Anne (with an E). I'm unabashedly in love with her. I read the first volume decades ago and found the Netflix series a great solace during the COVID sAnne (with an E). I'm unabashedly in love with her. I read the first volume decades ago and found the Netflix series a great solace during the COVID shutdown when I was struggling to stay afloat through a divorce. I should have read the second volume prior to this, Anne of Avonlea, but when this was offered on discount, I took the plunge. I ahould note, lest you think this is the type of novel I am regularly drawn, it's clearly not. In fact, this throwback to a type and time that depicts characters who strive for a wholeheartedness and decency that borders on fantasy is an anomaly. I started studying existential literature when I was fourteen. Wnen in college, Charles Bukowski was more my style than Lucy Maud Montgomery. What my 68 year old jaded mind needs now, though, isn't the proponderance of despair. I need relief. I relished every second of this and was absolutely sobbing at its finish. What a joy. What a healing succor to the dark, self-inflicted lesions to my heart. God bless you Anne....more
Jane Austen began this as her first novel but it was not finished until many years after her best known and beloved novels were published. It was, in Jane Austen began this as her first novel but it was not finished until many years after her best known and beloved novels were published. It was, in fact, published posthumously. It certainly reads like a representation of juvenalia. The perfection she later mastered of representing the intricacies of British high society in and around Bath in the late 18th century is here rendered as shallow and silly. More focused on an apreciation and satire of the gothic novels she'd been enjoying and were currently popular, our young "heroine," Catherine Moreland, spends time in her head conjuring up perverse pssibilities of horror and morbidity, except when lost in the sort of novelistic love a seventeen year old might fixate. All in all, I was disappointed. It's been many decades since I read my last Austen and cherished her at the time. Either I have become more discerning in my mature years of this earliest work of hers is just lacking. I'm trusting more in the later. To its benefit and mine, it's a short carriage ride from start to finish....more
Here it is in 2025 and I'm finally getting around to a book that I saw in many readers hands back in the 1970s. It was something of a phenomenon at thHere it is in 2025 and I'm finally getting around to a book that I saw in many readers hands back in the 1970s. It was something of a phenomenon at that time. I was already a reader but leaned towards slimmer tomes. Now in the audio book era, the longer, the better. I'm a bit stuck on the star rating, equvocating between three and four out of five. It's a deceptively simple book as it's narration straddles the concept of description communicated by a primitive early descendant of modern man and telling a rich story of ideas and characters. The clan with the exception of one, the main character who is of "the others," a more modern evolution, communicate exclusively through sign language. Only Aela and her son, Dirk, use verbal language. If Jean had chosen to translate the primitive sign language, the narration would have been so basic, story and ideas would have been nearly impossible to convey. Instead, she had to give the reader a notion of the limitations and then widen it to make the novel of interest to a modern man. That's where the fourth star seems more than attibutal to the difficult task. Without delving into too many spoilers, an earthquake separates a five year old girl from her parents and clan. After a week of near starvation and an attack by a lion where she is clawed but is able to eacape death in a crevice, she is found in a stream by the a clan of the cave bear and nursed back to life. Her survival by incorporation into the clan becomes the story. Her differences and ingenuity make her both feared and revered. One shoud know going in that this became a series of novels. You will be left at a point where the next novel will begin. That can be frustrating if one decides to stop rather than continue. The pre-writing scholarly research that went into the creation of this work is impressive. There is a lot one learns about our ancestors. I for one, wouldn't last a week with the daily hardships. I'm writing this short report while sitting in an easy chair in a dry, heated home with food in the fridge and electric light illuminating my surroundings. Jean's ability to take one outside their comfort zone and experience, if only a little bit, the struggles of early man, is remarkable....more
Although listed as an historical novel, no one in study of such times should rely on it for a source of information. It does delve into historical figAlthough listed as an historical novel, no one in study of such times should rely on it for a source of information. It does delve into historical figures as characters, Elizabeth 1 no less, but it's pure fiction. As for a detective, adventure story, it has definite attraction. C.W. Gortner will never be mistaken as a writer of literary value, but he does have a good sense of creating physical spaces. Whether palace, ale house, forest or manor, one is fully present in the ambiance and deacriptive detail. The human figures are fully formed but of less believability as C. W. exagerates them to dramatize to a fault. Still, I was reminded of classic Hollywood depictions from Saturday matinees. Fun. Entertaining. I'm certain to find myself at some point longing for more of the same middle-brow, intrigue and will investigate if another such entertainment is available....more
This novel by Charlotte Bronte was her first though rejected and published posthumously by her widower. Knowing how great Charlotte's literary skills This novel by Charlotte Bronte was her first though rejected and published posthumously by her widower. Knowing how great Charlotte's literary skills will prove in later accomplishments, it allows not more than three stars when placed in comparison. That doesn't mean it isn't good. What's also notable, Charlotte, frustrated by its rejection, later changed the lead protagonist to a woman and refashioned the bones of the novel into the more celebrated Violette. What I find its weakness, however, is more its concentration on characters who are determined to be unexceptional both in appearance, fortune and mind. Frances, the lace-mender, later proves this initial description as quite wrong but that isn't brought to the reader's understanding until the near end. One character, a gentleman named Hunsden Yorke Hunsden, is the flair that could have livened up many more pages if his Oscar Wildean witt had been more present. Where's the novel telling the complete story of this fellow. As it stands, one should probably read this Charlotte Bronte novel last if given the opportunity and time to be a completist. Don't streer away from it, however, as it has merits to make it much worth your while....more
If you were to ask most Americans for a history of what entangled the US in Vietnam, the answer would be to halt the expanse of communism. If challengIf you were to ask most Americans for a history of what entangled the US in Vietnam, the answer would be to halt the expanse of communism. If challenged for details, few could elaborate, though an estimated 280,000 US military were killed in action. Anthony Grey's 800 page novel aims to change that negligence. Smartly, he knows a good, pulpy romance will invite more readers than a dry history. Spanning 1925 to 1975, he intertwines three families--American, Vietnamese and French as a framework. He even tossed in a Brit. That the characters all end up as major figures in the conflict informs you of the intent. It's absurd but highly entertaining. I've never read Gone With the Wind, but I imagine many learned much about the civil war while investing themselves in the romantic and economic trvails of a few families. Entertainment and history don't have to be at odds. I've read a number of Vietnam based novels to get at what happened and why. This may not be the best written on a literary level or the best at understanding the average experience of a soldier, but it did present a complicated colonial history that I knew much too little about, previously. And that has value. Also, this would make a great mini-series. Iremember the popularity if North and South about the American civil war. The pulpy, character driven nature of this work would be perfect for mass viewing appreciation. ...more
I first read this novel in my English Literature university studies. I had a peofessor, Gerald Locklin, who championed the novel. Cynical and bleak, iI first read this novel in my English Literature university studies. I had a peofessor, Gerald Locklin, who championed the novel. Cynical and bleak, it's portrait of humanity was a perfect representation of the nightmarish reality we embraced as truth. This was the same era I discovered Savid Lynch and Charles Bukowski. The horror. The horror. At 68, as much as my world view is unaltered, I have found a place of some peace I inhabit, tenuously fortified as it is, and no longer have the stomach to dwell on hell. Homer Simpson--yes, the original Homer--moves from the mid-west into the land of hope and dreams, Hollywood. There, he gets drawn ito the darkness by a slew of characters, especially one enticing waif struggling for stardom, at any cost. As Homer is simple and instictively kind, to a degree the other characters are not, he is easily taken advantage. He is the world ambling along unawares of the menacing darkness at its heels. Then there is Todd who is attempting to paint the Hollywood he sees, the horrific nightmare we are discovering in the novel, figuratively disappearing into flames. It's a little like reading Steinbeck on LSD. The characters are well drawn and approachable, even as you wish, at times, they'd go away where you wouldn't have to witness their pathetic failures and compromises. One might be able to board a train, plane or bus ro return to where they came but can they escape? Once stained, it doesn't come out. I have learned to live with the nightmare by way of faith and controlled environment, but I can still smell the smoke on certain winds. ...more
These interconnecting pieces are described as stories although I heard them as elongated poetry. Neing transported into a Carribean childhood to adultThese interconnecting pieces are described as stories although I heard them as elongated poetry. Neing transported into a Carribean childhood to adulthood through lyrical remembrances was a means to float away on a sort of vacation. Nothing stayed with me but that's okay. If I desire, I have a forever return ticket to make another visit. ...more
The first of a trilogy on the westward movement, Conrad Richter does an excellent job capturing the intricasies of pioneer life. A family in PensylvanThe first of a trilogy on the westward movement, Conrad Richter does an excellent job capturing the intricasies of pioneer life. A family in Pensylvania discover the thinning of substinance game available for the impending winter and make the decision to head west where the deer and the antelope are plentiful. They end up in what is now Ohio. The journey there and the initial settling in the territory made me acutely aware in each description of hardship my civilized sodtness in physicality and character. I would not have lasted a day. Conrad's ability to describe flora, fauna and the immensity of the woods frightened me. For one, the weather is always cold, even when it's not. Reading this in winter in Oregon assisted me in conjuring the severity of conditions but, reduced by my modern conveniences and clothing, fell far short of what this family endured. We begin the story with just the family. Uneducated, as they are, and busy with constant responsibilities to stay alive, there is limited discourse. What is spoken, feels authentic. Over time, we get to know the family members and stake a place for them I. our heart. Eventually, once at their destination, a settlement begins to grow around them. This affords Conrad to widen the scope. Life and deaths occour. Conrad captures the acceptance and courage it took to live uner hardships where just staying alive is a daily chore. Inbetween the hardships, just enough streaks of sunlight and joy infiltrate the darkness to give life something to rise and toil to endure. Barely, though. I'm awfully glad I was born when and where and under the circumstances I was. I've had it easy. The next two installments will take this settling further as they are, The Field and The Town. If anything as informative, entertaining and well wrought as this first novel, it should make for an excellent trilogy on the formation of our nation. I plan on continuing along the adventure. ...more
Somewhere on the cover or descriptive information, it needs be clearly noted that these pieces are not complete. They are undinished and that can leadSomewhere on the cover or descriptive information, it needs be clearly noted that these pieces are not complete. They are undinished and that can lead to freat frustration if unexpected. As someone who appeeciates the mind and writings of Lewis, I'm glad to have experienced these pieces. On the other hand, after investing as much time as I did in the novella of The Black Tower, to have it just stop without resolution had me exclaim, " what the f$@k." Only avid fans and literary scholars will be content with this assemblage of scraps. ...more
Here in Oregon in 2024, I had to work my historical muscles to put me in a place and time where there was a gentry and it had behavioral epectations aHere in Oregon in 2024, I had to work my historical muscles to put me in a place and time where there was a gentry and it had behavioral epectations and norms that could jepordize one's standing to the point of ouster if breached improperly. Not only could the play not be written today, it retains little impact to a contemporary mind. There was a time when class separated class. Now it's all crass. Still, Oscar Wilde understood the nature of high society to know that in any age it would use whatever means necessary to cloister itself away from the riotus rabble attempting to disguise itself as worthiy of inclusion. Only today the only separation is material. If only the migration had been the masses moving up in propriety rather than the lofty sinking low. The play is fun and witty, of course, and that's its real joy. ...more
This book was the next in my queue so when it coincided with the 2024 election, it seemed a part of that weird pattern of coincidence that is either dThis book was the next in my queue so when it coincided with the 2024 election, it seemed a part of that weird pattern of coincidence that is either designed to drive me mad or towards a belief in a higher, other-worldly controling force. Spoiler Alert--That it ends with the suicide of the enlightened savage, John, has caught me in a place of personal despair. I musn't get to such a place where that seems the only act of sanity. From a critical standpoint, Huxley fails to create characters that don't seem embematic and by design to further a theoretical postulation rather than capture someone fully dimensional to engage the emotional nature of the reader. As a cautionary warning to those who might have been contemplating solutions to create a utopian society, it certainly has a thorough and lasting impact. It's thoughtful and detailed use of imaginatory solutions to what Huxley conceived as the stumbling blocks leading to individual and societal malaise are well-conceived and presented. There is a lecturing framework, however, that drains it of the very humanity it needs to capture so that the reader can experience the new and old worlds as having lived in either. I was often fascinated and intellectually stimulated but never once felt immersed in the creation. It may have been brave and new in its time but it hardly constitutes a world....more
I'm not sure what I was expecting. At 2 1/2 hours, it's partly Aldous experiencing the effects of mescaline. The revelations are not mind-bending. He I'm not sure what I was expecting. At 2 1/2 hours, it's partly Aldous experiencing the effects of mescaline. The revelations are not mind-bending. He separates the non-self from the self. The non-self is what he saw. His deseiotions and conclusions were more revelatory in this portion. He would look at objects, particularly pieces of art such as Cezanne and break down the sublime secrets hidden within the strokes. When he closed his eyes, his mind created images. Anyone who has experienced psychedelics will know of what he speaks. He found these images plastic, not in the sense of arts, but actual cheap plastic in comparrison. Strangely, it seemed a personal failing more than the actual assesment of the experience. Personally, the revelations of my interior brain production taking paychedelics were just as mind-blowing as the exterior visuals. I'm certain there are better experiential writings than this. ...more
Edit Review I made the mistake of thinking this was a novel and not a non-fiction examination of the complexities of the origins of the first world warEdit Review I made the mistake of thinking this was a novel and not a non-fiction examination of the complexities of the origins of the first world war. I'm glad I made the mistake but as a warning to all, one has to be a stiludent of history, an avid enthusiast for details so minute and intricate that the interconnections will overwhelm them. My grandfather was the court dentist to the Habsburgs. My father was born in Austria, not as a citizen but as a resident visitor. The family had to flee by the last train out at the break of the war. I have an iron in this fire so my interest is higher than average. Have you witnessed a game of five-layered chess. I don't play chess but the concept was impressive, none-the-less. Imagine if you had ten five-layered games happening at once and all were connected by family and treaties dating back fifty or more years. Hundreds of characters with impossibly difficult names to pronounce or remember. That's this book. 25 hours of deep dive into history. Absolutely marvelous. Yet, I'd be unable to give more than a fifteen minute diacussion after completion as my brain can't contain the avalance of information I encountered. At the conclusive summary, the author, Christopher Clark, makes the point that a prosecutarial approach to the origins of the war are misguided. Unlike an Agatha Christie mystery where someone is found out by conclusion as the guilty party to the murder, this book does the opposite. It details how hundreds of people and events edged the nations into a conflict. No one culprit exists. Even to call some culprits is off the mark. So many are guilty of not seeing one more less the hundred chess games at at play. That the avoidance of war needs people of vision is a major theme. I must say, I'm relieved the bokk came to an end. My brain was about to explode. ...more
Revisited this work I studied at university 40 years ago. The basic nature of mankind is unchanged and Fydor's groundbreaking incestigation into a manRevisited this work I studied at university 40 years ago. The basic nature of mankind is unchanged and Fydor's groundbreaking incestigation into a man's anger and hatred born primarily from a delusional belief he is a victim rather than taking responsibility for choices he's made in life. Just a cursory glance at how the MAGA movement is tapping into the underground hoards seething in their hovels with a blue glow emmanating from the information silos they listen and watch as they sit and spit and scream will make obviose this works continued relevance. It's not an easy listen as one of our venomous wretches victims is a prostitute who dreams of escape her torment and atill has the capacity to love despite her chosen amd put upon circumstances. It clocks in at between four and five houelrs so the trip into a man's hell is short enough one can emerge and still recognize sunlight...more
I probably have 60 audiobooks I've purchased in the queue. I feel a responsibility to read them now that I made the decision to add them to my shelf. I probably have 60 audiobooks I've purchased in the queue. I feel a responsibility to read them now that I made the decision to add them to my shelf. I almost wish they weren't there because my temptation is to beginn this novel over right now. I rarely say that. For one, I admit that when it began, I had a period where I couldn't line uo the numerous characters thrown together in a war zone already chaotic by the what constitutes war. The fault wasn't the author. Stephen Wright wanted me to experience the chaos. That's what he was brilliantly carving out with stacatto lashes at my psyche. I've probably read ten or more novels and non-fiction accounts of the Viet Nam war. Some have been mind bending, such as Going After Caciatto, or definitive, auch as The Things They Carried. Each adds to something I'm desperately trying to accomplish--to understand an experience I came so close to living. I just finished a good book called Perfume River. I had the chance to travel "In Country" and remember well the actual river neat Hue and the DMZ. The book is a little deceptive by it's title as the story is only 5% about the war itseld and 95% about a particular family back home where one son enlisted to Viet Nam and one son fled to Canada. The father that determined such behavior and the mother who stepped aside. Good story but not helpful for my needs. This one, however, hits the main vein. Stephen is masterful at capturing the way that men behave around one another. I warn any sensitive types to either avoid or, bravely, discover a truth. We're awful. o matter how civilized we may cocoon ourselves, was will strip us to our essential nature. It would be a hard read if irlt weren't so damned funny. Much like Heller's Catch-22 or much of Vonnegut, Stephen excells at making things that terrify and hurt into gut turning hilarity. This might at times feel a bit MASH but that tonality is used to accent a descriptive ability that captures horror both as beatific and banal. I fully endorse this novel as a must read for all Viet Nam junkies. It has all the rush of the needle and the damage done....more
I have had an explicable, yet equally inexplicable, fascination with the American experience in Vietnam. Graduating from high school in 1974, I had spI have had an explicable, yet equally inexplicable, fascination with the American experience in Vietnam. Graduating from high school in 1974, I had spent early years of my teens worrying about a possible draft notice. My parents and I had set up contingency plans to seek asylum in Canada. It was very real to me and I watched every newsreel, looked deeply into every photo published and read extensively of any printed reports. The fall of Saigon was a great relief to me personally. Whatever shame I was supposed to feel for my nation's inability to bring democracy to this small southeast asian country, I was completely numb to that and in place saturated with the joy of knowing I was going to live past this deadly fiasco. When I was in my fifties and my step son asked where I wanted to travel next after our adventures in India and Thailand, I said Vietnam. This surprised him until I explained why. I had to free my brain from trapped fears and images by experiencing the present Vietnam in place and time devoid of the blasts and the blood, the napalm and villages on fire, the angiished faces of mothers and limbless children, the American soldiers with cigarettes dangling from mouths frozen in expressionless death masks. My stepson ended up changing his major at university to linguistics and immediately signed up for a year of study abroad in Hanoi. What had I done? I changed hos life with a simple remark. I did travel there to spend time with him and explore the country between Hanoi and Da Nang. My stepson eventually met and married a woman from Hue. They and children now live where I live and share the two cultures. When I saw this book named after the river that flows through Hue, I was immediately intrigued and knew I had to discover whatever it could add to my quest. I will warn any prospective reader, less than 5% of this book takes place in country. The wartime experience is told in occasional and limited flashbacks about a man in his late 60's who has ghosts that haunt him. The bulk of the novel is about family and the tragic repercussions of war upon fathers and sons. We have a WW II vet who sees his combat days as his defining moments and attempts to infuse that into his sons. When the Vietnam incursion takes place, one son enlists, though his educational standing could have allowed deferment. The other son, taking after my own personal strategy, grabs a hold his girl and heads into Canada. We spend most of the time 46 years later as the boys navigate father, mother and each other. A secondary character, a struggling homeless man who also suffers the toxic fallout of a combat father, is woven through the text to emerge in the final conclusion. Robert Olen Butler is a good writer, a storyteller, though not one who rises to greatness. I was truly moved by the characters he built and wove together. I had my own personal experience with the book based on what I have told you about myself. Perhaps it spoke to me more than the average reader. I do recommend it as I can't imagine anyone who doesn't know men whose lives have been tarnished by the effects of war whether experienced directly or through relationship to a father, brother, sister or mother....more
One must be careful to remember what world they are experiencing. Published in the UK in 1922, the times Jacob traversed the earth are singular to theOne must be careful to remember what world they are experiencing. Published in the UK in 1922, the times Jacob traversed the earth are singular to the time and his class. No one could better render the intricasies of a man's life than Virginia Woolf. An experiment in narrative, really, this examination is seen through the prism of various men and women who believed they knew the man. The approach is a sort of cubist conglomeration of angles that are all incomplete and biased. Ultimately, Jacob is only knowable as are we all--little. Yet, the stream-of-consciousness mixed with the concrete observations begin to give us enough definition that the reader is sometimes convinced they've reached an understanding. Then, of course, it is all smeared and distanced by imperfections in the glass that separates the observer from the observed. The text is so rich one could easily go straight from the last sentence to the beginning only to discover that a second, third, fourth viewing and so forth will continue to reveal different perspectives. A triumph, I would conclude....more
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