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H IS FOR HAWK by Helen Macdonald discussion

30 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in anger, Author, Book Review, books, cat, Coffee, Life, Non Fiction, recommendation, review, time, Writer

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When Helen Macdonalds father dies unexpectedly on a London street, she is overcome with grief. This is to be expected, however Macdonalds form of coping with this grief is anything by traditional.

hisforhawkMacdonald is a falconer – a person who trains or hunts with birds of prey. As the title of the book suggests, the bird of prey that Macdonald goes out to train is a goshawk. Macdonalds particular goshawk is named Mabel. As Macdonald trains Mabel, she also explores the work of another falconer; T. H. White, a writer most well known for his novels that, published together are called The Once and Future King.

In short, H is for Hawk is quite the complex memoir, despite its numerous topics that center around training a goshawk the overarching theme that runs through this book is how a person dealing with a lot of grief due to loss attempts to deal with it. Mabel becomes Macdonalds tool for handling – or at least distracting her from – the loss of her father.

At times when reading this book I felt that Macdonald had taken on too much between the T. H. White analysis, the falconry and the death of her father. I spent much of the time reading this wondering how Macdonald was going to tie up all of these topics – and after finishing up the book I do wonder if she had.

This is one of those books that becomes easier to like IF you can relate to the type of grief that Macdonald is experiencing. The dark, bleak atmosphere that is set in this memoir can be off=putting if you as a reader don’t have a relateable experience. This is a book that isn’t for everyone, the writing and the story is superb, but liking or disliking the book may largely depend on whether you have the ability to relate to the emotions that Macdonald writes about.

M TRAIN by Patti Smith discussion

27 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in Author, Book Review, books, Coffee, Discussion, Life, Non Fiction, poem, recommendation, time, Writer

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Unlike Just Kids where Smith presents a rather linear story about her life and relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, M Train is much more stream of consciousness – a compilation of recollections of Smith’s life and travels as she recalls them from her favorite seat in her favorite coffee shop. The title of the book could almost be thought of as “Memory Train” as each section Smith takes you with her on a trip into her past.

mtrainHer memories in this memoir revolve around person’s, places and things. This is an aspect of this memoir that I found particularly fascinating. Many memoirs tend to focus on interactions with people, pets or places the author has been, however Smith recognizes that objects often hold with them the memories that we associate with them. In M Train one of those objects is a novel by Haruki Murakami that captures Smith’s imagination to the point that it influences her travels.

Admittedly I enjoyed the linear style of Just Kids more than the stream of conscious style found in M Train – the truth is, it feels like I got to know Smith much better in M Train despite this preference. M Train was far more introspective than Just Kids. Smith allows you into her life in M Train, allowing far more emotion than what was provided in her other memoir.

Perhaps the most important thing to know about M Train is the difference in style – especially if you are going into it with the expectation of reading something similar to Just Kids.  The stories in M Train are connected, so you will not be entirely deprived, however, of a linear story.

M Train, just like Just Kids are two books that I plan on revisiting in the future. They were both too captivating for just a single read.

THE WRITERS DAILY COMPANION by Amy Peters

06 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in Author, books, Discussion, home, House, Life, recommendation, time, Writer

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I found this book, The Writers Daily Companion by Amy Peters, in the bargain bin at a local book store shortly before closing on my house in 2016, I began reading it the first day I moved into my house. Somehow I made it a habit to read a page a day out of it for an entire year – I just finished this book less than a week ago.

dailywritingThis book is filled with many things – writing prompts, quotes from authors, short biographies of writers, suggestions for books to read, writing tips and advice from various writers on writing. Since I read this book over the course of a year, what this book also has within it are the many memories – both good and bad – that I’ve accumulated during my first year at my house.

The Writers Daily Companion has become, for me, a time capsule of sorts – one of a special variety that I can use as both a reference book or as a way to recollect this past year. I have an inability, currently, to separate these two perspectives of this book.

Now that I am done with the book, I feel as if there is a void in my life, the daily, morning task I had is now gone. At any rate, if you happen to come across a copy of The Writers Daily Companion by Amy Peters, I suggest picking it up and do as I did – read a page a day. You will learn something of value from this book – both about writing, and strangely, also something about yourself. Perhaps this is true of any book that is read over the course of a year or more.

#Thursday #Quotables

03 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in Author, books, Coffee, Currently Reading, friend, Life, Love, Non Fiction, poem, Quotables, Quote, Thursday Quotables, time, Today, Writer

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“Where does it all lead? What will become of us? These were our young questions, and young answers were revealed. It leads to each other. We become ourselves.”

― Patti Smith, Just Kids

#Thursday #Quotables

27 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in Author, blog, books, cat, Life, Quotables, Quote, Thursday Quotables, time, Today, Writer

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“It would be better to give up the notion of writing until you are better prepared. Now it’s time to be living. I don’t want to frighten you, but I would like to make you understand the import of what you think of attempting. You must not become a mere peddler of words. The thing to learn is to know what people are thinking about, not what they say.”
― Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio

#Thursday #Quotables

20 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in Author, books, Quotables, Quote, rain, Thursday Quotables, time, Today, Writer

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“Every reader, as he reads, is actually the reader of himself. The writer’s work is only a kind of optical instrument he provides the reader so he can discern what he might never have seen in himself without this book. The reader’s recognition in himself of what the book says is the proof of the book’s truth.”
― Marcel Proust, Time Regained

THE HIGH MOUNTAINS OF PORTUGAL by Yann Martel discussion & review

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in Author, Book Review, books, Discussion, friend, home, House, Life, recommendation, redemption, time, Today, Writer

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Yann Martel’s latest novel, The High Mountains of Portugal is a unique reading experience. Divided in three parts, “Homeless”, “Homeward” and “Home” Martel tells a story that transcends time but held together by, essentially relics of the past. The book is almost set up to mimic a religious text – or, at least mimic the types of stories that make up religious mythology.

Although the three sections of the book all form an over-arching story of it’s own, since the book is broken up in three parts, I will discuss a little about each part.

highmountainsThe introductory story titled Homeless begins with a man named Tomas in the year 1904 who is presented with a the Biblical Job-like predicament. His wife, child and father all die within a few days of each other and in protest to this divine injustice Tomas begins to walk backwards. In Tomas’ possession however he has an old diary that speaks of a religious artifact that, according to the diary will upturn religion as it is known. Tomas sets out on a quest, using the latest marvel of his age, and automobile to find this holy relic that is spoken of in the diary. The relic is a crucifix with a chimpanzee.

The second story, Homeward is set on New Years of 1939. I personally enjoyed this section the most. This section is the story of a mortician who is visited by the ghost of his wife who comes to discuss Jesus Christ and Agatha Christie and the interesting parallels that exist between the Gospels and Christie’s novels. This part of the book essentially reveals what Martel is attempting to do. Shortly after the discussion with the ghost of his dead wife, the Mortician is visited by a woman hauling with her a suitcase. Inside the suitcase is the corpse of her late husband. The woman requests that the mortician perform an autopsy on the course so she can learn about the mans life. When the mortician does the autopsy he starts pulling out things that made up the mans life.  In the chest cavity the mortician pulls out a chimpanzee holding a bear cub. The wife then climbs into the now empty body and requests that the mortician sew her up with the chimpanzee and bear cub, essentially becoming one of the desires that the man lived for.

The final story, Home takes place in 1981 and is about a Canadian senator who after losing his wife through a sequence of events essentially adopts a chimpanzee and gives up his entire life to live with it in Portugal, incidentally in the same small village that the two previous stories take place. Once again we have a Biblical parallel here where the chimp is a stand in for Jesus. It is a subtle reference to when Jesus tells a rich man to give up everything he owns and follow him. The Senator lives side by side with this chimpanzee until witnessing a rare miracle. In his adventures with the ape, he discovers the early relic and learns of the peculiar autopsy involving the chimp in the chest cavity of the man.

I’ll be honest, I will be thinking about this story for awhile. All three stories are tied together with a premise that humans are not fallen angels but rising apes and Martel uses an ape as a place holder for Jesus, first as a relic, then dwelling in the ‘heart’ of a man then finally as prophet who is followed to a Heaven that is represented as The High Mountains Of Portugal. All in all the story was enjoyable, I’ll be revisiting the middle story in time.

★★★★   THE HIGH MOUNTAINS OF PORTUGAL by Yann Martel

#Thursday #Quotables

13 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in Author, books, Coffee, home, House, Life, Quotables, Quote, rain, Thursday Quotables, time, Today, Writer

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“Grief is a disease. We were riddled with its pockmarks, tormented by its fevers, broken by its blows. It ate at us like maggots, attacked us like lice- we scratched ourselves to the edge of madness. In the process we became as withered as crickets, as tired as old dogs.”
― Yann Martel, The High Mountains of Portugal

Left and Leaving

11 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in friend, home, House, Life, male friendship, time, Today

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Today is one of the toughest days I’ve had in quite a long time.

Tomorrow my roommate, my friend, is moving out.

It’s been a tough year – a lot of it documented here, on my blog – and we’ve been through a lot…

…and life is taking us our separate ways, to unknown destinies.

It is so hard to keep from crying right now. I knew this day was coming, I’ve been dreading it. From here on out, all my roommates will be essentially strangers.

My one true friend is moving out.

I feel so lost.

THE MAGIC STRINGS OF FRANKIE PRESTO by Mitch Albom book discussion & review

10 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by chadwickheller in #friend, Author, Book Review, books, cat, friend, Life, Love, rain, recommendation, redemption, review, time, Today, Writer

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Mitch Albom is not an author whose books I would generally buy, let alone read, but after hearing an intriguing interview with him about his latest work; The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto on NPR, my curiosity was piqued. It was recalling this interview that, upon seeing copies of the hardcover of Frankie Presto on sale at a book store, that I bought a copy for myself and for my dad for Father’s Day.

Yes, I bought a copy of a book I haven’t read, based solely on an interview NPR had with the author as a gift for my dad for Fathers Day. This is something I never do, but I had the feeling it was right.

magicstringsThis past weekend I was able to finally read this book and I was happy that I did. I do believe that when my dad is finally able to finish it, he’ll enjoy this magical story as much as I did.

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is the story of a talented musician narrated from the perspective of Presto’s talent itself; Music at Presto’s funeral. Music, being with Frankie Presto from birth is able to recount all the twists and turns that Presto’s life takes, and ultimately how Presto dies. The story is quite captivating and interspersed through out the book are interviews from musicians who recount the influence that Frankie Presto has had on them.

On the surface this book is about music, but it encompasses so much more, from fate, family, love and legacy – I couldn’t put it down. The narrator, Music brings up a point numerous times throughout the novel – that as we move through life, we join various different ‘bands’ which is to say that we develop these different relationships with people that create for us families that are not tied together by blood, but by something deeper -perhaps love, talent or a mutual interest. The novel also spoke about how our actions, whether good or bad, have an affect on other people and we do not necessarily know what that affect is so it is best to be good to others.

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is easily one of the best books that I’ve read this year, and I am so happy that I’ll be able to share this story with my dad. I am unwilling to provide a deeper analysis of this book because I do recommend checking it out and enjoying the beauty of this novel on your own.

★★★★★   The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

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