Book Lovers Club
Comments
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Thanks glennie, I've heard such good things about it, I skipped the movie until I read the book.
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Actually I found the movie and the book to be somewhat different. The book has WAY more detail. Some of it is so technical that my eyes were crossing,, as math is not my thing! The movie focuses on the 3 main women,, but the book talks about others too. I thought both book and movie were excellent. Highly recommend them both!
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ruth...anything enlightening that you think I might need to know regarding FDR? Why three books? After reading In the Garden...I have kind of lost interest in him...actually, I haven't lost interest...I just think his standing in history should be diminished...I recall reading about Malta....and what could have and should have been had he not run for a fourth term...
Now Churchill...I can't read enough about him...my students love reading about him too
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VR, I am just a presidential history nut & am fascinated with all the Roosevelt and Kennedys, and Lincoln, and Washington etc. etc
). So when new stuff comes out, I grab it up. The three FDR books were:His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt by Joseph Lelyveld......this covers the last year or so of his life; as the war is coming to a climactic conclusion, FDR deals with all the problems of the moment and anticipates the new word order that will emerge, all while his own health is rapidly declining. It is a very indepth look at the time and the man. There have always been many questions as to whether or not FDR should have run for that 4th term and whether or not he was still at peak functioning mentally. The author argues with much evidence that he was still in charge, that (even though he was completely behind the scenes) he engineered Truman's nomination for vice president, and he expressed to several people that after the war was won, he would like to resign and head up the new United Nations. (Which he might or might not have been serious about, he knew that he was not at all well, but felt that if he was asking the military, and the whole country, to do it's job to the end, that he must do his.......very fatalist about his own mortality). A pretty heavy book, but I enjoyed it, it rounded out the man to me.
Lucy by Ellen Feldman a fictional account through the eyes of Lucy Mercer Rutherford, with whom he had a love affair (which nearly broke up his marriage to Eleanor) and who was at his side when he suffered died (it's complicated). Lucy, who by all accounts, was a lovely woman never talked about any of this and kept her thoughts & feeling private to the grave. I read to novel just to see the author's slant on all this and, not surprisingly, didn't like it; it was shallow and how can you know the motivations of REAL people if they haven't left a record????
Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley by Geoffrey C. Ward. This was so sweet. Margaret Suckley was a spinster (as single women were called back then) and distant cousin of FDR. After his bout of polio, he was back at his mother's estate trying to rehab (Eleanor was getting involved politically to keep his name out there until he was able to be there himself). FDR's mom called and invited Margaret to come over and keep him company and a truly great friendship was born. Margaret kept a diary for years & years. After her death (when she was in her 90s) a suitcase under her bed contained not only her journals, but letters to and from FDR over the years (she kept his, he kept hers......the family returned them to her as a keepsake after his death. They show the real human side of the man. I found it a delightful read (it was Margaret who gave FDR is famous dog, Fala).
Opps, you shouldn't have asked. Now you have had a history lesson!
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ruth...thanks for sharing your thoughts....you do bring up a great point about not knowing how a person truly felt when there is no primary documents....reading about Martha Washington, I understood that, back in the day, it was commonplace for letters and journals to be destroyed when the person passed. So, it is quite possible that we might never really get a true understanding of that person.
I have been watching Masterpiece Theatre's Victoria and reading about her. Most of her letters and diaries were destroyed by one of her younger daughters as well. On a positive note, much of what was written by the Queen did make it into her daughter's summaries...so all wasn't lost...
I am not one for historical fiction, so I doubt I would read Lucy. It sounds like Loving Frank. I can never wrap my brain around reading fictionalized works ike those especially when you can find bios and memoirs....not that they are that "real" either! 😜
FDR...with all that has been written about him, you would think there would be agreement with respect to that fourth term...but alas, there isn't...
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Here is a fun tidbit; one day Harry Truman walked into the room and found his wife burning some of their correspondence. He was shocked and said, "But Bess, think of history." To which she replied, "I am!
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Re-reading some of my old books
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ruth! Lol
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Ruth - love it.
When I was a young and callow lad ...(sorry - just couldn't resist - it must be a quote from somewhere?) (fun to google that phrase). So anyway, as a teen age girl & even through my 30s, I wrote lots of poetry. Most of it seems pretty bad when I look at it now. I would just as soon that my son doesn't have to wade through this stuff, but I like to read it again myself every couple of years. Same way with old letters. I was an inveterate letter writers for many years (the actual paper & pen kind). I wrote once a week or even more often to several friends. Most of the people I wrote to have long since tossed my letters when they moved or re-married or whatever. Too bad. Those might as well have been diaries & it would have been fun to read what I was thinking during all those years. Funny thing - I still have 60+ years of letters received from some of these same correspondents. Can you imagine their faces if after my demise, my son were to "return" all these confidences from when we were 16 & 26 & 36 & 46 and etc.
I like the picture of Bess burning - but when is it time??
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Minus two: Love your story of saved letters. I'm not a big saver, but I did come across a letter from a friend from decades ago and then lost touch. Well, I looked her up online and found an address I think is hers and sent her a letter. I posted it before I could change my mind, so will see if I get a reply. Maybe you could make copies and send them in whole or in part with a note from you. Could be interesting.
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Magic - Two of my most prolific correspondent friends were men. Sadly one died last year and I don't think he would want me to send his old letters to his daughter. Although I have emailed her some excerpts. The other friend has now been married to a "younger woman" for 20years. Since she probably has no idea who the Beatles are/were (maybe an exaggeration), I don't think my friend (her DH) would want the letters around.
I stopped by a neighbor's house today who is now pretty much confined to a wheelchair. She loves to read and her daughters have been picking up a bag of books at a time for her at places like Good Will. She told me she had a lot of books in the garage that I could see if I wanted to read. WOW. 6 boxes packed with books. She didn't want them but didn't know what to do with them so I loaded them in my car. Another neighbor & i each kept 10 or 12. I took the rest to a local Used/Trade bookstore. They normally only want paperbacks but said they would be happy to take all the boxes. For what they could use, they will give her credit. For what they can't use (maybe too many already on the shelves or no general interest) they will give to a good home - library or nursing home or Manna. It's so nice to have friends who would never toss away a book.
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Minustwo: As we all know too well, lives and relationships change over the years and you are most sensitive to recognizing needs of others.
As a book lover myself I congratulate you for being present for your neighbor in a way that honors her love for books. As more of my reading is done electronically, I have few paper copies in my library. Occasionally, when the paper copy is cheaper than electronic, I hand hold the real thing. The good part of the latter is that I can then pass it along to others. You mention "Manna', what is that?
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I'm reading r delderfield's novels online, he has a memoir written in the last year of his liife, 1972, for my amusement. it's op and no look inside or reviews on amazon, so if I want to read it and I do, I'll need to buy it, extremely cheap but I have no more room in my spaces for books. what to do
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Abigail - oh treat yourself & buy it. You can always pass it along after you've read it.
Magic - Manna is a local thrift shop. I like what the letters stand for -
The mission of Ministry Assistance of the Near Northwest Alliance (MANNA) is to serve the basic human needs of persons in the near Northwest quadrant of Houston, who because of aging, education, illness, lack of income, or other crisis, cannot sustain themselves or their families ...
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to MANNA (food from heaven)0 -
Minus...thanks for info - there is so much food insecurity in this country.
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An interesting quote from Ken Burns, "In some sense, all biography ends in failure; even those closest to us remain inscrutable to the end."
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ruth....that is an interesting point! It reminded me of a recent interview that I saw regarding author, Michael Lewis where he was plugging his latest book, The Undoing Project. Along with his more popular books, such as, The Liars Poker and Moneyball, he explained his process about interviewing his subjects. Asked if he permits the subjects to read in advance his writing, he said, "No.". And then, he went into painstaking detail in explaining how he tries, for better or worse, to give the reader the "true" essence of the people he is writing about. He went on to explain how, when writing his most recent book, about Dr. Daniel Kahneman, he told him that he had hoped he had done a good job in describing him.
That said, dead or alive, aren't we all enigmas? I think an author who takes on a living subject is very brave....and his subject? They are even braver....
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vorac and ruth...I find your insights into books stimulating. That we are all inscrutable, even to ourselves, is both scary and comforting. Although I seldom read history books, except for my book club discussions, I do read philosophy of science books and look forward to reading the Undoing Project once I plow through Dead Wake for the March book selection.
Thanks for yours and other readers valuable contributions.
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Dead Wake is our March book club selection as well! About to start it.
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Love the Frederick Douglass quote.
Currently reading : Lassoing the Sun, a year in America's National Parks by Mark Woods.
On the eve of turning fifty and a little burned-out, Mark decided to reconnect with the great outdoors. He'd spend a year visiting the national parks. He planned to take his mother to a park she'd not yet visited and to re-create his childhood trips with his wife and their iPad-generation daughter.
But then the unthinkable happened: his mother was diagnosed with cancer, given just months to live. Mark had initially intended to write a book about the future of the national parks, but Lassoing the Sun grew into something more: a book about family, the parks, the legacies we inherit and the ones we leave behind.0 -
Glennie: Thanks, I just put a hold on library copy of Lassoing the Sun. I love, love, love, the National Parks. Fortunately, I've been able to visit most of the West Coast parks on numerous occasions and many others at least once and always find solace, reflection and a bit of adventure. Appreciate your recommendation. Now I must get away from the computer and read!
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Read Dead Wake. Good book!
magic & glennie, I love our National Parks and am reminded of this timely video.
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Badger, the waterfall in Yosemite should be spectacular but fingers crossed for limited damage.
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Badger - gorgeous. Thanks for posting.
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Great Ruth - thanks.
After reading 5 books a week for the last couple of years, I'm trying to exercise more and walk more. And I'm so far behind on my magazines I've been trying to wade through those. I have two books I started and need to pick back up - also very unusual for me to set a book down. One is a JA Jance, so it's not that difficult and it's an author I like & personally admire. I don't think I've ever gone a couple of weeks without reading a book except when I first graduated from college with an English major from a school that required senior comps on all 4 year of reading. I vowed I'd never read again, and I didn't for awhile.
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Ruth, now I really can say I'm booked. LOL and shared
Minustwo..wow, that is a lot of books. I'm a one at a time reader unless one of the books is more academic where I skip around quite a bit.
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I am one of those that reads 3 at a time. Right now, I'm reading John Gilstrap: Threat Warning, John Grisham: The Whistler and Stephen Coonts Deep Black.They are all modern day spy thrillers.
I finished Hillbilly Elegy. Interesting, but a little too soon for a memoir. Imho.
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