pontalba

Our accidental book buying at Barnes & Noble brought us: Travelling the Silk Road, Ancient Pathway to the Modern World by Mark Norell, et als 11/22/63 by Stephen King Virtual History, What could have been, edited by Niall Ferguson The soup and sandwich was good too.

I don't have a clue as to what the solution is, as far as I can tell, there is no practical one available. On one hand, it doesn't seem fair that medicines should cost so much, or that hospitals and doctor visits should be so out of reach for some. It is a terrible thing that people die and/or suffer simply because they don't have the money, or insurance, or money to have insurance. Of course reasearch is horrendously expensive, but should it be? Should drug companies be allowed such huge profits? OTOH, we have a free system that allows such profits. I have no argument with that, we need the free enterprise system. Who should have control over such things? and how could it be accomplished in a fair and humane manner? As the King of Siam would say....." 'Tis a puzzlement...".

Mostly either oatmeal toast or an english muffin with butter and peanutbutter on it, along with hot tea. Sometimes though it is weetabix biscuit with cream cheese rather thickly spread. Always tea. Occasionally oatmeal with butter and salt, or poached eggs on toast.

Wait! How many versions of The Thing are there?? I know of 2...the original with James Arness [of Gunsmoke fame] and the remake with, I think Kurt Russell?? The original was truly.....let's just say "camp". Sort of like The Crawling Eye.....does anyone know of that one?

I am one that looked down my nose at the Kindle in the beginning. What!? A machine to read a Book?, I don't think so pal! And...buy one with adverts? Hah, not likely. I have eaten my words with appropriate seasoning. I have the Kindle with adverts, hardly noticed, and occasionally even informative. I've even doubled up on 2 books so far. 1Q84 and Reamde. Both thousand pagers that were simply too heavy and awkward to bring out to read. Yes, they were too expensive in the Kindle form IMO, but still worth it to my wrists. The other 70-odd books I have on my Kindle are mostly of the .99 cent to 2.99 USD variety. I still miss being able to flip back pages to check out a name or incident, but can live with that with a limited number of books.

Phew!

Glad you mentioned this one, I'd completely forgotten about it! Read it a few months ago. Loved it.

I meant to remark on this one as well Abcinthia. Have you read 2666 by Bolano? It covers the killings, in a different manner, and they are only part of it. I gave up on it after 500 pages. The Dead Women of Juarez sounds as though it gives the respect to the dead that they deserve. 2666 did not as far as I was concerned.

That site has lots of pretty pictures! I do love shoes! And purses. And scarves. And shawls. And hats! I have three large drawers in the closet of cotton shawls, then there are the winter ones elsewhere..... Thing is, any simple outfit, slacks and a blouse can be changed drastically by scarves/shawls.....I love it! My husband simply groans when we pass a purse display. But at least we are the same when it comes to buying Books. Our priorities are straight! hee hee

Can't say she occurred to me. Certainly not the physical type, and a lot of Scarlett is centered on her physical appearance. But then Vivian Leigh was the epitome of Scarlett.

There are loads for sale on Amazon U.S today as well. Some good stuff. I was good, only bought 6.

Wonderful and varied list Abcinthia! Your reviews have peaked my interest in Chocolat and Still Life, and yes, Brother Grimm as well. I'd wondered about Chocolat, but couldn't make up my mind, you have. Thanks!

I'm also reading 1Q84, and enjoying it, about a third of the way through at present. For some reason, it seems to be one of those books that while I am reading, I don't want to put it down, but procrastinate picking up again. Odd.

I loved the original True Grit as well, but lets face it. That film was a John Wayne Production....don't get me wrong, The Duke was, well, The Duke, and that was ok with me. But the remake was wonderful I thought, and followed the film very closely. OTOH, I can't imagine anyone I've seen today doing a "better" (or frankly, even semi-equal to) Scarlett O'Hara than Vivian Leigh......but if she could be found, they'd have to do a mini-series. I loved the film, and it was fairly accurate, as far as it went, but out of time necessity, left out soooo many details. But I have to suppose that, in a way, it's an ego thing. We, who have seen and loved "originals" think that the new generations cannot possibly re-do, re-make, a product any better than the ones of our contemporaries. Well, it ain't true, it can be done. More's the pity it isn't successful more of the time. Agreed, I've only seen the adverts for the new one, and I can tell from that, it is truly a desecration. True, and one of the examples of a remake above, Casino Royale is an example of a successful updating. Not of the film with Peter Sellers, that was only a parody of the book. But the new version of CR film was a great updating of the book. The "story proper" was kept, but the technology was updated to today's level. It was well done I thought. This thread, and the above posts remind me not only of remakes of films/books, but what about actors taking a role...I.e. the James Bond acting franchise. When I saw that a Blond was taking the place of all the brunettes prior, I was aghast! Ye Gods, what were they thinking! /sigh/ I was a Sean Connery gal, all the way. But. This guy, Daniel Craig is Good. He has made it his own in a way that the in-between guys had not. So, successful replacement accomplished.

That is what is so interesting about Berlin 1961. The reader feels like a fly on the wall, so to speak. Yes, RFK would have been most interesting I think. So many books, so little time!

Me too. BTW, I've ordered the book that is the subject of the thread. I don't know too much about Bobby, and am eager to learn more. My husband has said Bobby was the one with the brains of the family. Not that Jack wasn't smart, he was, but in different ways. I'm only about halfway through Berlin 1961, but it seems to me that if there had been better communication, and if JFK had better advisors, that whole mess could have been avoided. Of course hind sight is 20/20.

Please! Too careful isn't always a good thing either. I admit, that incident is something that has been in my craw for years, but I certainly didn't mean for you not to mention it. Discussion is the heart of life, if we don't discuss and air our differences......Without Acrimony!.....nothing would be solved in this life. That said, boards/forums are not the place for that, at least not a friendly one like this...so much can get lost in translation, so to speak. Our facial expressions, intonation, so forth temper our speech. T'ain't easy! And politics! Feh!

I read it many years ago, and loved it. At the time I didn't realize it was part of a trilogy though. Fire From Heaven, first and Funeral Games last.

I can fully agree with your belief/reasoning regarding non discussion of anything of the political arena! It is the wise course. It was only your mention of Chappaquiddick that dusted off my memory banks. And yes, everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinions, and should respect others as well. We're all different, that is what makes it all so interesting.

We'd bought a Kobo a while back, but then Borders went kaput, and the customer service had gone kaput before that even! It's a shame, but we've basically scrapped that one. However, we then decided to go with two Kindles. Marvelous! Bought the ones with the adverts, which don't intrude a bit, contrary to my fears. The main fuss I have is finding a certain item once past that page. In my books, I can visualize where a certain name, or phrase is on the page, and can flip accordingly. Not so easy to find an ambiguous thought on the Kindle. But that is something that can certainly be lived with. Over all, I love having the Kindle, and read on it, not all the time, but in long spurts. Twice now, I've downloaded huge tomes, 1Q84 and Reamde, that I already have the hard copy of, but don't feel like schlepping around to Starbucks, etc. It's fairly easy to find the corresponding place in book and Kindle. So, I'm a happy camper!

In view of the Chappaquiddick incident, Kopechne's death, and his behavior afterwards, I cannot bring myself to feel sympathy for Ted Kennedy. It should matter to us, as it tells of his true character.

Excellent review Milo. Given your interest in U.S. politics, you might be interested in reading Berlin 1961 by Frederick Kempe. Kennedy and Khrushchev. It makes understanding what happened, and why, easier. I'm presently about half way though.

What about something like this? http://www.amazon.com/Prime-Pacific-Trading-Company-I'm-306DB/dp/B0042D7RY8 Could it be an option? Kell is right, it isn't fair at all to take your stove away, and you should be refunded some rent. If the landlord isn't providing what the lease calls for you have recourse.

For a great western series, I'd recommend The Sacketts by Louis L'Amour...it's 18 or 19 books.

Raven, Thanks for the recommendation of The Death of Grass, by John Christopher. I was able to find a copy on ABE books for a reasonable price. This was an excellent thread, I enjoyed reading it. The Day of the Triffids was really the first Post Apocalyptic book I read, back around 1960. Of course I was only 10 at the time. It has remained one of my favorite genres. I've read it innumerable times over the years, it's like an old friend. Regarding some of the questions, just a few thoughts.....Bill was really my favorite character, his honesty and sweetness really impressed me. I think for the times, the women were represented accurately. As has been mentioned Bill and Josella were like minded people, and in any time would probably have been friends at the least. If he could have gotten past her breezy facade. At least that was the impression I had of her. The catastrophe certainly broke down barriers of that sort. I do not think the blind are helpless by any means.....but given the situation, the suddeness of complete breakdown of all normal public services (for example), there wasn't much chance to train people that had been living a sighted life the skills in which a blind person must be proficient. I've seen the BBC version, the older one...I think 1981, and enjoyed it, thought it was fairly close to the book. I have a couple other Wyndham books on the TBR shelf.