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"Friends, Romans, countrymen... lend me your ear. And word of a good book to read I will gladly share!" |
***** = Loved it and recommend it **** = Enjoyed it *** = Decent ** = Dull * = Why did I bother? Book Comments 2007 ***** The Cay by Theodore Taylor. Avon Flare Books. 144 pp. - This is the story of a white boy, Philip, who is shipwrecked with a smart, kindly African-Caribbean man, Timothy. I loved this brief compelling story. Maybe I enjoyed it so much because it sounded authentic and urgent. I will not reveal much except to say that it has charm and power.
***** Spunk, The Selected Short Stories of Zora Neale Hurston - Turtle Island. 106 pp. These stories are wonderful. One of my favorites was Isis, which is about a girl who dances with her Grandmom's shawl. She and her brother play an intentional trick on Granny, and this leads to her running into a swamp. There she has further adventures. A beautiful tale, and just one of many.
2006 **** The Assistant by Bernard Malamud. (on audiocassette) This novel is authentic in its description of romance yearnings, a stultifying life of an aging shopkeeper, and more. The main reason to read it is for the masterful storytelling of Malamud. ***** The Trouble
with Poetry by Billy Collins. A very
enjoyable book. One of Collins’ signatures is a surprising ending.
***** Pompeii
- AD 79 The Treasure of Rediscovery by Dr. Richard Brilliant, Professor of Art History
and Archaeology. Columbia University, 244 illustrations. Clarkson N. Potter,
Inc., a div. of Crown Publishers, 1979. Official publication of the Museum of
Natural History. 305 pp. I
greatly enjoyed this oversized book, filled with lovely photos of Pompeiian
wall paintings, ruins and more. Having
journeyed to Pompeii just 7 months ago, I was predisposed to be interested.
However, U think Pompeiian art and ruins are extraordinarily powerful,
giving us insights into a world of 2000 years ago that is rich, refined and
amazing. **** The
R. Crumb Handbook
by R. Crumb and Peter Poplaski. MQ Publications.
If you enjoy Crumb’s unique anguished and humorous sensibility, then
you will enjoy this book. I did! It
comes with a CD Sampler of his music and that of other old-timey bands. 436 pp. **** Teacher
Man by
Frank McCourt. This is a
powerfully told story of the struggles and triumphs of an English teacher in
New York City. I enjoyed it tremendously, especially the potent, evocative
ending. McCourt is the author of
the widely praised memoirs, Angela’s
Ashes and Tis.
2005 **** The
Human Condition by William Saroyan. I
enjoyed this novel, though I am writing about a year after reading it.
What I remember best is the terrible sense of loss experienced by
widows receiving war news, about WWI or the Spanish-American War.
The protagonist is a young man who delivers the news by telegram to
stunned relatives. This sounded
so similar to modern preventable tragedies.
**** Oldest
Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus – A novel, in abridged
audiocassette form, read by Judith Ivey.
Gurganus is a very colorful and humorous writer.
Ms. Ivey has amazing inflections and life-force in her voice.
This is the story of a young woman who marries Captain Marsden, a
Confederate General., It also
involves a slavery, skunk, lesbian sex with tomato juice in a bathtub, war
scenes, and more. Enjoyable!
**** Stern
by Bruce
Jay Friedman – A classic novel of the 1960’s about a married man who buys
a house, fears his wife is cheating on him, confronts life and anti-semites,
suffers an ulcer and has many comical and poignant experiences.
Well-told and funny. **** The
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros – This novel is a collection of vignettes of city
life in Chicago, as told by a girl with sisters, friends, and a sharp eye.
The stories are deftly told, brief, and poetic.
***** Fathers
and Sons by
Ivan Turgenev – This classic novel tells the tales of Arcady and Bazarov,
two young men with different temperaments. Bazarov is a nihilist and a very
interesting character, a doctor, a semi-romantic despite himself, and a rude
individual. The complex dynamics
of their families, fathers, mothers, relatives and friends is very compelling
and involving. *** Human
Learning, Third Edition by Jeanne Ellis Ormond, Prentice Hall – This is a “decent read” only as textbooks go,
because Ormond has an unconventional and often humorous take on herself and on
her content-deliver mission. However,
this book should be redone and truly illustrated with historical and
in-the-field photos and drawings to make points more interestingly.
Very ripe for art work, and what’s there is one style only and
insufficient. ***** The
Great Ideas in Philosophy, Party III – by Prof. Daniel Robinson, from
the Teaching Company, 5 cassettes plus guide book.
This is an excellent and entertaining introduction to the philosophies
of Descartes, Newton, Hobbes, Locke, Bacon, Augustine and others.
Prof Robinson is always entertaining and fun to listen to.
*** Balzac
- Five Stories by Honore Balzac, with an introduction by Edmund Fuller.
Of these five stories, I read and enjoyed Colonel Chabert, about
an old veteran who is thought to have been killed but who has survived. He
returns to meet his wife, who has happily remarried.
At the Sign of the Cat and Racket is about a painter and his
wife, and about dissolution. The
Girl with the Golden Eye is about a dissolute roué and his conquest, a beautiful Spanish noble
girl. This story was to me disgusting and took everything that is great and
beautiful about love and destroyed it. I suppose this is an honest commentary
on a certain kind of idle, indolent and destructive type of man of the time,
but I still found it awful and painful to read. Bear in mind, though, that
Balzac, even when he is telling a horribly brutal tale is great at mood,
social situation and story-telling. *** The
New Atlantis by
Sir Francis Bacon. The Harvard Classics Edition on Bacon, Milton and Browne,
Originally published 1623, this edition, copyright 1937 P.F. Collier &
Son. This book fragment, about 40
pages long, portrays an island society that is ideal in just about every way.
Chief among its virtues appear to be its generosity to strangers, whom
it houses with great luxury and attention, and its scientific knowledge.
They prepare to understand every chemical and manufacturing and farming
process. Its main interest for me
was in the long catalogue raisonne of products and processes, which
showcases the technologies of the era. I
also liked the confident way it predicted that humans could co-exists with
good feeling. It seemed so unlike
modern society but was refreshingly optimistic. *** How Free Are You? The Determinism Problem, Second Edition, by Ted Honderich, Oxford University Press, first published 2002 , 176 pages This book explains the main lines of argument in the ages-old discussion of Free Will vs. Determinism. If you are not familiar with the main lines of argument, thee are these:Free Will, to those who believe it exists, is a self-activating force of the consciousness and mind. Our will is at least partially independent from preceding material circumstances.
Compatibilists choose a third path, believing that concepts of determinism and free will can co-exist. Honderich has a breezy style for so complex a subject. Still, the reading is not easy. A few of the many ideas presented stand out. One of these is the idea of an Originator, critical to Free Will arguments. That is, Free Will depends on the notion that a force exists, the Will, that has no causes. It may have preconditions, such as the existence of a functioning brain…d, but it has no direct causes. It simply springs from itself. Honderich also calls this force the homunculus, or little man. This homunculus sits in the brain and makes decisions. Before reading this book, I feel that determinism was correct; that free will felt right, but I could not reconcile it with the apparent truth of determinism. Now I feel that a free will - though apparently real, is in fact to us all an illusion. I believe that this may well be Honderich's position, though I think it is only hinted at here. 2004 ****
**** I think the novel has aged well because of the strong personal connections
among the characters. Robert Jordan is the committed fighter. He is philosophical,
weighing the meaning of love and of his commitment to Maria, his compatriot
and informal war-time wife. Maria is portrayed as loving and devoted. However
sweet she is, she remains believable, not saccharine. Is War worthwhile? is not really questioned by Hemmingway, who was more
of a freedom fighter than a pacifist, after all. But within the context
of a war novel told from a committed combatant's point of view, this is
a marvelous and well-told tale. 2003 *** Most of all, if I liked anything it was Virgoinia Woolf's voice. You hear a woman reflecting as women do, with their concerns and interests. And it can be poetic. Here's a poetic passage, portraying the impressions of the character Septimus:
With the help of a college course, I might have gotten a good deal more out of it.
**** I think there's a tendency to think of Thoreau as "the guy who lived like a hermit in the woods and thought everybody else should." Yes, that is part of the Thoreau image. But he was so much more than that. Thorueau was a great observer and love of nature and its seasons and moods. He also loves human nature -- witness his appreciation of a wood-cutter. This man is simple in nature, and one who enjoys singing and sounds. Thoureau loves him and enjoys his company. Ultimately it is Throureau himself who is good company, whether or not he was a social creature himself. His closeness to nature, his love of philosophy and poetry -- these are wise and inspriing. |
****
Twenty Love Songs and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda - Translation
by W.S. Merwin, illustrations by Jan Thompson Dicks. These are stunningly
beautiful and often haunting poems by Neruda . They are never easy fare,
which is mostly for the better beause of their power. They make you reflect,
ponder, and reward you with the amazing thoughts and senitments expressed.
I read them one a night over time. 79 pages. Chronicle Books.
****
The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham - This novel tells
of the life of the impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, a banker who abandoned
his life and his wife to paint in Tahiti. The chief character is called
Charles Strickland, and because the novel is historical it is hard to tell
where reality ends and fiction begins. But this is a wonderful story well-told
by a master novelist. Maugham uses language beautifully, and these 218 pages
go by quickly. Characters are believable, and the verbal pictures of Tahiti
and its inhabitants are gorgeous.
I loved this book for its tale-telling, dialog and sense of adventure. What follows is a small complaint, even though I give it two paragraphs!
I do wish there was more focus on Gauguin's underlying philosophy. An encyclopedia article told me that he admired the local people for their simplicity. This is implicit but not stated by Strickland, but it could have been. Instead, Strickland is shown as a complete misanthrope, who mistreats just about everyone he meets. So his admiration for locals barely comes through in the novel. I have had a print of a Gauguin painting hanging in my home for 30 years. It shows an apparently happy African man kneeling by the seashore, wrapt in reverie and happiness. How could a total misanthrope create such paintings? The vicissitudes of human nature may be exactly what Maugham is trying to present, but I think we'd have benefited from a clearer picture of this disparity.
Gauguin also wrestled with large questions such as "Who are we?" and "Where are we going?" as he titled some of his paintings. We don't learn about Strickland's philosophical questioning -- but I may be being to literal. The questioning occurs in his paintings, after all.
Remember, I loved this classic book and encourage you to read it!
**
Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead - Although this is a
very brief and world-renowned book, at only 145 pages plus addenda, I simply
could not get into it. Some of the best parts are the first-hand reproductions
of quotes by actual islanders, such as teenagers. This may simply be a reaction
I had to the book that others will not have.
*****
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel - a
play. Bantam Doubleday Dell - This is a very touching and sensitively drawn
play about a dysfunctional family. The mother, Beatrice, is very self-centered.
One of her daughters is about to enter a science fair. Another daugh4ere
has health problems. This summary sounds more depressing than it is - though
it is a sad tale. The ending is uplifting, and it consistently interesting.
Zindel knows hot to dramatize, and it's clear why this play won a Pulitzer
Prize back in 1971.
2002
****
A Walker in the City by Alfred Kazin - 1951. Harcourt. A memoir
of growing up in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, reverentially told with all
of the golden hues of fond experiences recalled. Kazin just about glows
with the pleasure of recollection of sights, smells, attitudes, personalities
and more. It makes me sad that he is no longer around, one who could love,
recall and appreciate so well. Filled with deli food, stoops, handball,
his parents, Jewish friends, walks in parks, literary inspiration and more.
***
The Eyes by Virgina Woolf - selected stories on cassette. The
Eyes itself is a ghost story, but told well. Listening to Woolf on cassette
makes you more aware of her portraiture and powers of observation.
****
Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters and Seymour An Introduction by J.D.
Salinger - This is obsessive Salinger…. The first story
is about a miffed bunch of would-be wedding attendees. Full of great characters,
embarrassments, eccentrics. Seymour, by contrast, is an obsessive monologue.
I enjoyed it in parts, mainly because Salinger is so genuine. His thought
rhythms are real, and the Upper West Side Columbia area setting rings true.
****
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - Book on tape. In its most
simplified form, this is a story of a Confederate soldier who leaves his
wife to go to war. I loved the poetic sections dealing with the seasons,
folk lore, and romance. This description is so far from doing justice to
the book and its author's tremendous skills justice, that I recommend they
read a full review elsewhere.
 |
***** The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain - A Book of Qutations - Dover Thrift Editions. 1999, 57 pp. I bought this book at the Mark Twain Writing Studion, part of his original Elmira home, located now at Elmira College. Imbued with the spirit of Twain, I sat in his chair, became inspired, wrote a Great American Novel, toold amusing anecdotes, smoked a cigar, went on a worldwide speaking tour and... no wait, that was his life. I did sit in his chair. As to the novel, still working on it. Twain could be sentimental: "No woman or man really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century." (Notebook) Witty: "An uneasy conscience is like a hair in the mouth." "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." I kept dipping into this book, laughing, pondering. I still am. |
****
 |
The Fearless Caregiver: How to Get the Best Care for Your Loved One and Still Have a Life of Your Own. Edited by Gary Barg, Editor in Chief of Caregiver Magazine. - Capital Books, Sterling, VA 2001. 264 pp., with index. With so many of us being responsible for an aged person who needs care, this book is timely and fills a palpable need. The book gives you practical advice on getting the right medical care, feeding your own inner self as a caregiver, finding resources for yourself and for loved ones, normal aging vs. dementia, and much more. |
Having a family member with Alzheimer's Disease, I was particularly touched by Gary Barg's account of his own grandfather in a section entitled, "Okay, We Go Now." It tells the story of Barg's Hungarian-American grandfather. Rather than simply break into a take of woe and forgetfulness, this account shows us a real person, someone who painted an entire house for a birthday celebration, and enrolled in college later in life. Though this story makes the Alzheimer's more poignant when we see it portrayed, it also shows us a real person and makes us realize we do not suffer alone. Personally, it also makes me impatient, as in thinking: "When will we (scientists) ever lick this disease!?" The cure has been too long a-coming.
For those of us who now care for others or who ever will (most of us), this book is both a boon and a comfort.
****
Oh What A Paradise It Seems by
John Cheever - Published in 1982, Ballantine Book paperback, 1982.
105 pp. Cheever manages many themes and come sup with a more upbeat and
loving message about life than I've seen in some of his other books. This
is the story of a man, Sears, who falls in love with a beautiful real estate
agent, Renee.
But then, it's not about these two. It's about an environmentalist named
Horace, who is trying to save Beasley Pond, a body of water turned into
a dump by corporate interests who are paying off officials in the town of
Janice, NY. Another couple with a baby enters the story. Don't ask what
happens then! But it is very inventive.
At the end of the tale, Cheever or the narrator, or Sears speaks of the
beauty f one hour of love-making with great eloquence. It is perhaps unfair
to reproduce it here, because it comes after the import of an entire story
that makes it believable. But I love it, it so here goes, with ellipses:
"The sky was clear that morning and there might still have been stars although he saw none…. It was that most powerful sense of our being alive in the planet. It was the most powerful sense of how singular, in the vastness of creation, is the richness of our opportunity. … What a paradise it seemed!"
****
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle - This is the
book of philosophy that I wish I'd read in college, or even in 11th or 12th
grade. I say this because I feel my introduction to philosophy got bushwhacked
by existentialism (Sartre, others) and epistemology - theory of knowledge,
(Kant, Locke, others). While these are interesting aspects of philosophy,
I feel the central questions of the field (and of life) ought to be:
Aristotle delved into all of these questions and more in this book. Happiness related to leading a virtuous life, that is, "doing good." But he is not simplistic about it.
The cool thing about this writer (if may use such modern language!) is that he covers so much ground so well, interweaving ideas and pulling apart threads for better illumination. He explores true and false friendships, expectations within friendships, generosity, honor and much more.
If it was important, Aristotle thought about it and left us with something of value that has last over 2000 years. Quite an accomplishment, for a man dead so long, and clearly "alive" for just as long.
These excerpts give you just the barest flavor of Aristotle's writings:
With those who identify happiness with virtue or some one virtue our account is in harmony; for to virtue belongs virtuous activity. But it makes, perhaps, no small difference whether we place the chief good in possession or in use, in state of mind or in activity. For the state of mind may exist without producing any good result, as in a man who is asleep or in some other way quite inactive, but the activity cannot; for one who has the activity will of necessity be acting, and acting well. And as in the Olympic Games it is not the most beautiful and the strongest that are crowned but those who compete (for it is some of these that are victorious), so those who act win, and rightly win, the noble and good things in life.Happiness then is the best, noblest, and most pleasant thing in the world, and these attributes are not severed as in the inscription at Delos-
Most noble is that which is justest, and best is health;
But pleasantest is it to win what we love.For all these properties belong to the best activities; and these, or one- the best- of these, we identify with happiness.
Yet evidently, as we said, it needs the external goods as well; for it is impossible, or not easy, to do noble acts without the proper equipment. In many actions we use friends and riches and political power as instruments; and there are some things the lack of which takes the lustre from happiness, as good birth, goodly children, beauty; for the man who is very ugly in appearance or ill-born or solitary and childless is not very likely to be happy, and perhaps a man would be still less likely if he had thoroughly bad children or friends or had lost good children or friends by death. As we said, then, happiness seems to need this sort of prosperity in addition; for which reason some identify happiness with good fortune, though others identify it with virtue.
Read more online if you life, in the full original text. Visit http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html and I would encourage you to read the first chapter.
****
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Stern - The Penguin English Library. First published 1759. 615 pp. plus footnote pages. This novel is the original "shaggy dog story." It wanders, digresses and entertains. Often, it was hard for me to follow, though going with its flow is more in order.
The story -- such as it is -- concerns the birth of the hero, Tristram Shandy. This happens late in the book. In between are many delightful portraits of eccentrics, including Tristram's Uncle Toby, his own father, Doctor Slop, and many others.
One of the great pleasures in reading this book was simply hearing the language, and feeling as though I got an ear-full of the vernacular of 250 years ago with this little time machine called a paperback.
****
Mark Twain's Short Stories on Cassette - "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses" to "Membranous Croup" - commuters library, as read by Thomas Becker. This 2-cassette collection made me feel like Mark twain was there in my kitchen, or with me as I walked around the block. He is and was droll to the utmost! No wonder we and I love him!
Fenimore Cooper ravages that other author of his period. Membranous Croup highlights women's greater concerns for their kids' health than men. This persists today, methinks. The various adventures of the WIlliams's with lightning rod salesmen and more are exquisiutely entertaining. Anyone who has ever dealt with a less-than-scrupluous contractor will enjoy it
*****
The Travellers' Book of Colour Photogaphy by Van Phillips
and Owen Thomas - Hard-bound large format book from Paul Hamyn
Limited, London, 1970. 255 pages with index by nation and place-name. Every
morning for two weeks, I enjoyed perusing this splendid book of color photos
from lovely placvs around the world. It covers how to take shots of various
popular attractions, such as the Cathedreal of Notre Dame, the Empire State
Buiding, windmills on Mykonos, people at work and play, and much more. I
liked the relaxed, peaceful attitude of the book's text, with its amusing
side notes and helpful tips. It speaks of a peaceful time, though when it
was written the Vietnam War was raging. This to me said that almost mno
matter what the season of man, time can be found to aprciate beauty... if
tha is what you want to do.
*****
The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
- paperback by Avon Library. I loved the book because I am a big fan of
the romantic, humorous musical, which I saw at the same time. See my play
review for what I thought of the play in detail. But here I'll note that
reading the book reveals even more than watching the play the simplicity,
wisdom and poetry of the stage work. You see the essence and understand
more what an essence is, before actors add their own life force to it.
2001
****
Holidays on Ice - a book on tape by David Sedaris. Sedaris is,
in my opinion, our funniest writer. His story about Santa's Elves brims
with vitriolic humor, lampooning over-zealous parents, randy elves, and
more.
The story rings so true even in its absurdity, that I would not be surprised
if Sedaris did actually do a stint at Gimbels as an elf. The other stories
are not quite as successful but are often interesting.
****
Adventures in the Skin Trade by Dylan Thomas.
This is a marvelous collection of short stories by one of the famous
poets of the first half of the 20th century.
But don't look for "normal" short story language here. Most of
the tales are rich in poetic style and even difficult to follow in comparison
to traditional narrative.
Don't let that impede you, though, If you're looking for rich, satisfying
language, entire nebulae and star-clusters of intoxicating words.
Here are just a few sample words from "An Adventure from a Work in
Progress":
"Time that had fallen rested in the edges of its knives and the hammock of its fires, the memory of the woman was strong on his hands, her claws and anemones, weedrack and urchin hair..."
Two stories, at minimum, are funny in this book. One is the title story,
part of an unfinished novel. It concerns a young Irishman who gets his finger
stuck in a bottle of Guinness beer and visits an infinitely stuffed used
furniture warehouse. He soon has various adventures, complete with lively
colorful Irish characters as we'd expect.
The final story in the collection, "The Followers," tells the
story of two blokes who follow a modestly pretty young woman home in the
rain. They give her a name, Hermione Weatherby, and imagine she has many
loving sisters waiting to party with them in kimonos.
Standing in the rain, they see her enjoying a cozy domestic evening with
her mother. One of the ladies opens a photo album and looks at a man, whom
we are told may be a lost lover of the younger woman. The two onlookers
feel sad, lost, silly and leave.
To me, this story was about companionship, loneliness, and the heart's need
to feed on something other than itself, even at the price of self-deception.
Although I have not described the mood and characters, the tale is as charming
as the movie Waking Ned Devine. I even read some of this story aloud
to my wife, and we laughed together.
The version of this book I read was a New Directions Paperback, 178 pages.
*****
Call It Sleep - a novel by Henry Roth. This powerful novel was ranked among the most neglected books of the past 25 Years by critics Alfred Kazin and Leslie Fiedler. The story concerns the life of your David Shearl, a child of immigrant parents who grows up in the Jewish Lower East Side.
David's father, Albert, is a suspicious, angry man. He seethes and may indeed even be crazy with jealousy, resentment, anger and more. Albert makes young David's life a living hell. Yet David's mother, Genya, is warm and nurturing.
What makes this novel so strong is its wonderful portraits of totally believable people living in the early 1900's -- Jews, Irishmen, Polish -- all presented with an eye for detail, an ear for dialect, and with a magnificent capacity for story-telling. Other lively characters include David's caustic-tongued Aunt Bertha, her ineffectual husband, their two annoying but believable adolescent daughters, sadistic Rabbi's, a flashy Polish boy named Leo who introduces David to the joys of roller-skating and kite-flying, and more.
The central action of the book concerns an episode involving Leo, Bertha's daughters. This story is brought to a full boil and comes off like Tennessee Williams in its raw power. Other sections are highly imagistic, lit beautifully by fine writing that feel genuine, no matter how elaborate. Other sections are imagistic and stream-of-consciousness and feel a bit like Faulkner's Light in August. I did occasionally tire of the intense dialect. And I found Albert's anger dreadful -- but kept coming back to find out where it would lead. I had this book on my shelf for almost 25 years, and I'm glad that I finally decided that the day had come to read it.
Another interesting fact: Henry Roth never wrote another book. He said that this was all he had in him and retired to raise waterfowl in Maine. We're fortunate that he gave us this work before moving on. This book is highly recommended by yours truly!
***
Big Trouble - a novel by Dave Barry. An occasionally
amusing novel by the well-known humor writer. It features would-be drug
lords, a dysfunctional couple and their daughter, and more. Some scenes
are funny, but not highly recommended. I listed to this novel on audiocassette.
****
The Pearl by John Steinbeck. 1947. The classic
writer's account of a Mexican pearl diver who finds the largest peal in
the world, and the bad luck it threatens to bring him and his family. The
writing is fluid, balanced, intense and unrelenting. The tale is a bit hard
to bear, though I wont say why. Still, it does not end on a totally bleak
note. This parable tells us much of the dangers of materialism, and how
evanescent happiness is.
****
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. 1956. 1962 Grove
Press edition, translated by Anthony Kerrigan. A collection of short stories
by the Argentine great. Borges writes as if he had an inner ear clued into
the entire history of our race. I enjoyed these stories, though some were
difficult to penetrate. "Funes, the Memorious" is a great story
of a man who could forget nothing. The Library of Bebel seems sprung from
a fantasy Borges had while Chief Librarian at the main library of Argentina.
Listening to Borges is like listening to a seer. A major part of the experience
is immersing oneself in the mind of a man who is so learned and yet not
pretentious, who breathes history and wisdom of the ages.
2000
****
The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B. by J.P.
Donleavy. This novel came out in the 60's and was a follow-up to the highly
successful The Ginger Man. Donleavy is lyrical, sad and comical. All in
a style that is at once economical and in love with language. He never repeats
himself, changes mood without altering style. But what I love most about
him is a kind of comical empathetic view of life and romance.
Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison by Patrician Kennealy. This is one angry, intelligent woman. Kenneally was the common-law wife of the Doors' lead singer, one of two such people. The other is Pamela Courson. If you're fascinated by The Doors and Morrison, as I am, then this book will be for you.
The Party and other stories by Anton Chekhov. Delightful, complex, insightful, wise, sensuous. What a writer!
****
Sleeping at the Starlite Motel by Bailey White - A Simon and Schuster cassette
book, 4 tapes. Bailey White is that soft, slow-voiced Southern woman who
seems like she's 90 years old but who is probably 50. No matter, her voice
is pure and distinct, an authentic observer and storyteller from the South.
Not given to Grand Guignol scenes like, say, Flannery O'Connor, she observes
quiet portraits of real people with telling detail and lyrical style and
wisdom. I enjoy listening to her!
1999
****
A Confederacy of Dunces by William Kennedy Toole. A rambunctious comedy
about an overweight, coddled middle-aged man in new Orleans. His Mom forces
him to leave the house and seek employment -- with hilarious consequences.
Enjoyed listening to this, as read by Arte Johnson. Go to it for caricatures
and comedy.
****
Isak Dinesen Festival by Isak Dinesen and William Luce - This is a 6 tape
series, consisting of Julie Harris reading selections from Out of Africa,
Colleen Dewhurst reading Babette's feast, and Harris performing Luce's one-woman
play, Lucifer's Child. Isak Dinesen (1885 - 1962) herself reads The King's
Letter and The Wine of the Tetrarch. A very endearing portrait of a wise
lady who seems to have lived life to the fullest. Even her blood-lust for
big game becomes excusable, given the grandeur and warmth of her soul. By
The Audio Partners, 1997.
****
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Originally published in 1934.
This is not a breeze of a book. But is beautifully written account of a
physician and his wealthy wife, and their escapades in Switzerland and on
the French Riviera. The story has some resemblances to Fitzgerald's relationship
with his wife Zelda. The character Nicole in this book also suffers from
schizophrenia.
The story mainly concerns this couple, Dick and Nicole Diver. Dick has an
affair with a young actress. This damages his marriage, and seems indirectly
related to Dick's incipient alcoholism. Finally the book fixes on Nicole's
love affair with Tommy. This book is more a joy in the telling, in the way
Fitzgerald notes and denotes the world, telling a story of particular people,
an age, and a social class, with lyrical distinction.
Dave Barry Turns 50 by Dave Barry. 1998, Crown Publishers. Funny and creative humor from the pro, one of the wittiest people writing today. It helps if you're turning 50. Very big on Baby humor and issues. Surprisingly, he has occasional serious moments and telling observations.
***
White on White by E.B. White. On audiocassette. These are personally selected
essays told by his son, Joel White. The essayist is in good, relaxed form.,
veering between humor and quietly observant wisdom. The essay on the circus
and time seems especially wise. A poem about a bumblebee sounds just boring.
*****
Naked by David Sedaris. 1997. Abridged, on audiocassette by Time Warner
Audiobooks. Sedaris is capable of having me laughing uproarariously. This
tape did not have that effect, but his persona is lovable, honest, and acutely
observant. He creates great family portraits, tells a tale of a visit to
a nudist camp, reveals coming out at a gay camper/adoloescent, and more.
We all enjoyed this on a car ride. Not all fun and games. He also tells
of his Mom's death from cancer.
****
The Kiss and other Stories by Anton Chekov. On audiocassette from Sound
Room Publishers. These tales are powerful, and short. We do not learn outcomes,
but we see carefully, sensitively drawn portraits. Chekov is the master.
Includes Not Wanted, the Helpmates, A Misfortune, The Head f the Family,.
The Trousseau, Expensive Lessons and Anyuta.
***
The Fixer by Bernard Malamud. On Audiocassette by Warner Audio Publishing.
This classic book tells the story of Yakov Bok, a repairman or fixer in
Tsarist Russia during a time of pogroms. Simply and compellingly told, this
is a personal tale of victimization. Bok begins to fight back, I believe
at the end. I was frustrated, though, by not knowing the exact outcome,
which the author does not reveal.
****
Alibi Ike, Haircut and The Love Nest by Ring Lardner. Newman Books on Cassette.
These are three stories read on audiocassette by actor Henry Morgan. Funny
tales, especially Alibi Ike. You can hear the "ring" of authenticity
of Ring's baseball experience coming through in that story. Ike is a great
character, an eccentric fleshed out with great imagination!
****
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini by Benvenuto Cellini. Washington
Square Press. August 1963 edition. Cellini is a great writer, a colorful
portraitist of his own incredible career as a goldsmith and sculptor at
the height of the Italian Renaissance. His temperament is at the heart of
the narrative: willful, spiteful, easily insulted, quickly angered, proud,
and passionate. He insults Popes, alienates Cardinals, feuds with Emperors,
escapes from jail, survives a poisoning, wins unexpected victories in court,
and creates great art. I loved his Perseus, which I saw in Florence. How
it was built, the trials, and technical challenges, the inspiration -- the
sheer muscle and will required to build it -- this is a story in itself.
A wonderfully colorful story by a remarkably acute observer of his age.
Parachutes and Kisses by Erica Jong. 478 pages. Originally published 1984. A Signet paperback. A delightful account of a young woman's romantic flings, divorce, sensual and sexual escapades, trip to Russia to touch her grandfather's past, and -- finding her true love, and lust, Bean. Not much through-line of the story, but still fun to read and poetic. Filled with life force, sensuality and humor.
1998
***
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin. 222 pages. A Dutton Paperback, translated
by Walter Arndt. Originally published 1831.
Read by Albert Fried-Cassorla albert@fried-cas.com in November, 1998.
This Russian novel in verse is entertaining and readable in small installments.
This is a story of a young nobleman's growing love for Tatyana. At first,
she adores him. He puts her off. Later, the tables are turned. She marries
another, still cares for him, but refuses to be unfaithful.
The charm in the book lies in its varied and witty portraits of Russian
noble society, complete with ennui, elaborate costumes, poses, affectations,
a duel, a suicide, word paintings of landscapes, and friendships with equal
deftness, and more. Pushkin seems a modern, even though the scenery is old.
I liked the casual wit, but even more the sense of everyday emotions, and
grand emotions, and snatches of realistic conversation. You could envision
being friends with this poet. What's more, you'd want to be.
*****
The Love Poems of Kenneth Patchen. Number 13. The Pocket Poets Series. City
lights Books, 1939. 48 pages, purchased for $1.00, who knows when. A brief
account of Albert Fried-Cassorla.
This is a wonderful book of poetry, as light to carry and hold, and as violet
and white in its pager as love itself. Patchen is a marvel of romanticism
(small "r"). read it to yourself, and to someone you love.
****
Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw
Penguin Books, 1957. Originally published in 1924. Read August, 1998.
A brief account of Albert Fried-Cassorla
This is a charming and yet scary tale of history (hagiography, or biography
of a saint), religion, state power and charismatic personality. Joan is
presented in this play as a sweet and true believer, who claimed a direct
connection to God. As such, she is feared by all who represent major institutions.
Shaw's style is more than witty; it is ingenious. He brings Joan back from
the dead, only to show that those whom bemoaned her passing would indeed
be so threatened by her return, that they would easily burn her at the stake
again. An enjoyable read -- and probably better as a stage play.