One train of thought leads to another, leads to another, and I find I am not yet in bed, but ruinating - again - about books I have loved.
My favorite book of all time: "Fugitive Pieces" by Ann Michaels.
Why? The prose. Graceful and elegant as poetry, there is not a trite idea, not a cliché in the book. Real and heartbreaking yet full of redemption, Ann Michael's novel is extraordinary.
To use a phrase I have never before applied to a work of fiction: it is a work of art. I was frantic to see the movie when I learned of it - a rare reaction on my part - generated by my veneration for her book.
Even my husband - who has the attention span of a flea on a hot brick - was entranced. Curious, he picked Michael's book up for a glance, then took it away from me and stole away to read it before I could.
Other books I have loved:
Fiction:
"The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
"Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt
"A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote
"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Poetry:
"Rilke's Book Of Hours: Love Poems To God" by Anita Barrows and Joanna Marie Macy
Non-Fiction:
"Cosmos and Psyche" by Richard Tarnas
"The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler
While I know there were other books I read and "loved," these created feeling memories for me which have endured and these are the ones that come to the surface of the "8-Ball" that is my mind.
For an "entertaining" read, try "The Girl In The Plain Brown Wrapper" by John D. MacDonald who wrote "hardboiled" mysteries with far more awareness and social commentary on environmental issues than one might expect.
My favorite book of all time: "Fugitive Pieces" by Ann Michaels.
Why? The prose. Graceful and elegant as poetry, there is not a trite idea, not a cliché in the book. Real and heartbreaking yet full of redemption, Ann Michael's novel is extraordinary.
To use a phrase I have never before applied to a work of fiction: it is a work of art. I was frantic to see the movie when I learned of it - a rare reaction on my part - generated by my veneration for her book.
Even my husband - who has the attention span of a flea on a hot brick - was entranced. Curious, he picked Michael's book up for a glance, then took it away from me and stole away to read it before I could.
Other books I have loved:
Fiction:
"The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
"Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt
"A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote
"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Poetry:
"Rilke's Book Of Hours: Love Poems To God" by Anita Barrows and Joanna Marie Macy
Non-Fiction:
"Cosmos and Psyche" by Richard Tarnas
"The Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler
While I know there were other books I read and "loved," these created feeling memories for me which have endured and these are the ones that come to the surface of the "8-Ball" that is my mind.
For an "entertaining" read, try "The Girl In The Plain Brown Wrapper" by John D. MacDonald who wrote "hardboiled" mysteries with far more awareness and social commentary on environmental issues than one might expect.
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