Aggravating slowness

My laptop is being wretchedly slow, I’m dithering about what decorations to put on my husband’s tallit bag, we have wedding thank-yous to write, and those and belated birthday gifts to post, I’m nowhere near finishing any of the books I’m reading, and I’m generally wishing certain things would hurry themselves up.

I think this isn’t the best attitude to be blogging in.

We did find a shop selling yarn last night (acrylic and cotton only, which is par for the course here, so far as I’ve seen), so got a bit, until it became really clear the man was waiting to close for the night, which is why I began the tallit bag today. I’m doing it in tapestry crochet, and I have my DH’s name charted (in Hebrew for one side, and English for the other), but wanted something small in at least one corner on each side, but haven’t found what we like yet. Any ideas?

I’ll get back to the books tomorrow, בע”ה.

Fuzziness

And so to my first forays into my husband’s library (which is great, but I’m still looking forward to the rest of my books arriving)! He does have lots of classic science fiction I haven’t come across before, however…

53. Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper
54. Fuzzy Sapiens by H. Beam Piper
55. Fuzzies and Other People by H. Beam Piper

I’ve been dithering between writing about these individually or together, but seem to have chosen to do them together. Even just two months after reading them altogether it becomes difficult to necessarily be distinct about exactly what happens in each novel. (The whole series covers only a few months.)

Still, I really enjoyed the complete story. Yes, there are a lot of attitudes and practices that are decidedly dated and uncomfortable these days (let alone however many millennia into the future the series is supposed to be set), but it’s of the time it was written (the 1960s, although the third book was lost on Piper’s death, and not found and published until 1984, by which time other authors had written some versions of their own – William Tuning’s Fuzzy Bones is coming up on the list shortly) and there is recognition that some of these attitudes could and/or should be challenged, even if it isn’t prioritised within the series.

By the end of the series several of the Fuzzies themselves have rounded characters, as do many of the humans who are stereotypes and ciphers in the first volume. The potential of all the people of Zarathrustra (the planet where these books are set) has been challenged to develop both technologically/educationally (the Fuzzies) and morally/socially (the humans). While all the women who marry give up the (often prestigious) jobs they held before they married, they do at least move into expert posts alongside their husbands (luckily the Fuzzy bureau and research divisions have plenty of openings). Certainly the treatment of the Fuzzies as children to be adopted and continuously looked after should be no model for any real human behaviour.

In a way, this is television morality. Huge issues are raised, and sometimes trite solutions are given, which if you give it too much thought are not satisfactory, but all that could be expected (perhaps) in an hour, or 150 pages. It is up to us to not only enjoy the story and its wrap up, but to consider the real issues as they apply to our world, and ensure that the best solutions are put into practice, despite their necessary complexity.

(Well, this should go out at 11:35pm, which is a little closer than I’d like for NaBloPoMo posting, but counts. I’ll go by the time of this initial posting however, rather than when I finish any later tinkering with links or typos!)

New Nostalgia

This will likely be another short post, about books that feel like they should be rereads, but aren’t.

51. Just Henry by Michelle Magorian

As a child I read Goodnight Mr Tom and Back Home multiple times (I had a lot of kids’ WWII novels and biographies, and that war and its aftermath are a regular period for Magorian to write about). (I have read one or two of her other books as well, but don’t know them so well.) I liked both novels a lot, for the realism of the characters, and the interest and depth they bring to sometimes horrendous situations. (Although there’s a lot of good-heartedness in there as well, and they are perfectly suitable for the intended age-groups, in my opinion.)

This book is Magorian’s first in some years, and takes us to 1950, and a group of adolescents still dealing with rationing, National Service, and the family disruption caused by men having been lost in the war. At the same time there is an atmosphere of looking forward to new possibilities (Henry and his friends are fascinated by the cinema and what it shows them of the world) and new attitudes and opportunities (Henry’s stepfather has gone back to school, and hopes to be able to do 3rd level training or studies; and Henry and his classmates, male and female, are all being taught both to cook a meal and to put up a shelf). There are still many types of prejudice to be challenged and overcome, and a need to re-evaluate the past as well as the future, but this is a historical novel which very much looks forward.

52. The Truth About the Irish by Terry Eagleton

This was a (much appreciated) wedding present, to remind me of what I’ve left, and my DH of where I’ve come from! (It does rather help to have enough education in the country and its history to tell fact from fiction, but there are enough signposts that a savvy reader shouldn’t have much trouble.) It’s very amusing, in the good-natured self-deprecating humour that only a professed Irishman (no matter where he’s born) (or woman) could get away with.

It’s Erev Shabbat

It seems appropriate that I have a short selection of Jewish books to write about today, when I have to hurry and then get ready for Shabbat/Shabbos (and no, I amn’t entirely consistent about which of those I use).

48. With This Ring by Sarah Kisner

Hm, does my getting frustrated by the characters in a book perhaps say more for the book than I generally assume it does? When I get annoyed at them not taking the obvious step that would solve their problems (like family members actually talking to each other or (in the Jewish novels) asking their Rabbi for advice) is that just them behaving as real people do, much as we shouldn’t? Certainly (as I’m noticing again in Alice Adams, that I’m currently listening to (not this minute, as I couldn’t concentrate on both) by Booth Tarkington), it’s when the protagonists fall down in these basic areas, and/or in their care or attitude towards others, that I find myself disliking the main characters. And perhaps it is me. Perhaps the old adage is right, in that we see the faults in others that we struggle with ourselves (although I think I do see some faults that aren’t mine too).

So not a bad novel, just characters I was neither relating nor aspiring to. I was a bit put off by the title, as well, (as were others I spoke to about the book). It’s largely about a father in trouble in the diamond trade, and a daughter getting used to putting her marriage first, so I can see why they used the phrase, but it jars.

(Ooh look, I did tell you what the book is actually about! I’ve had several verbal comments that I should do that more often on the blog, rather than focussing so much on my own reactions to the book, which often have more to do with the themes than the content. Thoughts, please?)

49. The Disappearing Dowry by Libi Astaire

I really enjoyed this short historical mystery. Set in Regency England, it’s apparently the first in a series, and I’m looking forward to the rest. It seems well researched, without shoving the research down the reader’s throat (always a balance historical novels need to be wary of). I amn’t someone who seeks out mysteries as a genre, but I enjoy them sometimes, when well put together. The book is told in first person narrative by a likeable character (which as above is important to me).

Zahav Press appear to be trying to take small paperbacks into the Jewish market, and if they’re going to be this good I’m all for it! (This book was one I kept to travel with, so I’m pretty sure it’s misplaced on the list chronologically, but nevermind that. It didn’t last long, but was easy to fit into hand luggage.)

50. The Secret of Jewish Femininity by Tehilla Abramov

Well written, clear in its guidance and not-overly cloying in its encouragement. It was highly recommended to me, and I can see why. Definitely a topic to learn with a qualified teacher, however, with this as a textbook, rather than only from the book (and the book says the same).

Repeating the question from above: Would blog readers prefer I say more about the content of the book as a regular thing, rather than focussing on my reaction(s) to it? (Not promising to change, but I’d be interested.)

Past Migrations

The next set of books are nearly all about journeys in the past, in one way or another.

41. Richard the Lionheart by David West & Jackie Gaff, illustrated by John Cooper

This is a consecutive art depiction of the life of King Richard the Lionheart, from his childhood as a younger son of Eleanor of Aquitaine (I own a biography of her, and really must read it, once my books arrive) and Henry II. Both men were kings of England, but certainly wouldn’t have recognised that as an adequate description of their rank. Richard, particularly, was not especially interested in England, and preferred to crusade. (More on that below.)

42. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

This was part of the same reread I mentioned yesterday. I am torn. I love Gabaldon’s writing and characters, but her skill at expressing characters and what they experience can be more graphic than I felt comfortable with this time through. I’d like to say that’s less of an issue in this volume than some of the rest, but seeing as this is the one with the ‘45, that just wouldn’t be true!

43. The Travelling People by Anthea Wormington, Sian Newman & Chris Lilly

As the title suggests, this is about the Travelling people(s) of Great Britain, and to an extent of Ireland. It is a thin glossy book produced for children about the various groups of nomadic communities. There is a focus on Irish Travellers and on Roma/Gypsy Travellers, as the most numerous such groups, but there is also information on several other groups. The title link includes PDF files of many or all of the pages of the book, and it is well worth reading, for adults as well. There are links to other related resources as well.

44. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

This one isn’t about war so much as its aftermath of suffering, death and separation, and how ultimately love can overcome them. But being Gabaldon, that doesn’t mean everything ends up sugar and roses…

45. Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

Now though, we’re in the prelude stages to another war, on another continent…

46. The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott

The next audiobook was my second read of Scott (I have a print copy of Ivanhoe, which I could probably stand to reread), and takes us back to King Richard and the Crusades. The former seems a favourite of Scott, and here is definitely portrayed as the absolute flower of chivalry. Richard (and to an extent Sir Kenneth, narrator and protagonist of the tale) far prefers an honourable enemy (as he considers Saladin) to a dishonourable ally (all those who feel it’s time to give up the crusade, but can he really fight on honour alone?

47. Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker

The last ‘travel book’ tells of two young girls raised in slavery in 19th century America, who upon being ’sold South’ choose to flee North along the Underground Railway. It isn’t a long book, and gets across the horrors of slavery without being too graphic for even a sheltered adolescent. It’s well written, and includes both adventure and emotion.

Stories overlapping and intertwining

I’ve just started reading Trinity: a novel of Ireland by Leon Uris, as I finished The Professor and the Madman this morning, and this was one my DH expressed an interest in my opinion of. I’ve seen novels by Uris before, but not read any of them. At the moment this is sharing the opening set-piece of Dubliners: the wake of an old man, respected in the community (if not by all), as viewed by a young boy connected to his family. I haven’t got far enough in it to say more than that as yet. Already, though, it’s got my DH and I discussing Irish history again, which is never a bad thing.

Still, if I’m to get to even having read a quarter of last year’s total books (320), I do need to get a move on, as I’m at precisely a fifth (64) today. Not that anyone besides me does or should care about that…

37. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling

I believe I was given one copy of this and offered two or three more. Not sure if this says more about me or the book (I was being offered once read copies, where the purchaser thought it unlikely they’d reread the book). It is perhaps more of a book of children’s fairy tales than might be expected from Hermione’s fascination with it in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but for those who enjoyed the Harry Potter series in its totality it’s certainly worth reading once, and for more than the sake of completeness.

38. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon

After 2008’s reading of the original American version, this was me going back through the series as I knew it originally. As I pointed out then, they are only fractionally different. I still love the story and the writing in this series, but on this reread I was getting disturbed by the huge amount of violence (sexual and non) within the books, so it may be awhile till I go back to them, presuming I do. I haven’t even got hold of or read An Echo in the Bone (the newest book, which came out this September just gone) because of this.

39. What Diantha Did by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I listened to this back to back with Mr Hogarth’s Will, as described two days ago, and since they have some overlapping themes I thought I was going to get them thoroughly mixed up, but I think I have them more distinct now than I did at the time!

Unlike Mr Hogarth’s nieces, who are educated to provide for themselves, and then turfed out to do so, Diantha has to do a lot of persuading of her family that she be allowed to try so to do (so far so like Agnes Grey), especially since she has a young man desperate to marry and look after her (so not like any book I’ve come across before the current generation). This is a clever, practical, principled young woman with her own plan of action, to benefit many women young and old, who will not be deterred from her path, especially by those she loves.

40. Posing for Portrait Photography: a head-to-toe guide by Jeff Smith

One of those random books I read for work, but I like to think it has and will help in my snapping, even though it’s decidedly written for those in or going into professional portrait photography. (I did some ‘proper photography’ courses in school, after learning a lot from my father, but these day I use an automatic digital camera mostly to record my crochet here and on Ravelry, and otherwise to snap pics of friends, family, and touristy stuff.)

Oh, and while I’m discussing improving photography skills, I just came across a really interesting photography blog. It is aimed towards proper photography, but those of us trying to get beyond ‘just snaps’ (again) can learn and be inspired too.

Inspirations

I very specifically didn’t make a fuss over doing (or trying to do) NaBloPoMo yesterday or the day before, and I wasn’t going to today, either, but it is inspiring me, and I want to keep that. Basically, I do want to get all the few books I have read this year referred to, and if it encourages me to read and crochet more as well, then that’s all to the good. Actually, I wanted to do a second post yesterday, but thought I’d leave it for today.

35. Reb Shlomo: The Life and Legacy of Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld by Rabbi Yisroel Besser

This book, of course, was a real inspiration. I was recommended to it by a good friend and mentor who had had regular opportunities to be inspired by R’ Freifeld in person, and we both had the pleasure of finding the book as well written and interesting as one would hope any biography might be (but too few, unfortunately, are). As another reviewer has written, beyond his all round greatness in the Jewish context, it was his care and understanding for and of the people of his time and place that made him stand out. Someone we could all try to emulate, in our own spheres.

36. The Lost Daughter by Esther Heller

A Jewish novel with a vaguely plausible storyline, reasonable-ish reactions. Sorry – I don’t think I disliked it, but not one I’d be racing to reread. Good for once through, if you like the Jewish light mysteries.

And now I should go read more of the Jewish books I’m currently in. Haven’t done any of that yet today.

Some more books

I should be crocheting, but I’ve actually designed something, and since I don’t have the yarn to make it, I’ve got temporarily disinterested in the rest. I’ll let you know more about it as and when I can…

So for now, a couple more books. I just finished Agnes Grey, and I’d like to write about that, but if I don’t catch up with the list in order I’m afraid some of the entries upon it will remain forever undescribed, and that would be terrible, of course!

31. A Tale of Seven Sheep by Gadi Pollock

This is a beautifully (and amusingly) illustrated modern Jewish fable. Do not let the illustrations make it seem like it should be for young children, as I suspect it would take adolescents (or their older friends) to get all of the subtle references.

32. Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

I haven’t read the other three books in this series, but certainly wouldn’t object to doing so if I happened to find them. At the centre of this book is Tom Natsworthy, a young apprentice on the Traction City of London who by chance gets caught up in the personal disputes of Hester, Katherine, and the latter’s father Valentine, London’s hero, and must flee for his life. Tom lives in a world where people are expendable; villages, towns and cities must destroy each other or be destroyed for their resources; and where the very idea of actually settling in one place is taboo. It’s a complicated world, but a well thought out one, and an intriguing set of tales.

33. Mr Hogarth’s Will by Catherine Helen Spence

It’s been quite awhile, and the main thing I remember about listening to this book is the regular surprise at what was going to happen next. Certainly the romances did not go as expected. Which is not to say that the story is not memorable – just that it’s fairly complex, and keeps the reader guessing.

Mr Hogarth has brought up his two nieces, and educated them in a way generally considered suitable for boys who will have to make their own way in life, rather than for girls. On his death they discover he means them to do just that, leaving all of his money and property to a hitherto unknown son, who in turn would have preferred some contact with his father in life. After thinking through the opportunities both young women make their way to Australia, and the new society there, and slowly build themselves decent lives.

34. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

Now I specifically read this at Pesach, (which shows just how far behind I am with this list, and why I amn’t recalling every detail) because I brought it as a gift for the family (good friends) I spent the first days with, and the three-year-old boy had me (and everyone else) read it to him countless times. [Note that I haven't included on the list all the other kids' books I read to them, but we went through this one enough for it to count, I think!] He was in fits of laughter every single time (the older kids liked it, but not as much as he did). I had great fun doing voices, and his exuberance and the book itself were a perfect match. It’s just good, and I highly recommend it for reading to young children (which I love doing).

Insomniac Book Recall

Time to catch up on the Reading 2009 list a little…

29. A Victorian Childhood: At School by Ruth Thomson

This is an informative, well-illustrated series, with this a good example of it. It’s certainly aimed at a primary school audience, but is not to be scorned for older children.

30. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

This is one of my favourite novels, and I’m rather surprised I didn’t reread it in 2008 as well. It’s epistolary (told through letters exchanged between various of the characters), which is the perfect format to show the severe loss of letters in this independent island off North America. Funny, clever, literate (far more than I at 4am…) with characters to be cared about. What’s not to like?

ETA: I’ve had a verbal comment that my readers are going to know what ‘epistolary’ means, and to be honest, in the light of day I’m sure you all will, but as the title and text suggest, I wrote this post in the middle of the night, when I wasn’t so sure.

Books unfinished

I have to admit, the number of books I have listed as read, but haven’t yet reviewed here is a bit daunting, so I thought I’d make things a little less so by discussing some of the books I haven’t finished. Hopefully most of them will get added to the list and mentioned again reasonably soon…

This post will mention some crochet, though, since the bookmark holder I made yesterday would seem rather relevant! I’ve been playing around with Tapestry Crochet, with the leftover yarn from the sheep’s head I made for Rosh Hashana, since that is the only set of matching yarns with different colourways I have at the moment. I’ve been using the white as background and the variegated browns for the pattern, which works fine when the actual browns show. The ecru, though, is rather too similar to the white for full impact. The first thing I made so is a present, for someone who does read this blog occasionally, so I won’t show the pictures, but Ravelers can see it here.

What I made yesterday was for my DH, however, and he received it when he arrived home (about five minutes after I finished it), so I can show you that. I used a cross stitch writing tool from Stitchpoint, which I’ve mentioned on this blog before, but shouldn’t have chosen an italic font, since tapestry crochet adds to the slant, meaning that a non-italic font would have looked somewhat italic, and been far more legible. That and the clumps of ecru mean that my DH can’t actually read the text (having it all around the container doesn’t help either, but it was going to be far too tall done sideways), but he appreciates the item and its immediate value to us (he’s a bookworm too), so that’s okay!

I’ve never blocked acrylic (I’ve barely blocked anything), but if anyone has good ideas for how to make it stand straight I’d appreciate hearing them!

And now to the unfinished books (I would say the ones still with bookmarks in them, but I have the habit of leaving bookmarks in after I finish the book, so that would not be the correct category).

Jewishly, I’m reading Praying with Joy by Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Travis, as well as Anshei Hayil: Volume 1 by Rabbi Haim Levy, both of which will hopefully help me improve my tefilla. I’m enjoying both in small sections at a time.

In print non-fiction, I’m reading The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, which I heard about when it came out, I think, but have never found before. Thankfully my lovely MIL gave it to my DH several years ago, so I get to read it now. It’s about the creating of the OED and two of the major players involved in the project. They were very different Victorian gentlemen, and it’s intriguing and apparently well-researched so far.

My DH and I are both reading a book my father gave him, What Did You Do Today, Professor?, edited by Eoin P. O’Neill, which is a collection of essays by TCD scientists about their research and what led them to this point, often with a particular emphasis on how mathematics is important to all the other sciences. It’s really interesting. I like learning about current research, and while this is written to be accessible to non-specialists, it isn’t dumbed down in the way some popular science is. I have to say I’m finding the Irish/Dublin/TCD references much easier than my DH, of course, but they aren’t stopping him enjoying the book.

The fiction is mostly audio at the moment, but I am occasionally dipping into Harry Potter agus on Órchloch (yes, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in Irish, by J. K. Rowling, of course) just to see if I can… I amn’t getting through it very fast, but then I think I know the original well enough that it’s not very fun to read slowly.

From Librivox I’m most of the way through Agnes Grey, by Anne Brontë. I haven’t read this before, and am enjoying it. The protagonist seems very self aware, and though some of the other characters are somewhat one-dimensional, most of these are being pointed out as what happens when children are thoroughly spoilt. There are multiple readers, so far all (I think) women I’ve heard on other Librivox recordings, so obviously quality and pronunciations vary, but they’re mostly pretty good, and none had me wanting to turn the thing off.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said of the new recording of Dubliners by James Joyce. Part of the problem is just that I am a Dubliner, so it jars when placenames, intonations and phrasing are completely wrong in a series of short stories so specifically written to show the city and its people. I’ll admit I only listened to the first one-and-a-half stories, each read by a different (American) man, so the later readers might be better, but at the moment I’m severely tempted to just read the whole book myself for Librivox. Not that I could do all the accents for the different groups of Dubliners in the book, but at least I would know what the references were too. Perhaps I could do that in time for 2012, when the book will be out of copyright in the EU… (And no, I wasn’t in the EU when I downloaded or listened to this, and amn’t now. Copyright is important.)

Okay, I admit it, I’m a snob. It doesn’t bother me for very English or American fiction to be read by voices from all over the world, but it does when the voice should be a Dublin one, and isn’t. Still, it does help for any reader to check unfamiliar words for their pronunciation.

So that’s what I’m reading (or amn’t, but chose not to finish).