Christine
I enjoyed the first quarter of this book. Then I unhappily came across the Goodreads discussion of the author's controversial genesis for the story, something I wish I didn't know. Having to wrestle with the whole question of “cancelling” art or artists took much of the pleasure out of it. (I had just finished Monsters, a Fan's Dilemma, so I guess it was good timing?) In any case, I took a break, and then returned .... and decided I just had to skim to the end because I was getting a bit stressed out overall – not wanting bad things to happen to the child-characters – and trying to put the author out of my mind. The story itself is funny and playful, a sort of Harry Potter story of extraordinary children whose existence threatens the ordinary adult powers that be. It reads like a Young Adult or Youth story. I listened, which was nice.
This is a LONG novel that transports readers to Australia for a murder mystery and mother-daughter tribulation saga. I enjoyed it a lot, but I agree with the reviewers here who commented that it dragged for the first 2/3 or 3/4. I think it could have used some better editing. It was entertaining, definitely plot driven – but with good attention to the character's motivations and struggles, and intriguing/surprising at the end (for me, anyway). There was a character who I thought I liked at the outset, and then I didn't by the end. And there was one who I thought I didn't, and then I did. Morton is an effective story teller, and I'd like to try another one of her novels sometime when I need an easy-ish escape.
I'm grateful for the Goodreads community as I think about this book. I agree with many of the criticisms, but I think that the strong reactions indicate that it was thought provoking and powerful enough to generate smart responses. The author captures the 90s well, particularly the boarding school bubbles. But I did feel that the mystery and the political statements around MeToo competed with — rather than complimented — each other. Still, it's an impressive feat to explore both effectively, which she did. Having just finished her previous book about the AIDS crisis, I didn't enjoy the character development here nearly as much and found the protagonist kind of annoying. But I do recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a mystery kind of like Gone Girl, but with the historical setting as a character and also explicit social commentary about gender, abuse, and racial injustice
As an admirer of Drew Faust and her work, I was eager to jump into this memoir, which is getting lots of good press. I learned much about her background, and I'm even more impressed with her. I was disappointed that it ended with the 1960s, as I would have been especially interested to read about her life and work in academia. Maybe there will be another volume. I appreciated the way that she turns an historian's eye on her own story, and I was inspired by her use of her old family letters. As I process my own, I would be interested in her approach.
I was too impatient for this book; maybe it would have been better for me to listen. It reads like an extended and reflective memoir wherein the author and/or the narrator is processing the death of her complicated, vibrant, and differently-abled mother. I appreciated her insights and candor, but right now, I need a bit more plot and distraction from my fiction. Like some reviewers here, I found the mystery around whether this is memoir or fiction or auto-fiction kind of distracting. Still, I recommend this for anyone who has a bit more patience in their reading or listening, and is interested in thinking about memory, grief, motherhood/daughterhood, and writing. The author/narrator is a writer who describes the craft with authority and sympathy.
I read this for my book club, and despite feeling really bogged down for the first half, I am glad that I was asked to read this. I wasn't familiar with Richard Ford, and I gather there is buzz about his latest installment which is coming out now. (or came out recently?) The novel takes place over the course of a weekend, and the detail (minute by minute) is astonishing and impressive. Ford is attentive and accurate. The dialog and interpersonal relationships, assumptions and everyday American despair and hope, are all captured masterfully.
However, it was a SLOW story, so anyone who likes to zip through a novel (as I do) may get frustrated. Also, the language (around race & gender & sexual orientation) is dated, which I found a bit disconcerting and unpleasant. Similarly, there is an unsolved crime that involves a black woman that I felt didn't get adequate attention in the book. Perhaps that will be addressed in a later sequel. The last lines of the book have me wondering (and eager to talk to my book club about it), and perhaps that will be explained in the sequel. It will be a while before I am ready to take on the next book, though. I also want to talk to my book club about the themes of independence, marriage, parenthood, social class mobility, race, and (casual?) violence throughout this book.
Also, I caught a few mistakes – or at least I found them to be oversights – including when he refers to a “chapter” of the Declaration of Independence and doesn't explain how he got a woman-friend to a hotel when he was going to miss her at a public meeting place, but no one had have a cell phone.
Still, the fact that I have so much to say, and I want to write it down for book club discussion, is an indication that this is an important book.
I read this partly for class material, and did find some good information here that I didn't know. I was especially taken with Grandin's discussion of NAFTA and the impact it had on Mexicans and American companies flooded into Mexico, displacing agricultural work there. This contributed a lot to illegal immigration to the US. I also appreciated the discussion of MLK's critique of the frontier narrative in America's Vietnam policies and war. Finally (and I see that this is in reverse chronological order), I liked the way that he framed the War of 1898 as a triumph of national (white) unity (which I knew) and Confederate memory-making & the Lost Cause (which I didn't fully grasp in detail until I read this). All in all, there is a lot of valuable material here. There were times when I felt that his underlying argument overwhelmed the story. He sees a stark choice for Americans know between barbarism & socialism, or at least social democracy.
I enjoyed this memoir, especially the parts about her life and feelings. A few sections felt a bit repetitive and dense with inspirational one-liners, but I did appreciate her enthusiasm, honesty, and impressive life story. I think that young people will especially benefit from reading about her early struggles and later triumphs. I loved listening to her read it, and I enjoyed when she spoke as her mother with her strong Nigerian accent. As a Peloton fan, it was fun for me to get a glimpse inside that world and to understand how Tunde became such a visible and loved leader there.
This was an entertaining read with an extensive cast of characters. I was listening and multi-tasking, so I had a hard time keeping track of who was who, especially for the first third or half of the book. I would have liked more Gwendolyn ... and the dog ... but I enjoyed other characters too, including the indomitable Nellie (a badass matriarch). The plot had good twists and turns, and I'd recommend this if someone wants a light historical fiction, with a bit of mystery, and a few spunky and smart women characters. (I was a bit underwhelmed with the ending, however.)
I thoroughly enjoyed this one — another listen. The beginning reminded me of Harry Potter, because she's so capably captures the innocence, vulnerability, and creativity of children. Later sections were a bit predictable at times, but I appreciated the characters as adults as much as when they were children. This is a particularly good book for people who like stories of England, World War II, the arts, and theater.
This is a meditative and unconventional novel. I appreciated the many gems of wisdom, and even took pictures of a few pages. The story was a bit slow at times, but I think that is part of the point. This is one that I could pick up from time to time, read a page or two, and feel a bit calmer and closer to the rest of humanity. It would be nice to discuss with friends to make sure that I didn't miss things, as that seems quite plausible.
While I appreciated reading the text, and being able to capture powerful sentences, the narrative may have gone more quickly if I had been listening.
I skimmed much of this because it was so chock-filled with details, history, etymology, and anecdote. I knew that I couldn't retain it all, but it's the sort of book that would be fun to come back to now and then or to use in a class (which is how I came to know about it – from a teacher friend). I appreciated the section on the N-word a lot, as well as the attention to how certain words have become less impactful over time. The author spells out the N-word, but also explains why he's made that choice. Throughout, I appreciated the humor and the history even though I breezed through some of the detailed evolution stories.
This is powerful. A friend and colleague I respect and love said that this is perhaps the most important book that she has read in many years. I can see why. I put off reading it a bit because I thought it would be depressing. It is, of course, but Desmond is impressive in his ability to marshal countless studies and personal anecdotes to make his compelling and accessible argument. I often stress to students that it is easy to sit in judgement of those in the past, but there are many ways that we are making choices that will make future students sit in judgement of us. Desmond suggests that we become “poverty abolitionists,” and I'm reminded of how I tell my students how “out there” abolitionists seemed to most 19th century Americans. Desmond's discussion of corporate practices and government policy is damning, but he asks us (those of us likely to buy, borrow, or read this book) to consider and cease our complicity. The last chapter does offer recommendations. I'll be eager to see the reviews and responses to this book.
This was an interesting listen. It wasn't what I expected, really, based on the reviews here, but I think that to say more would have spoiled the twists and turns. I appreciated the opportunity to read something by a French author, and I could see the French countryside and personalities. I did love the main character, and I was wanting her to have happiness and love. I would recommend this, but be prepared for a slow evolution.
Readers on the Louise Penny Facebook group recommended the Maisie Dobbs series to keep us occupied while we wait for the next installment from Three Pines. I didn't love the first book in this series, but then I saw a few people suggest that the first one isn't the best. I'm glad I tried this second one, and plan to keep going now. I listened to the story, and found it a fun distraction, well written, and historically interesting. Now I want to look up the history of the feathers. I do recommend for anyone who wants a fairly light, but intelligent murder mystery to occupy your mind.
A brilliant novel. Really impressive dialogue, story lines, character developments. As many have said, it's surprising that a book about gaming could hold my Gen-X attention so well, but Zevin made it work well. I will be thinking about these characters and some of her choices for a while, and I'm eager to discuss. The surprising event toward the end felt a bit forced to me, but it did serve her ultimate narrative arch. My other complaint is that it felt like such a downer so much of the time. But I do think the book is an outstanding achievement and I'll be recommending to others. Now I want to look at her other books.
I appreciated this examination of an area about which I know too little. The research here is astounding. She tells the stories with such detail of women who were banished from Paris – for “crimes” they did not commit (really, they were mostly guilty of being very poor) – and how they built lives eventually when they got to Louisiana around 1720.
My big takeaways are that the difficult origins in this area strongly resemble how I think about Jamestown – a mess of disease, violence, and poor support from England/France. I didn't realize how terrible the French colonies were here for their first couple of decades. Law was the Frenchman credited with/blamed for with directing the bleak settlement, but he was focused on growing tobacco, which never took off. Men in France wanted to sell French goods to the inhabitants, but they were too poor and desperate to buy the imports and they had little to export. The women – whom she restores to our narrative with such detail and surprising breadth and depth – usually married, had children, and (many) survived to old age, much longer than they probably would have in France.
I was curious about the history of Ship Island, where they had to stay for a while at the beginning. Sounds like a bad episode of “Naked and Afraid.” (p. 193 ish)
The main settlements she describes include Biloxi (grim!), Mobile (better – many resourceful women did well there, but a hurricane shifted the focus to New Orleans in 1722 (p. 242 ish), New Orleans (did better; I skimmed), and then parts further north to Illinois (where they grew wheat and benefited from bear oil!) Toward the end here she gets into more conflict and contact with the indigenous people, and I did find myself wondering why they weren't more present and important in the early parts of the book. She indicates that they were already largely diminished by disease. In this later section, I appreciated her discussion of the fate of the Natchez people in a French land grab and the conflict among indigenous people exacerbated by French-English conflicts (something I discuss in class & an AP theme).
By the end of the century, Napoleon was ready to let go of the colony, she says BEFORE the revolution in (today's) Haiti. (I teach that Haiti made him realize he couldn't maintain the region, but perhaps I should look into that.) After a century of difficulties – tobacco's flop there, slave uprisings, conflict with Native Americans, etc. – Napoleon made the LP sale.
I did wish for a bit more on the history of slavery in the region, as well as the indigenous people, but that wasn't the main point of the story. Overall, I learned a lot, and was struck by the level of detail and extensive research required to write this important and impressive book. I'm eager to read something else by her – perhaps her study of the ideas about Sappho.
(This is long because I wrote for my own teaching & lecture notes)
Entertaining Summer listen. Good characters. Some of the story set ups seemed unbelievable to me. A family like this (v educated and well to do) not getting therapy or discussing what happened ... for years? I suppose that happens.... Other points kind of unlikely too. Still thought provoking and interesting. It was pretty sad throughout, so I found my spirits flagging some.
I did know most of this from teaching experience and professional development efforts, but I appreciated how all the helpful information is pulled together here for students and instructors. I hope that those who need these tips and this knowledge will read and use it to improve learning, school, and teaching.