kidzdoc: 75 and Beyond, Take 5

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Books Read in 2010:



Books Purchased in 2010:



Currently reading:
The Plague by Albert Camus
The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998
Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Completed books:

April:
33. An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah
32. Re: Creation by Nikki Giovanni

March:
31. Street of Lost Footsteps by Lyonel Trouillot
30. Albert Camus: A Life by Olivier Todd
29. School Days by Patrick Chamoiseau
28. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa
27. Close to Jedenew by Kevin Vennemann
26. Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi
25. The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
24. Selected Stories by Stefan Zweig
23. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
22. The Long Song by Andrea Levy
21. Nadirs by Herta Müller

February:
20. Listen! Early Poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky
19. A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee
18. Black Judgement by Nikki Giovanni
17. Things Seen by Annie Ernaux
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. 2010 Orange Prize longlist and previous winners
1. Small Island by Andrea Levy (UK)
2. The Long Song by Andrea Levy (Jamaica)

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
4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

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 (US)
4. Black Judgement by Nikki Giovanni
5. Re: Creation by Nikki Giovanni
6. An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe)

F. 2010 Author Theme Reads
1. Amok and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig
2. Wondrak and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig
3. Selected Stories by Stefan Zweig

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)
2. A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee
3. The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
4. Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi

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
3. Albert Camus: A Life by Olivier Todd

J. Latin-American & Caribbean literature
1. Monsieur Pain by Roberto Bolaño (Chile)
2. Ashes of the Amazon by Milton Hatoum (Brazil)
3. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa
4. School Days by Patrick Chamoiseau (Martinique)
5. Street of Lost Footsteps by Lyonel Trouillot (Haiti)

Ha! First to post!!!

Just an update -- yes, the concert was at Lincoln Center. It's the finalists from the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Nine competed; there are five winners; it's like the ticket to a big-time career. There were some good voices there, and some truly spectacular shiver-inducing voices. I managed to pick four of the five winners; the one I didn't guess was the youngest of the bunch, who did an OK aria from Adams's Doctor Atomic, but then blew everyone away in the second round with a bravuro performance of Figaro's Largo from Barber of Seville. It's hard to do anything fresh with that; he's the first since Thomas Hampson that has pulled it off for me. The real "wow" voice of the afternoon belonged to Leah Crocetto, who stands to have a massive career with Verdi/Puccini if her voice holds out. There was a v. good tenor, Nathaniel Peake, who was a bit wooden as an actor but whose voice induced shivers. And a rather intriguing soprano who could be good down the line, Lori Guilbeau. If any of these pop up anywhere near you, run and see 'em. Oh, and it was Frederica von Stade's final appearance on the Met stage; she has been my fave since I first saw her at Glyndebourne age 11 (me, not her!)

OK, finished my non-book digression. Although if anyone is looking for an opera related book, I'd suggest Cinderella and Company by Manuela Hoelterhoff or Molto Agitato by Johanna Fiedler.

And I stopped at Barnes & Noble en route home...

Thanks for the summary about the concert, Suzanne. Yup, nothing like that here in Atlanta...

What did you pick up at B&N?

I won't finish The Surrendered tonight, but I should finish it by mid week. It's excellent so far (just over 250 pages in, with a little over 200 pages to go), and I don't want to rush through it. I do want to finish a book tonight, and since March is Read a Novella Month (as named by avaland), I'll read The Passport by Herta Müller (92 pp).

Hey I made it in the top 5 for a change!

I couldn't find Zweig yesterday at the bookstore ... was bummed, but I managed to pick up some other books instead as compensation. They were having a sale and some books were discounted by 60%....and the sign drew me in. How does one pass up a treat like that?! Of course, with my luck, all the ones I was interested in didn't have a discount sticker on the cover. :-(

Sorry to hear that you couldn't find any books by Zweig, Caroline. But, it sounds as though you purchased some good books; which ones did you buy?

I bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (I think I'm the last person on earth who hasn't read this), Once on a Moonless Night by Dai Sijie (of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress fame), Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran

Darryl, if your schedule permits, check out "The Audition", airing on PBS tomorrow night. It's a documentary focusing on the 2007 auditions and performances; I'm keeping an eye open for one young tenor to finish his education and start performing. (There's a tragic twist in the footnotes to the film.) That will give you a flavor for the competition.

B&N was a mishmash of stuff: some bargain books that I may not have bought otherwise -- $4 each for The Abstinence Teacher and April in Paris by Michael Wallner. A new edition of To the Lighthouse, since the pages are literally falling out of mine. A new mystery novel (revolving around music!) by a fave English mystery writer, Paganini's Ghost. A replacement copy of Mila 18. A new historical novel about Venice, which looks as if may be too much of a romance but can always be sent out into the world in exchange for something else via PBS if my suspicions are well-founded -- The Secret of the Glass. No Zweig, and no Louise Penny! Although I did download the first of the Three Pines mysteries and am now reading The American by Henry James and -- mirabile dictu -- enjoying it. (I've had a reader's block re James for some decades now...)

Ugh. I'm putting The Passport aside, at least for the time being, and going back to The Surrendered.

Nice haul, Caroline! I haven't read anything by Steig Larsson yet, so you're not alone.

Suzanne, I'm almost certain that I'll miss "The Audition", as I'll be working from 10 am to 8-10 pm. If I get back home early enough I'll look for it.

Darryl--referring back to your previous thread--my husband read Fruit of the Lemon after Small Island and found it very disappointing. He didn't think it was worth my time to read it. He does not read a lot of books though, so that's just his opinion.

Chatterbox--when I first read your previous comment about nearly forgetting the auditions at the Met I was somewhat taken aback because I thought you meant you were one of the singers auditioning. lol. When I was in college (music major, many years ago), I used to attend the regional auditions. I'm jealous that you're in NCY and have ready access to the finals.

Ms Aruba, oh, how I wish I could sing... And had I been lucky enough to do that, and be good enough to make it all the way through the competition, I'm sure someone would have been around to wake me up and get me there, had I been able to sleep in the first place!!

It was great -- Marilyn Horne ended up as MC because the scheduled MC got stuck out of NY because of the heavy rain. So it was Horne and von Stade, and while awaiting the results, they mugged and sang bits from "Mame" -- you know, the song "We'll always be bosom buddies..." Great crowd, full of music students and the real NYC afficionados, not so many of the "opera as socially-acceptable pastime even though I don't really get it" crowd.

Hi Darryl, just checking in so that I don't lose you (you're another one whose thread I'm struggling to keep up with at the moment...)

Was amused that you gave the book Nadirs only 1.5 stars. Somehow, a book with that title shouldn't really score above 2 ;o)

#6 & 8 I haven't read Stieg Larsson either, but I've seen the two first films. They were more than graphic enough for me. I don't think I will be able to read about it before I've forgotten the films.

Bente, that's the advantage/disadvantage of living in Scandinavia... The films aren't out here, so no spillover effect. Personally, I love the series; yes it's gritty and I could see how it could be interpreted in an even more violent way on screen. But I thought the plot(s) and the links between the books were great. I'd compare them, in many ways, to the books by Val McDermid , but with an overarching theme/message.

#13 Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the both of the films (as much as you can enjoy it), but since you've read the books, you probably can understand my hesitation with reading them so soon. Don't want to spoil anything for those who have not read the books. The plot and story is great, really exciting. If you get the chance, you should see the film adaption.

#9: Thanks for that info, Deborah. I'll still give Fruit of the Lemon a go, but it may not get read until next year, especially if good books keep coming into my possession.

#11: Fliss, sometimes I struggle to keep up with my thread! Nadirs was a painful read, and The Passport wasn't much better, which choppy sentences and a near complete absence of a plot. It took me an hour to read 25 small pages, which was about as pleasant as having my throat examined with a tongue blade (I've hated that since I was a small child). iI'm very close to being done with Herta Müller, although I'll at least look at The Land of Green Plums.

Darryl, thanks to my lovely daughters, I was able to order a copy of Zweig's Chess Story for my birthday. I hope I enjoy it (once I get my hands on it!) as much as you did. I thank you again for the recommendation.

Larsson's books were made into movies? I didn't even know that. Were the movies by the same names as the books?

You're welcome, Stasia. I'll look forward to your comments about Chess Story.

Yes, all three films were out in 2009 (haven't seen nr 3 yet), but they're all in Swedish, so I guess you would have to see them with subtitles. The films are named the same as the books, but the English translations differs a little bit from the original Swedish title.

I'm not sure how much is known about Larsson outside Scandinavia, but did you know that he was working on book nr 4 when he died, and because of a family fued it will probably never be published? At least not for a long while.

#19: I had heard he was working on book 4 and left preliminary outlines and notes for book 5. It is unfortunate about the family feud as I love the books.

Oh bother. I thought there was remarkably few comments on your thread and now I discover there is a new one.

I have good (??) news for you, I'm now off work until at least sunday cos of an unfortunate accident so I can come and torment you lots. Thats just made your day, hasn't it ;)

No, I'm not happy to hear that you(?) had an "unfortunate accident". Are you doing OK?

I probably won't be on LThing much until Fri or Sat; we're quite busy at work this week, as the hospital is full beyond our regular capacity.

Yeah, stupid accident, just a few stitches in my hand. Fine to read thank goodness!

Rubbish that you're not around though, I hope things calm down a bit. I shall have to occupy myself with tormenting other peoples.

The longlist for the 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction was just announced:

Rosie Alison: The Very Thought of You (Britain)
Eleanor Catton: The Rehearsal (New Zealand)
Clare Clark: Savage Lands (Britain)
Amanda Craig: Hearts and Minds (Britain)
Roopa Farooki: The Way Things Look to Me (Britain)
Rebecca Gowers: The Twisted Heart (Britain)
M.J. Hyland: This Is How (Britain)
Sadie Jones: Small Wars (Britain)
Barbara Kingsolver: The Lacuna (United States)
Laila Lalami: Secret Son (Morocco)
Andrea Levy: The Long Song (Britain)
Attica Locke: Black Water Rising (United States)
Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall (Britain)
Maria McCann: The Wilding (Britain)
Nadifa Mohamed: Black Mamba Boy (Britain)
Lorrie Moore: A Gate at the Stairs (United States)
Monique Roffey: The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (Spain-Britain)
Amy Sackville: The Still Point (Britain)
Kathryn Stockett: The Help (United States)
Sarah Waters: The Little Stranger (Britain)

Thanks, as always, for keeping us informed about award-winners.

The title of Black Mamba Boy is very intriguing.

And, I'm not surprised that Wolf Hall is on the list.

The Guardian has a gallery of the 20 longlisted books here:

Orange prize for fiction 2010: the longlist

The Orange Prize's web site also has more information about these books:

Orange Prize for Fiction 2010 longlist

I've read Wolf Hall and The Long Song, and I own but haven't read Hearts and Minds, A Gate at the Stairs, and The Little Stranger.

I've bookmarked the Orange Prize site. Thanks again Darryl.

Small Wars is definitely v. good. I really liked Wolf Hall but it would be nice to see recognition go to another book this time -- there's been a lot of buzz for Mantel, which I think is fab, so time to spread it around! The Rehearsal is coming out soon, I think; I've seen it on my Amazon Vine lists.

I agree with you Linda, Black Mamba Boy does sound interesting, as do The Rehearsal, Black Water Rising, The Way Things Look to Me, This Is How (which I forgot to buy when I was in London last summer), Small Wars, Secret Son, and The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. More books to buy!

Our own Rachael (FlossieT) interviewed Eleanor Catton for the first issue of Belletrista, which includes a discussion of The Rehearsal:

An Interview with New Zealand author Eleanor Catton

You and Rachael are doing such an incredible job in your contributions to Bellestrista. And, I'm also sending a well-deserved loud clapping sound directed to Avaland, (Lois!)

Very cool about Secret Son being on the Orange Prize for Fiction list. That had been a book I won (and enjoyed) as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer!

Thanks for the compliment, Linda. However, my contributions are meager compared to Rachael's interview of Eleanor Catton and her spectacular article on the history of the Orange Prize in issue 4 of Belletrista.

Madeline...Happy to hear a positive experience re. ERC. I've been very disappointed with those I rec'd.

I'll be sure to read Secret Son.

And, Darryl, as usual, you are very humble. I read your very thoughtful, well written reviews and you deserve lots of kudos.

Linda, I've found that, if I'm very selective about books that I choose, I'll usually get ones I like. This year so far I've only been choosing about three books out of the total list each month.

ETA: Secret Son was not without some things I didn't like, but overall I had a good experience reading that book.

You're off work for the week?! uh oh ..... I'll have to take a deep breath before coming to your thread this week then, and keep that sandy flipflop at the ready. I've already bought more books than I should have on this trip, and I have 4 more days before I leave to return home.... that's plenty time for you to put wreck havoc on my book spree.

I'm very glad to see Sarah Water's The Little Stranger on the list.

Thanks again, Linda! (*blushing again*)

Since I have absolutely no will power, I just ordered three of the books from the Orange Prize longlist from The Book Depository: The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, The Rehearsal, and Black Mamba Boy. This Is How, Secret Son, and Small Wars are available at my local Borders, so I'll pick them up one at a time in the coming weeks.

I'm working most of the next two weeks (Mon-Fri this week and next week), Caroline. However, I'm off for a little over two weeks after that, starting the Saturday after next.

Hi Darryl, found thread, posted in thread, trying to go back to sleep to FINISH this blasted cold, bye Darryl!

Nice .. are you going to San Francisco for the 2 weeks that you're off? *wonders if wearing a metal helmet when reading Darryl's thread during his SF trips will work*

I read The Rehearsal last year and really loved it. I've just started The Little Stranger after going to an Evening with Sarah Waters last week.
Looking forward to your comments on these and the other longlisted books when you get round to reading them.

#40

I'm curious as to how a metal helmet would work in stopping you adding books to your wishlist or purchasing them? Perhaps tying your hands together behind your back so you couldn't use your computer might work better?

Of course, we could do both to Darryl and then he could neither read, nor tell us about good books.

#24 Thank you for the Orange shortlist. I always feel so woefully under-read when I see lists like these though - I've only heard of 5 of those, let alone read any (well, OK, I have read The Rehearsal and the only reason I've not read Wolf Hall yet is that the copy I'm going to borrow is still with my Mum's friend, still...). I suppose that this should be the opportunity to discover them, but my wishlist is long enough already!

#35 Yep, I try to do the same with the ER lists, but I also try to challenge my boundaries a little with them (hence last month's selection, which I can't, honestly say I enjoyed, although I did think it was well written). Sometimes it works. The thing is that the UK list is sometimes quite a lot shorter than those available to the US - this March, for example, seems to be almost exclusively composed of Vampire/Werewolf bandwagon type stuff... woo.

Hope the next couple of days aren't tooooo stressful Darryl - just hold the two weeks off ahead in front of your nose ;o)

Speaking of vampires and werewolves: There is a new book scheduled for release entitled "Little Women and Werewolves."

From the marketing bumph: "Little Women is a timeless classic. But Louisa May Alcott’s first draft—before her editor sunk his teeth into it—was even better. Now the original text has at last been exhumed. In this uncensored version, the March girls learn some biting lessons, transforming from wild girls into little women—just as their friends and neighbors transform into vicious, bloodthirsty werewolves!

Here are tomboy Jo, quiet Beth, ladylike Amy, and good-hearted Meg, plus lovable neighbor Laurie Laurence, now doomed to prowl the night on all fours, maiming and devouring the locals. As the Civil War rages, the girls learn the value of being kind, the merits of patience and grace, and the benefits of knowing a werewolf who can disembowel your teacher.

By turns heartwarming and blood-curdling, this rejuvenated classic will be cherished and treasured by those who love a lesson in virtue almost as much as they enjoy a good old-fashioned dismemberment. "

I've read The Little Stranger and The Help last year.

I've bought The Lacuna, The Long Song and Wolf Hall.

I already have Hearts and Minds and The Way Things Look to Me out of the library, and think I may have to try to read them soon in case someone reserves them.

This is How was an Early Reviewer book last month but I didn't get a copy - did anyone here?

I've wanted to read Savage Lands since I read a really good review on the Bookbag.

I'll have to look up the rest. Hopefully libraries will buy copies of any they don't already have.

Our hospital's intranet home page has a story about one of the patients I'm taking care of, along with the orthopedic surgery and infectious disease services, who was injured in the Haiti earthquake. Our local Fox TV affiliate came to the hospital last week and showed a story about him on the evening news last Wednesday.

Atlanta Surgeon Helps Injured Haiti Boy

#40: I still haven't decided what to do with the two weeks that I have off, Caroline. I definitely won't go to Europe, and I'll probably only go out of town for 7-10 days. The cost for my original itinerary (Atlanta-San Francisco-Philadelphia-Atlanta) was nearly $1500 (with two weeks advance notice). I'll probably go to San Francisco, but if I do it won't be until the beginning of April.

BTW, wouldn't it be easier to just ignore my thread while I'm in SF? ;-)

#41: Kerry, I'll be interested to get your thoughts on The Little Stranger, as it received mixed reviews here. I'll probably read The Rehearsal in the next month or two.

#42: A straight jacket or placement in four point restraints (confinement to a bed, with wrists and ankles tied to the bedposts) might be more effective, as might a restraining order ("Darryl is not allowed to post to LibraryThing without supervision").

#43: Thanks, Fliss. Yes, I'm definitely counting the days, and thinking that every completed work day is a day closer to my upcoming time off.

#44: I am pretty sure that "Little Women and Werewolves" will not be on my wish list.

#45: How did you like The Little Stranger and The Help?

Oof. It's 9:40 pm and I'm still at work, and not done yet. Signing off...

#44: I think I may be ill.

>44 Chatterbox: Okay. This isn't funny anymore. It's just annoying, juvenile, and OVER.

/huff

Not to mention vaguely twee. In a bad way.

#44 Yup, that one is definitely not for the wishlist... Mind you, I didn't much like the sound of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies either, which I know some of you liked...

The Zombie twist is just not working for me, at least not in remakes of the classics. I gave Pride and Prejudice and Zombies a really good try, but no. I pass. I will stick with the werewolves and vampires in Patricia Briggs series. :P

found and starred

I've just created a thread dedicated to reviews and discussions of the books nominated for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction and the Orange Award for New Writers. Please feel free to participate!

2010 Orange Prize Discussion Thread

Book #25: The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee



My rating:

This powerful novel of the horrors of war and the sorrows of love takes place in Manchuria during the Japanese occupation, war torn Korea, and NYC and Italy in the mid 1980s. June (Han) Singer is nearing the end of her unsuccessful battle with stomach cancer. She has survived the horrors of the Korean War, including the loss of her entire family and those whom she loved the most, and her unyielding determination, combined with a necessary streak of meanness, allowed her to become a successful antiques dealer in New York City. She refuses to die until she finds her only son, who is traveling throughout Europe but has not contacted her in several months. She learns that he is in trouble, and seeks the help of Hector Brennan, a handsome womanizer and alcoholic who rescued the teenaged June while he was stationed in Korea. Their lives remained connected during the years that Hector worked at the orphanage that housed June, which was run by the Reverend Tanner and his wife Sylvie. The impossible and tragic love that the flawed Sylvie, the handsome Hector and the fiery June share consumes all of them, and continues to affect their lives years later when June and Hector meet, for the last time.

I found The Surrendered to be a captivating novel, although one key incident in the story was a bit incredulous, and Hector's character and actions were difficult for me to understand and appreciate. This is a very good novel about isolation, identity and memory in the midst of war and unfulfilled love, and is definitely a recommended read.

Book #26: Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi



My rating:

This haunting novella is narrated by Dastaguir, a middle aged man who travels to the coal mine where his son Murad is working, in order to inform him of the tragedy that has befallen their village during the Soviet War in Afghanistan. Dastaguir travels with Murad's mischevious son Yassin, who struggles to understand what has happened to himself and his family. Dastaguir is deeply affected by the event, and fearful of the reaction of his volatile son once he finds out what has happened. Rahimi paints a simple and economical yet unforgettable and affecting story, which I highly recommend.

Of note, Earth and Ashes was a bestselling book in Europe and South America, and Rahimi directed a movie based on the book that won 25 awards, including the Prix du Regard vers l'Avenir at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

I'm planning to stop at Borders later today and purchase The Patience Stone by Rahimi, which won the Prix Goncourt, the top French literary award, in 2008.

Book #27: Close to Jedenew by Kevin Vennemann



My rating:

Close to Jedenew is a stream of consciousness novella narrated by a young Jewish girl in a small town in Poland, whose Jewish population is slaughtered by local villagers during World War II. She and the younger members of the family remain in hiding while local farmers conduct their rampage against their former neighbors and friends. The story initially reads like a fairy tale, then jumps back and forth between present and past events, which made it difficult to follow until its ending. This was a curious and mysterious work, which requires close attention and possibly multiple readings to appreciate it fully.

Darry

These are some incredible reads!

Thanks, Linda. However, these were all grim reads, and I think I'm ready for something a bit less morose. Maybe I'll read The Three Suitors of Fred Belair, a humorous novel set in the Caribbean that I bought from The Book Depository. Interesting; I'm the only LTer who owns this book.

"Interesting; I'm the only LTer who owns this book."

yes, but after you read and review it, many more will be reading it.

#55/56: Adding those to the BlackHole. My local library has The Surrendered in processing, so I am hoping to be able to get to it soon.

Thanks for the latest reviews, especially Earth and Ashes. I bought The Patience Stone on Book Depository and it arrived last week, but I'm not in the mood for it yet - it looks really sad.

Darryl- Very good reviews, sir! The Surrendered is high on my wishlist!

Wooof...these are some good reads and reviews, Darryl .... and there is no way I could no more ignore your thread than I could not drink orange juice in the morning. When I do... I suffer from withdrawal symptoms and am grumpy all day.

*sniff* Aww...what a sweet compliment, Caroline!

I'm all but certain that I won't go to SF during my upcoming two week break. I'll probably stay in town for the first 5 days or so, starting on Saturday, and then fly to Philadelphia at the end of the week. I have a week off from work in mid-May, and I'll probably go to SF then.

Thanks Stasia, Cushla and Mark. I'm going out shortly to pick up The Patience Stone from my neighborhood Borders (30% off coupon expires tonight).

#64

I'm similar to you in one way, in that we both need this thread in order to ward off withdrawal symptoms and grumpiness. However, mine comes when I haven't abused or tormented Darryl for a while!

Darryl...

Happy Almost Birthday...I may be out of town for a meeting tomorrow and thus didn't want to miss wishing you a wonderful day.

You are a dear, sweet, other directed person and the world needs more people like you!

Happy birthday!

I am adding my birthday wishes as well. I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow (and today, for that matter!)

More birthday wishes for a beautiful, rewarding future ... filled with loads of wonderful reading!

OH! Celebrate Sweet Darryl!

and be happy :)

Oh dear ...... hope you have a Happy Birthday tomorrow anyway, Darryl.

Have a wonderful birthday, Darryl!

Thanks Linda, Doc, Stasia, Akeela, Kath and Caroline for those lovely birthday wishes! They are much appreciated after a long and most unpleasant day at work.

I love the balloons and that cat is too adorable for words! What kind of cookie was it?

Kath, I'll at least have cake tomorrow, as the 3 West nurses found out it will be my birthday tomorrow, and were asking me what kind of cake I like. They are my favorite nurses in the hospital (along with the ones who work on 3 East), and I normally share holiday lunches with them (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day) when I have to work.

ETA: Thanks, Madeline!

A cake AND a lolcat for your birthday!!!
Wow, tomorrow will be a better day with those in hand, I'm sure -- hope it's a happy one...!

Happy birthday Darryl - hope you have a great day and lots of cake and laughs.

Happy Birthday from me as well - hope it's a quiet day at work.

Happy birthday

Darryl- Happy Birthday! It's been a pleasure following you here on LT. You've turned me onto many books!

Happy birthday Darryl! Have a great day and enjoy your cake.

I hope you have a lovely birthday. And hooray for caring coworkers like your nurses!

Happy Birthday and all good wishes for a better day and week ahead.

Happy Birthday Darryl!!

Darryl, Hope your birthday is a real winner!

Happy Birthday, Darryl! I hope your cake is delicious and all the kiddos get well. It is a joy to 'know' you.

Darryl - Happy hippity hoppity birthday! It was a brandied apple and cinnamon cookie...and he stole the other one too.



So what kind of cake did you get today?

I hope you're having a better day at work today than you had yesterday.

Just dropping in to add my best wishes for your birthday today! Hope it is/was grand!

I refuse to wish you a happy birthday!!!! I will instead say well done for getting a whole year older and closer to grey hairs and walking sticks ;)

Joyeux anniversaire!

Happy Birthday Darryl!

Happy Birthday!!! I hope your day is filled with all sorts of great treats!!

Darryl, I do not comment on your thread but read it religiously- thus, Happy Birthday!

Happy happy, Darryl!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone. It's been a rough day, as it is 11 pm and I've just finished a 15+ hour day. The nurses did get me a carrot cake, which we shared early this evening, which ended up being lunch and dinner. I guess it's too late to eat dinner, so I'll pick up something yummy tomorrow to go with the rest of the carrot cake (which will take me a while to finish).

I'm sure that carrot cake constitutes a properly balanced diet, right? After all, doesn't it contain carrots?? :-)

Hope it's an easier one tomorrow and you'll manage some real meals! (Oh, and some reading to keep you sane...)

I'm sure that carrot cake constitutes a properly balanced diet, right?

I'm sure it is also. The protein is the cream cheese icing, the vegetable is the carrot, and the grain is the flour. ;)

When you have as many friends as you do, Darryl, you have to celebrate your birthday for at least a week. I celebrate birthday months, myself. Chang-Rae-Lee's books are always worth reading, but Earth and Ashes sounds especially good. Thanks!

Whhooof.... hope you have a better day today, and a relaxing weekend. You're off then for 2 weeks, right?

#97: I'm sure that carrot cake constitutes a properly balanced diet, right? After all, doesn't it contain carrots?? :-)

The nurse who brought the cake said the same thing!

#99: You're welcome. I haven't picked up The Patience Stone yet, but I'll get it either tomorrow or Sat/Sun.

#100: Today was a better day, although I didn't leave until 8:30 pm. One more day of work, and then I'm off for the next 16 days! I'll definitely have a relaxing (and sleep filled) weekend. I still haven't made flight reservations for the trip, but Delta has hourly flights from Atlanta to Philadelphia during the week, so I shouldn't have any problems getting a ticket for the end of next week.

Congratulations on being off for 16 days! I hope you get lots of reading and book buying done and some rest along the way as well.

Stop encouraging him, Stasia! Ye Gods, are you mad, woman?!! Do you know how many books he's already added to my obese wish list, nevermind my teetering TBR Tower?

I hope you have a great relaxing weekend and rest up in Philly, Darryl .... but NO BOOK BUYING during this trip, do you hear?! I have shoes waiting to be thrown...


glitter-graphics.com

#103: He does not intimidate me :) My only problem is getting hold of the books he recommends, since my local library rarely has any of them. I am actively encouraging him, though. I love to see what he comes up with!

Glad you got cake...I love Carrot cake! I used to make a really good one. Everyone should have cake on their birthday..

I always request hot dogs on the grill for my birthday :)
well.. and pie..

I like napoleons on my birthday, just without the uccchy chocolate pollution on top, so they have to be specially made. In fact, the local Italian bakery makes a 12-inch napoleon CAKE that just about sates me for the year.

Carrot cake is nummers, too, and it's never ever a bad thing to have one.

The Long Song is just coming to an end. I must review soonest. Not so sure what I'll say....

#102: Thanks, Stasia! I left work just after midnight, so I'm officially on "vacation". (It's not actually vacation, but days that I''m owed off, since I've worked more than I was supposed to during the first quarter of the year.) I'm definitely planning to read a lot of books (8-12 seems reasonable), and buy a few, especially at the NYC bookstores, assuming that I do go to Philadelphia next week.

#103: Sorry Caroline, Stasia (a.k.a. the Queen of the 75 Books Club) gave me permission to read and buy as many books as I want. You'll have to obtain an Executive Proclamation to overturn her ruling.

#105: I love the 3rd floor nurses! We have a very friendly relationship, and I know that they'll take good care of my/our kids, especially the SICK ones. One of the most important jobs of a hospital nurse is to anticipate when a kid starts to become SICK, before it actually happens. It's important for the doctors to do the same, but a good nurse will ideally detect problems before we will.

I have plenty of carrot cake left over from Wednesday. The mother of one of my patients gave me half of the box of petits fours that her best friend (a pastry chef) brought to her yesterday, as well. I had one yesterday, which was out of this world, and I took two more from the box, and shared the rest with the 3rd floor nurses, who were already stuffed after having cake during an afternoon retirement party for one of the unit clerks.

My birthday dinner will come next week, when I visit my parents!

#106: I agree with you on napoleons sans chocolate, although I haven't had any in a LONG time.

Uh oh, it sounds as though you weren't enamoured with The Long Song. I'm curious to get your take on it.

#107: I am currently in the midst of one of Mario Vargas Llosa's books, The War of the End of the World, and if you have not read it, I recommend it, Darryl.

I'm going to see a former colleague talk about his new book at Strand on Tuesday; wondering how many books I'll end up buying as a result! Shall we have a book buying competition? I suppose the only question will be whether it's the person who can find the most or who displays the most self-restraint who wins!!

#106- I am eagerly waiting to see your reaction to Vargas Llosa. Especially this one that I have yet to read. Have you read anything hes has written before?

#110: This is the first by him I have read, although I have his Conversation in the Cathedral in the BlackHole. I have about 70 more pages to go in the book at this time and I have really enjoyed it. The book is dense, but very readable. I just wish I knew more of Brazilian history.

I read both The War of the End of the World and Conversation in the Cathedral in the past year, as you no doubt remember, Stasia and Darryl, and while I loved them both, I preferred The War of the End of the World even though Conversation in the Cathedral; is considered Vargas Llosa's masterpiece. I too wanted to know more about Brazilian history after I read it and someone (sorry, I forget who) recommended Rebellion in the Backlands by Euclides da Cunha, a history of the events Vargas Llosa fictionalized. I bought it but haven't read it yet.

#112: I finished The War of the End of the World and loved it. Thanks for the mention of Rebellion in the Backlands. I checked and the local college library has it, so I will try and get it in the upcoming weeks.

*In a funk because just because Queen Stasia isn't intimidated by Darryl, she feels no love for her jelly-fish subjects who quiver at the thought of Darryl's impending trips to the bookstore during his vacation* .... in a funk....

I must have been channeling your thoughts, Stasia. I decided that I needed a lighter read for the next day or two, to give my brain a chance to rest, and I chose Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Llosa, which has resided on my TBR list for several years. I haven't read The War of the End of the World yet, but I'll probably get to it this year.

I'll have to check out the author readings in the NYC/NJ/Philadelphia area in the upcoming couple of weeks. I won't be able to hear Kiran Desai speak at Rutgers on Wednesday, as I probably won't fly to Philadelphia before Thursday. More information here if anyone is interested.

It's easy to get to the Rutgers campus from NYC, as NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line that originates in Penn Station stops in New Brunswick, just across the street from the main campus.

The McCarter Theatre Center on Princeton's campus has excellent off off Broadway plays, one man performances (John Lithgow will be there on April 7), and musical and dance performances (the Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform there on March 31). The Princeton Junction train station is one stop south of the New Brunswick train station on the same Northeast Corridor line, and the dinky (one car train) travels the short distance to the Princeton train station, which is literally just across the street from the McCarter Theatre Center.

Suzanne, I am all for a book buying competition! I'm sure that I'll go to NYC at least two or three times while I'm there, and visit Strand and Book Culture at least once. I'll also have to find out what cultural events are taking place in NYC and Philadelphia.

I'll also look out for Rebellion in the Backlands; thanks for the reminder, Rebecca.

#114: I feel an urge to pat the head of that poor panda bear, but I fear that I will get bit if I do.

Panda's a little mollified because she's just read Chess Story and thanks you for pointing her in the direction of this remarkable writer Stefan Zweig.

*rubs head of panda bear* You're welcome, Panda!

Panda Bears, eh? :)

I love that one Caro!

Darryl, you have to go see Monet's water lilies at MoMA. There's a Jane Austen exhibit that I think is still on at the Morgan Library (which is always great anyway for the illuminated manuscripts and ancient books on display in the library portion.) Will let you know if I hear anything else buzz-worthy happening.

>120 Chatterbox:: unfortunately, the Austen exhibit ended March 14 ... I saw it, and it was pretty interesting. You can still experience some of the exhibit online.

#121, oh pooh. Well, the rest of the Morgan is still there to be enjoyed! And they have a nice little cafeteria in the atrium for lunch, where you can sit and read. And from there it's a nice stroll down to Union Square with (a) a four-floor Barnes & Noble and (b) the Strand!

#114: she feels no love for her jelly-fish subjects

Yes, Stasia loves the jellyfishes, but she also loves Darryl's recommendations.

>>115 kidzdoc:: Paco Peña was at McCarter last fall. He's amazing to listen/watch if you have any interest in flamenco. I missed two performances I wanted to see this winter, Cirque Mechanics (former members of Cirque du Soleil) and a Lewis Black night, still my favorite comedian. And, of course, I always try to make the annual Triangle Show put on by the University.

*ponders jellyfish*

I finally made flight reservations for next week. I'll fly to Philadelphia on Saturday, and return to Atlanta the following Sunday.

I haven't been to MoMA for awhile, so I think I'll check out the Monet exhibit. Thanks, Suzanne!

One of these years I want to see the Triangle Show at McCarter. I'll have to see if my folks are interested in seeing the John Lithgow one man performance on April 7. They go to McCarter several times a year, as they have good friends that live in Princeton, and the campus is less than a 30 minute drive from home.

I'll definitely go to the Picasso exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the middle of the week.

The Repertorio Español in Manhattan has a play based on Mario Vargas Llosa's novel Captain Pantoja and the Special Service, with performances at 8 pm on Saturday and 6:30 pm on Sunday (in Spanish, with English translation). The review of the play in last October's New York Times is here. I think I'll go to next Sunday's show. I'm also interested in seeing the musical Fela!, Bill T. Jones' production about the life of the legendary African musician Fela Kuti, which is playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theater on Broadway.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is excellent so far. I should finish it tonight or Monday.

The Monet waterlilies are part of the permanent collection of MoMA. I liked the previous display, before they redid MoMA, better than the current one, but they're still stunners.

Could people please stop doing interesting things with their lives???????

Your plans sound wonderful.... looks like you're going to have a wonderful visit. Enough time to recuperate from the horrible week you just had. Picasso's works never fail to delight and amuse me.

#128: Hmph. Unless I'm getting old and absent-minded (which I am, anyway, but that's besides the point), I seem to remember that somebody spent a day in London this past week doing fun things. Aren't the rest of us allowed to have a little pleasure in our twilight years?

#129: Right. I'll spend seven days in Atlanta, to rest & relax a bit and do some necessary chores, before heading up to Philly. BTW, the exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris, has been extended to May 2, in case you (or anyone else who is interested) can make it.

#130

Well, you are indeed old and absent-minded, and doing stuff in London isn't as exciting as flying all over the place. London is just too close to be thrilling and massively interesting!

Take me to London, Jenny and I'll show you how thrilling and massively interesting it can be! ;-)

Deal, you fly over here and come and stay in my spare bedroom and we'll take the train in every day. Only takes about 90 mins on a good day!

Of course, you'll have to come and muck out horses and trudge around in mud as your lodging fee :P

Ah, you do have a good point. The closer you are to a city, the less interesting it seems to be. I do more when I visit Philly and NYC than I did when I lived there, and I hardly do anything in Atlanta, even though the city's major cultural center (home to the city's largest museum, symphony orchestra, and leading theatre company) is a short walk from where I live.

Not a problem. I worked on a farm in Yorkshire during one of my summer breaks from Uni and I love horses. I used to live in Uxbridge for a spell and had a boyfriend who was up in Hull ... I used to love the train rides to catch up on non-school reading.

Maybe I should set up a B&B for LT'ers! It would work fabulously if I had my own few horses and could use your labour to help me with them!

Sadly if I did that at the moment, it would actually do me out of money as I get paid by the hour dependent on how long the work takes to do. More people = less money!

One of the reasons I love NYC is because there is so much going on, but since I live here I do very little of those wonderful things -- mostly just live my life.

Exactly!

I think I did more in the 3 days that I've spent in NYC than I have ever done in London in the 19 years I have lived so close to it. I wonder why it is that so many of us act this way?

Btw, (speaking of Picasso), if you like art Darryl, the Princeton Art Museum is worth keeping an eye on. There are some nice things there in their permanent collection (a set of Monet's poplar series, etc.) but they also get some nice special exhibits. There's an exhibition of Gauguin's woodcuts going on now that I want to get down to see.

As for the Triangle Show...I was in the 1979 one, so it's a nostalgic thing for me. However, I fully recognize you have to like campy comedy to enjoy them.

I lurve London. Suspect it's because it's really the first city I ever thought of as "home"; I was six when we moved there the first time, 12 when we left, and then 14 when we moved to Brussels. So London is about the only place that I've lived that has been a constant in my life. Went back and lived there in the late 90s. Luna, I completely agree with you -- living in NY, I see less of it on a daily basis than I know exists to explore; similarly, the last time I was in London, I went to Kew Gardens once (and now it's a must-visit every time I'm there.) Alas, my friend who had been living there just moved back to Toronto, so for the first time in 15 years I have NO place to stay and will have to resort to one of those yucky B&Bs in Pimlico. My London is neither a tourist London nor a resident's London, but some weird Chatter-specific hybrid.

As Rebecca noted, wherever you live is just that -- where you live. When you do have space in your daily life, there are far more options with what to do with the surplus time -- multiple museums, theaters, events, etc. But life is a series of routines, wherever you live. I want to push myself to do more, but it never really happens. One thing I DID do, Tad, was to get to some of the annual flamenco festival performances in early Feb -- those are always excellent.

I'm planning to see the Picasso exhibit with a high school friend in mid-April. She's a big art buff and lives in NJ; we did a road trip in January to see the Gorky exhibit, which was great.

I'd like to move out of London back to Leeds where I come from, 200 miles away. Then I'm sure I would enjoy visiting the city again. I used to come and stay with relatives in my teens and go sightseeing - my cousins would say they'd never done x y z and I didn't get it at all, until I moved here myself. But I never intended to settle here permanently. That was in 1995.

Enjoy your holiday.

Catching up on these threads, that seem to be longer than books but yet worthwhile reading.
@112- a clarification Rebecca. The Conversation in the Cathedral novel covers events in Peru, during the 50s dicatorship of Odria. The Rebellion in the Backlands is one of the classical Brazilian books written in the late 19th century (I think). I can understand the confusion- what, with all the dictatorships and political strife in those countries.

Darryl--I'm so sorry to have missed your birthday--belated birthday wishes to you. Have a great second celebration with your family next week!

The Musee National Picasso is sending its Picasso collection on tour, and first US stop is Seattle next fall. Can't wait.

#143, xieouyang, It was sloppy writing, not confusion. The "it" referred back to Stasia's comment about The War at the End of the World in the preceding post, but a casual reader (and a stickler for grammar, which I usually am) would have missed this. Sorry, however, for confusing you and any others about what I meant.

I should finish Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa later this morning. It's a lighter read, in comparison to his other novels that I've read and loved (The Feast of the Goat, The Time of the Hero, and Conversation in the Cathedral), but it is just as good, and will probably be among my top five books of the first quarter of 2010.

#139: I haven't been to the Princeton U. Art Museum yet, Tad, but I'll try to make it there sometime in the summer.

BTW, another Picasso exhibit opened yesterday at MoMA, Picasso: Themes and Variations, which runs until September 30. It "explores Picasso’s creative process through the medium of printmaking". The exhibition of Monet's Water Lilies that Suzanne mentioned ends on April 12. So, a weekday trip to MoMA is on my list of things to do.

I was excited to see that Ian McEwan will be speaking at the 92nd Street Y on April 6, until I saw the ticket price: $27 for regular tickets, $10 for people under 35 (age discrimination!). Does that include a copy of his latest book, Solar?

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is high on my list of favorite art museums, and I especially like its special exhibitions. I missed the Gorky exhibit, unfortunately, but I did see the Salvador Dalí and Frida Kahlo exhibits in recent years, which were both fantastic. I'll "review" both of the Picasso exhibits next week.

Xieouyang, I think that Rebecca was referring to The Rebellion in the Backlands in reference to The War of the End of the World, which are both about the War of Canudos that took place from 1896-97 in Brazil.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Deborah. Do you know where that Picasso collection will go after it leaves Seattle?

> 112, it was me, rebecca, who mentioned Rebellion in the Backlands, when i saw that you were reading The War. i've not read the book myself, but would be interested to know what you think when you do get to read it.

darryl, hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration!

Darryl, have you read Stefan Zweig's autobiography The World of Yesterday yet? I am currently reading it and it is very good - a terrific picture of the literary culture of Europe prior to the world wars.

Thanks, deebee! I worked until late in the evening on my birthday, so I didn't get to go out (although I still have a good amount of birthday cake left over). I'll celebrate it this coming weekend.

Stasia, I haven't read The World of Yesterday yet, but I will definitely read it soon, for lilisin's Author Theme Reads group. We're reading Zweig as the primary author this year, and I'll read this, Beware of Pity, The Post-Office Girl, and Franziska later this year. I'm very interested to get your take on The World of Yesterday, as it has been the source of two scathing articles recently, in The London Review of Books and The Guardian (more info here, in lilisin's message and my reply to it).

#149: I am not yet halfway through The World of Yesterday (only about 1/3 of the way through), but I do not get Hoffman's attack on the book at all. I am not a literary critic by any means, but I think Zweig has painted a beautiful portrait of the time frame he was born in and the literary culture surrounding his youth.

Hoffman's article, IMO, was more of an attack on Zweig himself than a critique of the book, starting with its title, "Vermicular Dither". I don't think that Hoffman accomplished very much with his review, other than raise questions about his impartiality or mental stability, and I'll bet that sales of The World of Yesterday and other books by Zweig will go up in the UK, so that readers can figure out what the fuss is all about.

#151: I hope the sales of Zweig's books do go up! lol

Friday's London Review Blog features a short video of Margaret Atwood giving advice on how to become a great hockey goalkeeper:

Mama Gets Nasty

Woo for holidays - enjoy your time off! You must tell us your thoughts on the Picasso exhibition, so we can enjoy it vicariously ;o)

...incidently, all you Picasso fans, if you ever get to Berlin, it contains one of my absolute favourite galleries, the The Berggruen Museum, in Charlottenburg - they have over 100 Picasso's (including my favourite, The Cockerel), also, works by Klee, Giacometti and Matisse.

Question: What are napoleons (aside from French dictators)?

And, weighing in on cities you live in/near - I don't know, I'm sure I don't see nearly as much of London as I would if I were on holiday, but every now and then, I do go down for a day with the deliberate intention of doing touristy stuff...

That said, I've lived in Cambridge on and off for 20 years and it's only in recent years that I've worked out which college is which, let alone see inside most of them (although there have been events etc, I suppose, where you get to see bits...) - and I haven't been to the Fitzwilliam Museum since I did my Art GCSE (really must do something about that!)

#146, Darryl, I didn't realize (I'm really out of it, I guess), that there is a special exhibit of Monet's waterliliy paintings at MoMA; I was just thinking of the ones that area always there. I'll have to try to get to it before it closes. Also, I'm planning at some point to read The Feast of the Goat and some other books by Vargas Llosa.

#147, deebee, I was too lazy to search back through the threads and see who recommended Rebellion in the Backlands, so thank you for reminding me that it was you. I am looking forward to reading it, but am not sure when I will.

and to you, Picasso fans, here's something i'm sure you will like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_uGbQanNw

i remember staying for half an hour in the room where they have the real thing at the Museu Reina Sofia in Madrid, feeling as if i were in front of something sacred, an unknown powerful, a memorial, and shedding not a few tears afterwards. this 3D interpretation captures part of that unforgettable moment.

I am not a Picasso fan by and large, but I remember Guernica vividly from when it was in MoMA and then saw it soon after it had been returned to Spain when they still hadn't figured out exactly where to put it and it was in some sort of annex in back of the Prado. I'm glad they've found a permanent spot for it.

#156: That was cool, deebee. Thanks for posting that.

Wow. Thank you, deebee.

I thought the Hoffman article/smackdown was hilarious. I don't remember now if he mentioned it, but he has translated Roth, so of course has a bit of a chip on his shoulder re Zweig. That said, I do admit to preferring much of Musil's writing to some of Zweig. It's interesting, how authors suddenly get rediscovered in this way.

Yes, Rebecca, the waterlily paintings include those that aren't always on display as well as (I think) some that have been brought in especially. I still think the Marmottan in Paris is the best place for Monet, because of the waterlily paintings that are essentially built into the building.

Page 2 of the Jan 28 issue of the LRB indicates that Hoffman "has translated five of Joseph Roth's novels as well as his short stories, essays and reporting." Hoffman mentions Roth several times in passing in the article, but that's all he tells us.

BTW, here's a link to the article, if anyone is interested:

Vermicular Dither

Did anyone read the article by Toril Moi in the Feb 11 issue of the LRB about the new and problematic English translation of The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir?

The Adultress Wife

Suzanne, I assume that you're referring to Robert Musil, author of The Man Without Qualities. I've heard of the book, but had to look up the author. Which books of his do you like best?

I'm almost done with Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, which I'll review this afternoon.

#160, 161 Well, the only one of the four Roth books that I own that Michael Hoffman translated is the one I haven't read: The Tale of the 1002nd Night. The three other titles I own were translated by three different translators: Joachim Neugroschel for The Radetzky March, John Hoare for The Emperor's Tomb, and David Le Vay for Weights and Measures. I've bought all of these in the past several years, so I wonder which books Hoffman has translated and when.

And yes, Suzanne, the waterlilies in Paris are wonderful, but I don't remember ever going to the Marmottan. For some reason I thought I saw them at the Jeu de Paume or the Orangerie, but this was probably some 20 years ago.

>146 kidzdoc:: The Philadelphia Museum of Art is high on my list of favorite art museums. Are you aware there's a whole new building to explore now, too? I haven't been yet myself.

The Marmottan has the biggest Monet collection around -- Michel Monet donated a lot of them, as did the daughter of a physician who was a part of the Impressionist circle. In the basement there are several large canvasses, slightly curved/on an arc, that are giant waterlily paintings. Stunning. the Jeu de Paume has some (now mostly in the Orsay), but the Marmottan collection (when nothing is out on loan) is amazing for Monet.

Darryl, The Man Without Qualities is Musil's big interwar sturm und drang novel. The other big work is Young Torless, also sometimes titled, The Confusions of Young Torless, or simply, Torless. But try the short stories first -- perhaps the ones in Five Women. I just got Posthumous Papers of a Living Author from Archipelago as my free book for subscribing to their monthly book program; some of these short stories, notes, essays, etc. are almost like prose poems. I'm dipping into it and taking it in bits and pieces.

#163: Thanks for the reminder, Laura. I'd forgotten about the new building, as I don't think it was open the last time I went there in the spring of '08, for the Frida Kahlo exhibit.

#164: Thanks for the info about Musil, Suzanne. I'll plan to buy Posthumous Papers of a Living Author in the future, since it is an Archipelago book.

Book #28: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa



My rating:

This semi-autobiographical novel describes the mid-1950s love affair between the teenaged Llosa and his Aunt Julia, an attractive Bolivian divorcée who has come to Lima to stay with her sister and brother-in-law (the author's uncle), while she looks for a wealthy husband. "Marito" is an indifferent law student, who works as the news director at a radio station, and aspires to become a fiction writer. Llosa is initially put off by his sexy and worldly aunt, who treats him as the child he no longer wishes to be. Julia encourages him to accompany her to the cinema, when she is not accompanied by one of her numerous suitors, and the two eventually fall in love. They conduct a secret affair, knowing that their families would be mortified if they found out what was going on.

The chapters about Marito and Julia (who Llosa refers to as "Aunt Julia" throughout the book, as a constant reminder of the absurdity of the relationship) alternate with transcripts of radio serials written by Pedro Camacho, a Bolivian writer "on the very borderline between a man extremely short in stature and a dwarf," who is hired by the owners of the station where Llosa works, as the two men become colleagues and friends. Camacho works feverishly, and spends practically all of his waking hours writing the serials and directing the broadcasts, which have become wildly popular in the capital. The stories are initially maudlin and shockingly descriptive, yet spell binding; however, at the height of their popularity, characters from prior serials re-enter in different guises, as the audience and media wonder: is this a new art form, or has Camacho gone mad?

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter was initially written in 1977, a period in which Llosa turned away from serious themes and "discovered humor", as he wrote this novel and Captain Pantoja and the Special Service during that time. The improbable love story, interspersed with the often hilarious radio serials and Llosa's futile efforts to become a successful writer, come together to form a very enjoyable and entertaining novel, one that is nearly as good as his more serious works.

Another good review and what sounds like a wonderful book to read, Darryl. Thumbed you

Thanks, Caroline. I can now say that MVL is my #1 favorite author, ahead of José Saramago and James Baldwin. Fortunately I've read less than half of his books, so there are plenty more good reads ahead of me.

>166 kidzdoc: I loved Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, too, Darryl. Glad you had fun with it.

Rain and 50 degrees. I loathe walking the dog, who loathes being walked, in this weather. Blech.

I've got at least seven books to review. How does this happen? I think I'm on top of things, then I check the log and get a surprise. The good news is that I liked almost all the books I read. Makes writing reviews so much easier.

I read in today's NYTimes that "Next to Normal," the musical about mental illness (!), has entered Hit status...it's making a profit for the investors! Imagine...a musical about mental illness and its many horrible old-fashioned treatments and its miserable effects on people...making a profit! I **have** to go see this one. I just don't see how they pulled it off.

Darryl,
Not that I wish you bad reads, but I certainly do wish you'd read books that were less appealing to me because then I may not have to consider taking out an equity loan to build an extension to my house just for the books you keep adding to it.

#169: I just read the NYT article about Next to Normal; it definitely sounds interesting, but I don't know if I'll be able to see it on this trip. I'd love to get your take on it when you see it.

#170: In honor of Caroline's request, I will only read books by Ann Coulter for the next month, starting with Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America.

I think I just made myself sick...

Ann Coulter? Terrifying, on any number of different levels...

I am comforted to learn that LT thinks that I "won't like" this book.

I'd rather step in front of a city bus than give a dime to Ann Coulter...unless that dime was used to deport her to some far away land.

Oh good... I don't want to read Ann Coulter at all ..... you're such a gem, Darryl.

#174: Urp. Nope, I can't do it. Sorry, Caroline.

I think I'll read one more book for the Reading Globally monthly theme read on the Caribbean: School Days by the Haitian Martiniquan author Patrick Chamoiseau. If I have time, I may also read either Texaco or Solibo Magnificent before the end of the month.

#169: I forgot to mention that I have six books left to review, so thanks for the reminder. I'll try to get at least three or four of them done by this coming weekend.

Rain and 50 degrees: ick. That's what it was like here yesterday. It hasn't been much warmer today, but the temperatures will start to climb tomorrow, and reach the low 80s by Friday (a bit too warm for me this early in the year).

#154: What are napoleons (aside from French dictators)?

A napoleon is a French pastry, which is also known as Mille-feuille:

And they are delicious. They are one of the pastries that I will bake one of these days, as I slowly work my way through a Martha Stewart baking book my daughter gave me for Christmas. Bur first I must become more proficient since puff pastry is difficult to master.

>175 kidzdoc: Oh thank GOODNESS you're not going to read The White Widow's books! I bow to no man in my respectful admiration of Caro, but I would no more read an Ann Coulter book for her than I would take care of her (theoretical) cat for her. Evil Spider Woman's books shouldn't even be burned for fear of polluting the atmosphere with her foul emissions. Encased in seventy feet of concrete, then dropped into the Challenger Deep, strikes me as a moderately safe solution.

Low 80s should be August weather.

The dog **refused** to go outside. She turned tail and ran upstairs to get into bed on my third try to convince her to go outside. She wasn't having it. Oh boo hoo...no cold rain down the back of my neck. Sniff.

>177 xieouyang: Mr. X, I say buy the pastry. It's entirely too pernickity to make.

#166: I have already added that one to the BlackHole and my local college library has it, so I am hoping to have it soon.

I am staying out of the Ann Coulter debate. I am a conservative and even I think she is over the top.

Who is Ann Coulter?

#180: Coulter is an American conservative commentator/author/speaker and IMHO, a polemicist as well.

I had to Google the word polemicist, and her name was mentioned. Amongst more famous people like Voltaire, Jonathan Swift, Thomas Paine, Oscar Wilde and Michael Moore. Well, thanks, I learned something new today:)

But if she is so extremely radical/conservative, why does she get the attention when people don't actually like her? Is it because of her good looks and thereby get the attention? (I'm just asking out of curiosity.)

#182: In some cases, she gets the attention when people don't really like her just for that reason. Also, there are a lot of people who do really like her. I would say looks play very little role in people's like or dislike of her.

#183 Thank you Stasia. I guess sometimes looks can help you to get attention, but the disadvantage may be that you are not taken seriously in the world of politics. Whether you agree or not with the politics she stands for is quite a different and personal matter. I'm not going to hijack this thread to talk about American politics, I was just curious. We get a rather European look at it through the media I guess.

#184: No problem.

#180: Ann Coulter is a columnist, public speaker, and author who holds extreme right wing views, and, as Stasia said, views herself as a polemicist. Her political views, IMO, are somewhere between those of Sarah Palin (less extreme) and Jean Marie Le Pen (more extreme).

#186: Thanks! I get the picture, I think.

Mmmmm yummy. I love millefeuille (makes note in diary that I must go in search of a bakery when I'm in Bergerac this May). I hadn't realised that they're also called napoleons...

Aunt Julia... duly added to the list.

#180 Thank you for asking that question for me! ;o)

Congrats on your Hot Review. I've added Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter to my wishlist. Sounds like a winner to me.

Book #29: School Days by Patrick Chamoiseau



My rating:

Patrick Chamoiseau (1953-) is a renowned and innovative Francophone author from Martinique, who uses a combination of French and Creole in his novels and short stories and writes extensively about Creole culture (créolité). He is best known for his novel Texaco, which won the Prix Goncourt in 1992.

School Days (Chemin d'école) is narrated by a Martiniquan boy (perhaps a younger version of Chamoiseau?) who is the youngest of his family's four children. He sees his brothers and sister go off to school every morning, and endlessly pesters his mother to let him go, too. Naturally, the day comes when he is ready for kindergarten, and, not unexpectedly, he is terrified once he learns that he will be without his beloved mother.

He soon grows to love school, under the kindly tutelage of his first teacher, until it is time to enter first grade, with its older kids and intimidating staff. He and most of the Creole speaking children in his class struggle with the work, as their haughty and Eurocentric teacher insists that they speak only perfectly accented French. His best friend is Big Bellybutton, who falls in disfavor with the teacher because of his impoverished background and inability to speak properly, and is routinely bullied by the older boys during recess while the teachers turn a blind eye.

The quiet and shy, but mischevious narrator learns to respect books and love reading from his first grade teacher. At the same time, he is enriched by the friendship of Big Bellybutton, who shares his "underground language" and joie de vivre with him.

School Days is a lighthearted and humorous tale of the life of a young child in a postcolonial Caribbean country, as he struggles to fit in with his classmates and develop his own identity.

#190: Another one for me to toss in the BlackHole. It looks fun!

It was a fun read, Stasia! It's less than 150 pages, and can be easily read at a single sitting. I've read one other book by Chamoiseau, Creole Folktales, and I hope to find the time to read Solibo Magnificent and Texaco later this year.

Yes, I remember your review of Creole Folktales, which is also in the BlackHole.

If you find some time, would you tell me how you did it? I never have enough!

If you find some time, would you tell me how you did it? I never have enough!

How I did what?

You said 'I hope to find the time' and all I asked is if you find time to tell me how you found it because I never have enough.

Ah! Got it. Sorry, as I mentioned in an earlier message I am old and absent feeble minded.

#196: I know how that goes - I continually look for what is left of my mind :)

A reminder: the group read of The Plague by Albert Camus will begin on Thursday. The spoiler and spoiler free threads are up and running.

Book #30: Albert Camus: A Life by Olivier Todd



My rating:

Albert Camus: A Life is an uneven biography, which provides very little critical analysis of Camus' writings and philosophy, and overemphasizes his numerous affairs, marital problems, and petty squabbles with Sartre, de Beauvoir and other writers. The best parts of the book are its discussions of the creation of L'Etranger and La Peste, but most of the rest of the book was trivial and a chore to read.

Darryl
Amazing! Simply Amazing that I go out of town for five days and find all these wonderful posts on your thread!

So many incredible things that are discussed that I love, including art, music, books..and then, there is Anne Coulter...yuk!

I cannot watch her. The minute she opens her mouth I turn her off. She is smug, nasty and self absorbed.

Who cares if she is nice looking, the stuff that comes out of her mouth is pure hate.

And, it isn't that I dislike her because she is conservative. I don't like smug, self-absorbed know it all liberals either.

A shame that the biography didn't live up to your expectations, especially with your plans to focus on his work this year. You are reading too many excellent books once again, I doubt I'll ever manage to read all the ones I'm taking note of, but I will make a point to read a Mario Vargas Llosa in the next couple of months.
School Days sounds delightful.
edit - fix touchstone

#199: One on your thread that I can pass by! Hooray!!

#198 Oooh yes, thank you for that reminder - I'd completely forgotten! Sorry the biography wasn't better.

School Days going on the list...

Edited to correct touchstone

#200: You're right, Linda; the mention Ann Coulter alongside discussion of books, Picasso, Monet, etc. is the equivalent of a sitting in a park on a beautiful spring day and having a pigeon poop on your head.

I also agree that smug people are annoying, even if I agree with their positions.

Count me amongst the people who don't find Coulter the least bit attractive; she looks like an evil skeleton with long blond hair, IMO.

#201: Albert Camus: A Life was somewhat worthwhile, as it did provide useful background information about The Stranger and The Plague, and I also enjoyed reading about Camus' work in the French Resistance movement, particularly as an editor and writer for the underground newspaper Combat. He came very close to being arrested and sent to a concentration camp in 1943 or 1944, as he was in possession of a copy of Combat while he and his companions were stopped by German police outside of Paris. Fortunately, he slipped the offensive material into a coat pocket, and handed it to a female companion before he was searched.

Hmm...I think I'll start to flip through Camus at Combat, which is a collection of his writings for the newspaper from 1944-1947, during the time that he was working on The Plague. I may add it to the list of books I plan to read in April (which is already quite long!).

#202: LOL! At first I thought your post came from Caroline, since she was the one who wanted me to read books that didn't appeal to her.

#203: I'm glad that you'll be joining us on the group read, Fliss.

School Days was a fun read; I picked it up from City Lights last year.

#204: At first I thought your post came from Caroline, since she was the one who wanted me to read books that didn't appeal to her.

No, I just want you to recommend good ones!

#205: Will do!

My planned reads for April:

The Plague by Albert Camus (group read)
Mandarins by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (April TIOLI challenge (short stories); Archipelago book)
Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (biography)
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey (2010 Orange Prize longlist)
Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed (2010 Orange Prize longlist)
Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig (2010 Orange Prize longlist)
The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 (April TIOLI challenge (poetry)
An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah (April TIOLI challenge (short stories); Belletrista; African literature)
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (April TIOLI challenge (short stories); Asian literature)
A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar (Reading Globally monthly theme read (Ottoman Empire); Archipelago book)

If time permits (which it won't):
Soldiers' Pay by William Faulkner (Le Salon du Faulkner)
The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth (Author Theme Read mini author)
The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig (Author Theme Read major author)

Eek.

This list is mainly for my own benefit, so that I can keep track of my reading challenges and goals. I'll be pleased if I read eight or more of the books on this list.

#206: I just got Dreams in a Time of War last week, but it will probably be this summer before I get to it. I will be interested in seeing your take on it.

I am taking Dreams in a Time of War with me this weekend when we go away, but I'm also taking three other books, so we'll see which I read!

I'll also take Dreams in a Time of War with me on Saturday, Rebecca! I'll definitely bring The Plague, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, Black Mamba Boy, and probably A Mind at Peace, at a minimum. I'll definitely start The Plague tomorrow, and I'd like to read An Elegy for Easterly, so that I can submit a review for Belletrista before I leave. I'm planning to read In Other Rooms, Other Wonders on Friday. I've started reading Re: Collection, the third book of poems contained within The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, which I won't bring with me.

Now if I can only get my non-literary real life as organized...

I read your list of April reads and blanched, Darryl. Ye gods and little fishes, I quail before such a pile of stuff I *want* to read. (Except La Peste, been there done that).

As for me, I'm April-TIOLIing Eudora Welty's collected stories. Whole damned thing. The Bride of Innisfallen is one of my all-time high water marks in short story reading!

Richard, several of these books will be quick reads: An Elegy for Easterly, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, Mandarins, and a couple of the books of poetry contained in the Nikki Giovanni collection can each be knocked out in a single afternoon. Dreams in a TIme of War isn't that long, either, and it could also be a one day read. So, I figure that I should be able to read six or seven of the books on the list by April 11, the last day of my "vacation", which gives me the rest of the month to read the ones I haven't gotten to.

I'll be interested to get your take on Welty's collected stories, as I haven't read anything by her yet. I'm not doing very well with my Southern writers category so far this year, but I hope to catch up in the late spring or over the summer. I have four of the five Library of America editions of Faulkner, along with the LOA editions of Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor and Zora Neale Hurston. All I need now is a mint julep and pecan pie!

Yes, did La Peste so thoroughly in HS (it was a core text for my IB 2-year program) that I may not re-read it for another decade or so. Although I do plan to give l'Etranger another go soon. I also need to balance my heavy reading (currently Kagan's new book about Thucydides as a revisionist historian) with some fluff (spy thrillers). Or else my brain will just fizzle.

All I need now is a mint julep and pecan pie!

*burp* Please, not at the same time...!

I'm an old Weltyian. I love love love her stories, though I think the novels aren't in the same league. The Collected Stories Welty is a fabulous dip-in-and-out tome, what rocketlk calls a "between book".

Carson McCullers rocks. Flannery O'Connor is da BOMB. Zora Neale Hurston, well, apart from one genius book, she really wasn't all that...worth reading, but DO NOT read the plays. Awful.

It's been nearly twenty years since I last read La Peste, and it has been #1 on the list of books I want to re-read, followed by Invisible Man (which I'll definitely re-read this spring or summer, before I start Three Days Before the Shooting...), A House for Mr Biswas, A Confederacy of Dunces, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle . And I've had the Olivier Todd biography for nearly as long, so I'm glad to have read it, even though it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

I'm interested to get your take on the Kagan book once you're done.

IB=International Business?

IB = International Baccalaureate degree for high school kids.

Nope, International Baccalaureate. Designed to compensate for the fact that the US high school system, even in international schools, didn't have a strong enuf curriculum to get people into European, English or Canadian universities.

#213: From what I've read, I completely agree with your on your assessments of O'Connor and Hurston. I started to include McCullers, but I don't think I've read anything by her yet! Wise Blood was one of my favorite novels of 2009, and The Artificial N*gger is one of my all time favorite short stories. I saw the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company give a performance of The Artificial N*gger several years ago, which was the single best thing I've ever seen in modern dance.

I included Hurston, but only because I feel as though I should read something other than Their Eyes Were Watching God, which wasn't that great, IMO.

>217 kidzdoc: I should read something other than Their Eyes Were Watching God, which wasn't that great, IMO.

I can only disagree most mildly about that book, but Mules and Men would be the only other one I'd subject myself to, in your shoes. *crosses fingers that Darryl's in a listening mood so he won't suffer unduly*

The Member of the Wedding is a terrific starting point for McCullers. Reflections in a Golden Eye is great, but I think should be entered into after the McCullersverse has made itself known to you.

#217: I loved Their Eyes Were Watching God when I listened to it last year, but then, the incomparable Ruby Dee was doing the narration. I am not sure the book would have had the same impact on me if I had read it in book form, especially since I hate books in dialect (Huck Finn being a huge case in point - I cannot read it.)

I must confess that I've been a little down on Zora Neale Hurston ever since reading about her less-than-ideal behavior towards Langston Hughes in either Hughes's autobiography or Rampersad's biography of him, but I also have to confess that I don't remember exactly what it was she did that I thought was ungenerous.

#218: Okay, I'll give Mules and Men a try, then. Let's see...hmm. My Library of America edition of Hurston doesn't include this book.

My LOA edition of McCullers does include The Member of the Wedding and Reflections in a Golden Eye, along with The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, and Clock Without Hands. Should I read The Member of the Wedding before The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter?

#219: Stasia, that makes perfect sense! I also dislike books in dialect, and that's probably the main reason I didn't like Their Eyes Were Watching God (and Huckleberry Finn). I think I'll pick up the audio version for my mother, and download it onto my computer, as well.

#220: I remember that, Rebecca. The two were supposed to be working together on the play The Mule Bone, but it remained unfinished at that time. I can't remember the details, but the Hughes biography by Rampersad indicated that it was largely Hurston's fault.

Oh, mercy, Darryl, I missed the link for this new thread until now! (Exactly what I fear will happen to others when I start my new thread tomorrow!) I don't have time to read all 222 entries now, but at least I have you starred, and I can mark where I leave off reading . . .

Hi Terri! I don't think that this thread will last beyond the weekend, unfortunately.

Rebecca, I found the following information about the Hurston-Hughes controversy over Mule Bone (source: http://www.enotes.com/mule-bone):

"Mule Bone was written in 1930. It was a joint collaboration between noted African-American authors Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes who joined forces to write a play based on a folktale, ‘‘The Bone of Contention,’’ that Hurston had discovered in her anthropological studies. Both writers conceived the play as representative of authentic black comedy. Shortly after the play’s creation, however, Hurston copyrighted the play in her name only. The two authors had a falling out and did not speak to one another again. A legal battle ensued and, because of those legal issues, the play could not be produced during either writer’s lifetime.

"Mule Bone remained locked away. Few people read the play and it was largely forgotten until critic and historian Henry Louis Gates discovered the play in the early-1980s. Mule Bone was not performed on stage until 1991.

"In many ways, Mule Bone has the ability to evoke both discussion and controversy. Hurston and Hughes felt that by incorporating a black folktale and southern black vernacular English into their play, they could refute a racist tradition of black characters as ignorant. However, when the play was finally developed for the stage more than sixty years later, there were concerns that this comedy might, instead, recall stereotypes and bring back the very issues that the authors had hoped to refute. It was thought that the play, as viewed by an audience in the 1990s, might appear to cast blacks as backward or ignorant. The director sought to mitigate that problem by including a section of Hurston’s writings that explained her views on black vernacular English. Each writer brought separate talents to the writing of Mule Bone. Hughes was primarily a poet; Hurston was an essayist and novelist. Their quarrel ended what might have been a successful collaboration. As it stands today, Mule Bone is still considered a significant work of drama and is notable as an early work of African-American theatre."

Darryl, you'll like A house for mr Biswas. To me it was one of those books that once I finished it, I wanted to start reading it again.
If you haven't read it, another novel that is really good and humorous is The Mystic Masseur (or is it A Mystic Masseur).
I had admired Naipaul's writings for many years and was happy when he was awarded the Nobel prize. Once in a while, the Nobel committee awards the prize on merit, and not for political reasons.

>221 kidzdoc: I'd advise starting with The Member of the Wedding to anyone starting to read McCullers. I'd move on to The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and then Reflections in a Golden Eye. Don't know that I'd read Clock Without Hands at all, I think it's a pretty ordinary book, unlike her others.

#225: I completely agree with your impressions of A House for Mr. Biswas and The Mystic Masseur, which are my two favorite novels by Naipaul. I hated to see Mr. Biswas come to an end, and I could easily have started it all over again.

I haven't enjoyed his later novels that much, specifically Half a Life (2001) and Magic Seeds (2004). Hmm...is he still actively writing?

#224, Thanks, Darryl. I was meaning to look it up when I got home (where I am now), but you have saved me the effort. And interesting about changing views between the 30s and the 90s.

#226: Thanks, Richard. I'll plan to read The Member of the Wedding in the near future.

Which are your favorite books by O'Connor?

@227 - I guess like any writer, some of his works are good a dn some are hmmm, not so good. I could not get into Magic Seeds. I liked his earlier books like A bend in the river.
Did you see the Merchant-Ivory film the Mystic Masseur? I enjoyed it, well I do like most Merchant-Ivory films.

>229 kidzdoc: Oh! Hands down, no question, take-it-to-the-desert-island Wise Blood.

Exceptionally beautifully written. Henry James had nothin' on Miss O'Connor in the unkindly amusant character sketch. I described Wise Blood as mordantly funny in my admission essay to SWT and was, I was told, granted admission based on that one comment alone. They never looked at my SATs.

ETA: PS: Naipaul is 78, and I don't think in good health, so I think we've seen what there is to see from him.

Book #31: Street of Lost Footsteps by Lyonel Trouillot



My rating:

The action in this novella takes place during one unspeakable night of violence in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, as the Troops of the Prophet engage in a bloodbath with the forces of the dictator Deceased Forever-Immortal. The three main characters, an aging madam, a post office worker and a taxi driver, all unreliable narrators, relay their tales of the night's events in alternating chapters to an unknown interviewer. They also paint portraits of life in the poverty- and war-stricken country, where even young boys seethe with hatred toward their neighbors. Trouillot includes frequent references to past revolutionary events and violent episodes in the country's history, including the massacre of tens of thousands of innocent Haitians by the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1937.

Unfortunately, I did not find this to be a particularly captivating or enlightening story. The taxi driver was the only character who was caught in the midst of the violence of that night, but even his account was not an engaging one. I did enjoy the only other book I've read by this author, Children of Heroes, but this one wasn't nearly as good.

Darryl

Rick Bragg wrote excellent an excellent article for the New York Times regarding Haiti and the violence there surrounding Aristides attempt to help the impoverished.

In the event you are interested, here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/world/showdown-with-haiti-haitians-talks-give-...

#230: I did like A Bend in the River, which is probably my second or third most favorite novel by Naipaul. I haven't seen the movie based on The Mystic Masseur, but I would definitely like to get it.

BTW, I'm planning to read The World Is What it Is, the authorized biography by Naipaul by Patrick French, later this year.

#231: Wise Blood is another book I would love to read again.

I hadn't heard anything recently about Naipaul, so I assumed that he was not in good health.

#233: Thanks for that link, Linda. I'll read it tomorrow.

#221: I will be interested in seeing what you think of the audio version of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Darryl. There are probably multiple audio versions available, so do yourself (and your mother) a favor and get the Ruby Dee version if you can.

Book #32: Re: Creation by Nikki Giovanni

Re: Creation, the third book of poems written by Nikki Giovanni, was published in 1970, and consists of 42 poems written between May 1969 and July 1970. During that time she gave birth to her only child, Thomas Watson Giovanni; the book, and its first poem, For Tommy, is dedicated to him. Re: Creation includes poems about prominent African Americans such as Aretha Franklin, Lena Horne, Nina Simone. Paul Robeson and Gwendolyn Brooks, along with ones about love and loneliness. There are far fewer poems about black militancy in this book than there were in her first two books, Black Feeling Black Talk and Black Judgement, and the collection as a whole is less angry and more reflective.

My favorite is Poem for Aretha, which describes her grueling life as a popular entertainer. Giovanni urges Franklin to cut back, for the sake of her family and her own health, and pleads with her fans to be less demanding. Here is an excerpt from the poem:

and if you say you're lonely or scared or tired how they always just say "oh come off it" or "did you see
how they loved you did you see huh did you?"
which most likely has nothing to do with you anyway
and i'm not saying aretha shouldn't have talent and i'm certainly
not saying she should quit
singing but as much as i love her i'd vote "yes" to her
doing four concerts a year and staying home or doing whatever
she wants and making records cause it's a shame
they way we are killing her
we eat up artists like there's going to be a famine at the end
of those three minutes when there are in fact an abundance
of talents just waiting let's put some
of the giants away for a while and deal with them like they have
a life to lead

Aretha doesn't have to relive billie holiday's life doesn't have
to relive dinah washington's death but who will
stop the pattern

The poems in Re: Creation are contained in The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998, and it is also available for purchase from Alibris and Abebooks.

Book #33: An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah



My rating:

This is a collection of short stories about Zimbabweans in and outside of the country, which won the Guardian First Book Award last year. I will review this for issue 5 of Belletrista, and post a link here once it is published.

That's a review I'll be looking forward to...when's the next issue due?

#237: I already have that one in the BlackHole. I think Akeela recommended it at some point.

The next issue of Belletrista should come out in early May. It was an LT Early Reviewer book, so there are several good reviews on the book's page. I didn't like it as much as the other reviewers did, and my impression is very similar to Rachael's (FlossieT's) when she read it last year.

I'm now ready to start The Plague!

>239 alcottacre: Stasia, I have it, haven't read it yet; but I think it's an important book to read. Hope to get to it soon!

Look forward to your review, Darryl!

#241: OK, if it was not you, I wonder who the guilty culprit was? lol

Re Naipual, I loved The Enigma of Arrival. A very different approach to the novel & narrative structure.

ETA: Has anyone else read Theroux on Naipaul?!?

#243: Has anyone else read Theroux on Naipaul?!?

I have not. Sorry, Suz.

Sir Vidia's Shadow. Both biting and very, very funny.

#245: It does not look like my local library has that one. I will have to look further afield. Thanks for the recommendation.

#237 An Elegy for Easterly sounds really interesting. My husband has spent some time in Zimbabwe and so I'm always interested in books about Zimbabwe. Will look forward to your review!

#242: Fliss wrote a glowing review of An Elegy for Easterly last year; maybe it was her that you meant?

#243: I haven't read The Enigma of Arrival, but I hope to get to it in the next couple of years. (I've added it to my LT library, as I recognize the cover. It's amongst my books that I haven't catalogued yet.)

#243-246: I haven't read Sir Vidia's Shadow. I did read an article in the Telegraph a couple of years ago, which was an excerpt from The World Is What it Is that describes the relationship between Naipaul and Theroux and his thoughts on that book:

Naipaul's friendship with Paul Theroux

#247: I'm pretty sure that Gappah is the only Zimbabwean author I've read or heard about. Does anyone have any recommendations of other authors or books?

Oh dear, here I was lurking quietly and wondering what happened to my brain cells, and where they wandered off to after the unknown event. Suddenly someone mentioned EVIL incarnate. After choking on my coffee, I am going to wander off myself, since I have nothing of value to contribute.

EVIL incarnate: are you referring to Ann Coulter, or V.S. Naipaul?

You can contribute to the "I hate Ann Coulter" club, if you'd like. Any negative comments about her are always welcome on this thread.

Must make coffee. And oatmeal.

New thread coming soon...

(((Darryl)))

I can barely stand to type her name..

for your viewing pleasure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWo5IiyxfuE

New thread here!

Off to watch YouTube video and make breakfast...

Thank you for this collection of books

#253: You're welcome!

Hello, Darryl:

I'm just going to jump in here, say Hello and I'm thinking warm, caring thoughts of you.

Also, I will bump up this thread so I can find it more easily, now that I am able to occasionally post on LT.

Looks as though you are soon to start a new thread ... and I plan to keep up with your reads from then on.

Love, Ruthie