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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
July Book Club Online
July 14, Bastille Day! Post below if you can join us, s'il vous plait!
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
by David McCullough
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"Magnifique! I should have known--McCullough is one of my favorite history writers, and he's writing about nineteenth-century Paris, one of my favorite places to read/think/dream about. When I was young I always wanted to go to Paris--but not Francois Mitterand's Paris. No, I wanted Degas' Paris, Balzac's Paris, Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris. Well, this was an extended visit to that same Paris but through fresh eyes." Goodreads review
"In The Greater Journey, David McCullough tells the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, and others who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, hungry to learn and to excel in their work. What they achieved would profoundly alter American history." Amazon review
Come join us in July as we discover what caught David McCullough's attention about this particular period in history and how it influenced American History.
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Discussion Schedule:
Week 1 - July 14 - 21 ~ Part I/ Chapters 1 & 2
Week 2 - July 21 - 27 ~ Part I/ Chapters 3 & 4
Week 3 - July 28 - Aug. 3 ~ Part II/ Chapters 5 & 6
Week 4 - Aug. 4 - 10 ~ Part II/ Chapters 7 & 8
Week 5 - Aug. 11 - 17 ~ Part III/ Chapters 9, 10, 11
Week 6- Aug. 18 - 24 ~ Part III/ Chapters 12,13,14 |
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Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net), PatH (rjhighet@earthlink.net) Barb (augere@ix.netcom.com), JoanK (joankraft13@yahoo.com ), Marci (marciei@aol.com )
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Really excited about this! A big fat book - we'll take our time with it - starting mid-July and going right to the end of August. Can't go wrong with David McCullough's well-researched, well-written subjects. I've always envied Mrs. McCullough, who has often accompanied him to the places he has gone for his books. Paris! While your husband is working, unearthing the delicious material that make up this book!
Do join us in this discussion - it's the next best thing to being young and free in Paris - with Mrs. McC! (By the way, the book is dedicated to David McCullough's wife.)
Let's see if we can determine just why the author chose this subject - the Americans in Paris, at this particular time in history, between 1860 and 1900, as we wait for others to claim lounge chairs for the ship's crossing...
ps For those who are reading Robin Oliveira's I Always Loved You - you will probably enjoy Mary Cassatt in this context. McCullough devotes much space to Miss Mary.
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I'm in. My book comes tomorrow.
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It's available now, I'll pick it up when notified. I love that period when Hemingway, Fitzgerald, etc, were there. The Roaring Twenties-my mother was dismayed when I asked her if she had been a flapper.
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Er, I don't want to say this too loud, Jackie - but David McCullough's book covers the period between 1830 and 1900 - just before the roaring 20's started to roar - and flap. Don't go away! The book will lay a good groundwork for their arrival. I'm really curious why he selected this time period. You just know he had a reason!
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This is great - we can have so much fun with this read - Many historical characters to brush up on and see how we are long time friends with the people of France. And starting Bastille Day - what a perfect time to start.
This book was not my first choice but I am warming to it by the minute - looking at our roots and how we affected France and how France affected our thinking and life - perfect - I am seeing this read as a shot in the arm that will remind us of who we are. Those who we will read about swells my heart with excitement - really looking forward to what everyone will share - this will be a fun summer reading David McCullough
Rather than limiting the time allowed by the library to borrow the book I just got around it spending a penny plus postage on Amazon - Yep, they still have a few used copies for a penny - considering the gas to the library to pick up a borrowed copy this purchase almost wipes out the cost of borrowing versus owning, with no pressure to return on a certain date - who knows, it might even become a keeper.
Let us know if you will be joining the read - this is one of the more exciting reads we have embarked on in the last few months - appealing to historians, those who like biography and a story that reads like an adventure novel. It's got it all - I just know we are going to have a great discussion with a good crowd of folks we have all grown to know and love... please, add your two cents - I am looking forward to hearing what everyone's take is on The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris.
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I'm in.
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Packing my bags, my vacation begins in just two days.....will end just in time to begin this book with all of you. So I guess I will label one trunk "Paris" and wait for the ship to sail. It ought to be a great adventure! See you all on board, or meet you in Paris! Never been to Paris nor read McCullough, so once again Seniorlearn will introduce me to a couple of "firsts."
Ciao for now~
p.s. BarbSt.A. thanks for the tip, I may get my penny's worth + s.h. and own the book.
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I'm in too :-)
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Of course I will join you all in Paris. The Degas/Cassatt story was ill-timed-who can redict family crises? Not serious but my son was the victim of a rogue kidney stone. Bladder stopped working, edema, temp of 102, hospital stay three days. Olivera's prose was no competition. Thanks to Ginny I escaped here-and-now and lost myself in The Divorce Papers which I cannot praise too highly. I'm looking forward to relishing McCullough's skill.
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mrssherlock, I am so very sorry to hear about your son. I hope he is feeling better now. I began The Divorce Papers also, it must have been you, or Ginny I saw was reading it. I actually like the email style writing. It is the way the world communicates today. Glad to see someone tackle it. Meet you in Paris.
I bought the book today for my iPad. Was only $11.00 and I like being able to have it and not worry about it expiring in my online library. I got it at ibook, I checked out Amazon and the prices were a couple dollars less for a used hard copy, with notes and highlights. Although some think it would be fun to have others notes and highlights in books, it can also be a distraction and sway my own thinking. I like to start fresh.....and mark up my own. ;D
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Bellamarie: Thank you for asking, he is doing well and will have the devices removed as well as the kidney stone next week, outpatient surgery.
Yes, the email format worked well and, as you say, we all have mail. I enjoyed the intellectual challenge as well, keeping in mind the cast of characters and their different threads. As with my favorite books I wanted more, but I guess it's like eating a guilty pleasure, quit before satiation sets in.
How do you like your ipad for reading? My kids want me to get one.
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HURRAY, A McCULLOUGH BOOK - This is one I haven't read and I am so happy this was chosen to discuss. I have fond memories of another McCullough discussion that took six weeks and was an absolute delight; consequently I have never forgotten the book - JOHN ADAMS.
Does anyone remember that one? A few years ago!
I'll be here and in such good company, too.
I thank you for choosing this book to discuss.
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What an outstanding group! Welcome, JoanK, , Marcie, Bella, PatH and now Ella too! Of course I remember Jobn Adams. Back in 2001. It's safe in the Archives... So glad you will be joining us!
Jackie, I thought you were opting out because McCullough stopped short of the roaring 20's...glad to hear you're still with us. I'm really curious to learn why he chose these particular years, 1860-1900, aren't you?
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When I find a book that has David McCullough's name on it,I just know that it will be good to read. So, count me in. Now to find a copy cheap or free for my iPad Mini. Viva la France! My granddaughter will be in Paris next week, visiting her friends who are working there. She was there as a high school student. She will be tangoing across the boulevards!
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Well, I ordered a last book available from Amazon's marketplace but was surprised to see that its arrival date is for July 11th-28. I guess I will see what my library has to offer now. Keeping my fingers crossed!
My gosh, that was easy! The library has 41 copies available! I place my order immediately! Can't wait to see this. I am assuming that reading this one in bed will cause one to need physical therapy immediately thereafter! 558 pages? And hardback, too? Good grief!
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Annie - will granddaughter have Internet access? How long will she be in Paris? Maybe she could be our roving reporter? Shall I find an assignment for her? Wouldn't that be fun?
So happy you will be joining us...and glad that your library has so many copies! (It will be easy to renew! :D)
Don't let the number of pages get to you...Lots of pages of photographs are included in the count.
To avoid physical therapy, let's warn not to read in bed! How about short doses - sitting upright - in firm chair?
Glad you'll be joining us, Annie!
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Why did the author chooseThe Greater Journey as the title? I would have chosen The Greatest Journey myself. And that's after looking at the magnificent art reproductions and photographs in three sections. And this book will surely set me on another journey, travelling around the U.S.A. looking for Augustus Saint-Gaudens' statues of Lincoln, Sherman, Farragut, and the strange ADAMS MEMORIAL in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery, and THE PURITAN in Springfield, Mass. And don't miss the photo opposite page 305, of Gus and Gussie aboard ship on a trip to Spain. Judging by Gussie's smile and Gus's scowl this journey was her idea. One could easily make a journey out of the double-page reproduction of Samuel Morse's Gallery of the Louvre. One can quickly lose oneself among those thirty-odd masterpieces. Did I read somewhere that the original is in Chicago? Shucks, that's only a day's drive. I'll be back in time for the discussion. And after that...off to Paris for more joie di vivre as one character in the book puts it.
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And what a great portrait of the elderly Andrew Jackson. "I'm too tired to sit for this picture," he said to the painter George Healey. And then he turned on the true grit. And died days later.
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Ok lets look at the number of pages - no it is not 343 pages like I Always Loved You - but its not Gone With the Wind 733 pages or Brothers Karamazov with 960 pages or Opera's Faulkner summer Trilogy, As I lay...The Sound of...Light in August of 1105 pages or our recent read of Bleak House at 1036 pages - this is only 576 pages and that is only 128 pages more than Clara and Mr. Tiffany - subtract the pages with photos and it is probably around 100 page difference between that delightful and engrossing read.
We're fine - just fine and this time there was forethought, thanks JoanP, so that 6 weeks is planned for the reading schedule - remember when we would read till we were done and some books took several months - I hope we are not succumbing to thinking like instant messaging - quick quick quick so that we can savor these books. Let's be dinosaurs as long as we can even if we are on the brink of change as the old order was during the summer of 1914. Getting into a book can be delicious and this author should open us to a lovely time together.
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Don't despair: yes the book is 500+ pages, but almost half of it is notes and references (as it should be in a serious history book). That won't make it lighter to hold, but should make it quicker to read. And David McCullough is so readable, his books always go fast
I have the book on kindle, so I can't tell you how long the actual text is. Maybe someone else can post it.
I'm delighted to see a relative will be on the trip: Samuel Morse is a (very) distant relative of PatH and me. I've always been intrigued by the fact that he was both an inventor of note (the telegraph) and a respected painter. In my invention-oriented household (our father was a patent lawyer) we always thought of him as an inventor -- I'm anxious to meet the painter.
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JoanK, Did you ever visit the Morse Museum in Orlando?Interesting place all dedicated to the Morse family and its painters. Samuel is represented there,too.
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Did y'all see the hour long David McCullough interviews with Charlie Rose last night - he briefly mentioned this book that those who went to France did so to bring back to America knowledge and culture as well as more advanced political skills - some "things" but more of what they could soak up that would change their appreciation of life. He also said his favorite book was the Adams book. He gave a beautiful description of both Adams and Hamilton, they're differences and they're similarities. He compared Truman to Adams since both became presidents following a strong and popular president.
The hour long show was snatches of past interviews - well done, informative and knowing we are reading one of his books it was a joy to see the author - some PBS stations repeat at around noon the last Charlie Rose show - you might want to see if it repeats in your area on Monday.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBl2EfToTCs
Here's 58 minutes of a CSPAN interview.
About our title, its really worth watching and thanks, BarbStAubrey, for calling it to our attention.
JoanP, would we maybe all want to see this while we are discussing the book or even before? Maybe you could put a link up in the title? One of the best interviews that I have seen on PBS.
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JoanK - Samuel Morse is your cousin? Several times removed? This is wonderful! Maybe we can trace your family tree? Samuel figures prominently in this book!
Jonathan...delighted you will be joining us in The 'Greatest Journey'! Welcome!
Yes, you're right - Morse's Louvre is part of the Terra Foundation of American Art in Chicago. I'm sure we could find it. Wanna go?
uh oh - Don't pack your bags just yet. I just read this -
"Despite the closure of the Museum in 2004, the Foundation continues to actively collect paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and other objects representing achievement in American art from the late eighteenth century to 1945. The collection currently comprises hundreds of works by artists such as John Singleton Copley, James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Marsden Hartley, and Edward Hopper. The Foundation lends these works to institutions and exhibitions worldwide and maintains a comprehensive database of the collection. A selection of Terra Foundation paintings remains on long-term loan to the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Art Institute also houses the Foundation’s collection of works on paper. "
Let's try to locate Morse's Louvre painting before the discussion is over, okay?
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Thanks for the link to that interview with McCullough, Barb. I'm a bit confused when it was on TV...thought it was an interview from 2011, right after The Greater Journey was published - wondering why it was on TV last night.
Annie, I agree, this interview - and another with the Books TV guy - Brian Lamb will go into the heading once the discussion begins. Since both interviews get into the details discussed in the opening chapters of the book - Let's wait until everyone gets his/her book and McCullough has had a chance to present his story first. We'll start on July 14 with Part I.
I think this is going to be a rich discussion. Rich and enjoyable!
ps How long will your granddaughter be in Paris?
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Got my book!
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Great news, Jackie!
How are others doing?
We'll be starting a week from tomorrow...here's the discussion schedule if you are ready to start reading. Please don't get overwhelmed with the number of names McCullough includes in the opening chapters. They will start taking on personalities of their own - and if they don't, they either weren't important - or the author is saving them for later. Please don't try to memorize the names whatever you do!!
Discussion Schedule:
Week 1 - July 14 - 21 ~ Part I/ Chapters 1 & 2
Week 2 - July 21 - 27 ~ Part I/ Chapters 3 & 4
Week 3 - July 28 - Aug. 3 ~ Part II/ Chapters 5 & 6
Week 4 - Aug. 4 - 10 ~ Part II/ Chapters 7 & 8
Week 5 - Aug. 11 - 17 ~ Part III/ Chapters 9, 10, 11
Week 6- Aug. 18 - 24 ~ Part III/ Chapters 12,13,14 |
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I read this many months ago. I can't get it from my library at the moment because they are moving and are closed. I may remember parts of it as you discuss it and i'll get it as quickly as i can.
Jean
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"When I was young I always wanted to go to Paris." From the Goodreader Review at the top of this page.
What could this 'young' reader have read that made Paris an attractive destination? The Hunchback of Notre Dame? All This And Heaven Too? The Tale of Two Cities? Our Hearts Were Young and Gay? The Last Time I Saw Paris? Is Paris Burning? Don't we have them all, and more, on our shelves? Nothing surprised me more than the reaction of some to this book proposal. It seems they would rather go to the beach!!!
Just recently I read of the strange experience Billy Graham had in Paris when he was starting out on his evangelistic career. More correctly, his mission. Let the details remain secret. Unless you want to look for them in Charles Templeton's An Anecdotal Memoir. It put me in mind of the riddle that preoccupied the Parisian males: What has more lovely curves than a woman? The answer? Of course...their very own sensuous river Seine. For many artists it was the line that conveyed the artistry And who provided more of those than their models?
I think I'll go to the beach this afternoon.
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My book has not yet arrived - it is scheduled for delivery this week - just checked and no mail yet - it has been awhile since I was actually impatient waiting for a book delivery -
Reminds me of being a kid and waiting impatiently for Saturday to roll around when my Mom and I walked a couple of miles together to grocery shop which included my going to the library while she shopped - I loved seeing all those stacks of books -
I remember skimming each book to see if there were words I did not know and then would ask the girl behind the polished mahogany desk how to say the word - all was well and I chose my three books before mom came to get me but one day a new librarian - oh lordy - she was bound and determined I should really know the word and could sound it out and all sorts of calisthenics using the word in a sentence etc. - I was panicked she took so much time that I would be able to get my three books before Mama came.
Needless to say I never again asked how to say a word I did not know and just skipped it when reading - for years the various character names, especially the Russians were reduced to - oh the guy with the cigar or the guy that gets mad or the women who has the fur coat. Years later I would surprise myself when associating their names with my childhood descriptions, oh ya that it the one that smokes the cigar etc. fun and games but that anticipation of choosing new books each week filled me up.
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I am probably checking out the Better World Books store tomorrow. I just discovered there is one not too far from me. They have the book on the national website, maybe the store will have some.
Jean
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Well it came - I've already read most of the first chapter - yes, lots of names - but what is making this read even more interesting for me - delivered in a separate envelope is my copy of "For the Soul of France, Culture Wars in the age of Dreyfus" by Frederick Brown -
Fascinating - he goes from 1848 and concludes in 1908 - this is the era when France became a secular nation rather than a Catholic nation, schools were freed from tuition and eduction became mandatory, divorce is legalized and public prayer abolished - during this time published is Vie de Jèsus one of the two or three best-selling books published in France in the nineteenth century. Popes issue encyclicals addressing the gamut from capital and labor to affirming the doctrine of papal infallibility. Hordes, millions of everyday folk pilgrim to places like Lourdes, and La Salette. There are several governments and a corrupt attempt to build the Panama Canal. Several important French Leaders taking extended trips to the US to learn from us. I am thrilled with this reading combo - looks like another side of the picture can be filled in.
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Happy 81st Birthday,David McCullough!
I have this book on my Kindle, picked up when the price was right. It was useful for me when we read I Always Loved You, fortis additional info about Mary Cassatt.
Annie, the Morse Museumis on my bucket list -- has been ever since we read Clara and Mr Tiffany. It has the largest Tiffany collection in the US, maybe world.
I he to join in here when I return home and am not playing board games,etc. with our 7- year-old. Or watching soccer.
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Jean - you're serious? You have a Better World Books near you? I'm really looking forward to hearing about it - physically, a giant used bookstore? - and also if you were able to find the book, of course. ;)
Barb - the Brown book sounds fascinating. I never fully understood the brouhaha over the Dreyfus affaire, though can see it was bitter and divisive. Will be interested to hear how the Americans in Paris got involved with the debate. Glad your McCullough book arrived in the same mail.
Pedln, you do get around! Who are you routing for World Cup today? Germany? Brasil?
We'd have missed David McCullough's b'day yesterday...if you hadn't remembered! Thank you!
What a life he lives - doing what he loves, with his family involved. He says in this biography that he'd pay to do what he does if he had to -
Biography - David McCullough (http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/mcc2bio-1)
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joanP, back a few posts ago, you ask about my granddaughters time in Paris. She doesn't leave until July 11 and has only one week there when she joins her intended. He is still researching and teaching at one of the universities in Paris. She will be home on July 18th. So not much help there for our discussion. They plan on tangoing across Paris! That's how they met three years ago. And they are good! VIVA LA TANGO AND PARIS!
I picked up my book on my way out of town. We are visiting my brother who is ill.
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Well, I've just spent 30 minutes writing a reply with carefully researched references to obscure websites which would have surpassed very other reply on the Seniorlearn site but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. It will take me some time to recover and attempt it again. :'(
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Don't you just hate it when that happens - Happened to me the other night when writing to my grandson - it was a long message helping him to cook a chicken in a way that created 9 meals - he is trying to reduce his cost of eating and I even shopped for what he would need to see if it would fit his budget - to loose all that work is maddening.
Just hit me - you know who would have been changing, simplifying and coding French Cooking at this time the great Georges Auguste Escoffier - his cookbook is still basic to many. He and his partners transformed the Savoy in London in 1890 and the Paris Ritz in 1898. I did not know but he was in the army during the Franco Prussian war and from the experience wanted to learn and perfect the canning of food.
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That's wonderful, Barb. Nine meals from one chicken! My reaction to that is IMPOSSIBLE!! Said in the French way. Try to recover that post. Do you start with having the chicken lay a couple of eggs first for a souffle? And then boil up the puddle it walked through for chicken soup? Do you have ckicken Kiev in there somewhere? Six to go....
And I do believe we could make 9 discussions out of this book with your help. As for capturing the soul of France, I do believe Frederick Brown could do that. You're sure to enjoy the book. I have two of his: Theater & Revolution, The Culture of the French Stage, and Pere La Chaise, Elysium as Real Estate. Brown does very well at finding the French soul. Shall we get him to find us a plot in that other Paris? What could they be going for, now. Do you have a preference for certain arrondisements?
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Alas, my memory of Paris is that it poured the whole time we were there. Hope I get a chance to go back in another life.
Morse is some sort of cousin, nth cousin, m times removed, where n and m are large numbers (which I don't know). But I still take a proprietary interest in him. Can't wait for the second week when we paint his painting!
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The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.
July Book Club Online
July 14, Bastille Day! Post below if you can join us, s'il vous plait!
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Monet-montorgueil.JPG/290px-Monet-montorgueil.JPG)
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
by David McCullough
| (http://seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/greaterjourney/greaterjourneycover.png) |
"Magnifique! I should have known--McCullough is one of my favorite history writers, and he's writing about nineteenth-century Paris, one of my favorite places to read/think/dream about. When I was young I always wanted to go to Paris--but not Francois Mitterand's Paris. No, I wanted Degas' Paris, Balzac's Paris, Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris. Well, this was an extended visit to that same Paris but through fresh eyes." Goodreads review
"In The Greater Journey, David McCullough tells the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, and others who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, hungry to learn and to excel in their work. What they achieved would profoundly alter American history." Amazon review
Come join us in July as we discover what caught David McCullough's attention about this particular period in history and how it influenced American History.
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Discussion Schedule:
Week 1 - July 14 - 21 ~ Part I/ Chapters 1 & 2
Week 2 - July 21 - 27 ~ Part I/ Chapters 3 & 4
Week 3 - July 28 - Aug. 3 ~ Part II/ Chapters 5 & 6
Week 4 - Aug. 4 - 10 ~ Part II/ Chapters 7 & 8
Week 5 - Aug. 11 - 17 ~ Part III/ Chapters 9, 10, 11
Week 6- Aug. 18 - 24 ~ Part III/ Chapters 12,13,14 |
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Discussion Leaders: JoanP (jonkie@verizon.net), PatH (rjhighet@earthlink.net) Barb (augere@ix.netcom.com), JoanK (joankraft13@yahoo.com ), Marci (marciei@aol.com )
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Hooray! My library reopened on Tues and i got the book!
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Jean - I just knew your library would find a copy of the book in time for the discussion! Great! - Except I was looking forward to hearing about your trip to Better World Books! Another time maybe? I see you found another used book store near you... Were you referring to Better World by any chance?
Barbara - French cuisine is featured in the early chapters of McCullough's book. Can't wait to hear from you on that!
Oh, and Jonathan, please keep with us - you don't know how much your dry humor is appreciated! And Jackie, Mrs.Sherlock. you have the same gift - if you can make light of lost work! ;) Hoping you can get over it soon and redo, at least the highlights of that lost post.
Annie, hope the brother is doing better with his sisters in his corner. Hoping your granddaughter has a great trip - maybe her husband can be our man in France?
Everyone - tout le monde - If you've started reading the first chapters, we hope are taking a few notes to start off the discussion with a bang on Monday morning - Bastille Day!
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No Joan, when went to where BWBs was supposed to be, it wasn't there any more. Actually i figured out that they were probably talking abt a BWB drop rather then a store. But, yes! I found another good store even closer to me and i've sent the word out to all my booky friends so we can keep it alive.
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Hurray we start on Monday, Bastille Day
Monet's Bastille Day on Rue Montorqueil
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Monet-montorgueil.JPG/290px-Monet-montorgueil.JPG)
And of course the horsemen of the French Republican Guard
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/French_Republican_Guard_Bastille_Day_2007_n1.jpg/300px-French_Republican_Guard_Bastille_Day_2007_n1.jpg)
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This is the first of three posts. My surfing found this review of Journey
.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/books/review/book-review-the-greater-journey-americans-in-paris-by-david-mccullough.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
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Have read the first two chapters of my book and am ready for Monday.
BARB, thanks for the pictures. Love the uniforms and the horses of the Guard.
The sea voyage these adventurous young people faced would have been discouraging for me; I think I would rather have gone west in a covered wagon. I like my feet on the ground.
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The Washburne (books) Maslin recommended:
http://www.amazon.com/Elihu-Washburne-Letters-Americas-Minister/dp/B00D1G9ZCE
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The Brown book:
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/19452/for-the-soul-of-france-by-frederick-brown/
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Neither the Washburne nor the Brown are available at my library. Boo hoo.
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I'm in! Library visit tomorrow for the book.
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Welcome BackiC - glad you found us - do not remember seeing you post and so I bet you are new to Senior Learn - this should be a great read with lots for us to uncover however, before we start please tell us - how did you find Senior Learn and tell us also something about yourself - where do you live - are you retired or are you working - do you have other hobbies as well as reading and what kind of books do your prefer - fill in the blanks for us please - we want to get to know you and please feel free to ask each of us the questions that will allow you to feel comfortable as you join our virtual table discussing this book. Again, Welcome BeckiC...!
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My library is holding a copy of the book for me. I will pick it up today and start reading. I'm not sure if I will stick with it, as it is not the type of book I usually chose for summer reading; but it sounds interesting.
Sally
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Hi Barb,
Thank you for the welcome. Yes, you are correct. I am new to Senior Learn. A friend suggested the Latin course and mentioned there was also a book club. She knows I enjoy my book clubs.
I live in the sunshine state. I am currently the full time caregiver for my disabled daughter.
I was a bookworm in my childhood. I went through a Stephen King phase in my 20's, self-help type books in my 30's and then only time for flipping through magazines. As a 50 something year old woman I joined a Jane Austen reading group. We are currently rereading Pride and Prejudice. I also enjoy my local library's monthly book club. It is a great way to meet new and interesting people and share thoughts and ideas. I saw someone mentioned The Divorce Papers. I just recently finished that one and I too enjoyed the email/memo/letter style. I also found myself chuckling through the story. Some of it was a bit tedious but isn't that the way the judicial system can be? So I found it fun.
I love the water, love swimming and walking the beach. I am not what one would call a good cook but I love to gather new recipes. I find good health important. I am more an introvert than anything but really enjoy meeting new people. So I look forward to reading and discussing and sharing with all of you. Thanks again for the welcome. Becki
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Welcome, BeckiC! I hope that you enjoy your Latin course. What an interesting introduction. I love Jane Austen and have reread most of her books several times. I'm always on the lookout too for DVDs of the various films based on her books. I have quite a collection. I'm currently reading the crime writer Val McDermid's version of Northanger Abbey.
I'm glad that you'll be part of this discussion of David McCullough's book. I look forward to everyone's sharing their thoughts.
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I'm an echo in here this morning -- Welcome, Becki! WE are so happy to have you join our expanding group. David McCullough has done so much research and has included so much fact and fancy here, I think there is room for all of us to find a comfortable chair and chime in.
We have very few ground rules, Becki. The most important to us is the cordial, pleasant atmosphere - even if we don't always agree with something someone has posted. :D
We've divided the book into sections that will be covered during each week. You can see the discussion schedule in the Heading of each page. (The heading is always the first post on the top of each page.) The discussion of chapters begins on the day it is posted, so if you are interested in posting on day 1, it's fine to have that section read before the opening date. But you can post anytime during the week. If you are reading ahead of the schedule, please be careful not to post spoilers – just hold the thought until the following week.
You'll see some topics for discussion in the heading too. You don't have to respond to these questions - but you will see them intermingled in the week's discussion.
We'll be glad to help you if you have questions. Just post them here and someone will pop in to answer you. Again, WELCOME!
ps I enjoyed the Divorce Papers too. Trying to decide if my husband (retired lawyer) would appreciate it.
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Sally - I think you'll enjoy the book - the format. It's not something that you are compelled to read. You can pick it up when you have a bit of time. Go back to it later. I think you'll find a lot to draw you in though.
Ella- you strike me as a feet-planted-firmly on the ground person. I will picture you on the covered wagon in a stylish bonnet, heading west, reading snatches of news from Paris whenever you get your hands on a paper. I bet you'll be wishing you'd braved the seas when you had the choice! :D
Jackie - you weren't kidding - did you have to retrace your steps to retrieve those links? Thank you so much! Even though your library doesn't carry the books you are telling us about. I think Barbara has the Frederick Brown book - maybe others will locate it too - and share what they find in those books.
I like the way you put each link in a separate post. That way you won't lose a big post representing so much work - as you did the other day. Bless your heart! I hate it when that happens. Always feel it's buried somewhere very near...
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Barb - love the Monet - put it right into the Heading...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Monet-montorgueil.JPG/290px-Monet-montorgueil.JPG)
Here's a quiz for you...let's see who comes up with the answer first? No fair looking it up. (I'd offer a prize, but I'm still behind with prize for Dicken's Bleak House discussion - does anyone remember that? Maybe I can find an old Franc around here - that would be a nice prize, wouldn't it?
Why is Bastille Day commemorated?
What year?
How many years between Bastille Day and the the beginning of the period David McCullough begins to trace the Americans in Paris in The Greater Journey.
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Wow Beck - what a fabulous intro - I can almost see you - we do get to know each other on Senior Learn and so it is really nice to know you a bit better. Steph also lives in Florida although she spends her summers in the mountains of NC - she was tragically widowed just a few short years ago and it has been heartwarming to see her reconnect with life. Who knows you may live close enough to each other that one day you will meet.
The Latin Club is a special group and I am sure you will get to know the participants - Ginny along with JoanP are the originals who helped get off the ground not only Senior Learn but the original SeniorNet that was the first online book group back in the mid 1990s
There are several of us that go back to those early days in, if I remember correctly it was 1994. Today folks would shake their head since I do seem to write long posts and like to add all sorts of tid bits of research but when I started I was so shy that I read along a couple of books before I finally had the courage to post - i remember reading but not posting to Jude the Obscure but I cannot remember the discussion where I first posted - I do remember it was the September Discussion - soon after JoanP led the discussion of James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - which took us months to read.
In the list of discussions there are two archive folders - the one has most of the saved discussions of most of the books we have read - some of those early SeniorNet discussions did not make it over.
About me - I live in Austin and like you a book worm since childhood - my family is now all scattered - in the mid nineties my daughter was still living in Austin with her family and then they moved first to SC and very soon after to the mountains of NC - She and Gary have 2 boys. My daughter teaches and Gary has the Computer Outlet store in Greenville SC. Their oldest just graduated for the Savannah School of Art and Design with a double major and the youngest is this summer in Norway and Sweden, last summer in China and is going into his 3rd year at UNC at Chapel Hill - My youngest son during these years has moved from El Paso to Portland Oregon to Bryan Collage Station then Lubbock and now he lives just north of Houston in Magnolia. He is considering early retirement this year since he turns 55 in September. He manages the Fed EX Houston Air and delivery operation. He has three sons all living in Lubbock - one of the twins now is following his Dad and works at Fed Ex and they pay for his tuition. He is attending Texas Tech. The other two are good kids, well actually in their early 20s, still working it out maintaining themselves mostly working Restaurants. My oldest son died a couple of years ago. He was living in New Mexico at the time.
I am a Real Estate Broker - do not work the hours nor with as many people as I once did - only a few clients a year - I am one of those folks who woke up one day and realized in shock I got old - for the most part I am in good condition and do not look my age - had a couple of bad years there after walking with one leg into a deep hole that took a year of recovery which happened immediately after a 2 year bout with Temporal Arteritus and I have this eye thing that there will be more surgery this Fall but now pretty much back in shape after that down time deciding to forget the age number and just live.
I like to garden however, the deer are prolific and so that limits what I can grow - herbs and experimenting with their use satisfies my curiosity. I do like to cook. I have packed many interests in chunks of time during my life and delving into French Cooking was one where a group of us attended classes for a couple of years and one October we traveled to and in France, the south and the east as well as Paris, visiting farms and small truffle canning operations and of course ate at as many 3 star restaurants as we could find along with a few memorable 4 star restaurants - for a while I taught Needlework and there was a time I taught Silk Screening and and and - Big chunk of time I was involved with Girl Scouting and ended up being sent to Canada to train adult Guides. Like to swim, did a lot of hiking again, in Mexico, France, Germany and Switzerland. Like to and been knitting fun socks and sweaters for all the boys and recently took up Piano again after some 30 years of not playing at all. We all have a favorite author - for me that is difficult but one who I do have every book ever published is the poet Dylan Thomas. I've always been in awe at his way with words.
I guess my characteristic ID is I am very curious and any new idea, person, thing, time in history etc etc I have to find out more about it and cannot settle down until I do - then of course I assume everyone is as curious and I share which, thank goodness in this group others also like sharing what they bump into including books that will further our understanding of a story so we all end up looking into the corners and under the beds finding and learning more about the tid bits included in the writings of most authors.
Hope we see lots of you Beck - this should be a fun read with many "tid bits" to uncover more about. ;)
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Hi, Beck. Welcome. You will find us lively and super friendly.
People think its strange that I read cookbooks for pleasure so we can share food book titles sometimes. Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country are my main reading but surfing the net for recipes takes up much of my computer time too. Disequilibrium and a bum hip-arthritis- limit severely my food experimenting. Can't cook with one hand, the other is holding on. A guilty pleasure is reading cozies, especially when there are recipes at the back of the book.
Journey has a slew of names in the first pages. My memory is not what it used to be so I'm thinking of a sort of timeline relating who and what and when. I'm disappointed that I can't borrow Washhburne, after reading Maslin's comments (NY Times). He seems to have been an interesting fellow with close ties to his fellow Ilinoisian, Abe Lincoln, Brown is noted for getting to the real soul of France. What a rich period this was. The period between the two Great Britain wars and the Civil War was merely a place holder to me until now.
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Hi BeckiC - welcome to our discussion. This umbrella site is one of the joys of my day. I have loved reading all my life and i love learning, and i love discussing the themes and ideas in books. At this site i can do all of that while sitting in my sunroom and in whatever state of dress that i happen to be in! What else can i ask for!?!
I'm retired from several different careers, almost all of the tasks having to do with teaching/training/facilitating a variety subjects, mostly history, especially women's history and issues, and management.
You'll learn more about each of us just by reading our comments.
Jean
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Welcome, Becki. You're sure to find everyone a kindred spirit here. And, it's like Jean says, come as you are.
It's so good to see you again, Ella. You're right about the problem of getting to Paris. "That (awful) sea voyage. I think I would rather have gone west in a covered wagon."
Did you know that Mark Twain felt the same way. I dug up a copy of his The Innocents Abroad to see what he wrote about Paris. He must have landed at Marseilles, and then had an uncomfortable journey across France by early train, because he has this to say:
'Stage-coaching is infinitely more delightful. Once I crossed the plains and deserts and mountains of the West, in a stagecoach from the Missouri line to California and since then all my pleasure trips must be measured to that rare holiday frolic. Two thousand miles of ceaseless rush and rattle and clatter, by night and day, and never a weary moment, never a lapse of interest!'
But a few pages along, and:'In a little we were speeding through the streets of Paris, and delightfully recognizing certain names and places with which books had long ago made us familiar. It was like meeting an old friend when we read "Rue de Rivoli" on the street corner; we knew the genuine vast palaces of the Louvre as well as we knew its pictures; when we passed by the Column of July we needed no one to tell us what it was, or to remind us that on its site once stood the grim Bastille, that grave of human hopes and happiness, that dismal prison-house within whose dungeons so many young faces put on wrinkles of age, so many proud spirits grew humble, so many brave hearts broke.:
Such fond memories. The last time we were in Paris. I've just found the travel guide we carried then. And what did I find in it? Two ticket stubs to a concert at the little Eglise Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre (on the left bank in the shadow of Notre Dame) with the Ensemble de Chambre de Paris playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I remember it was a very warm evening in June, so of course 'Winter' was played with unusual spirit.
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Well, we are finally back home and I am readying my table for a glorious read of "The Greater Journey". Our granddaughter is tangoing across Paris tonight with her intended.
Becki, I meant to welcome you to our newest discussion. Hope you will join us anytime. We do have a pleasant time discussing our books.
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I think we're all going to see (and appreciate) your natural curiosity at work in the coming weeks, Barb! And already we know of Jean and Ella's knowledge of - and love for history, and Jackie and her passion for cookbooks and French cuisine...and of course, Jonathan's ready wit, always introducing fascinating bits of information - such as Mark Twain's comments on ocean crossings! And we're all set to chime in with similar memories - and observations. This will be a great discussion! It is already!
Annie's here - now we can begin! :D Welcome back - JUST IN TIME!
I think we need to note that Mark Twain was travelling on a "modern" passenger ship in 1867 when he wrote Innocents Abroad - more passenger-friendly than the cargo boats that were transporting passengers in the 1830's. Here's a picture of him crossing the ocean on the deck...doesn't look too unhappy, does he, Jonathan. Maybe he just had a bad night before his comment -
(http://images.nypl.org/index.php?id=100707&t=w)
Mark Twain at sixty, on his way around the world, from Mark Twain, Following the Equator, Hartford, 1897
ps Ella - Jonathan - a quick note - don't be concerned about those cargo boats. I've booked us all in the top-of-the-line Philadelphia - following the advice of Oliver Wendell Holmes. That man had excellent taste! Bring a full purse though!
Are you all packed and ready to set sail in the morning?
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I love serendipity! I am, by chance of course, reading Rachael Carson and Her Sisters by Robt Musil. The dust cover says "RM redefines the achievements and legacy of the environmental pioneer and scientist, RC, linking her work to a wide network of American women activists and writers....... From the 19th century to the 21st century, Americam women naturalists and scientists developed an ecological approach to environmental science and advocacy, combining popular and poetic writing, a sense of wonder and imagination, a strong sense of morality, a serious scientific sense of purpose." (That looks like a sentence written in the 19th century, it's so long) :D
One of the first of RCs "sisters" that he mentions is Susan Fenimore Cooper, James dgt who went with the family to Paris!
Now, should i tell you today, about her and why her trip to Paris was important, or should i wait until tomorrow? ....... A cliff hanger ;D
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WELCOME BECKI! You will enjoy this group I hope, stay for awhile, a long while.
JONATHAN, you were in Paris, mid pleasures and palaces and were you good or lonesome?
I was there brieflly with our very own Ginny some years ago. We wanted to ride the new train under the channel - the Chunnel, which we did, an hour or so of blackness, and a day in Paris. Had a bit of worrisome trouble finding the entrance again to get back to London, they had it hidden and Ginny was appalled that I went around asking in English, mind you, all the Parisians I saw and interrupted a class of students chaperoned with a nun who was lecturing.
Paris had Lafayette indeed - but nothing that compared to our own Mark Twain.
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Becki, welcome. It's good to have you here and I hope you will enjoy the group. We do have a good time.
Jackie, I think recipe readers are the real foodies. Have you been to Cookstr? Will Schwalbe's (The End of your Life Book Club) site. I hope you will be able to tell us all about "petit pain, " the delicacy mentioned in Chpt. 2.
Ella, so good to see you here again. I've been to Paris just once, a very short visit. Would love to go again.
Have you all seen Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris? It's a little post-David McC, but a fun movie for anyone who loves the idea of going to Paris.
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Ella, how could we forget your European adventures with Ginny - Fran Middleton too, wasn't that the trip? Fran has since passed away, but has left behind many fond memories. We all enjoyed your reports following that trip, Ella.!
Jean - that IS serendipitous! Susan Fenimore Cooper, was one of the little ones who accompanied James Fenimore Cooper on his first trip to Paris. I've just started one of his Leatherstocking Tales - The Last of the Mohicans. Do you remember that? I remember seeing the film version when much younger.
Jean, hold the story of Susan Fenimore Cooper until the new discussion opens in the morning. We'll be locking this Prediscussion tonight and unlocking the actual discussion of the book in the morning.
Just click this link and you should be on board the good ship, Philadelphia! - you can continue the discussion there, just as you have been here.
Opening today - July 14 - David McCullough's Greater Journey: Americans in Paris (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=4306.0)