The Return of the Caravels - Antonio Lobo Antunes

The poet pictured a horde of consumptives in hospital uniforms, crouching in the mist of the dunes, waiting for a laughable monarch who would rise up out of the waters accompanied by his defeated army. Ever since he'd returned from Africa, even the flow of time had seemed absurd to him, and he still hadn't got used to the slow quince-jelly sunsets, the lack of grass with its avid insect rustle, and he would move about the city as if on a planet created by the mechanics of imagination, keeping informed through items in the newspapers that were as enigmatic as the singing of whales.

Antunes has written an extremely complex, perhaps a little too much so, book that encompasses an expanse of Portuguese history. The book is surreal as it juxtaposes historical figure with modern times. Here we find the explorer's sailing caravels docked with modern oil tankers in the 1970s as a former African colony fails into chaos. Combine the melding of different times with long sentences abounding with descriptive metaphors and you have a book that will challenge the reader. Additionally, this is an author who loves to includes disgusting descriptions of biological fluids expelled from every imaginable source. As I began each chapter, I started wondering how many pages it would take to find the word "vomit" again.

So, why read a book with a main character dragging a coffin around with his decaying father's body? Because Antunes is a hell of a writer. He is masterful at creating original poetic descriptions. If you enjoy reading great writers, this book is worth the challenge. Some consider Antunes the greatest living Portuguese writer.

Pilgrims - Garrison Keillor

The first pilgrims through the International Arrivals portal at Leonardo da Vinci was Margie Krebsbach, face scrubbed, fresh, grinning, towing her husband Carl who looked stunned as if struck by a ball-peen hammer, and then the others came slouching an shuffling along, jet-lagged, brain-dead, and right away she spotted the thin, spiky-haired man in the blue blazer holding up the sign--LAKE WOBEGON--in one hand, high, and she let out a whoop and let go of Carl. "This is so neat!" she said, meaning the sign--the words "Lake Wogegon"--here!--in Italy!--Great God!

Disappointing! Hard to say when I love listening to Keillor and have enjoyed other writings by him. I was disappointed that the trip to Italy by a group from Wobegon included so little about Italy. Mostly, the book set up situations for the characters to tell stories about Wobegon days. I wondered why it didn't just occur during a family picnic with rounds of story telling. This may have worked better as a collection of short stories. As a novel, it didn't work for me. The story never seems to gain any traction to move forward and I found myself reading just to get to the end.

Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin

I long to be again among all those foolish people, running for metros and jumping off of buses and dodging motorcycles and having traffic jams and admiring all that crazy statuary in all those absurd parks. I weep for the fishy ladies in the Place de la Concorde. Spain is not at all like that. Whatever else Spain is, it is not frivolous. I think, that I would stay in Spain forever--if I had never been to Paris. Spain is very beautiful, stony and sunny and lonely. But by and by you get tired of olive oil and fish and castanets and tambourines--or, anyway, I do. I want to come home, to come home to Paris.

An excellent book detailing moral struggles in post war Paris. The writing is exquisite; the story engaging and compelling. Baldwin deservedly ranks as a great American writer. Having never read Baldwin before, I was instantly taken in by his great composition and unique voice. It is raw and gritty. Confusion, dilemmas, and estrangement dominate this predominately dark novel. However, the short book covers a deep array of human emotions and feelings. It is worth reading both for the expert writing as well as the thoughts and feelings it invokes. The book forces the reader to examine what is deep within us and often kept private. The writing is able to effortlessly take a fresh look at morals and sexuality. A very important book well worth one's time.

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. Specialized readers may have come across me in Dr. Peter Luce's study, "Gender Identity in -Alpha-Reductase Pseudohermaphrodites," published in the Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology in 1975. Or maybe you've seen my photograph in chapter sixteen of the now sadly outdated Genetics and Heredity. That's me on page 78, standing naked beside a height chart with a black box covering my eyes.

This Pulitzer-prize winning book is an amazing piece of writing. The author presents a seamless inter-generational tale that remains compelling from start to finish. I can't recall a book which contains such a wide spectrum of people and events over time that never bogs down in the telling. A thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening piece of writing.

The main character becomes a person the reader can completely relate to, in spite of the fact he is a hermaphrodite. With a late developing form of hermaphroditism, his tale of maturing is unique. The author, however, is able to take us on this strange journey making it seem less than strange. The subjects covered-- grandparents growing up on a small Greek island, parents establishing themselves in American life, the city of Detroit in its glory and its decline, race riots, lower class neighborhoods, upper class suburbia, runaway in San Francisco, generational changes, and more, could be the subject of several books. The brilliance of Eugenides is to weave this all into an original tale of growing up. Most highly recommended!

Unholy Business - Nina Burleigh

People tell two versions of how Moussaieff made his billions, with a twist depending on whether the teller likes or dislikes the old man. The nice version is that for four decades he sold pricey jewelry to oil sheiks from a tiny shop on the ground floor of London's glittery Hilton Hotel, and also knew the prostitutes they employed. The sheiks paid the girls in jewelry because they deemed it more honorable to give their "girlfriends" presents than to pay them hard cash. After these transactions, the unsentimental ladies rode the mirrored and gilt elevators downstairs and sold the jewelry back to Moussaieff, at prices far lower than what the sheiks had paid. Then Moussaieff sold the pieces again at full value. The nastier version of the story, told by men who think the old man has crossed them, is that the jeweler sold the sheiks precious jewelry and then the escorts stole the baubles and brought them back to the shop.

This is a fascinating book that enlightens the reader about antiquities dealing in the Middle East. It reads like a good mystery as it uncovers the tale of master counterfeiters. The world of antiquity traders, collectors, seekers, archaeologists, and others associated with this little known subculture is detailed as a tale of intrigue is told. The author does a nice job of balancing facts from her research with a story line.

A whole world, previously unknown to me, exists in antiquity dealing. The book portrays the problems with counterfeiting, robbing of ancient sites, and the devious buyers and sellers. What a complex network exists trying to prove the Bible and other ancient texts. An enjoyable read that also educates.

From the Other Side of Night - Francisco X. Alarcon

back then hours were so long

mornings lasted entire days,

the sun in the sky our only clock,

and the wind sat down to chat

while the earth, damp with rain,

tickled the soles of bare feet,

and among the trees and hills,

clouds played hide and seek

and glances like butterflies

flitted toward dreams--in a

blink they'd alight in our hands

back then to laugh was common sense,

even to weep a pleasure, and friendship,

like tenderness, was a daily gift

This book is great introduction to the poetry of Francisco X. Alarcon. It includes poems covering fifteen years of his work from previous books along with some new poems. Francisco poetry highlights his chicano heritage. His poems range from political observations to deep passions about lovers, families, and the mysteries of life. He creates lovely images that brings smiles and tears, both of joy and sorrow.

Some of my favorite poems come from his book of Sonnets to Madness and Other Misfortunes. He observes and notes that which often passes unnoticed, but not without importance, in our lives. A very significant poet of our time who deserves to be well read. His is a voice speaking a language that answers many questions.

Salmonella Men on Planet Porno - Yasutaka Tsutsui

"Ludricrous! What species has no agression?!" Mogamigawa ranted, parading his basi knowledge of ethology. "If they lose their aggression they will also lose relationships between individuals. If relationships between individuals disappear, they won't even be able to reproduce. The same is tru for humans, after all."
"Ah, but this planet is special in that respect," I countered. "I believe the aggressive impulse is incorporated in the erotic here. Think about it. Animals often bite each other's necks when couplating, or chase or grapple with each other in foreplay, don't they. In other words, they do things that, at first sight, seem like aggression when mating. So wouldn't you agree it's impossible to make a clear distinction between the two impulses? And for animals on this planet, the erotic is amplified, since there's no need to show aggression, either to heterogeneous or to homogeneous individuals. So they try to mate with individuals of both types."

This collection of short stories displays the author's wild, humorous, and imaginative mind. The stories read like humorous versions of Twilight Zone shows. The characters are often in seemingly frightful situations, but they are detached and aware of situations too bizarre to be real. The author is a Japanese science-fiction writer and that is evident in these stories. Most are not science-fiction, but strange what-if scenarios. Very well composed and enjoyable to read. I was looking for something light and different after reading too many dark, heavy books and this book was that.

The author's sci-fi background is most evident in the title story, which is also the longest in the book. Like many stories in this collection, it has light-hearted takes on sexuality. On Planet Porno, we see an ecology based around sex rather than survival of the fittest. The world is too fantastic to have any sense of reality, but never-the-less has a premise that is not altogether implausible.

Water - Bapsi Sidhwa

Bhagya sat cross-legged on the kitchen floor, grinding rice with a mortar and pestle and adding it to the flour she stored in a brass jar. Dusk had thickened into night outside the kitchen window, and the hectic twittering of the birds had given way to the muted sounds of nocturnal animals of the forest and the sudden orchestration of cicadas. Her day's choirs done, her family fed, this was Bhagya's hour of solitude. The rhythmic pounding of the pestle and her automated movements had a meditative quality, and she often chanted or hummed holy passages from the Bhagvad Gita or the Mahabharata at this time.

This is the first time I have read a book based on a movie. The book is very good, while I hear the movie is excellent. This is gut-wrenching tale that is still able to find humor and hope in unimaginable circumstances. I liked the pacing of the writing- easy to read, yet dense with emotions. This is another book that supports a world wide revolution to bring justice for the women of the world. You will find yourself saying "Oh no, this isn't really happening to this poor innocent child."

In spite of the horrible and indefensible religious oppression of the Hindu women in the book, the hope of youth keeps this book from becoming too depressing. It is fascinating reading about Indian culture and places that have not changed in a millennium. The book is quite an experience and leaves a strong impact on the reader.

The History of the Siege of Lisbon - Jose Saramago

It is time that we should know the person about whom we have been talking indiscreetly, if name and surnames could ever add anything useful to the normal identifying features and other statistics, age, height, weight, morphological type, skin tone, colour of eyes, whether the hair is smooth, curly, or wavy, or has simply disappeared, timbre of voice, clear or harsh, weight, characteristic gestures, manner of walking, since experience of human relationships has shown that, once apprised of these details and sometimes many more, not even this information serves any purpose, nor are we capable of imagining what might be missing.

This book is a challenge to read and only worth the effort if you are a student of literature. The style includes extremely long sentences and paragraphs. For example, the book starts out with a one sentence paragraph which covers six pages. I counted seventy-one commas in another sentence which was just one page long. The translator says the stream of thought style provides a stronger sense of interaction and diverse interpretation. The diversity in interpretation perhaps comes from not remembering where a sentence began or what subject is being presented.

I wanted to like this book. It has a great premise: a proofreader alters history by changing a work in an author's manuscript and falls in love with an editor. Interspersed is a tale inserted into a historical time reinterpreting the Seige of Lisbon against the Moors. The author is a great thinker as well as a writer and there are brilliant thoughts and phrases in this book. For me, however, it is far too complicated to read and meanders off into too many uninteresting tangents.

The Rings of Saturn - W.G. Sebald

For days and weeks on end one racks one's brains to no avail, and, if asked, one could not say whether one goes on writing purely out of habit, or a craving for admiration, or because one knows not how to do anything other, or out of sheer wonderment, despair or outrage, any more than one could say whether writing renders one more perceptive or more insane. Perhaps we all lose our sense of reality to the precise degree to which we are engrossed in our own work, and perhaps that is why we see in the increasing complexity of our mental constructs a means for greater understanding, even while intuitively we know that we shall be able to fathom the imponderables that govern our course through life.


Sebald has crafted an intelligent, well-written book. This is a first person account of travels on England's Northeastern coast. Towns with profitable pasts during expansive industrial times are visited. They are mostly skeletons of cities now. The author uses the town histories to launch into tales about prior residents or the history that helped define the town in its prime. The digressions are often quirky and help contribute an overall feeling of other worldliness in this book. To enjoy this book, the reader must let his mind wander and enjoy details left out of history books. As someone who grew up reading encyclopedias, I loved it.

The author is superb at finding details to support a melancholic meander through a place time left behind. He leaves the reader pondering empires, wars, economic progress, rapid changes, and simple lives in forgotten places. A good book for a slow read.

Little People in the City - Slinkachu

The photographic traces collected in this book, capturing the evanescent existence of the diminutive in the great and troubling city, have all the power of "Gulliver's Travels" to impose upon us a realization of the asinine pride we take in the mere fact of comparison. Or rather: the asinine pride that derives from our environment and ourselves being to scale with each other. The built environment is an outgrowth of social form--Schelling's 'frozen music'--and thus an endlessly repeated sample of the same old tune: human domination and submission, leading to individual alienation.

I love this book. It is a small, and very reasonably priced, art photography book. The artist places miniature figurines throughout the city environment of London. You can see an example of the size in the cover photograph of a man protecting his daughter from an actual dead bee on a sidewalk. The book displays side-by-side photographs from the scene from a human perspective and closeups to give a perspective of the miniature people.

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The art is inventive provoking both deep thoughts and humor. My first reaction is too smile and then to view the city from a new point of view--that of people the size of small insects. This books works as much great art that challenges our perspective view of our world. It looks so simple, even childlike, but I find myself wanting to look at this book over and over. It makes me look at the world a little differently, which may one of the highest compliments for an artist.

Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather

The ride back to Santa Fe was something under four hundred miles. The weather alternated between blinding sand-storms and brilliant sunlight. The sky was as full of motion and change as the desert beneath it was monotonous and still, --and there was so much sky, more than at sea, more than anywhere else in the world. The plain was there, under one's feet, but what one saw when one looked about was that brilliant blue world of stinging air and moving cloud. Even the mountains were mere ant-hills under it. Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky. The landscape one longed for when one was far away, the thing all about one, the world one actually lived in, was the sky, the sky!

I admit that my enjoyment of this book is enhanced by a love of Northern New Mexico. Willa Cather has included many of the great places in this area which continue to lend to the mystique of New Mexico. It lives up to its title as the land of enchantment. And what could be more enchanting that seeing New Mexico through the eyes of a French-born missionary in the 1800s. As hard as life was with thousand mile horseback rides through snow-covered canyons, Cather leaves one wanting to experience this world so different from the rest of America.

The book is very sympathetic to the local people--Mexicans, Indians, and the early white settlers. While the title might lead one to belief that the story will center around the church, the author portrays the wonderful spirit and community feeling amongst the local people. It is a simple world where goodness lives in the hearts of people with simple tastes. A great book to read on a trip to New Mexico or a trip anywhere.

The Plague - Albert Camus

Without memories, without hope, they lived for the moment only. Indeed, the here and now had come to mean everything to them. For there is no denying that the plague had gradually killed off in all of us the faculty not of love only but even of friendship. Naturally enough, since love asks something of the future, and nothing was left us but a series of present moments.
...
They knew now that if there is one thing one can always yearn for and sometimes attain, it is human love. But for those others who aspired beyond and above the human individual toward something they could not even imagine, there had been no answer.

A great piece of literature which reads as well today, and possibly better, as when it was written sixty years ago. A plague enters a North African town in modern times resulting in its quarantine from the rest of the world. The people and the town are stripped of normal routines and relationships as death and isolation take their tolls.

Camus writes beautifully and evokes emotions and introspection. He raises many questions about the foundations of society. The town and its people are suddenly taken out of time and what results is all forms of human nature. Camus creates a very real and believable world within a world where he expertly examines human nature. A great book which should be on all must-read lists.

Einstein's Dreams - Alan Lightman

There is a place where time stands still. Raindrops hang motionless in air. Pendulums of clocks float mid-swing. Dogs raise their muzzles in silent howls. Pedestrians are frozen on the dusty streets, their legs cocked as if held by strings. The aromas of dates, mangoes, coriander, cumin are suspended in space.

As a traveler approaches this place from any direction, he moves more and more slowly. His heartbeats grow farther apart, his breathing slackens, his temperature drops, his thoughts diminish, until he reaches dead center and stops. For this is the center of time. From this place, time travels outward in concentric circles - at rest at the center, slowly picking up speed at greater diameters.

Who would make pilgrimage to the center of time? Parents with children, an lovers.

The perfect book for a rainy afternoon. This short book is a wonderful combination of fun and stimulation. Taking Einstein's theory of relativity, specifically his concepts on time, the author imagines dreams that may have run through the great thinker's mind. Each short chapter, typically 3-5 pages, imagines a different world where time is not as we experience it. For example, time may flow backwards, unevenly, slowly, quickly, etcetera.

It wouldn't too difficult to come up with ideas for different structures of time, but what the author has expertly done is to create fun, creative, and intriguing views on how these time concepts may function. The writing is superb, each chapter reading like a prose poem. A beautiful book which well deserved to be the best seller it was.

As They See 'Em -- Bruce Weber

Umpire nation also has its own language, or at least a patois, and it anything but delicate. The usual four-letter imprecations are well represented in the daily umpire lexicon, but it has one especially distinguishing feature: the word "horseshit".
For some reason, "horseshit" is specifically a baseball term, having been the most popular and utilitarian curse word in the game for generations, as familiar a locution at the ballpark as "strike three".
...At one game I attended, Alex Rodriquez, the Yankees celebrity third baseman, sauntered over to Bruce Fromming and gave him an unsolicited compliment, something about how much he appreciated all of Fromming's years of professionalism...when I asked Rodriquez about it the next day, he shrugged. He said Fromming, the longest serving umpire, deserved it. "After all, all we do is tell them they're horseshit," Rodriquez said.

Skip this book if you don't love baseball. Even if you do love baseball, this book will only satisfy avid fans who find umpiring interesting. As an avid fan, I liked parts of this book and learned quite a lot about umpiring. The book, however, is too long and would benefit from from serious editing. A few stories by old umpires are interesting, but the last half of this book seems to be nothing but story after story.

I have a greater appreciation for umpires, although I still find some calls by umpires, especially in my softball leagues, to be questionable or down right inexcusable. In general, I haven't found umpires to be the most likable people and that didn't change after reading this book. For example, we see the world of umpires to be a proudly sexist realm.

Dali & I - Stan Lauryssens

But the biggest surprise was still to come. To my amazement, the balding, mustachioed, wrinkled Salvador Dali, weary with age, far outsold superstars Warren Beatty, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, and even Elizabeth Taylor, the all-time beauty queen.

That's when I got my first lesson in life.

Dali sells.

An interesting combination of deceit, money, and art. The book will make you look at the art world differently. Here we see an insatiable greed for money bring out the worst in people. The author is a proud con man who seems to have little guilt in separating people from their money through elaborate schemes and lies. If one is believe the book, which claims to be accurate, Dali was himself quite a con artist. We see Dali portrayed as someone who cares more about money than the art world which he uses and abuses. The author is a willing participant in dealing fake art.

There are similarities here with the current world financial problems. We see investors seeking unrealistic returns on their money, greedy middlemen, and people at the top, in this case Dali and his handlers, who laugh all the way to the bank. I enjoyed reading this book and gaining insights into the corrupt side of the art world. I found it hard, however, to get beyond the author's detached look and participation.

A Mad Desire to Dance - Elie Wiesel

She has dark eyes and the smile of a frightened child. I searched for her all my life. Was it she who saved me from the silent death that characterizes resignation to solitude? And from madness in its terminal phase, terminal as we refer to cancer when incurable? Yes, the kind of madness in which one can find refuge, if not salvation?

Madness is what I'll talk to you about--madness burdened with memories and with eyes like everyone else's, though in my story the eyes are like those of a smiling child trembling with fear.

The Nobel winner has created a great book which tackles many challenging dilemmas. It is told from the perspective of a person struggling with madness while working with a psychoanalyst. The lives are intriguing as mysteries and insights are revealed as the book progresses. It is not surprising that Wiesel has focused on the effects of Nazis on Jewish people. Reading the book will challenge one's views on madness and sanity as the psychoanalyst works with her most unusual and difficult patient.

Weisel's prose is easy to read, but the story is complex in its structure. The book is rich with thoughts on good and evil, madness and sanity, god and the purpose of life. The title is apropos commenting on something uniquely human and yet not really supported by the world around us--a desire to dance.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work - Alain de Botton

Two centuries ago, our forebears would have known the precise history and origin of nearly every one of the limited number of things they ate and owned, as well as of the people and tools involved in their production. They were acquainted with the pig, the carpenter, the weaver, the loom and the dairymaid. The range of items available for purchase may have grown exponentially since then, but our understanding of their genesis has diminished almost to the point of obscurity. We are now as imaginatively disconnected from the manufacture and distribution of our goods as we are practically in reach of them, a process of alienation which has stripped us of myriad opportunities of wonder, gratitude and guilt.

I loved this book. The author takes an in depth look at some ordinary, and yet eccentric jobs--electric power line engineer, cookie maker, motivational speaker, commercial fisherman, and more. Each chapter elaborates the fine points of the job as well as examines the interactions between humans and the work we do. The author writes in a very readable and engaging style while making the reader constantly evaluate how we live on planet earth.

We see both pleasures and sorrows in the working world. Mostly, the reader is left to question how it is we got into the predicament where our working life can be so separated from nature and human needs. The author provides interesting insights into the unusual aspects of many jobs while illuminating the extreme disconnection many experience in the corporation dominated world of today. I highly recommend this book.

The Invention of Air - Steven Johnson

So this is a history book about the Enlightenment and the American Revolution that travels from the carbon cycle of the planet itself, to the chemistry of gunpowder, to the emergence of the coffeehouse in European culture, to the emotional dynamics of two friends compelled by history to betray each other.

This is an entertaining book about Joseph Priestly, a scientist who made some great discoveries in the late 1700s. He was also a great intellectual who contributed to a variety of discussions with famous people including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Priestly was a free thinker who opposed religious fundamentalism and supported the French revolution. That got him in trouble in Britain and he immigrated to the US seeking more freedom to continue his scientific work. That work included discovering that plants create oxygen.

The book is well written with the author displaying his own opinions on the development of science and intellectual thought. For example, he praises the benefits of early coffee shops where thoughtful people could discuss ideas at length. Priestly's life is fascinating and if this book didn't get a little bogged down with details in the last half, I would have given it my highest rating.

Letters from A to X - John Berger

I wanted to put my hand on a letter and draw its outline to send you. Sometime after - whenever it was - I came across a book which explained how to draw hands and I opened it, turning page after page. And I decided to buy it. It was like the story of our life. All stories are also the stories of hands - picking up, balancing, pointing, joining, kneading, threading, caressing, abandoned in sleep, cutting, eating, wiping, playing music, scratching, grasping, peeling, clenching, pulling a trigger, folding. On each page of the book there are careful drawings of hands performing a different action. So I'm going to copy one.

I'm writing to you.

Now I look down at my hands that want to touch you and they seem obsolete because they haven't touched you for so long.

I think it would be impossible to not love a John Berger book. From A to X is like a rich desert that hits your mouth causing you to pause and say "Oh my!" I finished it, after a slow devour, and wanted to immediately read it again.

The book is written as a story in letters from a lover to her amour in prison. Inventively composed, it not only includes the letters, but is also interspersed with tidbits of philosophy. "The universe resembles a brain, not a machine. Life is a story being told now. The first reality is story. This is what being a mechanic taught me."

This is a book to savor. Berger is one of the finest living writers. The book is a tour de force of fine writing and expounds a world view of people versus the machine.

Negotiating with the Dead - Margaret Atwood

Writing, Writers, The Writing Life - if this last is not an oxymoron. Is the subject like the many-headed Hydra, which grows tow other subtexts as soon as you demolish one? Or is it more like Jacob's nameless angel, with whom you must wrestle until he blesses you? Or is it like Proteus, who must be firmly grasped through all his changes? Hard to get hold of, certainly. Where to start? At the end called Writing, or the end called The Writer? With the gerund or the noun, the activity or the one performing it? And where exactly does one stop and the other begin?

Atwood takes a fresh, fun, and stimulating look at writing. There is no shortage of books by writing on the art of writing. This, however, is a good one. The book grew out of series of lectures on writing. A lot of ground is covered on a thoughtful look at the unusual skill and art involved in writing. More than a book to teach one how to write, this book examines what's involved in writing and those who perform it.

While Atwood offers a disclaimer that she is not a scholar, simply a reader and a writer, she quickly dispels that notion with her erudite discussions about various aspects of writing. If you enjoy good writing and want to examine the art, you will enjoy reading this book.

Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age - Kenzaburo Oe

"I'd given Eyore the definition of foot," I told her. That's what opened a passage between us and gave us a handhold on the day. The trouble is, I promised I'd define everything in this world for him. But so far "foot" is the clearest definition I've come up with and that wasn't even my own invention; it was gout that made that possible.

I love Oe's books before I read them. That's because his chapter titles are so intriguing, such as The Ghost of Flea, A Cold Babe Stands in the Furious Air, and The Soul Descends as a Falling Star to the Bone of My Heel. The chapter titles come from William Blake who influences Oe and plays a prominent part in this book.

This book continues to study his family and mentally challenged son. Subtle and powerful, it takes the reader through many dynamics of human relationships. Oe weaves writings from Blake throughout the book. The father-son relationship with a severely handicapped child is portrayed beautifully in both its complexity and pain. As the child becomes a man, the mental status of his son creates challenges most of us never experience. I think a lot about Oe's books after I finish them, which for me helps define a great book.

Conversations with Professor Y - Louis-Ferdinand Celine

I have no ideas, myself! not a one! there's nothing more vulgar, more common, more disgusting than ideas! libraries are loaded with them! and every sidewalk cafe!...the impotent are bloated with ideas!....and philosophers!...that's their trade turning out ideas!...they dazzle youth with ideas! they play the pimp!...and youth is ever ready, as you know, Professor, to gobble up anything, to go ooh! and ah! by the numbers! how those pimps have an easy job of it! the passionate years of youth are spent gettinng a hard on and gargling ideeaas!...philosophies, if you prefer!...yes sir, philosophies! youth loves sham just as young dogs love those sticks, like bones, that we throw and they run after! they race forward, yipping away, wasting their time, that's the main thing!..so just look around at all the imposters endlessly playing their games, tossinng their little sticks, their empty philosopher sticks...and youth moaning in ectasy, trembling with delight!...so grateful!...the pimps know what it takes! ideeaas, and still more ideeaas! syntheses! and cerebral mutations!...

Celine is controversial and influential writer. His work influenced writers like Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kessey, and William Burroughs. He was controversial over his views, such as his antisemitism and support of fascism. This book is not one of his most revered, but expresses some of his unique style. In fact, the book primarily is an essay on his views about writing. Showing no hesitation to express praise for himself, the author creates a conversation between two men which allow for a lecture on writing. The book has its moments and is worth reading. Because it is short, it keeps from getting too one dimensional for too long.

To Celine, writing should be wild and free-form. It must express emotions and be raw. He does that and it is quite entertaining at times.

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

Before the wedding, she has believed herself in love. But not having obtained the happiness that should have resulted from that love, she now fancied that she must have been mistaken. And Emma wondered exactly what was meant in life by the words 'bliss', 'passion', 'ecstasy', which had looked so beautiful in books.

I have finished reading this classic for the first time and understand, as with most 'classics', why it deserves that distinction. Some refer to this book as the first modern novel. The writing is beautifully constructed with exquisite detail paid to each sentence. The characters are classics in literature exhibiting the great themes that cycle forever, but told in a unique fashion.

This book was bold in its time creating much controversy. It is mild by today's standards but still has the ability to capture the reader with timeless themes. The author is a master at crafting a story about real people living real lives. It creates a wonderful portrait of lives in small town France in the 1800s.

A Quiet Life - Kenzaburo Oe

This all happened the year Father was invited to be a writer-in-residence at a university in California, and circumstances required that Mother accompany him. One evening, as their departure drew near, we gathered around the family table and had our meal in an atmosphere slightly more ceremonious than usual. Even on occasions like this, Father is incapable of discussing anything important concerning the family without weaving in some levity. I had just come of age, at twenty, and he started talking about my marriage plans as if they were a topic for light discussion.

Oe is a Nobel Laureate from Japan. He bases this story on a family separated by the parents extended stay in California. The daugher and a mentally challenged son remain in Japan. The daughter must define family as she takes on care-giving for her brother.

I enjoyed the slow pacing and style employed by the author. It is told in the first person from the daughter's point of view. Simple, and yet complicated, situations arise to take the reader into the unique lives of this family. Much of what happens takes place in the minds of the characters, especially the daughter. The style is gentle and thoughtful. I was very drawn into this book. In a very unassuming manner, it examines relationships. Most intriguing is the mentally handicapped son with musical skills of a genius.

Paris, Eugene Atget - Andreas Krase

Eugene Atget is "the" photographer of Old Paris. Between 1897 and 1927 he recorded the imprint of history as no other photograher has done. Daily tracing the changes in the face of the city was not only his profession, but also his vocation. When he was laid to rest in 1927, his funeral went virtually unnoticed, yet today Atget is regarded as one of the most important photographers of all time.

Atget's pictures of Paris are evocative a time that has largely passed in Paris. Of course, the charm of Paris is how much remains of its past. Atget documented the city while creating fabulous pictures that demand attention in simple ways. His photos encompass the Paris not popular with tourists. He doesn't shoot pictures of crowds or big events. His photos favor empty streets and alleys more than people. Great artistry documenting the most ordinary of a totally unordinary city.

This book is one of many the publisher, Taschen, produced for its twenty-fifth anniversary. This one, along with others I have seen, are great bargains with quality printing and an informative text. A wonderful book to enjoy--history, Paris, and great art.

No Beginning. No End. - Jakusho Kwong

When the sun first comes up and shines on you, he said, your shadow is big behind you.  But as you continue to sit, your shadow gets smaller and smaller, until finally it's just Buddha sitting there.

This book, made up of many short chapters, reads like lectures to students of Zen.  At times it is basic and quite understandable to someone who is not a practioner of Zen, while at other times it addresses complex issues addressed more to students than casual readers interested in Zen.  I was surprised that all 18 reviews of this book on Amazon.com gave the book the top ranking, five stars.  In looking over the reviewers, however, it appeared that most were students of Zen.

I liked the book and it was a worthwhile read.  I have read other books on Zen and with that basic understanding, I could follow most of the writings.  Like most other Zen books, this one contains many quotes and anecdotes from both historical and present day Zen masters.   Janusho Kwong is the successor in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki who wrote the famous Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.  He is co-founder and abbot of the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. 

109 East Palace - Jennet Conant

In the days that followed, she learned that the man she had met, who went by the name of Mr. Bradley, was actually J. Robert Oppenheimer, a famous American physicist from the University of California at Berkeley and the leader of a secret wartime project. Bradley was the name he would use in and around town, and the way she was to address him in public. She would learn never to mention his real name and, for that matter, never to mention him at all. Not to anyone. She was told never, under any circumstances, to use the word "physicist." "I was told never to ask questions, never to have a name repeated," she wrote, recalling her initiation into the most momentous scientific project of the twentieth century.

This book tells the story of Los Alamos largely based on the diaries of the Robert Oppenheimer's assistant.  It presents the human side of the development of the secret city and the creation of the atomic bomb.  While focused on Oppenheimer, the reader is also is given an insight into the people that made up this city.  It was the largest gathering of scientists ever put to one task in a single place.

The author gives the reader a good feel for the Santa Fe area in the early forties.  We see the difficulties of rapidly building an entire city and scientfic labs in a remote desert location.  The challenges of keeping the whole operation top secret make for an intriguing read.  For me, the last third of the book dragged a little as the focus moved from Los Alamos to the challenges Oppenheimer and others faced in the subsequent McCarthy era.  I also would have liked more details on the scientific challenges and less on details like setting up kitchens in the homes. 

I didn't like this book nearly as much as the author's previous novel, Tuxedo Park, which I highly recommend.  Still, it is an enjoyable read about a most fascinating endeavor.

The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie

Peacocks danced on the morning stones of Sikri and in the distance the great lake shimmered like a ghost. The emperor's gaze traveled past the peacocks and the lake, past the court of Herat and the lands of the fierce Turk, and rested on the spires and domes of an Italian city far away. "Imagine a pair of women's lips," Mogor whispered, "puckering for a kiss. That city of Florence, narrow at the edges, swelling at the center, with the Arno flowing through between, parting the two lips, the upper and the lower. The city is an enchantress. When it kisses you, you are lost, whether you be commoner or king."

Rushdie has concocted a convoluted fantasy with wild stories and exotic characters.  East meets west in this book based in part on historical research. It is both engaging and confusing--an intriguing fairy tale which leaves the reader guessing about what really happening.  At times I was in love with this book and at other times I found it tedious.  The author can write dazzling lines and create imaginative situations that are a joy to read.  For that reason, I did enjoy reading this Booker Award winning novel.  I wish Rushdie didn't meander so much in some details and side adventures.  Yes, he can write beautifully, sometimes it felt like he was doing so just to prove it.  All in all, worth reading if you can commit to a challenging read and want to savor some excellent writing and inventive storytelling.

Pirates - Angus Konstam

This book sets out to examine real pirates throughout history, from the ancient Mediterranean to the waters of the Caribbean, and from the eastern seaboard of America to the South China Sea. Stripped of romanticism, their crimes and their fates are detailed, and the reality revealed.

With the recent piracy situation in Somalia, I decided to revisit the issue and found this book at the library.  It is a good history of piracy from its earliest known beginnings up to the current situations in places like Somalia.

The book is full of good pictures which add greatly to its ability to provide insight into piracy.  For example, the types of ships favored by pirates are well-portrayed and give the reader a clear understanding of outmaneuvering a larger ship.  I learned a great deal from reading this book.  When I took history many years ago in school, Sir Francis Drake was not described as a pirate, which he certainly was, but as a great explorer.  This is but one of many fascinating tales in Pirates.

The book does a nice job of describing how and why pirates flourish at different times and in the different places.  It also covers the ongoing battles to protect ships and cargo from pirates throughout the ages.  This is a good book to fill in what you don't know about pirates and clear up misconceptions you have probably acquired.