Revolutionary Letters, by Diane di Prima

Revolutionary Letters by Diane di Prima

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A slim book of poetry should take a relatively short period of time to read, right?

Well, not always. Diane di Prima's Revolutionary Letters is a wonderfully slim volume of poems that, like a pan of rich fudge or fine music, should be savored, one at a time.

I began reading this volume in January, 2019, finishing it October 24, 2020, one day before di Prima's death at the age of 86. Why so long to finish this book, especially when I had it next to my seat at the dining room table (where I do much of my reading)? I'd pick it up when I only had several minutes to read, but wanted something relatively intense; these poems/letters were that. They were short, with only a few more than one or two pages long, but definitely full of nuances, intensity, and much to think about. The fact that most of the poems' sentence structure was a little disjointed made it so that a poem might have to be read two or three times for the reader to really begin to fully understand the poem. This might be a problem with a less gifted writer; in di Prima's hands, this is very do-able.

Diane di Prima spent the latter part of the 1950s and early '60s in Manhattan where she was involved in the Beat movement; from 1974 to 1997, she taught at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, along side Allen Ginsburg, William S. Burroughs, and others.

Revolutionary Letters is a book to be read, savored, and reread again.

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Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank

When Randy Bragg receives a telegram from his older brother ending with the words "Alas, Babylon," he knows disaster is near. The two words were Randy and Mark's code for impending disaster. In this case, Mark, an Air Force Intelligence officer, wants to meet up to explain his fears that World War III is imminent.

Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank (pen name of Harry Hart Frank), one of the "first apocalyptic novels of the nuclear age" describes life in the fictional town of Fort Repose, Florida immediately following a full-scale nuclear strike on the United States. The people in Fort Repose must learn to come to grips with their new reality: store shelves that are soon empty, no gas for the cars, meds for diabetes (and later, typhoid fever), and a government breakdown, where each person, each town is an island.

A year after the devastation, the residents of River Road in Fort Repose are visited an Air Force helicopter, carrying family friend Paul Hart - now a colonel - along with his crew, bringing news from the outside. As Paul gets ready to leave, Randy asks the question on everyone's mind: "'Paul, there's one thing more. Who won the war?'

"Paul put his fists on his hips and his eyes narrowed. 'You're kidding! You mean you really don't know?...We won it. We really clobbered 'em!' Hear's eyes covered and his arms drooped. He said, 'Not that it matters.'

"The engine started and Randy turned away to face the thousand-year night."

Although Alas, Babylon was published in 1959, it is still every bit as relevant as it was when it was published, and well worth the read.

A Season of Delight, by Joanne Greenberg

Can a married, middle-aged woman find love in a much younger man, without physically cheating on her beloved husband, and then remain friends with the younger man?

In Joanne Greenberg's A Season of Delight, Grace Dowben, a middle-aged woman with two estranged children, helps her husband Saul with his store when not volunteering with the town's fire/rescue team, keeping house, and taking her mother-in-law, Riva, on periodic shopping trips. She is comfortable with her life, though not completely satisfied.

Enter Benjamin Sloan, who works with disturbed kids, and wants to volunteer with the fire/rescue team. Around the time he joins the team, Grace learns that Ben was born into a Jewish family, but lacks any form of religious tradition, something that Grace, Saul, and Riva value. Grace makes it her mission to include Ben in their weekly dinners, as her two children - Josh, now in a Hare-Krishna sect, and Miriam, a divorced feminist - are uninterested.

Between their time on the fire/rescue team and the teaching, Grace and Ben fall in love, but never quite get physical, which makes life a little less complicated, as Grace still loves Saul.

The book weaves Grace's story - rescue calls, her interactions with the team members, her work at Saul's side, her trips with Riva, her devotion to her Jewish faith, her house-keeping, the loss of friends - into a beautifully satisfying book, to be read again and again.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Note: This is a repeat of 2017's sole post. I'm back to writing here at a bi-weekly rate (hopefully)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

During the early 1970s, it seemed everyone read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. I had read it several times, and had fond memories of it.

Several years ago, I received a copy of this slim book from two different people and decided to reread it to see how it stood up over the intervening years. Since then, I've reread it several times.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull tells of a seagull who doesn't quit fit in and is banned from his flock as a misfit. Jonathan's misdeed? He loves to fly, loves learning how to improve on flight, how to fly faster, and knows that such learning is, itself, what makes life worth living. The flock, however, has come to the understanding that flight should be merely to be used for food-gathering. Thus, since Jonathan can't comply with living beneath what he is capable of, he is labeled a misfit and cast out of the flock.

It doesn't take long for him to reach a higher consciousness, learning from those who have gone on before him. However, those gulls who teach him soon admit that Jonathan is higher than they are, and that the student has become a teacher.

Soon Jonathan realizes that he must go back to his previous flock and start teaching the newer out-casts, several of whom call him the Son of the Great Gull.

This novella, with its photos of seagulls, can be considered spiritual in nature without being preachy. It shows the reader that we all need to be the best we can be, that we should be our truest self, and while we are learning from those more knowledgeable than we are, we are also to teach those coming up after us.

This is one book that I feel has held up well over the years.

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The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For years, I had heard glowing reviews about The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini's debut novel. Yet, I'd put off reading it, while it sat on a shelf on one of my many bookcases.

Now I wonder why I put it off for so long.

A stunning book, The Kite Runner pulls the reader into the life and experiences of Afghan immigrant Amir, who leaves his homeland with his father in the late 20th century. The book begins when Amir and his father, Baba, are still in Kabul, where his father is a well-to-do merchant. Amir's best friend, Hassan, is a Hazara boy who lives with his own alleged father on Amir's father's property. Neither boy cares that the two are from different classes, they are still friends.

At one point, Hassan, Amir's kite runner - a person who brings back one's kite during kite-flying contests - is victim to unspeakable violence, which Amir is unable to protect him from.

Years later, after Amir has grown, he goes back to Kabul to try to find redemption by righting wrongs against Hassan. In the end, he brings Hassan's son back to the U.S. with him (Hassan and his wife are dead), in the hopes of adopting his friend's son.

While the book is absolutely stunning, it is not necessarily an easy read. Several parts are difficult to read, and almost caused me to put the book aside. However, this book is truly a work of art that should be read through to the end. While the story does end with Hassan's son being rendered mute, and Amir and his wife caring for the boy, there is hope that life will slowly get better.

This is one book that definitely needs to be read and reread, as its multi-faceted layers show the reader different ways to view the world.

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11/22/63, by Stephen King

11/22/63 by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For years, I wouldn't read anything by Stephen King, as I had never been a fan of horror stories. But after devouring King's Dolores Claiborne one rainy day, I learned what Stephen King fans have known for years: King is a wickedly good writer.

While 11/22/63 is not King's longest novel, by far, its 849-page length might put off readers. However, the only thing about this novel that one needs to fear is the inability to put the book down once started; it captivates the reader, holding one through its final paragraphs.

Thirty-five year old high school English teacher Jake Epping earns extra money teaching GED classes in the evening. An essay by student Harry Dunning describing the night his father killed his mother and siblings, and nearly killing Harry, leaves its mark Jake.

Shortly after Harry receives his GED, Jake gets a call from his friend Al, who owns a nearby diner. Turns out Harry was not the only one with secrets: Al insists on showing Jake the diner's storage room which has a portal to 1958.

Jake has wondered how Al has aged so rapidly in such a short period of time, until he learns that no matter how long someone is in the past, when that person comes back through the portal to Al's diner, only a few minutes have passed in the present time.

Al, who is now dying, has one request: for Jake to stop the assassination of President John Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald. Jake goes through the portal several times, sees how changing one or two lesser histories affect the present, then agrees to try to stop JFK's death.

The one thing that Al warns Jake about is that every time one goes through the portal to 1958, the previous changes are erased: a girl who was saved from a paralyzing gunshot in one trip is reinjured after Jake reenters 1958, as well as several other changes.

Jake spends five years in the past, manages to save JFK, but at a heavy cost to himself, as well as those around him. And the present he comes back to is drastically different from the one he left. Does he go back through the portal to reset history, or leave it as changed?

I highly recommend Stephen King's 11/22/63 to anyone looking for a good read. The book is sure to become one of King's fans' favorites; for those readers who have avoided King's works as I did for years, this book is sure to change one's mind into wanting to read more of King's work.

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Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach

Note: This is a repeat of last year's sole post. I'm back to writing here at a bi-weekly rate (hopefully)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

During the early 1970s, it seemed everyone read Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. I had read it several times, and had fond memories of it.

Several years ago, I received a copy of this slim book from two different people and decided to reread it to see how it stood up over the intervening years. Since then, I've reread it several times.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull tells of a seagull who doesn't quit fit in and is banned from his flock as a misfit. Jonathan's misdeed? He loves to fly, loves learning how to improve on flight, how to fly faster, and knows that such learning is, itself, what makes life worth living. The flock, however, has come to the understanding that flight should be merely to be used for food-gathering. Thus, since Jonathan can't comply with living beneath what he is capable of, he is labeled a misfit and cast out of the flock.

It doesn't take long for him to reach a higher consciousness, learning from those who have gone on before him. However, those gulls who teach him soon admit that Jonathan is higher than they are, and that the student has become a teacher.

Soon Jonathan realizes that he must go back to his previous flock and start teaching the newer out-casts, several of whom call him the Son of the Great Gull.

This novella, with its photos of seagulls, can be considered spiritual in nature without being preachy. It shows the reader that we all need to be the best we can be, that we should be our truest self, and while we are learning from those more knowledgeable than we are, we are also to teach those coming up after us.

This is one book that I feel has held up well over the years.

View all my reviews