Phyllis
“Goodbye to All That” was my Great Books book club selection for November (in honor of Veteran's Day). I'd heard that this was one of the best WWI memoirs because of it's unflinching depiction of life in the trenches. I've been interested in this novel because at least 2 of my great-grandfathers served in the Great War. My maternal English great-grandfather (and great-grandmother) were in the British Navy, while my paternal great-grandfather served in the Austrian army (he was Moravian and deserted, otherwise would have been in the trenches and may not have survived).
Overall, this is really a worthwhile read; there are hilarious, tragic, real depictions of the life of a junior officer in the trenches. Graves is also very honest about the PTSD he suffered, which he was never able to get over. There are questions as to whether this book is a satire, but I suspect that the satirical moments are attempts to reconcile the horrors of war with logic, pacificism, and the need to keep going. There was much contemporary criticism by fellow soldier poets, but I still hae not quite understood what made them so angry as I don't think they were depicted negatively in Graves narrative.
Graves confesses to writing the book quickly, and it shows. The book begins with a short autobiography of his pre-War, public school days at Charterhouse. While I , at first, found this section a little less interesting, one can see the many parallels between public schoolboy life and army life. Graves goes from being a somewhat disconnected outsider to a man who tries his best for his troops. But, perhaps that was the only way he could say goodbye to England, his soon-to-be ex-wife, and all of his fallen comrades was to write as quickly as possible.
Below are the discussion questions I put together for yesterday's meeting. Page references are to the 1st edition (1929) paperback published by Penguin. as a side note, the 2nd edition corrects errata and removes or replaces certain passages. However, the rest of the group had the 2nd edition and the changes are minimal enough that the reader has a very similar experience.
1. What is the meaning of the title?
2. Graves states that he feels ostracisized while at school at Charterhouse: “A potato out if a different bag from the rest.” (p. 57) Do you think this feeling is something that Graves experiences his entire life (at least, what he presents to the reader in his autobiography)?
3. When describing the reasoning behind enlisting, Graves makes the following statement:
“It never occurred to me that newspapers and statesmen could lie. I forgot my pacifism – I was ready to believe the worst of the Germans.” (p. 94) Do we really understand why Graves suddenly change his mind?
4. Graves' mother was German; the family had been to Germany many times to visit immediate relatives up to just before World War I commenced. What do you think of Graves' family's reaction to enlistment: “I immediately became a hero to my family. My mother, who said to me: “My race has gone mad,” regarded my going as a religious act; my father was proud that I had “done the right thing.” (p. 97)
5. Reacting to life and death in the trenches, Graves says that “Pessimism made everyone superstitious.” (p. 156) Do you think this is a natural reaction to being a soldier limited to the view from the trenches?
6. Paul Fussell, an American Historian known for his book “The Great War & Modern Memory” asserts that Graves's book was satire. Yet, much of Graves' depiction of life in and out of the trenches is relatively objective, with an almost journalistic tone. What do you think? How reliable is Graves' autobiography?
“ One can joke with a badly-wounded man and congratulate him on being out of it. One can disregard a dead man. But even a miner can't make a joke that sounds like a joke over a man who takes three hours to due after the top part of his head has been taken off by a billet fired at twenty yards range.” (p. 150)
7. After the 1916 Battle of the Somme (more than 1 million were wounded or killed) and subsequent recovery period in England, Graves considers pacifism, but returns to the front because “Every one was mad.” “Our function there was not to kill Germans, though that might happen, but to make things easier for the men under our command.” (p. 290) What do you think of Graves' conclusion to return to the front?
8. Do you find Graves' transition to socialism after the War surprising given his upbringing and class?
9. What do you make of Graves' opinion of his Egyptian students?
10. Graves' depiction of his wife, Nancy, mother of his four children, is also relatively detached. We learn at the end of the book that they had parted ways quite suddenly in 1929. What is not described in the body of the 1929 or 1957 is Graves' relationship with Laura Riding, who accompanied the Graves family to Egypt and subsequently became part of a “three-life.” How does the omission of Laura Riding affect the accuracy of this autobiography?
Bonus: For those who have read or seen Graves' “I, Claudius” series, do you see any influence of the author's WWI experience in the characters and events?
Dulce et Decorum Est
By Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
The cover design is gorgeous, but the book is otherwise a bit too flip flor my tastes about very serious topics. I'm all for making history (of cults specifically) interesting, but this style doesn't work for me. Folks who enjoy Mary Roach's writing style may like this.
DNF @ 30%
After hearing an interview with Peng Shepherd on NPR's Book of the Day podcast, I was really looking forward to her latest novel, “The Cartographers.”
New York Public Library: check. Rare maps: check. Dead/estranged father in maps room at NYPL: check. Right up my alley!
The first third of the book did not disappoint! The setup, tension, mysteries around every corner had me turning pages.
However, I found the characters to be rather one-dimensional. The plot also had some issues, such as the main character and her father, as well as a post-college fiancé, becoming estranged for 7 years. The villain's reason for all the mayhem also didn't make sense. I also think the author could have spent more time researching processes of folks who handle antiquities (they don't handle rare/brittle maps with used dish gloves, for example).
I ended up skimming the second half of the book. My overall sense is that the book was rushed and might have been much better if the author had taken more time with it. I will try another book of the author's at some point.
Wow, I only read this book 2 years ago? It seems so much longer ago than that!
I never fleshed out my thoughts on this book, so here's what I jotted down.
What is American?
How many immigrants lured by the Prospect of success (literally gold in this book?) learn that the treasure is illusory?
Neil:obsessed with history because living in the present too difficult. Early on, before lemonade, Ramesh Uncle showed Neil the beauty of history, even obscure footnotes to history. Neil needs to learn to balance history, the present, and future.
Later in the book: unable to face “failure” and look towards future, so much so that he is ill at the certain happiness his sister and fiancée find looking for a home.
Coming of age: first half of book so good and could not put down. Dragged a bit in the middle, but maybe in purpose because Neil was dragging.
https://issuu.com/prhlibrary/docs/gold_diggers_by_sanjena_sathian_book_club_guide/1?ff&experiment=new-links
Although “The House on Needless Street” is billed as a horror novel a la Stephen King, I submit that it's more of a psychological thriller.
Catriona Ward does a nice job switching points of view between characters and packs enough suspense in each, short chapter to keep the reader paging on.
About a third of the way through, I guessed at most of the twist, but that could be because I watched and studied the movie “Sybil” back in high school psychology class. Dee's backstory and end were a surprise and somewhat disappointing.
Ultimately, this was a good fall read for shorter days as we edge into spooky season.
Colson Whitehead is probably one of the most talented writers of my generation. And I've really enjoyed several of his other books (“The Underground Railroad,” “The Nickel Boys,” “Zone One,” and “The Intuitionist”). After hearing a few long-form interviews with the author on both this book and the recent sequel, I was really excited to pick up “Harlem Shuffle.”
Yet, I just can't get into the book. I can only assume this is to do with my ever-encroaching need for bifocals or other daily distractions.
Try as I might, I could not make it very far into my print version. So, after about 4 attempts, switched to the audiobook version on Libby. Despite an excellent narrator (Dion Graham), I found myself just as bored as when reading the print book. So, after about getting through 1/3 of the story, I decided to suspend both avenues of approach.
What a delightful and heart-rending book this is. Do you want a good laugh? Do you also want to cry all over the place? Then this is the book for you. Seriously, it's one of the better books I've read in awhile.
Blehhhhhhhh. Like many other reviewer‘s, I really enjoyed “The Martian” and couldn't put it down.
The first few pages of “Project Hail Mary“ were promising. But then, the main character (whose name I can't remember and who clearly is a dullsville version of Mark Watney) just starts doing all kinds of formulas and writing on his skin and I just didn't care. I tried to stick with the story because the book has had so many glowing reviews, but it continued to get sillier and sillier. So, I DNF at 85-ish pages.
I listened to this short story while making dinner tonight. It's a poignant look at a relatively isolated farm woman who cannot read.
Each day, her neighbor sashays to the mailbox and claims new letters, yet there are no letters for Cora Gibbs. Before Cora's nephew heads to college, he comes to stay fit the summer. Not to be outdone by her neighbor, Cora asks her nephew to both reach her to read and write letters out to the wide world.
The story looks at what reading is, how it connects us to the world, and how it isn't just a solitary experience as we do often think it is. The story is also about what being neighborly really means. Highly recommend!
If I didn't listen to the audiobook version from Libby, I would have stopped midway through. I'm fact, I did have the physical book checked out at one point and couldn't get into it, but it was also at a time where I couldn't focus on any books at all. I should have taken my own hint.
So, the cover is pretty!
Does the reader gave you like the main characters to enjoy the book? Does the reader have to find the plot convincing or interesting to enjoy the book? Can a book that tries to for into many genres hold the reader's interest? Did this book seem like a fun summer read to accompany workdays? Generally, for me, yes, yes, yes, and no.
Yet, this book failed for me on many levels.
Hana Khan is supposed to be our heroine and we are clearly supposed to root for her. Yet, she has few redeeming qualities. For example:
-her mother has a run a local restaurant since her father died 15 years before the action of the novel. Clearly, every member of the family must help out with this restaurant for it to survive. Hana complains about how shabby it is without lifting a paint brush or thinking of ways to bring in customers. She also does not seem to do very much with daily activities and spends most of the last several months of the failing restaurant's life flitting around after podcast internships, sabotaging a competitor, and expecting her mother to keep working endless hours and losing money because Hana grew up with the restaurant.
-Hana decides upon a very vicious attack plan against her competitor including reporting him to the health department. This is hardly a “You've Got Mail” scenario or the basis for a romance.
-any time Hana isn't there first one someone runs to with news, she behaves petulantly about being left out. When her best friends get married secretly and don't tell her (because it's SECRET), she acts brattily even though she knows her friends' families disapprove of the match and one if then us moving several hours s away for a dream job.
The only parts of the book where Hana wasn't super annoying is when the horrible attack on her , Rashid, and Aymin.
This book tries to be a generational story, chick lit/romance, and a call to social justice but fails at all if them. The author should have focused on just one of these areas because the book ended up being quite sloppy.
What did I like? Rashid in particular, as well as some of the supporting community members. I mentioned the cover.
Also: 1 entire star is dedicated to trying to be a book version of very enjoyable predecessors (three movies and a play, respectively): “You've Got Mail,” “In the Good Old Summertime,” “Shop Around the Corner,” and the original basis for them all, “Parfumerie.”
The Grossmiths take us for a spin through Mr. Pooter's daily life, mishaps, and rather terrible jokes (yet I laughed at every one). The Victorian crazes for bicycling, seances, and general minutiae were lampooned in the rather understated diary entries of Mr. Pooter.
I've had this little book in my list for some time and it came to the rescue in getting close to my reading goal for the year and in taking me out of 2021 with a chuckle.
The audiobook version narrated by the inimitable Frederick Davidson was a hoot! At some point, I'd like to check out the physical book that includes illustrations.
This romance based at a small NPR station in the Seattle is really cute. I laughed out loud at multiple places and enjoyed the sparring. Sure, you've got to suspend your disbelief about some of the situations, but it's still a nice change of pace for the premise.
Inaccuracy: there's no way a public radio employee in her 20s could afford to buy a 3-bedroom house anywhere in the Seattle area without a massive gift from someone else or inheritance.
This book is a lot of fun! I really enjoyed the different characters and the combo of romance and comedy. In fact, there were many moments that were right out of a 1930s slapstick comedy movie.
I'm sure there's a lot if good information in this book and most certainly insights. However, I was turned off immediately by the author's tone and cutesy subheadings every page or two. So, back to the library it went.
I know TJ Klune is imaginative and can write simultaneously hilarious and heart-rending books based on the outstanding “The House in the Cerulean Sea.”
Yet, “Under the Whispering Door” did neither of those things for me and I ended up skimming the last 150 pages.
Both books seem to be written with a similar plot structure: lonely/miserable/middle-aged bureaucratic drone, this time with more power over others, is placed in a fish-out-of-water situation with delightfully quirky oddballs and learns to enjoy and value life and others. Great! I'm a middle-aged accountant with cats, so right up my alley.
During a recent vacation to New Mexico, I saw Tony Hillerman's books at just about every single gift shop and anywhere selling books. After thoroughly enjoying all the wonderful sights of New Mexico, I thought I'd like to go there again from home.
Well, whoopsie doodles, I picked up the fourth book in Tony Hillman's detective series because it was the oldest one available at the library. And I'd neglected my phone at home and couldn't look up the proper order. Or ask a librarian.
Anyway, I'm glad I started with this book instead of the first, which I had a harder time sticking with. The characters are well-drawn and the story was engaging. The author does a good job of keeping you interested in the politics and jurisdictional rules of Indigenous American reservations and municipal/county/state/Federal authorities. That might sound dullsville, but not in the author's hands.
This small volume is a real treat. 4 of the 5 stories are told from the point of view of Maud, an elderly lady who is definitely up to no good, but is someone you'd want on your side of you were in trouble. Helene Tursten deftly weaves in humor and I was sad when the book came to an end. I can only hope that Maud has future adventures in store for us.
The story of a young librarian in Paris, who has to go through the onslaught of World War II and try to save the beloved library collection, sounded really interesting to me. However, after listening to about 40% of the book, I just wasn't getting hooked or finding the characters to have unique voices. It's possible I might enjoy this book and focus on it more and print, but I did just read George Elliott‘s “Daniel Deranda,”which is a massive book requiring tons of focus and this should've been just the ticket.
Some reviewers have removed stars on “Alice Adams” because of racist remarks and depiction of African Americans. While I agree that those portions were difficult to read and were, frankly, cringe-inducing, they were a pretty accurate portrait of how many white Americans viewed some of their neighbors in the 1920s.
For me, the book didn't seem Pulitzer- or 5-star-worthy because the moral was driven home too forcefully. It's hard to believe that anyone acted as hysterical as Mrs. Adams, as false as Alice, or as odd as brother Adams; had these elements of character been refined, the morality play wouldn't have felt quite so ham-fisted. I also think Arthur Russell's character was like a cardboard cutout, but that may have been intentional as I reflect further. With that said, Booth Tarkington is an author that is somewhat overlooked today despite the genius of “The Magnificent Ambersons” and flashes throughout “Alice Adams” and is worth reading. There were portions of the book that were practically tactile due to his nuanced descriptions.
Another reviewer drew an interesting comparison between “Pride and Prejudice” and “Alice Adams.” If I can find it again, I'll link it in to properly credit then. However, I believe there are more differences than similarities. Elizabeth Bennett may have been embarrassed by her loony family at times, but she loved them and didn't pretend to be something she was not. In fact, what makes her live and breathe just over 200 years later is that she is always Lizzie, whether making flawed judgements or not. Alice, too, shares many similarities with real people I've known who wish to move in higher circles, but who wish to get there off of others' efforts. From that perspective, she's quite real. And what woman hasn't flirted audaciously at least once in her life, which it seems Alice could not help. Lizzie actually comes from an upper echelon family, whereas Alice is firmly lower middle class. But, both women were constrained by the limited opportunities for women to advance on their own, although Alice did have the possibility of business college for a likely future as a secretary open to her. Also, the romance between Alice and Arthur is tenuous versus true love between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy.
Perhaps Alice, despite being very Midwestern, is more like Scarlett O'Hara; she wants what she cannot have and is ultimately punished for it. Although the very ending of “Alice Adams” had a religious feel, one gets the sense that Alice may find happiness. However, it almost seems like Alice has to join a cloister given her severe dress, so we aren't sure that she'll ever find the right man for her.
I kept having déjà vu while reading the book and finally looked for a movie version. Indeed, there is a 1935 adaptation starring Katherine Hepburn and a young Fred MacMurray that I must have seen and will rewatch as soon as it shows up.
I waited for months for my hold of “The Midnight Library” on Libby to come through.
What a waste of time!
This poorly-disguised self-help book filled with page after page of morals hangs on the shoulders of the excessively dull Nora Seed. She has to be one of the dimmest main characters I've come across in some time and can't seem to learn anything.
You shouldn't judge a book by its absolutely gorgeous cover (or title for that matter).
I was so hopeful about this YA Goodreads favorite from 2021. The premise sounded good and it is nice to receive a contemporary story about Ashinaabe in Michigan.
There are a lot of triggers in here you may want to chat about your teen with, especially if they are a younger teen. Multiple overdoses, making drugs, witnessing the shooting of a friend, and rape. And I'll throw in insta love because that's a romance trope that I find triggering. My issue is not that these very difficult subjects are in the book, but I think too many were thrown in. What bothered some other reviewers, that these difficult topics are glossed over, actually seems very realistic to me both from the viewpoint of how the Ashinaabe people are treated by non-tribal people and how girls and women are almost expendable when their lives are taken from them.
In some ways, Daunis is an interesting lead character. She was once a very good hockey player and hasn't followed the typical path so many other girls her age.
My Great Books Book Club chose “The Tale of Kieu” for our June 2017 selection. We have read a lot of dead white guys, as one does in the Great Books tradition, but we like to mix in titles that are great, if not officially Great.
I shall begin with a synopsis from a friend who grew up and lived in Vietnam and described this as the pearl of Vietnamese literature and a compulsory read/nightmare of middle school:
“This Kieu girl is supposed to be like the most beautiful girl in Vietnam back in the day, but got sold into a brothel like 3 times in a row, meeting several men and then in the end got reunited with the love of her life, who married her sister lol.”
Indeed!
This epic poem (and bodice ripper!) was beautifully written and came with excellent footnotes explaining references to Chinese literature and explaining metaphors, some of which were familiar and some of which weren't. The pacing is fast and full of adventure.
First released as hand-written manuscripts and later published in book form, “The Take of Kieu” has been popular with Vietnamese and should be part of American curriculums.
What's interesting is the lack of children in the story. Was Kieu sterile or had she learned tricks at the houses of mirth? Did her sister ever have children? Despite all the references to flowers and fruit, It seemed odd that not one child shows up anywhere unless it's because the story is an allegory. Vietnam was repeatedly colonized and enslaved, so perhaps the lack of children represents the hopeless feeling of subjugation: What does it matter if the future is bleak and controlled by cruel masters?
It's interesting that Nguyen Du decided to use this story as the basis for an epic poem. As a public servant who had qualms about who he was serving, perhaps he identified with Kieu and her plight. Is he, in fact, the narrator of the novel?
We had some discussion about who the biggest jerk in the story is. In my opinion, it's Thuc; if he'd been honest with his wife, we know from her inner thoughts that she would have been okay with a second wife. But, because Thuc was a chicken, she had to roust out her henchman and drag Kieu through some rough times. He never sticks up for Kieu, which is what she predicted at the outset of their relationship. And that's why you listen to your gut instinct!!
Which leads to another question: was Kieu truly a blade of grass buffeted by wind and water, or was she an opportunist? Was she following Confuscionism, or were her choices limited as a beautiful woman with bound feet?
When she has a strong man behind her, the warlord Tu, she brings those who have done her wrong to justice. However, she never sends money or otherwise checks on her parents during this five-year period, which the group found odd. While we know she avoids her young love, Kim, because of the shame in breaking their promise, surely there would have been no shame in sending her parents anonymous gifts.
Below are the discussion questions that another member put together for today's meeting:
1. How would you classify the genre of Tale of Kieu, and why? Does it remind you of any Western literary work?
2. Discuss Kieu's belief system. What is her religion? Does her motivation seem bewildering? When is the one time she lets herself be corrupted?
3. Are there inconsistencies in the narrative? In Kieu's decision-making? For instance, why doesn't she try to return home during her periods of freedom?
4. What surprised you as you read the Tale? Was it difficult to understand the metaphors and references?
5. Who seems to be narrating the Tale? What is his point of view? Is he a reliable narrator?
6. Why do you think Kieu is childless? Did you notice any children at all in the story? What was your understanding of women's roles in the Tale?
7. How do you think this poem was received by the public in 1813? Why has it continued to be so popular?
8. Which man in the story was the most unlikeable? Which woman?
9. Did the ending seem believeable? Which characters seem universally understandable and which are culture-bound?
10. How is Kieu the personification of Vietnamese culture?