I read quite a lot, and quite a variety, as well. Some of the books I read are well-known - some are even regarded as classics. On the other hand, some are pretty obscure, and many of those deserve their obscurity. Still, I get something out of almost every work I read, and I'd be happy to share my impressions of any book with others who find the title of interest. In these reading lists, I provide basic information on books which I finished in the month in question.
In January, 2007, I finished reading the following works:
Nevins, Allan. The Emergence of Lincoln, Volume II: Prologue to Civil War 1859-1861. 1950. viii + 524 pages, including Appendices, Bibliography, and Index.
Melville, Herman. Billy Budd and the Piazza Tales. 2006. xliv + 338 pages.
O'Brian, Patrick. Post Captain. 1972. 496 pages
Appleyard, Dennis R. and Alfred J. Field, Jr. International Economics. xxvi + 822 pages, including Index.
Not my most productive month, January, though I could note that I was also reading four other books, which, however, I did not finish. (In fact, I have yet to finish The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.) I read a total of 1272 pages in eight books during the month.
Now, which would I recommend? On the fictional side of the ledger, Post Captain is an expertly composed and very entertaining, as well as thoroughly-researched, novel of the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Melville's style, on the other hand, is not likely to be to everyone's taste, and some of the stories miss the mark. "Bartleby the Scrivener" makes very little sense, but "Benito Cereno" is pretty good. Unfortunately, Melville uses the denseness of his viewpoint characters to build suspense (but Conan Doyle has the same fault.)
International Economics is a textbook, and I would only recommend it to someone who really wants to gain a technical understanding of that field. Economics is a subject matter which relies on recent examples to demonstrate its currency (no pun intended.) I would buy something newer if I wanted to begin study of this subject.
Allan Nevins is, I think, one of the great historians of the 20th century, who wrote a long, multi-volume history of the origins of the Civil War and the war itself. (I have four of the volumes and have read three; I need to read the volume that comes before this one.) He tends to stress the economic side of the conflict and, with regard to the war, the North's advantage in material factors. This book provides really wonderful background to two others I'll mention later: Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals and Gore Vidal's Lincoln.
Glenn A Knight
In my study
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3 comments:
Glenn, when it comes to pages read you are my hero. 1272 in one month? That's 40+ pages a day. I am reminded that you do not have a two year old. :o)
Have you read Carl Sandburg's three volume work on Lincoln? My wife's family is from just outside of Springfield Illinois in a town adjacent to Old Salem, making Lincoln a favored historical figure. I received a copy of Sandburg's history of Lincoln a year or two ago from my wife's grandmother as a Christmas present. I've read the first volume, the Prairie Years, but have not read the following two yet.
I am curious, do you record your impressions of each book that you read or is your memory that good?
My memory is that good ... sometimes. Sometimes I look back at notes I may have put in my journal, but those are usually pretty sketchy. I don't write a "book report" on each book. For books I own, of course, I can dip in and see if there's anything that strikes me.
I do think that I read Sandburg's Lincoln biography years ago. I don't recall it in any detail; it's been overlain with new strata of information, but I may still retain some general impressions of Lincoln.
Sandburg is not in fashion now. In The Old Patagonian Express, Paul Theroux recounts a conversation with Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentinian writer, in which Borges is quite disparaging of Sandburg. "Sandburg is the poet of Chicago, but what is he? He's just noisy - he got it all from Whitman." (Page 364)
There is something to the influence of Whitman on Sandburg, as on Vachel Lindsay or any Midwestern poet, I suppose.
"A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? .... I do not know what it is any mroe than he.
"I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.
"Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose?"
From Leaves of Grass
It's a cellulose and chlorophyll based life form that transforms the sun's energy, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and various minerals in to oxygen and a form of stored energy that cows can eat. We then eat the cows, which are quite tasty. :o)
I had not heard of Sandburg or Edgar Lee Masters until I met my wife and her family who are from central Illinois where these native sons are still popular. I have been known to enjoy Whitman and Frost in the past, nice quote.
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