chilling tale

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a chilling, creatively told tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic US. It is captivating in its intensity and its tenderness. Of course, images from post-apocalyptic movies i've seen came to mind, specifically "The Book of Eli" with Denzel Washington. A great book, albeit troubling.

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Wow!

I can't help but wonder if most of Trump's supporters can even read, much less comprehend this fine summary.

https://goo.gl/g3FtX3

oops

The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One of the three stars i gave this book is in honor of John Steinbeck, who remains one of my favorite authors. The other two are for the book itself. This is the least enjoyable book (by a decent margin) of all Steinbeck's works that I've read. It felt disjointed (as if published in installments with plot gaps in between), and I could not discern the point of the story. My wife gave me some hints partially through and I still missed the point. Given that Steinbeck was a master and a powerful writer, I'm inclined to believe that my (lack of) impression of this story is my lacking and not his. That being said, this is my least favorite, and I would not recommend this as a sample of the wonderful Steinbeck canon that I've read. Everyone has an "oops" i guess. :)

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leaving us with HOPE

Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Barbara Kingsolver is a great storyteller! I love the characters, the places and situations, and the substantive insight and wisdom that is conveyed through her novels. The characters in this story deal with life situations and feelings we all deal with. So much insight into our own lives and those of the people we know is illuminated through this story. We all have dealt with: family secrets, issues growing up, escape from and return to our hometown, life purpose and calling, love in all its forms whether real, imagined, or superficial, political, economic, and social powers overwhelmingly large, yet still conquerable. This is a wonderful story with 3D characters to care about and love, with many twists and turns, and in the end, leaving us with HOPE.

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superbly written tale of disfunction and excess

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Robert Redford version of "The Great Gatsby" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071577/) came up on my Netflix menu and i started to watch it. But before the opening credits were through, i stopped it and went upstairs to grab this book off the shelf and (finally) read it after all these years. I knew it was fairly short and i read it in a day. This is a superbly written tale of disfunction and excess of the rich and famous living on Long Island during the 1920's. Todays reality TV and scandals have nothing on the people there 100 years ago. It was during prohibition, but booze and money were flowing like old man river. F. Scott Fitzgerald tells this story wonderfully, and i loved every page. For such a short story, the characters and places are painted with a rich economy of words that immediately put the reader in contact with and in the middle of this story. I loved it and highly recommend this version of the text which is "authorized" and contains many notes and explanations (at the beginning and end, NOT in the text itself). Now back to watch the Redford film version. :)

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Still one of my favorite books

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read it again, slowly. Still one of my favorite books. Love it.

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