Richardderus thread 23 of 2014

Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
― Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist

I have a category called Orphans, which will still catch all the other reading I do.

My ORPHANED books ticker:




I want to treat the Short Story collection challenge as a ticker-to-itself thread, thinking 48 reviews as my goal. I'll keep the thread over in the Short Stories forum.

My SHORT STORY collections ticker:




I'm keeping a mystery-genre thread over in Crime, Thriller, and Mystery forum. Way way way too many of my reviews have been, in all forums, mysteries and thrillers, and while I love them, I don't want to get too rut-ified and read only those books while keeping up my self-made review writing census.

My MYSTERY & THRILLER books ticker:




THIS THREAD is the 75 challenge for 2014, which will be non-fiction and non-genre-fiction books published in 2013 and 2014, plus recommendations from other 75ers.

My last thread of 2012.
My last reviews of 2013 in this thread.

My 2014 NEW books ticker:




Books 1 & 2...thread 5.
Books 3 & 4...thread 10.
Books 5-7...thread 12.
Books 8 & 9...thread 13.
Books 10 & 11...thread 14.
Books 12-16...thread 15.
Book 17...thread 17.
Books 18 & 19...thread 19.
Book 20...thread 20.
Books 21-26...thread 22.

Books are reviewed in post:

27. Hill William...#57.

28. The Fun We've Had...#141.

29. The Goldfinch...#193.

30. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena...#217.

THE PUBLIC SHAMING OF A REVIEW-WRITING SLACKER
updated 21 June 2014 with MORE embarrassing omissions...the bottom of the post

Books I've read that I need to write reviews for because DAMN!

Life After Life--trending towards 5 stars 9 months on
The Golem and the Jinni--settling in at 4-plus stars
The Love Box--short stories with bite, somewhere over 3 stars
The Hill Bachelors--well and truly over 4 stars, William Trevor is a story-writing demigod
An Elegy for Easterly--vacillating between almost-4 and a hair over 4 stars
The Martian--six stars out of five, the most fun I had with my clothes on in 2013 reviewed!
Outerborough Blues--a terrific Brooklyn noir, juuuuuuust misses 4 stars Reviewed!
Hedy's Folly--pretty woman with brains invents stuff the men can't understand, is condescended to and dismissed; blood-boiling almost-4 star read
Consider Phlebas--first Iain M. Banks read, not a huge success; 3 stars but they're grudging
The Player of Games--3-and-a-half because it's better than the first one, and because I suspect reading it too soon after being mad at the first one made me unfairly testy
Empire State--my first Adam Christopher read, I liked it almost 4 stars'-worth
North American Lake Monsters--over-3 star story collection infused with very very weird situations and characters
The Dinosaur Feather--I *loved* this thriller set in Denmark and am horribly ashamed that I haven't written its 4-star review
The Keeper of Lost Causes--simply delicious, 4 stars, go read it NOW if you haven't
Monday or Tuesday--it's Virginnie la Woolf! I'd never read it, and was very excited to; an easy 4 stars reviewed! Not quite four after all
Regeneration--late to the party; easy 5 stars; just...jaw-dropping Reviewed!
The Optimist's Daughter--at best 3.5 stars, my lady wasn't a novelist! Reviewed!
Delta Wedding--a hair more than 3.5 stars because I just *adore* hatin' on Dabney Reviewed!
Slaughterhouse-Five--six stars of five, don't anybody admit to me that they didn't like this book or it will damage our friendship...reviewed!
The Book of Matt--painful
The Daughters of Mars--trending towards almost-4 stars, the longer I'm away from it the less amazing it seems
The Goldfinch--started at 5, now down to 4-plus; another book where distance isn't making the read better
The Luminaries--oh my heck! At least 5 stars, such a joy to read!
Tomorrow-Land--the 1964 World's Fair! W00t! I'd say 3.5-plus?
1Q84--yes, I read the damned thing, 2.5 stars
Cloud Atlas--see above
Among Others--solid 3.5-plus, I like Walton a lot
The Cusanus Game--wowee read translated from the German, easy 3.5 stars
The Frangipani Hotel--a solid 3.5-star debut story collection, watch out for this lassie, there's better still to come from her pen
The Dark Vineyard--second Bruno-in-Provence mystery and I reveled in its 3.9-star glory reviewed! (and promoted to a full 4 stars
Don't Start Me Talkin'--a strange road novel, indie lit at its best and most interesting, another solid 4 stars
The Merry Misogynist--can you EVEN BELIEVE that I haven't reviewed a Dr. Siri in 2014?! The shame, the shame Reviewed!
Cold Storage, Alaska--not bad, not excellent, and worth your eyeblinks at 3 stars
Black Irish--debut thriller set in Buffalo, very very noir, pulse-pounding action that merits 3.75 stars Reviewed!

Oh gawd there are more, more, ever more, and I really need to get busy writing the reviews.

19 June additions
How can it be that I've never reviewed ANY of the Iron Druid Chronicles? Not ONE, except two of the novellas?!
Hounded
Hexed
Hammered
Tricked
Trapped
Hunted
Shattered (no proper touchstone yet!)
none below 3.5 stars...and I'm not gonna forget the novellas:
Clan Rathskeller reviewed!
Kaibab Unbound reviewed!--prequels to Hounded
A Test of Mettle--after Hammered
Two Ravens and One Crow
The Chapel Perilous--after Tricked

*whew*

21 June embarrassing omissions
Let Him Go--4.875 stars, Larry Watson delivers excellence but not *quite* the transcendence of which he is more than capable Reviewed!
Orchard--another Larry close-close, but only 4.5 stars...a little predictable
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia--3.9-star wry-smirk of a read, thanks Katie!
The Faithful Scribe--3.5-star good tale, but somehow misses catching fire
The Odd Clauses--a 4-star look at the wacky world of our American Constitution, and how very strange some of it really is
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
Authorisms--two 3.5-plus star explorations of language, English, and its quirky, unpredictable, and downright capricious development
The Frackers--5-star subject, 3.5-star execution, and made me beyond boilingly furious
Hill William--4-plus stars for McClanahan's spare and simple and gut-punching prose Reviewed!
Throne of the Crescent Moon--I like the author well enough to read his Arab-culture based fantasy novel, so I should review it, right? Say three, three and a quarter stars
An Unnecessary Woman--loved this tale of hidden depths and social invisibility, at least 4 stars reviewed!

Look at you plowing through those reviews! Very impressive.

And I love your opening picture and quote from Oscar Wilde. You have excellent taste, sir.

What Katie said. Happy new thread, dear!

Nice starry thread!

Thumbed the Watson...

:)

>4 katiekrug: First in is KICK-ASS KATIE!!

*smooch* Happy to see you, sweetiedarling.

>5 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie dearest, it's a happy thread now that you're here. *smooch*

>6 mckait: Thank you for the thumb, sweetness! Enjoy your day off, at least it's not 100° or some horrible thing like that. Porching should be lovely.

>7 richardderus: Love this!!

What's that I smell?

Not sure, but I think it's the weekend approaching ...

>9 michigantrumpet: For me, the weekend has begun. Oh joy, the rapture unbounded, yippee-doodles. I hope you enjoy yours!

True story.

Happy new thread Richard! The above comment is very funny.

>12 Thebookdiva: Hi Abby! Glad to see you here. Ain't it the truth, though.

ZOMG

Happy new thread, Rdear. I already love all the posts and quotes even though the thread is young. Waves from a 'few' miles and a load of water away.

>15 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! Glad to see you here.

xoxo to you and Stella

Happy New Thread, Mister!!

Happy new thread Richard.

>17 luvamystery65: Thanks and slurps, in that order!

>18 scaifea: It's shaping up, slowly but surely.

>19 johnsimpson: Thank you, John! Happy weekend, even if it isn't a Hannah day.

>14 richardderus: My hands are itching to get to those empty shelves!!!

>13 richardderus: I love window seats and that one's a beauty, but the vertically challenged part of me wonders which books I'd put in those shelves up above.

>14 richardderus: Tempting...tempting. By why are all those books so high up when there are obviously unused shelves down where I could reach?

>21 michigantrumpet: Hi Marianne!

>22 rosalita: Howdy do Julia! That issue crops up for me and the floor-level shelves...what can I put down here that I'll need every other year or so?

>23 laytonwoman3rd: Hiya Linda3rd!

I suspect, y'all, that the undeserving yokel(s) whose shelves these are don't think of those we see as empty in the same way. They probably have them stacked with "ornaments." "Bibelots." "Tchotchkes."

*shudder*

Just stopping by to admire your shiny new thread and drop a star and a smooch.

you do seem to be surrounded by the vertically challenged ......

You did not like cloud atlas ? that befuddles me indeed .....

>11 richardderus: How true! *smooch*

>25 Storeetllr: Hi Mary, thanks for stopping in! *smooch*

>26 roundballnz: EVERYone's vertically challenged to me.

No, didn't like the book. Don't like pointless trickery.

>27 ronincats: *smoochiesmoochsmooch*

New thread, new book porn, more smooches, where is the coffee? I love your rating on Let Him Go...4.875. Very precise! I am sure I will talk to you later, but have a maaahvelous weekend!

Rdear, I wish you a wonderful weekend.

Coffee Kim......it is what mornings are for, doncha think?

rd.. got almost nothing read. I am in deep doo doo here. Book is good though, surprised me!

Vertically challenged = an excellent opportunity to shop for library steps!

>14 richardderus: Lovely! I'll take two.

Morning, BigDaddy!

>29 Berly: Hi Berly-boo! *smooch* for stopping in

>30 Ameise1: Oooh!! Barbara, do you read minds? Naked man + waterfall = total sensory bliss! In Austin, Texas, where I spent 18 years, there's a place called McKinney Falls that is just lovely. Much youthful skinny-dipping occurred there.

>31 mckait: Coffee zombie report: One pot down. Unknown number to go.

The Quick didn't grab you hard? Interesting. I'd've bet that it'd be unputdownable for you.

>32 michigantrumpet: What a great photo, Marianne! I love the library and the steps.

>33 Crazymamie: Hi there, Mamie dearest, happy weekend!

Day 12 of my book-a-day meme asks that I consider a book that evokes strongly a sense of the place it is set. Well, I can't think of one I've read recently that does so any better than Outerborough Blues, a noir novel by Andrew Cotto.

I loved New York in the 1990s, before it got Disneyfied. I got here in the 1980s, and it was waaaayyyy seedy, which suited my rural/suburbia-fleeing self down to the ground. Now I live in a leafy suburb and like it, but I remember the sense of rightness and the pleasure of finding home with crystal clarity. Outerborough Blues gets almost 4 stars in my review...post #191."

Wait! New York has been "disneyfied". How can that be?

>34 richardderus: :-) smooche

>36 maggie1944: There's a Disney store on Times Square, and they own several theaters where crap like The Lion King is all that plays. There are no street-corner drug deals there, no hookers...none of what made it different from Downtown Springfield on The Simpsons.

More tourists, though, and that's...well, I don't like anything about it, let's just say.

>37 Ameise1: :-)

WEEKEND! *smooch smooch smooch*

I may, just may, be slightly happy it's the weekend...

>39 BekkaJo: So it would seem...but since you work in an office, your enthusiasm makes complete sense.

Plus it's summer! Lots to do with kidlets. *smooch* back

Oh - news also, Jersey had it's first (and in response to some DISGUSTING comments from one member of our governing body) Equality rally today. Lots of cheers :)

And yes, post office-ing, shopping, house viewing, zoo-ing, wine-drinking :)

Ahhh...that's heart-warming!

And that last activity? Do please post your denial that this means you give your kids wine. (Although in point of fact, I hope you do and think you should.)

When I was in high school I marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in 1989, so before the, uh, cleanup of Times Square and that area. I have to say that I'm glad I got at least a little bit of the 'real' experience, too.

>35 richardderus: excellent review RDear! I have only been to NYC once and have no idea about the scenes you mention but found them very evocative just the same.

>42 richardderus: Nooooo. Don't waste the wine on the kiddos. Mom just needs to drink more! LOL

>14 richardderus: Oooh! Aaaah!

>38 richardderus: *pinches lips together* I'll forgive you for the Disney hate. THIS time.

Smooches!

>43 scaifea: It was a world worth remembering. I'm not a sanitized-for-your-protection kind of a guy.

>44 Cobscook: Thank you, Heidi! (And I agree about mom.)

>45 Morphidae: Cute photo!

Disney = evil. I will not go near Mauschwitz.

Oh yeah? Well, coffee sucks. :P

>47 Morphidae: Poverella. Clearly all the Disneyfied crapola has addled your "brain." ::PP

>48 richardderus: There you go! Making me Google again! *pouts*

*smirk* I mean *smooch*

I wouldn't equate the absence of drug dealers and hookers with Disneyfication. I hope we could have the first without the second. I'm not a fan of any sort of solicitation on the streets, legal or otherwise.

>51 laytonwoman3rd: No indeed, the relationship is more attitudinal than causal. New York's Times Square was once seedy, down-at-heel, but possessed of surprises like art cinema houses, ancient bagelries, emporia of the tacquée. Places that didn't cost $900 to enter, like the Disney theaters. Places that sold strange stuff like antique taxidermy next to Mets bobbleheads, not Skittles-themed merchandise (actual examples).

I don't like malls, whether or not they have roofs.

I like the New York City of The Midnight Cowboy. Whoooo eeeee!

I agree, Mr. Disney was sick, sick, sick. To take every scintilla of blood, guts, and the dark side from all the fairy tales he could get his hands on! Yuck!

>38 richardderus: Judy and I were around in the Times Square area today - the new blight is people dressed up as Cookie Monster, Elmo, Mickey and Minnie, and assorted others.

They pose for pictures with tourists for tips and can be charming or annoying depending on your point of view.

Me say : ONE Cookie Monster is OK - hordes of them, not so much.

Bring back the hookers !

>52 richardderus: How you say... +1?

>53 maggie1944: Yuck indeed, Karen44, yuck and double yuck. The entire world does not need to be indistinguishable from the Magic Kingdom. *urp*

>54 magicians_nephew: Yay! for hookers. Well, you know what I mean.

>55 scaifea: *smooch* for ze +1 most elegant.

Review: 27 of seventy-five

Title: HILL WILLIAM

Author: SCOTT MCCLANAHAN

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Beginning to read Hill William is like tuning into a blues station at 4:00 a.m. while driving down the highway. Scott McClanahan's work soars with a brisk and lively plainsong, offering a boisterous peek into a place often passed over in fiction: West Virginia, where coal and heartbreak reign supreme. Hill William testifies to the way place creates and sometimes stifles one's ability to hope. It reads like a Homeric hymn to adventure, to the human comedy's upsets and small downfalls, and revels in its whispers of victory. So grab coffee, beer—whatever gets you through the night—and join Scott around the hearth. Lend him your ear, but be warned: you might not want it back.

My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt, lucky number 13, asks us to discuss a novel with the best title. I think this is about it.

Now surely y'all remember my review of Crapalachia: A Biography of Place from 2013, right? How I warbled myself hoarse over its 4.5-star glory? Sure! Okay then, go take a quick peek at it and get back in the head of appreciating hillbilly noir or hick lit or whatever we've decided to call it.

And here he is again, Scott McClanahan, to make the fat and oblivious mainstream look, really look, at life among those who don't have much, and that includes hope. This time it's explicitly labeled fiction, so no one's going to run up to McClanahan on stage at a reading and demand to know if Event X happened and when.

Yeah, right.

The reason that's still going to happen is simple: Scott McClanahan inhabits this book the way a djinn inhabits a lamp. He's on your bookshelf. He's lookin' paper-pale, somebody feed the boy some vitamin D-for-decoding! We vivify the writer as we read the writing.

I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop because it felt good.

Just like right now I find myself getting ready to do it.

I hit myself.

I feel the blood surging to my head.

I hit myself.

I feel my jaw tightening.

I hit myself.

It feels like a prayer.

I hit myself.

It feels like something strange.

I hit myself.

It feels like something beautiful.

And that's before the page count gets to double digits. Now, some several of you aren't liking this too terrible much. It's not your favorite thing, it's not going somewhere you're interested in going...yes yes, I get it, it's challenging your definition of entertainment. It did mine, too.

Go on the trip. Yes, it's off your route, past your exit, beyond your slip. Fiction, fact-ion, roman à clef, metafiction, whatever tidy label you need to smack on the package, smack it on and open it up and settle in for an afternoon with someone who doesn't speak Cultured like a native because he isn't.

In a world that celebrates the bland venality of getting and spending, a moment like this...a scant two, maybe three hours' read for most of us serious bookheads...is uncommon and worthy of note and celebration. This isn't bland, and it's less venal than venereal. It won't lull or cosset you, but Hill William (isn't that a great title?) will not send you to bed wondering what you read that day. If anything.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Good morning Richard, hope you have a lovely day my friend and your book porn is wonderful to see although some make me jealous.

Richard, I am on here just trying to catch up. What a year this has been for me I barely seem to have time for reading and getting on LT. I kinda wish LT had a phone app like facebook does. I can at least see your posts on facebook on a regular basis :). I think of you often but have been busy with real life. This past week for instance I have worked 5 days today included had 1 day to get housework and bills done and help my parents with stuff and 1 day of relaxation with 2 of my co workers we had a girls day on one of my co workers boats did some cruising around the lake and on her itty bitty island getting some sun, having some drinks and swimming off of her dock. By the time I got home I ate dinner and fell asleep so much sun and fresh air I slept clear through til time to get up for work the next day :) I wanted to stop by and say hello and let you know I am thinking of you and sending hugs and smooches to you and Stella. I am on vacation after today for the next 13 days.. AHHH :) I have plans on traveling some fairly close to home places such as a casino one day, a Medieval fair one day and Amish Country in the Neighboring State of OH and of course hopefully getting some fishing in. We shall see what each day brings hopefully fun and beautiful days.

Good Sunday morning to you, dear sir.

Happy Sunday, RD! Happy New thread! Love the Wilde quote. Hope you have a good R & R day!

>58 johnsimpson: Happy Sunday, John! Thanks for coming by.

>59 MonicaLynn: Monica! How lovely to see you! I understand about being busy. I hope it reaches a manageable level where you're able to incorporate book time in it all.

Oh, and LT Phone App sounds like a winner to me.

>60 maggie1944: Hiya Karen44! *smooch*

>61 msf59: Happy Sunday to your unpainful feet, Mark, and have a great reading day.

Morning RD!

>14 richardderus: Heavenly...which is the kind of day I wish for you!

Good morning Richard!

>63 Thebookdiva: Greetings and felicitations, Abby, have a great time this Sunday!

>64 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda! Glad to see you out and about.

>65 lkernagh: Hi Lori! Have a wonderful Sunday.

Happy Sunday to you, Richard! Hope you've got a quiet day on tap, filled with coffee and dog smooches! (((HUG)))

Great review of Hill William, Richard, and a well deserved thumb from me. I might just have to take a peek at it.

Good Sunday morning to you! I hope it's restful and comfortable and not too hot.

Laura found a really cute picture, didn't she? I don't think I could get either of my dogs to pose so nicely. And putting their paws on my ereader...... probably not. Don't think I'll get rick taking pictures of my dogs.

Have a great Sunday, and give Stella a big smooch from me!

>67 LauraBrook: HA!! Perfect Sunday meme, and wow wouldn't that be *sweet*?

>68 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl! I think you'll find things to like about it.

>69 katiekrug: *smoochings* for KAK

Not hot, but soupy and trying to rain. Wish it would already!

>70 maggie1944: Stella-smooching accomplished, Karen44, and a smallish slurp returned.

I got to thinkin' about some of the unreviewed books I need to get to, and thinkin' about today's meme-prompt: Beautiful title...hmmm...well, nothing beats The Optimist's Daughter for euphony and for sheer exuberant positivity of the image evoked.

I got the review up in the Orphans thread...post #65.

>72 richardderus: I didn't love the book but that is a gorgeous review. Thumbs up from me!

Hey Richard, hope you have a great week ahead.

Happy newish thread, my dear.

Darn you and your reviews... off to thumb review and wish list Hill William. You can stop catching up any time now. :)

xoxo

xo and out..... working today.. and ALL week... so xoxoxo just in case..

Something is definitely off with my LT - you fell out of my starred page.... I'm so far behind I'm not going to try to catch up, so I'm saying hi, I've gleaned you are doing ok and that's what matters the most!

>72 richardderus: Excellent review of The Optimist's Daughter; you'll find my thumb print upon it.

Holy Lord of Posts! I thought I'd done well finishing your last thread and here you have a whole new one.

I'm one of the few who also has seen The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai (of course I am). It is one of my quirky English prof BIL's favorite movies, and I think Ice Pirates is up there for him, too.

Intriguing review of Let Him Go. I'm going to be reading that one for Mark's AAC challenge. I read The Optimist's Daughter for it earlier this year, and I'll compare notes with you once I'm more caught up.

Chez Papa provided a good visit, but we sure are glad to be back home!

Happy Bastille Day! It's the fourteenth day of following the Book-A-Day meme, honoring our favorite French novel, or novel set in or about France. I picked Susanne Alleyn's wonderful Dickens-inspired novel A Far Better Rest. Yes. You read that right. Go look at my review in my Orphans thread...post #71.

>82 richardderus: Excellent rant DD! ;-)

xoxo to you and Stella from me and the rest of The Devilles.

>83 luvamystery65: Thanks, Devilles all! It just irritates the snot outta me for someone to set themselves up in judgement over TASTE!! Disagree with me, sure, have a different opinion, fine! But I am not wrong, and the corollary to that is neither are you where opinion is concerned!!

Sorry to learn about the nastygram but happy to see you were able to deftly diffuse it!

It was a good rant, RD! One with which I fully agree.

And, when they start sending nastygrams, you already won!

>85 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori...I suspect the perp was only faking anonymity and simply didn't want to admit they knew me and say unpleasant things to me directly.

>86 Storeetllr: *smooch* Thank you, Mary! Good point....

Are you having the dreadful humidity that we are? I'm struggling to get the humidifier to get it below 65%. BLECHHHHHHHHHHH.

Cats doing imitations of fur rugs.

We are. Presently 81° and feels like 85° because 80% humidity.

I. HATE. SUMMER.

There's thunderboomers a-comin' for the overnight, which will be a relief if it happens.

It sez it's 78 out, but it iz clearly LYING. I have just emptied a pail of water from the dehumidifier thingummy.

>82 richardderus: Yep that was a rant! :) not that I disagree, mind you. People should read what they like and send the snobs who want to tell us what we can like packing. Well, except for Dean Koontz. If ever a book deserved burning it's that Frankenstein abomination he published. :)

>90 Chatterbox: It's that bloody bedamned humididity.

>91 drneutron: Oh my, I'm no wimpified believer in "everything is as good as anything else." I'm as snobby as they come. But only for myself, you see. I don't want to read crappy books, so I don't. After a trial period, if something's not working, it's not going to. I've never had the experience others report of suddenly "getting it." If I hate it, it stays hated. What *does* happen is I learn more about something, and bring new eyes to it. But that's got to happen more or less by accident.

Great rant, Richard dear!!

>93 ronincats: Thanks, Roni! Heartfelt for sure.

I loved your rant. :)

I already told you so on FB, so hear it again... I love you RD!

>95 TinaV95: You're so sweet, Mrs. Lisa! I appreciate being appreciated. It's annoying to get messages from people too cowardly to use their real identity to say "insulting" things to me. Don't like me? Why waste the time to say so?

*snort* Childish, this behavior, but it still irks.

I read and reviewed a Drano book, Science Fair, over in my Orphans thread...post #76.

Morning RD! Just checking in with my favorite curmudgeon. It is deliciously cool here and I am loving every minutes of it. If it hasn't arrived your way, I hope it does soon.

>11 richardderus: Oh, yeah. Back home from a trip with one grandson, staying in a hotel that serves Charbuck's "coffee" and a funky wifi that sometimes slowed to an unmanageable crawl. It's amazing how you can change the taste and aroma of the same bulk coffee by improper brewing and equipment.

So it's back home to my lovely home-roasted Ethiopian for a day, then off for another week with another grandson. I only hope they don't use the red or blue plastic jugs for their grounds and a 50-year old percolator for its destruction. No thanks, I'll have water.

Finishing Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, an old 70's sci-fi that I've had on the shelf since forever. I used to enjoy Jerry's column in the early Byte magazine when I was drooling over computers and didn't have enough money for my own. Jerry was a big CP/M fan in the early days and his adventures in upgrading fever were legendary and instructive. I thought he would make a good writer.

Hi Richard! I'm trying to do a bit of catch up. How are you this fine (well, this hot) Tuesday morning? We're headed for 88F which for Seattleites is almost unbearable. If it hits 90F (which it does on an average of three days per year), we get downright murderous. It's not pretty.

BTW, are you one of the people who recommended Robert Goddard to me? I know Suz did, but I think there was another..... If so, thank you. :-)

Good morning, Richard. I loved your rant yesterday and tried to leave a comment, but failed. It just agreed with your position.

I have a small quote for you:

"There are two ways of disliking poetry; one way is to dislike it, the other is to read Pope."
Oscar Wilde

>80 jnwelch: My word, I thought MrMorphy was the only person ever who has watched, much less liked, Ice Pirates. Meanwhile, we both loved Buckaroo Bonzai. It's so BAD.

>82 richardderus: Great rant. Has nothing to do with me agreeing with it all. Nope.

Meanwhile, "monadnock"? I had to Google again. Do you have a word of the day calendar? Do you randomly stick your finger in the dictionary? What??!

>84 richardderus: The readers I don't get are the ones who read the most difficult, dry, and dense books. And that's all they read. More power to them if that's what they enjoy(?), but sheesh...

>88 Chatterbox: >89 richardderus: We call it "humility."

>103 Morphidae: It takes skill to make something as bad as Buckaroo Bonzai, right?

Richard, I thought of you when I saw this:

>98 msf59: Hi Mark! Hope you're in for a longer-than-short stretch of pleasantly cool weather.

>99 mldavis2: Hi Mike! Glad to see you safe and sound and properly caffeinated.

At some point in the past, I read Lucifer's Hammer and made my compatriots very, very sick of me by warbling its praises. I've retained exactly none of the plot, characters, or writing. So permaybehaps not that excellent a book.

Byte magazine! Blast from the past.

>100 EBT1002:, >101 EBT1002: ICK on the weather! *smooch* on the Ellen!

No, no credit to me for Goddard-warbling, I've got no memory of having read a book by him.

>102 Matke: Danvers me lurve! *smooch* So good to see you.

Thanks for agreeing with my ill-tempered snarl of annoyance. As one who has (with extreme reluctance) read a little Pope, I say a hearty if posthumous "+1" to ol' OFO'F's words.

>103 Morphidae: "Monadnock" is one I learned in high school AP English. First used in an editorial describing a local New Hampshire politician, and it was taught during a unit on Native American borrow-words. I just love it.

Glad you agree with my rant, and yep, Buckaroo Banzai is so bad it's good.

>104 jnwelch: HA!!!!!!! +11111111111111111111111111111

Hi Richard - you are churning out those reviews - great stuff.

*smooch*

How's the weather by you today? Haven't stuck my nose out yet, for fear of being thrown into swamp-land, despite the wonderfully comfortable 70's temps. Summer sucks, though so far, this one seems to be better than average for my neck of the woods.

Your months-ago requested ARCs will be going out to you in the mail today, and my apologies for taking me so long to get them to you. *smooch*

>107 calm: Thanks, calm! I'm doing one a day or bust. The guilt of this backlog has to end!

>108 LauraBrook: It's thunderstorming! I love thunderstorms!!

Coolio! And thanks. Sending smooches and hugs

>82 richardderus: Love the rant....why do some folks think they should be the decision makers on what constitutes worthwhile literature? Thankfully, we have people like you to set 'em straight!

Humidity = Suckage

>110 Cobscook: Seriously!

And Seriously!

xoxo

So how many more views until you catch up?

Happy Tuesday!

>103 Morphidae: I read dry, difficult, and dense books sometimes. No, they're not the only thing I read, but I do enjoy something academicish on a favored topic.

There's lots of people whose reading preferences I don't understand, but I'm okay with that because I have my own and there are plenty of books in the world for those who want to read.

Had sushi tonight. It was delicious! Just thought I'd share.

>114 Berly: and you didn't invite me? *grump*

>112 michigantrumpet: About sixty-seven. My finnies are achin'.

>113 AuntieClio: I read almost anything at one time or another. I make a diet of many fewer things than that.

>114 Berly:, >115 AuntieClio: Yeah!

I said I'd share! : )

Good morning Richard, sorry to hear that you are again being plagued by nastygram idiots, just tell them to F*** Off, you are entitled to your views dear friend and they should just take it on the chin and grow some. Now for more important things, hope you are well and have a fabulous day.

I am genuinely puzzled by people who spend their precious lives focused on criticizing others, finding fault, and generally being a pain in the butt to the rest of us who are just happily going about our lives as best as we can.

I have one person on my Board who seems incapable of making a comment on line without it being snarky. Poor woman. It must be hard being her.

I hope your Wednesday is relaxed and comfortable as you richly deserve. Happy reading. We are hot again today but the days after today are beginning to cool down, and showers are coming .... back to normal.

>117 Berly: Ooo goody! Turn away, I'm about to make a pig of myself.

>118 johnsimpson: Thanks, John! It's amazing how rain affects my mood for the better, and the dog's for the worse. She dashed outside, accomplished her morning tasks, and towed me back inside in less than 5 minutes!

>119 maggie1944: I wonder about that as well. Do these folk who decide how others should think *and then act like it's a rule that's being broken* when they don't, have that much time on their hands? Why don't they go volunteer at the food pantry or the homeless shelter or summat li' tha'? Ya got that much time, spend it solving problems not making them.

I love thunderstorms, too, Richard. We'll sit out on the front porch, dry under the porch roof, just to enjoy the spectacle. Becca's Sherlock is like Stella, and wants as little to do with it as possible.

>121 jnwelch: Heh, I really don't blame dogs since the rained-on-fur issue seems to me to make rain pretty well as uncomfortable as a dog can get.

Today's review is of a beach-read novel. I chose The Gauguin Connection, part of a series book-warbled by several evil book-succubuses that infest these parts. The review's in my thread...post #194.

>120 richardderus: I think I've learned, about myself, that I was taught (in no uncertain terms) to follow the rules, do what I was told, and be a "good girl". I've been resisting all that ever since, but I do detect from time to time my "inner dictator" being outraged when others do not "follow the rules". I've learned it is much wiser to keep my mouth shut, most of the time.

oh, life... one never does get out of school.

ETA: I bought The Gauguin Connection, too. It is on my Kindle... looking at me!

>123 maggie1944: Really, it's the part about acting like someone broke the rules *that you made up* that makes me mad.

That book ain't a-gonna read itself...between Caro and Suz and me, that Kindle might just power itself up and levitate over to you, though. Such is the power of book-warbling by covens.

Wow, first I get book warbler label, now I'm part of a coven of witchy book warblers? Any moment now, I'm going to be dragged off to the stake.

But I didn't recommend The Gauguin Connection. Haven't read it. Sorry. Not guilty.

Lemme know your thoughts on the Zouroudi. I have a later book in the series that jumped out at me from a shelf and that I can send, if you like this. I doubt that they need to be read in order. I know there are others, but I don't know where they are.

We are "enjoying" your storms of yesterday. I use the word advisedly because power is wonky and humidity/humility is sky-high. It was nice to wake up to the sound of thunder, though. And I suspect that tomorrow will be delightful.

>125 Chatterbox: Your claims of innocence are duly noted. Now onto the ducking stool.

:-)

If your tomorrow is my today, the humidity will get a little better but there won't be a ray of sunshine around.

The Zouroudi got knocked off the top of the pile...the new Hank Palace arrived! World of Trouble here I come! Soon, though. Very soon!

Well, that Kindle has a job ahead. I just put A Far Better Rest on it, too, due to your singing its praises, and my addiction to things fictional, historical, and French. And propensity to fall to your persuasive charms.

>99 mldavis2: Larry Niven is a nice guy and he has an amazing imagination.

I liked Lucifer's Hammer well enough through

Like early Asimov he sets up the situation and then rings the changes. It ain't art - but sometimes it's readable.

And always thought provoking, sez me.

>122 richardderus: You book warbling devil, you! At least it was free...for the first one.....*shakes fist*

Hi RD! Hope you had a good day! Thanks for the help on Mr. Gass! I will have to try Omensetter's Luck!

Very fine rant!

ah, everyone seems to be here. Now I am too.

>119 maggie1944: Poor woman. It must be hard being her.

Yep. I'll never forget years ago when one of the nicest people I ever met said "Oh, honey, I used to be a bitch on wheels! It took up a lot of my energy; it's so much easier to be nice."

:)

*waves hello at Richard*

I'm totally caught up now!!!

*crosses fingers behind back*

>127 maggie1944: May the fall be more of a "stumble upon something delightful"

>128 magicians_nephew: Oh ah.

>129 Cobscook: *smooch* I remind you, though, that I'm a complete 180° turn from a Satanic Book Warbler! *I* merely comment upon the passing book-scene in an informative and, one hopes, entertaining fashion. Satanic Book Warblers, eg Suz, Caro, Horrible, Joe, Mark, congregate in malevolent covens and warble sirenically in a hypnotic and wallet-flattening chorus aimed at making innocent biblioholics (eg, me) destitute and desperate.

See? Night and day.

>130 msf59: It passed, the day. A good deal of it I slept, as it was cloudy and dull-looking outside which usually results in my needing several naps. Today was no exception.

>131 sibylline: Thanks, cuz! My minions haven't been around to go to the post office for me. I hope they'll pop in this weekend. Will advise.

>132 ffortsa: Hiya Judy! *smooch*

>133 avidmom: *bwaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaa* "totally caught up" *haaaaaahaaaa ohohowww bwaaaaaaahaaaaaaahaaaaaaa*

>134 richardderus: Rolling eyes at excessive hyperbole; shrugging shoulders; moving right along. Is it MY fault if SOME people have NO self control??? (chortle; warble)

>136 Chatterbox: One day, long after I'm found dead under the overpass surrounded by the tattered remains of my books built fort-fashion, one day that voodoo dolly in your possession will come to light...yes...your secret role in the reversal of the publishing industry's decline will be revealed!

>137 richardderus: Surely not. Surely my book warbling and book purchasing will have been found to have delayed its collapse by at least a decade...

>138 Chatterbox: A clever public face for the Dark Voodoo Princess. Hiding in plain sight!

(Can you tell I've been chatting with a comic-book reading friend? This whole Thor-as-a-woman kerfuffle has stirred some strange passions.)

Busy on work trip but wanted to leave evidence of my lurking!

*smooch*

Review: 28 of seventy-five

Title: THE FUN WE'VE HAD

Author: MICHAEL J SEIDLINGER

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Two lovers are adrift in a coffin on an endless sea. Who are they? They are him and her. They are you and me. They are rowing to salvage what remains of themselves. They are rowing to remember the fun we've had.

My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt is to discuss a novel that surprised you.

Seidlinger is what a mating between Djuna Barnes and Samuel Beckett would've produced: Illusionless in his pessimism, joyful in his schadenfreude, and both human and humane enough to wrap his bitter pills in pretty words.

He wasn't at all sure this was excitement, but at least for now, the glimpsing of something else, something, anything, was enough to keep the momentum, the same momentum that seemed to outline his days. What might have been a lazy, relaxing Saturday became a cause for adventure, a curious matching between him and her, their search to be out, on the city, the town, so as to stave off being on the outs with each other.
That's what it is, was, and will always be.
Nothing would change. Nothing is wrong.
This is just another adventure. New thrill.
"Are we having fun?"
Of course they are. When every feeling is time-stamped and the life you lead becomes the life you led, there cannot be a whole lot more to do except admit right from wrong.

So, Michael Seidlinger. He's this guy, you know?

He wrote this book, which before we go any further down the rabbit hole let me assure you I purchased with my very own United States dollars as I am nowhere *near* hip/cool/hot/whatever enough to score an ARC, a book which by all rights he's too goddamned young to understand still less create. It's a very trenchant metaphor, He and She and the Deep Blue Sea separated, contained, bound, sustained, trapped, saved by a shared coffin. The consciousness of He and She is very much not shared, except the two are inextricable and still completely sealed off from yet bound to the experience of the other:

Touch being only touch, both of them imagining the warmth that would have been shared if their bodies had been bodies alive and still able to be repaired, they lay there like it had been a bed and not a coffin. The final end.
Not yet.
No.
Not yet, she fought the ghosts.
They reminded her. Tell him. Tell him.
She would tell him. Later.
"Later" arrived and left and returned once more. Still, she wouldn't tell him.

We mourn and grieve for Him and Her in their shared coffin, dead, living only in separate minds that are contained within a final resting place tossed on a restless expanse of endlessness.

Ghosts in the sea, all of us, whispering ghosts, the sea's physical voice a subsonic boom of waves crashing and moving the plates of the earth's crust a micron or two, and whispering "the end" to the living, "no end" to the dead, and "Hello Kitty" to the Japanese.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

>141 richardderus: Ha! Lovely ending. A combination of Djuna Barnes and Samuel Beckett? "I can't go on. I'll go on. I'll sleepwalk. I'll sleep."

If he walks like a Satanic Book Warbler and talks like a Satanic Book Warbler, isn't he . . .

Upgethumbed your great review, Richard!

>142 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe...but remember! *I* am but a flâneur on the streets of literature. OTHERS *meaningful glare* are flying above these boulevards, warbling away.

>143 LauraBrook: Thanks Laura! *smooch*

Morning. i see you are till on the path for one review a day--nicely done!

>145 Berly: Hiya Kimmers, yep...I'll make it through this month or die tryin'. As I have no plans to die...

*smooch*

Stupid boring life. Can't it see I'm *reading*?!

"The unexamined life is not worth living"

-- Socrates

"The unlived life is not worth examining"

-- Woody Allen

>141 richardderus: Excellent review. Just excellent. And yet, I'm thinking "No".

>148 magicians_nephew: And the unposted meme is meme-ingless.

haw

>149 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you, Linda! Would it tempt you a wee teensy bit more if I mentioned that the Kindle edition is only $5.95?

Nope. No Kindle here. Your warbling is for naught.

>151 laytonwoman3rd: meanie

^Guess, who I thought of?

Swinging by to catch up & leave you smoochies! Oh, and to Google a new word too apparently (never heard of monadnock until now!).

You are the coolest!

>153 msf59: Ha! Perfect for me.

>154 TinaV95: *smooch* for the monadnock of care-giving!

I've kept the review-a-day pace with my latest: Black Irish, a twisty Buffalo Noir novel. It's violent, it's scary, and it's a 4-star read. Review in my thread...post #197.

Thanks for the nudge to read The Cure at Troy. I read it last night and really enjoyed it, though I found myself unable to write a coherent review. Yours, on the other hand, was fantastic. *smooch* and happy weekend wishes to you.

>156 bell7: Thanks, Mary! *smooch* back.

I'm still mulling over the experience of The Cure at Troy. Wow is so mild...got nothin' else, though.

Reading furiously, trying to clear off the decks, return the library and be completely ready for ... St. Mary's Chronicle!!

...six days...six more miserable days...

Wow is so mild...got nothin' else, though.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me too. It's one of the few books I almost immediately want to reread just to take in again.

>160 bell7: I know that feeling well. It's short enough to make a re-read an easy investment to make, too.

My 8th Thingaversary is 13 August. *woohoo* And since I want my nine Thingaversary GUILT-FREE books like, you know, NOW, I decided that I'd get them! Yay me! Five arrived today:
FOURTH OF JULY CREEK--somebody or another Satanically Book Warbled this into my cart. I shall leave it to him to step forward and 'fess up.
RED RISING--see above.
REMEMBER ME LIKE THIS--no idea who put this in my brain as a read-me-now.
THE ZHIVAGO AFFAIR--she knows who she is.
THE ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHDUKE--*fantods* I am so ready for the dishy dirt on Franzl and Sophie! All that morganatic hullabaloo!

Oh! And they were before Edward VIII and that Simpson woman.

Plus Sophie was a hausfrau-y mama, not a tacquée arriviste gold digger. Not Empress material, but not a harpy.

Ooooh! Nice (partial) haul for your Thingaversary! My 8th is in August too! I'm holding out until at least August to decide what to get, but I've been hit by a fair number of book bullets in the past few weeks; it shouldn't be hard to find more than 9.

>165 Storeetllr: Heh...the challenge is keeping it *down* to nine, not nineTEEN.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

I'm behind I'm behind I'm behind...

I give up on trying to keep up this year - guilt free skimming waves :)

>162 richardderus: I have my eye on you, sir. Don't think that you can buy nine more books on your Thingaversary and escape my attention.

>167 BekkaJo: Skimming some smooches back!

>168 kidzdoc: *I*? batbatbat But sir! *I* am the very soul of moderation and restraint when confronted by the sacred and holy obligation to buy books and support the economy! Truly I am!

BWAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anniversaries! Joy. Happiness. Nostalgia. Peace. Contentment. Celebration. Reminiscences. Sentimental pleasures! I like anniversaries. Yes, I do.

>170 maggie1944: I'm spreadin' this one right on out, too, Karen44. *smooch* glad you stopped in!

>141 richardderus: That one hit me. Hard.

Yet another thumb! I won't have anything left to use on my phone...

>172 Matke: Thanks, Danvers, it's a really amazing thing to find a book by a *kid* younger than my own that is so wise.

Rdear, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Thanks, Barbara, and the same to you!

Wow, this takes the idea of anniversary "eve" to a whole new level, Richard.

Hope Red Rising gives you a good ride.

I'm in To the Lighthouse for the first time; sometimes swept away, sometimes laboring with the density.

>176 jnwelch: I notice a certain...evasiveness...regarding Fourth of July Creek, Your Warblership....

If it's at all possible, when Woolfing down La Virginnie's work, don't decode the words but read them as sounds. Reading stuff the brain labors to comprehend aloud works for me.

My thingaversary is end of this month, and I have to limit book acquisitions to only 6+1???? EEK. Do e's and audios count? Of course it's not like I'm not getting anymore books this year. The first installation of the 25 I have to read for Maine readers Choice is due in early Sept. I'm 3 behind in ER books, and god only knows how many Net Galley/Edelweiss thinks I'm supposed to be reading.

Maybe I'll just slink away into this gorgeous summer day, do some gardening (while listening to a good Elizabeth George Lynley mystery of course) and pretend I don't own/owe any books/reviews. Stop snorting Richard.

>178 tututhefirst:


And unless it can sit on a shelf, it doesn't count as a Thingaversary book. That's the rules.

Here is where the Thingaversary Themes stand:

1. YA Novel (rosalita) The Book Thief, A Wrinkle in Time, Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking trilogy, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
2. Murder Mystery (Berly) A Scarpetta Novel, Turn of Mind, Morgue Drawer Four, Gone Girl
3. Historical Fiction (cameling) Arthur & George, Regeneration trilogy, Iqbal, The Cellist of Sarajevo, Wolf of the Plains, Wolf Hall, A Place of Greater Safety, Early One Morning, Girl in Hyacinth Blue
4. Supernatural (majkia) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell , The Many-Colored Land , The Rook, The Thirteenth Tale
5. Classic Literature (scaifea) The Aeneid, Jane Eyre
6. Comic Book/Graphic Novel/Illustrated Book (richardderus) Doc Savage: Fortress of Solitude/The Devil Genghis.
7. NonFiction (Morphidae) Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind
8. Contemporary Literary Fiction (msf59)
9. Narrative NonFiction (brenzi) The Worst Hard Times by Timothy Egan and Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo.
10. Boxed Set (banjo123)
11. A Book About Books (lahochstetler) Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Rereadings, My Reading Life, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, So Many Books, So Little Time
12. Memoir (Crazymamie) The Elephant Whisperer, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Finding George Orwel in Burma
13. Baker's D0zen C00kery B00k (PaulCranswick)
14. Westerns (coppers) Lonesome Dove, Let Him Go, The Whistling Season, The Big Rock Candy Mountain, The Meadow, Plainsong, Tallgrass, Hell's Bottom, Colorado, Doc,
The Painter, The Life of an Ordinary Woman, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
15. Travel (MDGentleReader/Suggestions also by Rosalita) Bill Bryson's travel books, Notes From a Small Island, In a Sunburned Country, A Walk In the Woods, The Lost Continent, Paul Theroux's The Mosquito Coast or The African Queen, Travels with Charley, On the Road, The Snow Leopard.
16. Fiction in Translation (katiekrug) A book not originally written in the LTer's mother tongue.
17. Romance (Marky Mark) ??
18. History (Chatterbox) The Swerve by Paul Greenblatt, or Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age by Modris Eksteins
19. Urban Fantasy (AuntieClio) Richard Kadrey (Sandman Slim Series), Kim Harrison (The Hollows Series), Stacia Kane (Downside Ghosts Series). Maybe Mercedes Lackey.
20. Outer Space (drneutron) The Martian and Packing for Mars

Have fun celebrating!

Is this Thingaversary Themes something I've missed??? Ah well.....

Enjoy the countdown!

not sure I understand the Thingieverse themes either. Does that mean if it's number 6, I'm supposed to clutter up my shelves with graphic novels/comic books etc? Not happening.

It can mean whatever you want. It can guide your anniversary book buying spree (one book from each theme up to and including your anniversary year.) Or you can read one book a month from your anniversary year's theme. Anything is fair game.

Between now and my anniversary month (October), I'm going to read one book from each of my previous anniversary themes (1 - 7) and then read a book a month from my anniversary year theme (8).

Or you can do nothing at all with it. It's all in fun.

>180 Berly: So, I'm modern literary fiction this year...Fourth of July Creek is the thing!

>181 sibylline: I think Caro suggested the idea and Berly ran with it: Like wedding anniversaries have themes, let's have Thingaversary themes!

>182 tututhefirst: I chose that one, Tina, and put it in a space that was *behind* me so I'd know it wasn't looming over me like a hideous, malformed, mutant bloodsucking monster.

I don't blame you, I'd kick it to the curb too.

>183 Morphidae: I suspect I'll run into trouble long about #17.

Hopelessly behind. Will try to do better. Have a nice weekend, RD.

>185 rosalita: xoxoxo Feel better, Julia!

>180 Berly:: oh good, one more thing in the universe about which I haven't a clue. Thingaversary themes?

I'm reading and thoroughly enjoying The Martian Richard. I believe you shot me with that book bullet. In fact, you have rather martianed me of late, sirrah!

In a word, "oh" - is there a thread or something?

>187 tiffin: *pewpewpew Gotcha!

Heh.

>188 sibylline: Over here, cuz.

I finished Regeneration and thoroughly loved it. So much in such a small volume. Thanks for such a good review that it moved me to get it.

>190 maggie1944: Oh goody good good! It's an amazing feat, to pack so very much in a very tight page count. I'm impressed by her so-tight plotting and condensed storytelling.

Happy *almost* Thingaversary!!!

I will share a modicum of blame for Red Rising...but it's really mostly Ro's fault. She's the one who recommended it to me so I just elaborated on her praise a bit more enthusiastically. ;)

Review: 29 of seventy-five

Title: THE GOLDFINCH

Author: DONNA TARTT

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love-and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a novel of shocking narrative energy and power. It combines unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and breathtaking suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is a beautiful, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt is to identify the book one would take to a desert island.

It was between this book and The Luminaries, a more artistically successful and more culturally enriching book; a book with grace and beauty and charm; a rich feast that says things to me even yet, months after reading it.

I chose this book.

I look at the blanked-out faces of the other passengers--hoisting their briefcases, their backpacks, shuffling to disembark--and I think of what Hobie said: beauty alters the grain of reality. And I keep thinking too of the more conventional wisdom: namely, that the pursuit of pure beauty is a trap, a fast track to bitterness and sorrow, that beauty has to be wedded to something more meaningful.

Only what is that thing? Why am I made the way I am? Why do I care about all the wrong things, and nothing at all for the right ones? Or, to tip it another way: how can I see so clearly that everything I love or care about is illusion, and yet--for me, anyway--all that's worth living for lies in that charm?

A great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don't get to choose our own hearts. We can't make ourselves want what's good for us or what's good for other people. We don't get to choose the people we are.

It's not Art, but it's a good, solid, real moment. I bought into Theo, I cared about the dumbass, I found him the kind of kid I'd try to fix and straighten out so he wouldn't flounder so messily as he looked for the path through the thicket.

Then there's traife like this: "'When you feel homesick,' he said, ‘just look up. Because the moon is the same wherever you go.'” Gag me. That's so Disney-movie pseudoprofound I could unswallow all over the book.

But then...

Whatever teaches us to talk to ourselves is important: whatever teaches us to sing ourselves out of despair. But the painting has also taught me that we can speak to each other across time. And I feel I have something very serious and urgent to say to you, my non-existent reader, and I feel I should say it as urgently as if I were standing in the room with you. That life—whatever else it is—is short. That fate is cruel but maybe not random. That Nature (meaning Death) always wins but that doesn’t mean we have to bow and grovel to it. That maybe even if we’re not always so glad to be here, it’s our task to immerse ourselves anyway: wade straight through it, right through the cesspool, while keeping eyes and hearts open. And in the midst of our dying, as we rise from the organic and sink back ignominiously into the organic, it is a glory and a privilege to love what Death doesn’t touch.

Sadly, it goes on after that to bury the well-made point and the well-turned phrase in verbiage.

Donna Tartt won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in recognition of this novel. I am not equipped with the information the judges of that prize use to make their decision. I can only say that, from my perspective as a reader, this is a good, solid read that should've been 600pp not 771pp, with many lovely phrases and a lot of good, well-incorporated action, but not especially prize-worthy. It's a thumping good read, as my friend Suz says.

And for that reason, I'd take it to a desert island, and I'd cuss and fume and fret about its shortcomings after I finished each read wet-eyed about Theo and his travails. Sometimes Theo acts so damned clueless I wanted to give him a bloody box of chocolates and a bench and plant a Barnaby Rudgely raven called Grip on his damn shoulder. And then:

You could study the connections for years and never work it out--it was all about things coming together, things falling apart, time warp, my mother standing out in front of the museum when time flickered and the light went funny, uncertainties hovering on the edge of a vast brightness, the stray chance that might, or might not, change everything.

So, yeah, this is the one that makes the desert island trip. Sorry, Eleanor Catton, your gorgeous and so very deserving tome will wait for me safe on my shelf.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Morning RD! Great review of The Goldfinch. I had similar feelings. She is capable of some mesmerizing prose & storytelling. I wonder how she would do, with a 300 page book?

Thank you, mon cousin, of course my own thinga isn't until January..... boo hoo.

I skimmed your review of The Goldfinch, as I'm waiting to see if it will be chosen for the Booker Prize longlist on Wednesday. I did give you a thumb, though.

>184 richardderus: Thankfully romance is a very large category.

Books that we share that are considered romance: Garden Spells, The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, any of the Southern Vampire series by Charline Harris, Outlander, the Kushiel series, Madame Bovary, Katherine, The Night Circus.

I didn't even get through all of the ones we share!

Second last sentence of the Goldfinch review: did you mean to say isn't instead of is? If she's sitting on the shelf, she's an isn't, isn't she? And good review, btw.

>192 TinaV95: Your self-confession to Satanic Book Warblerhood will count in your favor in the next life. Into the ducking-stool, please.

>194 msf59: Thanks, Mark! I'm sure the book would've been better shorter. I don't think 300pp is enough, though. I wonder if she knows a story that could be squeezed into 300pp? She strikes me as the sort of writer who doesn't think short thoughts.

>195 sibylline: De rien, ma amie. January will be here before you blink again. Possess your soul in patience. xo

>196 kidzdoc: Thank you for the thumb, Darryl! I don't imagine it will be nominated for the Booker, though goodness knows I've been wrong more often than I've been right about awards.

>197 Morphidae: ...so anything with some non-smutty sex in it is romance...? Doesn't that rather make the category label meaningless?

>198 tiffin: *smooch* Hiya Tui! Nope, all is as it should be.

>200 richardderus: Romance is about romantic relationships not sex. Pride and Prejudice is a romance. Jane Eyre is a romance. Yes, they are much MORE than a romance. But still can be called romances.

Wouldn't you rather it be a more open category rather than "bodice ripper/smutty sex" books only?

And smutty sex does not equal romance to me. (Although I don't mind some smutty sex in romances.)

I know nada of Fourth of July Creek, compadre, Warble-wise or otherwise.

Thoroughly enjoyed The Goldfinch review, and will go and thump it. Nice selection of quotes.

Your review of The Goldfinch was worth the wait, Richard!

>201 Morphidae: It just seems to me that *any* novel comes (!) under the heading of romance by that definition. I dunno, maybe it's just me.

>202 jnwelch: ...really...hmmmmmmm...I *have* to get better about assigning blame noting who introduced me to books.

Well, glad you liked the review and thanks for the thumb!

>203 rosalita: Thank you most kindly, ma'am!

^I thought I would share...

"She strikes me as the sort of writer who doesn't think short thoughts." You might be right about that. LOL.

Hope you are having a fine Sunday, RD!

>205 msf59: ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhHHHH

Heavenly.

It's cool and cloudy and there's a breeze. This day has my name tattooed on its butt.

>204 richardderus: Nah. All the books I've mentioned have Romance as a tag. There are *plenty* of books without that tag.

Just glancing at the first few books we share I come up with the following as not romances (no romance tag): Plainsong, Lexicon, Bellman & Black, The Luminaries, Among Others, Life after Life, Slaughterhouse Five, Casino Royale.

I didn't even get through the first page! I think we're safe. :D

"This day has my name tattooed on its butt." LOL!

It is warm and HUMID (82%) here in my corner of California. That humidity is almost unheard of for being this far away from the ocean. Did not make running errands any easier today. blergh

>207 Morphidae: OIC

>208 msf59: :-)

>209 AuntieClio: EIGHTY-TWO PERCENT?! Horripilation!! *there there, pat pat* this too shall pass.

Cute Stella story: I got some Oreo Heads or Tails cookies in the spiffing newfangled pull-tab package. One disadvantage to those things is my flipper-like hands have trouble keeping the top flap open while fishing inside for cookies. I tried putting the flap under the end of the package and forgot that I'm current on the gravity bill. *flibbledyblump* six cookies land on the floor, and Stella snaffles one before I manage to pick it up.

Well. Breathes there a mammal that doesn't *adore* the Oreo? (No, she's not allergic to chocolate, which she proved long ago by hauling the garbage out and eating all the chocolate icing I'd thrown in there.) So a few minutes ago, I unsealed the flap dingus, fished out a cookie, and turned around...to a dog nose at face level. She had swiftly and silently come into my bedroom from wherever she was and put her front paws on the edge of the bed to be in prime position should cookies fly about again.

When offered a liver treat as a sop, she sniffed it politely, kissy-licked my hand a bit, and walked away. "I mean REALLY you oaf liver or chocolate do I look stupid?" was clear as day to read in her strides.

I always knew Stella was smart. BTW--Have you seen all the varieties of Oreos now available? Mint, Double Stuff, Banana Split, Watermelon, Vanilla, Birthday Cake...I think there are almost 20. CRAZY! I still prefer the originals.

Wait...banana split oreos? *heads for Wegmans, possibly forgetting to shut the door behind herself*

>212 Berly:, >213 laytonwoman3rd: Wait! WAIT FOR ME!!

Double Stuff for me, please. Pretty please. Pretty please with whipped cream on top, plus sprinkles?

Yes, I'm a Double Stuff gal myself.

Wait, that sounds obscene.

Review: 30 of seventy-five

Title: A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA

Author: ANTHONY MARRA

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: In a small rural village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa watches from the woods as Russian soldiers abduct her father in the middle of the night and then set fire to her home. When their lifelong neighbor Akhmed finds Havaa hiding in the forest with a strange blue suitcase, he makes a decision that will forever change their lives. He will seek refuge at the abandoned hospital where the sole remaining doctor, Sonja Rabina, treats the wounded.

For Sonja, the arrival of Akhmed and Havaa is an unwelcome surprise. Weary and overburdened, she has no desire to take on additional risk and responsibility. But over the course of five extraordinary days, Sonja’s world will shift on its axis and reveal the intricate pattern of connections that weaves together the pasts of these three unlikely companions and unexpectedly decides their fate. A story of the transcendent power of love in wartime, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is a work of sweeping breadth, profound compassion, and lasting significance.

My Review: The Doubleday UK meme, a book a day for July 2014, is the goad I'm using to get through my snit-based unwritten reviews. Today's prompt is the twenty-first, discuss a book you expected to hate but ended up loving.

Life: a constellation of vital phenomena—organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.

Yes.

Now, there is always a matter of taste when it comes to appreciating or otherwise a given writer's work. Do the writer's words ring you like a bell? Do they smack you in the chops? Do they slither into your ears emitting glassy slime like a hagfish? That's the chief factor in determining your ultimate response to a work. I think some writers are equivalent of chocolatiers, making bonbon after truffle upon caramel. Lovely taken one at a time; urpsome in bulk. I think Marra is a chocolatier of a writer in this book.

There is something miraculous in the way the years wash away your evidence, first you, then your friends and family, then the descendants who remember your face, until you aren’t even a memory, you’re only carbon, no greater than your atoms, and time will divide them as well.

Mmmmm. Yum. Sing it, Brother Anthony, sing it.

Invader and invaded held on to their fistfuls of earth, but in the end, the earth outlived the hands that held it.

Yes. I concur. A bit baroque, permabehaps, but yes.

For their entire lives, even before they met you, your mother and father held their love for you inside their hearts like an acorn holds an oak tree.

Oh gag me! A milk chocolate strawberry creme-filled emetic-level Whitman's Sampler spitback!

So here I was, alternately uplifted and revolted, and still...this story made me stop what I was thinking and attend to it, and that's no mean feat. The horror of stories about war is, for me, only partially touched by the battles and the soldiers and the wounds they inflict on themselves and each other. The people whose lives are utterly upended by wars fought in their name and on their land are so often simply disappeared in toponymic abstraction (eg, the Mexican-American War). This novel doesn't look so much at the war as at the warred-over place and its inhabitants.

Marra's gift is in making images of the place vivid:

The trees they passed repeated on and on into the woods. None was remarkable when compared to the next, but each was individual in some small regard: the number of limbs, the girth of trunk, the circumference of shed leaves encircling the base. No more than minor peculiarities, but minor particularities were what transformed two eyes, a nose, and a mouth into a face.

And the people who live in the violated, wounded place:

As someone whose days were defined by the ten thousand ways a human can hurt, she needed, now and then, to remember that the nervous system didn't exist exclusively to feel pain.

It's a very well-made book, it's got a helluva wallop of a message, and it's fun to read. I was expecting nothing more than a flashy MFA-from-Iowa-Writers'-Workshop meretricious bauble. Some parts of the book are, in fact, that very thing. One's own taste determines where the balance point lies. Are there more surprisingly good moments than there are expectedly Shiny-Brite ones?

Entire years had passed when he was rich enough in time to disregard the loose change of a minute, but now he obsessed over each one, this minute, the next minute, the one following, all of which were different terms for the same illusion.

And there I say yes. Yes, this is more beautiful than brummagem.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Ah Richard! You have crafted a fine sentence here: "I think Marra is a chocolatier of a writer in this book." And sometimes I catch myself reading as if I was inhaling Jelly Belly candies, too fast to taste; sometimes slower, one at a time. Thank you for that. And of course, thank you for the whole review. Delightful is your skill with writing.

Morning RD! For some reason I thought you disliked Constellation and abandoned it early, but according to your fine review, you loved it. I am a Happy Camper. I will be meeting Marra in Asheville next month. He is an author to keep an eye on.

Interesting review...thumbed (whutelsiznu?). LT recommends it for me based on five books in my library, two I loved, two I haven't read and one I wasn't particularly impressed with. All of this, I think, adds up to "I should probably read this too.) *sigh*

Wonderful review of what remains my favorite read of the year so far! Off to apply the appropriate opposable digit...

Constellation of Vital Phenomena is one of my top books of the year so far. Thanks for the even-handed review, Richard. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was reading a book set much further back in time than the first part of this century. The deprivations and lack of modernity were palpably frustrating.

>218 maggie1944: *le smooch* for le compliment

It's a really powerfully evocative read.

>219 msf59: I did hate it last time we spoke about it last year, and only came to appreciate it as its whole picture came clear. It's a book that took its time to make itself known to me. I'm glad that, even though I was annoyed by it, I never had the urge to Pearl Rule it.

>220 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for the thumb! I'm pretty sure you won't be sorry you spent the eyeblinks reading it. I don't think, based on what I know of your reading, it'll be on your life-list of joyously savored reads.

>221 katiekrug: AND you'll be meeting him. Fiend incarnate.

Find out if he's single and likes daddies.

>222 jnwelch: Heh, I know what you mean, Joe. Things about it made me think of accounts I read of the Crimean War. Isn't that horrifying?

Oh dear ....another volume to move up the queue. this is sitting on the shelf from last year's Maine Reader's Choice batch looking worn from the number of times I've picked it up, leafed thru and put it back on the "someday" shelf. now at least it will have a little note with "see RD review." off to apply a thumb.

>225 tututhefirst: Thanks, Tina! I appreciate the upgethumbing. I venture to suggest that you read this at the least distracted time available to you...but no hurry.

Richard admits he was wrong! This title shall ever more be remembered, Constellation of Vital Phenomena. Smooch.

>227 Berly: I'll always admit to being wrong when I am.

>224 richardderus: - I shall do no such thing! What would The Gentleman Caller say?!?

He's already said it. I got a harrumphy call taking me to task.

LOUDLY.

Apparently this wasn't a happy morning and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I apologize, love, I am sorry I said something that hurt you. I won't again.

It's nice when someone cares enough to get upset :)

It is, and that's a factor...but I feel rotten that I said something to hurt his feelings. I think I'm joking, and that's obvious, but without a facial expression like waggling eyebrows...well...

And now I know that he's *really* not amused by lecherous comments directed at men not his own good self. I believe we call that "jealous." I suspect all this will get easier if we can be closer physically.

Understood. That happens with The Wayne and me when I'm traveling. Distance sucks.

xoxo

It does. It's been over two years. I'm really ready to be in the same place as he is. I've quit caring where that ends up being. Just TOGETHER.

>228 richardderus: I know you are willing to admit error...it's just so rare that you are wrong!! ; )

>234 richardderus: Hoping that happens soon!

SOON!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow would be good. Tonight would be better. Just SOOOOONNNNN

Hi Richard, I saw on Ellen's thread that you had posted a review of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and I bustled over to have a look. Great review and you have whetted my appetite for this one. Unfortunately I have been on the library waiting list for this book since April, I probably should go ahead and buy myself a copy but I am strangely fascinated by how slowly it is is moving toward me.

>237 DeltaQueen50: Heh! Your patience exceeds mine by a wide margin, Judy. I bought mine and read it in a matter of days. I didn't start out liking the book much, but came around in the end.

Hello Richard, hope you had a lovely weekend my friend and have had a good Monday. Love and hugs from me and Karen.

>239 johnsimpson: Hi John! Thanks for the well-wishes, heartily returned with a smooch for adorable young Hannah.

Another stellar review, Richard! The inhumanity and humanity of Constellation of Vital Phenomena really grabbed me and it's turning out to be one of my favorites thus far this year. A powerful read.

>241 michigantrumpet: Thanks, Marianne, isn't it a beauty of a book? So harsh, so unsparing, and still makes it sound lovely.

A thumb-worthy review of the Marra book, RD!

>243 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori! It's a very intense read.

>244 richardderus: I have a nice, autographed edition just waiting for me to pick it up and read it!

>245 Berly: You. Are. CRUEL.

And unusual, which means there's summat in the Constitution about you. And it ain't real friendly-like.

And it came from Powell's in it's own little box with a separate "interview with the author" book.

Here's a quote: "Favorite Film: Good Will Hunting always gets me. The multiple time frames in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's first three films were a big influence in my understanding of story structure." Anthony Marra

: ) You love me.

xoxoxo, if I"m quieter than usual, you know why ;-)

Good morning Richard from a very sunny and warm Walton, have passed on the smooch for Hannah, we both send hugs to you my friend.

>247 Berly: That is lovely, Kimmers!

I got nuthin'

hope today brings something good

Good morning, RD. I spent 4 hours yesterday sitting in a grocery store parking lot reading. Even the boy who was collecting grocery carts stopped and talked to me, noticing that I had gotten very far in "that book". Setting an example for the youth.

Any way, I'm reading The Eye In The Door, second in Pat Barker's trilogy. I am liking it even better than book one. Characters are interesting and believable; and there's some exploring of the differences among the Classes. The writing is smooth and does not distract. A good sign. I should finish today I think. New job is not very lucrative but I love the enforced reading time.

>247 Berly: *barely restrains self from voodoo-dollying evil-hearted sadistic meanie Berly*

Of COURSE dear, why ever would you think I didn't?

*contacts Cousin Vinnie*

>248 AuntieClio: YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

>249 johnsimpson: Thank you, John! I'm glad it's a warm day because it's no fun to have a kid around when it's too cold to go outside.

Hi to Karen!

>250 msf59: Yeppir, thass me to the life. Only that mug's a bit on the paltry side.

>251 mckait: *smooch* Are you going down the hill later? (Note definite article, not merely downhill, because that's where we're all headed)

>252 maggie1944: I swaNEE, Karen44, you're the first person to say such a thing! Now I'm curious. I'll have to order the rest of the trilogy.

"Thanks."

Cousin Vinnie? Yeah, another one. Yep, West Coast too.

>232 richardderus: I guess this means we'll have to start posting pictures of scantily clad women then. Le Sigh.

So, today's Doubleday UK meme prompt is to discuss the novel you most like to give to friends.

Montana 1948 hands down. Reviewed some time ago. But this book gave me a kind of hope and a feeling of renewed trust in humanity when I was at my very lowest ebb (so far).

Why yes.. I have a frikkin interview

>257 mckait: Not really. No. They can't be serious about that.

Naaaaaaaah! It's all an April Fool thing, just weirdly late.

SMH

It's like a reality show... how far will they go?

toothache

hate this

oh no..... nooooooooooooooooooo no.

yep

hate hate hate it

teabag

clove

Dentist

pain meds! Yes, pain medications for dental pain. Yes.

Tie a string around it, fasten the other end to a doorknob, and SLAM!

Whiskey

^ what Joe said.

>263 mckait: YUK
>264 mckait: None
>265 mckait:, >266 maggie1944: ...and pay for it how?
>267 laytonwoman3rd: It's a molar.
>268 jnwelch:, >269 mckait: *hic* whuzzat chu sez?

My other Thingaversary order arrived. *sigh*

I got TWO copies of The Silkworm, NONE of The Cuckoo's Calling.

It's been an annoying day overall.

Hello Richard just popping by to see how you are doing.

Toothaches blow donkey chunks. Sorry :(

Oh, toothache. Ding dang. I've had enough of those to last me the rest of my time here on earth. I hope you find relief soon!

>272 GeezLouise: Hello Rae, I'm happy to see you here! Sending hugs.

>273 katiekrug: They do. Scotch + tylenol = tolerable pain.

>274 scaifea: See above, sweetiedarling. I liked your thread's Tuesday question!

>271 richardderus:. mine too. But toothache. I wish you had gone in for it the last time it went off on you
:(

I hope it goes away soon.

dentist.

Oooowwwie!!! Hope it goes away soon, without the aid of a string. Smooch.

Bad toothache, bad! Go away and stay away!

I'm going to smile for days about a "Whitman's Sampler spitback".

I love the Stella story and her longing for Oreos. Also, kudos for a wonderful review of Goldfinch.

I'm sorry you are in pain regarding dental issues. Ouch, ouch, ouch. When, oh when are you going to get a break? Hugs to you.

Hi all...toothache is still here. Not as bad, controlled by some tylenol and not a lot of moving around.

I put up my latest Doubleday UK meme review, a novel in an exotic setting: The Merry Misogynist, hard to get more exotic than 1978 Laos for ol' whitebread Murrikin me! It's in my thread...post #211.

>281 richardderus: I've only read through No. 4 of the Dr. Siri series, but I'm with you...I love to "go there" in the pages of a book. I know people who visit Laos on vacay, but 'twouldn't be on my list. Pictures and stories will do me just fine.

Ooo, a Dr. Siri review! I'm scampering right over for that one.

>276 mckait: money
*smooch*

>277 Berly: At least it's under control. I'm not complaining near as much as I would if it wasn't!

>278 AuntieClio: From your keyboard to gawd's inbox, sweetiedarling.

Another fine review, Richard! I love that series also, and I need to get on to the next one, as that's the last one I've read.

>279 tiffin: I can't imagine anything more urpsome than Whitman's Sampler "chocolates" anyway, but the creme-filled "fruit"-flavored ones...!

Thanks for the kind compliment, Tui.

>280 Whisper1: Linda dearest, I can't believe you even have a neuron left to consider such piddly little problems as mine! Your journey through the obstructionist paradise that is Murrikin health care is still causing me fantods. *smooch* thanks for coming by!

>282 laytonwoman3rd:, >283 jnwelch: GO THERE?!? Oh HELL no! Heat. Humidity. Mosquitoes. Nuh uh. Read about it, sure!

>285 ronincats: It's slowly winding down, the series...and I'll miss Dr. Siri when it's over. Thanks for stopping in!

Smooches dear man. I have a friend in town from NY and we are going to play today. Yay!

Always remember Three Stooges movies where the person with the toothache has a poultice against his cheek and a white scarf tied around his head and up over his head like rabbit ears.

Wonder if it helped any?

>287 Berly: Have a wonderful time!

>288 magicians_nephew: Dunno...I suspect pressure + heat brought some relief. Same theory behind tea bags, I suppose, only without the urpsome tea.

*hangs head* I stop in daily, usually several times, but don't always have much to say. And too much smooching will just go to your head!

*baaaaawwww* I obviously need better spyware.

*smooch*

>211 richardderus: Up-thumbed