I'll be in Yellowstone next week, meandering through the archives, so thought this would be a nice meander image for the weekend.
Welcome to this month's reading group selection. David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908. At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades. Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society. I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran. Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, not...
Great Pic!,I started "Fatal Journey" today about Henry Hudson's last voyage mainly because it's been so hot and sticky here the past 4 days.I figure a book about Northern Climes is much better right now than"Empire of the Summer Moon" and it's southwest setting.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't received my copy of Empire -- or Immortal Life. Hopefully they'll start arriving soon.....
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of northern climes, I picked up Independent People last night -- I love the mythic quality of the opening (and the dog) -- but think I may pass that book on to a friend to read first since he is enamored of all things Iceland at the moment -- even the national anthem!
Interesting look at Louisiana.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071602721.html
Montana is sort of a "third world country" in that way, too, but for some reason we've managed to hold our own on at least some of the social indicators, if not the economic ones.
My copy of HeLa came today, so I should be ready by the first of August.
ReplyDelete7/29-8/7 I'll be on vacation (whole family's off to Maui, which took some doing to organize and will be unlikely to happen again after grandbaby arrives) but will do my best to catch up with all y'all upon return.
ReplyDeleteBon Voyage, NY. Have a great trip.
ReplyDeleteThanks much, avrds.
ReplyDeleteMeandering question: does anyone else ever have the urge to make up meanings of those "words" (series of letters) that appear when one goes to post.
One blog on Cape Cod I read that's just what a lot of us do.Make up meanings to those random letters that are sometimes quite funny.I just finished Alan Furst's"Spies of Warsaw" another nice read in his historical fiction of Europe on the verge of WW2.This is his tenth with number 11 about the Balkans just out.Only two had the same lead character and they are all different which is why I love reading them."Fatal Journey" about Henry Hudson almost done and it's a entertaining easy read and since I haven't read much on Hudson very informative.I think I'm moving onto Kurlansky's book about Gloucester or Rory Nugents book about New Bedford"Down at the Docks"Nugent wrote one of my favorite offbeat travel books"The Search for the Pink Headed Duck" so I'm interestedto see how he does historical narrative Kurlansky style.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if anyone has ever posted this here, but it was just brought to my attention. It's about the number of nuclear explosions and the countries that conducted them between 1945-1998. It's about 12 minutes long.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ctbto.org/specials/1945-1998-by-isao-hashimoto/
It as also posted in Gizmodo:
http://gizmodo.com/5600704/the-explosions-of-every-nuclear-bomb-to-date
Thanks marti
ReplyDeleteI finished Mark Kurlansky's book on Gloucester"The Last Fish Tale" It was a quick read and pretty good but some of it he'd been over in "Cod" before.Don't know if I should read Down by the Docks about New Bedford next to continue the New England port thing or take up Empire of the Summer Moon.On a non history note the collection of Victorian Vampire Storys"Dracula's Guest" edited by Michael Sims is excellent.Each story has an author intro and all have been first rate so far.Only one story"Count Magnus" by M.R. James have I read before and there is a nice opening essay on the origins of Vampires in Europe.
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