You know, I never read this before! The autobiographical account of the Montgomery bus boycott story. MLK's writing is really lovely so it is a literaYou know, I never read this before! The autobiographical account of the Montgomery bus boycott story. MLK's writing is really lovely so it is a literary treat and not just an account of a passive resistant movement that worked. Reading it - plus The Autobiography of Malcolm X - also led me into reading comparative thoughts about MLK and Malcolm X....more
A beautiful piece of writing able to place the reader immediately into the context. One of those few writers who make the reader very aware of the inaA beautiful piece of writing able to place the reader immediately into the context. One of those few writers who make the reader very aware of the inadequacy of their own words; he uses words in a painterly and poetic way that few can equal....more
This travel diary by a young Che Guevara shows a compassionate and articulate human being behind the mythological status of his later activities. I haThis travel diary by a young Che Guevara shows a compassionate and articulate human being behind the mythological status of his later activities. I have wanted to read this for ages and am so happy that I had to wait so long to get it from the library as that shows it is very much still being read. Enjoyable as a travel memoir but extra so because of his status as an admired figure to me. Also touching were tributes in the foreword from his children, showing great affection....more
It said on the cover that the author displays not a trace of self-pity in this account of her disastrous upbringing and to my surprise it was true. NoIt said on the cover that the author displays not a trace of self-pity in this account of her disastrous upbringing and to my surprise it was true. Normally I would not read something like this due to personal childhood experiences but a book featuring alcohol as a central theme was one of the tasks in the geocaching challenge and I am foolishly trying to do the whole thing as a personal challenge so......this book appeared to fit the bill. And I am glad I read it, it's a marvelously well-told story and unputdownable. The conflicted feelings of the 4 children towards both of the almost unbelievably dysfunctional parents are well drawn; they hated and loved them both, sometimes simultanaeously, as one would expect. How 3 of the four of them managed to get out of their background and become so well adjusted is near miraculous. I found it hard to warm to the mother but Rex was a very lovable character when he wasn't being drunk and violent.
I found this a warm and forgiving account of that difficult childhood. I would love to talk to the author. Read this if such experience is outside your own and expect a better insight than usually comes across from a story of this type....more
Nothing really measures up from GD after The Corfu Trilogy but this is mildly adequate apart from the reproduction of the use of Pidgin English througNothing really measures up from GD after The Corfu Trilogy but this is mildly adequate apart from the reproduction of the use of Pidgin English throughout and a very Colonialist flavour to his thinking that I actually found offensive. I can usually allow evidence of the reality of a former time to sit in its place and not bother me but this time it did bother me and I am put off reading any more from this author; I believe his heart was in the right place but I could clearly slap him for some of his attitudes.
My view: if people were capable of learning Pidgin English they could have been taught English proper and not thus effectively ghettoised. ...more
It is of the essence to read this in the context of the time it was written - 1955 - as her perambulations through memory and seeking meaning in life It is of the essence to read this in the context of the time it was written - 1955 - as her perambulations through memory and seeking meaning in life and relationship touch greatly on a woman's role and, if read in the context of today would seem naive in the extreme. I classified it with Feminism purely because of that focus, not because I see it as part of the gamut of Feminist literature, though in the softer edges this does have a place. Feminism has a history as well as a modern context; women have a history apart from Feminism.
This is a gentle and rather spiritually refreshing little book and I enjoyed it for what it is, from the time it was written....more
Astonishingly well written for a debut novel. Malouf has always denied that this is gay fiction but my thoughts are that the problem with that categorAstonishingly well written for a debut novel. Malouf has always denied that this is gay fiction but my thoughts are that the problem with that category is that it is about 'sexual' orientation rather than 'gender' orientation: that is, people focus on who x has sex with rather than on whom they are able to love/ create a relationship with. This, I believe, is the truth of what sexual orientation means and can account for everything from a mutually celibate relationship to a committed life-long sexual partnership and marriage. What it is largely not about is promiscuous behaviour; it refers to a person's capacity for relationship. Within my understanding, then, this story is about a deep, abiding and often difficult love between two men which was not characterised by being sexual but was probably the full extent of either of their capacity for love and commitment. Who cares what label we put on that?...more
All time favourite autobiography, I do believe. An astonishing man, a gripping story. How anyone ever came to conceive a system such as Apartheid is bAll time favourite autobiography, I do believe. An astonishing man, a gripping story. How anyone ever came to conceive a system such as Apartheid is beyond me. In my early teens it was mooted that my family would move to S.A. It didn't happen because - guess what? My mother and stepfather never asked themselves where my adopted multiracial sister would fit in. Guess they hadn't really understood that Apartheid meant more than cheap servants. Nuff said.
By the way - it looks like a long book and reads like a short one - it is so easy to read that I became lost and fascinated, even though this was my third reading of the book....more
Black and white or shades of grey? (No, not that blasted book!) I think black and white thinkers are likely to fix onto a purpose, a cause, a good-or-Black and white or shades of grey? (No, not that blasted book!) I think black and white thinkers are likely to fix onto a purpose, a cause, a good-or-bad right-or-wrong duality. And if the black and white thinker has been abused, it can result on Malcolm X.
The truth is this all-or-nothing mentality actually narrows our vision and creates insecurity. And then there's all the rest of us racist people who just don't even think, never mind ask the reason why. Because anyone who can be seen to be different will get the racism thing. I suppose (never having been there) that one can become the white minority - but mainly we think we (white people) are the best and then we kept slaves. Not the sort of slaves that the ancient world had - whoever was on the losing side either got killed or were taken for slavery, no matter what their facial structure or skin colour - but black slaves went to a white master and a whole rake of in-betweens (octoroons, Indians and Chinese, people of aboriginal background, etc etc).
He contributed as much to the civil rights movement but he wasn't told of like Martin Luther King Jr. Why? Well, Martin Luther preached passive resistance and Malcolm X preached self-defense. So, that would be why the whites picked the one out, no? But I think actually that Martin Luther was a shades of grey person and Malcolm X was a black and white thinker....more
An excellent insight into the mind of a young man and his machismo, not matter how long ago - and no matter how bizarre the context! Well-written and An excellent insight into the mind of a young man and his machismo, not matter how long ago - and no matter how bizarre the context! Well-written and often funny, even self-deprecating (intentionally????) this tale is sad and funny at the same time and definitely describes human nature.
Isherwood is such an interesting and clever writer. He moves from 'real' life to fictional characters with such ease that I am left with the impressioIsherwood is such an interesting and clever writer. He moves from 'real' life to fictional characters with such ease that I am left with the impression that real life is fiction and fiction is real life. Perhaps this is actually an absolute truth?...more
Absolutely fascinating! Not an easy read and will require several more reads to even think I begin to have the monkey by the tail - a prospect I look Absolutely fascinating! Not an easy read and will require several more reads to even think I begin to have the monkey by the tail - a prospect I look forward to. I have ordered my own copy!...more
This is a beloved book to me, one of the first 'feminist' books I read (before I knew what feminism meant) - yet not 'feminist' as in the anti-men movThis is a beloved book to me, one of the first 'feminist' books I read (before I knew what feminism meant) - yet not 'feminist' as in the anti-men movements that have beset our times; that is, feminism is widely seen as that. But there are more rational responses, gentler pleas for equal personhood: this is one of them.
Of course, it was written before the insistent modern calls for the barriers to be breached and, I suspect, would never have been read if it had used some of our later demands. Yes, I consider myself a feminist but I have never been anti-men. In fact, I have often thought they need campaigning for - but that is another subject entirely! This little book was outrageous enough in it's own day; a plea, really, not a demand, for women to be independent if they wanted to write. Or do whatever they wanted to be doing, not being defined by someone else's script. Materially independent, that is - not something many women could even aspire to at the time, much less achieve, daring to go against social imperatives that trapped women more successfully than the mere material lack - but without the material buttress, flying in the face of social duty was impossible.
And, of course, the writer was fortunate enough to associate with other creative and non-conforming souls or even material advantage might have been too much to sustain - life is hard without companions of a similarly-feathered sort.
This is a gentle appeal rather than the strident demand it has been most unjustly represented as. There is a place for every facet of feminism and I see and experience this book as morally appealing rather than a demand for justice and equality. That is, if we are moral beings, then one's own self-determination would not even be in question. All she wanted was to be alone and write - not really such a lot to ask....more
Disappointing. The writing is mediocre and it is repetitive; we took some drugs, then we took some more drugs - and then we took some drugs. She seemeDisappointing. The writing is mediocre and it is repetitive; we took some drugs, then we took some more drugs - and then we took some drugs. She seemed to have a big issue with being female - unsurprising, given the era; women were still very much second-class citizens, one of the reasons she stood out as a lead singer - there weren't many. Still and all, she was very naive, by her own telling. She seems to have seen herself as more 'like a man' than feminine but her idea of feminine (back then) was as stereotyped and limited - as conformist - as was the rest of western society's. As she almost articulates, her non-conformism was conformist in the extreme, ultimately. Like her generation, she was more rebellious than non-conformist: they were the first generation to have the freedom to rebel without incurring social punishment. They demanded the very freedom they already had, not recognising it for what it was.
The book she has written is more about her life before being a Pretender; thus, the very things a fan would read it for (that I read it for) are absent. I wanted to know about her music, her experiences as a woman fronting a band, the songs they wrote, by whom they were written and what meaning they had for her. I would have liked an insight into her own ethos of life. That, it appeared, was - take more drugs and be a passenger on society. There was no sign of a sense of responsibility.
Yes, she was reckless - but no more so than many others of her generation; my own is but a few years behind so, though in other countries, I can well relate to all she speaks of, including the drug taking of that era.
This book should really be renamed: Wasted: both her intelligence and time - and her chemically induced state of mind. More a pretender than a Pretender, sadly. I am not anti mind-altering substances but decided quite young that they wasted time. How sad that so many justified their use as non-conformism and the way to be cool. As ever, I observe that self-justification and intolerance are the only real sins, being the foundation of all ill behaviour in humanity.
I still love the music but have been left with a tarnished image of a hero of my younger days. I guess we all want our heroes to be greater than the average; it is always a disappointment to encounter the proverbial clay feet....more
Remarkably overrated. I can't imagine why this was made into a movie (that I never saw either). Read for the geocaching challenge, I can't imagine I wRemarkably overrated. I can't imagine why this was made into a movie (that I never saw either). Read for the geocaching challenge, I can't imagine I will be hurrying to read anything more by Esther Freud....more
A delightful account of the young years of a woman who determined her own self rather than conforming to sexual mores. Direct, confident and 4.5 stars
A delightful account of the young years of a woman who determined her own self rather than conforming to sexual mores. Direct, confident and honest. Lovely!...more
A very brave and not at all self-pitying account by a journalist diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's telling us all how it feels to be inside that A very brave and not at all self-pitying account by a journalist diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's telling us all how it feels to be inside that disease. I personally think everyone should read this; we all meet someone close or not-so-close with this disease and it will get much more common....more
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