4 comments about A Wind to Shake the World: The Story of the 1938 Hurricane.

1. Powerful hurricanes are infrequent visitors to New England. 'The Long Island Express' not only paid a visit---it dropped in unannounced on September 21, 1938 just as many summer residents were on the beach and closing up their ocean-front cottages. The weatherman gave no cause for alarm. "Cloudy skies and gusty conditions" did nothing to warn New Englanders of the imminent arrival of a 500-mile wide hurricane with peak wind gusts of 180 miles an hour.

   This is how the book jacket of "A Wind to Shake the World" describes the coming of the storm:

   "No one could have been prepared for the storm's ferocity. Sweeping suddenly northward from Cape Hatteras, building tremendous momentum as it advanced, the hurricane raced over six hundred miles in only twelve hours. Winds of 100 to 130 miles an hour and swiftly rising water of almost tidal-wave proportions slammed into the shore from South Jersey to Boston, most severely from Long Island to Cape Cod."

   The hurricane struck Long Island around 3:30 PM. Few of the summer folk or permanent residents on the Island's south shore had a chance to escape, as waves between thirty and fifty feet high pounded the coastline.

   Entire homes and families were swept into the ocean.

   September 21st was also the day that Everett S. Allen, recent college graduate and future author of "A Wind to Shake the World", began his first 'real' job as a reporter for the New Bedford 'Standard Times.'

   It took Allen over thirty years to recover from his own traumatic experiences during the storm, and write about one of the most under-reported natural disasters of 20th century America. Six hundred New Englanders were killed in less than twelve hours, and yet it is very difficult to find accounts of the hurricane that came to be called "The Long Island Express". I first heard of it in a story told by one of my Down East relatives---

   "On the day of the hurricane, a Yankee farmer received a package containing a barometer that he had ordered through the mail. No matter how many times he tapped it, the mercury remained stuck at the bottom of the glass. Finally, he re-packaged the 'broken' barometer and returned it to the post office. By the time he got back to his own property, his house had washed out to sea."

   If you are an armchair junkie of natural disaster stories such as "Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History," you should definitely read "A Wind to Shake the World." Although the survivors were interviewed over thirty years after the hurricane, Allen wrote that some of them still wept, "to see again the sick color of sky and sea on that day, to hear the scream of the wind, which was everywhere...to see man himself, face down and weaving like weed in the roiling shallows or open-mouthed and still, half-buried in the damp sand."




2. This is an excellent book, written by the late New England journalist Everett S. Allen, who actually lived through and covered the hurricane for his area newspaper. Because he grew up and had lived in many of the severely affected areas, he wrote with great knowledge and feeling, and you will finish reading the book with the feeling that you have actually gone through that terrible September 21 and its aftermath with the citizens of New England. This is a sad, but fascinating subject matter, and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys American, and/or New England history. It is truly a great story of the indomitable spirit of the those who had to face a crippling hurricane, head on, with no prior warnings available to them that a killer storm was approaching a place where hurricanes were not in the scope of their reality. Read this book!



3. An absolutely terrifying example of what nature can do to mankind. Well written, and the author makes you feel like you are there, experiencing the horror. You simply cannot look away from what is happening before your very eyes. Some of the stories of what happened to people affected by the hurricane will make you weep, they're so sad. I recommend this book to anyone interested in history or natural disasters.



4. This book is composed mainly of vignettes of people's lives as they were affected by the hurricane as it moved up the coast. It appears to be very well researched; especially considering it was written long after the fact. You experience individual and family disasters by the hundreds as the hurricane moves up the coast. Some were covered in a line or two; others in a page or two. While I initially enjoyed reading about each event, by the time it got to Massachusetts, I was wishing a good editor had excised about 25% of them. I found myself skimming by then and wishing it would end.
   
   I'm not sure if the earlier hardback had photos or maps but the paperback had neither. I eventually got out some old National Geographic maps so I could follow the story. Surely there were some good photos that could have added a lot. At least there is a photo on the cover. Still, an interesting story of a unique (so far) event.

5 comments about Home Landscaping: Northeast Region: Including Southeast Canada (Home Landscaping) (Home Landscaping).

1. Home Landscaping: Northeast Region is a very informative book filled with beautiful photos. I don't think I will need another book while doing our landscape planning. Landscaping designs, expected sizes of plants and trees and shrubs, different colors and species, how to's, this book will cover all your landscaping needs if you live in new england.



2. A neighbor showed me her copy and I had to get one for myself. Great layouts, great plant selections, this book offers great ideas and variations and is FULL of information! I showed another neighbor the garden I am planning and now I'm buying her a copy as well. We are going to have a GREAT looking street!!



3. I recently became interested in gardening (now that I have a yard in which I can plant). This is one of my favorite books on gardening and landscaping. Great resource for those of us living in the northeast. Full of wonderful photos, explanations and illustrations. It gives many ideas for addressing certain areas of your yard (i.e. front entryway, patio, rock wall). Explanations are excellent; I learned a great deal from this book. Very well written. Highly recommended.



4. It's great the way these books are customized for each individual climate area here in the U.S. Saves a lot of wasted planning with the wrong plants and materials.



5. I have so many landscaping books that I never opened again after the first week I bought them. This is not one of those books. It's by far so much better than most of the other ones out there. It's well organized for info, and the plans are numerous and easy to follow. Not just for beginners. a really great book!

5 comments about The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony.

1. In this interesting book, Deetz and Deetz develop a realistic picture of the original settlers of Plymouth Plantation. Basically, these settlers were not our Thanksgiving stereotype of devout religious dissenters, grim and disciplined, who wore shoes with big square buckles. Instead, these settlers were much more diverse, and were a mixture of religious separatists (the minority) and secular types in search of land and prosperity. Of particular interest to me was the authors' discussion of crime in Plymouth. One warning: The book has passages that suffer from political correctness. This reader found them distracting.



2. An absolutely wonderful, detail-filled account of early colonial America by one of the greatest archaeologists of our time. He will be missed.



3. James Deetz and Patricia Scott Deetz's The Times of Their Lives (Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony) looks at the somewhat misnamed Pilgrims, including much recent archeological scholarship along with the usual documentary evidence upon which most historians exclusively rely. They show a great respect for the nineteenth century created myths surrounding the pilgrims while at the same time deconstructing them to present as realistic picture of this time as current research will allow. Along the way, they touch upon crime, sex, marriage, material culture, and food to give a full picture of the lives lived in Plymouth Colony, both British and Indian. The authors manage to make all of the archeological information quite palatable to the average reader. A nice read.



4. You get the feeling Deetz is a bit of an ass, true, but the book speaks for itself; it's sensational. He gets right to the heart of the matter in the first pages: the truth about Thanksgiving is nothing like the perception. He brings the truth out of a morass of lies. Even in this time of greater accuracy in history-telling, Deetz's book stands out as a particularly honest approach. Yes, English people were responsible for the annihilation of the native population; that much even Jerry Falwell would acknowledge. But the fact that we cover it up and celebrate it with Thanksgiving is the sad part.
   There was a lot more happening in the 1620s than historians have allowed us to see.



5. This book is a thorough piece of work - facts, dry text, colorful insights, dull academia, interesting human elements. It is a strange piece to review, as now that I have finished reading the book, I look back and can actually consider it to be a number of smaller works all contained within the save cover. With that in mind, I will comment on the "sections" individually as well as the work as a whole.
   
   Archaeology: interesting subject matter for sure, the reader may well find themselves irresistibly drawn in to the discussions on the various referenced sites. However, the author in his/her attempt at describing orientations of items/foundations, etc., does a poor job. In many instances, a simple keyed diagram would have much more applicable and practical than long-winded and convoluted textual descriptions.
   
   Lifestyles: flowing, page-turning descriptions of the subject matter at hand, be it the belief in the existence of witches, the settlement of estates, or the rules regarding fornication. Well done!
   
   References to other work: must say that I was a bit disappointed with the occasional complete dependence on Demos' A Little Commonwealth.
   
   Self-promotion: constant references by the authors to themselves in the 3rd person became annoying, carrying with it an unmistakable air of arrogance. And the disjointed and gratuitous "Postscript" written at the end of Chapter 6 by Patricia Scott Deetz that rambles on about her husband/co-author's many accomplishments was unnecessary and totally out of place.
   
   Overall: A strange conglomeration of creative writing and storytelling ala Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick and drier Demos-style reliance and regurgitation of old probate records. In the end, I am happy to have read this work, and the experience was enjoyable overall. I can't help but feel, however, that the authors have sold themselves short and not fully-harnessed their collective knowledge of and love for the Plymouth Colony history.

No comments about Colleges in New England 2009 (Peterson's Colleges in New England).

5 comments about King Philip's War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676 (Native Americans of the Northeast).

1. I got interested in this period of history after reading Parkman's masterful "France and England" series. Drake's book is the opposite -- dull, politically correct, completely lacking a sense of drama, written more with a view to securing tenure than increasing knowledge of this period. There's all the buzzwords -- indentity and gender and sexual politics, hints of Foucault and Derrida... an absolute waste of money. I pity his students. I pity the study of history. Morrison, Parkman, Freeman, Foote -- where are you when we need you?



2. This is a clearly written and thoughtful analysis of King Philip's War. While some may disagree with the author's characterization of the conflict as a "civil war," Drake effectively illuminates the important and complex connections that developed among the New England colonies and some Native American nations and how those connections helped to bring about the war.



3. Historian James Drake presents an intriguing thesis in this book. In his view, King Philip's War was a civil war that tore apart a highly integrated European-Indian society. On the face of it, this idea seems ludicrous, but Drake presents a very convincing case. Even if Drake does not win you over, you learn a lot about both colonial and Indian societies. Even the most ardent critics of the work must admit that Drakes presents some significant challenges to conventional thinking.

   The problem is that Drake does not know how to write well. The book is dreadfully slow and dry, with little penchent for anything but the most academic trivia. If one stays awake, you will find some very fascinating insights mixed together with the horrendously slow treatise, but often, it's not worth it.

   For fans of colonial history, it's a must. For anyone else, be warned: it will be a tough read.




4. I was born and raised in New York state, though now I reside in Rhode Island. Such being the case, on occasion I have thought to familiarize myself with the history of the state and of New England. I discovered the book,KING PHILIP'S WAR: CIVIL WAR IN NEW ENGLAND, 1675-1676, by James D. Drake. I read it because the issues raised in that war continue to bedevil Rhode Island. A brief resume of the war is that: In 1675, the Wampanoag Tribe under the leadership of King Philip, also known by his native name, Metacom, rebelled against the English colonies in Southeastern New England with whom they had various alliances, and against whom they had various grievances including the peremptory hanging of two Wampanoags. (The author is excellent on the causes of the war.) The Wampanoags were joined by some but not all other tribes in the region. After initial success in fighting the war, the rebels were defeated by the English settlers, and essentially eradicated. As part of that war, there occurred, in 1676, in the area now known as West Kingston, RI, a battle called the Great Swamp Fight,in which the Indians were defeated, and the war ended. The Great Swamp Fight is considered to be the first massacre of native peoples in America. The reason the war continues to be a factor in Rhode Island is that the remnants of the native tribes, melded into a single tribe now called the Narragansetts, have been attempting to get the right to build a casino under terms of the Indian Gaming Act passed by Congress in 1988. They have been frustrated in doing so by Rhode Island's leading politicians,---and hypocritically because gambling exists in other venues in Rhode Island, and is increasing. (The politicians pander to the moral sense of the people while advancing gambling in other guises. Further, prejudice is involved because the Narragansetts intermixed with the descendants of African slaves, though of course the politicians deny it.) The Narragansetts obviously are considered a threat, though there are hardly 3000 of them, as compared to about 1 million residents of the state! Further again, there continues to this day to be litigation about the Narragansetts attempting, a few years ago, to open a smoke shop where federal and state taxes were not collected on tobacco products. The Rhode Island State Troopers, under the Republican Governor Don Carcieri, forcibly closed the smoke shop, though now it is admitted that force was not needed but that legal warrants could have accomplished its closing until the issue of sovereignty could be decided. Further once more, it is impossible to get away from associations with that era. Indian names are part of every section of the state. The Wampanoag Trail is a major highway from Providence to the communities on the eastern part of Narragansett Bay. Nearby to where I live, there are the names of streets: Metacom, Pokanoket, Massasoit, and on and on. I live on Wamsetta Avenue. Finally, neither is it possible to avoid the names of the English settlers who prosecuted the war in the New England colonies: Winslow, Winthrop, Coddington, Church, Cotton, Denison, Eliot, Mather, Gorton---I could go on and on with such names, also. These names fill the telephone books, and those persons are related to the colonial figures, in some manner. I agree with Drake that King Philip's War was not a racially premeditated war of the English settlers against the Native American tribes. However, that might be a close call. As the author is careful to point out, while some of the Indians, in tribal groups and as individuals, fought with the various English colonies, none of the English colonists sided with the rebels. Furthermore, the Native American tribespeople were greatly outnumbered by the English, on the order of about 18 thousand to about 60 thousand. And with the English way of fighting, which was annihilatory (both the Indians of that time and the author condemn it), the outcome was predictable. I also agree with Drake that the origins of America are multiple and not exclusively linear from the New England colonies. However, neither is the 17th century experience of those colonies discontinuous with the development of the United States,---even though there are many "Americas," from colonial, to revolutionary, to the national period, to civil war, to the rise of finance capitalism (the Gilded Age), to immigrant, to the Great Depression Era, to WWII, industrial, cold war, Vietnam, etc., etc. I came to intellectual awareness in the early 1960s and know from personal experience that that era differs so much from the era of Bush II, 9/11 and the Iraq War fiasco as to comprise a different and distinct political entity. But America is a case of "e pluribus unum" not only with persons but with politico-economico-cultural eras. There is a grisly contemporary note in Drake's fine book. We know of the barbarity of the Islamic terrorists in decapitating some western hostages. The Native American tribes that rebelled against the English colonies were considered to have committed treason because they had made certain alliances with those colonies. That was English law in the 17th century. It is doubtful that the tribespeople understood the English law. However, the penalty for committing treason was to be drawn and quartered. King Philip was killed in the Great Swamp Fight. Nevertheless, his corpse was dragged out of the bog and the punishment was administered to it. (In case you do not know what it means to be drawn and quartered, I will tell you. First, the head is cut off. Then the body is separated at the waist, and the torso and legs are each halved.) Surely, the Islamic terrorists are barbaric, and just as certainly were the 17th century colonists, and so are we who are their direct descendants, as described above. In fact, reading Drake's fine, precise, well-researched and well-written book it appears to me less that I am engaged in an exercise of the understanding of ancient, local history than in reading a subtext to the daily news. T.R. Catanzarite



5. I didn't read this book until I'd finished Prof. Drake's classes, but just like his class lectures, this book is great! I have rarely read a more "readable" war-related book. There are a number of references he made in his classes and credited them to some "source" or "author" on the subject, and I had no idea HE was the source and author! I hope there are more books to come.

2 comments about The Lowell Offering: Writings by New England Mill Women (1840-1845).

1. Eisler's collection of pieces from The Lowell Offering is arranged in a user-friendly manner, but is limited in its content. If one cannot get one's hands on the original publications, however, this work is a great stand-in. Highly recommended as a research instrument, as articles are fully footnoted.



2. I bought and read this fine collection of stories and essays from the Lowell Offering, the publication edited and written by the young women and girls who worked in the Lowell, Mass. textile mills in the first half of the 1840s, when it was first published. And I have found myself referring back to it and recommending it to others ever since. It is an important introduction to working women's literature.

5 comments about Memento Mori.

1. A wonderful novel about a subject taboo in the 1950's in London... growing old. One of the very few books of its time to talk about those in their 70's and 80's without being patronizing or treating them as stereotypes. BBC Television produced a wonderful version filled with stars who had not held starring roles in decades (except Maggie Smith). Wonderful character studies and a clever premise. Vintage Muriel Spark, for me her finest novel.



2. This mystery novel is one of the most important works of Muriel Spark, a leading Scottish novelist as well as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, who received many prestigious awards such as the US Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1922 and the British Literature Prize in 1997.
   
   The title, Memento Mori, is a Latin phrase that is commonly translated as "Remember you must die," and this has been widely used as a motif for artistic creations to remind people of their own mortality since classical antiquity. The original thrust of Memento Mori was "Carpe Diem", "seize the day" in Latin, which entails the advice to "Eat, drink, for tomorrow we die!" quoting from Isaiah 22:13. Spark's message, however, seems to differ from the idea of carpe diem in this novel, although the meaning is not literary mentioned anywhere in this book by the author. That means how Memento Mori should be interpreted is all up to the readers, and that is the key to solve the mystery in this novel.
   
   The eccentric yet very interesting idea of this book is the most of the main characters are the elderly people who are septuagenarians and over. They are total of 22 men and women in a variety of living environment---some people are rich and famous, some are ill and dying. In spite of their differences in age, sex, place to live, health and living conditions, they had only one thing in common; all of them received anonymous phone calls in different voice tones whispering a single baffling message, "Memento Mori." Spark depicts tactfully how each character tries to ferret out the culprit.
   
   The beauty of this novel is the fine way Spark describes the lives of the elderly victims. Although she delineates the scene from mental agony of dying woman to excretion in the hospital bed, there is no sadness or melancholy in her description. In Spark's world, everything seems to be able to be subjects of funny story. Mercy may exist somewhere much deeper from the point of view of a Catholic writer.
   
   Another thing I like to point out about the characteristic of this book is that Spark's writings are concise and easy to read. She even reiterates the same phrases and passages several times. As for a reader whose mother tongue is Japanese, since this novel doesn't require much referring to a dictionary, I am satisfied with Spark's novels as foreign reader-friendly books. Some of you may feel that Spark uses the same descriptions too many times. Nevertheless, I'm sure her writings are so pithy and to the point that repetitions are bearable. I'm convinced that you can receive fresh different sounds and meanings of words from the context each time even reading the same passages.
   
   Memento Mori is a mystery novel which has a basic structure of the connection of very modern, ordinary, yet scientific instrument and unrealistic mystique. Spark digs up something we usually forget, or even we never want to remember because of the unpleasant truth. Namely, this is not only a mystery book but also a literature work written in a little lofty style according to the scene. Therefore, if you're just looking for a so-called ordinary, heart-beating thriller, this book is not for you. However, I would like to recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery and wants to look back over your own life seriously and sincerely a little bit for a change.



3. The late Muriel Spark's crisply-written third novel and first genuine masterpiece, Memento Mori (1959), would be followed by nineteen more, including additional bona fide classics The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), The Girls of Slender Means (1963), The Driver's Seat (1970), and Loitering With Intent (1981) before her death in April of 2006.
   
   Compared to these and other Spark fictions, however, Memento Mori is remarkable for its essentially straightforward plot (a number of elderly lifelong friends and enemies are harassed by a mysterious telephone caller who states "remember you must die"), its relatively stable mid-Fifties London setting, and the depiction of its cast.
   
   Unlike both earlier and later Spark novels, the characters presented are fairly unambiguous in terms of their natures: they're either essentially humane, decent, and humble, ethically and morally confused, or patently amoral. Thus, in terms of both characterization and the behavior that arises from it, Memento Mori can be interpreted as a highly polished but basic blueprint for all of Spark's future fiction, in which cultured blackmailers, undetected maniacs, manipulative appropriators, and aggressive human parasites abound. In fact, the endlessly conniving, money-obsessed Mabel Pettigrew remains the quintessential Spark villain.
   
   Like the best Spark's novels, Memento Mori also seamlessly knits pronounced metaphysical questions into its text, and addresses the question of human perception and objective control: who or what ultimately manipulates and guides human existence?
   
   As a meditation on human decency, morality, ethics, aging, and mortality, Memento Mori doesn't overtly concern itself with the literal mystery presented by its plot. Like the question of which student betrayed the Scottish school teacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the mystery of the phantom caller is disarmed fairly early in the text, and thus subtly revealed as a mere plot device upon which the author effortlessly hangs her weightier themes.
   
   Sophisticated, sharply insightful ("If I had my life over again I should form the habit of nightly composing myself to thoughts of death. I would practise, as it were, the remembrance of death. There is no other practise which so intensifies life. Death, when it approaches, ought not to take one by surprise. It should be part of the full expectancy of life. Without an ever-present sense of death life is insipid. You might as well live on the whites of eggs," retired Police Chief Inspector Henry Mortimer advises the assembled cast), and hilariously comic whenever it chooses to be, Memento Mori remains essential Western reading in the new millennium.



4. This well-regarded meditation on life and death is one of those books I would have been unlikely to ever get around to had it not been selected by my book group. Our group tends to pick (and generally enjoy) classics or works by various well-regarded international writers (recent examples include Saramago, Eco, Calvino, Greene, Pamuk, etc.), so this book seemed like it would fit well within the group's standard range. So it was somewhat surprising to discover that, not only was I not the only one who showed up for our discussion with a rather tepid reaction to the book, but none of the six other well-read members found it in any way remarkable or edifying. Even the person who picked the book (a self-professed fan of Spark's other work) found it a disappointment.
   
   Set in mid-1950s London, the story revolves around an interconnected group of elderly people. In what might be considered a parody of an Agatha Christie book, one, and then another of the old folks start getting mysterious phone calls informing them that "Remember, you must die." However, this is not a detective story or a thriller, except perhaps in the metaphysical sense. Despite recreating the classic scene of gathering all the characters in a drawing room in a debriefing conducted by a retired police detective, Spark is purely concerned with their reaction to the idea of mortality, rather than revealing the true nature of the phone calls. Indeed, two of the calmer characters reflect that the calls may be from "Death" (with a capital D), reflecting Sparks own stated belief that the line between the tangible world and the supernatural is a very thin and blurry one.
   
   However, many of the characters take the statement as a direct threat and grow increasingly agitated, while others take it as a mere statement of fact, and at least one is in total denial, and another finds it an interesting scientific problem. What may be ultimately frustrating, however, is that none of the characters change in any way as a result of the calls -- if anything, their often negative characteristics are only amplified. One pessimistic lesson may well be that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, however it seems more likely that Spark is attempting to highlight the notion that those who contemplate mortality on a daily basis lead more fulfilled lives as a result.
   
   In any event, those who like the book repeatedly cite the venal, immoral, and foolish behavior of the elderly protagonists as a major source of humor. Our group felt that while the various indiscretions, blackmail, and outbursts of jealousy and vitriol may well have been sly and subversive in the '50s, they aren't likely to strike any but the most naive of modern readers as such. Ultimately, I would be inclined to second-guess my reaction to such a critically well-regarded book, except that six other people more or less had the same experience.



5. It's a rare novel that mostly peoples its world with the elderly and explores the recognition of the unavoidability of death. Muriel Spark takes a gander via a social comedy that cuts through a few layers of London society circa 1957 (this was published in 1959). Throughout the story, a variety of characters who were born Victorians, were young and full of intrigue as Edwardians, and achieved middle age between the wars, experience various degrees of physical and mental decline. Beginning with the large and bossy Dame Lettie Colston, one by one, they get anonymous calls with a speaker who says the same thing each time: "Remember you must die." Depending on who is receiving the call, the reaction ranges from horror to dismissal, but all stir to life in ways they have not been stirred for some time. Fifty-year-old secrets rise up and cause trouble. One of the characters is a blackmailer. There are wills and fortunes to be made and contested. Meanwhile, an elderly poet is trying to get the experience artistically while a doctor measures their lives scientifically to get at the mystery of age and death. It's hard to keep a lid on.
   
   It is a mare's nest and this review could roll on for paragraphs trying to sort out the carefully woven characters and plotlines, not to mention spoiling them. The irony and wit are rich, and so is the vision of the spiritual realities of death as part of life. Those wanting a traditional mystery plot may be confounded by the outcome to the question of who is molesting everyone with the calls, but then it was not meant to be a straightforward mystery. It can be gritty in places. The image of the working class women for whom retirement means a large, privacy-free ward in a hospital is devastating. When I was visualizing the action, it came through in black and white imagery--this was London recovering from the war, with glimpses of bomb shelters and ruins here and there. Spark uses very little color in her descriptions, if at all.
   
   This is an artistic success and a pleasure to read. I've nicked it one star only because I liked some of the author's other books better, like A Far Cry From Kensington and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

5 comments about The Shell Seekers.

1. i hated to finish this book as i was sadly relating to most of the characters who are drawn from real life.as the parent ages the children circle in for the remains. not many writers tell of this time of life...but it is so true.only the author draws each person deeply to relate and the story goes on to the final end......wonderful wonderful...take the time to read it.........



2. Rosamund Pilcher does a fantastic job of writing in a style that immerses the reader in the very lives of the character she creates. Although the book jumps around into different time periods, it stays true to each character and leaves nothing hanging.
   
   This book was fantastic and ended far too soon.



3. It is high summer and I have just come away from visiting once again with Penelope Keeling and all the wonderful characters in The Shell Seekers. I read this book about 15 years ago when my kids were small.(I have a recollection of watching them in a wading pool while I cried for Penelope over Richard). I usually try to read one old favorite a summer and this year this was it! I long ago lost the paperback copy I had of this book so this time I read a library copy. This book is such a treasure on so many levels that I am going to order a copy for keeps!
   It would be wonderful to read these 24 years later what happened to Nancy,Noel and Monica her children and to Antonia and Danus her "adopted" grandchildren. Much of this novel takes place during the second world war.
   I seem to be stuck in the WW II in Britain era in my fiction reading,TV watching and DVD watching. See my recomendations below.
   I



4. This book is great for everyone who likes a wonderful story. Rosamund Pilcher takes you on a wonderful journey of life with all the tangles and heartache and joy that is a part of it.



5. I first read this book a couple of decades ago when my mother introduced me to Rosamund Pilcher. I've read it several times since then and last night watched the wonderful film version on television. I'm curious if anyone knows if the book of poetry Richard gives Penelope, Shoreline by Douglas McTeer is fictional or real? I don't find any information about it on line and yet the poem read from it is intriguingly lovely and made me wonder if I could find the author. Do you supposed Ms. Pilcher wrote it herself? (the poem) I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with clues about this. Thanks.

4 comments about Good Fences: A Pictorial History of New England's Stone Walls.

1. The popular saying is that "good fences make good neighbors." My thought is that the book "Good Fences" will make many of us more knowledgeable about what is around us. I live in Maine. Rural Maine. We have a lot of stone walls on the property. Some were from stones that cleared the fields so that cows could pasture. Others were moved to form a cow run to a pond so that the cattle could drink in an orderly fashion. They are large rocks for the most part. Not easily moved and majestic in repose.
   
   I have always looked at stone walls with a sense of appreciation of why they were constructed in the first place. Especially when deer hunting and you think you are a long way from civlization and you come across a stone wall in the middle of the woods. It didn't just grow there. Someone built it and the "why and how" is the most interesting aspect of it.
   
   William Hubbell has collected a number of such walls in the pages of this book and photgrahed them in a loving fashion and told their story in the the same way.
   
   I have seen such walls constructed. It takes a special person to carry and fit the stones. They often have as much imagiination as one who weilds a paint brush over a canvas. The results can be stunning or simply practical.
   
   In any event they are a phenominon worth dealing with and Mr. Hubble has done it in a most worthwhile way.



2. GOOD FENCES: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND'S STONE WALLS provides a lovely pictorial celebration of these walls accompanied by text surveying their history and construction. Six stone wall builders and their works receive in-depth focus, while photos provide close-up details profiling unusual walls. A rare, visual treat documents a profession that leaves behind monuments of wonder from its builder/artists.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. I am a fan of New England stone walls. All my life I have been literally surrounded by New England stone walls. As I type this, I can look out the window in front of my desk and see one such wall, and out the side window along another. Thwy are folk art and history and the living bones of New England. Robert Thorson's "Stone by Stone" and Susan Allport's "Serons in Stone" permanently sit on the bookshelves next to my computer. Well, her's another fine book to add to my collection. William Hubbell's "Good Fences" is filled with his own excellent photographs of stone walls all across New England, old walls for the most part, but some new ones as well. Even if you are not lucky enough to have your own stone wall or to see them every day, this book is a genuine pleasure.



4. I saw this book at a friend's house and loved it just looking quickly. My daughter gave me this book for Mother's Day and it's great to be able to read it and peruse it slowly looking at all the fabulous stonewalls. Definately a recommended coffee table book.

2 comments about Frommer's Boston Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day).

1. I am traveling to Boston each year for the last 15 years. I though that I know most of the city. Well, this book is a short and very informative city guide and you can read it without big "fuss".



2. I just returned from my first trip from Boston (5 days of sight-seeing), and this book was priceless! It's compact, so I was able to easily carry it everywhere with me. The maps are terrific, and it gives just enough information about each attraction, restaurant, etc. to help you decide if you want to include it on your itinerary. The descriptions of each location are concise and accurate. I found the ratings to be helpful and accurate, too. There are great suggestions no matter what your interest--for shoppers, walkers, families with children, art lovers, history buffs, etc. I looked in my local bookstore at Boston travel guides before I left and decided on this one--it turned out to be a great choice!!