Author Topic: Non-Fiction (Read 434437 times)

Frybabe · « **Reply #1560 on:** March 02, 2011, 01:54:06 PM »

TO NONFICTION BOOK TALK

What are you reading? Autobiographies, biographies, history, politics?

Tell us about the book; the good and the bad of it.

Let's talk books!

Discussion Leader: HaroldArnold

Welcome Amicah.

marcie · « **Reply #1561 on:** March 03, 2011, 12:44:24 AM »

Welcome, Amicah. It's wonderful that you've already studied 17 courses from Ivy League colleges. The resources available on the Internet amaze me every day.

Mabel, thanks for those links.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1562 on:** March 03, 2011, 06:44:15 AM »

I just put this on The Library then realised it should probably have gone here - has anyone read "Bird Cloud" by Annie Proulx, a non-fiction book about the building of her house in rural Wyoming?

it is being serialised on BBC Radio 4 and and is really good, both the descriptions and the bits about the people she meets, such as her very particular builder. She makes you wish you could do just what she's doing - ie design your very own custom built home in the wilderness.

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #1563 on:** March 03, 2011, 08:56:00 AM »

ROSEMARY, having once lived through the remodeling of a kitchen,
(while I was still required to produce meals from it) has left me with no
desire at all to suffer through the building of an entire home. I am
perfectly happy to watch other people, on TV, spiffing up their homes,
tho'.

joangrimes · « **Reply #1564 on:** March 03, 2011, 11:52:41 PM »

I am reading a non fiction book for my Museum bookclub ...It is called Museum Legs by Amy Whitaker.. I am just beginning the book so i cannot tell you much about it yet...I am sure that I will enjoy it since it is about Art...Joan Grimes

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1565 on:** March 04, 2011, 01:32:34 AM »

Babi - I know! I had my kitchen extended in February one year (they were supposed to have started in September, husband agreed to Feb...). The whole of the back of the house was open to the elements, the snow was coming in the front door (which they had permanently open) and going out the back. It was absolutely dreadful, though I was pleased with the result!

Joan - what is a "museum book"? Are you in a museum related reading group? Sounds interesting!

R

Babi · « **Reply #1566 on:** March 04, 2011, 08:25:40 AM »

Oh my gosh, ROSEMARY. Your exerience was far worse than mine.
I can't imagine how you survived! Let me guess... Your husband, who
agreed to Feb., was away at his warm office while the front door was
open all day?

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1567 on:** March 04, 2011, 02:55:52 PM »

Babi - I expect he was in Paris - he used to work for a French company and go there almost every week. And yes, I bet his office in La Defense was as snug as a bug

R

joangrimes · « **Reply #1568 on:** March 04, 2011, 08:41:31 PM »

Quote

Joan - what is a "museum book"? Are you in a museum related reading group? Sounds interesting!

I am sorry Rosemary. It was supposed to be bookclub... I am a volunteer docent at the Museum of art here in Birmingham, Alabama, USA... I have been on leave since i broke my leg last June and am trying to get back into giving tours at the museum.. I love art and art museums... I will not do any tours until next Fall though because my walking is still too slow and painful to take a group through the museum..
Joan Grimes

JoanP · « **Reply #1569 on:** March 08, 2011, 04:25:32 PM »

Spreading the word...

The Final ballot for Spring Discussions is now open until March 13. The original 14 titles are down to 7! You'll find the Ballot Box in the heading of the Suggestion Box

Remember to choose THREE titles.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1570 on:** March 09, 2011, 05:57:32 PM »

I think we were talking on this site abt the broadcast of university classrooms on CSPAN 3 (American Historytv). Here's the bit from their newsletter for a class this week.

"Sat. 8 pm, Midnight; Sun. 1 pm ET
Professor Edna Medford teaches a course on African American history at Howard University in Washington, DC. Today's lecture focuses on the participation of African Americans in the Civil War, who fought for both the North and the South, and President Lincoln's relationship with Frederick Douglass."

If you go to their site you can get a e-newsletter sent to you. ....... Jean

Babi · « **Reply #1571 on:** March 10, 2011, 08:11:25 AM »

Sounds good, Jean. Saturday is generally such a poor night for TV, it
would be good to have something like that to watch.

marjifay · « **Reply #1572 on:** March 10, 2011, 10:58:26 AM »

Maybe I'm the only one interested in this kind of stuff, but am reading George Kennan's DECISION TO INTERVENE. Its the really interesting story of President Wilson's sending almost 8,000 U.S. troops to Siberia in 1918 for a stay of almost two years during Russia's Civil War after the Bolsheviks had deposed the Tsar. Wilson hoped, as did Britain and France, that they could help the "White" Russians keep the Red Russians (communists) from completely taking over Russia. Of course, it was a failure.

Now I want to read WHITE GUARD, a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov (Master and Margarita), about how one family was affected by this turbalent period of fighting between the Red and White Russians. I'd read Dr. Zhivago some years ago, but did not realize that that book was also set during this period.

Marj

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #1573 on:** March 10, 2011, 01:34:15 PM »

NO MARJ, you are not the only one interested in history; whether it be U.S. history or World History. I need a good nonfiction book to read, I'll look it up. We have discussed a book on Woodrow Wilson before; can't remember the name of it or maybe it was a book about the Paris Peace Conference. It's in our archives. Did we discuss Dr. Zhivago also - well, I'll look it all up, my memory fades with the years.

marjifay · « **Reply #1574 on:** March 10, 2011, 02:05:58 PM »

I'll bet the book you mentioned, Ella, was Margaret MacMillan's PARIS 1919 about the peace treaty negotiations in Verailles after WWI. I read that -- a very interesting book.

I've been shelving my stacks of books that I've bought over the past several years in some new bookcases. Have found some interesting books I'd forgotten I had, including George Kennan's RUSSIA LEAVES THE WAR and the sequel, DECISION TO INTERVENE. Like you, I really enjoy reading history.

Marj

roshanarose · « **Reply #1575 on:** March 10, 2011, 09:54:50 PM »

If it just Modern History you enjoy reading, I can't help. But (BIG but) if it is Ancient History written by a modern author who is an expert in her field, you just must read "Helen of Troy" by Bettany Hughes. It is superb. You may have seen Bettany Hughes on your equivalent TV channel to BBC in the UK.

Also this is a bit of a "plug" for "The Odyssey" that (or which) we are discussing on the Classics Board. Come see

marjifay · « **Reply #1576 on:** March 11, 2011, 11:03:24 AM »

That book sounds very interesting, Roshanarose. If we're talking about ancient history, tho,' my preferance is really to read about, say, Alexander the Great or the Caesars of Rome versus someone who may or may not have been an actual person like Helen of Troy or King Arthur. I loved reading all the books on mythic heros written by Mary Renault. Have you read her?

My favorite author who wrote about comparative mythology is Joseph Campbell, expecially his The Hero with a Thousand Faces. He wrote about how similar themes of mythology have occurred throughout the world, such as that of the virgin birth of a savior, and the resurrection of a savior/hero from the dead, etc.

I read the Odyssey and the Iliad some time ago at college when studying Greek History, and really enjoyed them. We also read several of the works by the Greek playwrites. I'd like to read some of those plays again if they were to be read in the Classics group here.

Marj

Gumtree · « **Reply #1577 on:** March 11, 2011, 11:10:02 AM »

Marjifay: I'm keen on the Greek plays too as are a couple of others who are reading Odyssey. Antigone was on the ballot this first time around so it or another of the plays is likely to be renominated for discussion sometime in the future. But that will be quite a length of time away.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1578 on:** March 11, 2011, 02:18:34 PM »

I'm in the middle of so many books, it's ridiculous! I'm reading Elizabeth C. Stanton' s autobio on the ipad. It's free from Kindle. It's title is Eighty Years and More. It really is delightful reading, not at all typical of the looooonnnnggg sentences and paragraphs of nineteenth centuries writers. I've only gotten thru her childhood and young adulthood to her marriage. Have not gotten into her activism years.

I have two books borrowed from friends which i must read w/in a reasonable period of time and return them. One is The Feminist Promise by Christine Stansell, which is a history of feminism in the U.S. I'm facilitating the course on Womrn's History in Apr and May at the Medford Leas senior community, so i want to have it read before i begin the course. It's quite interesting. The other borrowed book is First Family about the Adams by Joe Ellis. His books are always easily read.

I've got Thomas Fleming's The Intimate Lives of Our Founding Fathers on the nightstand. His books are also easy reading and well researched. Also on the nightstand is Boone by Robert Morgan. Just started but it also is a good read.

Jean

roshanarose · « **Reply #1579 on:** March 11, 2011, 10:28:14 PM »

Marjifay ; My favourite book about Ancient Rome is "The Twelve Caesars" by Suetonius. I have read Mary Renault, yes, but I was so young I can't remember now. I think the trouble with reading a book about a character say like Helen written by a historian is that sometimes the writer writes too much in textbook style. I read enough of those when I studied Classics. I always preferred Herodotus to Thucydides. My favourite Greek play/satire is "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes. I also like "Phaedra", Racine I think. Alexander: Lots written about him. I lent a Greek lady a good book about him byut I haven't seen it since. Can't remember what happened.

Campbell is great - I have seen a couple of TV specials of his. Frazier "The Golden Bough" is wonderful, we all read it in our hippy days. But my favourite is Robert Graves "The White Goddess", his cross referencing is amazing!

btw the Jury is still out as to whether Helen existed or not. Come visit the Classics site.

PatH · « **Reply #1580 on:** March 11, 2011, 10:57:50 PM »

Campbell is a really good read, and relevant to everything from Homer to "Star Wars".

Babi · « **Reply #1581 on:** March 12, 2011, 07:55:26 AM »

JEAN, how do you keep those various stories separate in your mind? I'm afraid I would
start confusing what I'm reading in one with another, especially when they are dealing with
similar subjects and times.
I looked up Robert Graves' "The White Goddess" after you mentioned it, ROSHANA. It sounds
like something Barb. St. Aubrey would be interested in. I'll mention it over in the poetry site and
cite you, if that's okay.

marjifay · « **Reply #1582 on:** March 12, 2011, 03:18:16 PM »

Thanks, Roshanarose, for your recommendation of "The Twelve Caesars." I've put it on my Library hold list. Have always meant to read more about Roman history, but have not gotten around to it. Got more interested while studying Latin with Ginny's class here.

Marj

mabel1015j · « **Reply #1583 on:** March 12, 2011, 07:45:20 PM »

Babi, since they're all giving me facts abt the people or events, i don't need to keep them straight per book.

i just keep adding info to my brain computer. If there is specific info tthat i might want to refer back to, i make a copy of the page. Generalky i am not reading abt the same people or events at the same time.

Babi · « **Reply #1584 on:** March 13, 2011, 09:05:06 AM »

Keep up the good work, JEAN. I'm afraid my brain computer is getting a bit old and cranky.
Lots of data stored there, but I can't always retrieve it.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1585 on:** March 13, 2011, 09:59:13 AM »

Babi - my friends and I frequently say that our hard drives are full....

R

Babi · « **Reply #1586 on:** March 14, 2011, 08:54:15 AM »

Being of an older, less technical generation, I usually say my file
drawers are stuck.

HaroldArnold · « **Reply #1587 on:** March 14, 2011, 12:01:22 PM »

Regarding the Margaret Macmillan “Paris 1919” title this was one of the best discussions that I have been involved in . We had an international group of participants. It also led to several other discussions including Hemingway’s “Movable Feast” and the Razor’s Edge. The archived discussion s of this series are as follows

http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/archives/nonfiction/Paris1919.html
http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/archives/nonfiction/MoveableFeast.htm
http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/archives/fiction/RazorsEdge.htm

The seniorlearn powers that be have achieved the “Movable Feast” title incorrectly as a fiction book. It was most certainly a nonfiction experience account of the 1920’s Paris life of the author although some of his friends might have cause to question the truth off the authors account relative to themselves.

marjifay · « **Reply #1588 on:** March 14, 2011, 12:57:39 PM »

I love that one, Babi! -- (your file drawers are stuck) LOL I like to say I have a photographic memory -- I just don't have same-day service.

Marj

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1589 on:** March 15, 2011, 06:26:37 AM »

HaroldArnold - that is very interesting (I was not here when you had those discussions).

I wondered if you had read any of Joan Wyndham's books - in particular "Love Lessons", which is her book about her upbringing and early career in Bohemian, pre-war, Chelsea? I picked up on her from my reading of The Assassin's Cloak, a wonderful collection of excerpts from people's diaries (I think I mentioned it elsewhere) - I had never heard of her before. The Assassin's Cloak arranges all these excerpts under each day of the year - so you might read an excerpt from Samuel Pepys and another from Andy Warhol, and can see what they were each doing on the same day, hundreds of years apart.

This is a link about Joan Wyndham:

http://www.joanwyndham.com/

and this is a link about The Assassin's Cloak:

http://thebookling.blogspot.com/2008/01/assassins-cloak.html

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #1590 on:** March 15, 2011, 09:31:18 AM »

LOL, that's a good one, too, MARJ.

"The Assassin's Cloak" sounds great, ROSEMARY. I'm going to see if I can locate a copy.
I do wonder, tho', why they used that title for a collection of diary excerpts. Do you
know?

marcie · « **Reply #1591 on:** March 15, 2011, 10:59:12 AM »

Thanks, Harold. I've moved "Moveable Feast" into the Nonfiction archives.

marjifay · « **Reply #1592 on:** March 15, 2011, 01:34:56 PM »

i really liked Moveable Feast. In fact it was the only book by Hemingway I liked.

Marj

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #1593 on:** March 15, 2011, 01:39:10 PM »

Babi - I didn't know either until I found the link that I posted - if you scroll right down to the bottom of the page, the writer explains that it is from a quote by William Soutar (1934) (no idea who he was):

"A diary is a an assassin's cloak that we wear when we stab a comrade in the back with a pen"

Alan Taylor, who co-authored the book, is a well known journalist at, I think, the Glasgow Herald.

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #1594 on:** March 16, 2011, 08:53:35 AM »

Ah, good quote, thank you, ROSEMARY. It does make one suspicious of Mr. Soutar's output,
tho', doesn't it?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #1595 on:** March 18, 2011, 10:29:25 PM »

I just have to share this thought that I read - I love the books Akiko Busch writes - I am reading "Geography of Home" and she makes this statement that I had to put the book down in awe it is so true.

She is discussing how today, although we like the idea of older traditional homes, our life and desire for rooms to accommodate our lifestyle is very different than the organized center hall with living on the right, dining on the left, kitchen in the back and bedrooms up stairs. She continues by giving examples of coexisting technology and nostalgia - and then in this chapter she makes this profound statement -

"We tend to reject the formal ceremony of the dining room and put the computer on the dining room table, or sort the laundry there. Then, missing the sense of ritual in our lives, we turn to the ceremonies of Native Americans or Tibetan monks. Such incongruities can confuse our lives. But I would argue that they are also the very basis for finding comfort at home. If anything, where we live can be a place that celebrates and thrives on these incongruities that have, in one way or another, been gracefully resolved..."

I love it - yes, we decide the ceremony of Sunday dinner or Wednesday night Supper with mother's good china and grandmother's silver is too much work but, we have Cd's playing and will pick up tickets to listen to the Tibetan monks chant throat singing and join a group once a week to mediate in a silent place. Oh dear, we are funny - Is it novelty we want in our life or, the excitement of something new and exotic or, just keeping up with what others have decided is the 'in' thing.

I love this author's books - she always makes me re-examine and think...Geography of Home

marjifay · « **Reply #1596 on:** March 18, 2011, 11:43:12 PM »

Don't know about anyone else, but I've come to be awfully tired of Tibetan monks chanting. (LOL)

The book sounds interesting, Barb. Reminds me of a family on a neighboring farm when I was young who had what I thought was odd -- a closed off living room that they never used. Ours was always full of books, newspapers, maybe an ironing board in use....

Marj

Babi · « **Reply #1597 on:** March 19, 2011, 09:21:40 AM »

I very much suspect, BARB, that in our very modern lives we miss the sense of traditions
that go back over generations. We miss that sense of inner peace that we then go looking
for in meditation or other spiritual outlets. Home is supposed to meet the needs of our
practical lives, but sometimes we forget that we have needs beyond the practical.

nlhome · « **Reply #1598 on:** March 19, 2011, 09:37:36 AM »

Barb, that sounds like a very interesting, thoughtful book. I'm looking for it.
I look at our dining area - it's everything, the heart of the house, and has been since we had little children. No you've got me thinking what we can do to make the rest of the area (it's all one flowing room) as inviting.

We have a friend with MS who can no longer go without a wheelchair - their dining room in their traditional home is now the bedroom - out of necessity - but it's off the living room and we're all very comfortable there knowing that he is comfortable too.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #1599 on:** March 19, 2011, 03:04:07 PM »

It's true nlhome we have so much stuff, most of it momentous from either our children or events in our lives and then tons of furniture that we really are no longer using as intended - I keep trying to clear out but it is slow going - and then I look around and realize how dated everything is about my home -

Oh it is nice to get it to the point we imagined or we decided that other things were more important than gussying up our home - but the effort is such a lift at Christmas even if the effort is not as great as when the kids were here and so I have to ask, why do I not make an effort for other times of the year -

It really isn't that hard to paint one room - and I have wanted to plan one day a week to fix tea - I have several wonderful tea pots - lovely china and silver - heck I could bring in a small quiche and even if it was only a muffin - and cut a sprig of something even if a branch of new leaves - Yes, and put on some music - oh and for me - ahuh that is it - it will be my poetry reading hour - Yes - once a week - a nicely set tea - I will try for Thursday or if no appointments Friday is good since I do watch all the news shows on PBS on Friday evening - it will make a nice beginning of a weekend - Nope can't do that - If I want this I have to make a firm time like going to Mass on Sunday. Thursday it is...

Thanks nlhome you have encouraged me to take this one step further and live in my home rather than exist in my home and use my 'things' which isn't the same as 'stuff'.

Now my front dining room table has become a storage - when I had my eye done in the fall I put on it all the DVDs so I would not have to bend down to retrieve them thinking I was going to be immobile far longer than I was - of course never cleared them off - the excuse - I still need the other eye done - now I decided to wait till next fall for the other eye so why are all those DVDs on the table.

Since I rarely use the front Dining room as a place to dine maybe I should rethink the room - but then if my friend at age 92 can prepare and have me up for dinner every Wednesday night why am I not planning something that I would enjoy sharing with others if not once a week at least once a month - hmmm lots to think upon - I need to finish Akiko Busch's book and see if her ideas spark something for me...

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Author Topic: Non-Fiction (Read 434437 times)