Kidzdoc's 75 Book Challenge for 2009 #4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3




Books Read in 2009: (***=unfinished book)

January:
1. 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
2. The Illusion of Return by Samir El-Youssef
3. A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo
4. Mishima's Sword by Christopher Ross
5. Patriotism by Yukio Mishima
6. Does Your House Have Lions? by Sonia Sanchez
7. Mi Revalueshanary Fren by Linton Kwesi Johnson
8. The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso
9. Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami
10. Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami
11. Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra
***12. Nazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolaño

February:
13. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
14. Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoevsky
15. The Interrogation by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
16. Admiring Silence by Abdulrazak Gurnah
17. Novel 11, Book 18 by Dag Solstad
18. A Better Angel: Stories by Chris Adrian
19. The Cobra's Heart by Ryszard Kapuściński
20. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
21. The Arrival by Shaun Tan
22. Travelling with Djinns by Jamal Mahjoub
23. The Conjure Woman by Charles W. Chesnutt
24. Metropole by Ferenc Karinthy
25. A Journey Round My Skull by Frigyes Karinthy
26. Ül: Four Mapuche Poets, edited by Cecilia Vicuña
27. The Lemoine Affair by Marcel Proust

March:
28. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
29. My Floating Mother, City by Kazuko Shiraishi
30. The Oldest Orphan by Tierno Monénembo
31. Outcasts United: A Refugee Soccer Team, an American Town by Warren St. John
32. Resistance: The Human Struggle Against Infection by Norbert Gualde, M.D.
***33. The United States of Africa by Abdourahman A. Waberi
34. The Winners by Julio Cortázar
35. Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
36. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
37. Broken Glass by Alain Mabanckou
38. The Tango Singer by Tomás Eloy Martinez
39. Autonauts of the Cosmoroute by Julio Cortázar & Carol Dunlop
40. Golpes Bajos/Low Blows: Instantáneas/Snapshots by Alicia Borinsky
41. UFO in Her Eyes by Xiaolu Guo (China)
42. Shyness & Dignity by Dag Solstad (Denmark)
43. A Strange and Sublime Address by Amit Chaudhuri (India)

April:
44. Brain Surgeon by Keith Black, MD (USA)
45. The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (The Netherlands)
46. Cambridge by Caryl Phillips (UK/Caribbean)
47. Afternoon Raag by Amit Chaudhuri (India/UK)
48. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo (China/UK)
49. Breath by Tim Winton (Australia)
50. Books v. Cigarettes by George Orwell (UK)
51. Rhyming Life & Death by Amos Oz (Israel)
52. Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (Pakistan)
53. World Ball Notebook by Sesshu Foster (US)
54. The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (US)
55. Unlucky Lucky Days by Daniel Grandbois (US)

May:
***56. Five Spice Street by Can Xue (China)
57. The Mighty Angel by Jerzy Pilch (Poland)
58. The Fat Man and Infinity by António Lobo Antunes (Portugal)
59. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (Ireland)
60. Gimpel the Fool: And Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Poland)
61. Flowers of a Moment by Ko Un (Korea)
62. W, or The Memory of Childhood by Georges Perec (France)
63. Voice Over by Céline Curiol (France)
64. C.L.R. James: Cricket's Philosopher King by Dave Renton (Trinidad/UK/)
65. The King's Rifle by Biyi Bandele (Nigeria/UK)
66. Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello (Italy)
67. Plants Don't Drink Coffee by Unai Elorriaga (Basque/Spain)
68. Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro (UK)
69. The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)
70. The Armies by Evelio Rosero (Colombia)
***71. The Bathroom by Jean-Philippe Toussaint (France)

June:
72. Miles From Nowhere by Nami Mun (South Korea/US)
73. Rose by Li-Young Lee (Indonesia/US)
74. Frida's Bed by Slavenka Drakulić (Croatia)
75. In the Falling Snow by Caryl Phillips (St. Kitts/UK)
76. The Halfway House by Guillermo Rosales (Cuba/US)
77. How I Became a Nun by César Aira (Argentina)
78. The Waitress Was New by Dominique Fabre (France)
79. Ravel by Jean Echenoz (France)
80. Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
***81. Hoppla! 1 2 3 by Gérard Gavarry (France)
82. Pilcrow by Adam Mars-Jones (UK)
83. The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín (Ireland)
***84. The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat (Iran)

July:
85. Ghosts by César Aira (Argentina)
86. Medical London: City of Diseases, City of Cures by Richard Barnett (UK)
87. Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (Austria)
***88. The Postman by Antonio Skármeta (Chile)
89. Nostalgic Views of Atlanta {Atlanta History Center}
90. Mercury Under My Tongue by Sylvain Trudel (Canada)
91. The Fête at Coqueville by Émile Zola (France)
92. Flaw by Magdalena Tulli (Poland)
93. The Observer by Matt Charman (UK)
94. Literary Cafés of Paris by Noël Riley Fitch
95. Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi (UK)

August:
***96. Palafox by Eric Chevillard (France)
97. The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds (UK)
98. Literary Paris: A Guide by Jessica Powell
99. Not Untrue & Not Unkind by Ed O'Loughlin (Ireland)
100. Journey into the Past by Stefan Zweig (Austria)
101. Harare North by Brian Chikwava (UK)
102. Another Gulmohar Tree by Aamer Hussein (Pakistan/UK)
103. Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne (Sri Lanka/UK)
104. England People Very Nice by Richard Bean (UK)
105. The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (UK)
106. Derelict London by Paul Talling (UK)
***107. Me Cheeta: The Autobiography by James Lever (UK)
108. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (US)
109. The Trial of Robert Mugabe by Chielo Zona Eze (Nigeria)
110. The Country Where No One Ever Dies by Ornela Vorpsi (Albania)
111. How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall (UK)
112. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Rachel Fershleiser (US)

September:
113. Summertime by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
114. Beauty Salon by Mario Bellatin (Mexico)
115. Love and Summer by William Trevor (Ireland)
116. Blood & Guts: A Short History of Medicine by Roy Porter (UK)

Currently reading:
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (UK)
Coloured Lights by Leila Aboulela (Sudan/UK)

Other books I plan to read this month:
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt (UK) {Booker Prize shortlist}
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (UK) {Booker Prize shortlist}
My Men by Malika Mokeddem (Algeria) {Belletrista}
The Translator by Leila Aboulela (Sudan) {Belletrista?}
Journey to Portugal by José Saramago (Portugal) {Reading Globally September theme read}
Bone People by Keri Hulme (Australia) {Reading Globally August theme read}
A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro (UK) {Author mini-theme read}
Wonder by Hugo Claus (Belgium) {2009 Archipelago Books subscription}

Book #99: Not Untrue and Not Unkind by Ed O'Loughlin



My rating:

This novel is also on the current Booker Prize longlist.

Owen Simmons is a writer and copy editor for a major international newspaper, who is selected to become an editor after the sudden death of Cartwright, a colleague and nemesis. In preparation for his new position, and a degree of curiosity about the man he is replacing, he reviews Cartwright’s folder. In it he finds a magazine photo that he had taken ten years earlier, when he worked as a freelance journalist in some of the most dangerous places in Africa. In the photograph are several of his former colleagues, most of whom he hasn’t seen or spoken to in years. As he remembers his time in Africa, we learn more about these colleagues, and about the dangers they faced, the petty squabbles and competitions they have with each other, and the stressors that make their lives both exhilarating and mundane. A slightly older female journalist becomes a valued confidant and lover, as well.

O’Loughlin, who worked as a reporter in Africa for The Irish Times, gives us a stark and unsentimental look into the lives of foreign journalists in war-torn countries. Simmons and his colleagues are cynical and unlikable characters, which made this book a bit of a challenge to read, as I skimmed over the last 100 pages. The book discusses the townspeople, government officials and military leaders only tangentially, in keeping with its focus on the journalists. Because I gained a greater insight into and appreciation of these journalists, and the hardships they face, I would recommend this book primarily for those interested in an inside look into the lives of foreign journalists.

Sounds interesting but not life-changingly good - how do you rate its chances?

#258 from last thread: the medical walking tour pamphlets sound REALLY neat. I kept thinking as I walked around the Bow bells church area that I could understand how the plague spread, those tiny crooked streets and the houses all cheek by jowl. Not to mention the unsanitary conditions.

#2: don't think I'll be tackling that one.

#3: I would be surprised if it made the shortlist...which means that it probably will make the shortlist. I've "only" read three of the 13 so far, and it's a poor third to the other two, with Brooklyn my favorite so far.

Book #100: Journey into the Past by Stephan Zweig



My rating:

This novella was a perfect book to hit the century mark on; I loved it! After reading this and Chess Story earlier this year, I am adding Zweig to my favorite authors list.

Ludwig is a self-made man, who was born in poverty, put himself through university at night while working during the day, and rose to become the trusted right-hand man of a wealthy German industrialist in the years before the Great War. The industrialist is in failing health, and asks Ludwig to move into his vast estate. He initially refuses, but finally agrees. Upon his arrival, he meets the industrialist's beautiful young wife, who makes him feel immediately at home, and he soon falls madly in love with her.

Two years later he is sent to Central America by the company, and the trip is to last two years. He is initially reluctant to leave, due to his previously unexpressed feelings for his unnamed love. Once she finds out he is leaving, she admits that she fell in love with him from the moment she first met him, and they agree to consummate their smoldering love on his return. The meeting is delayed due to the onset of the Great War, but eventually he is able to return to Germany, and the two agree to meet. He feels the same passion for her that he had on his departure, but wonders if she will still agree to her promise.

Journey into the Past is a complex, passionate tale of love and how it can grow or wither with time and hardship. The story had me on edge for its short length, and is one of the best novellas I've ever read. This is easily one of my favorite reads of the year.

Wow! Journey into the Past sounds wonderful. I'm definitely adding it to the TBR list. I've never read anything by Zweig.

And congrats on reading 100 books!!!

I just received Journey into the Past this month from TBD, and now am very excited to read your glowing review. I am quite surprised that such a fine author is relatively unknown - I just loved The Chess Story. (Maybe he is well-known but not to me?)

Those medical walking tours of London sound wonderful. Have you been to the historical operating room complete with instruments, etc. If I remember rightly, it was opposite Guy's Hospital. It would have been difficult to practice medicine in the 19th Century!!

#8: I hadn't heard about Zweig until New York Review Books published Chess Story a few years ago. I read several glowing reviews on LT about it this year, but I think that it was your review that made me decide to buy it. So, thank you (and everyone else) for recommending this wonderful author!

The operating room you mentioned is part of one of the Medical London walking tours. I'll probably visit it early tomorrow morning.

BTW, have you read anything by the British medical historian Roy Porter?

#7: Thanks, porch_reader! I hadn't read anything by him before Chess Story a few weeks ago. I'll probably pick up another book or two by him before I leave London next week.

arubabookwoman, you had asked if the edition of Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec is the new edition. I finally thought to look at it just now, and it is the new "prize winning" translation, by David Bellos of Princeton. Over here it has been published by Vintage Classics; In the US, David R. Godine, Publisher should be putting it out very soon, if it isn't already available.

I'll look for Journey into the Past too, and for all you Zweig lovers, there is a also Beware of Pity, perhaps his only (?) full-length novel and quite moving, melancholy, and provocative

I looked for Beware of Pity in Foyles and a couple of other bookstores on Charing Cross Road, without success (I was also looking for the Mawer and Scudamore novels from the Booker Prize longlist, but didn't find either one). From your link, Rebecca, I see that it is a NYRB Classic, so it should be easily enough to find on our side of the pond.

I was interested to see a display of Archipelago Books at Foyles on Charing Cross Road, near the side entrance on the ground floor.

I did pick up two books from Foyles: Chowringhee by Sankar, a classical work of Indian literature that was recentlye re-published, about people who work and stay in an old, opulent hotel in Calcutta; and Brixton Beach, the newest novel by Roma Tearne, which starts in London after the 2005 tube and bus bombings and is about life in London after 7/7 and the civil war in Sri Lanka. I hadn't heard about Brixton Beach before, but it sounds good.

>100 mckait: - Hi, Darryl

Congratulations upon completing book #100!!! An achievement of note, for sure.

Sounds like you are continuing to have a great time on your vacation. The only book that I've read relating to medical history in the city of London is The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World. I thought is was an excellent book and found it extremely interesting. Perhaps you have read it also.

It is so wonderful to hear of all of your purchases and adventures, Darryl.

Have some more good times and enjoy yourself each and every day.

Love, Ruth

Congratulations on 100 - glad it was such a corker!

Darryl--Re Life A User's Manual, I read the "older" version a couple of years ago, and loved it. It is a book that warrants rereading, as I'm sure there was a lot I missed in the first go round. In fact, I think it is a book that would stand up to multiple rereadings (and I don't often want to reread, much less reread more than once, a book, since there are so many good unread books out there). I wonder how much difference there is between the two versions, and whether I should spring for the newer edition. In any event, I'll be very interested to hear your reaction to the book when you read it.

Re Zweig--I've had The Post Office Girl waiting on my shelf for about a year now, and need to get to it soon. I put Beware of Pity on my list, based on Kiwidoc's (I think) recommendation. Looks like Journey into the Past is going on the list too.

P.S. Congratulations on reaching 100.

Book #101: Harare North by Brian Chikwava



My rating:

The unnamed narrator of this debut novel emigrates to London, or Harare North, from Zimbabwe, where he served as one of President Mugabe's Green Bombers, the youth attack squads that terrorized the regime's opponents. He needs US$5000 to buy back his freedom from local officials, after he is caught beating up an opposition party official.

Upon his arrival in London, he is granted temporary asylum, but does not have working papers. After staying with a cousin and his wife, he moves in with a childhood friend living in an abandoned house in Brixton, along with several other countrymen trying to make it. He eventually obtains work in the underground industry, where the best paying jobs are held by BBCs, or British Buttock Cleaners, who look after "old people that poo their pants every hour". The daily internal and external stressors on the narrator and his housemates take a large toll on their physical and mental health, and each one is ultimately left to rely on himself to survive and to avoid descending into crime or madness.

Harare North is a dark comedy that becomes a suffocating and dizzying ride that the reader takes along with the narrator, which gives an instructive glimpse into the lives of illegal immigrants living under the radar of the average city resident, whether in London or any other international city.

I am behind on the threads a bit, but a belated "Congratulations" on hitting 100 books!

As usual, Planet TBR is growing leaps and bounds whenever I encounter your thread :)

Congrats on 100 books and thanx for the review on Harare North. It's definitely added to the tbr.

I had quite a full day today! I saw a great play at the National Theatre this afternoon, England People Very Nice, a controversial but hilarious look at several waves of immigration in the Bethnal Green section of London, from the Hugenots in the 16th cenury to the Somalis of the present day. I meant to pick up the script from the NT Bookshop, but was in a hurry to leave and forgot to do so; I'll go back there later this week to pick up a copy, and will submit a review of the play and script then.

After the play, I took the Underground to Foyles Bookshop, and made it in time to see a free jazz concert at Ray's Jazz Cafe in the bookshop given by the Will Butterworth Trio, which was very good. In between sets I picked up The Glass Room by Simon Mawer and Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig from the bookshop.

I started to read Small Lives by Pierre Michon, but stopped reading it after the first chapter. However, I just now managed to finish a novella I brought with me, Another Gulmohar Tree by Aamer Hussein; unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment, though not bad. I think I'll submit a review tomorrow morning, due to the late hour here.

Green with envy.

Well done on the 100 - your book choices are superb.

Thanks, kiwi; I hope I'm not being obnoxious in my travel narratives!

Book #102: Another Gulmohar Tree by Aamer Hussein



My rating: 2-1/2 stars

This was a marginally interesting love story of a British woman who meets a Pakistani man while he is working as a journalist in London, who follows him to Karachi after she divorces her husband and his wife dies. The book begins with several short and interconnected tales, which I found more enjoyable that the narrative of the lovers. This was a quick and not unpleasant read, but not one I would strongly recommend.

#21: OK, I think I will skip that one.

It's always a shame when things don't end as well a they begin.

Love the travel narratives. Envious of all the books you seem to be getting read.

Ah, yours is always a dangerous thread for my tbr pile. You read such incredibly interesting books. For now, I'm adding Journey Into the Past. I enjoy your description of this one.

And, congratulations on reading 103 books!

I'm mostly lurking here but I also love the travel narratives. London is my favorite city to visit. It sounds like you're having a great time. Congrats on making 100 books!

In today's New York Times is an article about the book Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector by Benjamin Moser. Lispector, an author I had never heard of, is essentially unknown outside of Brazil, but she is considered one of the country's greatest writers, and the article talks about her books, career, and interesting life.

Writer’s Myth Looms as Large as the Many Novels She Wrote

The New York Review of Books web site has a podcast of J.M. Coetzee reading an excerpt from his latest novel, Summertime, which has been longlisted for this year's Booker Prize. It will be released in the UK early next month, and in the US in December. The page also includes links to written excerpts from the book, in the Review's July 16 and August 13 issues.


J.M. Coetzee Reads From Summertime

Thanks for posting those links, Darryl!

You're welcome, Stasia. Over on Club Read we have a thread on interesting articles that we run across. I contributed these articles to that thread, and thought some of the 75ers who aren't on Club Read might be interested, as well.

oooh, that looks like an interesting thread - thank you!

Should we do the same thing in the 75ers group?

sounds like a great idea!

Oh, I'm really late in catching up on threads, but, if you're still in London and interested in yet another fascinating (and free) museum, try the Soanes Museum (which was his house). He's got a collection of Hogarth paintings which is outstanding, plus his library, plus his architectural casts, plus a sarcophogus, plus a design which allows the house to be cool in hot weather and warm in cold!

http://www.soane.org/

If you've moved on, next time....

Oh, and still great reads! Thanks.

safe journey home ( with much sleeping)

(YAWN) Thanks, kath! My body is back in Atlanta, but my head somewhere in between. I got back in early yesterday afternoon after a pretty easy and uneventful trip, although I woke up at 3 am London time (10 pm Eastern Time in the US) to get to the airport (Gatwick) in sufficient time. I took MARTA (city subway) from the airport to the Lenox Mall station in Buckhead (one stop above the Lindbergh Center station, where your son lives), and was thrilled to discover that the attendant for the parking garage was temporarily off duty, and the gate was open. So, my parking fee for the entire 18 day trip was $0.00! I drove back to Midtown, ate lunch/dinner, called Mom, took a "nap" starting at 5:30 pm Eastern time -- and woke up half an hour ago (4:30 am)! Fortunately I'm off until Monday, so I have time to unpack and finish adjusting to Eastern time, and Atlanta heat (93 degrees today).

Thanks for that recommendation, Prop2gether. I hadn't heard of that museum, but I'll add it to the growing list of things to do on my next trip to London, which will probably be this spring. I normally visit San Francisco 3-4 times per year, and I think from now on, God willing, I'll go to London/Europe and to San Francisco each 1-2 times every year.

I finished Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne Wednesday night, which was very good. I started The Glass Room by Simon Mawer yesterday, which I should finish today, along with the script for the play England People Very Nice by Simon Mawer; I saw it at the National Theatre on Saturday. I'll submit reviews for all three later today. After that I'll probably start Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.

ah yes, timing is everything....! well done! as for the heat? all I can say is ouch!
glad you are safe :)

Thanks, kath. 93 degrees is probably only a couple of degrees above normal for Atlanta for this time of year, so I can't complain or feign surprise.

BTW, the previously moribund Medicine group is becoming active again, with a discussion on what books every health professional should read here. I'd encourage y'all to check it out, whether you are a health professional or not.

Welcome home, kidz - although with the wonders of cyberspace you didn't really leave. (Funny thinking of "home" as a thread on LT. hehe)

Thanks, Tui. Although I thoroughly enjoyed London, it's good to be back. "Home" is where the heart is...and LT is definitely included in my concept of the word.

Book #103: Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne



My rating:

Roma Tearne is an acclaimed artist and author who was born in Sri Lanka, then emigrated with her family from Colombo to London in 1964 after violent clashes between the Sinhalese and the Tamil populations began to spiral out of control. Tearne, who was born to a Tamil father and a Sinhalese mother, is the author of Mosquito and Bone China; Brixton Beach is her latest novel, which was published in the UK in May of this year.

I finished this book Wednesday night, and left it in my London hotel room, to make room for other books. So, I apologize in advance if certain details (especially names of characters) are in error.

The novel begins on the day of the terrorist bombings on three Underground trains and a Transport for London bus in London on July 7, 2005. Simon Swann is a physician who comes upon the carnage outside of the Edgware Road tube station minutes after the bombing. He begins to aid the wounded passengers, but is mainly interested in locating Alice Fonseka, a woman he has recently met; however, we are not given any more information about the relationship until much later.

The action then shifts to Sri Lanka, with Alice's birth to Sita, a feisty and independent Sinhalese woman, and (name?), her restless and sullen Tamil father. Although her parents' marriage is without love and is doomed to failure, Alice's early life is rich and rewarding, as she is nurtured and inspired by Sita's father Bee, a respected painter and sculptor, and his wife.

As the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict deepens, Alice experiences ostracism and hostility from her teachers and former friends at school due to her mixed background, and her family and neighbors fall victim to violence at the hands of Sinhalese mobs, police and other government officials. Alice's father realizes that there is no future for him in Sri Lanka, and makes plans to emigrate to London, where his brother is currently living. Sita reluctantly agree to follow him there, after she experiences a tragic personal loss and falls deeply in love with another man. Alice does not want to leave her beloved grandfather, who has encouraged her to become an artist as well.

The family experiences hardship, discrimination and strife in London, and the troubled marriage soon falls apart. With her grandfather's words and the help of a teacher, Alice develops into a fine but troubled and lonely artist, as she is torn between her lives in Sri Lanka and London. She eventually becomes married, moves into a house in Brixton which she paints in the vivid colors of her homeland and names Brixton Beach. She has a child, and finds success in her work after several years of struggle, although her insensitive husband ultimately leaves her. Years later she meets Swann, who is about to leave his wife, at a party celebrating her work, and the two fall in love.

On the morning of the bombing, we are brought back to the beginning of the novel, as Alice takes the Underground and Swann is at work at St. Thomas' Hospital.

This was a tragic, beautiful, and disturbing novel about the daily struggle of assimilation, in one's own country and abroad, the search for love and acceptance, and the importance of family in nurturing a vulnerable young person in dire straits. The portrayal of the beauty of Sri Lanka is in stark contrast with the violence there and the depressing climate in London, and is very well done. The first 300 pages were near perfect; however, the action in the last 100 pages seems rushed; we are introduced to Alice's husband, who she meets on the street, and within two or three pages they are married, without understanding what attracted her to him or learning much about him. Despite this, Brixton Beach was an unforgettable read, and is highly recommended.

msg 34 - Prop2gether - I've never heard of that - shall have to investigate next weekend!

Hi Darryl,

Glad you arrived home safely. I'm looking forward to your review of The Glass Room; I think it will be my next Booker read as well. I am currently deep into Byatt's The Children's Book, and loving it, though it is certainly looong and detailed. Mantel's Wolf Hall arrived at my house today, and it is another monster of a novel too - thank goodness some of the others are much shorter!

Edited to try to fix touchstones, but to no avail :(

>36 kidzdoc: I'm so glad to hear you called mom when you got home! These things are always appreciated, and usually forgotten!

Darryl is good to his folks.. visits often.. I am not surprised to hear he called :)

I wanted to see the Soane so badly but the only day I had left uncommitted was a Monday and it was closed. Next time for sure! Do a scouting mission, flissp! ;)

#42: Cait, I just finished The Glass Room, and it is definitely my favorite of the four longlisted books I've read so far. I'll give it 4.75 stars here, and 5 stars on the review page. I'll submit a review tomorrow or Sunday, as I want to think about it some more.

I'll be looking forward to your comments on The Children's Book.

I think I'll start either How to Paint a Dead Man or The Wilderness next, and try to finish either by Sunday. I go back to work on Monday, and I usually don't read much during my work days, so I'd rather not start anything that I won't get to for several days. I'll then be off for 5 days starting on Saturday, and I'll probably read Wolf Hall then, and save The Children's Book for my next break in early September.

You know, Darryl, I really hate visiting your thread - you recommend so many wonderful books that I am just dying to read and my library has none of them!

I am adding Brixton Beach and The Glass Room to Planet (never gonna get read if my library does not get them in), lol.

I admit I have to laugh at the title of How to Paint A Dead Man - I keep thinking that it cannot be that hard, since he is dead and will not wiggle.

Editing trying to fix a Touchstone that refuses to be fixed!

Stasia, it might be awhile before your library has any of the three books you mentioned, as I bought all of them in London. Let's see...according to Amazon US, How to Paint a Dead Man comes out in the US on Sep 8, and it doesn't list Brixton Beach or The Glass Room yet.

Brixton, BTW, is an area in South London that has been the home of black and Caribbean immigrants to the UK since the 1950s, when a large migration of Caribbean immigrants to the UK took place. I went there for the first time on Monday, when I went to look for a black barbershop near the Brixton tube station I did find a barber, who gave me a great haircut, but he was Middle Eastern and not black! The area around the tube station was very diverse and vibrant, and reminded me of similar sections of NYC, especially in Brooklyn.

#48

Brixton has also, traditionally, had a pretty bad reputation. However, I believe it has got a lot better in the last ten years, and there are plenty of areas of London that are worse. The sense of it being a rough part still holds sway though, especially with those that are not Londonites, or that are the snobbier type of Londoner.

#48: I wonder if my husband would kill me if I break out my credit card and order them all from the Book Depository . . .

Right. The area around the tube station felt very safe to me, with plenty of stores, lots of people of all different backgrounds (lots of whites, majority black/Caribbean, several Middle Easterners, lots of mothers with kids, quite a few elderly whites and blacks). The stores were not what you would see on Oxford Street or Bond Street, but they looked perfectly respectable and clean, and the streets were clean and well maintained.

I imagine that I would have had a different experience had I gone there at 3 am, or wandered several blocks away from the tube station. But, people can be victims of crime in any area; when I was there an Asian doctor was murdered by two white teenagers near Green Park, which is a very nice area, close to Buckingham Palace.

#50: If you tell him that the books are discounted from the regular price and shipping is free, he should be okay with it, right? Let's see...The Book Depository is selling the paperback edition of How to Paint a Dead Man for £11.69; I paid £12.99 for it. The Glass Room will cost you £15.29, instead of the £16.99 I paid for it. Unbelievable!

Just shows you could have saved yourself the trouble of going to London to buy books, lol! Think of all the savings :)

True. But I did support several London bookstores, and even though I enjoy getting books in the mail, it doesn't compare to buying them in a favorite independent bookstore. I greatly fear that in 10-20 years that bookstores will be a thing of the past, with limited exceptions, and I want to support them as much as I can.

I am afraid that is true, too. I cannot imagine buying books with the independents. I will be very sorry to see them go if they do indeed all disappear.

ETA: If I had the money, I would open my own independent bookstore and called it 'Library Thing Bookstore' and stock all the recommended books from the 75 books challenge group!

Book #104: England People Very Nice by Richard Bean



My rating: (4 stars for the text)

England People Very Nice opened at the National Theatre in London in February 2009, and apparently closed within the past few days. I saw it last Saturday, and read the script yesterday, which was helpful, as I missed a number of jokes in the performance due to the heaviness of the actors' accents (cockney, Irish, and Bangladeshi).

The setting for the play is a UK immigration detention centre, which is filled with migrants and asylum seekers hoping to obtain leave to remain status there. While waiting there, the inmates decide to write and perform a play, based on four waves of immigration to Bethnal Green, a neighborhood in the East End of London, starting with the French Hugenots in the 16th century, followed by the Irish, Jews, and Bangladeshis. At the beginning of England People Very Nice, the actors and director go through their final rehearsal, and the play as performed by the actors takes up all but a few minutes at the beginning and end of the two acts.

The play is a riotous, irreverent and hilarious view of the immigrants by the "native" Londoners in Bethnal Green, and vice versa. The French are portrayed as farting frogs, who wish to pollute English culture with their snobbery and love of sex and cabbage; the Irish keep pigs in their home and have mutant babies after having sex with their siblings ("Don't sleep with strangers; it's dirty!"); the Jews, Bangladeshis and Muslims are similarly skewered. However, the Anglo-Saxons are equally misrepresented, as intolerant, sexually frigid but promiscuous, and vulgar. With each wave there is a love story between the same two actors, with the woman playing a "native" Londoner, whether Anglo-Saxon, Irish or Jewish, who falls in love with the "immigrant" of that particular time. As the immigrants take over Bethnal Green with each wave, the "natives" escape to suburban Redbridge, to pursue their dreams.

At the end of the inmates' performance, several members obtain letters indicating that they have been granted or denied "Leave to Remain" status in the UK, providing a sense of reality and solemnity to the end of the play.

The play England People Very Nice was most entertaining, and is highly recommended by me if it resurfaces in the UK or abroad. The script in the book does follow completely or nearly identically to the performance; however, it doesn't begin to capture the energy and flavor of the live performance.

Lots of good articles and reviews in today's Guardian Review, too many to post here. So, I'll just post a link to the Review's page:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/guardianreview

Tomorrow's New York Times Book Review has reviews of two books I'll be reading soon, Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and This Is How by M.J. Hyland. I have Zeitoun, and will use my 40% Borders coupon to buy This Is How today or tomorrow.

After the Deluge

Heartbreak Hotels

Book #106: Derelict London by Paul Talling



My rating:

This is an interesting book, consisting of color photographs taken by the author over several years of abandoned and decaying but still inhabited residences, pubs, factories, rail stations, World War II pillboxes and shelters, and cemeteries within the city. The author includes brief histories of the structures, along with future plans. Examples include the Down Street Underground Station on the Picadilly Line, which served as temporary headquarters for Winston Churchill and his cabinet during World War II; the Necropolis Railway Station, which was used to transport the dead from Waterloo Station to the Brookwood Necropolis, once the largest cemetery in the world; and the Intrepid Fox, a recently closed pub in Soho that was favored by rock stars such as Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart. This was a very entertaining read, which would be appreciated by Londoners and visitors interested in the history of the capital.

Good morning Darryl... :)
Ready to get back to work ? ( lol, I know I'm not and monday is the day.. )

Kath, I think I will be ready on Monday, but I'm not ready now! My internal clock is very screwed up at the moment; I went to sleep just after midnight, and woke up, wide awake, just after 2:30 am (which would be 7:30 am London time). If I do that on Monday I will be toast! I'm finally starting to feel sleepy, and I would imagine that I'll take a long afternoon nap. If not, I may need a little bit of help (i.e., Nyquil)...oh, wait, I still have some cold medication that I bought in London that has Benadryl in it, which knocks me out (I'm a lightweight when it comes to sedating medications).

Book #105: The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

My rating: 4.75 stars

Review later today or tomorrow...

Darryl, maybe as a doctor you can explain why I have the opposite reaction to cold medicine! The one time I took one was when I had a terrible cold the same day as a job interview, and the one I took did say something like "may make you drowsy; don't operate heavy machinery." But wow! I was bouncing off the walls. It had totally the opposite effect on me. (And PS, I did get the job -- this was 25 years ago and I haven't touched cold medicine since.)

Rebecca, this is a pretty well known phenomenon, a paradoxical response to antihistamines, including Benadryl. We see it in kids in the hospital who get Benadryl or Atarax, as we'll use it as a "benign" sleep aid at times. The kids will become wired, and absolutely wacky until it wears off in 4-6 hours. We see a similar but worse reaction at times to corticosteroids, such as prednisone or methylprednisolone (Orapred); kids can become very hyperactive and even a bit psychotic. I've seen several kids picking "bugs" out of the air or on their bedsheets. I'm not sure what the cause of this is, though, but I'll look it up online.

oh my! I am the same with most meds.. I I walk past benadryl in a store I get drowsy. Pain meds.. I learned many years ago that if ibuprofen won't work it is better to just deal. Codeine family of meds makes me very ill.. other things including muscle relaxants.. terrible. I just keep away and hope for the best. :P

This is from InteliHealth, health information for consumers from Aetna:

Antihistamines: What You Need to Know

Whether by prescription or purchased over the counter at any drugstore or supermarket, antihistamine medications are an effective way to keep hay fever reactions at bay and make allergy season a little more tolerable. As the name implies, antihistamines work by blocking the action of histamine, a chemical released by the body in response to an allergen. Histamine can cause sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes or skin, or hives. Here's what you need to know about taking antihistamines.

Make It A Routine

If your doctor advises that you go the antihistamine route, take your medicine regularly during an allergy season to prevent hay fever problems. On-and-off use of antihistamines may result in more noticeable side effects and less effective control of your symptoms.

Time It Right

If you are taking an antihistamine that makes you drowsy, it is reasonable to take the medication about a half-hour before going to bed. More recently developed antihistamines (marketed as “non-sedating” antihistamines) cause drowsiness in a smaller number of users. If these are easier for you to take without drowsiness, they may be worth it. If you are not using a 24-hour medicine, you may help to keep costs down if you use inexpensive sedating drugs at night and take the non-drowsy version in the morning.

Build Up Gradually

Although some antihistamines such as Claritin and Allegra relieve hay fever symptoms for most people without the common side effect of drowsiness, other prescription and over-the-counter medications frequently cause daytime sleepiness or, less commonly, restless nights. To avoid these problems, your body needs to get used to the medication gradually. Start by taking pills only at night. If your brand suggests taking two pills in a 24-hour period, begin by taking a single nighttime dose for three days. Starting on the fourth day, you can take one pill at night and one in the morning. If you are using a medication you are directed to take several times a day, you may similarly want to start slowly, but gradually build up to the recommended dosage after several days.

Try Different Brands

People react differently to different medications, so if one over-the-counter brand consistently makes you drowsy or causes other side effects such as dry mouth or nausea — try another. If you're taking a prescription antihistamine, ask your doctor for a substitute. If your symptoms are just nasal, inhaled nasal corticosteroids (such as Rhinocort, Nasacort, Beconase and others) are better than antihistamines in relieving a runny, itchy or stuffy nose.

Be Conscious of Side Effects

Antihistamines are not right for everyone. They can be hazardous for some people, particularly those who are elderly, those who have dementia or a tendency to become confused, or those who are prone to falls. Many people are aware that antihistamines can result in drowsiness, but in children and some older individuals, they sometimes have the opposite effect, causing agitation or hyperactive behavior. Antihistamines can also cause a dry mouth, cause constipation, or result in incomplete emptying of the bladder. (This last problem, called urinary retention, can be a particular problem for a person who has frequent bladder infections or a person who already experiences a delay when beginning to urinate.) Although not all brands have been studied formally, an increased rate of automobile accidents has been recorded in people who have taken antihistamines.

Some antihistamine brands are packaged together with a decongestant medication. An example of this would be Claritin-D, which combines the antihistamine loratadine (Claritin) with pseudoephedrine, a decongestant. Decongestant ingredients may cause side effects such as heart racing, high blood pressure, or insomnia, so you may wish to avoid a combination product if you are sensitive to these side effects.

Thanks, Darryl; I guess I'm just weird since I was neither a child nor an older person when this happened to me, but in my late 20s!

And I once had to take another medication that the doctor initially told me to take at night because it would make me sleepy. After a few nights of fitful sleep I called him up and said I thought I should take it in the morning.

And when I had tylenol with codeine after a minor operation, it made me feel so spaced out even though I cut the pills in half that I switched to plain tylenol.

I guess the upside is that I'm not cut out to become a drug addict!

I forgot to include the web site:

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW00/7945/32109/7740.html?d=dmtContent

Kath, I've seen dozens of kids in the hospital have bad reactions to codeine and other opioids, including nausea, vomiting, itching (itchy noses especially!), headache, and general ickiness. And, the more you take any pain medication, the less effective the dose is, in terms of the length of time it is effective, and the effectiveness of the quantity of the medication; so, kids who need pain meds for more than a few days frequently need additional meds, or an increase in the medication's dose or frequency. I'm too tired to think of the medical term, but basically frequent headache sufferers will get a rebound headache after taking analgesics frequently, kind of like rhinitis medicamentosa, where people who use those old nasal inhalers to relieve nasal congestion would get rebound swelling once the dose wore off. I greatly sympathize with chronic headache and other chronic pain sufferers; it is a very difficult problem to treat with the current medical armament.

Rebecca, I've heard of normal adults (like yourself!) who had this reaction, too. It's just that it's more common in kids, older people, and those who take it in excess quantities.

One of the weirdest reactions I saw in the hospital several years ago was in a two or three year old boy who came into the hospital ER acting high; he couldn't walk or sit upright on his own, had dilated pupils, didn't seem to recognize his parents, and kept trying to pull out his peripheral IV line. Because of his symptoms, the ER doc did a urine drug screen on him, which came up positive for PCP (angel dust)! The parents, upper middle class suburbanites, were horrified and shocked to learn this news. I was the admitting doctor that day, and told them that we needed to look into this further, and not jump to conclusions. At that point, we had no idea what he had gotten into, but I seriously doubted that he had gotten PCP at his house!

That night I looked for any medications that could give a false positive PCP, and dextromethorphan, a common cough suppressant, was included in the list. The next day I asked his parents if he could have gotten into anything, without telling them what I had found out, and the father found an empty bottle of Delsym (an OTC cough medicine which contains dextromethorphan) at home. Fortunately we were able to perform a blood test (mass spectroscopy) that proved that he had a large amount of dextromethorphan in his blood, and no PCP. The parents were cleared to take him home the following day, still shaken by the whole experience (as the case was referred to child protective services by the ER, once the urine drug screen result came back).

Welcome back Daryl--
I'm very interested in the Roma Tearne book, and putting it on the list.

Wanted to let you know I picked up Zeitoun this week and read it in one sitting. It's very good. I'll try to post a review tomorrow.

Get rested up for Monday!

#64: I am exactly the same way! Benadryl will put me out for 24 solid hours. Dramamine for 48. I try to not take anything if I can avoid it at all cost. I have had too many allergic reactions and side effects.

I'm glad you enjoyed Zeitoun, aruba; I'm going to start it tonight, now that I've stopped reading the following book.

Book #107: Me Cheeta: The Autobiography by James Lever



My rating:

This tell all biography by a chimpanzee who starred in the Tarzan movies along with Johnny Weismuller was selected for the Booker Prize longlist in 2009. It's filled with snarky humor, jokes about the movie industry and actors, and has numerous references to masturbation, excrement, and other body fluids. I guess I would say that it was well written, but it certainly wasn't a captivating story, and I stopped reading it after 70 pages.

#71: Hey, one from your thread I do not have to add to the Planet! Making progress here . . .

Dramamine and 2 Excedrine will often kill a migraine for me..
a portion of a Dramamine , that is.. and I sort of sleep it off.
Not for when I can't sleep...a migraine at work is the worst.
When I worked at the vet clinic, a little acupuncture would
get rid of the migraine in 10 minutes or so ... they would be blinding..
but it helped. Menopause migraines the worst experienced ever..
and now I apologize Darryl.. and will quit with wandering off with your thread.

#73: Kath, I think Dramamine and 2 Excedrine would actually kill me rather than the migraine, lol.

Welcome back!

Book #105: The Glass Room by Simon Mawer



My rating:

Simon Mawer is a British-born author who has authored eight novels, including Mendel's Dwarf, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 1997. An Oxford educated zoologist who has worked as a biology teacher, he has also written two books of nonfiction, including Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics. He currently resides in Italy.

The Glass Room is a novel about a house, a real and remarkable one, although the story and characters are fictional. It begins with the return of Liesel Landauer, now elderly and blind, to the house that she, a gentile, shared with her husband Viktor, a prosperous Jewish manufacturer of fine automobiles. The Landauer House, which sits on a hill overlooking the Czechoslovakian city of Mĕsto, was designed for the young couple by a famous Viennese architect in the 1920s, and was a classic work of modern design. The centerpiece of the house is the Glass Room, which has large plate glass windows and is partitioned by a wall made of onyx that changes in appearance with the position of the sun. Mawer describes the Glass Room early in the book, as the Landauers see it for the first time:

"It had become a palace of light, light bouncing off the chrome pillars, light refulgent on the walls, light glistening on the dew in the garden, light reverberating from the glass. It as though they stood inside a crystal of salt."

The Glass Room becomes a place where anything and everything is possible, as previous structural and cultural restraints are lifted. The wealthy and sophisticated couple embrace their new home to the fullest, using it frequently to host friends and business colleagues. Liesel's best friend, Hana, a irreverent, beautiful and sexually hungry married woman, is a frequent visitor who provides vitality and spark to the setting.

However, changes are occurring in Europe that darken and threaten the couple's idyllic existence. Hitler's national socialism spreads through and beyond nearby Germany, and the livelihood of Jews in Czechoslovakia becomes slowly but progressively more difficult. The Landauers initially ignore the warnings, as their wealth and influence insulate them from the growing menace. The couple agrees to take in a young woman who has been forced to flee from Vienna, a woman who is well known to Viktor. Finally the couple decides to flee their beloved house and country, but by the time they decide to do so, the Germans have already occupied Czechoslovakia. Hana and her Jewish husband, however, decide to stay in Mĕsto.

The novel then alternates between the lives of the Landauers and the new occupants, leading up to Liesel's eventual return to the Landauer House.

This was a brilliant and near-perfect novel that covers Europe before and during World War II and the subsequent decline in European culture, and includes rich descriptions of architecture, art and music. Love, infidelity and devotion are infused throughout the book, but ultimately the main story and character is the Landauer House with its Glass Room, and the effects it has on its inhabitants and visitors.

I suppose the highest praise I could give this novel is that I would like to start reading it again from the beginning. It is easily the best of the Booker Prize longlisted books I've read so far, and would be a deserving winner of the award, in my opinion.

Edited to correct touchstones and formatting.

I agree with Stasia; two Dramamine and two Excedrin would send me to bed for the remainder of the day.

I hope you're feeling better today, kath. Wait, how do I know that it's you? Is it mckait or mackait? Maybe mckate? I don't think we've heard the last of our little friend.

I love the graphic, Whisper...but where are the stacks of books that are near my glider?

lol, it was me.. and that is my end of the rope remedy.

I am fine today thanks :)

I am however, stealing that graphic and putting it on my profile if it will take it..

Wow - that is certainly high praise for the MAwer book, Darryl. I don't think I have seen you give 5 stars yet. I must get my hands on a copy. Thanks.

(Do you think that the book provides any unique form or innovation that would make it a future classic??)

Karen, what was most unique about it to me was that the house itself was the main character of the book. I don't claim to be well or widely read, but I'm not aware of any other major novel that uses an edifice or inanimate object in this way (although I'll bet £20 that someone here will list at least one example by day's end).

Here's a question for you, Cait, Tui or any of the other Canadians. I've noticed several times these past few weeks that the books I've purchased in London list the book's price in pounds and in Canadian dollars. However, the price in Canadian dollars is over two times the price in pounds. For example, my copy of The Glass Room lists for £16.99, or Canadian $38.00, which is much higher than the current exchange rate. What's up with that?

Looks like I'm going to have to add The Glass Room to the TBR list.

Book #108: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers



My rating:

This is a true story of a remarkable man, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, who emigrated to the United States from Syria, and appears to have achieved the American dream of prosperity through hard work and determination. He works for a number of contractors, and eventually becomes a successful owner of a house painting company and numerous housing properties in New Orleans. He is happily married to an attractive American woman who has converted to Islam, and they have three wonderful daughters.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina begins its slow, meandering course westward over the Atlantic Ocean and Florida, and appears to be no different than the dozen or so major storms that make landfall in the southern US. As the storm gains strength, it also appears to be headed directly for New Orleans, a city whose average elevation is one to two feet below sea level.

For decades it was well known that a major hurricane could cause failure of the city's levees, which keep the city from filling with water from Lake Pontchartrain to the north and the Mississippi River to the south, but local and government officials largely ignored this doomsday scenario, as it had not occurred since the city was founded in the early 18th century.

Despite his wife's pleas to evacuate, as the weather forecasters predict that Katrina will take direct aim at the city at a maximum Category 5 intensity, Zeitoun desires to remain in the city, in order to protect his home and properties. As his wife and daughters evacuate to nearby Baton Rouge, Zeitoun rides out the storm, which initially seems to be a wise decision, as he is able to save most of the valuables in his house. However, the levees do fail two days later, and he is forced to live on and outside the second floor of their home. With nothing else to do, he uses his used canoe to check on his properties, and in the process rescues several elderly neighbors who are trapped in their homes. A couple of friends who are flooded out of their homes move in with him, and all appears to be going well for him, despite the reports of looting and lawlessness throughout the embattled city. He decides to stay in the city to help other residents, who have been neglected by the National Guard and federal officials, as he believes that God has called upon him to do this. Soon, though, the relative tranquility is shattered by an unforeseeable event that threatens to erase everything he has worked so hard to achieve.

Zeitoun is a captivating page turner that, in the story of one man and his family, describes the spectacular failure of local, state and federal officials to protect victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the government's brutal and immoral treatment of innocent Americans of Middle Eastern descent after 9/11. Even though it is nearly 350 pages in length, it is a quick read, and, like arubabookwoman stated previously, I could not put it down after I resumed reading it this afternoon. Highly recommended.

Darryl, re #80, last autumn the £ was worth about $2.50 Canadian. Now it's around $1.82. All I can think of is that the book might have been published when the pound was higher against our dollar.

Love your review of the Glass Room and am keen to read it now too. The Yacoubian Building was kind of trying to do that a bit, wasn't it? The castle Gormenghast in the Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake definitely had a powerful effect on all its denizens.

I agree with you about Zeitoun. The NYT's review today also gives it very high praise. As stingy as I am with stars, I will probably give it 4 1/2 as well.

My library has a copy of The Glass Room available so I think it will be my Booker longlist read for this year. I'm in an extremely long queue for Wolf Hall.

I've posted my review of Zeitoun in message #82.

I give! I am just adding your entire thread to Planet TBR and be done with it, lol.

Hi! I just found your thread. Zeitoun sounds great; your review really convinced me -- I'm going to add it to my Wishlist.

Darryl, I just discovered this thread, and I must say that it's really interesting and unique. To answer two of your questions:

1. Re: the exchange rate: Canadians are always, always getting ripped off on exchange rates. It's included in the price of being Canadian (although Tiffin has an answer that is probably more technically correct, somehow it seems that if you're paying in Canadian dollars, you're going to get the short end of the stick).

2. The first building that comes to mind as a force in a book is The Shining, but I could be misremembering the story.

More on The Book Depository: I just got an e-mail this morning that they have a US site. I spot-checked 5 titles and 4 of them were cheaper than at Amazon (one of the fascinating things the Book Depository does is show you the Amazon price right on the same page as their own price).

>90 Nickelini:: Unless you're traveling in Canada and short of Canadian dollars! :-)

We just got back and noticed a new feature in many stores&mdash, a small sign that read: "We will accept either Canadian or U.S. currency as payment."

Translation: "We will allow you to pay using U.S. dollars and we will pocket the (currently) 10% difference."

Oh well, hard times for everyone. Fortunately, ATM machines will take a U.S. card and dispense Canadian dollars at the official exchange rate.

Thanks for the info on TBD's US site, Rebecca. I'll have to look at that when I'm thinking of ordering a book from Amazon (although I can't justify buying anything else at the moment).

I may not be posting much before Saturday. I'm (finally) back to work, and it's been an unusually busy week so far.

I'm surprised you didn't get the e-mail too, Darryl, since you seem to be even more addicted to the Book Depository than I am (or at least have been buying from them longer).

Yes, we usually get ripped off on the exchange rate. It might also be explained if the book is actually printed abroad and shipped over here, and then distributed across this vast country (many of our extra costs of living are due to distances and heating) - but if it is printed in Canada, there's really no excuse.

I have added Brixton Beach to my WTRS (want to read someday list).

I returned from Ireland on Monday and am now feeling fairly normal. Air travel is always tiring, going east/west, anyway.

I have had a crazy reaction to sleeping pills too - the one and only time I took "serious" ones (prescribed by doc) I was either wide awake or having the weirdest dreams...it was awful. Took them one night and that was it. I have suffered with insomnia a lot, and just deal with it in a non-medicated way.

A bit behind on the posts but;

#45 tiffin, re Soane's Musem - shall do! Although possibly not this weekend after all as apparently there are long queue's for the museum at the moment and the reason I'll be in London anyway is for a matinee performance at the NT, so probably won't have time... Maybe in a couple of weeks time though!

#49/#51 re Brixton, yep, the area's a lot safer than it used to be in the early 80's and 90's, parts of it have even been described as "up-and-coming" in the past. I've been to gigs at the Brixton Academy (not far from the tube) many times and never worried about walking by myself late at night.

That said, I think that there are still areas which are still quite run down and associated with gangs and gun crime. My sister lives in Camberwell, which isn't far and I think the area between the two can be a bit dodgy. Really though, it's the same as any big city - you just don't walk down dark alleyways at night and you'll be fine!

Ooop and adding The Glass Room to my wishlist!

Hi Darryl

I'm currently reading (almost finished with) The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous by Ken Wells. I found this on Peter's thread and then Deborah noted and recommended Zeitoun. Now, I'm hearing about this book on your thread as well, which prompts me to get a copy from my library.

I gave your review a thumbs up.

So, those London museum fans, another free and fabulous museum is not far from Baker Street (good old Sherlock!):

http://www.wallacecollection.org/

Displayed at Hertford House, the main London townhouse of its former owners, the Wallace Collection presents its outstanding collections in a sumptuous but approachable manner which is an essential part of its charm.

It is probably best known for its paintings by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, Hals (The Laughing Cavalier) and Velázquez and for its superb collections of eighteenth-century French paintings, porcelain, furniture and gold boxes, probably the best to be found anywhere outside France
But there are also splendid medieval and Renaissance objects, including Limoges enamels, maiolica, glass and bronzes, as well as the finest array of princely arms and armour in Britain, featuring both European and Oriental objects..

Also free....

TGIF!!!

#94: I did get that same e-mail about Book Depository USA, Rebecca, but I didn't read it until today.

I'm pleased that everyone enjoyed my reviews!

I'm off until Thursday, so I should get a few books finished. I started The Trial of Robert Mugabe by Chielo Zona Eze yesterday, a LT Early Reviewer book, which I should finish early tomorrow. After that I'll go back to the Booker Prize longlist with How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall.

Just passing through o see what you have been up to, besides the shenanigans in the gathering place.. or was it rd's thread??? LOL

I'm trying to clean up rd's thread, it's quite a mess...

Actually I'm just waking up from a nap.

I worked Monday-Friday in the hospital on the teaching service (residents, medical students, and physician assistant student). I can't believe how busy we were! I must have seen 30-40+ kids with asthma attacks (and I'm recovering from an attack, which started when I was in London). I didn't read a single thing for pleasure from Monday until last night, but fell asleep after only 10 pages. Fortunately I'm off until Thursday, so I'll get a few books in. I work Thursday-Sunday, then I'm on the road again, back to visit my parents from Sep 1-10.

My big goal over the next month & a half, if it isn't already obvious, is to read as many of the 13 Booker Prize longlisted novels as I can by the time the winner is announced in early October. I have 10 of the books, and I should be getting the other three from The Book Depository over the next week or so. I've read five of the books, and I hope to read two or three more by Thursday.

Book #109: The Trial of Robert Mugabe by Chielo Zona Eze



My rating:

Robert Mugabe, the infamous dictator and current president of Zimbabwe, awakens to find himself in a court room surrounded by several of his bodyguards. He soon realizes that he has died in a plane crash, and is on trial in God's court, accused of crimes against his people. His judges consist of three famous Africans in history , Steve Biko, Olaudah Equiano and Dambudzo Marechera. Mugabe is aghast that he is on trial, as he liberated his country and people from the English settlers who should be brought to justice.

In the first part of the story, several ordinary Zimbabweans are called to testify against Mugabe, most of whom were killed by the president's soldiers in his campaign to root out dissidents. Their stories are heartbreaking and horrific, but Mugabe brands them as liars and supporters of imperialism. During the trial, Yvonne Vera, a recently deceased Zimbabwean writer, takes notes, as she will be called upon to provide testimony against Mugabe.

Vera's lightly fictionalized account of the members of a family in Kezi make up the second part of the book, which provides more damning evidence of the brutality caused by Mugabe's soldiers.

At the end of the testimony, Mugabe is given an opportunity to speak, which consists only of a defiant rambling rant against the dissidents, whites, and Western governments. The judges confer with God, who renders a verdict which surprises everyone in the courtroom.

This was an enjoyable novel, which provided graphic accounts of the current situation in Zimbabwe, although these brutalities are similar to those documented in numerous other recent books. However, we are not provided with much insight into Mugabe the man, which would have been unique and interesting.

Interesting review of The Trial of Robert Mugabe. I got it as an ER book too, but haven't gotten to it yet (still on the one from the month before In the Kitchen.
Glad you have some time this week to rest up.

The Trial of Robert Mugabe sounds intriguing - would you have read it if it hadn't been an ER book?

Following your review of England People, Very Nice, I'm regretting not going to see it now - bother!

Yes, I would have read The Trial of Robert Mugabe had it not been an ER book. I try to select only those ER books that I would be willing to buy based on their descriptions, or those I had heard about previously and wanted to get.

Hopefully England People Very Nice will resurface elsewhere in London. Going to plays at the National Theatre is probably the best thing I like about London; I went to three plays on this trip and two or three in 2007. And the prices can't be beat! I paid £35 in total for the three NT performances I saw, or a little more than half of what I paid for a single ticket to see "God of Carnage" on Broadway earlier this year.

You're quite right with the ER thing, but I do seem to sometimes end up with things that aren't what I expected. Can't decide whether to add The Trial of Robert Mugabe to my wishlist or not!

Yep, I expect England People Very Nice will resurface, possibly even at the NT again as it had good reviews - but I'm impatient! ;) I love it too, although you have to be on the ball to get the cheap Travelex tickets sometimes - I left it too late for The Black Album (going this Thursday) and the tickets cost, well, nearly that much, each - but I suppose at least there's no booking fee or extortionate postage on top (the bain of my life with gig tickets - one one notable occasion, the fees were more than the actual ticket...)

I'd suggest reading the other reviews of The Trial of Robert Mugabe in addition to mine. At least two other readers loved it, and gave it 4.5 and 5 stars. It was an enjoyable and quick read, and I'm not sorry I read it. If you're interested in the topic and can get the book from a local library or borrow it, I'd recommend reading it.

I bought my NT tickets before my trip, so I was able to get two of the £10 Travelex tickets. From what I saw, there are several interesting new plays coming to the NT in September.

Darryl, Have you read The Scalpel and the Soul?

I haven't heard of it; what's it about?

Catching up...

Re Brixton, I think things are improving there: a good friend of mine lived there for a while after we graduated and regularly had to contend with gunfire, gang hassle etc. etc. when walking back from the tube late at night. She's 6ft tall & white, so kind of stuck out in Brixton...

The independent bookstores were very glad of your support :-))

>62 rebeccanyc: and >63 kidzdoc: re anithistamines, my mother tells me that she was advised to give me antihistamines to calm me down on the flight when they emigrated to the UK from the States when I was 18 months old. As you may have guessed earier in this sentence, the effect it had on me was more in the "wired" than "tired" category....

I'd heard good things about Me Cheeta over the weekend, so am sorry to hear you found it unreadable (not that I'd been persuaded to put it on the list anyway)

>102 kidzdoc: the Zimbabwean novel sounds v interesting after Petina Gappah and Brian Chikwava.

>107 flissp: flissp wish I had paid attention - had a code for a ticket offer on The Black Album :-( Sorry.

Sounds like you're discovering some great stuff in Booker longlist reading. What's your pick for the shortlist? Just less than a fortnight now....

I'm almost finished with How to Paint a Dead Man, which I love so far (4-1/2 stars at the moment). This will be the sixth book from the longlist I've read, and I would rank them in this order:

1. The Glass Room
2. Brooklyn
3. How to Paint a Dead Man
4. The Quickening Maze
5. Not Untrue & Not Unkind
13. Me Cheeta

At this stage, I would put the Mawer, Toibin and Hall on the shortlist. I'll start the Trevor later tonight or tomorrow, then read at least one of the tomes, probably the Mantel, next week when I'm in Philly at my parents' house. The Waters is in my bedroom there, so I'm sure I'll read that, too.

I had heard good things about Me Cheeta from the reviews, and I suspect that most people will like it much more than I did. I read it after the Mawer, and it seemed puerile and trivial to me. I'm not at all interested in Hollywood and see more plays than movies in any given year, so the topic was not interesting to me. I have been especially quick this year to pull the plug on books that haven't appealed to me, so my negative reviews, particularly of the books that I don't finish, should be taken with a large grain of salt.

BTW, Cait86 just finished reading Brooklyn and had some interesting comments about it. She is also going through the Booker Prize longlist.

Book #111: How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall

My rating: 4 stars

This was a very enjoyable read, but I'll need to think about it a bit, and maybe re-read certain chapters at the end, before I can submit a useful review.

Book #112: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure, edited by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith



My rating:

One of my work partners lent me this book last week.

The editors of SMITH Magazine, an online "vibrant community of storytellers", invited its readers to contribute six-word memoirs, and roughly a thousand were selected for this book. Some authors are famous, most are not. Many of the memoirs are pedestrian ("Will draw for food and coffee"), but a small handful were thought provoking. A couple of my favorites:

"Explained Hitler, Shakespeare. Couldn't explain self."
"I died at an early age."
"I hear nothing and see everyone."

I found it mildly interesting, and it was probably the fastest book I've ever read. This would make a nice Christmas present or birthday gift for certain people, so I would recommend it for that reason.

borrowed from Amazon... as I have not yet read the book..
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1585427136/ref=nosim/librarythin08-20

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Hamilton has led a remarkable life as a neurosurgeon. There are moments in this spiritual memoir when readers will wish he were their personal guide for the scariest of surgeries. In many ways, this is a story about real doctors as Hamilton understands them—people with exemplary bedside manners who not only make life-and-death decisions for the most vulnerable of the sick, but who have the vision (sometimes literally) to sit and listen as long as it takes, to take patients' hands, dealing with their questions and fears with the utmost gentleness and an eye toward the transcendent and supernatural. Readers will be moved by stories of former patients like Thomas, a child burn victim with such a gift of spirit that he could manage joy despite his tragic condition, and Donald, a brave man determined to live life to the fullest despite a vicious brain tumor. Hamilton's voice soars when he reflects directly on his experience as a brain surgeon, the bulk of which occurs (unfortunately) in the book's second half. In light of these high points, Hamilton's occasionally stumbling and awkward prose when straying from his patients' sides can seem jarring. (Mar. 13)

It sounded interesting.

That does sound interesting. I'll wait for your review before I decide to buy it; I have to stop buying so many books!

Um...having said that, I will be going to Borders shortly to pick up Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann with my 30% off coupon.

Looks like I should add The Trial of Robert Mugabe to the wishlist then...

...and How to Paint a Dead Man sounds intriguing from the title alone!

Yep, NT autumn season does look good - am about to think about booking tickets...

Rachel, re the Black Album - ah well, this is the way it goes - thanks for the thought anyway! Normally, I'd have been much more on the ball and got the cheap tickets anyway, it's just the waiting around for sisterly umming and errring (no comment!)

For the record, these are the books I bought in London:

July 28: London Review Bookshop
Journey Into the Past by Stefan Zweig (read)
The Innocent by Ian McEwan
Cockroach by Rawi Hage
Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw

July 29: Foyles Bookshop (Charing Cross Road)
How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall (read)
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds (read)
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Not Untrue & Not Unkind by Ed O’Loughlin (read)
Solo by Rana Dasgupta

July 30: National Theatre Bookshop
The Observer by Matt Charman (read)
Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi (read)

July 31: London Review Bookshop
Harare North by Brian Chikwava (read)

August 2: Foyles Bookshop (Southbank Centre)
The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa
All Fires the Fire and Other Stories by Julio Cortàzar
Coloured Lights by Leila Aboulela (read)

August 4: London Review Bookshop
Devil on the Cross by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Blank Gaze by Jose Luis Peixoto
Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie
Life: A User’s Manual by Georges Perec
Another Gulmohar Tree by Aamer Hussein (read)
Derelict London by Paul Taller (read)
Paris and Elsewhere by Richard Cobb

August 5: Wellcome Collection Bookshop
Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine by Roy Porter (read)
Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad-Doctors and Lunatics by Roy Porter

August 7: Foyles Bookshop (Charing Cross Road)
Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne (read)
Chowringhee by Sankar

August 8: Foyles Bookshop (Charing Cross Road)
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (read)
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig

August 11: London Review Bookshop
Me Cheeta by James Lever (partially read)
The Redundancy of Courage by Timothy Mo

August 12: National Theatre Bookshop
England People Very Nice by Richard Bean (read)
Kwame Kwei-Armah Plays 1: Elmina’s Kitchen; Fix Up; Statement of Regret; Let There Be Love

By my count, 33 books purchased, 15 read so far.

Wow, that's a big haul! Which of them did you bring home with you?!

How to Paint a Dead Man was a wonderful ride, flissp. It consists of four intertwined stories, involving a dying and famous Italian landscape artist, a young girl who has recently become blind and was tutored by the artist, a famous artist from Cumbria who was influenced by the Italian artist, and his daughter, whose twin brother recently died in a tragic accident. Each story comprised a separate chapter, and the writing was wonderful. Each story became more intriguing and nail biting, and the structure of the book created a lot of tension, as I found myself wondering what was going to happen to the blind girl while I was reading about the Cumbrian artist's mishap, and how he was going to extricate itself from it. To say too much more at this point would be a bit of a spoiler. I will say that I loved the ride with Sarah Hall, but I'm not yet sure where we went.

It might be easier to mention which ones didn't come with me. I gave some to Rachael, and donated others to the Oxfam store in Bloomsbury. Oh wait; I can cut and paste the ones that I brought back.

Cockroach by Rawi Hage
Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw
How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall (read)
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Solo by Rana Dasgupta
The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa
All Fires the Fire and Other Stories by Julio Cortàzar
Coloured Lights by Leila Aboulela
Devil on the Cross by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Blank Gaze by Jose Luis Peixoto
Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie
Life: A User’s Manual by Georges Perec
Derelict London by Paul Taller (read)
Paris and Elsewhere by Richard Cobb
Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine by Roy Porter
Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad-Doctors and Lunatics by Roy Porter
Chowringhee by Sankar
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (read)
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
Me Cheeta by James Lever (partially read)
The Redundancy of Courage by Timothy Mo
England People Very Nice by Richard Bean (read)
Kwame Kwei-Armah Plays 1: Elmina’s Kitchen; Fix Up; Statement of Regret; Let There Be Love

ooooh, that's definitely going on the wishlist!

I'll still review How to Paint a Dead Man properly later this week.

I loved your book tour! I will put How to Paint a Dead Man on my wishlist. Thanks!

You're welcome, Cyrel. And thanks for your comment; I had wondered if I was being too nerdy or obnoxious by posting that list.

How to Paint a Dead Man .. sadly I keep picturing a six inch paintbrush dripping yellow paint. . .

Six inch paint brush? Yellow paint? Sounds like a reference to a TV show or movie, but I watch little of either.

I didn't go to Borders today, even though I passed by it on the way back from work (I'm off today but had to go to a couple of afternoon meetings). I do want to read Let the Great World Spin, but it would probably sit unread amongst the other hundreds of unread books for awhile.

nah, just my weary brain chugging along........

Passed a bookstore without going in . . .hmm, Darryl, are you feeling OK?

#129

He must be dying. It can be the only reason. What a shame.....

Can I request some of your books when you're gone, Darryl?? ;)

*Darryl pouts like a 5 year old and sticks out lower lip, in utter indignation.*

Rebecca!?! I thought we were friends! And lunacat, picking over the valued possessions of a still warm body is, is...well, I'm just speechless.

Hmph. Just for that, I think I will stop at Borders after work tomorrow and buy a book. So there.

#131: Just for that, I think I will stop at Borders after work tomorrow and buy a book. So there.

As long as you let us know what it is once you buy it!

I was indignant for you Darryl.. the nerve of some people!
humph! ( LOL)

Ahh, the ultimate form of revenge. Buy another book that we absolutely want to read, so antagonising us and forcing yet another assessment of our bank balances/tbr piles.

Which then leads to such utter despair we are forced to either retreat into a book and ignore all our chores, or go and frequent amazon marketplace and then feel guilty for the next two weeks at the number of books we bought........

Nice comeback ;)

131, But Darryl, since I thought we were not only friends but possibly, as you suggested, triplets separated at birth (with avaland), and since I can't pass a bookstore without going in, I thought you would be the same . . .

You see what you've done? You've given rebeccanyc an identity crisis now! ;)

Isn't there something intrinsically wrong with not going into a bookstore? I mean, isn't it a sign of some kind of disorder to just pass one by?

Apparently there is a room deodoriser out now which is the smell of books. So, is this for people who don't actually own books but want to smell like they do?

And what type of book does it smell of? New ones? Old paperbacks? Leather bound books? ...

Apparently you can get the new book smell, musty ones, "scent of sensibility", and this one:
http://www.cbihateperfume.com/in-the-library.html, which apparently has hints of Russian bindings & Morrocan leather in it, taken from a signed first edition, with woody hints. Yoicks!

#135: Right. Okay, all is forgiven then.

#136: Nah, just typical sibling rivalry.

#137-139: I've never heard of that! I'll have to look into that. Hmm...if I use it as a cologne, would I be more attractive to single female bookworms?

I can't remember if it was here or on Club Read that we had a swine flu (H1N1) thread going earlier this year. Well, we're starting to see it in the children's hospital I work at, and two 7 year old twins I'm taking care of tested positive for H1N1 today. The girl is doing okay, but the boy is pretty sick with it, as he also has a big pneumonia and pleural effusion (fluid collection in the pleural space outside of the lung). One of the PICU (pediatric ICU) nurses told me last week that there were three kids who were very sick last week due to H1N1 infection. And it's only August! We usually don't see our first cases of garden variety influenza before Thanksgiving, so no telling what this year will be like.

Today was a rough call day, with eight hospital admissions in four hours. I was hoping to leave by 8:30-9:00 pm, but I won't leave here until a little before midnight, and I'll need to be back here by 7:30 am or so. Fortunately I'm off after Sunday. I hope I don't get H1N1; I don't want to pass it to my parents next week.

Darryl I loved reading your list of books from your London holiday - hope you get to Borders on Monday if not before, and that your asthma is better. We're at the end of a New Zealand winter with H1N1, and there have been some pretty bad cases, and many medium-strength ones. We're all watching you guys in the Northern Hemisphere to see if it mutates in your winter.

I'm looking forward to your comments on Broken Verses.- I thought Burnt Shadows was very good. I found The Glass Room at the library on Tuesday and grabbed it based on your review - can't believe it was just sitting there without lots of reserves on it.

Tui, that perfume shop is so funny... Winter 1972? Summer on the Beach 1966?!

No smelly stuff please Darryl. And no flu.

School is starting and we both know that sick kids are sent off to school all the time. I suspect we will both have fun with it this year.

We have a student I don't know his dx, his oxygen level is rarely over 85. He spends a lot of time with the nurses. Yesterday he sounded like a percolator. I am very worried about him. If he gets something like that can he survive? Who knows though, it has been a very tough 7 years for him as it is. He is a tough kid.

Kath and Darryl

Simply stopping by to say how much I admire you both.

Well, my sick boy with H1N1 just got transferred to the PICU. His CXR this morning shows a complete white out of his left lung, meaning that he has developed a large pleural effusion (fluid collection outside of his lung) that will probably need to be surgically drained.

I think I'll start myself on prophylactic Tamiflu after I leave work today.

Kath, hypoxia makes me think of one of two organ systems: cardiac or pulmonary (or both). Since he sounds like a "percolator", respiratory seems likely, although he could still have problems in both systems. Is he an ex-preemie? Bronchopulmonary dysplasia or chronic lung disease? Congenital heart disease? Are the tips of his fingers clubbed? If so, that's an indication of chronic oxygen deprivation. Edema in his feet or lower legs would make me think of congestive heart failure, and his lungs could be wet, which could cause labored or noisy breathing. Undertreated persistent asthma could cause noisy breathing, too. Does he have a tracheostomy scar? What other things are going on with him? If he got influenza, whether H1N1 or the garden variety type, he could get SICK, and would be at risk of death, much more so than my kid, who is otherwise healthy.

Okay, I'm done with coffee. Off to work.

Hi, Darryl -

Keeping up with reading your thread and enjoying it very much, as always. You and our friend Kath and ALL of the parents, teachers and administrators at our schools and hospitals are in my thoughts especially this year with H1N1. All of you take good care of yourselves just as well as you take care of the young people in your lives.

Hooray for Tamilflu.

With love, Ruth aka WH

no to most things. He does have a dx, it may be a genetic thing, as his brother had it and passed from it. It is probably both. He is not in my room, I know him from subbing days... and now mostly just see him coming in each morning .
His illness is degenerative. He has no words, has never walked, very low functioning. We just try to keep him comfortable. With so many kids ( who can really do without them) having private nurses. I don't know why he doesn't.

Ruth.. there is no doubt in my mind that we will have a problem this year. Parents routinely send sick kids to school and then refuse to answer calls until the end of the day. They know we have two nurses on site and don't hesitate to call an ambulance if need be. I guess they figure , why should they stay home from work? The school is no better. A kid has to be very ill before they will consider sending them home. Vomit 5 times, diarrhea (through clothing) 3 times... temp over 102. Then they will call parents the first time. As I mentioned most parents of sick kids know darn well the kids are sick and just don't answer. If a message is left saying an ambulance has been called they call back ASAP. Sometimes they answer, say they will be there in .5 hour, but stop answering the phone and show up 3-4 hours later.

Kids are brought in one day post sx, and sometimes straight from the ER. It is really out of control. We have 8-9 kids to care for, some who are tube fed, or have other feeding issues.. and when one is that ill.. ...

deep breath
rant over
good idea darryl..

will be sending energy for your little one and you !

That's terrible, kath. I can't think of anything more cruel and unfair than for a family to have a child who has died from a fatal genetic or metabolic disorder, and then have another child with the same disorder. Unfortunately I've seen this scenario on several occasions...but even one instance is once too often.

I probably won't finish any books before Tuesday. I'm just a few pages into Love and Summer by William Trevor, and I've read maybe 10 pages of Rawi Hage's latest book, Cockroach.

Really impressed with your reading pace, Darryl. I have to add two books to my TBR pile that I was not going to read - the Eggers and the Sarah Hall book. Your comments are too enticing. I also love William Trevor, but his book is not available in Canada yet (hmmm, I wonder about the Book Depository?)

Thanks, Karen. Love and Summer has just been published in the UK within the past two weeks, as it wasn't available by the time I left London. I ordered my copy from The Book Depository. Let's see; the list price is £18.99, and I was charged £12.37 for it.

Karen, actually the Trevor novel just came out in Canada - you can get in on amazon.ca or the Chapters website, for about $20.

Msg146 Kath, that's terrible! Poor kids - it must be heart-wrenching to work there - I have so much respect for you and Kidzdoc in your careers. I do hope you don't have any life-threatening cases over the winter.

I worry a little about the H1N1 virus adapting an immunity to Tamiflu as flu viruses are so mutable... When I was at university, I remember one of our pathology lecturers swearing that we were due a nasty strain of flu in the next five years - of course this was 10 years ago now... I suppose we must be thankful that, while H1N1 is incredibly infectious, it's not yet a major threat to those without underlying medical conditions. Kidzdoc, fingers crossed that you don't catch it before visiting your parents - and fingers crossed for the little boy too...

I have had two cases of H1N1- both in their 40s and pretty sick. I am really looking forward to the vaccine, which is due in Canada in November. For the most part it seems like a minor flu illness and those cases are not diagnosed or swabbed. The serious cases seem to be in the middle years (40s) and the older kids?

I read somewhere that people over 50-something may have some resistance to H1N1 because of having been exposed to a similar virus some 50 or so years ago -- do any of you doctors know if there's any truth to that?

#151: I hope I don't see any life-threatening cases either, flissp. Unfortunately, though, with the patients we take of in the hospital, it is probable that we will have several SICK kids with H1N1, and a handful of deaths in the PICU would not be unusual, even in a normal flu season. The patient I took care of last week was still in the PICU as of yesterday, not terribly improved but not deteriorating either. He is not on a ventilator, fortunately, and at this point I think he'll do fine.

I don't have any flu symptoms yet (knock on wood), but I did write myself a prescription for Tamiflu, for either treatment (1 capsule twice a day for 5 days) or prophylaxis (1 capsule once a day for 10 days), in case I do start to develop flu-like symptoms. I flew to Philadelphia this morning to spend 10 days with my parents, who are in their mid-70s, and I certainly don't want to pass H1N1 to them.

#152: I'm with you Karen, I'm eagerly awaiting the H1N1 vaccine. I'm not sure when it will be available in Atlanta, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was a little earlier than November. My hospital system will start administering the regular flu vaccine on September 21.

Several years ago we had an unusually bad flu season, with several deaths and a dozen or more kids on our service who had flu and staphylococcal pneumonias with large empyemas (pus in the pleural space, outside of the lung tissue). Those kids were older, as I recall, say from 8-14 years of age.

My patient that is in the PICU has a large pneumonia and a small pleural effusion, whereas his twin sister, who I sent home on Saturday, didn't have pneumonia.

BTW, have you been seeing a lot of patients with asthma there? We've had a ton, and I'm having the longest exacerbation I've had in several years.

#153: Hmm, I hadn't heard that, Rebecca, but I'm very curious. I'll look into this later today or tomorrow, and report back here (unless Karen knows about this).

I do my best reading on airplanes, and today was no exception, even though the flight time from Atlanta to Philadelphia is less than 1 hr 30 min wheels up to wheels down. I had meant to put Love and Summer in my shoulder bag, but I brought Summertime, the new novel by J.M. Coetzee that is also on the Booker Prize longlist. I'm more than halfway through it, and should finish it no later than tomorrow. Then I'll get back to Love and Summer.

More flu information: my hospital is not routinely testing for H1N1. The rapid influenza tests that we normally use are not very reliable for H1N1, so we are doing another test, the influenza A FA (fluorescent antibody) test, to look for influenza A (H1N1 is a subtype of influenza A). If that test is positive, the hospital's Infection Control team decides whether the patient should be tested for H1N1, which is done at the state lab (which I presume is in Atlanta, as it is the capital of Georgia). For my twin patients, the girl tested positive for influenza A on Thursday, and the H1N1 test came back positive the following day. The boy was not tested, as both became sick and were hospitalized at the same time.

Have a good time Darryl !

And you will not be surprised to hear that I am not in favor of this vaccine .......
:P too many unknowns, like last time. imo only...

Thanks, kath.

I'll find out more about the H1N1 vaccine (pros and cons), and post it here.

We had house guests for a week (my friend and her 18-mo-old), and the toddler was sick while they were here. I'm no doctor, but I thought for sure he was just allergic to the cats, and he's kind of a sick kid anyway. Well, when they got home they found out that the 10-month-old my friend babysits had H1N1 the week before. Last I heard, my friend's son wasn't tested, and he's on the mend so I'm not sure if they will.

Now my own toddler is coming down with something, although I'm still blaming pollen over H1N1. Our ped. told me that most insurance companies aren't even paying for the testing anymore, but we're going in today so the doc can have a look at him. I'm 34-weeks pregnant, so I'm being cautious more than anything. It's scary stuff.

Much love and well-wishes for those who are dealing with these kinds of scares, and especially for the little ones who are fighting through. :(

It's important to remember that H1N1 is generally a self-limiting illness, and the evidence available to date suggests that H1N1 is not as severe as the garden variety flu, i.e., decreased morbidity (serious illness, which requires a visit to the doctor or ER or admission to hospital) and mortality (death). In the past two weeks our ER had hundreds of kids come through with flu like symptoms, but the twins I took care of were the only ones I'm aware of who were admitted to the hospital under our service (General Pediatrics). The girl was admitted because she had an asthma attack along with flu, and needed supplemental oxygen; otherwise she could have gone home from the ER.

Good luck with your son and the rest of your family, Luxx. Keep us posted.

Are flu vaccines free in the US?

In general, no, but some people historically have been able to get it for free. The hospital I work for provides it free of charge to all employees. For senior citizens, the cost is covered under Medicaid, and many senior citizen centers provide them to all seniors for free (reference: my mother). For other insured people, the cost would probably or largely covered by the plan (I would think). But if you were to walk into a pharmacy or supermarket and request the vaccine, it would not be free.

Is the vaccine free in Canada? How about other recommended (but not required) vaccines?

I know IRS employees can get it for free, so I would assume many (if not all) government employees can.

Flu vaccines are free to all high risk patients in Canada - that is a pretty broad range. For example young children and infants are considered high risk and their care-givers (parents, etc). So basically it is not too hard to define yourself in that category.

Our cases of H1N1 have generally been mild, although we have had some nasty lung cases in patients who have underlying conditions (in my case they were asthmatics and quite sick). I would strongly advise everyone to get the vaccine, just as I would the regular flu vaccine.

Interesting idea about the 'memory' of a similar virus in the past and immunity. I had not heard about that. The difficulty with controlling flu strains is always the mutation effect - which is why we need to revaccinate yearly. There was some worry that H1N1 will rapidly mutate into a more serious flu strain before it is contained?

I completely agree with Karen; I highly recommend that everyone receive the vaccines, if nothing else to decrease spread to others who are at risk of severe morbidity or mortality. Those involved in direct patient care in my hospital are all but required to receive the annual flu vaccine, and I usually get my jab the first day that it is offered.

I finished two very enjoyable books today: Summertime by J.M. Coetzee (4 stars) and Beauty Salon, a novella by the Mexican author Mario Bellatin (4 stars). We'll be eating dinner soon, so I'll submit reviews later tonight or tomorrow.

revaccinate basically means predicting the strain of flu, and predicting that it will remain the same..... imo. *tiptoes out of friends thread before beginning to pontificate .....*

All opinions (trolls notwithstanding) are welcome on my thread!

Kath, does your facility require, recommend, or have no recommendation on employee flu vaccination, considering that you guys (yinz?) work with medically fragile kids? Just curious.

I just finished my seventh Booker Prize longlisted book, so I have six more to read. I'll resume reading Love and Summer by William Trevor tonight, and start Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel later this week. Wolf Hall is the current favorite to win the prize. The shortlist for the prize will be announced on 8 September, so I'll focus on the shortlisted books I haven't read after that.

This is how I would rank the longlisted books I've read so far:

1. The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
2. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
3. How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall
4. Summertime by J.M. Coetzee
5. The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
6. Not Untrue and Not Unkind by Ed O'Loughlin
7. Me Cheeta by James Lever

#167: The only one of those I have read is Brooklyn, and I was distinctly underwhelmed by it, so it will probably win :)

>168 alcottacre: - Stasia -

Now, do I detect a slight bit of cynicism leaking out here around the edges of your post?

tee hee

WH

EBA - To say *Hello* to Darryl and let you know that I'm here enjoying this part of your life that you share so lucidly.

Love - R

If you are only detecting slight bits of cynicism, I did not word the post strongly enough, Ruth!

I'm with you, Stasia! From what I've read, the Booker has been awarded several times to books that critics & literate readers were felt to be inferior to other books on the list. I made a similar, equally cynical comment when Rachael asked me about Not Untrue and Not Unkind, which I was lukewarm about (message #6 of this thread).

I've only read books on the longlist for the past three years, but I didn't feel that The White Tiger was the best of the listed books last year, and I still haven't read The Gathering, the 2007 winner.

Even though Brooklyn is second on my list, I seriously doubt that it will remain that high, but I still think it will be in my top five or six. It was the first Tóibín novel I've read, and the writing grabbed my attention immediately, although (as we've mentioned in Cait86's thread and elsewhere) the main character is maddening. I read The Blackwater Lightship after Brooklyn, which was a much better book, and I'll definitely read The Master soon, but probably not this year.

I also reserve the right to change the order of books on my list, and I may decide to put Brooklyn as low as fourth on my current list, after How to Paint a Dead Man and Summertime.

Hi Ruth! Thanks for the good wishes. I probably won't do too much over the next couple of days, as my asthma flared up once I arrived in PA. Fortunately I had prescribed myself the asthma medications I needed on Monday (albuterol, prednisone and Advair) before I left, otherwise I would have had to go to my mother's internist to have him write for these meds (since my medical license is only valid in Georgia). I'm sure I'll go to Philadelphia & NYC later in this trip, but probably not before Friday.

Book #113: Summertime: Scenes from Provincial Life by J.M. Coetzee



My rating:

Summertime is the third fictionalized memoir about the young Coetzee, after Boyhood and Youth. It describes his life in South Africa from 1972-77, when he returns to South Africa after completing graduate studies in the US.

The famous writer John Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize, has recently died in Australia. Vincent, a British historian, reads Coetzee's papers and memoirs, and interviews several people that were friends and lovers of Coetzee from 1972-77.

The interviewees' descriptions of the young Coetzee, who is in his mid to late thirties and lives with his ailing father outside of Cape Town, are harsh and unflattering. Most describe him as socially inept and repressed, a "soft" man who has no sexual appeal to women, one whose lovemaking is "autistic" and focused more on atmosphere and music than on the woman that he is with.

The novel ends as it begins, with fragments written by the author, as Coetzee must decide whether to remain with his dying father, whom he does not love, or pursue other opportunities. The reader is left with the impression that another memoir will pick up the story from there.

This was a very enjoyable, brave, but peculiar read. I assume that most of the accounts written about Coetzee are based on fact, though I would assume that the characters are fictional. The stories are humorous but often made me cringe, and I frequently had the impression of vultures picking over a dead carcass and complaining about how bad the meat of the dead animal tasted. I'm curious about Coetzee's motivation in writing such a harshly critical story about himself. He, of course, is very much alive, though he continues to live as a recluse in Australia. I doubt that any biographer of Coetzee could write anything more harsh about him, and perhaps he wants to be the one to definitively tell his story, in his own peculiar way.

Book #114: Beauty Salon by Mario Bellatin



My rating:

I picked up this novella earlier in the week, after reading a profile of the author last month in the New York Times and a review of it in Three Percent.

The unnamed narrator is the owner of a popular beauty salon, which is manned by himself and two other male friends who dress like women, in order to provide excitement into their lives and to put their customers more at ease. One of the friends asks the narrator to provide shelter to another young man who is dying from an illness that bears close resemblance to AIDS, as neither his family nor any facilities will care for him. Soon afterward, others who are similarly afflicted come to his salon, and he converts it into the Terminal, where only men at the end stage of the illness are allowed to stay. His colleagues have succumbed to the illness, and he is the only provider to his guests, as he rejects all requests for help from religious and medical benefactors.

He is a competent but remote caregiver, both to his guests and the tropical fish that were once the highlight of the salon. The dying are not permitted any comforts other than candy, and one young man is savagely beaten by the owner after he tries to run away. Only one young man elicits any sympathy from him, but only fleetingly.

Later, the narrator develops telltale signs of the illness, and realizes that he is beyond hope. Only then does he reflect on his life and those of his guests, as he wonders if anyone will take care of them in their last days.

Beauty Salon was a very short (63 pp) but superb and unforgettable novella from an author largely unknown outside of Mexico who hopefully will gain greater exposure after this work. (Highly recommended.)

Beauty Salon sounds wonderful - that is definitely going on my list.

>171 kidzdoc: I didn't think much of The White Tiger either - mistaking cleverness for literature, IM(not very)HO. But then I also loved The Secret Scripture so still kind of think Barry Woz Robbed.

Adding Beauty Salon to my wishlist!

Interesting review of Coetzee, Darryl. I classify him as one of my favourite authors, but he always makes me cringe. He has written two previous 'autobiographical' pieces Boyhood and Youth - both of which are fabulously self-denigrating.

He is an extremely negative writer - notable for me is his complete lack of humour. Nevertheless, I think he is a brilliant writer, and his stark negativism is portrayed in gorgeously spare prose.

#176: That's a good way to put it Rachael, "cleverness over literature". The Secret Scripture would have been a deserving winner, and I also liked Netherland, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Sea of Poppies and (awaiting howls of protest) The Enchantress of Florence far better than The White Tiger. And I still can't believe that The Spare Room by Helen Garner wasn't at least selected for the longlist (and that Child 44 was). This year I'm surprised that Me Cheeta was selected, and Burnt Shadows was not.

I'm enjoying the Trevor so far, which I should finish no later than tomorrow.

#178: I agree with your assessment of Coetzee, Karen. I've read Disgrace, The Life and Times of Michael K., which of course were his two Booker Prize winning novels, along with Dusklands, Slow Man and Elizabeth Costello. I definitely want to read Boyhood and Youth soon.

#175 & 177: The only other book by Bellatin that has been translated into English is Chinese Checkers, which I'll look for in NYC this month or San Francisco next month. A lengthy review of this and several other books by Bellatin can be found here.

Beauty Salon sounds like it needs to be added to my tbr. Thanx for sharing!

#171: To my mind, The Master is infinitely better than Brooklyn. I cannot wait to see what you think of it.

I just finished Love and Summer by William Trevor, and I'm trying to gather my thoughts about it. I liked the writing and the character portrayals, and the repressed emotions of the lead female character and her husband rang true. However, it didn't grab me as much as Brooklyn or How to Paint a Dead Man did, so I'll probably rank it 4th on my Booker Prize longlist, and give it a four star rating (a recommended and worthwhile read, but not one I would stop strangers on the street and insist that they read ASAP). I'd love to hear from others who have read it (Rachael? Cait?).

#183

Do you often stop strangers in the street and insist they read a book ASAP?? ;)

I only approach kindly, bookish strangers on the street. :)

On the other hand, I have had people, especially on public transit, bookshops or cafes ask me about what I was reading, not too uncommonly.

What I really love is when a bookseller will say to me when I'm at the counter "ooh yes, I loved that - have you read (random related book)?" :)

Edited to remove completely random link to Romeo and Juliet!

Right. That often happens to me when I go to City Lights in San Francisco. The one guy (Scott) that usually works there on weekdays when the bookshop opens knows me on a first name basis, and he'll usually show me one or two books that he's read recently, or thinks I would be interested in. We're both similar (40ish, African-American, fond of books and jazz), so we have a lot in common to begin with. IMO, the people that work there are more knowledgeable about books than those I've encountered in other similar bookstores.

BTW, Beauty Salon was published by City Lights Publishers; the bookshop publishes a couple of dozen or more books per year, and most are excellent.

Sounds like a wonderful place. This is why I avoid the Borders at home as much as possible - the staff there haven't got a clue...

>183 kidzdoc: I liked it, but it didn't completely blow me away. I thought the scene where Ellie realises she is falling in love with the ridiculous Florian was beautifully done - perfectly captured her distracted air and inability to concentrate on the conversation she was actually supposed to be having - and some of the characterisation was great (Miss Connulty in particular). But in the end, I didn't feel it really said very much; and I cared about Ellie such a lot that I just wanted to shake Florian for most of the book for toying with her. I know, I know... I'm terrible at confusing how I feel about the characters for how "good" a book is.

I did think Ellie and Eilis (from Brooklyn) made an interesting pair, though - looking at characters from a similar period, with similar backgrounds, and seeing how their lives were playing out, how they respond. It was nice to read them quite close together.

SPOILER ALERT for Love and Summer

I agree with you, Rachael. I absolutely fell in love with Ellie, but I wanted Florian to be beaten to a pulp by some goons hired by Miss Connulty. I all but screamed when he said (something like), "We've had our summer, Ellie." And his obsession with his Italian cousin was irritating; either go after her or forget about her! Orpen Wren's character and his role was a bit confusing to me, probably because I didn't give it as close a reading as I would have liked (visiting my parents, we spent most of the afternoon with their best friend (86 yrs old and sharp as a tack), phone calls every 15 minutes from my mother's "fan club", trying to cough up a lung or two as my asthma attack continues). If it makes the longlist I will probably read it again, it is certainly worthy of a re-read and is short enough to be tackled in an afternoon.

I also agree that Eilis & Ellie are interesting in comparison to each other. Several others on the Man Booker Prize discussion thread on Love and Summer made the same observation.

After finishing eight of the longlisted books, I'd have to say that the quality of this year's offerings is far superior to those of the past two years. Love and Summer is a borderline choice for my shortlist this year, where it would easily have cut the mustard in '07 and '08.
END OF SPOILER ALERT

Next up: Wolf Hall, which I hope to finish by Tuesday, when the shortlist will be announced.

I can't wait to hear what you think of Wolf Hall, as its the book I most want to buy..........if I could justify it!

You mean that my word alone isn't sufficient to justify buying it? ;)

Book #115: Love and Summer by William Trevor



My rating:

The setting for this understated novel is Rathmoye, a small town in the south of Ireland in the middle of the 20th century. Mrs Connulty, whose family owns most of the buildings in town has died, and the townspeople come out to honor her. However, a young visitor, Florian Kilderry, also makes an appearance in the town, as he is there to take photographs of a theatre owned by the Connultys that burned down years ago. He catches the eye of Miss Connulty, the daughter of the deceased matriarch, and he has a brief but electric interaction with Ellie Dillahan, a former orphan who is now married to a farmer whose first wife and young child died in a tragic accident that he was partially responsible for.

The Dillahan's marriage is a convenient but loveless one for Ellie, as her husband is good to her, but does not inspire her. She falls passionately in love with Florian, who lives in a neighboring town. He is a directionless underachiever, and is in the process of selling his late parents' home, to move to "Scandinavia" to make a new life for himself.

The relationship between Ellie and Florian deepens, and the single, middle-aged Miss Connulty is the only one who perceives the danger of this illicit relationship, as it resembles a tragic experience that she had a young woman. As the date of Florian's departure nears, Ellie falls more deeply in love with him, while realizing that she does not love her husband.

For me, Love and Summer was a beautifully written, quiet novel of love and repression in a small town. The intentions and portrayal of two key characters were unclear to me, which made this an incompletely satisfying, though still very enjoyable, read. Admittedly I did not give it the attention that it probably deserved, and I plan to re-read it if it makes the Booker Prize shortlist.

193: Just because William Trevor wrote it I had already added that one to Planet TBR. Thanks for the review. I am now very happy it is residing on the Planet :)

#193

I heard an extract of this on Radio4 as it was their 'book at bedtime' and I was trying to sleep (calm voices usually help me drift off). It sounded good, and like something I would like to try where I normally wouldn't.

Stasia, which other Trevor novels would you recommend?

I agree with you, lunacat; this isn't a book I would normally have read, and this is a perfect example of why I like going through the Booker & Orange prize longlists, as I've been introduced to authors I've never heard of, but whose books I've enjoyed.

I think I've underrated this book a little, as I wouldn't mind starting from the beginning, even today. I may bump it up a notch or two on my ranking.

I'm only 50 pages into Wolf Hall, but it's very good so far.

#196

Darn you, I'm gonna end up having to go out and buy Wolf Hall aren't I?! Despite the fact I've just been ordered by my housemate (who lets me live here paying very minimal rent and cooks for me) that absolutely no more books can enter through the door!!!!

:(

Chiming in on Love and Summer, which I finished last night - I have to say that I was disappointed. Like Foulds' The Quickening Maze, I thought it was beautiful to read, but it did not really say anything.

SPOILERS AHEAD: READ WITH CAUTION

This is the type of novel I would read - my friends always joke that I love books with affairs in them - but I found the description misleading. It isn't really about the relationship between Ellie and Florian, but about the internal - and often mentally unstable - thoughts of the townspeople. Really, about half of the novel was the build-up to the first real conversation between Ellie and Florian, and then the last quarter is about Florian's departure, and Ellie's angst. Their actual relationship last for about 50 pages.

So many of the minor characters were just shoved into the novel, and then their stories were underdeveloped. For example, Mr. Connulty's employee (I forget her name) who is in love with him - a feeling that he does not return. This obviously parallels the Ellie/Florian relationship, and it could have been really affective if Trevor had deepened the story. Instead, it was only just mentioned a couple of times.

Also, Ellie's love for Florian is totally unjustifiable. She falls for him after having two very short conversations. This is just not the way love occurs in life, and I hate when authors perpetuate the whole "love at first sight" motif. And, like Rachael said, Florian is a twit, and so I couldn't understand Ellie's attachment to him.

END OF SPOILERS

So far, I have only read four of the longlist novels, but I would rank them:

The Children's Book
Brooklyn
Love and Summer
The Quickening Maze

I'm reading The Glass Room right now, and unless something goes very wrong it will be my #2 pick. I'm also about to start The Little Stranger.

I'm glad Wolf Hall is good so far, but man is it big!

lunacat, maybe you can substitute Wolf Hall for another book. But, as Cait says above, it's huge, and looks more like a 800-900+ page book than a 670+ pager, so you might have to give up two or three smaller ones.

SPOILER ALERT FOR Love and Summer
Yes, yes...you're right, Ellie's head over heels infatuation with Florian is implausible, and all three of us agree that Florian is a poor choice of a mate for her. I was willing to give her some leeway, as she lived a very sheltered life and had almost certainly never experienced true love before, so her reaction to Florian was more in line with a lovesick 12 year old than an adult married woman. I agree with you that the minor characters were so thinly portrayed that their presence was a distraction.
END OF SPOILER ALERT. AGAIN.

rebeccanyc is also starting The Glass Room, so I'll be eager to find out what both of you think of it. Most of the readers contributing to the Booker Prize longlist debate thread on the prize's web site also rate it very highly. I would be surprised and very disappointed if it doesn't make the shortlist.

#196: Darryl, I have only read 2 other of his: Felicia's Journey, which I liked, and The Story of Lucy Gault, which I loved.

I agree with Stasia on loving Lucy Gault - ehnnn..Felicia's Journey did not appeal to me.

Back to the vaccines - the flu (yearly) vaccine is free to all in Ontario - health care is a provincial jurisdiction - many people still don't take advantage of it. Am not sure about other vaccines - but so much of our health care is free, I have rarely had to pay extra for anything (the only one I can think of is my contact lens examination, there is a small fee for that). Guys have to pay for the prostate cancer blood test, but I think that will change soon. Now, if only our health care covered dental!!

Regarding Trevor, I will still give him another go - The Story of Lucy Gault probably. If he wins the Booker, I will reread Love and Summer. Actually, I will probably reread whichever book ends up winning.

I'll certainly read the winning book, but if it's Wolf Hall or The Children's Book, I can't say that I'll reread those!

I'm adding The Story of Lucy Gault to my wish list.

Tomorrow's Guardian Review has a profile article on William Trevor here:

A Life in Books

And, there is an article about the alter-egos found in Coetzee's works:

The many faces of JM Coetzee

Thanks for posting those links, Darryl - they are my two top hopes for the Booker. I actually hope Trevor wins, but that is without yet reading his latest and based on his previous reads. (I have yet to read a single listed book for 2009).

You're welcome, Karen. I'll certainly be on the lookout for more books by Trevor, and the two other fictionalized memoirs by Coetzee, but I'll probably wait until October. I want to have at least one month this year where I read more books than I buy, and I'm determined to make September that month! So far I've finished three books, will probably finish two others this weekend, and have only ordered one book from The Book Depository, Journey to an Illusion: The West Indian in Britain by Donald Hinds.

Congratulations for your hot review on today's home page!

Thanks, Whisper. Congratulations also to cameling and sgtbigg...AND Richard, who has two hot reviews! 75ers rule.

Congrats on your Hot Review for Summertime!~! Way to go!~!
belva

Wow you have been busy this week. I am wondering if I have any hope of catching up with anything. Beauty Salon sounds very good, Darryl...
Congrats to all of the hot folks here!

Thanks, belva & kath!

I missed you the past couple of days, kath. I hope that you're recuperating from your tough week.

I guess my only critique of Beauty Salon is its price of $10.95, for a book that is only 63 pages long. I used my $5 Borders Bucks coupon to cut the price nearly in half, which was a more reasonable price to pay for it.

I loved your review of Love and Summer ... I read it halfway and Florian so annoyed me I stopped reading it. He's such a wimp! That said, i've still got it in the house so maybe I should dust it off one of these days and give it a second chance.

#197 : lunacat ... did she say anything about books coming in through the window?

The characters in Love and Summer were certainly flawed, but IMO the writing was beautiful, the depiction of life in small town Ireland was engaging, and the main story and denouement were captivating enough for me to enjoy this novel. It may be that, had I given it a closer reading, and focused more on the characters, especially Florian & Ellie, I wouldn't have liked it as much as I did.

>202 Cait86: Lucy Gault is like Hardy at his most Hardy-esque: beautiful but sooooooooo sad, and in that way that makes you grind your teeth down to the gums at the deep and contrived unfairness of the novelist's universe. Read it when you are feeling upbeat and don't mind being dragged down!

>198 Cait86: Cait said: Ellie's love for Florian is totally unjustifiable. She falls for him after having two very short conversations. - it's funny that you should say this, because implausible-falling-in-love is amongst my absolute top pet hates in novels (the chief reason why I no longer give Mr Sebastian Faulks or Ms Tracy Chevalier the time of day). Yet, although the acquaintance was slight, Trevor did actually make me believe this - because of who Ellie was, what her background and experiences were, and above all, because of the way he wrote the scenes in which she began to realise her feelings. I can't be the only person that recalls falling intensely in love (OK, obsession) on the strength of the slightest of acquaintances as a teenager - and I think in many ways, Trevor makes it clear that Ellie has a lot of the emotional make-up of a teenager, because of her upbringing and then her move to a very 'sheltered' marriage.

How odd - I didn't especially rate this book when I read it, but it has really stayed with me. Sebastian Barry gave it an absolutely glowing review in the Grauniad last week.

Oh, no! I just started the audio book of Lucy Gault. I had no idea that's what I was getting myself in for. Yikes.

Lorna Bradbury also gave Love and Summer a strong review in the Telegraph last week. She would like to see it win the prize, but her sentiment is based as much on his body of work as it is on this particular one.

Darryl, Lark and Termite is probably the first place I have ever read the thoughts of what a non-verbal, but in some ways, highly functioning individual might be experiencing and thinking about the world. Just amazing. The chapters that are from the period of time and the experience of the soldier/father in the Korean War are amazing also.

One friend from my past who has CP, is fortunately not only brilliant, but sticks with those of his friends who really want to know him and is quite patient with us learning his version of the English language.

I believe that you and likely your friends will appreciate the writing and the stories in Lark.

Glad you posted on my thread this morning. Hope you are having a good one.

With love,

Ruth

Book #116: Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine by Roy Porter



My rating:

Roy Porter was one of the greatest of all Western medical historians, who taught for many years at University College London, until his early and untimely death in 2002. He has written or edited over 100 books on medical history, the Enlightenment, London, and England, including Flesh in the Age of Reason, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, and Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World.

Blood and Guts covers the history of Western medicine from antiquity to the beginning of the 21st century, and is divided into eight explanatory chapters: "Disease", "Doctors", "The Body", "The Laboratory", "Therapies", "Surgery", "The Hospital" and "Medicine in Modern Society". Porter manages to pack an amazingly comprehensive yet quite readable account of Western medical history in a small book (169 pages of text, of which 30-40 pages are used for illustrations). Included is a sizable bibliography for further reading, including Porter's more comprehensive works.

Although most of the information in the book was familiar to me, as I took a History of Medicine course as a medical student, I did learn a few things, particularly about the differences between the development of specialists and generalists in the US and UK, and the development of the modern hospital in Europe. There is no discussion of the development of medicine in Canada, and I would have liked more information about the role of nursing in the modern hospital after Elizabeth Fry and Florence Nightingale. However, I doubt that there is a better short introduction to Western medical history, for medical practitioners or a lay audience.

> #218 - Darryl -

This sounds like a book that I would enjoy reading. Your review gives me lots of info about the book, and informs me that even lay people, such as myself, will benefit from perusing this one. And, another one goes on the TBR cyber stack.

Thank you, Darryl.

Ruthie

#212

Nope, she didn't say anything about windows..........she was very precise in saying books were to come through NO doors though. I think she might notice if I start either throwing books through windows or climbing through them myself. *sigh*

218: At the moment I'm Reading 1700: Scenes From London Life , which is a non-fiction book discussing various aspects of London life in the early 18th century. The first few chapters also discuss medicine: from the origins of the name influenza to personal and dental hygiene, superstitions relating to one's health and well-being, mountebanks, diseases, cure recipes etcetera and it's all extremely fascinating. It's crazy what people used to think could cure a disease - or what they thought could cause one for that matter. As for how surgeries or baby deliveries were performed... that's another fascinating (and sick-inducing) topic all together - and it's discussed quite at length and in detail in the book (yay!). It makes me consider myself very lucky for living in the era we do. :)

#221

I like the sound of that book Eliza (perhaps I am drawn towards the gruesome lol) and will be interested to read your review of it. Especially as I often found it difficult to get interested in non-fiction.

One of the reviewers of Blood and Guts made a similar comment on the back cover of the book: "Never have I read a book which made me so glad not to have been born before the mid-20th century."

However, I wonder what practitioners in the 22nd & 23rd centuries will say about 21st century medicine.

I've added 1700: Scenes from London Life to my Amazon wish list. Amazon US is selling used copies for as low as 29 cents!

Blood and Guts sounds fascinating and approachable. I'm adding that one to the wish list!

Adding both Blood and Guts and 1700: Scenes from London Life to the wishlist. A couple years ago, I read Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood, which was pretty interesting.

Blood and Guts led me to reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. I found both highly enjoyable despite not being a medical practitioner or one involved in medical research.

224, 226: glad you've added Waller's book to your wishlist - I find it very difficult to get interested in non-fiction as well but I liked the sound of this one so I got it and it's proving to be quite interesting. What really sold the book to me was the format: it's all divided into sections according to the topic Waller is tackling (e.g. "Childbirth", "The Poor", "Religion and Superstition" etc.) To be honest some topics are not as interesting as others - e.g. the section about fashion is not as fascinating as the amazing section about disease but the book is still worth reading, despite this inevitable "fault". The great thing about this section-division is that despite the fact that it is technically a history book, it doesn't feel like a boring, long, history lesson. Plus, you can just choose the topics you're interested in and read only about those! Win-win!

Ooo, Stiff looks interesting, too!

Ohh - love all the medical related titles. Last medical book I read was Michael Bliss and his book Harvey Cushing: A Life in Surgery, which was interesting, but perhaps not so much to non-medics. This Canadian writer has written quite extensively about medicine.

The Roy Porter book and 177 - Scenes from London Life look good.

Any other good titles in the medical field??

I've accumulated quite a few of Roy Porter's books, but Blood and Guts is the first one I've read. I have a couple of dozen other medically related books, and had big plans to tackle some of them this year, but that hasn't happened yet.

Some of my favorites from the past few years are:

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science and Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Medical Performance by Atul Gawande
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis by Sherwin B. Nuland

I'm loving reading about these books too. My non-fiction reading is usually history or economics, but some of these sound great.

#221 gug and #223, I felt like that (about not being born earlier) yesterday when I was finishing off The Glass Room!

Hmm...I'd really like to tackle another medical book as my next book of nonfiction, alongside my current novel (Wolf Hall) and collection of short stories (Coloured Lights). I think my copy of Intern by Doctor X is here at my parents' house, so I'll start that this week.

I just added all the books in #231 to my Wishlist (except Complications, which was already there.) They sound great! I'm considering doing the 1010 Challenge next year, and I just may do a "medical" category.

Cool. I'll probably re-read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down next year; it's one of my all-time favorites.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is an amazing book and started me reading anything Anne Fadiman writes.

I loved Complications even though it made me think twice about taking everything doctors say as gospel truth, and it's made me ask more questions whenever I've had to go to the doctor, in addition to doing my own research online as well.

On the other hand, I don't think his other book Better was as well written or captivating.

I read The Spirit Catches you some years ago and loved it. It's stayed with me as a haunting book for a very very long time.

Adding 1700:Scenes from London Life and Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine to the tbr. Thanx kidzdoc!

I agree with all the recs of Complications, which I read for my Literature & Medicine class earlier this year and absolutely loved.

The Booker Prize shortlist has just been announced:

The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Summertime by J.M. Coetzee
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The winner will be announced on October 6th in London.

J M Coetzee in running for first hat trick

240: hmm...haven't read any of them. Does anyone have any preferences as to the winner? Do tell please!

My favorite is still The Glass Room. I enjoyed Summertime and The Quickening Maze, but not nearly as much, and I'm surprised that the latter book made the shortlist. I'm almost halfway through Wolf Hall, which is very good so far, and I haven't read The Children's Book or The Little Stranger yet.

I'd suggest looking at Cait86's thread and the Man Booker Prize 2009 thread in the Prizes group, too.

#237: I agree, Complications was a better written and more compelling book. For me, Better: was a more important book, because of its discussions of quality improvement in medicine. BTW, his next book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, will be published in the US just before Christmas.

I can't think of any books off the top of my head that affected me as deeply as The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Hmm...I'd love to have a group discussion about the book, maybe sometime next year here, in the Medicine group or elsewhere.

#239: What other books did you read for your Literature & Medicine course that you liked?

I'm still hoping for The Children's Book, though I have only read two of the shortlisted novels so far. I am disappointed Brooklyn wasn't chosen, especially since I thought it was much better than The Quickening Maze, but with all those established authors on the list, maybe the judges felt they needed to include a new author as well.

I just listened to today's Guardian's Book Podcast, where the literary editors of the Guardian and the Observer and the editor of the Guardian Books page talked about the shortlist, and the book they thought would win or should win. The Observer literary editor favored The Glass Room, and his Guardian counterpart seemed to do the same. The Books page editor favored Wolf Hall, but admitted that she hadn't read The Glass Room yet. The consensus seemed to be that Wolf Hall, the current frontrunner, would be the most likely winner.

Here's a link to the podcast, which is about 15 minutes in length:

The Man Booker shortlist 2009

>239 allthesedarnbooks:, For fiction, we read Vincent Lam's Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, which I loved, and The Collected Stories of William Carlos Williams, which was interesting, as I was really most aware of him as a poet, but I actually liked his short stories a great deal. We read an excellent anthology, A Life in Medicine, which had some excellent excerpts from various authors that added a lot to my TBR pile. On the memoir front, we also read White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School, which I wasn't as crazy about, and The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso from the patient's perspective, which was fabulous. My professor was really cool, and she recommended a lot of books which we didn't get the chance to cover, including The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. It was a really interesting class, with some great discussions, because it was a mixture of English majors (like me) and pre-med students. I've been on the other side of the divide as a patient a lot, so it was really interesting to see the doctors' side.

Hmmm, seems I should be adding The Glass Room to my wishlist!

I look forward to your Wolf Hall comments too - I didn't particularly like Beyond Black, although I was struggling to say why when discussing it with my sister the other day, so I think I shall have to give Wolf Hall a go...

>246 allthesedarnbooks: Thanks for your comments and the list of books. I missed my opportunity to take a similar course as a medical student, which was a joint project of the medical school and the university's English department. I'd never heard of The Two Kinds of Decay, but that's definitely going on my wish list.

I've subscribed to The Bellevue Literary Review for several years, a quarterly journal on literature and medicine edited by Sherwin B. Nuland and Danielle Ofri, a writer and professor of medicine at NYU. Strangely enough I haven't read many of the articles, or the book The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review. Ofri has also written a couple of well-regarded nonfiction books about her medical career, Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue and Incidental Findings: Lessons from My Patients in the Art of Medicine, which are both very good.

Perri Klass is another of my favorite physician writers. I've read A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years As A Medical Student, Baby Doctor: A Pediatrician's Training, and Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor. She has also written several novels in recent years. And that reminds me, I want to get her latest book, The Real Life of a Pediatrician, which was published this spring.

Pauline W. Chen is a surgeon who wrote another book I enjoyed last year, Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality, which was both sensitive and courageous. She also writes an excellent column about medicine that appears in the online edition of The New York Times on Fridays.

Uh, oh! 5 more books just got added onto my overcrowded Wishlist!

:)

>243 kidzdoc: my middle son (the broken-wrist, hyper one)'s godfather is at Mass General and has bought us over the years two copies of each of Gawande's books. Interesting to hear that Complications is (ho ho) better.

Did you read Direct Red at some point? I know I first read about it on LT, I just can't remember who recommended it. It's on the Guardian First Book longlist and the Grauniad journo who wrote the piece announcing it obviously loved it - it got the first 2 paragraphs in a roughly 5-para piece.

>250 FlossieT: Rachael, have you or your husband read either of his books?

I haven't yet bought or read Direct Red, although I think I posted a link to a review about it several months ago. I had meant to pick it up last month, but forgot to get it (and a few others I was interested in). I just looked at Amazon US, and it is available here, so I'll probably buy it when I go to San Francisco next month.

BTW, I'm nearly finished with Wolf Hall (almost 500 pages through, just over 150 pages to go), which I should finish on the flight back to Atlanta tomorrow. I'll start The Little Stranger tomorrow, and read The Children's Book next week to finish up the Booker Prize longlist. I'll read the other two longlisted books, Heliopolis and The Wilderness, later in the year.

Strong speech by President Obama on health care reform!

Since this thread has exceeded 250 posts, I'll open a new thread here.