Reported by Jeanne
The Nevermore Book Club opened with a rave review for a movie. A Private War is a dramatization of the last years of war correspondent Marie Colvin. Colvin was an American who wrote for The London Times and who covered conflicts around the world. She lost an eye while reporting in Sri Lanka, but that didn’t prevent her from continuing her career in dangerous situations. Her final assignment was in Syria. Our reviewer couldn’t praise it highly enough.
Fittingly, the next entry was a book by Dan Rather, also a news reporter. What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism is divided up by categories, including “Freedom,” “Community,” and “Responsibility,” which are then subdivided under headings such as “Audacity,” “Environment,” and “Service.” Our reviewer felt that Rather is an excellent writer, praising him for being both succinct and enlightening as well as patriotic. She singled out his observation that the public has lost a great deal by having the news consist of sound bites instead of in-depth reporting.
This was followed by the historical novel The
Slaughterman’s Daughter by Yaniv
Iczkovits. Written originally in Hebrew, the novel is set in 1895 in Russia
where two Jewish sisters set out to track down the missing husband of the older
sister, Mende. Younger sister Fanny has
always been something of a wild child, even training in their father’s
profession of being a ritual slaughterman.
This training comes in handy on the journey which comes to involve
bandits, the Russian secret police and the czar’s army. Our reader recommended it highly, saying that
it’s different, interesting, and enjoyable.
Rainier Erupts! by Thomas Hopp postulates what would happen if Mt. Rainier were to, well, erupt. This novel follows several points of view, from scientists trying to predict events to one family struggling to survive. Hopp presents a vivid picture, made more real to our reader because she has been to the area. She said this was a good but not great book and added, “If you like a book about things going wrong, you’ll like this book."
The title of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Gilead by Marilynne Robinson refers to the town of Gilead, Iowa where the Reverend John Ames seeks to write an account of his heritage to leave to his young son. Ames is in his seventies, and he knows there isn’t much time left to tell about his father and grandfather, both of whom were also men of God but who certainly did not see eye to eye. It’s also a meditation on life, faith, and theology, wrapped up in beautiful prose. “I wasn’t ready for this book before, but I am now,” commented the Nevermore member. She praised the book specifically for its “superb storytelling.”
Up next was the collection of American Short Stories which one of our readers has enjoyed dipping into for something light and refreshing. She particularly recommended “The School” by Donald Barthelme and treated us to a reading of the first few lines.
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline has made the rounds of our readers, all of whom have been drawn into this historical novel which begins in 1840. The book weaves together the stories of three women: an Aboriginal girl named Mathinna who has been taken away from her mother by a white aristocrat; a Scottish orphan who is caught stealing bread; and a London governess, also accused of stealing. The latter two are convicted and shipped off to Australia as punishment. Our reviewer said the book was well worth reading and also put in a good word for Kline’s other novels, especially The Orphan Train.
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson is a true story that reads like fiction. Author Johnson was fly-fishing with a friend when he first heard the story of the American student who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of feathers from a British museum in order to make Victorian fishing flies. Fascinated, Johnson began to research the story and wrote this incredible account not only of the theft but also about the mania for rare birds that drove some species to extinction or near-extinction. Our reader found it to be an excellent book, both thrilling and informative.
Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together was described as a book that “sometimes makes you so mad and so depressed, but you still think everyone should read it.” The author believes that segregation hurts everyone, both the dominant group and the minority group, and causes the dominant group to become less flexible and compassionate. Our reader pointed out that while everyone says they want diversity, their actions say something else. People make choices that are more about their own comfort levels, going for the familiar.
Finally, there was a recommendation for a Netflix offering, “The River Runner.” It’s a documentary about kayaker Scott Lindgren, and our viewer thought it was both powerful and beautiful.
The session ended with a quotation from Bertram Russell: “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
Other books mentioned:
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death by Caitlin Doughty
Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright
Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Shadowlands by William Nicholson
Jack’s Life: The Life Story of C.S. Lewis by Douglas Gresham
Forget the Alamo by Bryan Burrough
