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I'm currently reading Streisand: Her Life by James Spada. It's a well researched book and I like the author's style. I'm a fan of Streisand. I love her music/voice. Two of her movies are among my favorites and are also movies that she directed, starred in and performed other functions in: "The Prince of Tides" and "Yentl."
Her life story is interesting and at times quite painful. I'm taking my time with this one and have been reading it for three days that feels like three weeks. I can only take so much at a time because I find the book depressing, somewhat bleak but also rich in information. It's a bit of a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I'm ready for it to be over.....only 16% to go. I'm glad to be reading it but I will be even more so when I've finished it. Does that make sense? It really is beautifully written and the author knows his subject.
I have had a Love/Hate reionship for Streisand for decades. I love her music and for the most part I have loved her movies. I have a huge problem with her politics LOL.
Th other day one of my lady friends brought over some DVD's for us to watch. She insisted I watch one (she had already watched it) by Streisand titled THE GUILT TRIP while she made supper. I really thought I would hate it because the Male lead was one of my least favorite actors. What a pleasant surprise! I loved it. The idea of taking a cross country trip with your Mother/Son doesn't sound like much of a story but it blew me away. I called my own Mother that night just to tell her I loved her. I wonder if this was just written as a screenplay or was it a book also? It should be a great read.
I have had a Love/Hate reionship for Streisand for decades. I love her music and for the most part I have loved her movies. I have a huge problem with her politics LOL.
Th other day one of my lady friends brought over some DVD's for us to watch. She insisted I watch one (she had already watched it) by Streisand titled THE GUILT TRIP while she made supper. I really thought I would hate it because the Male lead was one of my least favorite actors. What a pleasant surprise! I loved it. The idea of taking a cross country trip with your Mother/Son doesn't sound like much of a story but it blew me away. I called my own Mother that night just to tell her I loved her. I wonder if this was just written as a screenplay or was it a book also? It should be a great read.
GL2
Dan Fogelman wrote the screenplay based on a trip he took with his mother. It doesn't look like there was a book.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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I've been having SUCH bad luck with books these days. Everything I start just feels so "meh" that I toss it aside. Last night I started Elizabeth Is Missing, which I'd had high hopes for, but the repetition -- I know! I know! that's the crux of Alzheimers! -- just bored me to tears before I was even 10% in. Still Alice didn't have that effect on me, though -- I don't think Lisa Genova highlighted that aspect of the disease.
Tonight I'm going to start Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I have two of her other books -- Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun -- but I figured that I shouldn't set myself up for failure, so I'm starting with the shortest of the three. I just hope that I don't find the Nigerian names confusing, which we -- hi, LFM! -- know is often a problem that I have.
Tonight I'm going to start Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I have two of her other books -- Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun -- but I figured that I shouldn't set myself up for failure, so I'm starting with the shortest of the three. I just hope that I don't find the Nigerian names confusing, which we -- hi, LFM! -- know is often a problem that I have.
Too funny! I was planning to start "Americanah" two days ago and keep procrastinating. I'm not sure why, but I think I've been so self-righteous about my liberal politics lately that I am totally sick of my high horse and am afraid of getting up on that saddle, again.
Maybe I should read "Reflections on a Watermelon Pickle" -- something to force me to slow down and breathe.
Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Instead, I've been browsing through "The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth" by Kenneth Rexroth. Apparently he was assigned the title of the Father of the Beat Generation, and vehemently fought the claim because of his dislike of Kerouac and Ginsberg. I've found a few that have been very touching, but struggle with that part about sitting and letting myself into the poem, slowly, like wading into a pool. (Thus the comment about "Reflections," which was compiled to encourage young poetry readers to get inside the poems.)
I've been having SUCH bad luck with books these days. Everything I start just feels so "meh" that I toss it aside. Last night I started Elizabeth Is Missing, which I'd had high hopes for, but the repetition -- I know! I know! that's the crux of Alzheimers! -- just bored me to tears before I was even 10% in. Still Alice didn't have that effect on me, though -- I don't think Lisa Genova highlighted that aspect of the disease.
Tonight I'm going to start Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I have two of her other books -- Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun -- but I figured that I shouldn't set myself up for failure, so I'm starting with the shortest of the three. I just hope that I don't find the Nigerian names confusing, which we -- hi, LFM! -- know is often a problem that I have.
Dawn, I can hardly blame you on the repetition thing, but as you said, that was the whole point of the plot! Sometimes we just aren't in the mood for a particular subject, that's when I move on too.
Good luck on the Nigerian names, I have the same problem with names that are unfamiliar to me. It annoys me when I keep trying to pronounce it properly in my head when I have no clue what is correct! And is this the same guy I read about a few pages ago? Lol
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost Roses
Dawn, I can hardly blame you on the repetition thing, but as you said, that was the whole point of the plot! Sometimes we just aren't in the mood for a particular subject, that's when I move on too.
Good luck on the Nigerian names, I have the same problem with names that are unfamiliar to me. It annoys me when I keep trying to pronounce it properly in my head when I have no clue what is correct! And is this the same guy I read about a few pages ago? Lol
Have you read Still Alice? It's fabulous. I kept forgetting (no pun intended) that I was reading a novel; it felt like she was very, very real. Both of my paternal grandparents suffered from Alzheimers and the repetition reminded me of my grandfather. One day I was sitting with him at my grandparents' kitchen table while he was having his lunch. He asked me, "Are you going back to camp this summer?" I said that I was. We talked about a few other things and then, in the same tone as before and with the same inflection, he asked, "Are you going back to camp this summer?" I said that I was. We talked about a few other things and then, in the same tone as before and with the sa-----you get my point.
I'm not doubting that it's a good book; I'm sure that it is. You and the reviews don't lie. It's just not for me. It's interesting how much I liked Still Alice and I continue to recommend it to people who have not yet read it. It just didn't push my (impatient) buttons like Elizabeth Is Missing did.
As for the Nigerian names in Purple Hibiscus: So far, so good. Introduce a few more characters and I might be in deep doodoo, but I'm doing well so far. If I start getting brain cramps, I'll write out the names and keep the paper in my Kindle flap. I like this book too much so far (well, I haven't gotten really far -- just 5%... but I can tell... well, no, you never know; just hope... and I hope that the *like* stays) to let a little name confusion make me stop reading it. (And that's what she said about Cancer Ward, so what does she know?!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by LookinForMayberry
Too funny! I was planning to start "Americanah" two days ago and keep procrastinating. I'm not sure why, but I think I've been so self-righteous about my liberal politics lately that I am totally sick of my high horse and am afraid of getting up on that saddle, again.
I'm just 5% in on Purple Hibiscus and I *love* her writing style. I feel like I'm right there in the room with them, watching like a fly on the wall. Not that I'd ever go to Nigeria. I'm not a fan of the heat.
I'm just 5% in on Purple Hibiscus and I *love* her writing style. I feel like I'm right there in the room with them, watching like a fly on the wall. Not that I'd ever go to Nigeria. I'm not a fan of the heat.
That's great! Me, on "Americanah" -- uh, not so much. In fact, I think it was about the fourth Kindle page where the protagonists (whose name I've forgotten ) makes a statement about writing the final entry of her blog because the more she wrote the more she thought of herself as a lie and naked.
That just hooked my head and whipped it around like the bit of an angry rider. If I'd told a lie I would feel masked. It's true that bares us, isn't it?
I persevere, but not as intently or ardently as I probably would otherwise. It's okay, I have lots of knitting ahead.
I am in a book slump, too, Dawn. Sometimes this happens after I read something that I really loved (most recently, All the Light We Cannot See).
I enjoyed The Giver quartet by Lois Lowry so much that I downloaded another of her classics, Number the Stars. It is just too YA for me. More elementary school than YA. I will finish it (mostly because I can do so in an hour), but it isn't very rich.
I have Eleanor and Park and Heading Out to Wonderful on my TBR pile, because they are my book club books, but am not super inspired about starting either of them. My daughter wants me to read Serena by Ron Rash and she is usually so willing to read my suggestions that I feel compelled.
But what I am really waiting on is my copy of The Shell Collector - short stories by Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See. I love short stories and was captivated by his writing style.
So - lots to read and very little time to do so!
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) makes a statement about writing the final entry of her blog because the more she wrote the more she thought of herself as a lie and naked. 
