《The Other》 David Guterson【摘要 书评 试读】图书
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出版社: V Reprint (日)
平装: 272页
语种： 英语
13.1 x 2.1 x 20.3 cm
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第263106位
作者简介
David Guterson is the author of five novels: Snow Falling on Cedars, which won the PEN/Faulkner and the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year A East of the M Our Lady of the Forest, a New York TimesNotable Book and a Los Angeles Times and Seattle Post- Intelligencer Best Book of the Y The O and Ed King. He is also the author of a previous story collection,The Country Ahead of Us, the Country B a poetry collection, Songs for a S and two works of nonfiction, Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense and Descent: A Memoir of Madness. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in Washington State.
5 星 (0%)0%4 星4 星 (0%)0%3 星3 星 (0%)0%2 星2 星 (0%)0%1 星1 星 (0%)0%与其他买家分享您的想法
AlReed5.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星I'm just a fan -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买I write this review with the bias of being a fan of this author's.
Once again, Guterson's inclination/knowledge of nature shines through in another one of his books.
I was a little bit taken aback, however, when reading the part about Neil's experience in teaching ESL to immigrant children.
I especially do not think I talked like that when I was placed in ESL classes as a kid.
But, of course, if I was not then moved to more advanced English courses, I might not have ever read any of the author's books.
I also did not expect that ending, which gave me much to think about, but then again I did not expect the two friends' time in the woods to end like that, either.G. Snapp5.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星Excellent Read! -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买This was an excellent book! The characters were interesting, even compelling. The plot may have been a bit dark, but not overly so. It helped that I grew up in the Seattle area at about the same time as these guys. I have been to many of the same places and done many of the same things, though not to the same extent. These guys were hardcore outdoorsmen. They were also extremely well-read, and I enjoyed the many literary references.I have recommended this to several of my friends who are serious bibliophiles.David B5.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星Astonishing clarity on the value of fathers and a life of purpose -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买While this book lacks the plot and historical analysis of the outstanding Snow Falling on Cedars, it has something much more powerful:
a clear case for the value of ordinary, loving parents--fathers in particular--and a sense of purpose in living one's life.
I may be responding to this work through the prism of my own struggles: like Neil Countryman I am the child of a blue-collar father and a resident of the Pacific Northwest.
I identify with his work ethic because in the same era I waited tables and sold clothes for tuition money while kids with financial aid packages bought stereos and lots of the aforementioned clothes.
And much like Neil Countryman, I learned that those advantages meant little when compared to the advantages of strong parents and determination.Neil's obsession with great literature and poetry fills for him the role of a spiritual center while John William's fascination with the Gnostics does little to address the gaping holes in his soul.
Their mutual love for the wilderness gives them a way to connect, but their obvious love for one another provides them both with anchors that don't quite keep them moored to satisfaction.
It's easy to wonder what could have soothed the frantic colic of the adult John William, what could have answered the perpetual questions of Neil Countryman after John William's death.My one quibble with the book was the gross "Whole-Foods-ization" of Neil in the form of precious foodstuffs.
I'd have appreciated seeing Neil saunter down to Ivar's, order a 4-piece, and toss the fries to the seagulls.
Had Neil remained a bit truer to his roots when living in the city, I'd have probably liked this even more than Snow Falling on Cedars.Susanna5.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星written beautifully. Again -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买This book was, as all that I've read by David Guterson, written beautifully.
Again, it did not reach the summit of popularity that his SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS did--that one having been made into a movie--yet, THE OTHER is indeed a worthy read.
Mr. Guterson manages to elicit compassion and angst for one character while adroitly showing that early childhood has far reaching influences.
Anything this writer puts on paper, as far as I'm concerned, is worthy of "a read."Little Buddy1.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星Rated the worst book in our book group in years -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买Long and depressing. If you don't live in the Seattle area you probably wouldn't know what some of these places are.
Rated the worst book in our book group in years.
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查看产品详情页面完毕后，在此处了解返回您感兴趣的页面的方式。《Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever》 Walter Kirn【摘要 书评 试读】图书
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出版社: Doubleday (日)
精装: 224页
语种： 英语
14.7 x 2.2 x 21.6 cm
作者简介
WALTER KIRN is a regular reviewer for The New York Times Book Review, and his work appears in The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Time, New York, GQ and Esquire. He is the author of six previous works of fiction: My Hard Bargain: Stories, She Needed Me, Thumbsucker, Up in the Air, Mission to America and The Unbinding. Kirn is a graduate of Princeton University and attended Oxford on a scholarship from the Keasby Foundation. He lives in Livingston, Montana.
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Someone's Mom5.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星Honest, Moving, Harrowing -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买I just finished devouring this book which I ordered immediately after reading the excerpt published in the New Yorker.
I'm from approximately the same generation as Kirn and felt a bit like he was sharing a dirty secret when I read the original excerpt.
Most of the book, with the exception of two chapters at the beginning and one at the end, focusses on his Princeton years -- and his "dirty little secret" is more or less that the elite institution he entered in the early 80's democratized, but only sort of.
In other words, he had what it took to get into Princeton, but he didn't have what it took to be accepted at Princeton, which, according to him was:
a sailboat, cases of champagne, rich family and connections.
The eating clubs held some form of secret interviews and people like him were rarely accepted, and his roomates didn't seem to understand that anyone could actually be poor and not be able to afford things like new furniture for the suite.But in this book, he focusses on so much more than the living situation -- he talks about the awakening he experienced when he discovered that the English department was more interested in literary criticism than in literature, and he admits that he kind of "faked his way through" large chunks of his education (what psychologists would call 'the imposter syndrome.')
Parts of the story are quite scary, leading up to what he refers to as a breakdown.Personally, I would have liked to have known a bit more about how he eventually made peace with his experiences at Princeton, how he has fared since then, and most importantly, where he plans to send his own children for their education.I feel that his story paralleled my own story at Wellesley, which I entered at approximately the same time period.
I never understood the arcane social sororities, or the people who had been to Europe several times, or the girls who arrived with thousands of dollars worth of clothes and headed directly to the Harvard Business School to snag a husband.One finishes the book with a sense of his own loss.
It's as if he was so taken aback and ill-prepared that although he was given an opportunity to experience the Ivy League education, ultimately he did not have the tools to really exploit it or make the most of it.
He describes a sense of loneliness, a lack of connection with the teaching staff, and summers spent shelving books in the basement of the library -- while others were out scoring lucrative internships and making important connections.
I identified with that part of his story too, as someone who spent most of my time reading books and studying languages, but never quite understood the whole social universe of college.
It's nice to know I wasn't the only one.
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Amazon Customer5.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星Funny as heck -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买I first read Mr. Kirn's memoir, Blood Will Out. I enjoyed his writing so much, I promptly purchased this book. An amusing, sometimes sad and infuriating ( his treatment by upper-class snobs at Princeton) story. Kirn is a funny, excellent writer. He was a Midwesterner who, by glibness and grit, got into the Ivy League, and discovered that America is not a classless society. For a hilarious take on that topic, read Fussell's book, "Class".Kirn used drugs, drank too much, was an early Goth, met some horrible-and-good people, was a playwrite and, at times, seemed bewildered to be among the elite learning...well, what exactly? And that's one of the points.I prefer nonfiction, but Mr. Kirn is such a funny, insightful writer I may dive into his novels.hh4.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星3.5 stars -- His story, but not necessarily yours -
已在美国亚马逊上发表已确认购买Why write this now?
At 50-something?
I think that some things simply take a lot of time to sort out: even half a lifetime.
For lower and lower middle class kids in America, the idea of a true meritocracy is a dream
("you can be anything you want").
Many kids who do well in high school buy into the dream whole-heartedly.
And when they learn that "it ain't necessarily so," the hard insight can be devastating.
This is not to say that people can't create their own destinies regardless of where or whether they go to college.
But Kirn's story is about HIS experience, his hard-learned lessons and how it shaped him (actually, threw him for a long time).
I don't see whining so much as ideals in free-fall and a lot of thrashing about when they (and he) hit bottom.If someone was born after 1975, it may be hard to understand why Kirn so naively bought the dream.
But back then idealism was in the air and many folks breathed it in deeply.
I did, too.
In 1974, when I interviewed at Princeton (a great school), I was shocked to have my personal "student interviewer and guide" dressed in Brooks Bros type clothing (I wore dark jeans and an open collared white shirt, no jacket).
I was more shocked when the FIRST question he asked was: "what does your father do?"
His was impressively "titled" in a prestigious NY bank.
Mine had a nice title, too, but in the public sector and not much money to go with it.
As soon as he realized that, the student guide looked over my head for the remainder of the tour/interview.
I felt blessed to find out that, although Princeton is a fantastic school, it wasn't right for me.
(The school I ultimately chose was filled with kids slightly embarrassed about their parents' celebrity status, which was equally funny, but more bearable.)And so, I was spared at least part of Kirn's experience.
I was also a bit more savvy than Kirn.
When rich kids said, "let's stay in the protest and get arrested," I knew their parents would spring them without batting an eyelash and mine could not -- I might even put my scholarship in jeopardy.
So, while they were willing to accept me and use the word "we" freely (different coast, different mindset), I needed to see through that and understand that "we" was conditional and temporary.
I don't blame them for that, but I can see how rotten it might have been if I didn't keep a sober view of things.
I also quickly found a circle of my own where I didn't have to be so guarded.
Perhaps if I were more clever I could have figured out some way around the obstacles I perceived, but I didn't.
And on the bright side, it made me more of an independent.
I sought out opportunities based upon true interests vs what friends were doing (and still do).Read the book to learn about a slice of life from a slice of time.
Don't generalize too much, but distill what you can.
Certain realities are l be aware of them, but also push the envelope some.
You never know what could happen.
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