2 comments about The Duchess of Windsor.

1. I really enjoyed this book. I was surprised when I started it; there are tons of pictures and less text than might be expectd, but with a topic like this one, I actually think this proved to be an advantage. I felt like I got enough of an overview/background to understand what was going on surrounding the Duke and Duchess, but did not feel overwhelmed by the history. For example, I tried reading a biography on the Duke,a nd was so bored and lost by the first two chapters because I was given SO much information!

   I also got a different view of the Duchess. While I had not read any non-foction about her, she does pop up in fiction by Danielle Steele ("Jewels") and Dominick Dunne ("The Two. Mrs. Grenvilles") and she is portrayed in a totally unlikeable light. While I don't know how biased this biography was, I ended up being very sympathetic towards the Duchess and hoping that she and the Duke were happy together.

   I also found the many pictures to be a plus, as they were great to peruse.




2. Althought elegantly designed and filled with high-quality photos, this has got to be one of the most egregious books I have run across in years. Bloch, an associate of the Duchess' lawyer, has cobbled together numerous photographs which depict the Windsors at balls, on holiday (from what?) on the Cote d'Azur, in the Bahamas, in Germany, in nightclubs, etc., etc. It is difficult to read this book and not come away with the impression that, great love story though it may have been, the lives of this woman and her husband were an utter waste of everyone's time. How bored (and boring) they must have been! Unless you want to indulge in a little elegant notalgia, don't bother with this high-fashion trash.

No comments about The Life of Samuel Johnson (Part 1).

No comments about Memoirs Of General Le Marchant.

No comments about Title The Life of Samuel Johnson (Part 2).

No comments about ONE LEG: The Life and Letters of Henry William Paget KG, First Marquess of Anglesey, 1768-1854.

No comments about BLONDIE: The Life of Lieutenant-Colonel HG Hasler DSO, OBE, RM, founder of the SBS and Modern Single-handed Ocean Racing.

5 comments about A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman.

1. I had the opportunity to read this book. From the moment of the first word to the very last word, the book draws you in to read more. The graphic descriptions can take you to the other side of the world and stand next to the author on his travels. You know what it was like be black during the "Jim Crow" days on the trains in the south. Granted that my 25 years never saw the ugly side of America, his visual imagery is just so vivid that I seriously think they should dump "Scarlett Letter" and place this book on the reading lists of High School Students.



2. Charles Dryden's book forces people to see the trials and tribulations encountered by black servicemen and women during WWII. I was shocked to read about the different encounters with 'Jim Crow' that Dryden and his peers waded through during their service years. A must for anybody curious about WWII, the Tuskegee Airmen or about the fight for civil rights in America.



3. I meet Col. Dryden when he gave a talk about his experiences and his book. I then read the book a felt a tremendous respect for the author and all the Tuskeegee Airmen. Col. Dryden tells his personal story in a way that made me feel as though I was there with him the whole time. The challanges of blacks in America in his story left a powerful impact on me, the courage the author displayed is an insperation. A-Train is very well written and reads easily. It is an powerful story that left me feeling inadequate and ashamed to be white. I had the oportunity to meet Col. Dryden again and sought him out just to shake his hand again, knowing him from his book, it was hard to hide my emotions.



4. Every young African American boy should read this book. It is an inspiration.



5. I initially bought this book expecting it to be similar to the other slew of WWII books out there ( The ME-109 dove at me out of the sun with guns blazing...). Instead I got an honest account of a man who wanted to fly for his country and be treated with the same respect as any other pilot. Dryden's memories and descriptions of his voyage through training to be a pilot as well as the segregated and de-segregated Air Force are interesting and honest. Dryden't narrative is not the heart-pounding, can't-put-the-book down type but rather the story of a man who, faced with tremendous adversity from his own society and country, persevered. There is no bitterness in Dryden's story, and I put the book down tremendously impressed by his belief in himself, in his religion and his friend. It's a good book

1 comments about Fanny Burney: A Biography.

1. I confess that Burney's never been my favorite novelist, but I do like biographies so I picked this one up. I found it extremely readable and engaging, and I grew more sympathetic toward Burney and her writing upon learning more about her life--her learning disability and subsequent insecurity, her father's interference with her career, her miserable years at court, her rushing to publish novels so that she could pay the bills, and, of course, her horrifying mastectomy (about which I read with my fingers across my eyes, as one might hide one's face during the scary part of a movie).

   I wish there had been more room for "Harman's careful disentangling of fact from wishful thinking and manipulation," but I can see why this would be more appropriate for a book of criticism than a biography.

   If you're at all interested in Burney or the times in which she lived--even (or especially?) if you don't like her writing--I believe you'll find this book worthwhile.

No comments about As I Was Going Down Sackville Street.

2 comments about John Ruskin: The Early Years.

1. An affectionately and well-written account of Ruskin's life (I'm referring here to parts 1 and 2 of this biography, taken as a whole). As another reviewer has pointed it, the book does move along nicely, leaving the reader feeling as though he has been given a solid picture of a period in Ruskin's life (the book is organized chronologically), though not that he has exhausted all possible accounts of it, accounts which could easily become boring to all but the most devoted of Ruskin's admirers. The only thing for which I would fault the book is its sometimes cumbersome, dry over-emphasis on facts -- lots of facts. We are too often told about where, what and when instead of why. Perhaps it was the author's intention to give an "objective" account of Ruskin's life, one in the shadow of which we'd paint our own picture of Ruskin the man. But that would seem to be contradicted by the obvious affection with which Hilton writes. Nevertheless, it was an informative read and the two volumes evidence Hilton's enormous work of scholarship. Ruskin was one of the most prolific writers we know of, but here Mr. Hilton shows that he familiarized himself thoroughly with Ruskin's works and letters. If for nothing else, we should be grateful for that. With a little humor and more analysis, this would be a near perfect biography. As it is, it's the most authoritative contemporary account of its subject and a fulfilling read.



2. The first volume of Tim Hilton's biography, John Ruskin: The Early Years, is a fascinating look into the life and work of one of the truly great minds of the nineteenth century. Hilton treats Ruskin's eccentricities with a careful touch. The strangeness of the Ruskin life is there to see. yet the book is not overwhelmed by it. The star here is the Ruskin intellect and artistic sensibility. As a passing fan of Ruskin prior to reading this I felt hugely informed by this book. It is very nicely written and moves at a compelling pace.