Maybe to start I can point you to the author. Yes, the book is written anonymously. The author had for four Hi, I'm Will. I'll be your reviewer today.
Maybe to start I can point you to the author. Yes, the book is written anonymously. The author had for four years written a blog about his experience as a waiter in a New York restaurant and needed to preserve his anonymity in order to prevent mayhem at his workplace. But you may notice that there is an actual name displayed up at the top of this menu page, so I guess he moved on in the years since his book came out.
[image] The author revealed
Steve Dublanica's is a tale of having wandered a bit, never really catching hold of a career, until at age 31, he found himself in a situation with which I am far too familiar, unemployment and desperation, and made some meringue out of the lemons life had served him. I found this to be (occasionally) a laugh-out-loud funny read, with much information to impart about what life is like in the restaurant business. We learn of the difference between the waiting and cooking staff. The latter work 13-14 hour days for less money than the waiters, for one. He tells of miserable customers, unpleasant restaurant owners who think nothing of regularly insulting their employees, stealing from them, and treating them terribly in a wide range of ways. How they are not shot dead more often is one of the mysteries of science. It was entertaining and informative, raising one’s appreciation for this work, and encouraging us all to leave better tips.
I'll get that check for you now. Thanks for reading, have a great day and come back soon.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s , and pages
March 1, 2016 - Boston Globe - - by Kara Baskin
August 7, 2017 - Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema spends some time in the shoes of restaurant dishwashers - - a wonderful article...more
The Mr. Timothy of the title is Tim Cratchit, Tiny Tim as an adult, with Uncle Ebeneezer as his sponsor, offering an income in return for a visit now The Mr. Timothy of the title is Tim Cratchit, Tiny Tim as an adult, with Uncle Ebeneezer as his sponsor, offering an income in return for a visit now and again. Tim is not very settled in the world, even though he has overcome his infirmity to a point where he has merely a limp from a shortened leg to remind him of his past. He finds work in Mrs. Sharpe’s bordello, teaching the madame to read and write, helping keep the business’s books. One day he spies a young girl in an alley, a homeless child struggling to survive. Having earlier spotted a dead urchin with the letter G branded upon her, he fears for her safety and when he sets out to help her the game is afoot.
[image] Louis Bayard
Bayard has taken a mindful stroll through the world of one of his favorite authors. There are many references in the text to places and persons from a wide range of Charles� Dickens� works. Frankly, although I have read my share of Dickens, many of the references passed me by. But it can be fun to keep this in mind when reading the book, and be ready to google names and places as they appear. Dickens was inspired to write A Christmas Carol when he learned something of the state of children in the London of his time. Bayard keeps to that theme with a focus on the plight of abused children, and in that depiction, brings a more contemporary sensibility.
Ghosts figure in this story as they did in its inspiration, although they have a very different nature here.
This was a fun read, fast-paced, with likeable, interesting characters. Bayard clearly had a lot of fun putting this one together. It is probably best to read this in late December or early January, while visions of a ghostly trinity still linger in one's memory. I suppose the best thing one can say about this book is that I believe Mister Dickens would have approved. It would make a delightful film.
**spoiler alert** The White City is the Chicago Columbia Exposition, a world fair in which all the buildings were painted white; the time the late 180**spoiler alert** The White City is the Chicago Columbia Exposition, a world fair in which all the buildings were painted white; the time the late 1800s during the fair; the Devil is a serial killer. Yet this is a non-fiction book. Larson has written a very informative as well as entertaining story. The Columbian Exposition was a very big deal. Chicago had vied for the honor of presenting a world’s fair, and when they were selected the energy of the famed slaughterhouse city was put to the wheel. There are many personalities involved, not least Daniel Burnham, one of the top architects of his day and the coordinator of the entire project design. He brought in Frederick Law Olmstead and many other top architects. Chicago was determined to outdo the French, whose world fair in Paris had been a triumph, introducing, among other things, the Eiffel Tower, and mass use of alternating current. Larson describes the conflicting and outlandish personalities of the time, and makes us marvel that the thing ever actually got done. The Chicago Exposition introduced some significant items of its own, not least of which was a very progressive notion of city planning, for the enterprise required attention to a multitude of facets simultaneously in order to come to fruition. One of the structures built was then the largest building in the world. The fair introduced Mister Ferris� first working wheel. The Disney family attended and the fair may have inspired Walt to a development of his own. Buffalo Bill made millions with his entertainment just outside the fair gates (The fair had not allowed him to be a part of the show inside). Weather was a formidable opponent to the construction, as was the state of the economy, namely plummeting.
Counterbalancing the travails and triumphs of creating the fair, the Devil of the title was a young man named Holmes (no, not Sherlock). He had a very winning way with people, particularly creditors and attractive young women. He had some flaws however. Among them was a complete inability to empathize with anyone. He was an extreme example of what we refer to today as a psychopath. He set up shop in Chicago about that time, acquired some property and constructed on it a building of his own design. It was called The Castle, and one might be forgiven for imagining it with lightning bolts blasting stormy skies. For it was here that he murdered untold numbers of people, women, men, children. He designed the building to incorporate a space in which he could trap and gas people. He also allowed for his need to incinerate the bodies without releasing much aroma. His charm kept the suspicious at bay. Eventually, of course, he was found out and brought to justice, but not until he had slain somewhere between 50 and 200 people.
Larson peppers the book with dozens of satisfying factoids, about the people he is describing and about the times. It was, despite some of the darker subject matter, a very engaging, informative, and yes, fun read. ...more
**spoiler alert** After having lost his wife and children in a plane crash, writer and teacher David Zimmer is on a path of self-destruction, drinking**spoiler alert** After having lost his wife and children in a plane crash, writer and teacher David Zimmer is on a path of self-destruction, drinking, behaving badly around people, rejecting any and all understanding and sympathy. But seeing a bit of silent film comedy on TV, he takes up the task of examining and writing a book about the work of one comedic genius from the 20’s. Soon after the book is published the wife of the supposedly dead film-maker contacts Zimmer to ask if he might like to meet the man himself.
[image] Paul Auster - image from El Pais
There is much parallelism here, Zimmer with both Hector Mann, the ancient film-maker and Chateaubriand, the author of a lengthy autobiography that Zimmer is translating. In a way all three are dead. Zimmer and Mann had both attempted suicide. And a character in the book ultimately succeeds in such an attempt.
What is real and what is illusion? Hector had been in the business of illusion, then had to present an illusion of himself for most of his life. His film The Life of Martin Frost echoes the book’s theme of illusion. Sometimes an illusion can be a helpful thing, as when Zimmer is comforted by Alma on the plane (see below).There is a passage in which Mann spots what he believes to be a blue stone on the street. He has a detailed plan of what he will do with it, alive with human connection, only to find that it is a gob of spit. Yet the imagining was enough to alter his life course. Maybe illusions are what we tell ourselves, what we need, in order to survive.
I enjoyed the book very much. It was a fast read, engaging, with interesting characters and enough suspense to sustain a level of tension. There was, perhaps, too little told of Hector’s wife and why she does what she does. Well, Auster does explain, but I found it unconvincing. I wish that I had kept better track of characters. No, there are not hordes of them. I just wish that I had tracked the braiding of the stories. There is much interweaving here, much that occurs for some that also occur for others. I was too tired while reading this to devote adequate attention to that. C’est la vie. I was encouraged, however, to read more of Auster.
Louis Bayard likes to take on old authors and have some fun with their worlds. In this case he is channeling Dumas in a fun mystery/adventure set in 1Louis Bayard likes to take on old authors and have some fun with their worlds. In this case he is channeling Dumas in a fun mystery/adventure set in 19th century Paris. Scars from the Revolution still bleed. Napoleon has had his Waterloo and the monarchy has been restored. But who is the rightful heir to the aging Louis the 18th?
[image] Louis Bayard - image from the Washington Post
Our hero, narrator and everyman is Hector Carpentier, a doctor of venereology, who lives a stunted life at his parental home, a survivor among many of the trials of revolutionary and post-revolutionary France. When a dead man is found to have Carpentier’s card upon his person, the retiring physician is drawn into a web of deception, palace intrigue, arson, assault and murder centering on the possibility that the legitimate heir of Louis XVI might not, as is widely believed, have been killed, but might be still alive. If so, that would not be a happy thing for those whose livelihood is based on their connection to the current king, Louis XVIII
The most compelling character here is Vidocq, police detective extraordinaire, master of disguise, and in the know about all the crime that takes place in his fair city. Of course he should know, given his unsavory background. The action is non-stop and Bayard offers a colorful depiction of 19th C. Paris. I found that at the end of the book, the revelations and explanations became a bit too much, making my head spin. Part of that may have been because I had not made my usual effort to sustain a log of characters, and thus was somewhat more at sea than usual. But that is a quibble. This was a fun read, a beach book to be sure, but brush off the sand and enjoy.
Adam Wood has just graduated from college and has arranged to go to Venice to teach a rich local English. In return he will have a place to stay and mAdam Wood has just graduated from college and has arranged to go to Venice to teach a rich local English. In return he will have a place to stay and much free time in which to pursue his dream of writing a novel. That deal falls through on arrival, but he finds instead Gordon Crace (there has to be a pun on the word disgrace in there somewhere) an eccentric Brit, author of a best-seller in his 30’s, now living a Howard Hunt existence in a filth-caked house, not writing any more. In fact, that one book, seen as a great work, was his only book. Adam is to be his latest companion, housemaid, chef, assistant. It turns out that there is some mystery in Crace’s past. His novel had been about a schoolboy plan to kill for the thrill of it, and Adam begins to suspect that it may not have been entirely fictional. He sets about following leads into Crace’s past, but there is a well-known biographer who is already hot on Crace’s tail. We see a very dark side to Crace, a fondness for cruelty, punishment, pain. Later we see that Adam has some sins on his resume as well. Perhaps these two are peas in a pod. What is Gordon’s secret? What sort of person is Adam, really? Who will get the book deal? This is not earth-shaking stuff, but was a fun read, with a bit of payload about Venice and art. ...more
**spoiler alert** Ok, I selected this from our stacks because it was of reasonable length, and I figured that if it was good, I could blast through tw**spoiler alert** Ok, I selected this from our stacks because it was of reasonable length, and I figured that if it was good, I could blast through two others of hers that we have on hand. BUT, I wondered what the hell I was reading in short order. There is payload about the small, isolated, Lake District community, Mardale, in which the action is set. The story has to do with the Manchester Waterworks coming to town and telling folks sorry, but we will be filling up your lovely valley and village. A dam is planned. The messenger is the suave, somewhat mysterious Jack Liggett, who has a knack, and seems determined to get the town to agree with the rationale for the project. He seems to want to be liked. Then there is Janet Lightburn, the strong, intelligent and feisty daughter of Sam and Ella. Is this a serious novel or a silly romance? 200 pages in, I felt no real desire to read anything more by this author. By the end of the book, I was a little more open to the possibility.
There is some very nice writing in here, to be sure, and we do learn something about the area and the times (depression). She does a lot with water, the image of which pervades the book in various forms. And her nature writing is quite lovely. I was troubled by the jarring shift in character applied to Janet, the very strong leading lady, who, after a very dire event, completely loses it. Her final swipe at the project seemed rather pathetic. And I wanted for much more to be done with her brother, Isaac. He was intriguing while on stage, but was never explained or given much depth. What happens with him also seemed inexplicable. I suppose one can forgive such in a first novel. Does Hall improve enough with subsequent works to be granted a second chance? That feeling of bodice-ripping lingers.
Why was it that the lovemaking between Jack and Janet was always violent, leaving one or both bruised or bleeding every time?
The eagle Jack has killed was intended to be an affront to the uppers among whom he swims, but when it is brought to him, he feels shame for what he has done. This echoes his mixed feelings at killing Marden. He dies trying to make some amends for this sin.
Why must the strong, strong, strong Janet fall to pieces at the end?
No literary pretensions here. Jamie is 14 and coming of age. It is the early 1970s and her parents are maybe not the most restrictive. They host nakedNo literary pretensions here. Jamie is 14 and coming of age. It is the early 1970s and her parents are maybe not the most restrictive. They host naked swim parties at their home in Santa Barbara, smoke far too much weed and place almost no restrictions on their children. This is unnerving for Jamie, who has developed on schedule, unlike her older sister, who, of course, hates her for that. First kiss, first date, and more is in store for Jamie this summer. Also a more mature way of seeing people.
Jamie has a lot to cope with, friends who maybe are not the best, parents who are odd, entering new realms with a brand new sexuality, learning to see in a new, more adult manner, appreciating the best in people, as well as recognizing their flaws.
While this is hardly an action-adventure tale, it is an engaging page-turner. I zipped through it very, very quickly, and it was not because I was skipping anything. There are a few scenes that might seem raunchy, but I think the grownups can handle it. It may be formulaic, but is written in a lively, engaging manner, and is well worth the time. A view of a particular time and place in modern American experience through the eyes of a maturing 14-year-old. Who’s the grownup here? ...more
Here we are again in the world of literature. Powers is a powerful writer. The length of the book (451 pps) does not really tell the length of this woHere we are again in the world of literature. Powers is a powerful writer. The length of the book (451 pps) does not really tell the length of this work. It is not a fast read. There is much content woven into the pages, a tapestry of imagery and meaning that enhances the action of the story.
Kearny, Nebraska is a way station on the central flyway, a place where thousands of cranes congregate every year on their way north and south, providing an industry for the town. The descriptions of the migration are quite wonderful. Mark Schluter is a twenty-something who crashes his truck and barely survives, suffering extreme head trauma. Karin Schluter, his sister, leaves her job to try to help with his recovery. Mark cannot accept her as his sister, believing that she is a copy. Karin seeks help from the famous neurologist, Gerald Weber, who comes to Kearny for a look see. Gerald struggles to figure out just what is going in with Mark’s brain. The case is very, very unusual.
There is a wonderful aide, Barbara, at the nursing home where Mark recuperates. She seems exceptionally tuned in and eager to help. She has a talent everyone can see but a past that she keeps to herself. Daniel is the local head of an environmental protection group, and was Mark’s best friend until they parted ways as teens. He also had a thing for Karin, and now Karin seeks his help for Mark.
Powers is after existential prey here. What is the nature of consciousness? What is reality? Does it have external constancy or is all reality just what our brains make of available input? Is the sequence always cause then effect? It is an invigorating ride. Is it connection to others that gives us anchors to life, keeps the drifting balloons that are our conscious brains from floating entirely away?
Along the way he offers us a few mysteries. Who is Barbara really? Why did Mark run off the road? Will the crane stopping point be saved? What will happen with Karin and Daniel? Will Mark ever return to his old self?
Payload is of crane behavior, river ecology, the climate of the area, water issues. A separate payload track is neuroscience. There is much in here that will not be found in the local paper about obscure brain malfunctions and their implications. This was an interesting and engaging read. ...more
Willy Vlautin combines a hard look at some of society’s fringe members with a whimsical touch that makes it all go down much easier. Allison Johnson iWilly Vlautin combines a hard look at some of society’s fringe members with a whimsical touch that makes it all go down much easier. Allison Johnson is in her twenties, with an abusive, skin-head boyfriend, Jimmy, a bad alcohol dependence and not exactly the highest opinion of herself. When she discovers that she is pregnant, Allison heads for Reno, desperate to get away from Jimmy, wanting to give birth there. She knows she is not up to raising a child, so gives it up for adoption and builds a small life for herself, waitressing, doing telephone solicitation for Curt Vacuum cleaners. As she regains some self-esteem, she collects a group of people in her life, her overweight, pot-smoking boss at Curt, Dan, a damaged customer at her diner. When she is really low, she summons an image of Paul Newman who talks her through her situations.
[image] Willy Vlautin - Image from the NY Times
Despite the harshness of some of the characters, the beautyless surroundings, and the tough situations, this is a lovely book. ³Õ±ô²¹³Ü³Ù¾±²Ô’s style is spare, which works well here. And although Allison is far from wonderful, we come to feel for her and root for her to succeed in her journey of self-reconstruction. It is a short read, but a satisfying one. I am eager to read more of ³Õ±ô²¹³Ü³Ù¾±²Ô’s work.
If this sort of book appeals, you will definitely appreciate his following novel, The Free.
[image] The author - from the author's site - Photo Credit Sigrid Estrada
Kafka inverted, as a cockroach wakes up to find that it had become human. Knox[image] The author - from the author's site - Photo Credit Sigrid Estrada
Kafka inverted, as a cockroach wakes up to find that it had become human. Knox is doing noir with a twist, an existential novel about human motivations, set in the Times Square of the 1950s. The hard-boiled genre suits the time. There is indeed some social commentary here, as Jerry Blatta, the name our transformed one takes on, living as a gifted mimic but motivated almost entirely by greed and fear, finds himself in a world in which his particular proclivities fit right in. One might see in this an echo of American Psycho. Despite the clear authorial social commentary intent I thought that in its implementation it wound up being more about form than substance, but it was still fun for that. A diverting, entertaining book, not a great one, with some payload on the biology of roaches, and a cast of colorful characters.
The author's site
Interviews -----The Cult - - by Rob Hart -----Main Line Times - - by Linda Stein...more
Lehane is a wonderful writer. Mystic River was his opus magnus, and his Boston hard-boileds are quite good. This novel is his attempt to break out intLehane is a wonderful writer. Mystic River was his opus magnus, and his Boston hard-boileds are quite good. This novel is his attempt to break out into a larger literary world. Set in the period around World War I, Lehane offers us a sense of the times, and they are not pretty. The two primary characters are Danny Coughlin, a Boston cop in a long tradition, and Luther Laurence, a poor black. There is much in here about the condition of the working man, and it is startling, even to someone who has read quite a bit about the struggle of labor for decent treatment. Things were much worse than I’d imagined. This is a sweeping effort, as Lehane projects himself through a Dickensian lens, covering geography from Boston to Ohio to Tulsa, from Babe Ruth to the governor of Massachusetts to the lowliest criminal element. Lehane has done his homework and offers considerable information about the time. Two incidents stand out. One was the collapse of a vast molasses container that resulted in a flood of the stuff with waves 15 feet high. The other, his burning of Atlanta scene, is how the citizens of Boston react to the police strike. He offers us as well a sense of the political turmoil of the time, the Palmer raids, the fear of Bolshevists, anarchists and immigrants, and how those fears were stoked for political gain. Sound familiar? Lehane is particularly eager not to present his book as being political, and there are many readers who will not see what is right in front of them, but this novel keeps a sharp eye on contemporary events.
This is not Lehane� best book. That would be Mystic River. But it is an ambitious one. Coming in at slightly over 700 fast-reading pages, it is by far his largest. And he writes about a much wider swath of humanity than he has before. I would say that overall he succeeds in the attempt. This is a very good book, engaging, with believable, well-drawn characters, insight into the complexities of familial relationships, sensitivity to the cultural environment of that age, and with a critical, politically aware eye.
There are several scenes in which Babe Ruth figures. While these scenes are fine, with one being outstanding (the contract negotiation), they could have been omitted without damaging the overall story.
Lehane is an excellent story teller and he plies his trade here quite well. Where the book falls short of the rare air occupied by books like Serena is in his hesitation to incorporate grander imagery into his work. He tells his story, with many intense scenes, many interesting and memorable events, but not the metaphorical, mythological ear of a Ron Rash or a Michael Ondaatje. This keeps the reins on his work. I expect that in future the reins will be loosened and he will produce work in this new Dickensian vein that might be remembered as long as the work of his hero.
**spoiler alert** A family tale set in the 1930s and �40s, Mudbound looks at the racial experience, divide, and struggle in the Deep South, from diver**spoiler alert** A family tale set in the 1930s and �40s, Mudbound looks at the racial experience, divide, and struggle in the Deep South, from diverse points of view.
[image] Hillary Jordan - image from NPR
Two families, one black, one white, tied to the land, to each other, and stuck in the muck of a racist world. Jordan uses multiple narrators to offer varying perspectives on the events of the story. Laura, a Memphis schoolteacher, is on the fast track to old-maid-hood after her 30th birthday, when she is introduced to Henry McAllan. He is smitten, and she likes him well enough. Marriage is fine with her, but when a death in the family throws long-term plans onto the scrapheap, Henry announces that in two weeks they will be moving to a remote part of Mississippi to take over a farm. It comes to be called Mudbound, for obvious reasons. The novel merges struggles with racism with views of the hardships of farming life.
[image] Rob Morgan as Hap Jackson and Jason Mitchell as Ronsel Jackson - image from RottenTomatoes.com
Two soldiers, one black, one white, return to town from World War II in Europe. Henry’s brother Jamie is a much (19 years) younger man, charming, a pilot, damaged by his war experience, (turning to alcohol to try to smother his recent visions of war and his still-sharp recollection of a near-death experience he’d had as a child) and of dubious character in any case. (Is there really any there there?) He becomes friends with Ronsel Jackson, the black son of one of Henry’s tenants, a successful, handsome member of a black tank corps. He had been a hero in Germany, was accepted there and in other parts of Europe as a man, a liberator, not as a black, but back home, the deep south remains the deep south and bigotry defines the limits of civilization, that form of madness personified by Henry and Jamie’s vile father, Pappy.
[image] Jonathan Banks as Pappy McAllan � image from Stimme.de
This was a very fast read, a page-turner. Jordan does a nice job of slowly ramping up the tension until the climactic action.
[image] Carey Mulligan as Laura McAllan � image from collider.com
Hillary Jordan given us a portrait of a particular place in a particular time. I do not believe it to have been her purpose to tell a tale of the modern age (the book was published in 2008), yet it is impossible not to think of the blue-on-black violence that has tormented the nation and relate it to the overt racial violence of the mid 20th century South.
[image] Mary J. Blige as Florence Jackson - image from RottenTomatoes.com
Although one might see Laura as the core of this story, and that is where the story began for Jordan, I believe it is Jamie around whom everything else moves. His relationship with Laura, the up and the down, help her define her relationship with Henry and with the world. His relationship with Ronsel is crucial to the dramatic events that follow. It is in the light of his personality that others see themselves more clearly.
Laura was the first, and only, voice for some while. Mudbound started as a short writing exercise in grad school. The assignment was to write 3 pages in the voice of a family member, so I decided to write about my grandparents� farm � a sort of mythic place I’d grown up hearing about, which actually was called Mudbound � from my grandmother’s point of view. My teacher liked what I wrote and encouraged me to continue, and I tried to write a short story. Nana became Laura, a fictional character who is much more fiery and rebellious than my grandmother ever was, and the story got longer and longer. At 50 pages I realized I was writing a novel, and that’s when I decided to introduce the other voices. Jamie came next, then Henry, then Florence, then Hap. Ronsel wasn’t even a character until I had about 150 pages! And of course, when he entered the story, he changed its course dramatically. - from Loaded Questions interview
There is much here about being heard, who can speak, and who, ultimately, is silenced.
[image] Garrett Hedlund as Jamie McAllan
I have seen criticism about the use of stock characters here, and that is not without merit. Southern bigots are given only one coat of paint, as are strong black characters. Nonetheless, and in particular considering that this is a first novel, it is forgivable. Mudbound is a fine read, offering interesting characters, and a poignant view of race relations in the South, particularly right after World War II. It is well worth the ride. The film made of the novel has not only done it justice but maybe even exceeded the original material.
Published 2008
Review first posted in 2008
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s and pages
The for the Mudbound film
Interviews -----NPR - March 14, 2008 - - by Lynn Neary
Jordan says Mudbound was inspired by her mother's family stories of the year they spent on an isolated farm without running water or electricity. Eventually, it grew into a larger story with darker themes. But the first character she wrote about, Laura, was based on her own grandmother. "I started out writing what I thought was going to be a short story in the voice of Laura," Jordan says, "and as the story grew, I just found myself wanting to hear from other people. As the story got larger, as it embraced these other themes, these larger themes about war and about Jim Crow, I wanted to hear from those people.
-----Loaded Questions � July 19, 2008 - - by Kelly Hewitt -----Talks With Teachers - - by Brian Sztabnik
She had grammar rules for each character. For example, Laura is the only character to use a semicolon because she is the most educated. Henry’s sentences always end with a period because everything is a full stop for him. Hap has long, run-on sentences because he is a preacher.
Mudbound took six years and 11 drafts to complete, but she was not writing full time for those six years.
**spoiler alert** Chuck is dead. The rest is flashback. Hans van den Broek is from Holland, but lives in New York City circa 9/11 with his British wif**spoiler alert** Chuck is dead. The rest is flashback. Hans van den Broek is from Holland, but lives in New York City circa 9/11 with his British wife. He is a successful equities trader with plenty of money, and an abiding love for cricket. After 9/11 his wife returns to London with their child, leaving not only New York, but her husband. Lonely and a bit lost, Hans gets involved playing cricket, forming a family for himself, a community at least.
O’Neill writes about cricket at the same level of expertise that a super fan might write about baseball. It is warming, if a bit confusing. It is during a heavily contested match that Hans encounters Chuck, one of the game umpires. They form a lovely friendship, one that helps Hans during times of emotional need.
There is a lot about belonging in this book, feelings for place, whether Holland, New York, London. O’Neill does a masterful job of describing parts of New York that are very familiar to me, but may seem more than ordinary for the non-native. His DMV scene is incredibly true to life, not only his physical description, but the tone of the workers, the whole ambience and Kafka-esque mentality.
This is not a 9/11 book, per se, but he captures the bewilderment that wafted through the air of the city like the reek of the lower Manhattan months-long charnel house fires. There are several characters I found very engaging, the angel in particular, an oddball living at the Chelsea Hotel, Chuck’s wife Ann, his girlfriend Eliza, Chuck’s partner.
It was a satisfying read. My only real issue was that I was not entirely convinced about why Rachel decided to move back to the mother country. She did say that she was afraid of another attack in New York, and felt safer in London, but it seemed that there should have been more to it, at least more to it that was explained to the reader. A small quibble. This is a very nice book about belonging, relationships, men and women, place. Not jump up and down and scream wonderful, but satisfying like a large, well-cooked meal....more
**spoiler alert** This is a lovely, short, very easy-to-read post 9/11 book.
The structure of this is tale is Changez telling his personal story to a **spoiler alert** This is a lovely, short, very easy-to-read post 9/11 book.
The structure of this is tale is Changez telling his personal story to a burly American visitor (probably a spook of some sort) to his country, in his function as a guide to Pakistan. The tone was very reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling, at least as far as I recall from my reading of Kipling many years back. Think The Man Who Would Be King. This makes sense given the subject matter of the book, colonialism versus the third world.
Changez, born to fading gentry in Pakistan, has attended Princeton on scholarship, gotten a lucrative job with a top tier financial company, and is in love with beautiful, blond upper-class Yank. Life is good. But when 9/11 happens he discovers that he feels some satisfaction in the great giant being taken down a notch. In the newly paranoid USA, his background marks him as a threat to many and life changes.
Essentially what we have here is a foreigner (Changez) falling in love with America (get it? amERICA), but his amERICA is too damaged by the premature loss of her boyfriend to cancer at age 22 (Read Vietnam or whatever other fall one might choose) to cope. The result of this is that amERICA suffers from extreme nostalgia and becomes incapable of truly embracing Changez (subtle).
Erica’s father irks him with presumptions about corruption in Pakistan. He sees a “typically American undercurrent of condescension� (p 55) American indifference to third world concerns is noted repeatedly here. It is no secret that the USA is notoriously unempathetic to the concerns of others since the Marshall Plan.
Fundamentals here are the tools taught him in his finance career (efficiency). Fundamentals are implied for other things, knowing who you are, what your place is in the world. There are, surprisingly, no overt connections made to religious fundamentalism. Presumably one of the author’s points is that the values held high in the west (efficiency uber alles) are just as unfeeling and extreme as those of the religious nuts.
I did not take this as a personal tale. It is a metaphoric one. I mean the main character has but a single name, Changez. For that alone, how could the book be anything other than metaphorical? So I was not troubled by the contradictions in the character. For example, Changez feels an affinity with the jeepney driver in the Philippines, yet the choices he makes are all to strive within the western world. He manages to get a scholarship to attend Princeton, but feels it necessary to hide his relative poverty. What? Are there no other scholarship kids at Princeton? He is elitist in his orientation, wanting to hang with the rich kids, wanting to work for the heavy hitter financial company, even after it becomes clear to him that the work will cost people their livelihoods, wanting to be with the crazy girl when it is clear that she is over the edge. It is not America that rejects the foreigner here, but the foreigner who rejects America. So it is not a personal tale. It is a metaphoric one. It would have been better had the walking symbols here been made more reasonable, had their desires and impulses been a little more grounded in flesh and blood reality.
[image] Robert Harris - image from his Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page
This is a fast-paced thriller, centering around a ghost writer assigned to revise and complete th[image] Robert Harris - image from his Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page
This is a fast-paced thriller, centering around a ghost writer assigned to revise and complete the first draft of an autobiography prepared by his predecessor, another ghost writer, recently deceased. The subject of this is a Tony Blair stand-in, Adam Lang, a former British PM who had served American foreign policy needs with more attention than he gave to the wishes of his own people. The ghost is also under great time pressure from his publisher, one month to fix over a hundred thousand badly written words. The characters here are the sort one would expect in a political thriller, not too deep but fun to watch. The former PM has a background in theater that suits perfectly a person who seems not to be really there. His brains-behind-the-scenes wife, Ruth, was probably the most interesting character in the book, both warm and calculating, seemingly vulnerable yet dangerous. What really happened to the earlier ghost writer? Was his death really a suicide? Will the PM be brought to the international court as a war criminal? Is he guilty of the crimes of which he is accused? The ghostwriter is faced with choices. He can accept the assignment and make a lot of money, but in doing so he will alienate his sort-of girlfriend and trouble his conscience at least a little. Seduction of all sorts abounds here. I found it a fun, engaging read, a beach book, not to be taken too seriously, but enjoyable. The author’s political bias was clear enough (pro Iraq war) but I did not allow this to detract from the enjoyment of the read. Roll your eyes and keep reading.
[image] Pierce Brosnan as Adam Lang and Ewan McGregor as the ghost writer - from the Roman Polanski film, The Ghost Writer - image from RogerEbert.com
Weinberger tells of his experience trying to break into the movie business after graduating from B-school at Stamford. It is an entertaining and inforWeinberger tells of his experience trying to break into the movie business after graduating from B-school at Stamford. It is an entertaining and informative look behind the scenes at the horror that is tinsel town, where who you know, one’s word is never one’s bond, and where intelligence and knowledge always take second place to connections and style. ...more
This is another slow-moving tale of Precious Rawotse, her assistant, Mma Makutsi, her husband, and others in the continuing cast. As usual, not much gThis is another slow-moving tale of Precious Rawotse, her assistant, Mma Makutsi, her husband, and others in the continuing cast. As usual, not much goes on, but we get to spend a little more time with comfortable personalities and continue our slow look at Smith’s idea of Botswana. In this one, Precious tries to find the true history of a woman who had been an orphan. Mma Makutsi must contend with her desire for a large, fancy bed, and leaving it out in the rain when it doesn’t fit into her home. Precious suspects that threatening letters addressed to her may be coming from a part-time employee, and JLB Matekoni has taken their adopted, crippled daughter to look into a possible cure for her. Charming, but at this point, filler.
If you are new to the series. I would stop, go back and read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. It makes a difference seeing the characters develop over the volumes....more
[image] Cathryn Jakobson Ramin - image from The Commonwealth Club
Ramin covers a wide swath of possibilities looking into why memory fails, and seeks s[image] Cathryn Jakobson Ramin - image from The Commonwealth Club
Ramin covers a wide swath of possibilities looking into why memory fails, and seeks solutions to each of the problem areas. It is very interesting reading. I felt at a loss at times in trying to follow the science. I was never much of a bio whiz. But it does appear that there are least understandable causes for much loss of mental capacity, and there might be ways to address most of those. Still, it might have been a nice thing to have had a chapter summarizing the gathered information, in tabular form with the causes on the left and the solutions, or at least ameliorative attempts on the right. As it is, I expect to be referring back to this book for some time, if I can only remember where I put it....more
[image] Michael Zadoorian - image from Mangialibri.com
This is a delightful novel of two old people on their final road trip. She suffering from a varie[image] Michael Zadoorian - image from Mangialibri.com
This is a delightful novel of two old people on their final road trip. She suffering from a variety of terminal illnesses, he in and out of awareness as Alzheimer’s shreds his remnant memories. Sounds grim, but it is anything but, filled as it is with humor, down-to-earth humanity and a very elevated spirit. This should have been as popular as Marley and Me. It deserved to be.
The film adaptation was released to DVD in the USA in July 2018. It was a box office flop, grossing only $10 million ($20 million according to The Numbers site) globally. I haven't seen, it so can offer no opinion on how well it captured the novel.
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