The Next Good Book
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 so i like to read- 

friends often ask for book suggestions so i created this site in 2014 to help me think about what i read and pass it on.  

I hope you find many good books here!


e-mail-thenextgoodbook5@gmail.com

the narrow road to the deep north by richard flanagan

11/18/2014

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The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
334 pages

What’s it about?
This story follows Dorrigo Evans from his earliest memories in Tasmania to the end of his life in Australia.   Much of the story revolves around Dorrigo’s time in a Japanese POW camp during World War II.   Evans is a surgeon and an officer,  trying to do the right thing in a truly hellish environment.  We see the camp from many different perspectives.  We also see Dorrigo Evans from many different perspectives.   The book does not belabor the conditions of the camp but it does show the tremendous impact the brutality has on everyone as their lives moved forward.  The book sheds equal light on the suffering in the camps, and the survivors suffering after the war is over.

What did it make me think about?
It made me think how complicated people are.  How we really know very little about what motivates others.  Dorrigo Evans is a complicated man who does not see himself as a hero.  Others see him differently.  The author makes the point that we are sometimes burdened by the way others view us- especially when it is different from the way we view ourselves.

Should I read it?
I thought it was well worth reading.  It starts a little slow but keep at it!

Quote-
“It did not fit with the new age of conformity that was coming in all things, even emotions and it baffled him how people now touched each other excessively and talked about their problems as though naming life in some way described its mystery or denied its chaos.  He felt the withering of something, the way risk was increasingly evaluated and, as much possible, eliminated, replaced with a bland new world where the viewing of food preparation would be felt to be more moving than the reading of poetry; where excitement would come from paying for a soup made out of foraged grass.  He had eaten soup made out of foraged grass in the camps; he preferred food.  The Australia that took refuge in his head was mapped with the stories of the dead; the Australia of the living he found an ever stranger country."
 
Question-
It is said that no writer can do justice to what happened during World War II.  Do you believe that?

If you like this try-

The Bridge over the River Kwai  by Pierre Boulle
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman

9 stars


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fire shut up in my bones by charles m. blow

11/7/2014

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Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Charles M. Blow
228 pages

What’s it about?
I love a good memoir and was excited to read this one.  I have seen Mr. Blow on many discussion panels on television and was interested in his story.  He has quite a story.  Charles M. Blow is a New York Times Columnist who grew up poor and black in the rural South.   He recounts his sense of being different as a child, sexual abuse, racial tensions,  hazing in black fraternities, and the struggle with his sexual identity.  

What did it make me think about?
I enjoyed the book, but at times Mr. Blow is almost too introspective.  I love introspection so this is hard for me to admit, but it became tedious at times.  

Should I read it?
I would recommend it but I have read many memoirs that I liked more .   That being said his life was very interesting and I think I would like him very much if I were lucky enough to know him.

Quote-
                  “I was a quiet introspective boy, and these folks helped me to appreciate that part of myself.  They taught me how to be patient and kind- that there was a beauty in all things.  I picked up their skill for slowing time to a crawl, a skill that people whose time on earth was coming to an end had learned to master.  They taught me that you only live once,  but for a life well lived, one turn is enough.  They baptized me in their sea of stillness, and I emerged more like them than not.

Question-
What are some of your favorite memoirs?

If you like this try-
“All Over But The Shoutin” by Rick Bragg
"The Liar's Club"  by Mary Karr
  "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

6 stars

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    “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
    ― Charles William Eliot
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     ratings

    1 to 2- I did not enjoy this book.
    3 to 4- I found some aspect of this book redeeming but would not recommend it.
    5 to 6- I really enjoyed something about this book (characters, plot, meaning etc.) but it was uneven. Some aspects were stronger than others.
    7 to 8- It was a good book.  I liked lots of aspects of this book.  I would recommend it.
    9 to 10- I was sorry to turn the last page.  I highly recommend this book!
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