Laura (lindsacl)'s 2010 Chronicle - Chapter 2

Chapter 1 (books 1-16)

Books completed ("details" jumps to location in this thread where review & links can be found)
38. Beside the Sea - details
37. The Master - details
36. When Everything Changed - details
35. How Late it Was, how Late - details
34. Lady Audley's Secret - details
33. Eva Luna - details
32. A Shilling for Candles - details
31. At Large and at Small - details
30. What I Loved - details
29. Mary Olivier: A Life - details
28. Runaway - details
27. Let the Great World Spin - details
26. The Old Devils - details
25. The Housekeeper and the Professor - details
24. Gilead - details
23. Without my Cloak - details
22. Therese Raquin - details
21. Holiday - details
20. The Ghost Road - details
19. A History of Their Own - details
18. G - details
17. Haweswater: details

Well I'm finally first at something! It's time for you to have a really outstanding read. Got my fingers crossed for you.

Another entrant in the multi-thread club!

AND...a hot review.

congratulations on yet another hot review!

17. Haweswater ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

Set in the mid-1930s, Haweswater is the story of a village tragically affected by construction of the Haweswater Reservoir. According to the Wikipedia article:

The controversial construction of the Haweswater dam started in 1929, after Parliament passed an Act giving the Manchester Corporation permission to build the reservoir to supply water for the urban conurbations of north-west England. At the time, there was public outcry about the decision, as the valley of Mardale was populated by the farming villages of Measand and Mardale Green and the construction of the reservoir would mean that these villages would be flooded and lost and the population would have to be moved.

Sarah Hall shows the searing emotional impact through the lives of the Lightburn family. Sam and Ella Lightburn breed sheep, and have lived in the valley all their lives. Their daughter Janet has just reached adulthood and played an active role in lambing and other farm labor all her life. Her much-younger brother , Isaac, is known for his love of the water and wildlife. Into their lives comes Jack Liggett, a representative of Manchester City Waterworks, who breaks the news of pending construction to the stunned villagers. Janet is a very strong woman and not about to sit idly by while her homeland is destroyed. But she hadn't bargained on the feelings that Jack would stir up within her. And he hadn't expected to become so immersed in the life of the village, nor in its beauty. Their romance unfolds even as villagers begin to move away, and crews of engineers begin construction on the dam.

Hall's prose is magnificent and filled with rich description. I felt immersed in the countryside:

In July and August the farmers in the valley sweltered under the dry sun as they worked, rolling and collecting hay, and transporting it in carts to barns and out-sheds, tying the bales down under tarpaulin for storage. Chaff and pollen-dust filled the warm air and floated around on the summer currents, and the smell of dry scorching grass was heavy and sweet in their nostrils. It was a good time of year. ... Around dawn the air was fresh and soft, the temperature rose during the day with the sun's ascension and passage between the fells. The men took off their shirts and their backs reddened, skin peeled and finally became tanned. Their forearms were burned a deep brown, masking the veins which had previously been seen easily, bluely, under their pale, northern-English skin. (p. 124)

And yet in the midst of such beauty, this is a classic literary tragedy, in the manner of Hamlet or other more famous works. The prologue makes it clear the villagers were powerless against Manchester City Waterworks. But the impact was more extensive, and deeper, than I had ever imagined. And Hall plays out the tragedy with drama and suspense. Each character plays a vital role as both a character and a symbol. I'm amazed this was a debut novel. Haweswater won the Commonwealth Writer's Prize Best First Book Award in 2003, and is most deserving of such an honor.

Laura,

This book sounds very intriguing so I'm adding it to the pile. Well done on the review.

ETA thumb on the review.

Haweswater sounds great: another one for the wishlist. Thanks for your review.

This one is definitely going onto my TBR pile..Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Great review, Laura!

Ahh, I lost you for a moment there. Starred your thread!

I received Haweswater as a gift from another LTer and feel so guilty because a) it's been a long time since I received it, and b) it's so good!

#6: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Great review, Laura!

I have several books by Sarah Hall including I think this one, they all look good, must try and get to them.

18. G (DNF)
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

I will admit up front that I did not expect to like this book. A few years ago, a book blogger's review led me to believe that both the style and subject matter would probably not appeal to me. But in my quest to read all Booker Prize winners, I knew one day I'd have to give it a try. And so I did. Fifty pages later, the style and subject matter were not appealing to me. Not in the least.

I'll pad this non-review with the product description from Amazon.com:

Fascinating...an extraordinary mixture of historical detail and sexual meditation...G. belongs in the tradition of George Eliot, Tolstoy, D. H. Lawrence and Norman Mailer." -- The New York Times

In this luminous novel -- winner of Britain's prestigious Booker Prize -- John Berger relates the story of "G.," a young man forging an energetic sexual career in Europe during the early years of this century. With profound compassion, Berger explores the hearts and minds of both men and women, and what happens during sex, to reveal the conditions of the Don Juan's success: his essential loneliness, the quiet cumulation in each of his sexual experiences of all of those that precede it, the tenderness that infuses even the briefest of his encounters, and the way women experience their own extraordinariness through their moments with him. All of this Berger sets against the turbulent backdrop of Garibaldi and the failed revolution of Milanese workers in 1898, the Boer War, and the first flight across the Alps, making G. a brilliant novel about the search for intimacy in history's private moments.

That sounds pretty juicy, but by the time I gave up on this book "the principal protagonist" (as he is often referred to) was still a little child. Yet he had already been aroused by the feeling of his head leaning back against his governess' dress. Um, yeah.

The description led me to believe this would be a character-driven novel, but it quickly became apparent this would be a novel of ideas. That's not a bad thing, but combined with the choppy writing style, this book really didn't work for me.

I feel a bit guilty not sticking with this longer, but it simply didn't hold my interest and, after all, reading should be fun.

#15: I do not thing that is going to be a book for me either.

I hope your next read is much more enjoyable for you, Laura.

It all sounds incredibly forced to me, Laura. Thanks for taking it on, and relieving me of any obligation to give it a try for myself. (I might start a special list of books I'm never going to bother with...)

bwa-ha-ha! Some wonderful soul wishlisted G on Paperbackswap! I had obtained my copy there so with a mouseclick I have now offered it up to the next unsuspecting victim. bwa-ha-ha !!!

I don't belong to Paperbackswap, but maybe it's time to save everybody postage and angst and toss this one into the trash heap?

>18 lauralkeet: Sweet!

#17: I already have a running list of books never to read, lol.

#18: Congratulations!

19. A History of Their Own Volume I ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

In A History of Their Own Volume I, authors Bonnie Anderson and Judith Zinsser serve up a richly detailed history of the lives of women in Europe, from the ninth to seventeenth centuries. Traditional history texts structure the narrative around events central to the development and accomplishments of men (the Enlightenment, the Renaissance, etc.) In their research, Anderson and Zinsser discovered that women were affected by very different forces, and organize their narrative accordingly. Then they set out to explain:

Why had laws, economic systems, religion, and politics excluded European women from the most valued areas and activities of life? How had cultural attitudes evolved which defined women as innately inferior and placed them in a subordinate relationship to men? (p. xiv)

Volume I provides an in-depth analysis of women in several walks of life: women of the fields, churches, castles and manors, and walled towns. In each case, the authors show how over the centuries women gained power, and were subsequently subordinated to men. Sometimes this occurred as the side effect of some technological advancement that changed the role of women. In other cases their loss of power was the result of deeply held beliefs regarding woman's physical inferiority. In all cases, gender was the single greatest factor affecting the lives of women.

Anderson and Zinsser present a compelling thesis, meticulously researched. At times I felt there was almost too much detail, with so many facts and examples that I wanted to say, "all right already! I get it!" And with so many stories of oppression, this book can be rather depressing. And yet it's important for women to understand their history, and this is a very good way to learn it.

G

ETA: that's a G with a strike through it...doesn't show up very well.

#22: That one seems worth taking a look at, maybe in small doses?

Just found you and have added Haweswater to the wishlist. I'm tempted by A History of Their Own too - how long was it? (Spot the woman obsessed with reading a few more books - have been picking chunky nonfiction too often this year!)

I think I want to read A History of Their Own for the information included, but think I'll get it from the library. Thanks!

>23 tiffin:: Good decision, Tui!
>24 alcottacre:-26: A History of Their Own is 444 pages of actual reading (over 100 pages of notes, indices, etc. follows, but I didn't really read that). Stasia, I do think it would be better in smaller doses. I probably should have read each of the major sections (women of the fields, women of the churches, etc.) alternately with other reads. But I got about halfway through and then became obsessed with finishing it in by the end of the month ...

Are you planning on reading the second volume, Laura?

>28 alcottacre:: I might, Stasia. The first volume fell into my hands at a used book sale, and I don't have the second. Should probably check my library ...

My local library has both volumes, so maybe you will get lucky.

Holy moley ... Stasia inspired me to check my library and they have it although it appears to be both volumes in one book. Out of curiosity I checked Amazon and they are selling Vol I new for $39.99 and Vol II for $49.99 ... in paperback !! They do have used copies cheap, but still, I was rather stunned !

Holy moley is right! Wow. I will definitely be checking them out of the library rather than buying them.

The odds are slim that I could find A History of Their Own at the upcoming library sale, but I'm putting it on my list anyway. It looks like a book that I would like to read in chunks rather than all at once. Too much history at a time makes my head hurt!

#33: Not to mention your back if you are carrying that chunkster around!

20. The Ghost Road ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

The third book in Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy continues the story of Billy Prior, a British officer in World War I. In the first book, Prior was treated for shell-shock at Craiglockhart, a hospital in Scotland. In the second book, he struggled to find his way in civilian society and battle personal demons, with the help of Dr. William Rivers. In The Ghost Road, Prior is approved to return to service at the front. In the first part of the book, Prior puts his affairs in order, visiting his ailing sister, his fiancée, and Rivers. Prior is keen to prove he is one of Rivers' success stories, by being able to keep his nerves steady even as he returns to the source of his troubles.

Prior also starts a diary. The reader is able to experience his eagerness to return, and his world-weary view of both the conditions and the new recruits. Meanwhile, Rivers remains in London, treating injured soldiers. Prior's diary entries alternate with Rivers' memories of working with native people in Melanesia, work that was set aside when the war began. Through the lives of both men, Barker continues her theme of war protest, while exploring and exposing a number of truths about individuals and society.

Having now read the complete Regeneration Trilogy, I agree with a comment on one of my January blog posts:

It seems to me that the Booker for “The Ghost Road” was something akin to the Oscar for the last Lord of the Rings film – it was really a recognition of the whole trilogy.

The Ghost Road was a powerful book, especially as Prior's diary unfolds. But the strength of this book comes from taking it as a whole with its predecessors, immersing yourself in the lives of these characters, and reflecting on the realities of war.

Do you think that might be one of the reasons why I just couldn't get into Ghost Road--because I hadn't read the first two?

eta: Well, that's not much of a question, is it? If I really didn't like Ghost Road, will I like either of the other two any better?

OK, two dumb questions. I'm not going to embarrass myself with a third.

>36 bonniebooks:: lol, Bonnie! Actually those are good questions!!
If I read The Ghost Road but hadn't read its predecessors, I would definitely be wondering why it won the Booker Prize. And I wouldn't have known the characters as well as I did, which I also think is important to the story. I also thought Regeneration -- the first book -- was the best of the three.

What was your third question? ;)

Lol! Of course it was! ;-)

21. Holiday ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

After his marriage breakup, Edwin Fisher decides to spend a week at an English seaside resort, to clear his head and lick his wounds. He returns to Bealthorpe, a familiar venue after years of childhood holidays. Edwin moves aimlessly through his first day or so, stretching the most simple tasks just to fill the time. He bumps into his in-laws, astonished to find they are also on holiday in Bealthorpe, and as they begin to meddle in his affairs, he strives to maintain appropriate yet minimal contact. Edwin finds a social life through some of the other lodgers in his hotel. They all gather for drinks and dinner at the hotel, and finish their evening in the pub. Edwin experiments with a flirtation, soothing himself with the knowledge that he is still attractive to someone.

Alone most of the time, Edwin has plenty of opportunity to reflect on his marriage. The novel takes place almost entirely in Edwin's head: taking in the sights, observing other tourists, and then, more often than not, recalling an incident between he and his wife, Meg. Through his reminiscences the reader gradually pieces together the puzzle of Edwin's marriage, and details of the critical emotional event that was just too much for them to bear.

Middleton writes wonderfully descriptive scenes which bring the holiday resort to life:

In the dining-room this evening, silence blossomed once the families began to eat. Fisher enjoyed the activity, the tucking of bibs, the wiping of mouths, the tipping of plates for the last spoonful, the pause between courses where one put on a small show for the other tables or angled for the correct snippet of conversation which would set the rest to chatter or laughing. These people worked hard, holding their fingers correctly, not marking the tablecloths and this ceremony pleased him. In this room decorated with dolls and paper flowers it was proper to act the gentleman, ape the lady. When the standard was judged, by Monday evening at the latest, there'd be a relaxation, a few aitches would topple, salacious asides allowed, confidences would be exchanged, but at this the first dinner after a complete day's holiday matters were formal. (p. 52)

Middleton's style reminded me a bit of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Holiday had a similar dreamy, "day in the life" feeling, accompanied by the imagery of long, slow summer days. And as in Woolf's novel, many small incidents are used to paint a big picture of a character and his relationships, making for a very enjoyable read.

22. Therese Raquin ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog
(The blog review will be published April 15, and includes links and commentary about several other reviews of this book)

In the preface to Thérèse Raquin, Émile Zola wrote,

In a word, I wanted only one thing: given a powerful man and a dissatisfied woman, to search out the beast in them, and nothing but the beast, plunge them into a violent drama and meticulously note the feelings and actions of those two beings. I have merely performed on two living bodies the analytical work that surgeons carry out on dead ones. (p 4)

The book was written in 1867, when psychology and behavioral studies focused largely on the idea of "temperament." Zola chose to examine how two individuals of different temperament would respond to a set of circumstances. Enter Thérèse, a young woman abandoned by her natural father, raised by her aunt (Madame Raquin), and married to her sickly cousin Camille. She worked as an assistant in her aunt's Paris haberdashery, and helped care for Camille. Life was dull, even stifling. Camille worked in a railway company office, and soon established a regular Thursday evening dinner with colleagues at his home. One of the guests, Laurent, was young and virile, and Thérèse was instantly attracted to him. The feeling was mutual, and they quickly found themselves entangled in a passionate affair.

From this point Zola explored what two people of such temperaments might do to satisfy their desires. As Thérèse & Laurent's passions escalated, their actions became more rash, culminating in an unthinkable act. Zola meticulously dissected the couple's thoughts and actions, and the impact of the act on their relationship. Things turned quite dark at this point; the claustrophobia and fear were palpable. There was never any doubt in my mind how the story would end, and yet there was still an element of suspense.

Zola's writing style is detached and analytical -- like a news reporter or scientist, reporting the facts without judgment -- but he also brought 1860s Paris to life, with settings modeled on popular paintings of the day. Despite the detached style, Thérèse Raquin was an excellent character study. I actually found Madame Raquin's character most intriguing. She's somewhat of a passive bystander, and yet as the situation escalates her passivity takes on a level of importance that I did not anticipate. This book was so well-written that I was quickly hooked.

#40: I am currently reading that one, although only about 50 pages in at this point. I am glad you found it well-written.

I studied Therese Raquin at French A level - I found it quite infuriating after a while. Claustrophobic isn't the word. I like Zola's Rougon-Macquart books (most of his best known work is in this series of 20 books including Germinal, Nana and L'Assommoir).

#42: I loved Germinal when I read it last year. It was the first of Zola's books that I had ever read.

I've read some great reviews of Germinal as part of the same Emile Zola blog tour, and it's definitely one I will be reading in the future!

23. Without my Cloak ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

Still, Considine or not, you were born among us and you haven't escaped any more than the rest of us our terrible family affection, our cowardly inability to do without each other. Why, our whole strength is simply in our instinct to be large and populous and united. (p. 244)

The Considine family is large, prosperous and very influential. Their presence in the Irish town of Mellick dates back to a horse thief who arrived in 1789. Nearly a century later, the family has left that legacy behind. Honest John, son of the horse thief, started a business dealing in hay, straw, and forage and built it into a thriving international concern. His children are grown; his four sons have found "appropriate" careers, and his four daughters are all in marriages carefully orchestrated to preserve or enhance social standing. Honest John appointed his youngest son Anthony to take over the family business, and went so far as to express a desire that his grandson Denis, then 4 years old, succeed his father Anthony when he comes of age.

I like to use little sticky page flags to mark especially well-written passages, but there were so many in this book that I stopped doing so after the first 100 pages. The entire novel was beautifully written, and very moving in so many places. Take, for example, this passage describing the love between Anthony and his wife, Molly:

Whether Molly guessed the motive of his efforts at asceticism he could not say, but he imagined that she did. Whatever she was thinking she was very tender with his lapses from monasticism. But he and she rarely spoke of these things and never with precision. She knew that he deplored for her the discomfort of incessant childbearing and would do much to lessen it, but saw no help within the social and religious code they both upheld. He knew that childbirth frightened her, wilted and crushed her and gave her in her babies only very slender compensation, for she was by nature far more wife than mother. But it was a problem which they could never thrash out, and it was heightened by the fact that they were both on the crest of life, and if not loving each other very perfectly at all times and in all the regions of love, yet doomed to find a terrible delight, again and again, each in the other's body. (p. 76-77)

Anthony's sister Caroline, on the other hand, is in a lackluster marriage and powerless to escape; O'Brien brings intense emotional depth to those passages as well. And then there's brother Eddy -- as a man, he freed himself from family & societal pressures by serving as the business' London representative. In describing his London lifestyle, O'Brien alludes to Eddy's homosexuality, and drives the point home through another sister's endless squawking about how Eddy really should get married (even as Eddy ages into his 50s)! And finally there's young Denis, who comes of age in Mellick feeling very ambivalent about his career with the firm. Denis prefers gardens and design, but the bond with his father is so strong, he is unable to express his wishes. This all comes to a head, of course. Denis rebels, embarrassing his family and bringing considerable pain on himself. I found the dénouement a bit too tidy, but that's a relatively minor weakness in an otherwise wonderful book.

#45: I like to use little sticky page flags to mark especially well-written passages

It is nice to know I am not the only one! I am generally jotting down page numbers or quotes throughout the books and then end up with more notes than I can do anything with :)

I am adding Without My Cloak to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Laura.

4.5 stars from Laura means I will most likely like this one sooo onto the pile it goes. BTW I use the sticky notes too :)

>46 alcottacre:, 47: Happy to contribute to the piles, black holes, etc. ! And aren't sticky notes the best thing ever invented? I absolutely do not want to write in a book (*shudder*) and the flags are a big help in writing my reviews. Sometimes I use a quote, sometimes not, but they remind me of the aspects of a book that were especially good (or, sometimes, especially bad).

Laura, I use those page points that you sent me. The hedgehog book is bristling with them! I couldn't get the link to the LT review to work, to give you a thumb.

>49 tiffin:: link fixed Tui. Thumb away!

I have 3 books by Kate O'Brien over here with me to read, because so many people in the VMC group raved about Land of Spices - after I read your review I pulled them off the bookshelves and am eyeing them. Eyeing them is the first step in the process of making it to the pile by the bed... (The 3rd one is That Lady.)

Speaking of page stickies, I don't buy a lot of stuff from a company called Levenger's but their page mark tape (comes on a roll in a dispenser just like regular "scotch" tape) is great - you can tear off only as much as you need, put it where you need it AND WRITE on it.

It's resuable (if not written on) at least once, and I always know it's a good book if the yellow (or green) sprigs are sprouting.... and I do write in books with very light pencil - ONLY IF I OWN THEM

#52: I need to get some of that! I use the little strips the library gives me when I check out books, and then end up with multiple pages numbers listed and me trying to figure out which one goes to the book I am currently reading.

24. Gilead ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

I'm writing this in part to tell you that if you ever wonder what you've done in your life, and everyone does wonder sooner or later, you have been God's grace to me, a miracle, something more than a miracle. You may not remember me very well at all, and it may seem to you to be no great thing to have been the good child of an old man in a shabby little town you will no doubt leave behind. If only I had the words to tell you. (p. 52)

John Ames is a Congregationalist minister living in Gilead, a small Iowa town. Late in life, he was blessed with a wife and son. Now, aware that his heart is failing, he begins writing a long letter to his son, to be read when the son comes of age. Gilead is that letter. In it Ames tells his life story, shares hopes and dreams for his wife and son, and explores matters of faith.

Ames was himself the son of a preacher. Through his writings he tries to come to terms with his strained relationship with his father, now long dead. He mourns his first wife and child, both of whom died too soon, and he rejoices in having found love at an advanced age. But there is one matter that weighs heavily on Ames, and his letter serves as a sort of catharsis.

Ames' best friend is a Presbyterian minister, Robert Boughton. The two have spent years leading Gilead's faithful, and developed a deep and lasting friendship. Boughton had several children; Jack, the black sheep of the family, was named after Ames. When Jack Boughton returns to Gilead after a long absence, Ames must face long-suppressed emotion and conflict, and accept his inability to control events after he has passed on.

This is a magnificent novel. The pace is leisurely and conversational, initially masquerading as an amusing portrait of small-town religious life, full of little details like the bizarre Jello salad concoctions served at church suppers. But Gilead is so much more: it is a celebration of life, love, friendship, fathers, sons, and forgiveness.

Marilynne Robinson followed Gilead with Home, which presents the same story from the Boughton family's perspective. Each book stands on its own, and is beautiful and moving. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The richness and depth of this story become apparent on reading both books. These are not to be missed.

Excellent review Laura and spot on. I would have liked to have been inside Robinson's head when she wrote the two novels. Just brilliant.

As always, great reviews!!!

I just absolutely loved both Gilead and Home...and Housekeeping. Robinson is an amazing author.

Very thumbworthy review, Laura. Going on the wishlist for sure.

#54: Wow! 5 stars?! I am going to have to find that one.

Beautiful, Laura! Like Amos, I didn't like Jack Boughton very much, so I haven't wanted to read Home--also I wanted to keep Amos alive in my heart, I loved him so, but your review is pushing me closer to Home.

Great review, Laura. Mine was the 17th thumbs up! I just might have to give these books a try.

17 thumbs? Holy moley. Thanks everyone!

Wow, how do you turn a doorknob with so many thumbs?!?

25. The Housekeeper and the Professor ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

This story of a mathematics professor and his housekeeper is a quiet, thoughtful book about friendship and family ties. The professor was severely injured in an automobile accident 20 years earlier, erasing much of his memory. He can recall events before 1975 with precision, but in the short term, can only remember the last 80 minutes. As his sister-in-law put it, "it's as if he has a single, eighty-minute videotape inside his head, and when he records anything new, he has to record over the existing memories." This presents a number of challenges for his new housekeeper, not the least of which is that he cannot remember her from one day to the next. To overcome this difficulty he pins notes to his suit, including a drawing of the housekeeper and her son, who he has nicknamed "Root" because his flat head reminds him of the square root symbol.

The novel begins on the housekeeper's first day of work in his home. The professor has gone through a series of housekeepers, so she expects a challenging client. And he is, in a way: he's a bit of a curmudgeon, set in his ways. But he also introduces her to his world by teaching her about prime numbers, amicable numbers, and mathematical theorems. The professor fills a void in the housekeeper's life, and she in his. The professor and Root discover a shared love of baseball, and he helps Root with his homework. Although they don't live together, they are very much a family.

The story of their relationship is simple, dealing with everyday life and events. And yet there's so much meaning in the fine details, and the mathematical and baseball metaphors. A fine read.

#64: I received that one recently through PBS. I will have to bump it up the stack. Nice review as usual, Laura.

I enjoyed this one too Laura.

26. The Old Devils ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

Oh my god, what a horrible book. The Old Devils revolves around several 60-something Welsh couples who have known each other for years. Alun and Rhiannon Weaver cause a stir when they return to Wales after several years in England. Alun has become somewhat famous for his writing. But Alan has a bit of a past with the ladies in this social group, causing a certain anxiety for both the women and their husbands. And Alun's wife Rhiannon has slept with a couple of these men herself. In fact, it seems as if everyone has slept with everyone else at some point. That is, when they're not drinking themselves into a stupor before noon.

The book presents a series of interactions between the characters, usually musing over their gin, or wine, or scotch, or whatever else they can find. I lost track of all the cocktail parties and pub crawls, and the endless chattiness about each other, their health problems, and various social issues of the day.

How or why this won the Booker Prize, I'll never know.

One star! It really must have been a total stinker, Laura. I don't think I've ever seen you score anything that low.

Yeah, Tui, I don't give 1 star very often. The only other one I could remember is In a Free State -- coincidentally, another early Booker Prize winner.

#67: OK, skipping that one. It also reiterates my complete disregard of Booker Prize winners, only one of which I have been able to get through despite multiple attempts. I think they just pick the weirdest books available at any given time and hand the authors the prize, lol.

>70 alcottacre:: Stasia, I've found the earlier Booker winners less enjoyable than some of the more recent ones. They just haven't stood the test of time as well as one might think.

I think my biggest problem is my pre-conception that because a book wins the Booker prize it should be exceptional and in my case, I have found out that many are not. I gave a game attempt to trying several of the Booker winners several years ago, and after finding only one that I liked, decided it was just not worth the effort to me. I will still read the winners, but not because I am trying to stick to a list of them, just because I am interested in that particular book.

I think that Wolf Hall and Midnight's Children, the 1981 winner, are the only Booker Prize winners I've read that I would rave about. Oh, I can't forget The Remains of the Day, the 1989 winner; all three are 5 star reads, IMO.

Let's see...these are the Booker Prize winners I've read so far.

1971: In a Free State by V.S. Naipaul: good, not great (3-1/2 stars?)
1983: The Life and Times of Michael K. by J.M. Coetzee: very good (4 stars)
1998: Amsterdam by Ian McEwan: 4 stars
1999: Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee: powerful and disturbing, awfully close to my top 3 but not quite there, 4-1/2 stars
2002: Life of Pi: entertaining, but fairly pedestrian for a Booker winner, 4 stars
2008: The White Tiger: ditto, 4 stars

Wow... by my count, I own 11 other Booker Prize winners! I should read at least a couple of them this year; The Siege of Krishnapur, The Bone People and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha are the most enticing titles.

#73: I read The Life and Times of Michael K. when I was actively seeking out the Booker winners and it was the one that I really liked.

Of the others on your list, I have only read The Life of Pi, which I liked, but again I ask, what made it a Booker winner? It makes no sense to me.

I have decided I am just not a good enough judge of books, so I will never be a prize-winner specialist.

I have decided I am just not a good enough judge of books, so I will never be a prize-winner specialist.

I think that there are a lot of people who would agree with your assessment of the Booker Prize winners, including some very well read people that contribute to the debates on the prize's web site (http://themanbookerprize.com/debate). The Guardian, as you probably know from reading my thread, has created the "Not the Booker Prize Award", to honor books that weren't longlisted for the award; I'm still amazed that The Spare Room by Helen Garner wasn't listed for the 2008 award, and that Burnt Shadows didn't make the cut last year (and that Me Cheeta was selected!).

It would be easy to start a spirited discussion about the worthiness of past and recent Nobel Prize winners, especially in comparison to authors that have been passed over.

#75: I make no apology for the fact that my taste in reading is fairly pedestrian despite the influences of LT for the past 4 years. It is just that I expect prize winners to be worthy of whatever prize. Maybe if I understood the rationale behind the thinking I would be more lenient?

I agree a discussion of the Nobel Prize winners (of which I have probably not read any, lol) would be interesting. The Pulitzers too.

I agree that a lot of the Booker winners aren't exceptional. I've found that they are usually good choices for my book group, though (as are Orange Prize winners). They are literary fiction (a step up from what some of the members would want to read) but are generally not too difficult, and they often spark interesting discussion. One of the other members and I have proposed some Pulitzer winners, but no one else wants to read those.

ETA: And I have put The Housekeeper and the Professor on my wishlist.

I should also say that, for the last two years anyway, I've enjoyed the books longlisted for the Orange Prize more than those longlisted for the Booker Prize. (Oh, that reminds me, I need to review Black Mamba Boy, which was very good.) And, even though I haven't always agreed with the winners of either award, reading the books from both longlists has been fruitful, as I've enjoyed most of the books and been introduced to writers who were previously unfamiliar to me, such as Roma Tearne, Kamila Shamsie, Andrea Levy, Hilary Mantel, William Trevor, Colm Toibin, and Simon Mawer.

#78: I do not keep track of the winners any more other than through the threads that mention the books. I have thus discovered William Trevor, Andrea Levy, Hilary Mantel, Roma Tearne, and Colm Toibin all through LT rather than the lists.

Good morning everyone! What a lively discussion and all before 8am!

I've been on a "read the prizes" mission for a while now -- have read all the Orange winners and by the end of this year will have read all Booker winners. I've also read a lot of shortlisted works for these prizes, but am not on a quest to read them all. Recently I've been more interested in the Orange than the Booker, but that may be, in part, because the Bookers I have yet to read are mostly the earlier ones which, as I've said, seem dated now.

#80: The problem (I am not sure that is the word I am looking for) I have with the Orange Prize is that all the authors are women which, I realize is the reason for the prize, but going only by it, I would have missed out on both William Trevor and Colm Toibin.

>81 alcottacre:: oh yes, I see your point Stasia. I wouldn't "only go by" the Orange Prize for reading ideas ... it's just one of many things that contribute to my tbr. Plus I love following the British prize process -- longlist, shortlist, winner. It's so much more interesting to me than the "TA DAAAAA!!" that is the Pulitzer Prize.

#82: I like the British prize process as well. Sure gives a whole lot of reading ideas, if nothing else.

As far as the Pulitzers go, I am more apt to pay attention to the nonfiction prizes than I am the fiction ones and even then, most of the time I happen on the read myself more than actually looking at the winners. My current read won the Pulitzer and I did not know it until I was updating the CK here on LT.

#80: I've been on a "read the prizes" mission for a while now -- have read all the Orange winners and by the end of this year will have read all Booker winners.

That's impressive, Laura! I doubt that I'll ever be able to say that. And, given the comments from you and others about the quality of some of the earlier winners, and the generally ho-hum reviews for the 2008 winner, The Gathering, I seriously doubt that I'll want to read all of the Booker Prize winners.

BTW, I do have Something to Answer For by P.H. Newby, the winner of the first Booker Prize in 1969. Have you read it? If so, what did you think of it?

What are your most favorite Booker winners?

Have you read any of the books that are on the shortlist for the "Lost Man Booker Prize", books from 1970 that were ineligible for the award? I've read good things about these titles, but I don't have any of them. They are:

The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden
Troubles by J.G. Farrell
The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard
Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault
The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
The Vivisector by Patrick White

I'm especially interested in Troubles, which some have said is better than The Siege of Krishnapur, and The Vivisector. I'll probably pick up at least a couple of these titles, including the winner, when I go back to London later this year.

This year I'd like to read 8-10 of the Orange Prize longlisted novels, and 3-4 of the shortlisted ones, and at least 10 of the Booker Prize longlisted novels, including all of the shortlisted ones. The Booker Dozen (longlist of 13 novels) is much more doable than the Orange Prize longlist of 20!

#81: I would flip your valid argument, Stasia, and say that I would have probably missed out on books by Kamila Shamsie, Andrea Levy, et al. had it not been for the Orange Prize! I'm more interested in reading books by authors who are new to me than in reading books that win the award...and so I agree completely with you and Laura that the method that the British and others use in selecting literary awards (Booker, Orange, Wellcome Trust, Samuel Johnson, Royal Society for Science, Commonwealth Writers Prize, etc.) is far superior to the way in which the Pulitzer Prize is awarded. Fortunately the National Book Awards do announce sets of finalists before the awards are announced.

#84: I own both Troubles and The Vivisector so it will be interesting to see what I think of them, if and when I get around to reading them.

What a great discussion! As you all know, I am grossly biased toward the Orange Prize. Interestingly, like Darryl, I have found some of the best books on the Long List for the Orange. I love discovering new authors through the prize lists.

I usually enjoy the Pulitzer winners, especially The Road. A very powerful book.

I haven't dedicated enough time to the Booker, admittedly. I guess it's not something I am ready for (because of my Orange obsession), though many Orange books show up on the Booker lists too. Any Booker books that pique my interest are usually a result of one of Laura's reviews. =)

I am a big Shirley Hazzard fan -- The Bay of Noon was very good as is everything of hers I've encountered. I am also a sucker for anything by Muriel Spark -- Driver's Seat was also a good read. I don't know what I think of prize lists -- there is something random about them... but I do look to see who and what is on them. I've read half of the Bookers over the last ten years -- most are five star rated -- usually more for content and scope than enjoyment.

Oh and I agree the Pulitzer non-fiction is reliably good whereas the fiction winer is generally less certain -- usually worthy, but not always what I would really consider as the best choice.

That's winner not winer -- yep those wine and dine fiction writers, have to look out for them. Edited to add this.

#84, 85 Troubles is one of my very favorite books, and I liked it better than Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur, the second in his "Empire trilogy" (although it takes place earlier; the trilogy is a thematic one, not a character-oriented one) which did win the Booker.

#87, I am also a Shirley Hazzard fan, but I liked The Transit of Venus and The Great Fire better than The Bay at Noon.

#89: After Darryl mentioned it, I decided that I am going to read Troubles for this month's TIOLI challenge. I hope I like it as much as you did, Rebecca.

>84 kidzdoc:: Darryl, Something to Answer For is one I have yet to read, and it was difficult to find here in the US. The Book Depository came to my rescue! I also haven't read any of the Lost Booker nominees, although I enjoyed Farrell's Siege of Krishnapur and have heard (probably from Rebecca!) that Troubles is even better. Also must read some Shirley Hazzard some day. As for my favorite Booker winners, thanks to LT I can give you the top-rated ones!

Best of Booker, imo: The Remains of the Day (5 stars, unforgettable, just watched the film last night for the umpteenth time)
Runners up (4.5-stars):
- Wolf Hall
- Sacred Hunger
- True History of the Kelly Gang

>86 mrstreme:: aw, thanks Jill!

I'm another prize reader but after being burned a few times by the Booker winners (The Gathering?????????? absolutely dreadful) I've had better results by mining the longlists. I also appreciate the process for the Orange and the Booker much better that the Pulitzer which comes out of nowhere (this year's Tinkers is a prime example; never even reviewed by the NYTimes).

I think this year's Wolf Hall was the exception . The Booker committee got that one right. I have The Transit of Venus on my shelf and I think I'll move it up.

#91: I also ordered Something to Answer For from The Book Depository. Troubles has moved to my "Must Buy" list, and I'll pick it up the next time I go to NYC or San Francisco.

I'll add Sacred Hunger and The True History of the Kelly Gang to my wish list, based on your comments.

#92: Totally agree with you on Wolf Hall, Bonnie. The Glass Room was the only other book from the longlist that came close to Mantel's masterpiece. I'm on the lookout for more books by Simon Mawer, but I didn't see any by him at Book Culture or Strand in NYC. I'll probably have to order those from the UK or pick them up on my next trip to London.

>91 lauralkeet: Laura, I forgot about Sacred Hunger which was the first Booker winner I read back in the early 90's.

>93 kidzdoc: Darryl, I have The Glass Room on my shelf and just have to get to it. I think I bought it after you reviewed it last year.

>84 kidzdoc: Kzd, I'll put in a word for Patrick White and The Vivisector; he's a favorite and so is it. As you might guess from the title, it's a dark book, but well worth reading.
I found the Orange Prize only in '08 and have been reading nominees since then. I don't think I've read a bad book yet although some are certainly better than others. Although I owned a copy of Restoration, I had never read it, so who knows when I would have discovered Rose Tremain, my great author find of the decade.
(And I liked but didn't adore Wolf Hall, just so you'll know where I'm coming from.) (AND I can't find my copies of Siege of Krishnapur and Singapore Grip which I put somewhere easier to get to rather than back where they belonged when I catalogued them here. Boo. Hiss. Me.)

I only tend to read prizewinning and nominated books if they sound like something that I would be interested in anyway, usually, although I have bought all the Booker shortlist a few times - a bargain book company called The Book People usually does a special offer of the 6 for £25-£30 for a mix of hardback and paperback titles depending on availability. I haven't done it so much recently though, as I had a spell of reading a lot less and being more restrained about spending on books, and because I'm not actually that keen on hardback books (too heavy and awkward).

Wasn't Oryx and Crake a Booker winner, Stasia? Y

Oryx and Crake was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2003, but Vernon God Little won the award that year.

27. Let the Great World Spin ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

On August 7, 1974, French high wire artist Philippe Petit performed his most famous feat: walking a wire spanning the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. This event, which captivated the entire city, provides a foothold for Let the Great World Spin, running over, under, and around all of the characters in this book but seldom directly touching any of them.

The large cast of characters include Corrigan, a young Irish monk working in the Bronx slums, caring for prostitutes, addicts, and senior citizens. His brother, newly arrived from Ireland, strives both to understand Corrigan's vocation and convince him to return home. Two of the prostitutes, Tillie and Jazzlyn, are mother and daughter. Then there's Claire, a well-off woman living on Park Avenue, who would seem to have little connection to the others. But Claire has recently joined a group of women who have all lost sons in Vietnam, and she befriended Gloria, who is well acquainted with Corrigan's world. And the connections don't stop there.

As Colum McCann tells Corrigan's story, he begins weaving an intricate fabric with strands that are revealed, little by little, through the rest of the book. While the high wire walk serves as an underlying theme, other events touch the characters' lives more directly. From the stuff of everyday living to devastating tragedy, McCann shows the reader these events from multiple perspectives, and ties them all together in a complex and emotional way.

It's difficult to say more about this book without spoilers. I loved the writing, felt sympathetic to most of the characters, and was moved without feeling manipulated.

#99: I loved the writing, felt sympathetic to most of the characters, and was moved without feeling manipulated.

That sums up my feelings about the book perfectly!

Great job (as usual) on the review Laura:)

*thumb* (again)

>101 brenzi:, 102: really?! well, thanks. I had a difficult time with this one, mulled it over for a couple of days and just couldn't come up with ways to express what I was really feeling about the book without giving it away. Corrigan's story had the greatest impact on me, I just didn't see things coming, and then I loved the way everything else wove around that.

A good review to me is one which makes me want to read the book (or avoid it like the plague). If it explains the book enough to intrigue me, it gets a thumb. I wish you could give golden thumbs for really good reviews. A few of your reviews have been golden of late.

This was my only 5 star read this year so far, so I guess I liked it more than you did Laura but, for me, the story of the three mothers had the greatest impact.
**Spoiler alert** That scene towards the end where Gloria is walking bak to her apartment and then ends up going back to Claire's will stay with me for a long time. And Tillie's story just made me so sad. So the connections between those three women, all grieving, was just so powerful to me.

28. Runaway ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

In this collection of short fiction, Alice Munro writes of love, betrayal, and missed opportunities. Runaway is comprised of eight stories, all with female protagonists. Three of the stories are connected, focused on one woman's relationships at three points in her life, several years apart. In fact, unlike most short fiction I've read, nearly all of these stories take place over a very long period of time. And yet they are taut and focused. Munro has the short story down to an art form: she develops characters, explores themes, and serves up well-crafted plots, all in about 40 pages.

I especially liked these two stories:

* Silence: Juliet, the main character in two previous stories, is now a middle-aged woman. She has lost touch with her adult daughter Penelope, and feels betrayed by her silence. In this story Munro also fills in details from the two previous stories, serving as a kind of dénouement for the trilogy.
* Tricks: When the story opens, Robin is a young nurse living in a rural area, with caregiver responsibilities for an older sister. Every summer she travels to a nearby town to see a Shakespeare play. One year she met a man, Daniel, who had immigrated to Canada from Montenegro. They agreed to meet again the following year, but things did not go as planned. The story then "fast forwards" to many years later, when both Robin and the reader learn what really happened.

Any of these stories would be much easier to write as a novel, where the author has seemingly unlimited words and pages at their disposal. Munro's ability to create such tension and emotion in short form sets her apart.

I've got this one on my shelf Laura and hope to get to it soon. It'll be my first Munro :)

I really like to read short stories. This one is definitely going on my TBR list. Thanks for the discovery.

#106: I already have that one in the BlackHole. Definitely need to bump it up some!

I've got this one waiting - loved The View from Castle Rock too.

Hooray for Alice! So glad you like her writing, Laura.

You make a good case for the short story form, Laura, especially in such skilled hands. I simply must read something by Alice Munro. There is no excuse as I have several of her short story collections waiting for me.

29. Mary Olivier: A Life ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

Mary Olivier was the youngest of four, and the only daughter born to a Victorian family in 1865. She was treated exactly as you'd expect of girls in that era: where her brothers were given education and opportunity, Mary's intellectual and personal ambitions were thwarted. She questioned the Bible and refused to participate in prayer and other religious practices. Family and friends ridiculed her attempts at self-education; her mother constantly nagged her about her faith. Meanwhile, Mary's brothers went off to serve their country in foreign lands, or learn a trade, leaving their mother pining at home, and leaving Mary to look after her:

Her thoughts about her mother went up and down. Mamma was not helpless. She was not gentle. She was not really like a wounded bird. She was powerful and rather cruel. You could only appease her with piles of hemmed sheets and darned stockings. If you didn't take care she would get hold of you and never rest till she had broken you, or turned and twisted you to her own will. She would say it was God's will. She would think it was God's will. (p. 124)

Well that's pretty heavy, isn't it? The back cover of this book includes this description: "This is one of the finest novels ever written depicting the mother-daughter relationship and the eternal conflict engendered by that deepest of ties." And in fact, about halfway through I had to take a break from this book -- the intensity of the "eternal conflict" was a bit much for me.

In the second half, things picked up a bit as Mary continued to forge her independence, undaunted by societal pressure. She began writing poetry, and continued to study the philosophers and new scientific topics of the era, such as heredity. However, her sense of duty called her to care for her mother in her decline, which required Mary to set aside certain professional and romantic aims. She reached middle age a strong, independent woman, but achieved this at no small personal cost.

I found this book difficult going, and very depressing. It's a fairly accurate portrayal of the conditions women faced 100-150 years ago, and the situation was indeed bleak. The novel's autobiographical nature also created a problem, described well in Jean Radford's introduction to my Virago Modern Classic edition: "the pull of the autobiographical impulse makes itself felt within the text. The novel is too long; there are too many lovers lost, too much detail about her philosophical reading, too many scenes in which mother and daughter enact the same painful conflicts." This is a powerful book in many ways, but by the end I just wanted to say, "enough already, Mary!"

Excellent review, Laura! Thumbs up.

Well, um, I definitely don't want to read this one Laura. Your review made it clear that this isn't my kind of book. Your review also made me laugh ("enough already, Mary!). Thumb!

Laura

Thumbs up from me as well. What a great review!

#113: Skipping the book, but thumbs up for the review.

Indeed, a fine review. Nice too, to know what to skip! Someone with a particular interest in mother-daughter disastrous relationships will wanting to read it perhaps..... otherwise.....

Great review, Laura! You made me curious enough to go read about the author, May Sinclair.

Big thanks....I had seen this and been interested, but I also trust your judgment on this one....too many other good ones on the pile.

It's funny, when I set the book aside halfway through I was thinking of it as a 4-star book. But it lost a star when I returned to it. It's well-written, but she really got repetitive.

Excellent review. Although I like books of this era and subject matter, I do get annoyed at repetition, so I think I will skip this one. Thanks.

Well, I bought this one before I read your review, so theoretically, I'll read it sometime - just Not Now!

It's about time to pick up another Munro, I think. I loved View from Castle Rock, which was a gift from a certain Canadian LT'er with excellent taste (look, she's blushing!) and I think I have 2 or 3 more of her collections on the shelf, including Runaway.

30. What I Loved ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

Leo Hertzberg, an art history professor in New York City, narrates this story, reflecting on a quarter century of friendship with artist Bill Wechsler and his wife Violet. Leo first met Bill after discovering one of his paintings. At the time, Bill was married to another woman, Lucille. Leo and his wife Erica befriended Bill and Lucille, and each woman gave birth to a son within weeks of each other. When Bill's marriage to Lucille broke up over Violet, Leo and Erica quickly accepted the new arrangement, and the two families were nearly inseparable for just over a decade. Then tragedy struck, and Leo & Erica's relationship foundered. Bill and Violet remained their steadfast friends, even as they began to experience problems with their own son Mark, who was hanging out with questionable characters from New York's art and club scene. Leo became even closer to Bill and Violet as they struggled to understand what wass happening to their son.

I had a three main problems with this book. First, I'm not "into" the whole art scene: artists, openings, controversy over artistic methods and interpretation, and so on. The first 130 pages (Book One) is full of this stuff -- what a good friend called, "a lot of big city academic masturbation." I really wondered if anything was ever going to happen. Book Two promised more action and plot development, and even introduced an element of suspense around Mark. I found myself guessing outcomes, trying to find the twisted truth behind the written word.

Then my second problem arose: the suspense completely fell flat. There were no surprise twists, no skeletons that suddenly leapt from closets to show me how I'd been deceived all along. It was just a classic case of a troubled kid, corrupted by seedy characters, enmeshed in situations that escalated out of control. And finally -- my third problem -- I couldn't get close to the principal characters. At one point, after the aforementioned tragedy, I felt extremely sorry for Leo and Erica. But the rest of the emotional highs and lows fell flat for me, as if I were watching the story unfold from a great distance. All in all, this book was a disappointment.

#125: Too bad about that one, Laura. It sounds like the book could have been so much more than it turned out to be.

Better luck with your next book Laura.

What Linda said but also great review Laura. Thumb! You have succinctly stated what you didn't like about the book. So often I have a really hard time expressing what I don't like; I just know I didn't like it. So much easier to write a review for a book I loved.

Thanks Bonnie ... I find reviews easiest to write when my reactions are extreme (love or hate). It's the "meh" books that are difficult!

31. At Large and at Small ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

This lovely book celebrates the "familiar essay," a lesser-known genre popular in the early nineteenth century. Author Anne Fadiman describes it:

The familiar essayist didn't speak to the millions; he spoke to one reader, as if the two of them were sitting side by side ... His viewpoint was subjective, his frame of reference concrete, his style digressive, his eccentricities conspicuous, and his laughter usually at his own expense. And though he wrote about himself, he also wrote about a subject, something with which he was so familiar, and about which he was often so enthusiastic, that his words were suffused with a lover's intimacy. (p. x)

This book contains twelve essays, each infused with Fadiman's own enthusiasm and delivered as if I were sitting right there with her. As with any collection, I had a few favorites:

• Ice Cream: Fadiman shares her love for ice cream, while weaving in a bit of history and a story about her brother, who is obviously very dear to her.


• Procrustes and the Culture Wars: In a similar vein to Ex Libris, this essay discusses interesting questions about literature including, "Should the life of a writer affect our valuation of the work?" and "Should a book be demoted if its plot fails to meet standards of behavior that have changed since it was written?"


• Mail: a brief history of the postal service, a celebration of old-fashioned mail, and a self-deprecating look at the author's early foray into email. I found this one amusing, and also a reminder of how far technology has brought us in the 10 short years since the essay was written.


• Moving: Fadiman shares a personal experience moving from New York City to Massachusetts. This essay made me reflect on my own attachments to specific places, and on the importance of taking chances now and then.


• Coffee: a wry take on the importance of coffee, a beverage I also adore!

I enjoy Anne Fadiman's writing, and liked this collection just as much as the earlier Ex Libris. And since each essay is only around 20 pages long, this is the perfect book to slip into a briefcase or handbag for reading on the go.

Oh drat, just when I'm trying to cut down on adding more to the tbr pile, I visit here and feel compelled to add At Large and At Small.

Ok, it is now added. Thanks...I think.

Tee hee.

I too am a Fadiman fan....this will definitely have to go onto the TBR mountain, especially since I love 'short' reading in the summer. Things that can be read one at a time are terrific for slow summer afternoons. Are the essays short enough to finish before the nap arrives?

>133 tututhefirst: Your post made me think of one of my favorite quotes by Henry James:

"Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."
Seem apropos for this early summer weather we're enjoying :)

#130: I liked At Large and At Small, but not nearly as much as I like Ex Libris, probably because as a reader, I identified more with what Fadiman had to say in that one. I think she is a wonderful writer.

>130 lauralkeet:: switch from Scottish First Foot...I'm your First Thumb!

Nice review, Laura! I enjoyed Ex Libris, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is one of my favorite nonfiction books, so I'll add At Large and At Small to my wish list.

I didn't like At Large and At Small as much as Ex Libris and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (which got me started on reading everything Anne Fadiman writes), but that's only because those two boks set such a high bar. I would still read anything she writes.

32. A Shilling for Candles ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog (the latter is part of The Classics Circuit Golden Age of Detective Fiction blog tour.)

Early one morning, the body of actress Christine Clay is found on the beach. While it initially appeared to be a drowning, after further investigation the local constabulary chose to call in Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard. Grant initially suspected Robert Tisdall, a young man who shared a cottage with Miss Clay at the time of her death. But as he learned more about Clay's life and career, several potential suspects emerged.

What follows is a bit of a romp across southern England as Grant delves into the case and strives to learn more about each suspect. If I were giving Grant a performance review, I'd tell him to dig a little deeper and not be taken in by red herrings, like the shady character with a criminal past. Come on, anyone who has read at least one mystery knows that guy's not the murderer! But Grant pursued several obvious leads right into investigative cul-de-sacs, only to emerge and tear down another route. When the murderer was finally identified, I could almost hear Grant smack his forehead in astonishment. Though I hadn't figured it out myself, I should have. If Grant had only looked for the "slightly less obvious," he would have cracked this case in no time.

What this novel lacked in suspense, it made up for in fun. Grant is a sympathetic character, and Tey fills this story with a myriad of others who are endearing or comical. This book was a great escape and a welcome break between more "serious" reads.

I don't know why I read What I Loved last year, but I didn't like it all that much either. Too lazy to go back and read what I read about it though.

33. Eva Luna ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

"There is no death, daughter. People die only when we forget them," my mother explained shortly before she left me. "If you can remember me, I will be with you always." (p. 43)

Eva Luna was born in Chile to a young single woman named Consuela, who died when Eva was only six years old. Eva's godmother accepted responsibility for Eva's welfare, immediately placing her into service. She spent several years working in one home where she became close to another servant, Elvira, who was like a mother to her. Elvira taught Eva Luna an important lesson: "You have to fight back. No one tries anything with mad dogs, but tame dogs they kick. Life's a dogfight." (p. 69)

Eva Luna took this advice to heart, and grew up a strong and independent woman. She worked in a variety of situations, from a red light district to a remote mountain village. Throughout her life she had been an expert storyteller; as an adult she returned to the city and was able to use this talent to make a living. She reconnected with characters from her past, including a revolutionary named Huberto Naranjo. Huberto had helped her find shelter as a young girl, and through him she became embroiled in the country's tumultuous political environment.

There was a lot going on in this book, but it didn't quite work as well as I'd hoped. I love Isabel Allende's writing -- her prose is wonderfully descriptive, and brings her homeland to life. She creates fascinating characters, and situations bordering on magical realism (something I normally hate, but Allende remains safely on the edges). So I enjoyed reading this book, but at the same time I found the story preposterous, particularly as the once-illiterate Eva begins to make a living as a television screenwriter. And some of her romantic entanglements seemed far-fetched.

Allende fans will find this a good read, but those unfamiliar with her work should start with a different book, like The House of the Spirits.

#141: I think I will give that one a pass. Nice review as usual, Laura!

I am a great Allende fan, and am looking forward to this one down the road. Thanks for the heads up tho on the story line.

My review of A Shilling for Candles is now posted in message #139.

34. Lady Audley's Secret ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

When Sir Michael Audley married former governess Lucy Graham, it caused quite a stir in his family. His new wife was closer in age to his adult daughter Alicia, and his nephew Robert was captivated by Lady Audley's beauty. Robert is a London barrister (although he doesn't appear to actually do any work), and one day he runs into an old friend, George Talboys, recently returned from three years in Australia. George is shocked to learn that his wife passed away just a few days before his arrival in England, and turns to Robert for support. Robert takes George to Audley Court, his uncle's estate, in the hopes that spending time in the countryside will lift his spirits. A few days later, George disappears without a trace. Robert embarks upon an investigation that takes him from Essex to Southampton, and then to Yorkshire, as he collects and assembles the puzzle pieces of George's life.

This book can be enjoyed on two different levels. First, as a mystery and period piece, it is delightful. There's a huge old mansion with elaborate gardens and secret passageways (modeled, I suspect, on Audley End House in Essex), characters with similar features who can easily be mistaken for one another, and servants who are able to gain the upper hand over the gentry. Braddon employs considerable wit in her writing. She uses a talkative child to show key plot details, just as children often let family secrets slip. She describes even the most ancillary characters and situations with great detail and a touch of humor, such as this description of a landlady living in "dreary" Yorkshire:

Mrs. Barkamb, a comfortable matron of about sixty years of age, was sitting in an arm-chair before a bright fire burning in a grate that was resplendent with newly-polished black lead. An elderly terrier, whose black-and-tan coat was thickly sprinkled with grey, reposed in Mrs. Barkamb's lap. Every object in the quiet sitting-room had an elderly aspect; that aspect of simple comfort and precision which is the outward evidence of inward repose.

"I should like to live here," Robert thought, "and watch the grey sea slowly rolling over the grey sand under the still grey sky. I should like to live here, and tell the beads upon my rosary, and repent and rest."

He seated himself in the arm-chair opposite Mrs. Barkamb, at that lady's invitation, and placed his hat upon the ground. The elderly terrier descended from his mistress's lap to bark at and otherwise take objection to this hat. (p. 212)

Then, after I finished the book, I read Jennifer Uglow's introduction to my Virago Modern Classics edition, published in 1985. The introduction highlights themes and deeper meanings, including the changing role of women in 1850s society. Uglow wrote, "Beneath the zestful, witty melodrama Lady Audley's Secret is a novel about men's fear of women's power, and about their efforts to destroy that power by denying female sexuality, by caging women in theories of reason and madness, by depriving them of education and careers, by burying them in stifling marriages and choking them with the ideology of the happy home." Armed with this insight, I retraced the events in Lady Audley's Secret and derived even more meaning and enjoyment from this book.

Huge thumbs up on the review. It made me want to read this book IMMEDIATELY.

Edited to say: This turned out to be a Kindle freebie. As soon as I'm finished with my current read, I can start on this one. Thank you!

You've painted a beautiful picture of this novel Laura. Thumb! And onto the pile it goes.

Super review! I immediately thumbed it too, and now the question is whether to put down The Gentlewomen so that I can read it now or be a good child and save it for later.

Well thank you very much! You might be interested to know that the Monthly Author Reads group is reading Braddon this month (that's what prompted me to read Lady Audley's Secret). It's not too late to join in the fun!

I'll be reading Lady Audley's Secret later this month, with the Monthly Author Reads group! Looking forward to it (so skipping your review, as I'm spoilerphobic).

Edited for clarification.

I added Lady Audley's Secret to my Kindle-for-PC last year after Angela's review, but have not gotten to it yet. I will definitely have to bump that one up!

Yay! I'm so relieved to hear that someone else loved this one as much as I did. It was just so...good.

I'll read it if I can finish The Gentlewomen in time for the Monthly Read group. Only one VMC at a time!

I remember really liking Mary Olivier when I read it over 20 years ago. I think I heard parts of a radio dramatisation of Lady Audley's Secret, perhaps some time in 2009 when I was on maternity leave.

35. How Late it Was, how Late ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

This Booker Prize-winning novel is unusual, to say the least. Sammy is a small-time shoplifter who gets busted one morning after a weekend drinking binge, most of which he doesn't remember. And somehow he's completely lost his sight. The story is told entirely in a lower-class Scottish dialect, and it takes a while to get into the language and the cadence:

There wasnay much he could do, there wasnay really much he could do at all. No the now anyway. Nayn of it was down to him. It would be soon enough but no the fucking now. So fuck it, get on with yer life. Sammy had turned back onto his side, he wished he could fall asleep. But the trouble with sleep is ya cannay just fucking. (p. 29)

Got that? How about 374 pages of it, with no chapter breaks? When I started reading, I thought I would really dislike this book because of the dialect and the almost continuous use of the f-word. But after a while, I realized that Sammy sounded just like Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, and he had kind of grown on me. Sammy first finds himself first in jail, and when he is let go and returns home, discovers his girlfriend has left him. Because of his new disability, everything about daily living is a challenge. But there's humor in his story, too, most notably in the ridiculous bureaucracy he encounters when attempting to register for disability benefits. Sammy's life has been a hard one, lived mostly on the streets and in pubs, and it becomes clear that he is his own worst enemy, remaining just a step away from complete self-destruction.

I'm not sure I would recommend this book, but in an odd way it wasn't bad.

#155: I do not think I can do it, nope. Passing on that one.

Nice review as usual, Laura.

Laura
A book cover that has a Pre-Raphaelite painting of Fanny Cornforth by Rossetti on the cover immediately grabs my attention.

Your review is incredible. Thumbs up from me!

Your reaction to the book/dialect/characters was like my reaction to the movie, Trainspotting, when I first watched it.

>157 Whisper1:: Thanks!
>158 mrstreme:: oh yeah, absolutely! I couldn't get into that movie, either!

>155 lauralkeet:: Booker Prize, huh? I usually really enjoy those, but there have been a few stinkers. I think I would really like the dialect, but not the subject matter, so think I'll pass--but your review was great!

Nice review, Laura; I'll still read this one, since Larry (lriley) gave it 5 stars.

Hmmm another Booker winner that didn't quite live up to expectations?? And written entirely in dialect?? I think I'll pass Laura. And no chapter breaks....at all? Your review is so well written that there's no question in my mnd. It sounds a lot like a book I read earlier this year (although not the whole book was in dialect, just enough to turn me off) that's now being mentioned as a Booker longlist candidate, Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor.

36. When Everything Changed ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

This book is a modern history of women in the United States from 1960 through the 2008 US Presidential campaign. Gail Collins, the first woman to serve as editor of the New York Times editorial page, begins with a detailed review of the role of women, and societal attitudes towards women, in 1960. There were virtually no women doctors or lawyers. Television had taken the nation by storm, with 90% of American families owning a TV, and most programs portrayed the men in lead roles and women as subservient. Housework was very time-consuming, with labor-saving devices only just beginning to enter homes. Most women did not feel poorly treated; it was just the way things were. Surprisingly (at least to me), the civil rights movement was a trigger event that set waves of change in motion. Collins takes the reader decade by decade up to the present time, showing how women gradually earned rights, both legally and informally, and celebrated the early pioneers who made it all possible.

The book effectively covers my entire life (I was born in 1962). And while I had some idea that we’d “come a long way baby,” (as the ad used to say), I didn’t realize how much radical change had occurred until reading this book. I also found it very interesting to reflect on my personal experience during each decade. In that regard, the most meaningful chapters were those covering the 1980s and early 1990s: the time in which I came of age, went to university, got married, started a career, and had a family. But the chapters covering the 1960s and 1970s were compelling, because they put into perspective events that were somewhat of a mystery when seen through a child’s eyes (Roe vs. Wade is one notable example).

I recommend this book for all American women who would like to better understand the key people and events that shaped the society in which we live today.

Laura, so glad you liked the Collins book...I just stole it back from my daughter (who borrowed it last summer) and I'm itching to get to it. I was hoping it wasn't going to be too dull, but your excellent review has made me bump it up on the pile. It will be interesting for me to see if we have different perceptions since my coming of age was the 50's and early 60's.....(Pre pill, and pre Roe V Wade).

I'm very interested in the Collins book. Thanks for your excellent review. We live in such fascinating times. Looking back, I have strong memories of my 1950's mother who had four children (each two years apart) when, in truth, if it would have been the 70's, she most likely would not have had children.

My father the control freek, was very repressive. When I went to college and struggled with organic chemistry, he came into the dining room where I was studying and said "Why do you want

to go to college anyway?" "Do YOU want to earn as much money as a man?" I smiled and said "No, really, I'd like to earn more than a man!"...He was not pleased with my response.

It really is incredible to live through all these changes and opportunities for both women and men.

#163: I am a 1962 baby too, Laura, so I am especially interested in the section you mentioned that covers the 60s and 70s. Thanks for the review and recommendation!

Thanks for reading and reviewing this book Laura - it looks really good. I was a 1971 baby and was one of the beneficiaries of the huge changes.

If anyone's looking for a good book on Roe v Wade and abortion politics, I really enjoyed Articles of Faith by Cynthia Gorney when I read it a few years ago. Not for the faint-hearted though.

I think Collins is pretty funny with her editorials, so I want to read this book. I keep forgetting how much older I am than you all. I came of age during the late 60's, but married so young, it was like I wasn't really a part of what people think represents these years. Sometimes, I get tired of the documentaries about these times that focus on the same old themes. Sure I was against the Vietnam War and for Civil Rights. But I never did drugs, I didn't march in protest about anything, I didn't believe in 'free love,' move to San Francisco, go to Woodstock... Do you all think your lives represent the major events/themes of the 80's?

I"m a big Gail Collins fan (like, Bonnie, from her New York Times columns) and of course this covers a lot of my life: I was 7 in 1960, so just at the edge of knowing what was going on in the wider world (first political memory: watching my parents watch the Kennedy-Nixon debates). So I will look for it too.

Interesting stories ... this book definitely inspires the reader to think about where they were in different periods, how their lives were impacted (or not) by feminism, etc. In describing the 1990s Collins wrote, "The first generation of American women who had not been told that their only place was in the home had come of age." Even though I came of age in the 1980s I still found this to be true. Unlike Linda (#165), it was always understood that I'd go to college and have a career. My mother, on the other hand, was in a very different place -- frustrated by her lack of options in the late 1950s, and very unhappy as a stay-at-home wife & mother.

I've always thought I was very lucky to come from several generations of women who have not believed their place was in the home. My grandmother - who was born a hundred years ago, in China - was disowned by her family because she wanted to become a teacher.

I heard Collins on a podcast talking about this book and it sounded fascinating. Do you think it's still a good read even for people not from the US?

Thanks for this review Laura. I've had this book on my pile for awhile and would like to get to it soon. I think the 60's are misrepresented many times. Like the other Bonnie, I didn't do any of the things that the 60's are famous for, maybe because I was at a small college and most of that stuff passed us by (Protest?? We wanted to protest the dining hall food but that was about it.)

Thanks for the great review.

As a 38-year-old mom, wife, daughter and career woman, I am very thankful for the efforts set forth by the women before me. They've open up choices that were never available to women in earlier generations.

There are times, however, that I think my generation has bitten off more than we can chew. We have too many balls in the air. There are times when I would like to take the career ball and toss it into a river. I am not implying that stay-at-home moms have it easy because they do not. But it would be nice to more hours in the day to deal with the kids/aging parents/housework stuff.

I am woman, hear me roar!

(Just a note from the other side - almost - of the 60's.....I did protest for civil rights and against the war, but that was the extent of my rebellion: no drugs, no free love, no commune. I was a good girl, I was. And I do mean girl.)

Laura, I just love it when I log on and see all the new comments on your thread. Oh goodie, that means Laura has read and reviewed another good book. And When Everything Changed does look like a good and important book to read! Thanks for calling it to our attention.

Laura, 1962 was the year the Pill became available and it meant that for the first time ever women had control over reproductive choices. For women who came into consciousness after this point, they can't understand what a profound difference that has made for women as they take it for granted. The gift of choice at last. As someone who was in her teens in the 60s, I would be very interested to read this even though it has an American perspective. Good review!

>171 wandering_star:: Do you think it's still a good read even for people not from the US? If you enjoy history, yes. It is 100% US-focused, so you won't learn a darn thing about the role of women in your own country. If you're a close neighbor (i.e.; #176 tiffin lives in Canada), there may be more parallels than if you are, say, in Europe. But still an interesting book if the general subject matter appeals to you.

>173 mrstreme:: There are times, however, that I think my generation has bitten off more than we can chew. Although I'm 10 years older than you, Jill, I have similar feelings. The book's chapter on the 80s is titled, "The 1980s -- Having it All" which really resonated with me. That was the mantra at the time -- you can have a marriage, kids, a career, and be brilliant at all of them. In 1999 my husband quit his job, ostensibly for the summer to build a deck. We thought it would be stressful financially, but it wasn't as bad as expected, and as a side benefit all the stress of getting kids to/from childcare, juggling work schedules, etc. evaporated. And he derived unexpected pleasure from being there for our daughters (something I'm a teensy bit jealous of, btw). He's never gone back to paid employment. I really, really wanted to believe in and promote that "having it all" stuff but ...

>175 Donna828:: I just love it when I log on and see all the new comments on your thread. Me too !!! This book may have generated more discussion than any other I've read this year ... I'm lovin' it.

In 1970(?), when I was still in high school, we participated in a really thrilling march down 5th Avenue for women's rights. I also protested against the war in Vietnam, and was at the first Earth Day (also 1970) in Union Square Park. It was a very exciting time to grow up.

As a feminist who came of age in the 80s (I was born in 1967), I'm also so grateful to those who fought for women's rights. My grandmother came of age and couldn't vote!

"Having it all" isn't possible, I don't think. I'm fortunate enough to have childcare in a daycare that I love and have come to understand that I'd be a terrible stay-at-home mom. However, I want my son to know the boredom of the long summer and the coziness of someone sitting with him when he's sick. I hope my partner eventually follows through on her desire to go part time. Then maybe our family will have found a way to have it all.

One of the things I don't see discussed much is the pressure on women (like me) who are both mothers and the primary bread-winners for their families. That has been particularly stressful in these economic times and something that I, and perhaps other women in my shoes, was not adequately prepared for.

>179 nancyewhite:: add to that the care of our oldsters, something both my husband and I are dealing with. We had our lads when we were a bit older but fortunately didn't have to juggle raising them, both working full-time, AND caring for our parents. The first two together were enough!

>178 rebeccanyc:: I couldn't agree with you more: it WAS an exciting time to grow up. We marched in support of Martin Luther King, driving to Toronto to participate; we marched in Take Back the Night marches against violence against women; we too protested against Vietnam. We took hammers to glass ceilings. When I was in grade 9, the dress code for girls was skirts or dresses, even in the bitterest of winters. We chipped away at this (mini skirts were a big help!) until the grade 9s could wear jeans by time I graduated. Many, many small victories led to bigger ones. I'm proud to be part of this time.

>178 rebeccanyc:: I think that march is mentioned in the book! There was reference to a gathering where Betty Friedan arrived and was surprised at the masses that had assembled.
>179 nancyewhite:: the pressure on women (like me) who are both mothers and the primary bread-winners for their families. I can relate to that ... especially, as you mentioned, over the past year or so.
>180 tiffin:: I remember my mother's resistance to me wearing jeans to school, c. 1974!

This is a great discussion. I am also among the ranks of breadwinning women. I almost lost my job last year (thankfully, I was able to find a new position at the same company), and the pressure of that reality was enormous.

When I entered law school in 1971, there were 8 females (out of 200 students) in my class. One of the male students asked me whether I didn't feel bad taking a 'man's' place in the law school, since the man would have to support a family. Five years after I graduated, I went back to the law school to recruit, and the school was 50% female.

I've been both a full-time working mom and a stay-at-home mom, and in some ways being a stay-at-home mom is harder. It is isolating, and our society doesn't value raising children as highly as it should.

>180 tiffin:: The dress code issue lingers. In 2001, my senior year of college, I worked at the Texas Senate as a messenger, and women messengers had to wear skirts or dresses, even though the job involved lots of manual labor (carrying big boxes, carrying heavy buckets of ice to all the offices, etc.). I think we also had to wear hose or tights, but I can't remember now.

Fascinating discussion, Laura. You're such a facilitator! I was at the dentist's office yesterday for my annual cleaning---have had the same hygienist for 20+ years, now, and since I can't talk while she works, I get to hear a LOT. She was telling me how when she interviewed for her first job, she was thrilled with the set-up, and the dentists offered her a job on the spot; she wisely said she'd think about it overnight, because as she was leaving one of the prospective bosses said "Oh, I should probably mention that we're all "leg men" here, so we would hope that you would not choose to wear those new uniforms with slacks if you come to work for us."!!!!! (This was about 1975, I think, and at that time she tells me that dental hygienists wore nurse's uniforms, down to the cap.) Needless to say, she turned them down.

As a follow up to this discussion, there's a fascinating article (in fact the cover story) in this month's Atlantic Monthly "The End of Men". Some thought-provoking ideas although I'm not sure I'd want to buy into many of them.

37. The Master ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

In The Master, Colm Tóibín paints a fascinating portrait of the author Henry James (1843-1916). James was an American who spent most of his life in Europe -- moving around the continent with his family during childhood, and then settling in England permanently as an adult. The book is set in the 1890s, when James' reputation was already well established, although the English found it difficult to place him in their class structure. As one woman said to James at a party, "But you have an advantage. You are an American and nobody knows who your father was or who your grandfather was. You could be anybody." (p. 24) James' New England pedigree was neither understood nor valued, but his literary talent allowed him to move freely in English society.

The story unfolds through James' point of view, and in recounting events of the 1890s his mind often wandered back to earlier times. In this way, the reader learns a great deal about James' relationships with his parents and siblings, his cousin Minny Temple, and the American novelist Constance Fenimore Woolson. The reader also experiences James' joy in finding the perfect place to live and work: Lamb House in Rye. The setting is idyllic, he takes great enjoyment in decorating his new home with all the right sort of furnishings, and he is struck by a certain sense of predestination:

when he walked into the upstairs room of Lamb House, and into the room where he himself would sleep, he believed he had come into the room where he would die. As he studied the lease, he knew that its twenty-one years would take him to the tomb. The walls of the house had witnessed men and women come and go for almost three hundred years; now it had invited him to sample briefly its charm, it had enticed him here and offered him its unlasting hospitality. It would welcome him and then see him out, as it had seen others out. He would lie stricken in one of those rooms; he would lie cold in that house. The idea both froze his blood and comforted him at the same time. (p. 125)

Tóibín also exposes James' sexual ambiguity and repression, and does so in a manner consistent with the time period. It's evident that his relationships with women are platonic. His interactions with certain men are described with allusions to homosexuality, but these are never explicitly stated in the text, just as James would have needed to keep these feelings to himself. I found this aspect of James' life rather sad. He was unable to be truly intimate with anyone, and was seen by some as a bit of a cold fish. But I also found James an endearing character, and The Master has piqued my interest in reading James' work.

Fabulous review, Laura! I've had my eye on this book for awhile, and your review has convinced me to read it.

Great review!

I really enjoyed your review; it does sound like a really interesting biography. I didn't think I'd be that interested in Henry James since I haven't read much of his work, but you've made me want to read the book.

Great review, Laura, (I had already thumbed it) and now you're hot---again! I have The Master on my shelf but haven't gotten to it yet. I do reread James at the rate of about a novel a year, and I did read the massive Leon Edel biography. If only I could stop sleeping!

You got me doing two things: trying to find my review of The Master and putting together my reading lists back to 2007! I thought I had read The Master last year but it was TWO years ago...boy time flies fast. I discovered I had just noted it on the thread, not as a review proper. Love yours *thumb*!

p.s. I have a signed copy!

#187: Another nice review, Laura. Glad you enjoyed that one. It was the first of Toibin's books that I read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've got one of James' books on my shelf and wanted to read that one before I read The Master which I first heard about last summer when I read Toibin's Brooklyn but your review makes me want to read it NOW. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. In the meantime I thumbed your review.

ETA touchstones not working. Grrrr.

I also liked The Master -- definitely pushing James in a particular direction -- what lingers is a memory of a man always watching himself, never giving himself away. A gay man I know who came out late said to me once that he never said anything out loud without first saying it in his head to check that it wouldn't give him away. I felt Toibin was writing from that perspective -- having James be that sort of hidden person.

Thanks all! I've been away from the computer all day, and it's nice to come back to all of your comments.

I admit that I picked up this book based on a previous LT recommendation (Tui and others), and because it's on the 1001 list. I had no idea it was about Henry James, and I have read absolutely no James whatsoever (shame on me). I had to do a bit of research just to orient myself -- Wikipedia, and a bit of his work via DailyLit for a few days, just to get a taste.

>195 sibylline:: Lucy, I agree with that perspective of a hidden person, always mentally checking himself.

Here's a conversation-starter:
Last week I wrote a blog post about my daughters' summer reading requirements. I then made a discovery which ticked me off, and I wrote a follow-up post. Here's the second post, which includes a link to the first:

Required Summer Reading Revisited

Some of you have read these already and commented on the blog, but I thought I'd try to generate more dialogue here.

Laura

Your comments are well written and very thought provoking.

My response is circular and ties into the previous posts regarding the perception of women in society. I graduated in 1970 from a small town high school. Not only did we have sexism to contend with, but in addition, there was a clear socio ecomonic hierarchy.

Predominately the guidance counselor told girls to take business courses, ie secretarial studies such as short hand, typing and business math.

Those girls who were perceived as "different", ie almost as smart, but not quite as bright as the boys, and who, through no fault of their own, were from the southern side of the town and not the northern part, were told not to even think about college prep courses.

The guidance counselor told those girls that college really was off limits to them.

It is ever so sad to think that even today there is a great "chasm" created by the perceptions of educators.

What I think is that the dumbing down of America is at full strength if that is what the college prep track is like!

Since there are two tracks more advanced than "college prep," wouldn't the kids who can meet the more demanding requirements go to those tracks? Maybe the "college prep" track is designed for kids who are thinking about community college or other less-demanding four-year schools.

Really, how can there be any track in which kids aren't encouraged to read? Even people who won't go to college need to be able to read and think.

>200 carlym:: I don't know about that. While my kids are in honors (and oldest is taking advanced placement, which is only for 11th/12th grades), they have a lot of friends in college prep courses. From what I see of these kids, they aren't low-level performers by any means. They may not be admitted to the "highly selective" four-year universities, but they *should* still be able to attend respectable institutions.

I'm no expert, but it just seems as if some of them are being ill prepared by this curriculum. Of course summer reading is only one small piece of their total educational experience, but we have also noticed that these kids have less rigorous demands on them during the school year as well. When often discuss this with our daughters when certain friends have more time for social activities than they do.

I guess what I'm saying is, if the kids are capable of more, shouldn't they be in the honors or AP track? Isn't it the job of their parents to make sure they're in the most demanding track they can manage? I think it would be a shame if there wasn't an option for a more intensive class, but it sounds like the honors and AP tracks have quality reading assignments.

(And, speaking as someone who took AP English classes in high school, I would not have been happy about having an assignment of 4 or 5 books over the summer. I would have wanted to read books of my own choosing, and I no doubt would have put off the required books until the last couple of weeks. Maybe the one-book assignment for the college prep students is just a recognition of the realities of the motivations of high-schoolers.)

>203 carlym:: interesting and provocative points, carlym!

I'm with Rebecca (Post 201) on this one. All students should be encouraged to read. I just don't get that reading one book of your choice is considered preparation for college -- or life for that matter.

I just finished Pat Conroy's My Losing Season in which he credits his high school teacher with igniting his passion to read great literature.

"Before I left his class, he passed out a list of great books that he'd compiled. 'I've put down one hundred novels it would behoove you to read before you go to college. The scoundrels and ne'er-do-wells among you will toss it in the trash before you leave today. But for those of you with a faint pilot light flickering in the stove, it might offer you a path to enlightenment.'...The great teachers fill you up with hope and shower you with a thousand reason to embrace all aspects of life."

I wonder if the "soft sell" approach would work better today than the "required" lists that many teachers hand out? There's much to be said about reading because you want to rather than because you have to.

The thing that gets me is the soft sell, inspirational books. They have no place on an English/Literature reading list. Come on, I know The Last Lecture was inspirational but there is no way it could be considered literature.

Requiring only 1 book to be read over 2 1/2 months is sending the wrong message to students, whether they're going to college or not. Required reading should be a way to expose students to literature they would not normally read, to stretch their brain in a way that it hasn't been before. They can have the option of reading other books that don't offer much in the way of expanding their literary horizons, but there needs to be stringent required reading first.

When I was in high school (late 1980's), we didn't have required summer reading until AP classes. I remember that I had a list of 20 books to choose from for my AP English class, and there were classics. (We had to read four). I read Tess of the D'Urbervilles, among others!

I have a special needs son, and I am exploring the option of getting his required books on an e-reader. I think he would respond better to reading if it was on an electronic device. While I am traditionalist and love holding a book, if an e-reader can get my kid to read, than it's money well spent! =)

I'm not trying to be annoying--just trying to see all sides of this.

#205: It's one book over the summer, not one book for the whole school year, right? So it's not as though they're only reading one book in preparation for college.

#206: I go back and forth on this. I agree that schools have to require real literature or most students will never read it. But I also wonder if having some easier or more approachable books--especially for summertime reading--can show students that reading can be fun and enjoyable.

>207 mrstreme:: Jill, that's the best rationalization for getting a Kindle that I've heard yet! I'm sure you won't use it at all :P
(Just teasing ... and it might just work with your little guy!)

>208 carlym:: carlym, yes it's one book over the summer. They'll read more during the school year. And I don't think you're annoying!!

I'm looking forward to when school districts start buying at least their textbooks electronically. I bet it would be much cheaper for school districts in the long run. Books get damaged and become outdated and end up taking up a lot of storage space in most schools. I think it would be easier to loan a kindle to their students; students could get them basically free as long as they return them in good condition. An e-reader would be so great for my students, especially if they could read along while listening, or quickly get a clear pronunciation of any word and/or the definition. Comprehension is 90% vocabulary, and knowledge of words comes primarily from the books one reads or listens to, not every day conversation. Most of my students don't have problems with comprehension, not initially anyway, but eventually that can suffer too, if students fall behind as decoders.

Jill, you read Tess of the D'Urbervilles in highschool? Wow, I am impressed. I really liked the movie and thought the cinematography was incredible. Then, I tried to read the book. Thomas Hardy is a difficult author to read.

I did. And I liked it a lot, though I haven't been anxious to try more Hardy again!

38. Beside the Sea ()
Reviewed on LibraryThing & on my blog

From the opening sentence, I knew there was something different about this book: We took the bus, the last bus of the evening, so no one would see us. I was instantly intrigued and wary. Why would a mother and her two young sons want to leave home unnoticed? The bus takes them to a seaside town, to fulfill the mother's wish that her boys see the ocean. The nameless mother provides the narrative, and the more I lived inside her head, the greater my fear and trepidation. It's clear she loves her sons, and wants to preserve their childhood as long as possible:

he jumps onto my bed and asks me to give him a farty kiss, that's a big kiss on his tummy which makes a lot of noise and it makes him laugh so much you wouldn't believe it, it's like he's laughing to hear himself laugh, that he's making the most of that laughter, having fun with it, and I know that a laugh like that runs away the minute you grow up. (p. 32)

But little by little, the story reveals a troubled soul. The holiday is stressful in the way holidays with young children can be. The weather is horrible, and she must deal with two little boys, cooped up in a sixth-floor hotel room accessible only by stairs. But she is also overcome by anxiety and paranoia. Having scraped together all the spare change in the house to spend on treats, she is convinced local merchants are looking down on her for paying with coins instead of notes. Eventually her anxiety gets the better of her, and she escapes into sleep, leaving the boys to fend for themselves in the hotel room:

I left everything, left that town and myself along with it: my body was weightless, painless, I sank into something soft and I shed my fear and anger, and my shame too. I went to a world where there's a place kept for me. Not asleep and not awake, I'm a feather. Not asleep and not awake, but I come undone, I sprawl out look a cotton reel unwinding. Why did I topple over the edge then? Why did I start to dream? (p. 59)

The young family's loneliness and desperation was so sad, and I was completely immersed in the mother's unraveling. But I still gasped out loud when the novella reached its inevitable climax. This is a beautifully written story, but one that will haunt me for quite some time.

Thumbs up on another great review!

Great review, indeed! I want to read this book ASAP, based on your enticing comments.

Definitely a book I will be looking for. Thanks for the great review, Laura!

Doesn't sound like something I would have picked up on my own, but your review has convinced me to give it a try. It's going on my wishlist! Thanx!

It's an incredible book -- only 111 pages, which I read in a single sitting while traveling by train from Washington to Delaware. I wonder what the woman sitting next to me thought when I gasped and clapped my hand over my mouth?! It's translated from the French, and the writing is beautiful. But oh, what a disturbing story.

I might not have picked this on my own either, but I'm also adding it to the wishlist. Thanks, Laura.

Terrific review, Laura, but I don't think I could read this one.

>220 tiffin:: Tui, I know you well enough to say you're right.

That is perhaps the most enticing review I've ever read Laura.

>222 brenzi:: oh my, thanks Bonnie!

Bonnie is right! You write incredible reviews!

* blush *

Keep on blushing -- It's interesting how the best and worst books bring out the best reviews.....

Wonderful review. This is one I'm definitely making it a point to read.

Come on over to my new thread !