Well, I can not begin to express the relief I feel at being caught up finally!! By some miracle, my 9 month old took a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning so I was able to finish reading the last two chapters.
Since I have no computer at home today, I am forced to write everything on my phone.
I think Abigail was one patient woman and I have to believe that she was truly the most patriotic person of all. I would probably not be quite as patient as she had I been the one taking care of everything at home, farm, family--for 4 years straight. I can understand John's ideals and his desire to make the country a better place for his children and posterity but I probably would have questioned his devotion to his children. I think I would have wondered at times if he had a French mistress. But I am getting sidetracked.
Abigail made a lot of interesting observations when she arrived in Paris and one in particular that got me thinking was one in which she speaks of this country (France)"grown old in debauchery and lewdness" where marriages are arranged and not considered holy and honorable (comparing it to the one-America-"where the wise laws and institutions of one consider it holy and honorable")
Pg.304
Speaking of debauchery, it got me thinking and I remembered that in 1999 I was travelling in France as a student and the woman ticket agent who was selling me the train ticket at the station took the opportunity of asking the American why our country was so upset about our president being unfaithful to his wife.
I suppose Abigail would have had something to say about that.
I loved getting to know Jefferson a little bit better. I'm glad that he kept such perfect accounts of what he bought as it says a lot about a person. His love of books and excitement in the bookstores of Paris was something I could relate to, but I loved how much art he purchased and in particular the green Moroccan leather he used to outfit his carriage!
Aside from his irresponsible spending--he was a serious shopaholic--and probably a hoarder as well-- and his insane "sensation" about blacks and whites,all of that aside-- he was surely a fascinating person, and one who suffered a great deal. I like that these two very different individuals, one a staunch New Englander and the other an elegant Virginian, represented in France the diversity of America even in it's first days as an independent nation.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Book Beginnings
Friday Book Beginnings
How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.
>The doctor with whom I discussed the question told me to begin my work with a historical analysis of my smoking habit.
From Zeno's Conscience
Very good first sentence.
How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.
>The doctor with whom I discussed the question told me to begin my work with a historical analysis of my smoking habit.
From Zeno's Conscience
Very good first sentence.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
One Good Turn
In One Good Turn Jackson returns, following his girlfriend, Julia the actress, to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. He manages to fall into all kinds of trouble, starting with witnessing a brutal attack by "Honda Man" on another man stuck in a traffic jam. Is this road rage or something truly sinister? Another witness is Martin Canning, better known as Alex Blake, the writer. Martin is a shy, withdrawn, timid sort who, in a moment of unlikely action, flings a satchel at the attacker and spins him around, away from his victim. Gloria Hatter, wife of Graham, a millionaire property developer who is about to have all his secrets uncovered, is standing in a nearby queue with a friend when the attack takes place. There is nastiness afoot, and everyone is involved. Nothing is coincidental.
from Amazon.
I enjoyed this mystery set in Edinburgh, Scotland. It's a quick read with a cliffhanger at the end of nearly every chapter. And every chapter switches back and forth between the main characters of the story.
I read this for my library book group, and while I found it an enjoyable read, the others felt just so-so about it. They found the change of POV at every chapter confusing, and they weren't happy with it as a book club choice, which got us talking about coming up with some criteria for choosing future books. Did we want to focus on a certain time period, writing style, or topic? In the end, we didn't come up with anything. They decided for this month to read a book that another book club was reading and which I and another member of the group have already read. This gives us some time to come up with some guidelines. I'm going to do a little research of my own and find some tips on choosing for a rather diverse group, well, age group anyway.If anyone would like to share how your book club chooses, please post your ideas. I would love your feedback.
Now, it's time to catch up on my John Adams reading.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday's Book Beginning
I wanted to share the Book Beginnings meme from A Few More Pages.
How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.
Here's the beginning of my current read. It's One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson.
He was lost. He wasn't used to being lost. He was the kind of man who drew up plans and then executed them efficiently, but now everything was conspiring against him in ways he decided he couldn't have foreseen.
I decided to write the first three sentences since the first two were so short.
These first lines are not particularly intriguing to me. I hate being lost especially while driving, so these first lines probably reminded me of that when I first read them. And I have images of the character arguing with his navigation system. And the third line makes me feel that this character is either too precise, too tense or a serial killer. For some reason his precision makes me feel he may be a murderer.
But in the next line, we discover he is in Edinburgh, which is a city I love, so right away I am interested in the story!
How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.
Here's the beginning of my current read. It's One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson.
He was lost. He wasn't used to being lost. He was the kind of man who drew up plans and then executed them efficiently, but now everything was conspiring against him in ways he decided he couldn't have foreseen.
I decided to write the first three sentences since the first two were so short.
These first lines are not particularly intriguing to me. I hate being lost especially while driving, so these first lines probably reminded me of that when I first read them. And I have images of the character arguing with his navigation system. And the third line makes me feel that this character is either too precise, too tense or a serial killer. For some reason his precision makes me feel he may be a murderer.
But in the next line, we discover he is in Edinburgh, which is a city I love, so right away I am interested in the story!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
"In brilliantly controlled prose, Shadow Tag fearlessly explores the complex nature of love, the fluid boundaries of identity, and one family's struggle for survival and redemption."
Wow. Just fantastic.
I picked this book up last week at the library because they're holding a discussion about it the first week in May, and I can not wait to hear what the others thought of it. This is a great book for anyone looking for something to read with their book club.
I don't want to say too much about it because I don't want to give anything away. I will say that the first chapter annoyed me a little. I felt like I was being told everything, but it's just to get things going.
This story was often funny, sometimes sad and sometimes shocking. I definitely cared a lot about each character in this family and my heart ached for them.
It is a very close up look at an imperfect family, but one that will capture your heart in the end.
I picked this book up last week at the library because they're holding a discussion about it the first week in May, and I can not wait to hear what the others thought of it. This is a great book for anyone looking for something to read with their book club.
I don't want to say too much about it because I don't want to give anything away. I will say that the first chapter annoyed me a little. I felt like I was being told everything, but it's just to get things going.
This story was often funny, sometimes sad and sometimes shocking. I definitely cared a lot about each character in this family and my heart ached for them.
It is a very close up look at an imperfect family, but one that will capture your heart in the end.
John Adams-Chapter Two
True Blue
In this chapter, Adams continues to astound us with his ideas, his passion, and his energy. The man must seriously have had more energy than anyone ever in history. He wasn't just impressing upon his fellow congress members the importance of independence and breaking away from Britain, he was doing it all while calculating the timing of everything and apparently was part of 26 different committees! And after spending all day working, he often still had the energy to go home and write down his thoughts and impressions of it all at the end of the day.
“Led below ground to view the “lunaticks” locked in their cells…”
Locked up underground… how awful.
In this chapter, Adams continues to astound us with his ideas, his passion, and his energy. The man must seriously have had more energy than anyone ever in history. He wasn't just impressing upon his fellow congress members the importance of independence and breaking away from Britain, he was doing it all while calculating the timing of everything and apparently was part of 26 different committees! And after spending all day working, he often still had the energy to go home and write down his thoughts and impressions of it all at the end of the day.
In this chapter we get a real sense of the whole process before they actually declare independence from Great Britain. The magnitude of this decision is not missed by any. Adams, rightfully so, is most concerned with the situation after a war. He is constantly thinking about the future of America and how they will govern the country once they are independent.
My favorite part of this chapter was the introduction of Jefferson. I really enjoyed reading about their very opposite upbringings. And the two different worlds that were the south and New England at the time. Being a New England girl and not being very familiar with the South, I imagine there probably are still quite a few cultural differences.
Something that really horrified me was when they visited the hospital.“Led below ground to view the “lunaticks” locked in their cells…”
Locked up underground… how awful.
Friday, April 8, 2011
John Adams Chapter One
Chapter One gave us a great picture of Adams as a child, young college student, a bachelor, what had happened before 1776, and also an idea of what was about to happen. I really liked reading about this very human side of someone who is a giant in our history. He was such a pensive person, constantly thinking and analyzing himself and striving to be better, yet he knew himself and human kind well enough to know that no one could be trusted with absolute power.
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty". (pg 70)
And such a fine speaker was he that they said he was as great an orator as any of the Greeks or Romans. In fact, once he spoke for five hours-FIVE HOURS- while the the court and jury sat with patience and was even applauded at the end. He must have been a very fine speaker indeed if they sat rapt, in perfect patience for that long.
Adams had a way of wording things that was just very powerful, and beautiful. Was it simply the way they spoke then or his particular gift that everything he wrote or said could have such depth, poetry and meaning? Writing about Otis and an argument he made in 1761 against writs of assistance, so masterful was Otis's speech that Adams writes, "Then and there the child independence was born."
I just love that.
Something that really made me think was in his Dissertation, where he is speaking about the importance of everyman's liberty, and the sacrifices that were made in order that they could have it.
"Let us read and recollect and impress upon our souls the views and ends of our more immediate forefathers, in exchanging their native country for a dreary inhospitable wilderness....Recollect their amazing fortitude, their bitter sufferings-the hunger, the nakedness, the cold which they patiently endured-the severe labors of clearing their grounds, building their houses, raising their provisions, amidst dangers from wild beasts and savage men.."
In a couple of lines he has painted a very clear picture of what it must have been like for those early settlers. And I found myself really putting myself in their position as they did what they could to survive.
And then I thought about Johnathan Sewell, who in 1764, probably foreseeing what was to come, took his family back to London. I think I would have definitely thought that was the safer option for my family. And yet I never thought about that before. I had never once thought about early settlers, loyalists, going back. But it happened. And then there were the rest who stayed and fought for some liberty. I think I would have been one who would not have believed it possible.
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty". (pg 70)
And such a fine speaker was he that they said he was as great an orator as any of the Greeks or Romans. In fact, once he spoke for five hours-FIVE HOURS- while the the court and jury sat with patience and was even applauded at the end. He must have been a very fine speaker indeed if they sat rapt, in perfect patience for that long.
Adams had a way of wording things that was just very powerful, and beautiful. Was it simply the way they spoke then or his particular gift that everything he wrote or said could have such depth, poetry and meaning? Writing about Otis and an argument he made in 1761 against writs of assistance, so masterful was Otis's speech that Adams writes, "Then and there the child independence was born."
I just love that.
Something that really made me think was in his Dissertation, where he is speaking about the importance of everyman's liberty, and the sacrifices that were made in order that they could have it.
"Let us read and recollect and impress upon our souls the views and ends of our more immediate forefathers, in exchanging their native country for a dreary inhospitable wilderness....Recollect their amazing fortitude, their bitter sufferings-the hunger, the nakedness, the cold which they patiently endured-the severe labors of clearing their grounds, building their houses, raising their provisions, amidst dangers from wild beasts and savage men.."
In a couple of lines he has painted a very clear picture of what it must have been like for those early settlers. And I found myself really putting myself in their position as they did what they could to survive.
And then I thought about Johnathan Sewell, who in 1764, probably foreseeing what was to come, took his family back to London. I think I would have definitely thought that was the safer option for my family. And yet I never thought about that before. I had never once thought about early settlers, loyalists, going back. But it happened. And then there were the rest who stayed and fought for some liberty. I think I would have been one who would not have believed it possible.
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