Undoubtedly an exceptional mind here. There is no surprise that she has attacted so much attention. One only wishes that her personal life could have Undoubtedly an exceptional mind here. There is no surprise that she has attacted so much attention. One only wishes that her personal life could have been richly rewarding, but then, one can't have everything. Perhaps if she had a family that loved her, we would not be the recipients of her mental largesse. A couple of things stand out: 1) this is yet another woman from a Muslim background telling us Islam an irreparable and damaged religion focused on doing harm to women and non-Muslims and we should do everything we can to make them change their minds--especially when Islamists emigrate to Europe or the USA; 2) an American encountered by Ali when boarding an airplane said that "Americans cherish their diversity" when challenged to put greater restrictions on the behaviors of Muslims in the USA; 3) she herself admits that many Muslims are "instinctively appalled by the violence committed in the name of their faith." She asserts that most Muslims do not know the content of the Quran or the Hadith or any Islamic scripture. My thoughts exactly. I have often thought that many Muslims are rather like many Christians who have barely read the Bible. They are just ordinary people trying to get on with their life. They have a superstructure--a religious belief--but it is not profound or deep. It gives them a parameter for daily life and behaviors. I believe most mothers, Muslim or not, would be appalled if their sons decided to blow themsleves up for any reason at all.
I am grateful to Ayaan Hirsi Ali for writing the book and giving us insight into her life, her family, and her thoughts. The section on her family was difficult to read, in fact. It was so depressingly brutal, one cannot imagine how this woman emerged whole. But she certainly has my attention, and I wholehartedly support her cause--to stop violence against women in any country, culture, or religion that seeks to harm them....more
Eve Brown-Waite gives the reader a good idea of what it must have been like to be a Peace Corp volunteer in the late 1980s in South America, and then Eve Brown-Waite gives the reader a good idea of what it must have been like to be a Peace Corp volunteer in the late 1980s in South America, and then she describes expatriate life in one of the more remote outposts in Africa. Undoubtedly she succeeded in living well in these difficult environments because of her upbeat personality and sense of humor, though I wished she would allow the story to tell itself rather than injecting herself so forcefully into each vignette. But then it would be a different book, and this succeeds for what it is. I found myself wanting to get back 'to Africa' when I had to break for work.
Waite-Brown wrote this some 15-20 years (not 25-30 years, sorry) after her travels as a Peace Corps volunteer, perhaps using letters to family and friends to preserve the freshness of the images, and the shock of realization all first-time world travellers recognize. I have no problem with the observations. I would just have preferred the steadier sensibility of the older Brown-Waite to make comment.
I borrowed this book in audio from my library because the Boston Globe made it sound like a book that one shouldn't miss. I must admit I don't know quI borrowed this book in audio from my library because the Boston Globe made it sound like a book that one shouldn't miss. I must admit I don't know quite what to make of it. Firing Line may have taken place while I was younger, but my guess is the politics didn't appeal. I paid no attention. I wish now I had seen it, and may still try to rustle up a couple episodes. Christopher Buckley is rather more open than either his mother or father would have liked, I'm sure, but since his birth, education, growth, and development was a collaboration of sorts, one cannot place all the blame on Christopher's shoulders, I suppose. Undoubtedly there was love, trust, disappointment, anger, regret, adventure, and laughter. As much as any family has a right to expect. I didn't expect such graphic detail of his parents' deaths, but then, by the end I was just shaking my head and saying to myself, "That's Christopher." His last parting shot about Hamlet had me laughing aloud in the graveyard scene....more
This dense and detailed look at a moment in history when Obama began his run for the White House in the end gives the reader the sense of a blind man This dense and detailed look at a moment in history when Obama began his run for the White House in the end gives the reader the sense of a blind man running his hands over an elephant, or Galileo gazing at the stars. The detail just makes one jealous to know those things we are not reading about--what was he thinking, not just what he was saying. One wants the man himself, not just the story of him.
In the end, every book about this period is bound to be a disappointment in itself. It cannot capture the utter impossibility of the moment--the day by day disbelief of hearing Obama is still in the race and gaining, rather than losing adherents. Of Obama facing challenges (Reverend Wright) greater than those that had brought down more conventional candidates (Kerry's Swift boat controversy), and emerging even larger than before. It does not tell us, in the end, how this happened.
But among books of the period, this will rank among the best. Remick's calm amidst the forest of details, and clear, thoughtful delivery make him a companionable guide. He is not so casual as to make one doubt his sources, but he does not flaunt his erudition or access. This must be one of the most readable tomes on a time when Americans suprised everyone--even Americans. ...more
I am terribly conflicted about this memoir. Certainly I see the plight of the Palestinians as something that must be addressed and resolved. CertainlyI am terribly conflicted about this memoir. Certainly I see the plight of the Palestinians as something that must be addressed and resolved. Certainly I see the leadership issues in Palestine as a major difficulty in resolving outstanding issues with Israel, within and between their own representative parties, and with the rest of the world. Perhaps 'the West' can never talk to 'Muslims' with mutual respect--but I don't really believe that. I don't think either side has ever been very successful at it, but surely...I hate being naive, but I hate being defeatist even more. I don't think any of us can afford to stop trying.
I don't mind saying that I was aghast and frankly horrified to read of this author's involvement as a spy for the Israelis. I am not here to judge this man, and I will not. I have not walked his road, and I thank god I haven't had to make his choices. But I hope his new religion and his new home serves him better than the old one. ...more
This had to go back to the library. I started to read it because a friend recommended it. She'd said that she found it very inspiring & thoughtful. I This had to go back to the library. I started to read it because a friend recommended it. She'd said that she found it very inspiring & thoughtful. I found it thoughtful, but less inspiring, perhaps because I am not facing the same issues. However, when faced with the ...more
This book was interesting. I did not expect that it would be. I learned things I didn't know about Arab culture--hearing from Osama's first wife and tThis book was interesting. I did not expect that it would be. I learned things I didn't know about Arab culture--hearing from Osama's first wife and the fourth son of his first wife gave two distinct points of view into an Arab household. More to the point, perhaps, we see into Osama bin Laden's household. As I was reading, my early comments may have reflected my perplexity that a son would discuss internal family affairs so publicly. The more I read, however, the more I understood that Osama bin Laden sacrificed his privacy with his acts of war, and even his family members felt alienated from his peculiar view of the world. His son tells us that he hated his enemies more than he loved his family, and it saddens us, for then destruction is his only goal. Osama's given up his life for...not his family, not his country, not his countrymen. To ruin his enemies. Can there be anything more impoverished than that sad fact?
When Osama married the first time, he was a wealthy young man with a bright future. His wife moved to Saudi Arabia from Syria to live in relative comfort with Osama and his extended family. By the end of the story told here, his wife was living in a cave in Afghanistan, suffering untold deprivations. Osama began as a serious young man who sought to raise the approbation Islam received in the world. But he was exceptionally humorless in his approach to life. He expected such seriousness from his growing family of sons that he would not allow them to smile enough to reveal their teeth. "...my father actually counted the exposed teeth, reprimanding his sons on the number their merriment revealed."
This is a bittersweet tale, beautifully written and edited. It had nothing extra. What may have taken a year or two to write, took just an evening to This is a bittersweet tale, beautifully written and edited. It had nothing extra. What may have taken a year or two to write, took just an evening to read. It exhibited, for me, a very affirming personality. A woman who'd knocked about (read: been knocked about) a bit, but who shows us the best of the human condition: love, integrity, generosity, acceptance, humor.
I loved reading of the horses, because she has such long experience handling them, and of Cornell, certainly one of the most beautiful places on earth. Though the author presents Ithaca at its coldest and most unforgiving, she describes Cornell well--it had the highest quality of life I have ever seen--and that comes through loud and clear. And I laughed to hear of her fears and insecurities about dating--and the ridiculous and incongruous results.
The author has the practice of making plays on words to express affection for animals she knows. For example, when describing a Morgan, a breed of horse known for its independent, even obstinate nature, she might say something like: "But not my Morgan. My Morgan is a peechum meechum." While gushy sobriquets generally make me wince, but I must admit to calling my dog, whose name is Porsche, Porchetto, or Porcino on occasion. A similar play on words might describe the insufferable man who angled for her attention: "Hank the Blankity-Blank."
I had access to a hard copy of this book as I listened to Rory read it on CD. I am completely in awe of his heroic walk through the mountains from HerI had access to a hard copy of this book as I listened to Rory read it on CD. I am completely in awe of his heroic walk through the mountains from Herat to Kabul in war-torn Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban government in 2002. I learned more from his journey than from many other things I have read about Afghanistan, excepting perhaps Didier Lefèvre's book The Photographer, which is a excellent visual accompaniment to this volume. Stewart managed to distill thousands of interactions he experienced during his month-long walk into revealing vignettes that amuse, instruct, terrify, and sadden us. That he developed a deep and abiding respect for Afghanistan and it's people is obvious and infectious. I was pleased to learn of his return to Kabul, and of his role as Executive Director the Turquoise Mountain Foundation of Kabul. I wish him every success. I'd give much to be there with him....more
Jake Adelstein is some kind of guy. This story is as much about him as it is about the sex industry in Tokyo. I mean, really, what kind of guy would hJake Adelstein is some kind of guy. This story is as much about him as it is about the sex industry in Tokyo. I mean, really, what kind of guy would have the hutzpah to study Japanese and then apply to be a newspaper journalist at the most prestigious newspaper in Japan? He downplays but admits to crushing difficulties, at least difficulties that would crush most of us. But perhaps you've met his kind--bold, bright, talkative, confident, curious, unimpressed. I have. I just never thought we'd get to see inside the head of one as much as we do in this revealing memoir about his work for the newspaper, working closely with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to uncover crimes in "vice." Not only do we learn how newspapers work in Japan, we learn a bit about how the police works, how the sex industry works, and finally, how the gangsters, or yakuza work. This is an Iron and Silk for grownups. Total immersion into an Asian culture and well-written enough to serve as an introduction to outsiders. ...more
Author Keshavarz is absolutely spot-on with her review and criticisms of Reading Lolita in Tehran (RLT). RLT came out with a firm point of view, suggeAuthor Keshavarz is absolutely spot-on with her review and criticisms of Reading Lolita in Tehran (RLT). RLT came out with a firm point of view, suggesting that women in Iran were not allowed to develop mature thinking unmolested. This sparked a debate within the literary community in Iran which Keshavarz engages, opening for readers a look into other hearts and minds within the wider literary community in Iran. But the book has a scholarly and instructive feel, and one is put in mind of grading a bright student's master's thesis. She would have gotten a A- I think. An A for making the effort to refute the sloppy thinking in RLT and a minus for not making me want to read it. ...more
Katz is so capable--of involving himself in so many things & keeping so many balls in the air, that one wishes he would take on something bigger. But Katz is so capable--of involving himself in so many things & keeping so many balls in the air, that one wishes he would take on something bigger. But one can hardly say that creating a baseball league and safe place for young people in a marginal town near a dangerous city is not an important thing in these times. Katz is passionate, and inspires a passionate response in the people with whom he has contact. His writing is good enough to keep one skimming the passages even when one has begun to question his choices. That may be the reason for his success: though we may not make the same choices as he does, we are willing to hear him out and allow him to lead--he is better than most, honest at least, and not a bad sort, at heart.
It was bittersweet to discover what the title, The Opposite Field, meant when I got an explanation, finally, in the Epilogue. Katz didn't appear to hold anything back in telling us of his life, his thoughts, his feelings. At times I wondered if indeed, he was telling us a little too much. Sometimes his choices did not seem fully considered, but whose are, in the moment. It is only with hindsight that we can say what we perhaps should have done with that opportunity. I suppose there wouldn't be much of a memoir if he didn't tell it all--after all, he didn't run a country, a state, or even a city. He was a father trying to grow a boy. In the process he grew up himself, along with a boy to be proud of, a solvent and hugely successful Little League, and a community. A world away from my life and very valuable to me for that. ...more
I sped-read this when it came out because I'm a sucker for books about understanding the capacities of wild animals. It also had sexy come-ons: beautiI sped-read this when it came out because I'm a sucker for books about understanding the capacities of wild animals. It also had sexy come-ons: beautiful woman, murder, safari photography. But I thought it thin, and the mystery of this woman's life felt unresolved. I got a picture of a woman, a marriage, and of a career filming animals in the wild, but it all felt pieced together and voyeuristic. Perhaps she knew how difficult it was for people to get past her beauty to her accomplishments--she kept herself too tightly wrapped and private for this author to uncover. Still, I would rather have it than nothing at all. ...more
The actor Mark Rylance brought Thomas Cromwell to life for me but it was Hillary Mantel that gave Rylance Cromwell’s head: his context, his history, aThe actor Mark Rylance brought Thomas Cromwell to life for me but it was Hillary Mantel that gave Rylance Cromwell’s head: his context, his history, and his words. Without Mantel’s fantastic and detailed imaginings of the Tudor reign of King Henry VIII, the BBC film could not have been the success it is. The book focuses on Thomas Cromwell, lawyer, statesman, Henry’s right-hand man. Little is known about Cromwell’s early life. He was born to a blacksmith around 1485-6 but it is only when he begins to work with Cardinal Wolsey around 1516 that details of him begin to appear outside of town records.
Mantel told Mona Simpson at the Paris Reviewthat she wanted to be a historian, but when she'd read all the histories and novels about a place and time, she wasn't satisfied. So she began to invent and embellish. I had tried both reading and listening to Mantel’s novel of Cromwell years ago when the awards started flooding in; despite my admiration for Mantel’s work, I simply could not keep my mind on this man and his rise to power. I didn’t like her Cromwell, I lacked knowledge about the Tudors and their dynasty, and I just didn’t see why it mattered. Rylance’s performance in the BBC drama changed all that. The filmmakers followed the books closely, catapulting over huge swathes of text but somehow including all relevant detail and context provided by Mantel. In the BBC drama Cromwell is scrappy but dignified, mentally adroit, and enormously capable in the art of living. Cromwell lives.
I’d read somewhere that Mantel wrote her novel as a kind of drama. In a recent interview she reminds us,
“We believe our happiness depends on the choices we make, but sometimes fate takes over. If you strip away hindsight, and try to imagine the Tudors living their lives as we live, without knowledge of how their stories will end, then in a heartbeat they leap out of the history books: you find them next to you, in the street….they take us to the centre of ourselves, our own needs and secret wishes, our own pleasures and torments.”
She really did make Cromwell live again, and reimagined an Anne Boleyn that vastly changes my earlier view of her as victim. It is a vivid rewriting of what we call history. The real Wulfhall, family seat of the Seymour family and of Jane, Henry VIII’s third wife, is no more, torn down in 1665.
[image] [image] Nearby Wolf Hall Manor was built on the original family estate, and stands now, dilapidated but still somehow grand, carrying the name if not the history of that fated moment when King Henry decides to rid himself of Queen Anne Boleyn. Anne becomes the instrument by which Cromwell loses his position and his life. The full article showing more pictures of Wolf Hall Manor is here.
I love that Mantel showed the arc of Cromwell’s rise and fall in her title, Wolf Hall. The name of the manor house holds such portent, knowing what we know now. Her follow-on Bringing up the Bodies elaborates the downfall and death of Anne Boleyn, and the third book in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light will highlight the fall of Cromwell himself. Mantel talks candidly about her work and her direction in this interview with the Australian radio host Gillian O’Shaughnessey. It is astonishing and thrilling to me that Mantel only just discovered that her talent might be best suited to plays. Of course! It is a revelation that gives her a new lease on life and us the hope of great and meaningful work yet to come. ...more
This isn't my usual reading fare. I guess I can see why it might be interesting. Frankly, I felt a voyeur and found myself wondering how I got here. IThis isn't my usual reading fare. I guess I can see why it might be interesting. Frankly, I felt a voyeur and found myself wondering how I got here. I felt sad for this beautiful, stylish, and artistically talented young woman who appeared to lack the instinct to live and love. The corrosive influence of a domineering mother may have kept Dare Wright from sexually maturing. I got the impression that Dare had only an inkling of how sex makes the world revolve on its axis. She knew sex was important, witness The Lonely Doll series, but she wasn't exactly sure how or why it was important.
The quote preceding Chapter Seven seems particularly appropriate:
It is an anxious, sometimes a dangerous thing to be a doll. Dolls cannot choose; they can only be chosen; they cannot "do"; they can only be done by.--Rumar Godden, The Doll's House
It is always a pity when a life is wasted, though I do not pity Dare Wright. She lived, she died. As do we all. ...more
This was such a suprising book. I found myself completely rapt to see how well the execution of the book worked--the interleaving actual photographs wThis was such a suprising book. I found myself completely rapt to see how well the execution of the book worked--the interleaving actual photographs with graphic depictions of the travel and work of Doctors Without Borders in the northeast corner of Afghanistan. Didier Lefevre, the photographer of the title, and his collaborators on this book, had personality enough to keep the tone moving constantly through interesting, awestruck, serious, funny, fearful. While the beauty of Afghanistan was constantly remarked upon, it was only at the end that I could see beauty there, in that stony and stark environment. There is something about the quality of the light and the air that is absolutely unique, and unforgettable. This book gives us something very special. It is a great gift shared....more
Deogracias is the lens through which we view Burundi and Rwanda during the "events" of the 90's. Through his eyes we also have a reflected view of NewDeogracias is the lens through which we view Burundi and Rwanda during the "events" of the 90's. Through his eyes we also have a reflected view of New York City and its inhabitants in that decade. By the end of the book I realized, without the slightest cynicism, that we must indeed thank god for this man, Deogracias, who shows us what humans can be, and what they can accomplish.
Kidder does an exceptional job of showing us the disorientation of Deo during and after the events in Africa, and after his arrival in NYC. Deo was a third-year medical student in Burundi when he came to the United States. He spoke no English, knew no one, and had two hundred dollars. We glimpse his fear, re-live his humiliations, laugh at his misunderstandings, and feel his anger. Somehow Kidder has made this one man's experience universal. We feel responsible.
Julia Child has left us something wonderful in this memoir. I feel I am watching her give life a full body hug--she has such a fantastic capacity for Julia Child has left us something wonderful in this memoir. I feel I am watching her give life a full body hug--she has such a fantastic capacity for joy and love. She was an extravangantly talented woman in so many ways, and I am so very glad for the fact of her. She tells us she is glad she "found her passion," but frankly, she found her favorite place to live, she found a husband who she loved boundlessly until death parted them, she found her lifelong calling at the stove--this woman was just exceptional. She made her own luck. She was just a loving, giving, huge personality and we are lucky to have shared air with her. She shows us more than menus....more
I've read this book a couple of times and each time it is so absorbing that I just carry on as though I've never seen it before. Surely that has to beI've read this book a couple of times and each time it is so absorbing that I just carry on as though I've never seen it before. Surely that has to be one mark of a great writer. ...more
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