Ah, I have it, I will write the story of all my life for myself. A first-rate idea! Just before death it is a suitable thing to do, and can be of no hAh, I have it, I will write the story of all my life for myself. A first-rate idea! Just before death it is a suitable thing to do, and can be of no harm to any one. I will begin.
Upon learning from his doctor that he has only weeks to live, 31-year-old Tchulkaturin, a minor Russian official in a provincial town, sets out to record his life history, but soon realizes there's not much to tell. After quickly sketching out its uneventful arc, he decides to focus on his only, although unrequited, love a decade earlier. The 1850 novella reminds me of both Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1864 novella, Notes from Underground, and Knut Hamsun's 1890 novel, Hunger....more
In my time I have seen truth that was anything under the sun but just, and I have seen justice using tools and instruments I wouldn't want to touch wiIn my time I have seen truth that was anything under the sun but just, and I have seen justice using tools and instruments I wouldn't want to touch with a ten-foot fence rail.
These five short stories, and the novella which provides the book's title, recount cases in the career of Yoknapatawpha County Attorney Gavin Stevens, as he unravels mysteries of the human heart that led to violence and crime. Not incorporating any of the stream-of-consciousness or other experimental techniques that can make his work challenging, this is a good choice as a first read of Faulkner, as is Intruder in the Dust, which also features Stevens....more
This is a fascinating ethnological study of voluntary Eritrean migration to Europe, generally via Ethiopia or Sudan, almost always with hopes to then This is a fascinating ethnological study of voluntary Eritrean migration to Europe, generally via Ethiopia or Sudan, almost always with hopes to then reach Italy, and then on to Scandinavia, Canada, the U.S or other final destinations, where economic success might be achieved. Belloni reports that national service requirements of indefinite length and with poverty-level compensation drive many young people to leave the country. They leave to be able to afford to marry and start families, but also to send remittances to their families back home, to help siblings to emigrate also and to support family who will stay. She explores the dangers of being smuggled across borders and the Mediterranean, how reaching each transit country influences decisions to risk attempting the next in a similar manner to the behavior of some gamblers, and ethical considerations of doing fieldwork with vulnerable populations. Recommended. Available free from UC Press as an Open Access e-book, including on Kindle....more
These nine stories, selected from her two published collections and Vogue magazine pieces, were my introduction to Chopin. I very much enjoyed them anThese nine stories, selected from her two published collections and Vogue magazine pieces, were my introduction to Chopin. I very much enjoyed them and plan to read more of her work, including her novel, The Awakening. My favorites were “Désirée’s Baby”, which explores the racism and sexism of her time in Louisiana, and "The Dream of an Hour", an emotional roller coaster ride, even though of only the briefest length. Recommended....more
This was a brief, well-written overview of U.S. strategy and military action during the Korean War, from the perspective of one of the very few femaleThis was a brief, well-written overview of U.S. strategy and military action during the Korean War, from the perspective of one of the very few female war correspondents of the era. I was unfamiliar with Higgins, but she had a remarkable, Pulitzer Prize-winning career covering combat from World War II through the Vietnam War. She reports conversations with frontline combat troops, whose conditions and dangers she shared, as well as interviews with command officers up to and including General Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.N., U.S., and South Korean troops, whom she greatly admired. She closes the book with her own strong opinions about the importance of opposing the spread of communism globally by military intervention....more
The author has researched and relates the family stories of the addressees and sometimes senders of over a hundred postcards from her collection, mostThe author has researched and relates the family stories of the addressees and sometimes senders of over a hundred postcards from her collection, mostly sent within England in the first decades of the nineteenth century, and includes black and white photos of both sides of each card. For most, it wouldn't be a book to read straight through, but it provides interesting social history about primarily working class people using this early form of social media. An address is provided for a blog at which color reproductions of the postcards in this book and two sequels can be accessed....more
I didn't warm up to this outlier in the oeuvre right away, but it grew on me. It's a quirky tale of a newspaper reporter's obsession with a barnstormiI didn't warm up to this outlier in the oeuvre right away, but it grew on me. It's a quirky tale of a newspaper reporter's obsession with a barnstorming ménage à trois plus that hits 1930s New Orleans (called New Valois here) for the air races at the dedication of a new airport, during Mardi Gras. In addition to exploring New Orleans, city newsrooms, and the barnstorming life of the era, Faulkner depicts the pathology of chronic alcoholism in excruciating detail, certainly from experience, and unpacks a suitcasefull of portmanteau words, among other literary fireworks. I wouldn't recommend this as a first, or even early, read for someone new to the author, but it was an interesting surprise after familiarizing myself with Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi in the major works....more
Distant memories of television interviews with Capote, comic parodies of his speech and mannerisms, and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold BlDistant memories of television interviews with Capote, comic parodies of his speech and mannerisms, and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood years ago, didn't prepare me for these three lovely, nostalgic, bittersweet stories based on his childhood in Alabama, growing up with relatives, including his best friend and aunt, Miss Sook. Highly recommended as a holiday season read....more
Nine-year-old Yegorushka's widowed mother sends him with his businessman uncle and the village priest on their horse-drawn chaise trip to sell wool, sNine-year-old Yegorushka's widowed mother sends him with his businessman uncle and the village priest on their horse-drawn chaise trip to sell wool, so he can be dropped off at her friend's home in a distant town where he can attend school. Chekhov beautifully describes the landscape, wildlife, and weather of the Ukrainian steppe and a cast of colorful characters from all walks of life, from the boy's perspective, in this early novella....more
Driving away from a stop on a ridge above 'The Pastures of Heaven', a beautiful valley near Carmel, on California's Monterey Peninsula, a tour bus driDriving away from a stop on a ridge above 'The Pastures of Heaven', a beautiful valley near Carmel, on California's Monterey Peninsula, a tour bus driver says: "I guess it sounds kind of funny to you, but I always like to look down there and think how quiet and easy a man could live on a little place."
These dozen linked short stories tell of the quiet and easy lives of some of the people and families who had lived there over the centuries, often starting with ambition, hopes and dreams, but ending in madness, disappointment, or other tragedy.
One of Steinbeck's earliest efforts, it was an excellent choice to read on a recent trip to Monterey, which also included a visit to the outstanding National Steinbeck Center in nearby Salinas, the author's birthplace....more
I was able to escape the worst of my culture's inheritance. And uneasy though I am about my new life, I cannot whine about it: The life I lead now wasI was able to escape the worst of my culture's inheritance. And uneasy though I am about my new life, I cannot whine about it: The life I lead now was the stuff of fantasy during my childhood. So many people helped create that fantasy. At every level of my life and in every environment, I have found family and mentors and lifelong friends who supported and enabled me.
I didn't get around to reading this when it was published in 2016, but I'm glad my book club, which occasionally reads books of political interest from across the spectrum, decided to read it now that Vance is the Republican nominee for Vice-President. Based on his recent campaign remarks about cat ladies, childless voters, and Haitian immigrants, among other things, I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Hillbilly Elegy a thoughtful, thought-provoking, and even sometimes humorous memoir of Vance's chaotic youth and career to date, with speculations about what light his family's and his own experiences might shed on the problems of working-class whites in Appalachia and the Rust Belt.
He expresses gratitude to those family members, friends, mentors, and his fiance and now wife, Usha, who guided him along the way, as in the quote above. It's worth noting that he also gives credit to the Marine Corps, a part of the federal government, for his transformation from confused youth to confident, competent adult, and describes his education in public schools and Ohio State University, parts of local and state government, which were essential to his success in avoiding the traps that ensnared so many of his neighbors, such as unemployment, alcohol and drug addiction, domestic abuse, broken families, and crime.
I was struck to read, near the end of the book:
I don't know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make things better.
I haven't been hearing anything like this from Vance during the campaign, though. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here, regardless of the outcome of the election.
I enjoyed reading this memoir of the remarkable Englishwoman Flora Sandes, who served the Serbian Army in World War I, first as a volunteer in ambulanI enjoyed reading this memoir of the remarkable Englishwoman Flora Sandes, who served the Serbian Army in World War I, first as a volunteer in ambulance units, and then as a private, corporal, and sergeant, taking part in the bloody winter retreat over the mountains into Albania, relocation to Corfu, and reassignment to Salonika.
Although not covered in this memoir, Sandes went on to be decorated after being wounded by a grenade during an attack on Monastir, and was promoted to sergeant-major, and ultimately to the Serbian Army's first female commissioned officer by an act of Parliament at the conclusion of the war. Her second memoir, The Autobiography of a Woman Soldier: A Brief Record of Adventure with the Serbian Army 1916–1919, published in 1927, covers this period.
I was surprised to lose access to the free LibriVox audiobook I was listening to, due to the recent denial of service attack on the Internet Archive. I turned to reading a few of the middle chapters on Project Gutenberg until LibriVox became available again....more
I loved Jewett's first novel, Deephaven, and found this charming and poignant, as well. We never learn the name of the narrator, a writer from Boston,I loved Jewett's first novel, Deephaven, and found this charming and poignant, as well. We never learn the name of the narrator, a writer from Boston, who has come for the summer to Dunnett Landing, Maine to work on her book. We don't ever see her engaged in this project, though, and instead eavesdrop on her growing friendship with her landlady, Mrs. Almira Todd, and meet many of her neighbors and relatives, nearly all elderly and all women. The coast, the inland forest, and nearby islands are beautifully described and become part of the story, as the narrator and Mrs. Todd often take long treks or ride boats to visit friends and family. Like Deephaven, there really isn't any plot to follow here, but there is much to appreciate and enjoy....more
Although not all the stories in this early Hemingway effort clicked with me, as is the case with most short story collections, it was a solid read. I Although not all the stories in this early Hemingway effort clicked with me, as is the case with most short story collections, it was a solid read. I remembered several from The Nick Adams Stories, a favorite of my youth. The terse style and the subject matter of war, sports, aging, honor, and women were familiar, but I was surprised at how masterfully he used dialog. I enjoyed the free LibriVox audiobook working out at the gym....more
I enjoyed this novel for the vivid depictions of settings I'm unfamiliar with, i.e. Queens, Martinique, and Burkina Faso, and the perspective of its pI enjoyed this novel for the vivid depictions of settings I'm unfamiliar with, i.e. Queens, Martinique, and Burkina Faso, and the perspective of its protagonist, Marie Mitchell, a Black FBI agent under occasional contract with the CIA. Although 'Spy' is in the title, and Marie is a spy whose mother and sister were also spies, this is really a novel that happens to be set in the world of espionage rather than a thriller. There's not much tradecraft or high tech gadgetry, but some suggestion of less than noble FBI activities against Black activist groups and CIA involvement in the 1987 assassination of Thomas Sankara, revolutionary President of Burkina Faso....more
I read Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America years ago and found it interesting, but didn't know anything else about Barbara Ehrenreich's lI read Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America years ago and found it interesting, but didn't know anything else about Barbara Ehrenreich's life and work. I was surprised to learn that she was born in Butte, Montana, a great place from which to launch a lifelong quest to understand the meaning of life and death, which is the subject of this fascinating memoir. She traces her quest from memories of her alcoholic, atheist parents and childhood episodes of dissociation that haunted her, through an education in the sciences that culminated with a Ph.D., and a career as an activist, journalist, and author of over 20 books, concluding that there might be something more than science reveals, but she's not very clear about what it might be. I liked the book, but not everyone will....more
Romanian-born French Consul Aurel Timescu arrives at the pier in Conakry, French Guinea around noon, long after the discovery at daybreak of the corpsRomanian-born French Consul Aurel Timescu arrives at the pier in Conakry, French Guinea around noon, long after the discovery at daybreak of the corpse of a Frenchman hanging from the top of his yacht's mast by one foot, blood streaming from a gaping wound to his chest. Lacking authority and jurisdiction, he nevertheless leverages the absence of his boss, the vacationing Consul General, into an opportunity to investigate. An interesting tale, set in a fascinating part of West Africa, about which I know little. The author was a co-founder of Doctors Without Borders and a French Ambassador to Senegal. He is the author of three other mysteries featuring Aurel Timescu, which I don't believe have been translated to English yet, and many other books....more
Send me a postcard, drop me a line Stating point of view Indicate precisely what you mean to say Yours sincerely, wasting away
And they did. Paul, John anSend me a postcard, drop me a line Stating point of view Indicate precisely what you mean to say Yours sincerely, wasting away
And they did. Paul, John and George sent postcards to Ringo over the years of ups and downs, even after the breakup, from their wanderings all over the world. And Ringo kept them, sharing more than fifty, with the memories and observations they provoked in him, in this fun little book. Nothing earth-shattering, but an enjoyable visit into their private world that also brought back memories of the amazing music they made together as the Beatles....more
I really didn't like Sanctuary, to which this is a sequel, but I'm glad I read it, as it provides the background necessary to appreciate this book's sI really didn't like Sanctuary, to which this is a sequel, but I'm glad I read it, as it provides the background necessary to appreciate this book's story of the next eight years in the life of Temple Drake, this, surprisingly, in the form of a play, a courtroom drama. Each of the three acts begins with a lengthy, rich imagining of the history of Jefferson, Jackson, and Mississippi, thematically linked to the drama, but collectively a treasure trove for readers trying to understand Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County. This is another of his bold experiments in form and it worked for me....more
Bill on GR Sabbatical
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