Hey, What Ya Reading??? A book???

[Kerry]

it is a very good book...now go get "The Beauty Queen"...that one will have you cheering!

I loved the end on that one...

(same author)

Thanks for the recommendation, Jess. I'm always on the lookout for a good book to read, and will definitely read "The Beauty Queen," on your recommendation. Will also shortly be reading the two sequels to "The Front Runner" - "Harlan's Race" and "Billy's Boy."

If you're interested in Patricia Nell Warren, try this site:

http://thefrontrunner.com/home.htm

[injest]

Thank you!

I liked "The Beauty Queen" because two of the main characters are a gay couple 'of a certain age" that after decades of living in the closet, still had a very active and passionate love life and a strong devotion to one another...and that isnt' something you see a lot in literature..or at least I havent'.

[Kd5000]

While returning the 2 Disc DVD of HOWARD'S END, I checked out E.M. Foster's MAURICE.  It's not a very big book, so it's shouldn't take long to read.

I was surprised my library doesn't have the two disc movie version of MAURICE. Today, I filled out a request for the film as they don't have a copy (video or original 1 disc release). Don't know if they will process it as it takes several requests before they order the film unless it's deemed of artistic merit. Unfortunately, they don't have too many gay themed films at my library, though they do have many copies of BBM.

The 2 disc DVD version of Howard's END was an excellent restoration with many, many extra features.  I would hope MAURICE got equal treatment.

I've heard MAURICE is considered one of Forster's lesser works and it was published posthumously because of the nature of the material. I will be interested to see how closely the book follows the movie as the film has a few same sex bedroom scenes from what I remember.

http://www.tlavideo.com/product/2-0-111917_maurice.html?sn=1

[Kerry]

While returning the 2 Disc DVD of HOWARD'S END, I checked out E.M. Foster's MAURICE.  It's not a very big book, so it's shouldn't take long to read.

I was surprised my library doesn't have the two disc movie version of MAURICE. Today, I filled out a request for the film as they don't have a copy (video or original 1 disc release). Don't know if they will process it as it takes several requests before they order the film unless it's deemed of artistic merit. Unfortunately, they don't have too many gay themed films at my library, though they do have many copies of BBM.

The 2 disc DVD version of Howard's END was an excellent restoration with many, many extra features.  I would hope MAURICE got equal treatment.

I've heard MAURICE is considered one of Forster's lesser works and it was published posthumously because of the nature of the material. I will be interested to see how closely the book follows the movie as the film has a few same sex bedroom scenes from what I remember.

http://www.tlavideo.com/product/2-0-111917_maurice.html?sn=1

The film of "Maurice" is very true to the original novel by E.M. Forster, including the love scenes. I loved both book and movie. 

[Dobie1018]

A couple of weeks ago I finished the Twilight series of books.  I was somewhat disappointed with the last of the 4 books.  I thought it would turn out different than it did.  Now I am reading "The Shack" by Wm. Paul Young.  A book where "tragedy confronts eternity".   It is very interesting and thought provoking.   

[Dobie1018]

"The Shack" book has its own website:  www.theshackbook.com 
It's pretty interesting stuff. 

[Kerry]

I have just finished re-reading an old favourite of mine – The Last of the Wine  by Mary Renault. It was first published in 1956 and is the first of her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. Many believe it to be her greatest novel. Because I have such an emotional connection to this book, it is difficult for me to describe it in a detached, clinical manner. Suffice to say that Ms Renault’s descriptive evocation of Ancient Greece is breathtaking beautiful in the extreme. It is a book to be savoured slowly and re-read regularly. The twist at the end always brings me undone and I’m sure it always will, no matter how many times I read it.

Here is an abridged version of what Wikipedia has to say about The Last of the Wine:

The first person narrator is Alexias, a noble Athenian youth, who becomes a noted beauty in the city and a champion runner. The teenager Alexias falls in love with Lysis, a young man in his 20's, who is a champion athlete and a student of Socrates. The core of the novel is the relationship between the two, following their life together in sport, love, peace and war.

Socrates also figures prominently, as both men become his students and his philosophy is much discussed. Also characterized in the novel are Plato and several figures from his Dialogues, who were Socrates' students. Another historical figure who figures in the story, albeit mostly off-stage, is Alcibiades, the Athenian general who flees Athens on a charge of sacrilege and sells his services to other city-states, finally becoming a general serving  Sparta and thus becoming partly responsible for Athens' destruction.

In time, Lysis marries. His wife views Alexias favorably and encourages the continuation of her husband's relationship with him. By then Athens has been defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and Alexias and Lysis take part in the democratic rebellion of Thrasybulus against the Spartan-imposed tyrannical regime of Athens.

The Last of the Wine  discusses the mores and culture of Ancient Greece, including symposia (drinking parties), the treatment of women, the importance of athletic, military and philosophical training among young men, marriage customs and daily life in war and peace.

[retropian]

I have just finished re-reading an old favourite of mine – The Last of the Wine  by Mary Renault. It was first published in 1956 and is the first of her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. Many believe it to be her greatest novel. Because I have such an emotional connection to this book, it is difficult for me to describe it in a detached, clinical manner. Suffice to say that Ms Renault’s descriptive evocation of Ancient Greece is breathtaking beautiful in the extreme. It is a book to be savoured slowly and re-read regularly. The twist at the end always brings me undone and I’m sure it always will, no matter how many times I read it.

Here is an abridged version of what Wikipedia has to say about The Last of the Wine:

The first person narrator is Alexias, a noble Athenian youth, who becomes a noted beauty in the city and a champion runner. The teenager Alexias falls in love with Lysis, a young man in his 20's, who is a champion athlete and a student of Socrates. The core of the novel is the relationship between the two, following their life together in sport, love, peace and war.

Socrates also figures prominently, as both men become his students and his philosophy is much discussed. Also characterized in the novel are Plato and several figures from his Dialogues, who were Socrates' students. Another historical figure who figures in the story, albeit mostly off-stage, is Alcibiades, the Athenian general who flees Athens on a charge of sacrilege and sells his services to other city-states, finally becoming a general serving  Sparta and thus becoming partly responsible for Athens' destruction.

In time, Lysis marries. His wife views Alexias favorably and encourages the continuation of her husband's relationship with him. By then Athens has been defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and Alexias and Lysis take part in the democratic rebellion of Thrasybulus against the Spartan-imposed tyrannical regime of Athens.

The Last of the Wine  discusses the mores and culture of Ancient Greece, including symposia (drinking parties), the treatment of women, the importance of athletic, military and philosophical training among young men, marriage customs and daily life in war and peace.

Yeah, I'm with you. This too is one of my favorite A.R. novels. One I return too every few years as well. Not only is it a great story and romance it's also educational. I think A.R. being a Classical Scholar and Hiistorian took great pains to set her characters in the history of Athens as it was then known. No historical revisionism to juice up the tale for her! It's was also ground breaking to portray two men in love as Warriors not as "Poofs", and unlike gay themed fiction of the mid 20th century the main characters don't commit suicide! On the negative side though, it does idealize a very misogynistic culture in which women lives where tightly restricted and controlled. It's very reminiscent of fundamentalist Islamic attitude toward women: Property of their Fathers then Husbands then Sons. 

[Kerry]

Yeah, I'm with you. This too is one of my favorite A.R. novels. One I return too every few years as well. Not only is it a great story and romance it's also educational. I think A.R. being a Classical Scholar and Hiistorian took great pains to set her characters in the history of Athens as it was then known. No historical revisionism to juice up the tale for her! It's was also ground breaking to portray two men in love as Warriors not as "Poofs", and unlike gay themed fiction of the mid 20th century the main characters don't commit suicide! On the negative side though, it does idealize a very misogynistic culture in which women lives where tightly restricted and controlled. It's very reminiscent of fundamentalist Islamic attitude toward women: Property of their Fathers then Husbands then Sons. 

And yet five of the twelve Olympian gods worshiped by the Ancient Greeks were female, including the great Pallas Athena, whose primary centre of worship was located at Athens, the city of Alexias and Lysis:

Athena was no wilting flower. Nor would one expect her to be, seeing as she sprang fully grown, in complete body armour from the forehead of her father, Zeus! In fact, some might say that Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hera and Demeter all presented as truly inspirational female role models, if not somewhat scary ones at times. For example, this is one of my favourite legends about Athena:

Athena did not always have a peaceful disposition, despite her common image as a goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and philosophy. Greek legends tell, for example, how Athena transformed a young woman into a spider. Athena taught the woman how to weave, but she refused to acknowledge her debt to the goddess. Such a punishment might seem understandable in the context of Greek myth except for one thing: Athena only punished poor Arachne after she challenged the goddess to a weaving contest and confronted Athena with her perfectly made tapestry. Thus, Arachne was punished not simply for her pride but also for the fact that her pride was somewhat justified.

Ya gotta love them zany Ancient Greeks! 

[delalluvia]

And yet five of the twelve Olympian gods worshiped by the Ancient Greeks were female, including the great Pallas Athena, whose primary centre of worship was located at Athens, the city of Alexias and Lysis:

Athena was no wilting flower. Nor would one expect her to be, seeing as she sprang fully grown, in complete body armour from the forehead of her father, Zeus! In fact, some might say that Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hera and Demeter all presented as truly inspirational female role models, if not somewhat scary ones at times. For example, this is one of my favourite legends about Athena:

Athena did not always have a peaceful disposition, despite her common image as a goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and philosophy. Greek legends tell, for example, how Athena transformed a young woman into a spider. Athena taught the woman how to weave, but she refused to acknowledge her debt to the goddess. Such a punishment might seem understandable in the context of Greek myth except for one thing: Athena only punished poor Arachne after she challenged the goddess to a weaving contest and confronted Athena with her perfectly made tapestry. Thus, Arachne was punished not simply for her pride but also for the fact that her pride was somewhat justified.

Ya gotta love them zany Ancient Greeks! 

It's always strange how civilizations and cultures can honor female goddesses/divinity, but yet still be misogynistic about women in general - the ancient Greeks/Romans, the RCC and the Hindu religion.

I love Athena, she's my patrona.  My favorite story is about the Olympians fight against the Giants.  All the female goddesses (and some of the male gods) stayed behind the fighting lines, except for Athena, who led the defensive retaliation.  Several of the giants actually dodged out of her way, not wanting to tangle with the goddess of victory in war.