Recently I just finished Corelli's Mandolin written by Louis de Bernieres. It's an epic, WWII novel set in a Greek island (oh lord, wanderlust much?).
Side story: I first discovered Powell's bookstore when I was looking for a specific book -- The Book of Flying by Keith Miller, also wonderful -- at a small bookstore in Taos, New Mexico. One of the employees told me that Book of Flying is out of print but that Powell's can get out of print books from their online store. I found it and I was converted. Fast forward a few years and I was on a trip to Oregon with my fiance, flying in and out of Portland, and they have several locations in the airport. I instantly dragged him in ("just for a few minutes, I promise!"), found three used books to buy (because my carry-ons weren't heavy enough), and within ten minutes I had new reading material.
I picked up Corelli's Mandolin because I'd heard of the movie (they added the Captain) during the Oscars in the 90s. I figured if the movie was supposed to be good, the book is always better. And I was right (I still haven't seen the movie -- I'm not sure if I can picture Nicholas Cage as Captain Corelli). It's amazing. It's epic, it's hilarious, it's heartbreaking, and it's wonderful. The chapters are written from a variety of perspectives, one directly from Il Duce himself, and while it can be difficult to keep track of some of the names because they're mostly Greek, and there's so much in it that I could only take in a few chapters at a time to let it sink in. And now I'm recommending it to everyone I know.
I've also just finished a nonfiction book: Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande. I'd been trying to get through a book on how history has been affected by disease, which sounded like a fascinating subject but the book itself is hard to get through; I was reading it at my in-laws' and the subject of disease apparently made my father-in-law think that I'd be interested in reading about medicine. Not normally subject matter I pursue, but I'll take a book recommendation.
Clearly written, well-organized, and carefully thought out. Gawande argues that for surgeons to get better, they need to do better, do good, and innovate. He then takes these ideas, breaks the book into three sections, and explores how the three ideas play out in real situations. He tackles some controversial topics and I think he does a good job of looking at multiple sides, acknowledging that these are difficult issues, and even puts forth his own personal ideas. It's also interesting to debate how these ideas can improve performance in other fields beyond medicine.
Up next... The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
In completely unrelated news, Hollins alum Natasha Trethewey has been named the poet laureate for 2012-2013!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
I owe Amy Hempel for a publication
I think I owe Amy Hempel one. Yesterday I received the news that I'm getting a short nonfiction piece published (that feeling will never get old). It took awhile but I realized that the original idea for the piece came from when Amy Hempel came to the University of Baltimore and talked about how she's interested in writing about what people do at work. That made me think about watching a lady ride by on her bike with a block of ice strapped to her back. This was, of course, in Southeast Asia.
Normally, writing about people on the job isn't something I tend to do. Maybe it's because that makes me think a little bit too much about being on the job (which is never writing -- apparently I don't see writing as a job. A calling instead, maybe?). But I can't tell you much about what I write about. It varies. As evident by the types of journals I look to submit to. Recently I realized I've written a literary science fiction piece. And learned the difference between soft science fiction and hard science fiction (the answer is to drop the word 'fiction' and it's basically writing that involves the "hard" sciences or the "soft" sciences). I've also submitted pieces to magazines that focus on health and healing. I guess it depends on what I've been thinking about lately. And that's also one of the things I love about writing -- it's always different.
Anyway, thanks Amy Hempel.
Normally, writing about people on the job isn't something I tend to do. Maybe it's because that makes me think a little bit too much about being on the job (which is never writing -- apparently I don't see writing as a job. A calling instead, maybe?). But I can't tell you much about what I write about. It varies. As evident by the types of journals I look to submit to. Recently I realized I've written a literary science fiction piece. And learned the difference between soft science fiction and hard science fiction (the answer is to drop the word 'fiction' and it's basically writing that involves the "hard" sciences or the "soft" sciences). I've also submitted pieces to magazines that focus on health and healing. I guess it depends on what I've been thinking about lately. And that's also one of the things I love about writing -- it's always different.
Anyway, thanks Amy Hempel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)