Vince Pitelka on thu 10 mar 05
> That was one of my favorite books too. I am reading the kite runner
> now. I would like to humbly recomend another book, since you are in
> that part of the country. "prodigal summer" by Barbara Kingsolver.
> It is about the extinction of the american chestnut tree in
> applachia.
Thanks Brenda. I have enjoyed most of Barbara Kingsolver's books,
especially "Animal Dreams," and "The Bean Trees," but then, I am a lover of
the desert. But regarding a very different Kingsolver book, I would rate
"Poisonwood Bible" with "Kite Runner" and "Secret Life of Bees" as a
must-read for any intelligent person.
"Prodigal Summer" is about the extinction of the American Chestnut? Hmmmm.
That's among it's sub-plots, but I'd hardly call that the central theme. It
is a wonderful book, and presents a remarkable picture of simple life in the
rural mountain South. Since I live in the rural mountain South, I did
especially enjoy that book. On the other hand, I was so dissatisfied with
the end of Cold Mountain that I have no desire at all to see the movie. I'm
a sucker for a happy ending, but it's not an absolute necessity. But Cold
Mountain was just too dismal.
I'd love to hear more suggestions. This is OT, but is a great topic for me,
and perhaps for others that can't be at NCECA. I'm especially interested in
fiction and nonfiction about the American Southwest.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Steve Slatin on fri 11 mar 05
L.P. -
My older son tried to use that as his (only) book
report all the way through high school. He figured it
answered all of the questions he was supposed to
answer. The first time he did it he got a B, so he
kept trying. Never worked again, though!
-- Steve (everything is about something) Slatin
--- "L. P. Skeen" wrote:
> Good grief, y'all! Can't you just read a book for
> the fun of reading it?
> It's a STORY! Another form of escapism, like
> television, only not (usually)
> as invasive.
>
> L
Steve Slatin -- Don't Ever Antagonize The Horn
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Kate Johnson on fri 11 mar 05
> I'd love to hear more suggestions. This is OT, but is a great topic for
> me,
> and perhaps for others that can't be at NCECA. I'm especially interested
> in
> fiction and nonfiction about the American Southwest.
Vince (and list), have you read Wendell Berry's novels (and poetry)?
GORGEOUS stuff, beautifully written. Mostly set in rural Kentucky...and
makes you feel as though you're right there.
Wallace Stegner's work is beautiful, too (often about that beloved
desert)--but pretty dark. He writes so well, and makes us care so deeply
about his characters, but doesn't keep them from tragedies on a regular
basis. Like you, I don't find a happy ending a _must_, but I'd rather not
be depressed for a week, either.
I very much enjoyed the humanity and humor of Angela's Ashes--successfully
avoided reading it for years, and now I wonder why...
And interestingly, I've rediscovered much of Louis L'Amour's stuff...used to
be one of my dad's favorite writers and I waited close to 50 years to read
him myself...
Feel better soon!
Best Regards,
Kate Johnson
http://www.cathyjohnson.info/
Art, History, Nature and More-- http://www.cafepress.com/cathy_johnson/
Graphics/Fine Arts Press-- http://www.epsi.net/graphic/
cheryl buell on fri 11 mar 05
Vince,
I'm a newbie to Clayart and this does seem OT (feeling like... will
they kick me out?), but I don't have much time to read and no time to
read a bad book .
Sounds like our taste in books runs right along the same line, so had
to respond when you asked for fiction about the Am SW.
Have your read the Fifth Life of the Cat-woman? Kathleen Dexter
I also got on a Latin American writers kick a few years ago...House of
the Spirits by Isabel Allende. (just to start with)
Also my first time @ NCECA, so sorry you are unable to be there.
Enjoy,
Cheryl
On Mar 10, 2005, at 9:17 PM, Vince Pitelka wrote:
>> That was one of my favorite books too. I am reading the kite runner
>> now. I would like to humbly recomend another book, since you are in
>> that part of the country. "prodigal summer" by Barbara Kingsolver.
>> It is about the extinction of the american chestnut tree in
>> applachia.
>
> Thanks Brenda. I have enjoyed most of Barbara Kingsolver's books,
> especially "Animal Dreams," and "The Bean Trees," but then, I am a
> lover of
> the desert. But regarding a very different Kingsolver book, I would
> rate
> "Poisonwood Bible" with "Kite Runner" and "Secret Life of Bees" as a
> must-read for any intelligent person.
>
> "Prodigal Summer" is about the extinction of the American Chestnut?
> Hmmmm.
> That's among it's sub-plots, but I'd hardly call that the central
> theme. It
> is a wonderful book, and presents a remarkable picture of simple life
> in the
> rural mountain South. Since I live in the rural mountain South, I did
> especially enjoy that book. On the other hand, I was so dissatisfied
> with
> the end of Cold Mountain that I have no desire at all to see the
> movie. I'm
> a sucker for a happy ending, but it's not an absolute necessity. But
> Cold
> Mountain was just too dismal.
>
> I'd love to hear more suggestions. This is OT, but is a great topic
> for me,
> and perhaps for others that can't be at NCECA. I'm especially
> interested in
> fiction and nonfiction about the American Southwest.
> - Vince
>
> Vince Pitelka
> Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
> Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
> vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
> http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
> http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Steve Slatin on fri 11 mar 05
Vince --
A mark of great literature is that people can find
different themes within a single work to organize
their understanding of it. Ever read 'A Suitable
Boy?' I thought it was about the breakdown of rigid
caste structures under the influence of technology.
My (then) wife thought it was a story of love
destroyed by cultural intransigence. A friend told me
it was about the effect of oncoming political change
as the British Empire withdrew from the Indian
subcontinent. I also heard one person argue that it
was an elaborate economic metaphor based on a
particular Jane Austin novel.
And, to me, all Jane Austin novels are comedies about
money and class. But most readers think they are love
letters addressed to English gentry of the class that
either does, or does not, go fox hunting.
-- Steve Slatin
--- Vince Pitelka wrote:
> "Prodigal Summer" is about the extinction of the
> American Chestnut? Hmmmm.
> That's among it's sub-plots, but I'd hardly call
> that the central theme.
Steve Slatin -- Don't Ever Antagonize The Horn
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
L. P. Skeen on fri 11 mar 05
Good grief, y'all! Can't you just read a book for the fun of reading it?
It's a STORY! Another form of escapism, like television, only not (usually)
as invasive.
L
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Slatin"
Ever read 'A Suitable
> Boy?' I thought it was about the breakdown of rigid
> caste structures under the influence of technology.
> My (then) wife thought it was a story of love
> destroyed by cultural intransigence. A friend told me
> it was about the effect of oncoming political change
> as the British Empire withdrew from the Indian
> subcontinent. I also heard one person argue that it
> was an elaborate economic metaphor based on a
> particular Jane Austin novel.
Jan Goodland Metz on fri 11 mar 05
Hi Vince, I haven't made it through "Prodigal Summer" yet, think I'll go back
and try it again, just finished "Cold Mountain" and I did really enjoy it,
though it got a little slow in the middle....Another book that I read a long
time ago that you might like is "The Keeper of the Bees" by Gene
Stratton-Porter. Have you read it? Looking forward to my first time at NCECA.
Jan
In frozen Rhode Island.
Quoting Vince Pitelka :
>
> "Prodigal Summer" is about the extinction of the American Chestnut? Hmmmm.
> That's among it's sub-plots, but I'd hardly call that the central theme. It
> is a wonderful book, and presents a remarkable picture of simple life in the
> rural mountain South. Since I live in the rural mountain South, I did
> especially enjoy that book. On the other hand, I was so dissatisfied with
> the end of Cold Mountain that I have no desire at all to see the movie. I'm
> a sucker for a happy ending, but it's not an absolute necessity. But Cold
> Mountain was just too dismal.
>
> I'd love to hear more suggestions. This is OT, but is a great topic for me,
> and perhaps for others that can't be at NCECA. I'm especially interested in
> fiction and nonfiction about the American Southwest.
> - Vince
>
> Vince Pitelka
Kate Johnson on fri 11 mar 05
> Hi Vince, I haven't made it through "Prodigal Summer" yet, think I'll go
> back
> and try it again, just finished "Cold Mountain" and I did really enjoy it,
> though it got a little slow in the middle....Another book that I read a
> long
> time ago that you might like is "The Keeper of the Bees" by Gene
> Stratton-Porter. Have you read it?
Omigod, I grew up on that book! My mother read it and my grandmother before
her. I think that's one reason I wanted to become a naturalist/artist, that
and "Freckles" and "Girl of the Limberlost," also by Stratton Porter. They
seem archaically written, now, but they're lovely just the same...
Best--
Kate, waxing seriously nostalgic here...
vhardin on fri 11 mar 05
Vince, if you are interested in the American Southwest and you've not read
Lonesome Dove, its one of the best (IMHO). I had seen the movie, but the
book was even better. I read another of McMurtry's books, Boone's Lick,
after Lonesome Dove, but it just did not compare. Lonesome Dove is like one
of those pots that stands above the rest and shines.
Vicki Hardin
VickiHardin.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Jan Goodland
Metz
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 6:49 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Was:: ot: beekeepers? Now: Books
Hi Vince, I haven't made it through "Prodigal Summer" yet, think I'll go
back and try it again, just finished "Cold Mountain" and I did really enjoy
it, though it got a little slow in the middle....Another book that I read a
long time ago that you might like is "The Keeper of the Bees" by Gene
Stratton-Porter. Have you read it? Looking forward to my first time at
NCECA.
Jan
In frozen Rhode Island.
Quoting Vince Pitelka :
>
> "Prodigal Summer" is about the extinction of the American Chestnut?
Hmmmm.
> That's among it's sub-plots, but I'd hardly call that the central
> theme. It is a wonderful book, and presents a remarkable picture of
> simple life in the rural mountain South. Since I live in the rural
> mountain South, I did especially enjoy that book. On the other hand,
> I was so dissatisfied with the end of Cold Mountain that I have no
> desire at all to see the movie. I'm a sucker for a happy ending, but
> it's not an absolute necessity. But Cold Mountain was just too dismal.
>
> I'd love to hear more suggestions. This is OT, but is a great topic
> for me, and perhaps for others that can't be at NCECA. I'm especially
> interested in fiction and nonfiction about the American Southwest.
> - Vince
>
> Vince Pitelka
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Jennifer Boyer on sat 12 mar 05
Lonesome Dove is one of my all time faves.
One Caveat:
You have to make yourself keep going through the 1st 100 pages. They
aren't "bad", just intense and sometimes a bit coarse. The next 600
pages are then the kind where you keep putting the book down cuz it'll
be such a bummer to finish the book....
Jennifer
On Mar 11, 2005, at 8:15 PM, vhardin wrote:
> Vince, if you are interested in the American Southwest and you've not
> read
> Lonesome Dove, its one of the best (IMHO). I had seen the movie, but
> the
> book was even better. I read another of McMurtry's books, Boone's
> Lick,
> after Lonesome Dove, but it just did not compare. Lonesome Dove is
> like one
> of those pots that stands above the rest and shines.
>
> Vicki Hardin
> VickiHardin.com
************************
Jennifer Boyer
Thistle Hill Pottery
Montpelier, VT
http://thistlehillpottery.com
Jan Goodland Metz on sat 12 mar 05
Hi Kate,
I should go back and read it again. I didn't know how to put it that it was
written in an "old style" and there is a place where some wierd politics comes
in at the end but the rest of the book I love. I like to read about gardening
and nature. Have you read any books by Elizabeth Von Arnum? Like "Elizabeth
and her German Garden", or "Enchanted April"?
Jan
in snowy Rhode Island.
> > time ago that you might like is "The Keeper of the Bees" by Gene
> > Stratton-Porter. Have you read it?
>
> Omigod, I grew up on that book! My mother read it and my grandmother before
> her. I think that's one reason I wanted to become a naturalist/artist, that
> and "Freckles" and "Girl of the Limberlost," also by Stratton Porter. They
> seem archaically written, now, but they're lovely just the same...
>
> Best--
> Kate, waxing seriously nostalgic here...
>
> __________________________________________________
Cheri Wranosky on mon 14 mar 05
Josh said he would get them some copies. I'll check with him. Thanks
about the design. We have tons of them over here if you all want some.
cheri wranosky
art director / georgia magazine
public affairs / university of georgia
706 542-8012 * fax 706 583-0368
Live every day as if your hair were on fire.
http://www.uga.edu/gm
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