Author: Audrey Niffenberger Publisher/Format: Abrams ComicArts (2010), 40 pages Subject: reading and the role of libraries Setting: Chicago Characters: Alexandra, Mr. Openshaw Genre: Graphic novel Source: I read this via a podcast from The Guardian
The graphic novel is a format I'm becoming more comfortable with. And having this available as a nightly serialized podcast from the UK Guardian made reading this one quite enjoyable.
The story is simple but deceptively deep. And I'm not at all sure I agree with the ultimate message. Essentially one evening, Alexandra, a young woman who enjoys reading, stumbles upon a rundown Winnebago masquerading as a bookmobile, driven by Mr. Openshaw; Inside, she finds copies of every book she's ever read, but there are no new (or new to her) books on the shelves. She is fascinated by the collection, and asks the elderly gentleman if she can work there. He declines her offer, and when dawn comes, he rides off into the sunrise.
Alexandra spends long years roaming the streets looking for the bookmobile, and in the meantime decides to attend library school. She graduates, get a job in a library, and says that she likes working with people, but still she keeps looking for the bookmobile and Mr. Openshaw.
When at last she is faced with deciding whether to be Director of the County Library branch, or librarian of the Night Bookmobile, she finds her choice will be costly either way. Here Niffenberger's view of books, and the importance of libraries, librarians and reading is one that disturbs me. I don't want to spoil this thought-provoking missive. It is a quick read, and very well written. It should be read by everyone who thinks reading is important.
I'd love to hear from other readers about their reactions.
Format: hardback, 247 pgs Subject: Shakespeare's First Folio Setting: England, New York, Washington DC, Tokyo Genre: non-fiction Source: Bloomsbury Publishing, review copy
Paul Collins writes an entertaining and enlightening tale of the First Folio of William Shakespeare. I am by no means a Shakespeare scholar, although like most educated Americans, I've been exposed to his works both in high school and in college. So I was unsure whether this would really interest me or not. I am however interested in books, and how they are printed, published and distributed.
The story of how his works were published, and the tortuous journeys of these volumes is fascinating and presented with a clear and somewhat humorous narration. Collins follows the folios throughout the world, tracking ownership, explaining the differences in different editions, and painting word pictures of these archival masterpieces, including the gravy stains and tea cup circles left on the (now) precious pages. I was especially interested in two aspects, the collection at the Folger Library in Washington DC, and the collection owned by the Japanese and held at the Meisei University in Tokyo.
I did my library science graduate work at Catholic University in Washington DC, growing up in that area, and living there for over 20 years of my adult life. Shamefully, I must admit that I have never been to the Folger, and felt the loss as I read Collins' descriptions of the physical plant, and the incredible holdings. The Folger is at the top of my list for places to go the next time I visit the area!
We lived in Japan for almost 5 years, although before the Meisei's massive collection of Shakesperiana was begun. I found the descriptions of the area quite true, and also was intrigued by his descriptions of Japanese theatre and how Shakespeare has been adapted to it over the past hundred plus years. I am familiar with kabuki, and with the marvelous Japanese puppet shows: Bunraku. He explains:
Along with such alien notions as soliloquies, the poetry, the English system of meter and accent, didn't make much sense in Japanese. ...Japanese words are consonant-vowel, and because of the confoundment of R and L, Hamlet became Hamuretto, and Shakespeare himself turned into Sheikusupia.
Puppets provided an excellent solution to the problem.
Collins' love of early printing, and the Folios in particular, is evident throughout the book. It is well researched, and provides additional resources at the end. I just wish he'd presented a bit more framing up front so I could have figured out earlier what he was attempting to tell us. It took me almost 100 slowly dragging pages before the light went on and then the story snowballed. For book lovers and students of Shakespeare this volume will provide hours of enjoyment.
Challenge: ARC
My thanks to Bloombury Publishers for the review copy.
It's been a year since I joined LibraryThing as a way to track both my collection of volumes and the reading I had done. When I discovered I could also keep books I didn't own yet but wanted to read and I could talk about books with like minded people, i truly had met my match. During the past year I've read 165 books, added 2367 books to my account, joined 15 groups, led an online book discussion (and participated in 4 others), and posted 98 reviews. In case you're curious, here's the list of books read. I'm in the process of constructing a sidebar to track blog reviews, but these titles are linked to mine or other interesting reviews on LT.
I'll start the list with my BEST OF THE YEAR (they may not have been originally published during this time, but they were the best I read during this period:
This is a book that is almost impossible to do justice to in a review. It should be required reading for all bibliophiles, and certainly in library schools. A luscious book about libraries: ancient, modern, imagined, real, paper, stone, virtual, digital, scrolled, rolled, bound, shelved, piled, cataloged, but always there for generations to relish, to wallow in, to dream about and in, to build, to burn, to own, to borrow from, to discover, to remember, to organize or leave alone.
Manguel is well read, has lived in (by his count) 6 countries and has books in a myriad of languages. His classical references, along with his easy acceptance of the possibilities of the WEB as a library make this a fascinating read. He examines the library as (a separate chapter for each) Myth, Order, Space, Power, Shadow, Shape, Chance, Workshop, Mind, Island, Survival, Oblivion, Imagination, Identity and Home. There are so many quotes I noted in my notebook, I could almost publish another book. Here are just a few:
The Library as Myth:
" Every reader exists to ensure for a certain book a modest immortality. Reading is, in this sense, a ritual of rebirth." pg. 28
The Library as Order - here's one I can really relate to, and am still struggling with - how to arrange the books in one's library:
"For several weeks, I unpacked the hundreds of boxes that had, until then, taken up the whole of the dining-room, carried them into the empty library and then stood bewildered among teetering columns of books that seemed to combine the vertical ambition of Babel with the horizontal greed of Alexandria. For almost three months I sifted through these piles, attempting to create a kind of order, working from early in the morning to very late at night." pg. 41.
The Library as Space:
"It has always been my experience that, whatever groupings I choose for my books, the space in which I plan to lodge them, necessarily reshapes my choice and, more important, in no time proves too small for them and forces me to change my arrangement. pg 66.
The Library as Shadow:
"Every library is exclusionary, since its selection, however vast, leaves outside its walls endless shelves of writing that, for reasons of taste, knowledge, space and time, have not been included." pg. 107.
The Library as Island:
"Our society accepts the book as a given, but the act of reading--once considered useful and important, as well as potentially dangerous and subversive--is now condescendingly accepted as a pastime, a slow pastime that lacks efficency and does not contribute to the common good." p. 223.
The Library as Survival:
"...books can sometimes help us phrase our questions, but they do not necessarily enable us to decipher the answers. Through reported voices and imagined stories, books merely allow us to remember what we have never suffered and have never known." pg. 247.
The Library as Oblivion:
"I have no feeling of guilt regarding the book I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have unlimited patience. They will wait for me till the end of my days." pg. 254.
and finally the Library as Home:
"As we wander among our books, picking at random a volume from the shelves and leafing through it, the pages either astound us by the difference from our own experience or comfort us with their similitude." pg. 308
This is one read I will return to again and again.
My two favorite pastimes are anything to do with eating and anything to do with reading. I love to cook, eat, sample, nibble, grow edibles, explore food markets (not necessarily the super kind) and check out new recipes. 40% of magazine subscriptions to this household are culinary in nature.
A couple of my virtual reading friends and I have been having a discussion on reading about food over on LT. I even had considered creating a Food category in the 999 challenge, but alas, my challenge categories are pretty full for the year, so instead I joined the Anything Culinary Book Group on LT to discuss some of these wonderful books.
What tipped me over the edge was the comment from Kristen of BookNaround telling me I'd won the Giveaway of the $64 Tomato. This came after the following arrived this week in my mailbox (or should I say shopping basket?): The Christmas Cookie Club, The School of Essential Ingredients, Julie & Julia, and Alone in the Kitchen with Eggplant. And I just checked out Diane Mott Davidson's Fatally Flaky, for my daily audio ride.
Mind you, these are not cookbooks...there may be recipes in most of them, but they are books about food, about people who grow food, prepare food, sell food, eat food. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. The widget shows those on the list. Feel free to send me more suggestions. We could really enjoy this.
Happy eating.
I think summer has chosen to skip us this year. I should be reading, but since the weather refuses to warm up (it's still in the 50's here in coastal Maine and we haven't seen the sun in over a week.) I decided to take advantage of the cool weather and climb to the attic to work on the 65 cartons of books that remain to be unpacked, cataloged in LT, and shelved someplace (YIKES!). It's perfect weather for the attic--not too hot, not too cold. My wireless laptop works fine up here in the tree tops and sits on a work table by a window where I can see lots of fog on the river thru the trees and sometimes, if I'm lucky, the Bald Eagle comes to sit on the branch right in front of the window.
Yesterday I cataloged some books we inherited from my Dad: Samuel Eliot Morison's entire History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. My husband has coveted those ever since he met me, and Dad left them to him when he died back in 2007. I'm also working on the Great Books of the Western World set we got from him.
Today, I grabbed a box we inherited from hubbie's great aunt who died at age 92 in 2000. She was an incredibly well-read woman and going thru her boxes always yields up treasures. I found three I was especially pleased with. The first two were real finds for my "Things Portuguese" category in the 999 challenge: These Portuguese by Manuel Cabral, a 1930's self-published monograph written in English and Portuguese that describes the Azores islands for descendants of Azorean immigrants so they would know about their heritage; and A History of the Azores Islands by James H. Guill--this one is listed on Alibris and Amazon as selling for over $150!!! (It's considered 'very rare'.) WOW. Both of these are going downstairs onto the TBR shelf.
The final find of the morning is an incredible volume (1585 pages!!) : An Anthology of WorldProse, edited by Carl Van Doren. The tome has selections (in translation thank goodness) from Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, Arabian, Persian, Hebrew, Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Scandinavian, Russian, English, Irish, and American literature. I had to wonder why Auntie chose it since it had no Portuguese!!! It was published in 1935 by Literary Guild and is a real masterpiece. I figure if I can read one selection a week, I might finish it before I die.
Come to think of it, it would make an incredible challenge for my fellow LTer's. Hmmmm......
Maybe if I make Treasures in the Attic a weekly post, I'll be forced to get through these cartons in another year or so.
I have so many books I want to read, and keep finding to read, that I was having trouble fitting them into my original 999 challenge, so I've started a second one. That really means I've challenged myself to read 9 books in each of 18 (9x2) different categories by the end of 2009.
If you're interested, here are the Categories (with the current number completed) for the Original challenge:
(there are 10 and the first nine will count, the one not finished will slop over into challenge #2)
1. Fiction - including mysteries and thrillers 9/9 Category Finished !!!
2. Books about books, libraries or language 4/9
3. Things Portuguese 4/9
4. Re-reads/finish ups/cleanoff the MP3 5/9
5. Politics/History/Biographies 5/9
6. Award winning books/authors 5/9
7. Poetry/letters/short stories 4/9
8. Books recommended by others 5/9
9. No place else to put them 9/9 Category Finished!!!
10. Theology Category Finished !!!
The second Challenge has the following
1. Mysteries
2. Leftover's from challenge #1
3. Maine - authors or settings
4. Historical fiction
5. Early Reviews from LT (or ARCs)
6. Recommendations from LTers or other books
7. Surprise ! (Books that scream "Pick me" for no particular reason)
8. Audio books-- I always have at least one audio going
9. Another "no place else to put them."
Wish me luck, or join me if you want to ...you can follow my progress on the links from the sidebar.
Thomas Cahill's series Hinges of History started with a bang with the publication of How the Irish Saved Civilization in 1995. This is the 4th in the Series, and it is a beautiful ART book.
I love history. I love to read history books, although many tend to be dry and academic. Cahill is not academic, but this book could never be used as a text book. It is supplementary reading; it is not even quite history. It has an agenda that is actually stated in the subtitle: "The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe." However, it is not until the last chapter that we are bombarded with his personal angst with 20th and 21st century Roman Catholicism. To say there's an ax to grind is putting it mildly.
Raised and educated as a Catholic, his bias and love for, and now his anger (however righteous one might view it) about Catholicism has almost turned him into a modern day Dante. Reading the last chapter, I was waiting to see to which circle of hell he consigned present day leaders. And......while I am no fan of George W. Bush, Cahill's thinly veiled vitriol (he claims he was referring to Phillip the Fair)--in his ending diabtribe, the last paragraph of the chapter "The Politician's Emptiness" was aimed directly at W.
...the acquisitive, dissembling, violence-prone politician...who could lie to himself and lie to others...give orders to torture the helpless and banish the innocent while on his way to church, hold men prisoner indefinitely without charging them...refuse to acknowledge the mercenary motives of his closest advisers, abrogate international treaties, pollute whole ecosystems while pretending to do otherwise, and declare his vicious wars just, necessary and blessed by God.
Certainly, the study of history should lead us to lessons learned. Cahill's lessons learned are quite biased however. At least he admits that he left out huge chunks of Medieval History (this book covers approx 900-1300 A.D.) of the period--he has one "Intermezzo" (it doesn't even rate being called a chapter) for "Entrances to Other Worlds..The Mediterranean, The Orient, and The Atlantic." Aside from being the proximate cause of half of Europe spending an inordinate amount of time, money and manpower on the Crusades, the Muslims get short shrift for any contributions they may have made. OK OK...he stated on the cover he was studying Catholic cults. The Iberian peninsula, the British Isles, and anything not centered in the Holy Roman Empire, especially present day Italy, is given only glancing mention.
My mother always told me that if I couldn't say something nice, not to say anything at all. So if we put down the Hinges of History book, and read the subtitled book, this is an exquisite discussion of the early Renaissance in Italy. Beginning with the lucious endpapers of deep blue and sparkling gold showing the Ceiling of Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, through the numerous maps and charts helping the reader keep track of the myriad of players in the political doings of the times, to the 57 (!!) color illustrations of works of art of the period, this is a gorgeous feast for the senses. It is almost like reading an illustrated manuscript of the period. Even the font is spectacular. This book deserves to be picked and read if for nothing else than the sensual experience.
Each chapter (until the last two) presents a piece of his explanation of the influence of the Catholic church on modern day feminism, science and art. Hildegard of Bilgen, Heloise & Abelard, Francis of Assissi, Thomas Aquinas and Dante receive star billing. In fact, I wish I'd read this before embarking on my earlier read of Dante this year. Cahill has a classic education, and certainly takes great pains to present his theories in very readable, easy to understand prose. It is not dumbed down, never boring, neither does it exhibit blatant snobbery.
While I normally prefer my history books with more specific citations and references than Cahill offers, I'm not left with the impression that his research is lacking. It is interpretive research at its best. He presents suggestions for further reading based on his assessment of what he thinks his readers might be interested in.
If we look at this as a history book, it's maybe a 3 star. If you look at it as a narrative of very specific theories, well-researched and supported, exquisitely presented, it's a 5 star.
Pilgrim's Progress never made it onto my reading list, but this book gave me just enough hint about it that I'm going to go and at least pick up a copy to see more. This is actually a mystery story, one of the Benni Harper series in which Benni, wife of police Chief Gabe Ortiz in San Celina finds herself helping her grandma Dove direct the children of the Church as they work to present a musical play based on Pilgrim's Progress. While the children learn their lines, and make progress toward the Delectable Mountains of the book, the church custodian is murdered during one of the rehearsals. A small girl is the only witness (or is she?), Gabe's long-lost cousin Luis suddenly appears in town, an old beau starts getting too cozy, a priceless violin is stolen from the Catholic mission in town, and Benni, (smart girl our Benni) begins to think there may be one too many coincidences in all of this. The ending is particularly suspenseful and exciting.
This is the first of this series I've read, but the plotting, setting, and characters will certainly have me going back to search for earlier ones, as I look for PP on the shelves to find out what it was really about.
I actually listened to this in audio, and it was extremely well done. The different characters, accents, and motivations were easy to hear, and made it quite an enjoyable experience.
I love books that lead me to look for others.
Wow!That's what I said when I first picked up this book. Wow! is what I said after almost every chapter, and Wow!is what I'm still saying as I try to bring my senses back to earth after wallowing in this book for almost a week. This work, a meditation on the famous words of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, "To everything there is a season..." is also a series of reflections on the art of John August Swanson's incredibly sumptuous serigraph Ecclesiastes which provides the cover art and illustrations for each chapter.
Chittister begins with reflections on the Seasons of Life and the Dimensions of Time and studies each element of the zodiac in the center of the picture and on the cover off the book. I seldom quote from books when I do reviews, but Joan Chittister had me gasping with some of her insights:
Speaking of the scriptural verses she says: "...I saw...Swanson's painting...and suddenly, in the struggle to understand the print, everything came together. The words took on a timbre I had not heard before; the ideas sprang to meaning in a new way, a new form.The painting with all its complexity made it very clear....Life is the citadel of time in which we find ourselves and which we ourselves build...." pg. 1.
She goes on to examine each element of the picture matched to its appropriate "a time to...."
One of my favorites is "A Time for Peace". The picture shows a young person standing in front of lambs lying down with a huge lion, with figures above sharing a meal of bread and probably wine, stars, sunbursts, a figure of what is obviously a dove meant to portray the Holy spirit, peacocks, birds, all in drenching colors. Chittister begins by quoting Kazantzakis "I fear nothing. I hope for nothing. I am free." then she posits that "...we are too enslaved to ourselves to be at peace."(pg. 107). She talks about how noisy the world is today, blocking out our ability to be quiet, to listen, to THINK.
She says "..Quiet has become a phantom memory in this culture. Some generations among us have had no experience of it at all....In New York City, in Small Town USA, (noice pollution) is blaring every hour of the day....Muzak in elevators, ...people standing next to you on cellphones, ...the ubiquitous television spewing talk devoid of thought...we don't think anymore. We simply listen."
She discusses how we are afraid of silence, how different societies in the past dealt with thinking and silence. She quotes the desert monastics, and ends this section by saying that "Peace will come when we stretch our minds to listen to the noise within us that needs quieting and the wisdom from outside...that needs to be learned." (pg.109).
Each section is just as deep and thought provoking. Each provides enough food for the soul to last an entire season of seasons. The final chapter, "A Time for Every Purpose under Heaven" shows dancers, musicians, a panoply of colors and banners and joy. She uses this to recap everything and ties it together:
"No doubt about it, the cycle of time shapes and reshapes our misshapen selves until we have the opportunity to become what we can.""There is a time to kill whatever it is within us that fetters our souls from flying free...There is a time......to sow the seeds that will be reaped by the next generation......to weep tears of pain and ...loss to dignify the going of those...people in life who have brought us to where we are......to embrace the goods of our life with great, thumping hugs.......to reap, to work without stint...so that what must be done in life can be done......to love...to find ourselves in someone else so that we can find ourselves at all....to lose...to let go of whatever has become our captor......to be born fresh and full...to begin again......to laugh, to let go of the propriety and ...pomposities...to die, to put things to an end......to heal ourselves from the hurts that weigh us down......to build up, to construct the new world.... (pp.113-118)
This book is not readily available in libraries or used book stores. I don't think too many people will want to part with it. I gave my original copy to my son and his wife for a first anniversary present (paper gifts!!), and had to get another one online. It's that good. It's every adjective you can think of and then some. The words are almost poetry. The artwork is breathtaking.
All I can say is Wow!
After moving around the world with the US Navy 19 times in 26 years, I've settled with hubby in coastal Maine where I get to use my MLS from CUA being a small town librarian. Besides being an avid reader, I'm a talker, Mom to the world's two greatest grownups, grandma (aka Tutu) to the bestest girl ever born, cross-stitcher, retired volunteer administrator, sports fan.
I swim four times a week (listening to audio books while I do so) and read/review at least 4 books a week. Can't think of anything more fun to do in retirement.
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