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I'm reading JK Rowling's first adult book, "The Casual Vacancy". I'm halfway through and I still haven't decided whether I like it or not. It certainly is not what I expected. It is full of obscenities. Of course they are conducive to the story but I'm getting weary of reading them. I am no prude by ANY means and I can swear as good as "the boys" but the "c" word just does not sit well with me even in print.
As dry as it was, "No Easy Day" held my interest more.
I didn't care for Casual Vacancy, Tami. In fact I didn't finish it. I knew it was not going to be another Harry Potter but it just never captured my interest. I think I read about half of it and then movied on.
After getting my knitting pattern under control so I could actually concentrate on listening, I started the audio book, "Oogy." I am so touched by this story that I feel compelled to share it. Normally I don't recommend animal interest stories, but this one is different. Listening to the reader describe the dog, Oogy, it is as if he is an incarnate soul come to remind us that we can endure great hardship and remain gentle, loving people.
The subtitle claims this is a dog only a family could love, but after listening for just a short while I am convinced that any but the completely soul-less could love Oogy.
To those out there that mistreat and neglect animals: get a heart.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,013,815 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DandJ
I just started The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker by Janet Groth. It didn't get great reviews but it sounded like a memoir that would interest me.
All that I can say is that I completely understand the lousy reviews. This book is definitely a dud. Buh-bye!
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,013,815 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by LookinForMayberry
After getting my knitting pattern under control so I could actually concentrate on listening, I started the audio book, "Oogy." I am so touched by this story that I feel compelled to share it. Normally I don't recommend animal interest stories, but this one is different. Listening to the reader describe the dog, Oogy, it is as if he is an incarnate soul come to remind us that we can endure great hardship and remain gentle, loving people.
The subtitle claims this is a dog only a family could love, but after listening for just a short while I am convinced that any but the completely soul-less could love Oogy.
To those out there that mistreat and neglect animals: get a heart.
I wish that I could read that book, but I can't. I wish that I could watch the video of him telling his story, but I can't. I know Oogy's story (the basics) and although I know there's a happy ending -- he's living with the Levin family -- I can't bear to hear (again, but in DETAIL) the horrors of what poor Oogy went through. I can't even bear to think about it, actually -- just the thought does such a terrible number on my heart and emotional well-being.
I wish that I could read that book, but I can't. I wish that I could watch the video of him telling his story, but I can't. I know Oogy's story (the basics) and although I know there's a happy ending -- he's living with the Levin family -- I can't bear to hear (again, but in DETAIL) the horrors of what poor Oogy went through. I can't even bear to think about it, actually -- just the thought does such a terrible number on my heart and emotional well-being.
Those were precisely my thoughts before I started listening to the audiobook, but (so far) it hasn't -- nor did the video go into the grisly details. Instead, it focuses on the good that came about from his trials, because he is such a really good dog.
Maybe you know details from his story from other sources, but these are positive ones. They gave me hope that just maybe there is hope for the elimination of the ignorance that contributes to animal suffering.
But, I can also understand your choosing other things to read and watch -- the options are endless!
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,013,815 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by LookinForMayberry
Those were precisely my thoughts before I started listening to the audiobook, but (so far) it hasn't -- nor did the video go into the grisly details. Instead, it focuses on the good that came about from his trials, because he is such a really good dog.
Maybe you know details from his story from other sources, but these are positive ones. They gave me hope that just maybe there is hope for the elimination of the ignorance that contributes to animal suffering.
But, I can also understand your choosing other things to read and watch -- the options are endless!
It's my head. My mind goes where it shouldn't -- to the "not good stuff" even when only good stuff is being presented. It's not just about Oogy; it's about ALL the dogs that got dealt lousy cards. My thoughts beat me senseless; they pummel me until I cry hysterically (about 15 seconds, tops).
I wish that I could read that book, but I can't. I wish that I could watch the video of him telling his story, but I can't. I know Oogy's story (the basics) and although I know there's a happy ending -- he's living with the Levin family -- I can't bear to hear (again, but in DETAIL) the horrors of what poor Oogy went through. I can't even bear to think about it, actually -- just the thought does such a terrible number on my heart and emotional well-being.
I can't watch or listen to anything that has to do with animal abuse, especially cats and dogs. I, like you, get a terrible number done to my heart and soul. I know it's out there, I do what I can by adopting out of shelters, donate what I can, when I can but I can no longer put myself through such emotional turmoil deliberately anymore. I need to pass on "Oogy".
I can't watch or listen to anything that has to do with animal abuse, especially cats and dogs. I, like you, get a terrible number done to my heart and soul. I know it's out there, I do what I can by adopting out of shelters, donate what I can, when I can but I can no longer put myself through such emotional turmoil deliberately anymore. I need to pass on "Oogy".
Certainly. Of course I understand. Life is a smorgasbord. Take from the dishes that appeal to you; the others are for someone else!
I finished Bad Land by Jonathan Raban and I must say that it is the best book on the west that I have ever read or can think of reading. Aside from his unfortunate use of the word "keening" to describe the wind right at the beginning, and for which I forgive him because he's British and doesn't know any better all the rest of it is spot on.
The 1996 story focuses on the homesteaders in eastern Montana of the early part of the 1900s. He quotes at length throughout the book from Campbell's Soil Culture Manual, published between 1902 and 1912. The Campbell who wrote the book believed that rain followed people following the law of attraction and therefore the desert could be made to bloom like a rose. In this case, the desert being eastern Montana.
The end result of Campbell's method was Montana top soil being blown to the Atlantic and lots of broken-hearted homesteaders. I'd never heard of Campbell's method before but I had read in one of the Plains books that it was the Russian Mennonites that brought current methods of dryland farming to North America based on their experience on the Russian steppes.
Anyway, while the story focuses on eastern Montana, the story and descriptions are familiar anyone who lives on the plains of the US or the prairies of Canada.
Raban has so many beautiful lines and analogies it is hard to know what to choose a quote from. But I particularly liked his thoughts that the landscape was suited to apocalyptic visions.
"The plague of locusts ate the miserable remains of the spring wheat. Lightning bolts set fire to the dry buffalo grass. Cannonades of hailstones pounded the buildings. The papers carried reports of the carnage at Verdun. Everything was set fair for the sounding of the last trump, the rending of the sky, the great shout of the descending Lord, soon to whisk the righteous off to their eternal home."
I'd give the book 5 stars out of 5.
And I saw some books advertised by the publisher at the end of the book that really interest me.
I have started reading Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill. Subtitled, Deep Forests, Big Timber and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe. I think I am going to enjoy it. Years ago I thought about doing tree planting in Canada but I hate camping and bugs. And rain.
Last edited by netwit; 11-12-2012 at 11:09 AM..
Reason: typo
Years ago I thought about doing tree planting in Canada but I hate camping and bugs. And rain.
Funny how some ideas seem good until the practical side is looked at, isn't it?
This was a great review... another one to add to my growing list!
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