Ideas and Information for Readers th Dear Friends, September 2004 “Our 14 Year” Reviews in This Issue FORMALITY (CONTINUED). While reading the delightful Eats, Shoots & Leaves (see inside), I was again • The Shadow of the Wind (Zafón) reminded of the progressive breakdown of the manners, protocols, niceties, and decencies of our society. Many of • Coal Run (O’Dell) the little rules that add decorum and a degree of sophistication to our society, to say nothing of providing some • Shadow Divers (Kurson) structure and defining limitations, have crumbled. Don’ts don’t seem to mean don’t anymore! Do’s prevail and it’s • Eventide (Haruf)) all just fine because you are, of course, “doing your own thing”! Dressing for dinner, speaking the language • Here is New York (White) • A Question of Blood (Rankin) correctly, opening the car doors for the ladies, taking your hat off indoors, and practicing good table manners, to • The Narrows (Connelly) name a few, should be taught religiously, perhaps saving a few good souls from the number of those who • Absolute Friends (le Carré) have dropped their guards and slipped into the abyss of mediocrity. • Sweet Land Stories (Doctorow) OBSERVATIONS OF AN AIRLINE TRAVELER. Airline travel used to be special. We looked forward to • Father Joe (Hendra) • Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Truss) getting on the plane (I always wore a sport coat, and still do) and enjoying the thrill and the special occasion • Outposts (Winchester) of air travel. The trip itself was special, not just the destination. Not now. With security checks, crowds, • Skeletons on the Zahara (King) something less than caring service, poor food, baggage-laden passengers (please check it in the next time!) • The Outlaw Sea (Langewiesche) carrying water, coffee, cell phones, and computers, and a bevy of travelers dressed (it would appear) for • Relative Danger (Benoit) • Brunelleschi’s Dome (King) digging clams, a beer bust, or Halloween, air travel is an ordeal and sends a negative message about our • A Good Year (Mayle) society. It does, however, provide a great opportunity to read (remember that activity?) so you can convert • Lullaby of Birdland (Shearing/Shipton) what could otherwise be a drag to a satisfying reading experience. Many other passengers, I’ve observed, are • Death on the Nile (Christie) either asleep (dog-tired from the rat-race), staring into space, watching a lousy movie, or fidgeting because • Skinny Dip (Hiaasen) • Cole Porter (McBrien) their cell phones have to be turned off. Life is just full of frustrations! • Public Enemies (Burrough) WHO ARE THE INTELLECTUALS? The words “intellectual elite” or just “intellectual” are often used in • Inside the Kingdom (Bin Ladin) the media and the notion seems to be that these people know it all, are rightful arbiters of public issues, and • The Jane Austen Book Club (Fowler) that their pronouncements are highly relevant. Well, not entirely. The term(s) appear to mean largely the • . and more Features academics and perhaps also selected members of the media and this group is supposed to be blessed with • Exchanging Thoughts leading-edge thinking. Let’s analyze this. The word “intellect” is defined in the dictionary as “the ability to • Tony Turner’s “A” List learn and reason” and “the capacity for knowledge and understanding.” It is also “the ability to think • Jane’s Selections abstractly and profoundly.” If my thesis is correct, these definitions just might preclude many professors from • Selection From The Archives • Music To Our Ears being “intellectual.” Many live sheltered, protected lives and their ideas rarely have to stand the test of reason • TRE Favorites…A Decade Ago and practicality. They get a free pass. The epitome of intellectualism, it is argued here, is the combination of • Have You Ever Wondered? a keen ability to think and reason along with a real-world experience factor to effectively balance the process • Little Gems From The Past and the conclusions reached. Thinking in the abstract does, of course, have its place, as long as it’s billed • . and more accordingly and the thoughts are not promulgated and accepted as the gospel and used to “sell” a particular ideology. I do esteem real intellectualism and know people from all walks of life who could be regarded as THE “intellectuals”, but isn’t it really about “wisdom” that suggests a blend of knowledge with insight and QUARTERLY judgment? So, when you hear the term “intellectual elite” or “intellectual” bandied around in the media as PUBLICATION though their thoughts should carry some special weight, just discount it appropriately and use your own FOR READING. .BETWEEN THE LINES thought processes to reason out the issues. You probably have your feet planted much more firmly on the READERS ground than the “elite intellectuals.” BY Sincerely, READERS Fall 2004 Volume XIV Issue 3 Stephen H. Ackerman Publisher ©2004 The Readers Exchange BOOK REVIEWS TITLE Reviews and Ratings: Book reviews are written by the Publisher (SHA) or by one of the Contributing AUTHOR, NO. OF PAGES, Editors and attributed accordingly. The 0-10 rating system was developed to provide some sense of YEAR OF PUBLICATION, the level of satisfaction of a book compared with other books. This is not a sophisticated evaluation. PUBLISHER AND RATING The rating is based on writing, storytelling ability, and the overall impact of each reading experience. THE SHADOW OF THE WIND The Shadow of the Wind, written by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and translated from the Spanish by Lucia CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN Graves, is the best novel I’ve read in some time. The book spent more than a year at the top of the (2001, 487pp, Spanish bestseller list and is being published in over twenty countries. Dust jackets of books are Penguin) certainly not the most objective in their commentaries, but this one hit the mark with “an uncannily 10 absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller’s art.” At almost 500 pages of great writing, the book will take some time, but it’s worth it. In Barcelona in 1945, 10-year-old Daniel Sempere is taken by his father, and antiquarian book dealer, to an unusual library where he is allowed to select one book for himself. He selects a novel entitled The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, and later sets out to find other books by this author. He quickly learns that all books by Carax have been destroyed, torched by a stranger obsessed with completely erasing his literary legacy. Daniel’s quest to learn about Carax begins to expose murder and a host of secrets long forgotten, and his own life is threatened. The evolving story of this exceptional story has everything: Mystery, love, great characters, powerful narrative, intrigue, and surprises, all couched in superb prose. This powerful literary effort is a must for those readers constantly searching for those exceptional works of fiction. (SHA) COAL RUN Coal Run is one of those rare novels that combines great storytelling with characters that are brought TAWNI O’DELL alive and leap off the pages, resulting in a riveting read. Tawni O’Dell’s first novel Back Roads, was a (2004, 351pp, New York Times bestseller, an Oprah Book Club selection, and a Main Selection of Book-of-the-Month Viking) Club. It will soon be a motion picture from DreamWorks Pictures. Coal Run is a tiny coal-mining 10 town in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the novel opens with a flashback telling of the tragic underground explosion which took the lives of 97 miners. Ivan Zoschenko was 5-years-old at that time and his immigrant father was one of those killed. Ivan, we learn later, became an All-American back at Penn State and was drafted by the Chicago Bears, but shortly thereafter his knee is crushed in a freak accident at the mine, ending his playing days. Ivan ran from all of this (to Florida) and, as the story begins, he returns to Coal Run upon learning that his teammate Reese Raynor is being released from prison. Reese had been convicted for beating his wife Crystal into a coma and had his term extended when he killed another inmate. Despite his drinking problems, Ivan is hired as a deputy sheriff and reconnects with his sister Jolene, a very attractive single mom with three kids, Reese’s troubled twin Jesse and his family, and his boyhood idol Val, who lost a leg in Vietnam. Ivan’s re-emergence and his relationship with family and friends are sharply told as old ghosts are uncovered, demons are dealt with, and surprises occur. O’Dell gives the reader a great portrayal of the coal-town community, the magnets that bring us home, and the changing tenor of relationships over time. This is a wonderful story with lots of emotional wallop and is highly recommended. (SHA) REFLECTIONS ON GOVERNMENT I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always the facts… Will Rogers depend on the support of Paul… George Bernard Shaw I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself not overdo it… Lao-Tsu up by the handle… Winston Churchill Giving money and power to government is like giving No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the whiskey and car keys to teenage boys... P.J. O’Rouke legislature is in session… Mark Twain 2 BOOK REVIEWS COLOSSUS: THE PRICE OF This provocative book should be required reading.