Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Winston Churchill
by John B. Severance
This one's a nice little biography of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain and only honorary citizen of the United States. It's written for kids so the text is quick and easy to read and there are nice pictures to illuminate the story. The biggest problem I had with the book was that since Churchill was such a fascinating individual, I would much have preferred a book five times as long. (Not that I have time to read such a tome these days...)
'Tis worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
This one's a nice little biography of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain and only honorary citizen of the United States. It's written for kids so the text is quick and easy to read and there are nice pictures to illuminate the story. The biggest problem I had with the book was that since Churchill was such a fascinating individual, I would much have preferred a book five times as long. (Not that I have time to read such a tome these days...)
'Tis worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
Saturday, April 18, 2009
China's Long March
by Jean Fritz
In 1934, the Chinese Communist First Front Army began a strategic retreat from the Chinese Nationalist forces which resulted in a hard, 6,000 mile trek through the countryside of western China. This is known as the Long March and is quite a remarkable story of struggle, perseverance and triumph. If it's true, that is. Having read Jung Chang's Mao, I approached Ms. Fritz's account of the Long March with some skepticism. Her take on it is not so critical, at least to judge it at face value. Sometimes I wonder if she might not have been applying the <sarcasm> tag. But that's a mystery for another time. The book did draw me in, but only because the tale itself is so compelling. I really didn't care for Ms. Fritz's style. Instead of simply reporting the events in third person or telling the tale through the eyes of a fictional character, she tried to report the tale peppered with recollections of the participants she was able to interview. The problem was, sometimes she didn't have any recollections to use, so she resorted to lines like "Perhaps... the survivors of the First Front Army wondered about their comrades in the Fourth." But if you can forgive such transgressions, China's Long March does make a suitable introduction to a memorable event in human history.
Um, check it out, but only if you can't find a better account.
LibraryThing link
In 1934, the Chinese Communist First Front Army began a strategic retreat from the Chinese Nationalist forces which resulted in a hard, 6,000 mile trek through the countryside of western China. This is known as the Long March and is quite a remarkable story of struggle, perseverance and triumph. If it's true, that is. Having read Jung Chang's Mao, I approached Ms. Fritz's account of the Long March with some skepticism. Her take on it is not so critical, at least to judge it at face value. Sometimes I wonder if she might not have been applying the <sarcasm> tag. But that's a mystery for another time. The book did draw me in, but only because the tale itself is so compelling. I really didn't care for Ms. Fritz's style. Instead of simply reporting the events in third person or telling the tale through the eyes of a fictional character, she tried to report the tale peppered with recollections of the participants she was able to interview. The problem was, sometimes she didn't have any recollections to use, so she resorted to lines like "Perhaps... the survivors of the First Front Army wondered about their comrades in the Fourth." But if you can forgive such transgressions, China's Long March does make a suitable introduction to a memorable event in human history.
Um, check it out, but only if you can't find a better account.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, JeanFritz
Saturday, April 11, 2009
An Age of Extremes
by Joy Hakim
Ms. Hakim takes on 1880 through 1917 in this eighth volume of A History of US. It was the time of robber barons and labor unions, populists, inventors and immigrants. Ms. Hakim presents it with her usual mix of social and political history, giving special attention to those whose ideas weren't quite so popular at the time.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Ms. Hakim takes on 1880 through 1917 in this eighth volume of A History of US. It was the time of robber barons and labor unions, populists, inventors and immigrants. Ms. Hakim presents it with her usual mix of social and political history, giving special attention to those whose ideas weren't quite so popular at the time.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: AHistoryofUS, CheckItOut, JoyHakim
Monday, April 06, 2009
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
This is a scary, scary book. 'Twas written in 1932, yet it resonates far too well with 2009. Brave New World features a dystopian future, where all the world is regulated and happy. No, seriously, people are conditioned from conception to fill and be satisfied with a particular niche in society. After work, they're given a variety of pleasures to keep them happy and satisfied. Well, I suppose there are a few odd people who don't quite fit in as perfectly as they're supposed to. (You have to have some sort of conflict to have a story, don't you?) But they are truly the exception. Mr. Huxley's story is not a gripping one, but it's placed in an interesting setting and populated by very real characters.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
This is a scary, scary book. 'Twas written in 1932, yet it resonates far too well with 2009. Brave New World features a dystopian future, where all the world is regulated and happy. No, seriously, people are conditioned from conception to fill and be satisfied with a particular niche in society. After work, they're given a variety of pleasures to keep them happy and satisfied. Well, I suppose there are a few odd people who don't quite fit in as perfectly as they're supposed to. (You have to have some sort of conflict to have a story, don't you?) But they are truly the exception. Mr. Huxley's story is not a gripping one, but it's placed in an interesting setting and populated by very real characters.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
Friday, April 03, 2009
The Complete Peanuts: 1971 to 1972
by Charles M. Schulz
This is a very funny collection of strips.... er, make that a collection of very funny strips. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say a collection of strips, some of which are very funny. (others being just plain funny and others being meh) The highlights of this collection are running gags about The Six Bunny-Wunnies series, Joe Cool, the introduction of Marcie, Charlie Brown getting expelled from camp, Sally's neurotic relationship with school and various sagas of unrequited love. Those strips showcasing Lucy and Schroeder are pretty pathetic, while those between Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown are quite amusing. All in all, I'm glad my wife wants to put this one on our shelf.
LibraryThing link
This is a very funny collection of strips.... er, make that a collection of very funny strips. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say a collection of strips, some of which are very funny. (others being just plain funny and others being meh) The highlights of this collection are running gags about The Six Bunny-Wunnies series, Joe Cool, the introduction of Marcie, Charlie Brown getting expelled from camp, Sally's neurotic relationship with school and various sagas of unrequited love. Those strips showcasing Lucy and Schroeder are pretty pathetic, while those between Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown are quite amusing. All in all, I'm glad my wife wants to put this one on our shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CharlesSchulz, CompletePeanuts, OnMyShelf
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