January, 2020 Readings: “Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings" (Muriel Rukeyser)

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January, 2020 Readings: “Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings" (Muriel Rukeyser)

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1CliffBurns
jan 1, 2020, 12:54 pm

A new year, a new decade...and a pile of books to read.

What to tackle first?

The big, fat Vasily Grossman tome I got for Christmas...or something a bit less imposing.

What about you? What book is drawing your attention these days?

2CliffBurns
jan 1, 2020, 12:57 pm

3KatrinkaV
jan 1, 2020, 5:58 pm

Finally digging into the Richard Howard translation of Les fleurs du mal. Been on my shelf for over twenty years, so it's about time!

4AuthorKellyn
jan 3, 2020, 3:19 pm

I'm starting with Where the Crawdads Sing. It's been on my list, but my true motivation for reading it now comes from way too many close calls with spoilers, mainly from family members who are just *dying* to talk about it.

I'm excited for it, really. I'm picking it up from the library today.

5jldarden
jan 4, 2020, 5:35 pm

Taking on short story collections this year. First up is Leaving the Sea by Ben Marcus.

6Limelite
jan 5, 2020, 4:45 pm

Haven't tackled any "classics" recently, other than Wharton's, The Bunner Sisters, which seemed like a practice work for her later greater social commentary novels about the difficult lives of unmarried women in 19th C. upper crust NYC.

Perhaps some George Eliot? Henry James? More Wharton? Thomas Hardy?

7CliffBurns
jan 7, 2020, 10:10 am

Finished my first book of 2020, THE GOON SHOW SCRIPTS, authored by the inimitable Spike Milligan.

Surreal and funny, but littered with references to people like Aneurin Bevan, so some of it might be puzzling to people under a certain age.

8Limelite
jan 7, 2020, 12:22 pm

Decided to start 2020 with a laugh and boy! am I getting lotsa laffs in The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. His newest release is Nothing to See Here (touchstone not working).

Ever read a satire about performance art happenings? Ever read an indictment of parental manipulation in the name of family unity? Ever read a novel in which a main character's face is disfigured by a potato shot out of a canon? Me, neither.

9BookConcierge
jan 9, 2020, 5:04 pm


Around the World In 80 Days – Jules Verne
Digital audiobook performed by Frederick Davidson
4****

One of the books in Verne’s series of “Extraordinary Voyages” begins when Phileas Fogg accepts a wager at his gentleman’s club. He’s certain that he will be able to circumnavigate the world in eighty days. Taking a significant amount of cash and his trusty servant Passepartout, and chased by Detective Fix who is certain Fogg is a bank robber, they set out on a grand adventure.

I’d seen more than one movie adaptation but had never read the book until now. What a delight! (Although, of course, there are some racial stereotypes that grate on the modern reader’s sensibilities.)

I marveled at how cool and collected – almost uninterested – Fogg remained throughout. He is never upset or even particularly inconvenienced. He moves with the certainty that he is correct in assuming that he can achieve this great task. Passepartout on the other hand is in a dither frequently, and he is a wonderful foil for Fogg … and for Detective Fix.

Great fun!

One quibble re cover art. SO many covers (as well as the movies) show the iconic hot-air balloon … which is NEVER used in the book!

Frederick Davidson does a marvelous job narrating the audiobook. He sets a good pace and I loved the way he interpreted the characters. I was happy also to have a text copy available, which included a handful of full-color illustrations, as well as a small drawing of the mode of travel for each of the chapters.

10BookConcierge
jan 12, 2020, 12:23 pm


Man’s Search For Meaning – Viktor E Frankl
Digital audio narrated by Simon Vance
5*****

I first read this book when I was in college and it has remained with me ever since. When a book group hosted by a local university announced this as one of their picks I immediately signed on for the discussion.

This is both a memoir and an inspirational lesson in how to survive and thrive. Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl relates his experiences in Nazi concentration camps and shares the experiences, too, of his patients, to show that, while no one can completely avoid suffering, we can choose HOW to deal with and process those experiences to find meaning and a renewed sense of purpose.

I was struck by a few things that I’d forgotten or overlooked the first time I read it. Frankl had some serendipitous encounters even in the midst of the horrors of the concentration camps. The advice to shave closely, for example, helped him give the appearance of a healthier person, thus saving him from being culled from the group as too weak to work. Additionally, his attitude of acceptance seemed to give him the strength to endure. Over and over again he chose to remain and face his fate, rather than try to escape.

The book is divided into two parts. The first is more memoir of the times he spent in the camps. The second part goes into detail on how he developed and refined his theory of logotherapy. While the second clearly builds on the first, I thought it was less interesting than the memoir section. I found section two more academic rather than personal, and therefore it had less impact.

Simon Vance does a marvelous job reading the audiobook. His diction is clear, and he sets a good pace and an appropriate tone for this serious and insightful work. Still, I did read sections of it in text format, and I think it is best experienced by reading the text.

11CliffBurns
jan 15, 2020, 11:35 am

RULE OF CAPTURE by Christopher Brown.

His previous book, TROPIC OF KANSAS, made my 2019 "Best of..." list and this one will undoubtedly make the 2020 edition.

Set in the same near future, alt-history world of TOK, RULE OF CAPTURE concerns the efforts of a lawyer to protect the dwindling rights of those who wish to protest the authoritarian regime that is turning America into a fascist state.

Gripping, believable and depressing...my favorite kinda book.

Recommended.

12CliffBurns
jan 17, 2020, 4:38 pm

Polished off Le Carre's latest, AGENT RUNNING IN THE FIELD.

Vigorous and realistic, hardly seeming like a book written by a man pushing 90.

Not as good as his best work (A PERFECT SPY or the "George Smiley" novels) but an intelligent, thoughtful read and a great way to spend a cold afternoon (wind chill -35 Celsius).

13-pilgrim-
Redigerat: jan 18, 2020, 7:42 am

Have finished Master of the Day of Judgment by Leo Perutz.
Ostensibly a "locked room" genre crime mystery, written in 1922 and set in Vienna in 1909, the mental state of the narrator leads to ambiguity as to what actually happened. Set in an artistic milieu, it was obviously much influenced by the psychological theories in vogue at the time of writing.

(I have been lurking for quite a while, but this may be the first time that I have actually posted here.)

14CliffBurns
jan 18, 2020, 11:53 am

>13 -pilgrim-: Welcome to the club.

15bluepiano
jan 19, 2020, 5:27 pm

I'm having a wonderful time of it with Signature Strengths. Gas, altogether. Reproduces 4 books from late 70s marketed as 'no-frills' novels: no cover art, no authors credited, no literary value whatsoever. Both contribution to and swipe at mass-market junk. Because the book's from an art publisher I'd assumed this was a catalogue from exhibition of a project creating the concept but no, there were such books; they were well-received critically but not popular. All 4 were generic & genre works and sold with slogan 'Read one and you won't mind reading the others'. Western was very obviously played for laughs though perhaps that wouldn't be obvious to an habitual reader of the stuff, and Mystery was an idiotic story about dozens of murders committed to get hold of a tape of a song that rendered its listeners catatonic. I'm looking forward to reading Romance and Science Fiction and, after that, another work edited by the same designer devoted to the 'crime dossiers', mystery books with toys in them that were also real not art project.

16mejix
jan 19, 2020, 9:31 pm

About to finish Grant by Chernow. Loved this book. Some sections I devoured. Not being familiar with US history this is the first time I read about Reconstruction. I am outraged not only about what happened but also about how little it is talked about. Suddenly it all make sense.
Grant was on the right side of history when it came to things that really mattered but boy was he gullible.

17BookConcierge
Redigerat: jan 24, 2020, 6:46 pm


There There – Tommy Orange
4****

In his debut novel, Orange explores the world of today’s Urban Indian; people who may be registered with a tribe in Oklahoma or New Mexico, while living in Oakland California. These are people who struggle with the issues of the urban poor, while also trying to work against stereotype, and still connect with and celebrate their native culture.

Orange tells the story through the lives of a dozen different characters, all of whom are going to attend the Big Oakland Powwow. Some struggle with substance abuse and/or alcoholism. Others have issues of abandonment. Some have embraced their heritage despite little or no support from family. Others have turned from a culture they feel has failed them. Their lives are interwoven by coincidence, thin threads of DNA, circumstance, proximity and/or their shared desire to attend the powwow. They are in turn angry, desolate, hopeful, joyous, loving, confused, determined, generous or mean.

I did feel somewhat confused by the work, mostly due to the many characters and the constantly shifting point of view. Still, Orange’s voice is unique and powerful. And I look forward to reading more from him in the future.

Update on second reading
I listened to the audio the first time, but chose to read the text for my second reading. If anything, the impact of Orange's writing is greater when reading on the page. Made for a stimulating book club discussion, though the majority of our members did not like the book.

18Limelite
jan 20, 2020, 8:21 pm

>12 CliffBurns:

Where the hell are you? Newfoundland? Yikes! That makes the 32F degrees here in metro-Atlanta seem positively balmy in comparison.

19CliffBurns
jan 20, 2020, 10:08 pm

>18 Limelite: Saskatchewan, my friend, where the winters make Minnesota look like an island paradise.

But the cold spell has snapped and conditions are livable again...for now.

Still have three or four months of winter to go.

20CliffBurns
jan 20, 2020, 10:20 pm

MAD, BAD, DANGEROUS TO KNOW, Colm Toibin's book on the fathers of Joyce, Wilde and Yeats.

Not as great as i expected but..the apple certainly didn't fall far from the tree. The fathers were scoundrels and that rubbed off on their illustrious sons.

Love the quote from Joyce on the cover, re: his old man:

"I got from him his portraits, a waistcoat, a good tenor voice, and an extravagant licentious disposition."

21bluepiano
jan 21, 2020, 4:13 am

Reminding me of a good & relevant bit of radio aired some time ago: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/radio1/21476298

22CliffBurns
jan 21, 2020, 11:18 am

I shall look forward to listening to that literary wander later today.

23mejix
jan 23, 2020, 5:50 pm

Started I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum, the TV critic for the New Yorker. Needed some 21st century writing.

24BookConcierge
jan 24, 2020, 6:44 pm


Flight Behavior – Barbara Kingsolver
Audiobook read by the author
4****

Dellarobia Turnbow is ten years into a marriage that has never satisfied her. Unsure how to deal with her restlessness she flirts with a younger man, a telephone lineman, and suggests a tryst in a hunter’s blind deep in the woods behind her home. But as she climbs to this ill-thought-out meeting, she encounters a strange sight that literally stops her in her tracks. The only way she can describe it is “a lake of fire.”

Kingsolver has crafted a story of one woman’s awakening, and simultaneously a warning about climate change. I found the story compelling from both perspectives. I know many people criticize Kingsolver for being preachy, but I did not find her message overbearing.

Dellarobia is a fascinating character. She’s intelligent but lacks education, having gotten pregnant and married right out of high school. Her community is small and somewhat restrictive. People are mostly struggling to survive in deep Appalachia. They do not have time to ponder philosophy or global impact. And they are quick to judge anyone who tries to break out of the mold. Focus is on family and church. Dellarobia and her husband live on his parents’ land, in a house just a stone’s throw from his mother and father. Yet they have limited say in their own future. It’s no wonder she’s feeling suffocated and unfulfilled.

But when her in-laws discover the amazing sight on the mountain things begin to change. Dellarobia becomes the focus of media attention and her image goes viral. She begins helping the scientist who comes to study the phenomenon, and this opens her eyes to new possibilities.

While the book begins with a self-described rash act, I found Dellarobia to be much more cautious than that initial impression. I liked the way she thought about, questioned, researched, and considered her life, her family, her relationships and her future. I liked that she begins to make some hard decisions that are first about her own survival, and ultimately about her family as well.

Certainly, there are references to religion (just google “lake of fire” and the bible). And Kingsolver is questioning how people can believe something in the face of contradictory evidence – in this case about climate change. I know many people criticize Kingsolver for being preachy, but I did not find her message overbearing in this book. It certainly gave me plenty to think about.

I did find the ending somewhat abrupt and would love to have some discussion about it with one of my F2F book clubs. Unfortunately for me, this book has not yet made it to the reading list for any of them … yet.

Kingsolver narrates the audiobook herself, and she does a fine job. She makes no effort to give the characters significantly different voices, though she does attempt a vaguely “Caribbean” accent for Ovid.

25BookConcierge
jan 26, 2020, 12:59 pm


The Milagro Beanfield War – John Nichols – 5*****
5*****

In a New Mexico valley the power is held by one man and his company. Over the years Ladd Devine’s family has manipulated the indigenous peasant farmers, securing the majority of water rights for his proposed golf course / spa retreat while leaving the original residents with arid land, unsuitable for farming, or even grazing. So he’s been able to buy out the poor farmers securing more and more land and leaving less water for those that remain. Until one day Joe Mondragon decides to cut a break in the wall and divert water onto his late father’s field, so he can plant some beans.

I've had this book on my TBR radar for a bajillion years and I don't know why I waited so long to read it. I really liked it a lot! The quirky characters, the message, the humor, the pathos, and the landscape all made this an especially moving book for me. I could not help but think of my grandparents - we always referred to their property as a "dirt farm" - dirt being their most reliable crop. They were on their ranch / farm well into their 80s ... even after my grandfather had two strokes. He just got up and kept caring for the animals, tending the orchards, repairing the truck, doing whatever it took to keep on living.

So, thank you, PBT Trim the TBR for finally giving me the "push" I needed to get to this gem of a novel. I can hardly wait to read it again!

If I have any complaint about the book, it’s about this edition’s Afterward, where the author begins with: Actually, I’ve sort of had it with THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR. and goes on to explain how distressed he is that this is the only book people seem to remember him for rather all his other works, some of which he believes are superior. But my disappointment with his little tantrum doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the book itself.

26CliffBurns
jan 29, 2020, 11:29 pm

Just wrapped up a short story collection that took me by surprise.

Paul Tremblay's GROWING THINGS AND OTHER STORIES features fifteen years worth of tales, horror and dark fantasy that is original and suspenseful.

I don't reach much horror at all, and for good reason. It is a field that has traditionally drawn more than its fair share of hacks and amateurs. But this collection is an eye-opener and shows that the genre might not be as dead, calcified and unappealing as I once thought.

27BookConcierge
jan 30, 2020, 4:59 pm


The Story HourThrity Umrigar
5*****

Lakshmi Patil is an immigrant with an angry, unloving husband and no family or friends. In her abject loneliness she decides to commit suicide. Maggie Bose is a trained psychologist who is asked to see Lakshmi in the hospital. Something about the woman touches Maggie’s heart and she agrees to provide therapy without cost. The lines become blurred as their relationship less professional and more friendly. Both women are hiding significant secrets – from themselves, from each other, from their spouses, friends and family.

Umrigar alternates viewpoints between these two women. Lakshmi’s chapters are written in a broken English that was at first off-putting, but which I came to appreciate for how clearly that voice represented her. The reader gets a true sense of her loneliness, confusion, difficulties in understanding this language and culture so different from her native land, and the progress she makes. In contrast, Maggie’s chapters show her education, social position, and training as a psychologist. And yet, for all her ability to see the possible stories and motivations behind the actions and words of her patient/friend (or other people she comes into contact with), she seems blind to her own motivations.

I was completely engaged from page one through all the ups and downs of the story. I was anxious about how things would work out, sympathized with them when feelings were hurt, felt anger at some situations, and eagerly hoped for a resolution.

I’m glad that Umrigar left the ending somewhat ambiguous, but I have hope that these characters will find their way to understanding and forgiveness.

28CliffBurns
jan 31, 2020, 2:03 pm

SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND by Yuval Noah Harari.

This book reminds me of when I first encountered Bronowski's "The Ascent of Man" TV series back in the early 1980s. The scope and scale of the human presence on earth is impressive, the leaps and bounds we have made in the past 70,000 years in particular.

Harari's report card for the human race is mixed, as well it should be. His writing on the rise of capitalism is well-considered and though I take issue with some of his conclusions (nationalism isn't as powerful or dangerous as it used to be), this book is a feast for those who appreciate intelligent discussion and debate, a non-partisan presentation of the best and worst parts of our nature.

29CliffBurns
jan 31, 2020, 5:44 pm

A fast read, Timothy Snyder's remarkable ON TYRANNY.

Very short, concise, marching orders for anti-fascists.

A large proportion of citizens lack basic knowledge in both science and history and we will be paying the price for that oversight for many years to come. Snyder's book shows us a way forward, practical help in confronting a world that is more loud, garish and stupid with each passing day.

Essential reading.

30BookConcierge
jan 31, 2020, 10:44 pm


Fun Home – Alison Bechdel
3.5***

Bestselling memoir of a young woman growing up in a dysfunctional family. Her father was a closeted gay man, living and working in a small town, helping to run his family funeral home and also teaching. His wife was also a teacher and a frustrated actress. Alison grew up confused and unsure, wanting to be a boy rather than a girl, and not fully recognizing that she was lesbian until she was in college. Despite his many flaws and failures, her father did give her a love of literature and the prompt to begin a journal, which she obsessively kept from the age of ten.

In general, I’m not a fan of graphic novels. But here the colors are more muted, and the words are easier to read. The work is full of Bechdel’s marvelously detailed drawings. Her confusion, anger, disappointment and sadness come through on almost every page. I kept waiting for some joy in her life. I sincerely hope that writing this memoir has brought her the closure she needed and allowed her heart to open to more positive emotions.

So, while the format is not to my taste, I did find it well-done and I’ll certainly remember it.

It’s been adapted into a hit Broadway musical.

31Limelite
feb 21, 2020, 1:58 pm

>24 BookConcierge:

I loved that novel, probably for the most part for the attitudinal range of the characters, which made Kingsolver's novel seem ultra-believable as a slice of true life.

Compared to another novel by her that I have read, The Lacuna, this one seemed more lively and "real."

I admire her ability to title her works in a way that echoes so many characteristics of her books, yet offers so many meanings and interpretations. Genius, in my opinion.