This family was most articulate in their letters and, being 25 years before good use was put to the telephone, carry the same sort of conversations. Beyond the letters, the two Jones boys went on to found archeology in Georgia and Tennessee. The University of Alabama will shortly reissue C.C. Jones Jr's Indian Tribes.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. Alabama. Depression. White poverty. Socialism. Attraction to one a might young. Photographs of the town 1930s. The Moundville Jail. Unmarked graves. It is all here wrapped in some of the finest writing and the best photographs you will ever read and see.
A Home Concealed Woman edited by Charles LeGuin with an Introduction by Ursula LeGuin. The journal of a piedmont Georgia woman around the turn of the century who came to be Ursula LeGuin's grandmother in law. A great journal about the drive to write.
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. Get lost in this book
and revel (in a Zen sort of way) every minute.
White also writes of the search for the mystical "average" reader. His focus is that we must always ascend. That includes the reader. While some of his terms are not current--audio-visual rather than video--he does warn us of the danger of lax, inalert minds that video produces. Rather than the lame comparison with fast food, he gives the audiovisual consuming mind "the languor of an opium parlor." In One Man's Meat, he warns, in 1938, of the danger of television.
Hugging the Shore by John Updike. 1982. Essays and criticism.
This book led me back to the beauty and wonder of literary criticism. Updike
chose wide ranges in topics. Comparing Barth and Tillich, Walt Whitman's
egothesim, annoying book mailers. Wonderful. Bought in a Key West used
bookstore along with his Picked-Up Pieces.
Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis. Jim Baker nor Jimmy Swaggart read this book. If they had, they would not have so obviously aped Elmer.
Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara. I am unsure how to take this book or what it may have meant to O'Hara. I can understand how it got neutral or negative reviews then--language, situations do not seem particularly common for a book of 1934. It is a good read though. Some passages are fine. See page 236 of the Modern Library Edition.
Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. 1939. Imagine the joy after a few pages of realizing that not only is the book not new but that you read it as a kid! The story is fun, presents history as interesting, and is honest (in a way appropriate for the intended audience, 10 year olds) about Franklin's fondness for women.
The Reivers by William Faulkner. 1962. The difficulty in reading Faulkner comes, I think, because he writes somewhere between Southern spoken idiom, sentence structure, and thought. Parenthetic thoughts can command pages leaving your breathless!
After a few pages of adjustment, the story picks up and becomes a joyride. The movie follows precisely until the ending, the movie, of course, having a funny ending.
Favorite quote: "..by 1980 the automobile will be as obsolete to reach wilderness with as the automobile will have made the wilderness it seeks."
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. The masterful craftsmanship Dickens used in putting words together to layout the feelings within David! When I discovered the story closely parallels young Charles's, I was moved.
Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour. 1986. One of his last books. Tells of an American flyer forced down at sea and captured by Soviets. His Sioux background and knowledge of survival arts help him to lead authorities including a Yakut tracker through the Siberian wilderness in winter. Implausible, but it is L'Amour and a fun read.
Jack Finney: Marian's Wall and Time and Time Again. Finney's use of time is fun. In Marian's Wall (later made into the movie Maxie), a long dead actress comes to the present because she need to know if she would have "made it."
In Time and Time Again, the principle character shows a research project that seeks to discover the secrets of time travel. Its premise if that if you are surrounded by a time and can imagine yourself in that time, you can travel to that time. 1882 is the chosen time. The detail of that time in NYC is wonderful.
The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy. 1980. Read this and avoid military school.
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. 1986. After reading this book, I began a letter to Conroy that I never finished nor mailed. Trite as it is, it follows:
As I sat reading Prince of Tides, the feeling I was in the presence of greatness began to rise in me. The interplay of the subplots adds to the work in a way that makes the parts greater than the whole. The subplot of a son's relationship to his father is the most revealing attempt I have read. Why do we have these strains? We are certainly led to express them through narrative prose, poem, and song.
For years I've avoided "Southern" writers. Too much of what was said was too true. Eudora Welty's novel was as if from my mind. It brought back painful memories of some poor friends' living conditions.
You portray the same truths which are as deeply felt, but somehow they are more palatable. This is meant as a literary not commercial compliment. It gets these truths over to those who did not live them.
In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason. Her realistic quotidian writing style is pleasant. The final scene at the Vietnam Veterans' Wall should be read by all.
James Hogan:
The Giants' Trilogy. Inherit the Stars; The Gentle Giants of Ganymeade;
The Giants' Star. How many times will I read these? Wonderful science
fiction based on hard science. Even when its made up, it's plausible. My
enjoyment of ALL of Hogan's books (minus the few on espionage) is that
you read along smugly knowing that you know where the story is going. By
the time you get to the end, your assumptions have been shredded and you
have learned something, perhaps even about yourself.
Freedom by William Safire. The mind and politics of 1861 to the Emancipation Proclamation. The book and the underbook are fascinating story and history. Anna Carroll, in history an obscure pamphleteer, is developed as an interesting, intellectual, and somewhat seductive figure (Safire did, after all, hope for best sellerdom). Safire hints at relationships between her, Milliard Fillmore, James Buchanan, and John Breckenridge.
Philip Caputo: A Rumor of War and Indian Country. Caputo was able to present the Vietnam experience in a way perhaps unique. Nowhere in Rumor of War, which describes patrols during the war in realistic, grisly detail, or in Indian Country, which presents the tragic near psychotic experiences of a Vietnam vet, does he force the reader to interpret any passages through the smokescreen of his or her political feelings about the war. The books allow you to see the human side of those who did go.
The city of Paris as reflected in literature: The present case being Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, The Merry Month of May by James Jones, and The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. What is Paris? What an impression one gets through these and many more books! Anarchy is the impression with the closest fit. Lurid sex, incredible poverty, surrounded by the finest monuments of medieval western civilization with near repressive, seemingly right wing governments.
Patience with the language of the book will be rewarded. The story is worthy of the effort, but statements spread literally though out the book give a different impression of environmental awareness than one think think of the time (published in 1823, set in the 1790s).
Natty Bumpo arises as a Teddy Roosevelt sort of hunter who appreciates at least rudimentary conservation.
The reader can get a feel of a new settlement carved from wilderness. In the passenger pigeon hunting scene, birds cover the ground, slain and dying from the affects of artillery methods of the townspeople. Natty refuses to pick one for supper--he shoots his own.
It is in this book that he gets the nickname Sir Leatherstocking from Elizabeth Temple.
The Deerslayer. 1841. Although a political conservative, Cooper must have been close to abolitionism or at least its thought. During the first few hours of the novel, Natty Bumpo and Hurry Harry (Henry March) have two separate discussions about the relative worth of different races. Hurry sums up as admitting only white is superior while Natty echoes modern "judged by deeds not by color" thoughts. He tried to convince March and Tom Hutter to view the differences in white and Indian, from what I perceive, as cultural differences--revenge is the Indian's gift, forgiveness the white man's.
Natty, by page 34 in my version, has begun to chastise others for their low appreciation of nature. He calls for wise use of its resources, not wasteful.
The Last of the Mohicans. 1826 In the introduction, Cooper guides us toward accepting Asian origin of American Indians.
This is a bit more slow reading than The Pioneers or The Deerslayer
and implausible as a story.
Winds of War by Herman Wouk. A shocker on the shelf of the bookstore at $12.95! Most books then wer $7.95-8.95.
My philosophy professor (Mary Dunleavy where are you?), circa 1971,
skipped over to the end to find out what happened. It was not that kind
of book for me, but one to savor every page. I've read it at least three
times. This all sounds sappy...just read the book.
Thunderhead by Mary O'Hara. This books tells of how Ken's mare "Flicka" has a foal, solid white. He turns out to be nothing but trouble. He loses a race by clowning around. Ken puts him in a canyon and blocks the exit.
Green Grass of Wyoming by Mary O'Hara. Thunderhead's mares are
killed by poison grass and he escapes from the valley. He finds a prize
mare thrown off a train. The owner is a girl one year younger than Ken.
He falls in love with her.
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. This book tells how Captain Cyrus Harding and his crew of four escaped Union prisoners fled Richmond to the mysterious island. Captain Nemo, the unknown power saves them many times. Bought at Brown's Book Store.
Winston Churchill by Quentin Reynolds. This book tells how Winston Churchill lived as a child and man. He was Prime-Minister at 81. He was Lord of the Admiralty during both wars. He was a great friend of Roosevelt. Died Jan. 65.
The Foundling by Francis Cardinal Spellman. This book tells how Paul Taggart lost an arm in World War I. When he came home he found a baby in a church. He grows up, falls in love, and goes to World War II. He loses his eyes.
The Yearling by Marjorie K. Rawlins. This book tells how Jody Baxter's father is snake-bitten and kills a doe for its heart. Jody finds its fawn and takes care of it. It begans (sic) to eat the corn and they have to shot it. From the Lanier Jr High Library.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. This book tells how Jean Valjean gets out of prison. He steals some money and is a fugitive for live (sic). He finds a little girl and raisers (sic) her until she gets married. He died of sorrow. Abridged version from Brown's Book Store.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. This book tells how Gulliver travels to the land of the little people, the giants, and the Houyhlnms (heck, I don't know if I should put (sic) here or not!) who have the form of horses. This all took place in sixteen years and seven months. From the Lanier Jr High Library.
Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts. This book tell (sic) how Rogers' Ranger (sic) took St. Francis and make their way back to Crown Point. Rogers later tried to discover the Northwest Passage but failed. From the Lanier Jr High Library.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. This book tells how the old man catches a giant marlin off Havana. The fish pulls him for about three days. He lashes it on the boat and the sharks eat every bit of it. From the Macon Bookmobile.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This book tells how Alive went down the rabbit-hole after the white rabbit. She sees many funny and stupid things. She wakes up and finds it was a dream.
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This book tells how Huck's pap takes him away from the widow. Huck escapes leaving a trail of pig blood and everybody thinks Jim killed him. Tom Sawyer and Huck rescue him.
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. After Travis' father left for Abeline an ugly old dog came around and stole some of their mean. At first Travis object to keeping him but when he had to kill him he felt the opposite. Borrowed from Steve Dunbar.
The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling. These short stories tells about Mo.... (sic) and seal hunters. The Jungle boy ran the jungles of India every spring. It also tells of several seal hunters. Rikki-tikki-tavi is the story of a mongoose.
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. This book tells of how a lonely lighthouse keeper nurses a snow goose from Canada. The old man is killed at Dunkirk. A girl took care of his birds until a German plane blew it up.
Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapiere. This book tells of the German occupation of France. It tells of Charles de Gualle's great courage in the face of danger. The Allies rescue France.
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare. This play tells how Katherina marries Petruchio. Katherina is the shrew. She changes when they go to the wedding-feast at her father's house.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque. This book records the experiences of a group of young soldiers fighting and suffering through the last days of Word (sic and a half) War I. Paul Baumer is the main character.
Tales of Mystery by Edgar Allen Poe. This book of short mystery stories was written by the master of mystery. It contains Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Purloined Letter, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Cask of Amontillado, and others.
Dr. No by Ian Fleming. This book tells how James Bond goes to Jamaca (sic) to find two missing agents. He hears of Dr. No and goes to Crab Key. He is tortured and his friend is killed. He gets away with a native girl. [To which my English teacher wrote "Read only from our library at school." in red ink!]
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. This is the story of Quasimodo the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He rescues Esmeralda, the gipsy girl. She is hanged. While Claude Frollo is watching her hang he pushes him off the tower. Black's Readers Service Club. [I remember waiting until the last minute to begin this book for a book report. I read the whole weekend in every chair in the house and even hanging upside down from sweetgums in our Macon yard.]
Two Logs Crossing by Walter D. Edmonds. This is the story of John Haskell's adventures in High Falls and trapping in the woods. The judge gives him money and he goes into the woods with Seth. On his first trip back he didn't put two logs across a creek and he fell in.
School ended. We vacationed with relatives in Damascus and College Park, Maryland. We were about to head to a Baltimore Orioles game when we got the word my Vannerson grandfather was dying in Savannah, GA. We made a beeline south to be with that part of the family. I did not record any reading until August when I began but did not finish Giants in the Earth. That fall terms marked the opening of Mark Smith High School on my side of the Ocmulgee River. The library was wonderful--all the books were new and since I worked there, I had just about first choice.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. In this book Michelangelo becomes an apprentice (sic) for Ghirlandaio. He worked hard but wanted to become a sculptor. He made many friends and enemies during his life. Michelangelo lived to be ninety.
Caravans by James A. Michener. When Ellen Jasper disappeared from Qala Bist, Afghanistan the American Embassy tells one of their workers, Mark Miller to find her. He has many adventures in the desert and with the nomads.
The remainder of this year's recorded reading is not dated beyond the year.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare. This play tells of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, his father & mother, and his friends & enemies. In the end all die but Hamlet. He then kills himself.
A Bell for Adona by John Hersey. This book tells how Major Victor Joppolo, military governor of Adona, gets them a bell to replace the 700-year old bell taken by Mussolini. From the Mark Smith High School Library.
The Odd Number by Guy de Massupaunt. This is a collection of short stories. The best of his stories. It contains "The Necklace," The Piece of String," etc.
My Antonia by Willa Cather. This book tells about the life of pioneers on the flatland pariae (sic).
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. Very Good.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. This book tells how the noted Dr. Jekyll made a compound that changed him into Mr. Hyde, the murderer, when he drank it. It tells about Dr. Jekyll going to bed and wake up as Mr. Hyde.
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. This book tells how David Balfour went to his uncle's house. His uncle later sold him into captivity. It tells how he refound his uncle and got his inheritance. From the Lanier Jr. High School Library.
Typee by Herman Melville. This book is based on Melville's stay in the South Seas. It tells how he and Toby jumped ship and were captured by the Typees. Toby escapes about two months before Melville. This was his first novel. [I still have this first printing of the Bantam Classic paperback. I bought it new but it has deeply suffered the ravages of Southern time. Yet I cannot throw it away since, in many ways, it was my first crossover to a deeper sort of reading. I apparently tried out a drawing compass on the cover and I must have opened it many times. The South Sea islander illustration would have had nothing to do with that!]
Moncho and the Dukes by Eleanor Hull. This book tells about the Puerto Rican life in East Harlem. Moncho joins the Admirals a kind of boy's club. He & Johnson, his Negro friend, have many adventures together and apart. From the Cross Keys Methodist Library, Macon, GA.
The Trenches by Lt. James Driscoll. This book tells how Roy Flynn and Herbet Wintcomb enlist in the first World War and go to France. Roy loses a leg and goes home but Herbert becomes a near hero. Gift from Harvey L. Fell Jr.
Jack Sutherland by Theodore Oertel. This book tells of how Jack's father and mother died he went to his uncle. He ran away the same day and met Ben who took him to Georgia. He fights in the Battle of Bloody Marsh. Gift from Harvey L. Fell Jr.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London. This book tells how Buck, a sled dog, goes to the gold fields. He is sold many times. Buck has many adventures in the North. He meets up with a wolf pack and leaves the civilized world.
The Whispering Mummy by Leo Edwards. This book tells how Jerry Todd and his friends were made suckers by an old man. He turned out to be the stealer of the mummy which was in the end a fake. Gift from Harvey L. Fell Jr.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville. This book tells how Ishmael and his savage friend, Queequeg, get a job on the whaler, Pequod. They meet several ships in the Pacific and ask for the white whale. At the end all of the men are killed by Moby Dick. An abridged version purchased at the Ben Franklin, Sherwood Shopping Center, Macon, GA.
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Douglass Wallop. This book tells how Applegate turns Joe Boyd into a young Joe Hardy. He becomes the Senators star player. He wins the pennant from the Yankees. Applegate turns him back to Joe Hardy in the end. [This Faustian baseball novel the source for the musical Damn Yankees.]
Good-Bye My Lady by James Street. This book tells how Skeeter found a very rare dog. He taught her how to hunt. They had many adventures together. A man came for the dog one day. Skeeter got a $100 reward.
The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler by William L. Shirer. This book tells how Hitler won the Germans and was a warlord. It tells how he captured almost all of Europe. He and his wife committed suicide on April 30, 1945.
November
Jack London by Shannon Garst. This book tells the life story of Jack London: Author. He bought a boat and became an oyster pirate. He tries to sail around the world but his health stopped him. He died in 1916. From the Lanier Jr High Library.
Crystal Mountain by Belle Dorman Rugh. This book tells how Gerald and Harry, an English girl and her governess, find out the mystery of the ruined house. This happened in a village in Lebanon. From the Lanier Jr High Library.
The Island by Robert Merle. This book tells how Adam Purcell and his Tahitian wife with the rest of the mutineers of the ship Blossom, live on a small island in the Pacific. There is a war between them and the Tahitians. Adam is the only British left.
The Iron Heel by Jack London. This is a nightmare dream of the socialist party. It tells how Ernest Everhard and his wife are greatly involved in the socialist revolution in the early 1900s. From the Lanier Jr High School Library.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. In 1872 Phileas Fogg wagers his fortune that he can go around the world in 80 days. He is followed by Detective Fix who wants to arrest him of robbery. He wins the bet of 20,000 pounds.
The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle. This book tells how a group of men tried to blow up a Japanese bridge built by British prisoners. The colonel called for help though and the bridge was not blown up. From Scholastic Book Club.
The Song of Hiawatha by H.W. Longfellow. This poem tells of how Hiawatha was born, hunted, fished and died. It tells how he killed the giant pike. When the white man came he welcomed them. From the Lanier Jr High School Library.
King of the Golden River by John Ruskin. This book tells how Gluck's brother tried to turn the river into gold but they were turned into stones. Gluck did it right and the water watered his dry fields. From my cousin Phyllis Ashmen.
As You Like It by William Shakespeare. This play tells how the Duke of France retires to the Forest of Arden. His daughter, Rosalind marries Orlando. Oliver and Celia marry at the same wedding. This is a comedy. From my Grandmother Seckinger's bookshelf, Springfield, GA.
The Odyssey by Homer. This book tells how Odysseus is held prison (sic) after the war of Troy by Lady Calypso. He is here for ten years. When he returns his dog is the only one to recognize him. An Armed Forces Edition paperback translated by T.E. Shaw (a psydoneum of T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia) from my Grandmother Seckinger's bookshelf, Springfield, GA
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. This book tells how the Martians invaded the country side of England. It tells how he wanders to get away from the heat-ray. In the end he finds his wife and cousins alive. Purchased at K-Mart.
A Midsummer's Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson.
Lord Baden-Powell by Howard Fast. This book tells how Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell began to draw, to be one of the most famous scouts of all times. In about 1907 he formed the Boy Scouts. From the Lanier Jr. High School Library.
The Yanks are Coming by Pierce G. Fredericks. This book tells of the immortal moments of bravery, destruction and death revealed in eyewitness descriptions. It tells how Germany finally gave up the lost struggle in 1918. Purchased at Claxton-Hill Drugs, Macon, GA.
Jerry Todd, Pirate by Leo Edwards. This book tells how Jerry Todd and his gang camped out on an island in the canal. They find some silver dishes and another friend. They dress like pirates and fight off a gang.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. This book tells how Professor Aronmax, Consiel, and Ned Land are thrown overboard by a collision with the Nautilus. They travel around the world and see the most unbelievable things. Purchased at Levy's Department Store, Savannah, GA.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. This book tells how Professor Hardwigg and his nephew find directions to the center of the earth and start out. Their guide, Hans, saves them many times. They end up on an island in the Mediterranean. Purchased at Levy's Department Store, Savannah, GA.
Hearts Come Home by Pearl Buck. This book tells how David Lin falls in love with a supposedly modern chinese girl. She lives in a modern house but when they marry she says she likes the old-fashioned ways. He does too.
A library club meeting at Lanier Jr High, Macon, GA
The meeting was called to order by the vice-president,
Andy Skalko in the President's absence. The roll was then called by the
vice-president.
Andy Skalko talked about two books he had read lately,
Butterfield 8, and Hawaii.
Mrs. Harwell talked about where to find weather
superstitions which Mrs. Dun's class needed to know.
Some students talked about what they had done in
the Library that week.
Dale Calloway reported on Animal Farm by George
Orwell.
Andy Skalko talked again briefly on Mila 18 by Leon
Uris. Then Dale reported on some of the stories in Wild Animals I Have
Known by Ernest Thompson Seton. Then we dismissed and read.
Respectively submitted,
Ernest Seckinger
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Jr