The Purpose Driven Life

Title: The Purpose Driven Life - What on Earth am I Here For?

Author: Rick Warren

Pages: 334

Genre: Religion

Grade: B

Synopsis: Pastor Warren lays out the five purposes of life and breaks them into a 40-day spiritual journey. Using more than 1,000 verses from the Bible and 24 different translations, the book helps the reader to discover the answers to life's most important questions.

My Review: I found the book to be a little more preachy than I was looking for. At the same time, I feel that I have been reminded of some of the things that I need to do to be a better Christian. Most of the book was just okay, but every once in a while there would be a passage that would really get me thinking. I agree with the doctrine contained in about 80% of the book and I am grateful for modern-day prophets, including a living prophet today who has provided us with revelations explaining many of the confusing passages in the Bible. My testimony was strengthened.

From the Book: "(p. 86) Then Jesus changed the situation. When he paid for our sins on the cross, the veil in the temple that symbolized our separation from God was split from top to bottom, indicating that direct access to God was once again available."

"(p. 127) Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
It is not enough to just say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. "My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action." Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is "T-I-M-E.""

"(p. 148) Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others. Humble people are so focused on serving others, they don't think of themselves."

"(p. 151) If you are a member of a small group or class, I urge you to make a group covenant that includes the nine characteristics of biblical fellowship: We will share our true feelings (authenticity), forgive each other (mercy), speak the truth in love (honesty), admit our weaknesses (humility), respect our differences (courtesy), not gossip (confidentiality), and make group a priority (frequency)."

Running with Scissors

Title: Running with Scissors

Author: Augusten Burroughs

Pages: 7 discs

Genre: Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: Augusten's parents go through a messy divorce when he is around 10-years-old. He remains with his mother, but is eventually pawned off onto his mother's psychiatrist, Dr. Finch. Augusten moves in with the Finches and is given every freedom that a teenager could want. Dr. Finch believes that a child reaches full maturity at 13 and that from that point on, no adult can tell him or her what to do. As such, Augusten quits going to school and just spends all his time with Natalie Finch or with his 31-year-old boyfriend. Dr. Finch is an eccentric who believes that God can talk to him through his excrement and nobody in the household feels any responsibility of cleaning up.

My Review: I enjoyed this memoir. I felt that it was very honest and heartfelt, and if I had grown up under similar circumstances, then I would have probably written a memoir as well. Augusten makes the very interesting point, that although they had every freedom and could essentially do whatever they wanted, they felt trapped and boxed in.

Disclaimer: The language in the book is slightly foul and there are a couple instances in which gay sex acts are described in more detail than may be comfortable.

The Nanny Diaries

Title: The Nanny Diaries

Author: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Pages: 9 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: C+

Synopsis: The book is a satire of upper-class Manhattan families. Nan is the primary caregiver young Grayer X. His father is having a secret affair and his mother shows little interest or patience with him. The book illustrates how Mrs. X and the other high-class Manhattan mothers take advantage of their nannies.

My Review: I didn't particularly enjoy most of the book, but it did somewhat redeem itself towards the end. While I knew going into this book that I was not the target audience, I had hoped to enjoy it more than I did. I found the stories and interactions to be forced and a bit annoying.

Obsessive Genius

Title: Obsessive Genius - The Inner World of Marie Curie

Author: Barbara Goldsmith

Pages: 257

Genre: Biography

Grade: B+

Synopsis: This book is a biography of the famous scientist/physicist Marie Sklowdski Curie. Against all odds the poor Polish girl, Marie, finds a way to gain an education under Russian suppression of the Polish and women. Eventually she moves to Paris to study physics at the Sorbonne Institute. She becomes on of the very first women to obtain a degree from the institute. While in Paris, Marie meets Pierre and together they embark upon their obsessive research. Marie discovers radioactivity and uses it to discover the new elements of plutonium and radium. The Curies and Henri Becquerel share one of the first Nobel Prizes and later in life Marie becomes the first woman to win one outright.

My Review: This was a fantastic biography that was very easy to read and enjoy. The difficulties that Marie Curie faced as a woman in science are incredible. Nobody took her serious and very few people even believed that she made her own discoveries due to the fact that she was a woman. I enjoy books like this that bring famous historical figures to life that I studied in school (I took two Nuclear Engineering courses that were greatly shaped by the discoveries of Marie Curie). The number of famous physicists in Europe in the early 20th century is incredible - the Curies, Henri Becquerel, Albert Einstein, Neils Bohr, Ernest Rutherford, Max Planck, H. A. Lorentz and Henri Poincare among others. Also amazing is how long Marie Curie was able to live and work, working as closely as she was with highly radioactive substances without any protection. In many ways, her and her husband literally sacrificed themselves for knowledge that greatly benefitted all future generations.

A Million Little Pieces

Title: A Million Little Pieces

Author: James Frey

Pages: 9 discs

Genre: Fictional Memoir

Grade: B

Synopsis: James Frey awakes on a plane with major facial injuries not knowing what happened or where he is going. He is picked up at the airport by his parents who then check him into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic. This is the story of his battle with his demons as he tries to get clean.

My Review: The book was the center of a controversy between Oprah and the author a few years ago. Oprah had picked the book as her book club book and espoused its greatness. Before too long, thesmokinggun.com uncovered that the book that was billed as a memoir actually contained quite a bit of fiction (see the original piece on thesmokinggun.com, A Million Little Lies) I'm glad I went into the book knowing of it's questionable history or I would have felt as duped as Oprah did. The book gives amazing insight into the battles that a drug addict faces and was very eye-opening for me. The book was very powerful and motivational, but was docked a few points in my grading due to its foul language (see below).

Disclaimer: I will never recommend this book to anyone due to its foul language. In fact, the language in this book is far worse than any other book that I have ever read and possibly worse than all previous books that I have read combined together.

American Wife

Title: American Wife

Author: Curtis Sittenfeld

Pages: 558

Genre: Hypothetical Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The book is loosely based upon the life of the former first lady, Laura Bush. In this book, the protagonist is the smart and clever girl of Alice Lindgren from the small town of Riley, Wisconsin. Alice is not without trials and difficulties growing up, many of which end up shaping her opinions and political leanings later in life (which are often quite a bit different from those of her husband, the fictional Charlie Blackwell, based loosely upon a Wisconsinite George Bush). When Alice meets Charlie Blackwell, she is a successful and passionate librarian at an elementary while Charlie works for his father's meat-packaging business. Once they are married, she plays important roles in her husband's life as he buys the Brewers, serves for 8 years as governor of Wisconsin and finally is elected president.

My Review: The beginning and middle of this book is fantastic. The end (which takes place while the Blackwells are living in the White House) is somewhat anti-climatic and almost becomes a political statement. I especially enjoyed that the writing style of the book made the stories very believable and made the president and first lady come to life as real people. I give an A- to the first 75% of the book and a B- to the last 25%.

Disclaimer: The language in the book can get slightly shady.

From the Book: "(p. 114) Dena seemed about to respond, but instead, she belched again, a smaller belch that seemed unequal as a harbinger to the monstrous chunky gush that erupted from inside her. I held her hair back and looked away as she finished retching. Working with children had made me less squeamish--they were constantly presenting their grubby hands to your, having accidents--but at some point, disgusting was still disgusting, Especially with an adult woman."

"(p. 540) "See, I always forget this about you," he says, and even now, long after we first lost our privacy, I can't help wondering who's overhearing him. "Every decade, you like to pin me to the ground, pull open my mouth, and take a sh** right into it.""

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Title: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Author: J. K. Rowling

Pages: 17 discs

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A

Synopsis: Harry Potter is back at Hogwarts where the Triwizard Tournament is taking place for the first time in over 100 years. Oddly, the Goblet of Fire spits out Harry Potter's name as a fourth champion from the three wizarding schools competing in the tournament. The champions have to compete in three tasks over the course of the school-year in order to be crowned champion. All the while, Harry Potter's scar continues to hurt as Voldemort continues to gain power.

My Review: My only beef with this book is its length. I appreciate J.K. wrapping up all the loose ends before the close of the book, but it often means that after the story's climax there are still two or three discs to listen to. I always love losing myself in Britain's wizarding world as I drive to and from work.

A Brief History of Time

Title: A Brief History of Time (Illustrated Version)

Author: Stephen Hawking

Pages: 248

Genre: Science

Grade: B+

Synopsis: This book covers complex topics that are typically discussed in college courses on Modern Physics (such as the course I took at the University of Utah). The famous physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffers from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), has a knack for explaining difficult topics in a way that the general population can understand (or at least grasp an idea of the concept). Topics covered in the book include Galileo and gravity, Newtonian physics, Maxwell's equations (which govern the study of electromagnetics), the Doppler effect, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, Einstein's theories of relativity, black holes, wormholes, time travel and lengthy discussions of the origin and fate of the universe.

My Review: While I've taken various classes that have covered many of these topics, I found Hawking's explanations and the diagrams to be very helpful in understanding everything. I don't think that I would have enjoyed the non-illustrated version of the book as much as I enjoyed the illustrated version. The book can get a little boring at times, but for the most part it held my attention fairly well.

From the Book: "(p. 2) A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At teh end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever, " said the old lady. "But it turtles all the way down!"

"(p. 48) In this way, Edwin Hubble worked out the distances to nine different galaxies. We now know that our galaxy is only one of some hundred thousand million that can be seen using modern telescopes, each galaxy itself containing some hundred thousand million stars."

"(p. 62) Many people do not like the idea that time has a beginning, probably because it smacks of divine intervention. (The Catholic Church, on the other hand, seized on the big bang model and in 1951 officially pronounced it to be in accordance with the Bible."

The Big Necessity

Title: The Big Necessity - The Unmentionable World of Human Waste - And Why It Matters

Author: Rose George

Pages: 304

Genre: Non-Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Rose George explores human excrement and everything relating to it. She explores how human waste is discarded in the United States, Japan, India, China, South Africa, Tanzania, and other places. Incredibly, 2.6 billion people do not have access to sanitation and those who do usually take it for granted. The book explores everything from high-end bidets in Japan, flush toilets in the United States and various types of latrines in much of the rest of the world. It's something that we all do, but it's a topic that is taboo in much of the world.

My Review: This was a fascinating book. It gets a little long in the middle, but on the whole is quite an enjoyable read. I always thought that I knew quite a bit about the world, but I found this book to be eye-opening, disgusting, and interesting throughout. Once again, I am left to ponder why I have been so blessed to live in one of the most sanitary societies in all of history, thus extending life expectancies by 20 years or so.

From the Book: "(p. 2) This is why the Liberian waiter laughed at me. He thought that I thought a toilet was my right, when he knew it was a privilege.
"It must be, when 2.6 billion people don't have sanitation. I don't mean that they have no toilet in their house and must use a public one with queues and fees. Or that they have an outhouse, or a ricety shack that empties into a filthy drain or pigsty. All that counts as sanitation, though not a safe variety. The people who have those are the fortunate ones. Four in ten people have no access to any latrine, toilet, bucket, or box. Nothing. Instead, they defecate by train tracks and in forests. They do it in plastic bags and fling them through the air in narrow slum alleyways. If they are women, they get up at 4 A.M. to be able to do their business under cover of darkness for reasons of modesty, risking rape and snakebites. Four in ten people live in situations where they are surrounded by human excrement because it is in the bushes outside the village or in their city yards, left by children outside the backdoor. It is tramped back in on their feet, carried on fingers onto clothes, food and drinking water.
"The disease toll of this is stunning. A gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, 1 million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts, and 100 worm eggs..."

"(p. 8) If the cultural standing of excrement doesn't convince them, I say that the material itself is as rich as oil and probably more useful. It contains nitrogen and phosphates that can make plants grow and also suck the life from water because its nutrients absorb available oxygen. It can be both food and poison. It can contaminate and cultivate. Millions of people cook with gas made by fermenting it. I tell them that I don't like to call it "waste," when it can be turned into bricks, when it can make roads or jewelry, and when in a dried powdered form known as poudrette it was sniffed like snuff by the grandest ladies of the eighteenth-century French court. Medical men of not too long ago thought stool examination a vital diagnostic tool (London's Wellcome Library holds a 150-year0old engraving of a doctor examining a bedpan and a sarcastic maid asking him if he'd like a fork). They were also fond of prescribing it: excrement could be eaten, drunk, or liberally applied to the skin. Martin Luther was convinced: he reportedly ate a spoonful of his own excrement daily and wrote that he couldn't understand the generosity of a God who freely gave such important and useful remedies."

"(p. 89) It drips on her head most days, says Champaben, but in the monsoon season it's worse. In rain, worms multiply. Every day, nonetheless, she gets up and walks to her owners' house, and there she picks up their excrement with her bare hands or a piece of tin, scrapes it into a basket, puts the basket on her head or shoulders, and carries it to the nearest waste dump. She has no mask, no gloves, and no protection. She is paid a pittance if she gets paid at all. She regularly gets dysentary, giardia, brain fever. She does this because a 3,000-year-old social hierarchy says she has to."

"(p. 109) Mr. Wang had found my interest in fen, the Mandarin word for excrement, peculiar. Nonetheless, he tried to be helpful. He would point out when he spotted a truck full of fen looming behind, though its odor preceded it by far. He would alert me when he saw a tiny figure in a roadside field bearing a tank and hose, spraying--by the smell of it--the contents of his toilets on his cabbages. This practice would horrify any public health professional, given the disease-load of feces, but it's what happens to 90 percent of China's excrement, and has been done forever. There are reasons not to eat salads in China, and why the sizzling woks are so sizzling."

"(p. 226) Asking how astronauts go to the bathroom is one of the most common questions put during NASA or space museum outreach sessions. To cope with the curiosity, for a while the agency posted a video that featured a fully-clothed volunteer showing exactly how it was done: with a mirror, sometimes. Young is often asked about it. "Interest from the public is strange. Women don't care. They think, they worked it out and that's that. Men have an almost unhealthy interest. Children are interested in th poop factor." What everybody should actually be interested in is the drinking pee factor."

The Five Thousand Year Leap

Title: The Five Thousand Year Leap

Author: W. Cleon Skousen

Pages: 356

Genre: Non-fiction, Law

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Oringinaly published more than 30 years ago, this book lays out 28 principles that the Constitution was built upon. Included in the book was the text of the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense, and 100 questions to ask your elected politicians to gauge their stance on the Constitution. Skousen takes a literal interpretation of the Constitution and argues that if the founders did not expressly give the federal government a duty, then it is one that should be left up to state and/or local governments. A sampling of the 28 principles (ok, I couldn't decide which ones to leave out, so I left them all in):

1. The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is natural Law.
2. A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.
3. The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders.
4. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
5. All things were created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent and to him and to Him they are equally responsible.
6. All men are created equal.
7. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.
8. Men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
9. To protect man's rights, God has revealed certain principles of divine law.
10. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign autority of the whole people.
11. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.
12. The United States of America shall be a Republic.
13. A constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers.
14. Life and liberty are secure only so long as the right to property is secure.
15. The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.
16. The government should be separated into three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.
17. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power.
18. The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written constitution.
19. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained in the people.
20. Efficiency and dispatch require government to operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.
21. Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.
22. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
23. A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.
24. A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.
25. "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances with none."
26. The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore, the government should foster and protect its integrity.
27. The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest.
28. The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and a blessing to the entire human race.

My Review: If this book had a title more fitting of the material in the book, then it would be more popular than it is. Nothing in the title indicates that it is a book about the Constitution. The book is a fascinating look at the writings and vision that the founder's had as they framed the Constitution. I've never considered myself a Constitutionalist, but that was because I didn't understand them. Now, my support for every politician and bill will be determined by how it fits in with the Constitution. I don't consider myself a strict Constitutionalist, but I would love to see our country move back to the way the founder's intended things. My biggest complaint with the book is that everything is framed as being one-sided, when even the founders interpreted the Constitution slightly different from each other (i.e. Jefferson, vs. Adams). This book makes me proud to be an American, but is also a little depressing when you realize how far we've fallen.

From the Book: "(P. 61) Here is my creed: I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion." (Benjamin Franklin - 4th Principle)

"(p. 66) I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fiertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." (Alexis de Tocqueville - 4th Principle)

"(p. 91) 5. Strictly enforce the scale of "fixed responsibility." The first and foremost level of responsibility if with the individual himself; the second level is the family; then the church; next the community finally the county, and, in a disaster or emergency, the state. Under no circumstances is the federal government to become involved in public welfare. The Founders felt it would corrupt the government and also the poor. No Constitutional authority exists for the federal government to participate in charity or welfare."(Principle 7)

Brisingr

Title: Brisingr

Author: Christopher Paolini

Pages: 763

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Eragon and Saphira are still with the Varden, but Eragon has left with his cousin Roran to try and find and save his fiance Katrina from the Raz'ac. Eragon meets Murtagh on the battlefield once again and then makes the trip to Farthen Dur to witness the coronation of the new dwarf king before making a quick trip to Ellesmera to visit with the elves.

My Review: I really liked this book, but I felt that there really wasn't a climax. This is probably due to the fact that originally there was only supposed to be three books in the series, but it has been extended to four (and I hope that it won't be forever before the next book is released).

The Golden Compass

Title: The Golden Compass

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 9 discs

Genre: Children's Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Lyra Belacqua is an orphan girl that has grown up at Oxford University. Her world is slightly different than ours in that all humans have a personal daemon, which is the manifestation of their souls in an animal form. When people are young their daemons can easily change from one type of animal to another. After puberty, the daemons assume one animal form that they keep for the rest of their lives. Children throughout Britain begin disappearing, including Lyra's friend Roger. Lyra goes on a quest to find her friend Roger and hopefully save the other children as well.

My Review: I had heard that this was a pretty controversial book, but after reading it, I don't see why. The book does portray "The Church" as the bad guy, but it is in an indirect way. The book is definitely a children's book, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the remaining books of the trilogy.

Not a Good Day to Die

Title: Not a Good Day to Die

Author: Sean Naylor

Pages: 425

Genre: Current Affairs

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This book tells the story of Operation Anaconda which took place in the Shahikot Valley in Afghanistan in early 2002. The operation was a couple of months after the infamous Tora Bora incident (where intelligence indicates that Osama bin Laden was there, but the US military was unable to capture him). The Shahikot Valley is a small valley where hundreds of Taliban fighters were hiding. The US military, NATO forces and Afghan fighters prepared a plan to attack the valley from multiple sides. Communications issues and chain-of command issues plagued the mission from the earliest stages and virtually guaranteed that there would be problems.

Why I Read this Book: This book is on the reading list of one of the Generals at Hill Air Force Base. It was recommended to my dad who then recommended it to me.

My Review: This was one of the most fascinating books that I have read in a long time. The first 80 pages or so are a little tough to get through as the author sets up the chain-of-command and goes through dozens and dozens of military abbreviations. Once the fighting is close, then the book is hard to put down. Many of the incidents in the book will disgust you as commanders that know very little about the terrain and plans of attack but decide to take control of decisions anyways. Between Donald Rumsfeld, General Tommy Franks and other OPCOM guys micromanaging the war from 3,000+ miles away, they greatly hindered the effectiveness of the operation.

Before the fighting even starts the miscommunication problems affect the battle. For example, as the fighters are trying to insert themselves into the valley to start fighting, they expect the Air Force to start a 55 minute bomb barrage on enemy positions. Instead, the Air Force drops a small handful of bombs in just over a minute and actually attacks one of the US fighter's positions. As far as I could tell, there would have been no casualties in this operation if the men on the ground that had been planning the operation were allowed to command the operation. The book is pretty scathing towards the military and hopefully they are learning from the experience to keep our armed forces strong and safe.

Disclaimer: As you can imagine, the language in the army is pretty vulgar and there is a lot of fighting, blood and death. Regardless, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Title: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Pages: 448

Genre: Latin, Classic

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The story is about 100 years in the small Latin American town of Macondo, founded by Jose Arcadio Buendia. For the next 100 years, his family lives in the town as it grows and changes. For six generations, the children are named after their ancestors and are blessed and cursed with the same passions, desires, strengths and weaknesses of those who have gone before them.

My Review: I quite enjoyed the book, but found it very difficult at first to distinguish between the main characters as all the boys are either named Arcadio or Aurelianos and all the women are named Remedios, Amaranta or Ursula. While the book covers a century, every chapter is a different story that is expertly woven into the fabric of the book as a whole, such as the visits of the gypsies, a town plagued with insomnia and one of the girls ascending to heaven while she hangs her laundry.

Disclaimer: As is often the case with the classics, this book does not shy away from sex or violence, although descriptions are never graphic (Although, apparently, the men of the Buendia family are distinguished by large members...).

From the Book: "A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs, went on to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-room table, went along the porch with the begonias, and passed without being seen under Amaranta's chair as she gave an arithmetic lesson to Aureliano José, and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, where Úrsula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread.

"Holy Mother of God!" Úrsula shouted."

Leaves of Grass

Title: Leaves of Grass

Author: Walt Whitman

Pages: 14 discs

Genre: Poetry

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Leaves of Grass is a collection of poems by Walt Whitman. Whitman is known as one of the great American poets and his poems are often a reflection of his thoughts on American politics, nature or industry.

My Review: The difficulty in reviewing this type of book is that I really enjoyed some of the poems and I didn't really care for many of the others. Whitman's style is unique and stream-of-consciousness, but often seems to ramble on and on. I mainly listened to this book in the car while I commuted to and from work, but I also got a full copy of the text from the library to follow along when I could. I found that my opinion of the poem was often formed depending on who read the poem and how they read the poem. Poetry is all about the reading and recitation. I loved listening to the poems and following along with them in the book.

You can read the full text of Leaves of Grass online at Google Books. A few of my favorite poems (Among many, many):

I Hear America Singing

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it
should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank
or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work,
or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his
boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat
deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the
hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his
way in the morning, or at noon intermission
or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the
young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or
washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to
none else,
The day what belongs to the day — at night the
party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious
songs.

O Captain! My Captain

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up - for you the flag is flung - for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths - for you the shores
a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Miracles

1. What shall I give? and which are my miracles?

2. Realism is mine--my miracles--Take freely,
Take without end--I offer them to you wherever your feet can carry you or your eyes reach.

3. Why! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love--or sleep in the bed at night with any
one I love,
Or sit at the table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds--or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown--or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best--mechanics, boatmen, farmers,
Or among the savans--or to the _soiree_--or to the opera.
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring--yet each distinct and in its place.

4. To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every cubic foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass--the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that concerns them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.
To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the ships, with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?