tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post6573151094272800001..comments2024-03-29T07:54:19.736-07:00Comments on Books in Northport: Much Too Much (Happening)P. J. Grathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-44027920209270477682022-01-24T11:39:44.409-08:002022-01-24T11:39:44.409-08:00Karen, a friend described the time shifts in ALL T...Karen, a friend described the time shifts in ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE (did I get the title right?), and I think that CCL's time shifts are indeed more challenging. Hope you recovery from knee surgery goes well. CCL can wait until you are off medication.P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-66222112257340047042022-01-23T07:42:43.256-08:002022-01-23T07:42:43.256-08:00Thanks, Pamela. While I read and enjoyed Doerr’s ...Thanks, Pamela. While I read and enjoyed Doerr’s first book, it was a challenge to get through. CCL sounds like it might be even more so, although your laying out various story lines certainly helps. I’m especially cautious about digging in at this particular point because I just had a knee replacement two weeks ago and I’m not sure how sharp my mind is, thanks to medication. Anyway, thank you. Take care of each other. Karen Karen Casebeerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14002150769292672779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-78741089755408636282022-01-19T15:08:41.160-08:002022-01-19T15:08:41.160-08:00Yes! A return to the “mundane, less exciting, more...Yes! A return to the “mundane, less exciting, more familiar and comfortable everyday” world sounds just fine to me! No more of your long drives, either. Whew!<br />Do tell…I could call you through Skype even if you’re not part of it, and we can talk for hours for $2-3. I DO enjoy reading your thoughts and I wonder if you prefer to write or if Skype is OK. I love both - connecting and staying in touch is so important to me these days. Hugs! Jeanie Furlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16294566547596358943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-10595884968678916032022-01-19T06:54:31.507-08:002022-01-19T06:54:31.507-08:00Ah, dear Jeanie! We need to catch up soon by e-mai...Ah, dear Jeanie! We need to catch up soon by e-mail or something. I hope you and Antonio and his family in Brazil are all healthy and happy. As for us, “We maun totter on,” as the Robert Burns verse goes. Having returned to the mundane, less exciting, more familiar and comfortable everyday world, the “tottering on” doesn’t seem so bad. xxxooo!!!P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-3222227560554503682022-01-19T06:48:14.780-08:002022-01-19T06:48:14.780-08:00OH, dear Pamela! With your long-time beautiful fr...OH, dear Pamela! With your long-time beautiful friend taking her leave of this world, Peasey leaving, with his absence a heavy burden for you both, then David and his surgery! The list of positive things that happened during David’s ordeal was a true and honest view of what happened, and I am so glad that all those events made David’s and hour journey down the medical road a good one. And that he is his old self - the picture of you and him in his robe is so wonderful to see. Thank you for the quote from the Anthony Doerr 📖 book. I will look for that one when we return in the spring to Brooklyn. Stay well, dear friends!! Jeanie Furlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16294566547596358943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-29539591613381194052022-01-19T06:43:25.005-08:002022-01-19T06:43:25.005-08:00Karen, David is recovering more from the surgery t...Karen, David is recovering more from the surgery than the stroke, but all is going well. As for the novel, here is my take on it: <br /><br />How to describe Anthony Doerr’s CLOUD CUCKOO LAND without cheating and looking up what others have written about it? The structure, time flashes backward and forward, the many different story lines, with multiple “main” characters to keep separate and distinct (for some reason, the names Seymour and Zeno gave me the most trouble: I kept having to remind myself which was which — but then I was reading this book at a time of great mental turmoil, often in various hospital rooms) make it very challenging reading. David said, when I tried to answer his question (“What’s it about?”), “That doesn’t sound like your kind of book.” I think that response came after I had given him a long description of what I would call the sci-fi story line. And there is that. There is also the historical line having to do with the siege of Istanbul in the 15th century. But characters also wrestle with more familiar life problems, such as autism and its social challenges, coming to terms with their sexuality, relationships with or absences of parents, etc. When David said it didn’t sound like my kind of book, I told him that it is beautifully written, and then he acknowledged that that would make it my kind of book.<br /><br />While I still think it’s fair to say that the story of Ulysses is a unifying feature, Homer’s epic is in the background, with another old Greek book — an actual (in the novel, anyway), physical book, besides its comedic tale — appearing in the lives of all the characters in one way or another. The persistence of stories and the survival of physical books is thus another unifying theme. How are stories lost? Found again? Translated? Blanks filled in? What does it mean to come home, and how can a story help us do that? I have never been an English major, but that is what I found in CLOUD CUCKOO LAND.<br /><br />As for any “message” one might take away from the book, despite the many horrific scenes the various story lines contain, I think the author in the end might agree with the main character in a 2013 movie we watched the other evening, “Paradise,” directed by Diablo Cody. But read the book first, see how you feel about the author’s themes, and only then try the movie for its more obvious message. P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-21328413867129285722022-01-19T06:12:03.102-08:002022-01-19T06:12:03.102-08:00So glad David is doing well and recovering from hi...So glad David is doing well and recovering from his small stroke. Will be eager to hear more on Cloud Cuckoo Land.Karen Casebeerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14002150769292672779noreply@blogger.com