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patlo's Reviews (1.32k)
A silly but decent short story followed by two novel excerpts. The short story was 2-star worthy, the novel excerpts didn't catch my attention.
(Rounded up from 4.5 stars because this is a unique approach to the subject matter).
The Back of Beyond is the story of author James Charles Roy's leadership of a small pilgrimage/tour group in the rural parts of western Ireland. An American, Roy has written extensively on Irish history (his The Road Wet, the Wind Close is extremely well researched if a bit dry to read). The story is part memoir, part history, and part travelogue. It's a good tale of a tour guide trying to show his group a reality of Irish history stripped of its overly-romanticized tendencies.
Roy's personality is curmudgeonly and slightly difficult, but he is deeply passionate about the topic. He wants his group to see the reality of Irish history through its two weeks in-country, so they tour the backroads and little known places, rather than hearing tales of shamrocks and leprechauns. The story works because of Roy's angst and his passion, but especially because his humor negates his obviously overwritten grumpiness. Its a funny story filled with facts, stories, names and places, but is not the same old tales of a Magically Delicious country.
If you're looking for a romantic tale, look elsewhere. If you want to see the little details - for Roy's thesis is that the best things in Ireland are small and easily overlooked - then read this one.
Truthfully, I've tried reading The Road Wet... a few times now. I recognize that it's good, but it's dry. However, after finishing this later tale, I'm definitely going back to read it in full, recognizing that I'm hearing from a realist who still deeply values the magic of Irish history, from its saints to its overlords, even if that magic isn't the simplistic thing that is usually told to American tour buses.
The Back of Beyond is the story of author James Charles Roy's leadership of a small pilgrimage/tour group in the rural parts of western Ireland. An American, Roy has written extensively on Irish history (his The Road Wet, the Wind Close is extremely well researched if a bit dry to read). The story is part memoir, part history, and part travelogue. It's a good tale of a tour guide trying to show his group a reality of Irish history stripped of its overly-romanticized tendencies.
Roy's personality is curmudgeonly and slightly difficult, but he is deeply passionate about the topic. He wants his group to see the reality of Irish history through its two weeks in-country, so they tour the backroads and little known places, rather than hearing tales of shamrocks and leprechauns. The story works because of Roy's angst and his passion, but especially because his humor negates his obviously overwritten grumpiness. Its a funny story filled with facts, stories, names and places, but is not the same old tales of a Magically Delicious country.
If you're looking for a romantic tale, look elsewhere. If you want to see the little details - for Roy's thesis is that the best things in Ireland are small and easily overlooked - then read this one.
Truthfully, I've tried reading The Road Wet... a few times now. I recognize that it's good, but it's dry. However, after finishing this later tale, I'm definitely going back to read it in full, recognizing that I'm hearing from a realist who still deeply values the magic of Irish history, from its saints to its overlords, even if that magic isn't the simplistic thing that is usually told to American tour buses.
If I could give this book six stars, I would. It is beautiful, profound, thoughtful and unique. Reading it was a joyful, educational and profound experience.
God's Mind in That Music is two things: Firstly, an exploration of theology in music, and secondly, an exploration of the life, work and meaning of John Coltrane's music on its own terms. In both halves it delivers quite well. It is remarkable to me that it would be a fascinating read for theologians who do not care for Coltrane, as well as for Coltrane fans who do not care for theology.
I first discovered this book when poking around the publisher's website. A fan of theology and the arts, and also a fan of jazz (and early Coltrane), I bought a n eBook copy with low expectations. Frankly I assumed it would be, as I described to friends at the time, "academic wankery." But by the time I was through just the Foreword and the Introduction, I bought a print copy of the book because I wanted fingers on paper, and I wanted to flip back and forth, and I knew that the book would be impactful to me and would need to live on my bookshelf for many readings and references.
The beginning of the book is an introduction to the ways in which we can understand deep meaning in music, even if it is not directly intended by the artist. How can we perceive the story of the things Sacred in music? How does the history of jazz, embedded with powerful racial dynamics, affect that perception of meaning? And who was this artist, John Coltrane, valued by many through his short and explosive career, and far past his untimely death 45 - !!! - years ago.
The next sections of the book are a listening party, taking seven songs from Coltrane's recordings and exploring meaning within and from them.
It's a beautiful dance that taught me so much - about theology and the arts; understanding music; Coltrane as an individual and historical figure - and even more so, about seven brilliant songs that range from accessible to otherworldly. I have long been a fan of Coltrane's earliest (most approachable) music, and just did not understand his later, more free, work.
Author Jamie Howison pulled the scales away from my eyes. For the first time in my life, I feel that I understand Coltrane as a musician, his approach and goals with his later work, but most importantly, how the man could pray though his horn and impact so many, with no words and no overt theology.
True, Coltrane was a deeply spiritual man who grew up in a traditional Christian home, but his his spirituality grew beyond that - as did many in his age. Like the author, I don't land in the same theological camp as a late Coltrane, but I find profound meaning in what the artist was able to create through his entire life - early and late.
I will not perceive or experience Coltrane, jazz or any music the same way again. As an artist, John Coltrane continues to impact me, not just as a fan of music.
God's Mind in That Music is two things: Firstly, an exploration of theology in music, and secondly, an exploration of the life, work and meaning of John Coltrane's music on its own terms. In both halves it delivers quite well. It is remarkable to me that it would be a fascinating read for theologians who do not care for Coltrane, as well as for Coltrane fans who do not care for theology.
I first discovered this book when poking around the publisher's website. A fan of theology and the arts, and also a fan of jazz (and early Coltrane), I bought a n eBook copy with low expectations. Frankly I assumed it would be, as I described to friends at the time, "academic wankery." But by the time I was through just the Foreword and the Introduction, I bought a print copy of the book because I wanted fingers on paper, and I wanted to flip back and forth, and I knew that the book would be impactful to me and would need to live on my bookshelf for many readings and references.
The beginning of the book is an introduction to the ways in which we can understand deep meaning in music, even if it is not directly intended by the artist. How can we perceive the story of the things Sacred in music? How does the history of jazz, embedded with powerful racial dynamics, affect that perception of meaning? And who was this artist, John Coltrane, valued by many through his short and explosive career, and far past his untimely death 45 - !!! - years ago.
The next sections of the book are a listening party, taking seven songs from Coltrane's recordings and exploring meaning within and from them.
It's a beautiful dance that taught me so much - about theology and the arts; understanding music; Coltrane as an individual and historical figure - and even more so, about seven brilliant songs that range from accessible to otherworldly. I have long been a fan of Coltrane's earliest (most approachable) music, and just did not understand his later, more free, work.
Author Jamie Howison pulled the scales away from my eyes. For the first time in my life, I feel that I understand Coltrane as a musician, his approach and goals with his later work, but most importantly, how the man could pray though his horn and impact so many, with no words and no overt theology.
True, Coltrane was a deeply spiritual man who grew up in a traditional Christian home, but his his spirituality grew beyond that - as did many in his age. Like the author, I don't land in the same theological camp as a late Coltrane, but I find profound meaning in what the artist was able to create through his entire life - early and late.
I will not perceive or experience Coltrane, jazz or any music the same way again. As an artist, John Coltrane continues to impact me, not just as a fan of music.
Perhaps because of the cover, I assumed this was a fictional tale. It’s not, though I wish it were.
Zeitoun tells the story of a resident of New Orleans resident, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, and his wife Kathy and children, in the midst and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It begins as a humanitarian tale, with Zeitoun staying behind in the family house to take care of it and elderly neighbors and pets in the hurricane and its aftermatch.
But the story morphs as Zeitoun is detained in the days following Katrina, accused of being an Al Qaeda terrorist based on vague hysteria. The story is told from Abdulrahman’s experience as well as Kathy’s in his imprisonment. It is the stuff of a great action thriller, except that this story happened to one family of American citizens.
Zeitoun tells the story of a resident of New Orleans resident, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, and his wife Kathy and children, in the midst and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It begins as a humanitarian tale, with Zeitoun staying behind in the family house to take care of it and elderly neighbors and pets in the hurricane and its aftermatch.
But the story morphs as Zeitoun is detained in the days following Katrina, accused of being an Al Qaeda terrorist based on vague hysteria. The story is told from Abdulrahman’s experience as well as Kathy’s in his imprisonment. It is the stuff of a great action thriller, except that this story happened to one family of American citizens.
I try to make a point to read from authors who come from a different space than I do in order to learn broadly. Julie Otsuka’s memoir/novel about her San Francisco – based family’s relocation to the Japanese internment camps during World War II was brilliant. It’s told through a few periods of time and from the perspective of an adolescent experiencing this relocation, and told from her family’s history. It’s not in-your-face political challenge, but it’s a powerful story because it is true and real.
