Jew Wishes On: The German Woman, by Paul Griner

The German Woman, by Paul Griner is a book that begins during World War I and ends during World War II. The book begins with a doctor and his nurse trying to care for patients that were injured during the horrific period of WWI, when Jews were killed, Slavs were killed, and extreme chaos, hunger and deprivation reigned the lands of Europe. Their endeavors were difficult, as there was not enough medicine and equipment to care for the injured.

Horst Zeig, is a German doctor married to Kate, an English woman. Their story is told through the first portion of the book. Their devotion to each other is quite strong and Griner makes it apparent to the reader. The pages are slow going. From there we skip to 1944 WWI, when the rest of the story line unfolds. At this point in time, the allies are involved in the Normandy invasion. Spies surround the second phase of the book, which is set mainly in London.

The V-2 bombs are constantly threatening the city of London. The residents are being spied upon, amidst the overwhelming fear and anxiety they encounter. Londoners live in the Underground, spending nights there for shelter from the bombs. City blocks have wardens. Food and clothes are scarce, and housing is in danger of destruction from the bombs.

Enter Claus Murphy, who is a volunteer block warden in London. He runs into Kate, and there begins a romance, a romance that is not filled with trust on Claus’s part, because he thinks that Kate just might be a spy, due to the fact she was married to a German. Claus has dual nationalities, as he is the son of a Bavarian mother and American father. As his history unfolds we learn he was in prison for treason due to a documentary film he wrote, a film that was negative towards the English.

Griner’s message is quite clear in my opinion He concisely and sharply portrays what it is like to be a person of dual nationalities, especially under extreme duress as during wartime. He emphasizes how both the American and the British government tend to regard and deal with individuals such as Kate and Claus, individuals with dual nationalities. They are not really considered people of substance, people who are trustworthy, and are treated as such. Their roles in the framework of the whole are replaceable. They are not considered reliable, and in fact, often feel the stigma thrust upon them by the government and military authorities. Kate and Claus are often aware of the negative attitudes within their lives and their relationship, yet at times are blind to them.

Although the story line of The German Woman is strongly written by Paul Griner, and it is extremely vivid in its depictions of war, I was disappointed in the novel. The book, for me, was not a page-turner (but that isn’t necessarily a negative thing). It is historic in content, yet there was something about the story that left me a bit unsatisfied. I can’t define why, it is what it is. Which is not to say I didn’t like the book. Overall I did like The German Woman, but I wasn’t completely thrilled with this book of espionage and romance. It didn’t entirely intrigue me.
~~~~~~
© Copyright 2007 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my poetry in any form/format without my express written consent/permission.

Monday August 31, 2009 – 11th of Elul, 5769

[Via http://jewwishes.wordpress.com]

A poem and a review

Sunday, August 30, 2009

A gathering of different things tonight. First, the poem:

When I was rooting through my storage unit the day Kate left, looking for A Writer’s Book of Days, I didn’t find it, as it was actually in my apartment on the bookshelf. But it was not wasted time. I found other treasures I’d been missing, like some old journals of mine, some old photos, my “soccer mom” folding chair, an Aussie hat (bought at the San Diego Zoo the time I went with Kate and John when I was presenting at the Pop Culture Conference in April 1999), and a bar to hook my bike to the rack for the car. (Phooey, if I’d realized that, I could have saved myself $30-40 buying a replacement… but I digress.)

One treasure I found was Something Creative at 2000 Vine, the annual literary journal put out by DeLong Middle School in Eau Claire, which has a wonderful English department, with teachers who encouraged the students’ creativity. I’m thinking particularly of Rosie Bejin, who had students do a cafe on Friday afternoons, with a bongo drum and the lights low as they read their creative works. Mike Garrity was also a terrific English teacher, and Lars Long for science, who had the kids do hands-on things, the kids of hunting families brought in deer hearts for the students to explore, and that was the year they did a unit on Mt. Everest, as well.

Anyway, Kate had a poem in Something Creative in 2001, the year she graduated from DeLong, and here it is:

A Forgotten Shoe

A worn out old running shoe

Alone and forgotten.

Holes in the toe

And rubber peeling off.

In its past slick and fast

Pounding the track with speed

Laces flying.

Carrying the runner

Across the asphalt of the track

Now alone and forgotten

Only memories of speed.

_____

Speaking of speed, it’s a theme in Crash by Jerry Spinelli, the first in the set of kids’ and young adult books I’m reading as part of this blog and project.

"Crash" by Jerry Spinelli (1997)

I actually finished it today at Common Roots Cafe, while drinking coffee and eating sourdough French toast with nectarine sauce, just a table away from where Kate and I sat (for four hours, I think!) the Friday before she left for Senegal.

It was so good to get into a book like this again. I had tears in my eyes at the end of the race that takes place near the end of the book, when Crash tells Webb “Lean.” I could imagine how much Kate, being a runner at that age (and still), must have been drawn into that scene. And I was so happy that the mom went back to part-time work so that she could be home more and paint again, and Crash even bought her a set of new paints. I really identified with that part of the story… beautiful!

I’ve always thought I still had to prove myself, to justify my space on this earth, that I haven’t done enough. But I’ve been thinking — and somehow reading this book reinforced the feeling — that being there for your kids is the most important thing. I’ve done plenty good in my life — other than being a mom, too — but, much as I want to achieve some things, my existence is already “paid for,” it has been enough, and whatever else I do is gravy. And that’s a much more solid platform on which to live and joyous a springboard from which to jump to new accomplishments.

It reminds me of something Maya Angelou said when I heard her speak at UW-Eau Claire in the late ’80s. She started her talk by saying something like, “You’ve already been redeemed,” or “ransomed,” “paid for,” something like that. That’s already been done for you, so you can go forward, freely, from that.

[Via http://barbarat.wordpress.com]

[REVIEW] The Set-Up - Sophie McKenzie

Sophie McKenzie
The Set-Up (The Medusa Project, Book 1)
Simon & Schuster (UK: 6th July 2009; AU: 20th August 2009)
Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

When Nico Rafael learns he has telekinetic abilities, he figures he can use them to score some cash and impress a girl. But nothing’s ever that simple. In the womb, his umbilical cord was injected with the Medusa gene…and it caused a cancer that killed his mother when Nico was young. The people involved with the Medusa Project may claim to be helping the four teens with the gene control their powers, but at what price?

A high-concept treat, this is pretty good escapist fiction. With intriguing ideas, it has the almighty scientific twist and social commentary to win me over. And while it’s excellent in theory…the execution isn’t quite right. Narrator Nico breaks the fourth wall, the characters’ motivations don’t seem entirely sensible, and it gets a bit weird at the end when the teens try outsmarting the adults. I fully intend to read the rest of the series, and hopefully as it progresses, the faults will become less obvious.

[Via http://tezmilleroz.wordpress.com]

Review: Jayne Castle - Obsidian Prey

Book six in the dust bunny oops sorry Harmony Series!

I am very sorry but I have to do this, I cannot write the review until I have got this out of my system! 

DUST BUNNIES! There is a dust bunny in the book, I love dust bunnies, I want a dust bunny, I want a book that is just about dust bunnies, and Ms Castle is cruel by not letting us play longer at the dust bunny party! 

Ok that’s out of my system, I am calm now, I can now hopefully write a sensible review.  Obsidian Prey once again returns us to Harmony a world that once was connected to earth and colonised by humans, but two hundred years ago was separated.  The humans trapped adapted and utilised what was available to them, and have evolved slightly with an ability to harmonise with amber psychically.

Although this is part of a series this book is very much a stand alone, and the world is described clearly with enough detail to capture the attention of a new reader but without too much to bore a seasoned fan of dust bunnies, sorry the series.  And that is an incredibly fine balance that Ms Castle has achieved very well.

In this book we meet Lyra, an amber tuner and part time prospector three months after she has ended her relationship with Cruz the CEO of AI, who stole her new amber claim out from under her.

This was a wonderful book of a strong no nonsense, slightly cynical woman who meets an alpha male who believes heavily in true love…and knows she is his, whatever she says!  Its a great twist on the usual romance as Lyra breaks Cruz’s heart…just ask his family!

This was a witty, intelligent battle of wills with an adorable killer dust bunny, that moves along at pace fast enough to keep you hooked but not so fast as you get confused.  The plot twists and turns and the romance heats up.  All in all this is a wonderful book even without the wonderful dust bunnies in it and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend anyone to read it.

And again I aplogise for the dust bunny mania that has gripped me ever since they first made an apperance…I have considered getting help but I love them too much to even consider it!

Go get the book, enjoy the story and understand my addiction to Jayne Castle books.

Tazallie

1. After Dark
2. After Glow
3. Ghost Hunter
4. Silver Master
5. Dark Light
6. Obsidian Prey

[Via http://paranormalromancereviews.wordpress.com]

"I was born a philosopher…"

“I was born a philosopher…” (August 28, 2009)

 

            (In the womb, I had never been told that I kicked; I might have barely stretched my legs and yawned in recognition of warmth and coziness. Once out, I barely kicked. I barely cried to express my discomfort.)

            I was born a philosopher. I was against life by principle; the principle of its futility. People struggled around me and I refused to do any effort. If it appeared that I was making the effort it was simply to please someone else; deeply in I couldn’t care less.

            You renounce the phantom of the spirit, once for all, and then the rest follows to the heart of chaos. Deep inside me the moon shone; everything was sweet and smooth; way up it was total chaos and discordance. In everything I searched for the extreme opposite, the contradiction; I differentiated between the real and the imaginary, the irony, and the paradox. I was my worst enemy. I wanted to do nothing and I could have refused to do anything.

            As a child I wanted to die; I wanted to give up; I didn’t see any sense for resuming the fight. I was convinced that pursuing a life that I didn’t solicit would never bring me any proofs or substance; would not add or remove anything from nothing.  All the people around me looked grotesque or failures, especially those considered to have succeeded who were boring to make me cry.

            It was not sympathy that guided me; it was a weakness in me who expected nothing but watching the spectacle of human miseries so that I might bloom. I aided nobody for the sake of doing him good: I had not the courage to do otherwise.  Behavioral change seemed to me perfectly futile.  On and off a few friends would convert and I would feel a surge of vomit. I had no need of God and neither did He. If God did exist then I would calmly advance toward him and spit on his face.

            What bothered me highly was that people would think good of me at first sight. Maybe I had the virtues of loyalty, generosity, and fidelity but they were due to my indifference because I had the luxury of envying nothing and nobody.  I had but pity for people and things. I trained myself not to desire anything violently; I thought that I was independent and would grant wishes with my own volition. I wanted to feel free in thought and in action. I was rotten from the start.

            Kids frequently rebel or feign to rebel; I cared less. As far as I can recall my first impression is of cold, snow, and frost on the windows. Why people do move to live in cold places: they are idiots and cowards. Anywhere people live in cold regions they work to their bones and preach to their offspring the gospel of hard work; which means the doctrine of inertia. People of the cold regions have exposed by force the wrong ideas.  Nothing is done without thinking of tomorrow that never comes. The present moment is but a bridge; they keep complaining and growling on that bridge; not a single intelligent being among the people of the cold thought of blowing off that lousy bridge.

            The people of the cold weather are proud braggers who never had the spirit of adventure. They have tormented spirits, incapable of living the moment.  They ransacked and ruined the world everywhere they set foot. People think that I am a person of adventure. All adventures that I undertook were forced upon me and I had to endure them. The only real adventure is a march toward the inside of knowing oneself.

            In several instances I was in the self discovery adventure but never prosecuted it to the end: I always found myself in the streets and bumping into the people crowding these streets. I crisscrossed the world and no where else did I experience as much humiliation and degradation as in the USA.  I have not met a single person in the US who was really rich, really happy.  I tried hard to get out of the loop but I was from this land and the evil was in me.

            Any event has its own contradiction. The desire of all my life was parallel to life. Life didn’t awake any interest in me. What did interest me was grasping the feelings and expressing them powerfully; the feelings and thoughts that I fail to express clearly irritate and bore me.

 

 

Note 1: This post is an abridged version of the first 10 pages of “Tropic of Capricorn” by Henry Miller.  I translated the pages from the French edition.  You may compare Miller’s style with mine. Sentences in parenthesis are mine.

 

Note 2:  I am different than Henry Miller.  Miller was aware of his capacities, limitations, and emotional behavior since he was a kid; I was not that conscious of mines; I started self analysis way after I was 55 of age.  Miller was born in the cold North; I was born in hot Africa.  Miller worked in all kinds of jobs when he was still adolescent; I did all that after I flew to the USA at the age of 25 and for over 20 years and during and after I earned a PhD in Industrial Engineering. Miller experienced all kinds of humiliations and degradation while he was pretty young; I did experience these humiliations throughout my life and it is an ongoing process. Miller was tall and athletic; I was not. Miller managed to be published and became quite wealthy; I am penniless.  What make the whole difference is being consciously aware of yourself when a kid.  Not many enjoy that kind of grace and awareness at such a young age.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Religious Context of Early Christianity

There is a lot of talk about parallels between the New Testament and Graeco-Roman literature, some even claiming that the New Testament is almost completely dependent on pagan myths.  Therefore, it is important for anyone interested on this issue, on either side, to read Hans-Josef Klauck’s The Religious Context of Early Christianity: A Guide to Graeco-Roman Religions.  This is the most balanced book that I have ever read on this subject.  Klauck is not afraid to point out parallels but he also calls into question claims of overall dependence.  Klauck’s aim is not to be a Christian apologist but to allow the Graeco-Roman religions speak for themselves and not to be forced into some radical theory.  Klauck deals with quite a few forms of religion including mystery religions, state religions, philosophy and even gnosticism.  If you are interested in any of these areas, this is the book to pick up.  Considering that this book was translated from German, it is quite readable and you do not have to be a scholar to get something from it.  This is a highly recommended resource for anyone interested in the New Testament’s relationship with other contemporary religions.

[Via http://1peter315.wordpress.com]

Slipstream & Other Notes

I got my contributor’s copy of Slipstream on Thursday and I haven’t had time to look at the contents.  But I’m sitting here on a rainy Saturday morning, skimming the pages, pleased to see that I am joined by spectacular poets Brent Goodman, Katie Cappello, Jim Daniels and Sean Thomas Dougherty. As always, the guys at Slipstream did a beautiful job, and I can’t wait to go to the release party in Buffalo in September.

I’ve been trying to gather up my work for the summer in order to revise.  I have been browsing the blogging world noticing that many poets have already dived in to the “Big Fall Submission” period.  Not me.  I will be lucky if I have 3 packets sent out in September. 

Still behind on my book reviews.  Sigh.  Don’t worry — if you sent me a review copy, a review you shall have!

[Via http://thescrapperpoet.wordpress.com]

CONTEST #1: Win a signed advance reader copy of Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation

Review– Kaleb Nation’s Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse

Fourteen-year-old Bran Hambric lives in the City of Dunce, a vast metropolis where magic is against the law, mages are criminals and gnomes are outlaws. At the age of six, Bran was found locked inside a bank vault with no memory of his past. Adopted by an unwilling banker and his family, Bran wonders where he came from, one night, a maddened creature appears, raving about Bran’s mother and a long-dormant plot to which Bran is the key.  Bran’s mother was a criminal, and her crime was magic. She developed a terrible curse, and her former masters are searching for Bran. What they haven’t bargained for, however, is that Bran turns out to be a mage himself. Discovering his new powers, the truth about his past, and the horrible role he is expected to play in finishing his mother’s curse, Bran is thrown into high-stakes and high-tension adventure. Does he dare to trust Astara, the mysterious girl from a bookshop that’s more than it seems,  or befriend Polland, a gnome in hiding, or leave behind Rosie, the only woman who has ever been kind to him?

Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse does not disappoint. Debut novelist Kaleb Nation has a fascinating, original take on fantasy adventure, and the choice between good and evil.  This promising and rewarding first novel is sure to be a hit with fantasy readers of all ages.

Want to win the autographed advance review copy pictured above?* Here’s How:

You must have a Twitter account. Everyone who is following me on Twitter by 8PM EST on Sept 1 is entered to win. You can have a SECOND ENTRY if you retweet the contest. I’ll choose a winner at random on Twitter at 9PM EST on September 1.

The winner should DM or email me their address ASAP and I’ll mail the book via Priority Mail the next day. Sorry, you must be living in the U.S. to win!

I’m going to have a bunch of similar contests over the next few months.  Contest #2 will be for an autographed advance reader copy of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.

*Gnome not included. However, a limited edition signed rejected book cover Knightley bookmark made friends with Kaleb’s title page, so it comes along as an added bonus.

[Via http://bylineblog.wordpress.com]

Fire by Kristin Cashore - Rating 4

Title: Fire

Author: Kristin Cashore

AR Quiz Number: Not Applicable

ATOS Book Level: Not Applicable

Interest Level: Upper Grades (UG 9-12)

AR Points: Not Applicable

Word Count: Unknown

Topic – Subtopic:

Series: Prequel to Graceling (2008)

Description: (From Kristin Cashore’s Blog)

Fire, Graceling’s prequel-ish companion book, takes place across the mountains to the east of the seven kingdoms, in a rocky, war-torn land called the Dells.

Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored– fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green– and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans.

Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.

Wondering what makes it a companion book/prequel? Fire takes place 30-some years before Graceling and has one cross-over character with Graceling, a small boy with strange two-colored eyes who comes from no-one-knows-where, and who has a peculiar ability that Graceling readers will find familiar and disturbing…

Fire comes out in October 2009 from Dial Books for Young Readers (in the U.S. and Canada) and Gollancz (in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand), and its list of foreign publishers is growing. Please note that the Dial cover shown above (the red one) is the cover for the ARC and may change with the final book.

Librarian’s Review:

Fire is set in a world called the Dells, which is in a state of turmoil and war. I will say that I have NOT yet read Graceling, Cashore’s first novel,  so I have no comparison to make in that regard but Graceling is definitely going to be on my “to be read” list. The book begins with a disturbing prologue that tells the story of an evil child which is is very unsettling. We then are introduced to Fire, the namesake of the tale who is half human, half monster. Not an ugly monster, but beautiful because in the Dells monsters are exquisitely beautiful and terrifying creatures. They can enter the minds of others and have power over their thoughts and feelings.  Fire is the daughter of a particular terrifying and cruel monster named Cansrel and even though she does not take after his cruel nature, she lives in the wake of his evil legacy.

Because of Fire’s talents of sensing thoughts and feelings she is drawn into the mix of political intrigue and  is needed by the royal family, although they fear and distrust her. Fire is in a position of power and has much responsibility and at the same time is going through the pain of trying to figure our her place in the world. She finds herself having a particularly strong connection to Brigan, a warrior who is also a prince in the kingdom, even though she cannot enter his particularly strong mind.She is plagued by sadness, loss, the inability to trust, fear of loving someone and losing them.

There is a lot of interpersonal drama and battles with inner demons in addition to the action of the battles and fights. There is the element of coming into one’s own and finding your place in the world. The relationships are very mature and complex. The world that Cashore builds can be confusing to those who aren’t into the political intrigue and strategies of war but she is very original. Although there are no dragons in the Dells, fans of Eragon and other epic fantasies will enjoy this story. Fans of Tamora Pierce will enjoy the strong female lead.

View this document on Scribd

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Poetics of Dissent: The Fourth Canvas by Rana Bose

While reading a thriller, I anticipate — and usually get — a twisty, testosterone-ridden plot. If I’m lucky, there’s a strong female character; really lucky, a good sex scene. What I don’t expect: a theory of socio-political hegemony centered around the idea of dissent. But Rana Bose’s The Fourth Canvas is a novel of ideas as much as a thriller, with enough red herrings to make Agatha Christie proud, and enough progressive ideas to satisfy the most ardent activist.

 Claude Chiragi, a doctoral student at McGill, has just received a birthday present from his girlfriend Clara. To his relief, the large flat package isn’t an Ikea piece in malevolent wait for assembly. Rather, Clara has come up with the goods — a painting by the political philosopher Guillermo Sanchez, who also happens to be the subject of Claude’s research. Sanchez, who died in 1974, was the author of a few articles, and a book on Mexican history — slim pickings for a thesis. The hitherto unknown painting will provide Claude material for his floundering PhD.

The canvas depicts a city landscape full of characters seemingly in fear of an impending calamity. Only one woman seems exempt from the malaise; her face is calm, even eager. Hidden in the painting are the words “Two periods of rise, followed by two periods of decline.”

Apparently, a theory of empire has been painted into the canvas, which seems but one in a series. And if further incentive to explore the canvas’s provenance was needed — the calm-faced woman in the painting seems to be moving. And so Claude and Clara set off on a quest to unearth all of Sanchez’s canvases. First stop: Cuba, where they’ll meet a friend of Sanchez.

In the manner of all good thrillers, the adventure is also a voyage of self-discovery. This being The Fourth Canvas rather than The Fourth Protocol, Claude and Clara don’t realize an unexpected affinity for grenade launchers or a talent for blending into foreign locales. While Claude plunges deep into Sanchez’s intellectual argument, Clara rediscovers her Argentinean roots — her father and brother disappeared during the country’s Dirty War, and Clara had hitherto suppressed these memories in favor of a cool citizen-of-the-world Montrealer persona. As Sanchez’s theory of the role of dissent in the collapse of empires becomes clearer, Claude and Clara are unable to lead their former passive lives. The canvases have changed not just their worldview, but their notions of their own roles in the fight for social justice.

The Fourth Canvas also features several secondary narratives, including that of one Diana McLaren, a professor of political philosophy in Montreal who is Claude’s father’s partner, and another featuring Sanchez’s sister Lydia. Bose gathers these seemingly random threads together by way of an abduction, a misty mountain hop through the Andes, and a case of mistaken identity, through to a satisfyingly dramatic (and devious) denouement.

Rana Bose is an engineer, a magazine editor and playwright, and The Fourth Canvas showcases each one of his métiers. In his acknowledgement, Bose states that his theatre background leads him to “launch torrents of ideas on the stage,” and indeed, The Fourth Canvas at times is all but submerged under expositions on every possible idea or event, from the film Ghost Dog to The Beastie Boys to cricket. Many of these riffs are at best tangentially related to the plot, and often take place on the flimsiest of pretexts; the only reason I forgive the author such self-indulgence is because everything he has to say is so damn interesting. Consider Bose’s description of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris:

“If a cemetery could, however, be accused of name-dropping in a display of turf arrogance, this would be the place…Chopin has a muse weeping, Oscar Wilde has a winged messenger calling him away…[There] lie the graves of Laura Marx, Karl’s daughter, and Paul Lefargue, who committed suicide together in 1911.”

If this doesn’t send you haring off to Wikipedia, nothing will.

But Bose the novelist is perhaps closest to Bose the editor of the alternative webzine Montreal Serai, a publication whose stated aim is to give a voice to people at the margins. As a character in The Fourth Canvas says “Legitimacy is hogged by the mainstream. [But] the people on the periphery are just as legitimate.” Bose’s novel not only reinforces the importance of dissent, but presents a vision for a new wave of popular resistance that co-opts people from the peripheries of every country on the planet. That he’s chosen to convey his ideas in such an accessible literary genre is altogether fitting. Even thrilling.

 

(This review appears in the current issue of rabble.ca.)

[Via http://niranjana.wordpress.com]

FDR's Plain Jane

There is nothing witty or catchy you can say about Frances Perkins.  She was everyone’s grandmother in her felt hat, black coat, black strap purse, sensible shoes, and no makeup.  Who fully knew that she was the social conscience of FDR, that without her he would not have had enough of a domestic program to call “A Little Deal” let alone The New Deal?  Unfortunately for her it was a time of straight white chauvinist domination in everything, so her contributions were belittled or claimed by others.  She birthed, nurtured, and toilet trained what we consider the domestic achievements of the era, a better and more secure working career and retirement for the average American.

Kirstin Downey has written The Woman Behind The New Deal: The Life Of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary Of Labor And His Moral Conscience, a biography that makes you wonder how we ever achieve anything in Washington given whom we normally appoint and elect in office.  FDR, bless his political soul, knew he had a classy jumper in her even if he treated her like a wagon mule.  So if you want to know how a woman can make it in New York politics, then move on to become a historic cabinet secretary in Washington, read this book.

I did not get the feeling she was the most likable person in any room but she had many loyal friends and associates although they never matched the mass of her detractors.  Added to that imbalance she was burdened with a mentally unstable husband as well as a disfunctional and unstable daughter.  She when she found a friend she kept them if at all possible.  If you read the book you will agree that she deserves more than a postage stamp, a federal building, or the fledgling Frances Perkins Center at The Brick House, her ancestral homestead in Newcastle ME.  I say put her face on our Social Security checks.

For more information about the Center and its future, go to www.francesperkinscenter.org/  If you have Perkins ephemera this is the perfect place to receive it before you or your heirs lose  or scatter it.  They will also not decline a cash donation.  Charles Marlin

[Via http://clarionfriends.wordpress.com]

Review of Beth Moore's "Believing God"

As a pastor, I am frequently asked about Beth Moore’s many published books and lectures by ladies who are looking for helpful Bible study materials. While I have perused many of her works I have yet to write a formal review detailing my thoughts and concerns. Our friend Craig Johnson has performed a helpful service and penned a careful and detailed review of Mrs. Moore’s more popular works: Believing God. Johnson writes:

My overall impression: While there are many good things about the book, I would never recommend it. In fact, the weaknesses of the book are so significant that I would go so far as to discourage people from reading it – if they are reading it for the purpose of being edified.

Be sure to read his entire review here.

[Via http://expositorythoughts.wordpress.com]

charmed thirds by Megan Mccafferty

I haven’t been updating much lately because the of the new school semester starting and everything. My workload this fall isn’t too crazy, but I’m trying to see if I can add a journalism class to my schedule. I hope it works. Wish me luck!

Anyway, I finished the third installment of the Jessica Darling series by Megan Mccafferty last week. Like the first two books in the series, Charmed Thirds is written in first person, in the form of protagonist Jessica Darling’s diary.

In Charmed Thirds, we reconnect with Jessica Darling, now a psychology major in Columbia University. The book spans her three years in college, although the writing is dated and focused on summer/winter breaks, and generally skips through her academic experience at Columbia. Her relationship with Marcus Flutie remains an ever-present theme and occurrence throughout the book, but certain circumstances will allow her to develop and create other romantic relationships with guys she will meet during her three years at Columbia. In this installment, we also see Jessica interacting less with her best friend Hope and more with other people.

Although this was an entertaining and perhaps necessary installment in the Jessica Darling series, I had a few qualms about the manner in which it was written. The timing of the passages in summer/winter months almost disregards her academic experience in Columbia, which was one of the things that i wanted to learn more about. The reader only finds out that she does get good grades in College and that she’s practically in financial ruin because of the cost of her education, but that’s about it.

I do love the fact that she was able to create new relationships in Columbia. The trials and tribulations of her relationship with Marcus were definitely difficult, but I found the opportunities to develop relationships with other people as a good chance to grow more as a person. In fact, I’m glad that the author gives them a chance to be apart. It gives Jessica the chance to develop more as an individual.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. It’s a good read, and we finally get to see Jessica in a setting that isn’t her hometown. She also begins meeting a more diverse crowd, different from the people that she interacted with in Pineville. It’s a more mature book, in my opinion, and that’s partly because her high school years are over and she’s learning more about what she does and doesn’t know about life and her self. I was able to relate to hear a bit more in her book, because some of the strains that she endures in relation to college are things that I can identify with.

Rating: 3/5 although it didn’t challenge, it was entertaining, funny, and realistic.

[Via http://thebookfiend.wordpress.com]

Have You Been Sent? New book from The Missing Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Cover to Cover hosted Margaret Peterson Haddix (read her interview with me from last winter) to celebrate the release of her newest book Sent: The Missing Book 2.

This great author did a little reading for us from the book and then answered questions from the audience.

Fun things I found out from the Q & A:

The Missing series is planned for 7 books (just like Shadow Children) tenatively titled

1-Found: The Missing book 1

2-Sent

3-Sabotage

4-Stranded

5-Caught

6-Kept

7-Revealed

• She is currently working on the 10th and final The 39 Clues book. It’s a little challenging when she hasn’t seen the final drafts of book 8 or 9. The every 3 month book release for the series makes for tough deadlines!
• The Shadow Children television pilot/series has been put on hold indefinitely due to the writer’s strike and then the recession
• While she chose to drop the lawsuit with movie The Village there have been some summer reading programs where kids read Running Out of Time and then watched The Village to decide if she’d been wronged.
• She is really looking forward to reading The Hunger Game’s sequel Catching Fire (blog post) and Graceling’s (blog post) sequel Fire by Cristin Cashore.

Duh to both of us for covering up the title! What were we thinking?

Here’s my copy of Sent. Now, do I let a student read it first since I just started The Sorceress?

The kids and I also picked up a paperback copy of Found (for my daughter) and a copy of Found and Sent for our friend Christopher.

Yet another great author event from Cover to Cover (best children’s bookstore ever!)

[Via http://bestbookihavenotread.wordpress.com]

Book Review: Acacia

Disclosure: I only read the first 40 pages.

So. We have yet another modern epic fantasy novel being compared to GRR Martin’s work, so I jumped at it. And I jumped off again pretty quickly. The major issue here, for me, was the writing style. It combined the heavy-handed omniscient narration of Tolkien with the dry political reporting of the BBC. Yeah.

This is David Anthony Durham’s Acacia.

So there is lots of text telling you about the history of this and the background of that and the mining rights and the fencing styles and the blah blah blah. Each chapter follows a different character, sort of. There was so much exposition crammed in between the scraps of dialog that it was hard to remember who was supposed to be center stage. Yeah.

Frankly, I just want some characters I can enjoy following around. Some people I can get to know, heroes to root for, villains to hate, that sort of thing. Martin does it. Abercrombie does it. Maybe Durham gets around to it later, after he’s done stage-setting. The glimpses of character that we get up front here are so stereotypical and detached from plot or conflict that there was nothing for me to hold on to.

Oh, but I did pick up on one thing. Civilization is under threat of invasion from a bunch of wild savages from the distant north. Yeah. Gosh. Did these guys all get together at some point and decide that all fantasy kingdoms must be under siege from northern brutes? Couldn’t be religious folks from the east or technological folks from the south or obese folks from the west. Nope. No variations allowed, apparently.

So that’s that.

[Via http://josephrobertlewis.wordpress.com]

Sleeping issues

Nate has been having sleeping issues lately and I worry that he may be having night terrors. This is probably not something to be worried about because he will wake up, crying and calms down immediately upon one of us going into his room. My understanding of night terrors is that generally, when kids or adults have them, they aren’t aware of what is going on around them and sometimes hallucinate. That’s not the case with Nate. He totally knows what is going on and generally, I think, wants to get into our bed and sleep with us.  He’s lonely.  And it is totally keeping us awake at night. Last night, I kid you not, we were up for three hours trying to get him to go to bed. We used a combination of letting him cry it out and sitting in his room while he went to sleep.  And it leads to a lot of stress everywhere else.  I practically physically tore Izzy’s head off and throat out among other things.  Everything was getting on my nerves and I think that I may have stepped on the cat’s tail a bunch of times (but NEVER intentionally of course). I was getting annoyed and frustrated at Nate and, at one point, I went back to my bedroom, closed the door and proceeded to yell and hit pillows for ten minutes or so, until I calmed down.  It’s really frustrating when you try everything in your power to get your child to go to sleep and he just won’t. I thought that I had made it to the point where my kid was sleeping through the night.

But then, this morning, we woke up to this cute-ness:

And everything was forgiven. It will probably happen again tonight all over again.

I also have a review of this book up:

You can find the review here. Enjoy!

[Via http://mominsanity.wordpress.com]

Book review: 'Sundays At Tiffany's' by Patterson, Charbonnet

The set-up is interesting enough: a young woman falls in love with her imaginary friend Michael, a man who served as the only constant in her sad, lonely childhood. On her ninth birthday, Michael is forced to part with her . . . only to find her again two decades later in New York City, looking beautiful but just as lost as she was as a kid.

Jane is now a writer/movie producer thing (I couldn’t honestly tell you, I didn’t care) still under the thumb of her domineering, whimsical mother Vivienne — a character who is more of a caricature than an actual person. After a brutal break-up with actor Hugh, Jane goes out to treat herself to a diamond ring at Tiffany’s — and then finds herself gravitating to a restaurant she frequented as a kid. It’s there that she sees a man who looks remarkably like Michael, her childhood companion . . . only other people can see this guy, too. It takes a half-second of deliberation for her to march right up to him, and then this “whirlwind” romance begins.

Oh, this one crashed and burned for me. The complete lack of nuance immediately had me rolling my eyes — there was absolutely nothing to grasp between the lines. I felt like the characters had a giant metal bucket used to repeatedly beat me over the head with the horribly, horribly obvious plot. The writing was pedestrian, uninteresting; I was emotionally removed from the storyline.

What should have been romantic — or at least interesting — was made ridiculous by the poorly written conversations and so much telling and no showing. For instance, instead of telling us that Michael and Jane had these sparkling, life-changing conversations, why can’t we actually hear them? Why does everything have to be spelled out as though we’re a group of third graders, completely incapable of processing an emotionally fulfilling relationship? (And it would probably insult third graders, too.)

If Patterson’s name hadn’t been slapped across the top, I can’t imagine who in the world would have picked this one up for publishing, crying, “This is it! This is the one — our international bestseller!” Because, wow. No. I’m very sorry, but no.

Honestly, there isn’t much more to say. Terribly disappointing!

1.5 out of 5!

ISBN: 0385341245 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website

[Via http://writemeg.com]

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

There’s definitely something to be said for doing one thing and doing it well. In The Road, just about every word is intended to further evoke its grim, post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Everything superfluous to this goal has been boiled away, leaving a short but very effective book. A man and his son are trekking across the wasteland. If you’ve read enough books, seen enough movies, or even played enough video games, then you’re probably pretty familiar with post-Apocalyptic America. McCarthy doesn’t show you anything new, he just does a better job in showing it than anyone else does.

It’s very close to a perfect book in a specialized sense: the author set certain goals and executed them. If, like me, you hope for more than just momentary immersion when you read novels, you’ll probably come away feeling impressed but unsatisfied. But for many people, the conjunction of setting, mood, and character McCarthy manages in The Road makes it a great novel. You don’t win the Pulitzer Prize if you’re leaving most readers unsatisfied.

Luckily, at its relatively short length, I can recommend it to virtually everyone. You may or may not find it precisely to your tastes, but it’s worth your time to find out.

[Via http://matthilliard.wordpress.com]

Warning:Sea Dragons, Pirates, Fierce creatures and Adventure ahead!

I have not been this excited about a book in a really long time.  Months ago Mark brought home a book called On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson.  He wanted me to read it to the boys because it was supposed to be full of adventure and based on bedtime stories that Peterson told his own children.  Andrew Peterson is one of our all-time favorite Christian singer/songwriters.  Mark is not normally a “book person”.  So I was interested and happy to oblige.  Well, with the busyness of school we started the book but never finished it. A few weeks ago I received an invitation to be part of a blog book tour for Peterson’s second book in the Wingfeather series, North! or Be Eaten. So I set out to finish the first book and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!  The second book was even more thrilling.  I absolutely loved the characters, the stories and I can hardly wait for the next one to be published.  I have stayed up late just about every night this week because I wanted to finish:) I kind of think of these books as a Harry Potter meets Chronicles of Narnia.  There is a ton of humor in these books and fanciful characters and creatures.  The most amazing thing to me though is how EVERY chapter left me hanging.  It was not predictable but riveting.  I usually read a different type of book but I loved this trip into adventure and fantasy. Andrew Peterson also does an amazing job of teaching character lessons and walking his characters through intense decisions that show consequences of life decisions and how they affect other people.  I hope to read the book to my boys possibly next summer when we can read during the day and not before bed.  The stories are fun but intentionally a little too creepy for some bedtimes.  At least for my boys:) Oh please check this book out!  It would be a great read for a 10 yr old or up and if your little one is not prone to bad dreams, for even younger.  Definitely adults would love it as well.  I can’t stop thinking about it:)  The formal description is found below as well as a link here to where you can order it online or I am sure your local bookstore has it.  They need to get it if they don’t because this is my new favorite!  Wish I could say I was giving this one away, but not a chance!  I loved it!!!

Book: North! Or Be Eaten

Author: Andrew Peterson

Summary:

Readers thrilled to the phantasmagorical adventures in On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Book One of the Wingfeather Saga. Now in Book Two, Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby, mom Nia, ex-pirate grandfather Podo, Peet the Sock Man, and trusty dog Nugget flee north to rebel headquarters.

Their escape brings readers to the very brink of Fingap Falls, over the Stony Mountains, and across the Ice Prairies, while villains galore try to stop the Igibys permanently. Fearsome toothy cows and horned hounds return, along with new dangers: a mad man running a fork factory, a den of rockroaches, and majestic talking sea dragons.

Andrew Peterson’s lovable characters create what FantasyBookCritic.com says made Book One “one of the best fantasy novels in a very long time,” and Book Two contains even more thrills, exploring “themes universal in nature, ranging from the classic good versus evil, to the importance of family, and burdens of responsibility.”

Cover art:

Author Bio:

Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats. He’s also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of ten albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife, Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in The Warren near Nashville, Tennessee. Visit Andrew’s websites: www.andrew-peterson.com and www.rabbitroom.com.

[Via http://erikaivory.wordpress.com]

Books: The Writer's Idea Book

Looking through my vast library yesterday gave me an idea.  Why not plug the books I liked (or didn’t like) new and old, giving fellow writers and readers something they might find interesting and exciting to read.  Today, I’ve randomly picked a writing book from my vast wall (yes, wall) of books.

The Writer’s Idea Book by Jack Heffron

This is a non-fiction writing book filled with writing prompts and divided into chapters and sections. These prompts are designed with writers in mind, encouraging one to explore their emotions, voice, characters, point of view, and much more.

These are not genre oriented exercises but a vast wealth of prompts that can be used by any writer. Be you fiction, non-fiction, poetry or a screenplay writer, you’ll definitely find something worth writing about in here.

There are over 400 prompts in this book, that cover just about everything, including ideas for when you’re stuck, and thoughts on how and why an idea will shrivel up and die before you’ve written the first page.

I must admit, I liked this book, even if some of the prompts and ideas were a bit on the bland side.  Good, not great, but a handy tool to keep around.

Rank: ♥ ♥ ♥

*Rankings are based on a scale of 1-5 stars. The average being 3.

[Via http://cmtorrens.wordpress.com]

Bruschetta, a la Julie and Julia

If you had a chance to see the movie Julie and Julia, you know it’s full of images of fantastic food. But the scene that made me salivate was the one in which Julie Powell (played by former Chanhassen Dinner Theater actress Amy Adams) prepares bruschetta for her husband, and he devours it with messy gusto. With tomatoes finally coming in, it was time for some bruschetta.

I made the tomato topping first, dicing up three kinds of tomatoes and adding a couple of tablespoons each of chopped basil and parsley from the garden. To the veggies, I added a good shake of salt and pepper and two tablespoons of olive oil. This macerated in a bowl on the counter for 45 minutes or so. Then, I sauteed slices of Brick Oven baguettes in a combo of olive oil and a dab of butter (in deference to Julia Child) flavored slightly with garlic.  Normally, I would not fry the bread for bruschetta, but that’s the way the movie did it, so why not! At dinner, we piled the tomatoes on the bread. If you can set the bruschetta up a few minutes ahead of time to let the juices seep into the bread, it tastes even better.

I don’t usually review books or movies here, but Julie and Julia is a hoot. It’s based on two books, Powell’s book of the same title, which is entertaining in the way some memoirs are — you are glad to be reading about this person and not living with her — and Julia Child’s My Life in France, which is a heartfelt tribute to France and especially to Child’s husband, Paul.

[Via http://mynortherngarden.wordpress.com]

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan

A Review by the Cameron Village Regional Library Middle School Book Club

Jake Semple is a juvenile delinquent on his last last chance. E.D. Applewhite is a serious, organized planner in a family of free-spirited artists. It’s not likely that they’ll ever get along, but when Jake is taken in by E.D.’s family as a student at their Creative Academy homeschool, they have to at least try.

Can they set aside their differences to help when the Applewhite family finds itself suddenly responsible for mounting a community theater production of The Sound of Music?
With a lot humor, author Stephanie Tolan brings an unforgettable cast of characters to life, including Randolph Applewhite, the fiery-tempered theater director, Destiny Applewhite, the mischievous 4-year-old brother, Lucille Applewhite, the free-spirited family poet, Winston, the faithful hound dog who adopts Jake and Wolfie, the baaaad billy goat.

The Cameron Village Regional Library Middle School book club awards Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan 4.5 stars (out of a possible 5) for lots of humor and for being a great story!

For more information about the Middle School Book Club, or to sign up for next month’s meeting (we’ll be reading Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix, call the library at (919) 856-6723.

[Via http://wakecounty.wordpress.com]

'The Clothes on their Backs' by Linda Grant

2008, 293 p.

As a general rule, I dislike books that focus on descriptions of food, appearance- and now I have to add to this list- clothes.  I might enjoy Simon and Maggie on The Cook and the Chef, and I generally read Maggie Alderson’s columns in The Age, but I dislike my narratives being shaped by  obsessions about things that lend themselves to florid, overwrought writing on the one hand or triviality on the other.

Which leads me to The Clothes on their Backs.   The author has recently released a non-fiction book about clothes, and I think that perhaps it is an interest best explored through a non-fiction rather than fictional lens  (as, for example, in Queen of Fashion).  Certainly in this book, you could detect that she wanted to explore the theme of clothing and its meaning further, but somehow it didn’t seem strong enough in its own right.

The story itself is set in the 1970s, based on a young widow, driven back to live with her emigrant Hungarian parents after her husband dies on their honeymoon.  Her parents had come to England immediately prior to World War II, thus avoiding Hitler and the Cold War, and had burrowed into the safety of a small, enclosed flat where they brought up their only daughter with the silences and evasions borne of trauma.  As a young child she caught a glimpse of a previously-unknown uncle who turned up on the doorstep, only to be turned away by her parents and not spoken of again.  Later she discovers that he had been reviled and jailed as a slum landlord.   Deeply depressed after her husband’s death, she returns to the parental home, where she happens to meet her uncle after his release from prison, and concealing her identity from him (or so she thinks), agrees to write his life story.

So, you might say, what does this have to do with clothes?  Not much, and this is probably the weakness of the book.  You sense that she wants to (puns ahead) weave the thread of clothing and what it denotes throughout her story, but it doesn’t work.  I don’t know if this is because the story of her stultifying, enclosed upbringing as the child of refugee parents and the opposite persona of her uncle is so strong; or whether ‘clothing’ as a construct is not strong enough to carry it.

There are parts of this book that I really liked.  The 1970s hasn’t really been mined as a timeframe in 21st century fiction (perhaps it was too embarrassing), although perhaps I’m just not thinking hard enough of examples.   I liked her use of time, where she slipped back and forwards between her uncle’s backstory, the 1970s, and then current day.

But there were parts that were handled rather clumsily- her husband’s death had elements of farce as well as pathos, and her 25th birthday party, while it did have a surreal, dream-like edge, fell flat.

I wonder if I would have been so harsh on this book had it not been short-listed for the Booker Prize last year: probably not.  Nor would I have read it either, I suspect.  I have expectations that books short-listed for the Booker are the pick of the crop, and that more deeply-flawed books would have been dropped between the long and the short list.  None of this in the author’s control- the selection in the first place; the quality of the surrounding books; the criteria by which the prize is awarded; the expectations that a reading public has of a ‘Booker shortlist’ book.  I feel as if this book is a child that  has been dragged out into a strong spotlight ,  scrunching up her eyes and shielding them from the light of publicity and expectation.  It’s not the child’s fault: it’s the pushy parent on the sidelines, willing her to be something more than she is.

[Via http://residentjudge.wordpress.com]

I get now

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo, Chatto & Windus (2007)

This is a charming and surprising book, but one that is also very frustrating to read (which is both a compliment and a complaint).

Note: It’s best to read this book in the voice of someone struggring with Engrish. If you do so, it becoming easier adopting the tone and the mindset of the protagonist. (In my immigrant-raised habit of taking what is said and written with entire seriousness and my snobbery about proper grammar and pronunciation, I was initially offended by the author’s choice to write in this broken voice, but then I saw that it couldn’t have been otherwise and, really, would have been false if written correctly.)

Like the best travel writing, this book immerses the protagonist in the culture she’s visiting, not as a tourist but an a true inhabitant. What results are amusing and sometimes quite mournful insights into culture and humanity. Her broken English belies her wisdom and awareness. But it is also about a girl who cannot go far enough from home to escape her insecurities.

In her not quite knowing how much she reveals in her confessions, the book presents an honest and stark portrayal of a girl-woman desperate for love, whether to escape her homeland or to escape her loneliness. I appreciated the stark honesty of her spoken words, as well as her jarring admission she wanted to isolate her lover from all his friends and to have him all for herself (which, to anyone aware of healthy relationships, can identify this as a pattern of a dangerous possessiveness).

My main complaint is that her initial connection to “you,” her English lover, is never convincingly established. They always seem to occupy different worlds, except perhaps when having sex. This is not a tale about meeting the right person at the wrong time or a tale of miscommunication due to language barriers or cultural differences. There is an inherent divide between the two lovers’ needs and goals.

While I was constantly baffled by her asking him if they should be together forever (when he states repeatedly that he’s a loner and can’t make any promises about future), perhaps this was more skillfully done than I’d first perceived. Interestingly, it seems “you” understood this, but “I,” the narrator, did not.

I was left very saddened by the story and I want to reread it one day, to determine which of my problems with the book were intentional choices on the writer’s part and which should simply have been better explained (like her lover’s not minding her moving in with her so suddenly, when he valued his personal space so much). But in the end, these are small complaints. I was very satisfied by this book and look forward to reading her other work. (3.5 out of five stars)

[Via http://yuliasspecialplace.wordpress.com]

Book Review: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake opens with the main character, who has renamed himself Snowman, waking up, crawling out of the tree he’s been sleeping in, blowing the bugs out of his genuine-replica Boston Red Sox baseball cap, and wrapping himself up in a sheet. A sheet he wears all the time because he has no clothing and can’t bring himself to go naked as the rest of the people who are left—the Crakers, as we come to know them—do so unself-consciously.The world as Snowman (who was called Jimmy back then) knew it has ended.

And he’s the only real person left behind.  The Crakers, so called because they are the product of genetic design experiments performed by Jimmy’s old friend—and evil genius—Crake (a name he chose because of the bird), are simple, unquestioning beings whose bodies were engineered to eat only plant matter and whose social group remains peaceful because all aspects of competition, namely that created by sex, that could potentially lead to violence and war have been removed. The Crakers, like most mammals, do not date or marry or bond as pairs. Rather, the females go into heat on a regular cycle, and the males respond by taking turns mating with them.

Crake planned it all out this way.  He wanted to reduce the population size and remove the flaws from human nature. But he also wanted to remove critical thinking and art and independence and spirituality. How he thought he could do that without causing major damage, I’ll never know.

The bulk of the story in Oryx and Crake follows Snowman as he journeys away from the home he has made with the Crakers and goes back to the world of the Compounds to scavenge for food and survival materials. In the time before, the elite people all lived in Compounds, each one dedicated to producing a certain type of product and moving science and technology forward. Those less fortunate lived out in the pleeblands and had to struggle against poverty, violence, and life-threatning  bioforms (the Atwood word for disease) that were frequently introduced into their environment by unseen, unnamed malevolent forces.

Not much really happens on Snowman’s journey, but that’s okay because he spends a good chunk of it reflecting on what happened, on how he got here and how the world went from the world he knew to this frightening post-apocalyptic place populated with wild pigoons (pigs genetically engineered to grow human organs), snats (a nasty rat/snake combo), and rakunks (racoon/skunk) . Snowman’s memories of his friendship with Crake and of watching Crake grow from a precocious, anti-social young boy into a wickedly smart scientist with the power to change humanity fill in the gaps created at the beginning of the story.

We begin to understand, as Snowman does, that there were signs, clues that Crake’s intentions were not wholly for good, and we join him in wondering why he didn’t attempt to do anything about it and whether any potential attempts would have had any chance of making a difference. And we learn about who Oryx was and what role she played in the events that led up to this present disaster.

Oryx and Crake is Atwoodian dystopia at its very best. The world Atwood creates is so frighteningly believable that it causes us to examine our own ideas about science, religion, humanity, and exactly how much control humans can or should have over nature, and it offers us no choice but to consider the consequences of those ideas and decisions. Atwood never reveals exactly how far in the future Oryx and Crake is set, and that increases the story’s power because it feels like this world—this disaster—might not be that far away.

Despite the heaviness of the subject matter, Oryx and Crake is a relatively fast read that I found impossible to put down. Atwood’s use of language and her reflections (through Snowman) on the comfort and beauty of language are like no one else’s. And though the book has a very clear sociopolitical message—almost a warning—Atwood doesn’t beat us over the head with it. She doesn’t have to.

If you enjoy dystopian fiction (or hell, even if you don’t…Atwood is just that good), you don’t want to miss Oryx and Crake.  4.5 out of 5.

 And just in case you hadn’t heard, Atwood’s forthcoming The Year of the Flood (September 22nd) is a parallel story. Word on the street is that you don’t have to read Oryx and Crake first, but I think it might help.

[Via http://thebookladysblog.com]

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

I started reading this a couple of days ago. It’s very politically educational.  As did Hosseini’s Kite Runner, I am carried away into the lives of the Afghans. The struggle, the horror, the pain, and the love that exists is strong. Politics are clarified for me, but still confusing. I’m about to begin looking up information about Afghan history, not because I want to understand the book better, but because I want to understand Afghanistan’s history. From rising above  Soviet domination to turmoil within their own country…this book is the life of two Afghani women whose lives are difficult (an understatement), and whose lives seem to complement each others.  Hosseini has a way of getting readers to connect with characters, to give them a great amount of depth and therefore, from me, a  great deal of empathy.

[Via http://rrleonard.wordpress.com]

Delaware...land of history and fine sand!

Well, my husband surprised me with a lovely trip to Delaware.  We were all over that state!  I loved every minute of it.  The beaches are simply wonderful.  We spent the most time at Rehoboth Beach, which is huge.  We also went to Lewes Beach and Slaughter Beach (yes, that’s the real–and scary–name of the beach).  We found out AFTER we were there that a swimmer at Slaughter Beach was bitten by a shark on July 3, 2009.  And, so, that explained why we were the only people on the beach the day we visited!  I really enjoyed my time in Delaware.  So much to see and do!  Such warm and friendly people, too.  We took a coastal highway route home and crossed the massive Bay Bridge.  Lovely scenery across that bridge.  As awesome as the Bay Bridge is, my absolute favorite bridge is the Mighty Mack, which goes to Saint Ignace. So, I brought home a bottle of sand from the beaches as is my custom when visiting the beach.  I also accumulated a variety of sea shells to put in/on the sand when I display it on the buffet in my home.  I have sand from all over:  Nova Scotia, Saint Ignace, Mackinac Island, and Africa just to name a few. Aside from the beaches, we visited Wilmington, Dover, Harrington, Lewes, Rehoboth, Milford, and a few more cities/towns.  Spent lots of time at the Dover Air Force Base’s museum, too.  Wow!  Those planes are humongous! It was a lovely trip and we built some great memories and have some fantastic photos to fondly look back on. In other news, I finished my edit for Honor Thy Neighbor, which is a huge load off my plate and my shoulders.  I went through the edit several times to make sure it was as I wanted it, and that I’d made all the necessary changes/revisions/deletions.  I’m so excited about the release.  I love these characters  and I can’t wait to gain some reader feedback on them! Her Last continues to hold it’s own in sales, which I pray just continues deep into September so that when Honor Thy Neighbor is released in September, it can gain some momentum from readers of Her Last.  Every little boost helps! My sister called today to tell me she’s been reading my other new release from 2009–GeeWhiz Meets SHAFT.  Nothing but rave reviews!  She said she was sitting on a bench on campus today laughing out loud, which just had me beaming and grinning ear-to-ear. I got the first round of edits for my November release–That Taste of Orange–my holiday short fiction.  I’m so excited about that release, too.  This will be the final release of 2009 for me, which closes out the year with 4–two full-length novels and two short fiction pieces.  While the joy never seems to end, neither does the work involved in 4 releases in 1 year.  I told Steve last night, I didn’t think I wanted to do that again!  But who knows, eh?  If the opportunity presents itself… Okay, there’s a storm loudly making its presence known outside, so I better end this and get it posted.  Thank you for reading my blog, and especially for visiting the days when I showcase a new author on Cover Corner. 

[Via http://valeriejpatterson.wordpress.com]

The Liaden Universe:Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Another story out of the Liaden Universe, down-and-out Terran spacer Priscilla Mendoza, abandoned and then chased by a dishonest employer, teams up with Val Con’s brother Shan, who really doesn’t have any life-threatening problems until he meets Priscilla.

Betrayal, gunfights, homour, and romance, what’s not to like? Once again, the Liaden Universe features a book with the fast pacing and adventurous space operas reminiscent of the SF series. Priscilla Mendoza, an outcast of her world and sentenced as dead has been betrayed by her shipmates and left in an abandoned warehouse in a rarely docked spaceport. It’s only her luck, and the strange purposes of Shan yos’Galan which throws them together and allows her to seek revenge. However, even that may not be enough because her previous Liaden employer is certainly cunning enough…and crazy enough, to kill both her and Shan yos’Galan off.

This was a pretty fun read, but not really as good as “The Scout’s Progress”, another Liaden book I have. I was expecting something around it’s caliber, however, for an SF book, this doesn’t entirely disappoint. Like I mentioned, the fast pacing and the unexpected twists here and there does spice things up. And the romance peeking from the corners here and there, mostly coming from Shan, but sometimes from Priscilla, does make you turn pages just so you can figure out how they’re progressing in this unexpected tendre they find themselves in.

However, the drawbacks in the book are that the characters aren’t actually fleshed out all that well. Like with Shan, he’s mostly all flash and not enough meat. He blabbers on like a maniac while still making sense, however, he doesn’t really reveal much of his own character. All you get from the man is that he talks like a magpie, is incredibly rich and intelligent, and is half in love with Priscilla.

Priscilla, again, shallow characterization. Most of the time, she’s got no idea that Shan’s in love with her. She mostly gives off the feeling of every man for herself. She’s too closed off to be appropriately reciprocating. The hardest knot to loosen here is the romance angle they were trying to push. C’mon, it was a half-hearted effort at best. If all they were going to do was mention it here and there, then they should’ve just left it off altogether and concentrated on the fights and twists going on around them. All in all, an awkward book, but interesting enough to merit being read, but don’t expect anything more.

Read Excerpt!

[Via http://lordportico1.wordpress.com]

Precious Blood - A Book Review

I’ve been reading Precious Blood: The Atoning Work Of Christ over a few weeks. A collection of essays which were originally presented as papers/talks at the 2008 Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology.
The full title of 2008’s conference was ‘Precious Blood: Christ’s Atoning Work’.
Richard Phillips acting both as editor and contributor is joined by Joel Beeke, Robert Godfrey, Philip Ryken, R. C. Sproul, Derek Thomas and Carl Trueman.
A fine balance is struck with six essays relating ‘The Atonement in Biblical Revelation’ and six dealing with ‘The Atonement in Christian Thought’.
The nature of the chapters dealing with Biblical revelation are both instructional and devotional. I found Phillips own essay ‘Cleansing Blood’ particularly moving.
Many of the authors are pastor/theologians which showed in the application of their themes to those who read.
The second six essays provide a survey of the Church’s understanding of the atonement through its history. While committed to a historic reformed understand of penal substitutionary atonement the various essays honestly portray how that understanding arose and contrast it with other understandings which have preceded it and followed on in more recent times. Robert Godfrey and Carl Trueman’s essays are very helpful.
Phillips concludes with a brief overview of those who currently present themselves as being in the evangelical and or reformed heritage and yet are attempting to move away from a penal substitutionary understanding of Christ’s atoning work. I think he charts the battlelines along which evangelicalism will contend over at least the next couple of generations.
If that is the case books such as ‘Precious Blood’ will enable Reformed and Presbyterian folk to be well equipped for the battle.

[Via http://mgpcpastor.wordpress.com]

For Better, For Worse

A compendium of Austen characters, relatives, friends and neighbors highlight Hazel Jones’ look into the subject of Jane Austen & Marriage. As the book proceeds through the steps of acquaintance, engagement, marriage, and even separation, Jones fleshes out the interaction between man and woman in nineteenth-century Britain. Illustrative excerpts from the novels and primary research sources provide a well-rounded, informative basis for her walk up the garden path and down the aisle.

Examining, chapter by chapter, components of relationships, the book begins with “Choice.” We learn that both sexes could, in fact, choose to opt out of the game. Concerns over continual childbearing and the risk of death, some women made the choice to remain single. Due in part to the shortage of men on the homefront (thanks to the Napoleonic Wars), others found the choice made for them. Men in a position to marry, on the other hand, sometimes thought about their incomes and the demands a growing family would make upon it before contemplating marriage. Therefore, the idea of choice concerns much more than the selection of a life-partner.

Jones’ next chapter brings up the point of how “the question” might actually be popped: in person, via letter, via an intermediary. Sadly, she finds little — in conduct literature or letters — to indicate the “traditional” down on bended knee type of proposal. Few readers will have delved into letters and diaries from this period; the timid suitors who chose the letter/intermediary route might therefore come as a pleasant surprise.

Discussions of conduct books point up the idea that such items existed because no one conducted themselves as they “ought” to have done. By looking at the paramount examples valued by these conduct books and juxtaposing them with the reality of relationships recorded in letters, diaries, and biographies, readers realize just how much Austen’s novels were signs of their times.

Two minor points that the writer and/or editor should have attended to are the spellings of Longbourne and Lizzie in place of the standard Longbourn and Lizzy. The fault may lie with Jones’  use of the Penguin edition of Austen novels.

Jane Austen & Marriage may supply few totally new revelations, but as a compendium of love, courtship, and marriage in Austen’s era (as well as family), Jones has provided a particularly useful book. Readers will welcome the author’s friendly style of writing as well as her insight into women like Lydia Bennet, Anne Elliot, and Marianne Dashwood. Highly recommended.

Four full inkwells.

 (for more on this book, see Smith and Gosling’s research blog.)

[Via http://janeausteninvermont.wordpress.com]

Book Review: "Search and Rescue" by Neil Cole

If you are looking for a fresh idea on discipleship, Neil Cole’s book “Search and Rescue” might be just what you are looking for.  Cole’s book highlights his primary method of Christian discipleship called “Life Transformation Groups” or LTG’s for short.  These groups of 2 to 3 people meet weekly for 3 simple practices.  These include: reading scripture, confession of sin, and praying for the lost.  Groups meet to ask each other accountability questions of their choosing and to discuss the reading for that week (30+ chapters of bible reading per week!)  They then close with prayer for the lost friends and family that are on each person’s prayer card.  That’s a simplistic view of the LTG but it’s the heart of the group.  When a group grows to 4 or more (sometimes even 3 people), they are encouraged to branch off another group and continue the process.  Cole advises that due to the nature of the group’s goals, small is better.

There’s a lot of material in this book.  Nearly 2/3 of the content is Cole breaking down the biblical book of Second Timothy as a means of training and discipleship.  The remainder of the book is a breakdown on the LTG and how it can be implemented in various churches.  Throughout the text, Cole shares stories of his days as a California lifeguard as illustrations of the principles he shares in each chapter.  A large appendix concludes the book with various helps to give you ideas on starting your own LTG’s in your circle of friends.

I liked Cole’s challenge to get more people reading larger amounts of scripture.  So much of what is passed off as “reading the bible” these days is nothing more than a chapter or two and the hope that something there sticks.  Cole promotes the idea of getting the “big picture” message of various biblical books as a means of transforming individuals.  For certain, a more detailed study can and should be done of the various passages we read.  Cole asserts that this will happen naturally as larger amounts of scripture are read, questions will arise that will bring this discipline about.

All in all, I enjoyed this book.  For the ideas in it to work requires dedicated, praying people who will invest in the lives of others.  My biggest concern is, will we make that time?  It seems more and more, we see superficial connections being made in large services and a lip service small group that glosses over the message of scripture.  This is what passes for serious discipleship in many churches these days.  Making that personal connection and commitment is what can make all the difference in the life of a new believer.  This is what Cole ultimately argues for and in that, I think he is successful.

Some may disagree with his ideas but the think I enjoyed about this book is that it made you think.  That’s always a good thing.

Thumbs up for this work.

[Via http://scottcheatham.wordpress.com]

Book Review: North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson

         Andrew Peterson is a singer, songwriter and poet who in recent years has emerged as the legitimate heir to the legacy of Rich Mullins in Christian music.  His thoughtful, theologically-saturated lyrics set to acoustic guitar-driven melodies are compelling and tend to stay with you long after you physically hear them. That is most evident in his Christmas masterpiece, Behold the Lamb of God, but is also true for The Far Country and his most recent recording, Resurrection Letters, Vol. 2.

            Peterson is an artist by vocation who is willing to use his considerable creative gifts to express his faith.  In recent years, he has been the hub around which a community of like-minded artists (Jill Phillips, Andrew Osenga, Ben Shive and others) have gathered to encourage each other’s work and collaborate on projects.  (Check out The Rabbit Room). He has also begun to write in long form through a series of fantasy tales under the broad them of The Wingfeather Saga. The first volume, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness was published a couple of years ago, and today Book 2—North! Or Be Eaten is released.

            North! Or Be Eaten (Waterbrook, 2009) is a rollicking tale, a page-turning adventure that will be a joy for anybody, but just begs for parents and their children to read it out loud and together.  It continues the tale of the three Igiby children—Jenner, Tink and leeli—who are heirs to a legendary kingdom, are running for their very lives after an attack by the dreaded Fangs of Dang, and must get to safety in the north on the Ice Prairies.  There are chases and betrayals, monsters (toothy cows and a Bomnubble!) and sea dragons, trap doors with secret passageways and forest-dwelling people who are not merry at all, kind-hearted hags and the evil Overseer who steals children, and even an sled ride on ice.  This is simply a great story.

            Peterson has created another world, much like Lewis’ Narnia or Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It has a unique geography and place names, unique animal and plant life—things which are familiar (seas, waterfalls, forests), but are yet different.  It has a specific history, with events and kings or enemies in the past that shape the present.  It even has a language and stories or art that are unique to this place. So, to enter the story it to be lost in another world, which is the best sort of storytelling. It invites us to bring our own imaginations into the moment of reading..

            North! Or be Eaten is clearly built around a quest, a journey of heroic proportions.  But on the journey, in the relationships and the challenges, virtues emerge that can shape a heart and a life.  Things like courage, sacrifice, respect, forgiveness, wisdom, fidelity, responsibility, tolerance, servanthood and more saturate the story.  The masterful thing that Peterson does, however, is that they are integral to the story and not stand-alone moralisms wedged into the story.  They seem natural and authentic to the characters.  No Bible verses are quoted, no behavioral application is given; the characters merely live and these virtues are evident in them.

            That means of character and plot development reveals an interesting choice that Peterson made as author. This is not a point for point allegory, like Pilgrim’s Progress.  It does not have a blatantly identified Christ-figure, like Aslan. Peterson merely tells a story that is immersed in Christian, Biblical thought, so that you get it almost without realizing it.  That’s what makes this sort of story so attractive to people of deep faith or people of no faith.  This is not a book merely for the Christian subculture, that subtly speaks “the code” of our accepted themes, language and emotions, etc.  It is a book for everybody, a great example of art by Christians that has moved beyond Christian art.

            Let me point out a couple of other interesting aspects of North! While the story does center around the three children, this is not a Narnia rehash. The three children are set in a larger family with a widowed mom, a grandfather, an eccentric older friend named Oskar and an uncle who is odd, if not crazy.  The intergenerational aspect of the quest is refreshing and important. Old and young are both valued and seen as necessary to the quest.  There is listening and respect that flows both directions.  The children learn from the wisdom of their elders.  The older people delight to see the emergence of the younger.  There is even a modeling of the need to serve those who are disabled—the young girl Leeli walks with a crutch, the grandfather has a wooden leg and the older friend often struggles to keep up, but the family always find a way to bring everybody along. 

            Peterson does not shy from the dark side of life.  There are genuine threats, real tears and fears—and they are not sanitized for the kiddies.  The Black Carriage driven by the Overseer comes to steal children from their parents.  The parents go literally insane from the loss of their children.  The older boy is punished by the Overseer by being placed in a closed coffin for days.  The younger is placed in a cage from which there is no escape. Some moments are a bit intense—and in reading seem more so than the villains of some recent Disney movies. But the intensity of the threat makes the necessity and heroism of rescue even more poignant.  I’d just say to be aware of that when reading with your children—sometimes it might be better to read this long before bedtime!

            North! Or Be Eaten is a delightful, well-told and beautifully crafted story. It is not merely a children’s book.  It is a story that many people will find thoroughly engaging and engrossing.  There’s only one problem—I have to wait for Book 3!

[Via http://ponderanew.wordpress.com]

Bookless reviews

You’ve probably noticed that book reviews devote much pagetime to not talking about books. An article from last Thursday’s Economist assures us that this trend lives. It also begs us to wonder why.

The first paragraph, the read-me-this-way paragraph, embarks from Marx’s renewed relevance and Engels’ rearward burner placement. The last sentence introduces a book that discusses their interlaced lives. Give it a look:

WHEN the financial crisis took off last autumn, Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital”, originally published in 1867, whooshed up bestseller lists. The first book to describe the relentless, all-consuming and global nature of capitalism had suddenly gained new meaning. But Marx had never really gone away, whereas Friedrich Engels—the man who worked hand in glove with him for most of his life and made a huge contribution to “Das Kapital”—is almost forgotten. A new biography by a British historian, Tristram Hunt, makes a good case for giving him greater credit.

The preceding narrative bits, not the last sentence, are the real segue into the story. It’s a story about Engels, not his ink-arnations. It’s about biography, not a biography, hopping next to the Capital co-writers’ first encounters, Engels’ involvement in the family’s business, then in two paragraphs tells us how Marx and Engels managed to complete their magnum opus. Here the story pauses, remembering that this material came from an actual book:

Engels was an enigma. Gifted, energetic and fascinated by political ideas, he was nevertheless ready to play second fiddle to Marx. “Marx was a genius; we others were at best talented,” he declared after his friend’s death. Mr Hunt does a brilliant job of setting the two men’s endeavours in the context of the political, social and philosophical currents at the time. It makes for a complex story that can be hard to follow but is well worth persevering with.

But this is an aside. We return to Engels, this time as summary, spinning the foregoing narrative into a more packaged reflection, a sort of epitaph condensed into a phrase in the last paragraph:

When Engels died in 1895, he eschewed London’s Highgate cemetery where his friend was laid to rest. Self-effacing to the last, he had his ashes scattered off England’s coast at Eastbourne—the scene of happy holidays with the Marxes.

How effective is the book in question? We’re left with a handful of unsupported adjectives: ‘A new biography [...] makes a good case,’ ‘Mr. Hunt does a brilliant job [...].’ Any demands for an account of methods or mechanisms turn up empty.

But does the review really want to critique the book? That is what we’d expect after a jaunt through Rotten Tomatoes. But reviews also summarize, put us in the crow’s nest. And I learned something about Engels. The review isn’t about a book, then. In a way, it is the book, or at least tries to whisk us through.

[Via http://digthatclip.wordpress.com]

"Bad things" by Michael Marshall

When bad things happen to people is it because they deserve it? When bad things happen to you do you say to yourself “What did I do to deserve this?” The whole concept of action and consequence is brought into play… At least in your mind. In the case of Michael Marshall’s protagonist in Bad Things it seems that the very ultimate in bad things has happened, his four year old son has died. As an indirect result of this tragedy his marriage has ended and his legal career waylaid.

When we meet John Henderson he is living in coastal Oregon and working as a waiter in a seaside restaurant. His is a solitary life with little to no contact with his former wife and remaining son, or, for that matter, any of his former friends or co-workers. Then one night he receives an ominous e-mail message that reads “I know what happened”. John himself does not know what happened even though he was a witness to his son’s death. Naturally he follows up the message by returning to Black Ridge where he once lived and where the tragedy occurred.

Black Ridge is depicted by Michael Marshall with an ominous sense of foreboding reminiscent of the early works of the master Stephen King. An eerily real, small Pacific Northwest community surrounded by a menacing forest with local inhabitants who seem chillingly distant and a prominent town family who seem to have local authority figures and all the townsfolk under their power. The setting in this novel is as much a ‘character’ as the human characters.

Once there, John meets up with the sender of the email message, Ellen Robertson. She maintains that the death of John’s son has eerie similarities to the death of her husband. She intimates that she is being watched and that her emails and phone messages are being monitored. John recognizes her sincerity and decides to remain in Black Ridge to discover if there is any basis to her paranoia.

John is not the only person to have recently returned to Black Ridge. Kristina has been away for a decade, but has now returned. She doesn’t like the place and doesn’t understand herself why she has made her way back to her home town. John also reunites with a former co-worker who has remained in the area, and whose history seems tied to John’s buried past.

The mounting suspense and the revelations of the plot culminate in a page-turning climax where John’s past is explained and he is temporarily reunited with his ex-wife and son. The periphery characters are tied into the revelations in a satisfying way.

More of a supernatural thriller than a mystery, this novel evokes a sense of imminent evil. The reader wonders if this is all in the mind of the protagonist somehow brought about by his sense of guilt for past wrongdoings, or whether the evil is an entity unto itself. The ending leaves the reader with just the right amount of unease and a feeling that the evil encountered in the pages of the novel could resurface at any time to dishevel someone else’s world.

I will read more of Michael Marshall’s fiction even though his novels do not follow the criteria for the mystery genre which is my favourite. After reading this novel I have become a fan of his writing style. Written with a flair for stating profound wisdoms making the reader nod his/her head in agreement, while at the same time evoking a sense of looming dread, this novel is a masterwork of supernatural suspense.

[Via http://fictionophile.wordpress.com]

Review: The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

Title: The Weight of Silence

Author: Heather Gudenkauf

Genre/Pages: Fiction/373

Publication: Mira; July 28, 2009

Rating: 3.5 BOOKMARKS

Employing multiple narrators, Heather Gudenkauf weaves a suspenseful novel about two young girls who go missing from their beds early one summer morning.

In the pre-dawn hours of an August morning in Iowa, seven-year-old Calli Clark is violently dragged into the woods against her will.  Her fear is palpable, but Calli can’t call out for help because she suffers from selective mutism.  Nearby, Petra Gregory, Calli’s best friend and voice, is lured from her own bedroom after spying something from her window.  Does she see her friend or is it someone more sinister?

As the novel progresses, the narrators shift with each new chapter.  We take in the story through the eyes of Calli, her mother Antonia, her older brother Ben, Petra’s dad, and Deputy Sheriff Louis.  Through each of their narratives, we get the backstory about Calli’s mutism, the family dynamics of the Clark household, life in the Gregory house, and Antonia’s relationship with Louis.

Gudenkauf gives Calli a voice as a narrator despite the fact that she doesn’t speak, while Petra, Calli’s mouthpiece in life, remains silent–her perspective of the story untold.  Anxiety builds as the novel progresses and suspicion is cast on several characters.  Compounding the fear is the  local unsolved murder of another little girl who went missing from her bedroom.  Will Calli and Petra meet the same end?

The Weight of Silence is such a page-turner–I read it in one night, staying up until the wee hours to finish it!  The novel is rife with symbols–the woods, the yellow house, the music note chain–and themes of family, friendship, substance abuse, and loss.   This book would be ideal for a book club selection and comes with discussion questions at the end of the novel. 

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book!

 

[Via http://booklineandsinker.wordpress.com]

Child's Garden of Verses - R.L.Stevenson (RLS)

Ian McEwan in his novel Saturday makes this brilliant observation ” It is novels and movies, being restlessly modern, propel you forwards or backwards through time, through days, years or even generations. But to do its noticing and judging, poetry balances itself on the pinprick of the moment. Slowing down, stopping youself completely, to read and understand a poem is like trying to acquire and old fashioned skill like drystone walling or trout tickling“. Poetry has a form and capacity to make an impact on the reader and elevate him beyond ways that he can anticipate and understand.  In my mind, this aspect of poetry is beyond debate. While presently, I am not a great poetry aficionado, through my own erratic reading of poetry, I have experienced this elevation time and again. In the recent past I have read Robert Louis Stevenson’s (RLS) “Child’s Garden of Verses” and was taken in by the utter beauty and appealing aspect of his poetry.  For a man whose pen produced such adventure classics like “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped” and macabre horror classic like “Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde“, this collection struck me as an unusual deviation. Tender, touching and with full of love, longing and nostalgia, the poems are a wonderful tribute to childhood – a childhood as recollected by an adult

RLS has this wonderful ability to string together very simple words yet produce a depiction of reality which is extraordinary. Consider the poem, The Hayloft

Oh, what a joy to clamber there,
     Oh, what a place for play,
With the sweet, the dim, the dusty air,
     The happy hills of hay!

Look at the way the air around the hayloft is characterised: “sweet”, “dim” and “dusty” — I wonder if there can be a more accurate description! Alternately look at the poem: Bed in Summer

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

Would this not be the universal lament of all the children living in countries where in summer the daylight extends well past ten in the night and they having a desire to play till the daylight extinguishes? There are many poems in this collection that demonstrate this extraordinary ability of RLS to depict sharply observed objects or situations with a clarity that is effortlessly elevated. As I read through the collection, I also observed that RLS recreates a world that is completely extinct. Consider how well Leerie the lamplighter and his ritual of lamplighting is recreated:

My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky.
It’s time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;
And oh! before you hurry by with ladder and with light;
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night!

One also gets to see this ability to recreate a bygone age in the poem “Farewell to the Farm“

Probably the most endearing quality of this collection is that all the poems without exception lend themselves brilliantly to a sing song rendition and there by transform themselves into  near perfect substitutes for lullabies. Consider the poem Singing

Of speckled eggs the birdie sings
     And nests among the trees;
The sailor sings of ropes and things
     In ships upon the seas.
……………………………………………
……………………………………………
The children sing in far Japan,
     The children sing in Spain;
The organ with the organ man
     Is singing in the rain

or the poem Nest Eggs

Soon the frail eggs they shall
     Chip, and upspringing
Make all the April woods
     Merry with singing

As I soaked in this enormously joyous read of mine, I could not help recall Kahlil Gibran’s thoughts on children “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself…..You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts……………” . While this is utterly true, I think that RLS is probably that rare artist who came quite close to capturing the thoughts of children in a way no other artist did. For anybody interested in the complete collection it is available on the web at the following link: http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/stevenson/collections/childs_garden_of_verses.html

[Via http://mangalapalliv.wordpress.com]