A frank recollection of the author’s early life and her struggle against racism. Angelou was a wonderful word-smith who could turn a phrase as easily A frank recollection of the author’s early life and her struggle against racism. Angelou was a wonderful word-smith who could turn a phrase as easily as breathing....more
An incredibly gifted writer, Solzhenitsyn draws you in, depicting victims of the disease and the noble doctors who treat them beneath an atmosphere ofAn incredibly gifted writer, Solzhenitsyn draws you in, depicting victims of the disease and the noble doctors who treat them beneath an atmosphere of political ineptitude and intrigue. Unfortunately, one hears similar arguments among the woke culture in today’s political America as in the former Soviet Union – harmful statements, offensive comments, reeducation for improper opinions, pillorying opposing viewpoints. This work and the circumstances surrounding its publication should offer a warning to the world not to repeat the mistakes of the past....more
“What fools these mortals be!” Puck’s line succinctly defined the human condition but did so in good humor. Porter describes it with none. Imagine a p“What fools these mortals be!” Puck’s line succinctly defined the human condition but did so in good humor. Porter describes it with none. Imagine a perceptive author, perhaps an amateur psychologist, privy to the diaries of ship bound travelers. The writings may describe the same events differently depending on perceptions, foibles and prejudices. Have the owners react to one another during the voyage without any resolution other than debarking. This is Ship of Fools, a well-written compendium made to reflect the reality of 1931 aboard a German cruise ship from Vera Cruz headed to Europe. Antisemitism drips as tropical sweat from the Germans aboard. The few Americans seem savagely brutal in their simplicity and lack of proper social protocol. Catholic Mexicans, Spaniards and Cubans are barely tolerated by their Lutheran betters. There is no heroic character in this work. Isn’t that reality? A word of caution: Hollywood made a travesty of this work by the worst casting imaginable. Nothing fits. Ignore the film. Read the book. ...more
I had thought that Laurence was unrealistic, introducing us to a ninety-year-old of such stamina, but now realize that her character would of course eI had thought that Laurence was unrealistic, introducing us to a ninety-year-old of such stamina, but now realize that her character would of course endure. Hagar is as hard as the frozen Manitoba prairie. This woman is unyielding despite the opportunities afforded her for growth. She is dire and complains when the world refuses to bend to her will. And yet despite all this, Laurence entangles us. We sympathize with Hagar. She is a conglomeration of stubborn proclivities that distance us from others. We cringe at her words and blush in recognizing comparable incidents. A surprisingly good book....more
An excellent and thought-provoking book. Through an erratic series of flashbacks, a dying Mexican mogul recalls essential events in his life – broken An excellent and thought-provoking book. Through an erratic series of flashbacks, a dying Mexican mogul recalls essential events in his life – broken by his current suffering in his last illness. Much of the events are brutally frank as one would expect from a driven, opportunistic and profane man who has achieved great power and wealth. His remorse has to do with unsuccessful attempts at love. A lesson for us all that love is worth living....more
Incredible bravery by committed sailors knowing they were doomed. This is the story of Taffy 3 in the battle off Samar during the battle of Leyte GulfIncredible bravery by committed sailors knowing they were doomed. This is the story of Taffy 3 in the battle off Samar during the battle of Leyte Gulf. Every student should read this book to understand what it means to sacrifice for your country. The best America had to offer is epitomized here....more
Savagely unlikable. Who did Osborne write for? What audience would find this worth the price of a ticket? Hipsters and beatniks? A horrible play. So cSavagely unlikable. Who did Osborne write for? What audience would find this worth the price of a ticket? Hipsters and beatniks? A horrible play. So convoluted and perverse and contrary to human behavior. A complete “F”. ...more
This is a major work of historical fiction that is based on the horror of the CSA’s notorious prisoner of war camp. It is not recommended to the squeaThis is a major work of historical fiction that is based on the horror of the CSA’s notorious prisoner of war camp. It is not recommended to the squeamish. The accounts drawn from memoirs fill the mind with the muck of human debris. Very unsettling that human beings were reduced to sub-animal creatures. And yet, the glory of the true man comes through by the sacrifice of the victims to those worse off and those whose consciences force them to act in the name of humanity as children of God.
A word of caution – the minutia concerning gladiatorial combat and crucifixion is so repulsive that the reader is justifiably horrified and that bringA word of caution – the minutia concerning gladiatorial combat and crucifixion is so repulsive that the reader is justifiably horrified and that brings home the terror of Rome.
In 1943, Fast joined the Communist Party. In 1950, he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the Red Scare and was imprisoned for refusing to disclose names of sympathizers. He served three months for contempt of Congress and during this time, he began writing this work. He was subsequently blacklisted. His political sentiments scream throughout Spartacus and, had you not been aware of Fast’s convictions, you would be induced into accepting his conclusions: the poor are virtuous, the rich are corrupt, private property is immoral and once there was a Golden Age where all men loved one-another, shared everything equally and weren’t constrained by any god. Had Fast confined himself to telling a story instead of pontificating, I would have appreciated the read much more. ...more
A fantastic book and a reason why Wouk is one of my favorite authors. Far superior to the movie, The Caine Mutiny submerses the reader into the world A fantastic book and a reason why Wouk is one of my favorite authors. Far superior to the movie, The Caine Mutiny submerses the reader into the world of the Navy and the sea and the men who fight on waves. An incredible achievement. The characters are well formed and human. Words fail me, I’m so impressed.
An alcoholic, estranged from his righteous and lovelorn wife and fixated upon his beautiful daughter, leads his dysfunctional family to ruin. A derangAn alcoholic, estranged from his righteous and lovelorn wife and fixated upon his beautiful daughter, leads his dysfunctional family to ruin. A deranged, lovelorn woman, whose only focus is on the retarded one of two daughters, leads her dysfunctional family to ruin by pestering her alcoholic husband and hating the beautiful daughter he adores. The controlling beautiful, younger daughter of a frigid and insane mother and alcoholic father leaves her dysfunctional family and falls into insanity. Take your pick, it’s the same book. From the outset, an unspoken evil lies hidden beneath Styron’s words. I have three of his novels. This is the first work I have read. This is the first work he wrote. I anticipate good things, but this novel is ham-fisted. Too intimate in every nuance of existence. Just let the reader imagine! Stop with such minutia! Do we really need to know every attendee at a wedding? And why is every character so unlikeable? Why such all-pervasive hopelessness? Is this what he thinks of life? Fifty pages of the beauty’s stream-of-conscience tries the reader’s patience – why resort to a technique that is infuriating to all but English majors and literary snobs? Lie Down in Darkness reflects the typical cynicism of its times. ...more
This is a small collection of McCullers’s short stories with The Ballad being the most popular. Much of the time, McCullers portrays her characters asThis is a small collection of McCullers’s short stories with The Ballad being the most popular. Much of the time, McCullers portrays her characters as being somewhat askew, like those images in a cheap carnival’s Hall of Mirrors. This makes them memorable. How they react to a depressing existence is the nub of each story. Nothing in these stories is uplifting, but that doesn’t make them any less brilliant. She delves into the internal anguish of each life in order to raise within us the human condition that we try to ignore. A very good read....more
This is a science fiction classic that does not age well, unfortunately. The vision was there and for a decade or two could possibly hold weight for tThis is a science fiction classic that does not age well, unfortunately. The vision was there and for a decade or two could possibly hold weight for the future but now has lost its heft and is as dry and cold as the Martian desert. Bradbury compresses events from the first Martian landing to a vibrant population and mini-America to abandoning the Red Planet for a nuclear war on Earth into less than 24 years! His logistics had not been well thought out, and some events are so absurd (humanity returning to a nuclear holocaust and trees growing from mere saplings to giants after a short rain?) as to strain any sort of credulity that science fiction currently demands....more
This is not a mystery. This is an awakening of a harried and depressed yet wealthy businessman who suddenly disappears to lead a simple life for four This is not a mystery. This is an awakening of a harried and depressed yet wealthy businessman who suddenly disappears to lead a simple life for four months. He learns who he is and what is necessary in life to lead a happy one. When he reappears, he has dramatically changed for the better. A good read. ...more
The problem with this book is that, unless you read it in the original Japanese, you only get a hint of the beauty of the work. It concerns the aging The problem with this book is that, unless you read it in the original Japanese, you only get a hint of the beauty of the work. It concerns the aging patriarch of a Japanese family after World War II, his sentimentality, occasional delusions, and a recognition that he is wearing away. He tries to do the best for his family in an increasingly alien world under the foreign influence of occupation. His son, inexplicably immoral (to him) after returning from the war, is having an affair while his ignored attractive and modest wife helps the old man and his wife. His daughter also is failing, having divorced her husband and with two young daughters moves into her parents’ home. A touching story. ...more
This is another of those works from the inter-War years that was unsuccessful when published but later resurrected to become a classic by liberal acadThis is another of those works from the inter-War years that was unsuccessful when published but later resurrected to become a classic by liberal academics in the 1960s. Agee’s assignment from Fortune magazine was to investigate the lives of sharecroppers in the South. Walter Evans was assigned to make a photographic record of the same. When Agee uses his true talent as a reporter, his work reads well. But often he resorts to the then trendy “stream of conscious” writing and loses the reader. And it doesn’t help that he assumes a Gorky-like attitude and condemns the economic system that created such poverty, incapable of getting better. Yet Agee was a beneficiary of such a system and writes from a superior being perspective that comes from his accreditations. While sympathizing with his subjects, he barely addresses the complacency of these destitute families. An uneven work: often brilliant but mixed with pages of dull formulaic neo-Bolshevik screed. Interestingly, the world he wrote about has long disappeared under a Capitalistic economy while socialist paradises crushed their citizens. Evans work, however, stands the test of time. ...more
Augustus brings an ill Virgil back from Athens to Brundisium. As death approaches, the increasingly delusional poet pleads with ghosts and friends to Augustus brings an ill Virgil back from Athens to Brundisium. As death approaches, the increasingly delusional poet pleads with ghosts and friends to destroy his Aeneid. Some of its characters and circumstances under different guises reappear in Virgil’s imagined reality. Excessively long gibberish of pseudo-philosophy between Emperor and Poet over the nature of metaphors, perception, death and despotism fails miserably. The reader’s only enjoyment arrives when the prolonged death of Virgil finally arrives, and he can put the book down. This work in four parts is written by a Modernist icon whose adherents rebelled against the virtue of brevity. Broch’s book is mind-numbing due to the stream of consciousness attributed to Virgil – especially during the second part when his (and the reader’s) mind wanders during a long night awaiting death, a death that can’t come soon enough. ...more
This is the second volume to the two-part historical novel by Sholokov. I only found out of its existence by being stupefied when finishing the first This is the second volume to the two-part historical novel by Sholokov. I only found out of its existence by being stupefied when finishing the first volume, things just didn’t add up. Penguin should publish both as a two-part work. Sholokov immerses the reader into the culture, community and fundamentals of the once thriving Cossack population inhabiting the area north and east of the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea and the surrounding Steppe. A riveting work along the lines of War and Peace concerning what basically was a Cossack civil war during the rise of the Reds and Whites after the Russian Revolution. Wonderfully written and descriptive of such beauty that I would jump at the chance to visit the Steppe. ...more
This is the one work needed to study the history of India. It presents the writings/sources upon which the myriad tribes of the subcontinent evolved iThis is the one work needed to study the history of India. It presents the writings/sources upon which the myriad tribes of the subcontinent evolved into the most spiritually enlightened people on the planet. There is a depth here that is sadly lacking in European civilization: the quest for the soul's fulfillment. I cannot praise this work enough....more
This is the one work needed to study the history of India. It presents the writings/sources upon which the myriad tribes of the subcontinent evolved iThis is the one work needed to study the history of India. It presents the writings/sources upon which the myriad tribes of the subcontinent evolved into the most spiritually enlightened people on the planet. There is a depth here that is sadly lacking in European civilization: the quest for the soul's fulfillment. I cannot praise this work enough....more
