No comments about Thunder Through My Veins: Memories of a Metis Childhood.

3 comments about Of Men and Mountains.

1. Author: Douglas, William O. (William Orville), 1898-
   Title: Of men and mountains.
   Edition: [1st ed.]
   Publisher: New York, Harpers [1950]
   Edition Date: 1950
   Language: English
   Notes: Autobiographical.
   Physical Details: xiv, 333 p. maps (on lining papers) port. 22 cm.
   Subjects: Cascade Range.
   Wallowa Mountains (Or.)



2. An account of explorations within the tangled, rugged fastness of the Pacific Norhtwest, Of Men And Mountains is informal autobiography, deeply personal and revealing. A book of adventure and discovery, it is full of the excitement, the strength, and the exaltation that men have found in the wild.
   
   The narrative at times rises to those solitary moments when man "under conditions of grandeur that are startling can come to know both himself and God." At homelier levels it moves with authority and expertness through the accumulated lore by which man has found how to survive in the wilderness and to accommodate himself to it joyfully. But always the narrative is characterized by a freshness of observation, by a shrewd wit, and by a reverential humility that mark Justice Douglas as unmistakably of the company of Thoreau. -- from book's back cover



3. Living in Brazil, I can't remember exactly how I happened to find this book. The important aspect is that I found it, I read it and even some years later I still carry some passages in my mind, so I have to regard this book as a good one.

   It is a kind of autobiographical narrative of the youth of Mr. William O. Douglas, who later in life became a Supreme Court Judge in America.

   An interesting aspect, is that later I learned that as a Judge, Mr. Douglas would very often give shelter to the 5th. Amendment in his sentences, and by reading the book, we can sort of understand how his personality and his passion for freedom was formed many years before.

   It is a first person narrative of his early years as a child and later as young man, and we can clearly understand his respect for wildlife and independence in a human's being life.

   Recalling his early expeditions as a boy in nearby mountains, Mr. Douglas describes us the forests, rivers and rainbow-trouts of his youth. At a certain time I started to think there was too much information about trout-fishing, but we should always forgive and understand a man when he decides to tell us about his childhood. :)

   This book is not about the Supreme Court Judge, but on the contrary, it is about the poor boy who grew under the mountains and borrowed some of their magnificent dignity from them.

   I hope to read some of Mr. Douglas' Law writings one day, so I can finally understand the whole man and close this chapter. But this will still take some years, and until then, all I can say is that I have nice memories from this book. By the way, a pretty hard to find book.

No comments about Auntie Anne's: My Story.

5 comments about Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport.

1. From the ashes of the WW2 emerged this poignant account around a set of children by then, who tell us their little anecdotes related with the desolation and abandon of their parents since the arrival of Hitler in 1933.
   
   Each one of these little livings has its own specific weight, that allows us to know many unsaid aspects of this unforgettable and horrid episode about the progroms of the Jews.
   
   Totally recommended.



2. The story of the rescue of thousands of Jewish children is told here in good part by eighteen individuals involved in the Kindertransport. The stories are often heartbreaking as most of the children left behind parents and family they were never to see again.
   Most of these people do manage to make new lives for themselves in England. But the legacy of seperation and suffering does not end with them alone but continues even into the next generation. There are stories here of decency and kindness of non- Jews to the Jewish youngsters, but also stories of obtuseness. Behind it all is of course the ' crime of the century' the Nazi cruelty which took millions of innocent lives.
   This book is a valuable work of testimony but of course tells only a small part of the story of the thousands of children who were saved by the 'Kindertransport'.



3. Imagine being 10 years old and having your parents put you on a train to a foreign country! The stories told in Into the Arms of Strangers are heartbreaking AND inspiring. 9 out of 10 of the 10,000 children who were part of the Kindertransport never saw their parents again, but they survived WWII because hundreds of British opened their arms and hearts to them when they arrived as refugees. The experiences of the Kinder are an important lessons for the world, especially in light of recent human rights violations in places like Yugoslavia, Chechnya, and Africa. We should look toward the unselfish example set by the British people as a model of compassion and action during a time of need.
   
   Although it is sometimes difficult to keep track of the individual stories which are told in a timeline fashion, the short summaries at the end of the book help you go back and tie up loose ends.
   
   It is amazing that the Kindertransport stories did not come to public attention until just a few years ago. They are an important part of the whole Holocaust story. The companion DVD is a great teaching tool for middle and high school.



4. This book is based on the memories of several people who were involved in the Kindertransport -- children, organizers, and foster parents. It well-written and easy to read. Also, should one desire, one can follow one individual all the way through the process or read all the accounts based on time.



5. I can't get this book out of my head. It has managed to invade my thoughts on a daily basis and show up in my dreams at night. It is shocking and appalling that such an event could occur - parents having to say goodbye to their little children. I have children of my own, and reading this book made me almost ill with sadness and horror. The heartache and misery endured by the Jewish people is beyond comprehension - it utterly boggles the mind.

   First-person narrative history is perhaps the most interesting history to read; the individual accounts are so emotional that you want to reach into the page and lend comfort. This is an excellent book that deserves a special place in the holocaust library. It should also be read in schools.

5 comments about Appalachian Mountain Girl.

1. I couldn't put this book down. Very well written personal stories and vignettes. The author's descriptive style made the book very visual as well as emotive. -- Monica Steele, Jeffry's wife.



2. These memories of growing up the 1930's in a Letcher County Kentucky coal mining community are inspiring, especially as they show how rich the author's family was in love and support while living in poverty. The author's respect for the beauty of the area and its people is evident, and she brings members of the community to life, including the plow man, the mid-wife, and the country preacher. To survive, the family eventually moved to the small New York town where an aunt lived, and where the author met and married a local businessman just before her eighteenth birthday. Her vivid description of her first visit back "home" as a sophisticated married woman is bittersweet and hilarious, and that scene alone is worth the price of the book.



3. Once I began reading, I couldn't put the book down. The author transports you to Kentucky in the Appalachian Mountains back in the 1930's. I loved how descriptive the writing was. I plan to get a copy of the book for many of my friends.

   I went to school in Wyoming, New York (1968-1981) where Rhoda Warren lived as an adult and I knew her name, but I had no idea of her abilities or her personal story. I am so proud of her. She really has a talent for writing.




4. This is a book that I couldn't put down, but hated the thought of coming to the end of it . It is about a close society of people; a people that in spite of the adversity that they faced in depression era Appalachia, were able to conquer the demons of the company owned mining towns and live lives filled with dignity and compassion. The sensitivity of the descriptive prose brought me into the lives of these noble, heroic people. I found myself wanting to reread so many of the chapters, and I did. I recommend this book to people of all ages and circumstances. It is a beautiful introduction to an important and sometimes sad part of American Culture.



5. "Appalachian Mountain Girl" flows with the gentleness and innocence of a happy childhood amidst mountain hardships. So nice to read contemporary memories of Southeastern Kentucky in the 1930's before "progress" crept in to change the landscape forever. This book lends a romance even to the coal mines which provided her family of 13 children with food and shelter. Thanks to Ms. Warren for sharing her life with us.

2 comments about Of Men and Mountains: The Classic Memoir of Wilderness Adventure.

1. This book is a wonderful and gentle journey of one man who loved to be in the mountains! As an adult I started backpacking the very areas Douglas talks about in the book and have grown quite fond of the southern portion of the Cascades. Names like Darling Mountain, Fryingpan Lake, Fifes Peak, Old Snowy Mountain and Conrad Meadows - I've been to most of these places!
   
   Through Justice Douglas I get to see how it was so long ago! Very well written, you get to hear about the adventures of young men growing up and doing the things that young men did in the early 1900s. And while specific to the Wallowas and the south central Cascades, the story is told as if the forests he visits were the forests closest to you. Each little lesson he learns, he shares. Tips on cooking and fishing and surviving - and how to be a little less afraid and a little more inspired. These are the forests that are visited by wise scholars and simple horsemen and everyone in between.
   
   The book is definitely not a work of fiction - you couldn't possibly describe these places in the way that he does without having been there. The book is about real places with real people. Don't take my word for it - drive to Tampico near Yakima in Washington and hike up to Darling Mountain. Then go down to Conrad Meadows and to the Tieton Basin. Walk across Highway 12 and up Indian Creek trail to the Blankenship Meadows and then up to the top of Tumac Mountain. When you're tired looking as far as the eye can see, go down to Twin Sisters Lake for bit of fishing and a night of rest before the long journey to Bumping Lake and then on to Goose Prairie where Douglas once lived. These are a few of the places that Justice Douglas takes you to.
   
   If you want the controversy of William O. Douglas read "Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas". If you want to read about men and mountains, then I highly suggest this book.



2. When I first read this book several years ago, I was truly inspired by it. This is a delightful story of a boy that overcame the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of paralysis (if memory serves, induced by polio) by forcing himself to walk in the mountains of the great Northwest, and eventually becoming a United States Supreme Court Justice. Finding his strength and his soul (and his paralysis cure!) in the wilderness, he would often retreat to the great outdoors. This is a story of his lessons, and his adventures. A wonderful read.
   
   There is a problem with it, however. It isn't true. For one thing, Douglass never suffered from paralysis as a child as he claimed in the book. He sufferred from re-occuring intestinal colic. He also stated that he lived in poverty with his mother. As it turns out, his mother was typically middle-class. He claimed to have graduated second in his class from law school. Again, a lie.
   
   Apparently, discerning the reasearch I have done on Douglas, this book was politically motivated by a man who wished to paint himself as wholesome as possible in order to obtain his life's ambition - the White House. Studying more on this man is revealing. He left his wife of 28 years for a series of younger women. He left his third wife for a high school student. 24 months later he married a college student that he met waitressing at a cocktail bar. His own children thought him "scary" who only spoke to them when "press photographers wanted a picture." There is also a controversy about his military service - if he ever did actually serve, and if he deserves to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery (where he is buried.)
   
   The book itself, as I said, is a delightful read. If it were true, I would give it five stars without blinking an eye. Read and enjoy this piece of masterful, self-revisionist fiction.

5 comments about An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland.

1. I read this book a year or two ago, but remembered it again recently while reading Wendy Werris's new memoir, An Alphabetical Life, because both reflect such a love of books. To people like Dirda and Werris - and me - books are nearly as important as eating, loving, breathing. And that affinity is so astutely reflected here in Michael Dirda's story of his childhood in Lorraine, Ohio. It's a midwest boyhood to the nth degree, albeit one of a kind of nerdy, bookish unathletic kid. I was a kid like Mike. I could relate. If you grew up in the fifties and sixties and loved books, then don't miss this one. It will take you back - to those dusty, second-hand bookstores you found with such joy, and to your folks yelling at you to "getcher nose outa that book and go outside for a while! It's a beautiful day, dammit!" Like that. Thanks for sharing your kidhood, Mike. - Tim Bazzett, author of Reed City Boy



2. This is an extraordinary story of an ordinary life. From comic books, to the Hardy Boys to Faust to the French classics, we go on a ride through books with Mike Dirda. I also grew up in the Midwest at about the same time and I can identify with just about every page of the book. Extraordinary.



3. Everything Michael wrote in his book brought back so many boyhood memories for for my friend. It wasn't just the big things, it was the little things Dirda wrote about that brought smiles and tugged at the heart.



4. As I am a near contemporary of the author in age, I found an uncanny mirroring of my life in his...similar touchstones of products, events, TV shows, etc. many of which I had long forgotten. But what was the key pleasure of reading about this otherwise common life (and I throw myself in that descriptor as well)was the impact that various books had on him...something I could also identify with as another lifelong avid reader.
   
   Dirda mentions book titles to show how they affected his imagination, his decisions, his way of looking at the world. For those who argue there is no concrete utility in reading and are satisfied that future generations are losing this habit, this book is the best argument to the contrary I know. Not that there is any solemnity to his story or any self-importance. His is a wry, affectionate tale of growing up in the straight-laced Midwest in the 50's. But it is his love of literature that irradiates his story. Recommended for those who want to remember why they love to read and how they got that way.



5. It's a bit intimidating to write a review of a book by a book reviewer, but I have to try, as I loved this book so much! I have a long list of books to read in the future, and once one of them comes to the top, I sometimes have forgotten what it's going to be about, so this one came as a real treat. It tells of the author's childhood in Lorain, Ohio in the late 40s to the 60s, including his years at Oberlin. As an avid reader with many memories of the joy of childhood reading (although I was not as sophisticated in my tastes are Dirda!) it's always a treat to be brought back to the that wonderful feeling of having a pile of new books to read, from the library or thrift stores or the school book club! I enjoyed the list of books he had read through age 16 in an appendix. I felt better about my own youthful reading knowing we had both at least read a few of the same books, even the quite light Cheaper by the Dozen!

   An added treat for me is that although I didn't know this would be the case when I started the book, I got much insight into the land of my own early childhood---I was born in Elyria, next to Lorain, although we moved when I was 6, and my parents both went to Oberlin, a bit earlier than Dirda. Earlier in the day I started this book, my mother for some reason told me of a time my father bought me shoes at Januzzi's, a shoe store I'd never heard of before---reading later that day of the author's own trip to Januzzi's was one of my most amazing reading moments of my lifetime! Any author who can create a scene of place like Dirda did with the Lorain of his childhood is truly gifted.

   I am eager now to get my hands of Dirda's other book, Readings! Keep writing, Michael Dirda!!

5 comments about Danger Close.

1. If you want to know about Mike Yon's background and what makes him tick, read Danger Close.



2. The thing I will remember most about this book is that, surprisingly, it was a deeply touching tribute to his mother. The military stuff is all extremely interesting, to the point where you won't be able to put it down. But the book goes far deeper. It's a timeless story from the heart -- one that every son wishes he could write for his mother. On the outside, the author is a tough-as-nails soldier. But on the inside, he's still a little boy who continually reaches back to his mother's love to guide him through life. This is as it should be. God bless all the good mothers of the world.



3. Mr. Yon is currently in Northern Iraq and writes periodic pieces on the web about his experiences with American forces. He is a very dedicated and personable guy who is just trying to do the right thing. I enjoyed this book very much but would have liked to know what happened after the car wreck. How did his SF career end,etc. Anyway those of you who are interested in personal military type accounts will definetly enjoy this book. It received an award for his writing style.



4. I haven't read this book yet (sorry for the 5 star rating), but have picked up on his online magazine (blog). Michael Yon has and is travelling all around Iraq - mostly in the hotspots with the U.S. Army (Strykers), where he does his reporting. I find his weekly dispatches informative and interesting, and will definitely be picking up his book. If you liked his book, please go to http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/ and start reading at the bottom (where he started writing) and work your way up. New dispatches posted weekly (mostly). Also, it seems he's doing this out of his own pocket, so donate towards his blog if you can. From his online magazine:
   
   Michael Yon, author of "Danger Close," is currently in Iraq. Email: [...] Michael Yon is an independent, informed observer chronicling the monumentally important events in the efforts to stabilize Iraq. His dispatches have the benefit of his life experiences without drawbacks based on deadlines or demands of marketplace. The cost of these dispatches is borne solely by Michael. Readers who enjoy these dispatches and want to support Michael's mission in Iraq, can make a contribution using the PayPal links



5. Although Mike Yon and myself both graduated from Winter Haven High School it was years apart and I never had the pleasure of meeting him. I found the book enjoyable because I could relate to some of the local places that he mentioned. But the story was well written and interesting besides being informative despite that fact. Charles E. Gist author of the historical fiction novel "The Other Side of The River"

5 comments about Me and the Dead End Kid.

1. Excellent look into one of the most popular of the Kids. Leo Gorcey Jr. gives a detailed insight into his Dad's life after leaving the movie business. If you are a Gorcey fan this is a must read.



2. I couldn't finish this book and returned it to the library. Fortunately I did not purchase it. I was excited to read it, but after the first few chapters I quit. I read LOTS of bios, but this one I couldn't get into. His style of writing I think it was. He wrote mostly from the first person and in the speech manner which Leo Gorcey used in his films, but this made it difficult. I would have much preferred a straight forward biography and the authors personal thoughts tossed in. It just wasn't the kind of book I like.



3. Leo Gorcey is best known for his stint in B-movies, a tough guy and comic actor. He started out with the Dead End Kids, moved onto the East Side Kids, and graduated to the Bowrey Boys. There is very little information available about the man other than his penchant for women and his rough demeanor. Gorcey's son attempts to shed some light on the man who was vastly different in his real life than his on-screen persona. He also goes on a personal journey of forgiveness to an abusive father.
   
   In the early days, Gorcey wanted to be a plumber but stumbled upon acting accidentally. His authenticity helped him and soon he was getting rave reviews although he rarely stuck to his scripts. As he aged, he became further dependend on alcohol and tempestuous women. His selfishness led him to ignore his family, many times more interested in his gun collection than the people around him.
   
   This is certainly not the definitive biography, but it does shed some light into the personality of the star. It also helps to know that the stars were not necessarily what they appeared to be on screen, just as Gorcey was not.



4. This is an interesting story of a colorful but very troubled actor. Unfortunately, the son and author has incurred a similar set of demons. After reading the book, I felt I had a lot of knowledge of Leo's bad behaviour, but didn't come away with much respect for the lingering attitudes of the son. Maybe not his fault, but he just doesn't come across as a sympathetic character.



5. This book is a wonderful gem, well written, from the heart of Leo Gorcey, Jr. Absorbing, serious, funny, heart wrenching, a REAL story.

5 comments about A Nearly Normal Life: A Memoir.

1. I think if the author hadn't written his memoir in such a vain way--it would have been better??



2. In 1953, when he was a robust 14-year-old, Charles L. Mee was stricken with viral polio. This memoir describes his struggle with polio, and also comments on the treatments (sometimes horrific) that were tried to beat this virus that, in 1953 alone, struck over 50,000 people. His struggle was not an easy one, and his later life wasn't either, but he comes to terms with his limitations, becoming a successful historian and playright. It's a real eye-opener, and he doesn't mince words, which makes for a compelling read.



3. For those interested in understanding the impact of polio, this is the definitive source. No one tells the story like Charles Mee. The depth of his insights are stunning. He makes a powerful comment on the human condition. This book is a MUST READ.



4. From long experience with this area, Mee's accounts both of the era of his youth and the experiences of polio ring very true from the pen of an accomplished writer. One senses that Mee never really made peace with his disability and its impact, inasmuch as he was able to evade, compensate, head into intellectual endeavors, etc., so there are many polio/disability issues not well dealt with here. (Significantly it ends with his finding an oasis in the intellectual world of the Ivy League and the intellect.) However, one has to suspect that the decision to tell the story, with insight and honesty, may represent at long last a step in addressing what he may have hoped at one time to simply "leave behind." Perhaps there will be a sequel in which his historical training and writing skills are again focused on the complex interrelationships between disability, psyche and society. This is a good read, though, even if it is not the full story.



5. I don't write many reviews anymore, who has time? However, this book stood out so much above the rest I've read lately that I just had to share. The book is about a polio survivor, the 50's, the discovery of the vaccine and oh so much more. It's about living the life you were handed, not the want you thought you were going to get.

   His epilogue is pure poetry. An example: "Life continues to change. New things surface; old wounds hidden by bigger wounds show up when the bigger wounds are healed; new clusters of misgivings and confusion take shape to replace old clusters of exhausted adjustments. New things come along to be accepted with grace and peace. The disability and its challenges continue to evolve, and one must achieve acceptance and grace and peace again and again, day after day."

   I highly recommend this book to everyone. I read about 5 books a week and this book is in my top 20 of all time.