Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born and lived in Georgia and Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born and lived in Georgia and often wrote in a sardonic Southern Gothic style, relying heavily, on regional settings and grotesque characters, often in violent situations. Her fiction is usually set in the South and features morally flawed protagonists who frequently interact with characters with disabilities or are disabled, themselves (O'Connor was afflicted by lupus). The issue of race is also prevalent in her writing.
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories was first published in 1955 and with it, O'Connor is often praised as one of the most original and provocative writers of her generation. The majority of the stories include jarring violent scenes that make the characters undergo a spiritual change. I thought all of these stories were very praiseworthy even though they tended to show the darker side of the human experience.
The title story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" is perhaps O'Connor's most famous story about a family driving to Florida on vacation who end up being slaughtered by a serial killer called "The Misfit." After shooting the grandmother, The Misfit says she "would've been a good woman if it were someone there to shoot her every minute of her life."
Other notable stories include "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" about a woman who marries her deaf-mute daughter off to a drifter in exchange for paying him money and a car; "The Artificial Ni**er" about a man who takes his grandson on a trip from the country to Atlanta and ends up getting lost there in a predominantly black neighborhood; "A Late Encounter with the Enemy" about a 104-year-old veteran of the Civil War who remembers little about it; "Good Country People" about a woman whose daughter is handicapped with only one leg and is taken advantage by a traveling Bible salesman; and "The Displaced Person" about a Polish refugee who is hired to work on a farm through the help of a Catholic Priest. He works hard but is eventually resented based on public opinion resulting in a tragedy.
This was really a great collection of short stories that I would highly recommend. They delve into the darker side of human nature as well as the conditions of life in the South shortly after WWII. The stories tend to show life as it was at the time including the prevalence of bigotry and racism. I will probably be seeking out more by O'Connor. ...more
This is a collection of 22 classic stories, essays, and poems about baseball. These date from the 1860s up until 1920 and include such authors as RingThis is a collection of 22 classic stories, essays, and poems about baseball. These date from the 1860s up until 1920 and include such authors as Ring Lardner, Damon Runyon, Zane Grey, and P.G. Wodehouse. The collection also includes articles by baseball greats Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
This was kind of a mixed bag for me but I did enjoy much of it especially the stories by Ring Lardner, Zane Grey, and Charles Van Loan which included a lot of humor. The story by Lardner, "My Roomy," is about a ball player who can hit the ball out of the park but is lousy at fielding. He also is a very quirky person who runs the bathtub and shaves in the middle of the night along with some awful singing. "His Own Stuff" by Charles Van Loan is about a practical joker who gets his comeuppance. And the Zane Grey story is about a ball player who gets married and spends his honeymoon on the road with the team.
There is also the classic poem "Casey at the Bat" and its sequel that I had never heard of "Casey's Revenge." There are also some good nonfictional pieces including "Why Baseball Has Become Our National Game" by Albert Spaulding and "The Color Line" by Sol White that argues for inclusion of black players in baseball going back to the 1880s. There is also a discussion of jinxes by Christy Mathewson and one of my favorite pieces, "A Whale of a Pastime" by Brig. General Frederick Funston about baseball being played on the ice in the Arctic among a group of whalers. Overall, I would recommend this to any baseball fan....more
Iris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, moraliIris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. In 1987, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1997 and died in 1999 in Oxford.
I first became interested in Iris Murdoch after seeing the 2001 film Iris which starred Kate Winslet and Judi Dench as Iris. The movie is about her relationship with her husband John Bayley through her early years and their later life, when Murdoch was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. I would highly recommend it. [image]
The Sea, The Sea published in 1978 won the Booker Prize. The novel tells the story of Charles Arrowby, a retired director and actor, who moves to an old house by the sea called Shruff End to write his memoirs. The house is located on a rocky peninsula and includes an old tower but is without electricity or indoor plumbing. Arrowby likes the location by the sea because it allows him solitude and the time to swim nude in the sea (a very dangerous proposition given he has to climb up the rocks after his swims). When he is first there, he thinks he sees a sea monster in the waves, but is it real or can it be attributed to a bad LSD trip he experienced years ago? And then the house may also be haunted—Arrowby sees faces and hears strange noises in the night. He is visited by former friends and lovers but he is obsessed by his childhood sweetheart, Hartley, who makes an unexpected appearance on the scene. Her presence motivates Charles to try to rekindle a romance that died many years ago as he tries to win Hartley back even though she has aged and rejects his pursuits. The novel focuses on Arrowby's egotism and selfishness which he fails to recognize in himself.
This was a rather long novel that I almost gave up on a couple of times. But the story kept pulling me back into it and I was eager to read more as it progressed. The character of Charles Arrowby was not likable; he was a misogynist who treated his past lovers terribly; and he was an egotist who thought only of himself. However, Murdoch's writing was wonderful including her descriptions of the sea and the landscape of the location. The story also brings out a lot of ethical questions and what-ifs. Can one rekindle a love from long ago? Something that I'm sure a lot of older people have thought about. Overall, I did enjoy this and hope to read more of Murdoch in the future....more
This anthology of works by H.G. Wells includes the complete novel The Invisible Man along with 17 of his fantastic short stories. I read Invisible ManThis anthology of works by H.G. Wells includes the complete novel The Invisible Man along with 17 of his fantastic short stories. I read Invisible Man many years ago and I have also seen the movie version of it several times so I decided not to reread it. However, I did read all the other stories and was really pleasantly surprised by them. The stories were not all science fiction but included stories of fantasy as well. There were stories of inventions, biological beasts and monstrosities, travels in other dimensions, and mysteries from space. The stories were all originally published from the 1880s to the early 1900s. Many of them reminded me of pulp fiction from the early 20th century that was published in such pulp magazines as Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, or Argosy. I think some of the pulp authors such as H.P. Lovecraft were probably inspired by Wells stories.
I have read most of Wells' more famous science fiction novels including The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine but had never read any of his short stories. One story included in this volume was "The Crystal Egg" which I had heard about as a precursor to War of the Worlds. This was one of the motivations to read this anthology. The story tells of a shop owner who finds a strange crystal egg that serves as a window into the planet Mars. By looking into the egg using a beam of light, he could see the strange beings on Mars as well as the Martian landscape. And the Martians could also use this to look at Earth and its inhabitants. The story was written the same year in which Wells was serializing The War of the Worlds in Pearson's Magazine. Because of the vaguely similar descriptions of the Martians and their machines, the story is often considered a precursor to The War of the Worlds, as the Martian effort to observe and study humanity remotely might indicate their preparation for an eventual invasion. The story was later reprinted in Amazing Stories magazine. [image] Some of the other stories I enjoyed included these related to biological oddities or monstrosities: "The Strange Orchid" about a rare orchid obtained from beneath a dead explorer who had died of blood loss. When the orchid is planted it puts off a strong perfume and grows tentacles to attack the orchid owner. "The Apple" about a man who possesses "The Apple of the Tree of Knowledge." The apple was obtained from a remote valley in Armenia that was supposedly the site of the Garden of Eden. So what happens if you eat the apple? "The Purple Pileus" about a man who ingests a weird purple toadstool. The mushroom changes his character from a weakling into an unafraid man who takes no guff. So was this a magic mushroom? "Aepyornis Island" about a man looking for eggs of Aepyornis, an extinct flightless bird, passes two years alone on a small island with an Aepyornis that has hatched. So is he safe from the bird? This was very reminiscent of a Dodo Bird. [image] "In The Avu Observatory" about a man who is studying the stars at a remote observatory in Borneo when he is attacked by a large bat-like creature that flies in through the observatory hatchway. "The Sea Raiders" about large octopus-like creatures with tentacles that attack the ships and shoreline of Southeast England.
Other stories: "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" about a man who could make anything happen just by thinking it. He tells a local reverend about this who wants to change the world for the better but because he is running out of time, tells the man to stop the rotation of the earth which of course has unexpected dire results. "The New Accelerator" about a man who develops a drug that increases man's abilities a thousand fold. This includes bodily functions, movement, etc. The result is that by moving so fast, others appear to be stopped. "The Star" about a collision of Neptune and a passing celestial body. The result is a very bright star that is heading towards Earth resulting in very dire consequences. "Filmer" about a man who invents a heavier than air flying machine but is then too cowardly to go up in it.
I really enjoyed this collection and I can definitely see how other writers were inspired by Wells writing. Another author that was probably inspired by Wells was John Wyndham in his novels such as Day of the Triffids where mankind is at peril from an extraterrestrial source. I know Wells wrote many other short stories and at some point I may seek out more of them. ...more
Consider the train of events that led to his passing: an avian, possessing the power of flight, finds himself without predators on a luxury island in Consider the train of events that led to his passing: an avian, possessing the power of flight, finds himself without predators on a luxury island in the Indian Ocean. He no longer needs to fly so he doesn't bother. If I could fly I'd keep on flying, whether I needed to or not. Laziness is not attractive even in a handsome creature and the dodo was no oil painting—there are oil paintings to prove it. —Paul Spooner, Museum of the Mind, 1992
This novel is a satire of Hollywood, revolving around the extinct dodo bird. The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The last widely accepted sighting of a dodo was in 1662. Its extinction was not immediately noticed, and some considered the bird to be a myth.
The story is told from three different perspectives. The first is by Henry Cadwallader, an English doctor who is accompanying his daughter, Dorothy, on a trip to Hollywood where she is supposed to meet up with a Hollywood agent. Then there is Rick McCartney who Henry meets on the plane to L.A. Rick is a self-proclaimed movie auteur of the future who is trying to get the backing to make a movie set in 17th century England about a man who may own the last dodo on earth. And finally there is William Draper who lives in the Alsatia district of 17th century London and who wants to buy and mate a dodo that is on display there by a hawker above a very seedy tavern.
I actually enjoyed this satirical novel of Hollywood. The characters were interesting and Nicholson is able to expertly weave the three storylines together. At one point, Rick meets with a past life therapist who is able to regress Rick back to 17th century London where he is put in the midst of the squalor trying find historical content about the dodo. But the main focus of the novel was on Hollywood and its excesses including the porn side of movies and how people can be drawn into it. But I think I most enjoyed the chapters involving William Draper and the London of the 17th century. Poor William wanted to repopulate the dodo but the best he could do was stuff the bird after its death but the methods available then were less than long-lasting. Overall, I thought this book was a lot of fun. I have read a few other books by Nicholson including THE FOOD CHAIN and HUNTERS AND GATHERERS and for the most part, I would recommend them....more
I really enjoy Daphne du Maurier's writing. I have read a few of her novels including the classic REBECCA that I consider one of the great novels of aI really enjoy Daphne du Maurier's writing. I have read a few of her novels including the classic REBECCA that I consider one of the great novels of all time. This is the first collection of her short stories that I have read and I was not disappointed!
This volume includes six stories:
The Birds This is of course the story that is the basis for the Alfred Hitchcock movie. I like the movie but this story is much more ominous and full of foreboding. While the movie takes place in Bodega Bay, California, the story is set in Cornwall, England and the onslaught of the Birds is more widespread to include England, Europe and possibly the whole world. I thought overall this was the best story in the collection. The story and its mood reminded me somewhat of the novels of John Wyndham such as DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS with an unknown element threatening the world. A very terrifying and disturbing story.
Monte Verita This is the longest story in the volume and probably the strangest. It's about a young couple and their friend who enjoy mountain climbing. The couple goes to Monte Verita in an undisclosed European location and discovers an ancient monastery at the top of the mountain with a cult of people living a very serene life. The young woman gets drawn into the cult and cannot leave while her husband desperately tries to get her back. But she is content there. The story encompasses many years until something unexplained happens to the people in the monastery. I liked this story but is was very strange and reminded me of stories by H.P. Lovecraft and others that were published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales.
The Apple Tree This one is about a man who loses his wife after many years of marriage. But the loss was really more of a relief for him as he saw his wife as a burden or irritant. But is she really gone? Why does the sickly apple tree in his garden remind him of her? This was a somewhat whimsical tale with a good lesson to be learned at the end.
The Little Photographer This ones about a beautiful and lonely Marquise on vacation with her two children who has an affair with a local photographer. But when the photographer doesn't want to give her up, the Marquise takes drastic steps to protect herself. But is she safe enough?
Kiss Me Again, Stranger A young auto mechanic falls for a pretty usher at a movie theater. He wants her as a steady girl friend but turns out she is not what she seems. This is a very cautionary tale about being careful who you fall for.
The Old Man This one took me completely by surprise! About an old man and his family who live by a lake. But what happened to the man's children? The ending of this one really blew me away. After reading the last paragraph in the story, I had to go back and reread the story which changed my whole perspective.
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of stories and will be looking forward to reading more du Maurier....more
Back in the 1970s I used to enjoy reading Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine as well as his anthologies that came out in paperback and hardcover. ManBack in the 1970s I used to enjoy reading Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine as well as his anthologies that came out in paperback and hardcover. Many of the anthologies included reprints from his magazine but also included other classic suspense stories. This volume is actually the second part of an anthology that Hitchcock put out in hardcover in 1965: STORIES NOT FOR THE NERVOUS. The first part was published in paperback under the same name in 1966.
I thought this was overall a very good collection of murder and suspense tales that usually included a surprising twist or two at the end. I enjoyed almost all of these even though they were definitely dated. For example, Something Short of Murder was about a woman who had an addiction to betting on the horses. She would make 5 dollar bets and had run up a debt to the mob of a whopping 25 dollars that she couldn't repay. But of course she did find a way. . . This story was originally published in 1957 and things were a little cheaper then!
Included at the end of this collection was Louise Fletcher's novella Sorry Wrong Number. I remember reading this back in high school as part of a literature class. It's one of those stories that seemed to stick in my memory. It's about an invalid woman who overhears a murder plot when her phone wires get crossed with another line. Of course it turns out that the plot is intended for her murder and paid for by her husband who had married her for her money. The story goes on using a set time for the murder which makes it all the more suspenseful as time is running out. . . This was originally a play that aired in 1943 on the Suspense radio program. It was also made into a successful noir movie in 1948 with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster. [image]...more
If you were alive in January 1977, you probably were glued to your TV set for eight consecutive nights watching the miniseries Roots with Lavar BurtonIf you were alive in January 1977, you probably were glued to your TV set for eight consecutive nights watching the miniseries Roots with Lavar Burton starring as a young Kunta Kinte, who was kidnapped from his home in The Gambia and sold into slavery. Kunta was also supposedly the ancestor of Alex Haley who wrote ROOTS: THE SAGA OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY which was the basis for the TV series. I know I and my family were engrossed by the miniseries and ever since then I have been meaning to read the book. Well after almost 50 years, I finally got around to it! I think I had been putting it off because of its length at over 700 pages and because I pretty much knew the story based on the TV show. But I'm glad I finally read it. The book really provides a lot of depth missing from the series. [image] Of course this tells the story of Kunta Kinte, the young 17-year-old Mandinka taken from The Gambia and sold into slavery. The book goes into a lot of detail of Kunta's life in the Gambia before he was captured and how he and his tribe's people lived subsisting mostly on farming. The climate was sometimes harsh resulting in drought and a lack of food. Then the next section of the book after Kunta is taken described some of the most brutal and harsh conditions I have ever encountered. Kunta and other captives are stripped naked and placed in the brig of a ship, naked and chained. Conditions are nightmarish with the captives vomiting and relieving themselves as they lay chained with no cleanup of the vomit and feces. The novel goes on to tell of Kunta's descendants down through the years to Alex Haley.
I thought that for the most part this was very compelling reading. It took me a little longer than usual to read this book given its length and because I was distracted by some personal issues at home but I was always glad to get back to it. I did find some of the dialogue a little over the top. Haley used black slave vernacular throughout the story which sometimes sounded almost like portrayals of blacks in early motion pictures. Use of the N-word is also prevalent throughout. Here's a short example: "All white folks scairt us n*****s sometime gwine organize an' rise up together— But n*****s ain't gwine never do nothin' together... "
So how much of the book is true? "Haley called his novel "faction" and acknowledged that most of the dialogue and incidents were fictional. But, he claimed to have traced his family lineage back to Kunta Kinte, a West African taken from the village of Juffure in what is now The Gambia. Haley also suggested his portrayal of life and figures among the slaves and masters in Virginia and North Carolina were based on facts which he had confirmed through historical documents." However, "some historians and genealogists suggested Haley did not rely on factual evidence as closely as he represented. They said that there are serious errors with Haley's family history and historical descriptions of the period preceding the Civil War. . .Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. was a friend of Haley's. Years after Haley's death, Gates acknowledged his own doubts about the author's claims: 'Most of us feel it's highly unlikely that Alex found the village whence his ancestors sprang. Roots is a work of the imagination rather than strict historical scholarship. It was an important event because it captured everyone's imagination.'"
And then there were also allegations of plagiarism: "In spring 1977, Haley was sued for plagiarism in separate lawsuits by Harold Courlander and Margaret Walker Alexander. Courlander, an anthropologist, claimed that Roots was copied from his novel The African (1967). Walker claimed Haley had plagiarized from her Civil War-era novel Jubilee (1966). Legal proceedings in each case were concluded late in 1978. Courlander's suit was settled out of court for $650,000 (equivalent to $3 million in 2023) and an acknowledgment from Haley that certain passages within Roots were copied from The African. The court dismissed Walker's case."
OK, well overall it appears there are some definite problems with the accuracy of Haley's history of his family. But it is still a very engrossing and compelling read and provides a very heart-wrenching story of slavery in America. I would still recommend this to anyone interested in this ugly part of our history....more
This was rather a convoluted gothic novel about a young woman, Georgina Ferrars, who wakes up in a private asylum in Cornwall, England. She has no memThis was rather a convoluted gothic novel about a young woman, Georgina Ferrars, who wakes up in a private asylum in Cornwall, England. She has no memory of her past few weeks and the asylum's doctor, Maynard Straker, tells her that she committed herself to the asylum under the name Lucy Ashton. She then suffered a seizure resulting in her loss of memory. Georgina insists that her name is Georgina Ferrars and provides the doctor with the name and location of her uncle who she lives with in London. But when the doctor sends a telegram to the uncle, the reply states that Georgina is there living with him and that the patient must be an imposter. So what is really happening here? Why is Georgina being held at the asylum under a false name? The novel goes on to tell Georgina's backstory and history through her own memories and a series of letters and entries from her journal.
A few years ago, I read Harwood's novel THE GHOST WRITER and found it to be an enjoyable gothic horror story. However, I was a little disappointed in THE ASYLUM. I thought the plot was very convoluted and quite unbelievable. The protagonist, Georgina, was also easily duped and could have easily avoided what happened to her. I know this was written in the vein of a classic Victorian gothic novel and included many of the plot points of such novels including gloomy locations, women in peril, coincidental occurrences stemming from the past, and mistaken identities. The novel also included some illicit love including a lesbian relationship between two of the protagonists. And then the ending of the novel was very melodramatic with a villain straight out of an old pulp story from the 1920s or 30s. Only a very mild recommendation overall....more
I have been a big fan of Stephen King ever since reading CARRIE and 'SALEM'S LOT back in the late 1970s. Since then I have read⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 rounded to 4.
I have been a big fan of Stephen King ever since reading CARRIE and 'SALEM'S LOT back in the late 1970s. Since then I have read a majority of his works and have enjoyed most of them with a few exceptions. FAIRY TALE had me hooked at the beginning as King spins a very enthralling tale involving a young seventeen-year old named Charlie Reade who is a good athlete in high school but who also has a heavy burden to bear. His mother was killed in a car accident when he was only seven and his father is a recovering alcoholic. Every day Charlie passes an old house that reminds him of the house in PSYCHO which is owned by a reclusive old man named Howard Bowditch. Then one day, Howard accidentally falls off a ladder as Charlie passes by and Charlie is alerted to this by Bowditch's aging dog, Radar. Well Charlie is able to save Howard by calling 911 and thus earns Bowditch's trust. While he is in the hospital, Charlie becomes attached to Radar and later learns Howard's secrets. So far so good. . .the story is headed in the right direction using one of King's best tropes — a coming of age story involving both a young and older person. Then after a very compelling buildup of about 180 pages, the story goes down a literal rabbit hole. In the back of Bowditch's house is a locked shed with a staircase leading to another world. This is the source of Bowditch's wealth and Charlie learns that there is a way to reverse the aging of Radar by traveling to this other world. Since Charlie adores the dog who is near its end, he decides to make the journey to find out.
I really enjoyed the first part of this novel but then as Charlie goes to this other world, the story really changed focus. King references a lot of fairy tales to tell the story including Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk and many others. The land that Charlie goes to is also reminiscent of OZ and possibly Wonderland but probably much darker. There is also a shoutout to Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES and the carousel that can reverse aging. And there is the influence and reference to H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu. Overall, I would only mildly recommend this one. As I said, I really enjoyed the first part of the novel but Charlie's fantasy adventures in the remainder of the story did not really captivate me as much as I expected....more
I enjoyed this novel about two young men returning home after serving in the military during the Korean War. The story takes place in 1954 mostly in aI enjoyed this novel about two young men returning home after serving in the military during the Korean War. The story takes place in 1954 mostly in and around Indianapolis where the two men lived and went to high school. Sonny is the main protagonist of the story. He was a photographer and kind of an outsider during high school and is very surprised when Gunner recognizes him on the train home and praises him for his photography during high school. Gunner was a jock and one of the 'Big Rods' during high school and was always a favorite with the ladies. Gunner had actually fought in Korea and spent time in Japan while Sonny spent his service time in Kansas City doing clerical work. Both have returned to Indiana to try to determine what to do with the rest of their lives. Gunner takes Sonny under his wing and introduces him to a life with women and acquaintances that Sonny never thought he could be a part of.
Wakefield did a good job of developing the characters in the novel including the friends and family of both men. Sonny was sometimes hard to like as he puts down his family and especially his girlfriend, Buddie, who he only wants for sex. The time period of the 50s was also very well captured . . . the time before Vietnam and the sexual revolution of the 60s. The novel portrays the 50s with the return of the Korean veterans as somewhat less than the glory of WWII, the racism of the time, the fear of Communism, the bomb, and the attitudes of the time. The story was funny, sad, raunchy, and overall I would highly recommend it. It was also made into a movie in 1997 starring Ben Affleck and Jeremy Davies that I'll be keeping a lookout for. [image]...more
I'm a big fan of T.C. Boyle and have read several of his novels and short story collections. World's End won the 1988 PEN/Faulkner Award for American I'm a big fan of T.C. Boyle and have read several of his novels and short story collections. World's End won the 1988 PEN/Faulkner Award for American Fiction and is also listed in the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die." The novel is a set of two parallel stories taking place in the Hudson Valley. It tells the story of the Van Brunts who seem to be cursed with bad luck dating back to when the family settled in New Amsterdam in the 17th century. Then there are the Van Warts who were the tormentors of the Van Brunts in the 1600s and hold the higher ground as such in the 1960s. The story focuses on Walter Van Brunt in the 1960s who crashes his motorcycle into an historical marker telling of the uprising in 1693 against the Van Wart manor. Walter loses his foot in this crash and later in another crash loses his other foot. And back in the 1600s, his ancestor, Jeremias Van Brunt loses his foot to a snapping turtle. The book shifts back and forth from these two time periods with similar stories for both generations. The book is full of well-drawn characters including the Kitchwank tribe, the lords of the manor (patroons), and the lowly tenant farmers who must pay their due to the patroon and who are treated pretty much as slaves. Along the way in 1968, Walter is also trying to find his father who people say betrayed his left-wing mother and friends during a riot in 1949.
Boyle did his research on this novel. The historical background for the different time periods was such that you could imagine living in the Dutch colonies of New Amsterdam in the 1600s or in the anti-communist era of the 1940s and on into the hippie movement of the 1960s. The novel encompassed a wide-range of ideologies and emotions including racism, narrow mindedness, greed, and betrayal. Although I wouldn't consider this Boyle's best, it was overall another very well written and compelling novel that is definitely well worth the effort to read. ...more
I have read two other books by Atwood: ALIAS GRACE, an historical novel about an accused murderess; and the dystopian novel, THE HANDMAID'S TALE. BothI have read two other books by Atwood: ALIAS GRACE, an historical novel about an accused murderess; and the dystopian novel, THE HANDMAID'S TALE. Both of these novels were very compelling but were totally different in theme and tone. In CAT'S EYE, Atwood goes in another direction and seems to write a more autobiographical novel. Atwood grew up in Canada and lived in Toronto and is the daughter of an entomologist. The novel tells the story of Elaine Risley who also grew up in Toronto and whose father was an entomologist but Atwood has rarely commented on these similarities.
The novel is told in the first person by Elaine who is a successful artist attending a retrospective of her work in Toronto. In each section of the novel, Elaine reflects on her childhood, teenage years, and eventually her young adulthood. These memories are often not pleasant. Her strongest thoughts are of Cordelia, a childhood "friend" who was the leader of a group of three girls who were often cruel to Elaine and each other. Later this relationship changed and Elaine seems to have the upper hand over Cordelia. She also has memories of her family including her older brother who collected trading cards, comic books, and marbles. Although her recollections are very vivid, Elaine realizes how unreliable memories can be and how they can also affect her present state of mind. The novel takes place in middle 20th Century from WWII to the 1980s and is filled with many of the elements of that time period including feminism and various art movements.
Atwood made this novel very readable and relatable with very eloquent language that puts the reader into Elaine's past with its ups and downs. Even though I am a male, I could still relate a lot to many of the childhood activities as described in the story. I grew up in the 1950s and 60s and remember playing games of marbles, collecting comic books, and baseball cards. The title of this book "Cat's Eye" is a reference to a prized blue cat's eye marble that Elaine keeps in a childhood plastic red purse. This also becomes a motif in some of her later paintings and when she discovers the marble many years later in a trunk in her mother's basement, she regains her memories from "her entire life." Overall, a very engrossing and relatable novel....more
Edwin Corle was an American writer noted for realistic portrayals of American Indian life in the early 20th century. Corle began his writing career wiEdwin Corle was an American writer noted for realistic portrayals of American Indian life in the early 20th century. Corle began his writing career with numerous short stories and non-fiction pieces for magazines. In 1934 his Mojave: A Book Of Stories was published. This was followed a year later by his first and most successful novel, Fig Tree John, based on a Cahuilla Indian from southern California. In addition to other novels, Corle also wrote non-fiction, including books on the Grand Canyon and the Gila River.
PEOPLE ON THE EARTH was first published in 1937. It is a novel of the Navajo people in Northern Arizona. The story focuses on a young Navajo boy, Red Wind's Son, from 1918 until about 1932. At the beginning of the novel, Red Wind's Son and his family were sheep farmers living the traditional Indian life with hogans for homes and sleeping under the stars. Red Wind's Son was about eight years old and had a young female playmate named Dahiba. Life was good until tragedy struck. The land was in drought and water was scarce. The Navajo had to moved their sheep herds south to try to find greener pastures. But without water, the sheep were not content and then sniffed out some water in a nearby canyon. This caused a stampede and the herd ran over a cliff leaving the Indians destitute. Then the Spanish Flu further decimated the tribe. But Red Wind's Son was saved by a traveling missionary and placed in a white man's school where his name was changed to Walter and he lived until graduating. He understood his family to all be dead. So was the schooling a good thing for Walter? When he eventually returned to his tribe, he was treated as an outcast and did not fit in. "His was the problem of the Indian who is not a white man and not a red man and where under the sun was that boy going to find a place?" Walter ends up sinking to low depths, drinking too much and getting into trouble. He didn't really have a desire to continue with his education and really didn't have the means to do so. He eventually finds Dahiba and she had suffered a similar fate. So could they learn to live again as Navajo or was that culture lost to them forever?
This was definitely a captivating story with its main theme of removing someone from their race and traditions to try to "civilize" them as a "white person." This happened all too much with American Indians. "American Indian boarding schools were established as early as the mid-17th century with an objective of 'civilizing' or assimilating Native American children into Anglo-American culture. These schools denigrated Native American culture and made children give up their languages and religion." PEOPLE ON THE EARTH is an early example of literature that tries to speak out against this forced assimilation. The language in the book is definitely dated and not politically correct by today's standards but this was still a very compelling narrative that I enjoyed very much.
This novel has been on my shelves waiting to be read for several years along with several other books by Corle. I read a few of his novels back in the 1980s including FIG TREE JOHN that I remember really enjoying and I hope to read more by him in the future....more
Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat and Counterculture GJack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat and Counterculture Generation. ON THE ROAD, published in 1957, is his most famous work and chronicles the travels of Kerouac and his friends in the late 1940s and early 1950s back and forth across the United States and finally into Mexico all the way to Mexico City. So what is the Beat Generation? I always thought it related to music and a lifestyle ripe with drugs and sex, but according to Kerouac, "the term Beat describes a state of exalted exhaustion, but is also linked to a Catholic beatific vision, the direct knowledge of God enjoyed by the blessed in heaven." The novel according to Kerouac took him only three weeks to write on a single scroll of paper, with Kerouac on a Benzedrine and caffeine fueled period of creativity. This prompted Truman Capote to sneer, "That isn't writing; its typing!" Kerouac started his book in 1951 and then after much editing, including changing the names of the characters (Allen Ginsberg was called Carlo Marx, William Burroughs was Old Bull Lee, Neal Cassady was Dean Moriarty and Kerouac was Sal Paradise) it was finally published in 1957.
The novel mainly involves Kerouac (Sal Paradise) and Cassady (Dean Moriarty) as they make several road trips across the US and finally into Mexico. The story is told against a backdrop of drugs, alcohol, jazz, and women. I'm sure this was an influence on the young people of America and was a precursor to the Hippie movement of the 60s. The language used in the novel is somewhat cliche now but was probably the first time such terms as "get your kicks," "dig it," "bop music," and "beat" were used in literature. An example: "Then he got his suitcase, the 'beatest' suitcase in the USA. It was made of paper with designs on it to make it look like leather. . .with a great rip down the top." The novel also describes a lot of drug use including the use of Benzedrine (amphetamine), marijuana (called tea), and heroin. Some of the worst use was by Old Bull Lee (William Burroughs) who was a heroin addict and who performed some very strange and dangerous acts including shooting things randomly with a shotgun.
Overall, I thought this was a volume well worth reading. It was very nostalgic and described the crazy period leading up to the sixties probably better than any other piece of literature. It also showed the depravity and hardships of both the travelers involved in the story and many of the people they met along the way. These included a lot of people who were just surviving with little money or resources. I'm glad I finally read this one but I don't think I can look back on the events described with any kind of fondness or desire....more
This was a very unsettling selection of four novellas by Joyce Carol Oates. JCO is one of my favorite authors; I have read several of her novels and sThis was a very unsettling selection of four novellas by Joyce Carol Oates. JCO is one of my favorite authors; I have read several of her novels and short story collections and am never disappointed.
From Kirkus review: With her focus on deviant and twisted characters, Oates continues to be a worthy descendant of the gothic tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.
The titular story, EVIL EYE, concerns a nazar, a “talisman to ward off the ‘evil eye.’ ” Mariana, the narrator, is the fourth wife (almost always italicized, to emphasize her outsider status) of Austin Mohr, prominent director of an arts institute in San Francisco. Twenty-five years younger than her moody and volatile husband, Mariana is timid and conforming—until her domestic equilibrium is disrupted by the visit of Ines Zambranco, the first wife.
The second narrative, SO NEAR ANYTIME ALWAYS, introduces us to Lizbeth, a 16-year-old who shyly develops a relationship with Desmond Parrish, an outgoing, brash and highly intelligent young man who’s supposedly taking a gap year before continuing his academic career at Amherst. Over a period of several months, Lizbeth gets increasingly nervous about Desmond’s mental stability—a valid suspicion, as she later finds out he had killed his young sister and been incarcerated in a psychiatric ward for seven years.
“The Execution” puts us inside the mind of Bart Hansen, a college student seething with a monstrous hatred of his father, so he plans what he hopes will be the perfect crime—killing him with an axe. Although things inevitably go wrong (like his forgetting about the evidence provided by EZ Pay when he makes the journey home to do the murder), an exceptionally clever lawyer gets Bart his freedom since the trial ends with a hung jury.
The final novella, “The Flatbed,” concerns Cecelia, a woman who’s not able to have normal sexual relations because her grandfather abused her when she was young. A man romantically interested in her becomes furious when he learns of this and arranges a meeting to get revenge on the old man.
I found all of these stories to be very compelling reading. They were full of suspense and dread and were all quite disturbing. I especially thought THE EXECUTION, with its look into the mind of a very disturbed young man who resorts to murder, and THE FLATBED, showing how sexual abuse of a young girl can affect her throughout life, were stories which left me with a lingering sense of unease. The only caveat I had with these gems were the endings were not always satisfying and left me wanting more. Overall though, I would still give this one a high recommendation and I look forward to reading more JCO....more
COLD is very aptly titled. It takes place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during a winter blizzard where after it cleared, the temperature dropped COLD is very aptly titled. It takes place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during a winter blizzard where after it cleared, the temperature dropped to minus 50 degrees. Norman Haas was serving time in prison and during this blizzard, he simply walked away from his work detail without being detected. After walking through the snow and cold, barely surviving, he arrives at a farmhouse of a lonely woman named Liesl, who gives him temporary shelter but then walks him through the snow using snow shoes to turn him back in. Along the way, Norman escapes again when Liesl is injured and is able to make it to his home in North Eicher where he confronts Noel, the woman who first wronged him. She had married Norman's detestable brother and given birth to a baby while Norman was in prison. Despite this, Norman was still in love with her. On Norman's trail is Sheriff Maki, a dedicated lawman who tracks him doggedly. But there are other things going on in North Eicher that contributed to Norman's prison sentence. These involve Norman's worthless brother and Noel's heartless father and a scheme related to the abundance of bears in the locale.
A few years ago, I read and enjoyed Smolens' novel THE ANARCHIST about the assassination of President McKinley. Based on that, I decided to find another book by the same author and have had COLD on my shelves for awhile. Finally got around to reading it and found it to be a very compelling and engaging thriller. It was very unlike THE ANARCHIST which was an historical novel but very satisfying nonetheless. The characters were well-developed and the story kept me turning the pages. Overall good recommendation for this one....more
Elfriede Jelinek was born in 1946 and is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarElfriede Jelinek was born in 1946 and is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that, with extraordinary linguistic zeal, reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power". She is considered to be among the most important living playwrights of the German language.
THE PIANO TEACHER was published in 1983 and was the first of Jelinek's novels to be translated to English. The protagonist of the novel is Erika Kohut, a piano teacher in her 30s who lives with and is devoted to her mother. She is also sexually suppressed and finds pleasure by looking at peep shows and porn films and also by hurting herself using a razor. Then a young student enters her life, Walter Klemmer, who wants to conquer Erika's affection. But Erika's masochistic nature makes this a difficult task. She writes Klemmer a letter detailing a long list of perversity that she wants done to her. This disturbs Klemmer and ultimately ends in violence.
This novel was definitely disturbing and without enjoyment. I read this mainly because it is on the list of "1001 books you must read before you die." But I think I could have lived fine without reading this. I didn't really like the subject matter or the writing style of the novel. It was mainly short descriptive sentences with the use of a lot of metaphors. There was little or no dialog in the writing. And the descriptions bordered on the pornographic. I know Jelinek was making a point about women's sexuality and showing that women as well as men have strong sexual desires and fantasies that may not be attainable but this was a little over the top. I'm not sure if Jelinek received her Nobel Prize based partly on this novel but if so, I really must be missing something....more
I have been a fan of T.C. Boyle for many years and have read several of his novels and short story collections. For the most part, I have enjoyed themI have been a fan of T.C. Boyle for many years and have read several of his novels and short story collections. For the most part, I have enjoyed them all and really feel that Boyle is a masterful writer and storyteller. TORTILLA CURTAIN is a book that I've had on my shelves for several years and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. It tells the story of what happens when two different cultures collide in the Topanga Canyon of Southern California. Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher are a liberal couple living in a gated community in the hills of the canyon while Candido and America Rincon are illegals living in a makeshift camp in the ravine striving to stay alive. The novel starts out with Delaney accidentally hitting Candido with his car and badly injuring him as he is walking along the canyon road. Candido does not want medical assistance in fear of being deported. So Delaney gives him 20 bucks and doesn't report the accident. This all leads to a change in attitude for Delaney who once believed in rights for all, but the illegals living in the canyon upset him with their littering and disregard to the nature Delaney is so fond of and he is led to believe that Candido allowed himself to be hit by his car in order to receive some kind of monetary claim. The book details the life of both the illegals and their struggles and the life of the the California family living their dream with the wife being a successful realtor and the husband being a writer for a nature magazine. All of this eventually leads to misunderstanding and tragedy.
This definitely was not a happy story. Nothing good ever happens especially to Candido and America. Candido tries to find work but his injury results in America also hoping to find some kind of job. They try to save their money to rent some kind of apartment but tragedy seems to follow them. Although this was overall a very sad and depressing story, I would still rank it as one of Boyle's best. It is so relatable to the border crisis of today even though it was published in 1995. Things have definitely gotten worse since then with no solution in sight. And if Trump gets reelected, I don't foresee anything good happening with future immigration policy....more
Ken Kesey was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and theKen Kesey was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. He is best known for his 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which was an immediate commercial and critical success and was made into the popular movie starring Jack Nicholson. During the period of writing Cuckoo, Kesey participated in CIA-financed studies involving hallucinogenic drugs (including mescaline and LSD) to supplement his income and later became known for hosting happenings with former colleagues which involved LSD consumption.
SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION was Kesey's second novel about an Oregon logging family that Kesey aspired to the modernist grandeur of William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha saga and regarded it as his magnum opus. He took the title from the song "Goodnight, Irene", popularized by Lead Belly.
Sometimes I lives in the country Sometimes I lives in the town Sometimes I haves a great notion To jump into the river an' drown
The novel is set around an Oregon logging camp and it focuses on the Stamper family who are at odds with the town and their union, and also at odds with each other. The story revolves around brothers Hank and Leland Stamper and their conflict dating back to when Leland was a small child. Leland left Oregon with his mother (Hank's step-mother) and had lived in New York going to college. But when he receives a post card from Hank and the other Stampers wanting him to help in the work in Oregon, he returns to get involved in the middle of a conflict with the trade union. But Leland is also returning to seek vengeance on Hank who he feels wronged him and his mother years before.
This was a very long (over 600 pages) and sprawling novel written with many vivid descriptions of the Oregon logging community and the risks and dangers of the logging profession. It was filled with a wide-range of emotions including both humor and tragedy. Kesey's style did take a little getting used to; he would randomly change first person narratives from one person to another making it sometimes hard to keep track of who was giving the account. But overall, I would consider this a great novel which did somewhat remind me of Faulkner. This was also made into a movie in 1970 with Paul Newman and Henry Fonda. I saw this when it first came out and remember enjoying it but I know it was definitely watered down from the novel. I may seek it out again for a rewatch. [image]...more
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