Book a Week in 2011 - Week Thirteen

[slug hollow]

I am pushing along slowly. Last week was a lost cause due to everyone being sick but this week I did manage to read another short story that has been on my list for a couple of years. Issak Asimov's Nightfall came highly recommended by my brother who always has a good one up his sleeve.

 

Also in the mix have been bits of Warrior Queen - I have to say it's starting out on the trashy side. If anyone knows of another engaging biography or historical fiction about Bouddica, let me know.

 

Also trying to get into Prophets Without Honour. This one is interesting subject matter but the opening seemed disjointed, probably not the thing to pick up when dealing with a fever.

[dangermom]

I read Theodore Dalrymple's latest offering, The New Vichy Syndrome. It's very grumpy. I like grumps though, esp. this one.

 

And I read The Day of the Triffids!

[Stacia]

Last night, I also finished Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure (even though I don't live in an apartment, lol). I've been decluttering/simplifying & I like reading books like this every now & then to keep myself on track & motivated to get rid of more stuff.

 

I've also started Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. My dc are in a book club & every year in May, the book club has the moms suggest a book; the kids will select one of those as their next book. I'm pre-reading this to see if it's something that I would like to recommend to dc & the kids in their book club. So far, it kind of reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth....

 

 

 

"Amazon.com Review

 

 

 

Immediately forget any preconceptions you may have about Salman Rushdie and the controversy that has swirled around his million-dollar head. You should instead know that he is one of the best contemporary writers of fables and parables, from any culture. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a delightful tale about a storyteller who loses his skill and a struggle against mysterious forces attempting to block the seas of inspiration from which all stories are derived. Here's a representative passage about the sources and power of inspiration:

 

 

 

So Iff the water genie told Haroun about the Ocean of the Stream of Stories, and even though he was full of a sense of hopelessness and failure the magic of the Ocean began to have an effect on Haroun. He looked into the water and saw that it was made up of a thousand thousand thousand and one different currents, each one a different colour, weaving in and out of one another like a liquid tapestry of breathtaking complexity; and Iff explained that these were the Streams of Story, that each coloured strand represented and contained a single tale. Different parts of the Ocean contained different sorts of stories, and as all the stories that had ever been told and many that were still in the process of being invented could be found here, the Ocean of the Streams of Story was in fact the biggest library in the universe. And because the stories were held here in fluid form, they retained the ability to change, to become new versions of themselves, to join up with other stories and so become yet other stories; so that unlike a library of books, the Ocean of the Streams of Story was much more than a storeroom of yarns. It was not dead, but alive.

 

 

 

"And if you are very, very careful, or very, very highly skilled, you can dip a cup into the Ocean," Iff told Haroun, "like so," and here he produced a little golden cup from another of his waistcoat pockets, "and you can fill it with water from a single, pure Stream of Story, like so," as he did precisely that."

 

[Violet Crown]

Finished

 

14. Goethe, Faust: Part One. Philip Wayne, Tr.

 

Excerpt:

 

FAUST. Now do I see, no perfect thing is given

To poor mankind. The bliss you have bestowed

To bear me ever nearer to the gods

Binds this companion to me: doomed I am

To need the help of him whose impudence

Ensures the cheap abasement of myself

In my own sight, so much his subtle word

Can sour and stifle all your gift of joy.

Thus burns within my breast the fire he kindles,

So that I hunger for that beauteous form,

Blundering with desire towards fruition,

And in fruition pining for desire.

MEPHISTOPHELES (entering).

What need, dear Sir, this dull life to pursue?

One loses pleasure in the same old view.

It's good no doubt

To try things out;

Then off we go to something really new.

FAUST. I would you had some better thing to do

Than plaguing me in my short hour of ease.

 

 

Words I had to look up: palter, ci-devant, spinney

 

I think I will put off Part 2 for a while, though perhaps not so long as Goethe put it off.

[Stacia]

Well, I finished Haroun and the Sea of Stories tonight. It's a modern allegory, told in a magical realism/fantastical style. It reminded me a lot of The Phantom Tollbooth w/ a dash of Alice in Wonderland tossed in too, lol. It's very fanciful (which will appeal to some & not so much to others).

 

I enjoyed it & think it would work for kids on 2 levels. Younger kids may enjoy it just as a fun fable (that centers around how/where stories come from). Older kids (and adults) can appreciate the allegory & musings on various issues. I think middle/high schoolers could get a lot out of analyzing some of the meanings in this book (along w/ a comparison/discussion of books such as Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, etc...). I think this reviewer on amazon summed up some of my feelings as well....

 

 

"4.0 out of 5 stars A deep story for children, December 18, 1999

 

By Russell Belfer (San Mateo, CA United States)

 

This review is from: Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Paperback)

 

This book works simply as a beautiful fantasy story about a boy who saves a world of make believe, and can also be taken as a deeper meditation on creativity, the dangers of authoritarianism, the value and the honest weaknesses of democracy, the important of history, and the occasional importance of maintaining an illusion. It is easy to read, great for children, and illuminating for adults. An excellent introduction to Salman Rushdie."

 

[TechWife]

Just posted my review of Three Cups of Tea - a great story.

[readinmom]

This week I read

14. One Week in December, Holly Chamberlin

13. The Thorn, Beverly Lewis

 

 

12. Salting Roses, Lorelle Marinello

11. The Well Trained Mind, 2004 Edition

10. Night, Elie Wiesel

9. Last Light Over Carolina, Mary Alice Munroe

8. Homeschooling, A Family's Journey, Gregory and Martine Millman

7. Time is a River, Mary Alice Munroe

6. Commencement, Courtney Sullivan

5. The Redemption of Sarah Cain, Beverly Lewis

4. Thursdays at Eight, Debbie Macomber

3. The Three Weismann's of Westport, Cathleen Schine

2. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

1. The Search, Nora Roberts

[Jamee]

Just posted my review of Three Cups of Tea - a great story.

 

I picked this one up this week--I think being back in the states and having access to book stores is NOT a good thing.;) I look forward to reading this.

 

Thanks to all those who suggested Water for Elephants. I picked that up before I left, but didn't start it until after we arrived. I really enjoyed it and it was a fast read. Interesting look into old time circus life.

[Robin M]

Link to week 14