I had fun reading these stories, even though many of them are quite disturbing and violent – definitely not for young children. The side-by-side EngliI had fun reading these stories, even though many of them are quite disturbing and violent – definitely not for young children. The side-by-side English/Spanish was very helpful. I read the Spanish version and only had to refer to the English translation on a few occasions. On the negative side, there were quite a few typos and other mistakes that should never have gotten past the editor. Also, I found a handful of translation errors. Still, it was very useful for studying and improving my Spanish....more
I enjoy Shakespeare every once in a while. I've read most of his most well-known plays, but for some reason I had never gotten around to this one.
It wI enjoy Shakespeare every once in a while. I've read most of his most well-known plays, but for some reason I had never gotten around to this one.
It was pretty much what I expected -- a great story with great wordplay. I especially liked reading the origin of the title of another great literary work, the one with perhaps the greatest title ever: Something Wicked This Way Comes....more
... may you be for ever blessed for that moment of bliss and happiness which you gave to another lonely and grateful heart!
Good Lord, only a moment
... may you be for ever blessed for that moment of bliss and happiness which you gave to another lonely and grateful heart!
Good Lord, only a moment of bliss? Isn't such a moment sufficient for the whole of a man's life?
A classic short story by the Russian master Fyodor Dostoevsky, written very early in his career. It is the story of a very lonely man who happens to meet a young woman who brings great hope and excitement into his life over the course of four evenings. But, as is so common in stories of love, this story ends in disappointment and despair....more
It's Christmas season. I like to read a Christmas story or two for the occasion. At the library I saw a book of Dostoevsky's short stories with this oIt's Christmas season. I like to read a Christmas story or two for the occasion. At the library I saw a book of Dostoevsky's short stories with this one in it. The title indicated Christmas, and it was only 10 pages or so, so I thought I'd give it a try.
Spoiler alert: It's not a Christmas story!
Dostoevsky is a great writer and story teller. This story is as well-told as one would expect from such a master. But it is very disturbing – it deals with extreme greed, arranged marriages, and victimization of children, all sanctioned by society and the state of that time and place....more
Poor unhappy Erik! Should we pity him? Should we curse him? He asked only to be someone like everyone else. But he was too ugly. He had either to hide
Poor unhappy Erik! Should we pity him? Should we curse him? He asked only to be someone like everyone else. But he was too ugly. He had either to hide his genius or play tricks with it, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the noblest members of the human race. He had a heart great enough to hold the empire of the world, and in the end he had to be content with a cellar. Clearly, then, we must pity the Opera ghost.
As a young boy in the mid 1960's, I was haunted by images I had seen of Lon Chaney's famous portrayal of The Phantom of the Opera. Although I never really learned much about the story, much less read the book or even saw any of the movie adaptations of it, I was still very intrigued by what I did know about the story: a hideous-looking man, living in the dark and secret depths of the Paris Opera House, wreaking havoc and horror on the Opera's attendees, staff, and management, and who falls in love with and kidnaps one of the Opera's beautiful divas.
Now that I am planning to attend the Broadway adaptation of this story in the next few weeks, I decided to read the original story – something I have put off for more than 50 years. I'm glad I read it even though it did not quite live up to my expectations, which were not very high to begin with. It is a good story, but the way it is told seems a little clumsy and laborious....more
I had heard condensed versions of this story a few times before, but I never realized that the great Leo Tolstoy wA parable about the perils of greed.
I had heard condensed versions of this story a few times before, but I never realized that the great Leo Tolstoy was the original author. It has a good message (Be content with what you have), but it seemed a little preachy to me.
Is it realistic to think that people will subdue their tendency for selfishness and greed because of a story about one man who met a tragic end because of his greed? What about the myriad of greedy people who achieved and now enjoy high levels of opulence without ever suffering disastrous consequences?
I am reminded of a quote by a billionaire who, when asked if his goal was to own everything, responded, "No, of course not. I only want to own all the land that is next to mine." Un-ironically, this man lived a very long and successful life, full of affluence and power, possessing unimaginably large tracts of land....more
A classic short story of horror. I have seen and heard stories and shows that reference, parody, or follow its theme many times over the years. I'm glA classic short story of horror. I have seen and heard stories and shows that reference, parody, or follow its theme many times over the years. I'm glad I finally found myself with a copy of it and the chance to read the original. It was great....more
I planned on never reading anything by James Joyce because I was sure I wouldn't be able to understand it, much less enjoy and appreciate it.
Many yearI planned on never reading anything by James Joyce because I was sure I wouldn't be able to understand it, much less enjoy and appreciate it.
Many years ago my brother told me about James Joyce – about how he was an extremely over-rated author because all of his works are incomprehensible. "In fact", he said, "one of his most acclaimed novels, Finnegans Wake, is nothing but pure gibberish from cover to cover."
Being a little skeptical of my brother's claim, I decided one day to go to the library, pull a copy of Finnegans Wake off the shelf, open it up to a random page, and randomly put my finger on a random sentence to see what it said. This is the sentence that emerged (I've had it memorized ever since):
But Noodynaady's actual ingrate tootle is of come into the garner mauve and thy nice are stores of morning and buy me a bunch of iodines.
It sounded like pure gibberish to me then, and it still does today. Thumbing through the book and reading several other similar non-sensical phrases, I realized that my brother was probably right: The whole book was incomprehensible, and James Joyce's writing was not for me.
So now, years later, after learning a little more about James Joyce (from less biased sources), I decided to give his most famous short story, The Dead, a chance. It turned out to be a great experience for me. Unlike Finnegans Wake, it was quite comprehensible, even though I had to read the first few pages two or three times over in order to get a clear understanding of who everybody was (at least 20 different people are named). The writing is beautiful and full of meaning. I had to read slowly and deliberately, but all the words fell into their proper places perfectly in a way that conveyed deep significance and feeling. Here is just one passage:
The air of the room chilled his shoulder. He stretched himself cautiously along under the sheets and lay down beside his wife. One by one, they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age. He thought of how she who lay beside him had locked in her heart for so many years that image of her lover's eyes when he had told her that he did not wish to live.
Historical fiction at its best. A great telling of the early stages of World War II from many different perspectives – mostly from members of the fictHistorical fiction at its best. A great telling of the early stages of World War II from many different perspectives – mostly from members of the fictional Henry family. The father, Victor Henry, is an American Naval officer who manages to be involved in many key events of the war as he is given diplomatic assignments in Berlin, London, Warsaw, and Moscow. Stretching credulity just a bit, he even manages to actually meet Churchill, Hitler, Stalin, and Roosevelt.
Near the end of the book, Victor was forced to layover in Tokyo on his way from Moscow to his new assignment at Pearl Harbor. It was at that point that I told myself, "if he now somehow manages to get a meeting with Hirohito, then I will trash this book in my goodreads review." Fortunately, the author was astute enough to not push coincidences that far.
All the important action – civil, military, strategic, and diplomatic – of World War II, up to and including the attack on Pearl Harbor is covered, and in many cases the action is thoroughly analyzed. Since one of Victor Henry's sons marries a Jewish girl living and traveling in Europe, the story is able to also include the Jewish perspective of the war in Europe, which I especially appreciated.
This is a very long book, and it only covers the war through December, 1941. The rest of World War II and the Henry Family saga is continued in the even longer sequel, War and Remembrance. I enjoyed more than three months of listening to the audio version as I went on my frequent walks. The narration was fantastic....more
I listened to this book on audio. The narrator was excellent at bringing the vernacular of the poor black Southerners to life. Reading it would have bI listened to this book on audio. The narrator was excellent at bringing the vernacular of the poor black Southerners to life. Reading it would have been very difficult and much less enjoyable, as I am someone who abhors misspelled words and grammatically incorrect wording.
This is really a great book, one that could – and maybe should – be read more than once. I loved the rich flowing prose of the narrator injected at appropriate intervals to break up the lively jargon-filled dialogue of the well-developed characters.
The story is both interesting and very meaningful. It is also thought-provoking in that it made me feel for the main character, Janie, as she handled her life as best she could with the cards she was dealt. Really 4.5 stars. Maybe 5 stars if after a year or so it still resonates strongly in my memory....more
The main character in this book, Charles Strickland, is a very unlikable character. He abandons his wife and children, never to see them again. Then, The main character in this book, Charles Strickland, is a very unlikable character. He abandons his wife and children, never to see them again. Then, for the rest of his life, he never so much as even expresses concern for their welfare. He treats others horribly, and he seems to completely lack any sense of empathy whatsoever. He really doesn’t care about anything ... except for his ability to paint, which he is driven to do.
Author W. Somerset Maugham selected the life of the French impressionist painter Paul Gauguin as the basis for Charles Strickland. I have not studied the life or the works of Paul Gauguin sufficiently to determine if the author’s characterization is accurate or not, but I do have some thoughts about people who are possessed of exceptional mental or artistic abilities – mental geniuses like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking; and artistic geniuses like Vincent Van Gogh and many others, including perhaps Paul Gauguin, along with many of the truly great writers and musicians.
Such anomalous and extraordinary individuals seem to live their lives out of and apart from the places and times assigned to them by their birth. The fact that they usually manage to awkwardly blend in with their pre-determined societies and cultures may actually be colossal achievements on their part, albeit unrecognized by the general public. Sometimes, perhaps, the artist or genius may fail, or simply refuse to make the attempt, at such an endeavor. If so, that would be the case with Charles Strickland, as the author describes in this passage:
I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place. Accident has cast them amid certain surroundings, but they have always a nostalgia for a home they know not. They are strangers in their birthplace, and the leafy lanes they have known from childhood or the populous streets in which they have played, remain but a place of passage. They may spend their whole lives aliens among their kindred and remain aloof among the only scenes they have ever known. Perhaps it is this sense of strangeness that sends men far and wide in the search for something permanent, to which they may attach themselves. Perhaps some deep-rooted atavism urges the wanderer back to lands which his ancestors left in the dim beginnings of history. Sometimes a man hits upon a place to which he mysteriously feels that he belongs. Here is the home he sought, and he will settle amid scenes that he has never seen before, among men he has never known, as though they were familiar to him from his birth. Here at last he finds rest.
This was an interesting story and a fascinating analysis of an artistic, but oddly sociopathic, genius. It sparked my interest in art and in the lives of the artists themselves. The beautiful wording, descriptions, dialogue, and prose in this novel is exceptional, making Maugham one of those literary geniuses to whom I referred earlier.
Finally, here is a quote from the book that I appreciate and find very relevant today:
"Someday I will understand Auschwitz — a brave statement, but innocently absurd. "
"No one will ever understand Auschwitz. Someday I will
Auschwitz.
"Someday I will understand Auschwitz — a brave statement, but innocently absurd. "
"No one will ever understand Auschwitz. Someday I will write about Sophie’s life and death, and thereby help demonstrate how absolute evil is never extinguished from the world. Auschwitz itself remains inexplicable."
Stingo, the young man who narrates this superb novel, draws these conclusions after 20 years of pondering the events that enveloped his life in Brooklyn in the summer of 1947.
An aspiring writer, Stingo befriends Sophie and Nathan – two passionate lovers, each about 10 years older than him – who live directly above him. Over the course of many weeks (and hundreds of intriguing pages) Stingo learns the truth about the past and the present of these two friends. Nathan is revealed to be mentally ill, suffering from episodic bouts of paranoia and schizophrenia. Sophie, to whom Stingo is secretly but obsessively attracted, is a non-Jewish victim and survivor of Auschwitz. Her story is as painful, heartbreaking, and cruel as any story that ever could be imagined.
This is a story that I will never forget. I never saw the movie adaptation of this book, starring Meryl Streep, and I never heard anything about what the movie was about. So, for me, learning about the terrible choice Sophie had to make was utterly shocking and heartbreaking.
Sophie’s Choice is one of the very best books I have ever read. For me it is forever unforgettable....more
I am definitely not a member of the target audience for this book. Nevertheless, I found it quite entertaining and touching. I knew a little about it I am definitely not a member of the target audience for this book. Nevertheless, I found it quite entertaining and touching. I knew a little about it from the snippets of the mini-series I had seen years before on PBS. I enjoyed the liveliness, vocabulary, and especially the imagination of Anne (with an "e"), even though I had to constantly tell myself not to let it bother me too much that there is no way in the world any 11 or 12-year-old would ever vocalize in any manner that remotely resembles the way Anne speaks.
A very good story that I wish I had read to my daughter when she was about Anne's age. I especially enjoyed the character Matthew. I could relate to him very well....more
I don't really know what to say about this book. In many ways it fascinated me, but in so many others it left me scratching my head wondering what wasI don't really know what to say about this book. In many ways it fascinated me, but in so many others it left me scratching my head wondering what was really going on. I was also constantly wondering what the real message was that the author was trying to convey.
On the surface this is the story of one man's struggle to live within the bounds of his conscience while being expected by the people he serves and especially by the "empire" who employs him to carry out certain duties and responsibilities which increasingly become unbearable for him. It also tells an allegory of the history of colonialism and of "civilization's" domination and inevitable destruction of indigenous people and their cultures.
But so much of this book was difficult for me. For example, the reader is left in the dark about the actual activities of the "barbarians", as the vilified indigenous people in this book are called. We never know if they are actually waging a war against the empire or if it is all just a propaganda campaign to put fear into the hearts of the populace.
The time period and the geographic location of the events are purposely left very vague, even ambiguous. I often envisioned colonial Africa. At other times it could have been Southeast Asia or even the frontier of the United States during its years of aggressive westward expansion. The scenes of brutality, which are now forever etched on my mind, could fit any time or place where aggressive empires sought to subjugate native populations.
The book has left me wondering why so few people have the courage to act morally and ethically when confronted with similar dilemmas, and why most people seem to be susceptible to campaigns of fear and hate against those who are different from them....more
What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping t
What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell.
Philip Marlowe is a private detective hired by a wealthy old man in his final days of mortality to track down a sleazy pornographer and put a stop to his extortion. What starts out as a simple job quickly escalates into a hornets' nest of murder, kidnapping, seduction, and corruption.
Marlowe is the classic hard-boiled private eye and narrator. I found it impossible to read this book without hearing it in my mind in the voice of Humphrey Bogart who played the role of Marlowe in the movie (which I have not yet seen). Fast-paced and thrilling from start to finish, its only detraction, in my opinion, was the overuse of unfamiliar slang and a slight inadequacy of important details and descriptions at key points of activity.
Although I occasionally felt a little lost due to the rapid-fire action and the introduction of numerous players who weave in and out of it, the ending wrapped everything up very nicely -- answering all the important questions, yet leaving a few details for the reader to surmise on his own. Fantastic. I will be happy to read more of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe series in the future....more
When I had younger children I would read to them almost every night before bedtime. Newbery Award winners were usually quite reliable as far as being When I had younger children I would read to them almost every night before bedtime. Newbery Award winners were usually quite reliable as far as being enjoyable to both me and the child I was reading to. Sadly, my youngest child is now nearly 24, and it's been a few years since I have read children's books like this one. I had forgotten how fun they were. I miss those times.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond won the Newbery Award in 1959, the same year I was born -- not that there is any significance in that. It tells a timeless story of a young person who stands up to the bigotry and closed-mindedness of the surrounding community. In this case the young person is Kit Tyler, a recently orphaned teenager who has relocated from the Barbados -- an island paradise she has always called home -- to the cold, forbidding, and tightly religious community of Wethersfield, Connecticut, in the 1600's.
Kit soon befriends an old widow who is shunned as a witch by the rest of the community for her differing religious views (being Quaker while the rest of the community is Puritan). Predictably, Kit's reputation gets tarnished for her association with this kind woman, and eventually she herself gets accused by the townsfolk of being a witch.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I just wish I had a 10-14 year old child or grand-child who I could have read it to. It teaches valuable lessons about tolerance and having the courage to live and act according to the dictates of your own conscience regardless of what those around you do or say or believe....more
I am so glad I decided to read this book. It doesn't have a lot going for it that would normally pique my interest to the point of trying it out, but I am so glad I decided to read this book. It doesn't have a lot going for it that would normally pique my interest to the point of trying it out, but the reviews and the ratings for it here on goodreads, along with a hearty recommendation from my daughter-in-law, prompted me to give it a try. And after finishing it just now, I have to say that I really loved this story of young Francie Nolan growing up impoverished in Brooklyn in the early 1900's.
Having a daughter myself, I was especially touched by the depictions of Francie's relationship with her father – a man who clearly loves his children, but, at the same time, is tormented by his character flaws and his inadequacy to provide them with everything they deserve.
Superb writing. Superb setting descriptions. Superb development of characters and relationships. All around a wonderful book....more
One hallmark of a great author, in my opinion, is the ability to realistically depict a character who is mentally unstable. From my limited reading, tOne hallmark of a great author, in my opinion, is the ability to realistically depict a character who is mentally unstable. From my limited reading, the best example I remember is the schizophrenic neighbor in Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road. Anyone who has not read that book should -- if for no other reason than to marvel at the author's skill.
Author Herman Wouk also makes a spectacular show of the same skill in his depiction of the disturbed Philip Queeg, Captain of the U.S.S. Caine, in his Pulitzer prize winning novel The Caine Mutiny.
A few years ago I caught a portion of the old movie of the same name on TV. It starred Humphrey Bogart as Capt. Queeg. I remember being highly impressed with Bogart's performance and the tension and suspense that the scene involving the "strawberry incident" elicited. I was only able to watch about 15-20 minutes of the movie, but it left an indelible mark on my psyche to the effect that, years later, while reading the book I consistently read Capt. Queeg's lines in the voice of Humphrey Bogart. It was a great treat that added to my enjoyment of the novel.
The best part of the this book is the court martial of the "mutineers" near the end. I love court room dramas when they are well scripted, well thought out, and well delivered. This one was one of the best.
I'm not sure why I'm not giving this 5 stars. I really loved it and can't think of any way to criticize it other than the fact that in some places it didn't keep my attention quite as well as I would prefer. Perhaps some of the seafaring lingo and terminology may have been a tad cumbersome for me also. But this really is a great book.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - Just a side note: Whenever I decide to read a book I always do a little research on the author. I was fascinated to learn that Herman Wouk is still alive at the age of 102. His most recent novel, The Lawgiver was published in 2012 when he was 97. And just two years ago at the age of 100 his memoir Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year Old Author was published....more
13 or so pages of blistering satire by Jonathon Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, as he expounds upon a simple solution to the problems of over13 or so pages of blistering satire by Jonathon Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, as he expounds upon a simple solution to the problems of overpopulation and poverty.
I suppose the reason this essay is still considered relevant today is the fact that our politicians continue to espouse and promote equally preposterous simple "solutions" to complex societal problems . . . and the masses, having itching ears, continue to eat it up (pun intended)....more