Re: I'm sorry I missed the last book -- Northwest Nerds Bookclub

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Date Posted: 08:36:45 05/08/00 Mon
Author: Marla
Subject: Re: I'm sorry I missed the last book
In reply to: Marla 's message, "Re: I'm sorry I missed the last book" on 07:00:12 05/05/00 Fri

Something to look forward to: Page 281 (at least in my version) turns to a new country! Right after I posted this message, I started the next chapter, which...wouldn't you know...takes us to New Zealand. Guess I should have kept my big mouth shut?

> I'm 150 pages ahead of you and the subject is STILL
> Australia. I'm very tempted to skip ahead and see
> if/when Twain hits a new continent, but that would be
> pretty defeatist, no?
>
> So far, my reaction to the book is about what I
> expected it to be after reading the first 50 pages. As
> a reader, I'm a very linear thinker, and the books I
> enjoy the most are those that follow a clear
> progression (Translation: have a specific plot). While
> I'm finding Twain's commentary about the experiences
> he's living fascinating, I'm having a hard time
> maintaining interest. This is through no fault of
> Twain's (He is, after all, a terrific writer and great
> humorist). Rather, I suspect my problem lies in my own
> limitations as a reader. If I don't see all of the
> traditional elements of a novel--character and plot
> development, for example--"going somewhere," I don't
> allow myself to sink in for several hours of solid
> reading. Instead, I pick this thing up every few hours
> and read a chapter or two. Then, I put it down and
> move on to something else. It's just not engrossing,
> nor, do I think, is it designed to be.
>
> All of that said, I find "Following the Equator" to be
> a very compelling document of a great man's great
> journey. He dissects people and places and traditions
> that I will probably never in my life have the good
> fortune to witness firsthand. It is his depth of
> recording that keeps me reading, for he doesn't only
> touch on surface observations like the temperature
> (Can't believe the highs, though I suspect the region
> is like Arizona...really hot, but not unbearable
> because there's so little humidity...unlike Kansas!),
> but recounts with extraordinary detail the
> conversations he's had and the people he's met.
>
> Clearly, this book can't be a great novel. It's not
> conceived as such. But as a travelogue, it IS
> satisfying. It's not a genre with which I have any
> familiarity, but it's teaching me to read with a new
> mindset. More to follow...
>
> > I'm about 130 pages into Twain and I think I'm going
> > to give this book to my parents due to the fact that
> > nearly the entire first portion deals with
> Australia.
> >
> > I thought that the account of the civilized servitude
> > of the pacific island "recruits" in Queensland was
> > really entertaining and informative. It really made
> > me think of the sugar/rum industry of Antigua and the
> > nearby island of Barbuda. I don't want to disrespect
> > the history, so I'm hoping that Dave can elaborate on
> > it later on. It basically evokes the thought of a
> > group of people cloistered and forced to reproduce so
> > that their best attributes would be cultived.
> >
> > My favorite part thus far relates to the severity of
> > punishment in Britain vs. that of Australia:
> >
> > When I was in London twenty-three years ago
> there
> > was a new penalty in force for diminishing garroting
> > and wife-beating--25 lashes on the bare back with the
> > cat-o'-nine-tails. . . That penalty had a great and
> > wholesome effect upon the garroters and wife-beaters;
> > but humane modern London could not endure it; it got
> > its law rescinded. Many a bruised and battered
> > English wife has since had occasion to deplore that
> > cruel achievement of sentimental "humanity."
> >
> > Now that's probably one of the points on which I
> would
> > diverge from the ACLU.

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Replies:

Now that you say that -- Chris, 10:18:48 05/08/00 Mon
- Re: Now that you say that -- Marla, 09:06:36 05/09/00 Tue
  - Re: Now that you say that--MY BOOK PICK -- David, 11:10:38 05/23/00 Tue