rajafacesbothways

Maurice Sendak

One of my favorite children's authors, Maurice Sendak has died. Where The Wild Things Are was so much fun--filled with mirth and menace and one of the most popular read-aloud books to kids in classes that I taught. Feeling "scary while safe" is an experience children always enjoyed. My favorite  book of his was The Night Kitchen.

He left an awesome creative legacy--not a bad way to go at 83.

 

 

 

All In the Family

Been absorbed in Steve Jobs, biography by Walter Isaacson, probably my favorite biographical author. (I've also read his biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein). I'm still in Job's early years, Zerox has just appeared on the scene.

It's a bit eerie--I can see his personality characteristics, quirkyness, and talents dispursed throughout my immediate family members. Combined we could have become one genius.

Unfortunately, my contribution would be small--Jobs and I were both born on February 24.

 

 

 

 

2 Reviews--From the Largest---

Atlantic, Simon Winchester (2011). Winchester's biography of a vast subject, the Atlantic Ocean reaches back to the 7th Century when Phoenician sailors passed Gibraltar into the Atlantic sea. Not much more exploration occurred for 1800 years with the exception of a few Norsemen. (Columbus gets a bad rap in this book)

Winchester's words roll on like the mighty ocean--on to pirates, packet ships, wars, transatlantic travel, cables, explorers, fishing and environmental changes. Entertaining, well-researched with occasional cheeky English humor, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, learning about the depth of the subject and the ocean.

 

Review--to the Smallest

Sex on Six Legs  Marlene Zuk (2011) has written a revealing book about behavior in the insect world,  entomology studies revealing with humor and accuracy the behavior of a world of insects with brains often the size of a poppy seed.

Incest, democracy, salacious behavior, hot sex scenes are constantly occurring in your own back yard or basements as you read this. This is a fascinating read, on some subjects I thought had no interest except for those who like porno films. All about insects we recognize and often disdain and fear.

And contrary to the title, it is not about a man and a sheep. (Sorry--sometimes I have a sick sense of humor.)

 

Tale of Two Wars

Going back into history of WW2 and Vietnam. I've been absorbed with two odysseys of survival, resilience and bravery.

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (2010) is the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympian runner, who became a WW2 airman whose plane was shot down by Japanese. After 48 days of drifting at sea in a small raft with 2 companions (one died), his saga continued as he was captured and tortured by Japanese in various prison camps. Rescue came with the bombing of Hiroshima and the end of the war.

The other gripping portrayal, Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1999) a documentary by Werner Herzog, is the true story of Dieter Dengler, a Vietnam pilot shot down and captured by the Vietcong. Another horrific true story of torture, starvation, escape and rescue.

Both men survived  to share their gripping portraits of bravery in war. And although their suffering continued through recovery, both learned to move on with their lives.

From both true tales, I came away with the yin/yang of the human experience:  the absolute cruelty humans are capable of inflicting on others and the heroic strength and spirit shown by two heroes. However, Dengler pointed out, the real heroes are those who died.

Thinking Fast and Slow--a review

Thinking Fast and Slow (2011) by Daniel Kahneman. A brilliant thinker and winner of the  2002 Nobel Prize in Economics, Kehneman dedicated many years of research to examine and explain the two systems that drive our thinking.

System 1 (automatic) is fast, intuitive and emotional. System 2 (effortful) is slower, deliberate and logical. However in both systems mental glitches rule. Both systems build the best possible story from the information available and if it's a good story, one believes it. Convictions that we can make sense of the world rests on our unlimited ability to ignore our own ignorance.

The world makes less sense than you think. WYSIATI (what you see is all there is) often guides thinking. And in judgment and decision making, individuals and groups often make an additional investment to enforce their thinking because they do not want to admit failure.

Despite the intellectual subject, this book is readable, thought-provoking and enlightening. Kahneman involves the reader in exercises that experiment with both modes of thinking, adding to the enjoyment of the book.

And as an optimistic person, I've been forewarned: optimism is a blessing and a risk--so be happy and wary.

rank:****

The Greater Journey--A Review

While my daughter and five friends were visiting the real Paris and living on a canal barge in the south of France, I satisfied my french fix with David McCullough's, The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris.(2011).

McCullough captured the essence of the grittiness and glories of the environments of both Paris and the U.S. from 1830's to 1900. Many of the younger generation of important families went to Paris to study and returned to the states with skills that made them famous doctors, writers and artists. Samuel Morse went to Paris as a painter and left as an inventor.  Their french experience enriched their lives and knowledge which hastened and improved the development of the U.S. in enormous ways.

This is no dry historical writing. McCollough's writing is served up like fine french food and wine, to be savored with delight and new awareness.

And everything on the "menu" exceeded my expectations.

Between the Covers

My latest reading:

The Three Junes, Julia Glass (2008) I was relieved to see it didn't refer to three women named June but the month of June. Set in England, covering a couple of generations, it explores different forms of love. It should make for good discussion in our next book group meeting.

Room, Emma Donoghue (2010). Came highly recommended as a gripping story of a mother and son held in captivity, written from the view of the five-year-old. Maybe I've become jaded but couldn't wait for it to end, not because I couldn't wait to see how it ended but because I really didn't care for the novel.

Scandalous Women, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon (2011) From Cleopatra to Billie Holiday to Amelia Earhart, this book contains the stories of some of the world's most notorious women who have shocked, changed history, and said "Screw it" to conventional behavior. A favorite: Eleanor of Aquitaine, France whose life was filled with scandal and drama and who was clever enough to have founded a dynasty that ruled England for 330 years.

Steven Hawking, A Biography, Kristine Larsen (2007) I love books about physics, even though I don't often understand them--the ideas fascinate me. Here is a physicist whose brilliance soars beyond his ALS limitations.

 

For the Books

The heat now equals my IQ--high 90's. I don't have to think about the exhibit for the first time in months and I can approach that pile of summer reading:

Homer and Langley--Doctorow

Last Train to Memphis--Peter Guralnick

Luncheon of the Boating Party--Susan Vreeland

Islam--Karen Armstrong

Easy reading for easy days.

Heaps and Piles

When I haven't been shaping up Bob the Bookman's scattered heaps of books and clippings I've been selecting, getting prints and framing photos for the Carnegie exhibit and providing required info for that Center. As Bob's office, which was a disaster, gets shaped up I'm creating my own mess here. My loft is filling up with framed photos returned from the Capital Cellars exhibit and photos for 20/20 Vision.

If I don't become a famous photographer soon I'll need to either quit or rent a warehouse.