Published: 2003
Rating: 4
Goodreads
A gritty, unflinching and searing memoir by writer James Brown of his dysfunctional family; the suicides of his only siblings, an older brother Barry and older sister Marilyn; and his own intense addiction to drugs and alcohol.
The prose of Brown's heartbreaking story is strong, clear and cutting as he describes unspeakable sorrows. But there is humor as well. The account of the show-down between himself and Daisy, his wife's pot-bellied pig, is hilarious.
A quick but unforgettable read.
Published: 2011
Rating: 5
Goodreads
This enjoyable 62 page ibook was read in one night. Patchett comes across as a refreshingly folksy, down-to-earth, self-depreciating and humble author; despite winning the prestigious 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner award for Bel Canto. I have yet to read her novels such as Run, The Magician's Assistant and new novel, State of Wonder; however, I did read her poignant memoir, Truth and Beauty, which recounts her friendship with poet and writer Lucy Grealy, author of Autobiography of a Face.
Words of wisdom from her own writing life:
I would say that a deep, early love of poetry should be mandatory for all writers. A close examination of language did me nothing but good.
Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means that to get to the art, you must master the craft. If you want to write, practice writing.
Over the years I've come to realize that I write the book I want to read, the one I can't find anywhere.
What I like about the job of being a novelist, and at the same time what I find so exhausting about it, is that it's the closest thing to being God that you're ever going to get. All the decisions are yours. You decide when the sun comes up. You decide who gets to fall in love and who gets hit by a car. You have to make all the leaves and all the trees and then sew the leaves onto the trees. You make the entire world.
Published: 1622
Rating: 4
Goodreads
Named for the unsuspecting and gullible hero Othello, Shakespeare's play is really about Iago; a most sinister, manipulative, back-stabbing, devious villain.
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Rating:5
Great Course link
Loved it - see this post.
Published: 1964
Rating: 4
Goodreads
Hemingway has been on my list of "to read" authors for a long time. I've always looked for this book during library sales or at used bookstores with no luck. So when it was on a carousel titled "Living in Paris" at my local library, I snatched it up. It is a quick and interesting read about a literary expat's life in Paris after WWI.
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Originally published: 429 BC
Bantam Classic Edition: 1982
Rating: 4
Goodreads
I agree completely with this synopsis in the introduction by Moses Hades: "Oedipus is a masterful play; but what gives it conviction and force is that plot and characterization combine in mutual support to produce the overwhelming tragic power which is the essence of the drama. The construction is flawless. Each new episode flows naturally out of what has gone before, and each is made plausible by the character of its participants."
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Published: 442 BC
Bantam Classic Edition: 1982
Rating: 4
Goodreads
Antigone is a tragedy whereby two people acting on their convictions; Creon, King of Thebes and Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, clash - with devastating consequences.
The king refuses to grant one of her brothers a proper burial saying, "Polyneices....leave him unburied, a corpse for birds and dogs to eat, a ghastly sight of shame." Antigone solicits the help of her sister to bury their brother but Ismene will not defy the King's decree: "Nay, we must remember, first, that we were born women who should not strive with men; next that we are ruled of the stronger, so that we must obey in these things, and in things still harder."
Antigone's heroic response: "Be what you will, I will bury him: well for me to die in doing so. I shall rest, a loved one whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living, for in that world I shall abide forever."
By the end of the tragedy Creon is devastated by three needless suicides; prompting this warning from the chorus:
Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness, and reverence for the gods must be inviolate. Great words of prideful men are ever punished with great blows, and, in old age, teach the chastened to be wise.
Published: 19 BC
Rating: 5
Goodreads
Reading The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer and The Aeneid by Virgil has been a fascinating education in ancient Greek and Roman culture and mythology.
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