Non-Fiction

[Octavia]

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

I've just finished "Beneath The Pale Blue Burqa"(one woman's journey through Taliban strongholds).
I found it captivating, as it relates the journey of a group of women including Australian Kay Danes(who with her husband spent 11 months in a Laos prison enduring torture and mock executions) to try to improve the lot of Afghanistan women and children. Her companions were a florist from Arizona, a nurse from Texas, a public servant from Australia, and a US Marine Korean War Veteran.
They went down the Silk Road, meeting groups of women and children, handing out things from toys to soap and giving advice. There are before and after photos of the Nangarhar women's prison, that the US Department had done up. What a difference!
The troops delivered swing sets etc. but what will happen when the allies are gone and the Taliban moves in?
The schools, the hospitals, the women's groups, women doctors and teachers, I shudder to think what the retribution will be.

[mabel1015j]

CSPAN's American History TV has a wonderful program on today on its Lectures in History series  - "The Year 1968", by Leonard Steinhorn at American Univ. it will be repeated at 8:00 EST tonight.

[Frybabe]

I am part way into the Charlie Chan book. The first section has a lot of historical background about Hawaii's immigrants/migrants. How Ah Pung (the "real" Charlie Chan), who could not read or write, came to be a part of the Hawaiian Police force is really interesting. Names like Dole, Parker, and Wilder, the big landowners, and Mark Twain, Robert Lewis Stevenson, and Jack London crop up here and there.

I really must read some of Jack London's books featuring Hawaii. The Wrecker was mentioned as having some truth in fact about a shipwreck that was salvaged.

[JoanK]

That sounds fascinating!

[PatH]

I didn't even know Jack London wrote anything about Hawaii.  In most everything I've read of his, everyone is freezing to death.

[BarbStAubrey]

 

[Frybabe]

When I went looking for The Wrecker in a list of Jack London's titles, I couldn't find it. I am going to have to double check my reading to see if I remembered the author correctly. Even though he is most famous for his Klondike books, he wrote

Yes, Jack London and his second wife spent time in Hawaii and Australia and cruised the Pacific in his ketch, The Snark.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cruise_of_the_Snark

Wikipedia has a list of his writings which include three plays, poetry, non-fiction, essays, lots of short stories and novels. I was surprised to see that he was only 40 when he died.

[ginny]

I'm talking about the new Johnny Carson bio in the Library, it's excellent, really well written and somewhat spellbinding.

Carson made the author swear never to tell any of this stuff, and attorney client privilege kept him from telling it while Carson was alive. I am thinking it's a good thing I don't have an attorney to spill my secrets to,  because now that he's dead, here it all comes out.

If you swear never to tell then you never tell, right? Or if you explain to your friend you can't while he's alive, and  he seems OK with that, then does that get  you off the hook?

I'm of two minds about this.  This is not a muck raking book, the author is respectful but Carson had some faults as do we all. I am pretty sure he wouldn't be pleased to see this all appearing but people have done worse things.

[BarbStAubrey]

I wonder how is children although I am sure well in thier 50s by now if not their 60s but how do they feel seeing their father's dark side in print - I bet they have their own stories because no child comes out of a divorce without wounds but at least they are not writing a tell all like Carrie Fisher did - do they get a cut from the proceeds of this book since it is their reputation that is going to be given a hit that they have to put on a bright face and laugh it off with those in their community who know they are his children - weren't they all boys so they carry his name.

[JoanK]

I've had good luck finding non-fiction books in the library lately that satisfy the science nerd in me. Finished "Antarctica" by Gabrielle Walker. A scientist-tourist view of the continent, mixing discussions of the many science projects going on there with history of exploration personal observations, and stories of the people who choose to stay there. Good writing carries you along, and makes you want to know more.

Now I've got "This Explains Everything." Apparently, there is a scientist discussion group called "Edge". Every year, they pose a question, and members write in their answer. This question is (as best I remember): what is the most beautiful, elegant scientific theory you've ever heard?

This publishes answers: two-three page essays by scientists and social scientists in a number of fields. Some are too technical for this casual reader (I see I am way behind in knowing what theoretical physicists are doing, and that's ok by me) but some are interesting.

[mabel1015j]

Am almost thru the 500 pgs of Alice Roosevelt Longworth's bio by Stacy Cordery. I found it very interesting, even in the details that made it that long, she made it an interesting story.

I was very disappointed in Sisterhood of Spies about women in the OSS. The first 50 pgs or so were all about Donovan, the head of the agency. It was also pretty boring in the writing. So, i gave it up. There are too many good non-fiction books i want to read, let alone adding the fiction ones. Whooooeeee!  Can't waste time on ones that aren't interesting to me.

Jean

[Frybabe]

I am almost at the half-way point in the book about Charlie Chan and his real life counterpart.

First, I went back and double checked who wrote The Wrecker which I mentioned in post 2606. It was not Jack London, it was Robert Lewis Stevenson.

One interesting thing in the book was a police car the was designed so that the driver could push a latch and all four doors would open at once. And here, I thought those old time films showing the cops bailing out of a car all at once were just a part of Hollywood show. Another is that Otto Von Bismarck coined the term "Yellow Peril".

I am now in the middle of a chapter about Sax Rohmer (Sax for Saxon meaning blade and Rohmer for roamer, a kind of take on the medieval knight of old) born Arthur Henry Ward. Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu is evil personified in a Chinaman vs. Charlie Chan who is on the side of good.

[BarbStAubrey]

Oh my all the shorts shown before the feature on Saturday movies - Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan - followed by a cartoon and then the feature - we all crowded in the front seats with some kids sneaking in the back door and the ushers trying to catch them - Saturday movies cost two soda bottles and a milk bottle - the two soda bottles turned in were 10 cents the cost of the movie and the milk bottle 2 cents for candy at the ice cream store which was cheaper than in the movie theater. Then all us Catholic kids had to be sure we were out of there by 4: often walking backwards up the isle to not miss the ending so we could run as fast as our legs would carry us to make it to confession 5 blocks away so we could go to holy communion on Sunday.

[JoanK]

We didn't get Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan; only Superman, and other super-heroes. And we couldn't pay with soda bottles, only money. My mom said we only had enough money to go every other week, so we would see the hero thrown in the well, but never see how he got out the next week. I think it scarred me for life!

[Frybabe]

Our Saturday matinees were mostly cowboy or Ma and Pa Kettle types. The very first evening show I was allowed to go to with my friends unsupervised by parents was Flaming Star, one of Elvis Presley's movies. He sung the titles song, but didn't do any singing in the movie. It's the only Elvis movie I liked. I may or may not have seen one or part of one Fu Manchu and saw tons of Charlie Chan, but not until we got our first TV.

[Tomereader1]

Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and movies with Randolph Scott were standard Sat. Matinee fare. Admission was 25 cents, and another quarter would get you enough snacks to make you sick, or at least ruin your supper!

[Frybabe]

Right, TomeReader. Our theater manager would patrol the isles with his flashlight, and if the kids got to noisy, he would shut the movie off until everyone settled down. When I moved to another location, I got a real shock going to the movie in our new town. What a mess. Candy wrappers, popcorn, gum all over the place, and seats that were ripped. The kids were noisy and rambunctious. I never went back. It appeared that my sister and I were the only ones who went to actually see the movie.

[mabel1015j]

I'm just starting a book that seems very promising. Girls Like Us: Carol King, Joni Mitchell and Carely Simon and the Journey of a Generation. The author, Sheila Weller, a journalist and has had several NYT best selling books.. I am a little put off by the author's strange writing style. She seems to want to pack as much info as she can into every sentence. But in the first 50 pgs I've found the subjects compelling and their stories interesting. The author is throwing in a lot of song/lyric references, but most of them are interesting to this woman who is a fan of the 50s and 60s music and especialky of these three song writers

(Rewrite) I decided I didn't like the NYT's review, so here is the amazon page with more objective reviews, i think

http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Like-Us-Simon-Generation/dp/0743491483

Info on Sheila Weller

http://www.apbspeakers.com/speaker/sheila-weller

Jean

[Frybabe]

This book came to my attention, and boy does it look interesting. Called We Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, it is a collection of true stories of inspiration and survival gathered from letters she received telling of how her song, "I Will Survive", helped and inspired them in difficult situations. It hasn't been released yet (scheduled for Dec) , but I have a chance to read it ahead of time.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DCX0X40/ref=tag_bro_botm_edpp_db2

[BarbStAubrey]

Ew yes, I got it as well since for now it is free for Kindle owners  interesting in that it is a pre-order at 4.99 but free now.

[JeanneP]

Just got through reading " Carol Burnett biography" found it boring after awhile. I did like her past shows. Found her funny.  Once in I while I pick up these stars books. They are supposed to have written. Just out of curiosity. All seem to follow the same lines .  Seems to be better to read about them after they have died.

[mabel1015j]

   
I finally finished the Alice Roosevelt Longworth bio. It took me quite a long time,  (500 pgs) but it was very interesting.

There were a couple passages that i liked. One is about TR at Harvard. His ungraduate thesis was - are you ready for this - "The Practicality of Equalizing Men and Women Before the Law"!!! " It considered the topic of women's rights, including property ownership, and argued that women ought to keep their birth names upon marrying." !!! You go TR! (Alice didn't take her father's advice on that issue.)

 The second passage is a quote from the  New Yorker in the mid-20s "....an invitation to the Longworths is more prized by the discriminating than an invitation to the White House............Heavy politics are played at the Longworth house and Alice sits in.....She knows men, measures and motives; has an understanding grasp of their changes......It is too bad for the Roosevelt political dynasty that Alice wasn't a boy. She is the smartest Roosevelt there is left - the old Colonel's daughter in more ways than one. She has a quick, inquiring, original and penetrating mind especially equipped to cope with political situations for which she has an instinctive liking."

Apparently that was the opinion of many throughout her life until her death in 1980. She was friends with many names you would know: the Alsops, John. L. Lewis, the whole Kennedy clan, supported Jackie's marriage to Onassis,  Buckminister Fuller, all the presidents and their families from FDR to the Fords, and people in their administrations, interestingly especially Nixon from his time as vp to his resignation, reporters, Ruth McCormick, Kay Graham.

She was invited to all the White House weddings and many state dinners into the Ford administration. Her last one was when Queen E visited the Fords, " they exchanged  pleasantries about the diamond-rimmed purse that Mrs L. carried.....a wedding gift from King Edward VII in 1906........ When dinner was over.....a WH employee tapped (her escort) on the shoulder . 'We have someone who worked in the WH when Mrs Longworth lived here.' Hearing this Alice turned to greet a tall, distinguished, silver-haired African-American man who asked if she remembered him. She did. (There was many comments about her phenomenal memory. ) They launched into tales of WH life....she responded to his laughter with peals of her own. When they were through, he inquired gravely if he might escort her to her car. She gave him her elbow, and the two walked slowly away. That was her last visit to the White House." Isn't that a lovely scene?

Jean

[PatH]

That is a lovely scene, and so like her.  She added a lot of interest to the social scene here--no, I don't move in those circles, but she was well covered in the newspapers.

[mabel1015j]

Just a reminder, Big History will be shown tonight on History Ch 2 at 10:00. Tonight's episode is about gold's role in human history. Thank goodness H2 is doing some good things. The original History Channel has been tuned over to 15 yr old boys. 

[Frybabe]

I think this is a book that will have to go on my reading list.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/11/the-neuroscientist-who-discovered-he-was-a-psychopath/?utm_source=smithsoniantopic&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20131124-Weekender

[FlaJean]

Frybabe, I read the very interesting article about that.

[mabel1015j]

The History Channel2 is showing two great programs on American slang, 8 to 9 now.

[PatH]

Frybabe, that's a really interesting article.  Sounds like in this case, you can thwart your bodily chemistry by a combination of being brought up lovingly and forceful exertion of free will.

[Frybabe]

Just ordered Charles Krauthammer's Things that Matter. Looking forward to reading it. I think Fox News has him doing something with the old William F. Buckly shows. I don't know if it is a series or just a once and done, and don't know yet when it will run.

[marjifay]

I have Krauthammer's Things That Matter on my TBR list.  Saw he was on this week's BookTV program.  Was not going to read it (I'm a liberal Democrat), but after reading the following Amazon reader's comments I changed my mind and think I'll give it a try:

The reader said, "I admit it: I got it wrong in my opinion of Charles Krauthammer. I thought he was just an unoriginal talking head mimicking the latest right-wing rhetoric. After reading this compilation of some three decades of his writing, I see that Krauthammer is a thoughtful intellectual. I may at times disagree with his perspective, but I can absolutely see now how he gets to said perspective. "

Marj

[BarbStAubrey]

Saw the interview Charlie Rose did with him and it was at first intriguing but anyone who can only see doom and gloom for our future turns me off and so I think I will pass on his book. I am not such the staunch died in the wool Dem but sure am a liberal and yet, still hold high my esteem for this nation regardless what the DC crowd does or does not do - and where his book may not be as doom and gloom his self-righteous attitude during the interview I cannot get past that attitude. It was what drove me up a wall about Friedman's last book so that I could not get past his 2nd chapter.

[marjifay]

Now with both your takes on Krauthammer's book, I am really intrigued.  I don't like doom and gloom either, Barb, so if that's what it's like, I may not read much of it.

Barb, what was the name of the Friedman book that irritated you?

Marj

[Frybabe]

Interesting take, Barb. I watch Krauthammer regularly and never thought of him as a particularly doom and gloom kind of guy or that his is self-righteous. Perhaps it had something to do with the kind of questions CR asked him. I'll have to listen a little more carefully to see if I can pick up on it.

[Tomereader1]

Do read "This Town" by Mark Leibovich.   A deep look into the world of greedy, power grabbing denizens of Washington, DC   We send these Congressmen/Senators to DC to do our Government's business on our behalf, and in the bat of an eye, they are only considering themselves and what they can get out of it.   It is disheartening to say the least.  It is a snake pit and surely one of Dante's levels of Hell.  (and we keep sending the same ones back, election after election)

[mabel1015j]

I'm watching onCSPAN's "After Words" a fascinating discussion w/ Elizabeth Greenspan, an urban anthropologist whose written a book about the Battle for Ground Zero, about the battles over what to do with the land of the World Trade Center. The interviewer is Kenneth Feinstein, the administrator of the 9/11 Fund. He's doing a wonderful interview and she has very interesting information about the legitimate feelings/issues of the different sides of the battle. I'm finding it very interesting.

[FlaJean]

Tome, I have This Town on reserve at the library.  It is still a few weeks away before I reach No. 1.

Jean, I'm glad you mentioned After Words.  I used to watch that regularly and somehow lost track this last year.

[BarbStAubrey]

That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back GRRRrrrrrrr

Sorry I do not see a world who is changing its political expectation that could only happen because of the USA investors and business mavrics creating twitter, facebook, and the computer to begin with as a nation falling behind - I do not see a nation that aside from the shenanigans on wall street still created more millionaires in the last 15 years than any other nation mostly among those in High Tech which is simply showing our ability to be inventive innovative and get others to believe in new ideas who financed this American, USA  creative energy!!!

[ginny]

I'm currently reading Caesar: the Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy.

Again. I have read OF it over the years, pieces where I needed it. I decided this was the year to read it through.

This is a huge book, in pages (almost 600) and size. It's available as an ebook but not as an audio book. It's the first book I have ever wished were an audio book. It's slow going.

Goldsworthy is an historian's historian. He begins the book with the background of Caesar's day, and this is so condensed that one finds oneself underlining every single sentence. Checking references. The references cited alone are exhaustive.

You know how it is with some authors. You can read and read and read and then he says something profound. You go, wow, and you underline that, maybe.


THIS book is nothing BUT profundity. Every single line  in the Introductory passages until he gets to Caesar's childhood. That's because he has to condense several books and the entire Roman Republic, the entire first 753 years of Roman history as background  into an introduction.  It really IS an unparalleled accomplishment but until I got about 40 pages in, I feared I could not make it.  For instance, I learned in the last few pages (1) why the Roman Republic was more like Britain than America,  (2) what a publican (the ones mentioned in the Bible) really was (3) the real problem with the Gracchi and how the Republic really began to decline with the death of the first Gracchi, (4) how the Roman army was formed, and how Marius changed the face of Roman politics forever and many many MANY more important concepts. It's very slow reading.

The brain can only assimilate 7 new pieces of information at once then it shuts down. In Goldsworthy you get 7 new pieces in the first 3 sentences, so it's a slow process. But it's thorough and worth it.

5+ stars on a scale of 1-5.

[Frybabe]

I have three of Goldsworthy's books. That is not one of them. Will look into it.

[Jonathan]

Did you make it throught the book, Ginny? As you promised yourself that you would in 2013. With such heavy going, I'm surprised that you waited until December 31 to carry out your resolve and indulge your adventuresome sense of fun in the  reading of this scholarly slog. Do audio books count as reads? I've heard of people using them as an excuse for a nap.

Got any good tips on speed reading? I'm determined to do better in 2014.