TOLKIEN AND C.S. LEWIS: THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP - Colin Duriez
For readers of the above authors, this book is a pleasant account of their friendship and its effect on their writing and spiritual lives. The fascination of the two men for the "other" world of fairy, myth, and Christianity and the joy they found in all three was the foundation of a friendship that survived the politics of Oxford - and most probably helped them both to survive the same.
Virtual catalogue, Amazon
Showing posts with label Nonfiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nonfiction. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
GREECE THEN AND NOW
THE COLOSSUS OF MAROUSSI - Henry Miller
EURYDICE STREET: A PLACE IN ATHENS - Sofka Zinovieff
Read a review of the Miller book which led me to read the book itself, and then wanted more of Greece, so went to Eurydice Street. Henry Miller's book, published in 1941, tells of his travels in Greece in 1939-40 as war is taking over Europe. He fell in love with Greece, and the book is a rhapsody on the beauty, mystery, spirituality, joy of Greece and Greeks. At that time, Greeks were friendly towards America (not so by Zinovieff's book in 2001). Miller traveled often in the company of Laurence Durrell, an English writer who lived on Corfu, and of the Greek writer, Katsimbalis (the Colossus of the title). He gives a vivid portrait of Katsimbalis. One of his comments I particularly liked: "He saw the humorous aspect of everything, which is the real test of the tragic sense." Certainly true of Shakespeare.
Sometimes Miller rants and raves a bit too much, but more often he paints his adventures so vibrantly you feel you are there. I found some of his passages so lyrical and the insights so incisive that I bought a copy of the book after returning the library copy. It is a Greece that died with the war, and a Greece that is eternal.
EURYDICE STREET is Zinoveiff's account of her family's settling in Athens in 2001. Her husband, a Greek, had been living aboard for years. She had lived in Greece before but was brought up in London, where her divorced Russian parents lived. She presents her story and enough Greek history to give the reader context to help understand the perspective of contemporary Greeks. She too loves Greece and decides to become a citizen - a journey fraught with bureaucracy. A good trip to present day Greece for those who can't afford the passage, and for those who can, your trip will be more interesting having read this book.
MILLER: Virtual catalogue, Amazon ZINOVEIFF: Rockport Public Library, Amazon
.
EURYDICE STREET: A PLACE IN ATHENS - Sofka Zinovieff
Read a review of the Miller book which led me to read the book itself, and then wanted more of Greece, so went to Eurydice Street. Henry Miller's book, published in 1941, tells of his travels in Greece in 1939-40 as war is taking over Europe. He fell in love with Greece, and the book is a rhapsody on the beauty, mystery, spirituality, joy of Greece and Greeks. At that time, Greeks were friendly towards America (not so by Zinovieff's book in 2001). Miller traveled often in the company of Laurence Durrell, an English writer who lived on Corfu, and of the Greek writer, Katsimbalis (the Colossus of the title). He gives a vivid portrait of Katsimbalis. One of his comments I particularly liked: "He saw the humorous aspect of everything, which is the real test of the tragic sense." Certainly true of Shakespeare.
Sometimes Miller rants and raves a bit too much, but more often he paints his adventures so vibrantly you feel you are there. I found some of his passages so lyrical and the insights so incisive that I bought a copy of the book after returning the library copy. It is a Greece that died with the war, and a Greece that is eternal.
EURYDICE STREET is Zinoveiff's account of her family's settling in Athens in 2001. Her husband, a Greek, had been living aboard for years. She had lived in Greece before but was brought up in London, where her divorced Russian parents lived. She presents her story and enough Greek history to give the reader context to help understand the perspective of contemporary Greeks. She too loves Greece and decides to become a citizen - a journey fraught with bureaucracy. A good trip to present day Greece for those who can't afford the passage, and for those who can, your trip will be more interesting having read this book.
MILLER: Virtual catalogue, Amazon ZINOVEIFF: Rockport Public Library, Amazon
.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
MORE TALES OF WALES CLERGY
CHRONICLES OF A CURATE & MORE CHRONICLES OF A VICAR
Fred Secombe
I reviewed the second book in this series, CHRONICLES OF A VICAR, in January blog. The curate book here precedes that one, and the more chronicles continues it. All of these books are actually Three in One books, containing three of each series in one book, a great buy!
Each series is entertaining and heartwarming as Secombe relates the story of his life as an Anglican priest in Wales in the 1940s and 50s.
Amazon, or borrow from me.
Fred Secombe
I reviewed the second book in this series, CHRONICLES OF A VICAR, in January blog. The curate book here precedes that one, and the more chronicles continues it. All of these books are actually Three in One books, containing three of each series in one book, a great buy!
Each series is entertaining and heartwarming as Secombe relates the story of his life as an Anglican priest in Wales in the 1940s and 50s.
Amazon, or borrow from me.
WIDE-EYED AND LEGLESS
DIANA'S STORY - Deric Longden
"Wide-eyed and Legless", a song beloved by his wife, was the title Deric Longden wanted for his book, but the publisher opted for the more conservative "Diana's Story". Diana Longden suffered, and suffered is the operative word, for fifteen years from ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis, an excruiatingly painful, crippling disease. Worse, she suffered from doctors who could not diagnose her condition (it was finally diagnosed after her death), and subjected her to test after test, and some of whom told her unfeelingly that "it was all in her head." Meanwhile, her fingers would turn into claws without the special plaster casts she had to wear daily, and even with the casts, the fingers eventually clawed and had to be broken and recast several times. Despite her almost constant pain Diana's pluck and good humor are what dominate the book, as do the same attributes in her husband, Deric, who cared for her throughout her illness. Both are upheld by their son and daughter, and Deric's mum, a character he wrote about in his previous book, LOST FOR WORDS, as well as by friends and neighbors. For a book of such seeming sadness, I laughed as often as I was angered in Diana's defense and cried for the terrible loss all suffered. I started reading and didn't put the book down until I was finished.
There is a movie of the book available from Netflix, on the BBC, it was called "Wide-Eyed & Legless" but on Netflix has been renamed THE WEDDING GIFT.
Amazon or you can borrow from me.
"Wide-eyed and Legless", a song beloved by his wife, was the title Deric Longden wanted for his book, but the publisher opted for the more conservative "Diana's Story". Diana Longden suffered, and suffered is the operative word, for fifteen years from ME, myalgic encephalomyelitis, an excruiatingly painful, crippling disease. Worse, she suffered from doctors who could not diagnose her condition (it was finally diagnosed after her death), and subjected her to test after test, and some of whom told her unfeelingly that "it was all in her head." Meanwhile, her fingers would turn into claws without the special plaster casts she had to wear daily, and even with the casts, the fingers eventually clawed and had to be broken and recast several times. Despite her almost constant pain Diana's pluck and good humor are what dominate the book, as do the same attributes in her husband, Deric, who cared for her throughout her illness. Both are upheld by their son and daughter, and Deric's mum, a character he wrote about in his previous book, LOST FOR WORDS, as well as by friends and neighbors. For a book of such seeming sadness, I laughed as often as I was angered in Diana's defense and cried for the terrible loss all suffered. I started reading and didn't put the book down until I was finished.
There is a movie of the book available from Netflix, on the BBC, it was called "Wide-Eyed & Legless" but on Netflix has been renamed THE WEDDING GIFT.
Amazon or you can borrow from me.
THE TIGER & THE SNAIL
THE TIGER: A TRUE STORY OF VENGEANCE AND SURVIVAL -
JOHN VAILLANT
THE SOUND OF A WILD SNAIL EATING - ELISABETH TOVA BAILEY
I discovered these books reviewed together and immediately requested both from the library. The two animal subjects couldn't be more disparate - the ferocious tiger and the mild snail - yet each is equally intriguing.
John Valliant tells the story of the hunt for a man-eating Siberian tiger in 1997 in Primorye Territory in Russia's Far East. He spares no details (this is not "light-reading") of the tiger's ravages while also presenting a case for the preservation of tigers in the Territory, one of their few remaining viable habitats, although here too poachers kill many adult and cubs. The mystery of the story - why did this tiger kill in an extraordinarily vengeful way, not usual for tigers -- remains only partially solved, but the investigation is thrilling. Vailliant presents the differences in perspectives to the taiga and its wildlife of the European Russian newcomers, and the indigenous Nanai, who view the tiger as a spiritual totem. Both live in near poverty in a harsh climate, yet one of sometimes amazing beauty. Virtual catalog.
In THE SOUND OF A WILD SNAIL EATING, Elisabeth Tova Bailey tells of how a snail brought in on a plant helps her live through a devastating illness. Struck down after a flu with a fatigue so paralyzing she was confined to her bed for several years, and from which she did not completely recover for 20 years, Bailey starts observing the snail as it lives its only slightly more active life confined to a terrarium beside her bed. She reads up on snails and shares her knowledge with us, and it is fascinating. I would never have guessed that snails have an active and loving sex life (so do tigers, but somehow that was not as surprising). Bailey's stoic description of her own life, her joy at being transferred from a bed where she couldn't see out the windows to one where she could, the simple heroism of living with a debilitating illness, is inspiring. Coincidentally, one of her diagnoses is for an illness ME myalgic encephalomyelitis, which is the illness which afflicts the woman in the next book I review as well. In Bailey's case, however, she is found to have a different mitochondrial disease from which she recovered to some extent.
Rockport Library
JOHN VAILLANT
THE SOUND OF A WILD SNAIL EATING - ELISABETH TOVA BAILEY
I discovered these books reviewed together and immediately requested both from the library. The two animal subjects couldn't be more disparate - the ferocious tiger and the mild snail - yet each is equally intriguing.
John Valliant tells the story of the hunt for a man-eating Siberian tiger in 1997 in Primorye Territory in Russia's Far East. He spares no details (this is not "light-reading") of the tiger's ravages while also presenting a case for the preservation of tigers in the Territory, one of their few remaining viable habitats, although here too poachers kill many adult and cubs. The mystery of the story - why did this tiger kill in an extraordinarily vengeful way, not usual for tigers -- remains only partially solved, but the investigation is thrilling. Vailliant presents the differences in perspectives to the taiga and its wildlife of the European Russian newcomers, and the indigenous Nanai, who view the tiger as a spiritual totem. Both live in near poverty in a harsh climate, yet one of sometimes amazing beauty. Virtual catalog.
In THE SOUND OF A WILD SNAIL EATING, Elisabeth Tova Bailey tells of how a snail brought in on a plant helps her live through a devastating illness. Struck down after a flu with a fatigue so paralyzing she was confined to her bed for several years, and from which she did not completely recover for 20 years, Bailey starts observing the snail as it lives its only slightly more active life confined to a terrarium beside her bed. She reads up on snails and shares her knowledge with us, and it is fascinating. I would never have guessed that snails have an active and loving sex life (so do tigers, but somehow that was not as surprising). Bailey's stoic description of her own life, her joy at being transferred from a bed where she couldn't see out the windows to one where she could, the simple heroism of living with a debilitating illness, is inspiring. Coincidentally, one of her diagnoses is for an illness ME myalgic encephalomyelitis, which is the illness which afflicts the woman in the next book I review as well. In Bailey's case, however, she is found to have a different mitochondrial disease from which she recovered to some extent.
Rockport Library
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
WWII IN BUDLEIGH SALTERTON
HENRIETTA SEES IT THROUGH: MORE NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT 1942-1945
- Joyce Dennys
The second of Dennys' World War II columns from seaside England (not necessarily the safest place to be during World War II). As the columns were meant to raise morale, for the most part Dennys presents a light-hearted view of the home front, but never without the sense o the strain and tears the humor is trying to combat. Her most poignant column is one that abandons humor completely as she reports the death of the younger son of friends who have already lost their elder son.
A professional artist, her sketches enliven the text
Amazon.com or you can borrow from me.
- Joyce Dennys
The second of Dennys' World War II columns from seaside England (not necessarily the safest place to be during World War II). As the columns were meant to raise morale, for the most part Dennys presents a light-hearted view of the home front, but never without the sense o the strain and tears the humor is trying to combat. Her most poignant column is one that abandons humor completely as she reports the death of the younger son of friends who have already lost their elder son.
A professional artist, her sketches enliven the text
Amazon.com or you can borrow from me.
MENNONITE ACADEMIC FACES DIVORCE
(A MEMOIR OF GOING HOME) MENNONITE IN A LITTLE BLACK DRESS - Rhoda Janzen
Yes, you will finally learn the difference between Amish and Mennonite (although not until the end of the book). This is a nonfiction account of the healing Janzen experiences as she spends her sabbatical at home with her Mennonite family after a difficult marriage and divorce. Her humor keeps the book upbeat while still dealing straightforwardly with the trials of living with a bipolar man who when off his meds is corrosively emotionally abusive. Although no longer a Mennonite in religious affiliation, Janzen has no anger toward the Mennonites, nor does her family (at least her parents) toward her. Instead she gives us an interesting glimpse of what life was and is like for practicing Mennonites, and what parts of the tradition still illuminate her life.
A friend lent me this book, but I'm sure it's either in the library of the Virtual Catalog, and certainly available on Amazon..
Yes, you will finally learn the difference between Amish and Mennonite (although not until the end of the book). This is a nonfiction account of the healing Janzen experiences as she spends her sabbatical at home with her Mennonite family after a difficult marriage and divorce. Her humor keeps the book upbeat while still dealing straightforwardly with the trials of living with a bipolar man who when off his meds is corrosively emotionally abusive. Although no longer a Mennonite in religious affiliation, Janzen has no anger toward the Mennonites, nor does her family (at least her parents) toward her. Instead she gives us an interesting glimpse of what life was and is like for practicing Mennonites, and what parts of the tradition still illuminate her life.
A friend lent me this book, but I'm sure it's either in the library of the Virtual Catalog, and certainly available on Amazon..
I REMEMBER MAMA AND AUNTY MAME IN ONE OUTRAGEOUS YORKSHIRE MUM
LOST FOR WORDS - Deric Longden
The book opens with Deric's Mum creating a comic pile up in the local Marks and Spencer's when she spills cherry yogurt and butter on the escalator. He goes on to regale us with Mum's various quirks, her belief in the medicinal efficacy of Buttercup Syrup, her deflection of the anger of an annoyed football fan who tells her the cafe is reserved on Wednesday for Sheffield Supporters, with her remark, "My cat watches Match of the Day, but I prefer the wrestling myself." Mum Longden's eccentric wit and wisdom help Deric heal after his first wife's tragic death and propel him into the arms of his second wife. Then Mum has a stroke that takes away her ability to speak coherently. Deric records his efforts to help her live with some happiness the last difficult years of her life. Near the end frustrated by the nurses' failure to see his mother as a person, he brings in a photo of her as a young, vibrant woman. He writes: "When the shifts changed over the new nurses picked up the photograph and saw for themselves just a glimpse of the real woman behind the twisted tongue and the addled brain and they talked to her as they changed her dressing." This book should be required reading for all who attend the elderly.
The book was made into a television movie starring the wonderful British actress Dame Thora Hurd and Peter Postlethwaite. I remember seeing it and being very moved. I'm hoping it's available through Netflix.
Amazon.com or you can borrow it from me.
The book opens with Deric's Mum creating a comic pile up in the local Marks and Spencer's when she spills cherry yogurt and butter on the escalator. He goes on to regale us with Mum's various quirks, her belief in the medicinal efficacy of Buttercup Syrup, her deflection of the anger of an annoyed football fan who tells her the cafe is reserved on Wednesday for Sheffield Supporters, with her remark, "My cat watches Match of the Day, but I prefer the wrestling myself." Mum Longden's eccentric wit and wisdom help Deric heal after his first wife's tragic death and propel him into the arms of his second wife. Then Mum has a stroke that takes away her ability to speak coherently. Deric records his efforts to help her live with some happiness the last difficult years of her life. Near the end frustrated by the nurses' failure to see his mother as a person, he brings in a photo of her as a young, vibrant woman. He writes: "When the shifts changed over the new nurses picked up the photograph and saw for themselves just a glimpse of the real woman behind the twisted tongue and the addled brain and they talked to her as they changed her dressing." This book should be required reading for all who attend the elderly.
The book was made into a television movie starring the wonderful British actress Dame Thora Hurd and Peter Postlethwaite. I remember seeing it and being very moved. I'm hoping it's available through Netflix.
Amazon.com or you can borrow it from me.
WORLD WAR II ENGLAND FROM PAGES OF THE NEW YORKER
LONDON WAR NOTES - Mollie Panter-Downes
Having read Panter-Downes collection of New Yorker short stories from World War II, I went on to read this book containing her biweekly letters from London to the NYer from 1939-1945. She paints a vivid word picture of Londoners reacting with courage and down-to-earth humor to the terrors and strains of both being bombing and not being bombed (while knowing that the bombs would return).She predicts accurately that England will be changed forever by this war with a final knell being tolled for the supremacy of the aristocracy and an easily available servant class, neither perhaps gone completely, but certainly never again to rule or serve with the rigidity of pre-war England. How are you going to keep the girl back in the kitchen once she's been in the munitions factory and armed forces? The answer is clear, very few will ever go back, and most of us would say, a good thing too!
Virtual cataloge
Having read Panter-Downes collection of New Yorker short stories from World War II, I went on to read this book containing her biweekly letters from London to the NYer from 1939-1945. She paints a vivid word picture of Londoners reacting with courage and down-to-earth humor to the terrors and strains of both being bombing and not being bombed (while knowing that the bombs would return).She predicts accurately that England will be changed forever by this war with a final knell being tolled for the supremacy of the aristocracy and an easily available servant class, neither perhaps gone completely, but certainly never again to rule or serve with the rigidity of pre-war England. How are you going to keep the girl back in the kitchen once she's been in the munitions factory and armed forces? The answer is clear, very few will ever go back, and most of us would say, a good thing too!
Virtual cataloge
Thursday, January 13, 2011
LIFE AS CLERGY IN 1950S WALES
CHRONICLES OF A VICAR: HELLO, VICAR!, A COMEDY OF CLERICAL ERRORS, THE CROWNING GLORY - Fred Secombe
Funny and poignant, nonfiction narratives of the life of a Church of England vicar in a small parish in Wales right after WWII. It is part of a series that begins with CHRONICLES OF A CURATE. Fred Secombe and his wife, Eleanor, a doctor, are a good team as they minister to the spiritual and physical needs of the town and cope with two troublesome curates: one feckless, the other pretentious, and the helpful and unhelpful among their parishioners. They direct a Gilbert and Sullivan society which provides comic diversion and help their parishioners cope with tragedy in the wake of a cave-in at the coal mine. The last of the trilogy is set in coronation year with the advent not only of a new queen but of televisions into the community.
Virtual catalogue. Other books by Secombe available from Amazon. (I've ordered some so if you read this and are hooked, I'll be happy to lend them to you.)
Funny and poignant, nonfiction narratives of the life of a Church of England vicar in a small parish in Wales right after WWII. It is part of a series that begins with CHRONICLES OF A CURATE. Fred Secombe and his wife, Eleanor, a doctor, are a good team as they minister to the spiritual and physical needs of the town and cope with two troublesome curates: one feckless, the other pretentious, and the helpful and unhelpful among their parishioners. They direct a Gilbert and Sullivan society which provides comic diversion and help their parishioners cope with tragedy in the wake of a cave-in at the coal mine. The last of the trilogy is set in coronation year with the advent not only of a new queen but of televisions into the community.
Virtual catalogue. Other books by Secombe available from Amazon. (I've ordered some so if you read this and are hooked, I'll be happy to lend them to you.)
AUSTRALIAN FINDS TRUE LOVE IN FRANCE
ALMOST FRENCH: LOVE AND A NEW LIFE IN PARIS -- Sarah Turnbull
Entertaining, nonfiction account of a young Australian who falls in love with a Frenchman and France, but not without some major adjustments. Her observations are interesting: French women don't want friendships with other women because they look upon women as rivals; Parisians in particular and the French in general take a long time to warm up to people even as acquaintances (they want to be sure you're here for good before going to the effort of talking to you at a dinner party); in France (or at least Paris) it is obligatory to dress up even when going to the bakery, you owe it others to present a good appearance; and you have to learn how to deal with the French bureaucracy. She loves Paris, however, from the start, and her lover, later husband, helps her through the difficulties of culture shock. She even learns to love the north of France, his home country. Fun reading and helpful if you're planning a trip to France.
Rockport Library
Entertaining, nonfiction account of a young Australian who falls in love with a Frenchman and France, but not without some major adjustments. Her observations are interesting: French women don't want friendships with other women because they look upon women as rivals; Parisians in particular and the French in general take a long time to warm up to people even as acquaintances (they want to be sure you're here for good before going to the effort of talking to you at a dinner party); in France (or at least Paris) it is obligatory to dress up even when going to the bakery, you owe it others to present a good appearance; and you have to learn how to deal with the French bureaucracy. She loves Paris, however, from the start, and her lover, later husband, helps her through the difficulties of culture shock. She even learns to love the north of France, his home country. Fun reading and helpful if you're planning a trip to France.
Rockport Library
Thursday, January 6, 2011
TRUE LOVE AND MARRIAGE IN VENICE
A THOUSAND DAYS IN VENICE (AN UNEXPECTED ROMANCE)-Marlena de Blasi
Charming non-fiction account of a middle-aged American divorcee who receives a telephone call from a man at the next table in a Venetian restaurant asking her to coffee. She refuses four days in a row but finally on her last day in Venice agrees to meet him. He tells her he fell in love with her in December when he saw her at a distance on a previous visit of hers to Venice. Unlikely as all this sounds, it is true, and she takes the plunge, not into the canal, but into love. The book records the first year of their falling in love, her leaving St.Louis, Missouri, to live with him in Venice, their wedding, and subsequent new beginnings together. It is romantic but down-to-earth as they face the adjustment from fairy tale romance to actually living together. Venice is a major player in this story - the people, its history, the infuriating bureaucracy of state and church, the different life views of the Italian worker (Work long enough to buy the grappa but not so long as to miss out on drinking the grappa with co-workers during extended lunch hour. What's the rush?). De Blasi is also a professional chef and includes recipes at book's end. Enchanting reading for all of us who have wished to be swept off our feet with good practical lessons as to how to then sustain and cherish love in marriage. She has also written two follow-up books, so if you like this one, you have two more to enjoy.
Non-Fiction. Rockport Public Library
Charming non-fiction account of a middle-aged American divorcee who receives a telephone call from a man at the next table in a Venetian restaurant asking her to coffee. She refuses four days in a row but finally on her last day in Venice agrees to meet him. He tells her he fell in love with her in December when he saw her at a distance on a previous visit of hers to Venice. Unlikely as all this sounds, it is true, and she takes the plunge, not into the canal, but into love. The book records the first year of their falling in love, her leaving St.Louis, Missouri, to live with him in Venice, their wedding, and subsequent new beginnings together. It is romantic but down-to-earth as they face the adjustment from fairy tale romance to actually living together. Venice is a major player in this story - the people, its history, the infuriating bureaucracy of state and church, the different life views of the Italian worker (Work long enough to buy the grappa but not so long as to miss out on drinking the grappa with co-workers during extended lunch hour. What's the rush?). De Blasi is also a professional chef and includes recipes at book's end. Enchanting reading for all of us who have wished to be swept off our feet with good practical lessons as to how to then sustain and cherish love in marriage. She has also written two follow-up books, so if you like this one, you have two more to enjoy.
Non-Fiction. Rockport Public Library
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)