An Embarrassment of Riches

The Tudors, Season 2, Haiku too - by Steve

A son? No. A son?
Not quite yet, Your Majesty.
Get me a new wife!

Tudors: The Complete First Season

Tudors: The Complete Second Season

Tudors: The Complete Third Season

For the first season Haiku review, click here.

Our Best Idea by guest blogger Martha

Our guest blogger is Martha, who is the Reference Coordinator for the library.

The summer after my freshman year of college I followed a cute boy West to Yellowstone National Park where we had jobs waiting tables. That summer I fell madly in love, not with the boy, but with the park. I was floored by the majesty of the wilderness. Watching Ken Burns' recent series The National Parks: America's Best Idea rekindled that passion and my desire to learn more about our National Parks.

As luck would have it Timothy Egan has a new book out called The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America. It’s a beautifully written account of the formation of the national forest service, the American conservation movement, Roosevelt and Pinchot’s passion for the wilderness, and a heartbreaking account of the fire of 1910. Growing up in the Midwest I didn't know very much about the fire of 1910 and was surprised to lean it was the largest wildfire in American history. Egan says in less than two days, it torched more than three million acres, burned five towns to the ground, and killed nearly one hundred people. To give some perspective, he explains, it’s like having the entire state of Connecticut burn in one weekend.
Egan has a delightful writing style; it’s as if he’s flopped on your living room couch regaling you with a tale filled with passion, drama, and politics. As a presidential history fan I loved reading about Roosevelt’s relationship with Gifford Pinchot; it was something I hadn't read about in other Roosevelt biographies.
Mr. Egan was recently interviewed by NPR and I expect that explains the large hold list on this book. If you need a national park fix while waiting for The Big Burn you can try the book version of the series (The National Parks: An Illustrated History), Norman MacLean's Young Men & Fire or Gifford Pinchot’s autobiography Breaking New Ground.

True Life Comic Book Heroes - by Alison Comic books are full of charismatic leaders locked in desperate struggles, but a vast majority of these are fictional. It's perspective-changing when comics are used to tell stories of real people. One such book is Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography, by Chester Brown. Riel is a character of mythic proportions in Canadian history. He butted heads with the newly established government of Canada, starting in 1869 when he led the Red River Rebellion. Riel was a leader who believed he was divinely chosen to protect and defend the rights of the Metis - descendants of First Nations people and Europeans who suffered persecution from the wider culture. Brown tells the story of Riel's fights and flights back and forth across the Canadian border, from Manitoba, to Montana and then to Saskatchewan, where he was eventually arrested for treason and hanged. The minimalist color scheme and Brown's crisp drawings create a suspenseful story that could otherwise come across as a dry recitation of historical fact. If you never thought you'd read a comic book, but are a history buff, give this a try. Find out more about the intriguing Louis Riel here.

Property - by Felicia If you’re looking for a compelling short novel, Property by Valerie Martin won’t disappoint. Written from the view of a white female slave owner, Manon Gaudet, the book introduces us to a familiar scenario — a woman in an unhappy marriage. The difference is that few novels give us such an honest portrayal of white women who owned slaves and how they felt about their property.
At first, Manon seems to be no different than other women of this time period. But slowly we realize that this woman can only see beyond her own circumstances. Her husband, who according to Manon is dull as can be, does seem to try to win her affections. But he commits a common betrayal of slave owners and gets one of his slaves, Sarah, pregnant. Although Manon certainly doesn’t want him in her bed, she is disgusted that he would humiliate her and have a bastard with one of their slaves. Throughout the novel, she wishes him dead so that she can pursue a happier life. But Manon’s bitterness and loneliness will never allow her true happiness.
The author teases us with glimpses of Manon’s humanity but quickly extinguishes these by giving us insights into Manon’s lack of compassion for Sarah (or any other slave), who in no way wanted Manon’s husband’s attention. Manon is blithely unaware of the harsh, miserable life that Sarah must endure and sees her simply as a manipulative, conniving woman who doesn’t know her place. When Sarah runs away after a violent encounter with a group of runaway slaves who come to the house, Manon is determined to get her back. Sarah won’t be allowed any good fortune in her life if Manon can help it. And she does.
Compelling to read, this book reminds us of slavery’s long-reaching effect on everyone it touches. The author gives us a raw, brutal portrayal of these characters and draws us into a story that forces us to think about our own ideas of race and class.

Plumbing the Depths of a Good Story - by Ruth Sometimes once is not enough for me - seeing the movie Amadeus over and over again, eating corn on the cob four days in a row when it's in season, visiting Britain multiple times, walking along Nye Beach, and hiking in the Columbia Gorge.  For some authors, writing a story just once is not enough.  In recent years, a number of books for teens and kids have come out that are based on books written for adults.  This week I read a fantastic book for older kids and teens called Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson which is based on his Edgar Award winning book Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. Swanson first describes the days leading up to the assassination, the prior plot to kidnap Lincoln, and the final plan to kill three of the most important political players of the day:  President Abraham Lincoln, Vice-President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward.  He then takes the reader through the assassination and assassination attempts, the various get-aways, the eventual discovery of the culprits and their fates.  He gives just the right amount of detail about the major figures in the story, keeps the action moving, and provides well-placed illustrations including photos of the people involved, newspaper clippings and a map detailing the route of the assassins. 194 pages was probably enough for me, but if you want the full scoop, you can read all 448 pages of Manhunt.

Several other non-fiction adult books and their younger companions to check out are:
Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex
Mark Kurlansky's Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World and The Cod's Tale
Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal and Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food

Truth Through Fiction and The Known World - by Felicia I could never understand how free blacks could own other blacks. How could they justify this? The Known World, by Edward P. Jones, sheds some light on the topic, while making the devastation and tragedy of slavery in our country all too real. The main characters in this novel, both black and white, help us to understand the impact of this institution and how it affects us to this day.

Henry is a slave until the age of 14. Although he witnesses the atrocities of slavery, he is never a recipient of his master's abuses. A few years after his parents purchase his freedom, Henry purchases his own slave, and is reluctant to tell his parents he has done so. The scene that ensues is heartbreaking. His parents' question is a simple one: How could he become a slave owner when he himself has witnessed its evilness? His decision creates a schism between him and his parents that is never repaired.

Both black and white slave owners believe that they are doing the slaves a favor. Of course, the slaves are better off than they would be in Africa, where they were just savages. The way that the black slave owners view the slaves is particularly disturbing. They seem to feel no kinship with any of them, even those who were former slaves themselves. And if they must beat or maim their slaves, it's because they deserve it. How else to keep them from doing wrong?

One of the least surprising parts of the novel occurs when some free blacks are sold back into slavery. While a common practice, the affects of this practice are hard to read. In this one instant, the story changes from tragedy to horror.

Jones' story, though fiction, is all too real in its portrayal of the relationships among whites, free blacks and slaves and really helps us understand how the history of slavery still affects our morals and beliefs.

Haiku Review - The Tudors - by Steve

Tyrant king in love.
"I need a new wife now!"
Oops, more beheadings.

Tudors: The Complete First Season

Tudors: The Complete Second Season