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Book Club... And Then Some!
Nothing Was the Same: A Memoir
by Kay Redfield Jamison
Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
This is a touching, deeply moving, difficult to read (yet difficult to put down), love story in which Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center and author of the national best seller, An Unquiet Mind and Night Falls Fast, writes about her 20 years with Richard Wyatt, also an important researcher in the area of mental disorders. As Shalom Fradman, from Jerusalem, Israel, writes in his Amazon review, “She tells the story with taste, restraint, feeling, and unfailing intelligence and wisdom.”
The book is written with care, precision, honesty, reflection, and in beautiful prose.
Jamison writes about grief, sickness, and dying, but in a profound, simple manner.
How two well-educated, intelligent people could sustain their loving bond through all their adversity is remarkable. How their passion was sustained through the days and moments of sickness before his death, and how their celebration of life sustained them is amazing. What a joy! What an unbelievable testimony for the bond that true love can offer.
As one reviewer said, “‘Drs. Wyatt and Jamison found happiness not in idealized illusions, but in living—with as much integrity and joy as possible—their own imperfect lives.”
This is a unique book that will touch you deeply, move you with passion and intensity, and, thus, will impress you forever.
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This book is available from Amazon.com: Nothing Was the Same: A Memoir
Book Club... And Then Some!
Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son
by Michael Chabon
Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
There are several things I truly enjoyed about this book. First, I loved the author’s willingness to be open, frank, and personal. This is a collection of short autobiographical stories. If you’re just looking for an enjoyable and sometimes intriguing look into someone else’s life and thoughts, this is an entertaining read.
The second thing I enjoyed about this book is Chabon’s use of language. He uses the English language well, and his fluent writing style is delightful. Although his writing tends to be a bit formal and crisp, his humor and wit shine through and charm you. Thus, if you’re seeking a well-written book, this would be an excellent choice.
The third thing I enjoyed about this book is that it offers a peek into another man’s life. One reviewer summarized the content of his essays in this way: “Chabon takes us on a journey through his childhood: the unflagging support of his mother; the inability to connect with his father despite the love between them; the joy and privilege of being able to explore, unhindered by adult supervision, the world around him and, the ache of realizing one is losing it all. From his childhood to adulthood and then to fatherhood we follow the unique tale of a man’s life, one who is gifted enough to share with his readers all the joys and disasters that a life lived carries with it.”
Chabon’s descriptions are rich in detail, replete with the emotions experienced at the time, and full of charm and wonder—almost as if it is a child discovering a whole new world one experience at a time.
Clearly this is a well-written, candid, funny, thoughtful, self-disclosing, witty, informative, wise, and totally captivating book designed for all to read—not just men, fathers, and fathers-to-be.
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This book is available from Amazon.com: Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son
Book Club... And Then Some!
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
by Richard Holmes
Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
If you are looking for a well-written, engaging, and entertaining read, choose this book. Just as it says on the front flyleaf: “A riveting history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science.” That is precisely what you get: “a coherent and compelling brief history of the romantic era scientists. Well written, engaging, and a pleasure to read,” writes one reviewer.
There is a 33-page (fine print) index, 28 pages of references, and an eleven-page bibliography for this 552-page book. The 25 pages of pictures (separated into three sections) are useful and excellent. In addition, the author provides a 22-page cast list which makes reading the story easier.
It is as one reviewer said, “a nail biting drama—what will Davy discover next? Will he foil his scientific genius with his outsized ego and penchant for fly fishing? I raced through the chapters to find out what happens next (200 years ago).”
On the front flyleaf of the book, the characters of Holmes narrative are briefly described: “Three lives dominate the book: William Herschel and his siter Caroline, whose dedication to the stuy of the stars forever changed the public conception of the solar system, the Milky Way, and the meaning of the universe; and Humphry Davy, who with only a grammar-school education stunned the scienfific community with near-suicidal gas experiments that led to the invention of the miners’ lamp and established British chemistry as the leading professional science in Europe.”
What I especially enjoyed is that throughout the book Holmes brings together literature and science. You get Davy’s poems, and although they fill a substantial portion of the book, they provide a delightful respite from the narrative, and it offers, too, a look at the romantic literature of the time.
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This book is available from Amazon.com: The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
Book Club... And Then Some!
The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible
by John Geiger
Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
There are 24 pages of notes in support of this 297-page book; however, as one reviewer noted, “I’ve never read a book that gave the source but ignored adding page numbers. It’s a basic tradition of scholarship. Give exact details so readers can confirm the source. Readers who want to verify a quote from ‘Varieties of Religious Experience,’ for example, might need an hour or more to find the context; a considerate scholar will give the page and so guide readers in an instant.”
Now, you have to understand as you begin reading these awesome, awe-inspiring stories, that even when people demonstrate a sheer determination to endure in life-and-death circumstances, whether it is the author’s interpretation or that of the survivor, the interpretation will be that “a faith in one’s ultimate survival, seen in so many of the cases in this book, is the power of the savior.” I have always wondered why it is that people who begin with faith and pray mightily for their own survival in such circumstances end up dying? We hear that faith creates survivors, but just as likely in life-and-death circumstances, faith can result in death. Aren’t the odds 50-50 anyway? And if the odds are 50-50 (do we have any proof otherwise?), then what is the true value of prayer? Does it make you feel better? More confident? More secure? More assured? More courageous? Or, does it simply buoy the spirits with hope and inspiration? I’m not denying its value, but it doesn’t change the odds.
Whether you are a believer or not, the stories collected by Geiger are amazing. For example, he begins with a story of a man who was trapped in the south tower of the World Trade Center on the morning of the 9/11 attacks who followed a “voice” and a “presence” who led him through smoke and fire to safety. He was the last person to get out alive on that day. (My assumption, of course, is that all of the others who did not get out alive were either those of no faith, little faith, or not the right faith.)
One reviewer of the book wrote, “The author doesn’t make any assertions as to what the third man actually might be, but after doing an in-depth study of other literature . . . and doing the practice of listening to the ‘still small voice,’ I now know that this is none other than our divine higher self—the god of us—in action . . . It is omniscient and will manifest itself whenever our normal human nature gets out of the way.” For many, “normal human nature”—and the knowledge of science—will always interfere. But that doesn’t change the odds in any way.
There is no doubt that “the book reads like a collection of anecdotes,” as one reviewer noted, and it can become tiring. Nonetheless, that does not deny the impact of the stories. This is an entertaining collection by a talented writer, and if you can be (or are) moved by messages of hope, then this is a great selection.
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This book is available from Amazon.com: The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible
Book Club... And Then Some!
How to Survive the End of the World as we Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times
by James Wesley Rawles
Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
This 316-page paperback is truly a survival guide that offers readers a list of survival equipment necessary, how to find a survival retreat, find water, store food, acquire fuel and power your home, use a garden and nourish livestock, acquire medical supplies and the knowledge to use them, monitor and use communications equipment, own a home security system and learn self-defense, possess and use firearms, use vehicles and which ones are best, invest, barter and maintain a home-based business. There is truly a great deal to be learned from this book.
Although it is true that regarding disasters, one size doesn’t fit all, and there are certainly a large number of different kinds of preparations that can be made, depending on the kind and length of the disaster as well as the location and societal issue involved. The point Rawles makes is an important one—preparing ahead for disaster costs very little, but it can save your life. It’s a little like buying insurance.
If nothing else, this book will get you thinking about things that may never have occurred to you. Some of the ideas may seem unrealistic (buying a hybrid car, a diesel pickup, a motorcycle or moped, as well as an electric ATV and a tractor), the idea is simply to get ready before something bad happens.
Although I am unlikely to follow very much of his advice, I found the book practical, useful, and worth reading. To have it in your library for possible use when the time comes may be a great idea (or as a reference to use periodically), but your library may disappear along with the disaster and render the book meaningless (or lost) just when needed the most.
Nonetheless, the book is, as Eric M. Bessette, of Tobyhanna, PA, said in his review of the book, “Well thought out, well written, and well planned. In the easy to read instructions, the author teaches you everything from water purification to food storage preparation.”
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This book is available from Amazon.com: How to Survive the End of the World as we Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times
