100 Essential Modern Poems, Selected & Introduced by Joseph Parisi

By ecoscott on 6/10/10 10:13pm
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In 2006 my Aunt, a retired museum curator in New York City, sent me a book called, “100 Essential Modern Poems.” At the time I was still living on the road, working in deserts and rivers and cooking on a little stove I kept in the back of my car. I made zines. I drank cheap wine with my friends and we howled at the moon. It was great. What kind of time did I have to read some stuffy academics idea of the most “essential” poems of “modern” times. Take 100 days out of my life that year and I’ll give you the 100 essential poems of my modernity, you know what I mean?

And then I picked it up the other day. Started reading it. I realized it’s a history book- that it tells the story of poetry in the last century, or at least part of it, and certainly the roots of it quite well.

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"Sashenka"

By MichaelP03 on 5/7/10 3:14pm
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SashenkaSashenka

 Russia is a country that captures the romantic's heart unlike few other places in the world. For a land so amazing, with a history so complex and tragic, Simon Sebag Montefiore's 2008 epic Sashenka presents three parts of Russia's story - the ballrooms of Nicholas II's Russian Empire, the cold, windowless cells of Stalin's Soviet Union, and the uneasy freedom of Yeltsin's Russian Federation. Through it all, the titular Sashenka - first a precocious young girl, then a woman dedicated to the Communist Party and her two children, and finally a ghost reaching out through history - remains a powerful, believable, and amazing character.

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"The Man With The Iron Heart" (part 1)

By MichaelP03 on 3/22/10 10:10pm
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Harry Turtledove's The Man With The Iron Heart is a hard-as-nails, brilliantly-imagined look at a truly frightening possibly - what if one of the most brilliant and evil Nazis wouldn't play dead? It's alternative history at its finest, making us think of how messed up and scary this world is…and reminding us that it could be a lot, lot worse.



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"The Man With The Iron Heart" (part 2)

By MichaelP03 on 3/22/10 10:09pm
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If The Man With The Iron Heart reminds you of recent and current events, it's no coincidence - Turtledove admitted the two stories complemented one another. Sometimes it's too blatant, and occasionally it comes off as a morality tale ("Mr. President," Turtledove seems to say, "if you bring our troops home before the job is done, this is what will happen, in graphic and minute detail.") Such are the parallels that if you were to switch names and dates, you wouldn't know one from the other. That said, this book should prove excellent debate-material for people on both sides of the fence.

 

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Call Me a Woman

By akgoemans on 2/18/10 4:45am
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Call Me a WomanCall Me a Woman

Ellen Kuzwayo's Call Me a Woman will be one of those 'hard to find' books. But it is definitely one that will touch your heart. It is an autobiographical account of this South African feminist and social worker that, via her lifestory, highlights the plight of women struggling to survive under the apartheid system.

The late Ellen Kuzwayo was a legend who was famous world over. She was a prominent figure in her lifetime where she performed a number of roles (feminist, teacher, social worker). She played an active role in educating young folks and getting folks to talk about the social ills that were taking place.

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Fatherland

By MichaelP03 on 1/29/10 2:36pm
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FatherlandFatherland

 

Robert Harris brilliantly imagines a triumphant Nazi Germany succumbing to its own venom. Never before or since has such a powerful, detailed and scary picture of a victorious Third Reich been painted.



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Stories that words tell us

By akgoemans on 1/29/10 8:38am
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This bookStories That Words Tell UsStories That Words Tell Us is essentially a reference for those who love learning about the origins of words. Printed in 1918, it was written by an author who had a passion for historical topics (as can be seen from her other equally interesting books). Unfortunately, a print version of this book can be hard to come by; it is available in audio format from a number of stores as well being accessible in online format via Project Gutenberg.

Like I mentioned earlier, this book traces the possible origins of English names. The chapters are divided into the various sources of different names (e.g. names from places or ethnic groups). For this reason, the whole book is a kind of etymological discovery for anyone with a keen interest in the evolution of English words.

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Historical Fiction

By akgoemans on 1/20/10 8:58am
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Pillars of the EarthPillars of the Earth
Do folks like historical fiction because they have an interest in history or do they read the books purely for the enjoyment of the main tale? Whatever the case, I would guess that history buffs would welcome fictional stories which contain generous bits of information about world history. As it is, when in school, I used to look for fictional stories and movies set in a particular period that would coincide with the timeline I was studying. Well, that was my reasoning for watching Once Upon a Time in China but in hindsight it is safe to say that Jet Li and the opening theme had more to do with me hoarding that movie.

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The Story of the Middle Ages

By akgoemans on 1/14/10 3:12am
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Story of Middle AgesStory of Middle Ages
I love promoting history books to my younger cousins. Thereby, When looking for general history books, I look for something that covered a greater number topics whilst being easy to read. More to the point, I wanted something that would be easy reading for someone who was not well-versed in the subject at hand. And I must say that The Story of the Middle Ages by Samuel B. Harding fits the bill.

The author covers the tentative beginnings of what we know as the Middle Ages all the way to its end. Thus, he has divided the various chapters into various time periods, paying particular attention to the prominent themes in each period. He starts out with the older German tribes and how they moved around in Europe.

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The Social History of Smoking

By akgoemans on 1/7/10 7:51am
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The Social History of SmokingThe Social History of Smoking
The Social History of Smoking is one of those weird history books. If you look obscure facts about our habits and such or if you are merely curious about the ongoing trends involved in smoking itself, this book will make a good read. The book was written by G. L. Apperson and it traces the various social habits formed around smoking. Do keep in mind, this book covers the smoking habits of various folks in England. Nonetheless, it is interesting to note what has made its way to other countries.

The author divides the different habits according to various time periods. So it ends up as a fascinating journey for the reader as you follow the changes from the introduction of the first pipes in England to smoking trends in the early twentieth century.

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