Archive for September, 2015
Review of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
The book seemed shallow while reading the first half. The story had potential but seemed lacking in the telling. Major events would occur and would be described in only a short paragraph before moving on to another major happening. It wasn’t until backstories began filling in the blanks that the book had my full attention. The author did make clever use of those backstories to eventually bring things together.
I can’t say I felt a strong attachment to any of the characters, even A. J. Some seemed more like cardboard characters than warm blooded humans. They were bit players in what became a story that drew me in and made me want to know how everything would turn out. However a great story in itself doesn’t make a great book. The picture the author draws of the story characters, the voice and actions of the characters are what makes the story to come alive in the mind of the reader. Gabrielle Zevin could have enhanced the story by more complete development and humanizing of the main characters.
That said I do recommend the book to the patient reader who will be rewarded when all the loose ends come together. I rated the story a three stars on Amazon.
Alfred Wellnitz Published Book and Short Story Information at:
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
Distribution of Wealth
I saw the 1931 quote on Facebook and having lived in the period of the 30’s I feel I am obligated to comment.
Distribution of Wealth
The Dr. Andrea Rogers, who wrote the words below in 1931, might have been one of Herbert Hover’s advisers. We all know how that worked. It reflects how the United States handled the Great Depression up until Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1933. At the time Dr. Rogers wrote those words the government of this country was in danger. Those were extraordinary times. The nation could have gone communist or autocratic per the German model. FDR did what had to be done to hold the nation and its democratic traditions together. If he had not done so it could have been the end of our nation as we and Dr. Rogers knew it. Yes people were paid to move dirt from one pile to another pile for a dollar a day and they called it work but for the most part was done to provide assistance to maintain minimal living conditions for those who needed it.
As Dr. Rogers points out in his paragraph, the government has to get its money from those that have it in order to give to those who desperately need it. It is called the distribution of wealth. While Dr. Rogers postulates’ that distributing of wealth from the rich citizens to poorer citizens will destroy any nation that practices such a policy, it can be argued that such a policy during the Great Depression saved the nation.
The distribution of wealth in the United States in the 1920’s was skewed heavily to the wealthy. Only recently has it approached similar levels. Is this a problem? If, for example, one individual has all of the nation’s wealth, most people would consider that a problem and the nation’s economy could not function. If one percent of the nation has 99% of the wealth, most people would also consider that to be a problem. Our economic system will break down somewhere when too much wealth is concentrated in too few hands. Sharing the wealth in an intelligent way can aid the truly needy and make the economy and lives of the nation’s people better. This doesn’t mean that wealth should be shared equally but a nation with the means to do it should not let its citizens go hungry, sleep under bridges, go without health care or be uneducated. It is the charitable thing to do and it will bolster the nations own selfish needs.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )A 4 AM Dream
A 4 AM Dream
The dream took me back to an old neighborhood where we used to live. The track houses built in the 50’s and 60’s were being gentrified. Some of us original owners still lived there. Another couple, Pete and Mary Nelson were also original owners and invited us to a party at their house. It must have been a special occasion because we were wearing suits. I wore a nice suit but I didn’t like it because the coat was too long. Pete commented on my suit. He liked it. I said I didn’t.
“Why not?”
“The coat is too long, I’ll trade it for what you are wearing.”
Pete was wearing a sport coat, dark blue with grey pants, red tie, and there was food stains on the coat. He also had a big stomach and my suit wouldn’t have fit him.
Pete replied, “That is getting to be the style now, long coats.”
I thought; Is that really true?
The scene changed
I was walking along the pond in back of our house. Some fancy new homes had replaced the track homes around the pond. For some reason there was a burn barrel located near the edge of the pond. I wore the suit with the long coat. Pete and Mary Nelson came down the slope leading to the pond. They had been to church and Pete wore the same sport coat and pants he had been wearing at the party. I felt a little guilty because we went to the same church and he would have known that I hadn’t been to church. However I wore a suit and he might think I went to another church, which would have been bad because that would be like being unfaithful to our church. He had two envelopes and asked me to put them into the burn barrel.
The scene changed.
I was in an apartment, still wearing the overlong suit-coat. I was talking to a young man. Sort of a beat-nick type, horn-rimmed glasses, lots of hair, medium build, an intense personality. The young man wore a rumpled suit with a loose tie. He showed me a lighter, a cigarette or cigar lighter. He gave me one like the one he showed me, but it didn’t have any fluid in it so I couldn’t make it light.
He offered me what looked like an expensive cigar. I was a little concerned because I didn’t smoke but didn’t want to offend the man so took a cigar.
It looked like a normal cigar but had an unusual tip protector. It appeared to be something made out of bread dough. I took the tip protector off, but didn’t know what to do with it. The man pointed to a pile of the bread dough looking things and said, “You can put the nutrients over there.”
The scene shifted
Other men appeared. They were all hippie looking intellectuals wearing suits. After a while someone started playing a piano and another person, a tall person, played a clarinet. They played some improvised jazz. The clarinet player seemed to be very talented.
I took the two envelopes out of my pocket that Pete and given me, showed them to the man that had given me the lighter. He took a lighter out of his pocket and tried to light one of the envelopes. It wouldn’t burn. He tried to light the other one. It wouldn’t burn. We knew immediately that we had come upon something that had value. A fire-proof envelope! I woke up from my dream.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Book Review of “Cold Sassy Tree”
Book Review Cold Sassy Tree
On a Friday night I sat down to read some of the book Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. The book club I belong to would be reviewing the book the next Wednesday morning and I planned to finish the book during the weekend. I kept reading the book that Friday night until 2:30 AM the next morning. I had become so engrossed with the story that I couldn’t stop until I had finished it. A book that does that gets five stars from me. No further evidence is needed.
Other five star features.
The author made use of the vernacular of the locality without detracting from the story line or become tiring.
The use of a town full of loony characters with numerous physical imperfections seemed to work well in a story that dwelt with some of life’s imponderables; death, religion, traditions, faithfulness, family ties, bigotry.
The first person view point of Will Tweedy provided an intimate and focused story although the author had to go through some questionable contortions to put Will Tweedy in the middle of some of the action.
All in all a good read. It will make you alternately laugh and cry and thinking this seems impossible at times and just like real life at other times. The story kept pulling you along with a number of surprises along the way. At the same time you could predict where this story had to go but you didn’t know how it would get there.
Cold Sassy could only have been written by someone familiar with the local and peculiarities of the region and its people. Olive Ann Burns qualified since she grew up on a farm near Commerce Georgia. She also had to have the literary gift that enabled her to relate the intricate details of the people and region as she did in the novel.
Alfred Wellnitz Books 