The Thin Red Line (James Jones, 1962)

I really didn't know a thing about this book or the author, but definitely would highly recommend it. Jones also wrote "From Here to Eternity," which now is on my to-read list.

This is a fictionalized account of WWII fighting in Guadalcanal. I'll never know what war is like, and am sure that's a good thing. But one wonders. This kind of book tries to convey the feeling. Reminded me of the feel of The Red Badge of Courage.

Jones takes a large number of characters in "C for Charlie" company as they arrive at the island. Takes us through the process of getting used to the climate and terrain, killing time in camp, the initial battles, the fear and paralysis experienced by many, the unexpected bravery - or just orneriness in many cases - shown by others. The first battle scene is wonderful. Interesting perspectives on leadership.

I haven't seen the movie (filmed in 1998). The cast has a huge number of what are now household names: Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Adrien Brody, John Travolta, Nick Nolte, James Caviezel, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, George Clooney. I need to see this.

Little Heathens - Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm during the Great Depression (Mildred Armstrong Kalish, 2007)

This book had very strong reviews in the Wall Street Journal and nytimes.com. So I gave it a try. And liked it quite a bit.

As the title spells out in detail, the author grew up on an Iowa farm in the 1930s. She became an English professor and certainly has both an excellent memory and a good writing style.

Here in 2007, stories of a kid growing up in the Depression seem to describe a long-lost era. My major take-away from the book was the similarities - not the differences - between the author's world and the world in which I grew up in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It actually only was 30 years prior to my own childhood.

I'm guessing the similarities arise because my world was populated by characters who were adults in the 1930s - my grandparents and their peer group - and another set of characters - my parents etc. - who were shaped by preceding generation. So when this author talks about saving everything - down to pieces of string and bits of foil - I can relate. And when she describes the advice from her elders about never wasting time and the folly of idleness - I can relate. And the gardening stories. And the respect for elders. Also little things like the description of the smell of the green walnuts they harvested.

Of course there have been big changes in mechanization - both in the ag operations and in the farm house. And these have drastically altered the daily routine as described by the author. But much of the underlying attitude persisted.

Goya (Robert Hughes, 2003)

I read at this at the gym and much liked it.

Biographies like this are great in part because it's a unique centering for a description of the history around the subject of the biography. I'm starting to pick out more biographies like this (along the lines of the Tolstoy biography discussed here (September 4, 2006 entry); just took out one on Goethe).

Goya lived a long time and saw lots. You read a lot about the high level of repression in Spain over the centuries (including the Inquisition, which was winding down around the time Goya came around). Anyway, this seemed to lead to about the backwardness you'd expect once they'd kicked out the Muslims and Jews - and more progressive Christian folks also just left, especially after the frustration of the reforms hoped for after Napoleon's ejection. Goya himself left Spain in his old age and died in France. What a society.

Anyway, Hughes goes through Goya's early days trying to make his way out of the provinces and into Madrid (which was pretty much backwards also). He thrives, has commissions from royals and other important folk. Had a wife but never wrote about her; rumors of mistresses but nothing very compelling. Liked bullfighting. Painted some unusual subjects.

Then along came Napoleon. Hughes says the native response was the first modern guerrilla war, which may be true, who knows. The activities and tone certainly seemed like a pretty good precursor to the 20th century Spanish civil war. One of the most famous Goya works ("3rd of May") commemorates the Napeolonic struggle. It was interesting to read the Spanish perspective on this, different than the Wellington biography from a few years ago.

Goya became deaf, took on the Inquisition (but subtly). There is a Hollywood biography named "The Naked Maja" which tries to build on the mistress thing.

It was interesting to read in the paper a couple weeks ago about the expansion of the Prado in Madrid (and the extent of its collection); it was built in Goya's time but certainly not for an art museum.