Saving Private Ryan

I have avoided this movie for a long time and now I know why.  I saw it yesterday (taped from HBO) and spent a sleepless night.  It was pretty graphic and terrible.  I think it is definitely an anti-war movie.

Toward the end Tom Hanks looked at Private Ryan and said something like "You deserve it."  Meaning he deserved the sacrifices the eight men made to save him.  At the end of Ryan's life, he is still worried about whether he deserved it or not.  What a terrible legacy to saddle a man with all his life.  Is there any way he could possibly deserve that sacrifice?  Is there any possible way we can deserve the sacrifices our servicemen make for us?  For that matter, do we ever deserve the love we receive?  Our parents' love?  Our siblings'?  Our spouse's?  Our children's?  Can we ever deserve God's love?  Of course not.  Of course not to all of it.  We just have it.  The best we can do is be grateful and try to be good to one another.  Give it up, Ryan.  You were given the sacrifice.  You could never deserve it.

Finished 3001 THE FINAL ODYSSEY

An ingenious ending to a great series.  I can't say much more without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't read it.  I'm not sure I loved the ending, but, perhaps it simply illustrates the old adage that "it is a truly ill wind that blows no one any good."  (Or something like that.)  I always say "There are pros and cons to everything."  Leave it to Arthur C. Clarke to find a "pro" to this particular thing.  'Nuff said.



I am now reading The Key  by Simon Toyne, the second book in a trilogy started with Sanctus.
It took forever for Goodreads to find this book.  I typed in The Key and it gave me The Secret Garden.  What?  I had it search for "The Key by Simon Toyne" and it told me it didn't exist.  Finally I had it list everything it had by Simon Toyne and then it found it.  It the meantime, it was impossible to delete The Secret Garden, so I put it on the "want to read" shelf even though I don't.

I am on page 53 of The Key.  The intrigue is already fierce and I already can't put it down.  I am not asking Dan Brown to move over, I'm just glad both of these authors are in my world.

The Desolation of Smaug

Our regular theater was undergoing retooling after having been sold yesterday, so we went to one we hadn't been to before in Denton--Cinemark.  Much older that what was the Rave and the seats were much less comfortable.  The movie was so good, I didn't hardly notice, but poor TR came out positively crippled and complained he would never go to the theatre with me again...that may change with time, of course.  Interesting that he never said a word until the movie was over.

I had not expected to like it.  The Hobbit is one of my very favorite books--I taught it to at least one class (my best readers) every year I taught (yes folks--34 years with me playing the parts of Gandalf, Gollum, and Smaug nearly every time)--and I'd seen enough of the previews to know that a great deal was being added to the original story line.

To me, the worst thing that a movie-maker can do to a book is to ignore the original author's theme--the truth about life that is illustrated throughout the book.  The truth is that The Hobbit does divide pretty naturally into three sections...and those Peter Jackson has been true to.  Each of those sections is about greed--the dwarves greed for the gold.  Smaug's greed for gold and riches.  Thorin's greed for the arkenstone (as well as gold), the elves' and lakemen's greed for the riches of the mountain.  To that Peter Jackson adds things that Tolkien did not make apparent until The Lord of the Rings--Bilbo's growing greed for the ring and Sauron's greed for power.  Doing this has added to Tolkien's theme and has shown great love and respect for the saga.  He has also given Legolas (who didn't even show up in Tolkien's The Hobbit) even more cause to hate dwarves.

Jackson has given the elves, dwarves, and orcs much more to do than they had in the original and has made the dwarves much more courageous than they originally were, but none of this disturbs the fundamentals of the book.  Can you tell that I loved the movie???  And it was in 3-D.  Really cool.

Mystery Solved

Clark gave the answer to my quandary in the last post.  Frank had broken loose from Discovery soon enough so that, instead of going into a high orbit around Jupiter, he kind of whiplashed off Jupiter and got catapulted out of the solar system.  Of course, he was still orbiting the sun and his catapult wasn't that fast, so it took 1000 years for him to reach the edge of the solar system where he was found.

That did not happen to the others who were jettisoned later.  By then, Jupiter's gravity was too great and they went into a deteriorating Jupiter orbit eventually to burn up entering Luficer's corona.

Finished PEOPLE OF THE SEA

Another wonderful story out of the distant past, this one set in what is now California about 15,000-10,000 years ago.  Mammoths, dire wolves, saber tooth tigers, lions, and other large animals are still around, but dying out as the glaciers melt, and again, the people are faced with trying to survive in the face of climate change.  Add in culture clash between matriarch cultures and patriarch cultures, which results in an intriguing story.  As usual with books by these two, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have now started 3001, The Final Odyssey.  Talk about culture clash!  15,000 years ago, then flash to 1000 years in the future.  Frank Poole (from 2001) has been found on a trajectory that is finally taking him out of the solar system after 1000 years in orbit (evidently around the sun).  This makes no sense to me since, it seems to me, he would have been in orbit around Jupiter which would have taken him in to crash into Jupiter (now a sun) long ago.  But, if he had been in orbit around the Sun, wouldn't that orbit have deteriorated inward toward the sun, rather than outward beyond the solar system?  I know there is a force causing the universe to enlarge, but, if that is what caught Frank, isn't it probable that his outward motion have kept pace with the planets around him and that he would still be in relatively the same position that he started (relative to the planets around him)?  But, ok, discarding that and accepting the story as told (suspending disbelief), Frank had been frozen at the optimum temperature to preserve his body and technology now exists to revive him.  Now he has a severe culture shock of his own to deal with...

Finished CLOSE TO ME by Mary Jane Clark

Good fast exciting, can't put it down reading.  I liked the main character and most of the people around her.  Intelligent and fast paced.



Am now about to start the next W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear novel in their People of Prehistoric North America series, People of the Sea.  I've been looking forward to this one...

Finished GHOST STORY

This has read a bit differently than most of the other books in the Dresden series.  Though it is full of action as usual, Dresden's talents are greatly altered (since he is ghost) and we also learn more about his upbringing and his learning to become a wizard than we had known before.



I found myself hating that he was a ghost and loving hearing about his early adventures.  Again a large variety of wonderful characters populate this novel which I enjoyed coming to know.  So, I guess I hated the premise of the book while I loved reading it...

Now I have started Close to You by Mary Jane Clark.  These books read very much like Mary Higgins Clark's books, but there are reviews by the latter included in the front pages and back cover.  Someone told me she thinks they are one and the same person, but with different publishers???  Strange.  The main character of this is an anchor woman on a local news station and deals with fan stalker issues.  I'm already into it.

Finished THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION

The only problem with these books is that they are too short.  I'd like to revisit.  All problems in this one are tied up, but I am a bit unhappy with the ladies this time--one problem was left for Charlie to work out, the other they relied on Clovis Andersen's advice, though they could have come up with it on their own...they have done it before.  Too star-struck to think, I guess.

I have now started Ghost Story by Jim Butcher.  Harry Dresden is dead and has to solve the mystery of his own murder....long live Harry Dresden...

Finished Obsidian Butterfly

Best Anita Blake book yet.  Mingling a much skewed Aztec mythology with a cautionary tale for plunderers of archeological sites, Hamilton thrills and terrifies and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

I am now about to start The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith.

Finished WORLD WITHOUT END

I'll say one thing for Ken Follett...he know how to give a satisfying ending.  Enjoyed the book greatly.  I loved that Merthin found himself crying at the funeral at the end and realized he was crying for "what might have been."  I've done that myself.  Something never happening the way it should have is a loss and deserves some grief.



I have now started Laurell K. Hamilton's Obsidian Butterfly.  Edward (the assassin) has called her in to help him get a true monster, and, for the first time, he is actually fearful.  This promises to be one heck of a monster!



TR has finished Jim Butcher's Side Jobs and is working on the Phrynie Fisher series.  This is a 20's flapper who is well off and dabbles in solving mysteries.  We discovered the series on Saturday nights on PBS and fell in love with it (along with Death in Paradise).  I probably won't read the books--I have enough books in my "to read" pile--but we are both enjoying watching the series.

WORLD WITHOUT END, p 437

There is a saying that Texas has miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.  Well, Ken Follett seems to write about years and years and years of nothing but misery and toil and disappointment and and misery.  I've decided he is a modern-day Victor Hugo.

Finished THE MIRROR OF HER DREAMS

Stephen Donaldson (even more so than most other writers) creates really interesting and sometimes very likable characters and then puts them through HELL.  Luckily the story started in this book is finished in the next book....it won't take lots of books to get through the whole story.  As usual with Donaldson, I enjoyed his characters, the environment he created, and the action of the story.  I look forward to reading the next book in the series (Mordant's Need.)  I gave it a good rating on Goodreads because I couldn't put it down and I thought about it for days afterward.



I have now started the sequel to Pillars of the Earth.  It tied in with Pillars within the first couple of chapters.  Again it has some very likable characters and some sniveling crafty creeps...

Finished ROSEANNE MY LIFE AS A WOMAN

I gained some insight to Roseanne's life, sense of humor, and purpose.  I liked her before, I like her better now.  I very much enjoyed the book.



I have now started THE MIRROR OF HER DREAMS by Stephen Donaldson.  Once again Donaldson beguiles me with wonderful language and unlikely heroes.  Teresa suffers from what could be terminal shyness, caused by ego undermining neglect and Geraden comes across as a well-meaning screw-up who can't walk without tripping over his own feet.  I look forward to watching them evolve through this series.

Finished THE ORIGIN OF SATAN

Though Satan had been mentioned in Jewish tradition, he had been an angel used by God to obstruct or test his people.  One sect of Judaism that existed during Jesus' time, the Essenes, considered him to embody all evil, but this was just one small sect.  The first of the gospels included in what we now call the New Testament was chronologically written by Mark.  The following, in the order they were written, were Matthew, Luke, and John.  Mark was writing about 35-40 years after Jesus' death.  John, about 100 years later.  Read in that order for allusions to Satan and to the Jews, Pagels notices that Satan becomes progressively worse and Jews become progressively more maligned.  She assumes that Mark's denunciation of certain Jewish religious hierarchy is caused by Jews' ostracism of early Christians from the synagogues, community and their own families.  She also thinks he may have been trying to seem inconsequential to the Romans.  In later gospels we see the Romans more and more maligned as the persecution of the Christians grew.

 

I have found all three books I have read by Elaine Pagels:  The Gnostic Gospels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, and finally, The Origin of Satan to be mind expanding and serious food for thought.

I have now started Roseanne, My Life as a Woman, by Roseanne Barr.  I am only on page 25, but already have had some belly laughs as well as some serious moments.

Finished THE UNSPOKEN

I enjoyed the book.  Heather Graham's view of spirits is similar to mine--they won't be much different than they were in life and most will be benign.  The "mummy's curse" theme of this book is a fun approach and there is some information on the ages of ancient Egypt that I hadn't known before which is always fun as well as some facts about Lake Michigan I hadn't known.  I'd enjoyed Chicago when I went, but this book makes me think I'd enjoy going back.



I have now started The Origin of Satan by Elaine Pagels.  It examines the Bible and other religious writing to discover the beginnings of the devil as we see him in present day Christianity.  It would appear that he pretty much appears in his present form with the beginning of Christianity and seems to be used to blame the Jews for Jesus' death as a way of telling the Romans that they had nothing to fear from Christians.

Finished SIDE JOBS by Jim Butcher

This is a collection of previously published stories about Harry Dresden as well as one new novella written especially for this collection.  It is not only an interesting progression of Harry's character, but also a fun exploration of the characters of the people surrounding him.  It is also a fabulous chronicle of Butcher's writing style into the frenetic activity that draws the reader in and holds, well, me, in thrall.



Now I have started The Unspoken by Heather Graham.  I just realized that it is the seventh in a series, but I'm thinking, if I know Heather, it will stand alone.  If I like it, I'll start the series from the beginning.  I'm only on page 13, but I am already pretty into it.  A ship went down in Lake Michigan in the late 1800's with an Egyptian mummy on board.  Now, a group of archaeologists is trying to rediscover it and pull up its treasures.  Do you ever tire of cursed Egyptian mummy stories???

Finished Hallowe'en Rain

It was pretty silly, but it turned out to be perfect faire for traveling, since I didn't have lots of time to devote to it and it was not preying on my mind.  I always enjoy the Buffy tales, and this one, set in the first season, was very high school and not terribly demanding.

Now I am reading Side Jobs, a book of short stories about Harry Dresden, Wizard Detective, by Jim Butcher.  I've read some of these in other anthologies. So far, in here, I've read the first two stories, one, the very first he wrote...before Storm Front.  The second, he is arguing with Bob about the phrasing of his ad in the yellow pages...both fun.

Finished People of the River

This is my favorite of these books so far.  I drove past the mounds on the way up to Vermont (see my other blog, wine-ing.blogspot.com) and didn't stop because of was making up time.  But I may stop on my way back.  I love that some of these books are set during climate change crises.  The book is about events that happened 700 years ago and is still timely, spiritual, and a lot of fun.  This story is also quite feminist, which I enjoyed.

I have now started Halloween Rain,  a Buffy tie-in by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder, two of my favorite "tv tie-in" authors.  It promises to be much fun.

Finished DECKED

This book was a more like Mary Higgins Clark that other books I have read by her daughter, Carol.  The "thriller" was there in this and the various plot intertwines and twists were a lot of fun.

I have now started The People of the River by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neill Gear.  This novel based on archeology is set among the mounds of southern Illinois in about 12-1300 AD.




I never really stopped and looked at the mounds when I was traveling and don't know much about them, but I am curious, so I'll like this book.

Finished A Discovery of Witches

This book is about romance and self-discovery, mixed with enough adventure, danger, scary moments and scary people to satisfy any self-respecting romantic fantasy enthusiast.  But I love the fact that it takes time to savor the delicious moments of self and other-discovery amid the mayhem.

It is also similar to The Fellowship of the Ring in that relationships have been formed and the "fellowship," though it is not called that, has been formed, plans have been made and the members have split apart heading in different directions each to carry out their part of the plan.



I am now about to start Decked by Carol Higgins Clark.  Using a similar style to that of her mother, Carol tends to write less intense and more humorous stories.  So, my relaxing enjoyable reading will continue.

Continuing A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES

I am loving this book.  I was just with Diana as she browsed through Matthew's private library (she has yet to look at the large library downstairs).  She found many old first editions of very notable books.  What a delight for a fantasy-loving bibliophile!  And the relationship between the two of them continues to grow and become more interesting.  I am just delighted!

Temporarily Paused Les Miserables

Les Miserables is divided into five sections, each about 300 pages.  I finished the first section, titled "Fantine," and decided to come back to it in sections, (similar to the way I am reading Morte d'Artur.
That first section was more about Jean VaJean than about Fantine, and I hope to continue meeting him as I read the second section, "Cosette."

I have now started A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, and am enjoying it immensely.  I am on page 166 of 579.  I enjoy the character of Diana Bishop (witch trying to act like she is not one) and her budding friendship with vampire, Matthew Clairmont.

Finished SWALLOWING DARKNESS

Fans of this series may be surprised by the meaning of this title.  She did finally get around to the sex, but not until the end, after which there was still more problems.  It ended well, though, and I very much enjoyed it.



Now I have started Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.  All I have finished at the moment is the forward by the translator, which I found quite interesting.  A little biographical material along with a description of how and why he has abridged it (which I believe I will be quite grateful for.)

Half-Way Through Swallowing Darkness

Since I couldn't get this picture off Goodreads.com (they seem to think this book exists only in a brochure about all of Hamilton's Meredith Gentry books), I took it off of Amazon, which explains the graphics on top.  I am now on page 191 (a little less than half-way through) of the book and am enjoying it more than I have enjoyed the last three or four books.  There has been more adventure in this and less sex...  We are now about to go back to L. A., which makes me happy because they were working with the police there, solving mysteries and well as being fantastic creatures.  Less court intrigue and more being helpful and productive...in a real world kind of way.

Finished The Silmarillion

It read like a biblical history of Middle Earth starting in the beginning (and Iluvatar created Middle Earth) and carried us just about up to the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring.  For those who have heard it is dry and slow-going, I must agree.  However, the language is beautiful and I found myself interested in the origins of dwarves, elves, and men--as well as Sauron, the wizards, and the hobbits.  Very little was said about the latter, unfortunately.  But, I did enjoy it.s

I have now started Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K Hamilton, one of her Meredith Gentry books.  I welcome change from the Silmarillion.  I continue to enjoy this series.

Got a new 'puter and it has taken me two books to get this far to being able to use it.

Finished Ava Gardner, My Story.  It is kind of sad that these people who seem so glamorous and rich and famous are just not as happy as we expect. 

I did note that she really never badmouthed anyone (well, maybe one exception--but I forgive her that.)  She did seem, for the most part, to just simply accept and enjoy the people around her.

After that, I read the eighth book in the House of Night series, Awakened, by P. C. and Kristin Cast.



I really enjoy this series.  It is quite inventive.  In this one, I learned not to worry, no one really dies in this series, so I don't have to be angry with her for killing off a favorite character two books ago.

I have now started The Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien as edited by Christopher Tolkien.  I've been warned against this is long, boring, and not the adventure his other books are.  But, the first of Peter Jackson's movie installments of  The Hobbit  introduced  me to Radagast and made me want to find out more about him.  All the warnings I received about the book appear so far (I am on p 68) appear to be true, but his language in this book has a beautiful flow...I can hear in it the voice of water so beautifully described toward the beginning...water flowing over rocks in a small stream.  I love the sound of the words and find that alone worth the price of admission.  So far, I have learned the lineage of Elrond and Galadriel as well as Sauron...so, it is fun.

Finished THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES

I hate that this series is over.  After the first book in the series, The Clan of the Cave Bear, each subsequent book book has been like an adventurous but mostly peaceful camping trip through what might as well be (to me) a fantasy world of great beauty.  I love camping and I have loved these relaxing, insightful, informative books.   Whenever life or reading had become intense, I could melt into this other world.  After checking Jean Auel's website, I discover no new books either in print or coming.  I figured out she is 77 years old...probably in need of a break.  But still, she should have another book or two in her, don't you think...even at her 7-10 year a book rate?  I wouldn't mind knowing what happened to Durc....

 

I have now started Ava, My Story by Ava Gardner.  I've read the first three chapters where she describes growing up dirt poor, the youngest of 19 children, and the death of her father.  Knowing a little about sharecropping in the 20's and 30's in the south, I don't think she exaggerated one bit...if anything, she seems to be sugar coating it a bit.  I think I'll be enjoying this book.

Past Half-Way Through THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES

And at this point, I thought I'd check the internet for pictures of the cave paintings that Ayla is journeying to see in this book.  These were quite old at the time the book is set--25,000 years ago.  Here is some of what I found:

        

Thoughts on Goal-Setting

I set myself the goal on Goodreads of reading 50 books this calendar year.  I probably won't complete it.  The problem is that, although a number of books I read take me 3-4 days, I am reading more and more books that are quite long.  The trend among at least the kinds of books I am attracted to is to be pretty long.  For example:  The Game of Thrones series, Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant and also The Gap series, books by the Gears, books by Ken Follett, and Jean Auel's Cave Bear series (Earth's Children) which I am returning to now.  These books take me 2+ weeks to complete.  I think trying to read a certain goal number of books in a given space of time tends to limit the kinds and depth of the books you read--kind of at cross purposes with what I call "a reader."  So, although I did set a goal of 50 books, I am most okay with not achieving it.  I really like the longer books for depth of character, inventiveness and description of environment, and strength of plots and subplots.  So, take that Goodreads!



I have just begun The Land of Painted Caves by Jean Auel.  It is supposed to be the last book in the Earth's Children series (that started with The Clan of the Cave Bear.)  My friend, Judith, gave me the first three books in a boxed set probably more than 20 years ago, and I kept them in my "to read" pile until I retired, when I started tackling that pile.  I'm now reading the sixth book in the series and am hoping that the author will return to this world for other books in the future (I hope that same for J. K. Rowling--Harry Potter) as well.

This book is a welcome relief from Slammerkin.  I can now relax and trust that my favorite characters are good people and will find ways of solving their problems that will enhance the world, not detract from it.  Hurrah!