This is another book my daughter was assigned to read in school and she recommended it to me. Tim O'Brien provides an engrossing insight to the Vietnam War in The Things They Carried.
Page 20: They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture.
Page 44: It was my view then, and still is, that you don't make war without knowing why. Knowledge, of course, is always imperfect, but it seemed to me that when a nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause. You can't fix mistakes. Once people are dead, you can't make them undead.
Page 84: In a true war story, if there's a moral at all, it's like the thread that makes the cloth. You can't' tease it out. You can't extract the meaning without unraveling the deeper meaning. And in the end, really, there's nothing much to say about a true war story, except maybe "Oh."
Page 255: But this too is true: stories can save us.
Page 265: The human life is all one thing, like a blade tracing loops on ice: a little kid, a twenty-three-year-old infantry sergeant, a middle-aged writer knowing guilt and sorrow.
Yeah, I recommend it too.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Gone Girl
I haven't seen the movie, but Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was a frightening ride. At first I was a little annoyed with the babble of the writing. On page 10 Amy babbles on in her diary: "Carmen, a newish friend--semi-friend, barely friend, the kind of friend you can't cancel on--has talked me into going out to Brooklyn, to one of her writers' parties." I stuck with it and over 200 pages in we learn that Amy isn't dead after all, she's just psycho-bitch crazy and the blather of her diary was her elaborate ruse at teaching her husband a lesson for cheating on her by framing him for her murder. Yikes. These people are seriously disturbed. And disturbing. Especially with the unsettling resolution.
Yikes.
Yikes.
Saturday, March 12, 2016
Twelve Years a Slave
What a treasure this book is. I'm surprised it isn't required reading in schools. Though I didn't see the movie, that's how Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup came to my attention. Not a long book, it was written and published within months of his return to freedom and is acclaimed for the detail used to describe life for a slave, such as what they ate, where they slept, how to pick cotton. I was intrigued by juxtaposition of fancy high written English against the spoken English. And then of course there's the institution of slavery itself, hard enough for me to understand. It's interesting to see Northup try to understand the difference in culture between the north and the south, and concluding that slave-owning breeds cruelty as a learned behavior. I absolutely agree.
Some quotes from the book:
Page 23: Surely they would seek me out -- they would deliver me from thralldom. Alas! I had not then learned the measure of "man's inhumanity to man," nor to what limitless extent of wickedness he will go for the love of gain.
Page 28: So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington -- through the Capital of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man's inalienable right, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness!
Page 113: When the evidence, clear and indisputable, was laid before him that I was a free man, and as much entitled to my liberty as he -- when, on the day I left, he was informed that I had a wife and children, as dear to me as his own babes to him, he only raved and swore, denouncing the law that tore me from him, and declaring he would find out the man who had forwarded the letter that disclosed the place of my captivity, if there was any virtue or power in money, and would take his life.
Page 164: The influence of the iniquitous system necessarily fosters an unfeeling and cruel spirit, even in the bosoms of those who, among their equals, are regarded as humane and generous.
... Brought up with such ideas -- in the notion that we stand without the pale of humanity -- no wonder the oppressors of my people are a pitiless and unrelenting race.
Page 195: I was only a "nigger" and knew my place, but felt as strongly as if I had been a white man, that it would have been an inward comfort, had I dared to have given him a parting kick.
Some quotes from the book:
Page 23: Surely they would seek me out -- they would deliver me from thralldom. Alas! I had not then learned the measure of "man's inhumanity to man," nor to what limitless extent of wickedness he will go for the love of gain.
Page 28: So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington -- through the Capital of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man's inalienable right, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness!
Page 113: When the evidence, clear and indisputable, was laid before him that I was a free man, and as much entitled to my liberty as he -- when, on the day I left, he was informed that I had a wife and children, as dear to me as his own babes to him, he only raved and swore, denouncing the law that tore me from him, and declaring he would find out the man who had forwarded the letter that disclosed the place of my captivity, if there was any virtue or power in money, and would take his life.
Page 164: The influence of the iniquitous system necessarily fosters an unfeeling and cruel spirit, even in the bosoms of those who, among their equals, are regarded as humane and generous.
... Brought up with such ideas -- in the notion that we stand without the pale of humanity -- no wonder the oppressors of my people are a pitiless and unrelenting race.
Page 195: I was only a "nigger" and knew my place, but felt as strongly as if I had been a white man, that it would have been an inward comfort, had I dared to have given him a parting kick.
Friday, February 19, 2016
The Twins
Originally written in Dutch, The Twins by Tessa De Loo weaves a uniquely complex view of World War II. Estranged elderly twin sisters arbitrarily find each other at a spa. They were separated after being orphaned as young children, one to relatives in Holland and the other to relatives in Germany, before the war. They recount their experiences from opposite sides of the war with such intimate poignancy, trying to explain, trying to understand. The author succeeds in showing the humanity of regular people, no matter how history portrays them after the fact - no matter how we want to cast players in black-and-white simplicity. Here are some lines I collected:
Page 8: They wave and he waves back with a large white hand that passes back and forth in front of his face as though he wants to wipe himself out.
Page 50: The layers of time were grating over each. Before the war, after the war, the Depression years, a century ago...diverse landscapes that Anna hurtled through tipsily, as though in a runaway train.
Page 152: She had read enough to know that crying for a soldier who was departing for the front joined her to the company of millions of women throughout the ages. It had been written and sung about over and over again, but even so her grief was the only one, the worst one of all.
Page 223: Watch out for me! I am even worse than these who openly make war. I am friend and foe in one. I? There is no I, only an ambivalent treacherous we, who deceives itself in itself....
Page 290: Their whole meeting was a film she had failed to walk out of in time; now she wanted to know how it ended.
Page 351: Her powerlessness flowed down her cheeks -- too late, too late.
Page 8: They wave and he waves back with a large white hand that passes back and forth in front of his face as though he wants to wipe himself out.
Page 50: The layers of time were grating over each. Before the war, after the war, the Depression years, a century ago...diverse landscapes that Anna hurtled through tipsily, as though in a runaway train.
Page 152: She had read enough to know that crying for a soldier who was departing for the front joined her to the company of millions of women throughout the ages. It had been written and sung about over and over again, but even so her grief was the only one, the worst one of all.
Page 223: Watch out for me! I am even worse than these who openly make war. I am friend and foe in one. I? There is no I, only an ambivalent treacherous we, who deceives itself in itself....
Page 290: Their whole meeting was a film she had failed to walk out of in time; now she wanted to know how it ended.
Page 351: Her powerlessness flowed down her cheeks -- too late, too late.
Monday, October 26, 2015
The Girl With No Shadow
The Girl With No Shadow is Joanne Harris' sequel to her novel Chocolat. I had found the movie Chocolat much better than the book version, probably because I saw the movie first and it was so wonderfully told and so different from the book, that I found the book less satisfying. But The Girl With No Shadow delivered fabulously.
Joanne Harris knits a creepy world of maybe-magic and power-responsibility. I loved it, but it did scare me to death. The insidious way evil pulls the daughter away from the mother spoke too closely to my heart. My own daughter is seventeen and nearly leaving home. She's not being collected by a black-hearted witch named the Queen of Hearts, but kids pull away to be independent. It's a good thing, a healthy thing, but the process is at times painful. Especially knowing the way the world can manipulate.
Here are some quotes to feast on:
Page 120: "There's no such thing as magic," I said.
"Then call it something else." She shrugged. "Call it attitude, if you like. Call it charisma, or chutzpah, or glamour, or charm. Because basically it's just about standing straight, looking people in the eye, shooting them a killer smile, and saying, fuck off, I'm fabulous."
Page 185: The moment he walked into the shop, I knew he was going to be my kind of trouble.
Page 265: He seemed a calm and kindly man, but too like so many of his kind, with his well-worn words of comfort and his eyes that saw all of the next world, but none of this one.
Page 281: But before I could call out his name, he was gone, slipping away among the tombs, quick as a cat and quiet as a ghost.
Page 360-1: Outside the wind is riding high. A killer wind, charged with snow. Sleepers in doorways will die tonight. Dogs will howl; doors slam. Young lovers will look into each other's eyes and for the first time will silently question their vows. Eternity is such a long time -- and here, at the dead end of the year, Death seems suddenly very close.
Page 386: Outside, the snow has settled thickly, and although the light has begun to fade, the ground is weirdly luminous, as if the street and sky had exchanged places.
Joanne Harris knits a creepy world of maybe-magic and power-responsibility. I loved it, but it did scare me to death. The insidious way evil pulls the daughter away from the mother spoke too closely to my heart. My own daughter is seventeen and nearly leaving home. She's not being collected by a black-hearted witch named the Queen of Hearts, but kids pull away to be independent. It's a good thing, a healthy thing, but the process is at times painful. Especially knowing the way the world can manipulate.
Here are some quotes to feast on:
Page 120: "There's no such thing as magic," I said.
"Then call it something else." She shrugged. "Call it attitude, if you like. Call it charisma, or chutzpah, or glamour, or charm. Because basically it's just about standing straight, looking people in the eye, shooting them a killer smile, and saying, fuck off, I'm fabulous."
Page 185: The moment he walked into the shop, I knew he was going to be my kind of trouble.
Page 265: He seemed a calm and kindly man, but too like so many of his kind, with his well-worn words of comfort and his eyes that saw all of the next world, but none of this one.
Page 281: But before I could call out his name, he was gone, slipping away among the tombs, quick as a cat and quiet as a ghost.
Page 360-1: Outside the wind is riding high. A killer wind, charged with snow. Sleepers in doorways will die tonight. Dogs will howl; doors slam. Young lovers will look into each other's eyes and for the first time will silently question their vows. Eternity is such a long time -- and here, at the dead end of the year, Death seems suddenly very close.
Page 386: Outside, the snow has settled thickly, and although the light has begun to fade, the ground is weirdly luminous, as if the street and sky had exchanged places.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
The Magician King
Here's the second of the Magician trilogy by Lev Grossman. The Magician King entertains and although it has more than its share of Narnian undertones, it is definitely not predictable.
Page 97-98: That was the thing about the world: it wasn't that things were harder than you thought they were going to be, it was that they were hard in ways that you didn't expect.
Page 115: The students watched the three of them pass, propped up on their elbows, full of lofty pity for those who had been stupid enough to graduate and get older.
Page 165-166: Everybody wanted to be the hero of their own story. Nobody wanted to be comic relief.
Page 248: These waves came sloping in smoothly, building up heads of boiling cream foam on top, reared up for a moment, mint green and paper-thin in the sunlight, then broke in a long line with a sound like fabric tearing.
Page 97-98: That was the thing about the world: it wasn't that things were harder than you thought they were going to be, it was that they were hard in ways that you didn't expect.
Page 115: The students watched the three of them pass, propped up on their elbows, full of lofty pity for those who had been stupid enough to graduate and get older.
Page 165-166: Everybody wanted to be the hero of their own story. Nobody wanted to be comic relief.
Page 248: These waves came sloping in smoothly, building up heads of boiling cream foam on top, reared up for a moment, mint green and paper-thin in the sunlight, then broke in a long line with a sound like fabric tearing.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety
My cousin and I stood in line to meet President Jimmy Carter. It was Monday afternoon, July 27th, at Powell's Bookstore in Portland Oregon. I was told I couldn't see the President unless I had a book for him to sign. I bought his book, A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety, so that I could see him.
As the line slowly wound around outside and then inside the building, I texted my son the math problem: If a man signs 1500 books in two hours, how much time does each book get? Answer: 4.8 seconds. I'm not sure I got my full 4.8 seconds with President Carter, but I did snap a very blurry photo of my cousin with him. Well, he's in the background at a table busily signing books. Sill, it was a thrill!
I've always been a fan of Jimmy Carter, but reading his autobiography was interesting. Fun to hear about his childhood experiences and about his career as a nuclear engineer. But interesting to read his account of what he accomplished and tried to accomplish while in office, and have so many of those issues come up in recent news, such as comprehensive health care and renewed relationships with Cuba. I was sad to hear of his cancer diagnosis announced just last week, especially after reading about his family history of pancreatic cancer in his book.
He certainly has lead a full life.
As the line slowly wound around outside and then inside the building, I texted my son the math problem: If a man signs 1500 books in two hours, how much time does each book get? Answer: 4.8 seconds. I'm not sure I got my full 4.8 seconds with President Carter, but I did snap a very blurry photo of my cousin with him. Well, he's in the background at a table busily signing books. Sill, it was a thrill!
I've always been a fan of Jimmy Carter, but reading his autobiography was interesting. Fun to hear about his childhood experiences and about his career as a nuclear engineer. But interesting to read his account of what he accomplished and tried to accomplish while in office, and have so many of those issues come up in recent news, such as comprehensive health care and renewed relationships with Cuba. I was sad to hear of his cancer diagnosis announced just last week, especially after reading about his family history of pancreatic cancer in his book.
He certainly has lead a full life.
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