Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls

"Sometimes, after I finished a particularly good book, I had the urge to get the library card, find out who else had read the book, and track them down to talk about it."

-Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls, page 90

Pumpkin's in the oven making the smells that remind me of the busy week ahead.  So, to start it off, I think I must write about my latest book.  I just finished it a few days ago, so it is hot off the press, so to speak.

The quote above pretty much sums up my feelings when it comes to reading a good book.  I just have this urge to sit down and chew the fat with some other person who read what I just read and needs to process like I do all the thoughts, emotions and reactions I had to said book.  I am, when I am being honest, slightly disappointed in how many people in my life just aren't readers.  Different strokes for different folks, I know, but for goodness sake, talking about a good book is such a bonding experience.  It is like a window into another's soul. 

On that note, Jeannette Walls' second book is a lot like her first (The Glass Castle).  It is another story of passionate human spirit and in a way, a deep look at her own DNA.  And it is fascinating.  While The Glass Castle is the memoir of her own childhood, she names Half Broke Horses "a true life novel" about the life of her tough, hardworking, no nonsense grandmother, Lily Casey.  And here's the thing I loved:  it is Lily under the microscope, warts and all...yet, and for me the thing I love most about Wall's writing, there is a deep admiration for this woman which is balanced with a healthy look at her faults.  For instance, she pulls herself up by her bootstraps, makes her way up from almost no formal education to becoming a passionate teacher during the depression (performing almost a miracle in schedule juggling to get her degree at one point) yet, she can be mean...really mean, exacting corporal punishment on her daughter which really goes too far.  

This is a reminder to look at the whole person.  The sum of the parts is what elicits admiration, not the isolated incidents of human failings.  Wouldn't we all wish to have that gracious gift given to us?  To excuse the disappointing moments in favor of the beautiful composite.  

I recently went to the Guggenheim to see the most recent exhibit (on Kandinsky).  I noticed that the visitors there stood back as far as they could in order to study the works, only a very few got up close.  Actually, those who got too close, were shooed away by the museum guards.   You were SUPPOSED to stand away from the painting to take it all in, the purpose was the whole thing, not one part over another.  It was the whole painting that was the masterpiece. 

   

Kandinsky, Improvisation 28, 1912

After I read The Glass Castle, I was amazed at Walls' ability to take pretty much a story of an awful life, with looney parents and seemingly hopeless circumstances and imbue it with a sense of pride and loyalty in those parents and circumstances.  Don't get me wrong, when she writes in Half Broke Horses about her grandmother, she doesn't gloss over those bad decisions, but calls it like it is:  the good with the bad, and if I may extend the analogy even further, paints the whole picture.  

Well written, interesting and inspiring...what more could you want from a good story?  Now, I just have to hunt down someone else who's read it!

A Couple More Books about Food/Cooking

I must be hungry.

The Man Who Ate Everything and It Must Have Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten are both intriguing reads that have the added bonus of making you a whiz at food trivia.  What a deal!  I learned about how to make my own dog food, which bottled water tastes best (you'll just have to read the book to find out), why raw milk cheese is banned in the United States (and why he thinks that is ridiculous) and probably one of the biggest standouts:  Mr. Steingarten's pursuit of blood sausage.  I'll bet you just can't wait to read that!!

Also, I really have liked reading Ruth Reichl's books.  Ms. Reichl was the editor at Gourmet magazine for a while, and needless to say, a pretty influential force in the food world.  I have read Tender at the Bone which I liked best (the story of her childhood and entry into the food world) and also Garlic and Sapphires during which she writes about her time as a food critic for the New York Times.  

Scientific study has shown that reading about food is significantly less filling than eating food.  Although the dog ate my daughter's school book last week and he might beg to differ.

Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

"Consider this unique and imposing distinction.  Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen."  -Louis Kossuth 

The book that I have been reading since I started writing this blog (maybe even before I started) is Joan of Arc.  It took me, I am sheepishly admitting, TWO months to read this book.  I know, I know, that might not be a long time for a busy mom who barely can get her act together each day, so I should seriously cut myself a break.  However, there are some books that feel as though you strap on wings and fly through,  and then there are books that when reading feel like you have strapped on leaden boots and you slowly plod your way through page by page.  Now, that may not sound like a ringing endorsement of a book, but let me just clarify by saying that sometimes books are meant to be savored and Joan of Arc is absolutely one of them.  

First of all, I think many people are not familiar with Joan of Arc's story.  I know I wasn't.  I mean I knew something about her burning at the stake and being a war hero and all, but that is about it.  My husband read this book a few years ago and was completely shocked that I wouldn't have snatched it from his still gripped hands and read it myself.  He couldn't stop reading it, which is about the best recommendation I could ever give a book. I don't know why I didn't want to read it right away...maybe I don't like receiving advice (I HAVE been told that before... those dang advice givers), or maybe I just was reading quicker reads all along and this one felt daunting.  I mean I know next to nothing about French history, French geography or French warfare.  And that was probably the biggest hinderance while reading the book.  It needed a map somewhere in it, and maybe a timeline of the 100 years war also would have been helpful.  But, who am I to criticize the great writer, Mark Twain.

Did you just read that??  Mark Twain, THE Mark Twain wrote this book (there are many other books written about Joan, but this is the one I read) and he considered it his greatest work.  He researched this book for 12 years and wrote it for two.  Sadly, I don't think it got a lot of critical acclaim.  But, for those familiar with Huck Finn, Twain's style is evident in the writing and story telling and it makes it an extremely human story rather than a high brow examination of this great war hero.  The narrator in the story is a fictional page and secretary of Joan's, and his voice is warm and comfortable, like a good friend.  He mixes his admiration for Joan with Huck Finnesque stories of her simple background, her simple life, and her loving friends and family.

If even 10% of the story were accurate about Joan, it still would be absolutely amazing and only explained by Divine intervention.  She was born into poverty, unschooled and unassuming.  She rises from obscurity after hearing "voices" that command her to rise up and lead the army of France to victory over the British and the coronation of its King.  And she is darn good at it, too.  "The veteran captains of the armies of France said she was great in war in all ways, but greatest of all in her genius for posting and handling artillery." (p. 233)  Utterly amazing was her unquestioning confidence in her task and even more amazing was her ability to complete it. The narrator then goes on to ask, 

"Who taught the shepherd girl to do these marvels---she who

could not read, and had had no opportunity to study the com-

plex arts of war?  I do not know any way to solve such a baffling 

riddle as that, there being no precedent for it, nothing in history

to compare it with and examine it by."  (p. 233)

Of  course, no one but Joan believed she could lead an army and more than that, curiously, her detractors thought she was possessed by demons.  She endured time after time examinations in front of the most prestigious church leaders of France who questioned this country bumpkin and initially finding nothing wrong with her, figured they had nothing to lose, let her try to rescue the forlorn France.  And, guess what, she did it.  

"Now came the ignorant country maid out of her remote 

village and confronted this hoary war, this all-consuming

conflagration that had swept the land for three generations.  

Then began the briefest and most amazing campaign that is 

recorded in history.  In seven weeks she hopelessly crippled 

that gigantic war that was ninety-one years old." (p. 252)

And then, (I don't think I am giving anything away here) the King she brought to power and the military she led to victory turned their backs on her.  "And for all reward, the French King, whom she had crowned, stood supine and indifferent, while French priests took the noble child, the most innocent, the most lovely, the most adorable the ages have produced, and burned her alive at the stake." (p. 21)  She was left accused of heresy and sentenced to die.  Joan of Arc never once questioned herself or her objective, she only viewed herself as a willing servant of God, and obedience to his call was all she ever desired.  She says at her trial, "'I was commanded of God, and it was right to go [to the wars]!'" (p. 366)  She remained committed to this call, to the end.

This is a remarkable story of a remarkable person.  We live in a world of self-gratification, and to read of a person who is wholly committed to "other" is refreshing and inspiring.  I found myself thinking about my own motives based solely at times on my own comfort, my own interest, my own desires and here in vivid contrast is a historical figure who defies explanation. To quote again the narrator, who speaks so clearly in Twain's characteristic voice, "I came to comprehend and recognize [Joan of Arc] at last for what she was--the most noble life that was ever born into this world save only One." (p. 28) Enough said.  

I woke up late this morning thinking about a poem I fell in love with as a young girl (probably about 13 years old).  It was a simple poem by A.A. Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame and I remember distinctly reading it at a children's museum here in Minneapolis that was doing a exhibit on children's authors.  The poem is from his collection, Now We are Six, and its title is "Buttercup Days."  (you can find the poem online).  Some people can smell an aroma and have it transport them to some happy time or place, for me, that poem has a metaphorical aroma.  It reminds me of simple childhood pleasures. Take away the accoutrement of the culture around us and the child's life is one of beauty, love and hope.  That is that poem for me. 

 I feel so lucky to have grown up loving books and writing.

I want my children to grow up loving reading as much as I do.  Not because there is something innately better about being a reader, but really I do believe that life can be better when your moments are couched in thoughts garnered from a good well-written story or poetry. A good story can do that to a young mind, never mind those pitiful bratty stories of children who yet again hate their parents (who are dumb, anyway) and who only find happiness in escaping to a boyfriend/girlfriend, popularity in school, or getting into trouble because they are troubled. You know the story line.   Good lists of kids books by age are easy to find at bookstores or online.  Here are some of my children's favorites (ages 4, 6, 8, and 10):

All:  

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Treasures in the Snow by Patricia St. John

10 year old 

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

8 year old 

The Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Secret Schoolhouse by Avi

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

6 year old

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne (read to she and her sister)

Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Marc Simont

Start by picking a book to read aloud to your kids, you won't regret it.  

To train the Dog

Since there are currently only about 5 (and that may be overestimating) people reading this little thing, I don't think I run the risk of offending too many by mentioning the brain candy I ingested this summer during our family fishing trip to Northern Minnesota.  

I only call the Cesar Milan's Be the Pack Leader:  Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog...and Your Life brain candy because it was 1.  a quick read (I read it in a day and a half of fishing...the walleye thank me because that meant I wasn't catching them) and 2. it was pop psychology that was fun to read, if not apply.  I would never knock a book by the great Dog Transformer; that guy knows his stuff!  Our fishing guide, Chris, has trained dogs for many years, and wanted me to read it so we could talk about it.  (He has given me many books over the years, we share a love of reading, he in his backwoods home and me in the chaos of four kids and a dog).  We just got a new little puppy ourselves after our yellow lab was put to sleep about a year ago.  The puppy is so much more work than I thought he would be!  I don't know why we got another one, maybe because I was begging for an

other dog...oh yeah, that's right.  What was I thinking?  Anyway, so far, I haven't been able to apply Cesar's leadership advice to our puppy because 1.  He is a puppy and 2.  He is a puppy.   At this point, I am just trying to wait out the days until he calms down and listens to me.  Whoa, that is the same thing I am waiting for with the children.   I'll let you know how it goes.

The takeaway for me in this book is about being assertive both with your dog and with your life.  Not the bulldozing, steamrolling assertiveness, but rather what Cesar calls calm-assertiveness.  It is, of course, good advice.  Remaining calm and standing firm are pretty much what anyone would aspire to; that it works in leading your dogs is the spin that Cesar puts on it.  

Training dogs (and humans) essentially boils down to discipline and commitment.  Probably the two words that get the most bad press in the world.  That is why there is a market for a book like this.  Happy training.

Hey, Sis.

If you are reading this, sister of mine.  I've got two recommendations for you.

First, Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood.  A friend of mine sent this book to me as a gift a few years ago and I was hesitant to read it because I had read The Handmaid's Tale when I was in high school and had disliked it very much (why I would ever rely on some impression I had of something in high school is beyond me).  In short, Alias Grace is the story of a servant woman who was implicated in a murder of her employer in Canada in 1843, based on a true story.  It was like one of those 20/20 shows, in a way, really it is left up to the reader as to whether she did it or not.  While I don't remember which way I ended up leaning, I do remember that I felt like I really got to know personally this accused woman and sort of understood why she would have done it.  I was captured up in the story and still even now I will have flashbacks to events in the story, it was so very well done.  I think it either won or was nominated for the Booker Prize.  Right after I read this book, I went immediately on a Atwood bender and picked up The Blind Assassin, which was almost as good.  I think I may need to revisit Atwood and read Oryx and Crake or probably The Robber Bride would be better since Oryx and Crake has been compared to that darn Handmaid's Tale.

Secondly, have you read The Good Earth yet?  Can I recommend this book enough?  I know I have already talked about it in this blog (not that anyone has read enough of it to notice the double rec.).  But, seriously, I just used an example from this book when talking to my husband last night!  And...I read it four years ago.  The book's got staying power.   Also, Pearl S. Buck wrote quite a few novels, none as lauded, as far as I know as Good Earth.  One of my dinner club pals gave me Pavilion of Women and I read that shortly after.  Which was pretty good and very very interesting.  According to Wikipedia, Pearl S. Buck was the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature (for The Good Earth) yet because she was raised in China (as a daughter of missionaries, as I recall), she is claimed as a Chinese author in China.  Hey, I'd claim her too, if I could.  Both books are illuminating stories of life in China.  Need I say more?  I read The Good Earth in the hospital pretty much right after giving birth to my third child.  I couldn't put it down.  It is the story of a hard scrabble life, met with the stoicism and pride of a Chinese family, their eventual rise to position and the thundering drum beat approaching of the coming revolution.  I learned so much about the beauty and honor that imbue Chinese culture, and yet was struck at how relationships transcend culture and I ached when they suffered and was ecstatic when they faced hard-won success.  Read it please at least some day so we can talk about it.  

That's all for now, I can't wait to hear what you think.

Who doesn't love food?

Okay, someone may say that food is only fuel, but really, eating is pretty enjoyable, no one can deny it.

The United States of Arugula by David Kamp is subtitled The Sun-dried, Cold-Pressed, Dark-Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution, and metaphorically speaking, I ate it up.  It was delicious.  If you care or not about cooking, even if you don't care about what you eat, the characters and stories of cooking in America were full of intrigue and surprise.  From the introduction it reads, "There are so many plots and subplots to the American-food saga, such a wealth of characters, that this book could potentially be several books, a multivolume epic of Proustian length." (p. xvii)  Who knew?

For those who thought that the recently lauded "Julie and Julia" movie whetted their appetite for cooking, buckle in, this book will take you on a delightfully filling ride.  

Bon Appetit!