I am reading Tales of the South Pacific which won Michener a Pulitzer Prize and was the inspiration for the musical, South Pacific, which I have been listening to non-stop!
I am in love with the way James Michener puts words together...
I was surprised our Barnes and Noble store had NOT ONE book about Picasso or his art. I did find a Charles River ebook about the awesome artist on Amazon. This company publishes wonderful books which give a good summary of the subject material.
This particular Picasso book is just 57 pages long with 25 pictures of his most famous works from each of his art periods, along with a strong bibliography for further study. I did purchase it for $2.99 and read it in its entirety last night and LOVED it!
The little book was just enough to whet my Picasso appetite. I have read several books about him and have seen a couple of movies, so we are well acquainted. I just needed a Picasso "fix" and I certainly got it!
I saw James Michener interviewed on 60 Minutes near the end of his life. I bought a hardcover edition of the Tales and sent it to my Dad, so I don't have it here to quote, but in the preface Michener says something very poignant about places like Guadalcanal and Corregidor becoming names like Shiloh and Valley Forge--forgotten in history, a faint wisp of how important they were to the people who fought and died there. You will know the passage--apologies for not remembering it exactly.
ReplyDeleteHe started to weep as he read it, and it seemed very important in a human condition kind of way. It was very touching, he an old man remembering and knowing it would all be a distant memory, when it was their LIVES. You know?
I always liked his writing too--I was very devoted to his novels as a teenager, especially "Hawaii" as I owned a copy of it and re-read it several times.
"Longer and longer shadows will obscure them, until their Guadalcanal sounds distant on the ear like Shiloh and Valley Forge." I read this quote to Joe and felt so sad and almost heartsick that any of our brave soldiers should ever be forgotten. It is truly amazing how that quote touched our two families!
DeleteI had a copy of "Hawaii" but never read it...I preordered it on Kindle and coincidently enough, the ebook is being released for the first time on November 26...
I believe we must be Cosmic Sisters!