5 comments about Sight Unseen.

1. I have recently finished this disaster of a novel for a college honors course "Disability through Autobiography." While attempting to read this book, my frustration took over and in a couple of instances, resulted in the book being thrown across the room. Much of the book seems a criticism of those that are not blind as well as the depictions of the blind by those who are not blind, namely authors and Hollywood directors. I can think of a much better topic for a book than nit-picking at random quotes in movies, books, and social groups. Kleege seems to only show the ability for a blind person to criticize those who are not blind and may not completely understand what blindness is. Although I have taken many courses that focus intensely on accepting those with disablilities in society, I find it very difficult to accept severe cynicism no matter what disability the author may have.



2. Like many people who have read this book, I am legally blind. It was recommended to me by a friend who has very good vision. Comparing notes with her was particularly educational. The perspectives of a sighted person and a blind person on the text turn out to be not all that different.
   
   This book has incredible ups and downs. First- the ups.
   Kleege's description of what a blind person sees is incredible, perhaps the best I have ever read. People who haven't had to worry about it are under such misconceptions. A lot of people think that if you can see- kind of- that what you see is a blur. Even the cover of this book appears to tell us the same thing, but that's far from true for everyone.
   
   The author makes the point that the designation of what constitutes legal blindness really was a pretty random decision. Who says 20/20 is normal? How many people do you know who use some kind of correction? Given that, how normal can it possibly be? Also, just because someone is legally blind, they may use their vision so efficiently that you don't know until they tell you that there's anything different about them. Ms. Kleege reports this experience in her own life. Conversely, someone who is legally blind may not use their vision at all. Also, her descriptions of the process of making sense of visual information is well done and should help to explain to people who don't know exactly how sight works, how different it can be for various people.
   
   My favorite of the points made by this book, however, has got to be that the fact that you can see something, doesn't mean you're not blind; doesn't make it not a good idea to learn Braille. Many of us with some useable sight were refused this tool as children. Frankly, if you can't read print at all without pain, this encourages illiteracy. Kleege is spreading the word that Braille is NOT a foreign language- it's just another way to percieve the alphabet that we already know. She raises the question of whether audio books constitute reading in the same way that reading print or Braille do. (given that it stimulates different parts of your brain, I'd argue no, although like Kleege, I think it's a useful tool at times.)
   
   Now for the downs.
   Kleege can be really disparaging of sighted people. There are subtle and less subtle digs and jabs all over the book. She puts words into the mouths of passing strangers, extending a real encounter into a possible outcome, making assumptions about what the sighted person would have said if she'd said something different, herself. Honestly not every sighted person is a complete jerk, or ignorant about how sight works. She asserts that a mother will stop a child from staring at a blind person because if you don't look at something unpleasant, it will go away. No, mothers do that because it's very rude to stare! My sighted friend was really offended by the middle of the book and actually exclaimed "well, so sorry I can SEE!"
   
   Her take on Oedipus' blindness, I thought, was overly dramatic. Kleege regards it as symbolic castration, setting the stage for the way people percieve blindness to this day. Frankly, Oedipus wasn't Freudian until Freud. If Oedipus had meant to castrate himself, given that this is a classical story and they didn't mince words- he would have.
   
   I also thought some of her arguments with modern cinema were perhaps a bit harsh. Not that really bad stereotypes don't exist. Movies like "Jennifer 8", portraying blind people as needful of institutionalisation and completely helpless when confronted by a sighted crazy, are a real problem. The blind aren't the only people stereotyped in Hollywood, though. One could argue that the heroine was helpless as much because she was a woman in a horror movie as that she was blind. Also, wasn't the protagonist in "Scent of a Woman" more stereotypically bachelorish than blind? True, a lot of movies were clearly directed by people who have never met a blind person. however, the unmoving stare empolyed by many film directors to typify the blind, which Kleege finds so offensive- exists. If one has been blind since birth, one sometimes lacks body language, never having observed it. If one lacks eyes, why blink to moisten them? Sometimes one forgets.
   
   All in all, I really enjoyed this book, even though I periodically wanted to yell "OH, come ON! Get over it!" I'd reccommend it to the blind who have not found anyone with whom to relate, lately, or the sighted who want to understand.
   
   And one more thing- anyone who gets embarrassed because they just said "Hey, look at this!" to a blind person. . . It's ok. We do it too.



3. Georgina Kleege, the blind author of _Sight Unseen_, speaks of her book as a kind of coming out narrative where she stops staging a sighted identity and accepts her blindness. Kleege describes her amazing experience dealing with blindness beginning at age 11 and details the ways she has adapted to living in a sighted world. Pretending to be sighted when you are blind poses an incredible challenge, but Kleege explains how the benefits outweigh any effort it takes to conceal blindness due to such a heavy stigma associated with the disability. However, even as she denied her blindness to others, Kleege has never viewed her disability as a punishment or cause for despair. It has not stopped her from becoming the successful writer and professor that she is, nor has it held her back from the activities she loves.
   Kleege opens our minds to her world, and describes with vivid imagery what and how she sees. Her condition causes a block to her central vision, but allows her to distinguish between colors and make use of her peripheral vision. Kleege makes her readers aware of a great many fallacies surrounding blindness, and gives numerous examples of how movies and literature concerning blindness often perpetuate negative stereotypes. Her readers accompany her to an art museum, back in time when she was sighted, and to France where she found inspiration from Louis Braille's accomplishments.
   The amazingly adapted author also invites her readers to try and imagine making use of their eyes the way she does on a daily basis. Her descriptions of viewing art and reading print evoked in my imagination a longing to temporarily share in her experience. I would have expected, however, the once sighted author to better understand the fear that sighted people have associated with blindness. The transition to permanent blindness is a great deal harder than just closing your eyes to simulate the disability. Kleege speaks only on behalf of her own blindness, and effectively captures the attention of her audience in helping them face and appreciate how a rich life without sight is possible.



4. I have just read this book (BTW for the reader who wanted it in audio format- check out NLS (National Library Service- or your state Library for the Blind) as this is how I read this book). I can relate to what the author goes through- as I'm also legally blind. However, unlike the author I was never fully sighted so I appreciate her compairson to being "sighted" as opposed to beling blind.

   Like the author I do have some useable vision and employ the same sort of adaptive devices she does. I believe this book could educate people that being blind does not mean you see nothing -- only 10% of people who are blind see nothing at all. There are varing degrees of blindness, and I think the author does an excellent job of conveaying this to her readers.




5. Yes, this book LOOKS good! But HOW can my husband READ it when he is B-L-I-N-D? Does the author want only to appeal (SELL TO) the majority of the world which is sighted? Blind people NEED books like these but they MUST be A-U-D-I-O.

1 comments about The View from the Vue.

1. This book was on my parents bookshelf when I was growing up - signed by the author (a family friend). When I finally pulled it off the shelf and started reading it in high school (13 years ago) I found that I couldn't put it down. I've read it several times since. This book is truly addicting and compelling; Dr. Karp's storytelling is engrossing, his anecdotes show that the things that happen in the real world to real people are far more interesting than what Hollywood and fiction writers can think of. I highly recommend this book - it's funny, sad, enlightening, and a great read. It's been one of my favorites for years.

No comments about Evil Beyond Belief.

2 comments about We Serve: A History of the Lions Clubs.

1. This is really a terrific book to own for Lions Club members. It contains a terrific amount of reference material and history of the organization. Of course, time does not stand still, and the new programs that Lions Clubs are involved in cannot possibly be described. The flavor of the early days are well accounted for which continue to bring meaning and spirit to community service.



2. I would have rather received We Serve; A book of the Lions Clubs instead of The Lion of Wall Street. I guess when the sale is farmed out, sometimes the results aren't so good.

2 comments about Philip Neri: The Fire of Joy.

1. Oh, you have to read this. Philip Neri was such a remarkable man, and this book captures him well. Like St Francis of Assisi, he was full of the joy of life, and he tended to turn everything into a joke.
   
   When Philip came to Rome in 1534 the city had recently been sacked and morals were at a true low. A vision of St John the Baptist led Philip to understand "that his place was to be the stark solitude and poverty of the desert. But his desert should be in the midst of Rome" p 38.
   
   Philip organized musical outings on Sundays which included talks about God and, frequently, one of Philip's practical jokes. For example, when Cardinal Sforza's white dog left the Cardinal to follow obstinately at Philip's heels, Philip had the wealthy and proud Tharugi carry the dog about on a pillow. To continue with the joke, when the dog finally died Tharugi wrote a sonnet "celebrating his liberation from the dog" (p 51).
   
   Philip always stressed love of neighbor and treating the world as silly and vain. When one of the many people who flocked to him asked to wear a hair shirt, Philip suggested he should, but on the outside of his clothing.



2. This excellent biography of St. Philip Neri presents a complete portrait of the great 16th century "Apostle of Rome", St. Philip Neri. Rather than stressing the excessive asceticism of the time, St. Philip emphasised the great love and mercy of God, thus bringing back many people to the practise of the faith and and inspiring many to lead holy lives.

   It presents the reader with a picture of St. Philip, a man both on fire for the Lord and a saint with an immense sense of humour. This is one of the best biographies of St. Philip that I've found and I reccommend it highly.

No comments about Wartime Nurse: One Hundred Years from the Crimea to Korea 1854-1954.

No comments about Forgotten Ideas, Neglected Pioneers: Richard Semon and the Story of Memory.

2 comments about Saving the Heart: The Battle to Conquer Coronary Disease.

1. I am a medical student/researcher with plans to become a cardiac surgeon or cardiologist. I enjoyed learning some of the history of the Cleveland Clinic and am personally involved in some of the new developments that the author mentioned in the last chapter. My only problem is that the book was not representative of american cardiology or cardiac surgery as a whole. It seems that the author did all of his research in Ohio and the Northeast, whereas significant advances have taken place in other parts of the country (U. of Alabama, Mayo, Texas Medical Center). Two of the most famous cardiac surgeons the world has known - Michael Debakey and Denton Cooley were only mentioned in a few short sentences. The reader gets the impression that some less important surgeons (that happen to work at the Cleveland Clinic) invented cardiac bypass surgery when it was actually the work of hundreds. In the last chapter, the author mentions a technique called OCT. Yes, this technique shows promise (I work with it) but it was only mentioned because someone at Harvard is working on it. I can think of 10 examples of techniques that show as much promise. I wish writers that wanted to tell the world about American medicine would search all of America before they sat down to write. In sum, it was readable but had some holes that made me feel incomplete after I read it.



2. Stephen Klaidman has provided us with a very interesting, easy reading book that I recommend to anyone who has a heart condition or is interested in the subject. The major portion of the book discloses chronologically how heart conditions were treated from its earliest practitioners to the present day. Biographical sketches of medical developers, practitioners, entrepreneurs, etc. provide human interest to the emerging history.

   All major surgical developments, most of which occurred in the twentieth century, are explained in detail. The struggles of medical pioneers to gain acceptance of what at the time were radical innovations are amply explored. Among these innovations are angiography (imaging technology), heart-lung machine, coronary bypass surgery (with and without the heart-lung machine), angioplasty, and minimally invasive bypass surgery.

   Hi-tech heart surgery-an extremely complex and difficult subject-is explained for the layman to understand. The benefits and problems of each of the current procedures are explained.

   Klaidman explores hi-tech surgical instruments, a highly profitable multi-billion dollar business. His biographical profiles of some developers (doctor-engineer-inventors) and entrepreneurs disclose how the competitive race of developers to market first and the rivalry of entrepreneurs for market share may be detrimental to the best interests of patients.

   None of the many present sophisticated treatments provide a cure! They just alleviate symptoms. The pioneers of today are searching for cures. Their approaches are described and are not only fascinating but also innovative.

   The final chapter discusses the ethical questions raised by our current medical system: conflicts of interest between practitioners with financial stakes in various treatments; competition between advocates of various treatment options; competition between various surgical equipment manufacturers for market share; the pressure to reduce costs by HMOs; etc.

   If there is one fault to the book, it is that the title "Saving the Heart: The Battle to Conquer Coronary Disease" led me to believe that it would be more comprehensive. The drugs-nitroglycerin, Coumadin, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, statins--were mentioned only as they pertained to a topic then being explored, not in the detail the surgical treatments were given. Not even mentioned are life style changes--diet, exercise and meditation--that Dean Ornish has proposed. A book on these topics written as well as this one would definitely be welcomed.

   But for what this book does it does it so well a five star rating is most appropriate.

2 comments about A Nourishing Life.

1. Katherine Parker Riddle has written a book that weaves a spell as you follow her life in India, China and the United States. She also takes us on visits to many other countries of the world as she fights for world nutrition and to help women to empower themselves. Along the route, the reader not only encounters meetings with world leaders, but equally with people from all castes of life.

   The book holds the reader's attention as we travel with Katherine through her life in India first as a missionary's daughter. We read about the roles she must perform as a daughter in the limelight. We then see Katherine in the role of a minister's wife as she moves to China and leaves there as a refugee, returning once again to her beloved India, this time in the role of wife and mother. Katherine begins here to empower and nourish herself as she reaches out to others. Years later we find Dr. Katherine Riddle returning to India once again, not as a wife or a daughter, but as a woman who is respected around the world for her own works.

   As a reader that could not put down "A Nourishing Life", I recommend the book not only for the interesting tales of living and traveling in the East in the early 1920's,with return trips to the present time, but also because the book opens the readers' hearts and minds to the possibilities awaiting us to nourish not only ourselves,but others too, if we only empower ourselves to move forward.

   In conclusion, I find "A Nourishing Life" to be a five star read that both nourishes and motivates, as well as telling an accurate story about life as an expatriate.




2. A Nourishing Life is a real story about an interesting woman's life experiences. Kittu Riddle was born in India of missionary parents and later became a minister's wife living in China. She tells of the challenges she faces as the daughter and wife of a missionary father and husband.

   Kittu's life focus is to help women and children improve their lives through improved and nourishing diets. When she returns to the United States to live, she continues this focus. She also works to nourish the soul.

   After raising four children, Kittu begins to explore her relationships with women. She falls in love and is involved in a long term relationship with a woman. To help women find their own power and spirituality, she opens "Nourishing Space" in the Arizona desert.

   Kittu is leading a "nourishing life." She has faced many challenges-cancer, serious car accident. She views them all as positive experiences.

   This book is better than a "good read." Kittu's life is a spiritual and positive example for all women and men, and I felt wonderful after reading it.

No comments about To Love a Stranger.