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pontalba's 2013 reading list


pontalba

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I was really happy to have read Dangerous Liaisons with the Reading Circle this month.  I've posted my thoughts over there, so will only post a touch of my impressions here.

 

In the Introduction it is mentioned that it is thought this book helped spur the French Revolution and I can see why.  Although I find it difficult to believe that the sort of action that takes place in DL was unknown to the peasants, or lower classes.  After all, gossip had to be the main pleasures of their lives and what better to gossip about? :)  But one could suppose that, brought out into the open in this manner, it became more inflammatory.  Of course at that point, the indignant morality would kick in, and viola!, revolution. Oy.

 

The level of manipulation by several parties in the book, written in epistolary style between...what shall I call them?  Friends, lovers, past lovers...well take your choice. All of the above.  Well, anyhow the manipulation was amazing, and made more amazing to me by the apparent stupidity, er, innocence/nativity of the targets of said manipulation.

 

Of course everyone gets their so called comeuppance in the end, close attention given to toadying to the Church, and dying wishes being totally ignored.

 

Even though I certainly enjoyed the book, and would recommend it, highly, some parts were enough to gag me.

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Right, I've added Asset to my wishlist. All this talk has got me intrigued!

 

 

 

Damn added Asset to my wishlist  :doh:

My work is done! :cat:

 

Husband is reading it now, and absolutely loves it!

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Although I'd not seen the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, I none the less went into the book with certain high expectations. Some of said expectations were gained by osmosis through dribs and drabs I'd heard over the years, but some were only because of the fabulous Miss Maggie Smith's reputation and personal charisma. /sigh/ What a disappointment.


The book, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was a portrait of a self-centered, and sad woman attempting to mold young women, and only certain young women, to what she considered.......what? Her ideal? In her image? In what she wished she'd become? She seemed to choose girls that were not pretty, or were insecure, so therefore, susceptible to influence.  I have not had children, so I cannot speak from experience. However. If a child of mine had a teacher that flouted what I held dear, a teacher that bragged, yes bragged, of her love life to her, I'd be mighty upset. I'd be upset enough to raise Hades with everyone in sight.


A teacher that encouraged an extra-marital affair of one of her students is someone that should certainly not be in charge of young and pliable minds.

It came upon me slowly, I could hardly believe my eyes when I first read some of the things she spoke of to the girls. Had the woman no sense of privacy? No sense of the affect such telling would have upon the girls?


I understand she was terribly disappointed in life and fate that had been dealt her by Her Hugh having been killed in the War, but thousands of women face that very thing, so special or alone in that she was not.  I actually somehow doubted the truthfulness of those "Hugh" tales.
 

On top of all of that, I simply didn't like the style in which the prose was written. It seemed rather dry and unimaginative. So glad it was only a 130-odd pages. Sheesh.  I'm still trying to figure out why I gave it as high a rating (2.5/5) as I did.  The only reason I can come up with is that it really made me angry, so it must have had someting! :)

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Cronin's talent in developing characters and telling the story of The Summer Guest from many narrators point of view allows the reader to fully know and appreciate the depth of the story. A generational novel, it encompasses battles of WWII to Vietnam to the present day. This is not a war story, by a long shot though, those battles and wars are only the backdrop to the personal dramas and traumas of a family. War hero to deserter, father to son, the Maine woods to Manhattan....we live with each of their stories. Love of husband, wife, and child. The loss of same, learning to let go is all here.

I almost hated finishing, I wanted more of these people.
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Kate

Wow, just trying to read through some of the booklists on here to see what all everyone has been reading. You are on a roll,aren't you ? How many books are you up to so far this year ?

You are also lucky since you seem to have a nice wide variety of interests in books.

 

I really need to put the brakes on my book purchasing,and catch up with my book READING . I need to keep a notebook handy to jot down some of the books that people recommend,so I will know what to search for (LATER) .

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Oh, don't talk about putting the brakes and catching up!  :eek:  Not gonna happen in this house.  :P

 

I've just started my 20th book....Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter.  Of course that total doesn't count the 5 or 6 books I've started and put temporarily aside.  Like the book on William T. Sherman.  Every time I pick it up, I have to listen to the reasons why he was so put upon.  Hah.  Then I think about Sherman's March to the Sea.  grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 

Good idea about the notebook to put suggestions in.  I do try to keep at least a list of authors to look for at the Library Sale.  Only trouble is that in searching the Library Sale I rarely find those authors,  but manage to find many others! :giggle2:

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Kate

Yea, I think Sherman was a pretty sadistic person,to put it mildly .Seemed to  enjoy the job of destroying everything in site, people included .To think of all the historic plantations and possessions he destroyed is such a tragedy .

How was the book slanted ? Does it make him out to be a war hero, or because of some traumatic event in his life,he grew up to be so destructive ?

 

I havent read any books just on him,so dont know much about his background,other than he was from  Ohio I think,along with Grant . I'm sure Grant isn't very popular down there either ,but he at least seemed to be more compassionate in some ways. Not saying he was "kindly",by any stretch,but I think he felt compassion for the southerners and didn't enjoy the things he had to do in the name of War . I think he felt he had a job to do,which was win,so he was solely focused on that 

 

In pictures of Grant ,his eyes almost had a haunted look, I think due to the fact that he knew he took a major role in the war and so many boys on both sides died .

 

I don't think there is EVER a winning side to any war. When there's a war,everyone loses .

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Actually, Sherman had terrible bouts of depression throughout his life. I'm thinking he was actually manic/depressive, or bi-polar, but by now, no one knows to what degree.

 

Interestingly enough, he was at Louisiana State University when it first opened, just about the time the Civil War began.  He did, as you say, like Southerners quite a lot and spent the first part of the War very conflicted about fighting his friends.  I think that may be partially why he came down so hard, i.e. Sherman's March through Georgia, later in the War.  He felt he had to prove himself loyal to the Union, and not influenced by his former friends.

 

From a prior book I read I learned that Sherman actually wrote the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis et als a letter stating his intentions for the March.  IOW, his "scorched earth" policy.  He'd read of the ancient battles and types of warfare, and frankly, that was the most effective.  If the enemy has nowhere to turn, no way to get supplies, he cannot survive.

Now, how anyone can take such a hard hearted path is beyond me.  And Davis et als didn't believe Sherman would do it either.  But he did, and probably shortened the War in actuality. 

 

As far as Grant is concerned, he was evidently an alcoholic and Sherman shielded him as Grant had previously shielded him when he had the depressive bouts.  Which, btw, were serious enough to warrant his dismissal.  But his wife's family had political pull, so.....the rest is history.

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Wow Kate

 I didnt realize that Sherman actually had a mental illness. Too bad they didnt know as much about those things durng that time. or he may have never served in that capacity . I doubt they'd want someone with those sick-minded thoughts controlling their decions in battle .

 

I didnt know he attended part of his schooling down there . I cannot imagine being friends with the people you later destroy . Odd that he'd send a letter to Davis,telling him what he had planned .

There have been lots of rumors about Grant and his drinking.  I don't know if he would have been termed a raging alcoholic by today's standards. The books I've read make him sound kinda like a "functioning" alcoholic. In other words, he could go for considerable time without drinking a drop,but when he drank, he drank WAY to excess.

He had lots of pressure on him as a kid. He never quite lived up to his father's standards,and no matter what he did in life, his dad constantly berated him and never being proud if his son for anything he accomplished .He also married way "above" his station in life,moneywise, I guess you'd say. His wife was from a wealthier family who demanded all the best ,and she was the one who pushed him into running for president. I dont think he had any interest in it at all,but he was always striving to make her happy too.

His book was so interesting,as he took great notes all thoughout life and had such a good memory. Sadly he made a lousy president who had so many people taking advantage of him and his position to get THEMSELVES further in life.

He died feeling like pretty much of a failure . I've always been fascinated by Grant. such an interesting character .I  could study his pictures for hours. His eyes look like they have seen too much carnage,too much failure and so much sadness behind them .

 

I've never read a book about Lee. He looked like a wonderful leader.So smart,well educated on the art of war,mannerly to a fault ,kind and considerate  .A real gentleman. I dont know a lot about him,but just guessing, it seemed he probably had the exact opposite life of Grant. Was he from a wealthy family ? Did he come from a good home with a good family who were proud of him ? He was so handsome,where Grant was ORDINARY . They seem like such polar opposites . I guess I should read more about Lee to see if my guesses are correct or not .

 

 

So,it's a sad part of our nation's history ,the whole Civil War ..So many friends and families, who fought against each other on opposite sides. It's a miracle that we were able to come back together as a country afterwards .

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Sherman didn't attend LSU, he was a professor here.  I think, even head of the school. 

I don't know much about Lee, he was a gentleman, and a pretty good strategist, but that's about it.  Up till the last few years I wasn't much interested in the Civil War history, aka The Northern War of Aggression....... :P   So, I'm in catch-up phase.

 

That's interesting about Grant, I didn't realize he was held in such low esteem.  I have read that Sherman said that since Grant had defended him when he was down, he'd always defend Grant when he was being attacked regarding his drinking.  And he did.

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The Civil War has always been one of the most fascinating times in history to me, so I've read several books about it,but am no way even NEARLY as knowledgeable as I should be . I like reading about Grant,mainly because he was an ordinary old person,who got himself into a very high position in history . I think it even surprised him that he got to the place he did in life.

He wrote his own life story at the very end of his life. He was destitute, living in someone else's borrowed home ( sorry,can't remember whose,but it was someone well known who was a friend).

He was dying of throat cancer from smoking all the cigars he had. He says in the book he was not much of a smoker,but he had the one photo taken of him near his tent,with a cigar in his mouth,so he said ever since then,people had sent his tons of boxes of cigars,so he smoked them.He knew that it was what caused his cancer,and that they couldnt operate on him to save him. He wrote his memoirs to make a little money so his wife wasnt left completely destitue after his death . I "think" ? maybe MarkTwain was the one who suggested he do it,. I've read them twice. He goes into such detail about his life from the beginning onwards. He admits to being a poor student ( if I recall, he was the lowest-scoring graduate of West Point, and Lee was the highest .)

In fact,Grant seemed to be only good at the care of the horses at West Point. He seemed to havea magical ability with them,so they assigned him that task. When the Mexican War came along, he was put into the cavalry,caring for the horses used in the battles.

He loved studying the strategies of War,the game plans, so to speak. Looking at the maps, figuring out where best to go on attack,etc .

He admits in his book that he had NO interest in being in the public limelight once the war ended,but his wife Julia pushed --she sounded like maybe a bit snooty -- I have yet to read her book,but have been meaning to .

He admits that he was lousy at leading the country, lousy at all the wheeling and dealing a president needs to do. Back then, the president could just pick and choose anyone who ASKED for a job ,and he seemed to pick and choose everyone who was a bad choice. They cheated him, lied to him,etc,and therefore, he lost everything .

He's just a facinating person to see where he came from, where he got to, and how none of it mattered in the end for him .

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I really need to catch up on my Civil War history.  I'm very spotty in knowledge and have no real good timeline for the battles.  That's what I need to do really, organize myself.  hah :roll:

 

Interesting about Grant's writing.  Sherman was a dedicated diary keeper himself.  The bio I'm reading is taken directly from those diaries and his thousands of letters as well.

 

But, right now I'm reading Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter.  A ship load of people aboard a ratty ship leaving Veracruz going to Bremerhaven, Germany in August of 1931.  I don't know if you remember the film made back in the '60's with Vivian Leigh and Oskar Werner.  There are Germans, gypsies, Jews and an assorted bunch headed for Hitler's Germany.  As I recall the film, they wanted to let some persons off before Germany, so they would not be hauled away to camps, etc.  With no success, everyone ended up in Germany anyhow.

 

That is based on real life incidents.  Ship loads of people at risk from the Nazis were turned away from all ports.  Horrible.  No one would take them.  :(

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Yes, I've heard of the book,but not the movie. I'd greatly lacking in movie knowledge . I've never been a movie watcher ,even as a kid . I used to like comedies back when I was younger ,but most of them now are probably geared more towards the younger group . I liked the days of Bill Murray , Chevy Chase.Rodney Dangerfield,John Candy ,Dan Ackroyd ,and a couple with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor . None of them had any merit as meaningful films ,although the Planes Trains and automobiles ones kinda had a message I guess ...

Anyhow, I'd definitely heard of Ship of Fools as a book .Sounds like an interesting story,but very sad,that people wanted off the ship before hitting Germany and thaqt's right where they put them all . Not a good "vacation " destination in those years !  :(

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  • 2 weeks later...

As I posted on the other thread, I've consigned Ship of Fools to the bleech pile, not to be finished in the forseeable future.  I'm about 44% in, but can't take it anymore.  Uninteresting characters, being sleezy, and boring sleezy to boot. :negative:  So, that's that.

 

I'll get to Wolf Hall for the group, not next I need something lighter, but after the next one. :)

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Peacefield had queried the "meaning" of the film The Master on the film thread. I thought I'd post my answer/thoughts over here, just to keep track of it. It was an interesting and disturbing film.

 

My husband and I saw The Master at the theatre a while back. I haven't seen much of Phoenix, but read about his performance and how he had truly pulled off a masterpiece of acting. Well, it was all true, the way he took on the physical aspects of the character was absolutely amazing to me. No, it wasn't much of a stretch, in a way for Hoffman, but man, he was good. :)

 

Well. As to the point or meaning of the film, I thought Hoffman took Phoenix's unformed character. He was rather a thuggish sort I thought, and gave him focus. At the end when Phoenix had left Hoffman's "organization" (which I thought was a total rip-off of Scientology) he was a different man. Phoenix became a hustler/confidence man like Hoffman was in the film. The scene at the end of the film, when Phoenix was in bed with the girl.........he was totally spinning a tale for her, with much the same "aura" that Hoffman had in the beginning of their association.

 

So for me the meaning was Phoenix's morphing into a focused sort of confidence man. Becoming Hoffman's character in a large way. So, the con continues.

 

And, btw, I'd actually like to see it again, and so would husband.

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Wow, Kate

Sounds as if Ship of Fools was definitely a fish that needed thrown back in the water -- sounds like it was pretty lousy . I don

t like SLEEZE in my books either ,so boring on topof sleeze is definitely reason for tossing it out .

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Wow, Kate

Sounds as if Ship of Fools was definitely a fish that needed thrown back in the water -- sounds like it was pretty lousy . I don

t like SLEEZE in my books either ,so boring on topof sleeze is definitely reason for tossing it out .

LOL  yeah, I kept trying, but there was nothing to hang onto, finally, in the end.  Shoot.  I suppose one simply has to admit defeat.

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I've finished the two books based on the old Dark Shadows gothic soap opera that was on television here in the States back in the mid-1960's. 

They are Dark Shadows: The Salem Branch and Dark Shadows: Angelique's Descent by Lara Parker.  Parker was, in fact, the actress that played Angelique in the original series.

These books have nothing to do with, or in common with the Johnny Depp film that came out last year.

 

By accident I read them in reverse order, Salem first, then Descent.   I found Angelique's Descent far more interesting as it detailed the How and even more importantly the Why she became the Witch (literally) she did and her reasons for the mayhem she caused to the male protagonist, Barnabas Collins.  It details her life and background in Martinique with rich descriptions of the island life in the 18th Century.  Parker was the perfect one to write such a book, obviously she gave a lot of thought over the years to Angelique's motivations that occured before the tv series took place. 

 

The Salem Branch gave some resolution to the series, but there is one more to come out later this year.  The prose is not the smoothest, or the most well written, and can be almost sophamoric at times, but the story, to a fan of the old series, is interesting.

 

Recommended to fans of the tv series, for the most part. Or, perhaps to vampire/witch tellings.

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