I was intimidated to read a book with such a title. I found it neither genius nor staggering. It was heartbreaking, at times, but that was often drainI was intimidated to read a book with such a title. I found it neither genius nor staggering. It was heartbreaking, at times, but that was often drained or negated by Eggers inability take me inside. It could be argued that is the heart of his theme--stay away from my insides--while I show you just how I lived for the first years after my parent's tragic deaths. I admit I am not amused or fascinated with the hipster culture of the early nineties. I was really glad when I completed my task of finishing the damned thing and laid it down for the last time....more
One of the jacket reviews compares Sedaris with Thurber and Twain. I don't see much Twain but I can see something of the Thurber but removed from all One of the jacket reviews compares Sedaris with Thurber and Twain. I don't see much Twain but I can see something of the Thurber but removed from all groundings of the average american experience. Not that David doesn't share the things we all share but he unleashed himself from the stiff arm of convention at an early age and is more than content with the divergence. Excentricity is given high regard in our contemporary entertainers and David has ridden that elevator to the top and with good reason, I'd say, for the most part. He is insighful and terribly funny. He is most poignant when aiming a spear directly into himself. I love that he is never shy of his sexuality and its affects on his and Hugh's lives but never rises to the shrill of the loud and proud. I was given this book as a birthday gift from some friends who have prodded me for years to assemble my own storied life. I have to say I was inspired enough to start forming my first entry....more
As one of the books listed on my EW 50 classics of the past 25 years, I convinced myself to drag it in front of my eyes. My reluctance was twofold. FiAs one of the books listed on my EW 50 classics of the past 25 years, I convinced myself to drag it in front of my eyes. My reluctance was twofold. First, I'm primarily a fiction man and only venture the other path when it is an area of great interest. Second, it is not an area of great interest. I'm neither a dare devil nor one who pushes my body to phsical extremes. Heck, I don't push my body beyond a good walk on flat or mildly hilly ground. The last time I took a strenuous hike it was something like 5 miles round trip and I was glad as a gladiolla when it was over. That said, Jon tells a good story about his involvement, the participants involved and the history of Everest as well as the clan of kooks who traverse the globe seeking the highest vantage points. His indictment of the industry that has arisen to accomodate the large amounts of currency the deep pockets the privileged are willing to offer is a wonderful undercurrent as the story propels itself towards the ultimate calamity--under skilled and able encouraged to over climb their limits. I was especially moved by Jon's willingness to use his text as a confessional for his involvemant and failures contributing to the death of at least one participant. I think I understand the books mass apeal as Jon writes in an everyman discourse as easy to read as it would be difficult to climb the mountain. Still, I find it not to be a great work and certainly not a classic. Jon sits at base camp far below the great outdoor writers and writers in general without the lungs or vision to get anywhere near the top. ...more
Hawthorne is a great writer. That needs to be said at the get go as my three star rating is more in relation to how this sibling stands against its brHawthorne is a great writer. That needs to be said at the get go as my three star rating is more in relation to how this sibling stands against its brothers and sisters rather than those outside the family. The rating would be much higher if compared to the what the scribblers are publishing these days. Still, I was disappointed in the book overall and found some of the interior scenes or descriptions stretched to the point of tedium. At one juncture, Hawthorne spends ten pages to tell you a man has died by detailing, among other things, every place and function he will not be attending that day. Where I'm sure Hawthorne hoped to showcase his vast talents I was sadly reminded of what can happen to a writer if spends too much time alone amusing himself. The book only has a handful of participants yet not one of them ever reaches the stature of character but, instead, reamain a dazzling array of characteristics like ornaments on a Christmas tree. Perhaps he wanted us to focus less on the characters than their predicaments and destinies. Every so often, he found a spot to place one of his philosphical observations and when found they are refreshing pools on a steep hiking trail. It's the first book I've read in a while where I had a desire to highlight or dogear a page for later reference....more
I’m not really sure how Stormie became so successful in current Christian studies. I imagine the esteemed Reverend Jack, her co-author, is largely resI’m not really sure how Stormie became so successful in current Christian studies. I imagine the esteemed Reverend Jack, her co-author, is largely responsible. Stormie is not a skilled writer and whenever something was said that had weight, it came from Jack. My bible study friends continually praised it’s the book as we advanced in the study. I didn’t have the heart to ask them how something so remedial could stoke their spiritual fires. And yet, darned if it didn’t expand my prayer life. Each book God places in front of me is just the perfect rung to take the next step. Stormie posits the power of prayer over city, county, state, country and international events. I always suffer from a terrible sense of disconnect when asked to pray for, say, the economy or a flood in Thailand, hunger in Somalia or, even, the homeless in Salem. The book addresses just this and by using it as a tool along with my prayer warriors, I’ve taken huge steps forward. My first reaction was derision when Stormie talked about prayer groups she worked with in the Los Angeles area at the time of the Rodney King Riots. Her belief, backed by Mayor Bradlley, that the devastation would have been much worse if not for God’s response to massive prayer brought back memories of my own first hand view of the devastation and open hatred. I found myself back as a non-believer poo pooing the crazy religious nuts and their notions of God taking interest in human events. People did what they did and then stopped doing what they were doing because they got bored and what not. But I am not who I was and little by little, prayer by prayer I’ve learned to see how prayer does work. Why not go large? Why not pray for better health care and more jobs. Once you believe in prayer, it has no limits. I can thank Stormie for helping to nudge me along my way. ...more
Someday I'll check out another title from this Nobel author and hope that the experience is vastly different than Blindness. Maybe it's just me but a Someday I'll check out another title from this Nobel author and hope that the experience is vastly different than Blindness. Maybe it's just me but a 400 page dreary, ghastly, allegorical study as to how human nature reacts when deprived of its ability to control its envionment is a bit past the pull date. We know how they act, mostly shitty with a few touching heroics thrown in to remind us there is hope for our breed. The scene in the church where all of the statues are blindfolded gives you a hint to the subtety. I'll tell you this, as much of my reading time is during my lunch break, I had a hard time getting food down with desperate folk knawing on raw rabbits and rotting refuse. The strange thing is that Saramago uses a distant, clinical narrator almost as though you are medical students up in the balcony witnessing a horrific surgery gone wrong. It deprives you of any chance of real involvement with the human heart. I've fed off this bleak, postapocalyptic crap for too many years and, frankly, I'm fed up....more
The critics who lavished this book with praise should be sent back to the mail rooms where they belong. Everything I read inside the cover gave me theThe critics who lavished this book with praise should be sent back to the mail rooms where they belong. Everything I read inside the cover gave me the impression I was about to experience something wonderful. What I experienced was a weird amalgamation of a night flipping back and forth between CSI and a sappy movie on Lifetime. This is not The Awakening, nor To Kill a Mockingbird, nor The Bell Jar--all books it name drops for credibility. I don't like books that are written with a cause and, as much as sexual violence against women is appalling, it can't and shouldn't be expected to vault a book into literature on its own. I understand Sebold wrote an autobiographical non-fiction account of her own sexual assault prior to the publishing of The Lovely Bones. I don't see her as an artist so perhaps that is her proper field. Sebold has some skills, of course, and the affects of death on a family is a good subject area. It wasn't too hard to find where she had place her autobiographical center--a character who dedicates her life to journaling where similar victims have died or been severly beaten. The supernatural skill is hokey and two-dimensional. Finally, I have to leave with a jab at a vision of heaven where one can have everything they ever wanted in life and all without the interference with the presence of God. That ain't where I'm going, I can tell you that with absolute certainty. ...more
This is the same John Sayles the director. I saw the book at a book sale for under a dollar and decided I should give it a go just because I love his This is the same John Sayles the director. I saw the book at a book sale for under a dollar and decided I should give it a go just because I love his films but really sort of secretly hoped it wouldn't be very good just because I resent the renaissance types who excell in everything they do. Well, fuck me. It's great. I'd recently seen the Soderbergh 4 hour film exploration of Che where I had a chance to experience a particular view of the Cuban revolution. Los Gusanos (The Worms) is a cubistic view of Cuba from just prior to the revolution up to around 1990. The centerpiece is the Bay of Pigs disaster known to those involved as The Invasion. The structure is fragmented like a shattered mirror where all shards reflect towards that shameful event in American history. You meet Marta, the daughter of a former land owner, who lives in Miami in the present tense caring for her dying father and plotting to avenge the death of her poet brother who perished in the invasion. Her story drives the action forward but Sayles uses the back story of each character to create The Island and Miami in a tragic love triangle that will break your heart. Be warned, John doesn't pull any punches. This is a wonderfully observed but difficult read. The prison sequence was the best I've ever read. Don't stop making films, John, but keep the novels coming if you have any more like this one in you. ...more
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