There was a period in my youth when I read every biography I could get my hands on. There is something fascinating about the lives of famous people. It is somehow gratifying to learn that the lives of famous people are not without the same kinds of problems we all face and often are much more stressful than "regular folks" would ever want to handle.
Like all biographies written for young readers, the biographies I read left out lots of gossip and hardship and made their subjects sound like paragons of virtue and intelligence. Biographies for adults tend follow the opposite route, revealing every wart and flaw. It is interesting to compare the two options, which I have recently done with biographies of Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
What to Do about Alice? : How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove her Father Teddy Crazy by Barbara Kerley is a picture book style biography for readers in grades two to five. It is full of the wild and crazy antics of young Alice when she and her brothers and one sister lived in the White House. It gives one the feeling that life was carefree and fun and that Alice enjoyed stirring things up when her step-mother would have preferred a little more decorum. I am convinced that this was indeed the case most of the time. The story does leave out the other problems that plagued a little girl whose mother died two days after she was born and whose father was busy running the country, making a name for himself, and, yes, missing his first wife.
Alice: Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House to Princess to Washington Power Broker by Stacy A. Cordery is nearly five hundred pages of well-researched insight into Alice Roosevelt's long life. The tone of this book is much heavier than would ever be appropriate for a book for young readers. This Alice did have fun adventures in the White House but she also felt a little out of the group with her half-siblings, her strict step-mother, and her somewhat aloof father. She found her way by making waves, covering her shyness with bravado. It is clear from this book--and from the young reader biography--that Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was an intelligent woman who had strong ideas about right and wrong and what would keep people paying attention to her.
Reading biographies is not always as easy as reading a novel but it is generally well worth the extra effort. I have learned a lot from these two biographies and from the many others that I have read over the years.
The next biography on my list is not about someone who is such a familiar name as Alice Roosevelt but it is very special to me. Challenges: Above and Beyond by Tim and Betty Babcock and Linda Grosskopf is the biography of Tim and Betty Babcock who was the governor of Montana when I was growing up there. More importantly to me, Linda Grosskopf was a classmate of mine who continues to be a dear friend. It is interesting to read about someone who was a very real figure in my life. (Governor Babcock's niece tried to teach me to twirl a baton so I could be in the school majorette group.) It is more interesting still to read words written by someone who I have known for over 40 years, sharing the ups and downs of her life as she has shared mine. As I read about Alice Roosevelt, I often thought of Linda. Linda is in many ways like Mrs. Roosevelt Longworth, which I hope she takes as the compliment that it is.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Sticky Books
No, this does not mean that you can read while eating, though the connection between the satisfaction of reading a good book and eating something delicious is strong. Just as the delicious remnants of a sticky bun, cotton candy, or good barbecue sauce linger long after the last bite, a good book can stick with you for a long time to come. That is the idea behind sticky books--they are the ones that stick with you. Perhaps they are the books that you have to keep in your personal collection or that you feel compelled to re-read every so often. Perhaps they are the books that come to mind at odd times and shape your decisions as you wander through life.
The idea for this post came from the blog of my friend Jen. She is a mother, aspiring writer, great cook, a teacher of both my daughters and many other lucky students past and present, and generally an all-around amazing person. Check out her list, take a look at mine below, and then let me know what your sticky book list includes.
My list has three components: Books I read as a child that still have a place in my heart and mind, books written for children that I did not meet until I was an adult (yes, some of these are old enough that I should have read them years earlier), and books written for adults that I read as an adult. All of the lists are in no particular order.
BOOKS I READ AS A CHILD
The Singing Tree and The Good Master by Kate Seredy bring back such fond memories from my first forays into quality literature from other cultures. The illustrations are still fresh in my mind. They are always near the top of my list of favorite books even though I have not re-read them in many, many years.
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne has been mentioned on this blog before. I recite the poems often--perhaps too often. The stories gain new insights every time I read them. I have fond memories of my children and my spouse laughing at antics of Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and their friends.
Half Magic by Edward Eager is the book that got me started on a fantasy craze that lasted for most of my upper elementary years. It is creative, interesting, exciting, a little different, and the perfect introduction to fantasy that is not too fantastical but definitely fantastic. From here I moved on to the rest of the books by Eager as well as books by E. Nisbett, C. S. Lewis, and the myriad others that fill this genre.
Ben and Me by Robert Lawson may be one of my first chapter book excursions. It is the story of Ben Franklin as told by the mouse who lived in his hat. There are many others by Lawson that I devoured eagerly but this one is the best.
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater has so much to recommend it-- a goofy story with a little historical charm, great warm illustrations, and characters that stick to the ribs and the funny bone. I hope that kids keep reading this for generations to come.
Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey are two favorite picture books that still pull me in at the first page. The illustrations are amazing and the stories have the perfect charm. Now that I have been to Boston several times to visit my daughter, the depiction of Boston Commons is even more meaningful.
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf may have influenced some of my beliefs in non-violence. Who knows? It certainly is a perfect story of peace, the truly important things in life, and adolescent rebellion of sorts. At least that is how I have always seen it. The illustrations are perfect and there are lines that are truly perfection. My favorite line comes early in the story when Ferdinand's mother worries about him because "she was an understanding mother, event though she was a cow." Somehow that always strikes me as funny and charming. Fun trivia fact: Munro Leaf's son James G. Leaf is a former head of Emerson School.
The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My by Tove Jansson is not an easy book to find. My copy, which was published in Helsinki in 1953, was given to me by Uncle Frank after he travelled to Scandinavia one summer. That connection is part of what makes it special. Also intriguing are the holes carefully cut in every page to offer tantalizing hints of what is to come. I only know one other person who knew this book as a child--Emerson kindergarten teacher Sigrid. No wonder I like Sig.
The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling are perfectly written. I heard a story once that Kipling stood in front of a mirror as he read these stories aloud, checking to make sure that not only did the words sound right but that his mouth looked right as he read. I don't know if this is true, but the language of these stories does come close to perfection. Don't summarize them. Read them aloud and relish every syllable, oh best beloveds.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg led me to many imagined adventures when I was young. I am sure that it did despite the fact that those imagined adventures came long before this book was published in 1968, when I was in my junior year of high school. At eight or ten, I imagined living in the most impressive store (in my mind at least) in Billings, Montana. This was a large furniture store, probably not nearly as large as I imagined it to be. It seemed to me--still does--that much of what happens to the kids in this book were just glorified examples of what I could have experienced had I ever gotten the chance to hide out in a giant furniture store.
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN THAT I READ AS AN ADULT (I am sure there are many missing here--and many more to be added as time goes by.)
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery is one I did not discover until I was already a mother of a two year old. There are good reasons why this continues to be a very popular series around the world.
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Penne du Bois was written four years before I was born but I did not read it until I shared it with my own children more than 30 years later. It has humor, geography, history, and adventure. I never really appreciated Krakatoa until I read this book.
Ordinary Jack by Helen Cresswell is the first in the Bagthorpe Saga that had me laughing from the beginning of Jack to the end of the last in the series. I discovered this series in a listing of books for gifted children. The Bagthorpe children are all gifted--except for poor Jack who is always a little left out. The family is full of crazy characters and wild happenings. They are very British in their humor and style. I am sorry to report that they are currently out of print though Amazon has used copies from one cent.
The Warm Place by Nancy Farmer is the most gentle of the books by Nancy Farmer. It features a giraffe who is kidnapped from Africa to be taken to a zoo across the ocean and yearns to return to the warm place that is home. He has many amazing adventures along the way. Read everything you can get your hands on by Nancy Farmer. She will startle, astound, and stimulate your mind.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and the rest of this trilogy are the most thoughtful and intriguing fantasy stories that I have ever read, generally even surpassing the works of Tolkein. My daughter got a pre-publication copy of this book when she accompanied a friend to Border's for Take Your Daughter to Work Day. (Coming to her own school with me was not that exciting for Geetha, so it made sense to go with a friend whose father did "something interesting".) The book, despite its cover with a huge polar bear on it, got stuck away on the shelf for a year or two. Then Geetha read it and was ready for the second book, which we both devoured with enthusiasm. Alas, the third book was not out yet and I was now as eager to find the end of the saga as she was. You, lucky you, do not have to wait to read all three in order.
The Return of the Twelves by Pauline Clarke was suggested reading from a former science teacher at Emerson School. The premise is that the little soldiers that once belonged to the Bronte children in England (they wrote about these soldiers in the journals and some stories) are found by a new family after years of being stored away in the attic. The soldiers come alive just as they did for the Brontes. Now they want to return to the Bronte home but they want to do it on their own three-inch man power. This book got me more interested in the Brontes and in the wilds of the north of England.
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is the newest book on this list. Curtis never fails to capture the voice of a young boy in all of his novels, but this is the book that carries the most punch. If it does not make you think about slavery and racism, nothing will. It will also make you laugh at the typical boy antics of Elijah and cry at the hard lives folks have had to face.
A FEW ADULT BOOKS THAT STICK WITH ME
The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle is one of the best looks at two sides of a story that I have ever read. Told from the points of view of both the well-to-do homeowner in Southern California who must worry about the wildlife threatening his family and the man who has snuck up from Mexico and is living in the woods with that same wildlife, this story has both sides making good and just points. Neither can be labeled the bad guy nor the good guy. You will think long and hard about the issues that are presented here.
The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin is another book that looks at what is truth. When the narrator of this story, based on an actual occurrence in the author's life, gets contacted by the mother of a boy who is very ill, what can he do but reach out to help. Through many twists and turns the author and the reader are soon wondering whether the boy is really in need of help. It is a bizarre and intriguing story.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn has become the basis for a thesaurus lesson I use almost every year. The premise of the book is that as letters fall from the town's tower, the residents must stop using that letter. When we play our game, letters drop from my list and the kids must re-write a sentence they have written using the thesaurus and their creative minds to find good substitutes for the words that now must go. It is always good for a laugh.
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester got me thinking about words and dictionaries in new ways and with new respect. I enjoyed reading Winchester's The Professor and the Madman which was also about the OED, but this book has such detail that I have gone back to it often just to remember little tidbits about the work that was put into the creation of the most magnificent of dictionaries. I confess that there is a part of me that would love to be a lexicographer.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck got even better when I re-read it with my daughters as they studied it in English class. It has to be my favorite Steinbeck novel.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond was given to me by my daughter who suggests that it should be required reading for everyone. It has changed how I look at history.
That is the short list. I know that there are others. Now, tell me what would be on your list of sticky books.
The idea for this post came from the blog of my friend Jen. She is a mother, aspiring writer, great cook, a teacher of both my daughters and many other lucky students past and present, and generally an all-around amazing person. Check out her list, take a look at mine below, and then let me know what your sticky book list includes.
My list has three components: Books I read as a child that still have a place in my heart and mind, books written for children that I did not meet until I was an adult (yes, some of these are old enough that I should have read them years earlier), and books written for adults that I read as an adult. All of the lists are in no particular order.
BOOKS I READ AS A CHILD
The Singing Tree and The Good Master by Kate Seredy bring back such fond memories from my first forays into quality literature from other cultures. The illustrations are still fresh in my mind. They are always near the top of my list of favorite books even though I have not re-read them in many, many years.
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne has been mentioned on this blog before. I recite the poems often--perhaps too often. The stories gain new insights every time I read them. I have fond memories of my children and my spouse laughing at antics of Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and their friends.
Half Magic by Edward Eager is the book that got me started on a fantasy craze that lasted for most of my upper elementary years. It is creative, interesting, exciting, a little different, and the perfect introduction to fantasy that is not too fantastical but definitely fantastic. From here I moved on to the rest of the books by Eager as well as books by E. Nisbett, C. S. Lewis, and the myriad others that fill this genre.
Ben and Me by Robert Lawson may be one of my first chapter book excursions. It is the story of Ben Franklin as told by the mouse who lived in his hat. There are many others by Lawson that I devoured eagerly but this one is the best.
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater has so much to recommend it-- a goofy story with a little historical charm, great warm illustrations, and characters that stick to the ribs and the funny bone. I hope that kids keep reading this for generations to come.
Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey are two favorite picture books that still pull me in at the first page. The illustrations are amazing and the stories have the perfect charm. Now that I have been to Boston several times to visit my daughter, the depiction of Boston Commons is even more meaningful.
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf may have influenced some of my beliefs in non-violence. Who knows? It certainly is a perfect story of peace, the truly important things in life, and adolescent rebellion of sorts. At least that is how I have always seen it. The illustrations are perfect and there are lines that are truly perfection. My favorite line comes early in the story when Ferdinand's mother worries about him because "she was an understanding mother, event though she was a cow." Somehow that always strikes me as funny and charming. Fun trivia fact: Munro Leaf's son James G. Leaf is a former head of Emerson School.
The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My by Tove Jansson is not an easy book to find. My copy, which was published in Helsinki in 1953, was given to me by Uncle Frank after he travelled to Scandinavia one summer. That connection is part of what makes it special. Also intriguing are the holes carefully cut in every page to offer tantalizing hints of what is to come. I only know one other person who knew this book as a child--Emerson kindergarten teacher Sigrid. No wonder I like Sig.
The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling are perfectly written. I heard a story once that Kipling stood in front of a mirror as he read these stories aloud, checking to make sure that not only did the words sound right but that his mouth looked right as he read. I don't know if this is true, but the language of these stories does come close to perfection. Don't summarize them. Read them aloud and relish every syllable, oh best beloveds.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg led me to many imagined adventures when I was young. I am sure that it did despite the fact that those imagined adventures came long before this book was published in 1968, when I was in my junior year of high school. At eight or ten, I imagined living in the most impressive store (in my mind at least) in Billings, Montana. This was a large furniture store, probably not nearly as large as I imagined it to be. It seemed to me--still does--that much of what happens to the kids in this book were just glorified examples of what I could have experienced had I ever gotten the chance to hide out in a giant furniture store.
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN THAT I READ AS AN ADULT (I am sure there are many missing here--and many more to be added as time goes by.)
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery is one I did not discover until I was already a mother of a two year old. There are good reasons why this continues to be a very popular series around the world.
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Penne du Bois was written four years before I was born but I did not read it until I shared it with my own children more than 30 years later. It has humor, geography, history, and adventure. I never really appreciated Krakatoa until I read this book.
Ordinary Jack by Helen Cresswell is the first in the Bagthorpe Saga that had me laughing from the beginning of Jack to the end of the last in the series. I discovered this series in a listing of books for gifted children. The Bagthorpe children are all gifted--except for poor Jack who is always a little left out. The family is full of crazy characters and wild happenings. They are very British in their humor and style. I am sorry to report that they are currently out of print though Amazon has used copies from one cent.
The Warm Place by Nancy Farmer is the most gentle of the books by Nancy Farmer. It features a giraffe who is kidnapped from Africa to be taken to a zoo across the ocean and yearns to return to the warm place that is home. He has many amazing adventures along the way. Read everything you can get your hands on by Nancy Farmer. She will startle, astound, and stimulate your mind.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and the rest of this trilogy are the most thoughtful and intriguing fantasy stories that I have ever read, generally even surpassing the works of Tolkein. My daughter got a pre-publication copy of this book when she accompanied a friend to Border's for Take Your Daughter to Work Day. (Coming to her own school with me was not that exciting for Geetha, so it made sense to go with a friend whose father did "something interesting".) The book, despite its cover with a huge polar bear on it, got stuck away on the shelf for a year or two. Then Geetha read it and was ready for the second book, which we both devoured with enthusiasm. Alas, the third book was not out yet and I was now as eager to find the end of the saga as she was. You, lucky you, do not have to wait to read all three in order.
The Return of the Twelves by Pauline Clarke was suggested reading from a former science teacher at Emerson School. The premise is that the little soldiers that once belonged to the Bronte children in England (they wrote about these soldiers in the journals and some stories) are found by a new family after years of being stored away in the attic. The soldiers come alive just as they did for the Brontes. Now they want to return to the Bronte home but they want to do it on their own three-inch man power. This book got me more interested in the Brontes and in the wilds of the north of England.
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis is the newest book on this list. Curtis never fails to capture the voice of a young boy in all of his novels, but this is the book that carries the most punch. If it does not make you think about slavery and racism, nothing will. It will also make you laugh at the typical boy antics of Elijah and cry at the hard lives folks have had to face.
A FEW ADULT BOOKS THAT STICK WITH ME
The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle is one of the best looks at two sides of a story that I have ever read. Told from the points of view of both the well-to-do homeowner in Southern California who must worry about the wildlife threatening his family and the man who has snuck up from Mexico and is living in the woods with that same wildlife, this story has both sides making good and just points. Neither can be labeled the bad guy nor the good guy. You will think long and hard about the issues that are presented here.
The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin is another book that looks at what is truth. When the narrator of this story, based on an actual occurrence in the author's life, gets contacted by the mother of a boy who is very ill, what can he do but reach out to help. Through many twists and turns the author and the reader are soon wondering whether the boy is really in need of help. It is a bizarre and intriguing story.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn has become the basis for a thesaurus lesson I use almost every year. The premise of the book is that as letters fall from the town's tower, the residents must stop using that letter. When we play our game, letters drop from my list and the kids must re-write a sentence they have written using the thesaurus and their creative minds to find good substitutes for the words that now must go. It is always good for a laugh.
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester got me thinking about words and dictionaries in new ways and with new respect. I enjoyed reading Winchester's The Professor and the Madman which was also about the OED, but this book has such detail that I have gone back to it often just to remember little tidbits about the work that was put into the creation of the most magnificent of dictionaries. I confess that there is a part of me that would love to be a lexicographer.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck got even better when I re-read it with my daughters as they studied it in English class. It has to be my favorite Steinbeck novel.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond was given to me by my daughter who suggests that it should be required reading for everyone. It has changed how I look at history.
That is the short list. I know that there are others. Now, tell me what would be on your list of sticky books.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Recent Reading
After reading over 30 books for the under 14 set in the past few weeks, I was ready about 10 days ago to get my reading teeth into some books written for adults. That does not mean that I do not enjoy reading books for kids, but I they can not fill all of my reading cravings.
So here are brief reviews of four adult books plus a couple of juvenile tomes that somehow slipped into the mix.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout won the Pulitzer Prize this year. While I don't really enjoy the format of intertwining short stories to make a novel, I found much to appreciate in this novel. Olive grows in each story, whether she is the subject of the story or has only a brief cameo role. Much of the book is depressing because Olive is not a happy person nor are most of the characters who people the stories. On the other hand, Olive is a very real person. Reviewers keep asking readers if they "like" Olive. I am not sure that we get enough of Olive's relationships with people outside of her family to give a definitive answer to that question. I know I would not like to be her spouse, her son, or her daughter-in-law. Olive has a very tough shell. What the reader does finally see is Olive's softer core. The writing is Pulitzer worthy, with phrases and descriptions that are absolutely perfect. There is much like to like about this book and much to dislike as well. What is not lacking at all is much to admire, both in the characters and in the writing.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova was somehow not as depressing for me as Olive Kitteridge was though by all rights it should have bothered me much more. Lisa Genova works for the Alzheimer's Association and is trained in neurological disorders so she clearly knows the subject of this novel, early onset Alzheimer's. That knowledge and the sometimes clinical sharing of it interfered with the story for awhile, making it take almost too long to care about the main character, a well-respected Harvard professor who is diagnosed at 50 with this life-shattering disease. What saves the story is the writing from the protagonist's point of view. The reader lives her decline and the fight she puts up against it, losing words and then family recognitions in a very short time. Don't read this if Alzheimer's is too real for you. This will surely stir memories that you would rather forget. On the other hand, it is a moving novel that will get you thinking, remembering, and caring.
Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles could have been a mindless rant but it is far from that. Benny Ford is stuck in Chicago's O'Hare Airport half way between his home in New York and his estranged daughter's wedding in Los Angeles. As a writer, his response is to pull out a notebook and begin a letter of complaint. This letter, however, goes on for 180 pages and recounts the ups and downs of Benny's life as well as snippets of the novel he is translating from Polish. There is humor, pathos, and some pretty good writing in this quick read. I was surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid is another very short novel told in an unusual way. An American visiting Lahore is confronted in a street cafe by a young Pakistani man who tells his story over the course of the evening. The reader never hears the voice of the American, only the often flippant voice of Changez who tells of his stint as a student at Princeton and the powerful and impressive job he got upon graduation, a job much better than he could have ever imagined. There is also a love story of sorts between Changez and a girl he meets on a post-graduation trip to Greece. The love is troubled. Changez's life if troubled, especially when September 11, 2001, changes the way people on the street treat him and the way he views the world around him. The story is strange in many ways but gives an interesting look at the concerns of an immigrant and the power of events outside of your control to change the way you look at life. Keep reading to the surprising (or maybe not surprising at all) ending.
And now the two books for younger readers:
Goop Tales: A Study of the Behavior of Virtuous Individuals, Each of Which has Some One Human and Redeeming Fault by Gilette Burgess is a book I had not thought about in years. I remember loving Goops and How to Be Them at some point in my youth so I snatched this up when I found it in a collection being sorted in a classroom. Now I wonder what why I liked it so. The stories are preachy, the poems are neither memorable not well written, and the illustrations are odd, yet charming. It certainly seems dated. I don't even know what age would enjoy this book. Nonetheless, if you happen run across a book about Goops, take a look. Maybe you can help me rediscover the reasons why I remember these funny children so fondly.
The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E. L. Konigsburg is not one of her best. (My favorites of hers include From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; A Proud Taste of Scarlet and Miniver; Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth; The View From Saturday; and Silent to the Bone.) This is a novel that grades five and eight will enjoy for many reasons, though. When Amadeo Kaplan and his mother move from New York to Florida, he worries that he will never find a friend. Then he meets William Wilcox who is helping set up an estate sale for Amedeo's eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender. Amadeo finds a friend as well as discovering something interesting and noteworthy. The story includes art history, secrets from Nazi Germany, and characters that are likable, intriguing, and, at the same time, humanly complex. The blurb says this is a "tale of art, discovery, friendship, history, and truth." That sums it up very well.
So here are brief reviews of four adult books plus a couple of juvenile tomes that somehow slipped into the mix.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout won the Pulitzer Prize this year. While I don't really enjoy the format of intertwining short stories to make a novel, I found much to appreciate in this novel. Olive grows in each story, whether she is the subject of the story or has only a brief cameo role. Much of the book is depressing because Olive is not a happy person nor are most of the characters who people the stories. On the other hand, Olive is a very real person. Reviewers keep asking readers if they "like" Olive. I am not sure that we get enough of Olive's relationships with people outside of her family to give a definitive answer to that question. I know I would not like to be her spouse, her son, or her daughter-in-law. Olive has a very tough shell. What the reader does finally see is Olive's softer core. The writing is Pulitzer worthy, with phrases and descriptions that are absolutely perfect. There is much like to like about this book and much to dislike as well. What is not lacking at all is much to admire, both in the characters and in the writing.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova was somehow not as depressing for me as Olive Kitteridge was though by all rights it should have bothered me much more. Lisa Genova works for the Alzheimer's Association and is trained in neurological disorders so she clearly knows the subject of this novel, early onset Alzheimer's. That knowledge and the sometimes clinical sharing of it interfered with the story for awhile, making it take almost too long to care about the main character, a well-respected Harvard professor who is diagnosed at 50 with this life-shattering disease. What saves the story is the writing from the protagonist's point of view. The reader lives her decline and the fight she puts up against it, losing words and then family recognitions in a very short time. Don't read this if Alzheimer's is too real for you. This will surely stir memories that you would rather forget. On the other hand, it is a moving novel that will get you thinking, remembering, and caring.
Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles could have been a mindless rant but it is far from that. Benny Ford is stuck in Chicago's O'Hare Airport half way between his home in New York and his estranged daughter's wedding in Los Angeles. As a writer, his response is to pull out a notebook and begin a letter of complaint. This letter, however, goes on for 180 pages and recounts the ups and downs of Benny's life as well as snippets of the novel he is translating from Polish. There is humor, pathos, and some pretty good writing in this quick read. I was surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid is another very short novel told in an unusual way. An American visiting Lahore is confronted in a street cafe by a young Pakistani man who tells his story over the course of the evening. The reader never hears the voice of the American, only the often flippant voice of Changez who tells of his stint as a student at Princeton and the powerful and impressive job he got upon graduation, a job much better than he could have ever imagined. There is also a love story of sorts between Changez and a girl he meets on a post-graduation trip to Greece. The love is troubled. Changez's life if troubled, especially when September 11, 2001, changes the way people on the street treat him and the way he views the world around him. The story is strange in many ways but gives an interesting look at the concerns of an immigrant and the power of events outside of your control to change the way you look at life. Keep reading to the surprising (or maybe not surprising at all) ending.
And now the two books for younger readers:
Goop Tales: A Study of the Behavior of Virtuous Individuals, Each of Which has Some One Human and Redeeming Fault by Gilette Burgess is a book I had not thought about in years. I remember loving Goops and How to Be Them at some point in my youth so I snatched this up when I found it in a collection being sorted in a classroom. Now I wonder what why I liked it so. The stories are preachy, the poems are neither memorable not well written, and the illustrations are odd, yet charming. It certainly seems dated. I don't even know what age would enjoy this book. Nonetheless, if you happen run across a book about Goops, take a look. Maybe you can help me rediscover the reasons why I remember these funny children so fondly.
The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E. L. Konigsburg is not one of her best. (My favorites of hers include From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; A Proud Taste of Scarlet and Miniver; Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth; The View From Saturday; and Silent to the Bone.) This is a novel that grades five and eight will enjoy for many reasons, though. When Amadeo Kaplan and his mother move from New York to Florida, he worries that he will never find a friend. Then he meets William Wilcox who is helping set up an estate sale for Amedeo's eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Zender. Amadeo finds a friend as well as discovering something interesting and noteworthy. The story includes art history, secrets from Nazi Germany, and characters that are likable, intriguing, and, at the same time, humanly complex. The blurb says this is a "tale of art, discovery, friendship, history, and truth." That sums it up very well.
Listening to an Author
Last week I had the opportunity to hear Carlos Ruiz Zafon speak at Nicola's Bookstore. He is the author of The Shadow of the Wind and now The Angel's Game, a second novel in what he hopes to make a quartet. I read The Shadow of the Wind shortly after it came out in English and was intrigued not only by the deeply complex and fascinating plot but also by the beautiful language used to tell the story. It was an easy decision to jump at the chance to hear him speak. I am so glad I did as he offered many things that made be think. You can read more about him at his official site and then read on for some of my thoughts on what he said about reading and writing.
Zafon began his career as a novelist with a novel that won a prestigious prize for young adult novels in Spain. He said that the lure of money and fame is important to any author so he wrote some more young adult novels. Being pegged as a young adult author did not appeal to him because he never liked to read books labeled as being for such a finite group. Zafon sees himself as writer and reader without divisions for age or other limitations. He said he never read books called "young adult" when he was a young adult. He sees readers as a community and that all books that are good are for all members of that community. (This was the first time I wanted to stand up and cheer during his talk. I was moved by how succinctly he put this idea and struck by how it resonated with me.)
Maybe that was not the first time I wanted to cheer. The discussion began with Zafon discussing the idea that "Books do not need passports." This is again a reference to the world community of readers. A good book is a good book. It is that simple. They may need translation to make them accessible (Zafon's books have been translated into more than 35 languages) but the heart of the truly good novel will touch the heart of readers everywhere. Books are what can and does tie people together despite surface differences.
Readers put themselves into a book. This is why Zafon, despite his many screenplays, does not want to see his novels become movies. (Another time I considered a hearty round of applause.) A well written book has to tread a fine line as it leaves just the right amount of the story to the imagination, inviting the reader to claim the story, mixing it with personal experiences and opinions. The screenwriter, Zafon suggests, writes so that the actor and director create the nuances of the story. The author must guide the reader to find those nuances. Naturally, these nuances are colored by the personality and personal experiences of the reader. This is why the movie of a beloved book rarely meets the viewers' expectations. Frequently, I hear people say "The movie is not nearly as good as the book" but rarely does anyone express the opposite opinion. (I did not love Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake but did enjoy the movie. The not loving the novel is probably what allowed me to enjoy the movie. The movie version of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman was a travesty, totally failing to capture what I loved about that wonderful trilogy.) When you read a book, appreciate what is put into and put yourself into the book. Then, if you must, go to the movie. Don't do it the other way around. The movie will color the way you picture the novel.
In that vein, Zafon was adamant about his commitment to writing a story that merits the reader's giving time and money to that book. He says he does write for others and is conscious of writing a story that he loves with the idea of others becoming as attached to it as he has by the time the novel is completed.
Because English is Zafon's third language (growing up in Barcelona he learned Spanish and Catalan), it is not the language in which he writes. He talked at length about the process of translation. His translator Lucia Graves discovered his book in a Spanish bookstore and approached him about translating it. She is not a recognized translator but soon proved that she had a better idea of what he wanted than any of the others. Apparently several translators are offered the opportunity to submit a translation of a chapter of the book. Zafon and others looked at these translations before selecting the translator. Because he is fluent in English (he currently lives in Los Angeles), Zafon was able to read every page of the translation and make suggestions. He felt that soon Graves was inhabiting his mind. The translation of the second novel went even more smoothly because the author and the translator were thinking along the same lines. This is a luxury he does not have with translations into languages with which he is not familiar. All he can do is hope that when in goes on book tour in Korea or Estonia or wherever that he will still receive a positive reception. In the past week I have thought a great deal about the burden that falls on the translator. It is an amazing talent to be able to not only convey another person's text but also the emotions behind the words.
If you get a chance to hear a favorite author, I urge you to do just that. Not only will you probably end up with an autographed copy of the book and a brief moment of interacting with the author, you will also learn a great deal about reading, writing, and human nature.
Zafon began his career as a novelist with a novel that won a prestigious prize for young adult novels in Spain. He said that the lure of money and fame is important to any author so he wrote some more young adult novels. Being pegged as a young adult author did not appeal to him because he never liked to read books labeled as being for such a finite group. Zafon sees himself as writer and reader without divisions for age or other limitations. He said he never read books called "young adult" when he was a young adult. He sees readers as a community and that all books that are good are for all members of that community. (This was the first time I wanted to stand up and cheer during his talk. I was moved by how succinctly he put this idea and struck by how it resonated with me.)
Maybe that was not the first time I wanted to cheer. The discussion began with Zafon discussing the idea that "Books do not need passports." This is again a reference to the world community of readers. A good book is a good book. It is that simple. They may need translation to make them accessible (Zafon's books have been translated into more than 35 languages) but the heart of the truly good novel will touch the heart of readers everywhere. Books are what can and does tie people together despite surface differences.
Readers put themselves into a book. This is why Zafon, despite his many screenplays, does not want to see his novels become movies. (Another time I considered a hearty round of applause.) A well written book has to tread a fine line as it leaves just the right amount of the story to the imagination, inviting the reader to claim the story, mixing it with personal experiences and opinions. The screenwriter, Zafon suggests, writes so that the actor and director create the nuances of the story. The author must guide the reader to find those nuances. Naturally, these nuances are colored by the personality and personal experiences of the reader. This is why the movie of a beloved book rarely meets the viewers' expectations. Frequently, I hear people say "The movie is not nearly as good as the book" but rarely does anyone express the opposite opinion. (I did not love Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake but did enjoy the movie. The not loving the novel is probably what allowed me to enjoy the movie. The movie version of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman was a travesty, totally failing to capture what I loved about that wonderful trilogy.) When you read a book, appreciate what is put into and put yourself into the book. Then, if you must, go to the movie. Don't do it the other way around. The movie will color the way you picture the novel.
In that vein, Zafon was adamant about his commitment to writing a story that merits the reader's giving time and money to that book. He says he does write for others and is conscious of writing a story that he loves with the idea of others becoming as attached to it as he has by the time the novel is completed.
Because English is Zafon's third language (growing up in Barcelona he learned Spanish and Catalan), it is not the language in which he writes. He talked at length about the process of translation. His translator Lucia Graves discovered his book in a Spanish bookstore and approached him about translating it. She is not a recognized translator but soon proved that she had a better idea of what he wanted than any of the others. Apparently several translators are offered the opportunity to submit a translation of a chapter of the book. Zafon and others looked at these translations before selecting the translator. Because he is fluent in English (he currently lives in Los Angeles), Zafon was able to read every page of the translation and make suggestions. He felt that soon Graves was inhabiting his mind. The translation of the second novel went even more smoothly because the author and the translator were thinking along the same lines. This is a luxury he does not have with translations into languages with which he is not familiar. All he can do is hope that when in goes on book tour in Korea or Estonia or wherever that he will still receive a positive reception. In the past week I have thought a great deal about the burden that falls on the translator. It is an amazing talent to be able to not only convey another person's text but also the emotions behind the words.
If you get a chance to hear a favorite author, I urge you to do just that. Not only will you probably end up with an autographed copy of the book and a brief moment of interacting with the author, you will also learn a great deal about reading, writing, and human nature.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A Library Without Books
If you were to go to Emerson School right now you would see the room that was and is to be the library/media center looking very different than it did just two weeks ago. The carpet is gone. The walls that were the tech office are gone. The bathrooms at the top of the stairs are gone. Even the big, ugly heating pipes are gone.
Those of us who have know Emerson since it first was built at its current site see something vaguely familiar because this is how that space looked some 25 years ago. The current library area was once the common space in the middle of the school with classrooms opening out onto it. At the far end one can now see the raised area where classes used to sit to have a group picture taken. It brings back memories. (Since that time, this space has served many purposes, including being the gymnasium before becoming the library.)
For me, it has also stirred a more recent memory from when I was applying to library schools. I went to a local open house of the Information Science department. It was one speaker there, someone in the library education division, who convinced me to go elsewhere for my degree. She boldly and proudly stated her dream of having every library go virtual. "Imagine," she said, "Imagine a library where you are never bothered by people directly asking you questions. Imagine a library that is never dirtied by the muddy feet of noisy children." That is about when I started closing her out.
This interaction at a library school open house kept me away from some of the technologies far longer than it should have as I protected myself from what this woman predicted was right around the corner. (I was not going to be the one who opened the door that final crack to let virtual libraries take over the world. Read Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson to read a somewhat fictionalized account of how much power librarians, especially in a virtual state, could have. It's a great summer --or any time--read for grades four and up.)
My reasons for wanting work in a library would list noisy children and helping answer questions right at the top. I don't even mind muddy shoes all that much, though maybe that will change with new carpets in the the library. I want real children and real people with real questions frequenting the library. There are many things that the virtual world can do and does quite well but I am optimistic that we there will be no serious attempts to take face-to-face interactions out of the picture. People need to hold some books in their hands but more importantly they need to have another human being sharing those books with them. When there is a reference question or a reading suggestion, how nice to have a person in the flesh there to interact immediately. Yes, you can "Google" something and find lots of answers. Better yet, you can go to a respected data base and get more information. What a librarian does--or is supposed to do--is help you work out your question so that you know what to ask the Internet or data base in the first place. For pleasure reading, the personal is even more preferable. No computer to my knowledge can see the twinkle in your eye when a suggestion hits target or the polite shrug that indicates that the discussion has wandered down the wrong track.
Emerson's library is getting many improvements this summer. Right now it is a bare space but soon the wall will be up and then carpeting will reappear. The shelves will move in. Then I will get the books back out for everyone to enjoy and I will be there to answer questions, suggest a good book, and put the solid paper and paste of that book into waiting hands.
Those of us who have know Emerson since it first was built at its current site see something vaguely familiar because this is how that space looked some 25 years ago. The current library area was once the common space in the middle of the school with classrooms opening out onto it. At the far end one can now see the raised area where classes used to sit to have a group picture taken. It brings back memories. (Since that time, this space has served many purposes, including being the gymnasium before becoming the library.)
For me, it has also stirred a more recent memory from when I was applying to library schools. I went to a local open house of the Information Science department. It was one speaker there, someone in the library education division, who convinced me to go elsewhere for my degree. She boldly and proudly stated her dream of having every library go virtual. "Imagine," she said, "Imagine a library where you are never bothered by people directly asking you questions. Imagine a library that is never dirtied by the muddy feet of noisy children." That is about when I started closing her out.
This interaction at a library school open house kept me away from some of the technologies far longer than it should have as I protected myself from what this woman predicted was right around the corner. (I was not going to be the one who opened the door that final crack to let virtual libraries take over the world. Read Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson to read a somewhat fictionalized account of how much power librarians, especially in a virtual state, could have. It's a great summer --or any time--read for grades four and up.)
My reasons for wanting work in a library would list noisy children and helping answer questions right at the top. I don't even mind muddy shoes all that much, though maybe that will change with new carpets in the the library. I want real children and real people with real questions frequenting the library. There are many things that the virtual world can do and does quite well but I am optimistic that we there will be no serious attempts to take face-to-face interactions out of the picture. People need to hold some books in their hands but more importantly they need to have another human being sharing those books with them. When there is a reference question or a reading suggestion, how nice to have a person in the flesh there to interact immediately. Yes, you can "Google" something and find lots of answers. Better yet, you can go to a respected data base and get more information. What a librarian does--or is supposed to do--is help you work out your question so that you know what to ask the Internet or data base in the first place. For pleasure reading, the personal is even more preferable. No computer to my knowledge can see the twinkle in your eye when a suggestion hits target or the polite shrug that indicates that the discussion has wandered down the wrong track.
Emerson's library is getting many improvements this summer. Right now it is a bare space but soon the wall will be up and then carpeting will reappear. The shelves will move in. Then I will get the books back out for everyone to enjoy and I will be there to answer questions, suggest a good book, and put the solid paper and paste of that book into waiting hands.
Book Clubs
Yesterday was something of a big day for me. Both of my book clubs met to discuss what to read for our next round of books. Having both groups meet for the same purpose with the span of a few hours offered me the opportunity to compare the two clubs and think about why I enjoy being part of two avid reading groups.
One group is made up of people with some connection to Emerson School, though we noticed yesterday that I was the only one in attendance who is currently employed at the school. This was a fluke that comes with summer activities leading us in many directions. Many of us have known each other for years and the group has grown up with some stalwart charter members. We have been in existence for at least a dozen years, probably more--I have lost count. Because we have been meeting for so many years and most of us see each other in the work setting and in other social settings, the group feels pretty comfortable about discussing almost anything. Over the years we have read from nearly every genre. There are books that we have all loved and others that we have all hated. The best books for discussion have been those with people on both ends of the continuum--some thinking we had just completed a work of literary genius while others consider the book a waste of time and brain cells. More than once we have left a meeting with minds changed about the book. More often we have gained new insights into ourselves and others. Sometimes our meetings have little discussion of the book and other times we are so eager to discuss that we barely have time to decide. Our meeting yesterday lasted for nearly five hours.
Looking at our selections for July to December, I predict we will continue to have wide ranging discussions that bring us closer together and get us excited. What more can we ask?
As we selected books to read, we were not afraid to try something new and different. Our selections range from an odd sounding dark sounding science fiction novel to a substantial biography of Alice Roosevelt. There are some that sound like fluff with a little substance and others that will be substance with a a little fluff. It makes me want to start reading right away. I did, but then set the biography aside for some things that I had checked out from the library that need to be read and returned.
My other book club is much younger and an effort to get neighborhood ladies together. I have not been as good about getting to the meetings as I would like to have been. Still, the joy of reading good books and sharing them with an interesting group of people is very evident in this group. This group does not have the common bond of being mostly a bunch of teachers which adds a different twist. This neighborhood group has the math and science folks and the literary purists and the folks somewhere in the middle. So we have read some pretty heavy science and some pretty heavy classic literature. They really keep our minds going. The discussions get just as involved as in my other book group. Each year we become more of a cohesive group and each year the pleasure of being with these women grows.
This group has chosen some good non-fiction about China and another non-fiction about sushi. We will be reading some Faulkner for the literature group and some other solid novels as well. This group tries to always have at least one selection about strong women to be read and discussed in March for International Women's Day.
The moral of all this is that I think book clubs are great. Discussing books with others is one of the best ways to make them come alive while strengthening bonds of friendship. Whether you are 6 or 65, if you have the opportunity to join a book club, I urge you to sign right up. It is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.
One group is made up of people with some connection to Emerson School, though we noticed yesterday that I was the only one in attendance who is currently employed at the school. This was a fluke that comes with summer activities leading us in many directions. Many of us have known each other for years and the group has grown up with some stalwart charter members. We have been in existence for at least a dozen years, probably more--I have lost count. Because we have been meeting for so many years and most of us see each other in the work setting and in other social settings, the group feels pretty comfortable about discussing almost anything. Over the years we have read from nearly every genre. There are books that we have all loved and others that we have all hated. The best books for discussion have been those with people on both ends of the continuum--some thinking we had just completed a work of literary genius while others consider the book a waste of time and brain cells. More than once we have left a meeting with minds changed about the book. More often we have gained new insights into ourselves and others. Sometimes our meetings have little discussion of the book and other times we are so eager to discuss that we barely have time to decide. Our meeting yesterday lasted for nearly five hours.
Looking at our selections for July to December, I predict we will continue to have wide ranging discussions that bring us closer together and get us excited. What more can we ask?
As we selected books to read, we were not afraid to try something new and different. Our selections range from an odd sounding dark sounding science fiction novel to a substantial biography of Alice Roosevelt. There are some that sound like fluff with a little substance and others that will be substance with a a little fluff. It makes me want to start reading right away. I did, but then set the biography aside for some things that I had checked out from the library that need to be read and returned.
My other book club is much younger and an effort to get neighborhood ladies together. I have not been as good about getting to the meetings as I would like to have been. Still, the joy of reading good books and sharing them with an interesting group of people is very evident in this group. This group does not have the common bond of being mostly a bunch of teachers which adds a different twist. This neighborhood group has the math and science folks and the literary purists and the folks somewhere in the middle. So we have read some pretty heavy science and some pretty heavy classic literature. They really keep our minds going. The discussions get just as involved as in my other book group. Each year we become more of a cohesive group and each year the pleasure of being with these women grows.
This group has chosen some good non-fiction about China and another non-fiction about sushi. We will be reading some Faulkner for the literature group and some other solid novels as well. This group tries to always have at least one selection about strong women to be read and discussed in March for International Women's Day.
The moral of all this is that I think book clubs are great. Discussing books with others is one of the best ways to make them come alive while strengthening bonds of friendship. Whether you are 6 or 65, if you have the opportunity to join a book club, I urge you to sign right up. It is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.
A Reader Well Made
Happy Birthday to my second born child, a lovely daughter who is now a high school math teacher in the San Francisco area who has grown up to be what every parent their child will be. ( I am lucky because both of my daughters fit this category.) Among her many other talents, she loves to read. I am confident that Geetha's love of reading helps to make her not only a great teacher but also a strong, contributing member of society at large.
Of course, I would love to take full credit for this but know that some of it is just a part of her nature. She has that natural love of learning that became apparent the minute she became aware of the world around her.
I read to my children practically from the moment they were born--or maybe before they were born. We looked at books and loved books. We played word games as soon as they began to express an interest in language. The girls also watched their parents--both parents--read for pleasure. Study after study suggests that these are things that inspire children to grow up to be readers.
One of my greatest delights was reading to my children in bed at night. Perhaps the first time that Geetha read a word--at least the first time that I was sure she had picked out the word by herself without any memorization of familiar texts--was when I was reading Heidi to both girls. Jaya was on the top bunk, enjoying the story in her own private world there. Geetha was beside me. Suddenly she called out, "Up! See it says up!" Since Heidi travels up and down the mountainside frequently throughout the book, there were plenty of repetitions of this short word. Geetha figured out which set of letters were there when I was reading "up". I think Geetha was about three at the time. If I had not read to her, she would not have had that opportunity to put the letters together with the words and thus start on her journey to enjoying all that reading has to offer.
I read to Geetha well into middle school. We read a wide range of books from classics to the newest thing out. One of my favorite experiences was reading Winnie the Pooh with her first as a young, young child and then when she was about 12, and maybe a few times in between. We had great discussions of the differences in meaning that she and I got as young children and then as we aged. She, like her mother and my mother before me, has re-read Pooh more than once. We discussed what we were reading, no matter what it was. We laughed at Mr. Popper's Penguins, Absolute Zero, and many more. Tears streamed down our cheeks as we finished The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. We have a special bond, my girls and I, over the things that we have read together.
Now my girls live on either coast and I see them all too rarely. We often discuss books, though. They will read something that they think I MUST read and I offer them similar suggestions. Because of their diverse interests I have been introduced to subjects and styles that I would have otherwise overlooked.
Happy Birthday, Geetha, and thanks for all the reading and thinking and living that you have inspired.
Of course, I would love to take full credit for this but know that some of it is just a part of her nature. She has that natural love of learning that became apparent the minute she became aware of the world around her.
I read to my children practically from the moment they were born--or maybe before they were born. We looked at books and loved books. We played word games as soon as they began to express an interest in language. The girls also watched their parents--both parents--read for pleasure. Study after study suggests that these are things that inspire children to grow up to be readers.
One of my greatest delights was reading to my children in bed at night. Perhaps the first time that Geetha read a word--at least the first time that I was sure she had picked out the word by herself without any memorization of familiar texts--was when I was reading Heidi to both girls. Jaya was on the top bunk, enjoying the story in her own private world there. Geetha was beside me. Suddenly she called out, "Up! See it says up!" Since Heidi travels up and down the mountainside frequently throughout the book, there were plenty of repetitions of this short word. Geetha figured out which set of letters were there when I was reading "up". I think Geetha was about three at the time. If I had not read to her, she would not have had that opportunity to put the letters together with the words and thus start on her journey to enjoying all that reading has to offer.
I read to Geetha well into middle school. We read a wide range of books from classics to the newest thing out. One of my favorite experiences was reading Winnie the Pooh with her first as a young, young child and then when she was about 12, and maybe a few times in between. We had great discussions of the differences in meaning that she and I got as young children and then as we aged. She, like her mother and my mother before me, has re-read Pooh more than once. We discussed what we were reading, no matter what it was. We laughed at Mr. Popper's Penguins, Absolute Zero, and many more. Tears streamed down our cheeks as we finished The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. We have a special bond, my girls and I, over the things that we have read together.
Now my girls live on either coast and I see them all too rarely. We often discuss books, though. They will read something that they think I MUST read and I offer them similar suggestions. Because of their diverse interests I have been introduced to subjects and styles that I would have otherwise overlooked.
Happy Birthday, Geetha, and thanks for all the reading and thinking and living that you have inspired.
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