For neither life nor nature cares if justice is ever done or not. |  P. Highsmith |
FRIDAY: My Book World | Jenna Fischer's The Actor's Life
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FRIDAY: My Book World | Jenna Fischer's The Actor's Life
My Book World Choi, Susan. Trust Exercise: A Novel. New York: Holt, 2019.
Boy! (or Girl!), what a ride this read is. Metafiction perhaps at its most confounding, at least for this reader. The first third of the novel seems to be a traditional high school love story gone awry, both David and Sarah soured on, yet still stuck on each other—set in a nontraditional performing arts high school. The setting is all important, as these kids are smart and are striving to become great actors—and are easily manipulated by adults they admire or wish to please. As near as I can tell, the story is set in a city like Houston (imagine primeval swamp with skyscrapers), though the name is never spelled out. Next third of the book changes to the voice of another young woman at that high school, Karen, a superficial friend to Sarah. The author does an odd thing whereby Karen sometimes speaks in first person, and sometimes talks about herself in the third person. Must be a good reason for this. Perhaps Choi is portraying the fracturing of this (by now) woman’s personality. In the third part, readers begin to realize something is off. The story strand they’ve been holding onto is no longer there. It turns out the first third of the book is really “fiction” that “Karen” has written about some real people whom readers now get to become acquainted with in the last third. To say more would create a spoiler, and I’m not going there. While there is much to admire about this award-winning book—its structure and its strong characterizations—it left me wondering if Choi was intent on entertaining herself or her readers. You be the judge. NEXT FRIDAY: My Book World | Jenna Fischer's The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide
TOMORROW: My Book World | Susan Choi's Trust Exercise
FRIDAY: My Book World | Susan Choi's Trust Exercise
FRIDAY: My Book World | Susan Choi's Trust Exercise
My Book WorldMcCarter, Margaret Hill. A Master’s Degree. With illustrations in color by W. D. Goldbeck. Chicago: McClurg, 1913.
I read this book for two reasons. One, the novel is set in a place modeled after my alma mater, Southwestern College, in Winfield, Kansas. And two, I happened to have a copy I inherited from my grandmother, inscribed with her name and the date, “1915.” Some familiar spots on the landscape do appear in the book: the large “S” of sizable stones that must be whitewashed each year, the Walnut River Valley, Sunrise College substituting for my SC, the actual sunset hill of one hundred feet above ground. Otherwise, the novel is an overly sentimental rendering of one young man’s four years in college. The book is marred by the details McCarter leaves out: how many steps down Sunset hill to the bottom (77), how classes were conducted, where and how students lived, the topography to a greater degree (she does great watercolor washes describing spectacular sunsets). I did, however, get a feel for a certain type of student that both schools, fictional and real, seem to attract: a rough cut outlier, bright enough but unpolished, who arrives at commencement a much-changed person. One who will continue to grow and change throughout life. NEXT FRIDAY: My Book World | Suson Choi's Trust Exercise
TOMORROW: My Book World | Margaret Hill McCarter's A Master’s Degree
FRIDAY: My Book World | Margaret Hill McCarter's A Master’s Degree
FRIDAY: My Book World | Margaret Hill McCarter's A Master’s Degree
 To All My Readers:
Have a Happy Holiday and a Great 2022!
My Book World Clear, James. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. New York: Avery, 2018.
A great book for helping a person to form good habits and break old ones. Clear says you want to make your good habits “obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying” (253), and you want to make your bad habits “invisible, unattractive, hard, and unsatisfying” (253). Clear states all along “This is a continuous process. There is no finish line. There is no permanent solution.” By way of example, I kept forgetting to take a dosage of over-the-counter digestive at noon until I cut out the brand name and put it in my noon pill container. I kept the reminder there until I made the habit of taking it without an obvious cue. Only a small example, but I believe this book will make a good handbook for forming good habits and abolishing the bad. Next Post: January 4, 2022 | Next 'My Book World' January 14, 2022 | Margaret Hill McCarter's A Master’s Degree
FRIDAY: My Book World | James Clear's Atomic Habits
My Book World Schiff, Adam. Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could. New York: Random, 2021.
If one followed the two impeachment hearings of ex-president Trump, one became quite well acquainted with the rhetorical skills of Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who led that trial. And one will recognize much of the material he includes in this book but also much, much more. One gets an inside view of what he experienced to reach that point where Trump needed to be impeached. He recreates important scenes on the floor in public; he recreates scenes out of view as he confers with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders. Reading his account fills out one’s view if you only watched it on TV, especially if your viewing was spotty. Most important, however, is the revelation of Adam Schiff’s character. Into his narrative are woven personal anecdotes about family members, congressional staff members, and other personalities. These reveal a wholly human and humane person who would make a great speaker of the house or president, should he desire to run. NEXT FRIDAY: My Book World | James Clear's Atomic Habits
TOMORROW: My Book World | Adam Schiff's Midnight in Washington
FRIDAY: My Book World | Adam Schiff's Midnight in Washington
FRIDAY: My Book World | Adam Schiff's Midnight in Washington
My Book World Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall: A Novel. Book One of the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy. New York: Picador, 2010.
Quite an enjoyable read, one that combines history and literature alike. I read this one aloud to my partner and was able to hear what a masterful job Mantel does with the language—quite musical. She, more than most writers, makes great use of interior monologue, by which we always know who is thinking what. This retelling of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and Thomas Cromwell (among a distinguished cast of many) is worthy of all the accolades it has received (winner of England’s Man Booker Prize). Can’t wait to read the other two parts of this distinguished trilogy. NEXT FRIDAY: My Book World | TBD
TOMORROW: My Book World | Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall
FRIDAY: My Book World | Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall
FRIDAY: My Book World | Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall
My Book World Snyder, Timothy. The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. New York: Duggan, 2018.
A scholarly and erudite book, The Road to Unfreedom is a plea for Western peoples to wake up and smell the borscht burning on the stove. Snyder begins with two phrases: politics of inevitability, “a sense that the future is just more of the present,” and that nothing can be done (7); the other phrase, politics of eternity “places one nation at the center of a cyclical story of victimhood” (8). As Snyder develops his thesis that both Europe and American could be on the way to unfreedom, he repeatedly weaves into the fabric of his text these two terms. Russia has already traveled down this road, accepted its role as victim, that the world is always out to get Russia. If Europe and America do not pay attention to the signs of fascism or authoritarianism present in their own countries, they, too, could wind up like Russia. For the general reader, this book can be tough reading, but I invite anyone wanting to know what might be wrong with our country to take a look at it. NEXT FRIDAY: My Book World | Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall: A Novel. Book One of the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy
FRIDAY: My Book World | Timothy Snyder's The Road to Unfreedom
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AUTHOR
Richard Jespers is a writer living in Lubbock, Texas, USA. See my profile at Author Central:
http://amazon.com/author/rjespers Archives
January 2022
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