J's Pages

by Anne McCaffrey 

I've been meaning to reread Dragonflight for a few months now, to see if it's suitable to pass on to my 10-year old. (It isn't.) I picked up a copy at the Friends of the Library sale and was impressed as to how good a book this was. (Maybe it was the book that set me off on my fantasy kick in my late-teens. But I digress...) Dragonflight is a tale of Pern, a distant planet which every 200 years or so is invaded by extraterrestrial spores that the natives call "Threads". Pern is protected by the Dragonriders, men and women who control large, winged, fire-breathing beasts. They burn the Threads in mid-air, preventing them from reaching and destroying the planet's vegetation. As the story opens, Pern has been Thread-free for almost 400 years, the Dragonriders have dwindled in numbers and are no longer held in high respect by most of the people. Few pay attention to the old ballads which recount the threat of the Threads and the valiant deeds of Pern's protectors. Even the Dragonriders themselves have gotten lax in respecting the old traditions and their advice and warnings. The dragonman F'lar, however, still believes the old tales and is out on a quest to find a rider for the dragon queen that's about to hatch. He finds Lessa of Ruatha, a lass of royal blood who is hiding from the man who slaughtered her family and conquered their lands. Together the two struggle to restore Pern to some semblance of its former self as the Red Star, which heralds the coming of the Threads, draws ever nearer. How that all works out, of course, is wonderfully written. The characters are interesting and the world and history of Pern is richly developed. (It only makes sense that it has supported a number of sequels.) Oddly enough, however, what struck me most when I started rereading it was parallels to the Christian church in America. Like the dragonriders, the church once held an honored position in the society, but is now seen by many as an anachronism. But the church, too, exists to struggle against a very real threat and has sadly contributed to its own decline. Anyway, the stories soon diverge, and the ending of Dragonflight is far from Biblical. Be that as it may, it is a great read and it's going on my shelf. After all, eventually my girls will be old enough to read it. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: AnneMcCaffrey, OnMyShelf, Pern

by the Jefferson Park Alliance 

I recently signed up for a neighborhood e-mail list. I figured that after almost ten years of residing here on Beacon Hill, I should make a little more effort to get out amongst my neighbors, even if it's only in cyberspace. Anyway, it's been interesting and mostly fun, but the high point has been when one neighbor praised this book and offered to loan it to anyone interested in reading it. After some deliberation, I gathered my courage and took him up on his offer. This is a small book produced by the Jefferson Park Alliance, a group of neighbors who have gathered together in an attempt to guide the improvement of the big park in our neighborhood. It looks at the history of the park from its beginnings, as a potential site for the University of Washington in the late 19th Century, to the present day. The land has seen many changes over the years, serving as pasture lands for cows, a prison, picnic grounds, golf courses, an Army recreational camp, and a Veteran's Hospital. And there have been almost as many proposed uses which never managed to come to fruition. For me, it was a fascinating read as I learned the history of my current home. (I'm of the mindset that everyone should learn about the history of their town or neighborhood, but I digress.) It helps me appreciate the park as it exists now and also gives some perspective as I encounter the forces that are trying to change Beacon Hill today. Anyway, I would certainly recommend this to my neighbors, and I would think that this might also be interesting waiting room material for anyone else.  

No LibraryThing link!

Labels: WaitingRoomMaterial

by Simon Hawke

As I was finishing up 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, I got the hankerin' to pull this one off the shelf. This is the fifth book in Simon Hawke's Time Wars series, in which time travelers have adventures in the points in "history" which inspired some of Western civilization's great tales of wonder or heroism. In this case, the Temporal Corps, allied with science fiction writer Jules Verne and whaler Ned Land, have to stop a villain who has stolen a nuclear sub and is hiding out in the waters of the mid-19th Century. Mr. Hawke starts off paralleling 20,000 Leagues fairly closely, substituting Jules Verne for Verne's character Aronnax, but once they encounter the Nautilus, the story ventures far afield as the characters travel to 1807 to encounter pirate Jean Lafitte and finally ends up in a climax reminiscent of a James Bond movie. It is still an enjoyable read and I enjoy Mr. Hawke's characters, but the Ned Land and Captain Drakov of The Nautilus Sanction can't really compare to the "real" Ned Land and Captain Nemo. All in all, it's entertaining waiting room material.

LibraryThing link

Labels: SimonHawke, TimeWars, WaitingRoomMaterial

by Jules Verne

Hoo boy, talk about a philosophical adventure! A major chunk of this book is the narrator describing the geography, flora and fauna of the world's oceans. A yawner right? Well, no, not really. The story of this book is that in the late 1860's there are reports of ships encountering a mysterious creature. A couple of ships are actually attacked by this beast, so a U.S. naval ship is dispatched to hunt it down. In the course of the hunt, the narrator, an assistant professor at the Paris Museum of Natural History, and two companions are knocked overboard and discover that this leviathan is actually a submarine captained by a mysterious man known as Nemo. Nemo takes the three men aboard, refusing to release them lest they reveal his secrets, yet in all other ways treating them as passengers. As the story progresses, the sub, the Nautilus, travels about and the characters encounter the wonders and dangers of the world's oceans. Between the biology lectures, the mystery of Captain Nemo is also slowly revealed. The climax is somewhat tame, compared to late 20th century fare, but all in all it's a satisfying and well written. Y'all should check it out.

LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut, JulesVerne

by John R. Burr and Milton Goldinger

I took a Philosophy class way back in my first year at the venerable College of DuPage. My expectations were high--I was expecting to be introduced to and enthralled with all sorts of great ideas. The reality turned out to be rather tedious. In ruminating over the experience, I figured that my problem was that the issues covered were extremely abstract, where I was interested in ideas with more practical applications in everyday life. Well, now, 20 years later, I've had a chance to read through my wife's philosophy text book and find that I haven't changed much. This book is a collection of articles to introduce some of the main areas of philosophical thought along with some modern issues which fall under these categories. Some were fascinating, some bored me to tears. (The ones with the big words, mostly.) And a lot of time, I found my self saying, "Yeah, but does it really matter?" Oh, well. This would make for some good waiting room material. Plus it contains plenty of booklists to aid one in pursuing those ideas that capture one's attention. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: WaitingRoomMaterial

by Frederic S. Durbin, illustrated by Jason Van Hollander

I'm told that the author is going to be reading this review, so it will have to be a positive one. Fortunately, I don't have to lie. Dragonfly is a great read. The premise is nothing new--a  child has adventures in a mystical realm. But unlike Dorothy, Meg Murry or the Pevensie children, Bridget Anne (also known by the nickname Dragonfly) heads down to a dark realm--the essence of Hallowe'en. Not quite hell, but much closer than any other "faerieland" of which I've read. But it's not all blackness, either. There is love and hope and faith amidst the suffering and death. Mr. Durbin does a very good job of bringing the story to life, weaving together the plot and characters. Nothing is wasted--details that I just thought of as embellishment suddenly turn out to be important to the plot. One of the folks who reviewed Dragonfly at Amazon.com said that the book reminded him of Ray Bradbury. Me, I was reminded of C.S. Lewis, partly because of the basic premise, partly because of the underlying Christianity of the heroes. (And partly because the only Bradbury I can recall reading is Farenheit 451.) But despite Mr. Lewis' skill in portraying good and evil characters, his fiction comes across as a weekend gardener--a tad dirty, but still very prim and proper. Dragonfly, to continue the metaphor, is more like a real farmer, for whom sweat and dust are a part of daily life. I really enjoyed reading this and I'm going to put it on my shelf so I can read it again. I suspect it will only get better the second time around.

LibraryThing link

Labels: FredericDurbin, OnMyShelf