"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott (1868; 2008 ed.), 777 pages.
Kristin and some friends have their own book club, and one of them picked this 777-pag"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott (1868; 2008 ed.), 777 pages.
Kristin and some friends have their own book club, and one of them picked this 777-page classic monster to read. She begged me to read this book with her so we could suffer together through it. That night I started in on it read through 2 chapters, then…..
…the very next morning, she called me and said she aborted the book. She told the girls she couldn’t read it cause it was so stupid and boring. Who calls their mom “Marmee”? I think she made it to page 125. Ha Ha!
The House on the Moat by Virginia Coffman (1972) 256 pages.
SETTING: 1810 Kent County, England
I would actually 2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge
The House on the Moat by Virginia Coffman (1972) 256 pages.
SETTING: 1810 Kent County, England
I would actually consider this a mystery with a bit of romance….just a bit. But, the story was way too short and needed a LOT more depth. The dialogue was unnatural and very amateurish.
Kathleen Killain (23 years) was hired by, of course, the most handsome Lord Talford (late 30’s), the magistrate of the district, as housekeeper and manager over servants at Moat House. But, it was Lord Talford’s whiney little nephew, Peregrine “Perry” and his bride, Nerissa Poyes, she would be working for. Let’s just say Perry was a bit twisted and had a lot to do with the deaths going on around that place. He resented that his uncle ruled over Moat House until Perry was mature enough, and married, and could handle the care and upkeep of such a place.
Perry’s father (Lord Talford’s brother) was murdered on the stairs of the mansion and servants believe the place to be haunted by his ghost. There was something sinister going on when a servant was found dead on the same stairs, and Kathleen didn’t know who to trust. When Kathleen was close to solving the mystery (which didn’t quite add up at the end), then her own life was threatened. But, of course, Lord Talford showed up just in time to save her. ...more
Nobody has a first name, but a front name and a behind name (p. 6-7)
Aw! Justin Wilson with his suspenders and his panama hat, was famously known for his weekly television cooking shows back in the ‘70’s. I can still hear his voice. Every week, in his signature Cajun dialect, “I’m glad fo’ you to see me, I gar-on-tee”. According to Wilson, the Cajun patois was already disappearing back in the ‘70’s.
Unfortunately, his little stories and jokes in this little book fell completely flat for me, but I did enjoy freshening up with the Cajun dialect, which you don’t hear at all any more over here in Southeast Texas.
Below is an example, and a challenge, of one of many pieces you’ll find in this book. So, put on your Cajun accent and give it a shot.
Trail Blazers
Years ago at a place called False River dey got two fallow wen’ one day to catch deyse’f some bream perch fish. An’ dey go to a Cajun name Olivier Guillaume- dass Oliver Williams in English- to rent a boat. Dey go out dair an’ start to catch dem bream as fas’ as dey can bait a hook, an’ one dem fallow say, “Dis de bes’ doggone place to fish I never saw befo’ ag’in in ma’ life.” An’ de odder one say, “Ma’se’f, I bleeve dat, too. I wish we could mark dis place so we can fine it ag’in.”
“I fix dat r’at now,” de odder fellow say. An’ he reach in his pock- ett an’ got his knife an’ notch on de side o’ de boat.
Soon dey got de boat so full o’ bream iss about to sink isse’f, so dey pull up anchor an’ head fo’ home. W’en dey mos’ back to de dock one dem fallow say, “You know, planty smaht to t’ought o’ dat. But jes’ suspose we don’t got the same boat nex’ time- how in de hell we gonna fine dat place?” (p. 48)
I know, pretty carny, right? And this was one of the better jokes. Ha! Imagine reading 133 pages of this.
MORE INFO
Justin E. Wilson (1914-2001) was born in Roseland…near Amity, Louisiana, lived in Baton Rouge, and died in Baton Rouge, at age 87. He is buried at Port Vincent Community Cemetery, Port Vincent, Livingston Parish, Louisiana. His father, Harry D. Wilson, was the Louisiana State Commissioner for 32 years. He was second youngest of seven children....more
The Signal Man by Charles Dickens (1866; 2014 audio version by Simply Magazine) 30 minutes.
Listened while I didMonth of October 2022 - Spooky Classics
The Signal Man by Charles Dickens (1866; 2014 audio version by Simply Magazine) 30 minutes.
Listened while I did a workout on the ARC trainer.
This is an instance of premonition, or paranormal, activity. The train station signal man sees one train accident and then later sees the train stop and remove the body of a dead woman. In each instance, he also sees a man in the dark at the very end of the tunnel, by the red light, waving frantically with one arm over his eyes. But, the signal man can’t determine who he is or what exactly he’s trying to say.
The narrator of the story doesn’t believe in the paranormal so tries to tell the old man that he was just dreaming.
After the old man sees the man at the end of the tunnel the third time, it’s at his own demise, and the narrator also sees the man at the end of the tunnel. He confronts the man, and asks him what was all the commotion about. The man replied that he saw the signal man heading down the track in the tunnel with his white light, but he didn’t see or hear the train coming. He was hollering and waving for him and, then seeing it was no use, covered his eyes and the train ran him over.
The story was a little confusing. The way it started out, I was to believe the signal man was already a ghost. Sometimes these classics have my head spinning....more
This is the second of three books in the Green Town series by Ray Bradbury…and a pretty darn good one. Ray Bradbury’s writing style is quite unique and sometimes very complex. I definitely have to find a nice quiet spot and fully focus to get into his stories. There were a few spots where I thought he rambled on a bit too long, and I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. But, once he got back to the dialogue and action, the story immediately picked up again, and the pages kept turning. Bradbury did great setting up the scene and atmosphere and the feel of excitement with a circus in town. And, I have to say, it is most interesting to read the kind of evil different people can conjure up from their own minds.
Evil only has the power that we give it. (p. 204)
This line pretty much sums up the main point of the story.
A circus train, Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show, rolls into town at 3 o’clock in the morning…the witching hour. Only three people seemed to have heard it arriving. Two 14-year-old friends, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, and Will’s father, Charlie. They hear the calliope music playing. The boys sneak out to check it out and begin to see some odd and sinister things taking place. They learn this isn’t your everyday, normal circus. They are discovered snooping around and now see too much and are being hunted down by these evil circus characters.
This circus seemed to attract certain types of people in order to entrap them into a time-lapse on the merry-go-round, bringing them either forward in time, making them older, or back in time, making them younger. People were lured to this evil circus by their greatest fears and wants. Jim had more of a wild, curious and defiant personality and was drawn to the merry-go-round, more than Will. The merry-go-round was magical in giving you your greatest wish, but, with that wish comes also all your greatest fears: past, present and future. The boys learn that turning back time or moving forward in the future never turned out the way one thinks.
As the story moved along, they all seemed to learn more about themselves and the fears that were driving their lives. They eventually would have to come to terms with those fears or be drawn into the world of the dead and the traveling circus.
GREEN TOWN SERIES
Dandelion Wine (#1) - Read in 2020 Something Wicked This Way Comes (#2) - Read in 2022 Farewell Summer (#3) - TBR...more
Whew! I barely made it through this one. It’s deep. It’s complex. It’s all inside the author’s mind. He knew what he was talking about, but half the time, I didn’t.
I believe I got down the baseline of the story, but I sure didn’t read into it like other reviewers. So, here’s my amateur take on this spooky classic:
Two friends, Lester and Evelyn, are instantly and randomly killed by an airplane that has crashed to the ground during the war. They don’t realize at first they are dead. The two find themselves coming to terms with their mortality…and their new life after death.
Another of their friends, Betty, daughter of Simon the Clerk, who is obviously possessed by a demon and a master in dark magic, is being used by him and is being hypnotized to enter into the world of the dead. Betty doesn’t know or remembers being put into the trances, and she doesn’t remember entering the unseen world of the dead.
Clerk Simon is practicing in black magic with the living in order to make a connection to be “Master” of the dead and the living. He brings people into the dark side with miraculous healings and using words like love, peace and joy.
Simon seems to be having difficulties sending Betty’s soul to the dark side permanently, maybe because she was baptized as a child by her caregiver, unbeknownst to him, so he creates an immortal, deformed dwarfed soulless woman spirit, to act as a temporary go between. He entices the two spirits of both Lester and Evelyn, friends of Betty, into the dwarf soul, then kisses it, sealing their fates…he thought.
The two girls don’t actually reside in the false woman spirit, but they can no longer communicate with the living unless conjured up by Clerk Simon, who hopes they will help draw Betty in with them. [But, then they later do communicate with Betty because Lester directs the soulless dwarfed woman to Betty…so I was confused.]
It’s not enough for Simon to simply conjure up the dead. He wants to Master them, and Betty was to be his liaison.
In this horror novel, what ever evils you lived and spoke often while living, would show up in your death and follow you into hell. Simon the Clerk wasn’t dead yet, but as things were falling apart at the end, his two evil spirits showed up to greet him.
And if your heart was sweet and pure, as Betty’s was, evil couldn’t touch your soul.
Not too far from the truth, except that the Word does say you have to believe and have faith in Jesus Christ as well.
THE MEANING OF ALL HALLOW’S EVE
Halloween: contraction for All Hallow’s Eve, October 31…the day before All Saints (or All Hallow’s) Day, November 1. So, isn’t it strange that today Halloween is considered Satan’s holiday where satanic cults have taken over? I always thought it was free candy night. LOL!
Allhallowtide lasts for 3 days and is practiced by the Roman Catholics, feasting, celebrating, praying and remembering the saints of the past. The 3rd day, November 2nd, is called All Soul’s Day, a day for prayer of your loved ones. This day the Catholics believe that those who were baptized, but may have died from sin and stuck in purgatory, have a chance to be saved and have their soul cleansed, if prayed over by the faithful here on earth. This day they will usually go decorate and light up the graves of loved ones.
“A Haunted House and Other Short Stories” by Virginia Woolf (1944; 2021 Kindle Edition). Originally produced by Month of October 2022: Spooky Classics
“A Haunted House and Other Short Stories” by Virginia Woolf (1944; 2021 Kindle Edition). Originally produced by Virginia’s husband, Leonard Woolf, after her death.
Includes 18 short stories: - “A Haunted House” - p. 2-6 - “Monday or Tuesday” - p. 7-9 - “An Unwritten Novel” - p. 10-24 - “The String Quartet” - p. 25-30 - “Kew Gardens” - p. 31-39 - “The Mark on the Wall” - p. 40-49 - “The New Dress” - p. 50-59 - “The Shooting Party” - p. 60-69 - “Lappin and Lapinova” - p. 71-81 - “Solid Objects” - p. 82-89 - “The Lady in the Looking-Glass” - p. 90-97 - “The Duchess and the Jeweller” - p. 98-108 - “Moments of Being” - p. 109-118 - “The Man Who Loved His Kind” - p. 119-126 - “The Searchlight” - p. 127-134 - “The Legacy” - p. 135-145 - “Together and Apart” - p. 146-153 - “A Summing Up” - p. 154-157
Currently, I have only read “A Haunted House”, as this is spooky month.
But, this is the wrong kind of haunted house. I believe this is more of a love story. An old couple of ghosts meanders through the house they used to live in, and grew old together in, and are reminded of this and that. Kind of “poeticky” [new word]. I’m not sure I even understood it all.
**spoiler alert** Month of October 2022 - Spooky Classics
“The Birds and Other Stories” by Daphne du Maurier (1952 & 1953; 2013 Kindle Edition).
This eb**spoiler alert** Month of October 2022 - Spooky Classics
“The Birds and Other Stories” by Daphne du Maurier (1952 & 1953; 2013 Kindle Edition).
This ebook includes the following short stories:
- “The Birds” p. 12-54 - “Monte Verità, p. 55-135 - “The Apple Tree”, p. 136-186 - “The Little Photographer”, p. 187-237 - “Kiss Me Again, Stranger”, p. 239-266 - “The old Man”, p. 267-279
Currently, I have only read “The Birds” and will come back at a later date to finish this book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “The Birds (p. 12-54)
Setting: London
3.5 stars rounded up. Not being much of a short story fan, I actually found myself being drawn into Nat Hoken, a farm worker out in the country, some 300 miles from London, and his family’s survival. I felt a bit of urgency of surviving each night and day as the tide shifted and the east wind suddenly started to bring in the hostile and killer seagulls from the sea, and turned all inland birds hostile against humans. I liked how this story focused on the one family’s survival versus a whole country, which, be assured, the birds were attacking everywhere.
There’s no rhyme or reason for the sudden attacks, and there’s, unfortunately, no ending either. The family makes it through another night while the birds are tap, tap, tapping on the boarded up windows of the house. In the morning, the end of the story, the birds are seen out on the ocean horizon waiting for the next tide to come in with the easterly wind. This gave the family roughly 8 hours to run around and get more supplies and take care of boarding up the house better before the next attack. I was disappointed. I wanted more. Maybe that’s the purpose of short stories.
Some believe the birds are symbolic of London being bombarded during World War II. There are only a couple of instances mentioned that might even insinuate this.
PAGE 32: When Nat was talking to his neighbor, trying to come up with a reason why the birds were suddenly attacking, the farmer says, “…Well, what do you make of it? They’re saying in town the Russians have done it. The Russians have poisoned the birds.” LOL! Some things never change.
AND
PAGE 53: Nat’s wife is distraught after the second night of birds and says, “Won’t America do something? They’ve always been our allies, haven’t they? Surely America will do something?”
Some sources say Daphne hated Alfred Hitchcock’s depiction of The Birds in film. Alfred Hitchcock wasn’t really interested in following storylines. He would skim through a story just once and determine if he liked the basic idea. If so, he would produce a movie on the “idea”, not the story. There was new technology just being discovered in filmmaking, and he wanted them to be put to good use. He claimed to not even remember what Daphne du Maurier’s, The Birds, was really about.
In the end, there’s no doubt Alfred Hitchcock’s movie was definitely based more on Daphne du Maurier’s novel, rather than Frank Baker’s. The setting and storyline were a bit different, even from Daphne’s novel:
1. Set in Bodega Bay, California 2. A new “love” interest story with a family, instead of a man, his wife and their child. 3. They didn’t know when the birds would attack. In du Maurier’s novel, the birds always attacked on the incoming tide and an easterly wind. 4. The novel ends with the birds all resting out in the ocean horizon, while the movie ends with the birds surrounding the house of the only survivors on Bodega Bay Island.
In my opinion, not too far off. But, the movie itself? Meh! Sometimes the acting cracked me up
***************UPDATED***************
Finished reading other stories: 10/24/2022 - 10/27/2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Monte Verità (p. 55-135) Setting: Monte Verità, Europe* and London
Pronounced: mont-ee vuh-ree-tä
*Author prefers not to say whether it’s in Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy or Tyrol.
Spoken in 1st person, a best friend, and mountain climbing buddy, to Victor and his new wife, Anna, of Shropshire.
The top of Monte Verità is considered a spiritual heaven in this novel. Certain random people are drawn to it during their lives, especially girls and women. Their hair is cropped short and they all dress the same in linen dress that comes down to the knees, and bare feet. There is no gender.
They don’t die, they simply disappear. They pray and worship the sun, which they believe gives them light and life. There is no “creed, no savior, and no deity”. (p. 126). Nothing worldly exists there at the top of Monte Verità. It is described to be a lot like Heaven would be, but without God or Jesus.
Anna was called to Monte Verità by the sacerdotesse, spirits high up in the mountain who reside in the monastery, which are never seen, and was, for some reason, deemed the highest deity over all who was there and who were to come. When Anna disappears, Victor spends his life, to his last dying breath in search of her.
The nameless narrator was called to Monte Verità towards the end of the story and was allowed inside the monastery for one last visual visit with Anna. He was to send last words to Victor, before he died, that she really was fine. ————————————————————
⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Apple Tree (p. 136-186)
So they lived in two different worlds, their minds not meeting.
After 25 years of marriage, the pessimistic Midge, of course not the man, had developed some very annoying habits. And, when Midge dies of pneumonia, the man is finally free, free, free to do what he pleases.
But, he is reminded of her every time he looked out his window to see the old, miserable, dying apple tree that resembled his wife, Midge. The barbed wire wrapped around the trunk looked like her skirt, and the branches reaching up, then drooping, looked like her slumped, miserable shoulders. He wanted to get rid of it as well.
The man becomes a lonely miserable mess and has pushed away everyone else, including the help around the house, and he ends up alone, his nightly drinks at the bar down the road…because now his house is dark and unfriendly. He is in his own little selfish world, where he will die. Ha!
Unfortunately, the ending fell completely flat for me. ————————————————————
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ”The Little Photographer” (p. 187-237)
A secret love affair that goes awry between Madame la Marquise and the photographer, Monsieur Paul.
Madame la Marquise had no excitements in her life. Sure, she was married to a very wealthy hard working man and had two beautiful young daughters, but her circle of friends had quick summer romances while on vacationing away from their husbands. She would like to try it.
She meets the little photographer with the club foot. The fling begins, but Monsieur Paul becomes way too attached to her. He says he will sell his business to his sister, who also has a club foot, and will follow her wherever she goes. Suddenly, the secret fun is over for her, and she comes out of her stupor. She’s married for Pete’s sake, and she realizes she’s got to get rid of him. So she did…by pushing him over the cliff of their secret meeting place.
Monsieur Paul’s sister had arrived at the hotel with a few semi-scandalous photos just before Madame la Marquise and the kids were leaving town. The ending insinuates that the beautiful Madame la Marquise will not get away with her secret summertime rendezvous because her husband, who arrived to pick her and the kids up, mentioned how sorry he was for the family, as having a clubfoot was hereditary. ————————————————————
⭐️⭐️⭐️ ”Kiss Me Again, Stranger” (p. 239-266)
Okay, nice twist at the end of this little short romance. The man who kissed the beautiful stranger from the theater was very lucky he wasn’t in the Air Force, or else the stranger would have killed him instead of the military guy who was sitting at the cafe talking smut about women at 2:00 am in the morning. ———————————————
⭐️⭐️ “The old Man” (p. 267-279)
Even a short story should make some kind of sense. When an old man and his wife send their children away and then kills their own grown invalid son, who is slow and dependent on them, just so they can be alone together again, the author “tries” to get you to feel sorry for them. The old man and his wife sees the narrator burying their son. They embrace each other, seeing it’s over, and their son is buried, then went to the center of the lake. They each turned into beautiful swans and flew off into the setting sun. It was a beautiful sight…NOT!
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1977; 2003 ed.) 163 pages.
READING LEVEL 4.6 AR POINTS 5.0
Excellent2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1977; 2003 ed.) 163 pages.
READING LEVEL 4.6 AR POINTS 5.0
Excellent! I really had no idea what this book was about. This story actually brought out some emotions from me. It’s been a long time since a book has done that.
I found myself giggling because the author captured the siblings quarrels so perfectly. The silly things they did and said to each other is exactly how it goes down with siblings.
I could relate to their castle and imagination over the creek and in the woods. We didn’t have castles, but we had make believe homes connected to each other by trails. It wasn’t over a creek. Our getaway was across the street, well away from parents.
I unexpectedly teared up at the end…more from the compassion 10-year-old Jesse Aaron’s father showed him…finally…after losing his good friend and neighbor, Leslie Burke.
.There are only two cuss words, p. 11 (hellhole) and p. 18 (bitch), but, putting that aside, this really is a story 4th and 5th graders will really enjoy and can relate to.
Books-to-Movie
Bridge to Terabithia (2007), starring Josh Hutcherson as Jesse Aarons and Annasophia Robb as Leslie Burke.
1/13/2023 UPDATE: I watched the movie with my daughter and four of my grandsons, aged 5-7. I looked over to see my daughter bawling her eyes out at the end. Of course we all were cracking up at her. The boys really enjoyed the movie. The forest was full of mythical creatures drawn up from the kids imagination. Quite different from the book, which was about kings and queens and things. We had to keep reminding the kids that this was all in their imaginations, and if they would get off those X-boxes and Nintendo games, and get outside and play, they could have imaginations too.
A BANNED BOOK
Evidently one of the most banned youth books in the U.S. because of its references to witchcraft and atheism and swearing, and is morbidly depressing for young minds. Since this was written for fourth to fifth graders, all of the above might be something to consider for young kids. I read this as an adult and thought it was all just their imaginations. But, the movie is different with mythical creatures and appears to just be kids imaginations of scary things in the woods. ...more
Six Days of the Condor by James Grady (1974; 1975 ed.) 192 pages.
SETTING: Langley, Virginia
3.5 stars rounded up - I’m usually not into these government/CIA type novels, but this wasn’t bad at all. As I was reading this, I pictured the actor Daniel Craig as the Condor. He seemed to fit this role. ...more
The Night the Scarecrow Walked by Natalie Savage Carlson (1979) 29 pages.
A short, spooky story for young kids2023 - 1970’s Immersion Reading Challenge
The Night the Scarecrow Walked by Natalie Savage Carlson (1979) 29 pages.
A short, spooky story for young kids, but, not too young. You may find them forever fearful of scarecrows, like some people are afraid of clowns. This story doesn’t really have a happy ending, or any ending for that matter. It leaves kids hanging and me confused. Was it a bum that stole the clothes and came hobbling to the kids home? Or did the scarecrow turn into a walking man and came hobbling to the kids home?...more
A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively (1976; 2016 ed.) 221 pages.
NOT ON THE ACCELERATED READING (AR) LIST!
Elev2023 - 1970’s Immersion Reading Challenge
A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively (1976; 2016 ed.) 221 pages.
NOT ON THE ACCELERATED READING (AR) LIST!
Eleven-year-old Maria Foster is a little bit intuitive and can see and feel things at times…spiritually. A stitch in time refers to a one hundred year old 1865 sampler that was started by a 10-year-old girl named, Harriet, but for some unknown reason, finished by Harriet’s older sister. It depicted the house Maria Foster and her family were currently vacationing in on the coast at Lyme Regis, three hours from their home in London. It also had a swing and the ilet tree that Maria sits in every day to think about things. This sampler helps to reaffirm some of the things she felt, like the sound of a creaking swing when they first arrived, which she found later on in the story. Or, the little dog that was barking, which had died a hundred years earlier in one of the landslides. But, it did not confirm the death of Harriet, as she believed in her heart.
Although, I found the story itself to be extremely slow, I thought the author had pretty good character development in Maria. Being an only child, a bit reclusive and lonely, and being a bit intuitive, she was like an old soul in a child’s body. This I can relate to, although I’m not an only child. I am the middle child. I’m so reflective on the past, that, at times, I do forget to laugh and just have fun in life, just like Maria. And like Maria, I was, and sometimes still am, misunderstood in the way I think and the things I say and the things I do.
NOW, FOR MY RANT ABOUT ATHEISM PRESENTED IN THIS STORY
Why did the author have to go there? To trash the Bible and God’s Word? This was a great little story, which would have been perfectly fine without putting her two cents in discrediting God and His Words. I was instantly pissed and it did sway my review of the book. If you are a Christian, you might reconsider allowing your young child, with their impressionable minds, to read this.
P. 88: “Noah’s Ark isn’t true at all,” said Maria, with sudden illumination. “Course not,” said Martin. “It’s all a load of rubbish.”
Maria then makes a comment about how it seemed someone was playing around with things, as time went on, just to see what would work and what wouldn’t. Martin called it evolution, something they learned in school. He said things changed to adapt to their environment. They don’t just die off. (p. 89)
I wish the author would have left out this section altogether because now I have to put my two cents in regarding this children’s book.
The Bible makes it clear, that God created things to reproduce after their own kind. In Genesis 1:
11 The God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: see-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.
12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according tot heir kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 The God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them run over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created hm; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase n number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
I don’t believe in evolution at all. You either believe in God, or you don’t. That’s what it boils down to.
There may be slight changes from one earlier animal to the exact same kind of animal today…but they are still the same animal. Changes in environment can change DNA, or even breeding can change DNA, but never a change to a different species. Plants and trees can be propagated to grow several types of fruit on a tree, or pollenated to grow desired different traits or to get rid of weak traits. The truth is scientists have never, ever found, or proven, an instance where one animal is now a different animal, or one plant is now a different plant, or one fruit is now a different fruit. Humans were never once fish or apes. Show me! Never proven! There…rant over, and sorry I had to go there!...more
Deliverance by James Dickey (1970; 1994 ed.) 278 pages.
SETTING: The Cahulawassee River in Northern Georgia.
I 2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge
Deliverance by James Dickey (1970; 1994 ed.) 278 pages.
SETTING: The Cahulawassee River in Northern Georgia.
I really enjoyed this story. It was suspenseful and a bit of a psychological thriller…in the book, but not so much in the movie. Ed, the most level headed of the four friends (played by Jon Voight in the movie), is narrating the story, and you find yourself inside his head a lot. There was just so much to the story than the movie could ever portray. And God forbid you ever find yourself in a life and death situation with Bobby, the most pathetic excuse of a man and friend there ever was, according to the book. I disliked him about as much as his “friends” did. But then, later in the story, I felt sorry for him for what he had to go through with the hill people. Talk about the ultimate humiliation for any man. Read the book first!
The Cahulawassee River is about to be dammed up and turned into a lake. Four friends decide they want to run the rapids in canoes before it’s forever changed. But, it’s up in Georgia’s hill country with hill people. You know what that means!
Their little weekend adventure turns into a nightmare when the four men are separated and two of them are approached on the bank of the river by two filthy, toothless men from these hills, then starts the struggle for survival to just get through the river and come out at the other end alive.
BOOK-TO-MOVIE
Deliverance (1972), starring Burt Reynolds as Lewis, the know-it-all survivalist; Jon Voight, as Ed, the most level headed friend and narrator in the book; Ned Beatty, as Bobby, the most pathetic excuse of a man and friend there ever was…according to the book; and Ronny Cox, as Drew, the guitar playing friend killed on the river.
Although the movie followed along the lines of the book, the characters stupid “fake” accents really threw the movie off. I felt it just didn’t build the characters properly as in the book. ...more
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (1972) 170 pages.
READING LEVEL 5.8 AR POINTS 6.0 (5th grade...more or less)
Setting: Alaska North Slope - Nunivak (Miyax born) and Point Barrow (Miyax lived when married) and Alaska tundra (Miyax ran away and got lost), New Hope (trying to get to), Kangik (where she found her father, who betrayed the Inuit principals).
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, maybe because I really respect the spirit of all the indigenous people. They really seem to know and understand and are closer to nature than us “gussaks” (meaning: white people in Inuit language).
It was the cultural change, forcing the Inuits to conform to society that sent Miyax to run away into the Alaska tundra where she used some survival skills her father had taught her. She also learned the ways of the wolves and was accepted as a part of their wolf pack, even if from a distance. When the lead wolf, Amaroq, was killed by sporting hunters, Miyax had to make a decision to either conform to the gussak’s way of life and live among them, or remain loyal to her Inuit way of life.
You will learn some true facts about the wolf, their habits and communications, and some of the skills the Inuits might use to survive extreme cold…40 to 50 degrees below zero; therefore, I would say this is more historical fiction rather than just fiction. I actually can’t give this a straight up 5-star because I couldn’t envision or understand some of those things that 13-year-old Miyax, an Inuk girl, was making for her survival. But, they were very short, so I just moved along.
According to wikipedia, this story is based on an Inuk woman named Julia Sebevan, who taught George the ways of the Inuits.
Sequels
#2 Julie (1994) #3 Julie’s Wolf Pack (1997)...more
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls (1976; 1992 ed.) 283 pages.
READING LEVEL 4.8 AR POINTS 13.0
SETTING: Late 1800’s Oklahoma, in the Ozark’s
There’s a big reward, $2.00 per monkey, and $100 for the chimpanzee, for catching the 30 monkeys who escaped from a circus train that wrecked. This would give 14-year-old Jay Berry Lee enough money to buy some things he’s always wanted: a pony and a .22 rifle.
When you find yourself pausing at the end because you’re bawling your eyes out, I’d say this is a pretty darn good story. Every 5th grade child (or older…I sure enjoyed it) should either read this book or have their parents read it to them. It is a pretty lengthy book worth 13.0 AR points. But, I feel like this is the world we have left behind, and one our kids may never see.
Book-to-Movie
Summer of the Monkeys (1998), starring Corey Sevier as Jay Berry Lee, Katie Stuart as sister Daisy Lee, Michael Ontkean as their father, Leslie Hope as their mother Sarah Lee, and Wilford Brimley as Grandfather.
1/17/2023 - UPDATE: I watched the movie. Horrible! The first thing you’ll see is Rowdy is not a hound dog in the movie. Nope! It’s some kind of white collie. They don’t hardly follow the storyline from the book, either, and the acting is subpar. Read the book!...more
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