Not done with this and will have to step away for awhile. Will reread when opportunity provides. Deeply interesting and not something to whiz through.Not done with this and will have to step away for awhile. Will reread when opportunity provides. Deeply interesting and not something to whiz through. Stoppping temporarily at page 290. Want to make notes of a couple places. p.282: "How come you never got another cat? I just didnt want to lose anything else."
p. 180: "Do you believe in God, Bobby? I dont know Granellen. You asked me that before. I told you. I dont know anything. The best I can say is that I think he and I have pretty much the same opinions. On my better days anyway."
p. 32: "He slept until evening and then got up and showered and dressed and went out." Immediately recognizable.
Merged review:
Not done with this and will have to step away for awhile. Will reread when opportunity provides. Deeply interesting and not something to whiz through. Stoppping temporarily at page 290. Want to make notes of a couple places. p.282: "How come you never got another cat? I just didnt want to lose anything else."
p. 180: "Do you believe in God, Bobby? I dont know Granellen. You asked me that before. I told you. I dont know anything. The best I can say is that I think he and I have pretty much the same opinions. On my better days anyway."
p. 32: "He slept until evening and then got up and showered and dressed and went out." Immediately recognizable.
Merged review:
Not done with this and will have to step away for awhile. Will reread when opportunity provides. Deeply interesting and not something to whiz through. Stoppping temporarily at page 290. Want to make notes of a couple places. p.282: "How come you never got another cat? I just didnt want to lose anything else."
p. 180: "Do you believe in God, Bobby? I dont know Granellen. You asked me that before. I told you. I dont know anything. The best I can say is that I think he and I have pretty much the same opinions. On my better days anyway."
p. 32: "He slept until evening and then got up and showered and dressed and went out." Immediately recognizable....more
I didn’t like this one so much. Seems like Irby is trying way too hard. I just can’t get into the juvenalia, though a couple of GR friends quote some I didn’t like this one so much. Seems like Irby is trying way too hard. I just can’t get into the juvenalia, though a couple of GR friends quote some funny bits....more
Couldn't manage it, though I tried...twice. What didn't work here? At first I thought it could be the sexuality angle, and then questioned that notionCouldn't manage it, though I tried...twice. What didn't work here? At first I thought it could be the sexuality angle, and then questioned that notion. How quickly we have assimilated the notion that some great proportion of our population have sexual interest in different people than we originally thought...and how little we care.
But it isn't that, because I can be interested in the lives and struggles of plenty of people with whom I share little. I mean, after all, the protagonist is struggling in middle age. Who can't relate to that?
I just found it insufferably boring. Nothing he said sparked any interest in me until he related the story of the cerulean blue suit with the fuschia lining. Now, had he elaborated that, and written back to the tailor & ordered more suits, in several different combinations, and enjoyed wearing them...now that could get me on board.
He was going to travel the world! This should thrill me! except that we had to take Less along for the ride....more
When I first read Alarcón’s recent collection of stories, The King is Always Above the People, and realized I had discovered a hugely consequential wrWhen I first read Alarcón’s recent collection of stories, The King is Always Above the People, and realized I had discovered a hugely consequential writer, I tried to find other work by Alarcón. His debut novel, Lost City Radio, is spectacular, about the Peruvian civil war.
This second novel, published some six years later, was more diffuse and talky, harder for me to enter into. It has a wandering beginning, and appears to feint away from that to the larger subject of broken family and societal ties a little further in. An aimless teen on the cusp of manhood falls in with a band of actors and takes a lead role in a play satirizing a corrupt government. This setup has enormous comedic potential, but I was constantly playing catch-up. There did not seem to be any impetus.
It is possible some of the blame reflects on my distracted reading, and the pressure I put on the work by reading all of Alarcón’s work at once. It is conceivable I grew weary reading of a country unfamiliar to me, searching in the work to find touchstones. However, I still must conclude this is not as accessible a work as the other two mentioned above, and recommend those for a beginner. ...more
Fuchsia Dunlop has tons of personality and a real talent and fascination with food from around the world. The Chinese eat a large number of things nonFuchsia Dunlop has tons of personality and a real talent and fascination with food from around the world. The Chinese eat a large number of things non-Chinese do not, so when she said she'd eat anything, I have be impressed, though I do think she might be slightly mad.
She went to live in China in mid-1990's, and has noticed many changes to the way of life there since then. When she went she could eat for fifty cents or a dollar and be perfectly sated. She often ate at small establishments and tried to learn the local tricks to very special dishes. She gives recipes in this book, but mostly it is an account of her living and traveling in-country.
This would be a particularly good book for someone similarly food-struck or China-struck. Dunlop has a terrific writing style and a keen eye. I grew weary, however, reading someone else's memories. I wish her well & am impressed with her ability to make friends and influence people. I am planning to take a look at Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking. ...more
I hate having to give up on this. This biography won a Pulitzer when it came out in 1936, and Grant's biographer Ron Chernow says Fish was one of the I hate having to give up on this. This biography won a Pulitzer when it came out in 1936, and Grant's biographer Ron Chernow says Fish was one of the more remarkable and accomplished Secretary of State America has ever fielded.
In light of all these things, we desperately someone who can revive this history and tell it anew, highlighting those things that are important to us now: what makes a great statesman, and how can we allow them to succeed?...more
It's hard to believe Perlstein wrote this had this published only in 2001. It is so detailed and filled with period detail (1960s) that he writes as It's hard to believe Perlstein wrote this had this published only in 2001. It is so detailed and filled with period detail (1960s) that he writes as though these people or events were familiar to us in some way. He writes in English, but he may as well be talking about another country, the information is so distant from my sphere. Add to that the extraordinary density of the information (I suppose like Caro's LBJ series) and you come up with a 'fascinating I'm sure' work that is completely undigestible in 2017.
I am interested in Goldwater and how conservatives sort of went off the deep end after the 1950s with all the 'Commies' in the workforce (labor unions), government, theatre, schools, media, yada yada, but am not interested enough to relive that narrow-minded idiocy. We have enough of that right here right now. Just give me the highlights--that's his job, isn't it? I mean, that's what I'm paying for...I didn't write this thing, after all.
Perlstein was completely brilliant and completely obsessed; he followed every conversation with diligence. He knew so much he no longer knew what was important to tell us.
Is Hill & Wang the official CIA publishing company? Just wondering...have seen it come up before...and who else could afford to keep this brilliant obsessed guy Perlstein working for so many years following so many threads except our bros in intelligence?...more
A review in The New Yorker, and, if I'm honest, a shared surname, led me to this book even though without those two things just listed, I could tell tA review in The New Yorker, and, if I'm honest, a shared surname, led me to this book even though without those two things just listed, I could tell this wasn't my kind of book.
The main character is twenty-one but I have placed this on my 'adolescence' shelf because in so many ways she seemed to enjoy one of those long, extended adolescences that Americans have perfected by putting their kids through college, and then grad school in a field where a degree will get you a job in a non-profit working out of a third world country. And of course, keeping these grads on their health insurance until they've paid off their $200K in college loans. But I digress...
This is a story in which one of these two adolescent friends thinks it is a good idea to have an affair with a married man (always a bad idea...sorry guys) and unfortunately thinks it is likewise a bright idea to carry on the romance by email late at night. My stomach began to roil, and then recoil...at the utter stupidity of this until her juvenile back-and-forth with her girlfriend literally sent me over the edge.
Both girls are living free in space their parents provide and then talk about how they loathe people with money. See what a mean about adolescent? I.just.can't.read.this. Got to pg. 90. Liked one description along the way: "I felt like I was playing a video game without knowing any of the controls."...more
I spent weeks listening to Roy read her new book to me. She has a darling, child-like voice contrasted with a mouth that utters the most shocking thinI spent weeks listening to Roy read her new book to me. She has a darling, child-like voice contrasted with a mouth that utters the most shocking things rarely spoken aloud. Her characters reflect the world in all its diversity: gay, straight, trans, politicians, destitute, landlords, and untouchable caste. India doesn’t seem so distant all of a sudden. And that, I argue, is the reason to read this book. Much of what Roy shares in terms of culture is unfamiliar but her characters and their motivations can be found anywhere.
Roy is more of an activist than a novelist. I only say that because she is wide open and social, not secluding herself to write rather than experience. She wants to influence rather than describe. Let’s face it, she would be great at any number of professions.
Roy writes very well indeed, and if you open her 444-pg book anywhere you are likely to find a description you want to remember for its clarity and exactness, for making you want to book a ticket immediately to see if you can find that, too. The conversation she begins with us is long and meandering, and an acolyte would follow her there.
I never read A God of Small Things. The book had been so widely praised when it came out, I thought I would give myself some distance in case my attention was influenced by its bestseller status. At the time, her youth, beauty, and passion influenced many reviewers, which I gleaned from their own words. There is no reason to fall out of love with her now. She is just as lovely and clever and passionate. But is she more of an activist than a novelist?
This novel has been long listed for the 2017 Man Booker International Award. That must be very gratifying for Ms. Roy and I hope that is comfort enough. There are some great works up against her this year and her work—whether twenty years in the making or not—simply cannot measure against them. That doesn’t make her less charming or passionate or right....more
Think it's probably best I don't rate this because it didn't work for me at all. I'd never heard of Bell before, and I couldn't figure out why I was sThink it's probably best I don't rate this because it didn't work for me at all. I'd never heard of Bell before, and I couldn't figure out why I was spending time listening to him. He taught me something: I'd never heard of Cisgender before, though his explanation flew by before I caught it. It means "denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex." Seems like we're doing an awful lot of talk about one's personal sexual life these days...I'm not at all sure it improves the conversation.
Anyway, Bell writes for a TV show called United Shades of America which sounds like something I would like, but...I don't know if Bell was trying to be funny in this memoir, but nothing he said struck me as funny. Anyway, the more listening we do when someone speaks about race is all to the good....more
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