Tag Archives: books

Pandemics and plagues of the past : in literature

A year ago, most of us could never have imagined the year we’ve had – and the continued social distancing,  wearing masks, and general fear has been wearing, oh, so thin. While vaccines are now on the radar, we still have a ways to go before the world goes back to “normal.” Sometimes, reading about pandemics of the past can help us put things in perspective, to realize how good we’ve got it.

I recently read two novels which take place during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 (which has little to do with Spain, by the way). From February 1918 to April 1920 the flu affected 500 million people. In the United States, Philadelphia was particularly hard hit – 12,000 deaths resulted from crowds gathered to watch a parade to promote government bonds during World War I. “The Orphan Collector” by Ellen Marie Wiseman and “As bright as heaven” by Susan Meissner (a much better book) give a view into families in Philadelphia who were affected by the flu in tragic ways. I was reading one of these books on the ferry and looked up to see folks wearing masks, but jovially socializing. Wow, that made me grateful.

Nancy Jordan alerted me to another book that takes place during this time period, but in Ireland:  “Pull of the Stars,” a novel by Emma Donoghue. Nancy writes:

Imagine a temporary maternity ward in a hospital in Ireland during the 1918-19 pandemic.  The ward was created out of a storage area to house pregnant women near term that have the flu.  It’s small, cramped and understaffed.

Three or 4 pregnant women are housed here during the 3 days the novel takes place, and sometimes a newborn or two.  The main character is a young nurse who has been put in charge of the women, because no other nurse is available.  She recruits a very young helper, virtually off the street with no experience, to help in the chaos.

This historic novel is intense, and suspenseful, bouncing from crisis to crisis.  Because of the pandemic, the hospital staff is dropping like flies, as are the patients.  There just are not enough doctors or nurses to care for the patients.  Our heroine, Julia Power, is very capable, but she is not a doctor and has never been in charge of a ward before.  She’s running on very little sleep, and has little time to eat.  When Bridie, a young, energetic girl shows up and says she’ll help, Julia, against her better judgement, agrees, after being assured that Bridie has had the flu.

The patients are well-developed characters who are suffering in different ways.  Some die but their babies survive, some live but lose their babies.  Some are likeable, some are not.   The new helper, Bridie, is a whirlwind of activity, doing everything she’s asked in record time, very observant and a fast learner.  The reader falls in love with her very quickly.  As does Julia, leading to the tragic end of the novel, but there is an example of finding bright spots in the middle of darkness.   

The novel points up the similarities of this pandemic of over 100 years ago to Covid in current times, and also shows that we haven’t learned that much!

Nancy also writes about “A Year of Wonders,” by Geraldine Brooks: [This novel] is a slower paced novel about the plague in the 1600’s in a small village in England.  As villagers start to sicken and die in grotesque ways, the village leader, a man of the church, realizes what’s happening, and convinces the entire village to quarantine.  They get supplies by leaving lists of needs with money at a drop off place, and in return a villager from a nearby village brings supplies.  The author realistically draws the reader in and makes us feel the fear and pain.  She evokes the feel of living in a small community where everyone is dependent of everyone else to do the right thing.

The heroine, Anna Frith, a poor and uneducated young woman who has lost her husband, and an almost-lover, and her 2 little boys, works for the reverend and his wife.  She and the wife become very good friends and the main caregivers in the village, learning about herbs and poultices from the local ‘witch’ who succumbed.  Over the course of a year there are many tragedies and incidents of rebellion and conflict.  Just when the Reverend has convinced the villagers to burn everything they own, all their possessions, his wife contracts the sickness, and dies.  Shortly after, the plague runs its course and dies out.  As the Reverend and Anna begin to pick up the pieces, some very shocking news comes out, and the novel ends in a surprising way.

Nancy recommends both of these books whole-heartedly. The interesting thing about some of these fairly recent books is that they were written before COVID-19 broke out, but are very timely for us during this recent pandemic. The ones regarding the 1918 pandemic were probably inspired by the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu. But a book written in 1939, only 20 years after that pandemic, Katharine Anne Porter’s book, “Pale horse, pale rider,” includes a novella that takes place in Denver during the 1918 pandemic. My friend Liz told me about this one, as well as a course at OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning), which started January 5th, Ages of Plagues, taught by Margaret Creighton and Rob Smith, a remote 5 week course which “draws on the recent and not-so-recent past to examine literary responses to plagues.” It would be interesting to know what books they recommend to read, to give us perspective on this past year.

All this is to remind of the power of fiction to help us learn about the past, and give us a basis for understanding our world today.  

 

 

 

Booksellers in fiction

I’ve recently read several books where some of the main characters are booksellers. As someone who loves books and bookstores, these settings resonate with me. Two of the books take place in England: “The Library of Lost and Found” by Phaedra Patrick,  and “Bookends” by Jane Green. In “The Library of Lost and Found,” the main character, Martha Storm, works in a library but becomes acquainted with a bookseller, who finds a mysterious book that has Martha’s name attached to it. The charming novel, which takes place in a seaside village, emphasizes the power of stories and writing, and of course, books, to inspire. The other British novel, “Bookends,” uses more of an urban setting, in London, to share a story of a woman whose long-time dream was to quit her dreary corporate job to take a chance to open a bookstore/café with a friend.

Island dwellers may appreciate “The storied life of A.J. Fikry” which takes place on a fictional island in Massachusetts – A.J. Fikry is a curmudgeonly bookseller, whose life is changed when he allows love to enter his world.

These are all fairly light reads, in contrast to my favorite recently read book with this theme: “American dirt” by Jeanine Cummins. Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore before her life changes dramatically, thanks to her favorite patron, who turns out to be her greatest nightmare. This extremely well written and paced book is a thrilling book to read, although I could only handle one chapter each evening, due to the intensity of the story telling.

There are many more out there, that have booksellers as main characters – I would love to hear about some of your favorites!

Island reading in the time of Coronavirus

If you’re a book lover  this is the prime time to be living on an island. Although our library is closed, there are still a myriad of opportunities for folks who love the written word. First of all, most of us have a “Tsundoko” – it’s a Japanese term, which refers to the stack of books on a bedside table waiting to be read. When that runs out, we can delve into our libraries to reread old favorites. Then, we borrow books from friends (social distancing, of course).

For those who don’t mind reading books on a device, you can download books through a variety of sources, including the Long Island Community Library e-books and audiobooks – see Long Island Community Library website for more information.

Beyond reading books, for those who have access to a computer, there is a whole world out there for literary experiences, as businesses and organizations in the business of the written word are expanding their offerings to the online community.

For example, here in Maine, you can attend poetry readings online such as this one at Longfellow Books’ website, which offers a poetry reading by Scott WithiamLongfellow Books is also willing to mail books.

For the writers in our midst, there are online classes available through the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance

Maine Women Writers Collection offers a fun Instagram as well as a Quarantine Book List by Maine women writers.  Greater Portland Landmarks also offers their suggested book list

That’s just the tip of the iceberg – there are many more out there. (Anyone have any favorites?)

So, there’s no excuse, in these days of quarantine, to not be able to expand your universe beyond the walls of your home – especially through books!

Revisiting the classics, or old familiar favorites

Have you ever revisited an old familiar favorite book, or a classic that you read years ago as a school assignment? Were your reactions similar to when you first read it, or has the wisdom of the years made you view it differently? For example, this summer’s LICL book group read Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth. One of the group members had read this in high school, 50 years ago, and when she attended her 50th high school reunion, talked to her classmates about the book. I had read this book several years ago as part of another LICL book group (an offshoot of Bo Burke’s classics book group, where some of us decided that women writers weren’t being represented). All I remembered is that the ending wasn’t happy, and rereading it brought the same confirmation. Watching the movie version, though, made for a more visual imprint of the story on my mind.

I also recently reread “Tarzan of the Apes” by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which I had read in my late teenage years. I had loved the first book so much that I ended up reading the entire series (26 books), as all the books were such rip-roaring yarns. Re-reading the first in the series reminded me of how much of a rip-roaring yarn it was, but I also found it to be very melodramatic and somewhat racist. Still, it was fun to read, and we may continue reading more of the series at some point, as the first book is kind of a cliff-hanger (will Tarzan and Jane stay together? Well, we know what happens, but the how makes it intriguing).

It’s not often that I re-read a book, but there are some that stay in my memory, so they are worth reading again. I have searched out books that I read as a child, and if they are well-written, they still bring a thrill to my soul, even if I remember the basic plot.

What are some books that you have reread recently, or just books that you return to from time to time?

Great American Read

The Great American Read begins tonight on PBS at 8 p.m. I’ll be watching it – how about you? I’ve already chosen my “my favorite” from the 100 books  (not sure about my choice, as there were a few great options.) Anyway, here is more (from the website):

THE GREAT AMERICAN READ is an eight-part series that explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels (as chosen in a national survey). It investigates how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience.

For more information:

http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/about/show/

You can also go through Maine PBS and vote for your favorite there:

http://mainepublic.org/post/welcome-great-american-read#stream/0

Enjoy!

 

 

Books and war

I’ve been immersed in World War One pamphlets that arrived here at the Maine Historical Society (my day job) about 100 years ago. We finally decided to catalog them, so this is my summer project. Amidst the pamphlets are letters from the American Library Association’s War Service Committee to librarians, asking for men to go into librarianship, as well as asking for book donations.

According to Wikipedia, The Library War Service was established by the American Library Association in 1917 to provide library services to American soldiers training in camps and serving overseas in World War I. Between 1917 and 1920, the ALA raised $5 million from public donations, erected 36 camp libraries, distributed 7 to 10 million books and magazines, and provided library collections to more than 500 locations, including military hospitals.

I find this all so fascinating, about how books and libraries were necessary during war time. So when I found the book “When books went to war: the stories that helped us win World War II” by Molly Guptill Manning at the Maine Charitable Mechanics Association, I checked it out.

Inside this book, I found wonderful tales of how books indeed were used in fighting the war, mostly in providing a book for every soldier, to help improve morale as they fought a war in the most dismal and horrendous of situations. Some of the book movement was a backlash to the book burning going on in Germany, in an effort to control what people were reading. But there is also interesting information about publishing of paperbacks for soldiers, that were lightweight to carry as they traveled into war torn areas. Anyone who believes in the power of bibliotherapy will find this a thrilling read.

On a different but related note, there are, of course, wonderful novels that take place during war-time. Two of note that relate to World War One are “The summer before the war” by Helen Simonson, and “A star for Mrs. Blake” by April Smith. I’m reading “The summer before the war” right now – as the Belgian refugees are taken in by villagers in Rye, I think about the many pamphlets I’ve catalogued about the German invasion of Belgium, when over 200,000 refugees fled to Britain. This novel helps to bring that fact to life. “A star for Mrs. Blake” is about Cora Blake, of Maine, who makes a pilgrimage to France in the 1930s, with other Gold Star Mothers who lost their sons during World War I.

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of America’s involvement in World War I let’s take the opportunity to recognize the role of books in wartime.

Which is better – the book or the movie?

Which is better – the book or the movie?  For me, it’s usually the book, but there are always exceptions.

This past month I checked out two DVDs from the Long Island Community Library based on some of my favorite books in recent years. One was “Wild” by and about Cheryl Strayed and her hike on the Pacific Crest Trail – this was a great book, but the movie was merely good. It’s difficult to get the interior voice into a story. It seemed to focus more on Cheryl’s backstory than on her transformative journey. The other movie, which I watched last night, was “Light between oceans” based on M. L. Stedman’s book about a family on a remote lighthouse off Australia. This was a lovely movie, which portrayed the drama with fine casting, and of course the beautiful scenery provided a great backdrop. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I dropped a few tears at the end.

 Another favorite book of mine that I read last year didn’t translate well into a movie, in my opinion: JoJo Moyes’ “Me before you.” I loved this book, especially the dialogue and inner voices. While it was a good story on film, it didn’t seem to be as entertaining as the book. But there again, I knew how it would end. The real test is what my husband thinks of a movie, as he hasn’t read the book and doesn’t know the story. It was fun to watch “Gone Girl” with him as I knew what was going to happen, having read the book by Gillian Flynn, and he didn’t read it. Often when I’m reading a book I think “hmmm… this would make a great movie” – and sometimes a movie is made from the book, and it delivers.

And then there are the times when I see the movie first and then read the book, such as “Gone with the Wind” – I read this book many years after I saw the movie. I loved the book, although I did picture Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh as Rhett and Scarlett as I read the book.

I didn’t care for “A man called Ove” by Frederik Backman, but maybe it will make for a better movie experience. The movie, as well as “Girl on the train” by Paula Hawkins, are available at LICL. Since I haven’t read “Girl on the train” yet, I think I will read it first, and then check out the movie. I’ll let you know what I think – about both!

July 7th: Regarding “Girl on the Train: I enjoyed the book, and the movie! I thought the movie did a good job of translating the book into a movie, although they changed the setting from the London suburbs to the New York City suburbs (but Emily Blunt got to keep her British accent)

 

You can buy the mug above at:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/204814503/funny-mug-coffee-cup-tea-cup-bookworm?ref=finds_l

 

In celebration of tea … and books!

As the cool autumn wind blows over our island community, what better time than to curl up with a great book and a cup of tea? Several years ago I showcased my tea pot and tea cup collection at the Long Island Community Library, along with a list of some of my favorite tea books, which I will share below. What are some of your favorite books about tea?mhs-tea-party

The book of tea / preface by Anthony Burgess. Flammarion, 2005.

Barnes, Emilie. If teacups could talk : sharing a cup of kindness with treasured friends. Eugene, Oregon : Harvest House Publishers, 1994.

O’Connor, Sharon. Afternoon tea serenade : recipes from famous tea rooms, classical chamber music. Emeryville, Ca. : Menus and Music Productions, Inc., 1997.

Rubin, Ron. Tea Chings : the tea and herb companion : appreciating the varietals and virtues of fine tea and herbs / Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold. New York : Newmarket Press, 2002.

Smith, Michael. The afternoon tea book. New York : Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986.

Siegal, Helene. The totally teatime cookbook / by Helen Siegal and Karen Gillingham. Berkeley, Ca. : Celestial Arts, 1995

Coffeehouse Library Project

PPL outreach 3Several of us islanders like to wait for the ferry in places other than the ferry terminal, including Portland’s numerous watering holes and cafes. But what if you have no reading materials while drinking your cappuccino? Thanks to the Coffeehouse Library Project, an outreach of the Portland Public Library, great books are at your fingertips, with no due dates or fees – just return the books when you are done! This is where I found the wonderful “Under the wild and starry sky” by Nancy Horan, about Fanny Stevenson, the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson. Brilliant!

PPL outreach 2

So, next time you are killing time, waiting for the ferry, settle in to a great cup of coffee or tea … and a book!

For more information see:

https://www.portlandlibrary.com/highlight/coffeehouse-library-project/PPL outreach 1

 

Cambridge Book Bike

bike on beach

I just heard, from a librarian friend, about a great program in Cambridge, Massachusetts:  Book Bike. Librarians ride around on bikes loaded with books and park in a designated park at a designated time to give kids free books. Their logo is:

Delivering books and a love of reading in Cambridge, ma.

Their VISION:

All children in Cambridge will have access to quality literature to build home libraries for enjoyment and learning outside of the academic year.

Their MISSION:

  • The Book Bike supports healthy bodies and healthy minds by visiting many of the Cambridge parks that participate in the Summer Food Program.
  • Meeting families in the park for stories and activities, the Book Bike models that reading is fun!
  • The program empowers children of all ages to choose their own free book, selected by literacy professionals to encourage reading in summer months.  Books include a wide variety of titles, topics and languages.
  • The Book Bike connects families to other programs that support summer reading in Cambridge including the local public library.

What can be better – to combine exercise (at least for the librarians) and book reading, as well as being in a park on a beautiful sunny day. (And food and snacks provided)

For more information:

http://www.cambridgebookbike.org/