Hi Kambrogi,

I found your review of Dhalgren stimulating and gave it a thumbs up. I read the book a long time ago (mid-70s?) - as a lumpen-escapist sci-fi fan. I remember liking parts of it a lot - the armageddon cityscape for example - and not understanding the rest. Now that I have bit more of a taste for postmodernism, I think I'll revisit it.

Have you read Norman Spinrad's Child of Fortune? It's been some twenty years since I have, but I remember it as a similarly unique piece of sci-fi. The reviews at Amazon provide a good impression of the work. Actually, I'm about to revisit that book, too.

postet av Ganeshaka kl. 2:46 pm (EST) den Jul 23, 2008

Yes, though I haven't quit my day job. I have a freelance writing and editing business, and I receive a regular paycheck for managing a small publishing office. Someday, I hope to have enough freelance work to allow me to quit the day job and just do what I enjoy. I read on your profile that you are a writer. What do you write?

postet av awriteword kl. 12:26 pm (EST) den May 9, 2008

That's awesome! Thanks so much for the recommendations. I will definitely be picking them up. I'll let you know what I think when I finish them :) I have very ecclectic tastes, so I am sure that I will enjoy your list. For me, as long as the writing is quality, I can dip into pretty much any subject or genre. I only have a tiny fraction of my library up right now. I am waiting on my cuecat to arrive to speed up the process :) Thanks again for your recommendations--I can't wait to get started on them!

postet av awriteword kl. 10:01 am (EST) den May 7, 2008

No, I haven't read much other Indian, Indian-inspired or Indian immigrant fiction, but I would love to get some recommendations if you have any. I am a big bollywood movie fan and I am beginning to take an interest in the country's history too, so if you have some favorites, please let me know. I'll definitely pick them up :)

postet av awriteword kl. 3:57 pm (EST) den May 6, 2008

Thanks for the compliment! I just picked up a biography by Vikram Seth, but I haven't started it yet. I love the lyricism of his prose though, and I am hoping that this one has that style as well :) Great to meet another who is undaunted by a book that weighs about 15 pounds!

postet av awriteword kl. 12:12 pm (EST) den May 5, 2008

Hi again, and thank you for your recommendations. I have added the Fadiman book to my growing list of books to buy at used bookstores and library sales. Children of God is already on that list. I will definitely be checking out the 50 Book Challenge group as well. Last year I read 72 books. Time to get a life! ~Donna~

postet av Donna828 kl. 10:47 am (EST) den Apr 1, 2008

Hello...I've added you to my interesting libraries list. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your reviews. I am attempting to review every book I read, and it is tough. Really makes one stop and analyze the reaction to a book. Loved how you compared Ex Libris to an empty box of chocolates when you finished it. That is one of my frequent rereads. ~Donna~

postet av Donna828 kl. 9:19 am (EST) den Mar 31, 2008

Wow! I see the button worked, hooray!! Also, not surprising, we have a lot of the same books on our wish lists.

T.

postet av teelgee kl. 3:14 pm (EST) den Jan 17, 2008

Ooops, forgot--filming vultures is easy, believe me! They don't move very fast. Worst I've ever attempted is to film monkeys and dolphins. I have a lot of footage of empty trees and empty water! :-)

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 11:20 am (EST) den Jan 15, 2008

Hi, Kathi!
Thanks for the comment about The Alchemist. and even if it were a perfect translation, you may still have found the book thin--as I mentioned, I'm not a particular fan of the philosophy myself.

Yes, I do speak and read Portuguese, having spent a great deal of time in Brasil living with poor and marginalized people. Howsomever, I can't hold a candle to your experience in living in 10 different countries! I think that's terrific! Which ones did you live in? Why are you back in the US now--a break? For good? I'm afraid I have infinite curiosity when it comes to the topic of Americans choosing to live abroad, particularly women.

Joyce

postet av Joycepa kl. 11:17 am (EST) den Jan 15, 2008

I've gone casual on my profile picture! I just couldn't bear the thought of LTers picturing me all be-suited ... :-)

postet av lindsacl kl. 8:34 am (EST) den Oct 29, 2007

Sorry for my tardy response. I am new to librarything (as you noted) and didn't even realize I had a message posted until this evening. It is nice to make a connection with someone with whom I share so many book preferences! I am going to browse your list for ideas. . .

postet av lisaantioch kl. 8:51 pm (EST) den Oct 4, 2007

Hi Kathi

Thanks for your comment about my wishlist, it is a cool format, although I cant take any credit for that.
The credit belongs to another bookcrosser, cliff1976. It is linked to a bookcrosser's bookshelf and you can do a search on a book that you might like to share with someone to fullfill a wish.
Enables bookcrossers to do RABCK or "Random Acts of Book Crossing Kindness"!

:-)

Cheers
kim

postet av KimB kl. 2:31 am (EST) den Oct 1, 2007

Kathi, I am excited for you (and us, the reading world) re your book:-) Lois

postet av avaland kl. 1:36 pm (EST) den Aug 22, 2007

Kathi - I think you hit the nail on the head regarding Dorothy Allison's anger. She *does* write beautifully - and I think the anger WE feel is partly HER anger filtering through. The problem with the book for me was it was too real - far too often kids are being horribly abused and there are plenty of adults that see it, but do nothing to stop it. Allison's book was just so frustrating because we see the damage, and we watch the mother just continue on her merry way to get her own needs met with NO regard for the needs of her child. If this novel were to continue on into the future, we would then be watching this child continuing the cycle of abuse with her own kids. Arghhhhhhhh!

postet av writestuff kl. 12:58 pm (EST) den Aug 22, 2007

Kathi - I also loved Fall On Your Knees ... in that book I felt like the sensitive subject matter was handled beautifully. I gave The Bone People a high rating ...more for the beautiful writing than for the story itself which (as you say) was frustrating. I think in that book, however, we were seeing huge cultural differences in how child abuse is viewed. My biggest problem with Bastard out of Carolina was that it was occurring in the USA where our culture is less tolerant...and yet NO ONE seemed to want to rescue this kid! Someone told me that the novel is actually fairly autobiographical and her novel Trash is even more graphic. I think I'll skip it.

postet av writestuff kl. 12:16 pm (EST) den Aug 22, 2007

Hi,

Your review of Spud confirmed my suspicions about the book. I probably would have ended up buying it if I hadn't read your review before I went shopping yesterday. Thanks for saving me some money. ;=)

Isabel

postet av izzybee kl. 2:38 am (EST) den Aug 13, 2007

Kathi
I've nominated September 1 as the start date for The Lizard Cage discussion. If you can't read it before then, don't read the discussion because it is a really good book and you won't want any spoilers.
Amanda

postet av amandameale kl. 9:03 am (EST) den Aug 11, 2007

This is my other March post in the Holocaust thread that lists some books I recommend.
I'd like to recommend some books and films that I have found enlightening, moving and important.
Memoirs/Testimony:
Night by Elie Wiesel-There is a new translation by his wife out now
An Interrupted Life by Etty Hillesum - a diary of a dutch woman who was taken
Sala's Gift by Anne Kirschner- the story of a woman's mother who lived through the holocaust
The Lost A Search for Six of the Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn- the search for the remnants of the family that were not able to escape to America in time
History/Documentary:
The War Against the Jews by Lucy Davidowicz
Shoah by Claude Lanzmann (Also a Film)
Films:
Escape from Sobibor , Based on true story- with Alan Arkin
Europa, Europa, Based on True story. in German with Julie Delpy
Judgement at Nurenberg- with Spencer Tracy and marlene Dietrich
The Last Metro , in French -with Catherine Deneuve
The Blood of Others, in French- by Simone de Beauvoir
Fiction:
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally, also a film ,based on a true story about a businessman who took jews to work in his factory, and then saved them from the concentration camps - with Liam Neeson
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kozinski, Novel - abook about a little boy who was sent to live with Polish peasants to escape capture
The Journey by Ida Fink , Novel about a girl and her sister, disguised as gentiles, who went to germany as laborers to avoid capture
Traces by Ida Fink, short stories
A Scrap of Time by Ida Fink , Short Stories
Babi Yar by Kuznetsov, , Semi-documentary novel- about the pit in russia where thousands of jews were dumped after they were shot.
Generatons of Winter by Vasily Aksyonov , Novel
the Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani , Novel and also a film
Poetry:
Oh the Chimmneys by Nelly Sachs, won Nobel Prize
Poems by Paul Celan
Complete Poems by Czeslaw Milosz, Won Nobel Prize

postet av almigwin kl. 1:21 pm (EST) den Aug 7, 2007

Kathi- This was posted in the holocaust thread, and I thought you might be interested since you mentioned MausI and II.
March post:
I just got a copy of Bitter Prerequisites by the historian Wm. Laird Kleine-Ahlbrandt.These survivors were all members of the Purdue University faculty community, and agreed to be interviewed about their escapes from the areas controlled by the third reich. I lived in that community, and knew one of the survivors personally in the fifties.

The stories are hair-raising, and touching, and true. The survivor I knew had to cross Russia to come to the United States because the Adriatic was closed.

One family posed as Polish aristocrats - (They were blonde, and the mother was sexy),

One woman survived Auschwitz.

The book has amazing stories of bravery, enormous human and material loss, righteous gentiles, luck, suffering, and triumph.

These survivors were extremely intelligent and articulate, and the writer was both sympathetic and scholarly. It is an unusual and wonderful book.
Message edited by its author, Mar 31, 2007, 5:07am.

postet av almigwin kl. 1:10 pm (EST) den Aug 7, 2007

Kathi - I adored the Brothers K - but I'd read a grocery list if D.J. Duncan wrote it. I love his writing. I thought it was brilliant - loved the character development and the way you could see his first person character mature through the writing style. It was definitely a 'boys' kind of book, but so full of poignancy and humor and love. Of course, hailing from the Northwest, I also loved the geography of the novel.

Have you read any of his nonfiction? His most recent book of essays, God Laughs and Plays, is stunning.

postet av teelgee kl. 1:33 pm (EST) den Aug 2, 2007

Hi again KAthi,

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you are settling in - a huge pain to move.

You can 'get' your own map by just clicking on the right side of the map on my page - where it says get your own map!!! I got it off another LT page.

I am half way through Sophie's Choice - it is excellent. The only criticism so far may be that the writer needs to tone down his sexual frustrations and fantasies and realize it can be distracting. I know he is trying to explore issues of attraction to Sophie, but it is a tad overdone. His writing is superlative.

Nice to meet you.

Karen

postet av kiwidoc kl. 7:48 pm (EST) den Jul 24, 2007

Actually, you may have told us in the Red Room how you came to be there...I'm a little dizzy with Red Room posts, so I apologize in advance if I'm making you repeat yourself!

postet av avaland kl. 7:09 pm (EST) den Jun 22, 2007

Thanks for checking out my library, you also have a lovely collection. You are quite the global lady! How do you come to live in South Africa now? I would love to visit parts of Africa one day. Sigh. I will have to content myself with visiting it in books for the time being. Best, Lois

postet av avaland kl. 7:08 pm (EST) den Jun 22, 2007

I think it was in your profile, or maybe you mentioned it in a thread thingy. It just caught my eye since it has always been a secret dream of mine.
Not sure how I would handle primitive conditions though. I am not camping with my boyfriend next weekend, because his camper is filthy. If he hasn't cleaned the stove in five years, I am not even going to open the bathroom door.
I normally like to camp, and I don't mind honest dirt, but not nasty. So maybe it will just remain one of lifes unfulfilled dreams.

postet av mydomino1978 kl. 6:54 pm (EST) den Jun 8, 2007

I am a physical therapy assistant on an Indian Reservation right now. I used to do that for the Army and for the Air Force also. Inbetween I went to nursing school for a couple of years, and I need 9 hours to finish a biology degree. I worked in managed care for about 12 years - which qualifies me to be nothing but a bad person, which is why I left it.
I have a few years left before my last child is ready to leave, so I can take my time thinking about it.

postet av mydomino1978 kl. 10:47 am (EST) den Jun 5, 2007

I am fascinated that you were in the Peace Corps. I was thinking of doing that in my late 20's, getting a divorce and doing it, but I got pregnant, stayed married etc.
I am on my own now and have thought that I might consider it when I retire in a few years.
Please could you tell me about it?

postet av mydomino1978 kl. 1:27 pm (EST) den May 30, 2007

Oh! I forgot you asked about livejournal. It's a blogging site completely separate from librarything. Mine is mostly about books these days and can be found at http://cestovatela.livejournal.com

postet av cestovatela kl. 7:01 am (EST) den May 17, 2007

It's so hard to choose a list of favorites. Even though, as you pointed out, I don't rave about books I love, I do love quite a lot of them. This is probably going to be a random sample from my 4.5 and 5 star books:

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joann Harris, for its incredible characterization and complexity, and most of all, for having a dark beginning that works its way to a hopeful ending without oversimplification.

Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf has a very challenging writing style, but somehow it seems to capture all the significant and insignificant moments that make up life.

Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Because nobody writes complex, believable characters better than Ishiguro. His books are so subtle and poignant and they really have something to say about how to live life.

Lamb by Christopher Moore, for telling the story of Christ's forgotten childhood pal in a funny, irreverant way but still adding something poignant to the relationships and respecting the spirit of Christianity.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck for its simple, beautiful prose and an ending that felt just right.

I could actually choose a lot more than 5, but then I would be typing all night! Really, anything that I gave 4.5 or 5 stars I really love. They're all books that stuck with me.

I'm glad you enjoyed reading the reviews! Which book did you decide you just had to buy?

postet av cestovatela kl. 6:59 am (EST) den May 17, 2007

Thanks for the comments! I'm absolutely brimming over with questions about our apparently very similar lives. Which part of OK did you live in? And which stan? I'm from the Tulsa area and spent my summer wandering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan plus the part of China once known as Turkistan.

As for the reviews, I actually started them when I was new to LT and didn't understand what the comment field was for. I'm a pretty dedicated reviewer because I hate looking at my bookshelves and finding that I can't remember what I read or what I liked about a book. I put reviews for all my books in livejournal, so it's pretty easy to copy them over here.

You'll have to give me some thinking time before I can answer which books are really my favorite -- there are so many I've loved.

postet av cestovatela kl. 3:38 am (EST) den May 16, 2007

I really enjoyed reading your reviews in the 50 book challenge community. You're so good about "reading outside your comfort zone." When friends give me detective novels, I guiltily trade them in at the used bookstore...

postet av cestovatela kl. 1:04 pm (EST) den May 14, 2007

Thanks for finding me... we do share quite a few books and tend to rate them similarly. I'm always happy to find another source for good book recommendations.

Interesting that you point out several South African books. I have a woman from South Africa in my book group, so that has been a source of deeper and personal experience when we read a SA book. I've quite enjoyed a number of them. In general, one of my favorite kinds of books are ones where you visit a culture and become part of their world. I guess the same approach applies to the adventure/"on the ice" books that you comment about. I haven't yet read South, but given your recommendation, will add it to the always growing "list".

I'm reading a book now that I quite like.. A Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb. Takes place in both England and Ethiopia - I'd summarize, but it would be too simplistic and trite. You might want to take a look.

postet av asawyer kl. 12:31 am (EST) den Mar 28, 2007

thanks for stopping by and commenting. my interests in african-american literature are toni morrison, alice walker, and maya angelou. i also loved my antonia by willa cather and richard wright's books. i took an african-american lit class in college that introduced me to these writers. wish i could go back and take another class now!

postet av amanaceerdh kl. 9:34 am (EST) den Mar 13, 2007

Hi back to you!
To answer your question, no, our libraries are separate. If you wish to take a look at his, look for 'chapinlibrary', his LT identity.
Our tastes are very different, and he reads much more history and non fiction than I do. At times we find books of common interest, but very rarely (and thank God for that, so we are not going to fight whenever we go to library sales and such).
South Africa....it must be VERY interesting! It certainly is a country I would love to visit in a not too distant future. Australia is as far as I got, and I loved it (as you can see from my not few Aussie books).
I see with pleasure that you own Possession by A.S.Byatt. What do you think of it? If not the favourite, it certainly is one of my favourite books. When I read it I was literally mesmerized by her use of the language. Great writer!
Great talking to you! Your comments will be welcome any time.

Paola :-))

postet av aluvalibri kl. 10:11 am (EST) den Mar 12, 2007

Welcome to LT!!!!

Paola :-))

postet av aluvalibri kl. 8:14 am (EST) den Mar 12, 2007