Maybe this belongs on the FB site...Oh well.
I'd love to hear what qualities are present in a book that you would say is "good" or "great." Then, what makes you recommend a book to someone or everyone else? How have these criteria changed through your life?
I've been thinking about mine, and will post them here soon, too. Maybe you could put your answers in a new post, so they don't get "lost" in the comments. Not that I don't want to share this post; I'd love to share it. Do whatever makes it easiest for you to respond!
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I just reposted this because we never got to discuss it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts, either here or at our next meeting. (Does that sound like an assignment? Then hop to it! JK)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
To Hug A Mockingbird
Monday, May 4th - The kids and I are here at my mom's house in lovely Greensboro, Georgia and one of the treats is that I get a bed and a room all to myself (I love reading in bed but I always feel bad interfering w/John's sleep because he usually falls asleep faster than I do). I've come prepared with "Jellicoe Road". So I'm reading and reading and reading, then Mom pops in at 12:30 on a bathroom trip and gives me this "are you sure it's a good idea to stay up this late reading?" look (hmmm, also something I don't get at home, for better or for worse!). So a half hour later, I begrudgingly put the book down. The bed is comfortable, the windows are open, the breeze is cool, and I am happily drifting off to sleep. Then, just a few minutes later, the resident mockingbird decides that NOW is a good time to show off the ten thousand different songs in his repertoire. Fortunately for him and for me, I am a great audience because I am very relaxed and in a very good mood. I lie there, laughing with delight at this dingbat bird who is singing in the pitch dark, apparently because he has a captive audience? I even pull out my camera and put it on video mode so I can capture the sound (out a dark window). But he goes on for an hour, and I cannot fall asleep. I COULD just close the windows but instead I decide that is an excuse to turn on the light and keep reading. Which I do, and finally finish the book about 2 hours later, 3:30am. Mr. Mockingbird (who I later learned via google is probably a young unmated male, as this is quite common for them) is still singing, but, as if on cue, finished up shortly thereafter.
What was particularly neat about this is that the book I was reading had a reference to "To Kill Mockingbird". Specifically (page 105):
Mr. Palmer: She calls her friend 'Mrs. Dubose.' That's all I know. Have you heard of her?
Taylor: Yes, I say sleepily. She lived in the same street as Jem and Scout Finch.
I, for one, did not remember who Mrs. Dubose was. By the end of the book, I knew. And knew that rereading "To Kill A Mockingbird" would be my next indulgence. Being in the South and discussing the segregation that still exists there, then reading a reference to the book would have been enough of a prompt, but being serenaded by a mockingbird that night was just too perfect!
What was particularly neat about this is that the book I was reading had a reference to "To Kill Mockingbird". Specifically (page 105):
Mr. Palmer: She calls her friend 'Mrs. Dubose.' That's all I know. Have you heard of her?
Taylor: Yes, I say sleepily. She lived in the same street as Jem and Scout Finch.
I, for one, did not remember who Mrs. Dubose was. By the end of the book, I knew. And knew that rereading "To Kill A Mockingbird" would be my next indulgence. Being in the South and discussing the segregation that still exists there, then reading a reference to the book would have been enough of a prompt, but being serenaded by a mockingbird that night was just too perfect!
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Library
Three cheers for the library. I know that we all have a special relationship with this radical institution--free books, story times, cuddly chairs, magazines, holds. It is one of my favorite places to be. The library and I have recently become reacquainted.
Why hello there, library. I love you.
When I was a kid we spent many, many hours in our tiny library in Holliston--my mom, my sister, and I. In college I worked at UVM's library, stacking books, working at the front desk and in periodicals. I would get lost in the stacks--inhaling the books and going from art to poetry to geography all in 3-hours time. I used to dream of spending the night there.
Then we took a break from each other.
But now we're back. The library is the place I go with my kids. We spend many, many hours there, my daughters and I. But sometimes it's just the two of us...on the computer. Ooo, I want to read that book. Hold. Hold. Hold. I find it absolutely thrilling when the holds come in.
Here's to you, library. You just keep giving.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The History of Love - Discussion Questions
http://www.litlovers.com/guide_histrylove.html
The link above has some interesting commentary and background on the story and from the author. It also includes the discussion questions below:
1. Leo Gursky and Alma Singer make an unlikely pair, but what they share in common ultimately brings them together. What are the similarities between these two characters?
2. Leo fears becoming invisible. How does fiction writing prove a balm for his anxiety?
3. Explore the theme of authenticity throughout the narrative. Who's real and who's a fraud?
4. Despite his preoccupation with his approaching death, Leo has a spirit that is indefatigably comic. Describe the interplay of tragedy and comedy in The History of Love.
5. What distinguishes parental love from romantic love in the novel?
6. Why is it so important to Alma that Bird act normal? How normal is Alma?
7. When Alma meets Leo, she calls him the "oldest man in the world." Does his voice sound so ancient?
8. Uncle Julian tells Alma, "Wittgenstein once wrote that when the eye sees something beautiful, the hand wants to draw it." How does this philosophical take on the artistic process relate to the impulse to write in The History of Love?
9. Many different narrators contribute to the story of The History of Love. What makes each of their voices unique? How does Krauss seam them together to make a coherent novel?
10. Survival requires different tactics in different environments. Aside from Alma's wilderness guidelines, what measures do the characters in the novel adopt to carry on?
11. Most all of the characters in the novel are writers --- from Isaac Moritz to Bird Singer. Alma's mother is somewhat exceptional, as she works as a translator. Yet she is not the only character to transform others' words for her creative practice. What are the similarities and differences between an author and a translator?
12. What are the benefits of friendship in the novel? Why might Alma feel more comfortable remaining Misha's friend rather than becoming his girlfriend?
13. The fame and adulation Isaac Moritz earns for his novels represent the rewards many writers hope for, while Leo, an unwitting ghostwriter, remains unrecognized for his work. What role does validation play in the many acts of writing in The History of Love?
14. Leo decides to model nude for an art class in order to leave an imprint of his existence. He writes to preserve the memories of his love for Alma Mereminski. Yet drawings and novels are never faithful renditions of the truth. Do you recognize a process of erasure in the stories he tells us?
15. Why might Krauss have given her novel the title The History of Love, the same as that of the fictional book around which her narrative centers?
The link above has some interesting commentary and background on the story and from the author. It also includes the discussion questions below:
1. Leo Gursky and Alma Singer make an unlikely pair, but what they share in common ultimately brings them together. What are the similarities between these two characters?
2. Leo fears becoming invisible. How does fiction writing prove a balm for his anxiety?
3. Explore the theme of authenticity throughout the narrative. Who's real and who's a fraud?
4. Despite his preoccupation with his approaching death, Leo has a spirit that is indefatigably comic. Describe the interplay of tragedy and comedy in The History of Love.
5. What distinguishes parental love from romantic love in the novel?
6. Why is it so important to Alma that Bird act normal? How normal is Alma?
7. When Alma meets Leo, she calls him the "oldest man in the world." Does his voice sound so ancient?
8. Uncle Julian tells Alma, "Wittgenstein once wrote that when the eye sees something beautiful, the hand wants to draw it." How does this philosophical take on the artistic process relate to the impulse to write in The History of Love?
9. Many different narrators contribute to the story of The History of Love. What makes each of their voices unique? How does Krauss seam them together to make a coherent novel?
10. Survival requires different tactics in different environments. Aside from Alma's wilderness guidelines, what measures do the characters in the novel adopt to carry on?
11. Most all of the characters in the novel are writers --- from Isaac Moritz to Bird Singer. Alma's mother is somewhat exceptional, as she works as a translator. Yet she is not the only character to transform others' words for her creative practice. What are the similarities and differences between an author and a translator?
12. What are the benefits of friendship in the novel? Why might Alma feel more comfortable remaining Misha's friend rather than becoming his girlfriend?
13. The fame and adulation Isaac Moritz earns for his novels represent the rewards many writers hope for, while Leo, an unwitting ghostwriter, remains unrecognized for his work. What role does validation play in the many acts of writing in The History of Love?
14. Leo decides to model nude for an art class in order to leave an imprint of his existence. He writes to preserve the memories of his love for Alma Mereminski. Yet drawings and novels are never faithful renditions of the truth. Do you recognize a process of erasure in the stories he tells us?
15. Why might Krauss have given her novel the title The History of Love, the same as that of the fictional book around which her narrative centers?
Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture by Thomas NewkirkMy review
please read this book if you have boys in your life.
View all my reviews.
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