FINALLY i have emerged from my reader's block and returned from a trip to the library with a stack of treasures! here are the latest -
pushed: the painful truth about childbirth and modern maternity care by jennifer block
the genesis code by christopher forrest
in the woods by tana french
the endurance: shackleton's legendary antarctic expedition by caroline alexander
how children learn by john holt
the beginner's guide to homeschooling by patrick farenga
AND, after i finished a couple of the library books, i happened to pick up a book from my own shelf that i've never read completely, because musa had thrown it on the floor, and for some reason i found i couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it:
secret gardens: a study of the golden age of children's literature by humphrey carpenter.
first: i read pushed, which was a very, very interesting read although it did not really tell me anything i didn't already know, in terms of the
general attitudes in the medical community toward "natural" or as block terms it "physiological" childbirth. there were certainly stories, situations and statistics i was unaware of. but i was sort of the choir she was preaching to, so to speak. this book basically details the history (which i did NOT know) of attitudes toward childbirth in america over the last century and a half or so, and the differences in development of that attitude between europe and america (which if you look at the differences now, they are rather infuriating!!). (there's a scene in michael moore's "sicko", in which a new mother living in france is explaining to moore how the government sends a "helper" a couple of times a week just to help with the baby, make sure everything's going okay, and even help with housework and laundry. compare that to how
medical residents here in america are forced to choose between raising their child and often going back to work full-time as little as
two weeks after giving birth!)
the genesis code... well, it kinda sucked. it was like someone took the formula for the
da vinci code, introduced a different puzzle, plot twist and just sort of marginally tweaked the characters, and then hoped the puzzle would be interesting enough to make it as explosive as dan brown's book. blah. i knew the "kind" of book it would be as soon as, during the opening scene, the boy was introduced just as a boy, but his teenage sister was described in sensual detail, with her long black hair and tropical green eyes... argh!! anyway, i read it during one nursing session and nap. i finished it just to find out what would happen... i mean, easy read. as mysteries go... comparing it with the tana french book afterward... just reading the first paragraph of "in the woods" 1) made me go back and read it again, because i realized i actually had to
read it, not just skim the surface to find out what happens, and 2) immediately took me into the man character's mind, and into the world of that fateful 80's summer the book keeps returning to.
SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD. french's book is a new kind of mystery, in which the main puzzle DOESN'T GET SOLVED. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! i actually reread the last few pages a couple of times because i couldn't believe it. this book tells the story of a police detective near (in?) dublin who grew up in a small town nearby, where as a child one summer he disappeared in the woods with two of his friends - only he was found, and his friends were never found, and he had blood on his shoes that wasn't his, and he never remembered what happened to him. as a detective, he finds himself on a murder case in teh same woods that MIGHT be related to his own case. it's a fascinating set up, and apart from french's powerful characterizations (bar the one flaw of the the detective not being able to recognize a classic psychopath right in front of his face) and suspenseful storytelling, her
writing is what drew me in. absolutely gorgeous, almost literary. didn't even feel like i was reading a "mystery" novel, until i really got into the story, and then it was sort of on and off...
that was the last of my fiction finds, this time. i'm still waiting for morgan llywelyn's "1999" to come out. alexander's "shackleton" book had perhaps its greatest impact on me from its photographs - all originals from the incredible photographer, frank hurley, who joined shackleton's crew for their historic adventure. i was sort of surprised to learn how much of their time was spent literally just
bored, sitting around, stuck in the ice. still, the truly "adventurous" encounters this crew had with antarctic nature were breathtaking, and the fact that every man survived is equally breathtaking. the fact that months after the whole ordeal ended, shackleton and many of the others plunged right back into the business, even in the same places, says much about character and human nature.. at least theirs! but the
photographs... these are marvels of clarity and composition, testaments to hurley's capacity AND willingness to go to any lengths to get the best shot - don't forget he had about 40 pounds of equipment to lug around! i recommend even just browsing through this book in the library or bookstore, to take a gander at these images and read briefly what went into them.
on homeschooling... just finished the holt book today, and the farenga book, more of a guide, was a quick read after that. holt's primary postulate is that children approaching the world for the first time have the best ability to learn themselves, without interference from anxious, testing adults - they learn to walk, and speak, for two examples, not by being taught, but by
doing it, making mistakes without fear, trying out their own hunches until they are satisfied themselves they are doing it right, and then moving on. he argues that learning should continue to take this form all their - our - lives, and that children should be trusted to handle this on their own as much as possible. after reading on homeschooling, as well, i'd say "how children learn" is a bit of an argument for "unschooling," which i find an attractive idea in many ways, but a little weird in others. i suspect, inshallah, homeschooling in our house will develop with some structure, but probably more flexibility and freedom than not, me being the anti-organizer that i am. i like the idea of starting with subjects, or even a curriculum, but being flexible enough to follow where it leads...
anyway... the most powerful message i get from holt's book - and i plan on reading more of his work, inshallah - is to at all costs avoid stifling a child's innate love of learning and innate abilities to learn. i didn't really need to be told that... but holt's book is a great source for examples, from his own studies and experiences, of ways to let a child be and become in the best ways...
musa is up, i must go, before he starts demanding tigger videos!!!
