Hoarders among us.

Homer and Langley, E. L. Doctorow



A historical fiction of the infamously hoarding Collyer brothers of New york City, I found this story a bit melancholy in nature.

Based on the true story of Homer and Langley Collyer this gives a possible first person narrative of these men who were both found dead in their Harlem home, Langley after several days search.

In this story Homer speaks of his life and involvement with his collecting brother Langley. While both are described as anti social and anti establishment, Homer is presented as a follower in his brothers fancies.

This was beautifully, if not hauntingly written. I hurt for the blind Homer's being drawn along with and into his brother's madness. I found myself reminded of my maternal aunt's hoarding and fearful that I could become like a Collyer.

In life the character's were a bit different, I was compelled to find out more about the two & the true story as it is known is a bit different although no less moving or sad. Langley was found in a tunnel of his own making, having been crushed to death by his own created booby trap, 8 - 10 feet from where his brother was found, paralyzed, malnourished and dead. It took days for police and firemen to find Langley hidden underneath his own collections.

Voyeurism at it's best!

Why do I find myself attracted to the screwed up lives of celebrities, especially musicians? Fall to Pieces by Mary Forsberg-Weiland, helped me fulfill this sordid attraction to famous drug addicts. I suppose there's something to my attraction to the screwed up men, yes, I'm one of those which is why I married "out of type", I have at least acknowledged that my "type" is very, very bad for me.

I remember in the nineties when Stone Temple Pilots were recording in Atlanta. Many of my friends thought STP sucked but I have always liked Scott Weiland's voice & thought it was very cool that he was hanging out at my bar when they were in town. He was playing eye contact with my friend one night when he suddenly disappeared. Later she was waiting for the bathroom line, which was always a long wait on a busy night but was particularly long this night, when he came crashing out of the bathroom, pin holed eyes, crazy looking and grabbed at her. This was the last attraction for her, she was scared & left the bar shortly after.

This same week it turns out that he turned my friends sister onto shooting heroin. She had been snorting it but didn't shoot until he came to town. She's dead now, she ended her life with a shot to the head. My friend had to identify the body, a gruesome thing for him to do. He will always blame Scott Weiland for this, although I'm not sure he is entirely to blame.

So reading this autobiography was a step back in time in a way. It was also a filler for what I figured was happening in the life of this rock star. Mary Forsberg-Weiland had a love affair with Scott Weiland for years, whether consummated or not. Scott Weiland was married to someone else for many of these years yet Mary loved him anyway.

Like Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis' autobiography of his life with drugs, I believe this was written to set the record straight, for redemption & even for money I'm sure. For me it was just an easy read, fulfilling my voyeuristic tendencies reminding me that life could be so much worse and making me thankful that I can at least see now that my type is such a bad idea.

If you're into biographies I would recommend this as an easy read, simply written.

Very sweet.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

My second Lisa See novel, I am finding I like her writing. I believe this novel has more renown that Peony in Love, however, as sweet as this story is I think Peony in Love was a much more complicated, and for me, interesting story.

This story was a relatively simple one of great friends and a rift in the friendship. A classic betrayal and redemption tale. A heart wrenching story but one I've read before albeit with less beautiful detail.

Again I loved the detail into Chinese life and times, the foot binding was torturous to read. I still cannot figure out how or why this was such a common practice for so long. But that's just me not seeing history & being caught up in my own opinions and emotions

This was very nicely written, easy to follow, beautiful and sweet, I would recommend it to others.

Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.

My oh my. This non-fiction story of several interconnected Latin American young people growing up in the Bronx was at times frustrating and at other times so sad it made my heart hurt.

These young people lost their innocence at a very young age, most of the young women were sexually abused at a very young age, I counted 9 girls that were noted as having been sexually abused, some as early as 2 by family members such as their fathers. Most, if not all and including the young men, had lost their innocence even earlier by experiencing physical or mental abuse by their parents or loved ones, watching a parent be abused by a loved one or by living with a drug abusing loved one.

This is the second time I read this book. My thoughts are more clear about it this time around. Someone asked me why I chose this book for our book club and I couldn't answer. All I knew was that it moved me. This time around I put effort into answering that question.

There was something about these women, no girls, that moved me, I have decided it was the tradegy of their lives.

I found that the men, again change that to boys, in this story would train their daughters to expect men to hold the power in their relationships, in fact they trained them to accept powerlessness at a very young age. The fathers or male figures would give love with strings, handing out "I Love You's" after being unkind or even cruel. The father figures controlled the pleasure and pain in their relationships creating girls that were literally desperate for kindness, love and attention.

Women teach their daughters submissiveness by attaching themselves to their dreams of these cruel men, the dreams were often very different than the reality - often overlooking their cruelty, accepting humiliating circumstances out of a determination to win the battle of who would or could love more...between couples or between a woman and her rivals.

These women are desperate for attention which stems from their relationships with their own fathers. They are children without the skills or role models to become responsible adults or parents

What goes around...

The Infinite Plan, Isabel Allende.

Gregory is a lonely man, he doesn't know it for most of the novel but he is lonely and running from himself and his losses.As someone who has been this person I could entirely relate to the premise if not the individual circumstances behind this.

The Infinite Plan itself preaches of Karma-like experiences, what goes around comes around. You will see this reflected in the story. While the copyright for the English translation is 1993, you see much of this story reflected in our times, now. Gregory's story could be ours, the United States, story. In the way we don't always learn from our mistakes nor self regulate enough. We seem to overlook fundamental values for monetary values/ We could benefit from entertaining life as if we were humble peasants instead of facing life as if we were rulers of all kingdoms.

While staged in the U. S., this is an Isabel Allende novel. I would highly recommend it.

Again!

The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson.

Yes! Another fantastic read by Stieg Larsson, why o why did he have to die? My original thoughts were that because of occurrences in the first novel I already had this second novel figured out. How wrong I was!

Again, this novel had me guessing until the end with many layered twists and turns between the first page and the last.

The main characters are the same, Lisbeth, the girl with the dragon tattoo, and Michael, the political journalist with the heart of gold. This time the mystery had more to do with Lisbeth. Was she a multiple murderess or being framed? Who is Zala, a Kaiser Soze type character?

For much of the story Lisbeth is absent, leaving the reader to question her innocence. Then she uses her prodigious hacking skills to infiltrate Michael's computer with messages leaving just enough information to keep him searching while she is also conducting her own investigation.

Kudos to Stieg Larsson for another drug-like, well written suspenseful novel. Now bring the third in this series to the U.S.!

Really? Asperger's Syndrome?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson.

Shortly after I finally decided to read this book I learned that the author had had a fatal heart attack a couple of years ago. I was immediately disappointed, I had already read enough to know that I loved these characters and this style.

The main character, the girl with the dragon tattoo, is a tragic, stoic, antisocial creature or her upbringing. I believe I've heard terms such as asperger's syndrome and autistic used to describe her. Since some of this is written first person, it's easy to avoid those terms, being in her mind vs. judging her from outside. I have some sympathy for the character you can see.

The other main character is a womanizing, loyal, political journalist. A man true to his word but just a little mixed up personally. A likable character, I think.

With many layered twists and turns the bulk of the story lies in solving a thirty - forty year old family mystery. This mystery wasn't nearly as straightforward as I expected, which I always admire in a mystery. If I figure them out too quickly they are a bit disappointing no matter how well written & interesting the rest of the story is.

I found this story so intriguing that I immediately reserved the second book in this series and read it just as quickly.

I would strongly recommend this to any fan of mysteries and will probably bring it up as my next book club choice.

I am excited for the release in the U.S. of the third book and hear that there is a fourth book on Stieg Larsson's laptop, but his estate may hold that one up for a while.