Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 774926 times)

MaryPage · « **Reply #3680 on:** September 27, 2012, 06:12:02 PM »

This is the place to talk about the works of fiction you are reading, whether they are new or old, and share your own opinions and reviews with interested readers.

Every week the new bestseller lists come out brimming with enticing looking books and rave reviews. How to choose?

Discussion Leader: Judy Laird

Reminds me of some jokes from waaaaaay back when I was a child in Sunday School:

The child who came home from first day in Sunday School to declare a great time and what she liked best was the song they sang about Gladney the Bear.

Puzzled, the mother asked for more words.

You know! Gladney the cross-eyed bear!

bellemere · « **Reply #3681 on:** September 27, 2012, 08:34:32 PM »

.....and lead us not into Penn Station.....
I'll go with that!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3682 on:** September 27, 2012, 11:45:25 PM »

bellemere - thought for your grandson - this is the recipe that is the bread Ezekiel lived off in the desert which with a slight of hand/tongue could be the bread he is hearing about and saying as Turley Bread.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ezekiel-bread-i/

but rather than make all that there is the company that makes an Ezekiel bread - glutton free etc. - its a bit more expensive than the 2.95 for an Orowheat - it costs anyplace according to where you shop between 3.97 to 4.67 and for taste the raisin is probably more enjoyed by a little guy - for years I got it at Whole Foods and only recently does my local Grocery carry it - it will be stored in the frozen food lockers.

http://www.foodforlife.com/product-catalog/ezekiel-49/breads

Steph · « **Reply #3683 on:** September 28, 2012, 08:40:46 AM »

Yes, it is a truly nice shop and they are so helpful. I have been taking classes here in Country Meadows from a neighbor, since this all started when I admired her neck scarves.. thin lacy and utterly appealing to possibly cover your neck.. So yes, I can takeclasses there and may even do it next summer, but just now, I want to simply learn to knit straightforward...etc. I am a klutz in small motor type stuff.. I learn, but muchmore slowly than I used to.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3684 on:** September 28, 2012, 01:34:16 PM »

I'm really enjoying Clara and Mr Tiffiny. Thanks again Marcie for the link to the discussion, i'm reading it along w/ my reading of the book. I still can't believe i missed it, but i see it was in May when we were at the beach w/ a lot of company, and in April when you would have been "selling"it, i was teaching a course on the 50s thru the 70s, maybe that explains my missing it.

The resources that you put up were very interesting also: NPR interview w/ Vreeland, the video of the lamps and the site about the book. I must share this w/ my historical fiction loving friends.

Jean

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3685 on:** September 28, 2012, 02:37:42 PM »

I see Pedln and Annie led the dscussion, i guess i need to thank them for the resource links.

bellemere · « **Reply #3686 on:** September 28, 2012, 08:16:17 PM »

Thanks for the Turley Bread and other bread recipes. I bet I could find that Ezekiel bread at Whole Foods. But for grandson purposes, just about anything would do.
I did pass on the gluten free tip to my daughter with celiac disease; she is on the diet but says she hasn[t yet found a gouten free bread she can enjoy.
this Cloud Atlas book is something else. It is actually six linked narratives. Sometimes the lind is very tenuous and perhaps that gets cleared up later. Starts with the Maori in New Zealand, zips to Belgium in 1931; then to California in the 40's , then to
England in contemporary times, then goes all Margaret Atwood-y with a futuristic society ofhuman clones enslaved to humans born the regular way, God knows wha next. I have read that he tells each story like this: 1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1 So I guess we end up back in New Zealand. But I am enjoyng
david Mitchell's wonderful writing, so the eccentric structure doesn't bother me to much.

Steph · « **Reply #3687 on:** September 29, 2012, 08:34:55 AM »

I loved Clara..She had such great spirit.. Since I live close to the Tiffany Museum, I made a special trip over to look at the stuff she mentions in the story. Great fun and I see what she meant.
Cloud sounds a bit more avant garde than I like, so will skip.

bellemere · « **Reply #3688 on:** September 29, 2012, 01:13:52 PM »

Yes, I think avant garde pretty much describes Cloud Atlas. But I need a little stretsh once in a while. My next project is to reread some of my great Graham Greene books acquired over the years and pick one for my bext Book Club recommendation.,,By the way , all but twomembers liked AK and we had a fantastic discussion of family, class and society, aompasstion and forgiveness, jealousy, love, and faith. One member wished we had devoted two nights to discuiion.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3689 on:** September 29, 2012, 03:09:14 PM »

I do not understand how, in the book, clones can be told apart from people born the regular way, unless they are branded at birth or it appears on their ID cards or something. As of now, all clones must be inserted into a uterus and gestated for the usual 9 months and then be given birth to in the normal way. They look and are precisely like you and me. Twins are clones of one another. And, like identical twins, clones would each have their own distinct personality.

I have been told by a dear friend that the book blowing her mind at present is Emily Alone: A Novel, by Stewart O'Nan. This is the author of Wish You Were Here and Last Night At The Lobster. She says it is downright eerie how he knows how an 86 year old woman spends her days! (My friend is 86.)

JeanneP · « **Reply #3690 on:** September 29, 2012, 06:12:32 PM »

Clones. I have heard of dogs and cats being cloned but never a human.
I could have missed the news or is that a fiction book? Would be many people wanting it done. The day will come.
My granddaughter had twins last year. I was just visiting and even though they look alike their personalities are so different

MaryPage · « **Reply #3691 on:** September 29, 2012, 08:27:48 PM »

As far as the record told the public goes, no human (other than identical twins, which is not done on purpose) has been cloned; but it may well have happened and been kept secret. No biggie, so far as the doing is concerned. You want an identical twin, albeit much younger than yourself? It can be done, but last I heard or read, and I have not kept up with it for some years now, only females could be cloned. Something may have developed that makes that no longer so.

But as of now, the image of armies of tens of thousands of cloned men, all identical and raring to kill or die?

No way, Jose. All clones must spend 9 months in some woman's womb and be born. You are not going to be able to impregnate tens of thousands of willing women and then, what? Take their babies from them at birth? Have them raise them and then collect them all at age 18? And, as I said, unless things have changed, your army must be all female.

The bad part, the sad part, is that millions upon millions of people really, really believe clones are a threat to the human race!

http://io9.com/5215921/scientists-discover-all+female-ant-species-that-reproduces-by-cloning

Steph · « **Reply #3692 on:** September 30, 2012, 08:17:49 AM »

I love Stewart O'Nan and will look for the book to see what is coming for me..I have read most of his books . Some of them are truly remarkable in how he looks at things.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3693 on:** September 30, 2012, 09:37:02 AM »

Interesting information Marypage. I haven't kept up with the "clone wars". The info just brings up my question, again, why do men think (and women often let them) they are superior to women?

marjifay · « **Reply #3694 on:** September 30, 2012, 11:55:20 AM »

Frybabe wrote, "The info just brings up my question, again, why do men think (and women often let them) they are superior to women?"

I don't think this is true any more after the feminine revolution of the 1960s and 70s, do you?.

All this talk about clones reminded me of the novel THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL by Ira Levin (Rosemary's Baby), where Josef Mengele, living in Paraguay, has hatched an evil plot to revive the Third Reich. He has cloned Hitler 94 times using young mothers and older fathers, the same as Hitler's family. Made into a 1978 movie with Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier.

Marj

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #3695 on:** September 30, 2012, 12:39:59 PM »

Quote from: bellemere on September 29, 2012, 01:13:52 PM

Yes, I think avant garde pretty much describes Cloud Atlas. But I need a little stretsh once in a while. My next project is to reread some of my great Graham Greene books acquired over the years and pick one for my bext Book Club recommendation.,,By the way , all but twomembers liked AK and we had a fantastic discussion of family, class and society, aompasstion and forgiveness, jealousy, love, and faith. One member wished we had devoted two nights to discuiion.

What was "AK"?

MaryPage · « **Reply #3696 on:** September 30, 2012, 01:50:01 PM »

Now living out my 84th year, I believe a great many men, most especially those in power positions and politics and those who have recently immigrated to this country, DO think men are superior to women.

The latter believe this with every fibre of their being because it is deeply embedded in the culture they were raised in.

The former, ditto. Locker room talk, golf course talk, pub and bar talk, all these reinforce their Me Tarzan, You Jane mindset.

Also, their knowing nothing of the workings of the female body lends them to believe we are the "weaker" sex and not fit for a management job or something that takes analytical thinking. We are just containers in which to grow babies from their sperm.

Ah, if only they could all menstruate and get pregnant for just one year; wow, would we see a change of attitude!

Just my sincere opinion, folks. No insult meant. Well, mebbe a teeny bit to the guys I am describing.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3697 on:** September 30, 2012, 02:39:51 PM »

Yep, that is the excuse the RC Church uses that goes back to Aristotle and his two thesis - one on nature and the other on motion - He says change cannot take place without motion and he devotes much of his second thesis explaining the value of motion versus passivity - without movement there is no life change - Aristotle uses the allegory of a house that can only exist if there were builders building - the church saw the theory as the egg being passive therefore, all glory goes to the Sperm and from that the justification that all power goes to those who have the 'building parts and skill'

towards producing life. To my way of thinking they were only keeping on keeping on with the power traditions of the ancients - it is hard for the powerful to share power...

The encyclical explaining the 'modern' church position was written by Pope Leo XIII - I remember it took a ton of research to find the crux of their argument when I was looking at the rational for Pope Paul not allowing the commission on Population, Family and Birth Control to be included in Vatican II.

JeanneP · « **Reply #3698 on:** September 30, 2012, 03:25:39 PM »

No saying what will be being done in the future regarding Human Births.
I am amazed even now what can be done. My Granddaughter had twins. 3 more of her friends all had (Sorority sisters) either twins or triplets. All Invetro Now women having 8 births at a time. Just not natural to me. One girl in next town over had 5 babies and something wrong with each of them.
What Joseph Medler the German was still experimenting in Brazil for years. Lot of things done today come from his experiments.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #3699 on:** September 30, 2012, 03:45:40 PM »

Quote from: MaryPage on September 30, 2012, 01:50:01 PM

Now living out my 84th year, I believe a great many men, most especially those in power positions and politics and those who have recently immigrated to this country, DO think men are superior to women.

The latter believe this with every fibre of their being because it is deeply embedded in the culture they were raised in.

The former, ditto. Locker room talk, golf course talk, pub and bar talk, all these reinforce their Me Tarzan, You Jane mindset.

Also, their knowing nothing of the workings of the female body lends them to believe we are the "weaker" sex and not fit for a management job or something that takes analytical thinking. We are just containers in which to grow babies from their sperm.

Ah, if only they could all menstruate and get pregnant for just one year; wow, would we see a change of attitude!

Just my sincere opinion, folks. No insult meant. Well, mebbe a teeny bit to the guys I am describing.

Just watched the lovely British movie, "Made in Dagenham" which addresses your points very well, MP.

marjifay · « **Reply #3700 on:** September 30, 2012, 04:16:43 PM »

Bellemere wrote, "My next project is to reread some of my great Graham Greene books acquired over the years and pick one for my bext Book Club recommendation."

I read Graham Greene's THE HEART OF THE MATTER not long ago . Interesting book. An English police officer works in a British colony on the coast of west Africa. He is married, but has an affair with another woman, and a good part of the last half is the story of his guilt and fears of eternal damnation because he continues to carry on the affair. I haven't read a biography of Greene -- wonder if he had the same fears.

Now I want to read his THE FALLEN IDOL. I watched the movie on Turner Classic Movies made from the book the other night. Got in on the middle and turned it off before the ending, as I wanted to see it from the beginning (available from Netflix). Think I'll see the movie first (a very good 1948 thriller with Ralph Richardson and Michele Morgan). then read the book. IMDB says it's director Carol Reed's reflection on moral ambiguity and it earned him an Oscar for best director.

bellemere · « **Reply #3701 on:** September 30, 2012, 08:01:13 PM »

Yes, moral ambiguity forms the fulcrum for most of Greene's
"tortured conscience novels. they always involve a mystery,not a "whdunit" but a "what is going to happen:"
Almost all of his books have been made into great moviews. the ilm of The Heart of the Matter had a wonderful performance by Trevor Howard, and also by Maria Schel, but they completely changed the ending. Have you read The Power and the Glory?

Steph · « **Reply #3702 on:** October 01, 2012, 08:49:13 AM »

I liked Greene years ago, but as I recall, I got tired of his total disregard for the female half of the species.

Babi · « **Reply #3703 on:** October 01, 2012, 08:51:34 AM »

MARYPAGE, I suspect the men of power notion of superiority applies to more than just
women. They probably consider themselves superior to the average man, as well. That
would apply to the 'macho male' syndrome as well. It's more an ego thing than gender
with them, IMO.
Those with a cultural bias, you're right, have the concept engrained. With luck, that
will change with their children and grandchildren raised here.

marjifay · « **Reply #3704 on:** October 01, 2012, 10:50:30 AM »

No, Bellemere, I haven't read The Power and the Glory. Have it on my TBR list tho' (along with a zillion other books, LOL)

Thanks for mentioning that The Heart of the Matter was made into a good film. I'll look for it.

Marj

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3705 on:** October 01, 2012, 04:10:23 PM »

In the 90s, when the board members of The Alice Paul Institute ( AP was the MLK of the women's suffrage movement, organized a 5000 person parade in D.C. in 1917, and organized the first ever picketers of the White House, lobbied congress for the 19th Amendment and wrote the Equal Rights Amendment. They were arrested, jailed, went on hunger strikes and were force fed. Her homestead is a few miles from our house and is now a Natl Historic Landmark, thanks to the work of API), went to some male lawyers and bankers for advice and loans to buy her homestead, we got these comments: "How do you and your little group of women expect to make this happen?" From another man, "if we were talking about someone important, like Tho Jefferson, i could see you reaching your goal." sexism is alive and well, even after the 70s.

Oh yeah, we bought the property, paid off the mortgage in 10 yrs and raised money for a substantial restoration of the house. It is a center for teaching leadership skills for women and girls and for keeping AP's and other women's history alive. Here's the website

http://www.alicepaul.org/

Jean

Steph · « **Reply #3706 on:** October 02, 2012, 08:20:37 AM »

Rain rain..ugh and then add into the mix wet leaves by the thousand..and my driveway is a car trap.. I did the fishtail dance last night and was not a happy camper.
I found a Jane Smiley I had not read and was thrilled. I like her stuff..

maryz · « **Reply #3707 on:** October 02, 2012, 08:27:19 AM »

Careful,Steph! Wet leaves are extremely dangerous, as you've found out.

Steph · « **Reply #3708 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:37:42 AM »

wet Leaves on a vertical drive are truly scary, then I discovered that IHad several large limbs also at the bottem of the drive.. Boo.. Yesterday was learn to cast off day in knitting and I never did get to read more than a few pages of my books..

Babi · « **Reply #3709 on:** October 03, 2012, 09:50:39 AM »

Oh, JEAN, do invite those two gentlemen to come see what your 'little group of women' have
accomplished. Be sure and tell them you paid off the mortgage in 10 years. Oh, yes, and I
hope you can also tell them you found more progressive lawyers/bankers to handle your thriving
affairs!

Hope you have a rake handy, STEPH. Better to rake wet leaves than slide on them.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3710 on:** October 03, 2012, 10:14:40 AM »

In the area of what we were discussing about the role of women in society previously, I saw the MOST wonderful documentary on PBS last night which was made from a book by the same name:

HALF THE SKY

Oh my gosh, it was so scary and so powerful. George Clooney and a lot of movie stars put in money and appearances to make this film become possible. You will sob and you will be enraged and you will be uplifted by the efforts and abilities of OUR SEX! Go Women!

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/10/01/pbs-half-the-sky-meg-ryan-diane-lane-america-ferrera/

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3711 on:** October 03, 2012, 02:46:17 PM »

My posting yesterday on Facebook........

Dreary, misty, damp day. Perfect day for wasting time looking thru my knitting and crocheting sites, patterns, stitches, blogs. Organizing them all, i luv organizing things. And the great thing abt retirement is i dont feel the least bit guilty abt wasting those hours! What fun!

maryz · « **Reply #3712 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:03:41 PM »

I used to have a tag line that said something to the effect that time spent doing something you enjoy is not being wasted.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #3713 on:** October 03, 2012, 06:57:48 PM »

Yes, Mary, i remember that....

bellemere · « **Reply #3714 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:23:05 PM »

I am midway through Cloud Atlas, the world has been destroyed, is rying to rebuild itself up again, and nto doing very well. Too sci-fi for this reader, and more violent than I expected. But some really clever coined words in the new society: the film archive is the Disneyarium; "facescaping" is estreme plsatic surgery on the face; abd, oh, yes Mary Page the clones come from wombtanks on the fabricant Farms. I guess I will finish it, just to see how he gets all the way back to New Zealand.
Cuttung down perennials today, leaving the sedum because I like the little snow towers that form on them in the winter. Thinking of all the work of eividing I should do next spring.

MaryPage · « **Reply #3715 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:57:19 PM »

When I was in my twenties and thirties, I adored Science Fiction and read all of the greats of the time.

Tastes change, and now I cannot abide Science Fiction. Don't know why.

Come to think on it, I enjoyed scary horror films back then, as well. And now I simply will not watch them.

Part of this may be because my body is so much frailer and my heart and mind cannot withstand the fears these genre inspire.

Steph · « **Reply #3716 on:** October 04, 2012, 08:39:37 AM »

I love the genre of science fiction known as fantasy or alternate worlds. Building a believable world.. i.e. Anne McCaffrey, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Robert Heinlin,etc is a passion of mine.

jane · « **Reply #3717 on:** October 04, 2012, 09:33:59 AM »

I know that in retirement I much prefer one or two genres over others. For most of my working life, I had to read "classics," and I'm sick to death of them. I guess there are more genres of books, TV shows, etc. I don't " do" than I do "do. " (What a goofy sentence!) And, isn't that the beauty of having a rich field to choose from...or, in the case of TV, which doesn't, TO ME, seem to have a field of choice at all, an OFF button. I get annoyed with some book sites, (NOT SL) I go to where people end up with a thread on "Survivors" this or that or "Dancing with the Stars." PLEASE! What on earth do either of those (though I admit freely I don't watch those programs), have to do with the current crop of books out? Oh, well, easy to sail right over those posts.

jane

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #3718 on:** October 04, 2012, 11:31:24 AM »

Jane your post got me thinking - I wonder if it has to do with our not asking ourselves what we want from a book or TV show - what is the story and the way we hear the story supposed to do for us - make us feel a certain way and if so what way - allow us to think or be surprised or take us out of our everyday sameness or be amazed because of the skill of the author to tell the story - we put an emphasis on the idea a book is a page turner - what is that saying - what is it that makes us feel we need to know what happens next - do we care about how intricate biology happens so that kind of book is a page turner or the life of someone lived in one industry versus another.

I thought it was fascinating reading the feedback my grandson requested for his Business class at UNC from 6 people who know him well. Three were family members, a high school coach, paster and family adult friend. We had to share two stories of a time in his life when we thought he acted in a way that brought value to the situation and one story when he did not bring value to the situation.

To a person we all ended up sharing without being conscious of what we were doing values that we not only admire but the feedback could have been a profile of each of us that we saw reflected and admired or didn't in my grandson.

Now I am wondering if that is what we do choosing a book to read - we want situations or characters that actually reflect ourselves because it is a key to who we are but more, we can relate more easily to their dilemma - there is always the conflict or dilemma - and so the older we get the better we get to know ourselves and I wonder if that affects the books we want to read or the TV shows that appeal enough to watch.

JoanP · « **Reply #3719 on:** October 04, 2012, 01:19:48 PM »

Two brief announcements for the Fiction bulletin board...

1. This week we are discussing the first Act of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Plenty of time for you to catch up if you had been intending to join the October Book Club Online discussion.

2. The Nominations for the November group discussion can be found in the heading of the Suggestion Box There are some goldne oldies nominated - as well as some new ones. The titles in the heading are all linked to reviews in case you haven't heard of them.
Keep in mind too that the Nominations are still open for a few more days. We'd love to hear from you about a book you'd like to discuss with a group.

News:

Author Topic: Fiction ~ Old ~ New ~ Best Sellers #2 (Read 774926 times)