The Inside of Outside Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Oooooooo....that looks gooooood!Good, and violent. The frontier, from northern Florida to Maine, was a violent place in the 17th and 18th centuries. I now understand why the 2nd Amendment was so important to Americans in the late 1700s, and why it was the second amendment. Guns were in our cultural DNA from the start. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Smith Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Next up: Stalins General the bio of Georgy Zuhkov. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I can never can get all the way through Vision of Cody. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 "Road Dogs" E. Leonard Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fritz Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I can never can get all the way through Vision of Cody. I'm struggling with it. I skimmed the middle section (The tape transcripts) a lot. Now I'm through to the other side of that and I've got a little over 120+ pages to go and I've gotta say my enthusiasm is waning. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 I've just finished Mark Jocobson's fascinating book, "The Lampshade" In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, journalist Mark Jacobson finds himself in possession of a lampshade purported to be made of human skin. DNA tests confirm this. Far from being a ghoulish, one-note story, Jacobson's lampshade takes him, and us, on a deeply moving, convoluted journey with many absorbing sidetrips as he, himself a Jew, grapples with the lampshade's history and its suitable, respectful future. It appears that the lampshade is a product of the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp of Nazi Germany. Less clear is its path from there. This story in less competent hands could be simply a bit of sickening residue of an evil time. In Jacobson's hands it is so much more. Jacobson's sincerity in trying to answer the lampshade's questionable history makes this story moving on the deepest of levels, and somehow he manages to keep the story from being only grim and sad...in fact, the book manages to be captivating and even entertaining, I'm finding it very hard to describe, so suffice it to say, beautifully written, mesmerizing. I had trouble putting it down, and it will stay with me a long time. Highly recommended!God bless the unknown human this book revolves around. What horrible beasts we humans can be to each other. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Speaking of that, I just read: I had read it in high school but one of my kids was reading it for school so I picked it up. [An aside, when I went to get that cover picture from Amazon I noticed that there are about 40 one- and two-star reviews so I read them. Some are about problems with orders, some are from Holocaust deniers, and then there are people who write things like "He [Wiesel] has an incredibly selfish and generally uncaring attitude." WTF?] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Really? What weird responses things can provoke! What, he was selfish because he struggled to keep himself and his father alive? I read that too, because my daughter had it assigned, and she was so moved by it that she wanted me to read it before she turned the book back in. I liked it as much as she had, though it can be very hard reading, emotionally. Holocaust deniers are just bizarre. Jacobson encounters some of those, too, in The Lampshade. It's interesting how he interacts with them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fritz Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I've just finished Mark Jocobson's fascinating book, "The Lampshade" In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, journalist Mark Jacobson finds himself in possession of a lampshade purported to be made of human skin. DNA tests confirm this. Far from being a ghoulish, one-note story, Jacobson's lampshade takes him, and us, on a deeply moving, convoluted journey with many absorbing sidetrips as he, himself a Jew, grapples with the lampshade's history and its suitable, respectful future. It appears that the lampshade is a product of the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp of Nazi Germany. Less clear is its path from there. This story in less competent hands could be simply a bit of sickening residue of an evil time. In Jacobson's hands it is so much more. Jacobson's sincerity in trying to answer the lampshade's questionable history makes this story moving on the deepest of levels, and somehow he manages to keep the story from being only grim and sad...in fact, the book manages to be captivating and even entertaining, I'm finding it very hard to describe, so suffice it to say, beautifully written, mesmerizing. I had trouble putting it down, and it will stay with me a long time. Highly recommended!God bless the unknown human this book revolves around. What horrible beasts we humans can be to each other. Wow, you make a very compelling case for this book. I might just seek it out. Until then... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I'm up to the Mick Taylor era now. Entertaining book so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I've just finished Mark Jocobson's fascinating book, "The Lampshade" In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, journalist Mark Jacobson finds himself in possession of a lampshade purported to be made of human skin. DNA tests confirm this. Far from being a ghoulish, one-note story, Jacobson's lampshade takes him, and us, on a deeply moving, convoluted journey with many absorbing sidetrips as he, himself a Jew, grapples with the lampshade's history and its suitable, respectful future. It appears that the lampshade is a product of the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp of Nazi Germany. Less clear is its path from there. This story in less competent hands could be simply a bit of sickening residue of an evil time. In Jacobson's hands it is so much more. Jacobson's sincerity in trying to answer the lampshade's questionable history makes this story moving on the deepest of levels, and somehow he manages to keep the story from being only grim and sad...in fact, the book manages to be captivating and even entertaining, I'm finding it very hard to describe, so suffice it to say, beautifully written, mesmerizing. I had trouble putting it down, and it will stay with me a long time. Highly recommended!God bless the unknown human this book revolves around. What horrible beasts we humans can be to each other.A Jew, myself, I have been filled to the brim with Holocaust stories. So sick of hearing the tales, even as I understand the importance of keeping them alive.Nonetheless, this does sound compelling.And, for the first time in a long time, I actually want to read something like this... in this genre, as it were.Thanks for the heads-up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I'm up to the Mick Taylor era now. Entertaining book so far.I liked that one. I appreciate that he didn't just pick the best songs but that he brought it through the current day and tried to tell the whole story. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I liked that one. I appreciate that he didn't just pick the best songs but that he brought it through the current day and tried to tell the whole story. Agreed. He really does a good job of not just telling the stories behind the songs, but also the significant historical happenings that surrounded and maybe influenced some of the music/lyrics. Not all musicians make good writers, thankfully this isn't the case here. Must say I'm quite impressed with Bill "the writer." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Finally reading again. Starting here. I've never read any of his stuff before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Finally reading again. Starting here. I've never read any of his stuff before.Love Richard Russo. My favorites are Risk Pool, Nobody's Fool (which they turned into a pretty good movie that I just remembered has Philip Seymour Hoffman in a small but critical role), and Empire Falls. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Ah right - Empire Falls. My wife loves that one, and it sits on our shelf, to be read by me some day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 I've got this on hold at the library. I loved Let the Great World Spin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Recently finished: Now: Next: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I loved Let the Great World Spin. Yes indeed. One of my favorite books of the last several years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 At the end of "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt. Long but worth it. Liked "The Secret History" but this was better. I'm thick into The Goldfinch right now, and completely under its spell. Haven't been so intrigued by a novel in many months! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uncool2pillow Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 The Fault in Our Stars is really damn good. The author seems to be some kind of hipster doofus Renaissance Man. And I mean that in a good way. Check out his crash course videos on youtube, follow him on Twitter, he has lots of thoughts and ideas on lots of topics and they're mostly interesting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fritz Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 The Fault in Our Stars is really damn good. The author seems to be some kind of hipster doofus Renaissance Man. And I mean that in a good way. Check out his crash course videos on youtube, follow him on Twitter, he has lots of thoughts and ideas on lots of topics and they're mostly interesting. Agreed. I had the book on my to-read list for ages, before I realized that the author was that same guy with the great videos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.