Archive for the ‘Reading level: Grown up’ Category
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
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| Author: | Carol Shields |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1997 |
Larry Weller is a pretty ordinary guy, who has fallen into a profession, also his obsession, as a designer of labyrinths. In this novel, Carol Shields, whose work always captivates me, tells Larry's story, from cradle through a momentous mid-life party. (See also my review of Unless.) |
Shields convincingly explains how Larry falls into his first marriage and a career as a floral designer, then transitions to a marriage of more depth with a feminist scholar, and steers toward his bliss as a master maze designer.
We learn that one can wander through one's life as if in a maze, and find treasures in unexpected places. Although, since we are highly aware that a maze designer may have carefully planned our discoveries, we can't be sure that we come across the treasures we find by chance.
Very lovely, although the physical descriptions of marital life go on and on and a bit too poetically for my taste.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Larry's Party |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Fiction, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
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| Author: | Carol Shields |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2002 |
"What did Cinderella's mother die of?," my daughter asked me, when she was 4. I myself had never troubled to think about this. But I came to realize that, in stories for children, from fairy tales to adventures to Walt Disney musicals, the mothers' presence is usually notable for its absence. Their deaths are required so that plots can unfold.
And yet, I have recently come across a few novels that consider thoughtfully the role(s) a mother may play in her daughter's future. In the two grimmest, White Oleander and The Book of Ruth, the power of the mothers to destroy their daughters despite great distance, time, and, in the case of White Oleander, despite tall prison walls, is absolute.
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Unless and What To Keep convey more nuanced messages. In Unless, a mother is beside herself at her daughter's transformation from promising college student into street person. Eventually, the mother reassures herself that not every activity she undertakes is invested with deep meaning and that she is not responsible for every anguish that afflicts every member of her family. ... |
This book is more fully reviewed in our discussion of some books about the relationships between moms and their daughters. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Unless |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Fiction, History, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Monday, September 18th, 2006
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| Author: | Julia Alvarez |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction, historical |
| Year of publication: | 1991 |
Sometimes, by escaping a dreadful danger, people find themselves safe, but not happy. The Garcia Girls is a touching reminder that the situation in which you meet people might not, on its surface, tell you much about who they are or what they've suffered. |
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Fiction, History, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
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| Author: | A.S. Byatt |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1990 |
Intricate and, yes, romantic, story of the work and loves of a motley community of poets and researchers, in this century and in the past all exploring pieces of a literary puzzle.
These nerdy people, all obsessed with doing the arcane thing that they do very well, figure out how to combine their efforts for the good of the group and themselves.
Not for children, but similar in theme, although vastly more ambitious than, Dragonfly. Highly recommended for gifted adults. |
Reading about how these gifted people connect intellectually and re-combine romantically, how they work together to solve the mysteries of the past and of their own hearts -- well, it's like wandering through a strange but beautiful garden.
In many discussions about academia, the intellectual pursuits, the single-minded pettiness of people who are deeply interested in -- let's face it -- minutia -- are ridiculed. But in Byatt's treatment -- not really a novel, but a combination of prose, poetry, excerpts from first-person narratives (pseudo-historical documents), we come to admire nearly every character in the book, obsessions, prejudices, intellectual prowess, and all.
Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Possession: A Romance |
Posted in Biography, Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Sunday, July 30th, 2006
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| Author: | Perri Klass |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | Non-fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
reviewed by An Asperger's Parent
This is a book for parents of kids who have, or resemble those who have, any of several closely related, and confusingly similar, challenges: Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disability - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Nonverbal Learning Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfunction. But it's about the kids, not the disorders.
This is NOT the book to provide an in-depth understanding of any one of these diagnostic categories. For that purpose, a book more focused on whichever condition you're concerned about will probably serve you better. For example, my own favorite scholarly resource on Asperger's Syndrome is Asperger Syndrome (Guilford Press, 2000), a collection of articles edited by Drs. Klin, Volkmar and Sparrow of Yale.
What Quirky Kids does, and from my perspective does better than any other publication I'm seen, is to serve as a wise, perceptive and sympathetic counselor and friend for parents of kids who are in this spectrum. It speaks respectfully and helpfully about the whole range of real-world issues, including schools, helpful and non-so-helpful friends, maintaining your own mental health, balancing the needs of multiple kids when one or more has exceptional needs, genuinely appreciating your kid's strengths and quirks, understanding the aches and long-term worries. |
Where so many of the books I've read and helping professionals with whom we've consulted, seem to illustrate the parable of the six blind men describing the elephant, Drs. Klass and Costello, the authors of "Quirky Kids," seem to see, and appreciate, the whole beast. I'm REALLY glad I found this book, and I warmly recommend it to parents for whom these issues are relevant. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Quirky Kids : Understanding and Helping Your Child Who Doesn't Fit In- When to Worry and When Not to Worry |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Gifted, Reading level: Grown up, Science | Comments Closed
Monday, July 10th, 2006
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| Author: | Jane Hamilton |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1989 |
"What did Cinderella's mother die of?," my daughter asked me, when she was 4. I myself had never troubled to think about this. But I came to realize that, in stories for children, from fairy tales to adventures to Walt Disney musicals, the mothers' presence is usually notable for its absence. Their deaths are required so that plots can unfold.
And yet, I have recently come across a few novels that consider thoughtfully the role(s) a mother may play in her daughter's future. In the two grimmest, White Oleander and The Book of Ruth, the power of the mothers to destroy their daughters despite great distance, time, and, in the case of White Oleander, despite tall prison walls, is absolute. The sorrows of mothers, say Janet Fitch and Jane Hamilton, are visited on their daughters.
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Perhaps it is because the mothers in White Oleander and The Book of Ruth are so monstrous that we cannot forgive the mothers for the torment they inflict on their daughters. We hold them responsible for failing to surmount their own troubles in order to better the lives of their children and grandchildren, even when their daughters actively contribute to their own tragedies.
This book is more fully reviewed in our discussion of some books about the relationships between moms and their daughters. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Book of Ruth |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: for grown ups, Dealing with bullies, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Monday, July 10th, 2006
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| Author: | Janet Fitch |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1999 |
"What did Cinderella's mother die of?," my daughter asked me, when she was 4. I myself had never troubled to think about this. But I came to realize that, in stories for children, from fairy tales to adventures to Walt Disney musicals, the mothers' presence is usually notable for its absence. Their deaths are required so that plots can unfold.
And yet, I have recently come across a few novels that consider thoughtfully the role(s) a mother may play in her daughter's future. In the two grimmest, White Oleander and The Book of Ruth, the power of the mothers to destroy their daughters despite great distance, time, and, in the case of White Oleander, despite tall prison walls, is absolute. The sorrows of mothers, say Janet Fitch and Jane Hamilton, are visited on their daughters. ... |
This book is more fully reviewed in our discussion of some books about the relationships between moms and their daughters. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: White Oleander |
Posted in Child-raising, Conceptual: for grown ups, Dealing with bullies, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
