Yo, Bookclub!

250 books by women all men should read

2011-05-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Absolutes are usually over the top but I thought this list is worth looking at. This list was generated in response to Esquire's magazine list of books for men, of which included only one female author.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

2011-05-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

Our book for June is Excellent Women by Barbara Pym.

The Barbara Pym Society seems to be the place to go to find everything you need to know about Barbara Pym.

Wikipedia on Barbara Pym

The Guardian on Barbara Pym, 'Very Barbara Pym'.

She wrote about worlds of genteel poverty and longing with great warmth and wit. Excellent Women is one of the 20th century's most endearing and amusing novels, writes Alexander McCall Smith

Amazon site

A blogger on Barbara Pym

Quotes by Barbara Pym . Here's one choice quote:

"Of course it's alright for librarians to smell of drink."

What was Charles Darwin's illness?

2011-05-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

AP on recent speculations about the connections between Darwin, his travels and his illnesses.

Junot Diaz on disaster, Haiti, globalization and more

2011-05-05T17:34:00.000-07:00

Junot Diaz's essay in the Boston Review.

Book for May

2011-04-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Our next book will be Amongst Women written by John McGahern.

What wiki says about the book
NYTimes book review
Amazon link
Penguin.com has a list of discussion questions
Novelist Coim Toibin writes about how he was first introduced to this book by the author, John McGahern

Screening of "There once was..."

2011-04-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

At the Museum of Tolerance, May 9th, 7 PM.
More info at their site.

Q&A following the screening with flimmaker Gabor Kalman and the subject of the film Gyöngyi Mago

There Once Was tells the inspiring story of Catholic school teacher, Gyöngyi Mago’s fight to have her town’s Jewish history officially acknowledged and to chart a new course of tolerance in conflict-riddden Hungary, where the Nazi party is presently growing an alarming rate.

David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

2011-04-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

First off, enjoyed reading this book. One thing I was curious about: what was the reaction to his novel by Japanese and Dutch readers? Unfortunately, I had no success in finding anything via google. If you have more luck than me, please feel free to send any info along.
Update: Here's one: a writeup from the Japan Society in the UK

Interview with David Mitchell
Discussion questions on Litlover's site
Facebook site for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

I found the following reviews of David Mitchell's book offering some criticism, unlike the bulk of the reviews out there.

The reviewer in the New Statesman was not impressed.
Speculation on why this book did not win a Booker Prize nomination for David Mitchell.
The Spectator seemed to be quite critical.

Background for his book
Wikipedia, Henrik Doeff, the Dutchman in Dejima who wrote a memoir about his time in Japan
Wikipedia, Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Dejima in Wikipedia
The Phaeton incident

Carlos Fuentes on KCRW

2011-03-31T15:55:00.000-07:00

So it turns out I ran across this bit: Mr. Fuentes has a new book out called Destiny and Desire. Here he is on KCRW's Bookworm program.

The great Mexican writer modestly confides that yes, he has completed a new novel but it's really the same story, just with new characters. He elaborates: all stories are the same — the same global myths illustrating the same human truths

Pamuk fined for insulting 'Turkishness'

2011-03-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

Via Bookslut, we find news that Nobel prize-winning Orhan Pamuk, we read his book Snow last year, has been fined.

...pay 6,000 liras (about 4,000 USD) to six individuals—1,000 liras each—in compensation for insulting their “Turkishness” after citing the number of Kurds and Armenians killed in Turkey.

The Desert of Forbidden Art documentary

2011-03-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

The LA Times covers the documentary called the Desert of Forbidden Art about an Uzbekistan museum filled with quality Russian avant-garde art. I'm posting this because Shelley has been recommending this documentary to us.

"The Desert of Forbidden Art" tells a tale that is stranger than fiction several times over. Viewers of this remarkable documentary will be astonished at not only what this art looks like and why it's forbidden, but also where it is and how it got there.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

2011-03-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Our next book will be The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Posting a quick collection of links, definitely not all encompassing, so please pass along your links to me, especially if you have a favorite site.

The website of the book
Amazon link

nytimes review by david eggers

telegraph review

guardian review

the review in the independent
something David Mitchell wrote about his book

reviews by bloggers

at bibliokept

at savidge reads

at reading fuelled by tea

at written nerd

The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes

2011-02-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

For March, we are reading The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes. I've collected a few links related to this book. I have no doubt there are many many more sites and links regarding this book. If you'd like, please send the links to me or write a comment.

What wikipedia has on the book
Bookrags has a study guide for this book
A page on Fuentes with links
Amazon on the Death of Artemio Cruz
A summary and study guide on enotes
There's even a facebook site for this book
A salon piece
Something at the booker tea reading group
psri's book blog has a book review

New section: Visit our sites

2011-01-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

To make it easy to access our members' sites, we've got a brand new section, now placed in the upper left corner of our blog.

First up: Shelley Adler's website. She specializes in the genre of California realistic painting but brings to it her unique perspective. In her words:

My intention is to recreate within the small framework, the specific moment caught by the camera. I attempt to express the personality of the person(s) through their body language and the way they are positioned in relationship to each other and to express the feeling of the time or era in which they exist with atmosphere and color. Some of these elements may be present in the black and white snapshot, but they are not always obvious. I enhance the image by using my intuitive sense of the scene to imagine the colors that were there as the photo was snapped, and to bring to life the black and white image.

I feel that I am having a conversation with the images of the people as I paint them. They open up to me as I study the photograph and see the subtleties of their expressions and bearing. I then try to make that revelation part of the painting.

Currently, she's showing her work in several galleries in the area. Please visit her site for more information.
Shelley's link on ArtSlant
Tag Gallery interviews Shelley

Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee

2011-01-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

We will be reading J. M. Coetzee's book, Disgrace, winner of the Booker and Commonwealth Prizes. I've gathered some links about the book and the novelist, posted below. Please feel free to send along any other items of interest.

Salon review in 1999
What wikipedia says about Disgrace
The Guardian review of Disgrace
The Amazon page on Disgrace
Book review on Hackwriters.com
Tony D'Souza writes an essay about Disgrace
Complete Reviews page

As you probably all know, Coetzee won the Nobel prize in 2003. Here's his biography on the Nobel web site.
What wiki says about Coetzee

Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine

2010-11-12T07:03:00.000-08:00

We'll be reading Andrei Makine's Dreams of My Russian Summers.
The Amazon link to his book

Interview with Andrei Makine by the Independent, "Through the Iron Curtain to Paris"
The Telegraph interview, "A Writer's Life"
"Torn Between Two Languages": a review in the NY Times
The literary blog, Ordinary World, reviews Dreams of My Russian Summers
wikipedia on Andrei Makine

David Lebovitz' Chocolate Yogurt Cakes

2010-11-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Have been enjoying reading David Lebovitz' book, The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious and Perplexing City. The recipe for chocolate yogurt cakes came from this book. It's simple and easy. It turns out he has a very nice blog loaded with recipes.

I found the recipe for his chocolate yogurt cakes online in this blogger's post at the Steamy Kitchen.
Podcast below on the Steamy Kitchen.
David Lebovitz Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cake from Jaden Hair on Vimeo.

Makes 12 individual cakes
7 ounces (200g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (125ml) unflavored vegetable oil, divided
1/2 cup (125ml) plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 cup (200g) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups (180g) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
whipped cream (optional – that’s just my little addition to his recipe)
1. Preheat the oven to 350f (180C). Line a muffin tin with 12 indentations with paper cupcake liners, or lightly butter them.
2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup (60ml) of the oil. Once melted and smooth, remove from heat.
3. In another bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup (65ml) of oil with the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the yogurt mixture. Stir lightly a couple of time, then add the melted chocolate, and stir until just smooth.
5. Divide the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until they feel barely set in the middle.
6. Remove from oven and cool before serving. Top with some whipped cream, if desired.

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious and Perplexing City.
His blog: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

The Professor and the Madman

2010-11-09T18:13:00.000-08:00

Found a few links about our next book, The Professor and the Madman written by Simon Winchester.

A Charles Taylor review at Salon.com

Interview with Simon Winchester at Powells

Wikipedia on Simon Winchester

PBS radio interview by David Gergen with Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester's bio on his website

Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century

2010-11-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

The top 100 novels of the 20th century at the Oxford Books site

Guardian's 1000 books you must read, the definitive list

2010-11-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

For inspiration, we could take a peek at the Guardian compilation of the 1000 books you must read, the definitive list. It's divided into sections so be sure to scroll down to the end.

On the pending booklist, updated

2010-11-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

These were the books still left on the pending list from the last meeting

Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
Review from Salon.com

In his sober, searing and even cynical little book "Disgrace," J.M. Coetzee tells us something we all suspect and fear -- that political change can do almost nothing to eliminate human misery. What it can do, he suggests, is reorder it a little and half-accidentally introduce a few new varieties. This view should not surprise any of the great South African novelist's readers. In his early-1980s masterpieces "Waiting for the Barbarians" and "Life & Times of Michael K" -- indeed, in all of his work -- political and historical forces blow through the lives of individuals like nasty weather systems, bringing with them a destruction that is all the more cruel for being impersonal. "Disgrace" is Coetzee's first book to deal explicitly with post-apartheid South Africa, and the picture it paints is a cheerless one that will comfort no one, no matter what race, nationality or viewpoint.

Amazon.com link to Disgrace

David Lurie is hardly the hero of his own life, or anyone else's. At 52, the protagonist of Disgrace is at the end of his professional and romantic game, and seems to be deliberately courting disaster. Long a professor of modern languages at Cape Town University College, he has recently been relegated to adjunct professor of communications at the same institution, now pointedly renamed Cape Technical University:

Although he devotes hours of each day to his new discipline, he finds its first premise, as enunciated in the Communications 101 handbook, preposterous: "Human society has created language in order that we may communicate our thoughts, feelings and intentions to each other." His own opinion, which he does not air, is that the origins of speech lie in song, and the origins of song in the need to fill out with sound the overlarge and rather empty human soul.
Twice married and twice divorced, his magnetic looks on the wane, David rather cruelly seduces one of his students, and his conduct unbecoming is soon uncovered. In his eighth novel, J.M. Coetzee might have been content to write a searching academic satire. But in Disgrace he is intent on much more, and his art is as uncompromising as his main character, though infinitely more complex. Refusing to play the public-repentance game, David gets himself fired--a final gesture of contempt. Now, he thinks, he will write something on Byron's last years. Not empty, unread criticism, "prose measured by the yard," but a libretto. To do so, he heads for the Eastern Cape and his daughter's farm. In her mid-20s, Lucy has turned her back on city sophistications: with five hectares, she makes her living by growing flowers and produce and boarding dogs. "Nothing," David thinks, "could be more simple." But nothing, in fact, is more complicated--or, in the new South Africa, more dangerous. Far from being the refuge he has sought, little is safe in Salem. Just as David has settled into his temporary role as farmworker and unenthusiastic animal-shelter volunteer, he and Lucy are attacked by three black men. Unable to protect his daughter, David's disgrace is complete. Hers, however, is far worse.

Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine
from Amazon.com

Each summer, Andrei Makine's narrator and his sister leave the Soviet Union for the mythical land of France-Atlantis. That this country is a beautiful confabulation, a consolation existing only in his maternal grandmother's mind, makes it no less real. Though Charlotte Lemonnier lives in a town on the edge of the steppe, each night she journeys to a long-ago Paris, telling tales that the children then translate with their more Russian minds: "The president of the Republic was bound to have something Stalinesque about him in the portrait sketched by our imagination. Neuilly was peopled with kolkhozniks. And the slow emergence of Paris from the waters evoked a very Russian emotion--that of fleeting relief after one more historic cataclysm ..."
Makine's first novel is a singing tribute to the alchemy of inspiration, but it is no less familiar with the sorrows of reality. And it is only as he gets older that the narrator begins to piece together his grandmother's far more tragic past--her experiences in the Great War, the October Revolution, and after. Dreams of My Russian Summers is a love letter to an extraordinary woman (it's hard not to see the book as autobiographical) as well as to language and literature, which the boy turns to in avoidance of history's manipulations. It has all the marks of an instant classic.

Updated:
Just added Jonathan Franzen's latest, Freedom.
Guardian review
NYTimes review written by Michio Kakutani
Amazon link to Freedom

A new look and changes

2010-11-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

I've updated the template and switched the books we read to a separate page. I still need to update the book list but if you see any errors, please let me know. Thanks!

What do you think?

2004-12-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

I don't usually recommend any books for our list but I ran across these recently. I'll be interested in reading them in the future even if they don't make our list but if you want to warn me otherwise, go ahead.

Far Tortuga by Peter Matthiessen. Here's one Amazon reader review:

Far Tortuga is one of the finest works of fiction I have ever read. Had this book been written a hundred years ago, we wouldn't be comparing Matthiessen to Conrad today (as happens often), because Matthiessen's writing is so much better. This book's prose is mytho-poetical, gorgeous, and shorn of everything that is not necessary (unlike Conrad's heavy-handedness). Even though we (ironically) live in an age of some fine writing, the frenzy of life and the vulgarity of taste of most people is such that a book like Far Tortuga comes along, gains some readers, gets some good reviews, and is forgotten. It's not Matthiessen's fault; it's just that anything today of real quality is noticed by fewer and fewer people. Far Tortuga is a dream. Please read it, you won't be disappointed.

Go here for more.

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn. I will read this book anyway if we don't chose it for bookclub. Hearing Howard Zinn on the radio once is enough to want to read his book. I would love to know what he writes about American history. Reviews at Amazon include this :

A quick look at the reviews for this book will tell you just how difficult it is for a reader of Zinn's works to whistle and walk on. Either one ends up savagely dismissing him as a petty caviller, or extolling his brand of "eye opening" wisdom. I doubt I can add anything purposeful to this seemingly hot debate because I approached this book with a different intent altogether.
I wanted this page of history to answer some of my business questions. How America came from a nowhere nation of vagrant Arawak Indian tribes just a few centuries ago to being a commerical (ok, and imperial) superpower in our times. My interest was not to equip myself with geewhiz anti-US trivia (although I picked up a fair bit on the way, tra la) but to answer the atavistic question of what promoted capitalistic thinking, meritocracy, love of freedom etc in the United states more than the rest of the planet (assuming this is true in the first place).

And in that department, I have to say that this book left me startled. It might sound presumptuous but the quick answer is that there is nothing specific in the history or the anthropological station of US in this century and the last that may have accentuated its drive for capitalism. What's more, America was and is, just like any other country on the planet, subject to the exact same vagaries of civilization/humanity/bigotry/dogma that make and mar an empire every few centuries or so. I also recognize why this is very difficult for Americans to identify with or agree to, specially Americans who typify the inward looking solipsism of the current generation and perhaps the last 2 or so.

I recommend this book highly as a VIEW of historical events that are difficult to deny occured. Whether the guardians of the old order spring into an attack or not this is bound to yank a lot of people (me included) out of a langour of perspective.

Not all books need to be read to be "liked". Even a book that makes you constantly revulse in disagreement is worth a read for that precise reason. 5 stars from me.

Southland by Nina Revoyr. I'm not a mystery fan but I was intrigued since the author takes you through another side of south central LA.

Spanning three generations, Revoyr's follow-up to The Necessary Hunger (1997) uses the murder of three boys during the 1965 Watts riot as the pivot point for a moving, sometimes harrowing exploration of race relations among black, Japanese, and white residents of L.A. When her grandfather dies in 1994, young Japanese American lawyer Jackie Ishida seeks to discover why her grandfather, Frank, had once planned to leave his Crenshaw grocery store to one of the murder victims, a black teen from the neighborhood. After enlisting the help of one of the young man's relatives, rock-solid community group worker James Lanier, Jackie embarks on a journey that will enable her to understand why she has fled so far from her Japanese roots she won't even consider dating a fellow Asian. Switching effortlessly from the mid-1990s to the 1960s, the 1940s, and back again, Revoyr peoples the landscape with compelling characters who are equally believable whether they're black, Japanese, male, female, gay, or straight. With prose that is beautiful, precise, but never pretentious, she brings to vivid life a painful, seldom-explored part of L.A.'s past that should not be forgotten. If Oprah still had her book club, this novel likely would be at the top of her selection list. Frank Sennett

This last one is a book of poetry. Mountains and Rivers Without End by Gary Snyder. Sounds intriguing but I think I'll check this one out first.

A magnificent achievement, this epic poem belies the common take that Snyder's poetic career is notable mainly in the past tense and is refracted by the works of others. Without doubt, Snyder's exploration of nature, Zen Buddhism and his travels through unexplored corners of American society influenced the Beat writers of the 1950s and early 1960s, and some of his early works (Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems, 1965, and Turtle Island, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975) are masterpieces. This new, vital work sums up stylistic and thematic concerns by uniting 39 poems written between 1956 and 1996 (many published here for the first time) into a seamless whole that, like a modern Leaves of Grass, combines fascination with the varied particulars of the way people live with awe at the majesty of nature. Each of four sections is organized around a familiar Snyder focus: the demands made on people by nature and time ("The road that's followed goes forever;/ in half a minute crossed and left behind"); observation of the terrain he occupies ("Slash of calligraphy of freeways of cars") and various American landscapes ("trucks on the freeways,/ Kenworth, Peterbilt, Mack,/ rumble diesel depths,/ like boulders bumping in an outwash glacial river"); and subtle tributes to those who have survived the last 40 years ("At the end of the ice age/ we are the bears, we are the ravens,/ We are the salmon/ in the gravel/ At the end of an ice age"). A concluding essay, "The Making of Mountain and Rivers Without End," serves as an intellectual mini-autobiography and a gloss on some of the Eastern influences on the poem. This is a major work by a venerable master of post-WWII American poetry.

The first two are definitely ones I'd go with. Not sure about the last ones.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2004-09-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

(from Marlo)

Here's a great "web find" from Linda.
For a short review by Robin Fiorello, go here.
For the full text of a lecture on Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude delivered, in part, in Liberal Studies 402, on Tuesday, March 28, 1995, by Ian Johnston, go here.

A discussion of MAGIC REALISM: A DISTINCTIVE MINGLE OF FANTASY AND REALITY is here.
Also see this.

Well-organized material suitable for real study:

here

-or-

here

-or-

here.

For notes and outlines...

Other books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

2004-08-09T00:28:00.000-07:00

From Marlo:

I get it. Why BLOG stuff people can see for themselves on the Net, right?

For book reviews

Especially interesting is the review by Nicholas Carvan:
For discussion questions, go to here and here.

P.S. Here's a short animated clip inspired by LIFE OF PI.

(Note: from Sally. I found this interview with the author to be revealing. The Guardian provides us with more info about Martel.)

A Bend in the River by Naipaul

2004-08-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

Note: I've edited Marlo's original email. Please click on the links for more details.
More goodies from Marlo:

Analysis

Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul [emory]

Biography [emory]

Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was born in Chaguanas, Trinidad, on August 17, 1932. His Hindu grandfather had emigrated there from W.India as an indentured servant. His father, Seepersad (1906-53), was a journalist, whose literary aspirations were inherited by V.S., and his brother, Shiva. The family moved to Port of Spain, where Naipaul attended Queenís Royal College. In 1948, he was awarded a Trinidad government scholarship, which he used to study literature at University College, Oxford, beginning in 1950. Following his graduation in 1953, Naipaul worked as a free-lance writer with the BBC, hosting the program "Carribbean Voices," and with the literary journal, The New Statesman. He married an English woman--Patricia Ann Hale--in 1955. Since then, he has resided in London, travelling extensively and writing many critically acclaimed novels, short stories, and essays. In 1990, Naipaul was knighted by the Royal family. His wife died in 1996, and he was remarried shortly thereafter, to a Pakistani woman named Nadira.

Link to the Nobel Prize site on Naipaul.

Scholars link.

More analysis of A Bend In the River

Analysis: critical consciousness

Edward Said on Naipaul

Robert Boyers on Naipaul

A provocative critique of Naipaul, on spitting

The Atlantic Monthly on Naipaul

Transcript of his Nobel prize acceptance speech

His Banquet speech

His Nobel lecture

His PBS interview

Critique

Critique: UCLA

PS Re: Post modernism

2004-08-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

From Marlo:

P.S. For those who are postmodernist enthusiasts, there's a Norton Anthology called Postmodern American Fiction by Paula Geyh, Fred G. Leebron, Andrew Levy. Of course, after they read a ton of this stuff, they may be too wiggy to participate in future book-group discussions....

A Bend In the River by V. S. Naipaul

2004-07-02T23:53:00.000-07:00

is our book for this month.

Thanks to Shelley who points out this great site: The Literary Encyclopedia.

The essay below might be helpful.

V. S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River was first published in 1979, after Naipaul had firmly established his considerable reputation?one that
would lead to the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001. Treating such
topics as the cultural interdependence of Africa and Europe, the
influence of ideology and ethnicity on an individual?s identity, and
the complexities of African nationhood following independence from
Belgian colonial rule, the novel grapples with weighty post-colonial
themes in an undaunted manner for which Naipaul has been both praised
and bitterly criticized.

The novel is set in Zaire (currently the Democratic Republic of the
Congo) during the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko in the late 1960s and early
1970s, a period of great social and political upheaval in the Congo.
However, though major historical events?including armed coups, cold-war
political machinations, guerrilla rebellions, urban riots, rural
massacres, and widespread social reforms?occur in the novel?s backdrop,
Naipaul avoids depicting those events directly; indeed, the country of
Zaire and its president Mobutu are never explicitly named in the book.
Instead, the narrative focuses on the personal life of Salim, the
novel?s first-person narrator. The book is divided into four parts as
follows.

Continues on here. On the sidebar on the left, click "One Work". Then enter the title of this book in the search field.

From Marlo: here's the link from the group email.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

2004-06-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

This month's book.

I found these websites on the Hmong FYI.

http://www.hmongnet.org/
http://occr.ucdavis.edu/html/hmong_websites.html

Update: Adding this link to the NPR report on the Hmong.

More on Walker Percy

2004-05-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

wood s lot celebrates Walker Percy's birthday.

On The Moviegoer by Percy Walker

2004-04-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

From Shelley:

(ed: Shelley, I edited it a tiny bit. Many thanks for contributing this. )

From Linda

2004-04-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

From Marlo

2004-03-19T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a book list I happened to run into on the Net. (I love the focus on books -- we can get in English -- from other countries.)

Around the World in 80 Books
Summer Reading 2002

This summer, join us for a trip of the imagination with some of these books chosen for your enjoyment by the Wilton Library staff. Unless otherwise noted, books are shelved in fiction under the author's last name.

Europe
Camilleri, Andrea. The Shape of Water. (Sicily, Italy)
De Bernieres, Louis. [Captain] Corelli's Mandolin. (Greece)
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. (London, England)
Durrell, Lawrence. The Greek Islands. (Greece) [914.958]
Fermor, Patrick Leigh. Between the Woods and the Water. (much of Europe) [914.7]
Gabaldon, Diana. Outlander. (Scotland)
Gainham, Sarah. Night Falls on the City. (Vienna, Austria)
Gill, Bartholomew. Death of a Joyce Scholar. (Ireland) [Mystery]
Hoeg, Peter. Smilla's Sense of Snow. (Denmark)
Isherwood, Christopher. Berlin Stories. (Berlin, Germany)
Leon, Donna. Acqua Alta. (Venice, Italy) [Mystery]
Llewellyn, Richard. How Green Was My Valley. (Wales)
Perez-Reverte, Arturo. Seville Communion. (Spain)
Rankin, Ian. Dead Souls. (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Sagan, Francoise. A Reluctant Hero. (France)
Sienkiewicz, Henryk. With Fire and Sword. (Poland)
Undset, Sigrid. Kristin Lavransdatter. (Norway)
Unsworth, Barry. Umbrian Music. (Italy)
Africa
Bowles, Paul. The Sheltering Sky. (Sahara Desert)
Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa. (Kenya) [916.7]
Huxley, Elspeth. The Flame Trees of Thika. (Kenya) [916.762]
Keneally, Thomas. To Asmara. (Eritrea)
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible. (Congo)
Paton, Alan. Cry the Beloved Country. (South Africa)
Rush, Norman. Whites. (Botswana)
Rushby, Kevin. Eating the Flowers of Paradise. (Ethiopia) [916.3]
The Middle East
Kaplan, Robert. The Arabists: Romance of an American Elite. (Middle East) [327.73056]
King, Laurie R. O, Jerusalem. (Jerusalem) [Mystery]
Mahfouz, Nagib. Palace Walk. (Egypt)
Uris, Leon. Exodus. (Middle East, Europe)
Wallach, Janet. Desert Queen: the Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell. (Arabia) [B Bell]
Asia
Buck, Pearl. The Good Earth. (China)
Clavell, James. Tai-Pan. (Hong Kong)
DeMille, Nelson. Up Country. (Vietnam)
Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman. (Afghanistan)
Gilman, Dorothy. Incident at Badamya. (Burma)
Godden, Rumer. The Peacock Spring. (India)
Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha. (Japan)
Harrer, Heinrich. Seven Year in Tibet. (Tibet) [951.3]
Higginbotham, Jay. Fast Train Russia. (Russia) [914.7044853]
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies. (India)
Mishima, Yukio. The Sound of Waves. (Japan)
Newby, Eric. Slowly Down the Ganges. (India) [915.41]
Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. (Russia/Soviet Union)
Oceania/Antarctica
Bryson, Bill. In a Sunburned Country. (Australia) [919.4]
Conway, Jill Ker. The Road from Coorain. (Australia) [B Conway]
Franklin, Miles. My Brilliant Career. (Australia)
Hulme, Keri. The Bone People. (New Zealand)
Marriott, Edward. The Lost Tribe. (New Guinea) [919.53]
Melville, Herman. Typee. (Polynesia)
Shute, Nevil. A Town Like Alice. (Australia)
Wheeler, Sarah. Terra Incognita. (Antarctica) [919.89]
South America
Allende, Isabel. The House of the Spirits. (Chile)
Banks, Vic. The Pantanal. (Brazil) [918.172]
Chatwin, Bruce. In Patagonia. (Patagonia) [918.27]
France, Miranda. Bad Time in Buenos Aires. (Argentina) [918.211]
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. The General in his Labyrinth. (Columbia)
Mueller, Marnie. Green Fires: Assault on Eden. (Ecuador)
Theroux, Paul. Mosquito Coast. (Belize)
Vargas Llosa, Mario. The War of the End of the World. (Brazil)
North America/Caribbean
Berendt, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. (Savannah, Georgia) [975.8724]
Burke, James Lee. Heaven's Prisoners. (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Davies, Pete. Storm Country: a Journey Through the Heart of America. (American Heartland) [917.8]
Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. (Mexico)
Evanovich, Janet. One for the Money. (New Jersey)
Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. (Washington)
Hamill, Pete. Snow in August. (Brooklyn, New York)
Hassler, John. North of Hope. (Minnesota)
Hillerman, Tony. The Fallen Man. (American Southwest) [Mystery]
Innes, Hammond. High Stand. (Klondike)
Jenkins, Peter. Looking for Alaska. (Alaska) [917.98]
Jewett, Sarah Orne. The Country of the Pointed Firs. (Maine)
Kincaid, Jamaica. Annie John. (Antigua)
Kinsella, WP. Box Socials. (Alberta)
Norman, Howard. The Bird Artist. (Newfoundland)
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. (Jamaica)
Richler, Mordecai. Solomon Gursky Was Here. (Ontario)
Smith, Martin Cruz. Havana Bay. (Cuba)
Waller, Robert James. The Bridges of Madison County. (Iowa)
And finally...
Tyler, Anne. The Accidental Tourist. (Baltimore and beyond from the comfort of an armchair)

Prayer for Animals

2004-03-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Note to Bishop-Elect Smith: We understand that at St.John the Divine back East, dogs receive communion. That even gives us animal lovers pause (no pun intended). Marlo

Niggling details

2004-03-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

Straight from Marlo:

Developments after Calvin: While Lutheranism was largely confined to parts of Germany and to SCANDINAVIA, Calvinism spread into ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, the English-speaking colonies in NORTH AMERICA, France, the Netherlands, much of Germany, and parts of central EUROPE.

He was a RC who gradually became a Protestant. His book Institutes of the Christian Religion, his masterwork, became the single most important statement of Protestant belief.

Note: during our discussion on The Artist by Jan de Hartog, a question came up regarding Calvinism, where Calvinism flourished, what influence it had on the Dutch, so on. Marlo followed up with the above from the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Our April book

2004-03-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

Next will by The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Again, if anyone has anything interesting about it, please post or send to me by email so I can post it for everyone's enjoyment.

Another top 100 booklist

2004-03-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

From Marlo: here is the list.

The Book Quiz

2004-03-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

Follow the link to take the Book Quiz.

"Henceforward", a play by Alan Ayckbourn

2004-01-31T15:16:00.000-08:00

For February, we will cover "Henceforward", written by Alan Ayckbourn.

Marlo has been busy as always digging up goodies for us. Since she's got so many links, I'm just going to post them here without too much detail.

http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/aycka/hencef.htm
http://www.britannica.com/eb/print?eu=2800
http://www.alanayckbourn.net/ his website
http://www.sjt.uk.com/aa.htm
http://playwrites.net/playwrights/1999/f_june/AlanAyckbourn1.html two interviews
http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/20000721hence6.asp stage review of his play
http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/aycka/hencef.htm review of the play

Books I Did Not Read This Year

2003-12-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Bookslut points out this excellent post by Kieran Healy on books he didn't read this year.

NY Times Book Group is reading Eugene Onegin for December

2003-12-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

NY Times' December reading group pick is Eugene Onegin. Anybody would like to share their expertise by discussing it online? Please check it out. Here is their site.

Update: NY Times requires registration in order to see their stuff. It's free. To post messages on their online discussion, merely update your account by clicking on the 'subscribe' button. No money out of your pocket needed for these procedures, fortunately, unlike the LA Times (grrrrrrr).

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

2003-11-28T16:41:00.000-08:00

...is our December selection.

Update: Found this Jared Diamond essay written 1987 "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race" here.

Here are comments about Guns, Germs, and Steel in response to a review by Bradford Delong, an economist.

At Cornell, I found a page with links to comments about Diamond's book. The first, about Yali, is worth reading.

Here is a page with a bit of criticism.

The NY Times reviews this book.

My quick comment on this book: It seemed as though reading this amazing book was like peeling an onion, especially towads the end. I enjoyed reading this book about the 'big picture'. But, correct me if I'm wrong, it seemed as though he didn't cover a few areas about humans that I really think are important, such as the role of religion and the role of world view and how that affects conquest. The questions I pose are these: do you think he adequately answered Yali's question in his book? Why did he leave the areas of worldview and religion out of this book?

Don Quixote and Pushkin

2003-11-26T20:32:00.000-08:00

The New York Times reviews two books relevant to our bookclub: one is a new Don Quixote translation and the second is a review of a new Pushkin biography.

wood s lot

2003-11-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

This blog is a gem: wood s lot

Next book

2003-10-28T19:15:00.000-08:00

We'll be tackling Eugene Onegin by Pushkin.
Update:
Following are a whole slew of Pushkin-related links, thanks to Marlo. Note: I only posted the links from the email to save space.

Puskin's final duel (This article claims that Pushkin's wife was faithful, a notion that is elsewhere controverted.)
For more data, go to http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/dueling/3.html
Poems by Pushkin are here.

From Reviews of Alexander Pushkin

Pushkin is to Russian speakers what Shakespeare is to English speakers. His influence on the prose and poetry of the language is second to no one and writing influences Russian literature to this day. Amazingly Pushkin only lived until the age of 38. Even now you can visit his gravesite (as I did) and still see teenage girls weeping and putting flowers on his grave.
From http://www.cybcity.com/barkov/

New literary theory suggests the multi-plot inner structure of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin is identical to that of Shakespeare's Hamlet. In both, a hidden Narrator is the principal composition element.

Onwards, Yo, Bookclub!

2003-10-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

We now have our very own battle cry...
For your very own, enter your name or anyone else's in the 'Enter username:' space.

Another quiz

2003-10-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

This time it's: Which Dr. Seuss character are you?

The 100 greatest novels of all time: The list

2003-10-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

From the Observer, we get their 100 greatest novels of all time. So what do you think?

Open Discussion Thread: Quarantine by Jim Crace

2003-10-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

This month's book is Quarantine by Jim Crace. (We are finally catching up).Here's your chance to put in your questions and comments.

Open Discussion Thread: Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo

2003-10-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Confessions of Zeno was last month's book. Any second, third, fourth or fifth thoughts?

Comments

2003-10-09T03:10:00.000-07:00

Comments are now up on a trial basis.

This Month's Book: Jim Crace's Quarantine

2003-10-09T01:39:00.000-07:00

Here is Crace himself commenting on his book Quarantine.

And here is a book review. I'm sure there are more out there. Oh Marlo, what have you found?

Daedalus Children's Books

2003-09-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Daedalus Children's Books has an online sale site. Check it out if you're interested in amazingly low prices on new children's books. Sale ends 12/31/03.

Jim Crace Interview

2003-09-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

From Bookslut, we hear about an interview with Jim Crace in the Independent(UK). He's got a new book out called Genesis.

On Confessions of Zeno, from Marlo

2003-09-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

I didn't find much on the WWW in the way of reader's guides or discussion questions for Svevo's book. However, for those who have time, I found an interesting, although insidious, article at
http://www.vladivostok.com/Speaking_In_Tongues/glazova34eng.htm

Speaking In Tongues: Guided by Voices -- Joyce, Svevo and Weininger

by Anna Glazova.

She discusses two themes in Svevo's work: anti-Semitism and misogyny

From Marlo

2003-09-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Thinking of Mars recently having been so close to Earth, our rector included this poem in his weekly church letter. Love, M

"As If to Demonstrate an Eclipse" by Billy Collins

I pick an orange from a wicker basket
and place it on the table
to represent the sun.
Then down at the other end
a blue and white marble
becomes the earth
and nearby I lay the little moon of an aspirin.
I get a glass from a cabinet,
open a bottle of wine,
then I sit in a ladder-back chair,
a benevolent god presiding
over a miniature creation myth,
and I begin to sing
a homemade canticle of thanks
for this perfect little arrangement,
for not making the earth too hot or cold
not making it spin too fast or slow
so that the grove of orange trees
and the owl become possible,
not to mention the rolling wave,
the play of clouds, geese in flight,
and the Z of lightning on a dark lake.
Then I fill my glass again
and give thanks for the trout,
the oak, and the yellow feather,
singing the room full of shadows,
as sun and earth and moon
circle one another in their impeccable orbit
and I get more and more cockeyed with gratitude.

Update: Billy Collins is the US Poet Laureate. This poem can be found in his book called Nine Horses. Here is a review.

Something Silly

2003-08-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

So, which Jane Austen character are you? Click here to find out.
Note: Think more along the lines of a Cosmopolitan quiz. The quizzes on this site are just for fun and have no validity whatsoever.

Don Quixote in One Minute

2003-08-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Book Blog for this link.

Other Book Club Blogs

2003-08-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

are hard to find. Here are two: BookBlog and Zuly's Reading Room. Email me if you find any.
Oops! Spoke too soon: found this link to other bookclub blogs at Book Blog.

Plagiarist.com

2003-08-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

is an extremely large online poetry archive. Thanks to Booksurfer (a wonderful book blog--see our sidebar under Book Blogs) for this link.

The Guardian Reading Group Selection for July Is....

2003-07-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

....guess what? The one and only The Leopard by di Lampedusa. Check it out here. Do we have any brave adventurers from our group to post on their forum?We did have a wonderful discussion the other night....

Addendum: Crime and Punishment, our last months book, was a September 2001 selection.

I made it

2003-07-22T23:34:00.000-07:00

Check out the movie Whale Rider for tears and inspiration. Thanks for this awesome resource Sally and all.

2003-07-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! Welcome, Judy! And your post was fine. We may one day have a comments section but at this point in time, HTML still looks like techno-Greek to me. I'm not up to speed on that yet.

REMINDER: I forgot to mention this. After you are finished writing your post, click on the "Post" or "Post and Publish" icons on the top bar. If you still see the yellow-orangish PUBLISH button on the right side of the middle toolbar, you will need to click on that to get the post officially published on the blog.

Later in the evening: A double woo hoo! Welcome, Jeannie!

Hello

2003-07-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Sally and Marlo -- and anyone else who figured this out! I wish I had the time to visit all those sites and read all those books. Some other life time...

I was able to order Confessions of Zeno with ease at "abebooks" - thanks for that! I also ordered the new Jim Crace novel while I was at it. I used a new and different account name, so I will track for us all what spam that contact may have generated (if any).

Now, is this an inappropriate use of a blog site?
Judy

2003-07-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

For Woody Guthrie fans, here is a sweet tribute to Woody, written by Steve Earle.
Addendum: This is in reference to the September 2001 bookclub selection: Bound For Glory written by Woody Guthrie.

2003-07-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

A Chaser From Marlo

THE BOOK: Confessions of Zeno, by Itelo Svevo

www.abebooks.com has about 70 copies. Yes, some are expensive; but you can sort them by "lowest price." Sally mentioned another website for books, which I didn't catch but which is listed on the BLOG site.

Sep.4 we will have a demonstration re BLOGGING. Oh, boy!

Here's a Russian poem that may serve as a "chaser" following our discussion this evening of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT:

"Forever You, the Unwashed Russia!"

by Mikhail Lermontov

Forever you, the unwashed Russia!

The land of slaves the land of lords:

And you, the blue-uniformed ushers,

And people who worship them as gods.

I hope, from your tyrannic hounds

To save me with Caucasian wall:

From their eye, that sees through ground,

From their ears, that hear all.

© Copyright, 1996 Translated from Russian by Yevgeny Bonver, 1990

2003-07-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting Dostoevsky lecture from the UC Davis Philosophy Department.

2003-07-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

To get us in the mood for next week's meeting, visit the Crime and Punishment Museum.

2003-07-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina Lamb

Here is an interesting book review in Alternet (a wonderful source of alternative progressive news, by the way). A memoir written by a foreign journalist in Afghanistan, this book chronicles her experiences through two wars.

Note: Other favorite progressive news sites online: Common Dreams and Tom Paine

2003-06-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Note on:The Laws of Evening. Here is a brief review in the NYTimes(registration but no subscription required).

2003-06-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

A Book and Some Haikus: The Laws of Evening

From Linda:

The book is called: The Laws of Evening by Mary Yukari Waters. I ordered it on half.com and will read it before I recommend it. Following is the beginning of the review:

"The Japanese and Japanese American women who populate this remarkable poised story collection from May Yukari Waters have had their lives and families decimated by WWII. And yet they - and Waters - manage to extract almost crippling beauty from the defining tragedy of the 20th century and its ever-lingering aftermath. Each of Waters' stories is as exacting and bittersweet as a Hiroshige landscape, and there's a sense of loss and nostalgia becoming hopelessly blurred.
The war, after all, spelled the end of the courtly old Japan.... (reoccurring theme from last night)
Anyway, that Haiku reads:

In preparation for our next book, and its theme of guilt:

2003-06-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

From Marlo about The Leopard

If you are one of those who couldn't/didn't finish THE LEOPARD, try to pick it up toward the end. The "Death of a Prince" is very nicely done (or is it just me?), and the last chapter "Relics" gives you a sense of how deep Catholicism was in Sicily and Italy. I remember being overwhelmed in Rome, seeing Catholic art everywhere, even on the facade of buildings -- and churches in which statues of the reigning pope are many times larger than statues of the saints or Jesus himself. (!) Ah, we should have planned this meeting to be held in Sicily. When, oh when, will be develop into a book and travel group. Think about it. M

2003-05-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

More From Marlo About Crime and Punishment...

There are tons, I mean tons, of websites for Crime and Punishment. I'm overwhelmed.

http://www.kiosek.com/dostoevsky/links.html

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crime/context.html

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/cri/SUM.htm PLOT SUMMARY, etc.

http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides2/crime_and_punishment.asp DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, etc.

http://www.novelguide.com/crimeandpunishment/index.html

http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/crimeandpunishment/links.html

You'll notice that most of these sites offer material (a few offer discussion questions) on other novels/literature, as well.

2003-05-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

Heads up from Marlo!

The book we are currently reading is THE LEOPARD by LAMPEDUSA. But look what's up next!

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Take steps to get your copy for reading in June.
NOTICE: A couple of translators are listed for this book:
Constance Garnett for Bantam Classics (amazon.com's BEST SELLER) and Dover Thrift editions.
Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator), for Everyman's Library/Knopf.
W.W. Norton's translator is someone else (amazon.com's 2nd BEST SELLER and my choice).

Oy vey!

PLEASE ADVISE if you know which might be the best translator/edition to get. It makes a big difference in the enjoyment of the book.

Meanwhile, the book is available everywhere -- including online and on audio cassettes. You can find reading guides via google.com or whatever you like.
This is a great book to BLOG! If I knew how to do it now, you could already consider yourself BLOGGED.
Meanwhile, ADVISE RE TRANSLATOR if you can and ENJOY READING!

REMEMBER: You can get good used copies of books via amazon.com, abebooks.com, etc.

2003-05-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

what is a blog?

A few irreverent definitions are listed in the Urban Dictionary. Check it out.

2003-05-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

We can also share recipes

Here is the recipe for the carrot quinoa I brought once.

2003-05-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

We can even link to book reviews: The Leopard

For example, a brief review of The Leopard can be viewed here.

Jonathan Jones in UK's The Guardian provides a more historical perspective.

A biography of Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa by David Gilmour, called The Last Leopard, was published by Pantheon Books in 1988. Although now out of print, this book may be available through public libraries. I haven't checked LAPL yet. Here is a brief review in Amazon.com.

Does anyone know anything about British politics? Julian Critchely who is a Conservative MP rates The Leopard as his number one best all time favorite book in this article in The Guardian.

It seems as though The Leopard is big in England, at least amongst the Guardian book editors. It's on their list of the first 50 essential books. This list might be worth looking at for future books. On their booktalk site, a reaction to their list by Guga provides more books.