Six weeks without a post... but not without a book or two or ten

 

Here are 4 books I read or started to read, captured by my phone. 

 

First, I read the Rod Stewart biography because of my brother. He does a Rod Stewart tribute act that impresses everyone who sees it. I think he's more fun than the real Rod would be. The book was quite good, with lots of facts and stories about his musical life and his love life. It is an old one, so only goes up to 1990 or so. I think a few things have happened to Rod since then.

 

 

I picked up the Barbara Kingsolver book, Prodigal Summer, in the condo my friends rented in Key West. This is a wonderful book, as so many of Barbara K's are. It was sensitive, sensual, ecological, historical, and full to the brim of interesting, attractive characters and good stories. I left it at the next stop, and hope someone else reads it and loves it.

 

When I dropped off Prodigal Summer at my motel's bookshelf, I was excited to find the Zadie Smith book called NW, but I soon put it back. It did not catch my interest at all, and I did not like any of the characters or their situations. I abandoned it after only a few chapters, which is unusual.

Six Months in Sudan by James Masakalyk was our Book Club choice for November. I wasn't sure I wanted to read any more war stories, but it was very good. A young Canadian emergency doctor goes to work in an isolated village in Sudan with MSF. It was horrifyingly real and gritty, but also touching, informative, and strangely optimistic.

Clara Callan!!!

Richard B. Wright's Clara Callan is an excellent book.
The story is told through diary entries and letters. We follow two sisters in 1930s mid-Ontario as they lead different lives. Just like those in Alice Munro's stories, these people are real and their society is one I have known forever, at least in part. I loved it!

Essays and such

I chose this book in the Paris airport, mostly because of the title. Who could resist Comment voyager avec un saumon?


Umberto Eco is a very talented writer and thinker, but I found only the middle third of the book suited my tastes.
The first part is a science-fiction-philosphoical satire. Those are always hard to read in French. (The book was written in Italian and the French translator worked closely with the author.) It was okay.

Most of the book is composed of essays written for newspapers and magazines. They are clever and often very funny.

The last part is philosophers' humour.... not mine.




For anyone who wants to read it in English, here is the cover.

Reading a book about BC in Paris....

I have enjoyed several of Jack Hodgins' books, and was impresed by the speech he gave at Kevin's graduation from UBC. The Honorary Patron, however, left me lukewarm. It is an early book (1987) and his skill has increased greatly with the years.

I left this book behind at the hotel in Paris when I finished it. Not special enough to carry it home, and I didn't think Neil would like it for the trip back.

Listening to Thinking in Numbers

So, I tried another audio book lately. This was was more cheerful, although a bit esoteric in parts. It was very interesting to hear the author himself reading: he has the strangest accent!
I did enjoy it, but I am not sure why I "read" it.  I thought it was on our Book Club list, but evidently, it is not. Still, I'm glad I listened. It was great to hear someone with such enthusiasm for numbers! Daniel Tammet once recited the digits of  pi for hours and hours, as a performance for charity.

Thinking in Numbers is not all about numbers; there are intersting excursions into history, sociology, writing....

Rereading can be rewarding

I found this one on the shelf at the cottage and thought it was unread. As I got into the introduction and stories, I realized I had read it some time ago. But they were such good stories, I didn't mind at all. It was an exceptional year for F&SF.
If I paid $2.50 for it, I got my money's worth--doubled!

Too much Britishness?

So, perhaps I should stop reading British books for a while. They are starting to annoy me.

I read Ian McEwan's Atonement, because I found it for $1 and another of his books (My Sweet Tooth) is on our book club list this year.  Someone has even made a movie of it. I wonder how.

The story is in three parts. The first part was very tedious to read and I kept waiting for some sign of plot or motivation. The second part was much more interesting, and did have some plot, but not much. The last part theoretically resolved the plot points, but then there was an epilogue that cast some resolutions into doubt. I did not like it. I feel that my dollar and my days were wasted.


Then I turned to some much older BritLit: G.B. Shaw's Plays Unpleasant, which consists of three plays and two long, long introductions (one of them is 30 pages long!).

I admire Shaw, but he can be tedious, too. I plowed my way through most of the Preface and the first play, Widowers' Houses, went along well, although the characters' names kept confusing me, the social conventions he was mocking are now obscure, and Shaw's special simplified spelling often attracted my editorial eye--not in a good way.
The second play, The Philanderer, had a one-page introduction (Prefatory Note) but the play itself was quite unreadable!


The third is the one I expected the most of, as it is the best known of the three, Mrs. Warren's Profession. After skimming the 30-page Preface, I plunged in. Here, only 2 characters had similar names, and there were not too many characters coming and going.
Apparently, it was scandalous when first presented, but time and shifting language have lessened its impact. And while the characters apparently believe they are being very clear about what Mrs. Warren's profession is (she's a high-class madam), really, Shaw does more suggesting than naming. For all the unsuspecting audience can deduce, she manages some international hotels!

 Really, I need to find something more entertaining and accessible!