GailRoger
Ottawa Public Library
GailRoger's Completed Shelf
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Angels in AmericaAngels in America, Book
Book - 2004 | Widescreen version.Book, 2004. Widescreen version.
GailRoger's rating:
Added Sep 12, 2015
GailRoger's rating:
Added Jul 11, 2015
Closest CompanionClosest Companion, BookThe Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley
Book - 1995Book, 1995
GailRoger's rating:
Added Apr 30, 2013
Comment:
When I saw the film Hyde Park on Hudson, I had never heard of Margaret Suckley, but I know something of FDR and his era, so I found myself questioning what I was seeing. Of course, so-called historical films have limited time and a need for dramatic tension, so the facts are going to be altered. I noted that this was based on a play which was based on a book. I went home and placed a hold on the only copy in the library. It took three months for my turn to come up. At first, I thought the wait had been a waste of time. Geoffrey C. Ward is not the author of this book, but the editor and annotator of the collected letters and diaries of Margaret Suckley, whom he had met while researching his own books on FDR. My disappointment gradually abated as I read further. Margaret (aka "Daisy") was articulate, idealistic, and absolutely in love with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, her distant (sixth) cousin. (His wife Eleanor Roosevelt was her fourth cousin.) Daisy was a product of her time and class. Although her family had lost much of their wealth during the twenties and thirties, her viewpoint was one of privilege and her attitudes towards people of colour, although liberal then, would get her into a lot of trouble today. She does come across as sweetly naive, and there is not a word against FDR whom she worshiped. This very lack of criticism and her willingness to stay in the background no doubt kept her in the very inner ring of FDR's circle long after the intensity of their friendship slackened. Did this relationship ever involve a Bill-Clinton-ish encounter as the movie suggests? After reading Daisy's letters and diaries (FDR's letters to her are included), I doubt it. Both FDR and Eleanor had intense and romantic friendships, and some of them may have involved physical intimacy. However, Daisy's starry-eyed adoration over many years doesn't seem to fit in with that. We need to remember that it was a very different time. For those interested in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, this book is indispensable, and Ward's annotations are even-handed and unobtrusive.When I saw the film Hyde Park on Hudson, I had never heard of Margaret Suckley, but I know something of FDR and his era, so I found myself questioning what I was seeing. Of course, so-called historical films have limited time and a need for dramatic…
Moonrise KingdomMoonrise Kingdom, DVD
DVD - 2012 | Widescreen versionDVD, 2012. Widescreen version
GailRoger's rating:
Added Feb 17, 2013
Comment:
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. (I had expected to like The Royal Tannenbaums -- and hadn't.) The art direction is superb with images that are super-real and surreal at the same time. It's a bit like watching an Alex Colville painting come to life. Always pleased to see Frances McDormand, but the whole cast is a delight, including the juvenile actors.I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. (I had expected to like The Royal Tannenbaums -- and hadn't.) The art direction is superb with images that are super-real and surreal at the same time. It's a bit like watching an Alex…
The Wisdom of PsychopathsThe Wisdom of Psychopaths, BookWhat Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success
by Dutton, KevinBook - 2012Book, 2012
GailRoger's rating:
Added Jan 30, 2013
Comment:
Last autumn, I came across an article in the Globe and Mail which includes an interview with author Kevin Dutton and an overview of his book The Wisdom of Psychopaths. I felt a dropping in my stomach as I read it, because at the end of the article were two lists: one denoting leadership traits, the other the corresponding psychopathic traits. The first list came fairly close to describing a relative. The second list pretty much nailed him. I sat in a mild state of shock for a few minutes, then logged into my local library's web site and put a hold on the book.
Dr Kevin Dutton begins The Wisdom of Psychopaths with tales of his own father and his father's audacity. Neither Dutton's dad nor my relative was a serial killer (so far as I know). This is the point. We use the term "psychopath" as a synonym for "serial killer". This isn't so, and Dutton is by no means the first person to make this point. Most of us probably personally know people living with autism, Parkinson's Disease or schizophrenia. (I certainly do.) Why wouldn't we also know functional psychopaths?
Dutton describes how the very qualities that help politicians, surgeons, military intelligence operatives, CEOs and sales people rise in their professions and succeed in what they need to do are similar to the traits shared by some of the most dangerous people in our society. He calls these "The Seven Deadly Wins": ruthlessness, charm, focus, mental toughness, fearlessness, mindfulness (as in living in the here and now), and action ("Psychopaths," Dutton declares, "never procrastinate.").
As I read, I thought of the possible psychopaths I'd encountered in my own life: a boy at school who could turn friendliness on and off when it suited him, a teaching partner whose relationships with the students we shared made me uneasy, at least two of my husband's bosses, and yes, that family member.
I admit, though, I'm nothing but an armchair psychologist and this book, written in a glib, popular-science style, is nothing more than food for thought. An interesting read, but not something on which to base your life philosophy. Unless, like a psychopath, you have little in the way of a conscience.Last autumn, I came across an article in the Globe and Mail which includes an interview with author Kevin Dutton and an overview of his book The Wisdom of Psychopaths. I felt a dropping in my stomach as I read it, because at the end of the article…
GailRoger's rating:
Added Jan 28, 2013
Comment:
So some pathetic excitement in my life: I've actually read something that's up for an award - National Book Critics Circle Awards 2012. The irony, of course, is that HHhH was published in French in 2009; it's the translation that is copyright 2012. I wonder how much of the award is for the author, and how much for the translator (a man from Nottingham named Sam Taylor who has written three novels of his own)?
This book is about Reinhard Heydrich, head of the SS, a chief creator of the "Final Solution", and terror of Prague, where he was eventually assassinated in 1942. I first heard of him when I was in elementary school, reading a simplified Scholastic version of William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which included a brief and rather sanitized description of what the Nazis did to the village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia in reprisal after Heydrich's death. To put it simply, they killed everybody except a handful of kids who could pass for Aryans. They even shot the dogs before razing the place.
This story is also about Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík, the Czech and the Slovak assigned to kill Heydrich. Apart from what Heydrich represented and the horrors he unleashed, according to Laurent Binet, the Czech government-in-exile needed a powerful act of resistance so that London would remember to revoke the Munich Agreement after the war.
To interweave the stories of the marksmen and their target, Binet writes -- not a novel exactly, but a series of impressions about writing a novel about Heydrich and Kubis and Gabčík. In 257 sort of blog posts, Binet veers from Heydrich's childhood and rise to power, to the choice of Gabčík and Kubiš for the suicide mission, from Babi Yar to a brutal and possibly mythical football match between Nazis and Ukranians, from whether Heydrich's Mercedes was black or dark green to which of the Czech families who aided Kubiš and Gabčík (the vast majority of whom were shot or gassed) will be sacrificed from the narrative for brevity's sake.
Does it work? Well, yes. It's a bit distracting at times, especially when Binet hauls us back into the present to stew over details, but the final third of the book as we hurtle toward the assassination and its horrific aftermath is engrossing -- and frankly getting jerked into the present is a relief.
Will it win the award? Heck, I don't know; I never read the latest books, so I have no idea what the competition is like. This book is worth reading though, whether it wins the award or not.So some pathetic excitement in my life: I've actually read something that's up for an award - National Book Critics Circle Awards 2012. The irony, of course, is that HHhH was published in French in 2009; it's the translation that is copyright 2012.…
GailRoger's rating:
Added Jan 18, 2013
Comment:
There are three Zanesvilles in the United States; this one appears to be a tiny community south of Springfield, Illinois. (The towns of Heyworth and Waynesville are mentioned.) The time covers the months between the summer of 1972 and the following winter. ("Ooh Child" is called an "old" song and "Ben" [released the summer of 1972] is quoted.) Our heroine, whose name may be "Jan", is definitely not "Joan", and is in all likelihood Jo Ann, is fourteen, gifted, and a late-bloomer. In 1972's small-town America, this means she is still a little girl emotionally when the book opens. We follow her through a series of seemingly unimportant adolescent incidents which are, of course, life-changing to her, and by the end, we are hearing the thoughts and ideas of a teenager.
This is not a Young Adult novel. This is closer to being a memoir from someone who remembers exactly what it was like to be no longer pre-adolescent, but only barely -- and to have no idea what to do about it. Beard writes skillfully and truthfully. It may be lacking in sex and violence, but it is, nevertheless, a book for grown-ups.
The audio-book is inventively read by Jo Anna Perrin.There are three Zanesvilles in the United States; this one appears to be a tiny community south of Springfield, Illinois. (The towns of Heyworth and Waynesville are mentioned.) The time covers the months between the summer of 1972 and the following…
Girls in White DressesGirls in White Dresses, Book
by Close, JenniferBook - 2011 | 1st ed.Book, 2011. 1st ed.
GailRoger's rating:
Added Jan 18, 2013
Comment:
This book claims to be a novel, but it's really a series of short stories, all concerning a clique of girls from Philadelphia who get jobs (mostly) in New York. They may not be cheerleaders exactly, but they seem to share a similar sort of mentality, being privileged, well-educated, pretty girls who get jobs in areas like publishing, and when they don't, sourly contemplate how these are "not the kind of people (they are) supposed to be around". The men they date are two-dimensional and described in terms of their physical attractiveness or lack thereof (making this rather like a lot of novels by male authors, I suppose). One of the least pleasant chapters concerns a member of their set who will only go out with ugly men. Another woman wails when she is set up with an overweight date: "What about me says, Set me up with an obese person?"
Two or three of the short stories have genuine humour and show our protagonists in a more sympathetic light. One, entitled "Showers", is a neat illustration of the giddy excess and embarrassing silliness of pre-wedding rituals. Another, "Button", follows a young woman's underground power struggle with her mother-in-law. Close does best when she writes about the girls as children, or when they interact with children. This is when they come across as real human beings, perhaps because these women are nowhere near growing up. By the end of the book, there is no sense that they have developed any further than the people they were at the beginning.
Oh, I might be missing the point. Perhaps I'm failing to notice devilishly clever social satire, but the fact is, none of these women are appealing, hold my interest, nor resemble anyone I would care to meet in real life.This book claims to be a novel, but it's really a series of short stories, all concerning a clique of girls from Philadelphia who get jobs (mostly) in New York. They may not be cheerleaders exactly, but they seem to share a similar sort of…
A Magnificent ObsessionA Magnificent Obsession, BookVictoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy
by Rappaport, HelenBook - 2012 | 1st U.S. ed.Book, 2012. 1st U.S. ed.
GailRoger's rating:
Added Nov 12, 2012
Comment:
Having read and enjoyed Helen Rapport's book on the demise of Tsar Nicholas and his family The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg, I was anxious to get my hands on this. I was a little worried to find blurbs on the back from People Magazine, Charles Spencer (Diana, Princess of Wales' unpredictable brother), and Alison Weir, but I needn't have worried. This book is well-written and carefully researched.
The relationship between Queen Victoria and her beloved consort Prince Albert is hardly a new topic, but Rappaport dedicates the first half of her book on the weeks leading up to Albert's untimely death in 1861, while the second half covers the following decade, during which Victoria retreated almost entirely from public life, much to the concern and exasperation of her family, government, and subjects. This is an interesting and well-researched look into the consequences of Albert's death and its impact on the Royal Family, Great Britain as a whole, and the mourning industry in particular.
Rappaport treats the Queen's unremitting sorrow with just enough sympathy that we may not quite feel like strangling Victoria by the end, but we will have even more sympathy for Victoria's children (especially her daughters), her beleaguered courtiers and Albert himself. She includes an appendix on modern medicine's attempt to identify the illness that killed the Consort off.Having read and enjoyed Helen Rapport's book on the demise of Tsar Nicholas and his family The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg, I was anxious to get my hands on this. I was a little worried to find blurbs on the back from People…
GailRoger's rating:
Added Sep 13, 2012
Comment:
I've been exposed to many literary, cinematic, and televised variations of the events surrounding the first three wives of Henry VIII. (Let's just forget The Tudors ever happened, shall we?) In every version I can recall, Cardinal Wolsey is the corpulent consumer of power and property; Thomas Cromwell is the sinister, scheming agent of the king, and Thomas More is the upright and ethical man who gives his life for his principles.
In Wolf Hall (named, rather mysteriously, for the home of Henry's third queen Jane Seymour who doesn't figure all that heavily in the narrative -- although we know she will later), we're getting the story from Cromwell's viewpoint. As a result, Cardinal Wolsey is portrayed as a rather lovable old man with a gift for acquiring things; Thomas More is rather a nasty piece of work, determined to be martyred; and Cromwell a loving husband, father, and master who views all the goings-on with world-weary resignation.
I quite enjoyed this and part of the credit must go to the entertaining audiobook performance by the very clever Simon Slater. He furnishes a dizzying array of voices which are distinctive enough to help identify the different characters -- particularly useful for people who went by more than one title.
I suspect the sequel, which involves the downfall of Anne Boleyn (not a nice lady in this book), will by necessity show Cromwell in a colder and crueler light. It will be some months before I know, given the huge line-up for library holds.I've been exposed to many literary, cinematic, and televised variations of the events surrounding the first three wives of Henry VIII. (Let's just forget The Tudors ever happened, shall we?) In every version I can recall, Cardinal Wolsey is the…
Still LifeStill Life, Audiobook CD
by Penny, LouiseAudiobook CD - 2008 | Unabridged.Audiobook CD, 2008. Unabridged.
GailRoger's rating:
Added May 23, 2012
Comment:
I think I'd have given this four stars if I'd read the book instead of listening to it. Not that I have anything against Ralph Cosham as a narrator -- he's been haunting me for the past six months, showing up as the reader of Watership Down and The Woman in Black.
The thing is, those are both British books, and Still Life is a Canadian novel set in a small town outside of Montreal. There are no shortage of English accents in Canada; I grew up surrounded by them, but there are no such accents in Still Life; the characters are all anglophone and francophone Quebeckers. Come to think of it, I had similar problems with a collection of Alice Munro's short stories read by an American reader. Canadians do pronounce words differently, no matter what non-Canadians think.
Cosham's accent wraps itself awkwardly around the colloquialisms in both languages (his bio says he speaks French, but evidently not Quebecois French), and robs some of the funnier bits of their humour. Please understand, he's won awards for book narration and deservedly so, but he is ill-suited for this book. Would you enjoy a British audiobook read by an American, French, or Spanish reader? Wouldn't you find it distracting?
In spite of these reservations, I quite liked the style and plot of this mystery, even though I'm not an unreserved fan of the genre, and look forward to reading more of Louise Penny's books. Reading them, not listening to them. (Sorry, Mr Cosham; I'm sure I'll enjoy your renditions of other British works, just as I have in the past.)I think I'd have given this four stars if I'd read the book instead of listening to it. Not that I have anything against Ralph Cosham as a narrator -- he's been haunting me for the past six months, showing up as the reader of Watership Down and The…
CaptivatedCaptivated, BookJ.M. Barrie, the Du Mauriers and the Dark Side of Neverland
by Dudgeon, PiersBook - 2008Book, 2008
GailRoger's rating:
Added May 15, 2012
Comment:
First off, I finished reading this book out of pure altruism: so you won't have to. All right, it's also because I paid for the damned thing. I found it in the bargain bin of my local bookstore and it certainly looked interesting.
And it's not a boring read, it's just a really really really irritating read. I was about a third of the way through when I pulled Andrew Birkin's J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys out of my shelves to remind myself what a good book on the subject is like. (And seriously, Andrew Birkin's book is what you need if you want a better picture of the truly eerie story of James Barrie and his relationship with the five young Llewellyn-Davies brothers; trust me, Finding Neverland is nowhere near what really happened.)
Then I found myself reading other, totally unrelated books because I was wasting too much time hurling this one across the room.
At one point, Dudgeon quotes Daphne DuMaurier's biographer Margaret Forster who, he says, criticized Daphne for mixing documentary fact "in the most awkward fashion with entirely imaginary suppositions, greatly to [the book's]detriment". That sums up this book perfectly. Go read Birkin's book instead.
Now, I'm going to toss this into the give-away box, but not before marking it up in pencil to warn the unwary. Then I'm going to read something by someone who writes well, has a good editor, and doesn't use speculation instead of research.First off, I finished reading this book out of pure altruism: so you won't have to. All right, it's also because I paid for the damned thing. I found it in the bargain bin of my local bookstore and it certainly looked interesting.
And it's not a…
GailRoger's rating:
Added May 01, 2012
Comment:
I stumbled upon this book while pursuing something else. That's how I find most good things. I was listening to an Irish radio station interview actor David Tennant a few weeks ago, and Elliot Perlman was promoting this book on the same show. I hadn't intended to listen longer, but when I did, I went to the library web site and put a hold on the book.
"Dickensian" was the word that sprang to mind as I was reading it and I notice the word has been used in other reviews. Don't let me mislead you. This book is very much about the present and the past seventy years. It touches on the civil rights struggle in the United States and goes into great detail about how the killing machine that was Auschwitz worked.
What does the civil rights movement have to do with the Holocaust? Well, Elliot Perlman has the gift for weaving seemingly disparate events and people together. That's how he resembles Dickens, although Dickens, even in his most passionate flights of horrific description, could not have come up with the details of how a gas chamber works. I found those passages difficult to read even though there was nothing described I hadn't encountered before. If you're new to what happened in the death camps, you're in for a shock.
This book is cleverly woven together, moving back and forth in time, and in and out of story threads. For me, there was only one coincidence that jarred, but I'll spare you. It's a small one. I'll be placing holds on more Elliot Perlman books.I stumbled upon this book while pursuing something else. That's how I find most good things. I was listening to an Irish radio station interview actor David Tennant a few weeks ago, and Elliot Perlman was promoting this book on the same show. I…
Watership DownWatership Down, Downloadable Audiobook
by Adams, RichardDownloadable Audiobook - 2010Downloadable Audiobook, 2010
GailRoger's rating:
Added Dec 18, 2011
Comment:
Younger daughter, who is on the autistic spectrum, needed a novel for her independent reading project, so I googled "middle school books" and up came Watership Down which I'd never got around to reading. Perfect, I thought. It's about animals, which younger daughter adores, and there's a well-reviewed animated film which will provide badly-needed visuals for her very concrete-thinking mind.
In preparation for helping her get this read over the Christmas holidays, I downloaded an audio version from our public library, and listened to it on bus commutes. Ralph Cosgrove's narration is lively and doesn't distract the listener from the story. I particularly enjoyed his portrayal of Kehaar the gull as a straight-talking Scandinavian. Three things you need to know about this novel: it's gripping; it's dated; it's looooong.
Adams tells us in the forward that the novel came out of stories he would tell his young daughters on lengthy car rides. Apparently, it was the girls who suggested the stories were good enough to be written down. I can see why. This is the epic tale of a group of rabbits, led by the heroic and self-effacing hero Hazel, who flee their warren on the basis of the mystical warnings of Hazel's psychic brother Fiver. Their journey to establish a new rabbit colony in Watership Down in Hampshire is dangerous and full of death-defying deeds. (I trust it isn't a spoiler to say that surprisingly few rabbits die during the course of this novel.)
Dated? Well, it was published in 1972, and despite the fact that Adams was writing these stories for his daughters, all the main characters are male. We get a hint of heroism from the doe-rabbit Hyzenthlay who helps in the escape from the oppressive warren Efrafa, but she barely figures in the story and few of the other does are even given names. It is clear that Hazel and his fellow-bucks expect little from the female rabbits except for breeding purposes. Adams includes a rather quaint apologetic passage explaining that rabbits are practical and not romantic by nature -- as if the attitudes of the males in the story somehow differs from the attitudes of men of Adams' generation. (Adams' military background is very evident throughout.)
That said, it's an entertaining and clever book, but it does go on, including four or five rabbit legends which, although illuminating, break up and slow down the narrative. It's going to be tough going over Christmas. I wonder if younger daughter will ever forgive me.Younger daughter, who is on the autistic spectrum, needed a novel for her independent reading project, so I googled "middle school books" and up came Watership Down which I'd never got around to reading. Perfect, I thought. It's about animals, which…
The Blackest StreetsThe Blackest Streets, BookThe Life and Death of A Victorian Slum
by Wise, SarahBook - 2008Book, 2008
GailRoger's rating:
Added Dec 09, 2011
Comment:
I got this book out of the library for two reasons: 1) someone recommended it in the Goodreads reviews for Lost London: 1870-1945 which I'd recently bought; 2) I thought, based on my struggles with working out historical London streets, that I had ancestors living in the Nichol around 1840. I've since discovered that my lot were actually in Haggerston, several blocks to the north, but never mind.
This is a very readable account of the neighbourhood behind St Leonard Shoreditch which, for about one century, had the reputation of being the dirtiest, poorest, and most dangerous place in London. Sarah Wise doesn't dispute the dirt and poverty, but she has some perspective to offer on the danger. The Nichol was a dangerous place to live, no doubt, but more for malnutrition, disease, and domestic violence than murder. Wise tells the story of how a rather rural area surrounded by gardens became a dark warren of poorly constructed and overcrowded buildings in a few decades. We hear what it was like to grow up in such an area, why so little was done for the residents, and finally, the grand plans to transform the neighbourhood into a wholesome and aesthetically pleasing community for the "deserving poor", with predictable results.
It's an interesting angle on the nineteenth century and underlines how much, and how very little, has changed.I got this book out of the library for two reasons: 1) someone recommended it in the Goodreads reviews for Lost London: 1870-1945 which I'd recently bought; 2) I thought, based on my struggles with working out historical London streets, that I had…
GailRoger's rating:
Added Oct 25, 2011
Comment:
Of the four Rutherfurd novels I've read (Sarum, London, The Forest, and New York), I've really enjoyed three. New York is one of the favoured three. As usual, Rutherford introduces different families into a narrative covering several centuries, rather like a weaver at the loom. The families clash, intermarry, and work together, each generation blissfully unaware of past connections.
Ric Burn's documentary series about New York happened to be re-playing on my local educational channel at the same time I was reading this novel, so I deliberately paced my reading to coincide with each episode. The emphases are slightly different (Burns pays more attention to Alexander Hamilton than Rutherfurd does, for example), but on the whole, there seems to be an agreement about the major events in the turbulent life of the city: the American Revolution, the race riot of 1963, the Triangle Factory Fire of 1911. Burns' documentary was completed in 1999, so there's a haunting quality to the final episodes. Rutherfurd's characters, now all wealthy and well-educated, are of course fully involved in the disaster. You may want to read it to find out who survives.Of the four Rutherfurd novels I've read (Sarum, London, The Forest, and New York), I've really enjoyed three. New York is one of the favoured three. As usual, Rutherford introduces different families into a narrative covering several centuries,…
The Friendly DickensThe Friendly Dickens, BookBeing A Good-natured Guide to the Art and Adventures of the Man Who Invented Scrooge
by Epstein, NorrieBook - 1998Book, 1998
GailRoger's rating:
Added Oct 25, 2011
Comment:
I've owned Norrie Epstein's The Friendly Shakespeare for some years, and was delighted to discover she's done the same for Charles Dickens, that is, written a guide to Dickens' life and works that is thoroughly accessible, interesting and fun. It includes background to the novels, guides to the films made from the novel, and interviews with actors, scholars and other articulate people. You can read this through, or dip into it as you like. If you are fond of Dickens, or even if you are rather put off by him -- particularly if you are one of those unfortunate people who haven't read A Christmas Carol because it's "too long", you should probably get this book out of the library. I did (get it out of the library, I mean), and now plan to purchase it.I've owned Norrie Epstein's The Friendly Shakespeare for some years, and was delighted to discover she's done the same for Charles Dickens, that is, written a guide to Dickens' life and works that is thoroughly accessible, interesting and fun. It…
The Lake Shore LimitedThe Lake Shore Limited, Book
by Miller, SueBook - 2010 | 1st ed.Book, 2010. 1st ed.
GailRoger's rating:
Added Aug 26, 2011
Comment:
Have you ever had someone tell you the plot of a movie? Usually kids do this and it's rather tedious, isn't it? I was really worried as I read through the first section of this book because much of it involves a character's recounting an entire play. It's only as you enter into the viewpoints of the three other characters in this novel that it becomes clear why we need to know about the play.
So that's my caveat: you will be treated to Sue Miller's extraordinary ability to tell a story from differing viewpoints, revealing truths while exposing individual blind-spots. But you'll have to sit through that play first. It will be worth it.Have you ever had someone tell you the plot of a movie? Usually kids do this and it's rather tedious, isn't it? I was really worried as I read through the first section of this book because much of it involves a character's recounting an entire…
The Blue FlowerThe Blue Flower, Book
by Fitzgerald, PenelopeBook - 2013 | Fourth Estate paperback edition 2013.Book, 2013. Fourth Estate paperback edition 2013.
GailRoger's rating:
Added Jun 27, 2011
Comment:
Reading this brought home to me how little I know of German literature, society, and history, which is a pity because a sizable portion of my daughters' heritage is German (including their surname!).
This story of a young German philosopher and his eccentric family is told with wry wit, but there's a sad surprise at the end when we discover just how little time these whimsical creatures had.Reading this brought home to me how little I know of German literature, society, and history, which is a pity because a sizable portion of my daughters' heritage is German (including their surname!).
This story of a young German philosopher and his…
KrakatoaKrakatoa, BookThe Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883
by Winchester, SimonBook - 2003Book, 2003
GailRoger's rating:
Added Apr 18, 2011
Comment:
Some time around 8:30 on the morning of May 18, 1980, I was reading in bed, it being the Sunday morning of the Victoria Day long weekend. Victoria Day is a big deal in Victoria, for obvious reasons, but most of the big events take place on the Monday, so I was mildly surprised to hear what I thought was the twenty-one gun salute down at the Inner Harbour. It sounded like a steady series of explosions: Boom...boom...boom.... I didn't count them, but remembered thinking it was an odd time to be having them; such a ceremony usually took place on the hour, a bit later in the morning. It was only when the news came through from Seattle that I realized that what I'd been hearing was the catastrophic eruption of Mount Saint Helen --- two hundred miles away. Some of my Esquimalt neighbours reported the same thing; others didn't hear a thing, but noticed their windows rattling.
On August 27th, 1883, where the western tip of Java nearly meets the southern tip of Sumatra, the volcano Krakatoa finally blew itself apart, and people as far as 3000 miles away heard what they thought were cannons. Since Morse code and undersea cables were a recent innovation, the news spread quickly. At least 32,000 people had died in the monstrous tsunamis and other horrors generated by this natural disaster, the first catastrophe to be so quickly and widely reported, as well as so deeply studied.
Those coming to Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded and expecting a grisly account of the disaster itself may be disappointed. Simon Winchester begins with the leisurely and detailed objective of placing the event in every context imaginable: historic, economic, geologic, sociological, political, meteorologic.... It's a long journey indeed before he gets down to a meticulous retelling of the events leading up to and those resulting from the series of terrifying blasts in the Sunda Strait.
While it's true the story is especially gripping at that point, I found the roundabout journey compelling as well. This may be because I was listening to the audio version of the book, read clearly and pleasantly by Winchester himself. I enjoyed his dry humour and his multifaceted approach.
I have a bone to pick with him, however. In passing, he mentions the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helen, comparing it with the unbelievable cacophony of Krakatoa a century earlier and stating that in Mount St Helen's case, the blast was not heard beyond the immediate surrounding mountain range. Evidently, Mr Winchester did not speak to anyone in Victoria, British Columbia....
For those hungry for the angst and agony of Krakatoa's death throes, you might seek out the 2006 BBC docu-drama on the subject Krakatoa: The Last Days, starring Olivia Williams and Rupert Penry-Jones, which I believe features interviews with Simon Winchester himself. I haven't seen this film, which is unavailable in Canada, but some lengthy excerpts are available at YouTube.Some time around 8:30 on the morning of May 18, 1980, I was reading in bed, it being the Sunday morning of the Victoria Day long weekend. Victoria Day is a big deal in Victoria, for obvious reasons, but most of the big events take place on the…
Doctor Who, the Writer's TaleDoctor Who, the Writer's Tale, BookThe Final Chapter : the Definitive Story of the BBC Series
by Davies, Russell T.Book - 2010Book, 2010
GailRoger's rating:
Added Apr 10, 2011
Comment:
Okay, I'll be straight with you. If you're not a follower of the sci-fi/fantasy television series Doctor Who, there's probably little reason for you to read this book (or this review, for that matter). It's not just about Doctor Who, of course. It's about British television in the early part of the first decade of this century, and, above all, it's about writing, but to get to that, you 'll be wading up to your waist in Doctor Who and if you're not a Whovian, you'll just get lost, trust me.
Russell T Davies is the guy who resurrected Doctor Who. Or ruined it, depending on whom you ask. I'm married to the Resident Fan Boy who seems to have been moving into the latter camp ever since we were exposed to the final four specials that rounded off Davies' tenure in the New Who universe that he created. (The Resident Fan Boy is a Classic Whovian, devoted to the series as it was between 1963 and 1988, although he'll watch anything Who-related.)
Now, I wasn't crazy about those specials either. However, I can credit Davies with making me a New Whovian in the first place. Like many current female fan-girls, I came to DW after watching Tenth Doctor David Tennant in the saucy biopic Casanova, penned by Davies. My reaction at the time: "Hey...isn't David Tennant the new Doctor? Wait a minute...Russell T Davies wrote this? Didn't he write Bob and Rose? He's writing the new Doctor Who too?!?"
So I started watching the new Doctor Who, then I started staying up late to catch reruns of Davies' first Who season, with Chritopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and...
...I became a prime candidate to read A Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter which covers the period when Davies began writing his final full season of Doctor Who while beginning a long, detailed and deliberate series of e-mails with Doctor Who Magazine writer and journalist Ben Cook. This gives fans of the show a peephole into the shadowland of roads not taken in character development, plot, casting, and special effects (usually the first to go to save money).
What did I learn from this book? I learned that Russell T Davies wrote not only his own episodes, but as the show's head writer re-wrote most of the episodes by other writers. Some evidently didn't mind and their comments on the process are included; a couple probably did. (I don't think Davies re-wrote episodes by Stephen Moffat who eventually took over the series from him.) Again, I was stunned by the quantity of ideas generated by this man; many of which were not used.
Bottom line? While anyone who is not a fan of Doctor Who would not get this book at all, it is pretty well irresistible for anyone who does love this extraordinary television show, whether they're a Russell T Davies fan or not. All Whovians owe a debt to him.Okay, I'll be straight with you. If you're not a follower of the sci-fi/fantasy television series Doctor Who, there's probably little reason for you to read this book (or this review, for that matter). It's not just about Doctor Who, of course. It's…
The Lost Summer of Louisa May AlcottThe Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, Book
by McNees, Kelly O'ConnorBook - 2010Book, 2010
GailRoger's rating:
Added Mar 28, 2011
Comment:
It's probably not a good sign when one finds oneself making up rules for a drinking game during the course of a book. Particularly when one is not much of a drinker. However, inappropriateness has never been an obstacle for me, so I present "The Louisa May Alcott Drinking Game". And yes, I know she wasn't a drinker either:
1. Take a sip of homemade wine (purely for medicinal purposes) every time someone's chest tightens.
2. Take half a shot every time someone's lips are pursed "in a line".
3. Take the whole shot every time someone rolls their eyes.
While I realize that most drinking games are designed for watching films while getting drunk quite quickly, I guarantee if you follow these directions while reading this book, you'll get tiddly in quite short order.
To make a long story short (and this story is way too long), this is apparently Ms McNees' first novel and it shows. As a birthright Unitarian, I appreciate the research that has gone into this and the inclusion of many noteworthy Unitarians such as Fanny Kemble, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller. This is very much a work of historical romantic fiction, though, and will only appeal to romance fans.It's probably not a good sign when one finds oneself making up rules for a drinking game during the course of a book. Particularly when one is not much of a drinker. However, inappropriateness has never been an obstacle for me, so I present "The…
Titanic's Last SecretsTitanic's Last Secrets, BookThe Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler
by Matsen, BradfordBook - 2008 | 1st ed.Book, 2008. 1st ed.
GailRoger's rating:
Added Feb 18, 2011
Comment:
I've been interested in the Titanic since reading A Night to Remember at age ten, but I don't know if I count as a "Titaniac" (despite what you might find in my bookshelves): I wasn't crazy about the James Cameron movie, nor am I enamoured of the mechanical trivia surrounding the doomed ship. This book may be aimed at the latter group, but it is written a bit like a historical novel, so if ship engineering isn't your thing, this is a painless way to learn more about it.
The last secrets, though? I seriously doubt it....I've been interested in the Titanic since reading A Night to Remember at age ten, but I don't know if I count as a "Titaniac" (despite what you might find in my bookshelves): I wasn't crazy about the James Cameron movie, nor am I enamoured of the…
Mary Poppins, She WroteMary Poppins, She Wrote, BookThe Life of P.L. Travers
by Lawson, ValerieBook - 2006 | 1st Simon & Schuster ed.Book, 2006. 1st Simon & Schuster ed.
GailRoger's rating:
Added Feb 18, 2011
Comment:
I had to rush through the final third of this one because someone had put a hold on it. I grew up with PL Travers' Mary Poppins books, having been brought to them by the Disney film.
Mary Poppins is, of course, only a tiny part of the life of this complex and sometimes prickly woman: an Australian who thought of herself as English (and Anglo-Irish), a young actor and poet who counted WB Yeats among her mentors, and a seeker of exotic philosophies.
The title is clunky, but the book itself is well-researched and ably written.I had to rush through the final third of this one because someone had put a hold on it. I grew up with PL Travers' Mary Poppins books, having been brought to them by the Disney film.
Mary Poppins is, of course, only a tiny part of the life of this…
Bleak HouseBleak House, Book
by Dickens, CharlesBook - 2003 | 150th anniversary ed.Book, 2003. 150th anniversary ed.
Added Jan 23, 2011
Comment:
@22950006357453:
Dickens can be a challenge for modern readers. We are used to pithier fare. That said, if you compare Dickens to his contemporaries, you may discover that his style is remarkably modern, with a cutting, ironic wit many years ahead of his time.
Might I suggest tackling him with an audio-book version? Sometimes hearing a challenging book (particularly if it's well-read by the performer) is an entryway. I listen to audio-books while doing housework, or I download the CDs one at a time on to my iPod for listening on the bus. I don't drive, but I think most audio-book listeners enjoy hearing these while on the road.@22950006357453:
Dickens can be a challenge for modern readers. We are used to pithier fare. That said, if you compare Dickens to his contemporaries, you may discover that his style is remarkably modern, with a cutting, ironic wit many years ahead…
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