Wednesday Book Club

Reading Challenge

2012-01-20T09:26:00.000-08:00

This year I have decided to participate in The Birth Year Reading Challenge.

Year: 1947
Books:
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman
Too Many Women by Rex Stout
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I would also like to take part in the honors portion of the challenge by honoring my mother who loved her Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels.

Year: 1920

Books:

Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

2011-11-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

I am currently immersed in and enjoying Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. It appeared as a monthly serial from May 1864 to November 1865. Wikipedia has an extensive article on the subject of this novel, and there are links to a site that has illustrations depicting the characters and another site that has a map showing some of the places mentioned in the book.

I have also been reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.

Other books I am considering:

Cool Water by Dianne Warren
Generosity by Richard Powers
Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

A Song for Nettie Johnson

2011-09-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

A Song for Nettie Johnson (2001)
Author: Gloria Sawai (20 December 1932-20 July 2011)

Publisher: Coteau Books, Regina, Saskatchewan
Pages: 296
Genre: Fiction, Short Stories

Awards: Governor General's Award for Fiction 2002, Danuta Gleed Award for Best First Book of Short Fiction, Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Fiction, 2002 City of Edmonton Book Prize, Henry Kriesel Award for Best First Book

As it happens I had this book in my possession (borrowed from the library) when I heard the sad news of Gloria Sawai's passing this summer.

Gloria Østrem Sawai was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but grew up in Saskatchewan and Alberta where her father was a Lutheran minister. Set mainly in rural Saskatchewan in the 1940s and 1950s, these wonderful stories capture the prairie landscape and also acknowledge the people, many of whom arrived from other places and made this part of Canada their home. This is one book I am going to add to my Canadiana bookshelf.

4/13 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

Fierce

2011-07-20T09:33:00.000-07:00

Fierce by Hannah Holborn, 2008
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., Toronto
Pages: 230
Cover Photo: Mark Horn/Getty Images
Cover Design: Leah Springate

Nine short stories and a novella

A sense of profound sadness pervades many of the stories. The dismal circumstances and burdens are often overwhelming. Sometimes though something good happens.

The story that touched me the most was "Ugly Cruising".

I'm still struggling with the stereotypical images, however. I like this author's writing but can't understand her motives for making certain statements.

3/13 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

You Went Away

2011-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

You Went Away, A Novella
Author: Timothy Findley (1930-2002)
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., Toronto, Canada
Date Published: 1996
Pages: 218

Set in Ontario during wartime.

Based on the mysterious contents of a cardboard box containing old photographs, a family's story slowly unfolds. The 1940s. It is an unpredictable time; no one knows what is going to happen from one day to the next. A rocky marriage, estrangement, war, death, a love affair.

What impressed me most about this book was the vivid imagery. The eloquent descriptions of every mood and situation made the story come alive on the page. The tension and feeling of exhilaration created by some of the detailed images had me mesmerized. Equally impressive were the moments or interludes of calm and laughter, which I found remarkable, considering all that had happened.

2/13 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

Angel Wing Splash Pattern

2011-07-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Angel Wing Splash Pattern by Richard Van Camp, 2002

First Nations short stories (fiction), set in the Northwest Territories, Canada. The author also includes an "afterwords" section.

This is a beautiful looking book published by Kegedonce Press, Cape Croker Reserve, Wiarton, Ontario.

Cover & Book

Design: Rockpaperscissors

Cover Image: 2002 Tim Atherton

My copy was borrowed from our local library, and I realize now that it has been signed by the author.

These are heroic stories, at times risqué, funny, raw with pain and sorrow, and sometimes they describe the most awful misery. The characters are genuine.

I liked many of them and sympathized with their circumstances. Admittedly, I wasn't entirely comfortable with the explicit language of some of the stories, but what kept me reading was their heart. The story of the legacy of the uranium mines was a very moving response to what is happening to our north, its people, its land and waterways.

The Afterwords provides additional information related to the author's writing process and inspiration for each story.

Highly recommended. Adult Fiction.

1/13 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

Poem

2011-06-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

A Book by Emily Dickinson

He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust;
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book. What liberty
A loosened spirit brings!

~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

American poet

Tranquil Places

2011-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading The Gardens of Kyoto by Kate Walbert. This beautifully written novel begins in this way: "I had a cousin, Randall, killed on Iwo Jima. Have I told you?" The narrator is Ellen. She is speaking to her daughter many years later endeavouring to put right the events of the past.

After Randall's death in 1945, some of his prized possessions, including a book called The Gardens of Kyoto, are sent to Ellen. As the story unfolds, the book with its beautiful gardens, becomes more and more relevant in light of what has happened.

I was naturally curious to view some pictures of the gardens that were described in the novel and found a website where I could take a virtual tour of them. Kyoto Gardens

The peaceful scenes that I have posted are from two summers ago a little closer to home.

Currently Reading....

2011-02-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Also, The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - shelved. I really wasn't enjoying it all that much.

Finished Reading...

2011-01-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod
Published by Biblioasis (printed and bound in Canada), 2010
Pages: 219
Short Fiction - A collection of seven stories

My husband was wondering if I would like this book when he chose it for one of my Christmas presents. He needn't have worried.

These are extraordinary stories. There is an edge to them, an element of danger (two of the stories depict daredevil activities), but what held me throughout were the people in each story who could just as easily be anyone of us. Highly recommended adult reading.

Off to a Good Start

2011-01-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

Finished reading:

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Detective Mystery Fiction

The story initially appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887, illustrated by D. H. Friston. It came out in book form in 1888.

This is the first Sherlock Holmes story, and it is also where Holmes and Watson first meet. The novel is readily available as a free E-book, and it is one of my choices for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge (see sidebar for link).

There are two parts. Part one takes place in London, England, circa 1881, and part two tells of an earlier event in Utah. The last two chapters conclude the story.

I enjoyed this introduction to the character of Sherlock Holmes and his strategy for solving a crime by "reasoning backwards".

Magazine edition cover, 1887

War And Peace Readalong Update: I'm beginning at the beginning again and have attended Anna Pavlovna's soirée and become re-acquainted once more with several of the families and the story's characters. This time I am making a few notes as I read so I don't get bogged down with trying to sort out who is who. For instance, Liza Meinen is married to Prince Andrey (aka, André) Bolkonsky and is endearingly referred to as the "little princess". Hippolyte (French) or Ippolit (Russian), I learned, is one and the same person, son of Prince Vassily. So, you see what I mean. It can be a bit confusing.

Reading War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy

2011-01-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

I still haven't given up on this book, and I've found something that might help to keep me on track. Jillian at A Room of One's Own is hosting a War And Peace read along, basically reading a chapter a day for all of 2011. Now, that seems easy enough, doesn't it? Her post can be viewed here.

On my last attempt I managed to get to Part Two, Chapter XI.

Christmas Presents

2010-12-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

I love when people give me books, and I am especially pleased with the ones I received this year for Christmas:

Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod (short fiction - Giller Prize Finalist 2010)

The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud (Giller Prize Winner 2010)

Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders Edited by Judith Durant

Best Wildlife Pictures Canadian Geographic Collector's Edition

A Book and a TV Mini Series

2010-12-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading Ken Follett's The Pillars Of The Earth. It has been sitting on my book shelf for a few years now. I acquired it from someone who had left it here at some point in time. What spurred me on to pick it up and begin reading were the previews on TV (CBC) for the mini series airing in January. It occurred to me that I had seen the book somewhere, nicely shelved and unread (by me). I am enjoying it immensely, and hoping to have a good chunk of it finished by the start date of the mini series, January 4th.

On a recent trip to the city to do some last minute Christmas shopping I saw this sign as we were driving past:

If you see someone without a smile, give him or her yours.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Another Reading Challenge

2010-12-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

This one is intriguing and, I think, achievable for me. However, I will probably have to take advantage of the "crossover" permission to some extent. The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011 and is hosted by Darren at Bart's Bookshelf.

Requirements:

Read a total of 20 books.

The minimum is one book for each category. Maximum is two. There is some leeway here as you will need to read only two in each of 9 categories.

The categories:

1. To Ya or not to YA - as I tend to read more adult fiction than YA, I'll try for two YA.

2. With a Twist - Sub-genres - I'll have to think about this one.

3. Hot Off the Presses - read a book published (in your country) in 2011.

4. It Wasn't Me - read a book recommended by another blogger.

5. Show It Who is Boss! - read a book from your TBR pile.

6. Bablefish - read a book that is translated from a language other than your own.

7. Will-Power? What Will-Power? - read a book bought new in 2011.

8. Mind the Gap - read the last book in a series you've been reading.

9. Back in the Day - re-read an old favourite or two.

0. Way Back When - read a book that was published before you were born.

1. Slim Pickings - read one or two novellas of between 90 and 150 pages.

The complete rules for this fun reading project can be found at the twenty eleven reading challenge page.

Finished Reading...

2010-12-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

This was a very complex and strange tale. While I hated the murders committed by Frankenstein's "creature", I couldn't help but have some empathy towards him also. I paused more than once during my reading to reflect on the events in the story. The author's excellent portrayal of the anguish and despair that consumed both the "daemon" and Victor Frankenstein conveyed a tension that was most palpable.

Christmas Is Coming

2010-12-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat
Please put a penny in the old's man's hat
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do
If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!

Traditional English Carol

Currently Reading

2010-12-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

'Tis also the season for writing cards and letters, wrapping presents and sending parcels.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

2010-12-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

In a previous post, I was at a turning point in the story. The monster begins telling the scientist who created him what his experiences of life have been thus far. It is a very emotional account and comprises most of Volume II.

Volume II - Chapter 7

One night the monster finds a "portmanteau", a type of suitcase, and in it are three books which he takes back to his "hovel" to read:

"The possession of these treasures gave me extreme delight; I now continually studied and exercised my mind upon these histories, whilst my friends were employed in their ordinary occupations."

He goes on to describe the effect each book had on him. One book taught him "despondency and gloom" and made him question his own existence, another "high thoughts" of virtue and vice as recorded in the biographies of "the first founders of the ancient republics" and the third, "wonder and awe" which caused him to reflect on his painful circumstances.

Yes, "Frankenstein" is a horror story, but it is also remarkable in its philosophical views.

Finished Reading...

2010-12-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Ape House (2010) by Sara Gruen
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau/New York
Pages: 303
Book design by Casey Hampton

This entertaining story brings awareness to the connection we have with other species. It features a family of Bonobo apes and a whole host of human personalities whose idiosyncrasies often appear to overlap with the bonobos.

I enjoyed the many interesting twists and turns throughout and also appreciated the author's characterization of both humans and apes.

This photo was taken by Kabir Bakie at the Cincinnati Zoo 2005.

source: Wikipedia

Bonobo

Currently Reading

2010-11-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

This morning before I got dressed and went outside to get my exercise shoveling the driveway, I spent about an hour reading Sara Gruen's novel Ape House. I'm about halfway. Not only is this a great story, but the author also nudges us to reflect upon the plight of animals in captivity. It has certainly pricked my conscience.

Before reading any further, I googled "chimpanzees in labs" and was directed to several web sites. The one I went to was the Jane Goodall Institute where there is a fact sheet and information about the Great Ape Protection Act, a bill introduced in March 2009 that, if passed, would "prohibit invasive research* on great apes in the United States and retire government-owned lab chimpanzees to sanctuaries where they would be allowed to live out their lives in peace".

The Last Major Action for this bill was on August 3, 2010 (referred to Senate committee). It seems an excruciatingly slow process when one considers that the chimpanzees meanwhile continue to be warehoused in pitiful confinement or used in biomedical procedures.

* "The bill defines 'invasive research' as research that can cause bodily injury, pain, distress, fear, injury, or trauma to great apes. This includes drug testing or exposure to a substance that may be detrimental to the ape's health or psychological well-being." (GAPA fact sheet)

Public Libraries

2010-11-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

Andrew Carnegie was born on this day in 1835. He wanted all public libraries to be free, and in 1883 the first Carnegie public library was opened in his home town of Dunfermline, Scotland. At the entrance is a carved motto: "Let there be light".

"There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration."

~ Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

Brr, It's Cold

2010-11-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

-16C

The SnowStorm

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,

Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.
The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the northwind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every wayward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, as the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of snow.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

This poem beautifully expresses how our winter arrived this year and the magical transformation of the landscape into sculpted outdoor art - "the frolic architecture of snow".

Finished Reading

2010-11-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

I missed the Wednesday book club. We were digging out yesterday. Rain on Monday, snow on Wednesday. Lots of it. The poor birds. Snow had settled in every nook and cranny, including the bird feeders. My first job was to unclog the feeders, then sweep away the snow, put up another feeder, add some energy boosting suet mix. Next, the shoveling and clearing (many thanks to who(m)ever invented the snow blower). All this was repeated in the afternoon. This morning is yet another day. Much calmer. Storm over.

Finished reading:

Come, Thou Tortoise (2009) by Jessica Grant
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Pages: 412

Superb story telling. I laughed and also cried.

Science Fiction

2010-11-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Volume II Chapter 2

I have reached a turning point in the story. Tormented by recent events, a despondent Victor Frankenstein takes solace in nature's wonders:

"These sublime and magnificent scenes....congregated round me; the unstained snowy mountain-top, the glittering pinnacle, the pine woods, and ragged bare ravine, the eagle, soaring amidst the clouds - they all gathered round me and bade me be at peace."

While he is wandering in the mountains, he sees the "monster" whom he has created. Hatred and rage well up inside him. A threat is made by the "daemon" and finally this plea:

"Oh Frankenstein....Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous."

The story continues with the creature relating his experiences since leaving Victor's laboratory.

Currently Reading

2010-11-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (online)

Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant (library book)

Finished Reading

2010-10-27T13:00:00.001-07:00

The Radiant Way (1987) by Margaret Drabble
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, Canada
Pages: 396
Time Period: 1979 - 1984
Country: England

The Radiant Way is set in the Margaret Thatcher era and follows the lives of three women in their forties who have been friends since their university days. Their circumstances are woven around political events of the day. Each woman's experiences is quite different from the other.

Although I found the novel overall a bit tedious, I enjoyed many of the plot lines. A mystery surrounding Rita Ablewhite, the mother of Shirley and Liz, made it worth reading to the end.

Finished Reading...

2010-10-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

As For Me and My House (1941, 1957) by Sinclair Ross
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, Canada
Pages: 216 with an Afterword by Robert Kroetsch
Time Period: 1930s
Country: Canada (Saskatchewan)

This story is in the form of a journal kept by a preacher's wife (Mrs. Bentley) during the Depression years. The narrator tells of her precarious relationship with her husband, her personal inner struggles, her fears as well as her hopes and her feelings about life in a small prairie town. She is relentless in her efforts to understand, as relentless as the dust that blows across the farmers' fields.

"For the wind and dust keep on, and their faces all are set with a numbness of anxiety. Along the road there are drifts of dust two and three feet deep. Sometimes the fence posts are almost buried. Here and there you can see a faint tinge of green, but most of the seed has been blown out and lost."

This is a book that I would like to read again.

Reading Science Fiction

2010-10-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (finished reading)
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

Reading War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy

2010-10-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

After several months interruption, I have picked up Tolstoy's War And Peace again.

Part Two - IX - October, 1805 - after Enns (Austria)

Excerpt:

Pursued by the French army of a hundred thousand men under the command of Bonaparte, received with hostility by the inhabitants, losing confidence in their allies, suffering from shortness of supplies, and forced to act under circumstances unlike anything that had been foreseen, the Russian army of thirty-five thousand men, under the command of Kutuzov, beat a hasty retreat to the lower ground about the Danube.

Meeting Mr. Rochester?

2010-08-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

At seven o'clock we started out for our walk. The only reason we go at this early hour is so we can avoid the energy sapping heat. This morning I was very reluctant though and would rather have stayed in bed for another hour.

There was a cloudy haze, and I could smell just a tinge of smoke. It hasn't been too bad here at all, but now and again we get a whiff from the wild fires burning to the south of us. It was windy as well and about 16 C.

We reached the bridge which is our usual destination and stood watching the water. Suddenly a yell and a clatter of hooves broke our tranquil spell. A horse and mystery rider galloped towards us, flying like the wind across the bridge and out of sight.

Was I dreaming? That wasn't Mr. Rochester of Jane Eyre, was it, returning home to Thornfield Hall? It was a February night, I believe, moonlit and cold. Miss Eyre had been on her way to the next village to post a letter when she heard a noise. A horse and rider galloped past. Unbeknown to her, it was Mr. Rochester. His horse slipped on a patch of ice....

No, I wasn't dreaming, but the image of the horse and rider charging down the road was like something out of a book.

This is a picture I took at 11:00 a.m. which shows the haze settling around the mountain.

Sinkut Mountain

Leo Tolstoy

2010-03-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

I have just begun reading War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy. The translation is by Constance Garnett with an introduction by A. N. Wilson.

Kurt Vonnegut

2010-03-10T11:30:00.001-08:00

A young Billy Pilgrim becomes a soldier and goes off to war. Somehow he manages to survive and get back home with his body intact. He appears undamaged, but of course that's not true because he can't break free of the memories. His mind is full of the atrocities of what he has experienced and witnessed.

I am on page 146. The American prisoners of war are about to be transported to Dresden.

Short Fiction

2010-02-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

I have been reading and enjoying Look At The Birdie by Kurt Vonnegut, published posthumously by Delacorte Press, New York 2009.

IMPRESSIVE!

One of my favourite stories in this collection is A Song for Selma, although the other ones I have read so far are also very, very good.

P. G. Wodehouse

2010-02-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Finished reading:

Bertie Wooster Sees It Through by P. G. Wodehouse (Published in 1954)

This novel was my initial introduction to the wonderful character of Bertram (Bertie) Wooster. It was immensely funny and a nice change of pace from what I usually read. Poor Bertie gets himself into some very sticky situations. I definitely want to read more of these humourous stories.

Short Stories

2010-02-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Faber Book of Contemporary Canadian Short Stories, edited by Michael Ondaatje, published in 1990.

I had forgotten that I had this book. It was one I inherited from a son when he left home. If I remember rightly, the book was a prize for placing in one of those runs that people do, like the Vancouver Sun Run, only this particular race was in another city. So the book has been on my shelf for a number of years, never read.

It comprises 714 pages with forty-four authors contributing a total of forty-nine stories and begins and ends with a story by Alistair Macleod. I have chosen to read it cover to cover, and hopefully I will not be tempted to skip here and there as I sometimes do when I read anthologies.

I have read seven of the stories to date, all in a row as planned.

One of the stories is titled The Medicine Line and was written by Wallace Stegner. It is an excerpt from Wolf Willow (1962), a memoir which tells of his early childhood in Saskatchewan. This remarkable story is about the surveying of the southern boundary between Canada and the United States, specifically one stretch along the 49th parallel. The surveyors commenced their work in 1872 at Lake of the Woods, and in August of 1874 "the survey parties of both sides...[had] located the last monument of the 1861 survey that had carried the boundary from the Pacific to the Rockies". They had crossed the wide prairies and reached Waterton Lakes (southwest corner of Alberta). An enduring achievement - "a job of immense importance".

Short Story Monday is hosted by John Mutford.

Wednesday Book Club

2010-02-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

On the second floor of the library, at the top of the stairs, is a shelf specifically set aside for "New Fiction". It is always my first stop. I don't know whether it was the author's name, which I recognized, or the picture on the front of the jacket that prompted me to pick up and look inside E. L. Doctorow's newest novel, Homer & Langley (2009), but I was immediately intrigued.

The novel is a fictionalized account of the lives of New York's reclusive Collyer brothers, who became known for their unconventional ways and hoarding activities. For me, the line between fact and fiction in this story seems somewhat blurred, possibly because the author uses the brothers' real names. Aside from this, I enjoyed the novel simply for the story itself. I liked both brothers, and I also liked Doctorow's writing.

The next book of E. L. Doctorow's that I would like to read is Ragtime. But, for the moment, I am turning to something lighter - a novel by P. G. Wodehouse.

Short Story Monday - O. Henry

2010-02-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry

O. Henry's short stories never fail to amaze me. They are rich in human interest, and the endings are not what one might expect. In this particular story, we are introduced to a man who is a professional safe cracker. After he has served his time and is let out of prison, what does he go and do but...

If you are curious to know the outcome, this story can be enjoyed at Bibliomania.

Short Story Monday is hosted by John Mutford.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

2010-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

Finished reading: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Reading this book was very uplifting, not only for the story of Lily and the Boatwright women, but for the story of the honey bees as well.

A question for discussion: Who is the queen bee in this story?

I have several queen bees in mind:

1. The Blessed Virgin Mary, who is revered by the "Daughters" for her consolation and strength.

2. August, for her wisdom and ritual. She creates harmony and a sense of belonging.

3. Lily, for her vulnerability, her need for protection, and her desperate desire to be loved and wanted. Perhaps she is a queen bee in waiting.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

2010-01-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

Ciamar a tha thu? How are you?

Finished reading:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

It was riveting to the end and, all in all, a great tale. I especially appreciated the strong female characters. Interesting too were the Gaelic phrases sprinkled throughout the book and the natural healing remedies.

The Scottish Gaelic alphabet consists of eighteen letters each named after a tree or shrub. For example: A a is Ailm (Elm).

New word - "...joined in ogives in the multichambered roof."

Ogive
In Architecture
1. A diagonal rib of a Gothic vault.
2. A pointed arch.

Also, a newly knitted cozy for the teapot. Pattern found at Lollipop Knits.

Wednesday Book Club

2010-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

I am currently reading three books:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This is a story of passion and adventure. It is rather long though at 850 pages; however, I'm at the halfway point, and I'm more than likely going to finish it.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I put down Outlander over Christmas and borrowed this one from the library after Christmas as a change of pace. I can't say enough about this book. It is stellar reading.

The Odyssey by Homer (Translated by T.E. Lawrence)

This too is ongoing.

Book Eight

Several young Phaeacians show off their skills at games of running, wrestling, jumping, weight-throwing and boxing. One of them insults Odysseus who replies thus:

Deep Odysseus glared at him and thundered: 'You, whoever you are, do not speak well. You behave like a low fellow. So true is it that the Gods do not lavish graciousness entire, their whole endowment of beauty and wit and eloquence, upon all men alike. There will be one rather feebler than average in build, and yet the God will so crown what he says with a bloom of beauty that all who look on him are moved. ....Another will be handsome as the Immortals, yet will lack that strand of charm twined into his words. Take yourself - a masterpiece of body in which perhaps not even a god could see amendment: yet naught in mind. Your reviling made the heart beat faster in my breast. ....I will essay your tests of strength: for that sneer galled me and your word has stung me to the quick.'

Two books that I received for Christmas and look forward to reading:

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate (An Isobel Dalhousie mystery) by Alexander McCall Smith and The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T06:57:00.000-08:00

Good Morning to all,

Topic: Goodness

Yesterday while I was busy in the kitchen making a banana cake, I listened to a program on the radio that posed the question, "Who or what inspires you to be good or do good?" There were many different and thoughtful responses, and some that immediately struck a chord with me:

Do no harm to any being (persons, trees, rivers, insects, birds,
the earth). Respect all, and you will be doing a bit of good.

Begin with gratitude. If you are thankful, then
you can approach life in a good way.

Being kind to yourself is a good place to start.

One call that I particularly remember was from a young man, all of fifteen years old, who said that the authors who inspired him were P.G. Wodehouse and Mark Twain. The characters in the stories tried to do good, but weren't always rewarded. I am putting these two authors at the top of my "To Be Read" list.

Who Or What Inspires Me To Be Or Do Good?: my grandchildren, being out in nature, and that inborn quality which we all have.

Reading The Odyssey by Homer

2009-12-21T17:50:00.000-08:00

As translated by T.E. Lawrence

Book Seven

Led by Athene (who is disguised as a young girl) Odysseus comes to the opulent palace of "great-hearted" Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians. He stands admiring the "brilliance within the high-ceiled rooms" gleaming with copper-plate, gold and silver. There are also four acres of "abundant garden" and two springs.

Odysseus beseeches the Queen to "hasten [his] despatch by the quickest way to [his] native place". After telling them of his experiences so far, the King promises that something will be arranged.

Deafening by Frances Itani

2009-12-16T14:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Deafening
Author: Frances Itani
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. (Toronto), 2003
378 pages
Fiction (written as a tribute to the author's grandmother)
Time Period: 1902 - 1919

My favourite part of this exceptional story is the beginning where the author introduces us to Grania, the little deaf girl, and her family. The loving relationship she has with her grandmother, who teaches her to read and to speak, touched me greatly. She and her older sister, Tress, are also very close and develop their own special way of communicating with each another.

Grania is enrolled in the Ontario School for the Deaf, Belleville, Ontario, and her time there as a student as well as her later experiences provided me with a sense of what life was like for non-hearing people in Canada during the early part of the twentieth century. Francis Itani, through Grania, enlightened me as to language and sound.

When World War I intervenes, it changes everything and puts everyone's personal life on hold. All are affected in some way; most have someone at the Front. There are some very grim accounts of the conditions in France as well as insights into how Grania, her family, and the townspeople are coping at home. (No one talked too much about the war years in my family, but I've often thought also of the bravery of the women, who remained at home and waited amidst constant bad news.)

I highly recommend this book.

Reading The Odyssey by Homer

2009-12-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

As translated by T.E. Lawrence

Book Six

Such lovely images to dwell upon ~

Olympus - "....the winds shake it not, nor is it wetted by rain, nor approached by any snow. All around stretches the cloudless firmament, and a white glory of sunlight is diffused about its walls. There the blessed gods are happy all their days...."

"Then they (Nausicaa* and her handmaidens) took the garments from the waggon in armfuls and laid them in the shadowed water of the washing pools: where they danced on them in emulation, each striving to out-knead the rest. Afterward, when all the dirt was worked right out, they stretched the linen wide and smooth upon the foreshore, even on the pure shingle where the sea had washed it clean."

"When Odysseus had so thoroughly washed and anointed himself smoothly and put on the clothes given him by the girl, then did Athene daughter of Zeus contrive to make him seem taller and stronger, and from his head she led down the curls of his hair in hyacinthine tendrils."

*Nausicaa is the beautiful daughter of the King of Phaeacia.

Poem

2009-12-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hymn to the Night by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the trailing garments of the Night
Sweep through her marble halls!
I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light
From the celestial walls!

I felt her presence, by its spell of might,
Stoop o'er me from above;
The calm, majestic presence of the Night,
As of the one I love.

I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight,
The manifold, soft chimes,
That fill the haunted chambers of the Night,
Like some old poet's rhymes.

From the cool cisterns of the midnight air
My spirit drank repose;
The fountain of perpetual peace flows there,--
From those deep cisterns flows.

O holy Night! from thee I learn to bear
What man has borne before!
Thou layest thy finger on the lips of Care,
And they complain no more.

Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer!
Descend with broad-winged flight,
The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair,
The best-beloved Night!

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

American poet

Reading The Odyssey by Homer

2009-12-11T13:00:00.000-08:00

As translated by T.E. Lawrence

Book Five

After being released by Calypso, Odysseus departs in "a kindly warm wind" but on the eighteenth day at sea, he encounters violent storms.

He is helped first by Ino "the bright" who takes pity on him. "Easily, like a sea gull, she [rises] from the level of the sea to light on the raft and say, Unhappy man, why is Poseidon so cruelly provoked against you as to plant these many harms in your path?.... See....this is what you must do."

A little while later, Athene also comes to his aid and orders the winds "to be hushed and fall to sleeping". All except "the impetuous North wind". "Him she [encourages] and by his power she [lays] the waves flat, that Odysseus, kinsman of Zeus, might indeed attain the sea-faring Phaeacians and escape death and the fates."

Reading The Odyssey by Homer

2009-11-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

As translated by T.E. Lawrence

Book Four

Telemachus has arrived at Lacedaemon, "home to famous Menelaus," husband to Helen.

Hospitality is at once offered, and it is Helen who guesses rightly that one of the strangers "surely must be Telemachus". Helen who "like a vision of Artemis of the golden distaff [comes] out from her high-coffered, incense-laden room with her women".

After some time has gone by, Helen begins to tell them what happened at Troy. The next morning Menelaus recounts how he managed to make it safely home and also provides Telemachus with a clue as to where his father might be.

Back at Ithaca, there is something sinister being planned.

Reading The Odyssey by Homer

2009-11-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

As translated by T.E. Lawrence

Book Three

Accompanied by Athene, daughter of Zeus, Telemachus goes to see Nestor who fought in the Trojan War. He hopes that Nestor might have some information as to the whereabouts of his absent father, Odysseus.

"Peisistratus, Nestor's son,....took a hand of Athene and a hand of Telemachus and led them to fleecy sheepskins spread over the sand of the beach beside the platters, where sat Thrasymedes, his own brother, and Nestor their father. He gave them portions of the beasts' inwards: and pouring wine into a gold tankard he raised it to Pallas Athene...."

Reading The Odyssey by Homer

2009-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

As translated by T.E. Lawrence

Book One begins,

"By now the other warriors, those that had escaped
head-long ruin by sea or in battle, were safely home.
Only Odysseus tarried, shut up by Lady Calypso, a
nymph and very Goddess, in her hewn-out caves."

I am having to stop now and again to sort out the Gods and Goddesses; some I know and some I don't. My companion book is an encyclopedia of Greek mythology, and I am finding it very helpful.

Classic Literature

2009-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

It took me awhile to realize what classic I wanted to read next after Moby-Dick. I have a rather yellowed paperback copy of The Odyssey by Homer, Translated by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) which I had started reading several years ago, but unfortunately never finished. So The Odyssey is my choice.

"The oldest book worth reading for its story, and the first novel of Europe." ~ T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935)

The Invocation -

O Divine Poesy
Goddess-Daughter of Zeus
sustain for me
this song of the various-minded man
who after he had plundered
the innermost citadel of hallowed Troy
was made to stray grievously
about the coasts of men
the sport of their customs good or bad
while his heart
through all the sea-faring
ached in an agony to redeem himself
and bring his company safe home

Vain hope - for them
for his fellows he strove in vain
their own witlessness cast them away
the fools
to destroy for meat
the oxen of the most exalted sun
wherefore the Sun-god blotted out
the day of their return

Make the tale live for us
in all its many bearings
O Muse

A Blade of Grass

2009-10-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

The moment one gives close attention to anything,
even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious,
awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.
~ Henry Miller (1891-1980)

Novelist and Painter

Reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

2009-09-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

132. The Symphony
133. The Chase - First Day
134. The Chase - Second Day
135. The Chase - Third Day
Epilogue
The End

The suspense builds as Captain Ahab continues "this pertinacious* pursuit of one particular whale".

*pertinacious - holding firmly to some purpose or belief

I won't say anymore. If you wish to know the outcome you will have to read this masterpiece for yourself.

Reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

2009-09-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

128. The Pequod Meets the Rachel
129. The Cabin
130. The Hat
131. The Pequod Meets the Delight

The Pequod sights "a large ship, the Rachel"...."all her spars thickly clustering with men". They have seen the white whale and are now searching for a lost whale boat. It is a heart breaking story - one of the missing crew is the captain's young son. This chapter makes reference to the Bible's Rachel who "[wept] for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were no more".

Later, there is an exchange of words between Ahab and Pip.

Now that he knows that Moby-Dick is close, Captain Ahab, "....his hat slouched heavily over his eyes," remains on deck in a constant watch. Several days pass. Ahab has himself "hoisted" aloft in a basket so that he might "have the first sight of the whale". There is a sense of foreboding.

Another unfortunate ship reaches them.

Reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

2009-09-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

124. The Needle
125. The Log and Line
126. The Lifebuoy
127. The Deck

After the storm, Ahab discovers that the compass has been affected by the lightning rendering it useless. He proceeds to construct another needle to everyone's amazement.

The log and line is a unique device that determines the progress of the ship, and this too is replaced as it has deteriorated over the course of the journey.

Another lifebuoy is also needed.

"A lifebuoy of a coffin!" Very puzzling!

Reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

2009-09-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

119. The Candles
120. The Deck Towards the End of the First Night Watch
121. Midnight -- The Forecastle Bulwarks
122. Midnight Aloft -- Thunder and Lightning
123. The Musket

A typhoon hits the Pequod in the Japan waters.

Reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

2009-08-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

114. The Gilder

"Would to God these blessed calms would last. But the mingled, mingling threads of life are woven by warp and woof; calms crossed by storms, a storm for every calm."

115. The Pequod Meets the Bachelor
Or "The Moody Pequod Meets the Glad Ship of Good Luck"

116. The Dying Whale

"Not seldom in this life, when, on the right side, fortune's favourites sail close by us, we, though all adroop before, catch somewhat of the rushing breeze, and joyfully feel our bagging sails fill out."

117. The Whale Watch

"....the midnight waves....gently chafed the [dead] whale's broad flank, like soft surf upon a beach."

118. The Quadrant
Ahab inquires of the Sun:

"Thou sea-mark! Thou high and mighty Pilot! Thou tellest me truly where I am - but canst thou cast the least hint where I shall be? ....Where is Moby-Dick? This instant thou must be eyeing him."

Reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

2009-08-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

109. Ahab and Starbuck in the Cabin
110. Queequeg in his Coffin
111. The Pacific
112. The Blacksmith
113. The Forge

Subject: Dis-ease

As the Pequod "[draws] nigh to Formosa and the Bashee Isles", Captain Ahab has one thing on his mind and one thing only. He is mad in his obsession with Moby-Dick!

Queequeg (one of my favourite characters) comes down with a fever.

Ishmael describes for us his "dear Pacific" while Ahab's "purpose [intensifies] itself".

The blacksmith's story is one of utter grief and "shame".

Captain Ahab goes to the blacksmith and gets him to make a strong harpoon.

Reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

2009-08-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

106. Ahab's Leg
107. The Carpenter
108. Ahab and the Carpenter

Ahab orders a new leg.