Thursday, September 4, 2014
2014 RHS 9th Grade Summer Readings
Great Expectations (A novel by Charles Dickens)
Part 1
Great Expectations begins with the story's protagonist, Philip Pirrip, better known as a nickname of his own youthful creation, "Pip", which he is known by for the majority of the story. Narrated in the first person, Pip begins by recalling his youth in a marsh country in Victorian-era United Kingdom. Quite suddenly, Pip encounters an escaped convict, who threatens the young Pip into bringing him tools to remove an iron weight chained to his leg. It is then revealed, after his returning home, with his parents deceased, Pip lives with his older sister and her husband, Joe Gargery. Pip's sister is rather oppressive to Pip (and what today may be called abusive), while Joe, a blacksmith, loves Pip like his son and tends to side with him, even if he does not stop his wife's wrath. To Pip's great guilt, he steals tools from the forge adjoining their house a takes them to the convict the following morning. Later that night, solders enlisted in His Majesty's army appear at Pip's house to have some iron handcuffs mended. Afterwards Joe, Pip, and Mr. Pumblechook, a rather annoying man who often tells lies to credit himself and supports Pis's sister's views on raising Pip, follow the soldiers into the marshes to see the escaped convicts apprehended. When the escaped convicts (of which there were two) are found and captured, the convict that Pip had encountered was found to be trying to kill the other. However , this soon passes Pip's mind. A few days later, Mr. Pumblechook returns to the Gargery household a announces that a very wealthy woman named Ms. Havisham wished for Pip to come to her home to "play" for her amusement. Pip visits the eccentric woman and her adoptive daughter, Estella, whom Pip finds beautiful, yet she is very condescending towards him. When expected to "play" for Miss Havisham, who is always dressed in faded bridal clothing, he draws a bank, and simply ends up playing cards with Estella after he was told to do so. Pip visits Miss Havisham several times, and once his service is finished, his family receives some money, and Pip is dismissed. However, after this, Pip is no longer content with his lower-class life, and expresses the desire to become a gentleman.
Soon after, Mr. Jaggers, a master lawyer who meet Pip once before when he was working for Miss Havisham, visits Pip's home with the unexpected news that Pip has been endowed with Great Expectations (such as wealth and property), from which the novel takes its name, by an unknown benefactor. Although Pip assumes this benefactor is Miss Havisham, he is forbidden to inquire as to his benefactor's identity. And so, Pip moves to London to be taught how to be a gentleman and to be otherwise educated by Mr. Matthew Pocket, who happens to be a former worker for Miss Havisham. Constantly receiving funds form his benefactor, Pip lives in his own home with his best friend, Herbert Pocket, who is the eldest son of Matthew Pocket, in a tenement in London. Later, Herbert reveals that Miss Havisham's half brother, who nourished a deep hatred for her, had worked with a man with the surname Compeyson, who was to marry Miss Havisham, but wrote a letter cancelling the wedding just as Miss Havisham was getting prepared. Thus, Miss Havisham always wore here bridal clothes from that point onward as a reminder, as well as keeping a deep hatred toward the opposite gender ever since.
Due to lack of space, I will publish the remainder of this piece in my following comment(s).
-Chancellor J. Farmer
Part 1
Great Expectations begins with the story's protagonist, Philip Pirrip, better known as a nickname of his own youthful creation, "Pip", which he is known by for the majority of the story. Narrated in the first person, Pip begins by recalling his youth in a marsh country in Victorian-era United Kingdom. Quite suddenly, Pip encounters an escaped convict, who threatens the young Pip into bringing him tools to remove an iron weight chained to his leg. It is then revealed, after his returning home, with his parents deceased, Pip lives with his older sister and her husband, Joe Gargery. Pip's sister is rather oppressive to Pip (and what today may be called abusive), while Joe, a blacksmith, loves Pip like his son and tends to side with him, even if he does not stop his wife's wrath. To Pip's great guilt, he steals tools from the forge adjoining their house a takes them to the convict the following morning. Later that night, solders enlisted in His Majesty's army appear at Pip's house to have some iron handcuffs mended. Afterwards Joe, Pip, and Mr. Pumblechook, a rather annoying man who often tells lies to credit himself and supports Pis's sister's views on raising Pip, follow the soldiers into the marshes to see the escaped convicts apprehended. When the escaped convicts (of which there were two) are found and captured, the convict that Pip had encountered was found to be trying to kill the other. However , this soon passes Pip's mind. A few days later, Mr. Pumblechook returns to the Gargery household a announces that a very wealthy woman named Ms. Havisham wished for Pip to come to her home to "play" for her amusement. Pip visits the eccentric woman and her adoptive daughter, Estella, whom Pip finds beautiful, yet she is very condescending towards him. When expected to "play" for Miss Havisham, who is always dressed in faded bridal clothing, he draws a bank, and simply ends up playing cards with Estella after he was told to do so. Pip visits Miss Havisham several times, and once his service is finished, his family receives some money, and Pip is dismissed. However, after this, Pip is no longer content with his lower-class life, and expresses the desire to become a gentleman.
Soon after, Mr. Jaggers, a master lawyer who meet Pip once before when he was working for Miss Havisham, visits Pip's home with the unexpected news that Pip has been endowed with Great Expectations (such as wealth and property), from which the novel takes its name, by an unknown benefactor. Although Pip assumes this benefactor is Miss Havisham, he is forbidden to inquire as to his benefactor's identity. And so, Pip moves to London to be taught how to be a gentleman and to be otherwise educated by Mr. Matthew Pocket, who happens to be a former worker for Miss Havisham. Constantly receiving funds form his benefactor, Pip lives in his own home with his best friend, Herbert Pocket, who is the eldest son of Matthew Pocket, in a tenement in London. Later, Herbert reveals that Miss Havisham's half brother, who nourished a deep hatred for her, had worked with a man with the surname Compeyson, who was to marry Miss Havisham, but wrote a letter cancelling the wedding just as Miss Havisham was getting prepared. Thus, Miss Havisham always wore here bridal clothes from that point onward as a reminder, as well as keeping a deep hatred toward the opposite gender ever since.
Due to lack of space, I will publish the remainder of this piece in my following comment(s).
-Chancellor J. Farmer
Great Expectations (A Novel by Charles Dickens)
Part 2
Later in the story, a man that Pip believes to be a stranger to him, appears claiming to be his formerly unknown benefactor. This man, whose name is Magwitch, but used the false name Provis, is then revealled to be the convict Pip has unwillingly assisted in his youth. He had apparently been exiled for life from the United Kingdom, and fled to the British colony in Australia. From there, Magwitch decided that if he cannot be a worthy and respected member of society, he would at lest create one. He chose his early liberator, Pip, to use the majority of the wealth he earned working in the colony to raise Pip into the Gentry. Pip, being originally resentful of his apparent benefactor, for he believed it to be Miss Havisham until that point, grows to be fond of Magwitch and worried for his safety, seeing as Magwitch broke the requirements of his exile to reveal himself. Pip, with the help of Herbert, comes up with a plan of housing not far from their home to hide Magwitch in until he can be smuggled out of the country. Now that Pip realized that his Great Expectations had been revealed and received, he is very disappointed as well as angry towards Miss Havisham for letting him believe all of those years that she was his benefactor, while obviously she knew otherwise. However, Pip and Herbert are formulating their plan to smuggle Magwitch out o the country, for if he is discovered, he will be put to death for his crimes. A few days before their escape plan is to be put into action, Pip discovers that Magwitch and a woman working for Mr. Jaggers as a sort of servant, are the true parents of the originally orphaned Estella. However, seeing no purpose in revealing her true humble parentage to the proud Estella, he does not tell her.
Later that week, Pip, Herbert, and their friend Startop begin their attempt to smuggle Magwitch out of the U.K. However, wile attempting to sail down the river Thames to board a steam boat with a destination out of the country, the police, who had found that Magwitch had returned to the U.K., captured them all. During the capture, Magwitch saw the convict he was captured with in Pip's youth (who is revealed to be Compeyson) and attempts to kill him, as he blames Compeyson for his incarceration. This attack succeeds, yet Magwitch is mortally wounded. Upon being escorted back to London, Magwitch is put on trial and is sentenced to death. On one of Pip's visits to him in his cell, however, Magwitch dies from his wounds. Later, after a period of grieving, Pip is arrested because of debts he accumulated during the time when he sill had funding. However, Joe, who Pip feels very guilty of, because of his rudeness to Joe when he still had Great Expectations, pays Pip's debts and Pip is set free. Later Pip expresses his deep apologies to Joe for his actions, and begs forgiveness. Joe, ever the loving parental figure, despite his lack of education, forgives Pip immediately.
Due to lack of space, I will post the remainder of this piece in my following comment(s)
-Chancellor J. Farmer
Part 2
Later in the story, a man that Pip believes to be a stranger to him, appears claiming to be his formerly unknown benefactor. This man, whose name is Magwitch, but used the false name Provis, is then revealled to be the convict Pip has unwillingly assisted in his youth. He had apparently been exiled for life from the United Kingdom, and fled to the British colony in Australia. From there, Magwitch decided that if he cannot be a worthy and respected member of society, he would at lest create one. He chose his early liberator, Pip, to use the majority of the wealth he earned working in the colony to raise Pip into the Gentry. Pip, being originally resentful of his apparent benefactor, for he believed it to be Miss Havisham until that point, grows to be fond of Magwitch and worried for his safety, seeing as Magwitch broke the requirements of his exile to reveal himself. Pip, with the help of Herbert, comes up with a plan of housing not far from their home to hide Magwitch in until he can be smuggled out of the country. Now that Pip realized that his Great Expectations had been revealed and received, he is very disappointed as well as angry towards Miss Havisham for letting him believe all of those years that she was his benefactor, while obviously she knew otherwise. However, Pip and Herbert are formulating their plan to smuggle Magwitch out o the country, for if he is discovered, he will be put to death for his crimes. A few days before their escape plan is to be put into action, Pip discovers that Magwitch and a woman working for Mr. Jaggers as a sort of servant, are the true parents of the originally orphaned Estella. However, seeing no purpose in revealing her true humble parentage to the proud Estella, he does not tell her.
Later that week, Pip, Herbert, and their friend Startop begin their attempt to smuggle Magwitch out of the U.K. However, wile attempting to sail down the river Thames to board a steam boat with a destination out of the country, the police, who had found that Magwitch had returned to the U.K., captured them all. During the capture, Magwitch saw the convict he was captured with in Pip's youth (who is revealed to be Compeyson) and attempts to kill him, as he blames Compeyson for his incarceration. This attack succeeds, yet Magwitch is mortally wounded. Upon being escorted back to London, Magwitch is put on trial and is sentenced to death. On one of Pip's visits to him in his cell, however, Magwitch dies from his wounds. Later, after a period of grieving, Pip is arrested because of debts he accumulated during the time when he sill had funding. However, Joe, who Pip feels very guilty of, because of his rudeness to Joe when he still had Great Expectations, pays Pip's debts and Pip is set free. Later Pip expresses his deep apologies to Joe for his actions, and begs forgiveness. Joe, ever the loving parental figure, despite his lack of education, forgives Pip immediately.
Due to lack of space, I will post the remainder of this piece in my following comment(s)
-Chancellor J. Farmer
Great Expectations (A Novel by Charles Dickens)
Part 3
Pip, now with no expectations or funds, decides to leave with Herbert and his wife to work as a clerk in a company of which Pip had secretly paid, when he still had sufficient funding, to make Herbert a partner of, as a clerk. Pip makes a living, and is happy, but never reaches the status promised by his former Great Expectations.
I would recommend this novel, but only to certain individuals within my peerage. My reasoning for this is that I found this novel to be rather dull and unexciting for many periods of reading it. Also, being first published in 1860, there are many cultural details that lack of understanding of would diminish interest. Finally, the vocabulary used by Dickens in this novel may be seen as difficult to some, and it is also rooted in British culture. For instance, many of my peers would not have heard or sought to understand the word "baronetcy", which I just happened to know, quite off of coincidence. The constant researching of words such as this one would impact the interest in this novel. For these reasons, I would only recommend Great Expectations to those among my peers who I know to have at least some background knowledge about Victorian-era Britain and to find interest and enjoyment in classic novels.
-Chancellor J. Farmer
Part 3
Pip, now with no expectations or funds, decides to leave with Herbert and his wife to work as a clerk in a company of which Pip had secretly paid, when he still had sufficient funding, to make Herbert a partner of, as a clerk. Pip makes a living, and is happy, but never reaches the status promised by his former Great Expectations.
I would recommend this novel, but only to certain individuals within my peerage. My reasoning for this is that I found this novel to be rather dull and unexciting for many periods of reading it. Also, being first published in 1860, there are many cultural details that lack of understanding of would diminish interest. Finally, the vocabulary used by Dickens in this novel may be seen as difficult to some, and it is also rooted in British culture. For instance, many of my peers would not have heard or sought to understand the word "baronetcy", which I just happened to know, quite off of coincidence. The constant researching of words such as this one would impact the interest in this novel. For these reasons, I would only recommend Great Expectations to those among my peers who I know to have at least some background knowledge about Victorian-era Britain and to find interest and enjoyment in classic novels.
-Chancellor J. Farmer
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Dickens, Austen & Conan Doyle??
Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson
First there is the identification of the dead body, and who the murderer might be. The body may have connections with the mysterious neighboring estate, Thornleigh Manor, and its missing heir, Alexander, or the younger brother, Hugh Thornfield, who has his own mysterious past, while serving in the British Army during the American Revolution. To top off the list of mysteries, even the protaganist, Gabriel Crowther, has his own mysterious past. Crowther may not be his real name.
To start unraveling this first in a series of Westerman and Crowther mysteries, you might want to pick up Instruments of Darkness to determine if this is a crime novel series you want to follow. While I enjoyed the story and the two main characters, I did not find it as riveting as some of the reviews at the Barnes and Noble website indicate. But I will try the second novel in Robertson's series, Anatomy of Murder, to see if the potential of these two characters, pans out.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
A Case of Genocide?
The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy
by Tim Pat Coogan
Most people know about the so-called Irish Famine...that time in 1846 when a blight started infecting Ireland's Potato crop, and best estimates indicate 1.1 million people were killed by famine and its associated diseases. Another 1.3 million were forced to emigrate. This is how the history books primarily portray this tragic moment in Irish history. What most people don't know is that the Irish people do not refer to this time period as a Famine. Instead it is called the Great Hunger. The other aspect of the Famine not known is the role the British government played in actually causing it, not the blight itself of course, but the starvation of the Irish people.
Ireland's best-known historian, Tim Pat Coogan, tackles this dark period in Irish history and argues that it constituted one of the first acts of genocide. Through meticulous research and documentation, Coogan presents a vivid and horrifying picture of this catastrophe and holds specific individuals within the British government to account.
As with most tragedies of this magnitude, there is usually a villain. In the case of the Great Hunger, that role falls squarely on the shoulders of British civil servant, Sir Charles Trevelyan. While Trevelyan may have been just a civil servant, it was his responsibility to implement and enforce any policies and programs proposed by the British government. The British response to the tragedy primarily consisted of evictions, emigration and a policy of laissez faire economics. Trevelyan believed the fate of the Irish people should be left in the hands of Providence. In other words, according to Trevelyan, those who died of starvation were meant to because they deserved it. In reading this book, I felt I was listening to the Republican party's response to poverty here in the United States. According to some of the rhetoric one hears in the media, it is a poor person's own fault if they are poor, and the federal government should not do anything to help them. The rhetoric makes it sound as if they borrowed that philosophy directly from the British government's response to the Irish "famine".
Coogan does not totally condemn the British government. There were attempts with some government policies to alleviate the suffering of the Irish people. For example, Prime Minister Robert Peel made some effort to assuage the problem, however misguided, allowing the purchase of Indian maize from America. There also were efforts to set up workhouses and soup kitchens, but Trevelyan made sure there was not adequate funding for these programs to work. In disturbingly graphic images and compelling language based on true stories from the Famine archives and using the actual language from the United Nations Articles on Genocide, Coogan clearly shows intentional culpability for the famine by the British government.
by Tim Pat Coogan
Ireland's best-known historian, Tim Pat Coogan, tackles this dark period in Irish history and argues that it constituted one of the first acts of genocide. Through meticulous research and documentation, Coogan presents a vivid and horrifying picture of this catastrophe and holds specific individuals within the British government to account.
As with most tragedies of this magnitude, there is usually a villain. In the case of the Great Hunger, that role falls squarely on the shoulders of British civil servant, Sir Charles Trevelyan. While Trevelyan may have been just a civil servant, it was his responsibility to implement and enforce any policies and programs proposed by the British government. The British response to the tragedy primarily consisted of evictions, emigration and a policy of laissez faire economics. Trevelyan believed the fate of the Irish people should be left in the hands of Providence. In other words, according to Trevelyan, those who died of starvation were meant to because they deserved it. In reading this book, I felt I was listening to the Republican party's response to poverty here in the United States. According to some of the rhetoric one hears in the media, it is a poor person's own fault if they are poor, and the federal government should not do anything to help them. The rhetoric makes it sound as if they borrowed that philosophy directly from the British government's response to the Irish "famine".
Coogan does not totally condemn the British government. There were attempts with some government policies to alleviate the suffering of the Irish people. For example, Prime Minister Robert Peel made some effort to assuage the problem, however misguided, allowing the purchase of Indian maize from America. There also were efforts to set up workhouses and soup kitchens, but Trevelyan made sure there was not adequate funding for these programs to work. In disturbingly graphic images and compelling language based on true stories from the Famine archives and using the actual language from the United Nations Articles on Genocide, Coogan clearly shows intentional culpability for the famine by the British government.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Another powerful Irish Literary Voice
Red Sky in Morning by Paul Lynch
Another powerful literary voice from Ireland. Red Sky in Morning is a unique tale, but in another way, it epitomizes the tragic history and diaspora of the Irish people. The protagonist, Coll Coyle, has been pushed too far. The landlord is about to evict him and his wife and new child from their hovel. He decides he would try to talk to the landlord, but looses his temper and accidentally kills the landowner's son in the spring of 1832. He is
forced to abandon his wife and daughter and flee County Donegal for
America.
Coyle is on the run, but the landlord’s sadistic henchman, John Faller, is a trained tracker, and manages to stay one step behind Coyle all the way to Philadelphia. Faller is a relentless and sadistic killer.
This is a grim, but poetic story, that in so many ways illustrates the tragic story of the Irish immigrant. First, circumstances force Coyle to leave his homeland and his family. Second, he books passage to America on a "coffin ship". After a long sea voyage, Coll eventually arrives in America and finds work laying railroad track in Pennsylvania. This work is scarcely less exploitative and brutal than what he was having to do in Ireland for a landowner. During this part of the novel, Lynch seamlessly weaves in an actual historical event. Use one of the library's databases and search for "Duffy's Cut", and read more about this tragic event in U.S. immigrant labor history about a choleric work camp along the Pennsylvania railroad.
Lynch's lyrical prose paints a vivid picture and builds suspense with this tale of a man on the run, and being doggedly pursued by a determined hunter/killer. It will be interesting to see what this fresh young Irish writer comes up with next. Stay tuned!
Another powerful literary voice from Ireland. Red Sky in Morning is a unique tale, but in another way, it epitomizes the tragic history and diaspora of the Irish people. The protagonist, Coll Coyle, has been pushed too far. The landlord is about to evict him and his wife and new child from their hovel. He decides he would try to talk to the landlord, but looses his temper and accidentally kills the landowner's son in the spring of 1832. He is
forced to abandon his wife and daughter and flee County Donegal for
America. Coyle is on the run, but the landlord’s sadistic henchman, John Faller, is a trained tracker, and manages to stay one step behind Coyle all the way to Philadelphia. Faller is a relentless and sadistic killer.
This is a grim, but poetic story, that in so many ways illustrates the tragic story of the Irish immigrant. First, circumstances force Coyle to leave his homeland and his family. Second, he books passage to America on a "coffin ship". After a long sea voyage, Coll eventually arrives in America and finds work laying railroad track in Pennsylvania. This work is scarcely less exploitative and brutal than what he was having to do in Ireland for a landowner. During this part of the novel, Lynch seamlessly weaves in an actual historical event. Use one of the library's databases and search for "Duffy's Cut", and read more about this tragic event in U.S. immigrant labor history about a choleric work camp along the Pennsylvania railroad.
Lynch's lyrical prose paints a vivid picture and builds suspense with this tale of a man on the run, and being doggedly pursued by a determined hunter/killer. It will be interesting to see what this fresh young Irish writer comes up with next. Stay tuned!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Restoring a King's Reputation
The King's Grave: The Discovery of Richard III's Lost Burial Place and the Clues It Holds by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones
I was immediately drawn to this story, when it first appeared in the Star Tribune newspaper. The story talked about how Philippa Langley believed she had pinpointed where the remains of Richard III were buried following his defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 against Henry Tudor for the English throne.The article stated they had located the fairly complete skeletal remains in a Leicester car park, and would be conducting DNA tests to determine if the bones were those of last king of England to die in battle. Langley and her team of archaeologists had a male DNA sample provided by a Canadian citizen who claimed to be a descendant of Richard III.
Several months later there appeared a follow-up article claiming the carbon dating and DNA tests performed verified the bones were the remains of King Richard III. The photograph of the skeletal remains showed a curvature of the spine, at first reinforcing the image of Richard III as portrayed over the years in various productions of Shakespeare's play. A forensics pathologist diagnosed the condition as severe scoliosis, but the disability did not hamper Richard's skills in battle. The skeleton’s wounds showed this last English king to die in battle led a courageous and carefully planned cavalry charge at Bosworth against an inexperienced, fearful Henry Tudor luckily saved by mercenary French pikemen. Langley states upfront in the book her intention was to quash the caricature of a murderous, hunchbacked psychopath vilified by Tudor propagandists and Shakespeare alike.
The work and findings from this three week dig and subsequent publication of The King's Grave successfully restores the dignity and reputation of one of England's most maligned members of royalty. While Richard reigned only two years, the true historical record shows Richard was an idealistic king with a keen sense of justice and humor, as well as a courageous warrior who was devoted to his
father and brother. To paraphrase the old adage, "To the victor may go the spoils, but not necessarily the final historical record."
An interesting and fascinating read!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
The Dreyfus Affair
A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor
The Alfred Dreyfus Affair in 1890's France is given an intriguing and enjoyable fictional twist in A Man in Uniform. Dreyfus, a Jewish Frency Army officer was sent to the Devil's Island penal colony after a questionable 1894 treason trial. In an appeal, Dreyfus was eventually found innocent and was released. However the circumstances that led to Dreyfus' arrest and imprisonment should continue to serve as a bracing reminder, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail, that we dare
not have blind faith in the willingness of our leaders to defend our
most cherished rights and freedoms.
Taylor does a good job of recreating the atmosphere and suspicion permeating Paris at this time. The main character, Francois Dubon, is a former criminal law barrister, who has abandoned that legal arena to practice the more lucrative personal estate and private will practice. A mysterious widow suddenly enters his office and turns his world upside down. The beautiful widow is convinced Captain Dreyfus, an army captain convicted of treason, was framed and is innocent. She wants Dubon to find out the truth and to mount an appeal for Captain Dreyfus. Dubon is drawn by the widow's magnetic appeal, and begins to live a double life as he strives to find the information that will exonerate the captain. While certain situations Dubon finds himself in seem somewhat incredulous at times, Taylor succeeds in pulling the reader into the machinations of her plot.
The cover-up and quick resolution, manufactured by the military, to push a spying incident under the rug and off the front pages of the papers, reminds one of the multitude of similar military actions and practices since 9/11 here in the U.S. Taylor's literate thriller is "disturbing in its implications about the fragility of human rights.” (Elle Magazine). Whether Taylor has a subliminal message buried in her plot or not, it is still a fun read.
Taylor does a good job of recreating the atmosphere and suspicion permeating Paris at this time. The main character, Francois Dubon, is a former criminal law barrister, who has abandoned that legal arena to practice the more lucrative personal estate and private will practice. A mysterious widow suddenly enters his office and turns his world upside down. The beautiful widow is convinced Captain Dreyfus, an army captain convicted of treason, was framed and is innocent. She wants Dubon to find out the truth and to mount an appeal for Captain Dreyfus. Dubon is drawn by the widow's magnetic appeal, and begins to live a double life as he strives to find the information that will exonerate the captain. While certain situations Dubon finds himself in seem somewhat incredulous at times, Taylor succeeds in pulling the reader into the machinations of her plot.
The cover-up and quick resolution, manufactured by the military, to push a spying incident under the rug and off the front pages of the papers, reminds one of the multitude of similar military actions and practices since 9/11 here in the U.S. Taylor's literate thriller is "disturbing in its implications about the fragility of human rights.” (Elle Magazine). Whether Taylor has a subliminal message buried in her plot or not, it is still a fun read.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Schindler's Legacy
The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List by Leon Leyson
No matter how many books I read about the Holocaust, I never cease to be shocked and horrified by the suffering inflicted upon the Jewish people by the Nazis. Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was number 289 on Oscar Schindler's list and its youngest member. Decades later, as a grown man now living in the United States, Leon has an opportunity to greet Oscar Schindler and to thank him. He does not expect Schindler will even recognize or know him, because he was just 13 when his father convinced Schindler to put his young son to work in his enamelware factory. When Leon shakes Schindler's hand, Oscar says, you are "little Leyson" the boy on the wooden box. To operate the machine he worked on in the factory, Leon had to stand on a wooden box to reach the controls. According to Oscar Schindler, he was an "essential worker".
This moving memoir captures the innocence and the horror experienced by a young boy who survives the holocaust with incredible luck, perseverance, courage and ingenuity. Leon rarely spoke about how he survived the Holocaust until after Steven Spielberg's film was released. Leon Leyson died in January 2013 at the age of 83 without knowing that his book would be published. A MUST READ!!!
This moving memoir captures the innocence and the horror experienced by a young boy who survives the holocaust with incredible luck, perseverance, courage and ingenuity. Leon rarely spoke about how he survived the Holocaust until after Steven Spielberg's film was released. Leon Leyson died in January 2013 at the age of 83 without knowing that his book would be published. A MUST READ!!!
The Secrets that hide in Rare Books
The BOOKMAN'S *TALE*: A Novel of Obsession by Charles Lovett
Anyone who loves books (about books) will get hooked on this one. A mysterious Victorian watercolor portrait, found in an 18th century book about Shakespeare forgeries, bears an uncanny resemblance to a young antiquarian bookseller's late wife. Just six months after losing his beloved wife, Amanda, and now living in England, antiquarian bookseller, Peter Byerly, is trying to put his life back together. In his search to find out the name of the artist and possibly who the young woman might be, Peter finds himself searching through time and possibly the original works of Shakespeare. His research to identify the watercolor's origins uncovers what could be the holy grail of Shakespeare studies—a book possibly annotated by the Bard himself at the time he was writing the play, A Winter's Tale.
This leads Peter back into the cutthroat world of antiquarian books to prove the book's authenticity, while also trying to identify the young woman in the portrait. This is an intricately layered literary mystery that will surely keep you turning the pages as you follow Peter's journey from the Victorian era back to Shakespeare's time. This book is not just for bibliophiles and Shakespeare aficionados. Anyone who enjoys a good, intricate mystery will enjoy Lovett's first novel.
Friday, December 20, 2013
New Occupants at 221B Baker Street
by Michael Robertson
How do you follow up a thought provoking, nerve wracking novel like The Paris Architect? Well you pick up a fun and entertaining novel like The Baker Street Translation. As you probably know by now, if you have followed or read any of my Reader's Cafe' blog, that I am a Sherlockian. In other words, a die hard fan of the world's greatest detective. Believe me, I am not the only one out there who believes Sherlock Holmes is the world's greatest detective. Did you happen to watch the PBS special this week, entitled "How Sherlock Changed the World"?
I was not aware when I picked up this book that it was part of a series from Michael Robertson. It is about two brothers, both barristers or lawyers (in American parlance), who are renting the rooms at 221B Baker Street for their offices. This address is perhaps one of the most recognizable addresses in the world, at least on the same level as Number 10 Downing Street. One of the requirements of renting these facilities is the brothers must promise to keep and respond to all of the letters sent to the "fictional" detective, Sherlock Holmes. As a result of having to answer the letters, the brothers, Reggie and Nigel Heath, find themselves pulled once again into a case straight out of Arthur Conan Doyle.
The variety of adaptations never cease to amaze me, whether Sherlock Holmes-like characters or new cases for Sherlock and Dr. Watson written by Arthur Conan Doyle wannabe's or the equally unique and well written TV and movie adaptations. But if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, as I am, you will want to track down the other titles in this Baker Street series. They promise to be a fun and engaging read.
Surviving in Paris during Nazi Occupation
The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
What was it like to live in Paris during the Nazi Occupation? What if you were a talented, well educated architect, but out of work? What if you had a wife to support and rent to pay? What would you do to survive?
This is what Lucien Bernard is facing when he is presented with a profitable commission from a wealthy Paris industrialist. While this commission will make him a lot of money, it might also get him killed. The commission Lucien Bernard reluctantly accepts is to design hiding places for Jews. While he is not an anti-Semite, he also does not want to risk his life. This is just the first dilemma, Lucien faces. If he accepts this commission, the wealthy industrialist promises him the commission to design an addition to his factory, so it can be adapted to make weapons for the Nazis.
So, by accepting the challenge of designing undetectable hiding places for Jews, does Lucien become a collaborator or is he just doing what is necessary to survive this occupation?
This is not the only moral or ethical question presented in this thought provoking, and beautifully written, debut novel by Charles Belfoure. How far would you go to help a stranger? What would you risk to survive if your country were occupied by a brutal regime?
There are several similarities between the fictional character of Lucien Bernard and the real life industrialist/opportunist, who saved thousands Jews, Oskar Schindler. This is a DO NOT MISS, Must Read Novel!
Saturday, November 23, 2013
The River Shannon
Follow the river Shannon by Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney continues to astound me. He tackles what appears to be from the title, a massive and overwhelming history lesson of the River Shannon in Ireland. The story is set in 1922, shortly after World War I and just at the beginning of the Irish Civil War. Both of these historic events play an integral role in the story. Similar to his previous novel, Ireland, he introduces his main character, a Father Robert Shannon, which enables him to weave the two stories into one. The River Shannon, her beauty, her legends, and her lore, give comfort to Fr. Shannon, who is inspired by the words of his mentor: "Find your soul and
you'll live." Father Shannon has been sent to Ireland by the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal O'Connell, to trace his family roots as a means to recovering from his traumatic experience at the Battle of Belleau Wood in France. Shannon is suffering from "shell shock" or PTSD as we know it today.
The River Shannon not only serves as a main character in the story, but it also serves as an allegory to Fr. Shannon's recovery. The story begins simply enough as story of a young priest trying to recover his health, his mind and his soul by following the intricate and diverse path of the river. His story becomes much more involved as Delaney gradually peals away the various layers of Father Shannon's experience in WWI, as well as his traumatic experience in the Boston diocese. Delaney weaves together several historical events, the Battle of Belleau Wood, the Irish Civil War, the death of Michael Collins and the controversy surrounding Cardinal O'Connell of Boston.
Since Cardinal O'Connell has some ties to my family's history, I decided to research him to find out how much of this part of the novel was true. Not surprisingly the core of this subplot in Shannon is quite accurate. I guess it just goes to show that truth is stranger than fiction. I would strongly recommend you follow Father Shannon's trek along the shores of the River Shannon. Shannon is a timeless and unforgettable story of a troubled man's salvation, belief, duty, devotion - and the healing power of discovering one's true vocation.
The River Shannon not only serves as a main character in the story, but it also serves as an allegory to Fr. Shannon's recovery. The story begins simply enough as story of a young priest trying to recover his health, his mind and his soul by following the intricate and diverse path of the river. His story becomes much more involved as Delaney gradually peals away the various layers of Father Shannon's experience in WWI, as well as his traumatic experience in the Boston diocese. Delaney weaves together several historical events, the Battle of Belleau Wood, the Irish Civil War, the death of Michael Collins and the controversy surrounding Cardinal O'Connell of Boston.
Since Cardinal O'Connell has some ties to my family's history, I decided to research him to find out how much of this part of the novel was true. Not surprisingly the core of this subplot in Shannon is quite accurate. I guess it just goes to show that truth is stranger than fiction. I would strongly recommend you follow Father Shannon's trek along the shores of the River Shannon. Shannon is a timeless and unforgettable story of a troubled man's salvation, belief, duty, devotion - and the healing power of discovering one's true vocation.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
The Irish Answer to James Herriot
The Irish Country Doctor Series Continues
Patrick Taylor is the Irish equivalent of James Herriott, the pen name of the British Veterinarian, who brought to life the unique and quirky humor of a veterinarian in rural England, through his All Creatures Great and Small series. I continued my reading of this series this past summer. Pardon my late entries. Be assured I have stopped
Taylor has done the same thing with his Irish Country Doctor series. Taylor, a medical doctor himself, places his young medical doctor, fresh out of Queen's College Medical School in Belfast, in a small country practice in the fictional village of Ballybucklebo, located just southeast of Belfast, near the coast.
Taylor continues his tremendous storytelling by focusing on Dr. O'Reilly's unflappable housekeeper, Kinky Kincaid, in An Irish Country Girl, the fourth segment in his series. After reading his first novel in the series, An Irish Country Doctor, I knew I was hooked. This book series is like watching the addictive BBC series on PBS, Downton Abbey.
The 5th in the series is An Irish Country Courtship. At this point in the story, you are not quite sure whose courtship is going to be the focus, because both Dr. Fingal O'Flaherty and the young Dr. Barry Laverty have started relationships. Dr. Laverty is trying to recover from a breakup with his love, Patricia, who basically told him life as a general practitioner's wife in a backwater town is not for her. And Barry is starting to question whether he is cut out for life as a GP in a small village. So has Barry found a new love or has he managed to rekindle the embers from his relationship with Patricia.
Don't forget Fingal! He has rekindled a relationship with his first love Kitty O'Halloran, who he met years ago as young medical student.
If you haven't tried this series, you need to pick up the first novel in the set, An Irish Country Doctor. You will fall in love with Taylor's cast of quirky characters and the trials and tribulations in the life of a GP in a small Northern Ireland village.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
A Tribute to Seamus Heaney!
I am not sure how many people took note of the recent passing of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, but this post from Booklist, dated August 30, pays a very moving tribute to this Irish poet. While I was always aware of Seamus Heaney, I have never spent time reading his poetry, and I regret that. But that is something I can remedy. Rest In Peace!
The following is the tribute to Heaney as posted at Booklist Blog by Donna Seaman...
"Why are poets only in the news when they die? How I wish I heard the name Seamus Heaney this morning on the air waves because he had a new book coming out, or because he was reading poems at the United Nations, trying to bring some sense and sensibility to world affairs. Alas, the great Irish poet, successor to Yeats, made the news with a death too early.
Heaney’s work was borne of his deep awareness of and respect for the tangible world, the long reach of human experience, and our connection to all of life, a reality all too many of us take for granted. In reviewing his most recent collection, Human Chain, I wrote, “Nobel laureate Heaney is an earthy and mythic poet who channels the music and suffering of Ireland and, beyond that, the spiral of cultivation and destruction that sustains and endangers humankind. These are loamy, time-saturated poems, at once humble and exalted, taproots reaching into the underworld, flowers opening to the sun.”
Heaney’s poems span his life. In one of his most famous poems, “Digging,” from 1966, he writes,
"Why are poets only in the news when they die? How I wish I heard the name Seamus Heaney this morning on the air waves because he had a new book coming out, or because he was reading poems at the United Nations, trying to bring some sense and sensibility to world affairs. Alas, the great Irish poet, successor to Yeats, made the news with a death too early.
Heaney’s work was borne of his deep awareness of and respect for the tangible world, the long reach of human experience, and our connection to all of life, a reality all too many of us take for granted. In reviewing his most recent collection, Human Chain, I wrote, “Nobel laureate Heaney is an earthy and mythic poet who channels the music and suffering of Ireland and, beyond that, the spiral of cultivation and destruction that sustains and endangers humankind. These are loamy, time-saturated poems, at once humble and exalted, taproots reaching into the underworld, flowers opening to the sun.”
Heaney’s poems span his life. In one of his most famous poems, “Digging,” from 1966, he writes,
Between my finger and my thumbIn a poem from Human Chain (2010), “In the Attic,”
The squat pen rests.
I’ll dig with it.
As I age and blank on names,
As my uncertainty on stairs
Is more and more lightheadedness
Of a cabin boy’s first time on the rigging,
As the memorable bottoms out
Into the irretrievable,
It’s not that I can’t imagine still
That slight untoward rupture and world-tilt
As a wind freshened and the anchor weighed.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
2013 RHS 11th & 12th Grade Summer Reading List
RHS 11th and 12th Grade Summer Reading List
Click on your Grade Level Reading post above.
When entering your comments, be sure to include the Title of the Book you read first before typing your comments about the book.
Be sure to sign your name at the end of your comments.
Click on your Grade Level Reading post above.
When entering your comments, be sure to include the Title of the Book you read first before typing your comments about the book.
Be sure to sign your name at the end of your comments.
2013 RHS 10th Grade Summer Reading List
RHS 10th Grade Summer Reading List
Click
on your Grade Level Reading post above.
When entering your comments, be sure to include the Title of the Book you read first before typing your comments about the book.
When entering your comments, be sure to include the Title of the Book you read first before typing your comments about the book.
Be sure to sign your
name at the end of your comments.
2013 RHS 9th Grade Summer Reading List
RHS 9th Grade Summer Reading List
Click
on your Grade Level Reading post above.
When entering your comments, be sure to include the Title of the Book you read first before typing your comments about the book.
When entering your comments, be sure to include the Title of the Book you read first before typing your comments about the book.
Be sure to sign your
name at the end of your comments.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Art and the Third Reich
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel
No one could ever accuse Hitler of not having delusions of grandeur. He saw himself as not only ruling the entire world, but at the same time planning to design and build the world's largest museum displaying most of Europe's finest art treasures. How these art treasures might end up in his possession, is not a concern of his. But it was a concern of a little known group of Allied soldiers, called the Monuments Men.
This book tells the fascinating, if little known, story of a special force of American and British museum directors, curators, art
historians, and others, who risked their lives, often unarmed and behind enemy lines, scouring
Europe to prevent the theft and destruction of thousands of years of culture. Some of the worlds greatest masterpieces were involved, from the Mona Lisa to the Ghent Altarpiece to Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna.
But what makes this story even more significant in my opinion, is the fact the allied armies knew, understood and appreciated the importance and value of saving these cultural icons. A fact our current military leaders seemed to have forgotten. Edsel compares the efforts of World War II in preserving the history and culture of various countries, to the U.S. military's total disregard for a country's history and culture during the bombing, destruction and looting of the national treasures housed in the Museum in Baghdad. The establishment of the MFAA marks the first time, and currently the only time, an army fought a war while comprehensively attempting to mitigate cultural damage.
Not only is this a fascinating tale, but it should also make a tremendous motion picture. In the right hands and screenplay writer, the natural suspense inherent in the printed story could easily become the main focus of a feature film. I have read the adaptation of this story is in the hands of George Clooney. Based on his track record, it will be one of the highlights of the movie season when the film is released. But that should not stop you from picking up a copy of this book as well as Edsel's sequel, which is being released this month, and focuses on the Monuments Men in Italy during World War II. The title of his new book is, "Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis."
Not only is this a fascinating tale, but it should also make a tremendous motion picture. In the right hands and screenplay writer, the natural suspense inherent in the printed story could easily become the main focus of a feature film. I have read the adaptation of this story is in the hands of George Clooney. Based on his track record, it will be one of the highlights of the movie season when the film is released. But that should not stop you from picking up a copy of this book as well as Edsel's sequel, which is being released this month, and focuses on the Monuments Men in Italy during World War II. The title of his new book is, "Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis."
Saturday, April 27, 2013
A Vincent Van Gogh Novel
Leaving Van Gogh by Carol Wallace
Wallace accepts the scenario that Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest. Chances are she was writing her novel at the time that biographers, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, were publishing their work, Van Gogh: The Life. In their biography of Van Gogh, they conducted a careful analysis of the facts and documents available on how Vincent died, and present a very credible case refuting the popular notion that Vincent Van Gogh committed suicide. Without using the traditional story line of how Van Gogh died, Wallace would not have had a basis for telling her story from the perspective of Dr. Gachet providing Vincent with the means to end his tortured life.
I do agree with Library Journal's concluding statement the novel does a fine job of offering insight into the "damning, draining combination of genius and madness" while telling the story of the final few months of van Gogh's tortured existence. I also agree you should read this haunting novel with a volume of van Gogh reprints at your side for reference. Wallace does a great job through the novel in describing and explaining Vincent's unique painting style, which has captivated audiences of his work ever since.
Carol Wallace's historical novel covers the last year of Vincent Van Gogh's life. It opens with Theo, Vincent's brother, discussing Vincent's mental health issues and inquiring about whether Dr. Gachet could help Vincent, if he moved to the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, located just outside Paris. Theo wants Gachet to supervise his brother.
Gachet, a known patron of the arts and an amateur artist himself, agrees and is
immediately drawn to van Gogh's luminous work.
Wallace tells the story of Vincent's last several months from the perspective of Paul Gachet, a doctor specializing in mental illness. Gachet befriends Vincent and invites him to his home while trying to determine the nature of Vincent's mental problems. Gachet finds Van Gogh to be an irresistible puzzle, a man whose mind, plagued by demons, poses
the most potentially rewarding challenge of Gachet’s career. Wallace poses the moral dilemma of whether to facilitate the death of a loved one who is suffering. Gachet, still guilty that he refused his consumptive wife's plea to help her
die years earlier, decides to help Vincent by leaving his loaded gun where
Vincent will find it.
I do agree with Library Journal's concluding statement the novel does a fine job of offering insight into the "damning, draining combination of genius and madness" while telling the story of the final few months of van Gogh's tortured existence. I also agree you should read this haunting novel with a volume of van Gogh reprints at your side for reference. Wallace does a great job through the novel in describing and explaining Vincent's unique painting style, which has captivated audiences of his work ever since.
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