'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkien

"My kind of hero"

What great fun this book is.  'The Hobbit' has a fantastic sense of adventure.  Some of it is tongue in cheek and obviously amused the author.  Lucky it amused the reader too.  Much has been written about this book and I have avoided reading most of it.  I so like it, just as it is.  I think Tolkien would prefer people to appreciate his hobbits and their friends based on their own merits and not judged by what came 30 years later.  As sequels go, 'The Lord of the Rings' is not only separated by time (as we usually view it) but by 30 years of study.  And not just any student, but an Oxford scholar.  Most of us do not want to think that a man may well mature, learn and grow a life time's worth in only 30 years.  'The Hobbit' is written by a man who had, still, a young man's sense of adventure and young children at home to admire it, even if they did not go far physically.  A dragon at the Bottom of the Garden can be just as scary as the dragon of the Lonely Mountain.

What I especially like about this tale of adventure is that humans, elves, dwarves, and hobbits all have good and bad qualities, sometimes in equal measure.  No square jawed, noble hero to guide and protect here.  It is the actions of the characters that define good or bad... the lessons learnt.  This being a tale of dragon and treasure, greed is an important theme.  The elves themselves are not above greed.  Bilbo, our unlikely hero (burglar), is a little wiser than even he would acknowledge about himself.  What I mean is that he does not long linger on bad deeds or dark thoughts.  I can see here the inner strength that Gandalf so admires.  I feel that hobbits have an inner cup that tells them how much is their true measure out in the world.  Bilbo seems to understand what his share is in this world and not just in treasure.  He listens to this inner voice and ultimately avoids the temptation of dragon treasure.

It is not a bad thing to make mistakes, to have suspicions or even to be greedy.  It is not evil to fall into sin.  It is evil to stay there.  Bilbo Baggins picks himself out of these moments and lifts his companions out as well.  My kind of hero.

J.R.R. Tolkien
ISBN: 9780345339683

To Fiction or Not to Fiction

"If the eyes are the windows to the soul then fiction helps us interpret what we see there"

 I have several friends who work.  They take the time to read in their free time, though not exclusively. Some of these friends love to read fiction. What I don't understand and my friends either, is why they have had to defend their choice of books. In other words, they have been told that fiction is a waste of time, it is escapist and does not contribute to mind, society or family. That's an interesting point of view and I am not making it up.  In one case it was a colleague/friend and in another it was a close relative. My friends read for professional purposes; so they do not neglect one for the other, nevertheless, they have been told  that reading fiction is wasteful and jejune. Moreover there is the implied slight to house wives that they have the time to read fiction, but not working women.  As if housewives sat all day doing their nails, but that essay is for another blog.  So how to reply to the Non-Fiction Union?

I read fiction and non fiction. I read almost every genre except for romance because the writing is often too predictable. To me the magic of fiction is that fiction gives the opportunity to take all these non fiction theories, ideas or studies to their logical and sometimes crazy conclusions. That goes for all non fiction topics; law, every branch of science, politics, history, archaeology, etc...

Have you read 'Brave New World', 'Fahrenheit 451', '1984', 'Never Let me Go'? All fiction about the future. Terrifying and some of the stuff in those books has already become true. But fiction does not have to be depressing either. Fiction teaches us about ourselves by mirroring our inner selves. Non-fiction can describe action, reaction and consequences. Non-fiction can try to interpret from observation, situations like a war or a legal process but non-fiction cannot venture inside the heart. Fiction puts soul back into science.

A book like 'The Secret Garden' about children and for children is lovely in that it shows children in vulnerable positions.  To overcome this vulnerability it validates children's strength, independence... power. The book talks to children about fears that they experience even if these fears are not part of their individual realities. The fear of abandonment, death, rejection, illness and otherness are addressed. A child may live in a comfortable home with loving parents and still have these fears. People who champion non fiction forget that most of our lives are in fact lived inside our own heads. Perhaps I could go the way of philosophy and argue that the lives we think we lead are fiction.  Good fictional literature addresses  these fears in a safe, cathartic environment, or not, depends on the point of the book... I mean 'The Silence of the Lambs' is fantastic but not the kind of fear I had ever entertained.

Fiction also entertains. Entertainment is important for our mental and physical health.  In the end of ends, one person who does not enjoy reading fiction does not negate the value of fiction for others. I do not enjoy golf. I have tried it and came away with many intense headaches. Gazing into the blinding distance in the sun for several hours is not my kind of activity, but others are welcome to enjoy it. Many husbands who do not read, do play golf for many hours each weekend, instead of spending time with their loving wives...

If the eyes are the windows to the soul then fiction helps us interpret what we see there. Charles Dickens changed the attitudes of an entire society about poverty and children in particular. He did not like what he saw in the eyes of the workhouse children.  His works of fiction reshaped attitudes and planted the seeds of social conscience that grew along side the industrial revolution and expanded in the 20th and 21st centuries. Religion did not accomplish this and scientific books recording the plight of the poor, of which there were many in the same years, did not accomplish this either. Imagination and creativity spoke to the hearts and minds of people.

Before there were enough literate people to give books the direct power they now have there were oral stories. Many of these were indeed fiction. Someone made them up to explain, defend or entertain and then passed them on to a new generation to retell. The human mind developed the ability to exists in different worlds (some call it imaginary) even if these different worlds were in the next valley over. Some of these modern worlds include the office, the supermarket, the nursery and the in law's home. Other worlds include Middle Earth and Pemberly, or heaven save me, the world of 'Never Let Me Go', so close to our own I can almost touch it and it is not a pleasant experience. To exist in different worlds is to expand the mind. Non fiction does this as well, but not in the same direction and not to the same depth. Non fiction draws a picture, fiction gives it color, depth and emotion.  

'The Father Christmas Letters' by J.R.R. Tolkien

" To write your letter to Santa is important, but to receive a reply..."

I received this lovely book several years ago as a Christmas gift.  I was in my Tolkien mania and BPR would buy me any Tolkien stories he could find.  Yes, he is a sweetheart...not allowed to called him Honey, though.  The book includes most of the letters received by the Tolkien children over 20 years.  Tolkien had four children, three boys and a girl.  He obviously loved them very much.  Sweeter proof cannot be found than these letters from Father Christmas.

Tolkien wrote in various scripts and even invented languages, for which he is famous, to his children in the name of Father Christmas.  I can almost see the excitement in their home.  To write your letter to Santa is important, but to receive a reply, is better than most gifts.  The letters are humorously decorated with pictures that depict the adventures in the letters.  It is a lovely detail, as Father Christmas notes in one of his letters, not all of the children in the house could read yet.

My children were still young enough to enjoy being read to back then and that Christmas I read them this short collection of letters.  We still pick up the book around this time of year, place it on the coffee table and page through it with something festive to drink.  Polar Bear is still the favorite character, what a master of mayhem.  Father Christmas sometimes sounds a little too wise and Polar Bear keeps him young, I suspect.  The letters include the topics that Tolkien enjoyed, calligraphy, invented languages as well as story telling with elves, goblins and snowmen.  They are intimate at the same time.  He wrote them for special children.  The love shines through.

J.R.R. Tolkien
ISBN: 9780261102552

'Sea of Ghosts' By Alan Campbell

Fantasy books entertain me.  I enjoy them, deep or shallow.  I am often satisfied when there is a new twist to magic or an addition to dragon lore.  This book, though, holds several surprises.  The poisonous, ever rising seas and the nature of its poison is fascinating.  It mirrors our own dirty rising seas but this fantasy ocean has the good grace of being polluted by none humans.  The mystery and the tragedy of the drowned still haunts me.  The drowned (as the creatures who exist in the poisonous seas are called) become a character, a force in themselves and have the potential to be the danger or the salvation no one sees coming.  Campbell's world is unique and interesting.  All his details fit neatly together and it is obvious that his back story is well thought out in order to give his book depth.

The story is complex, but told in such a way that I want to stop and enjoy the scenery.  I want to know more about every detail.  There are magical books I want to explore, sources of strange magic, enslaved addicted dragons, different races, cruel telepathic women (this theme is the exception to the joys of this book, it is getting old) and obviously soldiers in vain, wasteful wars where our hero learns his martial skills.  The main protagonist, Thomas Granger, is refreshing in being ugly and pragmatic with firm principals. Thomas Granger is a balanced man in a cruel, corrupt world.  He is not moral per se; he will steal if that is what he needs to do.  By balanced I mean a man who's strengths and weaknesses are not always on hand to the reader or to himself.  Nevertheless, he is on the look out for his own weaknesses and hopeful in his search for strengths; such a man is Thomas Granger.  He is a great deal of fun to read.

The end of the book was satisfying and a cliff hanger at the same time.  This is important since the full title of the book includes the words 'The Gravedigger Chronicles'; so this is book one. I am tired of picking up trilogies and chronicles that a good editor could have turned into one or two good books.  Campbell made a compromise.  I am glad and will try to find the next book.  I like Thomas.

Alan Campbell
ISBN: 9780330508780

I now have over 1000 books, which is not bad, if I consider the financial limitations of the first few years of young marriage and parenthood.  I look forward to acquiring several thousands more.  Amongst them are some I have not read.  I look at them fondly because I know I will someday.  As for the rest, I often reread books.  I can go back to happy places, exciting, dangerous, ancient or imaginary places.  Every time these stories are familiar and new.  I can visit brilliant conversations and enjoy the scenery all over again.

The second and third readings are especially delicious because I notice details that were not obvious the first time.  To read a book ten years later is to read a new book.  I am cursed with the memory of endings, unlike BPR, but my view point and experiences in the mean time add fresh twists to the understanding of the book.  There are the books that I reread once a year, these include 'The Lord of the Rings', 'The Book of Tea', 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Please Don't Eat the Daisies'.  Why I go back I do not know, maybe it is seasonal, or maybe it is because we all have friends and like good friends, we want to see them again.

Sometimes, I read a book again around the time I want to share it with my children.  I did this with Sherlock Holmes before giving the book to my son.  My daughter is reading 'Life of Pi'.  She saw the previews of the film and thought it looked cool.  I gave her the book and this morning she opined that Pi is an idiot.  Last week Pi was clever on account of what he did with his name.  I hope to read the book again once she is done with it.  My children like it when I say "Oh, I read that at your age."  They open up; Ask questions that would be awkward with "I" or "me" in them... Last night, on a long drive home, my daughter and I had a serious conversation about 'The Outsiders' which, I too, had to read in seventh grade.

Familiar books are soothing when I am stressed.  Books are often the cure to a horrible day with a cup of tea.  Jane Austen, Terry Pratchett, Okakura, Isabel Allende, Fannie Flagg, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien, Jean Kerr... I could keep going. I reread all the time while reading new books.  'The City and the City' by China Mieville has been calling recently,  I think it is time to visit that strange place again.

None of this would be possible without my books at home.  Libraries have opening and closing times as well as other patrons.  There is a limit to how many books I can lift in one go or even check out in one go.  Though I must write that those difficult years mentioned before were made bearable by a lovely local library one passage away. I can underline cool bits and stick book markers in different places.  I can enjoy them over and over again.  Some would argue that a tablet is better for my purpose but on a tablet I do not own the book.  I pay for the privilege to read X book on their tablet.  This is a privilege they can take away and per the very small print, they are not obliged to tell me why.  Should my tablet fall in the bath tub, it is apparently, my problem and I have to procure a new one or lose the books,  should the software change radically as happens faster and faster these days, or the new and improved tablet make mine obsolete then I have to go shopping again.  Tablet makers are in the market to sell tablets, not books.  If 'Pride and Prejudice' falls in my bath then all I need is a blow dryer.  The only tablet plus I can think of is that it makes reading easier for my mother when her eyes get tired in the evening; she can opt for bigger letters.

There is the satisfaction of owning books.  I can pick one up on a sleepless night, read my favorite chapter and put it back, no need to check if the batteries are charged.  Books add warmth to a home.  I always notice when there aren't any and I somehow feel suspicious of the inhabitants of said home.  "We have no time to read."  "My wife doesn't like to read."  She does like it when they both watch tv together, if he reads, he is "ignoring" her.  A house without books feels like a hotel room to me... no personality.  Several persons of my acquaintance are not allowed to keep books at home.  If one book comes in another must go out.  It is pointed out that libraries are to keep books.  I have noted that the enforcers of these rules are not readers themselves and only tolerate the time their partners read, if at all. I never had this discussion with BPR.  When he met me, I was surrounded by books.  I could not afford to ship them to Europe, where we eventually settled 17 years ago so I set about buying books to make a home.

Yes, there is time to cook or garden or read or whatever you love to do with and without your family.  If you happen to have a garden at hand or an excellent kitchen, that is all to the good, so why not books at hand to reread?  Books remind me that I never stop learning, even from the same book.  Books leak (the Librarian at Unseen University would agree) knowledge and perspective and often change my life in magical ways because of it.

'A Blink of the Screen' by Terry Pratchett

I did not know what to expect when I bought this book.  I had not read Pratchett short stories before.  Fortunately, I was surprised and entertained in new ways.  His personal comments before every story showed his vulnerability as an author.  It seems he is never satisfied, which is well and good. I like a writer who wants to improve himself but he is still sending stories out into the world with a very English "hope for the best but expect the worst" attitude.  No cockiness anywhere.

The start was perfect.  An unadulterated story by a 13 year old Terry.  His first story published.  My daughter perked her ears up at this and laughed right through it.  I smiled and thanked the universe that adults in his world encouraged him.  From then on the stories were new and familiar all at the same time.

"The Glastonbury Tales", a poem about picking up hitchhikers to Glastonbury was funny, and dare I write the word?... cute.  At least that is how his naive passengers seemed to me.  As for the bewildered, patient, atheist driver, well his generosity and patience speaks for itself. Granny Weatherwax is one of my favorite Discworld characters.  I haven't seen her in a while so it was a relief to read of her troubles at the top of the non-existent ranking of witches.  But, one of my favorite stories was "The Hollywood Chickens".  Fantastic imagination, who else can get into the mind of a chicken? Or wants to?  Once I figured out what the chickens were in fact, up to, I realized that you cannot go against your nature.

I recommend this book to those poor souls who have resisted Pratchett thus far but want to briefly see what all the fuss is about.  Anyone who likes Pratchett probably already has this book.

@terryandrob

Terry Pratchett
ISBN: 9780385618984

'The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack' by Mark Hodder

"Exciting, clever, fun, fast paced and inventive"

Weird this.  BPR found this book and thought I would like it.  I started it and then stopped.  I was distracted by other books.  I think.  I picked it up again a week ago and did not put it down.  It was exciting, clever, fun, fast paced and inventive.  A good, entertaining read.  Why then did I put it down?

I think I have mentioned before that Melville was one of the most boring authors I was obliged to read in university.  I did not want to know the provenance of every item a protagonist picked up.  Flash forward a few years later and I need to read in peace (i.e. an escape), because of a (finally) napping baby but I have nothing to read.  'Moby Dick' is on the shelf.  Inward groan, but I pick it up.  I laugh and laugh.  The whole scene at the sailors inn and the decision to sleep or not to sleep with the harpooner is one of my favorite literary scenes.  I was so impressed with the book that after I finished it I researched sperm whales as well as modern fishing and whaling.  Super cool, I understood the book, finally captured a sense of Captain Ahab as he is envisioned by his author and I laughed.  Great book, naturally a classic... so why did I not like it before?

One of my theories is that books come to me when I am ready to read them.  By ready I mean mood, experience, timing... you know, life.  Some books are life changing.  'The Book of Tea' by Okakura comes to mind.  Other books are humorous if you get the joke, Terry Pratchett needed a couple of attempts before it clicked.  'The Strange Affair of Spring-heeled Jack' has a great deal of action as well as a complicated plot in an unfamiliar/should be familiar setting.  Two issues come to mind when I think about last week.  First, it was a quiet week.  I had the time to concentrate and stretch out on the sofa.  Second, because it was such a quiet week I needed some excitement, if only vicarious.  Otherwise, my life outlook has not changed so much in the six months since BPR gave me the book.  What I mean is that Melville and Pratchett and several others were reintroduced to me after I had had some life altering experiences.  Okakura was a life altering experience.

Other readers of my acquaintace shrug their shoulders and say "I was not in the mood" or more often, "the book didn't grab me".  I disagree.  It is not the wrong book, it is the wrong person (or state of mind) for that book.  Books, well written books, are always ready for an audience.  Well written books can be reread.  It is often the audience that is not ready for a book.  This theory has compelled me to pick up books that I have put down, sometimes years later.  I am often very glad I did.  Mark Hodder has done a wonderful job.  I look forward to meeting him again.

@TheDissuader

Mark Hodder
ISBN: 9781906727208

'Ash' by James Herbert

"War criminals, nazis, a pedophile bishop, terrorist priest, aristocratic murderer, aggressive lesbian nurse, massive spiders, murderous cats, paid assassins, illegitimate children, legitimate shameful children, etc, etc..."

I have never read anything by Herbert.  It turns out he's written many "chiller" books.  I chose 'Ash' because Halloween was all around us and this looked appropriate.  It had a haunted castle, mysterious organization, handsome tortured hero named David Ash. It's a good name.  The beginning, the set up, as it were, is promising.  A dying castrated, bloody, levitated body is always a good start.  A hired medium that dies of fright is good too.  Then I hit a problem, or several problems and these problems make me laugh; as any Hogwarts alumni will tell you, laughter is the cure and the shield to fear.

The problem is that once the first monster appears, they keep appearing.  No chance to ponder with horror the levitated, bloody old man surrounded by black orbs.  That is at least supernatural.  The castle's legitimate inhabitants are monsters from our nightmares too.  There are war criminals (named and notorious), nazis, a pedophile bishop, terrorist priest, aristocratic murderer, aggressive lesbian nurse, massive spiders, murderous cats, two paid assassins, illegitimate children, legitimate shameful children, etc, etc...  Eventually, the supernatural manifestations are a relief.  All the monsters and nuts living in one castle in Scotland with genteel dinners and walks on the lawn, well, all I do is laugh.

I think the author wants me to believe that like attracts like and that is why so many monsters live amongst monsters.  But, my gut tells me that Herbert (perhaps unconsciously) thinks the inhabitants deserve the haunted castle, which is why I (the reader) do not care much what happens to any of them.  Perhaps if the hauntings of the castle feature more and the inhabitants less or the residents are more sympathetic, then I would be afraid for them.  Chilly, it is not, but it is entertaining if not in the way the author intended.  David Ash, tortured soul that he is, does his best to bring some reason to the bizarre circumstances and the narration.  I like him and I am curious about what he can accomplish if he is allowed to do his job.

I have to get someone's opinion who has read more Herbert in order to compare because I am not impressed.  I like many of the ideas in the book, only it is too many ideas in one book.

So who does scare me?  Stephen King scares me.  John Ajvide Lindqvist so scares me. Go on try them...

James Herbert
ISBN 9780230706959

'Women and the Making of the Modern House: A Social and Architectural History' by Alice T. Friedman

"Some of the 20th century's most popular and influential architects were not far seeing when it came to women as clients"

Too many independent books stores are closing these days.  I picked up this book in a lovely shop in the center of town.  About 3 years ago they were in trouble because they could not compete with Amazon.  They stayed afloat with old books, second hand books.  They closed because they cannot compete with ebay.  I do like to browse and these stores carry books beyond the usual commercialized best sellers.  Without this book store I would not have run into this gem.  The title alone was interesting, the book itself and the houses are impressive.

The book is a "social and architectural history" with a concrete twist.  All the houses described in the book were commissioned by women or by families where the women played an unusual role.  The 20th century brought many changes to how women viewed themselves, spent their own money and chose to live.  It is a natural extension of a new identity that the houses women commissioned would have several breaks from the way men built homes.  Women use their homes as men would use a conference room.  To women the community begins with the family, but does not end there and these homes often reflect the larger role women wish to play.

Some of the 20th century's most popular and influential architects were not far seeing when it came to women as clients.  I was at times shocked by how Frank Lloyd Wright treated a client by misrepresenting her character to bolster his own reputation at a point in his career that no longer needed it.  Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was even nastier.  He created a famous glass house for a female client that put her on show.  There was by design no privacy or even the option to invite a guest because he assumed a single woman would have no guests.  Yes, it was a glass box but what Friedman does is contrast this glass house to another famous glass house of the time that solved the issues of privacy and the right to intimacy (the owner and architect, Philip Johnson, was gay).

All is not moaning about men though.  The house that Robert Venturi built for his mother is unique and intellectual, yet sensitive to his mother's wishes and habits.  My personal favorite is the Constance Perkins house built by Richard Neutra.  He built this house on a tight budget.  What he delivered is the result of listening to an intelligent client.  The house is perfectly suited to her life socially and privately.
The essays are intelligent and well researched with exhaustive bibliographies.  I learnt too much to describe here.  Different houses are discussed along with their social context and of course female inhabitants.  The essays are not overly long and now that I have read all of them once I can go back to individual houses and reread.

Alice T. Friedman
ISBN: 9780810939899

A Family Amongst Books

I feel privileged to live in a home where everyone likes to read.  My husband and both my children usually have a book going that is not tied to school or work.  There are books in every room in the house and next to every bed.  And all this within sight of Mac, iPad, and iPhones.  I am a sceptic of people who assert that modern technology discourages people from reading attentively and for pleasure... Good, I have all that out of my system...

My personal irritation is book choice and recommendations.  It is rare that any of us read the same books.  The exceptions being His Dark Materials, Harry Potter and Harry Dresden... Strange but true.  You see with everything else we differ.  Maximum one other person will pick up the same book.  BPR (Beloved Proof Reader) can occasionally be bullied into taking a book with him but won't finish it.  My son will a. ignore me; b. read and groan about it; c. distract me by pointing out a different book he is reading already.  My daughter is much more straight forward, she ignores me and reads what she pleases.

Curse them!

I want to share, talk, gush about books.  My view of ideal family life is to sit around the dinner table harmoniously talking about books... cue my son... "Mom, you're such a nerd".  Book or reading clubs are out of the question.  Reading choices are not my own, or heaven help me, picked by Oprah.  Then we have to discuss.  Some people enjoy the direction and format of the discussion.  Others point out that they get to read books they would not have otherwise read.  I do not like polite book dissections.  I studied English Lit. and have become allergic to reading circles.  As for reading choices, I pride myself on reading pretty much anything and everything.  There is no such a thing as a topic or genre that I would not have read.  There is merely opportunity, mood and money.

So here I am begging my family to read a book I have enjoyed.  My results are mixed:

Neil Gaiman - success
Jasper Fforde - fail
Terry Pratchett - both
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - success
Jane Austen - fail

I could keep going and I do, much to the irritation of my son who feels compelled to at least reply.  This is how he found himself reading 'Kafka on the Shore' by Murakami this past Summer.  My daughter continues to ignore me...  But all is not as pathetic as it seems.

You see there is magic in discussing books with family members, especially if our tastes are so different.  There is no need for formal statements, logic or even politeness.  They already know how smart or stupid I am and can grasp any idea in flight rather than me having to explain myself in detail with impressive vocabulary.  Whether they like the idea or not is an entirely different matter.  The discussions are honest with no need to be politically correct.  There is passion and frustration and love and maybe a good bottle of wine and loads of treats.  Maybe it is a good thing these family talks don't happen often, we'd all be exhausted.  Nevertheless, books or films shared let me learn about unknown sides of my family.  We invent a family language together.  Inside jokes are created and key words or terms can bring smiles to all our faces weeks later.  Yes, I wish it happened more often, but I am grateful it happens at all.