Carolyn's Comments

City of Glory

2007-06-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

Author...Beverly Swerling 465 pages

Just finished this book 15 minutes ago and am going to do this while it is still fresh in my mind. I loved this book which is no surprise to me since I also was captivated by another one of her books called City of Dreams. City of Glory picks up with the same families from City of Dreams so I would recommend you read City of Dreams first but it is not totally necessary. And I just discovered there is even an earlier book that I have not read but will be ordering.

The two I have read are about New York City from its first days thru about 1814. One of the families become apothecary's and the other doctors. The descriptions of the practice of medicine are brutal. In this latest book, the description of the procedure to remove kidney stones makes me ever so grateful for Hydrocodone and Lithotripsey. New York City has always been a hodgepodge of nationalities, religions and political upheaval and these books put you in touch with so much information about the early days. Jacob Astor plays a major role in City of Glory as he played a major role in the history of New York City.

In this particular book we have heros, villains, pirates, slave traders, apothecaries, doctors, whore house/gambling establishments, etc.....lots of excitement.

I would put Ms. Swerling on a par with Wilber Smith so if you like his novels I am confident you will like these.

The Samurai's Garden

2007-06-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Author: Gail Tsukiyama 211 pages

I loved this book and I am not really sure why. Its a beautiful story with very sad happenings. Its not complicated or difficult to read. Held my attention and I think one of the things I found so intriguing about it is that the main character a young Chinese man goes to Japan to get well just as the Japanese are invading China in 1937. If you have read anything about this invasion or the Japanese armed forces in books like The Rape of Nanking or A Town Called Alice you know how brutal and evil they were to their captives. And yet, in this book you are made aware of the beauty and grace these people create in their tea gardens and their ceremonies. The quiet and peace in their villages up in the mountains. From these same people came these murdering raping hordes of men that were so violent. This book doesnt contain any of that violence. Its just I know it existed and it was so hard to accept these two different views of the Japanese. My father was drafted and sent to Japan for the mop up after the war ended and he always wanted to return there. He thought it was a beautiful country.

Anyway, I digress. There is a great story here. This Chinese family has ties to Japan because of an import/export business. There is a beach house in Tarumi that the family has owned for years and is here the young man goes to get well. Matsu the caretaker of the cottage becomes a big influence on Stephen teaching him tranquility, compassion, patience. There is unrequited and requited love, lepers, a fire, a hanging and somehow its all as it should be when you are finished with the book.

I hope you will try it.

Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund 539 pages

2007-06-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

I am behind. I have five more of these to go.

Abundance is a fiction account of Marie Antoinette's life from the time she is shipped to France at the age of 14 to marry Louis XVI till she meets her death by guillotine. About the only thing I really knew about her before reading this book was that she supposedly said about the poor people in France "if they have no bread, let them eat cake." As it turns out, I knew even less than I thought. Marie didnt say that, Louis XIV's wife said it a 100 years before.

This book is a great read. Well written and full of descriptions of the palaces, dining, wardrobes, and the parties. You are made to see and understand the opulence of the times, at least for the rich. The author definitely did her homework and uses historical facts and her imagination to take the reader on an exciting and page turning ride.

Would absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction but it may just lead you to wanting to know more about the French Revolution.

Mississippi Sissy

2007-06-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

Author...Kevin Sessums Autobiography 305 pages

I really liked this book. If you are homophobic however, I recommend you pass it up. Kevin is currently a contributing editor at Allure magazine and spent 15 years at Vanity Fair magazine as a contributing editor. I think he is a good writer.

He realizes very early that he is "different". He likes things little boys arent suppose to like.
Loves being around his mother and grandmother when they are working with materials and sewing... even convincing them at the age of four to make him a skirt, which his father promptly tears off of him and burns. His father is a rough and tumble high school coach who often takes Kevin with him to games where Kevin realizes he is more interested in the locker room than the game. His TV idol is Arlene Francis, he even asks to be called Arlene. This is the south in the 60's so his growing up years are difficult at best. His father is killed in an automobile accident when he is very young and his mother dies of cancer a year later. And he and his siblings go to live with their grandparents. He does the usual trying to be someone he is not to fit in during his school years. Especially after, at a young age, going to a school carnival as a witch and being laughed out of the school.

I have had a couple of gay friends in my life and I am not sure I have ever really appreciated
what it must feel like to know you arent in the main stream. And how difficult it must be to live a lie every day of your life. And why should you have to? You cant change who you are born to be anymore than you can wish your arms longer or your ears flat to your head....wishing just doesnt make it happen. In high school he meets a man by the name of Frank Hains who introduces him to the world of the arts. Frank throws small wonderful wild parties with the likes of Eudora Welty as guests. He introduces him to jazz and encourages him to be himself. Frank probably saves his sanity by introducing him to the theater, pushing him to acting school in New York City by paying his bus fare. There he fits in and obviously gravitates to journalism, and for one, hope he is happy.

The book actually begins with Franks death....Kevin finds him bludgeoned to death.

Again, this book is very readable. And if you want to get an understanding of what it feels like to try and fit in....give the book a try.

I can read also

2007-06-05T17:28:00.001-07:00

Following in Marc's footsteps I have decided to review the books I have been reading also.
I have really like most of them and I want to share my thoughts. If you would prefer not to hear from me just go to the bottom of the message and delete yourself from my blog. By the way, we have seen Pirates and Knocked Up since landing in Colorado. Pirates was fun....Marc absolutely loved it and I liked not quite as much....except for the crab scene. Knocked Up is not what it has been touted to be. Kind of dumb and probably 20 minutes to long. Even I could come up with scenes they could have cut.