Travellin' Penguin

Where else can a person with two happy dogs go to the beach in winter?  We just had a couple of sunny days and I decided to take the dogs to the beach. They have been pretty goofy and needed a good run.  So off we went. They love a day at the beach with a side trip to Mc Donalds to share a few fries afterwards. They only get three each.

What else happened over the weekend? Well, I am almost finished with part II of War and Peace. It will be a long haul but I am enjoying it. The narrator of the book is very good speaking several voices in various tones. It must be a job to read this book out loud perfectly.  He does an excellent job and I keep up okay with the kindle version.

I haven’t started reading anything else yet but will do. I can’t just have a life of W and P.

We did get to see the film Kedi about the street cats in Istanbul.  It is a lovely film. The photography was excellent and much of Istanbul was shown from various angles. The personalities of the cats was caught on film and we enjoyed getting to meet them.

The week before us will see the play The God of Carnage on Wednesday. I have no idea what it is about.

On Thursday Robert Dessaix is being interviewed at Fuller’s Book Shop. I will be attending this.

Evidently all of his books are being reissued.  The interview later in the week will see him discussing why he wrote them and other information about them.  I have read several of his books and enjoyed them all. I also ran into him once in the grocery store with his partner Peter Timms and helped them pick out some yoghurt. My claim to fame.

Monica McInerney was at Fullers the other day and the book shop decorated their window with her new book. I was going to see her but then I heard her interviewed on ABC Radio National for an hour so I decided not to go. The authors tend to repeat themselves as they do their book blurbs around the country. I have only read one of her books and I did enjoy it. I would like to read more of her.

Fuller’s Book Shop just won a national award for Best Independent bookshop of Australia beating out contenders in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. Such an honour for them and their manager Catherine Schultz took out the best book seller award nationally. They were stoked as they should be. A trip to Hobart is not complete for the wild and wooly bookish people out there without a visit to Fuller’s. They have a lovely cafe too.

I guess that wraps up the weekend for another week. I’ll be back before long. In the meantime enjoy the Kingston Dog Winter Beach photos. (There aren’t many.)

 

 

 

 

This week has been pretty busy. Our Play Reading class on Tuesday continued with our Oscar Wilde theme. Not having been exposed to a lot of his work I have been enjoying it. We finished the play The Importance of Being Ernest which we all enjoyed. Then we watched the DVD of the play. It has so much humour in it. We are looking at the various types of writing Oscar Wilde produced. Serious, biblical, children’s writing to very funny and entertaining. We are really having an Oscar Wilde fest this term. We are currently reading Salome’.

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I have begun War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. What a genius this man was.  I downloaded the audible version of it from audible.com and as I had a vintage Penguin Classics copy I thought I would read a long. However the two translations were very different with the Penguin Classic being much wordier.

I found the same translator on Kindle books and downloaded that copy for 99cents. Now we are in sync.  I must say I am enjoying it quite a bit.  Although I am only into Part II.  The Napoleonic wars have just begun. I didn’t expect the humour from some of the characters and it hasn’t taken me long to jump into and start caring about everyone. A long ways to go yet.

 

 

(Narrated by Frederick Davidson, translated by Constance Garnett)

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Wednesday was our writing class. I took the bus into Hobart and walked down to the Tasmanian Writer’s Centre where our weekly (except the third Wed of each month) group is held. It is school holidays, it was sunny and a very pleasant day, though chilly, down on the waterfront. People everywhere.  The best thing about the winters in Hobart is the sun shines almost every day. Really puts a different perspective on things. I noticed the big ice breaker Aurora Australis ship was in port. It is a large orange ship that goes regularly to Antarctica taking people and supplies. It is such an icon on our waterfront and I always enjoy seeing it when it is in port.

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I finished the Australian novel of The Golden Child by Wendy James. It is for our end of July book club meeting and I really enjoyed it. I will be looking forward to what the others thought of it. Lots of points for discussion.  I had not heard of it before. It is about the bullying done online in a high school setting between so called friends. The ending really packed a wallop so I will say no more.  It touched on many social issues that young people must deal with today and having read it I am glad there was no social media when I was in high school.  I thought the book was well written, the characters very believable and as I said, I loved the ending. If you get a chance to have a quick read I can certainly recommend it.

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The weekend ahead is looking a bit quiet at this point. There is currently a documentary called Kedi, about seven cats in Istanbul whose lives are followed around the city. It is playing at our local State Cinema in Hobart. Having visited Istanbul not that many years ago and seen all the street cats I am looking forward to seeing how this film goes. We ate outdoors at many restaurants while there and often ended up putting half our plate of food on the ground under the table for the cats while the waiters backs were turned. I hope to see this very soon.

Winter continues here. I am planning to keep reading War and Peace at least an hour a day until I finish it. So far so good.

How did your week go?  Any good books happening this week?

Until next time, the Penguin and I wish you well. 

When I was overseas visiting family I finally got to Salinas to the John Steinbeck Centre. It isn’t as large as the Jack London Ranch north of San Francisco but it was every bit as interesting. I thought I would share some of the photos.

The museum is set up with little nooks and crannies one can walk through. Each area represents one of his major books. There is information to read about the publishing of the book, a screen with the film version screening with benches to sit and watch parts of them. Photos, quotations and trivia.

I enjoyed passing through The Grapes of Wrath section, East of Eden and Travels with Charlie. Travels with Charlie and the Grapes of Wrath are my favourite books by Steinbeck. I remember I went on a Steinbeck kick in the early 70’s and read five or six of his books in quick succession. It is time to revisit those books again I think. The museum certainly inspired us to do so.

The gift shop was full of Steinbeck memorabilia but the only thing I bought was the T shirt with a list of all of his books on the back.  Enjoy the photos.

 

 

 

What Steinbeck books have you read?  What is your favourite Steinbeck book?

If you get anywhere near Salinas this is a happy way to spend an hour or so.

(This book will be released in early July, 2017)

I was looking at net galley  one day and came across this book. It sounded interesting. I applied to Scribner  Publications and they kindly sent it to me.

I don’t normally read non fiction about prisoners. In fact, I think this was the first time. I found the description of the book appealing and as I looked into it more I see it takes place in the state of Michigan. I grew up in Michigan so am familiar with the various places it mentions. Sitting in Tasmania it seemed quite far away.

The author, Curtis Dawkins grew up in rural Illinois and earned an MFA in fiction writing at Western Michigan University. He struggled with alcohol and substance abuse through most of his life and, during a botched robbery, killed a man on Halloween 2004. Since late 2005, he’s been serving a life sentence, with no possibility of parole, in various prisons throughout Michigan. He has three children with his partner, Kim. She is a writing professor living in Portland, Oregon.

For someone who had everything going for him I can’t really get my head around it. I just can’t imagine continuing to live when facing such a tragic outcome.

The book is written in a series of short stories all connected with Mr. Dawkins. (Think Olive Kitteridge.)  He doesn’t talk about his crime. Instead he talks about the friends he makes, some of the procedures he endures from day to day and how he passes the time. How does one pass the time when facing a lifetime of incarceration.

In one of the early chapters and my favourite,  he describes using the telephone to dial up random numbers. First the recipient must accept the charges after hearing the person calling is doing so from prison. Several people take him up on his offer and a very few let him know he can call back. He does so and has on going conversations about their lives and almost becomes a friend. “Just don’t do it too often,” one man states.

This book is a different story. It is not about the violence that one normally hears about prisons. There is nothing in his situation that is sensationalised.  Each story is of a different person he shares a cell with, the things they talk about or the experiences he has.  There were a couple of relationships that had me chuckling a bit. There is no doubt that each man may have friends but they are always watching out for number one.

I was fascinated by the tales. I liked Curtis. I did not see him as a murderer who completely ruined another’s life and that of the family. He was a man who did a stupid thing and it ended up in tragedy and a life of no hope. The story shows the feelings of the man, how he tries to cope day to day. What makes him laugh and how he tries to make his life mean something so he doesn’t completely go off the rails.

The men he shares his life with are first of all people, secondly people that really screwed up. I thought at times, this could happen to any of us in a fit of desperation, rage or just really bad judgment, especially as a young person.

The only criticism I had of the book was perhaps the ending was tidied up a little too quick. I felt it rather ended quite suddenly. I wanted a summary of sorts. I

 

am not sure I know what I mean by that but I was left wanting a bit more. More revelations of how he is going to survive.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys studying relationships between people who find themselves in unusual positions. How would we cope? This is an interesting slice of life written by an educated writer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This challenge has come out of left field for me. I have been looking for a War and Peace read along for some time. I see several of the bloggers I follow have signed up and having looked at it I think it is achievable.  It is being hosted by Reading in Bed which is a blog that was unfamiliar to me but I am now following her. It looks good. (here)

First I had to look at the schedule.

War and Peace

Soon: The War and Peace Newbie Tag
July 3: Start reading!
July 10: Volume I, Part I
July 17: Volume I, Part II
July 24: Volume I, Part III
July 31: Volume II, Parts I and II
August 7: Volume II, Parts III and IV
August 14: Volume II, Part V and Volume III, Part I
August 21: Volume III, Part II
August 28: Volume III, Part III
September 4: Volume IV, Parts I and II
September 11: Volume IV, Parts III and IV
September 18: Epilogues I and II
Late September: Draw winners, wrap up, etc.

Next I had to answer the questions. I think they are pretty straight forward. I have heard of this book all of my life but never read it. 

What edition and translation are you reading?

 

 

I am going to listen to the audio version (unabridged) narrated by Frederick Davidson from Audible.com. The translator is not mentioned in the blurb. It is published by Blackstone Audio books, 1998. I have no idea if it is a good version or not but the reviews are pretty good. We’ll see.

How much do you know about War and Peace (plot, characters, etc)?

I know very little about this book. I know it is a period history about the Russian Revolution and a great love story. I am not at all knowledgeable about Russian history. 

How are you preparing (watching adaptations, background reading, etc.)?

I am not preparing at all. I have downloaded the book. I realise this is probably a book one needs to read two or three times to get more out of it but I am looking forward to my first read. As Mortimer Adler says in his book, How To Read A Book this book is like moving in to a village and gradually getting to know all the residents one encounters and the events of the community. It takes time.

What do you hope to get out of reading War and Peace?

It is one of those books everyone wants to say, “Oh yes, I have read that.” (Don’t deny you want to say that). But I have thought about reading this book for such a long time but did not want to attempt it by myself. I think it is a book where discussion about the chapters will be useful. I am looking forward to seeing how others interpret it and what they feel about it.

What are you intimidated by?

I am listening to the audio version first because I cannot in anyway begin to pronounce the names. The names, places and events will have Russia references and I want to hear how those words are pronounced. Then if I ever read a written copy I will have that information somewhere in the file cabinets in my brain and I might be able to find those files again. 

Do you think it’s okay to skip the ‘war’ parts? 

In one word, No. 

The Penguin and I are looking forward to travelling through this book with the others whose opinions I respect. 

 

 

Apologies first. I always have this idea that when I travel I will read books, photograph amazing landscapes and update the blog with the penguin every night. I will have great amounts of energy and will love sharing it with everyone.

The reality however is overseas travel is tiring. It’s exhausting. It was hot. I felt grimy. Photos had to be retaken because the first ones were crooked or accidentally shot my feet as I checked the settings.

I give up. No more promises about updating the Penguin and my blog while we travel until we get home or are at least in one place for 10 days.

As I said before, I did finish Herman Koch’s book The Dinner on the plane ride over. I also began an interesting book I was able to get a hold of on NetGalley. However much I enjoyed it I can’t write about it yet as it won’t be published until 4 July. Give me another week or so on that one.  I will show you the cover though.

I visited a famous author’s museum and the Penguin was photographed on an amazing piece of literary history. You’ll have to wait for that post too.

While travelling with my sister we listened to an audio book she picked up in a second hand book shop for a few dollars. When I saw the title and the author, I thought, “Oh no, not him.” But the freeways were long, the day was hot and the air conditioning in the car felt good. We listened to it. Will I talk about it? Yes. Now? No.

What I will try to do is get this trip in order. It was only three weeks long but it seems a lot happened and a great deal of miles were covered.

The highlight of the beginning was meeting James in Novato, California for a coffee. Many of you will know James, of James Reads Books. I had some Penguin Sci Fi books for him I brought along as I am downsizing the massive Penguin collection I have. It was such a pleasure to meet him and he does look just like his photo in his blog, but I could see his whole face and not just him peeking over a book.

I really enjoy his posts. He reads a great assortment of books. Some of them are for his Grade 7 students and I enjoy hearing about their experiences. He sometimes writes about  reading in his classroom.  Some of the comments he posts from his students make me laugh out loud.  James is a very good writer and he has a sense of humour. If you haven’t looked at his blog I think you should and see what ‘ his new favourite book’ is.  Thank you James for agreeing to meet us.  (Read James here.)

I have personally met two bloggers in person since I began writing this thing. Lovely friendships.

I have a lot yet to get through over the next few weeks so I am going to do it one experience at a time. I hope you will enjoy the journey.

The book people amongst us will be happy to know that I arrived safely in San Francisco and less than two hours later I was already looking around City Lights Book Store in downtown San Francisco. I really do love that store. You will also be surprised that I did not buy any books. I keep thinking of the couple of thousand books I still have at home, many of them still TBR.

I need to get into some of my Penguin classics and boxed sets that I have collected over the past years. I may have sold off the main series collection but there are many other series I still have. I would also like to visit the Puffin books once in awhile.

The flight from Hobart to Sydney then Sydney to San Francisco was without incident. I am currently sitting by a window flying on United from San Francisco to Chicago then will head up to Traverse City in northern Michigan. I did think about making a big stink while on United. They could drag me screaming from the plane, punch me in those nose. I know the nose would heal and I could get a multi million dollar settlement and have yet more money for travel and books.

On the flight to America from Australia I finally read the book The Dinner by Herman Koch. I know, I know, probably all of you have read it but it takes me awhile to get around to new books at times. Many people reading this will already know what this is about but the gist of the story is:
A politician running for Prime Minister in the Netherland (Serge) and his wife (Babbette) have dinner in an exclusive restaurant with Serge’s brother (Paul) and his wife (Claire.) In the beginning of the book Paul and Claire seem to be the good guys. Serge is impossibly arrogant and on show all of the time to his prospective voters. The novel is divided into various part of the dinner from Drinks to Entree to Main Course to Dessert. As we hear about this excruciating dinner there are flashbacks to the activities of the teenage children of both couples who are involved in some very unsavoury activities. I don’t want to say more because if you haven’t read this story it will spoil it. It pretty much boils down to how far would you go to save the bright future that you think your children deserve?

I would go from really disliking these people to trying to understand the decisions they make. I really could see both side of the coin but I don’t know how I would handle this situation not having children of my own.
The book held my attention over the Pacific Ocean. I enjoyed the writing.

The down side of the story: I thought there were a couple of threads that were left unfinished. I didn’t think they were needed but they were small and soon forgotten. I also thought the editing could have been a bit tighter and although I could not help keep turning the pages I breathed a large sigh of relief once I was finished. As all the reviewers have said before me, these people are not to be liked at all. Neither are their children.
I think I enjoyed that part of the book. This is not really a ‘happily ever after’ book.

Now, I know those of you who read this have an opinion. As a young woman on the

Qantas flight sitting beside me said, “Oh, I read this book. It is a great book for book club discussions.”

I agree.

Now, I must apologise for the Penguin. He will be making a appearance soon. He has more jet lag than I do and is soundly sleeping at the bottom of my bag.

Let me know what is happening re: books and travel in your life

As an extra here, I must show you the beautiful basset hound dog we met walking down the street on the way back to the car. Isn’t he gorgeous and he was absolutely huge. Had feet like dinner plates.