BOOKPOODAH
Why BOOKPOODAH IsCopyright notice: All reviews and other original material on this website, unless otherwise accredited, attributed or assigned, are copyrighted by Fred William Tims. 1997DEC15.
Copyright notice: All reviews and other original material on this website, unless otherwise accredited, attributed or assigned, are copyrighted by Fred William Tims. 1997DEC15.
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Over thirty years ago I was a callow fellow working on an image processing project. The leader of the project was a woman I will call "Dr. Bernice". She advised me that no one could consider himself educated until he had read "On Growth and Form". Having read about half of it, I agree, and can thus consider myself no more than half-educated. What I did read changed the way I see (and understand) the world.
Not at all a screed on masculine superiority. It was written long ago when "man" meant humanity. It is an astounding condensation and explication of human history.
I had to buy this book in college for a course in Economics. I read the required parts for the course. After graduation I read more. But I never finished it. Lately it has become something of a cult book for free market partisans and Libertarians. Great book.
I tried to read this book in the original German. I still have it, but managed only about, once again, half. The copy I have is named "Wo Warst du Adam?" and it is by Heinrich Boell (the best I can do with the umlaut problem). I think it is probably hard slogging even if you are not handicapped by lack of fluency. Never tried it in English. I am ashamed that I didn't finish it because it seemed an excellent book and it would have been the only full-length work I had read in German outside of class.
This MUST be read by every living soul. Period. It wires the brain forever with a pre-disposition to sceptically view any fad, fashion, just cause, accepted wisdom, media hype or sure thing. Reading this book can immunize you against mailing money to heating oil futures investment services, as well as wearing leisure suits and platform shoes. Read it NOW or risk remaining part of the aphid farm.
I suppose I should do some research before publishing this review. I should consult the opinions of professional historians, probably. What I am about to say may be total nonsense, but this is my page, so what the heck?
My earliest awareness of South Africa was that it was one of many parts of the World colored red on the map pulled down in front of the blackboard during Geography time in the fourth grade. Part of the British Empire. That was as far as it went until a few years later when I picked up a vague notion of the Boer War that occurred there and that a lot of diamonds and gold were mined there. In my middle teens I read Something of Value and thought it a very fine book, indeed.
That was about it until I read "The Covenant". I now know a lot about South Africa. At least it is a lot relative to what I knew before. It is not the historical poodah, however, that causes me to include this book in the "Important" category. It is the deeper understanding and appreciation of the social and cultural forces which made South Africa what it was and is. And, I am amazed to watch, Michener predicted a very important component of the nature of post-apartheid South Africa.
[The rest of this review will have to wait until after Christmas. I ran out of time.]
Click here for more books by Michener
I haven't read the two books below, but I intend to do so, based on my experience with "King of the Confessors".
This autobiography by the rascal of Watergate is a fascinating book. You get not only Watergate poodah, but engaging tales of the inside workings of the FBI. Liddy's use of the language shows he was taught more than self-esteem in school. Somewhere along the way, he picked up the self-esteem on his own.
An outstandingly good premise for a book, executed brilliantly -
"What would Marco Polo have chronicled had he not been inhibited by his readers' disbelief?"
This is a long, rich book. In a little corner of this adventure is a description of the construction and operation of a "kamel", a device used for East-West navigation. Easy! The book gets a bit raunchy in parts, so I wouldn't recommend it for youngsters. Also, I think Tibetans would probably be offended.
The reader should always approach Michener's books with a grain of salt close at hand. Notwithstanding his vaunted reputation for research, he tends to massage history gently.
My attitude for many years has been "So maybe the details are somewhat dodgy, he imparts the general idea." Is the "general idea" so askew as to be bogus? I can't speak with authority, but I think not. I have learned much history from Michener. Much of it is history I would surely never have learned otherwise. I trust and hope it is not irredeemably wrong.
All of his big books are rich in historical content and storyline, spanning time from the geological to the present.
Sometimes the first 80 pages or so are tedious. Case in point: "Centennial" begins with the history of an American bison family in the pre-human Great Plains. Come on! Several friends have told me that they gave up during this part of his books. I also usually find the last 100 or so pages, where he covers, say, 1945 to the present, less than captivating. The 900+ pages between these drab bookends, however, are pure fascination.
One of his books, "The Covenant", I consider important and my review of it can be found in the appropriate category.
Companion book to the television series of a few years ago. If you have any interest in English, you will love this book.
A nice, sweet little book by one of the authors of "The Story of English" (see above). It made me regret more than ever my neglect of Skakespeare.
Has there ever been anyone since Shakespeare who had a better command of the Language? He was to the English language what Zoot Sims was to the saxophone. [Maybe Winton Marcalis to the trumpet? Benny Goodman to the clarinet? Somebody help me out, here.]
In this trilogy he describes an alternative world that, we assume, never existed. There is no reason, however, why it couldn't have existed, or will not. There is nothing supernatural about this world. It is a completely plausible world that could have existed and might yet.
Truly weird. Truly fascinating. An ancient feudal civilization, thousands of years into accepted behavior and minute ritual, locked within the indeterminately massive "Gormenghast" castle, challenged only by poor little Prince Titus.
Didn't see the flick, but read the book. The "zinger" in this book is the most surprising and thought-provoking I have ever encountered. Sagan, this most rational of men, this priest of science, playfully lays waste to the underpinnings of science, the very essence of rational thought, mathematics. He was a man among us who could, with authority, laugh with God - affectionately and fearlessly.
This book, please realise, is an academic work, written for professional sociologists. As such, it is at times hard slogging for the layman. Struggling through it, however, I gained at least two insights. The first, not really a goal of the book, was a finer understanding of the mestizo/indian relationship (Castillians are not an issue in the book). Mainly, this was just a few more data points in the very sparse matrix of my understanding. The second, and this was the book's locus, was one I had never really considered - just what is behind all of those many extravagant and bizarre religious festivals that go on in Mexico? Salient points: the church does not sponsor them (a BIG surprise!); private citizens devote their personal meager income and their time, including that of their extended families, for a year or more to bring one of these festivals off. Whereas there is a strong religious vector to this sponsorship, the real nut of it is that it is a civic duty, and one which gives the sponsor the fulfillment of knowing that he and his family have done their bit. In the main, it is not a seeking of status in the community that drives these people to such extremes of personal sacrifice, nor is it solely religious devotion. It is what one must do to validate his existence and achieve a measure of comfort in the knowledge that he has been a link in the continuance of his society. The festival is not a propitiation to God, to invoke divine support for the community. The festival is the essence of the community - thus the name of the book, I think.
This study was executed over a span of several years, in situ in the mountains of central Mexico, among what we would call "poor farmers". I apologize to the author for my use of masculine pronouns and will review this review with a view to politically correcting it. I will not, however, take the easy way out and employ the abominable "he/she" construct.
This book is extraordinarily relevant to current events. It will give you an understanding of the hatred which rules the part of the world now called "the former Yugoslavia".
See the Long Review
This is the one I have, an older one and the one I love. I compared it with the new one (below) very quickly and found something quite different. In my copy, there are three recipes for making curry powder. In the new one, there is only one recipe and it is not any of the three in the old one. At any rate, they both are full of cooking lore. I like to read mine while I am waiting for something to boil down or cool or whatever.
This is the new one. I hope I'll get to read it at length.
Lots of interesting background stories and lore. Some really fine recipes. I especially like the Pork Chops Tuscan.
In association with Amazon.com Books
These two guys took off for a couple of years and just traveled around the country checking out BBQ joints. Included in the book are reviews of the joints, recipes, and instructions for building your own smoker. I've hit about twenty of the joints. The best was Payne's in Memphis. That was during a cross country from NYC to Dallas with a couple of business associates. It was an excellent adventure and the book found us some great food along the way. I carry it with me whenever I take a trip.
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