Saturday, February 1, 2020

The Stack of Books



Wheels of Fortune, The Story of Rubber in Akron, Steve Love and David Giffels
The Odd Woman and the City, Vivian Gornick
The Old Ways, a Journey on Foot, Robert McFarlane
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
Negroland: A Memoir, Margo Jefferson
H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald
Travels in Siberia, Ian Frazier

When I moved into this unit last June, there was a lot to keep me busy, indoors and out. I had a loom and recorded books; who could ask for much more? I was listening to “The Salt Path”, by Raynor Winn. I was captivated, so captured by the book that at its end I backspaced to the beginning—four times. My wonder spilled over into the blog, so awkwardly I had to figure out how to attempt a review.

Everything about books now is also about brain injury. Someday I may lock myself in a room for a month and attempt an analysis of mine.

In the local paper I came across mention of “Wheels of Fortune”, edited in part by Dave Giffels. Anything Dave writes, is on my book shelf. He writes about Akron, our home town. I could say only “home town”, irrespective of its name or place, and anyone could make a place connection.

Then, NYT published a list of books to read before one died. Because my list "left me", I went through and made a list of books to buy, after “Wheels of Fortune”. The list also represents the order of the intended reading sequence, after all came in.

The sequence changed once, when my daughter asked for “Negroland”, and I was working on “The Odd Woman”, the second time. Beth was accumulating books to read with one foot in the air, following meniscus repair of her knee.

Every one of these books is about a journey. As is every book, you say. But, there is a physical journey in each book, as well as mental. Almost as if I picked right up from “The Salt Path”.

“The Odd Woman” is me, a solitary person, in fact, not by choice. It also is a memoir of a woman whose mornings are spent writing, afternoons and evenings spent walking the New York, threading transit passengers and footpaths of her city.

Two thirds through this book, Beth told me she couldn’t find what I saw in it. I didn’t tell her I read it twice, but  to pass it along, together with the other books I sent.

Then I read “Negroland”, Margo Jefferson’s memoir. Beth really wanted the book, so I only read it once. I didn’t “get it” until two thirds through, when the whole tone of the book purposely changed and the author made her point. I don’t know that it deserved a second reading; the first two thirds were tough to get through.

It is an autobiography of growing up in the fifties and sixties, in the black upper class. It was another childhood, during my childhood, and about characters I might have known in my own neighborhood. I knew white girls like the black girls in the book, but was not accepted by them. I knew black girls, not like the black girls in the book. The book, in the end, is about coming of age in this country at that time.

Next I picked up “The Old Ways”. I found the author’s pretentious presentation rather similar to Margo Jefferson’s childhood, and that condensed into the chapter I managed before I put “The Old Ways” into the stack of books for Beth. When she asked a reading order, I put it on the bottom, and indicated it might interest France.

Next, “A Walk in the Woods”. Bill Bryson is gearing himself to walk the Appalachian Trail, bottom to top. He pulled me into mental exertion of facing one’s unfilled goals and the physical exertion of attempts to execute. Bill decided he could use a companion, and could solicit only one, Steve Katz. He’d travelled Europe with Katz in college days, and remembered Katz nearly drove him nuts.

Nevertheless, they set off. Bryson remains seriously mentally engaged, and so does Katz, in his way. Several weeks into Virginia they split up; Katz to keep a summer job engagement and Bryson to hike on alone. Bill finds ‘alone’ seriously unfulfilling, and his wife gives him a lift home. After Katz’ summer job, the two meet up again. They decide they have hiked the best and the worst of the trail, and if they tackle the brutal end of it, ‘The Hundred Mile Wilderness’ in Maine, they could claim victory.

A life or death experience there in the Hundred Mile Wilderness cinches it. Katz is horrified, Bryson mentally crushed. With so many months, miles and experiences past their feet, they say the important is done. They tried.

And so I picked up “H is for Hawk” by Helen Macdonald. The book is exhausting, mentally and to the imagination. Macdonald purchases a goshawk, intending to train it, as she has trained many hawks in the past. She runs for miles across English hills, training the hawk, and coming to what peace she can with the unexpected death of her father. It is a book I will read again, but for now it is on the bookshelf.

And to the bottom of the pile, “Travels in Siberia” by Ian Frazier. I believe there are five or six hundred pages in this book. I have probably a hundred fifty down. I am finally settling into what this book is.  So far I've read about Russian and Siberian history; Frazier learning it and the language; then applying history and language in excursions to the country to experience what he read.

The book is not a tough slog if one does not bog down in the extensive history and languages of the countries that I do take as fact, being no expert. Several times I’ve felt I could doze away and am slapped awake by discussions of what he is seeing resembling Akron, Cleveland, Ohio during my and his childhood. He is a native of Hudson, Ohio.

My bookmark is left at Frazier’s meeting of the two guides who will accompany him across Siberia, in a rickety van. He does not like the first, and the second even less.

If I were to write about the books, it’s now or never. Who know when I will finish “Travels in Siberia”. The first time.


48 comments:

  1. I'm writing down some of these books to read; they all sound interesting in one way or another. I have the "Salt Path" on hold at our local library for an ebook. Could take up to 6 months before I get to rent it.

    betty

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  2. Huge thanks for The Salt Path which I expect to reread annually every year (at least) that I have left.
    H is for Hawk is all you said it was. Another which moved me.
    I am part way through Swimming With Seals by Victoria Whitworth at the moment. Another journey (of the heart and the mind) which you might like.
    Interspersed with those books I also read 'agreeable trash' as light relief.
    So many books, so little time. Time which is diminished when I reread books. Diminished but NOT wasted.

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  3. Thank you for these reviews. You have given good descriptions of books that I otherwise might not have heard about. I will add a few of these to my list.

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  4. The only one I have read is Bryson’s and it was a listen and probably extra enjoyable to hear in his voice.

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  5. I tried to read---rather listen---to Bill Bryson's book. I gave it up before the two men split up. I found myself more and more depressed by all the facts he included re what has happened to what is supposed to be "nature preserved." More paved roads in the parks than in the interstate system. Money spent for frivolous things instead of preservation. I found that his facts only made me feel more disheartened by what is going on in the environment now. Every day another attack on the progress we thought we had made. So, I quit the book. Maybe, if I live long enough, my outlook might improve.

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  6. If you haven't read it, may I suggest my favorite read of 2019, Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. The movie made a total hash of the story within the first 3 minutes, and Higginbotham is an excellent explainer of the technological issues behind the explosion. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild might be a relevant read if you've just finished a book involving rubber. It was a hard read not because of how it was written, but the subject matter - how King Leopold of Belgium took over the Congo and while being hailed as a great humanitarian, slaughtered nearly half its people while looting its resources, esp. rubber. The whole episode is lost in history, partly because we don't talk much about African history, but also because when Belgium was finally removed from the Congo, the Belgian government destroyed all their records about everything they'd done there, so there are no official records, just individuals' personal documents.

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    1. Amanda, I must admit I am not mentally tough enough to tackle some books, and Midnight in Chernobyl could be one. King Leopold's Ghost could be another. In fact, Travels in Siberia could be one. I got past the hot lead poured down a prisoner's throat, but Frazier keeps warning it only gets worse when he "really" talks about the death camps and gulags.
      We humans are simply savage animals at heart.

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    2. Midnight in Chernobyl helped me understand how nuclear reactors work, which is amazing as I've a niece who's a nuclear engineer, and when she talks about her work, I'm usually "That's nice dear" because I couldn't understand a thing she's saying. Now I do. Higginbotham is like another favorite author of mine, David Quammen(Spillover)- a very good explainer. I got through King Leopold's Ghost partly because I felt like I kind of owed it to the Congolese people, but also because when I read Heart of Darkness, my prof said Conrad was using surrealism, and it turns out no, he was talking about what he saw when he was working on a riverboat on the Congo River. I was so annoyed with that prof, I had to find out more. Plus Mark Twain was one of the people trying to tell Europe and America what was really going on, and I'm all over anything involving Mark Twain.

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  7. Some interesting books here. I'd read them all if I had unlimited time.

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  8. These days I only read fiction. I suppose I ought to broaden my horizons by reading some non-fiction.

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  9. You're reading some interesting books. Thanks for the mini-reviews of each one!

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  10. The Odd Woman and the City sounds like I would like it. The only one on your list I have read is Walk in the Woods, for me there were many funny moments in it.

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    1. Everything Katz threw over the cliff in a rage, then regretted like a penitent child...priceless.

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  11. I enjoyed "A Walk in the Woods". I also thought the movie about it was good. As usual the book was better.

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  12. Your brain must be in pretty good working order to tackle all those books, Joanne! I've decided to read only what I like within the first chapter. It's working for me, as reading is my only entertainment and I'm loathe to spoil it.

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    1. I know all the words, jenny-o. It's remembering what they said, by the next page. By the next sentence, even. And worse, having no idea what to say about the book, or the words to use. Oh, that last. I cannot remember the words to saym and generally cannot like the ones I must chose in order to say anything. a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g.

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    2. You do better than you realise. Much better.

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    3. I second what EC said.

      I hear your lament, though. When we know what we WERE capable of, it's hard to accept less, even if that's still more than adequate.

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  13. I loved Odd Woman, after your suggestion.

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    1. Perhaps one must be of a certain age to "get it". I can see my daughter not having some experiences. On the other hand, while she has sympathy, she lacks empathy.

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  14. I've read "A Walk in the Woods". I found it kind of spell-binding that they would take on a hike of this magnitude at their age and with as little preparation as they did for it. Gratified that the wife picked him up and brought him home and at the end they said, "Good enough. Lesson learned and quit the hike that was close enough to a suicide walk." I've noted the other books and will add them to my huge (and probably unattainable) list of books to be read. I will have to give up all my crafting and sewing if I am to work through any quantifiable amount of reading from the list. Thanks! Q: Is it realistic to have a reading list that goes for pages on end??

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  15. I prefer to read fiction, mostly crime mysteries and stories with witches and wizards. I was a bit shocked recently by my neighbour V who wondered why people keep writing fiction books, the world is flooded with them and why do people keep reading them? in her words those books are "useless rubbish" as people don't learn anything from them and don't they give me nightmares? (no they don't). She only reads books on Yoga, Buddhism, mythology, crystals, herbal health, all things that she can learn from.

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    1. Like you, I like mysteries. I also like historical novels. You can learn a lot from them, as history repeats itself.

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  16. Hari OM
    I am now in that camp that if something doesn't keep my mind attached to it fully by the end of the first chapter, it gets dropped. I was given "Corvus" but Esther Woolfson at Christmas and am looking forward to getting going on that. I just need to remember to carry it back to the Hutch with me. It'll never get read here at the fathers... YAM xx

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  17. Bill Bryson is best known here for his observations on Britain from an outsider's point of view. He told us things about ourselves which had previously only been suspected.

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    1. I just ordered two of them and took note of a couple more.

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  18. Eye issues keep me from making much progress through my stack of books. It is a big adjustment in my life. I have to stop buying books.

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  19. You are a serious reader. You read, you ponder, you re-read. I truly do admire that, Joanne. I find myself listening to one book after another, sometimes forgetting a book almost entirely in a month or so. And the books I read on pages before I go to sleep have not been very satisfying to me lately. Perhaps I should dip into your list.

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  20. I am having trouble reading "good" books these days, it is hard for me to concentrate. Instead, I'm indulging in fantasy, sword and sorcery. I guess I'm looking for a respite from reality.

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  21. H is for Hawk is the only book on this list that I've read, and as a bird nut I really enjoyed it.

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  22. Thanks for that. A useful appraisal of the various books and whether they're worth reading or not. I had Negroland on my to-buy list but now I'm not so sure. It sounds like a bit of a slog.

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    1. At least take it out of the library. It's a recap of time that we may have lived and should at least remember.

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  23. I love A Walk In The Woods. It's permeated with loss, yet it makes me laugh so hard.

    Love,
    Janie

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  24. Darn, I lost my comment trying to look up an author's name! Let me try again. I mostly read mysteries, for entertainment, these days. I like ones which are historical or set in far away locations. I use a website called "Stop, You're Killing Me" to find them. The Travels in Siberia reminded me of An American Childhood by Annie Dillard who was born in Pittsburgh the year I was born in Cleveland. The serious book I am reading at the moment, and I'm only at the beginning and like it and think you would also, is Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society by Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD

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  25. The Salt Path was a wonderful read, I absolutely loved it. I read a lot probably because I was brought up without television.. you certainly have had an interesting and variety reading genres. It is an amazing insight into the lives of others. Thank you for these reviews.

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  26. I adored the Salt Path, and bought copies as gifts for others. My family and I read a lot and pass books around though I tend to use the library more due to space restrictions and find the internet great for reserving best sellers from it.

    I will come back to your list.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. I wish I could have every book I wanted to have, but I also accept I don't have space. Sigh....

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  27. A very interesting list. I have read the Bryson book and liked it very much. I have not read The Salt Path or Odd Woman and they are both going on my library queue. I have difficulty focusing and find that I need almost half the book to channel my attention. If my attention is held at that point, I usually read it again.

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    1. As an aside, both of my parents were born in Akron and lived there right up to their marriage, when my father took a job in Newport News VA. We spent many weekends visiting our maternal grandmother in Akron.

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    2. So you may have smelled Quaker Oats, or been to see the elephants march up the hill to the Coliseum for the circus!

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  28. Not too sure that I could stomach another book about Chernobyl after All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darrah McKeon but I'll hunt for rest of your list in the library.
    As for fading memory? I keep on only realising on page 20 that I've read a book before...

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  29. That's a good list. I recently watched "A Walk in the Woods" movie and it was very familiar to me, which made me wonder if I had read the book. I may have but I don't remember when. I've fantasized about hiking the Appalachian Trail but I think it is one of those things that I like the sound of but would not enjoy the reality of. Also borrowed "About a Hawk". I love raptors-I really thought I'd enjoy it but didn't finish it. Maybe I'll try it again one of these days. The others I'm not familiar with. Going to look up "The Salt Path". Right now I'm reading "Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer, a memoir about his experience climbing Mt. Everest and his survival in a storm that took 19 other lives. Kind of interesting because before I read his, I read another person's book (Anatoli Boukreev), who was also on that climb. His perspective was different, which makes sense as they were on different teams and moving around the mountain in different spots making different observations.

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  30. World turned upside down recently with unwelcome diagnosis. I may yet write about that in my blog, but right now, I have lost my interest in reading. Hope to regain it soon because the house is cluttered with unread books. They may not "spark joy" now, but I'm hoping they will again.

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  31. I’ve been reading all my books on my Kindle which makes life a lot easier for me. You’ve really gone through a lot of very interesting books. Thank you for your recommendations.

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