Author Topic: The Library (Read 2297753 times)

JeanneP · « **Reply #10920 on:** March 16, 2013, 01:19:47 PM »

The Library

Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is always out.
Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not).

Let the book talk begin here!

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I like the look of the Samsung Galazy Tablet also. Think I will have to have a 10" on any. In just playing with the 7" Nook that size I could not work with. Will look further into the samsung Tablet. More my prize. Would like a IPad but think that maybe there are things I would be paying for on there that I would never use. Will just keep checking around.

ginny · « **Reply #10921 on:** March 16, 2013, 03:01:37 PM »

Rosemary, a new move, how exciting it sounds even tho you can't say anything yet! We will be hanging on every word. i have not moved in 32 years and the last one nearly killed me, you are obviously much more organized than I ever will be!

I finished The King of Torts and I have to leave the preachy criticism to others, somebody should be preaching if they aren't. hahahaha I will never look at one of those TV ads the same way again. Next in his books for me is The Broker.

I started Summer's Lease and am very much enjoying it. One problem is I keep hearing John Gielgud's voice and I know who the mysterious owner is. How can that be? I looked and sure enough it's a movie and I have seen it and it has John Gielgud in it. Strangely enough, however, he's playing the wrong part in the movie! Curiouser and curioser. However I am so enjoying it, It's so beautifully written, and as I have not read Mortimer's Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained, mentioned in the Introduction, I am going to get them next.

It appears that the business of Summer Leases in Tuscany continues apace from the google listings. I was looking up the movie and was astounded to see so many properties for lease. And they look a lot like the one on the cover. Such lovely escapism.

PatH · « **Reply #10922 on:** March 16, 2013, 03:10:26 PM »

What are you waiting for, Ginny?

ginny · « **Reply #10923 on:** March 16, 2013, 06:20:30 PM »

Do you mean in renting such a place? hahaha If I rented one I'd need a passle of SeniorLearners or Latin students or both with me and it wouldn't be in Tuscany. Sorrento maybe, one of those gorgeous villas overlooking Vesuvius/ the Bay of Naples. Maybe Capri.

Steph · « **Reply #10924 on:** March 17, 2013, 06:00:18 AM »

I did sleep last night.. Have been combing the house for things, I don't want or need.. Put three things up on Craigs list. Never used them before, but my younger son swears by them. Of course in the middle of it all, walked into my favorite consignment store and wouldn't you know they had the perfect computer desk I had been looking for months. They will deliver it today to my garage, so I can move with it. I love it and plan on donating my old computer desk ( made for when there were tons of components, etc) will be going to a charity.
also bought boxes, got three recommendations for movers ( two for the same mover) and generally danced around like a loon..
Rosemary.. Aha,, we are twins. I suspected this, but since you are the pretty twin, I had kept it quiet.

Steph · « **Reply #10925 on:** March 17, 2013, 06:02:06 AM »

Ginny, not this summer, but if you ever decided to lease something near Pompeii, I am your girl to pitch in..

ginny · « **Reply #10926 on:** March 17, 2013, 11:56:54 AM »

I appreciate that, Stephanie. I'm not planning any rentals at present, but it sounds (I'm too caught up in the book) dreamy, doesn't it?

That's one thing I really like about books, they take you away and make the impossible possible.

Most of the places I saw in that cursory glance seem more equipped for a gigantic party, it looked like many of the more desirable ones slept 16-18, and they were humongous in price, too. It would really take some crowd. I can't think of summer rentals without thinking about Ab Fab and their French, was it, rental? Totally hilarious. I can see Patsy now. hahahaa

It sounds like you are embarking on a REAL grand adventure, yourself! Now where WILL you go and what will you choose? Keep us posted? So many decisions. Exciting!!!

Have also given up on Olive Kitteridge. It's not that it's badly written, not at all, but last night The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was on again and after watching the Sour Wife, (brilliantly acted), I decided to let Olive go her own way, first class (as in the movie, she turned left on the plane) or not. Life's too short to have to deal with all that negativity. Some people are taught that, from the cradle, tho, and they are innocent with it and don't realize they are even doing it: they are taught that to be critical means to have discernment and wisdom and makes them a cut above.

It's just like chickens, really. I had forgotten how much they are like people, till we got our new flock for our grandbaby. If you throw in a grape, they all run after it, every one of them, all 23, they are so funny to watch. They are like teenagers, really, they all want to see the newest thing, to be in on the action, but tho I tried really diligently to get all calm, peaceful breeds of chickens, there really IS a pecking order. It's serious, too, and one will come up and be negative and make the others miserable, even when there is plenty for all.

My grandson. six years old, is always telling them, "Share!! You all need to share!" I think "sharing" is not in their vocabulary. hahaha

I think I'll watch Pie in the Sky again, he really liked his chickens. They are kind of addictive.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #10927 on:** March 17, 2013, 02:32:23 PM »

Oh Steph, I would love to be your twin! Thanks for the compliment!

Ginny, I don't know if I mentioned that I stayed in an truly amazing house on one of the hills above the bay of Naples a few years back. My friend & I had booked into a cheap hotel in Sorrento city centre, hadn't even realised it was Easter w/e. Our bus from the airport took absolutely hours, because it seems that most of that part of Italty pours into Sorrento for the holiday. When we finally shipped up at the hotel, they had clearly let the room to someone else (though full of excuses about things being broken, etc). My friend is much more firm than I am and she said it just wasn't good enough - the next thing we knew, we were in the back of one of their numerous friend's cars, beng driven at breakneck speed through the insane traffic and up the hill out of the town.

We arrived at this wonderful, wonderful mansion - the hotel people had just bought it from a private owner and were going to turn it into a hotel. It was still stuffed full of the previous owner's antiques. We were given a huge room with a balcony directly overlooking the Bay. The house was surrounded by lemon groves. Stairs in our room led up to an enormous bathroom - you could lie in the bath and look out over the blue waters. It was a fantastic experience. I've looked at their website since and there is no way we could afford the place now. It is called Relais Diana.

From there we visited Pompeii, Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, etc. What a beautiful area.

A couple of years before that we had a trip to Siena - which in some ways I liked better, though the hotel wasn't quite so grand. The Tuscan countryside really is beautiful.

I adored 'Summer's Lease' - and all of Mortimer's novels are great, so I think you will enjoy Paradise Postponed, etc. I've read his autobiography ('Clinging to the Wreckage') and that's also good - I think he was really a bit of a b-- to live with, but certainly a great writer.

Rosemary

pedln · « **Reply #10928 on:** March 17, 2013, 10:05:30 PM »

Lots of comments here about Olive Kitteridge. She doesn't seem to be too popular. But not everyone will agree with you.

Olive Kitteridge is one of the books that Mary Anne Schwalbe and her son Will discussed in their End of Your Life Book Club. This is what Mary Anne had to say about it, in March 2009, about six months before her death from pancreatic cancer.

Quote

"I'm loving Olive Kitteridge, the Elizabeth Strout. Maybe partly because Olive is a school teacher, but not like most teachers in books; she's got strong opinions and very sharp edges -- like so many of the best teachers I worked with. She's a real New Englander, too. And I love that she has many more fears than she's willing to admit -- for herself and her family. There's an extraordinary passage about loneliness. Just like we talked about with Kokoro and The Price of Salt."

Will Schwalbe:

Quote

"In the passage Mom is showing me, Olive notes that 'lonliness can kill people -- in different ways can actually make you die. Olive's private view is that life depands on what she thinks of as 'big bursts' and 'little bursts.' Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need little bursts as well; a friendly clerk at Bradlee/s or the waitress at Dunkin' Donuts who knows how you like your coffee."

maryz · « **Reply #10929 on:** March 17, 2013, 10:37:03 PM »

Did I hear about the book Plainsong by Haruf here? John is reading it, and having a hard time because the author doesn't use quotation marks. If it were me, I never would've gotten past the first page. For me, that's just too hard to decipher. I looked on the Amazon page, and all the reader reviews talk about how wonderful the book is, but noone mentioned the lack of quotation marks. Am I the only one that has a problem with that? What would make an author do that?

Steph · « **Reply #10930 on:** March 18, 2013, 05:54:24 AM »

I found Plainsong, but it is down somewhere in the tbr file.. Picked up a memoir by Susanna Sonnetag at the book sale. Lots of disclaimers in it.. It is her lifel, but all of the people except her have been changed..So far, she is down down down on her Mother..

jane · « **Reply #10931 on:** March 18, 2013, 09:35:25 AM »

No, Maryz, you're not the only one put off by the lack of punctuation in a work. I'm also put off by it and by the use of incorrect grammar and/or punctuation. I'm not talking about something like the absence of a comma after an introductory adverbial clause, etc. I'm talking about comma splice or other basic grammatical concepts. Annoying!!!

PatH · « **Reply #10932 on:** March 18, 2013, 10:36:43 AM »

Maryz, we read José Saramago's The Elephant's Journey here a while back; it's the no-punctuation champion. Not only are there no quotation marks, the conversations are in run-on sentences, so you get 3 or 4 changes of speaker in one sentence. There aren't any capital letters either, except occasionally when he finally starts a new sentence. It added considerable to the difficulty in reading this enigmatic book.

Hmm, Jane, I've been noticing in myself an increasing tendency to use comma splices. I guess I'd better watch it.

jane · « **Reply #10933 on:** March 18, 2013, 10:43:20 AM »

It's one thing in informal writing, like here, but in a published work? It seems that so many authors /publishers are skipping the editing/proofreading stage. I'm sure the authors think of it as "artistic license," but, to me, it's sloppy writing.

This is just a personal annoyance of mine.

ginny · « **Reply #10934 on:** March 18, 2013, 10:53:27 AM »

Oh I am the King of the comma splice, I often wonder why I do it. And there I just did it again, didn't I?

hahahaa

Oh well.

Rosemary, what an experience!! That one will never be equaled and the house you describe so well sounds like a dream. I have never seen such fine properties as there are on the Sorrentine coast. People there really do know how to live. We are reading Pliny in one of the Latin classes and he describes what must be one of the first Infinity Pools in the world, 2000 years ago. Heck houses with 118,000- 140,000 square feet 2000 years ago. Magic, the entire country is magic.

To me travel is such an individual experience, it's the little things, particularly the little discoveries no matter where you go that make travel so special to each person. What a memory to cherish.

ginny · « **Reply #10935 on:** March 18, 2013, 11:05:04 AM »

Pedln, that is not the Olive Kitteridge I saw in the first story, have you read the first story?

"I'm loving Olive Kitteridge, the Elizabeth Strout. Maybe partly because Olive is a school teacher, but not like most teachers in books; she's got strong opinions and very sharp edges -- like so many of the best teachers I worked with.

She's mean, she's dismissive, and she's cruel and rude in the first story. I am sure she has some secret or background reason for being so negative but I can tell you, having been the brunt of some very punitive teachers (psychos, literally) that I would avoid that woman, if possible, in life and in books. Mercy, Mary Anne Schwalbe must have been one of the most positive persons on earth to come up with that judgment.

New Englander? Really? I know they are famous for directness and being taciturn, but surely not meanness and rudeness, hatefulness, coldness and cruelty. But that was just the first story? As I originally said, I would read on and hope for a turn around or an explanation. She'll have to go it alone, poor thing. At least Mary Anne Schwalbe, is it, liked her, as did many others.

On the quote about "little bursts," how true that is. How might somebody who never does them for others expect them in return?

THAT Olive Kitteridge would make a good book to discuss/ hate/ have a love hate relationship with.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #10936 on:** March 18, 2013, 11:05:22 AM »

I had never heard the term comma splice, my teacher's never used that term, so i went looking for the definition...........did i just do it?

This is an interesting site on grammar and i will go back to it just for fun.

http://grammartips.homestead.com/splice.html

jane · « **Reply #10937 on:** March 18, 2013, 11:21:49 AM »

Jean...my teachers didn't use that term either. It was called a "run-on sentence" back in my school days. That was the term I used when I was teaching English as well.

Geez...even grammar terms get "updated," I guess!!

Ginny...as I said, I don't care how people write in an informal setting like this. I do object when I'm expected to pay $25-$37.99 for a hardcover or the prices they're now asking for "soft" cover.

BTW...I noticed a lot of "paperback," or "soft" covers are now in the $14.99-$17.99 price range at B&N. I wonder if the publishers are raising the prices for those who do buy printed books to make up for those who no longer do that and just buy digital books?

jane

maryz · « **Reply #10938 on:** March 18, 2013, 11:26:12 AM »

I've always considered myself a Grammar Snob

. I loved and bought the book "Eats Shoots and Leaves". Even our daughters have been known to pounce on an error by yelling "Grammar Cop, Grammar Cop!" But I'd never heard the term "comma splice". Thanks, Jean, for the link. And now I'll be more careful.

PatH · « **Reply #10939 on:** March 18, 2013, 11:31:06 AM »

Yes, Jean, a multi-splice sentence. I like your grammar site.

"Comma splice" is a better term, because it says exactly what you're doing. The author goes on to describe acceptable comma splices (like "I came, I saw, I conquered.") but advises against them because people will assume you are making an error.

ginny · « **Reply #10940 on:** March 18, 2013, 12:04:33 PM »

Ginny...as I said, I don't care how people write in an informal setting like this. I do object when I'm expected to pay $25-$37.99 for a hardcover or the prices they're now asking for "soft" cover.

Oh I KNOW!! And it's not just comma splices, a lot of authors seem to have problems grammatically and idiomatically and especially in spelling. Have we become such a nation of illiterates? Some of the errors show a profound lack of understanding of grammar, and you can't miss them.

Of course i can't proof my own stuff much less for somebody else, just don't see it at all, so I shouldn't talk. But somehow it does negate my concept of "book," to see all these errors in understanding and syntax. It ruins it, really, doesn't it?

marjifay · « **Reply #10941 on:** March 18, 2013, 12:15:42 PM »

I prefer that quotation marks be used in written conversation, but have read some books by talented authors whose writing was so good that I did not mind nor barely noticed the lack of punctuation.

I just finished such a book, a wonderful read, THE ROUND HOUSE by Louise Erdrich. It is narrated by a young Chippewa boy, intelligent but typical teenager, who lives on a reservation in North Dakota. His father is a degreed attorney, now a judge on the reservation. His mother is beaten and raped, leaving the family devastated. The boy is not satisfied with what the authorities are doing to find the villain so he and his friends set out to find him. But the story is so much more as you learn about the people and how they live and think. At times laugh-out-loud funny, it is a fascinating and suspenseful read.

I will read more of the work of Erdrich, herself a Chippewa.

Thanks, Ginny, for your recommendation of Olive Kitteridge. I now have it on my TBR list.

Marj

marjifay · « **Reply #10942 on:** March 18, 2013, 01:40:20 PM »

Thanks for the links to the book lists, Jean. I liked the Barthleme's list but have read only a few, such as Hero With a Thousand Faces, Clockwork Orange, Invisible Man and a couple by Kobo Ave--Ruined Map and The Woman in the Dunes. Now I want to read Abe's The Box Man.

Marj

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #10943 on:** March 18, 2013, 01:55:02 PM »

Marjifay - that Louise Erdrich book sounds excellent. I looked her up on our library catalogue - they have one of her books "The Birchbank House" but it's a children's book (although that definitely doesn't rule it out for me, I enjoy a lot of children's books.)

I'll look her up on Amazon.

Thanks for the tip off.

Rosemary

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #10944 on:** March 18, 2013, 02:15:08 PM »

Quote from: ginny on March 16, 2013, 03:01:37 PM

[
I
I started Summer's Lease and am very much enjoying it. One problem is I keep hearing John Gielgud's voice and I know who the mysterious owner is. How can that be? I looked and sure enough it's a movie and I have seen it and it has John Gielgud in it. Strangely enough, however, he's playing the wrong part in the movie! Curiouser and curioser. However I am so enjoying it, It's so beautifully written, and as I have not read Mortimer's Paradise Postponed and Titmuss Regained, mentioned in the Introduction, I am going to get them next.

It appears that the business of Summer Leases in Tuscany continues apace from the google listings. I was looking up the movie and was astounded to see so many properties for lease. And they look a lot like the one on the cover. Such lovely escapism.[/color]

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Re: Television Today - What's Playing?

« Reply #3148 on: Today at 12:21:50 PM »

Quote

Was this the forum where "Summer Lease" was mentioned? Anyway, if so or not, I got it from Netflix. My
review of it will not be as great as some here. I think Sir John Gielgud's performance is "Way over the top", and I think if he says "Mollycoddle" or "slip between the sheets" one more time, I will puke (excuse me)! He is so thoroughly into himself! The character of Molly seems so impervious to everything going on around her, and the people she has been meeting. Maybe this bit of mystery about B will bring about something interesting. It wouldn't surprise me at all if her father was actually "B" but if not, I fear "B" has met with foul play.

How many episodes were there? (2 on Disc #1)

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #10945 on:** March 18, 2013, 02:17:08 PM »

I did a fouled up job of quoting and copying my post from over in Srs.&Friends, but anyway Ginny, this was my take on Summer Lease. Gielgud should stick with Shakespearean roles!

ginny · « **Reply #10946 on:** March 18, 2013, 04:01:56 PM »

hahaa I didn't say I enjoyed the movie, I'm enjoying the book and I agree with you on that Mollycoddle, that was the first tip off in the book and why I heard his voice. Now you know why. Isn't it irritating? hahha I don't remember how many episodes there were, wasn't it a TV series originally?

In the book he's her father, and has gone along with them. That's not true of the movie. Or is it? Why should he call her Moddycoddle if he's not her father?

Anyway, there's another one about a summer lease, however, which I did like, and it's the one with Edward Fox in it (Edward and Mrs. Simpson, the old one). I've always liked him, it's called a Month by the Lake with Vanessa Redgrave and him, I liked it. (I'll go out on a limb and say that). I think we've discussed it here before, it's been on TV too, that's where I saw it originally.

Gielgud is deceased, I think.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #10947 on:** March 18, 2013, 04:13:37 PM »

According to Netflix, it was originally a Masterpiece Theatre presentation. There are two (2) discs to the movie, and I only rcd. #1, guess I will have to go back in when the first one gets back to Netflix, and order Disc #2. As badly as it is grating on my nerves, I must soldier on through to the end! At the end of #1, Gielgud was shown laughing maniacally, with his cigarette and glass of alcoholic beverage! (the laughter, by the way, was not a giveaway to "B"s identity, but the typewritten "instructions" from B - - then seeing him typing his column for "The Informer".

ginny · « **Reply #10948 on:** March 18, 2013, 04:14:59 PM »

Taste is such an interesting thing. Here are a couple of positive reviews for A Month by the Lake and there are some really negative reviews, too. I've included one.

Quote

So you've just gotten home from a rough day at the office, or you're depressed about something and wish you could take a spur of the moment trip to oh so relaxing and romantic Italy (preferably Lake Como!). For most of us, this can't just happen, so I advise you to watch "A month by the lake". It's a simple, relaxing story, and seems to take you away into its' world. I highly recommend this movie, no violence, clench-your-fingernails-suspense, or promiscuous obscenities. And it comes with likable characters, great music, and a wonderful setting, make that magnificent.

Quote

This is a charming film about an older, free spirited English woman, an expatriate who in 1937 Italy is interested in an older, stuffy Englishman who is on vacation at the same lakeside resort. A young American nanny, who is at the resort with the family for whom she works, catches the same Englishman's eye. Their love triangle provides many interesting moments for the viewer.

Vanessa Redgrave, who only gets better with age, is charming as the older woman, Miss Bentley, who finds herself competing for the attentions of Major Wilshaw, curmudgeonly played by Edward Fox. Miss Beaumont, played with a certain repellent insouciance by Uma Thurman, capriciously tosses in her hat into the romance stakes. Miss Bentley finds herself playing second fiddle to Miss Beaumont. A young, attractive Italian, however, sees the charms that Major Wilshaw initially fails to appreciate, and Miss Bentley uses his interest in her to great advantage. When Major Wilshaw finally gets his wakeup call, all is well that ends well.

Quote

Miss Bentley's wardrobe and style is simplicity itself. Clearly, she is not a woman to follow fashion trends. Yet, she is clearly a woman who will follow where her heart will lead. The young and nubile Miss Beaumont is much more of a fashion maven, yet she lacks the depths of beauty that Miss Bentley naturally has, a beauty that grows from within rather than from without. This is a lovely movie that will make the viewer dream of a time long past.

Quote

One of the worst movies ever
This was an incredibly boring, poorly acted, dumbly directed movies I have ever seen. I was surprised how poorly even Vanessa Redgrave acted

It's a slow, nice movie with no shoot em up action, and obviously these people vary widely in taste, too, as we all do. All the above from Amazon.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #10949 on:** March 18, 2013, 04:26:26 PM »

If it's a review on Amazon, I only make a decision when I have seen the movie/read the book myself, then I will yea or nay to whomever is handy! I think some people post bad reviews just because they've had an awful day (or an awful life!) I've had neither. (well, at least the life part, LOL)

I watched, late last night, a disc from Netflix "The Vatican Museums" - Part 1, lovely music and excellent narration, story of how the museums came about (super history lesson) and pictures of the art. Can't wait for Volume II to arrive. I have had this portable DVD player for quite awhile, and rarely use it, but rather than wake my husband, I played the disc with earphones on, and really enjoyed it.

jane · « **Reply #10950 on:** March 18, 2013, 05:35:57 PM »

Maryz asked me to post this link to the tee shirt she just got as a birthday surprise from one of her daughters...

http://s88.photobucket.com/user/janeiowa/media/image_zps5611619c.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #10951 on:** March 18, 2013, 05:42:02 PM »

i want a T-Shirt that says that!!

PatH · « **Reply #10952 on:** March 18, 2013, 06:20:38 PM »

Since we've just been talking about grammar, I would like to call attention to the grammar in the negative movie review, though maybe it's poor cutting-and-pasting. But he surely didn't proofread.

Jane, your tee shirt link doesn't work for me. I've had issues with Photobucket lately. Any suggestions?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #10953 on:** March 18, 2013, 06:28:33 PM »

what ever the Tshirt said we will never know since the site says the owner removed the photo

maryz · « **Reply #10954 on:** March 18, 2013, 06:34:31 PM »

It's black with white letters saying

I'M SILENTLY CORRECTING YOUR GRAMMAR

PatH · « **Reply #10955 on:** March 18, 2013, 07:08:29 PM »

Maryz, I love it. I want one too.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #10956 on:** March 18, 2013, 11:53:59 PM »

hahaha great - I love it - here is another favorite T

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #10957 on:** March 19, 2013, 04:18:05 AM »

Oh I'd like one of each!

Steph · « **Reply #10958 on:** March 19, 2013, 05:56:50 AM »

Since I was married for 51 years to a grammar corrector and pronounciation guide,, I try hard to not pay attention to poor grammar..

jane · « **Reply #10959 on:** March 19, 2013, 07:39:55 AM »

http://s88.photobucket.com/user/janeiowa/media/Temp/image_zps5611619c.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Sorry about the bad link. The one above should work...I hope!

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2297753 times)