28 January 1999
1616 Catron SE
by Robert Penn Warren
extra credit: Flood
by Robert Penn Warren.
25 February 1999
7709 Harwood Ave NE
Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
by Alfred Lansing [280 pgs]
Despite the inexcusable lack of a map in the text, and the curious lack
of explaining in detail such crucial survival items such as the history
and workings of a blubber stove, and how to squeeze hoosh from a seal,
this 'thrilling reading experience' was awarded some of our book club's
highest marks, from B+ to A, and even one A+. Fortunately,
a map, and some of Hurley's excellent expedition photographs can be found
in a November 1998 National Geographic article, which has probably helped
push the current popular revival of this book on Shackleton and his 28-man
real-life demonstration of courage and teamwork.
Review of the Photography Exhibit [WSJ]
Truth in advertising - Incredible! Why isn't this true story
required reading in the Leadership courses at our nation's service academys?
Why isn't the name of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton known to every schoolboy?
Put on your coat and scarf before reading this book, and don't be surprised
if you have trouble escaping from Lansing's high-tension story that never
lets up - a 1 1/2 year struggle for survival that provides a portrayal
of a definition of true leadership, perseverance, and the successes of
the indomitable spirit of man. You won't soon forget the feeling
of cold and wet, of reindeer hair in a rotting sleeping bag. You
will be left full of wonder - you'll wonder why they didn't throw Orde-Lees'
ass overboard - and you'll never look at a penguin again without
remembering the 'weird, mournful, dirgelike cries' of the emperors as the
ship was crushed - and wondering how much dark meat they have available.25 March 1999
by Nathanael West
He only wrote four novels before his untimely death at age 36 (along with his talented sculptress wife), but something of the surrealist (as perhaps learned from his trips to Paris) has kept West alive all these years. Often packaged with Miss Lonelyhearts (~60 pgs), West has some strong descriptive passages (e.g., the cock fight, and the mob scene), some humor, but hardly a cheery outlook on the life that fed him: Hollywood.
29 April 1999
Sandia Park
by Conrad Richter [149 pgs]
Richter casts the story in Homeric terms, with the children caught up in the conflicts of their parents.
Richter (1890-1968) was a writer all of his adult life with his first in 1913 at age 23. He moved to ABQ, NM for his wife's health in 1928 (Sandia Park, on East side of the mtns). His continuing theme is the pioneering era. See "Writing to Survive; the Private Notebooks of Conrad Richter". Movie: "Sea of Grass" (1947) with Spencer Tracy and Kathryn Hep- burn was not a hot item. His approach: narrator as observer of all events: "Iremember..." Transitions from open rangeland to homestead. Old fashioned elegance and simplicity - no trouble sorting out plots. Shallowness of the characters (but lust beneath the surface) as he wanted to leve you with mystery.
Novel by Conrad Richter, published in 1936, presenting in epic scope the conflicts in the settling of the American Southwest. Set in New Mexico in the late 19th century, the novel concerns the often violent
clashes between the pioneering ranchers, whose cattle range freely through the vast sea of grass, and the
farmers, or "nesters," who build fences and turn the sod. Against this background is set the triangle of
rancher Colonel Jim Brewton, his unstable Eastern wife Lutie, and the ambitious Brice Chamberlain.
27 May 1999
14321 Stalgren Ct. NE
A Memoir by Frank McCourt
When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.
Review and Commentary.
Angela's Ashes - The Movie
65 copies available in RG Library system; however, 60 of them are checked
out at any time. Available in Trade Paperback for $6.99
- Extra credit: 
A Monk Swimming: Memoir by Frank's brother, Malachy McCourt.
24 June 1999
7800 Northridge NE
by James Boswell
Received an average grade of B; low was C; most enjoyed the Johnson sound bites, but were disappointed there was little of his actual work. "Abridged Too Far." Chewing his cud, making annoying sounds, wearing his undersize wig stuck on top of his head - would you invite this man to dinner?
TheSamuel Johnson Sound Bite Page.
Most read the 430 page version, abridged from the 1799 edition, published in 1979. Some checked out the full two volume edition: 1200 pages. No one finished it all. Most were glad to finally learn something of Johnson, although Benoist had read it in his one-semester course, "Literature for Engineers."
In addition to the Sound Bite Web Page, consider the one page of Samuel Johnson on Hollywood Celebrities and Professional Athletes.
29 July 1999
by Richard Bach
Read it again, for the very last time. Genoni opined a great ending: upon Jonathan's return to the flock and all the other seagulls surrounded him - if they had pecked him to death.
Most interesting part of the LTBC discussion was how this little throw-away fable managed to sell 8 million copies. LTBC consensus: timing. Like the Pet Rock, it hit the flower children generation in 1970. Related story: After 18 publisher rejections, Bach found a mentor in the Red Baroness at McMillian. But she wanted illustrations to pump up the little story. Bach slept that night at the NY office of his photog friend, and the next morning found that he had done a seagull shoot [not a bad idea] 4 years earlier. Bach, broke, offered him $500 cash for the pictures, or "50% of the sales of the book." Friend: "50% is too much. How about 10%?" They settled on 20%.
Road Trip to San Juan River, Pagosa Springs, was CANX this year, as quorum was not obtained. Inadvertently, this permitted The Streak to continue.
26 August 1999
Lead/Coal;
between Carlisle and Washington, take Montclaire
by David Guterson
A-, B+ grades. Genoni had best review observation: 'Technically, Guterson is excellent; excellent research, good description, good characters, excellent job of bringing all the stories together, handling the seques, all done cleverly. But - I found he didn't make me care enough - I didn't laugh, I didn't cry, I didn't feel enough about this story and the characters, and I kept thinking I should. A-
30 September 1999
12704 Hugh Graham Road NE
by Henry Miller
C and lower grades. Several members felt it was necessary to get past the 20 page Introduction by Karl Shapiro and the first 80 or so pages of the book itself before finding some well-written essays on life and Paris.
Two sentence depressing description of life:
"One is ejected into the world like a dirty little mummy; the roads are slippery with blood and no one knows why it should be so. Each one is traveling his own way and, though the earth be rotting with good things, there is no time to pluck the fruits; the procession scrambles toward the exit sign, and such a panic is there, such a sweat to escape, that the weak and the helpless are trampeled into the mud and their cries are unheard." [pages 183-184]
30 October 1999, in Santa Fe.
A Walk in the Woods
by Bill Bryson
Excellent! Both learning and humor, cleverly combined. But neither could have survived without Katz!
Available in paperback at Page One.
- not held on Thursday
18 November 1999;
Will be discussed in January 2000
(292-2658)
1709 Conestoga Dr SE - In 4-Hills, turn right on Stagecoach, past Rio Arriba, past Catron
The Perfect Storm:
A True Story of Men Against The Sea
by Sebastian Junger
16 December 1999
801 Rio Arriba SE
by Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway was born in July 1899 in Oak Park, IL, and died from a self-inflicted shotgun blast in July 1961. He had been treated for depression by use of electric shock treatment, which left him without most of his memory, a writer's life.
Question by the LTBC: What grade would you have given this book if the author was an unknown 'Joe Schwartz'? Shocking sign of the times: casual use of 'nigger.'
