excellent Amazon series!

So glad i went back and started over on this excellent Amazon series The Man in the High Castle! Looking forward to a Season 2 binge soon!

delightfully written travelogue

A Russian Journal by John Steinbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"A Russian Journal" is a delightfully written travelogue chronicling John Steinbeck's two month visit to Stalin's Russia during 1947. He hoped to capture the Russian people and lifestyle as it was. And to supplement his writing, he took along Robert Capa, the famous wartime photographer to add photos. The book is full of Steinbeck's wit and charm, and feels very human. The stories and experiences are not relayed as cold dry facts, but rather are told in a warm and at times humorous way. Steinbeck lends his wonderful prose style to the account, and includes not only what he and Capa see and hear, but also comments on their experience traveling and lodging in a Russia still rebuilding after the vast Nazi destruction. This is not an academic work, nor is it a complete reference or guide on the subject of Russia or the Russian people in 1947. And it is not at all political. Rather, it is a enjoyable and fun account of two fellows on a quest to see Russia and met her people. I loved reading this, Steinbeck is one of the master storytellers.

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brilliant!

brilliant!

one crazy-ass story

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How very serendipitous that i should finish this book on the author's 95th birthday! RIP Mr. Jack Kerouac. This is one crazy-ass story. I don't know how much of it actually happened, but i believe it is based on real events. It has been referred to as the "Huckleberry Finn" for the author's generation. This story is one (no, actually, MANY) wild ride(s)! It is said to define a generation, or at least a sub-culture of a generation. I just realized that Jack Kerouac and my father were born in the same year - 1922. I am pretty sure that my dad experienced this period of history differently than Sal and Dean in the story, but even with the differences, i see some similarities. Sal's background was different than that of my dad. I do know however that my dad loved to travel. Dad, rather than taking the bus or a travel bureau car, preferred his motorcycle. I do not know how widely he traveled before settling down with my mom, but he never lost the love of traveling across the US and eventually around the world. We made many trips between southern California and the Ozarks of Missouri in my childhood, and dad continued to travel after us kids were grown and gone. I wonder if that love of travel and the open road was truly a part of his generation.

As i said earlier, this story is a series of wild journeys taken in a very different time, but they do capture a freedom and inquisitiveness that continues to be a part of our culture. This was probably the last days an adventure of this type could be undertaken, with the Interstate highway system just around the corner. Although William Least Heat-Moon was able to experience the same flavor of adventure in his excellent Blue Highways journey, with decidedly less flamboyance. Maybe the blue highways are a part of all of us. I certainly like to unplug and hit the road to see where it leads, and hope to do it again soon.

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ps. Oh boy, a movie version http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337692/

pps. The movie did NOT do justice to the book and missed major themes. Don't waste 2 hours watching it.

too close to home for comfort

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this was a great book to follow up Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World"! The central message of this classic story was not what i expected, but the close resemblance to our American culture and society today was downright creepy and scary. We are literally watching this unfold in so many aspects of our culture. This is really happening. I got the creeps when i heard the upcoming season of DWTS mentioned with anticipation and excitement. This is too close to home for comfort. Wow!

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