A Window on a Winter Landscape, with a Book

[KeyWee]

Let me just say that I love this ~ the recommendations and ALL the thoughts on different types of books and why we read them.
The comments on All The Light are all correct ~ what more can I add? If it makes sense, this is one of those books that "paints a picture". I carried it around in my head for days after finishing it. Now, mind you ~ I tried to read another one of this author's books (About Grace) and I could not engage at all. So, there ya go.

[rainbowgardener]

Mentioning disability reminded me of another favorite author, who almost specializes in getting inside the head of people with disabilities and letting you experience their world -- Joanne Greenberg (aka Hannah Green). She wrote "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden." It is the story of a schizophrenic girl and her recovery. This was published in 1964 (and never out of print, which should tell you something) and set in WWII times (but the war is far in the background here, not really part of the story very much), prior to any of our current psychiatric meds, when we still actually did long term intensive therapy with with psychotic people. It is moving and beautiful.

The same author also wrote "In this Sign." It starts out in the Great Depression as the story of a young deaf couple and continues on as they have a (hearing) child and what the child's experience is like and eventually even a little bit in to the experience of the grandchild. It is beautifully written, It shows a lot of how the world changes through those years. But ultimately it is a story of family, love, courage. Her characters are very real and alive and grow and develop through the novel.

Then she wrote "Of Such Small Differences" where the protagonist whose viewpoint it is written from is deaf AND blind. It is definitely not her best work, but the challenge of being hearing-sighted author and writing from inside a deaf-blind person's head is just amazing and she does it well. But as in the real world, she couldn't find any happy ending for this one.

[HoneyBerry]

I found a good book that I want to read right here on this website. Right up my alley.


https://www.appropedia.org/images/d/d3/Onestraw.pdf

[ButterflyLady29]

If you like American history I would suggest Allan Eckert's narratives of America series. Although A Sorrow In Our Hearts is a long difficult read, I've been trying to finish it for a few years now. Very well researched and very well written books. It was a loss to history when Eckert passed away.

[digitS']

KeyWee on Wed Dec 09, 2015 4:20 am said, "... All The Light ... is one of those books that 'paints a picture'. I carried it around in my head for days after finishing it. . ."

I picked up the book of short stories by Doerr. Finished one and I'm pleased!

Memory Wall is, not surprisingly, supposed to have something to do with memory ... I didn't start with that one, I've forgotten why .

Allen Eckert is an historian with an interest in wildlife?! The setting of some of his writings looks like it's a location where my rather casual genealogical exploration has taken me. My grandmother showed up as a part of an Idaho homesteading family in the 19th century. Her grandfather Charles qualified for the homestead because of his military service and he arrived with his youngest child and his grown son and that son's young family, including the little girl who grew up to be my grandmother .

Charles' grandfather was also part of that western migration but his frontier was across the Ohio River. There is a township in Indiana named for the family. His father was with George Rogers Clark but, other than location in Kentucky, I'm clueless as to what he was up.

Steve

[ButterflyLady29]

Eckert's historical books have an index in the back. If a certain person is mentioned in his book there will be an entry for them in the index. My grandma was surprised to find one of our ancestors was mentioned in the books.