prone. Wonder if anyone's studied this? You'll like the book, Maureen! It's so full, so vivid!

>138 mckait:, 139 THAT is fast work, and it might be a small (141) branch but it's got the right kind of books, obviously.

#142 I wouldn't choose to give up any of my senses either. I thought the exercise was deciding which you would most fear losing.

EXERCISE???? Eeeeeekkkkk!

Sorry! Bad choice of words?

Yes, Richard, I was pleased & surprised to find a small new book there. It's more likely to have bestsellers, or recognized authors. But then, it seems as if Carey Wallace is a Brooklyn writer, so that may be it.

Review: 86 of seventy-five

Title: HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE

Author: CHARLES YU

Rating: 0.875* of five

The Book Report: I have no bloody idea what this, this hideous waste of a perfectly good tree is about. If anything.

My Review: DO NOT READ IT. No one on Planet Earth could conceivably be geeky enough to want to read this. It is ungainly in its lineaments and sounds like what would happen if you gave Stephen Hawking a big dose of ketamine and stood back to watch.

Unpleasant.

*green with envy that Suz is interviewing Ed Norton* - I love his work...and he seems like a nice guy.

I loved your review of the Blind Contessa, Richard ...ack... need to add that to my obese wish list.

#148: 0.875 huh? I wonder if Tim would reconsider doing the star system just for the 75ers!

As far as fears go, small spaces I am comfortable in, so I have the anti-claustrophobia thing there, but heights? Forget it! If it is taller than me, I am not standing on it. Blindness has been a fear as well since I was a child, but not nearly as bad for me as the fear of heights or public speaking.

>148 richardderus: Thanks for the heads up. That author came through Mysterious Galaxy earlier last month and I saw his book on the shelf there. Now I don't have to spend any more gray cells upon it.

#125 -Suzanne---oh shudder, shake, quiver, quake, I'm with you on the claustrophia thing. Mr. Tutu and I embarked several years ago on a "romantic" one week cruise aboard a Maine Windjammer. Our 'queen-sized' bunk had no electricity, one very small porthole on the bulkhead outside the bunk and a clearance about the size of a coffin. I maintain that I did stay in that bunk for 10 minutes. The Mr. swears it was closer to 75 seconds. I spent the next 7 nights sleeping on the wooden deck topside rolled up in a sleeping bag....an especially NOT romantic experience when it rains. at least I was closer to the head.

I don't do closed in spaces at all. MRI's have to be done under full sedation. OTOH, drowning is not a fear - just close your eyes let go and you'll float off to nowhere, not much pain at all. Now FIRE.....there's something else again. Which is funny, because I said I'd prefer to be cremated (maybe a fear of being buried alive?)

Auntie's sleepless nights continue. She's not able to sleep because she's not able to exercise, and when compelled to do so, lapses into immediate afternoon nappage.

I feel for the old bird, really I do, but I need sleep. And after wrangling her into a survivable position, explaining again and again that it's O-dark-thirty and "getting up to go *mumble*" isn't an option, it's a good hour before I can even make a feint at sleep. And I dare not take a pill...she could do damage to herself if no one rescues her.

Not a lot of fun.

Sorry to hear that Auntie is keeping you up, Richard! I wish I could come up with some kind of helpful suggestion.

How about coming over here and bashing her a good one on the thinkbox? I promise not to tell.

Well, I would, but by the time I get there, she will probably be asleep on her own.

Sorry to hear it rdear...
It is no fun to not sleep...

Suz... I have a library not too far away.. mere blocks.
IT is not a good one. They have spent the last months remodeling..
and adding a tv ( horrors) and a coffee shop?? so I hear. As far as I know, '
no new books were planned.

I will avoid #86

Oh dear, Richard. If you didn't get to sleep last night then I at least hope you're able to grab a nap this afternoon. If your weather is anything like ours (cold and rainy) it'll be a perfect day for curling up and dozing off.

148: I am, of course, ...tempted to read that book now...

Richard - I hope things improve with Auntie and you manage to get some sleep.

Not jumping in on the phobias - too many to mention:)

I definitely hope your next read takes away the memory of #86, may it never be mentioned again!

How did I lose this thread?? Sorry, I would have dropped in at any number of spots to offer my opinions. But I've starred you again, so I should be ok for at least a few days, until you need another thread.

going all the way back to post 51, Tutu, were you at the rally too?

Re the rally.....don't I wish? I think one of my offspring may have attended, but I did listen to the final speech on TV and was encouraged that in addition to my fellow LTers ( and now in spite of election results) there are sane people still inhabiting this country. Now if we could continue to let our elected (did we elect them?) persons know that sanity and civility are as large on our list of expectations as jobs and immigration, we might all sleep a little more softly ---see Richard!!! it's the politicos keeping you up--not Auntie.

>156 alcottacre: I had no such luck. Up and down, full of the crazy, wanting to get up and have something to eat ("Get me some French toast! A muffin! I want cereal!"), until I just let her and fell asleep with the dog at 6.

>157 mckait: Good plan, re: avoidance.

>158 London_StJ: That's exactly the weather here, too, and the poochie and I were almost flattened by a neighbor's Cadillac as he ignored a stopsign because, and this is a quote from him, "I was afraid I'd skid if I braked to avoid you, the tires are bald."

I screamed at him for a few minutes just to release some tension, and even held up the cellphone and reminded him the police are but three digits away.

I snapped his vanity plate as he was bearing down on us in the crosswalk. I've emailed that to my next-door neighbor, the cop.

>159 Ape: You're young enough, you can afford the high blood pressure attack from fury. G'head.

>160 calm: Thank you, calm! I shall attempt to emulate your screen name. After the events related above, not sure how good I'll be at it.

>161 ffortsa: ...you...you...*lost* me...? *chinquiver* I leave threadcrumbs behind when I move, so all is well, I guess.

>162 tututhefirst: Oh Tina...go to the New York Times's homepage and look at that, that, oh I'm so angry, that HATCHETJOB of a photo of the President of the United States of America they ran on the front page. OMG

ETA broken link

164: Unfortunately, my library doesn't carry it. :(

>165 Ape: Boo hoo on you, then, really and truly do not cause yourself a single erg of strain holding in the tears because it's just flat BAD.

#164 Link is FAIL.

The link's url links to www.librarything.com/www.nytimes.com. :P

I think he meant to link to this.

ETA: Huh! Interesting, there must be a bug. I coded to link to NYtimes.com but it added the librarything URL in front. Hmmm...

I fixed it. Took three tries to get it right. ~?~

You're really simplifying my life, Richard. The Blind Contessa's New Machine - yes, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - no.

- Joe (Satan)

>170 jnwelch: I live to serve, Majesty.

#169 Thanks, but instead of tapping my fingers waiting for the fix, I ran downstairs to the drugstore and took a look at the real thing. It's poo. Shame on them.

>172 laytonwoman3rd: Indeed, and what a rotten surprise that was! INFURIATING! The clear thought was of Carter's concession speech face in 1980. Clever, lads and lassies, clever to reach out to the %(*!^&%&$^# Tea Baggers this way. Crud. Complete crud.

I agree. I was appalled. Between the Time front page and the NPR interviews this morning, I was completely bummed.

*waves to satan* and everyone else.

Politics is giving me the headache..

>:-{

Oh, lovely - tabloid-worthy "journalism."

Way too much "journalism" is tabloid worthy these days... imo

*satan waves back to mckait* and everyone else, with new camilleri in his other hand

you mean there is still some 'real' journalism out there these days, Kath?

Ooh.. Joe, which is the new Camilleri you're holding? I love his books

Surely... there must be?

True .... I understand there's a new and thriving breed of journalists on Mars

Oh.. I think that is FOX news.

ROFL ... good one, Kath

Just to make y'all a little bit more furious, on my Facebook page, I've shared a link to a Tea Bagger Xmas story "The Liberal Claus", which shows how Obama will destroy Murrika ferever.

Go friend me if you haven't...same name as here...and take a gander at it.

here 'tis dearie

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/11/obamaclaus-steals-christmas-tea-party-childre...

Just a low tech wave to say Hi and no editorial comments!

Keep in mind - you can only have a comeback when you've been knocked down. Have faith, me hearties.

The book is written by former Washington Tea Party congressional candidate David Hedrick, who's known for yelling at Democrats and allegedly hitting his wife.

Ah, now those are credentials!

Even after Auntie's in bed, the talking continues. These meds are not doing what they need to do. I don't know what to do next.

#189: If you can get hold of her doctors, Richard, please do so. You need to get some rest too or you will not be able to take care of yourself, let alone Auntie!

On the raggedy edge now...woke up to her screeching about cookies and breakfast at 3:30-ish, napped, and it's just not enough. She's been quiet for 10min, so maybe I can get some real sleep at last.

This is like having a baby, only NOT AS MUCH FUN.

Wow, Richard, I hope you can get this sorted out. The right medications (and dosages) are crucial in my experience. As Stasia says--for your Aunt and you!

#191: I hope you get some rest at last, Richard!

I wish I could find someone/thing to blame for being awake at 3:30 am.
fail. :(

#194: You could blame it on me, Kath. I am always awake then!

Real journalism still exists in the US, but certainly not on television, which is (sadly) a main source of news for Americans.

189 - Richard

:( Sorry for the troubles for all of you.

I am sure it does, ty... it just gets frustrating at times. It seems that lies are the order of the day. People, politicians.. can say anything. It is reported endlessly or, sold as an ad. It is immediately assumed to be true by all too may people. Honor and integrity in government and media seem to be gone.

I have a single person whose reports I favor. I do not think she leans in her reporting, as she does not hesitate to jab the left or the right. I believe she is an honorable journalist.

Who is that?

#191 Richard , you are one special person to suffer through the sad effects of dementia with Auntie. Although we can't come over and sit with Auntie for a bit while you get some rest, you can still get a little respite here and let off a little steam.

Richard, is there no respite care available for you and Auntie? Get her doctor on the phone and describe this intolerable set of circumstances; there might be help out there. Hopin' hard that there is.

Richard, I'm so sorry to hear about your continuing struggles in being a caregiver and hope you get some help soon.

I know Rachel Maddow leans left, but I love her insightful reporting.

seconding >201 laytonwoman3rd:. It might be that Auntie can't be cared for at home anymore. She sounds like she needs med adjustment, and maybe full-time nursing care. In any case, you definitely need to get her meds reviewed, and to get help.

Possibly a brief in-patient period so the professionals can observe her response to the med's would be justified? I know insurance is a bear about those things, but there might be a magic code the doctor could use to make it work. Beg.

Thank you all for being so supportive! It's a med-adjustment period, which is what triggered this change in behavior...she was over-sedated before, and some days barely made it out of the bed before falling back asleep. So it's the balance we're looking for, and haven't hit it yet. I got a rec from the doc on what to do if the problem didn't get better, so I've adjusted her dosages and now it seems to have worked. I slept from midnight to seven thirty! Well, got up the usual old-man number of times, but that's box-stock normal.

Respite care, the home health aides that we pay privately is three hours a day. Volunteers don't have TDM's approval. No one who isn't legally liable for damages is unsupervised in her house. I'm working on her intransigent 'tude. I need more than trips to the grocery store to keep this up.

Too bad we're too affluent for Medicaid. She could get round the clock care in home. Still workin' on that one, though in light of budget cuts....

Sorry about your difficulties, Richard. We went through something that sounds similar with my mother at the end. The regression and difficult behavior were not easy to see or deal with.

> 179 Caroline, my holding the new Camlleri was figurative, but I'm looking forward to making it literal! Its title is The Track of Sand. I love his books, too.

#205: Congrats on the 7+ hours of sleep, Richard! I hope the trend continues.

Thinking of you, beau Richard (rhymes with Picard).

*hugs* Richard!

Sorry to hear about your troubles with your Auntie!! Hope things get sorted out and improve soon!!! She is lucky to have you!!

So glad the medicine dosage adjustment seems to be helping--not getting enough sleep is HELL!

Seven hours is fab -- hope that enables you to deal with Auntie and have some book fun as well! I sometimes worry that it won't be too long before I end up as my mother's full-time carer -- because I have no spouse or children, you see, in my brother's eyes I am the natural choice...

Yes there is real journalism on TV. PBS? Frontline? even some of the CNN documentaries that are produced can be quite good. There is some very good radio journalism on NPR.

What worries me is that increasingly instead of reaching one large audience -- and being aimed a broad array of people with diverse opinions -- today's more numerous networks are reaching audiences that pre-select themselves. Most liberals don't watch Fox; tea-partiers wouldn't be caught dead watching Jon Stewart or Rachel Maddow. So everyone -- on all sides -- just exists in their own little news bubble, able to filter out news and opinions that they don't like. That isn't specific to the right, either. How can anyone counter an opinion they disagree with if they don't even want to hear it or understand where it came from? I hate a lot of what I hear from Palin et al, but she is tapping into something -- not just ugly stuff, but real concerns -- even among people who don't think she's qualified to be president. In other words, there are folks who wouldn't trust her to run the country but believe she is saying something useful somewhere in the drivel. That being the case, I have an obligation to try and understand what that is. (at least, IMO.) I'm not talking about all the hyperbole and hate and catchphrases, I'm talking about substance, like the debate over extending tax cuts.

Hope you are able to get more sleep on a consistent basis...and soon! :)

>212 Chatterbox: The balkanization of our news is a real problem, and I admit my own biases are just as strong as anyone's. Yeah, I don't watch Fox, even to learn about the enemy. It's a problem because it inhibits thinking.

I'm a Jon Stewart devotee, but I had some time to watch Olberman yesterday - and he was just as bad as the right-wing folks I can't listen to. No real thinking, just potshots and self-congratulatory bombast.

The problem with the excellent sound-bite capability of some of the more vocal (on both sides, but more on the right) is that it is so often devoid of facts. Unfortunately, recitation of facts is not a good way to sway people who are reacting out of fear, a need for simplicity, habit, anger, helplessness. That said, I should listen more with less aggravation to my stomach-lining. Or somehow put my energy into something local that adds to the progress I'd like to see.

#212 Excellent observations. There are one or two people in my life with whom I can have an exchange of ideas when our views do not coincide, and I always find it stimulating to do so. Oddly, when I feel the worst about the world, it does me a lot of good to talk to one of those people about it, and remind myself that reasonable minds can differ, and it isn't necessary to demonize those with whom you disagree.

#214 "put my energy into something local that adds to the progress I'd like to see" That's the key, I think. Most of us can only deal with the world we actually live in on a daily basis. So doing something positive to improve the way that works is a sensible and doable approach to the insanity.

More well-wishes than I know what to do with! Well, actually, I know exactly what to do with them...batten on them! *smooch* to every one of y'all good, supportive friends!

News debate. I am unable to listen calmly to Fox Spews. I am homicidally enraged by Rush Limbaugh and Nancy Grace and Ann Coulter. And yes, there are *legitimate* concerns expressed on the wrong side of the debate (ie, the conservatives); their wrongness doesn't preclude them from making things clearer from the effort required to prove they're wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

So I cruise the blogosphere, reading just enough to make the points being discussed clear to me. I read *shudder* US News & World Report, The Economist (no shudders there, it's wonderful), the National Review...all places I'd rather not go, but representing the high ground in the horrible miasmic swamp that is conservatism.

And I have yet to read a *thoughtful* critique of what progressives are after. Maybe I've missed it. But never, not once, has some public conservative intellectual failed to lob red meat into the stinking pit their followers seem to like to inhabit.

I mean...not once? That says something, and it's not something good. Demagoguery is a powerful force, once unleashed it's very hard to re-cage even by the unleashers, and the stinking stain lasts a really, really, really long time. Ask the Pope. They're still reeling from the horrors they unleashed during the Crusades, most of a thousand years ago.

Wall Street Journal and Anderson Cooper - 'nough said.

I wonder how much the lack/absence of intelligent debate owes to the fear of being called an "intellectual" or an "elitist"?

Lynda -- important to draw a distinction between the editorial pages and the news content of the WSJ. Though I'd argue that the edit pages -- even though they sometimes make me crazy -- often contain articles that are logically structured and thoughtful. I see how people reach the positions they do. I know some of the people who work there and though I disagree with them profoundly on some fundamental issues, they are extremely reflective and terrifyingly intelligent. In the UK, I'd read The Spectator for a (somewhat) similar approach. The Economist is sheer delight -- it takes what it does seriously, but never becomes pompous. It should be mandatory reading for high schoolers, to teach them how to think about the world -- and even remind them that there IS a world.

Hi Richard- Great discussion! I love Rachel Maddow. I think she's smart and level-headed. I also enjoy "Countdown" but I agree Olberman can sometimes cross the line. He needs to reign it in! You don't want to be Beck-like! BTW- Love "Fox Spews"! That's perfect!

I am unable to listen calmly to Fox Spews. I am homicidally enraged by Rush Limbaugh and Nancy Grace and Ann Coulter.

me too

It is Rachel Maddow for me. She is my go to person .I trust and admire her.

I agree about Olbermann .. he can get a little crazy. but he makes a great point when he puts his mind to it..

It appears you seem to have hit on the right meds dosage for Auntie. Whoohoo... I'm glad you're getting a decent amount of sleep yourself now.

I'm a WSJ and Economist reader myself, and I love NPR. I don't read any of the newspapers any more except for sports and some editorials in NYTimes because all the other papers drive me nuts with their partisan or penchant for sensationalism rather than real news. Plus there's next to no international coverage in the newspapers. How better to perpetuate the myth among school kids that the US is the center of the world?

NPR is difficult for me to listen to... 3 stations, lousy signal or?

>222 mckait: - getting that way for me in NYC too, in spite of WNYC's size. Unfortunately, they lost their best broadcast venue on 9/11, and their signal is now subject to frequent buzz. I'm thinking of an internet radio set.

> to all you Economist readers, my SO introduced me to the magazine a few years ago. Yes, they almost always report in an even-handed, interesting, below-the surface way. And they had that great obit for the grey parrot Alex. Can't ask for more.

I don't read the WSJ. Then again, I barely read the NYTimes that is plopped in front of my door every day. Retirement - the terror and the longing.

Good call on the dose tweaking, and huzzah for a bit of rest.

I don't watch news, because I hate tv, and there are far too many angry conservatives looking to take away civil liberties for me to stomach even most printed news. I'm kind of sick of fear, anger, and hatred trying to run policy and govern the rest of us - which is why I vote away from it.

Poor Kath .. move and be my neighbor. we get good NPR coverage here. :-)

222, 223. You can listen to NPR streaming live on your computer. If your local stations don't do it, mine does. Morning Edition, All Things Considered,Weekend Edition, Fresh Air-- and as a bonus, they play great classical music during the daytime.

Linda - I love listening to NPR on my way to work. and I love the Weekend Edition, Fresh Air, Don't Ask Don't Tell, All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

For any of you with DSL or other good internet connections, I suggest listening online. I've got WNYC fired up on my computer right now. The only investment was a reasonable pair of speakers (well, actually a 2008 Xmas gift!) and bang, I get NPR.

ETA -- if you tune into WNYC between noon and 2 p.m., there is a great talk show, Leonard Lopate, that very often (usually daily) includes an interview segment with an author of a new book. About half of my TBR tower comes courtesy of that show...

Congrats dear Richard, on your sleeping and finding the right balance for Auntie's meds. Hope there's more of both in the future.

And to all of the Politics/news remarks here - AMEN and HALLELUJAH! I do not watch the "regular" news or any of the 24 hour news channels, instead relying on the occasional newspaper I come across and PBS or BBC America news shows. And like I tell my clients/coworkers, if it's a big enough deal I'm sure someone will tell me about it. The only thing I'm missing is grey hair, heaps of frustration, and extra wrinkles. I can do without those thenkyouveddymuch!

Popping in with a little smile for you before I go find something to eat. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Oh Richard I am so sorry for your troubles w/ your aunt. I agree w/ above statements-you need to get some rest yourself--you will do no one any good if you get sick and need to be taken care of. I am sending good wishes for a resolution your way. I had a grandmother living w/ us way back when and this was a drain on my mother--it really does take is toll--as much as you love them--its so hard.

Re BBC -- amusingly, many right of center Brits believe it is biased, too! We just don't pick up on it, perhaps? Also, today was the first day of an NUJ (National Union of Journalists) strike, so fanatical listeners of one of the main morning news shows woke up to find it replaced with -- a documentary about birds. Gulp.

Hi RD!
I know some of what you are going thru as a caregiver... definitely not easy!
Sometimes it's the mental stress more than anything. It sounds like you are doing the job of an archangel... hope you catch up on your sleep soon. :)

I have nothing to add to the news discussion (since I am one of the hated conservatives) and avoid the news like the plague.

I hope you get plenty of rest tonight, Richard. Let's try for 2 nights in a row!

Well, the two nights in a row dream is punctured. Poor thing, I really feel for her, she's so so confused. I've gone from having a consistent-but-wrong name to being "Papa" and who knows what's next. She seems to be having a tough passage. The meds have helped, but nothing works 100% does it?

Sorry to see the dream punctured so quickly. I hope she lets you get some rest soon, Richard.

Passing through, no comments on the US politics except to say Mrs Clinton visited with us this week. Hope you get some respite soon as.

I was hoping it was sorted for you too..sorry rdear

Richard You're never to old, nor too tough to grab one of these guys and squeeze

#218 Good point, Suzanne. News vs editorials. I read WSJ for their great reporting and well done features but I rarely, if ever, read editorials anywhere. Personally, I don't see the point in them other than let the writer get off a little steam or re-iterate a stance. Yeah! He/She agrees with me - Boo! He/She's got it all wrong. I'm just not so easily persuaded.

ETA: I forgot all about The Economist! Loved it back in the day, must look into it again. As for NPR, it was great when I drove to work everyday but at home, I just can't sit and listen to the radio, too much to do.

Nothing intelligent to add to the news discussion - I'm not very familiar with the biases of the US press - but I can't resist the opportunity to post one of my favourite scenes from Yes, Minister on press bias.

Sorry to hear things are so difficult at the moment, Richard. (((Hugs)))

I am humbled and bashfully pleased that y'all're being so sweet as to pay attention to my pissin' and moanin'. Thank you. It makes everything a lot easier to know I can vent to people whose ears are turned on. *smooch*

I've had to return How to Read the Air to the library unfinished. It's simply not making it for me on a number of levels. I'm just not interested in the resolution to the marital problems of these folks. The stakes feel unimportant to me. YMMV, of course.

I'm with Stasia... :)

I used to love Yes, Minister, Cat.

I'm sorry to hear of the Auntie woes, Ricardo ... poor dear, it must be so confusing and scary for her. And you're a gem for taking such good care of her. I do hope you manage to get some rest though.

So, you aren't here.. so I hope that you are sleeping ?

I was asleep. Think it might have been six hours, even. W00t.

#246: Well, six is better than none, so good!

Spoken with the voice of experience, Stasia.

BTW...today is Belva's birthday! She's...somewhere between forty and death...stop by her thread to say hi? And thank GOD for Facebook's birthdays reminder! I can't even remember my own! (Actually, I think that's called "elective amnesia" and is a means of avoiding post-traumatic stress syndrome.)

Thanks to the party you hosted this year, Richard, you have plenty of people around to remind you of when your birthday is!

OK, tracking down Belva . . .

Richard- fill me in- who is Belva?

Belva is a 75er institution, sorta like the Liberty Bell or Constitution Hall, only older. She is called "rainpebble" on LT, for reasons I can't remember but I remember laughing at when she changed her name. She has her thread in Club Read 2010, because she decided 75 books was too many for the things she knew she had to do this year. She'll be back home in 2011.

Thread seventeen is over here read for y'all to mess it up and track leaves everywhere like y'all usually do.