The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr
The Lost Painting will be available in paperback in November.
The idea of this blog is to facilitate the love of reading by collecting news about new books, or sometimes good old books. It is also dedicated to stamping out the scourge of e-books, Kindles, Kobo's, i-Pads, and all other such abominations.
In 1994, Jonathan Harr had just completed but not published his wildly successful book A Civil Action. Finding himself out of money, he accepted an assignment to write a piece for the New York Times, telling the story of the recovery of a Caravaggio painting, "The Taking of Christ" that had been missing for 200 years. Harr was so taken with the story that he decided to pursue it in more depth. He returned to Italy, studied Italian and began to put the pieces together. The result is The Lost Painting. And what a wonderful exploration of the art world it is. I don't know much about art but I am interested in all things Italian. Harr brings to the book, a portrait of the tempermental and sometimes violent Caraveggio, who roamed the streets
Kate Grenville, the Australian author who won the Orange Prize for The Idea of Perfection, has written a remarkable book based on the story of her ancestors. Set in Australia in the early 1800's, The Secret River tells the story of William Thorton and his wife Sara who come from a poverty-stricken life in London where William was convicted of theft. A life sentence in the penal colony saves him from the gallows. Life is not easy in the colony and it takes years for Thornton to earn his freedom. When he does, he becomes a trader on the river. His dream is to find land of his own. He finds that land on Hawkesbury River and takes Sal and his growing family to live in an unprotected area. It is a crude and uneasy existence. Aborigines do not take well to the interlopers, cutting down the brush and planting fields of corn. Grenville is brilliant at portraying the conflict between the illiterate Thornton, who is desperate to find a way to accomodate the aboriginal population, other settlers who are much more antagonistic and militant and the aborigines who are determined to drive the settlers away. Sal and William have the grit and determination to survive in this hostile environment. Ironically as Thornton realizes his dream of owning land, he also understands that Sal feels is imprisoned by it and longs to return to London.
I read the Poet of Tolstoy Park by Eric Brewer when it first came out in hardcover, about a year ago and because it is now in paperback, I think it's a book worth searching out.
Grandmothers are truly coming into their own. Many of us have had experiences with our grandparents that have enriched our lives. I had two remarkable ones. From one I learned how to get things done and from the other I learned about the power of stories. Stephen Lewis is working with grandmothers to solve many difficult problems in Africa. In Canada and around the world, grandmothers are taking on the task of bringing up children who are parentless.
I have loved hearing from all the people who have responded to this site. The design is due to the genius of Howard White who understands how a site can work. Last night, I found the Booker long list but I also found I couldn't find my way to post it. It takes a great deal of courage to tell you how hopelessly illiterate I am when it comes to technology. If my good neighbour, Mark, and my good friend Howie weren't close at hand I would be in deep trouble. I do love this site and eventually I hope to master it. Finding books, that are exceptional, is one of life's greatest highs. Having the opportunity to tell people is very special.
Here it is! The Mann Booker Prize has just announced its longlist of nominees for 2006. In some ways this is the most useful part of the whole Booker process for booklovers. The final choice is inevitably controversial, and even the shortlist often seems to be curiously arbitrary. But the longlist does serve as a pretty interesting roundup of the year's top novels. In English. By Commonwealth writers. Here it is:
I'm sorry to have to say Bus Griffiths died Sept. 25. Bus was a lifelong logger from Fanny Bay who painted and drew in his retirement years, publishing the classic graphic novel Now You're Logging in 1978 and illustrating Bush Poems by Peter Trower as well as Patrick and the Backhoe by Howard White. His meticulously detailed oil paintings showing old-time logging scenes and wildflife are avidly collected by conoisseurs of logging and of folk art. Bus was a privilege to know, a simple, sweet guy who somehow was never sullied by the moral confusion of the age he passed through. To him the original good guys were still the good guys and the bad guys the bad guys, just like they told him in school. And somehow when you looked through his eyes, you could still see that uncomplicated, uncompromised world as well. It is there in all his pictures and stories, and that is their magic. He loved nature and his love of it shines through in his meticulous detailing of weather, of the bark on trees and in the posture of the proud four-prong buck. It is there in the innocent satisfaction he took in his work as a logger, only concerned with doing his job to perfection and never conflicted by the latter-day controversy that surrounded it. He was short, but built like a fireplug and took endless pride in his physical strength. Even as a very old man, there was something of the little boy about Bus. He enjoyed the celebrity his art brought him in his latter years, and kept up his spirits even after a series of strokes landed him in extended care three years ago, but he'd had a rough time the last six months and only a few days ago told Marg he was ready to go. The memorial will be in the Union Bay Church Oct. 21 at 1 PM with a reception at the Fanny Bay Hall follwing at 2 PM.
Five years ago, on a visit to Venice, we hopped aboard Vaporetto 13 to have dinner at Ca' Vignotto on Sant'Erasmo Island. The meal, served in the early afternoon, included three pastas. The lasagna was unlike anything I had ever tasted, tissue-thin layers of pasta enveloping a delicate besciamella sauce. I have dreamed about that pasta.
When Madeleine Thein's short story collection, SIMPLE RECIPES, appeared a few years ago, I became a fan. CERTAINTY, her first novel is terrific. It takes place over a period of 50 years in Canada, Asia and Europe. Thein handles the transitions seamlessly.
As the tragic war has been unfolding in Lebanon these past few weeks, I have been immersed in THE ATTACK by Yasmina Kadra. Some of you will recognize him as the author of the SWALLOWS OF KABUL. Kadra is the pseudomym of Mohammed Moulessehoul, an Algerian army officer.
It's taken me a bit of time to get used to the idea of a book blog. I have procrastinated knowing that once I start, I will be committed to posting notes regularly. While I enjoying talking about books, I have reservations about my writing skills.