You're Never too Old

Michealangelo's Statue of Moses in the San Pietro in Vincolin Church, Italy

 

             

"Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him."

-Michelangelo

(www.brainyquotes.com)   

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I read an article in yesterday's Sunday newspaper insert about David McCullough, one of my favorite historians. I've read three books by McCullough and I enjoyed them all, but completing one of his books is no small feat! I've read his books The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, John Adams, and The Wright Brothers. I cannot imagine the amount of research and patience that it took to complete these books, but this man clearly enjoys his work or he would not still be writing books at the age of 83. And get this - I read that he has a new book coming out in 2018, The Pioneers, about the settling of the west. Now that's an optimistic man, a man who is still vibrant, curious, and productive in his 80s. I can't wait to read his book in 2018 when he is about 85 years old. Michelangelo was also productive and vowed not to give up due to his age, and I applaud him for this positive attitude.

In the past few weeks I've been on the road a lot, so I had plenty of time to listen to two books on CD. I listened to The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, and The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi (my latest favorite author). I enjoyed listening to Hemingway's book although I read it many years ago. It was good to be able to hear an excellent reader do the hard work for me, but I admit that I don't get all of the symbolism. Still, it's a classic that everyone should read at some point, and it's very short. Hegi's book, The Worst Thing I've Done, is about three childhood friends who grow up and face difficulties in their relationship. Annie, Jake, and Mason have been friends for all of their lives, and Annie and Mason eventually get married. Tragedy strikes and Annie's parents die in a car crash on the night of her wedding, so Annie and Mason decide to raise Annie's infant sister who was in utero at the time of the accident. Honestly, I didn't enjoy this book. It was a disappointment after reading Hegi's two excellent books, Stones From the River and The Vision of Emma Blau. I loved these two books by the German American author, and I appreciated the way she intertwined the two books by having some overlapping characters such as Trudy. But The Worst Thing I've Done was a total flop for me.

I finished reading American Pastoral by Philip Roth yesterday. I enjoyed this book but I was unfamiliar with Roth. This book won a Pulitzer Prize, and it doesn't surprise me. It's been around for a while, and someone told me that it's considered to be a classic. It was published in 1997, so it's not new, but it's a former bestseller and prize winner, so I encourage you to read it. The book is divided into sections: Part I is "Paradise Remembered," Part II is "The Fall," and Part III is "Paradise Lost." It's a fairly long book of of over 400 pages, but it's addictive and so well-written that you will enjoy the ride. The titles of the three sections brought to mind the course that I took in college, "John Milton," which was taught by Dr. Stephen May to upper-level English majors at Georgetown College. It reminds me of Milton's "Paradise Lost," of course, although most of the details have become a blur in my mind. Anyway, American Pastoral is about a man known as "The Swede," a hometown hero in Newark, New Jersey. He was the star athlete in his high school and the most popular person in town. He great up, married a former Miss New Jersey, inherited his father's prosperous glove factory, and moved in to a beautiful home. But one day all of his great fortune came to a screeching halt when his only child, Merry, got into some serious trouble and the Swede's life changed forever. I found myself sympathizing with most of the characters in this story even though none of them were perfect by any means. Read this book to find out what happened to Merry and think about the difficult decision that her father must make. His "perfect" life fell apart and having not dealt with this type of thing before, he faced a dilemma.

I recounted the books that I've read since 1984 today. I have read 473 books in about 32 years. That comes to an average of about 15 books per year, although there were years when I didn't have much time to read (i.e. raising kids, etc.). As I looked through my card catalogs I thought about a couple of topics that I could cover in future posts, so stay tuned. Next time I'll share some of the funniest books that I've read in the past 32 years, so if you need something funny to read, that will be the post for you

Have a great week and enjoy this beautiful fall weather.

Melissa Hill

Book Blogger

www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com 

  

The Evans Farm near Georgetown, Kentucky. Beautiful!