kidzdoc: 75 and Beyond, Take 3

Take 1

Take 2

Books Read in 2010:



Books Purchased in 2010:



Currently reading:
Listen! Early Poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky
The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah
Albert Camus, the Algerian: Colonialism, Terrorism, Justice by David Carroll
The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni

Completed books:

February:
16. Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss
15. Ashes of the Amazon by Milton Hatoum
14. Black Feeling Black Talk by Nikki Giovanni
13. The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński
12. The Good Doctors: The Medical Committee for Human Rights and the Struggle for Social Justice in Health Care by John Dittmer
11. Wondrak and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig (Austria)

January:
10. Moscardino by Enrico Pea (Italy)
9. Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia)
8. Small Island by Andrea Levy (UK)
7. Amok and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig (Austria)
6. The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria by Randall M. Packard
5. The Word Book by Kanai Mieko (Japan)
4. Tormented Hope: Nine Hypochondriac Lives by Brian Dillon
3. Matigari by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
2. Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolaño (Chile)
1. Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D.G. Kelley

Categories and completed books in my 1010 challenge:

A. 2009-10 Archipelago Books
1. Moscardino by Enrico Pea (Italy)
2. Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss

B. 2010 Booker Prize longlist

C. Orange Prize longlists and winners
1. Small Island by Andrea Levy (UK)

D. Medicine, public health and science
1. Tormented Hope: Nine Hypochondriac Lives by Brian Dillon
2. The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria by Randall M. Packard
3. The Good Doctors: The Medical Committee for Human Rights and the Struggle for Social Justice in Health Care by John Dittmer

E. African-American/African poetry & literature
1. Matigari by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
2. Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia)
3. Black Feeling Black Talk by Nikki Giovanni

F. Author Theme Reads 2010 author (Stefan Zweig)
1. Amok and Other Stories
2. Wondrak and Other Stories

G. Southern US literature (Le Salon du Faulkner group, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers)

H. Asian/Asian-American literature
1. The Word Book by Kanai Mieko (Japan)

I. Biography and History
1. Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D.G. Kelley
2. The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński

J. Latin-American & Caribbean literature
1. Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolaño (Chile)
2. Ashes of the Amazon by Milton Hatoum (Brazil)

Found you again, Darryl! I hope you are getting some rest.

Book #7: Amok and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig




My rating:



Amok and Other Stories (1922) consists of the novella "Amok", along with three short stories that were originally published alongside it, "The Star Above the Forest", "Leporella" and "Incident on Lake Geneva".

The nameless narrator of "Amok" is a passenger on an ocean liner traveling from Calcutta to Europe just before the Great War, who encounters a man who is in hiding from the other passengers. He is agitated and emotionally fragile but civil to the narrator. On a second visit, the narrator looks for this mysterious stranger, who has a story that he needs to get off of his chest. He is a German trained physician who accepted a position with the Dutch government to serve as a doctor in the colonies, after his medical career was derailed by personal scandal. He sets up his practice in a district station, far away from the nearest town, which suits his desire for solitude from other colonists. He seeks pleasure from "yellow-skinned womean and my good whisky", but he desires to return to Europe, with its desirable women.

One day a mysterious, haughty and beautiful European woman drives to the district station to visit him. She attempts to make idle conversation with the doctor, who soon realizes that she is hiding a secret, and needs his urgent assistance. He desires her physically, but is repulsed by her condescending manner, and he only agrees to help her if she agrees to do something for him in return. She refuses his proposal, and returns to town. Almost immediately, the doctor is struck with regret, and becomes obsessed with the woman, following her back to her house, and seeking her out in the town. Faced with a desperate need to remedy her condition, the woman seeks help from a native medical practitioner, to the shock and horror of the doctor, who attempts to treat her before a tragedy ensues.

The short stories are good, but do not have the gripping emotional power of "Amok", which is a fantatsic novella. I would give five stars to "Amok", and four stars to this book as a whole.

Nope, my local library does not have that one of Zweig's either. Rats.

Stasia, I think that your house has a better selection of books than your local library does.

I know it doesn't, but thanks for the thought, Darryl.

As you know, I really like Zweig, although this is not one I have read yet. I also like reading the Pushkin Press editions because their books are such a delight to handle. I like the inside flaps on the covers - good for marking pages and less prone to easy tattering! Nice size too.

(the aesthetics of reading seems more important to me recently - an old tattered, page shedding paperback seems disrespectful to the author, somehow, although perhaps not a very 'green' attitude).

Darryl- Found you on Take #3! You are rolling, sir! Hope you are having a good, restful weekend!

*weeps* @ inability to keep up~~~~

kiwi... I like a well used, well read book. To me having a book that has been read, reread and even a bit battered shows respect...differently maybe.

I have always read while doing all sorts of things.. cooking for instance..
so on occasions my books have gotten battered. This is because I was utterly unable to put them down to carry on with the necessities.

These days, with the kids grown, I have a bit more time and so rarely batter my books, but it happens..

:P

The OCD control freak is exposed, mcKait. I WISH I could go with the flow more, like you!

yeah, well you should see how freaked out I get when dishes are left in the sink....lol
or the towels are not on the right shelf..

since I do the dishes and the laundry that rarely happens but....

I'm still not going to forgive you quite yet as I don't actually GET the chocolates, you just show me the picture and leave me drooling without any hope of being able to taste them.

That is known as a cruel and unusual torture, and gives you yet another black mark in my book. You're not doing so good this week. MUST TRY HARDER!!!!!!!!

I don't know for sure, Darryl, but it sounds as if Jenny is deadly serious :)

I think I'm fully rested (though not sufficiently caffeinated yet). I slept from 5:30 am to 3 pm, in preparation for my night shift tonight. I had a 100-101 degree fever last night, but I'm feeling fine now.

#7: You're right, Karen, Amok and Other Stories is a Pushkin Press publication, and I like it for the same reasons that you do. I also bought another Pushkin Press book, Wondrak and Other Stories by Zweig, at the same time, and I'll see if I can read it today or tomorrow. I suspect that Faulkner is not the best choice of a book to read on my night call.

#8: Thanks, Mark! Once I get this night shift out of the way I'll be off for the following 48 hours, which will give me time to adjust back to being a day person.

#9: I don't mind a well read book, but not one that's been underlined or highlighted, or ones that have pages falling out. My best friends gave me a copy of The Silent Traveller in San Francisco this past Christmas, which we were all surprised to learn was a first edition copy from 1964. It doesn't seem to have been read, and is in excellent condition. I love it, and will read it in the next couple of months.

#12: ICJ, don't you have Windows 7? With the new version, you can pluck the chocolates directly off of the screen.

HA! where I work, thats no fever.. 101.2 or not a fever. Not diarrhea unless they go pure liquid 3x Through the clothing. Nothing short of that counts. I don't understand why they can't see that kids an be sick and have NO fever. It wears me down, doc dear.. wears me down..

however, I am glad your fever is gone. Fever makes me feel as if I am going to shatter into a billion bits at the first touch of .. anything.. air..
Terrible if you had to work that way :P

Be safe , be well, keep warm..

Right. A 101 degree fever in itself wouldn't have kept me, or any of my colleagues, from going to work. I think I've only taken one or two sick days in the past 7-8 years, and that was only because I was hospitalized two years ago, after I developed atrial fibrillation (thankfully, I haven't had any other runs of A-fib, and it probably resulted from a viral infection, as all of the tests came back normal).

None of us likes to work when we're sick, but it's an unavoidable part of what we all do (including you and many others, I'm sure). Fortunately I've been exposed to a lot over the years, so it's uncommon for me to get a full blown case of an infection, other than the annual RSV URI.

:PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

No I do not. It's still a form of torture. You are skating on VERY thin ice my boy. Buck your ideas up or you'll pay!

Now that was a great raspberry!! LOL

The spittle from Jenny's raspberry shorted out my laptop, so I had to wait until I got to work so that I could use my netbook to respond. I'll try to think of a clever idea later tonight or tomorrow.

Hope you are feeling better, Darryl!

Thanks, Stasia, I'm feeling much better tonight. It's been a good night so far, only 2 admissions (new patients) in the first 3-1/2 hours, and hopefully it will continue like this until 8 am, when my shift ends.

Hmm...I think I'll grab dinner from the cafeteria.

I am glad to hear you are doing better tonight. I hope it stays a calm night for you.

Glad your computer survived the rain shower, or at least that you found a backup. Here's wishing you an uneventful night, both for your patients' well-being and yours!!

Just checking in so as not to lose you - glad you're feeling better!

Thanks for the good wishes; my call is over (time to do the Snoopy dance), and I'm feeling back to normal.

It was an exceptionally good call night for a Sunday in the dead of winter. I only had 5 admissions in 12 hours; 10-12 admissions is more typical, and lately the night doc on weekends has had 12-15+ admissions on weekend nights. I was even able to finish Wondrak and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig this morning; it wasn't as good as his other books that I've read, namely Chess Story, Journey into the Past and Amok and Other Stories, but it was still a very enjoyable book.

I just received my first book of my 2010 Archipelago Books subscription, Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss. I'll put aside Faulkner for the time being, and dive right into this one.

I'd not heard of Zweig before but I have added Chess Story to my wishlist, it looks interesting - thanks!

P.S. Glad you're feeling better.

Thanks, souloftherose. Zweig has become one of my favorite authors. Several of us will be reading his books throughout the year, as part of lilisin's Author Theme Reads group. I have four other books by Zweig that I'll read this year, The Post-Office Girl, Beware of Pity, The World of Yesterday, and Selected Stories. Anyone who is interested in reading Zweig is welcome to join us!

#24: Hi, Fliss! When do you leave for San Francisco? You'll have to keep us posted on your adventures there.

A book about a Physician and Murderer, huh? That sounds interesting, perhaps?! . . . (I would say maybe he missed the lesson about "first do no harm . . ." ???)

;)

Glad you're feeling back to normal, and had an easy call night!

Someone call for a Snoopy dance?


I'm putting George Letham : Physician and Murderer in my carry-on bag to read on my flight to Singapore on Thursday.

I'm about a third of the way through Georg Letham, Physician and Murderer and all I can say is that it becomes more bizarre and more horrifying as it moves along, and that some of it requires a strong stomach (and not the murdering part!).

~~~ there she goes again~~~~~

Glad you are off the night shift.. They would find me asleep in all sorts of places if I had to do that..

Nothing worthwhile to add.. just a hellp and I am off to do dishes, shower and read, in that order...

:)

Fantastic! Thanks Caroline, I couldn't find an animated dancing Snoopy to post.

Now I'm really intrigued, Rebecca; the three of us will have to compare notes while or after we read it.

I'm even happier now than I was this morning. My shipment of Peet's Coffee came just in time, as I had run out last night. And, I received the CDs I ordered from Mosaic Records: The Complete Atomic Basie by the Count Basie Orchestra, Unit Structures and Looking Ahead! by Cecil Taylor, and "Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68", a six-CD compilation of quintet featuring Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. This is a period of Miles' music that I am sadly ignorant of, especially after I heard a selection from the album Nefertiti on the drive to work last night.

BTW, I'm impressed that LT has touchstones for jazz albums!

*not looking at Darryl's CD list ... not looking at Darryl's CD list .......... where's that clunky boot?*

Kath, you're welcome here anytime; you always add a bright ray of sunshine to my thread (and everyone else's...except for Richard's perhaps).

#34: Uh oh, it looks like Snoopy needs to crawl back into his doghouse...

how do you think Snoopy's head got so big? It's swollen from being hit by clunky boots once too often.

whew! for a minute there I was worried. It is my goddess given job to poke @ rd :)

#37: Hmm, maybe I'd better wait to post my jazz reviews until Caroline has left for Singapore. I doubt that she could throw a clunky boot on a straight line from there! (Have a safe and enjoyable trip, my friend.)

#38: ...and you do it better than anyone else!

Caroline is a very capable boot chucker...
be afraid.. very afraid...

#40

And if she misses, I'll make sure I'm on target

I think I need a bodyguard. I'll have to ask Rachael if the Snow Leopard is still available.

I love the Cecil Taylor I'm listening to, Looking Ahead! (1958); I'll probably write a review of it later today, despite threats from Caroline and Jenny.

I guess the good news is that Jenny is across the pond and thus, her access is limited. You are on your own with Caroline.

#43

Wanna bet? It wouldn't take me that long to hop on a flight and launch a sneak attack. ;)

#44: Shhh! If it is a sneak attack, you cannot tell the attackee!

I think I may be safe with reviewing Cecil Taylor's albums. He is one of the originators of free jazz, along with Ornette Coleman, starting in the 1950s, and I'd say that their works are definitely an acquired taste. I strongly disliked them both when I first started to listen to jazz seriously about 25 years ago, and it's only been in the past few years that I've started to enjoy their music.

A representative example: "Sweet and Lovely" by Cecil Taylor, from his 1956 album Jazz Advance, which is one of my favorite free jazz albums:

Sweet and Lovely

Warning: I expect that 80-90% of you will not like this!

Well, I guess I will never know if I like it or not. All I get is about 2 bars of music and then little white dots going round and round. *sigh*

I think I'm safe from Jenny, as I don't think she'll clear Customs in Atlanta.

Customs Officer: Ms. _____, how long do you plan to stay in the US?

Lunacat: One day, that should be enough.

Customs Officer: Please state the purpose of your visit.

Lunacat: I intend to beat ________ to a bloody pulp with a clunky boot.

Customs Officer: Um, excuse me?

Lunacat: Well he has tormented me for months, and I have come to seek my revenge.

Customs Officer: Fine. Walk this way, please.

Scene ends, as Lunacat is escorted to a side office, and given a ticket for the first flight back to the UK.

She'll lie to the Customs Officer, Darryl, you have to know that!

#48

You're assuming that I would truthfully state the purpose of my visit. Why on earth would I do a ridiculous thing like that???

#49

Great and dangerous minds think alike ;)

Stasia, that video is a bit wonky, I had to wait for the entire clip to download before I could listen to it. If you hit the "Pause" button and wait for it to fully download you should be able to listen to it.

Jenny, lying to a Customs Officer is a federal offense in the US, with a minimum 85 year prison sentence in a sweltering jail in Louisiana or Texas. Dubya passed that into law just before he left office.

#52

I'm a very good liar.

Anyway, it wouldn't be a lie to say that I am going to visit someone who is a book fanatic like me, to give him a gift of a boot.

#52: OK, thanks Darryl, I will give it another shot.

ETA: That worked. Parts of it I liked, parts of it, not so much.

Polarizing, those men...Ornette Coleman seemed to *love* scaring the audience.

Fifty-five posts in the few hours this thread has been up. Your THIRD thread. Does it strike you, sirrah, that you are a menace to telecommunications on several continents with your overactive threads? Hmmm?

Well Darryl - I'll be reading Small Island much sooner than I thought as I just bought a ticket to hear Andrea Levy speak at A Summer Season of International Women Authors in March. I'll also be attending talks with Xinran, Sarah Waters & 2 more UK writers. Not a bad lineup for this remote corner of the world.

#53: I think I'll need the Snow Leopard's services, after all. Or, I could hide out in my best friends' house in frigid Wisconsin for the rest of the winter, as Jenny apparently doesn't do well in subzero (F not C) weather. I'll be flying to Madison at the end of this month, so I'll just extend my visit. Either way, problem solved.

#54: Stasia, you get a gold star for listening to that clip, and if you liked some of it, then you're sufficiently open minded (which I (and we) knew already).

#55: I still maintain that I post a minority of messages to my own thread. Let's see...of the now 56 messages that precede this one, only 17 are from me, and many of them are responses to threats by Jenny and Caroline.

My first taste of free jazz was listening to Ornette Coleman's song "Lonely Woman", from The Shape of Jazz to Come. That was painful to listen to at first, and I didn't touch that album for years. Slowly it grew on me, and now I love that song. I saw Ornette perform in San Francisco a few years ago, and enjoyed it, although I like his music from the late 1950s and early 1960s better.

Likewise, I prefer Cecil Taylor's older recordings, Jazz Advance (1956) and At Newport, which features three songs by the Gigi Gryce-Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory and three by the Cecil Taylor Quartet from the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, along with Looking Ahead!, which is my favorite of the three.





My rating:


Looking Ahead! (1958) is Cecil Taylor's second album as a leader, after Jazz Advance, and features Earl Griffith on vibes, Buell Neidlinger on bass and Dennis Charles on drums. Although the music is firmly in the free jazz camp, in keeping with Cecil's reputation as one of the pioneers of this form, it is definitely not atonal. Several of the selections, especially "Luyah! The Glorious Step" and "Excursion on a Wobbly Rail", are quite lyrical, and easy to dance or workout to. Other highlights include the ballad "African Violets" and "Wallering", a tribute to the great pianist Fats Waller. The album's strength is the extent to which the musicians push each other, toward a higher goal: Neidlinger and Charles drive the soloists hard, but Taylor matches them with his intensity, during his solos and whenever Griffith comes to bat. Taylor occasionally seems to overshadow Griffith during his solos, as he seems hesitant at times during Taylor's frenetic runs, but this was only mildly distracting. This music won't be for everyone, but I would recommend it, along with Ornette Coleman's classic album The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) as starting points for anyone who wishes to explore the origins of free jazz.

Unfortunately I couldn't find any YouTube clips from Looking Ahead!. If I find anything I'll post it here.

Kerry, that lineup looks fabulous; I wish I could go! Please let us know about these talks.

Hopefully you'll also enjoy Small Island more than the person who made this comment on my Club Read thread:

'I tend to agree with the Booker judge that suggested that the praise for Small Island comes from the topic rather than the treatment. It is very readable but I found it a strangely one-dimensional novel, with the characters all filling stereotypical roles, and the plot by numbers.'

I sometimes wonder why I bother posting to that group.

Moi? Threats? I'm innocent, nothing to do with me whatsoever.

However, I think I would even brave the freezing weather if your travel plans cause you to vanish off the face of LT and remove yourself as my favourite target of torture and torment.

You can run, but you can't hide.

Darryl, I've been lurking again because I can't keep up but I had to post something about Small Island - I loved it! I thought it had plenty of plot and the characters were really well fleshed out. I have the sequel (I think) coming on the boat.

And my husband quite likes free jazz but I am still in the "I don't get it" category...I will stick to Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan and Nicholas Peyton (sp?) and Wynton Marsalis. (They are all coming on the boat too, well their music is anyway...)

*adds Small Island*
*finds it already there*

>58 kidzdoc: Arrgghh! What an arrogant response! I'm sorry but, having loved Small Island and can't understand that response at all. One dimensional? Stereotypical? I don't think so.

#58 I sometimes wonder why I bother posting to that group.

We're not ALL bad over on Club Read!

Darryl, what Jenny hasn't told you is that I'm going to smuggle her into the country in my luggage - once there, she'll wait for your next San Francisco visit and catch you by surprise.

...Damn! Me and my big mouth...

#28 Well, I fly in on the 20th, but will be in Montarey until the 26th (long, work related days in between) - I'll be flying out on the 28th - so a very short stop over in San Francisco... but I shall be sure to keep you all posted... Just think of all that book reading time on the plane!! I'm encouraging my colleague (who suffers from anxiety and will be sitting behind me) to take some form of sleep/relaxing thing, so I don't have to do anything sociable like actually talk on the flight (eveel snicker)

FLISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Now you've got and (literally) let the cat out of the bag!!!!!

>58 kidzdoc: Oh oh. I thought it was a perfectly pleasant response to a book the person didn't like a great deal. The tone seems like it's written by someone who's pretty used to discussing books at a high level and was aiming the remark accordingly.

(No, I didn't write it.)

What got your hackles up about that, Darryl?

#66: I guess I'd didn't like that the only response I received to three book reviews was that one, which I found to be quite smug. So, I considered not posting there anymore, if all I was going to get was "negative" responses.

In a bit of retrospect, I think my negative reaction to this post had more to do with external stresses that have nothing to do with LT. In a nutshell, this has been an extremely busy and stressful 6-8 month stretch for us at work, and we are all pretty burnt out and tired, and looking forward to taking some time off in the spring. However, we found out that two of the full time docs submitted their resignations last week, which means that they will both be gone -- and we will be two docs short -- by the end of April. So, there is a real possibility that we won't be able to have people out on vacation until we fill these vacancies: more stress and dissatisfaction, and I slept very poorly over the past few nights. As a result, I'm exhausted, very crabby (not with patients and families, of course, the cute kids keep us sane), and not in a mood to tolerate what I (mistakenly) perceived as a slap in the face. I didn't like the comment, but I wasn't sure if it was a criticism of the book, or a reflection of the poster's smugness, since this isn't a person I know well or one who posts to Club Read on a regular basis. Instead of posting a viral remark there, or saying "goodbye" to Club Read, I thought I would post a comment in the safe and non-critical environment that exists here, before making any comments to the thread there.

Sorry to be so long winded and mega-crabby. I'm back to work today, a day earlier than I should have had to come back in after a night call, and I'm back on call again tonight (10 am to 10 pm). Thankfully it hasn't been bad so far, and hopefully the worst of this horrific winter season is coming to a close.

#62: Having said all that, I still don't understand how this person could find Small Island to be "stereotypical" or "one dimensional".

#63: Dearest Rebecca, I definitely know that most of the Club Readers are very decent and thoughtful people (and you're right at the top of that list). I did receive a PM from another Club Reader whom I fond of, who gave me words of encouragement this morning. So, I'll still post there, but I won't be so thin skinned about comments (especially when I'm not so stressed and exhausted).

#64: Ooh, nearly a week in Monterey? That sounds wonderful. I haven't made it down to Monterey yet, but I'm sure some other 75ers could tell you more about it. I think you'll be fairly close to Santa Cruz, which is also on the coast. If you get a chance to go there, I would check out the Bookshop Santa Cruz, which is a fantastic independent bookstore with a great selection from local, national and international writers. It's my second favorite bookstore in northern CA after City Lights, but I don't go there too often anymore, now that my best friends have moved from Palo Alto to Madison, Wisconsin.

Sigh...unless this work crisis gets resolved I may not be able to go to San Francisco until the fall, when the American Academy of Pediatrics has its national conference there in early October. So, Jenny may be waiting for me awhile...but I can't think of any other places I'd rather spend a few months in that San Francisco!

#59: Travel plans don't affect my ability to post on LT, as my friends in Madison have a wireless router that I can access the Internet on with my netbook. It may be in the middle of the "frozen tundra", but it's still a large town (capital of Wisconsin and the home of the huge main campus of the University of Wisconsin). And even if I can't use my netbook, I purchased a BlackBerry recently, and can access LT and post text messages without difficulty.

#60: That's understandable that you don't get free jazz, Cushla. I'm not sure I get it either, especially since I have no formal musical background. I can appreciate and enjoy Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor far more than I could 5-10 years ago. This weekend I'll listen to the other Cecil Taylor CD I bought, which is from 1966. Even though it's supposed to be one of his very best albums, I'll bet that I won't like it nearly as much as Looking Ahead!

Darryl, I do hope you get some relief at work soon. I understand how difficult it is working short-staffed having done it several times myself, and trying to keep yourself sane in those situations is sometimes an uphill battle. It amazes me that you get any reading done at all and I so appreciate the time to take not only to write reviews but to share your love of jazz. Thank you.

Here to add another thumbs up for Small Island. I absolutely loved it and am thrilled that you did, too, Darryl! Best wishes on the workfront.

Darryl, I agree with everything Stasia says in 71. Going back to the Club Read poster, my attitude is that posts reflect on the poster; I guess I have developed a thick skin over the years, at least on the internet and at least from people I don't "know." But I am a prime example of someone who gets more sensitive and even grumpy when I haven't gotten enough sleep, so I am in awe of how you can be so friendly and cheerful when you are so chronically sleep-deprived.

#65 Oops! Sorry Jenny - but I'm sure we can come up with another cunning plan... mwah ha ha ha ha...

#68 Sounds wonderful, but I probably won't get a huge amount of time to explore while I'm in Monterey - these conferences tend to have pretty long working days... Still, I shall certainly do my best - particularly if there's good book shopping potential!

Sorry you're having such a stressful time at the moment - I can certainly empathise with getting emotional when overworked! Fingers double crossed that you manage to find replacement people asap...

>73 rebeccanyc: You're right; it does reflect on the poster. When someone gives a book 4.5 stars you can certainly see that they're especially enamoured with the book so it seems so rude to put the book down that way even if you don't agree.

I also agree with you about getting a thick skin which is what I'm trying to do.

I hope you get some rest soon. I don't like to hear you so tired and unimpressed with life :( Hopefully things will ease up and you'll be able to recuperate.

Darryl - sorry to hear you are overworked and tired. I can sympathize!

I stopped posting/visiting Club Read for the same reason - just a bit too much bite and claws from a select few. Once bitten twice shy.

BTW - you are the LEAST crabby person on LT. Really.

#77

Hear hear. MUCH less crabby than me :P

I think of Darryl as a model netizen, one willing and able to afford others the chance to agree or disagree with him and still remain true to his mannerly upbringing.

>64 flissp: There's quite a nice independent bookstore in the centre of Monterey - I don't remember the name but it's near most of the restaurants and the convention centre, so work may not rule out a visit! We visited twice, for the Left Coast Crime convention which is a regular event for some of my crime fiction loving friends in 2004 when it was there, and then for a couple of nights in 2005 (I wanted to revisit) when I discovered we could fly there from Chicago and then fly home from San Francisco for about the same as going straight to SF.

There are also a couple of secondhand bookshops but they're further out of the town centre.

Thanks for your supportive posts, everyone. I've read them, but I can't think of anything particularly useful or witty to say.

I'll be off this weekend, and I plan to finish The Good Doctors and start Georg Letham — after I get some sleep.

I started on George Letham and will be interested in what you think of it when you're done. I read most of it on the plane and United's got a whole new audio list (a blessing since I had accidentally put my iPod in my checked luggage) so I was happily listening to Wynton Marsalis, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, and Chris Botti in between some classical music by Andre Previn and Izthak Perlman. I'll probably try and finish it today if I can, preferably lying by the pool.

And no, I didn't bring my clunky boot with me to hurl at you .... but I'm a sharp aim with a pair of flipflops! ;-)

Hi Caroline! I'm glad that you arrived in Singapore safely, and I'll be interested to get your thoughts on Georg Letham, which I'll start later today.

I'm probably one of the few who isn't jealous of your current trip, as I don't like hot weather (anything above 80 degrees is too warm for me...so why do I live in Hotlanta???). I hope that you have a wonderful time, though.

I'm not too worried about flipflops, in comparison to clunky boots, so I feel safe at the moment.

I think I'll listen to the Miles Davis CDs I received last week, starting with the one that has Nefertiti on it.

This may be a stay at home weekend, as I seem to have picked up a stomach bug yesterday. I'm supposed to go out with friends tonight, but I probably won't make it.

Hi Darryl- Whatever you do this weekend, I hope you get some rest and feel better! What Miles Davis cds did you get? Inquiring minds...

Thanks, Mark. The set I received is Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings. The book that came with the CDs lists the following albums: "E.S.P", "Miles Smiles", "Sorcerer", "Nefertiti", "Miles in the Sky", "Filles de Kilimanjaro", "Water Babies", "Circle in the Round", and "Directions". I have "Miles Smiles", but all of the other albums are unfamiliar to me.

Yes, I have this collection too! It is one of my jazz treasures! You are in for such a treat! Pure bliss!! It's cool how, once he got this all out of his system, he moved on to uncharted ground with In a Silent Way, another phenomenal direction!

Book #12: The Good Doctors: The Medical Committee for Human Rights and the Struggle for Social Justice in Health Care by John Dittmer





My rating:



Purchased at: City Lights Bookstore
Categories: Medicine (1010 Challenge), Black History Month

The Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) was created in 1964 to provide medical care to civil rights workers during Freedom Summer, the grass roots program that sought to register thousands of black Mississippians to vote. The Magnolia State in the mid-1960s was the poorest and most repressive state in the Union, as many of its black citizens were starving, dying from preventable illness, and in great fear of seeking their civil rights due to hostile whites, state and local police that preserved the status quo, and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the Deep South.

The MCHR expanded its operations throughout the South, after some initial missteps, and played a major role in desegregating hospitals that were in violation of federal law, providing health care and education for blacks who had never been seen by a physician, and treating activists and local residents felled by police and angry mobs during civil rights marches and demonstrations. The MCHR also took an active role in opposing the Vietnam War, encouraging medical schools to enroll more minority physicians, opening community health centers, and lobbying for universal health care.

In later years the effectiveness of the MCHR was diminished by internecine feuds and external opposition, and it withered and collapsed during the early 1980s due to financial difficulty and a lack of purpose. Despite its short existence and limited successes, its efforts continue to bear fruit: many more minority physicians and nurses are in practice in the Deep South and throughout the United States; community health centers continue to operate in underserved areas; and medical organizations such as Doctors for America and Physicians for a National Health Program continue to lobby for universal health care.

John Dittmer, a professor of history at DePauw University, does a great service by chronicling the efforts of the MCHR in The Good Doctors. However, the book is marred by an overemphasis on detail, as the author includes too many people and facts, which made this a difficult book to enjoy. I doubt that I would read it to the end if I wasn't highly interested in the topic. The story of the MCHR is a compelling one, but it deserves a better narrative, and I would only recommend The Good Doctors for the reader with a strong desire to learn about this Committee.

Darryl- I hate humidity and temperatures above 92 tend to see me whimpering and seeking the nearest air conditioned room to hole up in. Thankfully there's air conditioning almost everywhere here, and they've some wonderful cafes with free wi-fi, comfy couches and fantastic drinks and food.

I've reviewed Georg Letham so check out my thread for my review. I'm really keen to know what you think of it after you've read it. All I can say is that I'll never look another mosquito or rat in quite the same fashion again. I've never liked rats to begin with (mice are ok... they have the cuteness factor going for them) and now I think I like them even less.

Nice review of The Good Doctors but I'll pass on this one. I hope your next read is a more enjoyable one for you

#87: Sorry you did not like The Good Doctors more, but I can understand why. Dittmer did go into a lot of detail and I sometimes got lost in all the people and organizations as well although I liked the book more than you did.

Stasia, I'm glad that I read The Good Doctors, as I knew nothing about the MCHR, and I was amazed at the extent of the opposition of the AMA to social justice in health care and seemingly everything that the MCHR was trying to do. I'm still shocked that it wasn't until 2008 that the AMA formally apologized to black physicians! I'm disappointed by Dittmer's effort, though; it's an important book, but it easily could have been a great one, too.

I'm off to check out your review of Georg Letham, Caroline...

Why are you up, Darryl?

Yeah, why am I up? In general I don't sleep well, as my brain seems to be in overdrive at night, especially when I have a lot on my mind or am a bit troubled. This morning I woke up after having a weird dream, which involved LeBron James (I was apparently sitting court side as he chatted to me during the game), my mother's decision to go to Temple University to earn a PhD, and a fight with my father over a sculpture. Maybe someone smarter (or more deranged) than me can interpret this mess.

ETA: I'm finally getting sleepy again (I've been awake since 2:45 am), so I'll probably sign off shortly.

At least you dream of people, and people you know! I don't usually remember my dreams or if I had any, but of the ones that I do remember, they always involve animals or insects and are very funny. The last one I remember partially had mice wearing viking helmets and marching

ROTFL! That's hilarious!

My dreams usually do involve people I know, and are generally in familiar situations or locations (the hospital I work at, parents' house, schools I attended, etc.). They tend to be based on some sort of alternative reality, which is sometimes close enough to RL that I'll wake up and wonder if that really happened, including the dream I had earlier this morning. I woke up angry at my father, before I realized that, once again, I had spent time in Bizarro World. And, once I'm up, it usually takes me a couple of hours to fall back asleep.

Wow ... vivid dreams about people I know would probably freak me out. Most of the time I wake up not remembering a thing. I tend to sleep like a log .... hotel chambermaids love me because there's little of the bed to make up since I don't move in my sleep, almost hug the edge and use only 1 pillow. If I do wake up in the middle of a dream or something, I fall back asleep almost immediately. I can also sleep with 3 loud snoring individuals in the same room - my brother, cousins and I had to share a room when we visited with my aunt & uncle some years back.

I will have some very disturbing dreams at times. The worst ones are when I learn that one of my parents dies before I can get there. Years ago I kept dreaming that an old girlfriend from New Orleans was murdered, which troubled me so much that I had to write to her and find out if she was okay (she was). And, up until a couple of years ago, I dreamt every few months about a girlfriend from medical school, who still owns a piece of my heart, which usually involved me losing her and not being able to find her in a crowd of strangers. I woke up in tears at least once or twice after one of these dreams.

I'd much rather dream about marching mice (not rats!) wearing Viking helmets.

I am one of those who rarely remembers dreams and when I do, they were usually of the nightmare variety.

I will take Carolines marching mice too.

I don't think I've had a nightmare since I was a kid .... or if I had, then i don't remember them and they couldn't have been too scary. Darryl, I don't think I'd function well the day after I have even one of the disturbing dreams that you've just described.

I wonder what makes some of us dream about people we know (disturbing or otherwise) and what makes some of us dream about anything but the people we know. I also wonder if we sometimes don't dream at all. Dream specialist, anyone?

All the dream specialists are probably dreaming at this hour of the morning here in the States!

Hi Darryl, I just dropped by to add a book to your wishlist :)

I read this review of Andrea Levy's The Long Song, and was reminded of the discussion here about Small Island. The Long Song looks fantastic. It was released in the UK on Feb 4 and will not be available in the US until April. But if you can't wait, there's always The Book Depository !

I am a person who dreams ALL the time, and extremely vividly. I dream about people I know, people I don't, bizarre situations, the past........doesn't make a blind bit of different to me!

I also talk in my sleep and move around a lot during the night. People can also often have conversations with me while I'm still asleep, about which I will remember nothing the next day.

Odd dreams are run of the mill for me, and it's only when I talk about them with other people that it occurs to me how strange they are!

#100: Thanks for the reminder, Laura. I saw that review when I perused the Guardian Review yesterday; it's my favorite source for book reviews, along with The London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books. However, I forgot to look at the review, for some reason.

I'd rather have the UK edition, although I may not get to it by the time it is released in the US. So, I've just ordered it from The Book Depository, along with A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee, which received a positive review by Maya Jaggi in the Guardian last weekend.

Did you see the recent interview with Andrea Levy? I'm sure I just read one in the Guardian (or just possibly, the Observer which is the related Sunday paper but articles can be found on the same website).

I still haven't read Small Island though I read her previous three books - I think I originally borrowed the first couple from the library though I now have my own copies.

Sorry to hear you have such horrible dreams. I've occasionally had dreams where I have to seek some reassurance when I wake up that they were dreams, but not as bad as that.

#103: Yes I did, and I had mentioned it in a post in my second thread. It was in the Guardian Review last weekend:

'I started to realise what fiction could be. And I thought, wow! You can take on the world'

Fortunately most of my dreams aren't disturbing, and the ones I can remember are generally bizarre but amusing.

For years and years I was a great sleeper and almost never remembered any dreams. Then, in my 40s, at the same time that I started having trouble sleeping, I started being conscious of dreaming, although most of the time I don't remember them in any detail. Nearly all of my dreams, or at least the ones I'm conscious of, are disturbing.

Now off to find cameling's thread and her review of Georg Letham.

> 87 I enjoyed The Good Doctors, but I would have preferred to have more information about the people involved. I kept wondering what it was like for them, how must they have felt. I always enjoy history as seen through the eyes of individuals rather than statistics and collective statements.

The children's hospital I work at has agreed to care for some of the children that were evacuated from Haiti. Today I assumed care of one of these kids, a young toddler who was pulled from the rubble of his home 3 days after the earthquake. He has severe soft tissue wounds of his scalp and one leg, and will need extensive follow up once he is discharged. However, he is one of the lucky ones, as most of his family perished under the rubble.

Please continue to keep the earthquake survivors in your thoughts and prayers.

>96 kidzdoc:: I can empathize with you on this one... I don't remember the last time I had a good dream, and I have vivid nightmares nearly every night. I don't remember them all beyond the first 45 minutes after waking up, but the ones I tend to recall the most are the ones where either a family member, my husband, one of my pets, or myself dies. These happen an awful lot and they're terrifying. My husband has told me that sometimes he wakes up and hears me gasping or making terrified-sound noises in my sleep, but he's never sure whether he should wake me up or not.

Does anyone else know if you're supposed to wake someone up when they're having a nightmare? Or does that make it worse? If I wake up by accident in the middle of a dream, I'll often fall back asleep right where I left off.

>107 kidzdoc:: Prayers on the way.

>108 dk_phoenix:: when one of my lads had night terrors, I would hold him and gently rub his back, saying over and over "it's ok, it's ok" until I felt him go limp and then I knew the dream had released him. His pediatrician said this was exactly the right thing to do, so I don't think it would be a bad thing for an adult either. The dreams are incredibly stressful, sending heart rate and blood pressure soaring. I would think you would be better off out of them but I'm not a doc.

Looks like your parents are in for a major storm. And, my area will be hit pretty hard as well.

http://www.weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/18

045?phenomena=WS&significance=W&areaid=PAZ062&office=KPHI&etn=0005

Yes, I had heard about this latest storm on NPR's Morning Edition on the drive to work. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Delaware Valley is supposed to get 12-18 inches of new snow by tomorrow night. My parents live in lower Bucks County (Middletown Township, near Sesame Place, the Sesame Street amusement park), and my father said that they "only" received 17 inches of snow last weekend, just a dusting compared to the 28.5 inches of snow that fell at the Philadelphia International Airport. So far two of the four largest snow accumulations in Philadelphia history have occurred this winter, and this one may not be too far off.

I'm starting to wonder about my trip to Madison, WI in a couple of weeks. They haven't had a bad winter so far, with only 37+ inches of snow so far this season, although they are supposed to get another six inches by tomorrow.

It started snowing in DC about an hour ago. Very light at the moment. DC is one of the worst places to be in a snow storm. We are not nearly as ready for them as other large cities in the NE like Philly, NY or Boston. We are basically stuck inside. In the few blocks around my house there are no cleared streets from the weekend storm. The metro only had above ground service beginning today and not all of the stations were open. The federal government is closed for the most part. Which means most offices are closed too. We all follow the feds. There are bars, restaurants and grocery stores open. But walking on the sidewalk is treacherous. Most everyone has cleared their sidewalks, but the ice from the ridiculous amount of melting snow is bad. I already had a friend fall and break his tibia and fibula. We all live in two or three room apartments and people are stir crazy. I never thought I would be happy to go back to work. Only I don't think we will make it. Maybe Friday, but we aare off on Mon. for the holiday too. It has been interesting. I do have to say that I am really glad that the offices are closed. The roads are too bad for the crazy drivers in DC. And we have too much traffic here for it to be safe for a mass amount of people to drive in.

DC is one of the worst places to be in a snow storm.

People in Atlanta (actually, the locals and the Southerners only) freak out whenever there is any mention of any snow, whether it accumulates or (usually) not. But, it seems like the District handles snow far worse than other major Northeastern cities. I dread driving in Washington in good weather (the few times that I've done it), and I shudder to think of driving there during a snowstorm.

We just aren't very good with snow as a state. We don't usually see this kind of accumulation, so drivers are inexperienced, our cars aren't suited for the weather, and we just don't have the resources for successful plowing, etc. I'd imagine it's the same as you move further south. We're watching the snow fall on our 8-foot drifts right now, and the rest of the week doesn't look promising.

>107 kidzdoc: - Darryl - Thank you for taking care of the children from Haiti. I'm sending my prayers to them and hugging my own two boys tight.

Good luck with the snow, everyone!

I usually remember my dreams and sometimes I have the same one over and over. I pay attention to those because they usually come true, good or bad. In the latest one was I was driving and was killed in a car crash. When I woke up from this dream the third time I knew I had to call a friend, because it wasn't me in the dream but someone she knew. Her mom was killed in Peru the day before.

#112 - 4 Despite relatively little snow, we actually have a similar problem in the south of the UK - there just isn't the equipment to deal with snow and no one knows how to deal with it - we've had the worst winter for years this year (still getting flurries of snow at the moment, although not enough to settle much) and the county councils are actually running out of grit for the roads. I can't imagine what would happen if we had your kind of volume of snow - the country seems to grind to a halt with just 3 inches!

I sleep extremely deeply, but I also dream quite a lot and very vividly - I've had some really exciting ones in the past - whole epic sagas. I've noticed that they do tend to be influenced by anything I've read or watched... No nightmares though. I've had about three in my entire life...

Good luck with all the snow everyone over there!

My parents in suburban Philadelphia are getting blasted again, with 22 inches of snow so far. Most of the Philadelphia area will end up with 20-24+ inches by early morning. The city has already set the all time record for snow accumulation in a winter, with over 65 inches of snow; Philadelphia received 61.5 inches combined over the past four winters, according to the city's ABC television affiliate.

In comparison, the meteorologist on the ABC affiliate in Atlanta was making a big deal about the likelihood of accumulating snow in the areas south of the city, where 1-2 inches of snow will probably fall. Most people here saw snowflakes, and were quite excited --or scared-- about it. (*Rolls eyes derisively. Again.*)

#118: 1-2 inches of snow will probably fall. Most people here saw snowflakes, and were quite excited --or scared-- about it. (*Rolls eyes derisively. Again.*)

Sounds like Texas, where we are expecting 1-2 inches of snow tomorrow!

>118 kidzdoc:: I'm about an hour outside of Philly (in PA, near PA/MD/DE borders). Yeah, we have a good 2 feet out there, not including the stuff from Saturday. It's pretty incredible! Looks like we'll be able to get out and walk the dogs today, though, which is nice.

Eighteen inches last night and today's a sunshiney drift-fest. My dog was in HEAVEN!

This is Simon, my Shetland Sheep dog. He loves the snow and was child like yesterday.

#123: Our dogs do not know what to make of the snow. I do not think they like it much though!

He's adorable! You've inspired me to post a photo of our dog (on our deck, in the snow) as well! Simon does look like he enjoys snow...

I know you like to read medical books. Have you heard of the new one called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot? I thought of you when I heard about this book.

Lacks, a poor black woman, died of cervical cancer in 1951 at age 30 and a cell sample was taken, without her knowledge. I understand that her cells, called HeLa, were the basis for a number of medical breakthroughs.

Besides the science angle, it sounds quite interesting as to the personal angles, as well. Her poverty-stricken family did not learn about all these goings-on until recently.

I haven't read it yet but hope to do so, soon. Sounds fascinating.

Linda
yet another book to add to the tbr pile as a result of your recommendation!

I haven't read this one yet but it's been getting rave reviews. I think Amazon called it "best new book of the month" or some such.

Linda, that one is now on my list of books to read!

A mild overstatement: my father said that they only received 18 inches of snow yesterday. However, the power in the neighborhood went out at about 9 pm last night, which hopefully will be restored soon.

Meanwhile, Atlanta is under a winter storm watch, with 1-3 inches of snow forecast for tomorrow. The ABC affiliate is now announcing school closings, and Delta Air Lines is cancelling 400 departing flights from the Atlanta airport tomorrow. ¡Qué absurdo!

Yay! My parents power just came back a few minutes ago. I'll sleep more comfortably tonight.

All of us here in Baltimore, with almost 80 inches for this winter so far, are cheering that the next storm is going far to the south of us. Sorry.

#126: Yes, I have heard of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Linda, even before the glowing review in this week's New York Times Sunday Book Review. I'm planning to buy the book at Borders this weekend, as it's on sale at a 42% discount off list price.

The HeLa cell line is one of the most widely used cell lines in biomedical research, and numerous medical discoveries have been made through the use of this line. I first learned about it in undergraduate biology courses, and in the labs I worked in as an undergraduate and in graduate school. I knew that HeLa was an abbreviation for the name of the woman whose cervical cancer cells were harvested, but I definitely didn't know the story behind it. I'll read it during my visit to Madison in a couple of weeks, so that I can pass it on to my friends.

>catarina1- 80 inches?? I feel for you! Here in the Chicago area, we are at the 45 inch mark and that's above average! Wow! Go South go South!

Bring it on. I'm on call tomorrow, so I'm hoping that the snow will keep the sick kids out of the ER.

Around these parts, where we usually say our first frost drifts, we've been enjoying a relatively mild winter, not even 60 inches yet, and the worst is usually over with by now. Soooo I guess somebody has to get the snow:)

##126 & 132 I was about to say similar things about the HeLa cell line and its huge usefulness in research - I'd no idea it originated from this lady - I shall have to search out the book.

Wow, all this snow! It hasn't reached the West coast has it?! 18 inches?! ;o)

While I'm here Darryl (and anyone else who feels like chipping in), do you have any recommendations for food places in San Francisco/Monterey?

I seriously doubt that the portions of California along the Pacific coast have seen any snow flakes, nonetheless accumulating snow. But, I'm sure that the mountains (Sierra Nevada, not Santa Cruz) have had some snow, which you'll only see flying overhead.

I haven't been to Monterey yet, but I do have a good guidebook, Access San Francisco, which has a section on Monterey. I'll look at that tomorrow, and send recommendations to you. In addition to the food recommendations I posted last year or earlier this year, I'll include some other favorite places of mine this weekend.

Off to work...

#137 Ooh so you did - I'd forgotten that - I have so many post-its in my diary I sometimes forget what I've got! Monterey advice will be particularly welcome as that'll be where we are for the most part - my San Francisco guide book is tiny, so thank you...

Have a good day at work!

What sort of food do you like?

Are you staying in downtown Monterey?

Thanks for the PM elkiedee - I've replied on your own page - always good to get advice from those who know!

message 130.

Darryl..
One of the things I like about you is how dedicated you are to your parents! What an admirable trait!

Good luck with the snow everyone, and don't send it to me! Although my cat Luna would very much like some, she loves snow. I hope it keeps the kids away from the ER as well Darryl :)

Fliss, this is the message I had sent last year, with the names of some of my favorite North Beach and Chinatown restaurants in San Francisco:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/77316#1627451

I think my most favorite place to eat is Tartine Bakery, which is on 18th & Guerrero in the Mission District (I usually take the J train on the MUNI Metro line, the light rail that runs underneath Market Street, to 18th & Church, and then walk two blocks east to 18th & Guerrero). The sandwiches (freshly baked bread on local cheeses, w/ or w/o meat, etc.) are fabulous, and the desserts are to die for.

Another favorite that I used to like to go to is the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor on 24th Street in the Mission District, a famous Mexican restaurant that has been in the same location since (I think) 1929. It had killer tamales which were monstrous, with freshly ground corn wraps that were supremely good. The ownership changed hands recently, though, and I haven't been there since then, but if you find yourself in the Mission around 24th Street it may be worth a try.

The other places I usually frequent are around UCSF's main campus in the Sunset District, quite a distance away from North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and downtown (one of my best friends from med school completed her fellowship at UCSF, and I would have dinner with her in the Sunset District whenever I was in town). If you have a reason to go to the area, let me know and I can point you to some good dim sum and Vietnamese restaurants there.

Are there flakes falling on your head Darryl?

Stay safe!

There were flakes falling on my head, and the roof of my car, when I drove home about 45 minutes ago. I was done at work at 4 pm (no admissions, yay!), but I waited until 7:30 pm to leave work, due to the heavy traffic and numerous accidents on the roads. The roads were mainly wet, but snow was starting to stick to the secondary roads and some of the primary roads. The Weather Channel is reporting that we have received 3 inches of snow, but it looks more like 2 inches or less to me. Tomorrow morning might be a difficult day to drive, as the temperatures will drop to the low 20s F, and the precipitation on the streets will likely freeze. Fortunately I'm off this weekend, so I'll stay inside until at least tomorrow afternoon, or Sunday or Monday if I need to.

Happy reading Darryl.

Thanks, Linda! I'll be off six of the next seven days, so I should get some good reading in. I plan to read the first 100 pages of Moby Dick and finish The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński by tomorrow, and resume reading Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer and Albert Camus, the Algerian: Colonialism, Terrorism, Justice after that.

Now that is quite a goal! I'll look forward to your reviews.

Yes, it is quite a shame. Darryl has no ambition, no curiosity. What a pity.

Stay safe and warm!

For those of you interested in learning more about Russian literature, tomcatMurr on Club Read created a thorough and impressive list, "A Murr-Made Syllabus of Russian Literature":

http://www.librarything.com/topic/80887#1789285

Thanks for that link. What an impressive list!

Thank you Darryl! I shall print it off this time... ;o)

...and the Russian literature link looks interesting - shall investigate...

(#150) Wow - that's an amazing list - very helpful - I'm going to print that off too!

#150: I am printing it too. Thanks, Darryl (and TomcatMurr).

As mentioned on Terri's (tymfos') thread: #25 Pitt beat #5 West Virginia 98-95 in triple overtime last night. Hail to Pitt!

That Murr...just when I was ready to dismiss the Tomcat as useless....

I've just learned about the "Favorite Messages" option, which I used to select Murr's syllabus as my first favorite. If you click on the message's hyperlink, you can select the message as a favorite, and save it for future reference.

thanks for the link Darryl.

For the 20th century poetry I would recommend Vladimir Mayakovsky I am not sure how well his poems are translated into English, but I LOVE the Dutch translations we own.

Anita

I read Listen! Early Poems, a collection of poetry by Mayakovsky that was published by City Lights, which was pretty good.

Thanks for posting the link to tomcatmurr's Russian syllabus. I enjoy dipping into the threads over on Club Read from time to time.

I've also done the new 'favourite messages' link for it.

THanks! I added it as my first favorite message, too.

#157: What the heck is a hyperlink? I cannot click on it if I do not even know what it is!

A hyperlink is (I think!) a word or phrase that takes you to another web page or document when you click on it. So, in this message, if you click on the word "hyperlink" it takes you to Wikipedia's page on hyperlink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink).

If you put your cursor on the message (e.g., for this message, where it says "Message 162"), a box will open, and you can select one of three options, including "Add to favorites". By selecting that, the message will be saved in your "Favorite messages" folder, which appears along the top left hand column of these pages.

Clear as mud?

農曆新年! Happy New Year everyone! 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, and I hope that everyone has a prosperous and peaceful year.



I finished two books yesterday: The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński, a look at Haile Selassie's monarchy through the accounts of people who served under him, and Black Feeling Black Talk, Nikki Giovanni's first collection of poems, which was published in 1968. I'll review both books later today.

Thanks, Darryl, for clueing us in about the "Favorite message" addition. There have been many links that I've wanted to save, and now I have a way to do that. LT keeps getting cooler and cooler.

Thank you Darrlyl-san. So we click on the message number and select.. I like..
Happy Year of the Tiger to you too..

May you live long and prosper and stuff..
I like your new pic :)

Oh and keep warm!

#166: Ha ha! In case I wasn't clear, today is the Chinese New Year, as Caroline mentioned on her thread. I knew nothing about it, until I celebrated it with my Chinese friends in medical school.

My current profile picture includes my best friends' kids, and was taken at their house in Madison in 2006. I'll finally get to visit them at the end of next week, which will be the first time I'll have seen them in over a year (normally I visit them every 2-3 months).

I saw the cutie pie in my old profile picture on Friday in the hospital, as she required surgery. I spent a half hour with her and her mother, and she went home later that morning.

The Haitian toddler I took care of last week was also discharged on Friday. He'll need weeks to months of medical care, and will stay in an extended stay hotel close to the hospital, along with his mother and three other families whose kids received medical attention at the hospital. The two kids that my team took care of and their mothers were very excited on Friday afternoon, as they had never seen snow before.

We're supposed to get another 1-2 inches of snow, which will start early tomorrow morning. Surprisingly, the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for this latest "storm".

As the very uniue social workerwhere I work has a Chinese daughter ~ ChineseNew Year never slips by us unnoticed :P

terrible to be so far away from you bff.......

I've had a Stasiaesque weekend, as I read three books:

The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński: An insiders' look at the Haile Selassie regime in Ethiopia, through the accounts of a dozen or more men that worked in the palace, with occasional commentary by Kapuściński to put the comments into context. The accounts describe the period from 1960, when the first attempt to overthrow the monarchy took place, until 1974, when he was peacefully removed from power (4 stars).

Black Feeling Black Talk: Nikki Giovanni's first collection of poems, which was published in 1968 (3-1/2 stars).

Ashes of the Amazon by Milton Hatoum: A tragic novel set in Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas state of Brazil, and the Amazon rain forest, which I read for the the Reading Globally February theme read (3-1/2 stars).

I'll review these books later this week.

Favourite message option duly noted and utilised! (the next question is to work out where they're favourited to...)

On the left side of the Talk page, under "Your World."

Yep, found it after a I left that comment, but thanks! ;)

Darryl- Are you familiar with Passing Strange? It's a true story about a white man living a double life as a Pullman Porter, back in the 1800s. I first heard about this on a podcast and then there was a mini-review of it in the Trib. Sounded very interesting but I haven't seen any LT talk on it.

I haven't heard of this book, Mark, but I'll look for it when I go to Borders this week. This week there is a 40% off coupon that is good until Sunday.

Rub it in why don't you :P

#163: Thanks for the help on that, Darryl.

#169: Wow! I am now an adjective :) I will definitely look for the Ryszard Kapuściński book as I read his Cobra's Heart last year and really liked it.

Kapuscinski was a wonderful and amazing writer. His "The Other" remains the single best 'humanist' work I've ever read; he has a knack of writing clearly, eloquently and passionately, even in translation. (Oddly, the touchstone options for this book include "Howl" by Allan Ginsberg, Borges's Labyrinths and Candide by Voltaire -- but not the book in question...)

Happy Mardi Gras, everybody! Everyone should experience Carnival once in their lifetime. Since we can't be there, we'll have to settle for some King Cake and Mardi Gras music.



First, Professor Longhair's classic Go to the Mardi Gras.

Next, the Wild Magnolias, a legendary Mardi Gras Indian band, play New Suit

Finally, another classic, Street Parade by Earl King.

Throw me somethin', mister!

#178: Throw me somethin', mister!

You better be careful saying that around Jenny, Darryl. You are liable to end up with a clunky old boot.

I can throw more than clunky old boots!!!

You can have my wet (inside and out) smelly, hay filled muddy boot instead.

Throwing clunky or muddy boots is not in the Mardi Gras spirit. You're supposed to throw beads and doubloons from the floats, not objects that could harm innocent crowd goers, like yours truly.

Hmm...maybe it was an old British custom to throw muddy boots at the crowds during Mardi Gras. I guess that's why they don't celebrate it there anymore.

Mmmmm. King Cake. Haven't had that in a while.

I didn't realize Mardi Gras was so soon, otherwise I would have ordered a King Cake from Gambino's. I'll order one when I visit my best friends next week; I think their kids would like it.

Back in message 158, Anita had mentioned the Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, and I replied that I had a book of his early poems, Listen!. I found the book earlier today, and realized that I had not read the entire book, so I'll do that this week.

I'm finally getting into George Letham: Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss, which rebeccanyc and cameling read earlier this month. It's very good so far, and I should finish it by Thursday or Friday.

I'll submit reviews of the three books I read this weekend in the next day or two.

Oh, yeah, Professor Longhair! Tipitina is awesome.

I was fortunate enough to see "Fess" perform a few times at Tulane before he passed away, when I was a student there. The U. would sponsor free concerts on the Tulane Quad, with plenty of crawfish and Dixie beer, that featured local musicians.

Tipitina's was my favorite place to see live music, and during those years (1978-81) there were a number of top notch musicians and bands from the Cresent City: Fess, the Neville Brothers, the Wild Magnolias, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Meters, Koko Taylor, etc.

The ultimate music event in the city was the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, held in City Park every spring. For a nominal entrance fee, you could walk around and listen to a variety of music (jazz, blues, Cajun, gospel, R&B, R&R) from at least half a dozen stages, and fill your belly from the numerous food stands. I don't know if the festival still takes place, especially post-Katrina, but it's worth checking out.

Three Percent, a resource for international literature at the University of Rochester, announced the list of finalists for the 2010 Best Translated Book Award. The fiction books are listed below, and the book's hyperlink will take you to its review on the Three Percent web site.

César Aira, Ghosts. Translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews. (Argentina, New Directions)

Gerbrand Bakker, The Twin. Translated from the Dutch by David Colmer. (Netherlands, Archipelago)

Ignácio de Loyola Brandão, Anonymous Celebrity. Translated from the Portuguese by Nelson Vieira. (Brazil, Dalkey Archive)

Hugo Claus, Wonder. Translated from the Dutch by Michael Henry Heim. (Belgium, Archipelago)

Wolf Haas, The Weather Fifteen Years Ago. Translated from the German by Stephanie Gilardi and Thomas S. Hansen. (Austria, Ariadne Press)

Gail Hareven, The Confessions of Noa Weber. Translated from the Hebrew by Dalya Bilu. (Israel, Melville House)

Jan Kjærstad, The Discoverer. Translated from the Norwegian by Barbara Haveland. (Norway, Open Letter)

Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, Memories of the Future. Translated from the Russian by Joanne Turnbull. (Russia, New York Review Books)

José Manuel Prieto, Rex. Translated from the Spanish by Esther Allen. (Cuba, Grove)

Robert Walser, The Tanners. Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky. (Switzerland, New Directions)

There is also a list of 10 finalists for the poetry award, which I won't list here.

From this list, I've read Ghosts, which I wasn't fond of, and The Twin, which I would highly recommend. I have Wonder, the other Archipelago Book on the list, but haven't read it yet.

The winner of the award will be announced on March 10th.

Thank you for the list - it's only in recent years that I've realised how much difference a decent translation can make. I shall investigate.

#181 I think that the throwing of pancake batter all around the kitchen seems to have taken precedence over muddy boots these days on Shrove Tuesday. I can't imagine why... ;o)

Interesting; I hadn't heard of Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) before. Shrove Tuesday football (Mob football) sounds incredibly violent, though:

"Mob football distinguished itself from other codes by typically having an unlimited number of players and very few rules. By some accounts, any means could be used to move the ball to a goal, as long as it did not lead to manslaughter or murder."

No death, no foul?

Thanks for the list Darryl. FlossieT has recommended Robert Walser to me, so I might look for The Tanners. I read the excerpt though and it looks like hard work - but I feel like I should be reading some Proper Swiss Literature while I'm here!

>186 kidzdoc:: I first heard of The Twin just yesterday from Bonniebooks. Now, with a second recommendation, I am really intrigued. Thanks for this link.

Dear Darryl:

Thank you for the list of finalists for the 2010 Best Translated Book Award.

Since I have become one of your friends here on LT, my reading horizons have expanded even further through being privy to many of the lists, reviews you have written and book recommendations that you have made on your threads.

Today, I added (or will try to add) The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker which has been published in English after being translated from the Dutch language. I hope that someone has entered into the database here on LT.

> 190- Donna - I heard about The Twin yesterday also, maybe on your thread, and I am on the look out for it here on LT, so that I can add it to my books, too.

Both of you have good, good days and evenings.

With love,

Ruthie

#188 Mob football? Never heard of Mob football - sounds like the traditional playground game to me! ;o)

"...as long as it did not lead to manslaughter or murder." - chortle... ;o)

Woo for pancake day! I have a vivid childhood memory of a pancake tossing race some time around Lent/Easter in the village that I grew up in - images of people trying to toss pancakes whilst running across the village green are now running in front of my eyes...

Shrove Tuesday is one of the best days of the year. We never miss it. I have similar images of crazy things happening flissp!

My mate's boss' wife made NINETY pancakes for a gathering of 14 people yesterday. My mate made me 2 :(

NINETY - wow - that's pretty impressive! I was at my parents for supper last night and I thought that the pitiful NINE I flipped was pretty good going ;o)

mmmmm pancakes....

Hang on - that's 6.5 pancakes EACH!

Yup, entirely unfair that I didn't get any of them! Of course, I wasn't there, but still...........

I would normally have more than 2 but my mate and her hubby are on a diet so the rule was, 2 each or no one gets any. I figured two was better than none! I might have to make myself some tomorrow while everyone else is otherwise occupied.

Mmmmmmmmmm, secret pancake eating ;)

Hi, Darryl -

I would like to interrupt your great, serious, lofty and inspiring thread for just a moment and put in two cents about Shrove Tuesday, if no one minds. If you do ... just move quickly on to the next message to Darryl.

Jenny & "fliss" - Isn't the tradition of pancakes to use up the fats and sugars before Lent begins? I'm pretty clueless about this, actually, but something is floating around in the ol' reptilian brain about using something up before you begin the tradition of fasting for Lent.

Someone who knows may read this and set me straight and welcome to do so.

BTW, I love pancakes, with a little real Canadian or Vermont maple syrup, real butter and a few toasted pecans thrown on top and between the layers of the stacks of cakes. Yum.

Happy, Shrove Tuesday to one and all.

Ruth/womansheart

#197

Yup, you are correct, it was to use up the dairy, sugar and eggs before Lent began.

Interestingly (or not) our pancakes are quite different from what Americans know as pancakes, being larger but much much thinner, only slightly thicker than a French crepe, and taking up the entire base of a frying pan. The traditional way of eating them in the UK is sprinkling them with sugar and then squeezing lemon juice on them. In my opinion it is the only way to eat them but there are now many many variations on that :)

Donna & Ruth, The Twin is in the LT database, but is listed as Boven is het stil. My review and several others can be found there.



Pancakes!

> 186
TWO translations of Dutch books on the list!
My husband, Frank, is a fan of Hugo Claus books, not only his fiction but also his poetry. You might look for his poetry, some is translated in English, I looked up at Wikipedia.
BTW Claus is not a Dutch, but a Flemish writer (from Belgium).

I have added The Twin to my TBR pile

Thank you Darryl, for the Dutch title.

When I found the English translation on Amazon I grabbed the book's ISBN number, which is: 0980033020

I used the ISBN to capture the cover, etc to my books in the Add Books window.

Yeah, All done, now have to place a request for an Inter-library loan, probably, but that is not really a problem.

Those pancakes looks Yummy in the photo.

<#198 - Jenny - I would love to make and eat the version from Great Britain using lemon juice and sugar as flavor and topping. Sounds yummy, too. Maybe I can find that version on one of the foodie websites!

And, now ... back to our Libraries and Book Talk.

Ruth

(somehow, this didn't post, so giving it another try)

#199 mmmmmmmmmmmm

#198 Ah Jenny, the French crepe (the only excuse for Nutella), English pancakes (actually, while lemon and sugar is traditional, I have to say that I prefer them wrapping a little camembert, with rocket and garlic roasted flat mushrooms... ) and American pancakes are all very different things and each have their place ;o)

I may be betraying my nationality, but I confess that I actually quite frequently make the US version for breakfast when I have people to stay - either with blueberries and maple syrup, or with scrambled eggs. Mmmmmmm.

...I'm salivating now with all this thought of pancake-y goodness....

I made some lovely lemon pancakes the other night with blueberries in them, served with honey butter. Delicious!

Just found (got tweeted it) this article from the TLS on Kapuscinski - it's old now, but still interesting. It's also the only critical thing I've read about him! I haven't read The Emperor yet but loved The Shadow of the Sun.

http://www.richardwebster.net/johnryle.html

#200: Thanks for the information on Hugo Claus, Anita. Amazon US has several of his translated books for sale, including Greetings: Selected Poems: "The first English-language collection of poems by this major Flemish writer, Greetings contains work from more than six decades of Hugo Claus's career."

Here is an excerpt from one of his poems, from the book's page on Amazon:

Year of atrocities, year of cathode-ray tube and stock market report,
Year of milk and honey if you're asleep,
Year that sticks in your stomach if you're awake,
Sweet year, good year for sleepwalkers . . .

Year that freezes the smile.
It was in that year I went to live in a village
with books, a wife and a child
who grows
while I talk about the tigers in the East.

- From "1965"

I'll finish the book of poems by Mayakovsky today, and post a review of it and The Emperor later today.

#203: I'm eager to try English pancakes, as I love crepes. BTW, there are several good places to get crepes in San Francisco throughout the city, including Squat & Gobble and Creperie Saint Germain.

I used to like pancakes smothered in boysenberry syrup the best, but now I'd rather have them with just a light coating of butter.

Unfortunately, this weekend is supposed to be quite rainy in the Bay Area. It looks as though the rain may be sporadic, but I'd definitely pack some foul weather gear (which I do whenever I go there). Have a safe trip to SFO!

#204: Honey butter! Mmmmmm.

#205: Thanks for that article, Cushla. I think I'll wait to read it after I post my review of The Emperor.

#206

In your next venture to London you should hop on the train for an hr and a half and I'll treat you to home made English pancakes in an English country village :P

What more could you ask for?? lol

I'd love that, Jenny! I'm not sure I'll be able to return to London this spring, but I'm hopeful that I can come in the summer or early fall.

Um...you will leave your muddy boots at home, right?

#208 You'll need the muddy boots to inspect the horse that she's going to buy! ;)

#206 Thank you - looking forward to it!

And good to know... In a strange way, it's easier to pack when you know that the weather at your destination is going to be more or less the same as home, so I'm not too gutted about the rain...

I think I may end up spending ALL my spare time wandering from cafe to restaurant at this rate ;o)

...oh, and City Lights, OBVIOUSLY...

I think I may end up spending ALL my spare time wandering from cafe to restaurant at this rate ;o)

Yes, I've spent many rainy days in SF doing just that, especially in North Beach. Caffe Greco is a great place to sit and read for hours on a rainy day, which is a short walk from the hostel that you had mentioned last year.

I found a short YouTube video last year, which is a quick tour of City Lights. The African American man that the film maker first encounters on entering the store is Scott, my friend who usually works there most weekday mornings. The bookshop is unusually empty, so it probably just opened (its normal hours are 10 am to midnight).

City Lights Bookstore

#209

Hehe, you're so right. I am going to be impossible when I finally get a horse. Everyone will have to come and visit, bow down in praise and I will spam all your threads about it :)

The regional shortlists for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize were announced today.

Africa
The shortlisted writers for Africa's Best Book are:
Trespass by Dawn Garisch (South Africa)
The Double Crown by Marié Heese (South Africa)
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
Eyo by Abidemi Sanusi (Nigeria)
Tsamma Season by Rosemund Handler (South Africa)
Refuge by Andrew Brown (South Africa)
Kings of the Water by Mark Behr (South Africa)

The shortlisted writers for Africa's Best First Book are:
I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (Nigeria)
The Shape of Him by Gill Schierhout (South Africa)
The Shadow of a Smile by Kachi Ozumba (Nigeria)
Come Sunday by Isla Morley (South Africa)
Sleepers Wake by Alistair Morgan (South Africa)
Jelly Dog Days by Erica Emdon (South Africa)
Harmattan Rain by Aysha Harunna Attah (Ghana)

Caribbean and Canada
The shortlisted writers or the Caribbean and Canada Best Book are:
The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels (Canada)
February by Lisa Moore (Canada)
Euphoria by Connie Gault (Canada)
Goya's Dog by Damian Tarnopolsky (Canada)
Galore by Michael Crummey (Canada)
The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon (Canada)

The shortlisted writers for the Caribbean and Canada Best First Book are:
Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell (Canada)
Daniel O'Thunder by Ian Weir (Canada)
The Island Quintet: Five Stories by Raymond Ramchartiar (Trinidad)
Diary of Interrupted Days by Dragan Todorovic (Canada)
The Briss by Michael Tregebov (Canada)
Amphibian by Carla Gunn (Canada)

South Asia and Europe
The shortlisted writers for South Asia and Europe Best Book are:
Solo by Rana Dasgupta (Britain)
For Pepper and Christ: A Novel by Keki Daruwalla (India)
The Beijing of Possibilities by Jonathan Tel (Britain)
Heartland by Anthony Catwright (Britain)
Another Gulmohar Tree by Aamer Hussein (Pakistan)
The Immortals by Amit Chaudhuri (India)

The shortlisted writers for South Asia and Europe Best First Book are:
The Hungry Ghosts by Anne Berry (Britain)
Arzee the Dwarf by Chandrahas Choudhury (India)
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Pakistan)
Among Thieves by Mez Packer (Britain)
An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay (Britain)
Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Parkes (Britain

South East Asia and Pacific
The shortlisted writers for South East Asia and Pacific Best Book are:
Summertime by J.M Coetzee (Australia)
A Good Land by Nada Awar Jarrar (Australia)
The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt (Samoa)
Singularity by Charlotte Grimshaw (New Zealand)
The People's Train by Thomas Keneally (Australia)
Parrot and Oliver in America by Peter Carey (Australia)

The shortlisted writers for South East Asia and Pacific Best First Book are:
The Ice Age by Kirsten Reed (Australia)
After the fire, a still small voice by Evie Wyld (Australia)
Look Who's Morphing by Tom Cho (Australia)
Document Z by Andrew Croome (Australia)
Come Inside by Glenys Osborne (Australia)
Siddon Rock by Glenda Guest (Australia)

The finalists for the regional awards will be announced on April 7, and the overall winners for the Best Book and Best First Book will be announced on April 12.

The 2009 winners were The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (Best Book Award) and A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (Best First Book).

Who needs to go to a book store when we have such enticing reads. Thanks for all the effort of posting this, Darryl. I have read zero of these titles, not even any Canadian ones yet.

>211 kidzdoc: You have such a wide-ranging curiosity and a polymathic analytical intelligence that it makes me feel a) uneducated and b) droolingly stupid.

For my ego's sake, I hereby forsake the Threads of Darryl. It is the last, faint hope I have of retaining my tattered shreds of self-respect.

Thank you for the link and list, Darryl.

Just stopping by to touch base. See to be on your thread and say hello is always a worthwhile endeavor.

With love,

Ruthie

Thank you for posting the list. I am glad to see that February by Lisa Moore and Galore by Michael Crummey are both recognized.I thought that both books were excellent.

#215

Ditto

>215 richardderus: - Richard Dear -

You are such a big goof ball and on top of that a silly billy!

Most people couldn't even come close to writing or recalling your accurate descriptions of some of our host's amazing skills and traits.

I should be so lucky to be around to wipe any drool off of your chin in your stupid moments, pal. I would be soon unemployed. Uneducated, indeed, what mockery be this? Thou protest too much, Sir Richard, in your effort to amuse the follower's of Darryl.

Woofie

Thanks for the list Darryl. I put the message in my favorites. Some of the titles are already on my TBR list including the Michael Crummey book, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, and Solo (I believe you recommended that one Darryl) and An Equal Stillness.

The only books I've read from this list are Solo by Rana Dasgupta, Summertime by J.M. Coetzee, and Another Gulmohar Tree by Aamer Hussein. I liked the Dasgupta and the Coetzee, but was lukewarm about the Hussein.

I own The Thing Around Your Neck, The Golden Mean, and In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, but haven't read them yet.

#214: The Winter Vault and The Golden Mean were nominated for last year's Giller Prize, if I remember correctly. Have you read any of those books, Karen?

#215: A "polymathic analytical intelligence"? Are you calling me a nerd, dear Richard? You wouldn't be the first. :)

#217: Thanks for your comments on those books, Cyrel. I'm very interested to hear which books that y'all have read and enjoyed from these lists.

#218: Don't leave, Jenny (and Richard)!

#219: I completely agree with your assessment of Richard, Ruthie.

#220: An Equal Stillness sounded interesting when I heard about it last year. I'm also interested in After the Fire, a Still Small Voice and The Beijing of Possibilities.

Richard - methinks thou dost protest too much!

Darryl - I have all those Canadian books waiting to be read, but my eyes are bigger than my brain!

I've read The Thing Around Your Neck and liked it a lot. I haven't heard of any of the others before.

#215: And I quote, as someone so wisely said on my thread: "Read what you want, when you want to read it, and please don't assign some mystical cultural point value to the books you read!"

So are you assigning mystical cultural point values to Darryl's lists, Richard?

BTW - Thanks for the lists, Darryl, although I have no chance whatsoever of getting any of them from my local library :)

No way I am going to catch up~ so just saying hello...

Stasia, your library might have Summertime, The Thing Around Your Neck, and In Other Rooms, Other Wonders.

Hi, Kath!

#213 - "For Pepper And Christ" sounds very interesting (see here) but has not a single copy on LT...

Thanks for the link to the review of For Pepper and Christ, wandering_star. It won't be published in the UK or US until April 21, so I've added it to my wish list on The Book Depository.

I've only read The thing around your neck and thought it was good.
I remember that FlossieT really liked The Winter Vault last year. I've got it & The People's Train on my tbr pile and also brought An equal stillness home from the library the other day as it caught my eye.

I'll be on the lookout for your comments on An Equal Stillness, and hopefully The Winter Vault and The People's Train, Kerry.

I saw today that Amazon has introduced an application that allows BlackBerry users to read Kindle on their devices (USA only). I downloaded the app, and purchased a book I've wanted but haven't been able to find in any bookstores, A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel), a wicked satire by Percival Everett.

#226: Summertime, yes. The other two, no. I am going to go through the list and check the other titles as well.

#215 ditto x 2

Book #13: The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński


My rating:

Haile Selassie (1892-1975) served as the head of the Ethiopian government for nearly 60 years, first as regent and chief administrator under Empress Zewditu from 1916-1930, and then as Emperor, after he won a power struggle with Zewditu, from 1930-1974, when he was deposed by a committee of military leaders that slowly infiltrated and controlled the Selassie government.

Selassie was bestowed several dozen official titles by his people and other world leaders, and was widely referred to as "The King of Kings" and "The Lion of Judah" by his people. He was treated as a god by his subjects, as citizens and even his closest advisers did not dare to look him in the eye when addressing him.

Selassie was deeply religious, soft-spoken and introspective, but ruthless with those who opposed or questioned him. He commanded absolute power, and the advisers that were most loyal to him were rewarded handsomely, regardless of how competent they were. As a result, his court was dominated by yes men, who were only interested in self preservation and the attainment of personal wealth, and Selassie was shielded from the extreme poverty that plagued his people and resulted in millions of deaths in years of famine, which ultimately led to popular uprisings and his eventual overthrow.

The acclaimed travel writer Ryszard Kapuściński interviewed several people who served in Selassie's court after the military takeover, to provide an insiders' view of this complicated man and the inner workings of his government. The book consists of the accounts of these men, who ranged from close advisers to petty servants, with occasional brief comments by Kapuściński to provide a contextual background to these stories. The book covers two notable events, the failed coup in 1960 when Selassie attended a meeting in Brazil, and the successful overthrow in 1974, along with the events that led to it. We are also provided with the routine daily operations of the court, which were tightly structured and filled with hourly themed meetings, such as the Hour of the Cashbox, when officials would line up to request funding for projects, which they would use to line their own wallets, and the Hour of the Ministers, which was supposedly dedicated to Imperial matters but became another opportunity for Selassie's trusted advisers to receive favors. The author does not judge or criticize Selassie or his advisers, which makes this a more effective, damning and compelling account of the corruption and depravity of this revered leader. Strongly recommended.

#233: I already have that one in the BlackHole. It sounds very good. Great review as always, Darryl.

Thanks, Stasia. How was your first day on the new job?

Book #14: Black Feeling Black Talk by Nikki Giovanni



Black Feeling Black Talk is the first part of The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, which consists of her first seven volumes of poetry from 1968 to 1998. I plan to read all seven volumes in order this year, and to write reviews of each book in order, along with a bit of history about this fascinating writer, which is taken from the book's Chronology section.

Nikki Giovanni is a highly regarded contemporary American poet, civil rights activist, and college professor (currently at Virginia Tech). She was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1943, and moved with her family to Cincinnati soon afterward. She attended primary school there, before moving back to Knoxville to complete high school.

She enrolled in Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1960, but was expelled the following year by the conservative dean of women, due to her political beliefs. She returned to Cincinnati, where she did volunteer work and attended classes at the University of Cincinnati, before returning to Fisk in 1964, after the previous dean of women is replaced by a more progressive woman.

She was an influential and model student during her second stint at Fisk, and she meets other writers and begins to write and edit publications at her colleges and write essays for national publications.

She graduated in 1966 and moved back to Cincinnati early the following year, where she continued to write, but also became active in the civil rights movement and the city's burgeoning Black Arts Movement. She moved to Wilmington, Delaware the following year and started graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, while working at a People's Settlement House in Wilmington.

She continued to write prodigiously, and published her first collection of poems, Black Feeling Black Talk in 1968. It consists of short works that are mainly about her personal experiences at Fisk and in Cincinnati and Wilmington. She writes about those who have influenced her most, such as the dean of women at Fisk during her successful years at the school, influential poets and writers, and artists whom she worked with in Cincinnati, along with past lovers and close friends. Her poems at the end of the book are less personal and more political, angry but assertive, all written carefully and thoughtfully.

One of her poems from this collection, "A Historical Footnote to Consider Only When All Else Fails", can be found at the Poetry Foundation web site:

A Historical Footnote to Consider Only When All Else Fails

Thanks for the list of nominated books, Daryl. And your continued excellent reviews of so many books I would not otherwise have heard of. There are so many interesting and amazing books out there.

Am I allowed to throw a boot at you today because it's my birthday?

I know I never contribute anything insightful or intellectual to your thread, so my apologies for that. I don't think I ever contribute anything like that anywhere to be honest!

The pleasure of your presence here on Darryl's thread is a contribution to many smiles and understandings and awakenings for me.

I like reading your contributions very much. Just my two cents, worth.

With love,

Ruth/womansheart

Jenny, Ruth said it better than I could have, and I couldn't agree more. Your repartees always make me laugh, and you've added plenty of insightful comments here. So, yes, you can fire your boot at me (only) on your birthday.

Yay, I have permission for boot throwing. Of course, being allowed to kinda takes the fun out of it, but I shall do so anyway.



This boot ^ is winging it's way across the atlantic towards your head as we speak.

DDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK

I sent a duck as well ;)

OW!!!

Ooh, a duck!

*runs to closest ER to get head bandaged, followed by a trip to local Chinese restaurant to have duck prepared for dinner (Peking duck)*

I'm off to run some errands (hair cut, new diaphragm for my stethoscope, and book purchases at Borders).

Jenny - Happy Birthday from across the pond.

When you have an opportunity ... will you please let me know the tradition/meaning behind the boot throwing and tell me about the duck you send along, too.

With love,

Ruth

#235: It went just fine, Darryl. Thanks for asking!

Darryl--How was the duck?

Happy Birthday Lunacat.

Yeah Stasia! #235, #244

The duck wasn't so good as the duck I can get in the Bay Area, unfortunately. Atlanta has good Thai restaurants in town, but the Chinese restaurants in Midtown are definitely subpar.

I picked up four books from Borders today:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (mentioned previously in this thread)

Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone by Nadine Cohodas (mentioned previously, either here on in the Interesting Articles thread; this review appeared in yesterday's New York Times)

Anonymous Celebrity by Ignácio De Loyola Brandão (Best Translated Book Award shortlist)

The Foundation Pit by Andreĭ Platonov (a New York Review Books selection, mentioned in an article in the Guardian books section earlier this week.

I received two other books by mail:

The Long Song by Andrea Levy: A "tale set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed." I'll read this next month for the Reading Globally theme read (Caribbean)

La Vie extérieure (Things Seen) by Annie Ernaux: an advance reviewer copy, which I'll review for issue 5 of Belletrista, a "journal" in which Ernaux "turns her penetrating focus on those points in life where the everyday and the extraordinary intersect, where "things seen" reflect a private life meeting the larger world."

#230 I noticed when I logged in earlier that you'd added the book mentioned to your library - it caught my eye because it's from the publisher, Akashic. I came across them at a mystery convention in Chicago in 2005, and I've been collecting their noir anthologies, but only just got round to starting to read them this year. I also bought two novels by Joe Meno because the title of one - Hairstyles of the Damned caught my eye.

I believe they offer quite good deals on books from their own website.

Yes, I receive regular e-mails from Akashic Press, which regularly has good sales on their books.

You'll have to let us know about Hairstyles of the Damned!

I just finished Georg Letham: Physician and Murderer by Ernst Weiss, which was very good, but quite disturbing (lots of rats, and abhorrent medical practices). I'll submit a review of it sometime next week.

Your thread is sooo interesting, Darryl. Such committed reading and great reviews. I have the Weiss book waiting for me, too, as a subscriber to Archipelago - but it sounds like one needs the right frame of mind to tackle it.

You're right, Karen. It's 560 pages long, but it seemed to be closer to 700 or 800 pages, given the book's small print. It could have been shorter, IMO, but it was definitely a good and worthwhile read, with multiple themes woven throughout the book.

I was going to start Light in August by William Faulkner next, but I think I need something a bit lighter first, especially since I'll be working for the next five days. I think I'll read The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah next.

I'll start a new thread later today.

I am going to be interested in your Georg Letham, Physician and Murderer review, since you can bring a doctor's perspective to it as well as a reader's.

Hi Darryl - have you read Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni? That was my first introduction to her, and I loved her voice. I've also got The Collected Poems of Nikki Giovanni on my coffee table because I keep picking it up every once in a while.

Waiting anxiously for your review of Georg Letham.

I'll definitely review Georg Letham this week, but it may not be before Thursday, depending on how the week goes. I want to complete all of my outstanding reviews by then, as I'll be flying to Madison on Friday.

I haven't read Love Poems, Caroline. It isn't included in The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, so I'll have to get this at some point, maybe on my next trip to San Francisco, as City Lights will probably have it.

I found out yesterday that I have a long stretch off from work (16-17 days, from late March to mid-April), so I'm thinking of going to San Francisco for 7-10 days, and spending the rest of the time with my parents in Philly.

Safe journeys, Darryl.

Darryl- Looking forward to the reviews! Hope you have a safe trip to my neck of the woods. We are supposed to get hammered with another snowstorm, starting later today! Which s**ks big time! :-(

I love ducks

but not for eating Darryl!!!
I had a lovely duck as a child...

Good reviews, as always. I have had so little down time this weekend.. this week in fact, I could cry. I am working on getting some today. So you will be on the road again? I need to send you some of thos juniper berries my friend!

This thread would be hard on my "pocket book" if I didn't have my wish list. Thanks for the list and the link to the Commonwealth Writers' Prize books as well as the list for best translations. I was pleased to see The Slap though it hasn't shown up in my library's system yet. And now I just have to decide whether I want to go out for breakfast (mmmh...pancakes!) or wait a little later to get Thai.

Nice break to look forward to, Darryl. I'm jealous .. I have a nice long stretch of work to look forward to instead ..and another trip in March to plan for. Looks like I'm off to Hong Kong in March for a week and then Singapore after for a few days.

Thanks for the heads up that you're heading back over to City Lights again ....at least this time I'll make room for all the books I know you're going to add to my wish list during your visit.

Definitely look for her Love Poems. I think you'll enjoy them.

Thread? New? Where?

Oh, right. I forgot about that. I've been busy at work this weekend and today, and have neglected my thread. I'm on it...

New thread here.