Mary Jane

I could’ve lived without it

Revisado: 09-07-24

The narration was well done by Blair Brown. The story itself really stretched the boundaries of what many would consider acceptable. Then again, in today’s world of openness, who knows what’s left that is out of bounds, or something to share for its shock value (or confessional). I would say I was glad to hear the acceptance which Vivian had grown into feeling toward others. “That’s just the way he is”, she said of one character. But it was a lot of book to get to that “moral of the story”, way at the end. I would say that somewhat redeemed all the plodding to get to that. As I was reading, more than anything else, I just wanted to finish the book. I’m giving it 3 stars, but I can’t say I really enjoyed this book. I could have lived happily never having read it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Evey Family’s Nightmare

Revisado: 05-30-24

“The Accident”—a slippery, snowy road sends two families, a best friend, and a hitch hiker off the road and down a slope, tumbling and winding up upside down. Several are injured, one dead. The spirit of the dead 16 yr old narrates the story, giving her interpretations of the others thoughts and emotions. She watches everyone’s actions, hears what they say. It is an interesting perspective, a literary device to have a first person narrator who is right there, but cannot be seen or heard.
The need for help of those in the wreck is extreme as a blizzard howls on, the people have no food, water, or shelter, will they die of hunger? Exposure? Dehydration?
I felt having a first person narrator tell the story was clever, but there were some strange choices that the author made. It does, however, make the reader ruminate about the end of his/her own life. Is there a heaven? Do dead people really have the ability to watch those left behind? Can she cry, get angry, feel hunger? All of this feeds the imagination as the reader progresses through the story of what could happen after death and what is it like to have a near death experience? Could the reader put herself in the place of one of the passengers and really feel the story?
These are ever present human questions. This book will promise an interesting discussion at a book group, or just some intimate meditations for the solo reader.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Chilling, really…

Revisado: 05-10-23

I can see this book as a movie! I particularly liked the audible because the readers did such a good job. If it does become a movie, I hope they keep the British tone of the book, the old British mansion and grounds, make it so much more chilling somehow.
A first class mystery!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

What a letdown

Revisado: 03-08-23

Having read other books by this author, I had great expectations. When advising people who wish to write, it is usually taught to write what you know. This story was waaaay off the beaten track of believability.
To make things even harder to swallow, the narrator nearly ruined the book for me. The reader’s character voices left much to be desired: the male voices sounded gruff, like 70 year old chain smoking grouches; Peanut’s voice left me wondering was she male or female; the little girl had such a weird, pinched voice for a seven year old.
In summary, this was not of the quality for which this author is known, and the narration nearly ruined the book for me. If I didn’t have vision issues, I’d much rather have read the book myself, imagining the characters in my own mind. Maybe I would have been able to give the book 3 stars, but certainly not the 5 stars I expected from Kristen Hannah.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Get ready for some topics you will want to ponder and discuss

Revisado: 11-01-22

Definitely an interesting book! It deals with times going back to the 1830s and forward to 2086. We are carried on by the lineage of Afong Moy. The book centers around the idea of epigenetics or the passing of emotions and traumas to the next generation. It is intriguing, and it will definitely lead to good discussions within book groups.
I will suggest that readers keep a “cheat sheet” of the characters names and eras, as it can get a bit confusing as time goes back and forth with each chapter narrated by a different character.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

And we think we’ve got it tough…

Revisado: 08-10-22

This book is certainly one of the Great American novels. The first time I read it when I was a teenager, I thought it was one of the most depressing things I’d ever read. I felt the intervening chapters which were description and not part of the storyline, prolonged the book. And of course, the ending shocked me.
This time around, I had a much greater appreciation of Steinbeck’s power as a writer.
His descriptive language was wonderful, to the point that I got swept up in those intervening chapter. Take a turtle, crossing a dusty, dirty road in the heat of the desert sun. Then comes a vehicle which comes along and purposely hits the turtle, sending the animal spinning off the road. The turtle raises itself up and slowly, very slowly continues his plodding trek, to where, we do not know, and perhaps the turtle doesn’t either. Knocked over, thirsty, hungry, disoriented, dry, the poor fellow trundles on, seeking just to find the barest needs for his existence. Is this not the theme of the whole book?
Truly a work of genius, Steinbeck writes of an era in US history, but at the same time, he writes of the condition of man.
Is the book depressing? Yes, and stressful, it is a choice read that not only depicts the Okies travails during the Depression, but also, so many aspects and experiences of the human existence. Who lives with determined optimism? Who gives up when the exertion of staying alive is just too much? Can this speak to today’s immigrant experience—going through extreme exertion to reach the “Promised Land”, only to face disgust, disrespect, a classification that places them lower than the value of slaves. There is no redemption, just an impossible struggle to the death. And yet, there are those who maintain a spirit of hope, some who provide a source for life. We need these people, we cannot live without their strength, their will to make the best of the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”. They carry the weight of those who grow to depend on them. We all must recognize this individual, or find her within our own hearts, to lead and keep hope alive. This is a universal theme of life; we all will encounter challenges in life. We can lay down and die, or be the turtle, and encounter the challenges with a will to get through them, and LIVE. Happiness can always be illusive, or it must be found each day, no matter the circumstances. We can keep hoping to “get somewhere” so that we can experience a good life, or we can recognize that each day is a new chance to live a piece of life and find our own path.
Regarding this Audible recording, I thought the reader did an excellent job of finding a voice for each character. His performance was wonderful and experiential. He really brought the book to life. Five stars all the way around!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent historical view of 4 Presidents

Revisado: 12-29-21

Doris Kearns Goodwin has poured a tremendous amount of her experience, as well as her copious and scholarly diligence in researching the life, time, and characteristics that made Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon Baines Johnson the right men at the right time with the right leadership skills, manage to take our country through very tumultuous times. This book explores what skills they brought to the Presidency, their personalities and how they could affected people, and their philosophies of life which led them to make the choices they did.
This is a terrific book, pertinent even in today’s time. I found it so informative, well written, and well performed by the author and the other readers, that I have already bought two more copies to share!!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Familiar somewhat with coal country

Revisado: 04-15-21

What drew my attention to “Gray Mountain” was the interest I’ve fed about Appalachia for many years now. A good friend volunteered there and I became intrigued by her stories. I read “Night Comes to the Cumberland” which was required reading for her. I continued on from there reading several more books about the region. I have met others who have volunteered there, as well as some folks who lived there. I have known a person with black lung disease. The whole deceitful way the companies took hold of the miners (think Johnny Cash and his lyrics “...I owe my soul to the company store”) and have left them in abject poverty as they close the mines without even notifying the workers who show up to find the mines shuttered, without even a final paycheck.

Environmentally, coal has hurt people, destroyed land, poisoned waterways, filling the air with sickening particulate which has also caused acid rain in many beautiful mountain lakes. It’s time to stop using this fuel. Most coal miners are on welfare now anyway, so it’s not like this will cause them to lose a job they don’t have.

Politically, it turns my stomach when I hear campaigning politicians say they will bring back coal. No they won’t—that’s a lie! It is a bipartisan lie. I have studied and have had some involvement with ways to save the environment for over 50 years. The problems are numerous, and serious. It seems that everything is about money and ways to get richer and richer. We have, over the course of time, succeeded with great effort, in passing many laws and regulations and have developed the EPA and seen many private interest groups “fight the good fight” (Sierra Club, eg). But, during the last administration, we witnessed reversals on over 100 of these hard earned protections, in order to favor Big Business. Some of the worst were cutting rules regarding car and truck emissions, getting rid of chimney scrubbing measures, and lifting a ban and allowing businesses to once again dump into our waterways. It will take a long time to reconstruct these environmental protections which will be fought by lobbyists for big business and blocked by filibusters.

This book was about legal issues regarding the coal industry and the dangers of fighting this big business. Though I did not find it one of Grisham’s best books (perhaps it was written by a ghost writer), but it does expose a “dirty” industry.

I encourage everyone to get out and enjoy the beauty of our country. Drive through NY’s Adirondacks and dip into their lakes. Thank goodness someone years back had enough sense to ban overdevelopment in the huge Adirondack Park. Still there are lakes that cannot support plant or animal life because it was wiped out by acid rain. Drive through central and Western PA and see some coal fields and what has been done to this beautiful area. Enjoy our Western parks which had the ban on mining them lifted during the last administration. Even now, just this week, Japan plans to dump radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the ocean. And in FL, on old pit where contaminated water was kept threatened to break and flood the neighborhoods nearby. The solution? Reduce the amount of water by dumping it into Tampa Bay! Think of Detroit where you still cannot drink the water.Think of Newark, NJ, whose river is still toxic from bad batches of Agent Orange being dumped in it. Think of how long it took to clean the Hudson River which was fouled by a GE plant dumping toxic chemicals into it.Anyone remember the Love Canal? If we are not vigilant and thoughtful with the leaders we choose, these travesties will continue and continue.

Thanks for this book pointing out one arena of permanent destruction. One voice cannot bring about change, but many voices together can. The freedom to vote your voice will help to keep our leaders on their toes also. Help preserve what we can of our beautiful planet, one area and one problem at a time.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Interesting observations

Revisado: 02-29-20

I have a strong reaction to all things re: the war in Vietnam. I protested in DC, I lobbied for peace, I knew people who lived through the war, and those who died. I guess you could consider me a pacifist. I cried when I visited the Vietnam Memorial in DC. I cried all the way home after seeing “Miss Saigon” on Broadway. I have a very hard time accepting that we will always have wars. I find “man’s inhumanity to man” very disturbing and hard to understand.

That being said, on the plus side for this book, I found many of the observations about America very interesting. What would I feel if invaders came here to “protect us” by bombing, spraying poison, setting forests on fire, gunning down whole “neighborhoods”, all in the name of helping us? In some senses, I wish I had read the book instead of listening to it, because I would’ve underlined several of these observations to ponder and discuss.

On the downside of the book, it brought me back, face to face, with all that I hated about the war back then. I also found the brutality very difficult to go over again. It’s not that I didn’t know these things happened—I am no innocent. But did I really need a “refresher” on all of these awful actions?

In summary, in case you have no idea of what this war was like, I can’t really recommend it. It does give a perspective of those involved from many angles, but it was way too vivid for me. I’d recommend the excellent documentary by Ken Burns to gain a more complete picture of the history leading up to the war as well as the governments involved, including the US, and if you really want the “down and dirty” experience, this book may be of interest to you.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Interesting observations

Revisado: 02-29-20

I have a strong reaction to all things re: the war in Vietnam. I protested in DC, I lobbied for peace, I knew people who lived through the war, and those who died. I guess you could consider me a pacifist. I cried when I visited the Vietnam Memorial in DC. I cried all the way home after seeing “Miss Saigon” on Broadway. I have a very hard time accepting that we will always have wars. I find “man’s inhumanity to man” very disturbing and hard to understand.

That being said, on the plus side for this book, I found many of the observations about America very interesting. What would I feel if invaders came here to “protect us” by bombing, spraying poison, setting forests on fire, gunning down whole “neighborhoods”, all in the name of helping us? In some senses, I wish I had read the book instead of listening to it, because I would’ve underlined several of these observations to ponder and discuss.

On the downside of the book, it brought me back, face to face, with all that I hated about the war back then. I also found the brutality very difficult to go over again. It’s not that I didn’t know these things happened—I am no innocent. But did I really need a “refresher” on all of these awful actions?

In summary, in case you have no idea of what this war was like, I can’t really recommend it. It does give a perspective of those involved from many angles, but it was way too vivid for me. I’d recommend the excellent documentary by Ken Burns to gain a more complete picture of the history leading up to the war as well as the governments involved, including the US, and if you really want the “down and dirty” experience, this book may be of interest to you.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona