THE GREATER JOURNEY - David McCullough

Loved this book. I am asking you, pretty please, go and buy/checkout/download this book.  Anything David McCullough writes works for me.  The Greater Journey Americans in Paris is his latest work that I had a hard time putting down.  We learn about the Americans who visited Paris for various lengths of time between 1830 and 1900 to perfect their craft.  The list of recognizable folks is eye-popping.  Name after name of people you will recognize makes it so much fun to read: Samuel Morse; Henry James; George Healy; James Fenimore Cooper; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Mary Cassat; Augustus Saint-Gaudens; Henry Wadswroth Longfellow; Oliver Wendell Holmes; Harriet Beecher Stowe; and John Singer Sargent.  The list goes on and on.

Getting to know about the relentless work of American minister to France, Elihu Washburne, was in itself worth a read.  Even the source notes are interesting.  I highlighted many quotes in this book but instead of noting them in this review (because I would end up quoting the entire book), I promise you will enjoy this book.  If you don't, you'll learn something anyway so it won't be a waste of  your time.

Five stars from me.  (Of course, I don't really review on a "star" basis, but if I did.....)

SUMMER READING

Let's pretend we have the summer off and can really read that entire stack of books that has been building.  In the summer, it seems as if there is more time to read but I don't know if that's just stuck in my brain leftover from carefree school days.  I mean, really, I work year 'round so it's not as if I'm enjoying the lazy days of summer reading in a hammock somewhere.  But, for now let's pretend we have scads of extra time.  Here's my dream list:

The Greater Journey by David McCullough

The Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman

The Provincial Lady in America by E.M. Delafield

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

And four of those slim little treats from Penguin, English Journeys:

The Pleasures of English Food by Alan Davidson

The Clouded Mirror by L.T.C. Rolt

Through England on a Side Saddle by Celia Fiennes

A Wiltshire Diary by Francis Kilvert

So, what are you reading (or hoping to read) this summer?

MAJOR PETTIGREW'S LAST STAND - Helen Simonson - Book Review

This novel has an interesting storyline.  Ernest Pettigrew is a retired Major living alone in tidy home in Edgecombe St. Mary, in the English countryside (where else?).  The Major, a very proper Englishman who is widowed, falls in love with a Pakistani woman, Mrs. Jasmina Ali, who runs the corner market.  Mrs. Ali is controlled by her dead husband's family. The locals love Mrs. Ali but only as a tradeswoman, certainly not as one of the "true" villagers.  The story is set in present day time and serves as a good reminder to acknowledge and banish our own prejudices.

 A good book to read in between the more serious stuff.  Well-written, interesting plot, a good mix of good and rotten self-centered characters.  I recommend.   

READING MISCELLANEOUS

Jackie as Editor, by Greg Lawrence

There are several books out right now about JKO and her working life.  I was interested to know about her work as an editor at Viking and then Doubleday.


This book confirmed that she really did play a serious role searching for and working with new talent in different subject areas for both publishing companies.  What I was most surprised about though, was her own writing skills.  Her beautifully written thank you notes have influenced me to take a little time and write what a gift really means.  Not the typical, "Thank you for the book, I loved it." 





This is the note in response to receiving flowers:  "Your tuberoses are so beatuiful--when I walk through the living room I close my eyes and smell them and think I'm back with Proust.  I know you are my friend as I am so deeply yours--and knowing you has taught me more than you could ever know--your spirit."  Not, "Thank you for the roses, they were beautiful.  You are so thoughtful."




I didn't read every bit of this book but what I did read gave me a decent understanding of the last few years of her short life.  It's hard to think that she died at age 64.













The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt

I am struggling to get through this book. A few favorite book bloggers greatly enjoyed this book and while I think the writing is excellent the story is not holding my interest.  


Most of the characters are unlikeable, save a few. 




The story takes place in England (of course) and spans from 1895 to the end of World War I.  Filled with lots of characters on various tangents, it is the story of a group of highly creative free-thinking people exploring socialism,  Fabianism, anarchy, blah, blah, blah.  Most are so self-centered it is hard to choke down (but the book cover is pretty, no?)








Typically, if I'm going to read a 600+ page book, it is non-fiction. I don't like to devote that much time to fiction. But for some reason, I haven't just chucked the whole thing.  I keep plodding along in between other reads.  Do you ever do that?



(By the way, I realize the paragraphs are practically non-existent, but Blogger is not cooperating!)

A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, J.L. Carr - Book Review

This was a lovely read and I owe it to Thomas at My Porch.  His review compelled me to add it to my reading queue and really, you should just go read his review for yourself.   

Written in 1980 by J.L. Carr, A Month in the Country is the story of a young man, Tom Birkin, who returns to England after World War I shattered from his experience and a broken marriage.  He is hired to restore an ancient mural on the wall of a small church in a Yorkshire village.

There are so many good passages but this is an interesting exchange between Birkin and his friend, as they try to figure out something about the original artist who created the mural 500 years ago:



"And what else can be established about our departed brother?"


"Right handed, about your build--he had to use some sort of stool to get up to six feet--that's if I'm right about the parts he did on his knees or crouched on his haunches.  That's about all.  Well, maybe he'd lived in some monastery.  Only a guess, but his hands talk like monks' hands must have talked in the long silences.  Oh, one last thing--he didn't trust his apprentice.  He did the lot  except this bottom bit, this corner of hell.  Look, you can see; it's a rough job, a fill-in.  Can't understand why he handed over to his lad when his nose was at the winning-post."

Between the process of healing for this young man and the descriptions of restoring the artwork, I was captured.  I did not want this book to end.  Go and read it, you won't be disappointed.