pontalba Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 I suppose this is the proper time to confess. /blushing/. I have (re)ordered the kindle copy of the new Gabaldon book. /hiding/. Only the e-book though. I will find the hardback in a used venue. No use in biting my nose off to spite my face. /sigh/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Shelf awareness Comp to get signed Gabaldon book. /screaming/. Lololol. Done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 /screaming/. Lololol. Done! Hee hee. Fingers crossed ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I hope you enjoy the book when it comes out, Kate ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 Thanks, Gaia. Flags in the Dust by William Faulkner 5/5++This restored version is from the original manuscript and writings of Faulkner, and is the original version of the much truncated novel Sartoris that was published in 1929. That publisher drastically cut Faulkner's book, saying it was six stories and was too complicated. What an outrage.Every Faulkner I read simply blows me away with the lyrical quality of his prose. His insight into the workings of the Southern soul is as accurate as an arrow hitting it's bull's-eye, and as kind as a Mother's arms.The Sartoris family of Yoknapatawpha County is one of the oldest and best regarded families in the area. This is really the story of the dissolution of a family, and the effects of War in general on impressionable and vulnerable young men. World War I in this case. But the effects of the American Civil War are still felt strongly and affect the dealings and treatment of all involved. Although written in the late 1920's, we also see evidence of the beginning of dissatisfaction with the status quo among the younger black men.We have a family friend that reads History. But only contemporaneous tellings are good enough. He says that the later tellings of the events are usually colored by those politically correct wishful thinkers, and of course the winners. While not exactly "history", Faulkner's stories are contemporaneously told, and tell the story as it was then. Not as we wish it could have been, or even should have been, but accurately. Whether it is pretty or not, the story is told. With truth, with honor, and dishonor. It is all told.Highly Recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 Wow, that is a strong endorsement of Faulkner. You convinced me and I will reading a couple of his after I finish Mr. Mercedes. I will actually start with Flags in the Dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 Wow, that is a strong endorsement of Faulkner. You convinced me and I will reading a couple of his after I finish Mr. Mercedes. I will actually start with Flags in the Dust. Thank you, muggle! I so much hope you love it as I did! . Can't wait to hear your opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I agree! I like Faulkner and can't wait to read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 I agree! I like Faulkner and can't wait to read it. Thanks! I've only discovered Faulkner in the last six or seven years. Stupidly, I had a sort of mental block about a Southern authors. No more!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) Thank you, muggle! I so much hope you love it as I did! . Can't wait to hear your opinion. I bought the kindle edition of Flags in the Dust today for $2.99. At checkout Amazon gave me a $2.99 promotion credit resulting in getting it free. It will be next on my reading list after Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. For some odd reason I don't recall ever reading Faulkner. The library has Sound and Fury in kindle format so I can also get it free. Edited June 12, 2014 by muggle not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 The Sound and the Fury is hard. It took me three starts to finally get through that first part. And I still haven't finished As I Lay Dying. The first Faulkner I read was Absalom, Absalom!. I loved it. The Unvanquished takes place around the Civil War and is about the same Sartoris family that is chronicled in Flags in the Dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Ok Kate ! I'm caught up on your thread ,but have no clue where to start to comment. You have read so many books already ! Wow ... How is your back doing now ? Giving you any more trouble or behaving itself now ? And did you get to Dogtown yet ? I remember a few of us discussing it several months back . I should hunt up the Diamant one sometime myself . It sounds like Faulkner has hit home run with you in pretty much every book . Can I ask ( a couple pages back ) ,you mentioned having some type of issues with Southern Lit .. Can I ask why ? Do you feel that most of them portray Southerners In a negative way ? I've never found that myself . I've loved every southern book I've read, ( other than Erskine Caldwell... ) -- Tobacco Road ? I'd like to slap the crap out of everyone in that book . **Sorry if anyone reading this happens to like it ! ** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 LOl, Julie! No, I can't explain my early distaste for Southern Writers. It doesn't make a lick of sense. And, I'm rather happy I've gotten over it. Haven't read Dogtown yet. Def on the list. In fact I have converted the shelves on the Buffet that used to hold my teapot collection, and it is now our TBR shelf(ves). I haven't read Tobacco Road, although I think I have it around here. I'm so glad you are back here!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks Kate I'm glad to be back too. Gives me something else to think about if I have others on here to yak with . I like your idea of making a special TBR shelf . That way you sorta have a look at what is coming up next . As fast as you read them, they will change shelves faster than a public library shelf would I bet ! I'm glad you are enjoying southern writers now . Did I ever tell you that I used to lead a group on AOL about 15 years ago CALLED Southern Writers ? That was back in the day when AOL had a really nice book club area. I think it all fell apart a long while ago though ... We had so much fun in that group with live chats on Sunday nights . Everyone was SO friendly ,and the weird thing was, I was the only one who WASN'T from the south ! I made a really good friend on there from a town called Alabaster, Alabama .. Ever hear of it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 I haven't been adding our new/used purchases, thought I'd catch up some. Well, to begin with, the one I am presently reading now, The First Man of Rome by Colleen McCullough. Just today the second in the series came, a beautiful first edition, used...of course. The Grass Crown. I already had the next 4 in the series. Also today came The Last Ship by William Brinkley. We saw it the other day in Barnes & Noble, but first of all it was bent and a bit damaged, and secondly.......Full Price. So when we got home Amazon came through. It sounds a bit along the lines of On the Beach. So, now for the backlog. A Coney Island of the Mind: Poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti The Map Their: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare Map Dealer Who Made Millions by Michael Blanding A Devil is Waiting by Jack Higgins The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe The Face-Changers: A Jane Whitefield novel by Thomas Perry The October Horse by Coleen McCullough Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh (already read, review above) Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture by Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd Dead Beat and Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher (these are paperbacks, the other Dresden File books I have are e-books) A Treacherous Paradise by Henning Mankell (NOT a Wallander) Dance for the Dead, A Jane Whitefield novel by Thomas Perry A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler The Duel, The Parallel Lives of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton by Judith St. George Fallen Founder, the Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg The Son by Jo Nesbo That is most of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 Thanks Kate I'm glad to be back too. Gives me something else to think about if I have others on here to yak with . I like your idea of making a special TBR shelf . That way you sorta have a look at what is coming up next . As fast as you read them, they will change shelves faster than a public library shelf would I bet ! I'm glad you are enjoying southern writers now . Did I ever tell you that I used to lead a group on AOL about 15 years ago CALLED Southern Writers ? That was back in the day when AOL had a really nice book club area. I think it all fell apart a long while ago though ... We had so much fun in that group with live chats on Sunday nights . Everyone was SO friendly ,and the weird thing was, I was the only one who WASN'T from the south ! I made a really good friend on there from a town called Alabaster, Alabama .. Ever hear of it ? Hey! Nope, haven't heard of Alabaster, Alabama. Lemme take a look-see on the map.........Oh, ok. Looks to be a little south of Birmingham. I bet those get togethers were fun! What all did y'all discuss? Do you remember some of the books? I didn't get online till 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 (edited) As I remember , the very first book we discussed was Early From the Dance by David Payne ... I think we read Ruin Creek when it came out by him also ( both EXCELLENT .) I don't remember if we read all these in the group or not, but below are some more of my favorites. some I know we read, others, I can't remember ) We of course read Capote --- his Other Voices, Other Rooms, I think ... We read Thomas Wolfe -- I didn't care as much for him ... ( A Man in Full ) Richard Marius -- Pat Conroy - one of my all time favorites . Lewis Grizzard John Gregory Brown -- Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery What the Deaf Mute Heard - Gearino Raney , Walking Across Egypt - Clyde Edgerton Reynolds Price -- Kate Vaiden , Roxanna Slade , Blue Calhoun ( TERRIFIC writer and C U T E ) Anne Rivers Siddons -- I think it was Peachtree Road ? Lawrence Naumoff Michael Lee West Jill McCorkle Clover -- Dori Sanders Lee Smith Connie May Fowler That's all I can think of at the time .... those stick in my mind ,though ... We never got into Faulkner --we always did nominating and voting, but he never got a turn . I also love Wendell Berry and Fred Chappell but I don't think we read either of them in the group . As said, it's been a long time, so I can't remember if all of those were group books or I read them myself at some point . Edited June 15, 2014 by julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 Wow! You've given me a whole new list to look up! Thanks, Julie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 I hope there are some there that you will enjoy ... as said, southern writers have always been among my favorites . They have such a way of telling a story .... I thought of a few more favorites -- Gail Godwin's -- Father Melancholy's Daughter .. Loved it ,but I love all books that have a good dad in them ... Of course, Boy's Life -- by McCammon -- not sure of he is southern but the story took place in Alabama . Oh and Janis Owens -- My Brother Michael and Schooling of Claybird Catts .. T R Pearson has lots of them .. I think we talked of him before. Reading his books is like reading an AUCTIONIER talking ... WOW .. He will wear you out . Oh ,and Killing Mr. Watson -- it's a pretty dark story, told down in the swamps of the Everglades .. I loved it ,but it's slow and sluggish like a swamp. Very good ,though . Keepers of the House -- Grau -- A PLUS book . Lewis Nordan and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter -- which I found Ho-Hum ,but everyone likes different things .. Ok, my brain is empty for now .. Can't think of any more at the moment . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Oh dear! More for The List! The only one on the second list that I have read is the Shirley Ann Grau.....many decades ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Kate Hope y'all don't mind me rudely jumping in...Hello Julie! it's been ages. Hope you are OK. So many southern writers you two are discussing I have never heard of! What do southern writers write about do they have a certain style? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) Kate I thought it wouldn't be too much of a bother if I dropped some new book ideas in here for you , since I know how much you love books ! I guess I'm surprised I found any that you haven't read yet ! You've certainly got me beat by a long shot when it comes to numbers of books read . I used to go through them much faster than I do now, but maybe I'll pick up speed again here someday . I thought of a few more that you may have read or at least heard of -- these are more in the line of memoir types I guess -- Liar's club by Mary Karr (she had 2 others after this one, but the first is the only one I read ) . Rick Bragg had 2 that are great -- and others I have yet to read .. and there's a book called Angel's Rest which is BEAUTIFUL ... but believe it or not, I THINK the guy who wrote it isn't southern ... oddly enough, he's from England, but you'd never know it by reading the book. It's set in WV and is a beautiful story ,told just like a southern author would tell it . Then there's Homer Hickam ,who wrote Rocket Boys, ( a lot about the space program and such , which I have no interest in, but the story is still SO good ) , then there is The Coalwood Way ,which tells more about his life and family growing up. Both are excellent . One Foot in Eden -- Ron Rash - Stunningly good . Anyhow, that'll be a few more ideas to toss your way .. just in case you run across any of them . I hope you find some you like as much as I liked them . Hi James Good to see you too ! I'm not sure I can explain what attracts me so much about Southern Authors , unless it's the way they go about telling a story. It's almost like listening to your Grandma tell you a story , sitting on her back porch with the crickets in the background and lightning bugs blinking in the dark. It's that kind of feeling .. they always have a long, twisting way of telling a story, and it may occasionally go off track ,and other stories get intertwined with the first one . It's usually about a family , and maybe an errant relative who misbehaves ,or a neighbor that caused a stir in everyone's lives for a time ... There's just something magical about the way they tell their stories . They usually have a great sadness in them, but a lot of them also have funny parts .Some end well, others not so much .... The absolute WORST one ever was still Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell . He wrote others ,which I haven't screwed up the courage to read yet . He was a REALLY good writer and could definitely pull some emotion out of you , but the main emotion he got out of me was wanting to SHAKE every character in his story til their teeth rattled . If his aim was to make me feel sorry for them , he was far off the mark. He wrote another pretty famous one called God's Little Acre . It's the other one I may attempt some day . I THINK they were both made into movies WAY back ... I just looked up God's Little Acre -- First published in 1933, God's Little Acre was censured by the Georgia Literary Commission, banned in Boston, and once led the all-time best-seller list, with more than ten million copies in print. ** Taken from Goodreads** I just went on to read a bit more about both books and they WERE both made into movies . One reviewer says that Faulkner stated that "Erskine Caldwell sure knows how to write ! " I guess Tobacco Road just mixes you up and you really don't know HOW to feel. Was the author trying to get you to feel sorry for the characters ? Was he making fun of them ( I don't think ), or was he pointing out how rough it was back then for people in that class financially ? I'm not quite sure what he was trying to prove . Anyhow, I'm not sure I answered your question. I'm always trying to figure out why I like southern writers and what makes them so different .That's the only answer I can come up with at this point . Edited June 15, 2014 by julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Hey James, welcome in! The more the merrier. Have some !! I think Julie has explained the Southern attraction pretty darned well. I remember the first time I read Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!, it was like coming home. I know these people, heck, I'm related to them! The opening of AA!, features someone that could certainly be my paternal Aunt. No doubt about it. Julie! I've not heard of them either, wowee! I guess, Grau and Faulkner are really the only two Southerners I've really read. Although I did read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was a child. Don't remember a bit of it. Have to reread at some point. It too is sitting on the shelf here, waiting. heh I've read a little of Eudora Welty, and liked it a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Well, Kate It sounds as if you'll have to make you out a new shopping list of books then, and give a few a try . Maybe even just get them from the library if you don't want to buy them. At least you could sample a few to see how you liked them . You are so very lucky to be born and raised in the south. I'm sure you could just listen to relatives and friends and they could tell you the same type stories without having to read a book about them ! My Grandma was from the southern tip of Ohio, so they were a stone's throw from WV . She could tell some stories like that, but I'm not sure WV would qualify for you as a southern state . To me, it's southern ,and a lot of their writing reminds me of the books from further south . My dad had a family like those in the south - he was from WV -- he rarely talked about his family ( too many sad memories ), but he once in awhile would tell of a funny incident that happened in his family . He also told me once that every Memorial Day, they all packed a picnic and spent the day at the cemetery ,cleaning up all the family graves and having a picnic. I was so excited to hear that, because I have read that it is common practice in the south . I don't know ANYONE up here who does that. People put flowers on the graves once a year, but that's it . I always go visit my relatives graves when we're down that way and sit on their grass and talk to them. It might sound odd, but I believe they are listening . It's a comfort and something I do everytime I get the chance. None of them are up here . Most of my family is gone now ... I have lots of cousins left, (and one aunt, who is 88 ) but the rest of the framework of the family is gone . Do you have much family left down there to visit ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) I always go visit my relatives graves when we're down that way and sit on their grass and talk to them. It might sound odd, but I believe they are listening . It's a comfort and something I do everytime I get the chance. I believe this too. (don't mean to stop your discussion, it's quite interesting to a foreigner like me ) Edited June 15, 2014 by Athena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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