Saturday, October 24, 2009
The Complete Peanuts: 1973 to 1974
by Charles Schulz
My wife, the family Peanuts maven, has declared that this is the first volume of The Complete Peanuts that she will not be purchasing. In her opinion, Schulz's comic genius had lost its edge by this time in the life of the strip. It's also past the era when she would eagerly search the daily paper for her Peanuts fix, so unlike, say, the previous volume of the collection, this book has little nostalgic appeal. Such is her opinion. For myself, I've never been a major Peanuts fan. The strip is worth reading, certainly. I'm just not going to go out of my way to find it. So, I didn't check this book out of the library. But I certainly read it when my wife did so. It's funny--full of the antics of Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and Woodstock. For me, it also evoked a bit of nostalgia when Schulz would make the occasional reference to then latest fads. (Streaking and the the metric system! Woo-hoo!) All in all, it's definitely worth checking out. I'll just have to find something else to give my wife for Christmas.
LibraryThing link
My wife, the family Peanuts maven, has declared that this is the first volume of The Complete Peanuts that she will not be purchasing. In her opinion, Schulz's comic genius had lost its edge by this time in the life of the strip. It's also past the era when she would eagerly search the daily paper for her Peanuts fix, so unlike, say, the previous volume of the collection, this book has little nostalgic appeal. Such is her opinion. For myself, I've never been a major Peanuts fan. The strip is worth reading, certainly. I'm just not going to go out of my way to find it. So, I didn't check this book out of the library. But I certainly read it when my wife did so. It's funny--full of the antics of Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and Woodstock. For me, it also evoked a bit of nostalgia when Schulz would make the occasional reference to then latest fads. (Streaking and the the metric system! Woo-hoo!) All in all, it's definitely worth checking out. I'll just have to find something else to give my wife for Christmas.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CharlesSchulz, CheckItOut, Peanuts
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The Contender
by Robert Lipsyte
In one sense, this is a typical sports story--young, underprivileged kid finds a sport and works hard to overcome the obstacles and become a success. In this case, Alfred Brooks, a high school dropout living in Harlem in the mid 1960s finds himself trying to succeed as a boxer. But Mr. Lipsyte has done a good job of it, adding some depth to the plot and setting. I was impressed how he was able to create mental pictures of New York and the small time boxing world of the era. It might be simply that over the years I've picked up those images from a variety of films and television programs, and the writing merely touched the right buttons to bring those images to mind. Or maybe his writing is indeed that good. Either way, I enjoyed it. As for the plot, well, I won't say anything more, lest I spoil something. Check it out for yourself and find out what happens.
LibraryThing link
In one sense, this is a typical sports story--young, underprivileged kid finds a sport and works hard to overcome the obstacles and become a success. In this case, Alfred Brooks, a high school dropout living in Harlem in the mid 1960s finds himself trying to succeed as a boxer. But Mr. Lipsyte has done a good job of it, adding some depth to the plot and setting. I was impressed how he was able to create mental pictures of New York and the small time boxing world of the era. It might be simply that over the years I've picked up those images from a variety of films and television programs, and the writing merely touched the right buttons to bring those images to mind. Or maybe his writing is indeed that good. Either way, I enjoyed it. As for the plot, well, I won't say anything more, lest I spoil something. Check it out for yourself and find out what happens.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
When I Was Nine
by John Jaech
This one's a second volume of news headlines interspersed with personal comments and recollections, this time from 1938. While the most interesting part of the previous volume was Uncle John's take on local events, in When I Was Nine, I found the international news to be more intriguing. As Europe drew closer to war, the German-American Jaech family had to re-evaluate their opinions on what was happening in Germany. And ironically, looking back from the 21st Century, Japan's activities in China were pretty much ignored at the supper table discussions. It's quite a blessing to have this bit of family history.
It's on my shelf, even though I'm only an in-law.
LibraryThing link
This one's a second volume of news headlines interspersed with personal comments and recollections, this time from 1938. While the most interesting part of the previous volume was Uncle John's take on local events, in When I Was Nine, I found the international news to be more intriguing. As Europe drew closer to war, the German-American Jaech family had to re-evaluate their opinions on what was happening in Germany. And ironically, looking back from the 21st Century, Japan's activities in China were pretty much ignored at the supper table discussions. It's quite a blessing to have this bit of family history.
It's on my shelf, even though I'm only an in-law.
LibraryThing link
Labels: OnMyShelf
Saturday, September 05, 2009
After the War
by Carol Matas
The problem recounting the saga of history is the question of where to end the story. History, of course, doesn't end... or at least it hasn't ended yet. Even if you bring the tale to the present day, all you need to do is wait until tomorrow, then go to the newspaper and find out what happens next. Of course, to be practical, you need to pick a stopping point--a place where events have reached a climax and one of the issues of history, at least, have been resolved. So it is with that bit of history we call World War II. To hear the tale of the war, you'll hear of the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, the expansion of German power, the oppression then slaughter of the Jews and others, the opposition of first France and Britain, then the Soviets and Americans. You'll hear of the battles, the strategies, the victories, the losses, the surrender and the liberation. And then they all lived happily ever after.... not. After the War is a tale set, naturally, after World War II. It's the story of a Jewish girl, Ruth, who has been liberated from Buchenwald. She returns to her home in Poland only to find that it's no longer her home. Her family is gone, her former residence is occupied by her uncle's maid, who answers the door wearing Ruth's mother's dress. She finds shelter with some fellow refugees, but finds that the shelter is tenuous at best. There are too many goyim who are only too ready to continue Hitler's agenda of lies and murder. Some of the Jews hold onto the hope of emigrating to Palestine, of founding a Jewish homeland where they can live, thrive and protect themselves. But the British have cut off all immigration there. How could anyone possibly manage to make the journey and get in? Ah, therein lies the tale. It's a well written one, with a depth of character and interesting plot. I found myself a bit torn reading it, sympathizing with the Ruth and her comrades, but also knowing the rest of the story, that an Israeli homeland would not guarantee perfect peace or justice.
You really should check it out.
LibraryThing link
The problem recounting the saga of history is the question of where to end the story. History, of course, doesn't end... or at least it hasn't ended yet. Even if you bring the tale to the present day, all you need to do is wait until tomorrow, then go to the newspaper and find out what happens next. Of course, to be practical, you need to pick a stopping point--a place where events have reached a climax and one of the issues of history, at least, have been resolved. So it is with that bit of history we call World War II. To hear the tale of the war, you'll hear of the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, the expansion of German power, the oppression then slaughter of the Jews and others, the opposition of first France and Britain, then the Soviets and Americans. You'll hear of the battles, the strategies, the victories, the losses, the surrender and the liberation. And then they all lived happily ever after.... not. After the War is a tale set, naturally, after World War II. It's the story of a Jewish girl, Ruth, who has been liberated from Buchenwald. She returns to her home in Poland only to find that it's no longer her home. Her family is gone, her former residence is occupied by her uncle's maid, who answers the door wearing Ruth's mother's dress. She finds shelter with some fellow refugees, but finds that the shelter is tenuous at best. There are too many goyim who are only too ready to continue Hitler's agenda of lies and murder. Some of the Jews hold onto the hope of emigrating to Palestine, of founding a Jewish homeland where they can live, thrive and protect themselves. But the British have cut off all immigration there. How could anyone possibly manage to make the journey and get in? Ah, therein lies the tale. It's a well written one, with a depth of character and interesting plot. I found myself a bit torn reading it, sympathizing with the Ruth and her comrades, but also knowing the rest of the story, that an Israeli homeland would not guarantee perfect peace or justice.
You really should check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
Friday, August 07, 2009
Franklin Pierce
by Roy Franklin Nichols
Way back when, I read the book Star-Spangled Men, a book about the worst Presidents in American history. It was that book that inspired me to embark on my presidential biography reading list. Anyway, I forget if that book had pegged Franklin Pierce as the worst president ever, or if he was merely one of the contenders for the distinction. Either way, his reputation was somewhat lacking. Heck, even in this book, Mr. Nichols--someone who is sympathetic to the 14th president--has to admit that he made some significant mistakes. This biography takes the stand that Franklin Pierce was a principaled man who had the misfortune to make the wrong political decisions. He appealed to his countrymen's sense of fair play, only to learn that they, for the most part, weren't interested in playing fair.
As for the book itself, the 1930's style adds a slight challenge to reading it, but it does flow rather smoothly. It does seem to be written for the scholar, as Mr. Nichols habitually refers to people by their last names after their initial introduction. Or maybe he was just expecting the reader to pay close attention to what they were reading. If that was the case, I, like Franklin Pierce, fell a bit short.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Way back when, I read the book Star-Spangled Men, a book about the worst Presidents in American history. It was that book that inspired me to embark on my presidential biography reading list. Anyway, I forget if that book had pegged Franklin Pierce as the worst president ever, or if he was merely one of the contenders for the distinction. Either way, his reputation was somewhat lacking. Heck, even in this book, Mr. Nichols--someone who is sympathetic to the 14th president--has to admit that he made some significant mistakes. This biography takes the stand that Franklin Pierce was a principaled man who had the misfortune to make the wrong political decisions. He appealed to his countrymen's sense of fair play, only to learn that they, for the most part, weren't interested in playing fair.
As for the book itself, the 1930's style adds a slight challenge to reading it, but it does flow rather smoothly. It does seem to be written for the scholar, as Mr. Nichols habitually refers to people by their last names after their initial introduction. Or maybe he was just expecting the reader to pay close attention to what they were reading. If that was the case, I, like Franklin Pierce, fell a bit short.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
Friday, July 31, 2009
Eric Liddell
Janet & Geoff Benge
Another volume in the Christian Heroes series, this book presents the life of the Scottish missionary kid who won a gold medal in the 1924 Olympics and then headed back to China to continue the family line of work. It's an inspiring story of endurance and faithfulness.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Another volume in the Christian Heroes series, this book presents the life of the Scottish missionary kid who won a gold medal in the 1924 Olympics and then headed back to China to continue the family line of work. It's an inspiring story of endurance and faithfulness.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, ChristianHeroes, GeoffBenge, JanetBenge
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians
by Martin Luther
This is an abridged translation of Luther's Commentary of Galatians. All I can say is that the original must be a pretty hefty tome, because Dr. Luther does seem to carry on. But that's not so bad, because he's also interesting to read. (I suppose that's one reason his words have lasted all these centuries.) As a history buff, it was interesting to see how Dr. Luther drew parallels between the Judaizers troubling the 1st Century church in Galatia and his own opponents in the Roman Catholic Church. Of course, how those passages apply to me in the 21st Century is something I'll have to ponder on my own. But there's still many useful insights that apply to every age and make the book worth reading.
Going to keep it on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
This is an abridged translation of Luther's Commentary of Galatians. All I can say is that the original must be a pretty hefty tome, because Dr. Luther does seem to carry on. But that's not so bad, because he's also interesting to read. (I suppose that's one reason his words have lasted all these centuries.) As a history buff, it was interesting to see how Dr. Luther drew parallels between the Judaizers troubling the 1st Century church in Galatia and his own opponents in the Roman Catholic Church. Of course, how those passages apply to me in the 21st Century is something I'll have to ponder on my own. But there's still many useful insights that apply to every age and make the book worth reading.
Going to keep it on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: OnMyShelf
