Glad to be reminded of The Stone Diaries, one of my favorite books.
My husband and I just finished listening To The Lincoln Highway and I'm in love with it. Makes me want to go back and re-listen to A Gentleman In Moscow which we also shared (we listen together during and after dinner). Would love to talk about Amor Towles!
And I have to vote forSense and Sensibility as your next Austen read. Persuasion is a fine book but S&S is everything!
I can imagine how fun it would be to listen to both of the Towles novels. Such big books, such rich stories. Okay for S&S. I was leaning that way anyway!
A former coworker told me about Iain M. Banks, a science fiction writer who died at 59 of a rare cancer. His announcement came in April 2013 and he was gone in June 2013. No time for anyone to really grasp it.
It had only been maybe a year when he told me and he wept when he found out. The author had such an impact on his life.
I haven’t heard of Carol Shields. I’ll check her out.
I have never heard of Carol Shields before; I'll have to check her out. As a young child we used to travel, via car, to Oklahoma (from California) every summer. I haven't traveled a lot but this has to be the most boring route ever. lol The highlight for me was when we stopped at HJ's and went to the restaurant. I loved the gift shops, I was a sucker for all the travel/location trinkets offered at each stop. Thanks for reminding me of these memories. :)
Uh, Carol Shields. I cried as well. Her books are so great. Her stories of ordinary women always sang to me. I agree, she died way too soon. I recently started re-reading The Stone Diaries. It’s a masterpiece. I also love Unless, her last book. The opening line was telling; “It happens that I am going through a period of great unhappiness and loss just now.”
She wrote this book as she was in the throes of advanced breast cancer at the time. I remember listening to her interview on NPR’s Fresh Air the year before she died. I’ll have to re-listen now.
Janice - I just wanted to let you know that I just finished listening to the Fresh Air interview with Carol Shields. I should have included it with the story. It was so wonderful although I was surprised to hear how soft her voice was. Her writing is so definite, so bold, so unafraid -- I somehow thought she'd have been...louder. I'd never heard her speak before so it was special. Thank you. Here is the link in case anyone else would like to hear it: https://freshairarchive.org/segments/novelist-carol-shields
UNLESS is my second favorite Shields novel although, honestly, I can't really prioritize Unless over Stone Diaries. It is another one that teaches me something new with every re-reading. I was so struck once again by the way a Shields character observes herself and all around her while living through an anguishing period of uncertainty.
Glad to be reminded of The Stone Diaries, one of my favorite books.
My husband and I just finished listening To The Lincoln Highway and I'm in love with it. Makes me want to go back and re-listen to A Gentleman In Moscow which we also shared (we listen together during and after dinner). Would love to talk about Amor Towles!
And I have to vote forSense and Sensibility as your next Austen read. Persuasion is a fine book but S&S is everything!
I can imagine how fun it would be to listen to both of the Towles novels. Such big books, such rich stories. Okay for S&S. I was leaning that way anyway!
One of the only Austen novels that makes me laugh (they all do that) and cry!
A former coworker told me about Iain M. Banks, a science fiction writer who died at 59 of a rare cancer. His announcement came in April 2013 and he was gone in June 2013. No time for anyone to really grasp it.
It had only been maybe a year when he told me and he wept when he found out. The author had such an impact on his life.
I haven’t heard of Carol Shields. I’ll check her out.
I have never heard of Carol Shields before; I'll have to check her out. As a young child we used to travel, via car, to Oklahoma (from California) every summer. I haven't traveled a lot but this has to be the most boring route ever. lol The highlight for me was when we stopped at HJ's and went to the restaurant. I loved the gift shops, I was a sucker for all the travel/location trinkets offered at each stop. Thanks for reminding me of these memories. :)
Shields' writing looks fantastic!
Raymond Carver, who died at 50 in 1988. His succinct, gripping short stories and poetry were, and remain, models for my own writing. I miss him still.
I can hear the echo of Carver in your writing, Andy. He was a master and left a lot of people wanting more.
Uh, Carol Shields. I cried as well. Her books are so great. Her stories of ordinary women always sang to me. I agree, she died way too soon. I recently started re-reading The Stone Diaries. It’s a masterpiece. I also love Unless, her last book. The opening line was telling; “It happens that I am going through a period of great unhappiness and loss just now.”
She wrote this book as she was in the throes of advanced breast cancer at the time. I remember listening to her interview on NPR’s Fresh Air the year before she died. I’ll have to re-listen now.
Janice - I just wanted to let you know that I just finished listening to the Fresh Air interview with Carol Shields. I should have included it with the story. It was so wonderful although I was surprised to hear how soft her voice was. Her writing is so definite, so bold, so unafraid -- I somehow thought she'd have been...louder. I'd never heard her speak before so it was special. Thank you. Here is the link in case anyone else would like to hear it: https://freshairarchive.org/segments/novelist-carol-shields
Thank you for the link, I’m re-listening now!
UNLESS is my second favorite Shields novel although, honestly, I can't really prioritize Unless over Stone Diaries. It is another one that teaches me something new with every re-reading. I was so struck once again by the way a Shields character observes herself and all around her while living through an anguishing period of uncertainty.