6. war horse
morpurgo shows up twice on this summer’s list and that’s no surprise as his writing is exceptional and so easy to enjoy. war horse follows the experiences of a horse through the battles of world war one. in this way it connects thematically with “the amazing story of adolphus tips” (more on that book in a soon-to-be-arriving post). 7. dhalgren
i read dhalgren in high school thinking that i was going to be reading science fiction. to say that i got much much more than i bargained for would hardly do credit to the mind-bending, mind-changing effect this book had on me. dhalgren begins with the words “to wound the autumnal city. so howled out for the world to give him a name. the in-dark answered with wind.’ with those disjointed, fractured yet flowing like warm honey words , begins an extended trip to and through bellona, a fictional city in the american midwest cut off from the rest of the world by some unknown catastrophe. i won’t get into the circular narrative form delaney uses to great effect but suffice it to say that the book curls in and out of itself like an escher drawing much as it curls in and out of my way of thinking like an escher drawing.
8. the great race
the 1908 round the world automobile race - men, cars, the elements and all set back in a time when this was beyond magic it was that incredible. the story in short; in february of 1908, six cars from four countries gathered in times square for the start of the very first around-the-world automobile race. gas-powered cars hadn’t been round very long, and roads were nonexistent and yet this group set out to drive all the way from new york to paris, hoping to cross the ice of the bering strait along the way. i'm reading this one right now as i write this post and i'll tell you, it's a cracker! lots of juicy details including tons of references to the people (and yes reader, there were women who travelled 'round the world in some of these incredible, daring races!) and to the places they travelled that make me itch for adventure!
9. heat: how to stop the planet from burning
my dad gave me this to read after hearing that i had read mark lynas’ book ”six degrees” which details degree by degree the effects of global warming. where six degrees details the science and human cost of global warming, “heat” takes the preemptive tack, detailing the steps necessary to prevent the potential cataclysm that is emerging before our not-so-very-surprised-but-reluctant-to-acknowledge-the-harsh-reality eyes.
10. the pillars of the earth
well i have to start this one with an irrational statement . . . you see normally, whenever i see that oprah has recommended a book i shy away from it. but this one has tremendous appeal to me on the surface and so i have broken a tiny self-imposed rule in order to purchase it. the pillars of the earth was written nearly twenty years ago and is set in twelfth century england in a fictional town in which a cathedral is being built. interwoven against this backdrop are the many stories of the the people whose lives unfold beneath its shadow. here’s the author’s own view of this novel.
the golden fish summer reading list part 1 can be viewed here.
the golden fish summer reading list part 3 can be viewed here.
the golden fish summer reading list part 4 can be viewed here.
the golden fish summer reading list part 5 can be viewed here.
6 comments:
This Gary Blackwood ... is he one of the members of the three teams that actually finished the race? And, will you be going to NYC May 30th for the 100th anniversary?
Know what you meant by your 'tiny, self-imposed rule'. I felt the same way about her recommendations until I saw the movie, "The Color Purple". She saw substance. (I still don't care for her TV show.)
dhalgren I would say most DEfinitely had a profound influence on your writing.
Whitbread Award = Newbery Medal?
Meant to say, "She 'has' substance."
Also, obviously, I don't even know what month it is! DID you go? Probably not, cuz you would have been teaching, right?
(It's hard to correct a comment when you can't see it until it's published. Sorry about that.)
ha!! no, i didn't go - not only because i was teaching but also because it was postponed to 2009 as the chinese government wihthdrew their support of the event and revoked all permits associated with it. i agree with your multiple observations that oprah sees and has substance. i think that her show compromises her integrity.
your observation regarding dhalgren is worthy and intriguing because it reminds me to consider what might emerge if a thorough unpacking of our selves were possible just what and how much and why and when and how would emerge as either massively or peripherally influential in terms of how we become our selves or how we compromise our selves.
in england there are several parallels to the newberry including the whitbread, the smarties and a couple of others. i like to bring literature from australia, new zealnd and the u.k. into my class if only because it is higher end in terms of quality and also because they tend to allow their young adult authors so much more latitude in terms of the degrees of this world that they express.
steven
Hmmph! When did the Chinese do that? And here I thought they were trying to cultivate good will around the world prior to the upcoming summer Olympics! (Perhaps there was something wrong with the way the permits were issued in the first place? That's just a rhetorical question. No need to try and answer it.)
By the way, Steven. The Newbery Medal here in the US is awarded for writing in children's literature, the Caldecott for illustrations. As you are (or at least used to be) a sci-fi fan, I wonder if you have ever had the occasion to read Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time", which won the Newbery many years ago. There's a word in there that she coined ... "teseract". (If you are unfamiliar with it, THERE'S a 'teaser' for you!)
Oops! "Tesseract"
i read "a wrinkle in time" some time ago and still carry a set of five copies in my classroom "just in case" a group or even one students shows up who needs the story. "tesseract" appeared before madeleine used it as is documented http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesseract here. now i'm not being all smart about this because until i looked it up i didn't realize that it was also mentioned in "flatland" - a book now commonly used anywhere between kindergarten and grade 12!! steven
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