Book Beginnings: Understanding the Abuse of Adults

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.  Please remember to include the title of the book and the author.

Leave a link to your post.  If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.


MY BOOK BEGINNING

Awareness of the problem of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy within the Catholic Church moved to the forefront at the beginning of this century.

--  Understanding the Abuse of Adults by Catholic Clergy and Religious by Kathryn R, Byrne.

In my law practice at O'Donnell Clark & Crew, I work with many people who were abused as children by clergy and other trusted adults.  I do not usually work with people who were sexually abused as adults, which is what this book addresses.  I am interested to learn more. 

Review: Tinkers

 

Tinkers is a short book, but irritated me in a way that usually takes a longer book to do. I wanted to like it because I liked the idea of a dark horse Pulitzer winner, but it didn't do anything for me. I can't write an impartial, third person review, because the reasons I didn't like the book are more personal.

First, I wasn't absorbed by the story. George Crosby is dying and recollecting his life. It could be an interesting life the way a seemingly ordinary marriage and career (as a clock fixer) can be made fascinating in a good novel. But I never felt engaged with his story.

Second, the story confused me. George remembers his own life, but he also remembers the lives of his father and grandfather as if he was those men, not just remembering what he had learned about them. The narrative moves among the lives of the three men indiscriminately. It was hard to know which story was happening when. Some scenes are so obscure I could not understand if they were descriptions of events or deathbed imaginings.

Finally, I didn't like George. He cheats his clock customers. He isn't very nice to his family. He has charming moments, but I never warmed to him.

There were bits and pieces I enjoyed – little glimmers of humor, scenes that were clever, a few endearing family moments. But overall, the book rubbed me the wrong way.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you  would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

Tinkers counts as one of my two Pulitzer picks for the Battle of the Prizes, American Version.  It also counts as one of my books for the Audio-Book Challenge.

We read this for my book club.  The opinions were somewhat mixed, although most people didn't care for it.

Review: World Without End

World Without End is the sequel to Ken Follett's spectacular Pillars of the Earth. Pillars takes place in the 1100s, during the construction of the fictional Kingsbridge cathedral; World takes place 200 years later, also in Kingsbridge, but lacks a single event as a unifying focus.

It is the lack of focus that makes World disappointing. It is entertaining, but a pale shadow of Pillars. The story starts with the need to build a new bridge for Kingsbridge. Roughly the last third of the story is about the plague coming to England. There are ongoing storylines about the conflicts between the honest and hardworking heroes and heroines and the greedy, corrupt, or violent villains.

But it often feels like Book Without End, as the storylines drag on and repetitively on for over 1,000 pages. Pillars was long too, and had plenty of soap opera-like side stories, but was grander in scope and it provided loads of interesting historical information along with an exciting tale. World, on the other hand, feels like a modern story involving characters with very modern sensibilities crammed into a Medieval setting.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book posted here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

World Without End counts as my first book for the Tea & Books Challenge (books over 750 pages), as well as one of by books for the following challenges: TBR Pile, Mt. TBR, Off the Shelf, and Chunkster.

Teaser Tuesday: Light on the Devils

As late as March, the Klamath still flowed high and muddy, still churned with rocks and snags and root wads.  In that month, Happy Camp's deputy sheriff drowned, victim of his own hubris and the terrible indifferent power of the river.

-- Light on the Devils: Coming of Age on the Klamath by Louise Wagenknecht, published by OSU Press.  This is an incredible, well-told story about growing up in a remote lumber town in the 1960s and '70s. 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event. 

Mailbox Monday

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

This month, Mailbox Monday moves north, to somewhere near Quebec, where Cindy at Cindy's Love of Books is hosting.  Please stop by to visit her blog and join in the fun.

I got two books last week, both through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program:



Ronald Reagan in Quotations: A Topical Dictionary, with Sources, of the Presidential Years by Ronald Reagan, compiled by David B. Frost.  I already know that this will be the perfect Father's Day gift!



The Wisdom of John Muir: 100 Selections from the Letters, Journals, and Essays of the Great Naturalist by Anne Rowthorn.