WHAT I'VE BEEN READING

Comments on books from Bob Corbett

THE YEAR 2016

THE YEAR 2015

BOOKS I HAVE RECORDS (AND RANKINGS) OF READING, BUT DIDN'T WRITE SETS OF COMMENTS

FOR MOST BOOKS BELOW I HAVE A SHORT COMMENTS ON EACH



BOOKS FROM 2000



  • 3/6/2000     Berg, Elizabeth     DURABLE GOODS     rating 4     192   pages     novel
    12 year old girl and older sister on Texas military base with mean dad. Slow, touching.

  • 9/8/2000     Mahfouz, Naguib - (Nobel Laureate 1988)     THE BEGGAR     rating 5     140   pages     novel
    Disappointing in relation to earlier novels of his. Man searching for meaning. Trite.

  • 3/5/2000     Constantini, Humberto     THE LONG NIGHT OF FRANCISCO SANCTIC     rating 8     178   pages     novel
    Mysterious chance to save two dissidents in Argentina costs Sanctis deep thought and….

  • 3/6/2000     Berg, Elizabeth     DURABLE GOODS     rating 4     192   pages     novel
    12 year old girl and older sister on Texas military base with mean dad. Slow, touching.

  • 3/7/2000     Chedid, Andree     THE RETURN TO BEIRUT     rating 8     158   pages     novel
    Beautiful, heavy, well-written story set in early days of Lebenese Civil War of 1985.

  • 3/9/2000     Fitzpatrick, Nina     THE LOVES OF FAUSTYNA     rating 8     216   pages     novel
    Poland in 1980s. Faustya is independent, witty and savvy, ultimately defeated by situation.

  • 3/27/2000     Drabble, Margaret     THE GATES OF IVORY     rating 5     463   pages     novel
    Cambodia 1983-85. Novelist Cox dies seeking Pol Pot. Friend Liz seeks him when missing

  • 7/15/2000     Podhoretz, Norman     EX-FRIENDS     rating 8     233   pages     non-fiction
    Story of Podhoretz shift from left to right and loss of friends. Good review of 60s-70s.

  • 7/28/2000     Schlink, Bernhard     THE READER     rating 9     217   pages     phil novel
    Brillant story of love affair in post-war Germany with questions of love and German guilt.

  • 8/10/2000     Goldstein, Rebecca     THE MIND BODY PROBLEM     rating 8       pages     phil novel
    Wonderful, funny philosophical story of grad student at Princeton married to genius.

  • 8/20/2000     Johnson, Diane     PERSIAN NIGHTS     rating 7     338   pages     hist fiction
    U.S. and European medical personell caught up in last days of Shah's Persia. Funny and sad.

  • 8/26/2000     Achebe, Chinua     THINGS FALL APART     rating 10     209   pages     phil novel
    Powerful book examining an Ibo village in Nigeria in the days of the coming of British control.

  • 9/8/2000     Mahfouz, Naguib - (Nobel Laureate 1988)     THE BEGGAR     rating 5     140   pages     novel
    Disappointing in relation to earlier novels of his. Man searching for meaning. Trite.

  • 9/8/2000     Mahfouz, Naguib- (Nobel Laureate 1988)     ADRIFT ON THE NILE     rating 9     167   pages     novel
    Group works normal jobs days; smoke done and escape at nights. Neo-existentialist 1980s.

    BOOKS FROM 1999



  • 1/5/1999     Kundera, Milan     IDENTITY     rating 7     168   pages     novel
    Witty, philosophical, identity theme, pessimistic, meaninglessness, lots of talk of death

  • 1/17/1999     Carpentier, Alejo     EXPLOSION IN A CATHEDRAL     rating 7     351   pages     hist fiction
    Captures factions and spirit of French Revolution, esp. in Caribbean. Great book!

  • 1/18/1999     Roudybush, Alexandra     SUDDENDLY IN PARIS     rating 4     161   pages     Haiti
    Murder mystery. Killed escapes to Haiti and is trapped by detective via Voodoo ceremony

  • 1/20/1999     Weston, Mariam     TO TRACK A COPYCAT     rating 3     205   pages     Haiti
    Badly written mystery story set in Haiti. Jumbled relationships, crazy use of Haiti

  • 1/24/1999     Buck, Peter     THE DEADLY BIRDMAN     rating 5     203   pages     Haiit
    Tale of mercenaries set in Haiti. Macoutes trick mercs into killing US delegation. Light!

  • 1/25/1999     Dern, Peggy     NURSE IN THE TROPICS     rating 4     125   pages     Haiti
    U.S. nurse goes to Haiti, overcomes Voodoo to find love. Set in Haiti. 50s stereotype

  • 2/4/1999     Malcolm, Janet     THE JOURNALIST AND THE MURDERER     rating 7     163   pages     philosophy
    Examination of journalist/subject relationship. Claims difficult and vague moral relations

  • 2/20/1999     Gibbons, Elizabeth     SANCTIONS IN HAITI     rating 8     113   pages     Haiti
    Claims UN sanctions violated basis human right. Haiti is case study for general thesis

  • 4/30/1999     Wucker, Michele     WHY THE COCKS FIGHT     rating 6     281   pages     Haiti
    More on DR than Haiti. Cockfight image gives way to Prospeo/Caliban image

  • 5/16/1999     Orwell, George     DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON     rating 7     213   pages     novel
    Lightly disguised autobiography. 1933 account of penniless men in depression times

  • 6/26/1999     Garland, Alex     THE BEACH     rating 7     371   pages     fiction
    Generation X version of Lord of the Flies. Thailand, drugs and hidden beach commune

  • 7/14/1999     Galvan, Manuel     THE CROSS AND THE SWORD     rating 7     366   pages     Haiti
    1502 to 1517 in Hispaniola. Las Casas, and a cacique. Story of rebellion and Spanish.

  • 8/16/1999     Boll, Heinrich     THE SAFETY NET     rating 7     213   pages     novel
    1950s Germany. President of Germany and family suffer from excessive security.

  • 9/26/1999     Mahfouz, Naguib - (Nobel Laureate 1988)     MIDAQ ALLEY     rating 8     246   pages     novel
    A slum of Cairo during WW II. Just lives of folks going about their daily lives. Brilliant.

  • 10/6/1999     Lynley, Elinor     SONG OF THE BAYOU     rating 6     413   pages     novel
    Romance novel set in pre-Civil War Louisiana, features ex San Domingue slaves. So-so.

  • 10/9/1999     Dobyns, Stephen     COLD DOG SOUP     rating 6     231   pages     Haiti
    Weird novel about dead dog, with zanny Haitian cab driver and hideous dog stories

    BOOKS FROM 1998



  • 1/11/1998     Zola, Emile     BELLY OF PARIS     rating 9     498   pages     fiction
    Supurb food/revolution story about markets of Paris and gosip, gosip, gosip

  • 3/14/1998     Conde, Maryse     TREE OF LIFE     rating 7     371   pages     fiction
    Caribbean story of Guadelupe. Family saga. Quite good.

  • 3/20/1998     Burns, Sheelagh     THE GINKO TREE     rating 4     222   pages     fiction
    Haiti like setting for part. 1950s woman falls for Haitian guy. So, so at best

  • 3/25/1998     McCourt, Frank     ANGELA'S ASHES     rating 7     363   pages     history
    Irish childhood in Limerick. Dirt poor family with drunk father in war years

  • 4/20/1998     Lustbader, Eric         rating 5     390   pages     fiction


  • 4/29/1998     Greeley, Andrew     IRISH WHISKEY     rating 6     315   pages     fiction
    Irish woman with "sight" connects fiance with ex-mafia woman who saves him

  • 5/8/1998     Jennings, Gary     AZTEC AUTUMN     rating 6     380   pages     hist. Fiction
    Uprising of Aztecs against the Spanish in 1500s.

  • 5/14/1998     Armstrong, Campbell     MAMBO     rating 5     545   pages     fiction
    Global plot to depose Castro and take over Cuba. Foiled by British cop

  • 5/24/1998     Nabokov, Vladimir     THE EYE     rating 6     111   pages     fiction
    self obscessed fellow escapes meaning by imagining himself dead. Surprise ending

  • 6/1/1998     Puzo, Mario     THE FORTUNATE PILGRIM     rating 7     310   pages     hist. Fiction
    Italian immigant tale, 20s-40s. Success, but just ordinary folks and ordinary success

  • 6/3/1998     Greeley, Andrew     IRISH GOLD     rating 8     333   pages     hist. Fiction
    Mystery @ Michael Collins death and modern love story. Irish to the core

  • 6/5/1998     Jelinek, Elfriede     WONDERFUL WONDERFUL TIMES     rating 9     253   pages     fiction
    Vienna, 1950s, alienated teens, Camus influence. Forced ending. Powerful!

  • 6/7/1998     Greeley, Andrew     IRISH LACE     rating 7     345   pages     hist Fiction
    Chicago, Civil War plot ties into current art theft plot, all around love story

  • 6/17/2008     Courter, Gay     THE MIDWIFE'S ADVICE     rating 8     716   pages     hist Fiction
    Lower East side, 1913-1922. Sex research and Russian Rev. around love stories

  • 6/21/1998     Jelinek, Elfriede     WOMEN AS LOVERS     rating 4     192   pages     fiction
    Repetitive, bitter novel of women losing themselves in marriage. Short story material

  • 6/28/1998     Irving, John     SETTING FREE THE BEARS     rating 8     340   pages     hist Fiction
    1st novel, Vienna, 1967, flashbacks to war and occupation. Excellent

  • 7/1/1998     Sheldon, Sidney     RAGE OF ANGELS     rating 4     504   pages     fiction
    mafia, courtroom, mindless, quick and fun

  • 7/5/1998     Chopin, Kate     THE AWAKENING     rating 7     116   pages     fiction
    1899 woman choosing individualism over tradition. Well done but slow, as was her life

  • 7/9/1998     Yolum, Irvin D.     WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT     rating 10     306   pages     phil fiction
    1882 Vienna, Nietzsche's gives phil consul, creates psyco-analysis. Excellent. Freud

  • 7/10/1998     Fast, Howard     MAX     rating 5       pages     fiction
    1890s - 1930 fictional history of development of movies

  • 7/14/1998     Sandford, John     SHADOW PREY     rating 6     358   pages     fiction
    Current Indian attempt at uprising in Minnesota

  • 7/17/1998     Jelinek, Elfriede - (Nobel Laureate 1998)     LUST     rating 7     207   pages     feminist fict
    Hammers at male dominated sex, especially in Austrian culture

  • 7/22/1998     Leigh-Fermor, Patrick     A TIME OF GIFTS     rating 7     304   pages     travel
    Fun travel of walk from Amsterdam to Hungary (plan to Istanbul) 1933. Written 1977

  • 7/23/1998     Ackroyd, Peter     DAN LENO AND THE LIGHTHOUSE GOLEM     rating 5     282   pages     fiction
    weird story of mass murder and others. 1882 in London. Marx a bit player

  • 7/24/1998     Mathews, Adrian     THE HAT OF VICTOR NOIR     rating 5     286   pages     fiction
    Strange story of Brazilian Voodooist in Paris, grave yard story and love broker

  • 7/25/1998     McEwan, Ian     THE CEMENT GARDEN     rating 6     127   pages     facition
    Children bury mother in basement in Poe-like macrbre tale

  • 7/26/1998     Camus, Albert     EXILE AND THE KINGDOM     rating 5     213   pages     short stories
    Set of short stories of which most are not very interesting!

  • 7/27/1998     Rabon, Israel     THE STREET     rating 6     192   pages     fiction
    Sad, slow tale of fellow in end of WWI in Poland on the street

  • 7/28/1998     Vonnegut, Kurt     PALM SUNDAY     rating 5     302   pages     misc
    Non-fiction autobiographical rant. Some of it interesting, most less so

  • 8/5/1998     Ruark, Robert     UHURU     rating 7     670   pages     hist Fiction
    African freedom movement in Kenya, 1960. Focus on white Kenyans

  • 8/9/1998     Anders, Ivo     THE BRIDGE ON THE DRINA     rating 10     314   pages     hist Fiction
    Novelistic chronicle of Bosnian history with bridge as the central "character"

  • 8/15/1998     Rybakou, Anatoli     CHILDREN OF THE ARBAT     rating 6     647   pages     hist Fiction
    Unfinished (?) novel of 1930s beginnings of Stalinist purge trials and lives of fear

  • 8/21/1998     Marquez, Gabriel Garcia     ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE     rating 10     336   pages     fiction
    100 years in the life of a family and village in South America or Caribbean. Awesome!

  • 8/24/1998     White, Antonia     FROST IN MAY     rating 6     221   pages     fiction
    1920s strict upperclass Catholic girls' school in England. Harsh and consistent nuns

  • 8/26/1998     Sander, Helke     THE THREE WOMEN K     rating 8     142   pages     feminist fict
    More like short sketches than a novel. Funny, provocative. Not great writing!

  • 8/31/1998     Zola, Emile     THERESE RAQUIN     rating 8     256   pages     fiction
    Macabre mystery story of love and murder in Paris, 1860s. Well written -- horrifying

  • 9/7/1998     Szczypiorski, Andrzej     THE BEAUTIFUL MRS. SEIDENMAN     rating 8     200   pages     hist Fiction
    Poland, WWII, all struggle for survival and Poland is the leit moif. Riveting!

  • 9/8/1998     Carroll, Jonathan     VOICE OF OUR SHADOW     rating 6     187   pages     fiction
    Scary, weird tale of the occult. However, lovingly set in Vienna and that's done well

  • 9/20/1998     Chirbes, Rafael     MIMOUN     rating 1     111   pages     fiction
    One of the worst books I've ever finished. Self-indulgent tale of sad folks in Morocco

  • 9/25/1998     Phillips, Caryl     CAMBRIDGE     rating 3     184   pages     fiction
    Couldn't decide if it was fiction or non-fiction. Decent on life in 18th century Caribbean

  • 10/6/1998     Zola, Emile     GERMINAL     rating 10     499   pages     hist Fiction
    1860s mining community in northern France. Excellent study and story

  • 10/17/1998     Nietzsche, Frederich     GENEALOGY OF MORALS     rating 8     160   pages     philosophy
    Zany in parts, profoundly challenging in others. Nietzsche rants a lot! Fascinating hist

  • 10/24/1998     Clare, George     LAST WALTZ IN VIENNA     rating 6     272   pages     history
    Powerful tale of Vienna Jewish family especially in WWII. My last book in Vienna

  • 12/12/1998     Hearne, Vicki     ADAM'S TASK     rating 7     165   pages     philosophy
    Scattery impressionistic book making the case that horses, dogs and cat do language

  • 12/28/1998     Danticat, Edwidge     THE FARMING OF BONES     rating 7     312   pages     Haiti
    Tale of Dominican massacres of 1937. Good story, not as grabing as earlier works

    BOOKS FROM 1997



  • 1/6/1997     McCrory, May     THE WATER'S EDGE     rating 9     182   pages     short stories
    Wonderful stories of Irish girl raised in Liverpool. Great insights

  • 1/25/1997     Camus, Albert     THE STRANGER     rating 8     154   pages     Existentialism
    Camus' first novel of meaningless in the character of Mersault

  • 2/2/1997     Sartre, Jean-Paul     NAUSEA     rating 8     178   pages     Existentialism
    Supurb novel of the process of one man coming to experience meaninglessness

  • 2/4/1997     Brown, K. McCarthy     TRACING THE SPIRIT     rating 6     112   pages     Haiti
    Davenport collection used to illustrate aspects of Voodoo cosmology in art

  •     Lost many with     computer failure        


  • 5/21/97     McKay, Claude     HOME TO HARLEM     rating 9     180   pages     literature
    Marvelous novel of Harlem in 1920. Harlem Renaissance classic

  • 5/23/1997     Falcon-Barker, Ted     DEVIL'S GOLD     rating 5     159   pages     adventure
    Seeking lost Spanish gold off the coast of Haiti. Really HATES Haiti!

  • 5/27/1997     Vaughan, Robert     DAWN OF THE CENTURY     rating 7     420   pages     hist. fic
    1904, St. L. to 1912. Interesting characters, familian setting

  • 6/6/1997     McCullough, Colleen     THE FIRST MAN IN ROME     rating 6     931   pages     hist. fic
    100 BC Rome. Much like a lightly fictionalized account of political intrigue in Rome

  • 6/8/1997     Shakespeare,Wm.     JULIUS CAESAR     rating 10     56   pages     play
    100 BC Rome. Wow, it's too easy to forget just how incredible Shakespeare is!

  • 6/12/1997     Franklyn, Irwin     KNIGHTS OF THE COCKPIT     rating 3     310   pages     Haiti
    Terrible book that gets everything wrong about Haiti and glorifies U.S. marines

  • 6/16/1997     Vidal, Gore     HOLLYWOOD     rating 7     419   pages     hist.fic
    Early days of film making + good portrait of Wilson and Harding administrations

  • 6/20/1997     Uris, Leon     REDEMPTION     rating 5     827   pages     hist. fic
    Follow up of Trinity, but scattery and mixed novel. Some bad writing and organization

  • 6/23/1997     Easterman, Daniel     NIGHT OF THE SEVENTH DARKNESS     rating 6     434   pages     Haiti
    From Wade Davis, via Ludlum, Voodoo international plot which bad folks win

  • 6/26/1997     Cardinal, Marie     DEVOTION AND DISORDER     rating 7     186   pages     fiction
    Mother helps daughter overcome drug addiction, ghostwriter tells tale.

  • 7/2/1997     Pratt, Frances     LA BELLE ZOA     rating 6     96   pages     Haiti
    1854 novel of Haitian revolution. Interesting view of times, plus historical errs.

  • 7/12/1997     Bar-Zohar, Michael     THE SPY WHO DIED TWICE     rating 5     212   pages     Haiti
    Espionage thriller in which a Voodoo-related murder in Haiti is part of the so-so plot.

  • 7/17/1997     Follett, Ken     THE THIRD TWIN     rating 7     422   pages     fiction
    Genetic engineering story of 8 clones, rape, fraud and suspense. Fun.

  • 7/22/1997     Marquez, Gabriel G.     THE GENERAL IN HIS LABYRINTH     rating 7     268   pages     hist. fic
    Last days of Simon Bolivar.

  • 7/27/1997     Vidal, Gore     1876: A NOVEL     rating 8     364   pages     hist.fic
    Vidal calls 1876 the low point of U.S. history, and proves it. Good characters.

  • 8/30/1997     Fitzgerald, F. Scott     THE GREAT GATSBY     rating 9     182   pages     fiction
    Classic look at the 1920s

  • 0/0/1997     Lawrence, Starling     MONTENEGRO     rating 8     305   pages     hist. fic
    1908 Balkans. Love story, spy, sensitive, well-written.

  • 0/0/1997     Ludlum, Robert     THE MATARESE COUNTDOWN     rating 6     487   pages     fiction
    Standard Ludlum: world plot, impossible knowledge, good wins over evil

  • 0/0/1997     St. John, Robert     THE MAN WHO PLAYED GOD     rating 8     471   pages     hist. fic.
    Story of Hungarian Jew who tried to save Jews of Hungry, caught in complications

  • 0/0/1997     Crow, John W.     MEADOWS HOUSE     rating 6     176   pages     Haiti
    Haiti boy comes to U.S and succeeds, but suffers racism. 1930-50

  • 0/0/1997     Montero, Mayra     IN THE PALM OF DARKNESS     rating 7     183   pages     Haiti
    Dark, symbolic novel where disappearing frogs represent hopeless Haiti.

    BOOKS FROM 1996



  • Jan-96     Evans, Jonathan     MISFIRE     rating 7     512   pages     espinoage
    KGB and CIA team up to stop terrorist sattalite

  • Jan-96     Banks, Russell     CONTINENTAL DRIFT     rating 9     420   pages     Haiti
    An everyman story of blue collar + Haitian connect

  • Jan-96     Hartov, Steven     THE HEAT OF RAMADAN     rating 6     448   pages     espinoage
    Plot to kill Israli primer before peace accord!

  • Jan-96     Robertson, Char     RED CHAMELEON     rating 6     456   pages     espinoage
    Double agent mole on computer SDI plan

  • Jan-96     Hofmann, Paul     THE VIENNESE     rating 7     330   pages     history
    Chatty history of Vienna focus on personalities

  • Feb-96     Barnhardt, Wilton     GOSPEL     rating 10     776   pages     hist fic
    Phenomenal story of hunt for lost 1st cent. gospel

  • Feb-96     Goodman, Cynthia     HANS HOFMANN     rating 4     123   pages     art
    Text, plus lots of plates of Hofmann's work

  • Feb-96     Courter, Gay     MIDWIFE     rating 7     521   pages     hist fic
    Jewish Russian immigrant midwife in NY

  • Feb-96     Segal, Erich     ACTS OF FAITH     rating 7     545   pages     hist fic
    Weak ending mars great Jewish/Catholic story

  • Feb-96     MacInness, Helen     MESSAGE FROM MALAGA     rating 5     351   pages     espinoage
    1971 weak espinoage work

  • Mar-96     Salinger, J.D.     FRANNY AND ZOOEY     rating 8     201   pages     fiction
    2 exciting stories: bro/sis who are "freaks"

  • Mar-96     Hynd, Noel     FLOWERS FROM BERLIN     rating 7     592   pages     espinoage
    WWII tale of attempt on Roosevelt's life

  • Mar-96     Hyde, Anthony     THE RED FOX     rating 5     405   pages     espinoage
    Unravelling of plot is in last 10 pages.

  • Mar-96     McCollough, HB     POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES AND PHIL     rating 7     310   pages     philosophy
    Decent survey of political theory types

  • Mar-96     Vidal, Gore     BURR     rating 9     564   pages     hist fic
    Wonderful hist of Amer Rev from insider kicked out

  • Apr-96     Boll, Heinrich     THE CLOWN     rating 10     223   pages     exis. fic
    Losing Marie bring clown Hans to meaninglessness

  • Apr-96     French, Marilyn     OUR FATHER     rating 6     436   pages     fiction
    4 sis of 4 moms meet & deal with dying abusuve dad

  • Apr-96     Kundera, Milan     LIFE IS ELSEWHERE     rating 7     307   pages     fiction
    Prague poet after WWII faces comm/art poetry/party

  • Apr-96     Achege, Chinua     THINGS FALL APART     rating 9       pages     hist fic
    African warrior's world collapses with Britich

  • Apr-96     Grisham, John     THE RAINMAKER     rating 5     598   pages     fiction
    Suite against insurance comp. Tongue in cheek

  • Apr-96     Hemingway, Ernest     A FAREWELL TO ARMS     rating 8     332   pages     hist fic
    Henry and Catherine Barkley's love in WWI

  • Apr-96     Donnelly, Jack     INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS     rating 6     206   pages     philosophy
    So-so overview of human rights issues and theories

  • May-96     Wilson, Colin     THE GOD OF THE LABYRINTH     rating 7     286   pages     lit myst
    Literary mystery, erotic and occult

  • May-96     Morrell, David     THE FIFTH PROFESSION     rating 5     498   pages     espinoage
    Jap/Amer "protectors" & brain implants!

  • May-96     Thompson, Earl     TATTOO     rating 4     687   pages     fiction
    Harsh look at 40/50s underclass white lost youth

  • May-96     Bellow, Saul     MORE DIE OF HEARTBREAK     rating 7     442   pages     fiction
    Talky story 2 men in heterosexual loves and lacks

  • May-96     Greeley, Andrew     THE CARDINAL SIN     rating 6     519   pages     fiction
    Cath. cardinal story again, but interesting 50s/80s

  • May-96     Clancey, Tom     THE SUM OF ALL FEARS     rating 5     1030   pages     espinoage
    Intricate terrorist nuclear plot

  • May-96     Morrell, David     THE COVENENT OF THE FLAME     rating 4     467   pages     fiction
    Semi-mystical 20th cent Mithias myth. Not serious

  • May-96     Hyde, Christoph     STYX     rating 6     269   pages     fiction
    Anthropo. in Neanderthal ruins. Earthquake + survival

  • May-96     Boyd, Douglas     THE EAGLE AND THE SNAKE     rating 5     547   pages     espinoage
    Vietnam in 50s. Hidden gold, later retrieved

  • May-96     Sanders, Lawr     SULLIVAN'S STING     rating 6     362   pages     mystery
    Solid typical Sanders story of Florida grifters

  • Jun-96     Talbot, Michael     TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH     rating 7     700   pages     hist fic
    1875/86 voyage to found Australian prison colony

  • Jun-96     Smith, Wilbur     THE SEVENTH SCROLL     rating 5     708   pages     fiction
    Indiana Jones in Ethiopia!

  • Jun-96     Aristide, JB     DIGNITY     rating 5     208   pages     haiti
    So-so account of exile. Not very thoughtful

  • Jun-96     Trouillot, M-R     SILENCING THE PAST     rating 10     186   pages     philosophy
    Exciting and challenging philosophy of history

  • Jun-96     Dayan, Joan     HAITI, HISTORY AND THE GODS     rating 7     339   pages     Haiti
    Impressionistic view of Haiti, scattered, useful

  • Jun-96     Summerskill, L     SEDUCED BY A GREEK ISLAND     rating 5     159   pages     travel
    Family builds on Ios in '65. Kept house till '95.

  • Jun-96     Gage, Nicholas     HELLAS: A PORTRAIT OF GREECE     rating 7     242   pages     travel
    Sentimental but useful portrait of Greece. Hist.

  • Jun-96     Mack, Gerstle     TOULOUS-LAUTREC     rating 7     362   pages     art bio
    Sad bio of Lautrec. Emphasis on influences/concerns

  • Jun-96     Tolstoy, Leon     ANNA KARENINA     rating 10     447   pages     fiction
    Tolstoy's strange and tragic heroine

  • Jun-96     Anon     GETTING TO KNOW SANTORINI     rating 5     127   pages     travel
    Overview of Santorini with photos

  • Jun-96     Ellison, Ralph     INVISIBLE MAN     rating 8     581   pages     fiction
    Black experience in US, especially Harlem in 1950s

  • Jun-96     Faulks, Sebast     BIRDSONG     rating 7     407   pages     hist fic
    Excellent WWI tale. Powerful, realistic, detailed

  • Jun-96     Demille, Nelson     SPENCERVILLE     rating 4     560   pages     fiction
    Melodrama ex cia again sociopath cop. Woman at stake.

  • Jul-96     Muller, Herbert     THE USES OF THE PAST     rating 9     362   pages     phil hist
    Phil, hist, epist, short overviews of civilizations

  • Jul-96     Perera, Victor     RITES: A GUATEMALAN BOYHOOD     rating 7     194   pages     fiction
    Jewish boy (my age) growing in Guatemala's bourgeoise

  • Jul-96     Douka, Mara     FOOL'S GOLD     rating 6     317   pages     hist fic
    Young bourgeois woman in Greek radical left 60s-70s.

  • Jul-96     Roth, Joseph     THE RADETZKY MARCH     rating 5     331   pages     hist fic
    Last 3 generation of Hapsburgh petty nobels.

  • Jul-96     Tuchman, Barbara     THE GUNS OF AUGUST     rating 9     440   pages     history
    Incredible account of the first month of WWI

  • Aug-96     Puzo, Mario     THE SICILIAN     rating 7     410   pages     fiction
    Mafia story of young revolutionary in Sicily. 1950 era

  • Aug-96     Janik & Toulmin     WITTGENSTEIN'S VIENNA     rating 8     275   pages     philosophy
    Rereading of TRACTATUS as book on value

  • Aug-96     Davidson, Lionel     THE ROSE OF TIBET     rating 6     313   pages     fiction
    Adventure tale of 1950s Londoner in Tibet

  • Aug-96     Vittorini, Elio     CONVERSATION IN SICILY     rating 5     134   pages     fiction
    Pretentious tale of son visiting mother and knife man

  • Aug-96     Gonzalez, Juan     ROLL DOWN YOUR WINDOWS     rating 7     204   pages     commentary
    Human interest political essays from DAily News reporter

  • Sept-96     Hemingway, Ernest     ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO TREES     rating 7     308   pages     fiction
    Tragic tale of 50 yr.old Colonel and 19 yr old lover, 1948

  • Sept-96     Illich, Ivan     CELEBRATION OF AWARENESS     rating 5     181   pages     philosophy
    Essays that are rather out of date and old hat

  • Sept-96     Fick, Carolyn     THE MAKING OF HAITI     rating 10     355   pages     Haiti
    Excellent history of revolution from the little people

  • Sept-96     Kodindki, Jerzy     THE DEVIL TREE     rating 6     211   pages     fiction
    Super rich hippie struggles to find life and sex

  • Sep-96     Checkov, Anton     THE CHERRY ORCHARD     rating 7     78   pages     play
    end of an era of nobles, as rich lost their cherry orchard

  • Sep-96     Fowles, John     THE COLLECTOR     rating 7     255   pages     fiction
    fascinating story of man who kidnapes young woman

  • Sep-96     Dash, J. Michael     HAITI AND THE UNITED STATES     rating 7     152   pages     Haiti
    National stereotypes in lit. Decent with good sources

  • Sep-96     Maraini, Dacia     ISOLINA     rating 7     152   pages     fiction
    1900 brutal murder of woman is studied to show court bias

  • Oct-96     Puzo, Mario     THE LAST DON     rating 7     482   pages     fiction
    Excellent story of a Mafia family in 1980s

  • Oct-96     Tallant, Robert     VOODOO IN NEW ORLEANS     rating 5     252   pages     Voodoo
    Impressionistic and sensationalistic history of Orleans Voodoo

  • Oct-96     Crichton, Michael     CONGO     rating 7     316   pages     fiction
    Signing gorilla and computer whiz + seek diamonds in Africa

  • Oct-96     Davis, Wade     ONE RIVER: EXPL.& DISC AMAZON     rating 8     495   pages     botany
    Extraordianry story of Schultes, Harvard ethonobotanist

  • Oct-96     Metellus, Jean     THE VORTEX FAMILY     rating 8     232   pages     Haiti
    Historical fiction set in 1950, family mirrors society

  • Oct-96     Riou, Roger     THE ISLAND OF MY LIFE     rating 7     300   pages     Haiti
    Missionary priest from France in anti-superstition campaign

  • 1-Nov-96     Michel, Georges     CHARLEMAGNE PERALTE     rating 6     88   pages     Haiti
    Newspaper articles about life and fighting of Peralte

  • 1-Nov-96     Temple, Frances     TONIGHT, BY SEA     rating 7     154   pages     Haiti
    Teen-age book about boat people coming to US

  • nov 28 96     Perusse, Roland     HAITIAN DEMOCRACY RESTORED     rating 7     164   pages     Haiti
    Excellent chronological summary of 1991-1994 period

  • nov 28 96     Madsen, David     VODOUN     rating 8     349   pages     Haiti
    Political thriller: astral zombie reporter helps coup d'etat

  • 11-30-96     Roumain, Jacques     WHEN THE TOM - TOM BEATS     rating 5     109   pages     Haiti
    Poems and stories of Roumain's communist period. so so

  • 12-12-96     Mazur, Grace Dane     SILK     rating 8     237   pages     fiction
    Exotic short stories, many situated in Paris

  • 12-19-96     Potok, Chaim     THE GATES OF NOVEMBER     rating 8     243   pages     history
    Story of Russian Jews who wanted to leave for Israel

    BOOKS FROM 1995



  • Dec-95     Shacochis, Bob     SWIMMING IN THE VOLCANO     rating 5     518   pages     Caribbean
    Caribbean tale of of expatriates

  • Dec-95     Uris, Leon     MITLA PASS     rating 7     495   pages     hist fic
    Story set in Israel in 1960s war

  • Dec-95     Pearson, WM     CHESSPLAYER     rating 5     407   pages     espinoage


  • Dec-95     Edwards, Anne     SONYA:LIFE OF COUNTESS TOLSTOY     rating 8     454   pages     history
    Tragic tale of how Tolstorys destroyed each other

  • Dec-95     Michener, James     POLAND     rating 8     620   pages     hist fict
    Classic Michener study of generations

  • Dec-95     Hunter, Jack     THE TERROR ALLIANCE     rating 6     318   pages     espinoage
    Assissanation attempt against US president

    Becoming Reading Thinking Journals

    HOME

    Bob Corbett bob@corbettland.com