Finished Mo 11/17/14
I picked this up to get info about Ken Kesey who wrote ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST which was the November selection for the Classic Book Club.
Kesey is married to Faye and has two children, but his partner seems to be Carolyn Adams (MOUNTAIN GIRL)
Kesey and his wife live in Perry Lane which is a bohemian area of Palo Alto near Stanford, but he's primarily from La Honda, Oregon. The Perry Lane area was razed in 1963 while the Kesey's were still living there.
HIGHLIGHTS
1964 East to West trip to New York on the bus, 'Furthur (Further)'; CAUTION- WEIRD LOAD
To see World's Fair/visit Leary's bunch, League For Spiritual Discovery at Millbrook, NY. The Goldwater election
Beatles concert in Los Angeles at the Cop Palace. Describes audience as a giant squid-like organism that is attached to the performers' every movement. A powerful image.
Kesey met the Hell's Angels through Hunter S. Thompson while he was writing his book, HELL'S ANGELS- A STRANGE AND TERRIBLE SAGA.
THE MERRY PRANKSTERS WELCOME THE HELL'S ANGELS (La Honda)
CAN YOU PASS THE ACID TEST?
Pot bust with Mountain Girl in North Beach, San Francisco. They were relaxing on a tenement roof late at night. The police raid the building, they don't leave and the two cops find a couple of grams. Kesey was facing a five year sentence. He and Mountain Girl skip bond and travel all over the Southwest including Mexico. Gives himself up in Arizona and begins to speak against drugs and wants to bring about the 'next stage of evolution'.
WE BLEW IT!
Monday, November 17, 2014
Saturday, November 15, 2014
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST by Ken Kesey
Finished Sa 11/15/14
The October selection for the Classic Book Club
What a triumphant ending....Makes ya want to stand up and cheer!
Link at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_(novel)
Ken Kesey at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey
A few days ago I began reading THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST by Tom Wolfe to get some background on Kesey. Kesey must have changed immensely in the couple of years since he wrote 'Cuckoo' and when he formed The Pranksters.
In 1962 he was working at a psychiatric hospital near Stanford in Palo Alto and working on a book about Beatniks in North Beach, San Francisco when he came up for the themes and ideas in 'Cuckoo'.
The October selection for the Classic Book Club
What a triumphant ending....Makes ya want to stand up and cheer!
Link at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_(novel)
Ken Kesey at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey
A few days ago I began reading THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST by Tom Wolfe to get some background on Kesey. Kesey must have changed immensely in the couple of years since he wrote 'Cuckoo' and when he formed The Pranksters.
In 1962 he was working at a psychiatric hospital near Stanford in Palo Alto and working on a book about Beatniks in North Beach, San Francisco when he came up for the themes and ideas in 'Cuckoo'.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
A GHOST IN THE MUSIC by John Nichols
Finished Fr 11/7/14
Marcel Thompson
Bart Darling
Lorraine Waldrum
Kitty Thompson
'Dolphin Bays'- The East Coast estate where Bart grew up
'Chamisaville County, New Mexico'- The mythical area where the action is centered. This is the locale that Nichols has set most of his novels.
John Nichols wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nichols_(writer)
Marcel Thompson is the adult illegitimate adult child of Bart Darling and he receives a telephone call at 3 am out of the blue where he lives in NYC. Bart's new girlfriend, Lorraine Waldrum has left him and he wants Marcel to come out to New Mexico to plead with her to stay.
Bart is a classic womanizer who specializes in Playboy styled floozies, however Lorraine is a scrappy guitar playing waif who is clearly not his type, yet they truly love each other. But, Bart's suicidal tendencies have forced Lorraine to end the relationship....." I didn't sign on to be your pallbearer".
Bart is an actor/director/stunt person who is shooting a B Movie in Chamisaville County. The headquarters of the operation are in a ramshackle mansion that he owns that's full of strange characters who assist in the movie making. Hippy Carnival Atmosphere/sex/drugs/rock'n'roll to the max.
The story turns on a stunt that Bart is supposed to do in which he will leapt off a bridge and parachute to safety hundreds of feet down in a ravine. Lorraine is pregnant with his child and says that if he jumps, she leaves and aborts the child. She does, and Marcel drives her to the operation.
The stunt goes off without a hitch, and Bart dies of a massive heart attack just after he completes the stunt.
This is a slim novel and an enjoyable look at a very unusual relationship concerning the love between a father and son. And, the father is truly a 'larger than life' individual. Father as God.
THEME- It's better to burn out than to rust
Marcel Thompson
Bart Darling
Lorraine Waldrum
Kitty Thompson
'Dolphin Bays'- The East Coast estate where Bart grew up
'Chamisaville County, New Mexico'- The mythical area where the action is centered. This is the locale that Nichols has set most of his novels.
John Nichols wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nichols_(writer)
Marcel Thompson is the adult illegitimate adult child of Bart Darling and he receives a telephone call at 3 am out of the blue where he lives in NYC. Bart's new girlfriend, Lorraine Waldrum has left him and he wants Marcel to come out to New Mexico to plead with her to stay.
Bart is a classic womanizer who specializes in Playboy styled floozies, however Lorraine is a scrappy guitar playing waif who is clearly not his type, yet they truly love each other. But, Bart's suicidal tendencies have forced Lorraine to end the relationship....." I didn't sign on to be your pallbearer".
Bart is an actor/director/stunt person who is shooting a B Movie in Chamisaville County. The headquarters of the operation are in a ramshackle mansion that he owns that's full of strange characters who assist in the movie making. Hippy Carnival Atmosphere/sex/drugs/rock'n'roll to the max.
The story turns on a stunt that Bart is supposed to do in which he will leapt off a bridge and parachute to safety hundreds of feet down in a ravine. Lorraine is pregnant with his child and says that if he jumps, she leaves and aborts the child. She does, and Marcel drives her to the operation.
The stunt goes off without a hitch, and Bart dies of a massive heart attack just after he completes the stunt.
This is a slim novel and an enjoyable look at a very unusual relationship concerning the love between a father and son. And, the father is truly a 'larger than life' individual. Father as God.
THEME- It's better to burn out than to rust
Thursday, November 6, 2014
THE ROBBER BARONS by Mathew Josephson
THE GREAT AMERICAN CAPITALISTS 1861-1901. Published in 1934.
Skimmed and read over a couple of days- Th 11/6/14
Wikipedia THE GILDED AGE-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age
Not exactly a muckraking take on America's nineteenth century industrialists, but the facts don't lie. None of these men seemed to care a bit about the public welfare or the US citizens, but their only concern was for maximum corporate profit and their own self-aggrandizement.
I was surprised to learn how much the state and federal governments played in the development of these huge corporations. Especially the growth of railroads where land grants and bond issues very much funded these ventures, but 'the barons' made sure that the profits only accrued to themselves.
They had absolutely nothing positive to say about unions or even the right of working men to stand up for their rights. The only rights that they recognized were those of the owners. Workers were only servants to them. Near the beginning of the 20th century some of the industries tried to embrace 'company unions', but these were just discussion groups that had no influence or power.
Many industries owned the workers homes and where they spent their money. The workers were paid the absolute least in wages, and then charged exorbitant rates at 'the company stores'.
The tenets of Calvinism and the the Puritans very much drove the selfishness of the era and this view seems a real distortion of the Christian message.
Although they donated millions through various charity organizations, it never effected 'the bottom line'.
Most of the leaders were closed mouth and taciturn, and their biographies cannot be trusted. Many took the secrets of their nefarious endeavors to the grave.
pecuniary- Of or relating to money
The Robber Baron entry in wikipedia that contains a comprehensive list of the key players-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)
The author's entry on wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Josephson
Skimmed and read over a couple of days- Th 11/6/14
Wikipedia THE GILDED AGE-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age
Not exactly a muckraking take on America's nineteenth century industrialists, but the facts don't lie. None of these men seemed to care a bit about the public welfare or the US citizens, but their only concern was for maximum corporate profit and their own self-aggrandizement.
I was surprised to learn how much the state and federal governments played in the development of these huge corporations. Especially the growth of railroads where land grants and bond issues very much funded these ventures, but 'the barons' made sure that the profits only accrued to themselves.
They had absolutely nothing positive to say about unions or even the right of working men to stand up for their rights. The only rights that they recognized were those of the owners. Workers were only servants to them. Near the beginning of the 20th century some of the industries tried to embrace 'company unions', but these were just discussion groups that had no influence or power.
Many industries owned the workers homes and where they spent their money. The workers were paid the absolute least in wages, and then charged exorbitant rates at 'the company stores'.
The tenets of Calvinism and the the Puritans very much drove the selfishness of the era and this view seems a real distortion of the Christian message.
Although they donated millions through various charity organizations, it never effected 'the bottom line'.
Most of the leaders were closed mouth and taciturn, and their biographies cannot be trusted. Many took the secrets of their nefarious endeavors to the grave.
pecuniary- Of or relating to money
The Robber Baron entry in wikipedia that contains a comprehensive list of the key players-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)
The author's entry on wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Josephson
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
THE CLOWNS OF GOD by Morris West
Finished Mo 11/4/14
I pulled this one off one of the shelves in my living room, and I wrote on the flyleaf that I first completed the book on Fr 7/30/93 while I was having a Kenwood stereo system installed in my Hyundai Elantra. I have no recollection of the book, the stereo system, that particular day, or even that much about that particular car.
But, I loved the book this time around and it presents an intriguing premise. What would happen if a modern day pope got a direct revelation from God that the Parousia (The Second Coming) was imminent. The book shows that he would almost certainly be forced to abdicate his position by the clerical hierarchy because if the word got out it would result in a near complete breakdown of global society.
I thought that this author had written a book about what would happen if the bones of Christ were discovered to be buried in the Vatican, and it is discovered that a papal cover up has been in place for two millennia. Would the teachings of Christ as the basis of the Christian faith still be valid if it was shown to be that the resurrection never occurred? Apparently Morris West did not write this novel, but tonight I should be getting the film THE BODY from Netflix, and it is supposed to examine this philosophical question. Can't wait.
Author's page in wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_West
Downs Syndrome and the book-
http://gerardnadal.com/2011/01/31/the-blessing-and-dignity-of-down-syndrome/
Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/The-Clowns-God-Morris-West/dp/1902881842
I pulled this one off one of the shelves in my living room, and I wrote on the flyleaf that I first completed the book on Fr 7/30/93 while I was having a Kenwood stereo system installed in my Hyundai Elantra. I have no recollection of the book, the stereo system, that particular day, or even that much about that particular car.
But, I loved the book this time around and it presents an intriguing premise. What would happen if a modern day pope got a direct revelation from God that the Parousia (The Second Coming) was imminent. The book shows that he would almost certainly be forced to abdicate his position by the clerical hierarchy because if the word got out it would result in a near complete breakdown of global society.
I thought that this author had written a book about what would happen if the bones of Christ were discovered to be buried in the Vatican, and it is discovered that a papal cover up has been in place for two millennia. Would the teachings of Christ as the basis of the Christian faith still be valid if it was shown to be that the resurrection never occurred? Apparently Morris West did not write this novel, but tonight I should be getting the film THE BODY from Netflix, and it is supposed to examine this philosophical question. Can't wait.
Author's page in wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_West
Downs Syndrome and the book-
http://gerardnadal.com/2011/01/31/the-blessing-and-dignity-of-down-syndrome/
Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/The-Clowns-God-Morris-West/dp/1902881842
THE FLASH BOYS by Michael Lewis
Returned to library Mo 11/3/14
I read about half of this over a couple of weeks.
The premise is fairly obvious. The speed of trading on wall street is now measured in microseconds or even fractions of them, and the trading public gets 'minute to minute' coverage. This gives a big advantage to the insiders who can stay far, far ahead of pack. Even an infinitesimal fraction of a second makes a critical (and lucrative) difference.
Traders screaming into telephones and waving arms on a trading room floor have absolutely no relation to the modern reality.
Throughout the history of the market, whenever laws have been put in place to stop malfeasance, lawyers for the traders have always found a way around the new rules. In a capitalist society the smartest people will be drawn to where the 'big money' is at, and the market is a real-life metaphor for capitalism. Although government can never prevent them from trying to rig the market, that doesn't mean that they should give up. 'Giving Up' seems to be the Republican answer to the problem (however, they don't even see this as a problem. It's just the way of the world.)
"Where will we be 'in the room'?"
Fiber optic cables make the difference and some of the traders vie for space in the room where the computers are located. The closer to the source is very important (the difference is so small it's almost unmeasurable), and a matter of inches or feet over hundreds of miles of cable will be seen to be of value.
Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Michael-Lewis/dp/0393244660
wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Boys
I read about half of this over a couple of weeks.
The premise is fairly obvious. The speed of trading on wall street is now measured in microseconds or even fractions of them, and the trading public gets 'minute to minute' coverage. This gives a big advantage to the insiders who can stay far, far ahead of pack. Even an infinitesimal fraction of a second makes a critical (and lucrative) difference.
Traders screaming into telephones and waving arms on a trading room floor have absolutely no relation to the modern reality.
Throughout the history of the market, whenever laws have been put in place to stop malfeasance, lawyers for the traders have always found a way around the new rules. In a capitalist society the smartest people will be drawn to where the 'big money' is at, and the market is a real-life metaphor for capitalism. Although government can never prevent them from trying to rig the market, that doesn't mean that they should give up. 'Giving Up' seems to be the Republican answer to the problem (however, they don't even see this as a problem. It's just the way of the world.)
"Where will we be 'in the room'?"
Fiber optic cables make the difference and some of the traders vie for space in the room where the computers are located. The closer to the source is very important (the difference is so small it's almost unmeasurable), and a matter of inches or feet over hundreds of miles of cable will be seen to be of value.
Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Flash-Boys-Michael-Lewis/dp/0393244660
wikipedia-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Boys
Monday, November 3, 2014
PERFIDIA by James Ellroy
Finished Th 10/30/14
The book is an authentic 'thrill ride', but I think it went on a bit too long. It's almost 700 pages and I made it to about five hundred and skimmed to the end.
Some of the characters are modeled after 'real-life' people, and other character appear in other James Ellroy novels.
All of the characters are drunks, drug addled, and depraved and it's really hard to believe that these people were in control of the city of Los Angeles. But, stranger things are true.
Benzedrine and opium (and, of course, booze) are the fave stimulants.
Many of the characters are incredibly violent and racist.
REVIEWS-
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/books/article2165560.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/books/review/james-ellroys-perfidia.html
AMAZON-
http://www.amazon.com/Perfidia-A-novel-James-Ellroy/dp/0307956997
Wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfidia_(James_Ellroy_novel)
The book is an authentic 'thrill ride', but I think it went on a bit too long. It's almost 700 pages and I made it to about five hundred and skimmed to the end.
Some of the characters are modeled after 'real-life' people, and other character appear in other James Ellroy novels.
All of the characters are drunks, drug addled, and depraved and it's really hard to believe that these people were in control of the city of Los Angeles. But, stranger things are true.
Benzedrine and opium (and, of course, booze) are the fave stimulants.
Many of the characters are incredibly violent and racist.
REVIEWS-
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/books/article2165560.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/books/review/james-ellroys-perfidia.html
AMAZON-
http://www.amazon.com/Perfidia-A-novel-James-Ellroy/dp/0307956997
Wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfidia_(James_Ellroy_novel)
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