pontalba

Yup, Secret Scriptures was the first by Barry that I read. LOL, I need to remind myself of the same thing! Mind like a sieve.

/sigh/ When someone feels their losses have been minimized, they will react. Yes, emotionally. It's natural progression. Some topics are simply emotional. Lets leave it at that.

Ahh, the nail on the head! Exactly. Although, I must admit to enjoying a good discussion. Unfortunately, when people have points of conflict, there can be misunderstandings that lead to more misunderstandings that lead to unpleasant and hurt feelings. One trouble with online conversations is that we cannot see the other posters face to read their facial expressions and get their body language. What comes across as combative could possibly be softened or even negated by our physical expressions, and reverse meanings to some extent. Smilies and explanations can only go so far, and we end up digging ourselves into an ever deepening hole. So, back on to the topic of the book itself........someone above said they thought it was more a story about how people get along in such circumstances. But it seems to me to be, in the final analysis, a love story. Dwight's love for his wife, battling his burgeoning affection/love for Moira. Moira's love for Dwight. Peter and Mary's love and sacrifice for each other.

That's a good way too. I have to say that I actually read 500 pages into 2666, and finally couldn't stand it anymore. Haven't finished it yet, and it's unlikely I ever will.

Our country was not invaded, but how many thousands of our men were killed. America sent men, money and machines in both directions. A generation of young men were lost, not to give short shrift to the women that served. That was our effect.

Well, I finally ordered the latest season/series of Sherlock. We watched the first episode the other night, and I have to say I was disappointed in it. I absolutely hate the prankishness of this Holmes, and consider it so far out of character as to be a killer of the series for me. I haven't read this thread on account of spoilers, so can anyone tell me if it improves, or does this nonsense continue? I really, really wanted to love this, but just can't. Much to my consternation, husband fell sound asleep during the showing, several times. He later said he found it boring, with no plot developments happening. I have to agree with him. The leaps were too much, no filler, IMO.

Bolding above, mine. I like this, and fully believe it is true. If a person is not taught the difference between right and wrong, they'll never have the basis for deciding for themselves, later in life. As I've stated before, I've only read the last book, and didn't think much of it. Whether or not it is fair to judge a series by the last one is debatable, however it did not move me to read the other six that are sitting on my shelf at this moment. I can usually tell in the first several pages if I'll like a book or not, like the style of the author or not, or like the story. I've bulled my way through books, many a time, and in the final analysis, have regretted it. I hardly ever do it now. If it doesn't gel by say the first few chapters or so, or on occasion a few pages, I ditch it. There is a great test...........the page 69 test. If you read the first page, and page 69, and still think it's ok, it probably is.

His description of the war did rather sound like a Monty Python routine. Re the post war years.....business was booming over here. Suburbs were being built at a rapid rate. They couldn't build 'em fast enough for the families that were forming and re-forming when the soldiers came home from the European and Pacific Theatres. As Paul said, the European/British experience was quite different. I have known many ex-pat Brits over here that had stories of the privation they suffered in those post war years.

Right, I'm not sure, but I think it might have been as late as the 1980's before I heard of it in fiction. Maybe the late '70's.

Unfortunately, we can't cancel our landline. Reception out here is not totally dependable in an emergency. So, we keep it for the time being.

AT&T, American Telephone & Telegraph Co. /aka/ the Evil Empire and I had a bit of a run in this week. The battery on my iphone 4 gave out, and apparently (stupidly) it is cheaper ( I know, by design) to purchase a new phone than a new battery. So, I upgraded a bit and popped for the iphone 4S...it's the same size and fits the neat cover I have, an Andy Warhol creation. Ok. Get home, plug the phone in, and next a.m., put the phone in my purse and go. Well, by the next day it was D-E-A-D! I called AT&T, a monumental chore in itself. Found a setting that could have caused it, changed the setting and it all seemed ok. HAH! Next day, the phone was at ZERO battery again. We were already out, so stopped at the AT&T store............they told me that I'd have to travel across the lake to the nearest Apple store and have the battery replaced (true, at no cost except an hours travelling!). I. Was. Very. Annoyed. Went around the merry-go-round with salesman #1 for a bit, who was quite firm in stating that AT&T could not possibly replace the phone, they were not allowed by Apple to do that. He also said that one day's charge was pretty normal. Then I saw the original salesman that had sold us the phone. I strode the length of the store, holding up the offending phone and said in a rather loud voice that this faulty phone that I was sold yesterday..............Well, they couldn't wait to replace the phone right then and there for me. Miraculous, wasn't it? Now I only hope they don't charge me for both phones .....I'm watching them! And ready to do battle. Again.

Not much reading going on here, I've started several, and not continued seriously any of them. I'd thought our Library Sale was this weekend, but it wasn't. It won't happen till weekend after next. Skipping for the Easter weekend. Really, don't they know that the bibliophiles of the area are simply being ignored?? It was kind of amusing though. We walked into the Hall where the sale is held, and wondered at how empty the place was. A little man came out of waaaaay in the back and rather gruffly asked if we were looking for anything in particular. I said, no, just mucking about. Well! He said, I'm getting ready to leave, so......... Then he said they were not really open, he'd just come in to do some work. I suggested he lock the door if he didn't want people in there. Nicely, though.

CG, I think it's easy to look back on history, and say with great certainty......this is what (fill in the blank) it meant. Whether or not that person's view is true or not is a whole 'nother ball of wax. And one person, or one group's opinion isn't necessarily so. In the eye of the beholder, and all of that, I think. I can see that the rise of nuclear capability would cause an equal rising of worry about the outcome of that increased capability. Paul, I remember well, the scares, and scariness of "the bomb" and what would happen. I also remember the ideas put out by the media that "we" should definitely have more bombs than "they" did. I'm glad you brought up the idea of Nuclear Winter. Naturally, I'd heard of it, and read fictional stories of it's effects. I didn't know when the idea of it first surfaced. Well, wiki to the rescue. Apparently it was first put out in 1957. (hah!) Here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_winter#History I wonder if Shute knew anything about this.

I've never gravitated to "funny' books, not sure why. The only vaguely funny book I can think of that I have read is Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck. And that was more a nostalgic funny......not lol funny. Added in Edit: And then, only if you are "of an age" to have "been there, and done that".

Thanks! Thanks, I read the series, years ago. Up to a point, didn't finish the entire series. It finally became too over the top for me. I think I read the first three, possibly four.

CG, I've read some of MacDonald, and liked them, and I'm pretty sure that husband has read them all. I'm not that fond of light fantasy, or any fantasy to tell the truth. Finished I Am Livia and A Long Long Way. Wow. Not sure what is next.

LOL I like both of the above approaches. Both work for me! We have it and have simply sat down and read, and then on occasion dip in and out. Amazon must love the danged thing. Oy

I Am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith 3.5/5 Like the author, I read and saw (and was fascinated by) Robert Graves rendition of Livia in I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Graves, along with some historians, completely excoriated the third wife of Caesar Augustus. The contemporaneous historians went through a bit of a "he said, she said" routine and your view of Livia depends on which one you believe. But it must be considered what each historian had to gain or lose by his comments. And, it must be remembered how women were viewed, and treated in that time frame. Smith writes from Livia's point of view and while we can believe that Livia may not be an entirely reliable narrator, I did see that at the least the fiction fit the facts known. I enjoyed reading about Livia's young life but was a little disappointed that the book didn't cover more of her married life. It ends with Octavian's return from Egypt after Antony and Cleopatra's defeat and death(s). I didn't round up to a 4/5 mostly because of a certain flatness to the prose. I'm not convinced this is due to Livia's personality. It won't keep me from reading more of this author. I enjoy her slant on things.

You make both sound interesting. I hadn't heard of either author before. Thanks.

Thanks, Athena. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry 5/5 When War came and Belgium was invaded by the Germans in 1914, the call came to defend and protect Home. The young men, cream of the crop, came by the thousands to populate the trenches. p.14 "Willie Dunne was not the only one. Why, he read in the newspaper that men who spoke only Gallic came down to the lowlands of Scotland to enlist, men of the Aran Islands that spoke only their native Irish rowed over to Galway. Public schoolboys from Winchester and Marlborough, boys of the Catholic University School and Belvedere and Blackrock College in Dublin. High-toned critics of Home Rule from the rainy Ulster counties, and Catholic men of the South alarmed for Belgian nun and child." A Long Long Way tells the story of these men through the life of Willie Dunne, a lovely Irish lad with high hopes. Sebastian Barry's steady, lyrical prose explicitly tells the horrifying story of trench warfare, the mud, blood and excrement. But with moments of such love and caring and unconscious heroism that the reader is compelled to continue, even though difficult. This book should be required reading for any person that thinks war is the answer to anything. The technology doesn't matter, it's all the same death to the grunt in the field. Highly Recommended.

Me too. I only remembered the San Francisco scene. Nothing else. It's well worth a re-visit. Superior acting.

Just ran across this again, and wanted to save it somewhere. By: Martin Niemoller First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

Yesterday we watched On the Beach (1959) with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner.

THIS POST HAS SPOILERS FOR THE FILM, ON THE BEACH...........IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCES, DON'T READ THIS POST! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The major difference from book to film was the supposed consummation of the relationship between Dwight and Moira. In the book, there was no physical intimacy aside from one kiss. In the film nothing beyond embraces and some great kissing is shown, but the intimacy is definitely suggested. The director, Stanley Kramer handled this in an interesting manner. At first he has Dwight acting as he does in the book. Loyal to his (obviously deceased) wife and talking about his family as though they are alive. Then on the submarine's trip North, and on the way back visiting San Francisco (instead of as in the book, Washington) he gazes through the periscope at all angles, taking in the desolation. The viewer can tell from Dwight's face that the true realization of the death and destruction has hit home, and he is accepting the realization and truth of what has happened, including the death of his family. The scene is beautifully done, with great discretion and beauty. Apparently Peck argued against this change but was overruled by Kramer. Here is an interesting link, an offshoot of one of the above links. They are portions of Ava Gardner's bio, with quoted from Gardner and Peck, both. http://www.nevilshute.org/Reviews/gardner.php

Thanks, Julie. It's one of the May Reading Circle choices, btw. And, in other news, as reported on the On the Beach thread in the RC, we watched the film of On the Beach. Really, really, really good. All the actors were perfect for their roles. Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, and Fred Astaire in his first dramatic role. He was fabulous. It stuck very closely to the book, ditching details, of course.....par for the course. And one other change that the director thought the public couldn't live without. But it was explained in an interesting way. So, it's ok with me.