tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82286313748044073372024-03-27T16:54:14.603-07:00EarthaBridge-- art and lifeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger567125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-36048991832313297192024-03-10T09:27:00.000-07:002024-03-10T09:27:03.722-07:00HOW DEEP IS THE LAKE<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Shelley O'Callaghan. <span style="color: red;">HOW DEEP IS THE LAKE: A Century at Chilliwack Lake.</span> Caitlin, 2017.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have owned this copy for some time and decided to read it after reviewing the Caitlin catalogue. I don't think it lives up to the book blurb because I get no sense of awareness of the issue of land and Indigenous people. For example, the fear of and battle against expropriation, when what else was done to Indigenous land if not expropriated by the Crown? Did not they too feel the encroachment of all these uninvited neighbours, including American fishermen, church camps, and provincial prison camps? The opportunity to feel and express empathy seems lost. I also find the title poorly edited [missing ? and repeated word, "lake"] and not really indicative of what the book is about, which seems to be one family's attachment to a summer cottage grouping on the shores of Chilliwack Lake in the Cascade Mountains south of Chilliwack, BC. I was also confused by the switching between metric and feet measurements. The calculations of lake depth were done in feet while all other measurements seem to be in metric. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That said, I did finish reading it, for local history and geology and geography if nothing else. I have lived in this valley for over thirty years but I have never been to this lake. I did get that feeling of envy, of a family that holidays together, and couples that have the type of lifestyle that supports three weeks every summer getting away into the wilderness. That is not and has never been my experience. I was also looking for but had to go elsewhere to find out about the diverging course of the Chilliwack River, why it no longer runs through downtown Chilliwack, and for info about Sumas Lake, drained for land reclamation. If the grandfather worked for Water all his career, would he not have been aware of if not involved in the decision to divert the river, change watersheds, drain a lake, etc? I did learn in my research how Sumas Lake sometimes drained into the Nooksack and sometimes drained into the Fraser. Not Chilliwack Lake, but linked, because Chilliwack Lake water ended up in Sumas Lake. Many other changes over time, especially travel arrangements, are well documented. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNpVvW5PCzpm8WgMnMG2ULMLkW_llb4VRF1-q1PTuIvFIm7tdJIv3eI9l2_9FDGrMNlstBf6p7v8gmUyBankr7nk9nNX1hEJWf_c-91ZYp9nc2UZnbMIDObqrSwoc8hgVq8xJyd6ghKhrbdru6TpFOYe7smSq333gG8pcN-vFOmc3HPfcZxX6c5Bqav5I/s466/Ocallaghan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNpVvW5PCzpm8WgMnMG2ULMLkW_llb4VRF1-q1PTuIvFIm7tdJIv3eI9l2_9FDGrMNlstBf6p7v8gmUyBankr7nk9nNX1hEJWf_c-91ZYp9nc2UZnbMIDObqrSwoc8hgVq8xJyd6ghKhrbdru6TpFOYe7smSq333gG8pcN-vFOmc3HPfcZxX6c5Bqav5I/s320/Ocallaghan.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-65715855388003699642024-02-26T08:18:00.000-08:002024-02-26T08:18:33.549-08:00HOUSE MADE OF DAWN<p><span style="font-family: arial;">N. Scott Momaday. <span style="color: red;">HOUSE MADE OF DAWN</span>. Harper & Row, 1966 & 1989. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Absolutely beautiful. Incorporates some pages from <span style="color: red;">The WAY to RAINY MOUNTAIN</span>. Abel returns to the reservation from war, from prison, from the city, and participates in ceremony.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiblHg9seqE56RHOLgvJG5HAiOAPQqV4z9frRVZna_wkhJbOC_6aEfUiHnUF16GBTeF6U66kvP1PV8OYQ0xOWEy2GwtEC_g1oaLCS-4kc8zS667eya5VV_o0rC4XumnikZry7A7Dn79CEq3X-dwdT4fyp3W8gy6XChjHDi4-_gfufUBXL912ccFtTYYpCiL/s278/Momaday3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="181" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiblHg9seqE56RHOLgvJG5HAiOAPQqV4z9frRVZna_wkhJbOC_6aEfUiHnUF16GBTeF6U66kvP1PV8OYQ0xOWEy2GwtEC_g1oaLCS-4kc8zS667eya5VV_o0rC4XumnikZry7A7Dn79CEq3X-dwdT4fyp3W8gy6XChjHDi4-_gfufUBXL912ccFtTYYpCiL/s1600/Momaday3.jpg" width="181" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-20046991695263294752024-02-10T09:40:00.000-08:002024-02-10T09:40:37.404-08:00The WAY to RAINY MOUNTAIN<p><span style="font-family: arial;">N. Scott Momaday. <span style="color: red;">The WAY to RAINY MOUNTAIN</span>. UNewMexico, 1969. An anniversary edition. Read in honour of the writer who died recently. Watched a PBS doc on him last week. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have read a lot of work by Indigenous writers and this is by far the most beautifully written. Kiowa story-telling techniques braided with memory and archaeology reports. Illustrated by the writer's father. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">N. Scott Momaday won the Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for his <span style="color: red;">HOUSE MADE of DAWN.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkoJAvM9Yz4xPT8_9h2KHcAvLTsNi9O1DRmazwhjXaak4lyeCSEOF48wz5a7ZovsmjDzWo32pybyjQPWTIOVyly4uuMakDPlm2yKHHuJ3HCLRJ8tUiaYJSt48NYoc5AUxbBR9601vcSfmCVTbLBn8zKWVr6PODxKnyyumMrbA9CsrZYgiFVxnNbh6V7pQ/s259/Momaday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="194" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkoJAvM9Yz4xPT8_9h2KHcAvLTsNi9O1DRmazwhjXaak4lyeCSEOF48wz5a7ZovsmjDzWo32pybyjQPWTIOVyly4uuMakDPlm2yKHHuJ3HCLRJ8tUiaYJSt48NYoc5AUxbBR9601vcSfmCVTbLBn8zKWVr6PODxKnyyumMrbA9CsrZYgiFVxnNbh6V7pQ/s1600/Momaday.jpg" width="194" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgOqqkWU_RibNZMqCuW8hEsuvfkKOTPZhTo1hU_ILxyY7iPVnxN_Df97Y48e3YmGiON9W1Ey_zFoZJ18vapYZ_zvLUnan-Y38ivBPHV7pIjTlmcVYFZQPkZXrnLQMxRRkXjWaunOd6QkYyDv-fEFJoiw7Tpq7gFInHPzOcYKZ9U6F6Ek4bc0ktS7rsL99/s286/Momaday2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="176" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgOqqkWU_RibNZMqCuW8hEsuvfkKOTPZhTo1hU_ILxyY7iPVnxN_Df97Y48e3YmGiON9W1Ey_zFoZJ18vapYZ_zvLUnan-Y38ivBPHV7pIjTlmcVYFZQPkZXrnLQMxRRkXjWaunOd6QkYyDv-fEFJoiw7Tpq7gFInHPzOcYKZ9U6F6Ek4bc0ktS7rsL99/s1600/Momaday2.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-39052288261628991092024-02-04T12:59:00.000-08:002024-02-10T09:45:56.237-08:00PILGRIM<p><span style="font-family: arial;">David Whyte. <span style="color: red;">PILGRIM</span>. Many Rivers Press, Langley, WA, 2014.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Another of my local writer finds on the trip to Bellingham and Seattle. Love the Irish connection. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEJnBxU1XSzG04A_2geso42Ysa9qyKyeJoRmtDySmATGPbrLsdWM9ocFsFdlcnoTrhJCbJOhDlKMCtQup7izFBQZDey_jhInrYeQpLvsuyw-CCQiCw7JuiEbyzWgMMH26gAGqd6lo-h8pGlvYa9WUzD03bkrhnEhNvt5DNmFZbv4xWcnRXUEcCOnDPBlp/s56/Whyte4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="56" data-original-width="36" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEJnBxU1XSzG04A_2geso42Ysa9qyKyeJoRmtDySmATGPbrLsdWM9ocFsFdlcnoTrhJCbJOhDlKMCtQup7izFBQZDey_jhInrYeQpLvsuyw-CCQiCw7JuiEbyzWgMMH26gAGqd6lo-h8pGlvYa9WUzD03bkrhnEhNvt5DNmFZbv4xWcnRXUEcCOnDPBlp/w153-h238/Whyte4.jpg" width="153" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-6539905328743856522024-01-23T09:30:00.000-08:002024-01-23T09:30:30.288-08:00THE VULNERABLES<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sigrid Nunez.<span style="color: red;"> THE VULNERABLES</span>. Riverhead, 2023.</span> </p><p>A friend gifted me this book saying it was "more my style" than hers. And she is right. I came to suspect that this writer has been reading my drafts--novels and memoir. She has a section called Interlude while I just finished a section called Intermission in my memoir. </p><p>Although presented as a novel, it really feels like a memoir. So convincing, the voice of the unnamed narrator, a writer experiencing writer's block, during the lockdown, while bird-sitting a pet parrot Eureka and his friend, a troubled youth she calls Vetch.</p><p>This is the first COVID lockdown story I have read. It brought back memories, and challenged some of the American experience which seemed different from ours. But I most enjoy the way the writer has made something out of nothing, and the glimpses she gives us into the writer's brain, filled with inspirational quotations from other writers and speculation about why we do what we do.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsjNdnP_7EaPOWw9S8ZE5xweIit7rgM8Lh1J6GXVT7OhNMdZbV8ufMDdW6gT5rAjz_z0xu2nlHjvHTq837wrXueYkf1W37MoRCzoj6kRHFiNyJMIsu2ubrm_VjkLOM9VpTncq_S0PJ-ECUpIz4gK5DADSDtjcQ4ZimkEg8iKiX4_nLUZbHewyUMyCJAL1/s225/nunez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsjNdnP_7EaPOWw9S8ZE5xweIit7rgM8Lh1J6GXVT7OhNMdZbV8ufMDdW6gT5rAjz_z0xu2nlHjvHTq837wrXueYkf1W37MoRCzoj6kRHFiNyJMIsu2ubrm_VjkLOM9VpTncq_S0PJ-ECUpIz4gK5DADSDtjcQ4ZimkEg8iKiX4_nLUZbHewyUMyCJAL1/s1600/nunez.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-13299410695247431262024-01-14T12:12:00.000-08:002024-01-14T12:12:57.472-08:00OLD BABES IN THE WOOD<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Margaret Atwood. <span style="color: red;">OLD BABES in the WOOD</span>. McC & S, 2023.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Short stories about memory and widowhood. On some list of the year's best. Well worth the read. A great way to start the new year. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC2dOl4WPZJ3clq1IhkEdvGQDjcsnhAQR6TOSwCJ6ZTw0-aUrowbgzeE3TixLFqkAtT1ze7SQkb54Ob3M2InKFCX6t4-3Cd0NfPKSv4u3GCeOKz13hUJCl6deoEvB3yB1Keby8aZAzAGOnBst0T6_C6nfDPzVVfYY7PwVCvSRrHx5koRhF0GD7XKT7n9sn/s225/Atwood3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC2dOl4WPZJ3clq1IhkEdvGQDjcsnhAQR6TOSwCJ6ZTw0-aUrowbgzeE3TixLFqkAtT1ze7SQkb54Ob3M2InKFCX6t4-3Cd0NfPKSv4u3GCeOKz13hUJCl6deoEvB3yB1Keby8aZAzAGOnBst0T6_C6nfDPzVVfYY7PwVCvSRrHx5koRhF0GD7XKT7n9sn/s1600/Atwood3.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-6565221019261375752023-12-26T08:12:00.000-08:002023-12-26T08:15:52.741-08:00THE SKELETON ROAD<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Val McDermid. <span style="color: red;">THE SKELETON ROAD.</span> HarperCollins, 2014.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A book loaned by writer friends, this is my fifth Val McDermid and I only discovered her last year. A Karen Pirie story set in Kirkaldy, Edinburgh, Oxford, and Dubrovnik, the plot returns to the Balkan wars of the 1990s and the ethical grappling with "war crimes" and the International Criminal Court. The skeleton initiates the quest for a killer seeking private justice. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyst4Q9r3r7bP8hTnNL5ykhaWAPJuYLNiMK7iKZqgxVKMiymcPvTzXAdYcOW_aSFUVprqjcyllUH7jPRHsGEm9YlWTcdBHFVYMlTtzi5pOsFdD62mRBLOncdVMVqn9aeYOMi3yMu-Ma2AA4hSqVrVmBrlCZ9JlYzL_7bX2-nTTLNn-ZB-z1-Khpbq_wBz/s466/McDermid5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyst4Q9r3r7bP8hTnNL5ykhaWAPJuYLNiMK7iKZqgxVKMiymcPvTzXAdYcOW_aSFUVprqjcyllUH7jPRHsGEm9YlWTcdBHFVYMlTtzi5pOsFdD62mRBLOncdVMVqn9aeYOMi3yMu-Ma2AA4hSqVrVmBrlCZ9JlYzL_7bX2-nTTLNn-ZB-z1-Khpbq_wBz/s320/McDermid5.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-952191049966087772023-12-26T08:05:00.000-08:002023-12-26T08:05:33.790-08:00ESSENTIALS<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> David Whyte. <span style="color: red;">ESSENTIALS. </span>Many Rivers, 2020.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One of my finds at Arundel Books in Seattle. I never knew Whyte was located in Washington State. My promise to myself was that every new book I bought on the trip had to be read before being shelved. I started with this one. Inspirational. My copy looks like a porcupine, with all the post-its sticking out. A poem about Kevin and the blackbirds, from a friend of Seamus Heaney. Beautiful cover too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY7Vc8WhOqIMLtVPp6yVumPfjn9AEvWbGRS57Mw8eOCxXkdZOjGFEywejSzX74QVhoXKcZcz8IHT-BBRAqPSkihW4ZpUR8opbPX7Q8SSPWkl_TZGk4sb2RnvHnwm7e-x1WRnxJx84wtX9lVbbUtJyBjeMDKvzxj091FxzYeYJkvU9hFMM0SNUxbMmA5rT/s286/Whyte1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="176" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY7Vc8WhOqIMLtVPp6yVumPfjn9AEvWbGRS57Mw8eOCxXkdZOjGFEywejSzX74QVhoXKcZcz8IHT-BBRAqPSkihW4ZpUR8opbPX7Q8SSPWkl_TZGk4sb2RnvHnwm7e-x1WRnxJx84wtX9lVbbUtJyBjeMDKvzxj091FxzYeYJkvU9hFMM0SNUxbMmA5rT/s1600/Whyte1.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-69336332399600258502023-12-21T07:48:00.000-08:002023-12-21T07:48:20.883-08:00STUDY FOR OBEDIENCE<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sarah Bernstein. <span style="color: red;">STUDY FOR OBEDIENCE.</span> Knopf, 2023.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Found this Giller winner at Village Books in Bellingham (along with a fancy Montaigne). My rule is that any new books have to be read by me before shelving. The final total included one Mary Oliver, Vol 2, New & Selected, and three David Whytes. Who knew he is from Washington State?)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Bernstein is interesting as a female reaction against the traditional "tumescent" arc of the story as quest. One female POV, one setting in some unnamed foreign country where communication is difficult; the only other relationship, strained, is between the narrator and her brother.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a story I will have to read again. The first time through, I was just looking to see if anything happens.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPKSRw1YdvcOIGWlYe4zS0XVnl2pCZfbDqCD5Du3nsqUcyQAo_So37Y1N7iFtscAVIzY1ZeRbhFD8kC0K_f6nd9voKDVHRGIhTrAaEdHV6pfRX0da5gASko7i72u3utbR-RF7uebfh6sqM8t4YElCkLRNG5U0LkYi7VAbSBUB17be7a1i9N7oRH0skn-f/s210/Bernstein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="210" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPKSRw1YdvcOIGWlYe4zS0XVnl2pCZfbDqCD5Du3nsqUcyQAo_So37Y1N7iFtscAVIzY1ZeRbhFD8kC0K_f6nd9voKDVHRGIhTrAaEdHV6pfRX0da5gASko7i72u3utbR-RF7uebfh6sqM8t4YElCkLRNG5U0LkYi7VAbSBUB17be7a1i9N7oRH0skn-f/s1600/Bernstein.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-6027871276838110892023-12-04T07:31:00.000-08:002023-12-04T07:31:23.432-08:00REPRODUCTION<p> Ian Williams. <span style="color: red;">REPRODUCTION</span>. Random, 2019. Giller Prize winner, 2019.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A family saga of sorts, three generations of unplanned
reproduction. Cultural differences within homes and families. Families in
various configurations. Obsessions and difficulties communicating. The
challenges of being a successful modern male, and of mothering, parenting. The
scramble to earn or deserve money complicates all. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is the first novel I’ve read where STYLE is dominant.
Variety of style, with most of the plot communicated through dialogue. In
different voices, some with accents. Set in Brampton and Toronto. With a
soundtrack covering fifty years, from the 1970s to the early 2000s.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Only the last section started to leave me behind a bit. No
chapter breaks. The name Edgar degenerates every time, to a different spelling.
The video-obsessed child shifts from videoing masturbation, paint drying, to
adults dying. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I began by READING for PLEASURE, loving the style, sharing
examples with fellow writers: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Felicia meets her ex-lover she has not seen in 14 years: “He
had gained weight in the face so now he looked like three rectangles stacked on
each other: head, neck, the rest. His hair was between the colour of pennies
and loonies, but streaked throughout with dimes.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The son, Army, finds weight-lifting equipment and imagines:
“By the end of the summer, most of the boys would have V-shaped torsos and tiny
legs, like martini glasses.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Heather’s breasts grazed his chest then she set them
firmly against him like the paddles of a defibrillator.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sorry, the newness of these comparisons just made me laugh
and then gasp at the writer’s mastery of word and image. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">STYLE
trumps story yet I hesitated to finish, not wanting to leave these people, this
family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: red;">REPRODUCTION</span> almost
made me question: Why bother writing? This is just too good. </span><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLzIMvf-W94905nK9fSrJsxDkyw2Yn2L772nWuJruxlDkMdPMAU_nov5jsDlucYFiQdWI4JqwhZ-QyinMYek3SxihrAZrM3AN3p8IzrWKE9rYbE3VCy3Oe-RRU25RH6pghmg3RAHShTV40rORmVKnKn-98-aVGfhnHPwZMOXUN9jkCdZpx7p_ZFwoc4ts/s275/Williams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLzIMvf-W94905nK9fSrJsxDkyw2Yn2L772nWuJruxlDkMdPMAU_nov5jsDlucYFiQdWI4JqwhZ-QyinMYek3SxihrAZrM3AN3p8IzrWKE9rYbE3VCy3Oe-RRU25RH6pghmg3RAHShTV40rORmVKnKn-98-aVGfhnHPwZMOXUN9jkCdZpx7p_ZFwoc4ts/s1600/Williams.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-12548718871791071462023-11-15T10:46:00.000-08:002023-11-15T10:48:54.523-08:00MALICIOUS INTENT<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sean Mactire. <span style="color: red;">MALICIOUS INTENT: A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists and Other Criminals Think</span>. Writer's Digest, 1995.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It is dated, and I ignored the less than useful arguments about vampirism and blood lust and crime as illness. I also omitted the chapters I am not interested in--terrorism, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">cults, kids, career criminals, gangsters, drugs, women. Which seems like a lot of omitting. I feel my info gathered from experience in corrections, and more from television--Law & Order, Without A Trace, Cold Cases, etc is stronger than this source. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was looking for ways to improve my manuscript <span style="color: red;">IN YOUR DREAMS</span>, especially for ways to improve the villain(s), and I got some ideas. Organized/disorganized. Psychopath, psychotic, and personality disorders. Good. The point about all family members and others within the victim's circle are also victims. Good. The idea that profiling the victim is just as important as profiling the possible criminal. Good. This book still uses the term "rape" if, when replaced by "sexual assault", makes it obvious that the crime is not about sex. Sex is just another tool to use to harm or attempt to control. Not new. That most criminals can be described as having some form of "arrested development" makes sense. They all put themselves first, like adolescents. The fact that there is absolutely no reference to incarceration, to the difference between punishment (penitentiary) and reform (corrections) never comes into it. Nor the idea that any criminal can change. The word "cognitive" does not appear. "Coping mechanisms" are mentioned. The wide-spread interest in crime and true crime suggests fear, but also that we are all very interested in "the dark side of human nature" but would rather not have to go there ourselves. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz5efAVE_rA-f42ActmNwwXHd9AUA7TJ2K_gfMWhUxnmJQHG4xcld2cqPuSom0td8f5yRX73xqTjkDOgfggiicyyGsUeTUgsjc_JTaXAQjfiM4_NxzVOd9jq-Ng6iqNBC9PEKT0CPjx73BNWi-R-TGuxNkkA7tK0g-Eg77kJshUZ3_kxB1OlmVNnPifTy_/s1000/Mactire.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz5efAVE_rA-f42ActmNwwXHd9AUA7TJ2K_gfMWhUxnmJQHG4xcld2cqPuSom0td8f5yRX73xqTjkDOgfggiicyyGsUeTUgsjc_JTaXAQjfiM4_NxzVOd9jq-Ng6iqNBC9PEKT0CPjx73BNWi-R-TGuxNkkA7tK0g-Eg77kJshUZ3_kxB1OlmVNnPifTy_/s320/Mactire.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-28654502116757627932023-11-14T06:57:00.000-08:002023-11-14T06:57:15.788-08:00THIS IS THE FIRE<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Don Lemon. <span style="color: red;">THIS IS THE FIRE: What I Say to My Friends About Racism.</span> Little, Brown, 2021.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Found this at the library booksale and bought it as research for my TRC workbook. I did enjoy reading this. My notation bookmarks make it look like a post-it porcupine. I found the personal material most interesting. He is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I do not get CNN so am not that familiar with the writer. I suspect he no longer works for that network, although the book is current, Trump-era and COVID lockdown. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It seems difficult to imagine a journalist being objective where this subject, racism, and inequality in America, is involved. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">At this time, my takeaway is: ANGER & ACTIVISM.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Later.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5QSxYUBoMv4YA8hHqWQmt2QHLUAp6H2lqswNBuWrUT-td7OdHyCZdLnuyKRVYjgYb4hAv6MxC-oMoZ-mydI8LBttEg3DUwqBx0etAelkbpNSN7Gvi_89AdJbahT0BRwvn10u22vMOvlapwA8Q2JchyNFy6RZVDV7lYz_8jB5yqy4DeFMeWhKobe7HX6P/s225/Lemon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5QSxYUBoMv4YA8hHqWQmt2QHLUAp6H2lqswNBuWrUT-td7OdHyCZdLnuyKRVYjgYb4hAv6MxC-oMoZ-mydI8LBttEg3DUwqBx0etAelkbpNSN7Gvi_89AdJbahT0BRwvn10u22vMOvlapwA8Q2JchyNFy6RZVDV7lYz_8jB5yqy4DeFMeWhKobe7HX6P/s1600/Lemon.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-57727028314930821032023-11-05T15:44:00.003-08:002023-11-14T06:58:34.280-08:00THE GHOST CLAUSE<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Howard Norman. <span style="color: red;">THE GHOST CLAUSE.</span> Houghton Mifflin, 2019.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I picked up this novel at the library book sale because I know the author. Because he is American but has written about Canadian and Indigenous stories and settings. His WISHING BONE CYCLE: NARRATIVE POEMS OF THE SWAMPY CREE INDIANS I used teaching high school. A student made a mural of its image. I also read THE MUSEUM GUARD which was set in Nova Scotia. I was also intrigued by the title, as I am working at incorporating a ghost in IN YOUR DREAMS (although it can also be explained as 'haunted by the memory of her dead sister'). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This 'ghost clause' idea is so interesting. If someone buys a house which then turns out to have a ghost, to be haunted, then the seller is obligated to buy the house back. A clause written in to the bill of sale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I did enjoy the book. I also enjoy its representation of a marriage of equals which is passionate and happy. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBOaFdVtFBb-ahpys24IM-4qDZWhzl2_F9M1SbrvoCzje8wzZPHDDAEEHnoBMGwZ_9lZNUqfUYHa7XdTjhfCKkL3-to_PvDu_XgJ3UwCWsDZeooWxjz0rDv6Gjlek7F30ieeFXmrRhF3tL4T6_Cn3WFtYq2MVAUcFBNiLDiJ0KC7G0F9tVX1Gpfjodg9G/s225/norman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBOaFdVtFBb-ahpys24IM-4qDZWhzl2_F9M1SbrvoCzje8wzZPHDDAEEHnoBMGwZ_9lZNUqfUYHa7XdTjhfCKkL3-to_PvDu_XgJ3UwCWsDZeooWxjz0rDv6Gjlek7F30ieeFXmrRhF3tL4T6_Cn3WFtYq2MVAUcFBNiLDiJ0KC7G0F9tVX1Gpfjodg9G/s1600/norman.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-81562717592089230382023-10-27T09:48:00.003-07:002023-10-27T09:50:53.367-07:00ORDINARY STRANGERS<p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Bill Stenson.</span><span style="color: red; font-family: arial;"> ORDINARY STRANGERS. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Mother Tongue, 2018.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Picked up this novel in the library book sale because it is Canadian and because the story begins in Hope, BC and ends in Fernie. The concept is great: a couple driving through town picks up a crying child in the downtown park and drives away with her. There are so many ways this story could develop. Intriguing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What startles me is the "old-fashioned" storytelling. Totally "telling". Third person omniscient, he, Sage, she, Della, and she #2, Stacey. And how the POV often switches between the three, sometimes in the same paragraph, sometimes in the same sentence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Interesting ideas are explored. Early mistakes, such as marriage. How certain choices the female adult makes, wanting to stay home to raise the child, guarantee her dependence. How the male breadwinner exploits her dependence, knowing that she will not react to his emotional betrayals or criminal behaviour because she has no economic option. How despicable behaviour is excused or responsibility for it is reduced by mixing in alcohol and pot. How medical emergencies change everything. And how facts about birth and genetics are weighed against parental care and love.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2QE7ubPv1YQrlRaj7zn5BQ6ZnxM9vojasdjplOBjOfsPDfKDePsIyGq-TRlj2Nzs1wIUhhVGCFJJvh9oZmGx6vHZVW_rKKMQnxTzjzYAA7uwc92TnfD4PfmIDm9n4WnPa3Vs3kG_nah4NHsVS82h7HleRBjR5H0s0oUY4qm8k8FFdsYVGfecJpTfqRyKE/s310/stenson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="310" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2QE7ubPv1YQrlRaj7zn5BQ6ZnxM9vojasdjplOBjOfsPDfKDePsIyGq-TRlj2Nzs1wIUhhVGCFJJvh9oZmGx6vHZVW_rKKMQnxTzjzYAA7uwc92TnfD4PfmIDm9n4WnPa3Vs3kG_nah4NHsVS82h7HleRBjR5H0s0oUY4qm8k8FFdsYVGfecJpTfqRyKE/s1600/stenson.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-58832021297553439732023-10-15T13:07:00.000-07:002023-10-15T13:07:08.835-07:00ENTRY ISLAND<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Peter May. <span style="color: red;">ENTRY ISLAND</span>. Quercus, riverrun, 2014.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Another loan from writer friends. This British mystery writer sets a story in two times, 1840's Isle of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, during the Clearances, and 2010s, Iles de la Madeleine, PQ, Canada. The languages are English, Gaelic, and French. It is the type of book I as a female reader love, with its old diaries, boxes of history and genealogy, graveyards and headstones, and talismans handed down through the generations. And the mystery of "familial familiarity" I first heard of by that name in a Val McDermid Trace episode where something physical about a stranger reminds you of something in your family or your history. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A woman on Entry Island is charged with murdering her husband. The Surete want a quick resolution; one of the lead investigators, Sime Mackenzie, brought in because of his English, is less than convinced. Personal issues, including insomnia, intervene.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I amused myself watching the use of language in the Canadian scenes. The fly screen door eventually becomes the screen door. I know what a fisherman's creel is but are lobster traps or lobster pots also called creels? Does the Gatineau River flow to Quebec City? The only obvious mistake is that the writer does not understand <i>permafrost.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Personally I found the Quebec story line much more engaging but that is probably because the story of the Clearances is more familiar, has been told before, although probably not with the addition of what happened to individuals after they boarded the boats. The sense of place is palpable in both countries. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I know that at least one of my grandmothers spent time in quarantine on Grosse Isle.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXlUAZZOmCc1CnpzHUpZ_OKoai8V-RAf2xT6XSlJdY8ka79tYfJn46Gbn0IdSyCFoBvpGZGgqDMwwwGZGGfTcDCpG_YmoUW0fpKZYV1Hs1S1jqz7zg-xcZeIEx7dp_MwU95u0ClxA0LGVn7osm1Lihk3tFTpH76DasxcpGqMz_T7SDvLGAPOQc9EWt79V/s278/May2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="182" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXlUAZZOmCc1CnpzHUpZ_OKoai8V-RAf2xT6XSlJdY8ka79tYfJn46Gbn0IdSyCFoBvpGZGgqDMwwwGZGGfTcDCpG_YmoUW0fpKZYV1Hs1S1jqz7zg-xcZeIEx7dp_MwU95u0ClxA0LGVn7osm1Lihk3tFTpH76DasxcpGqMz_T7SDvLGAPOQc9EWt79V/s1600/May2.jpg" width="182" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-10562719766430056352023-10-07T16:26:00.001-07:002023-10-07T16:29:51.907-07:00OCTOBER MOURNING<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Leslea Newman. <span style="color: red;">OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG for MATTHEW SHEPARD.</span> Candlewick, 2012.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This book was gifted to me over one year ago but today, this month, it seemed to be calling. It is the exact same story three hundred years later. What happened to Matthew Shepard is the same thing that happens to Marie in DAUGHTERS of the DEER. Cruelty. And the origins of such violence from cruelty.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The poetry is very accessible. As I was reading I was thinking how well this would fit a high school English class. I read it aloud to myself. I never watched the movie. Too sad. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjps_dwXGMvts4gFLH52uKHsl7-G4nqfWOkr2khEIO0kZUZyjiuAsUwNZ-42ofyOK-o7XaHaH9xAH-DsEeH3WDIkIbI9xuCrVG0zqeB9FCk6Qn-II5d_Dxvow5NXKtBNLUYo29NjgigTV5WFETNfmGkjaqJAQ-o5r3akLicYQmpRBbtJsq1oiw5Dbkhu-hH/s300/newman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="168" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjps_dwXGMvts4gFLH52uKHsl7-G4nqfWOkr2khEIO0kZUZyjiuAsUwNZ-42ofyOK-o7XaHaH9xAH-DsEeH3WDIkIbI9xuCrVG0zqeB9FCk6Qn-II5d_Dxvow5NXKtBNLUYo29NjgigTV5WFETNfmGkjaqJAQ-o5r3akLicYQmpRBbtJsq1oiw5Dbkhu-hH/s1600/newman.jpg" width="168" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-25497035783634774622023-10-07T09:16:00.004-07:002023-10-07T16:12:23.301-07:00DAUGHTERS of the DEER<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Danielle Daniel. <span style="color: red;">DAUGHTERS OF THE DEER.</span> Random House, 2022.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Highly recommended by a trusted writer friend. In fact, he loaned me his library copy for me to return, now that there are no longer late fees.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have two hesitations in general. The first, my distrust of historical fiction as my mind is always questioning--was it really like that or is this a 21st century imagining of what it was like? The acknowledgements suggest that this writer has done important secondary research on New France in the 1600s. And the Indigenous world view is convincingly presented although I have no way to assess how authentic that is. The second hesitation is my leeriness about "trends" in society reflected a few years later in "trends" in publishing. The trend in this book is the losses inflicted on Indigenous women and "others" especially "two-spirit" or in this case, lesbian-leaning girls who become lovers. The good thing is that the protagonist, Marie's family, never stops loving her. The tension centres around the way the new religion insisted on rejecting some people and making so many, non-males, lesser than they had been before contact and conversion. Once I let the river take me, the story hook me, I was able to float, luxuriate in the beauty of the land and its many "People".</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3I4Y79A5GbLrlYK7FSvK7FK3GFbLzgXV_RFe5xT9Xf9bag5h6DwIPbAgRCxCEHwo2H58LIioIEev1JhQNhj9U9dpLA_mdUbT3SBqchhMprvnnnK2lz2J1Si69nEKgyM_3U5XY96T7ihR2PgMJKcGeAdpwHm6m4w4peGpJjvBfjj3KWbI5AeWicyjm09S0/s276/Daniel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="183" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3I4Y79A5GbLrlYK7FSvK7FK3GFbLzgXV_RFe5xT9Xf9bag5h6DwIPbAgRCxCEHwo2H58LIioIEev1JhQNhj9U9dpLA_mdUbT3SBqchhMprvnnnK2lz2J1Si69nEKgyM_3U5XY96T7ihR2PgMJKcGeAdpwHm6m4w4peGpJjvBfjj3KWbI5AeWicyjm09S0/s1600/Daniel.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-6609526785265202052023-09-28T12:06:00.002-07:002023-09-28T12:07:45.945-07:00THERE THERE<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Tommy Orange. <span style="color: red;">THERE THERE.</span> Penguin, 2018.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Set in Oakland, 21st century. A series of characters, each allocated chapters, are readying themselves to attend a big powwow.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A lot of personal, familial, and social trauma. Incredibly beautifully written. It seems to me that the overall theme, what most of the characters are thinking about, is what does it mean to be an Indian today? Is the writer asking, when you get right down to it, back to it, will there be any there there? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The title, from a song, originally a quote from Gertrude Stein's memoir of her home city. That when she returned to Oakland to visit, there was no there there. Who knew?</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahSZhDU3kRlbtq34ZxfXwIw2tNYN-2GebTdaBBFb0sx5TQou1dKKMTQBgZpATWINef-_MYCyCYHi7gdYNsh37PlLdcaA1w1Nnkpr6VNEctRec9PYahD7lZ-Tj98C48ORzmR-4b6JwPNibNsufaO56rq3P3sJyq9mX_XM5LOqV_vqZQqUHKhWK_cILV0x0/s279/Orange.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="181" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahSZhDU3kRlbtq34ZxfXwIw2tNYN-2GebTdaBBFb0sx5TQou1dKKMTQBgZpATWINef-_MYCyCYHi7gdYNsh37PlLdcaA1w1Nnkpr6VNEctRec9PYahD7lZ-Tj98C48ORzmR-4b6JwPNibNsufaO56rq3P3sJyq9mX_XM5LOqV_vqZQqUHKhWK_cILV0x0/s1600/Orange.jpg" width="181" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-84816616527300822142023-09-26T08:53:00.000-07:002023-09-26T08:53:20.530-07:00THE DISTANT ECHO<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Val McDermid. <span style="color: red;">THE DISTANT ECHO</span>. Harper, 2003.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A 25-year old cold case murder of Rosie Duff haunts the four suspect lads from Kirkaldy, attending St Andrews at the time, and the surviving family members. Introduces Karen Pirie.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I cannot believe that this is my fourth Val McD and I had never heard of her before this year. I am re-watching TRACE on Knowledge Network, also set in Dundee. The writer made a cameo appearance in an early chapter of the story of another cold case re-opened.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwti6Jf1gpv6_gP_sC2QezeugAR3JmJ1x-WRi-aXSFCd_h41ZdOpNyelc-uSSpYBVRLDDLm_SHiAT0ZK9lPMSjho3f8AfNNkPUt0lZ3C_ZhMWDIWgbC-Bg94ipKPAAMXIXQicef-VgSNrJQFjAfE3H2yVOBXCKCmVkBIi2YuSwIuhxFQSH08kbHH_zUyH/s281/McDermid4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="179" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwti6Jf1gpv6_gP_sC2QezeugAR3JmJ1x-WRi-aXSFCd_h41ZdOpNyelc-uSSpYBVRLDDLm_SHiAT0ZK9lPMSjho3f8AfNNkPUt0lZ3C_ZhMWDIWgbC-Bg94ipKPAAMXIXQicef-VgSNrJQFjAfE3H2yVOBXCKCmVkBIi2YuSwIuhxFQSH08kbHH_zUyH/s1600/McDermid4.jpg" width="179" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-40500065551056784412023-09-14T08:00:00.001-07:002023-09-14T08:03:39.377-07:00BLASPHEMY<p>Sherman Alexie. <span style="color: red;">BLASPHEMY</span>. Grove, 2012.</p><p>This man is an incredible writer. I hope he is still writing. I hope he is well. </p><p>This and the previous collection <span style="color: red;">WAR DANCES</span> have taught me how to read short stories. I limit myself to one a day, giving each new plot and set of characters time to sink in and become part of me, my memory. I also found the story "This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona" which became one of my favourite movies, <span style="color: red;">SMOKE SIGNALS</span>, starring Adam Beach and Evan Adams.</p><p>I am impressed that Alexie writes characters of all genders and leanings. And that he seems to reject a racist denigration of any or all people according to their race. </p><p>This is one of the books I found serendipitously in Fort St. John, BC, in Bill's Books and Bongs, six or seven years ago. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlOodreY2QRd8ExV5xsijJtGhb3bUqn8HjmnKKezHAjnBNaRAtbHmL1Cx031MPJNxarEDoS8MRpW0WpJ4oWaPDLFX9zakm7_wEXpzVsyVv9mcMfqJIqNP2DN4ofIcGP1hUcmzviUseplWmOIWx93I6f9NJu2e68QKO3MC0y2UNKWZ_w3mSVHE3hC41cO5/s225/Alexie2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQlOodreY2QRd8ExV5xsijJtGhb3bUqn8HjmnKKezHAjnBNaRAtbHmL1Cx031MPJNxarEDoS8MRpW0WpJ4oWaPDLFX9zakm7_wEXpzVsyVv9mcMfqJIqNP2DN4ofIcGP1hUcmzviUseplWmOIWx93I6f9NJu2e68QKO3MC0y2UNKWZ_w3mSVHE3hC41cO5/s1600/Alexie2.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-61833199742064375892023-08-29T09:02:00.001-07:002023-08-29T09:02:48.234-07:00AT BERTRAM'S HOTEL<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Agatha Christie.<span style="color: red;"> AT BERTRAM'S HOTEL</span>. William Collins, 1965.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A young woman, her estranged mother, Miss JANE Marple, and an absent-minded clergyman are all staying at an old-fashioned Edwardian-style hotel </span><span style="font-family: arial;">in London in the 1960s. Miss Marple is afraid the young woman is being exploited. Others are concerned that the clergyman is missing. The police become suspicious. They notice anomalies in licence plate numbers, cars parked nearby, unconfirmed sightings of famous people around a series of armed robberies. They investigate the ownership of the hotel, the background of staff, the proximity of suspicious characters. Miss Marple is the eyes and ears; she shares what she has seen and heard when asked. Then, someone is murdered.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5byEOqPYlf8qm05inqrNqd_YroEQZUrqkJJW5mhkJOELHRFn3nhZq1TpcCyKYEP5kUE3DwkfqVaBgqFCi2wEkUnZ_HMFNAGOdktuBSjsSFxuXmdo43pe3oyafbYEHmXSVFYctt5uRKwrpGWNewggj4Eutmp2i05qu_H35B6bT3upOAGzgrWGQuk8rA2w/s288/Christie2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="175" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5byEOqPYlf8qm05inqrNqd_YroEQZUrqkJJW5mhkJOELHRFn3nhZq1TpcCyKYEP5kUE3DwkfqVaBgqFCi2wEkUnZ_HMFNAGOdktuBSjsSFxuXmdo43pe3oyafbYEHmXSVFYctt5uRKwrpGWNewggj4Eutmp2i05qu_H35B6bT3upOAGzgrWGQuk8rA2w/s1600/Christie2.jpg" width="175" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-60545718461576966362023-08-20T15:00:00.001-07:002023-08-20T15:00:22.696-07:00MERTON: A BIOGRAPHY<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Monica Furlong. <span style="color: red;">MERTON: A BIOGRAPHY</span>. Harper & Row, 1980.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A very interesting story of one man's life, someone who died before I was aware of him, in 1968. A writer who chose to live as a monk in 1940/50s America. Who, after Nuremberg, began to question choosing to live by the law of obedience. Who became famous for his spiritual writings and his literary work and then as a voice for peace during the Vietnam War. Who was seemingly kept imprisoned in Gethsemani by his abbot. When he was finally allowed to travel, visited the Dali Lama, the Buddhist statues in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), spoke on the links between Marxism and monasticism, and died within minutes of leaving the stage, from an accident possibly involving an electric fan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The biographer relies almost exclusively on Merton's own writings, published and unpublished, and on interviews with people who knew him. She concludes that his death was not a suicide. There is no mention of the subsequent "conspiracy theory" which suggests that, as an anti-war writer, he may have been targeted by his own country.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I am glad to learn of this one man's struggles. I am now excused from feeling I should read his writing. Not interested in theology, Catholicism, or abstractions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva1CRzVQ-6blOZCGN_j5kuclo3YJ1sQmQhL5tApY4dTeOTiqf-i3LpGuJ_eUZ4FFt8KVrK92RyXboLwDez-Dlkw9R3wcHff0vBwZtPes1FoQEbsXhYdi5uKO9noRwMFpOL0xYRQux4sdFsT3JY84EGFi6-KOEp1gC822qv3DHzsWAlLjLWxvAy7RyMtea/s271/Furlong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="186" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhva1CRzVQ-6blOZCGN_j5kuclo3YJ1sQmQhL5tApY4dTeOTiqf-i3LpGuJ_eUZ4FFt8KVrK92RyXboLwDez-Dlkw9R3wcHff0vBwZtPes1FoQEbsXhYdi5uKO9noRwMFpOL0xYRQux4sdFsT3JY84EGFi6-KOEp1gC822qv3DHzsWAlLjLWxvAy7RyMtea/s1600/Furlong.jpg" width="186" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-72328692549760711842023-08-20T14:44:00.002-07:002023-08-20T14:44:36.680-07:00PLAYING WITH FIRE<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Peter Robinson. <span style="color: red;">PLAYING WITH FIRE.</span> Pan, Macmillan, 2004.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Another thrift store find which will be donated to the SOAP free library. Banks, Annie and WInsome are investigating two fires, arson used to cover murder. Banks and Annie's former relationship interferes with their working together. Art forgery seems to underlie the murders, with a side order of the link between sexual abuse and drug addiction. I still love Peter Robinson and am sad that there will be no more. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJ36HAXmuospsLTHGP_4CDkYpX12qczW3FdsngFJfDZoZAnQoaCqw5Dele4s70hoV_zStCHOWXBb50twEAZyNzhAVJDAgFO29rBGc8uvkF8nO51aNGF2rnXnV1F_A9KBmkeGjD8c8ta7416ee_GOc7XBlGPdKuLB_qeqWs_MTnrUPrE-gRJHMfFuOH-yE/s206/Robinson4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="128" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJ36HAXmuospsLTHGP_4CDkYpX12qczW3FdsngFJfDZoZAnQoaCqw5Dele4s70hoV_zStCHOWXBb50twEAZyNzhAVJDAgFO29rBGc8uvkF8nO51aNGF2rnXnV1F_A9KBmkeGjD8c8ta7416ee_GOc7XBlGPdKuLB_qeqWs_MTnrUPrE-gRJHMfFuOH-yE/s1600/Robinson4.jpg" width="128" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-67153558274193912872023-08-15T14:19:00.001-07:002023-08-15T14:19:51.094-07:00WAR DANCES<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sherman Alexie. <span style="color: red;">WAR DANCES</span>. Grove, 2009.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Found this copy of Alexie's award-winning <span style="color: red;">WAR DANCES</span> at a thrift store. One of my most enjoyable and rewarding reads in years. A mixture of poems, prose poems, and longer short stories. "Fearful Symmetry" caught my eye as it has been a month of William Blake references. It starts out as a writer, attempting a screenplay of a CNF book by the same title about the first time white people used an "escape" fire or backfire to fight a wildfire in Washington State and morphs into a story about writer's block, crossword puzzle obsessives (crazies), and learning to recognize and read the metaphors we live within, the escape fires we set for ourselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red;">BLASPHEMY</span> has been waiting on my shelf for six or seven years. It comes down now. I have read and enjoyed, years ago, his <span style="color: red;">THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FIST FIGHT IN HEAVEN</span> (2010) and <span style="color: red;">YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME</span>. Ooops. Found two waiting beside these. <span style="color: red;">THE</span> <span style="color: red;">TOUGHEST INDIAN IN THE WORLD. </span>&<span style="color: red;"> RESERVATION BLUES.</span> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMpMDg7F0ka5e0AKmBe0dUEvkVaS39WP5-LLEQcQNnNBBRKiTjiZeMUgt5QLU2DJSCZ2XsSlGFnhy3gNAhCMHuOsRsUXhEMUrHUuvdSaQhlgu82iAtTPZs-t7pK9JuBe6EegpOIozy5aQD2wju4aw5gyCtFYL2f8Yp56ZX5ikQvcO4HZMHKEwew01gwZ-/s279/Alexie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="180" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMpMDg7F0ka5e0AKmBe0dUEvkVaS39WP5-LLEQcQNnNBBRKiTjiZeMUgt5QLU2DJSCZ2XsSlGFnhy3gNAhCMHuOsRsUXhEMUrHUuvdSaQhlgu82iAtTPZs-t7pK9JuBe6EegpOIozy5aQD2wju4aw5gyCtFYL2f8Yp56ZX5ikQvcO4HZMHKEwew01gwZ-/s1600/Alexie.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8228631374804407337.post-28266636878235591752023-08-04T11:39:00.001-07:002023-08-04T11:48:27.125-07:00SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Romeo Dallaire. <span style="color: red;">SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL: The FAILURE of HUMANITY in RWANDA. </span>Vintage, 2004.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have long been an admirer of Lieutenant-General Dallaire but I've hesitated to read his memoir because I was just too afraid of the darkness of the story. When a copy appeared on a favourite thrift store shelf shortly after I'd been thinking that I should read it in prep for writing about TRC, I took it as a sign. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">My admiration has not diminished. However, I have to confess that, once the killing starts, near the middle of its 560 pages, I did not read every word. I tried to train myself to speed read. First and last lines of each paragraph. Concluding paragraphs. The most useful is the final chapter, "Conclusion". I shall be citing more than one of his comments.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK39dRVHI_GePlNyXG9f2AAxwyodqoNhFLgkRMOP3Bw1XFhhBfANmx6nRhL4pugjxRkFj4GYyQi-n_sIMp-kB14V_ojlyT7Z56vv496WLO-RX6ykZqHA2HBZ3lTq6MTgavztTGsdwwWTLN_ejQuX2GvgG_hJ5Uev5IrE9f6-yXaoFaiMowN5GKlgcRMAb6/s210/dallaire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="210" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK39dRVHI_GePlNyXG9f2AAxwyodqoNhFLgkRMOP3Bw1XFhhBfANmx6nRhL4pugjxRkFj4GYyQi-n_sIMp-kB14V_ojlyT7Z56vv496WLO-RX6ykZqHA2HBZ3lTq6MTgavztTGsdwwWTLN_ejQuX2GvgG_hJ5Uev5IrE9f6-yXaoFaiMowN5GKlgcRMAb6/s1600/dallaire.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0