Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry. Lowry does it again--taking an important topic and making it meaningful for children. This book addresses the holocaust and how the Danish people succeeded in saving most of their Jews from "relocation" by sneaking them over to Sweden where they would be safe. It recounts the bravery required of 10-year-olds Annemarie and Ellen. The two girls are best friends, living in the same apartment complex when Denmark is occupied by the Nazis. Upon learning that the Danish Jews are to be relocated, Annemarie's family undertakes to help Ellen's family escape. Along the way, Annemarie learns what it means to be brave, and the readers learn of an ingenious trick used by the Danes to throw off the dogs who the Nazis used to sniff for hidden humans: a handkerchief, scented with rabbit's blood and cocaine. The blood attracted the dogs, but the cocaine numbed their olefactory sense so that they missed the scent they were searching for.
Wonderful story about a weighty topic.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Reading and Reading
The Magician, by W. Somerset Maugham. Having read Of Human Bondage and The Painted Veil, I decided to read yet another Maugham book. Oliver Haddo is evil personified, and the number he does on the various characters, inciting as much psychological fear as real fear, is quite masterful. Dabbling in the "black arts" he manages to seduce Margaret purely for the sake of getting revenge on her fiance. Margaret quickly loses all that is good and innocent and becomes poisoned by the evil with which she lives. Had Maugham continued with this line, it truly would have been frightening and interesting. It starts to get a little wierd, however, when Haddo appears set on creating a homunculus and in need of Margaret to complete it. The ending is just plain bad. I guess Maugham needed a way to end the story. Wish he'd come up with a better way.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Incredible Book
Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. I lucked upon this book while shopping for my next Audible selection. It had great ratings, but I was a bit suspicious that maybe it was overrated. The customer reviews on Amazon were similarly effusive about the book, with only a smattering of negative reviews. Could a book really be that good? Yes!!!
I am not sure how to describe this book. With characters like BarefootTed, Caballo Blanco, and the "Party Kids", the story of the race in Copper Canyon would have made a sufficiently compelling story. McDougall's ability to break down scientific concepts for the layperson was such that his book could have been a simple study of the evolution of man or the physics of running. A story about the culture of Tarahumara Indians would similarly have made for an interesting anthropological read. McDougall could have easily written a scathing story of the corporate greed of the athletic shoe companies. Somehow, however, McDougall manages to weave all of these different story lines seamlessly into one of the best books I've "read" in a long time.
It's changed my thoughts about running. Like most runners, I've been seduced by the advertising and conventional wisdom that tells me that I need scientifically engineered shoes (read expensive) to address my flat feet. If I have shin splints or burning knees, it's clearly a sign that time waits for no one, and certainly not me. I'm willing to give minimalist running a try, and have already purchased shoes with thinner soles. I'm working on changing my form. I'm trying to go back in time--to recapture the joy of running, and the form that McDougall suggests is more correct than the abnormal form forced on me by my thick soled, heavy-heeled running shoes.
Overall, the book is laugh-out-loud funny in parts, educational, and ultimately inspiring. I might not ever run an ultramarathon, or even a marathon, but I want to be a running woman, who truly enjoys running.
I am not sure how to describe this book. With characters like BarefootTed, Caballo Blanco, and the "Party Kids", the story of the race in Copper Canyon would have made a sufficiently compelling story. McDougall's ability to break down scientific concepts for the layperson was such that his book could have been a simple study of the evolution of man or the physics of running. A story about the culture of Tarahumara Indians would similarly have made for an interesting anthropological read. McDougall could have easily written a scathing story of the corporate greed of the athletic shoe companies. Somehow, however, McDougall manages to weave all of these different story lines seamlessly into one of the best books I've "read" in a long time.
It's changed my thoughts about running. Like most runners, I've been seduced by the advertising and conventional wisdom that tells me that I need scientifically engineered shoes (read expensive) to address my flat feet. If I have shin splints or burning knees, it's clearly a sign that time waits for no one, and certainly not me. I'm willing to give minimalist running a try, and have already purchased shoes with thinner soles. I'm working on changing my form. I'm trying to go back in time--to recapture the joy of running, and the form that McDougall suggests is more correct than the abnormal form forced on me by my thick soled, heavy-heeled running shoes.
Overall, the book is laugh-out-loud funny in parts, educational, and ultimately inspiring. I might not ever run an ultramarathon, or even a marathon, but I want to be a running woman, who truly enjoys running.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Picking up the pace?
Not really, but add three more notches to my library card (or something like that).
Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown. I sped through this book so that I could see the movie. Have I seen it yet? Well . . .I'll get around to it. Either way, while the story is different in lots of ways from The DaVinci Code, it still has the same feel of a suspenseful if fantastic story. Sure, I'd know how to find an ultra-deadly assassin who is motivated as much by principle as he is greed, just like the least likely character in the story. Sure, one assassin can confine and murder four cardinals in some very creative ways, in public places, all while avoiding detection. Why of course, Robert Langdon is so brilliant that he can decipher in 24 hours, with limited sleep the clues that would lead to the Illuminati headquarters, clues so difficult that only the most worthy wuld be expected to even try. It was good. It was a quick read. It wasn't time wasted. Ultimately, it'll probably stay with me to about the same degree as TDC: I know how it started, I know how it ended, I don't remember much else.
Washington Square, by Henry James. What a sad, pathetic life led be all of the main characters of this book. Poor Catherine. Denied the only man she ever loved. Too afraidto defy her father. An old maid, albeit a rich one. But doubtful her life would have been any better had she indeed married Townsend. Poor Aunt Lavinia. So simple and so easily taken in, living her life as little more than an observer and would be melodramatic orchestrator of the lives of others. Poor Dr. Sloper. Never finding enough good in anyone to measure up the possibly vaunted view of his deceased wife and son. How perverse that he could enjoy winning the battle with his daughter.
Like Daisy Miller and Portrait of a Lady, this book was well-written and thought provoking and yet another reminder of why I'm glad Ilive in this era where women are independent.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. "What does fuego mean in English." The answer to that is definitely the "wao" factor in this book, a parable of sorts, about life and love, with a bit of Dominican history thrown in for good measure. The story ran a little long at parts, but the family history was intriguing. I'd give this book an 8 on a 10 point scale.
Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown. I sped through this book so that I could see the movie. Have I seen it yet? Well . . .I'll get around to it. Either way, while the story is different in lots of ways from The DaVinci Code, it still has the same feel of a suspenseful if fantastic story. Sure, I'd know how to find an ultra-deadly assassin who is motivated as much by principle as he is greed, just like the least likely character in the story. Sure, one assassin can confine and murder four cardinals in some very creative ways, in public places, all while avoiding detection. Why of course, Robert Langdon is so brilliant that he can decipher in 24 hours, with limited sleep the clues that would lead to the Illuminati headquarters, clues so difficult that only the most worthy wuld be expected to even try. It was good. It was a quick read. It wasn't time wasted. Ultimately, it'll probably stay with me to about the same degree as TDC: I know how it started, I know how it ended, I don't remember much else.
Washington Square, by Henry James. What a sad, pathetic life led be all of the main characters of this book. Poor Catherine. Denied the only man she ever loved. Too afraidto defy her father. An old maid, albeit a rich one. But doubtful her life would have been any better had she indeed married Townsend. Poor Aunt Lavinia. So simple and so easily taken in, living her life as little more than an observer and would be melodramatic orchestrator of the lives of others. Poor Dr. Sloper. Never finding enough good in anyone to measure up the possibly vaunted view of his deceased wife and son. How perverse that he could enjoy winning the battle with his daughter.
Like Daisy Miller and Portrait of a Lady, this book was well-written and thought provoking and yet another reminder of why I'm glad Ilive in this era where women are independent.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. "What does fuego mean in English." The answer to that is definitely the "wao" factor in this book, a parable of sorts, about life and love, with a bit of Dominican history thrown in for good measure. The story ran a little long at parts, but the family history was intriguing. I'd give this book an 8 on a 10 point scale.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)