This past week, I must confess, I took a break from the intensity of Jackie Robinson's life story and read a murder mystery, the latest from Michael Connelly: The Fifth Witness.
I enjoy Michael Connelly's novels, and this one was particularly good. It features one of his continuing characters, Micky Haller, a defense attorney. There's usually a current events angle in his plots; this one featured the recent mortgage foreclosure mess--the banker who is foreclosing on a home loan is murdered and the woman who is losing her house is the accused.
Connelly gives readers an unlikable defendant and an attorney who wants to believe she is innocent. There are many twists, some involving unscrupulous business men with ties to the Mafia, as well as a couple of romantic subplots. I won't spoil it by telling you how it ends, but believe me, it was a quick, enjoyable read.
This coming week I intend to finish up with Jackie Robinson then move on to the next book.
By the way, I'm afraid the closing out sale at a local Borders Books store snagged me last weekend--at $2.50 a book, how could I resist? I now have about fifteen additional books in my library! But there's no problem. Having plenty to read? It's all good.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Third Base . . . Won't Be Long Now!
I'm getting close to finishing Robinson's big life as told by Rampersad in his big book, and I must say that the amount of living Jackie packed into his short life is staggering! Before, during, and after baseball, Jackie showed that he would always "drink / Life to the lees" (Tennyson, "Ulysses"). Rampersad makes the connection to the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson's Ulysses, and I think it's quite apt. ( Here's a link to the poem for those who want to take a look: Ulysses. The poem is one of my favorites.)
It's no wonder Rampersad needed 512 pages to tell Jackie's story, because it's America's story as well. I'm finding that there's very little in the first half of our century that Jackie was not involved in, especially with respect to civil rights. He was there struggling with Jim Crow and its effects from the twenties to the seventies, with dignity and passion and respect for anyone who cared and was willing to help, no matter their creed or color. The book reminds me a little of Forrest Gump, though in Jackie Robinson, all the main character's brushes with history really happened.
By the time I'm finished with this biography, I'm going to feel like I know all these people. Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day, and I wonder if people really understand the man they're paying tribute to in baseball stadiums across the country. He paved the way for that one area of integration, but he didn't stop there. He dedicated his life to achieving racial equality and harmony. He was a controversial guy, and far from perfect, but he was larger than life. Just reading about all the many things he got into and the many people he knew in his life has been exhausting. What it must have been like to know him!
Jackie died in 1972, and right now I'm in the mid-sixties, so it won't be long. And when I reach the end of this book, I'm going take a nice break with a mystery novel, simple and short!
It's no wonder Rampersad needed 512 pages to tell Jackie's story, because it's America's story as well. I'm finding that there's very little in the first half of our century that Jackie was not involved in, especially with respect to civil rights. He was there struggling with Jim Crow and its effects from the twenties to the seventies, with dignity and passion and respect for anyone who cared and was willing to help, no matter their creed or color. The book reminds me a little of Forrest Gump, though in Jackie Robinson, all the main character's brushes with history really happened.
By the time I'm finished with this biography, I'm going to feel like I know all these people. Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day, and I wonder if people really understand the man they're paying tribute to in baseball stadiums across the country. He paved the way for that one area of integration, but he didn't stop there. He dedicated his life to achieving racial equality and harmony. He was a controversial guy, and far from perfect, but he was larger than life. Just reading about all the many things he got into and the many people he knew in his life has been exhausting. What it must have been like to know him!
Jackie died in 1972, and right now I'm in the mid-sixties, so it won't be long. And when I reach the end of this book, I'm going take a nice break with a mystery novel, simple and short!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Halfway to Home
I'm about halfway through Jackie Robinson's biography now, and I continue to learn about the man's life. It's now the early fifties, when Jackie has established himself as a professional ballplayer and more people of color are entering major league baseball. But while the story of his ordeal in getting there was riveting, it was also hard to read about; what Jackie had to put up with from the time he signed with the Dodgers' minor league team through his first season in the majors was appalling. I'm deeply impressed that he managed to get through it.
By the fifties, the vocal opposition to integrating baseball has not stopped but has lessened--publicly, at least. What was interesting to learn about the late forties period, though, was that Jackie didn't make as much money as some other star ballplayers were making at the time, so he had to take other jobs to increase his income. He frequently went on barnstorming tours following the baseball season, and did some endorsements and work on television.
Also interesting was the fact that Jackie testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in response to Paul Robeson's statements about black Americans' patriotism. He managed to stand up for black Americans (including Robeson) while making it clear that he did not share Robeson's views.
Right now in the book Jackie's life story is being made into a movie, The Jackie Robinson Story, which came out in 1950. Jackie has reached the point where he is treated well by most everyone he meets, though Jim Crow continues for the rest of black America, even his wife when he is not with her. This is troubling to him, says the author. There may be more on this subject later in the biography.
I'm still enjoying the book though sometimes the details get a bit overwhelming and I find myself "fast forwarding" through some sections. I'm also picking up on the author's purpose in writing the book. Much like the author of The Bounty, Arnold Rampersad seems to want to rehabilitate the reputation of his subject. Since I know little of Jackie Robinson's reputation for other than playing baseball, I don't know what assertions the author's countering when he emphasizes again and again Robinson's restraint, kindness, good nature, and friendliness. To Rampersad, it seems, Jackie's the model baseball player, husband, father, business man, friend, and associate. No one could be that perfect, so it makes me think Rampersad "doth protest too much"--is he failing to tell us the bad things because he doesn't want to give the stories about Jackie credence? Or is it true that Jackie Robinson was simply a good guy? I don't know, but in order to find out, I'd have to read the past stories about Jackie, which I don't want to do, at least not now.
So I'll go along with Mr. Rampersad a bit further, skip over some of the details and try to take his protestations of Jackie's perfections with a tiny grain of salt.
And I'll keep you posted!
By the fifties, the vocal opposition to integrating baseball has not stopped but has lessened--publicly, at least. What was interesting to learn about the late forties period, though, was that Jackie didn't make as much money as some other star ballplayers were making at the time, so he had to take other jobs to increase his income. He frequently went on barnstorming tours following the baseball season, and did some endorsements and work on television.
Also interesting was the fact that Jackie testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in response to Paul Robeson's statements about black Americans' patriotism. He managed to stand up for black Americans (including Robeson) while making it clear that he did not share Robeson's views.
Right now in the book Jackie's life story is being made into a movie, The Jackie Robinson Story, which came out in 1950. Jackie has reached the point where he is treated well by most everyone he meets, though Jim Crow continues for the rest of black America, even his wife when he is not with her. This is troubling to him, says the author. There may be more on this subject later in the biography.
I'm still enjoying the book though sometimes the details get a bit overwhelming and I find myself "fast forwarding" through some sections. I'm also picking up on the author's purpose in writing the book. Much like the author of The Bounty, Arnold Rampersad seems to want to rehabilitate the reputation of his subject. Since I know little of Jackie Robinson's reputation for other than playing baseball, I don't know what assertions the author's countering when he emphasizes again and again Robinson's restraint, kindness, good nature, and friendliness. To Rampersad, it seems, Jackie's the model baseball player, husband, father, business man, friend, and associate. No one could be that perfect, so it makes me think Rampersad "doth protest too much"--is he failing to tell us the bad things because he doesn't want to give the stories about Jackie credence? Or is it true that Jackie Robinson was simply a good guy? I don't know, but in order to find out, I'd have to read the past stories about Jackie, which I don't want to do, at least not now.
So I'll go along with Mr. Rampersad a bit further, skip over some of the details and try to take his protestations of Jackie's perfections with a tiny grain of salt.
And I'll keep you posted!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
From Rain Gods to Baseball Legends
Well, I guess it's been a while since I've written about my reading adventures! Since my last post, I finished the novel about the Angel family, The Rain God, and started a biography of Jackie Robinson, by Arnold Rampersad, entitled Jackie Robinson: A Biography, published in 1997.
The Rain God was an excellent book, and much better, I thought, than its sequel, Migrant Souls. Perhaps part of the reason Rain God was a better book is that it was largely autobiographical. The story is told mostly from the point of view of Miguel Chico (little Miguel), a gay man who drinks too much and suffers from intestinal cancer. The author is also a gay man with a difficult family and so is writing from his own point of view in this first book (as opposed to the sequel, where Islas is writing from the point of view of the women).
The Rain God is also better because it is better written, technically speaking. I was much more able to get involved with the characters, I think, because of how smoothly the novel flows. The writing style enhances rather than obstructs the imaginative process. I guess it's hard to explain! By the time I finished this novel, I felt like I knew the people I met there. And I learned a lot about the desert and Mexican Americans whose families have a long history of living in the borderland region (going back to the 1500s). I recommend both books highly.
So, now it's back to non-fiction, this time with a hefty biography by Arnold Rampersad, the biographer of Langston Hughes and other noted African Americans. (I've read the one about Langston Hughes.) Jackie Robinson is 512 pages long and densely packed with factual and anecdotal information about the famous ballplayer, from his humble beginnings in Georgia to his late life business success. It's written in chronological order; so far I've gotten to his World War II years.
I've found from reading just this small part of the book that I previously knew virtually nothing about Jackie Robinson; what I've learned so far is impressive. What stands out more than anything is that Robinson was tremendously gifted athletically and incredibly disciplined and determined mentally. What he was able to accomplish against formidable odds is astonishing.
Jackie was skilled in a wide variety of sports--football, basketball, baseball, track, tennis, table tennis. He lettered in four sports at UCLA, despite being there less than two years. If he had been white, he would have been famous when he was in high school. He would have been signed to a professional team as soon as he was eligible. He would have been celebrated across the country and treated with dignity, instead of being ignored or passed over for honors, and made to submit to Jim Crow humiliation everywhere he went.
So, this is a very interesting biography by a writer I enjoy. I've had the book a number of years and started to read it once before, but got overwhelmed by its size. So I'm looking forward to getting to the end . . . sometime around May, I figure. Stay tuned.
The Rain God was an excellent book, and much better, I thought, than its sequel, Migrant Souls. Perhaps part of the reason Rain God was a better book is that it was largely autobiographical. The story is told mostly from the point of view of Miguel Chico (little Miguel), a gay man who drinks too much and suffers from intestinal cancer. The author is also a gay man with a difficult family and so is writing from his own point of view in this first book (as opposed to the sequel, where Islas is writing from the point of view of the women).
The Rain God is also better because it is better written, technically speaking. I was much more able to get involved with the characters, I think, because of how smoothly the novel flows. The writing style enhances rather than obstructs the imaginative process. I guess it's hard to explain! By the time I finished this novel, I felt like I knew the people I met there. And I learned a lot about the desert and Mexican Americans whose families have a long history of living in the borderland region (going back to the 1500s). I recommend both books highly.
So, now it's back to non-fiction, this time with a hefty biography by Arnold Rampersad, the biographer of Langston Hughes and other noted African Americans. (I've read the one about Langston Hughes.) Jackie Robinson is 512 pages long and densely packed with factual and anecdotal information about the famous ballplayer, from his humble beginnings in Georgia to his late life business success. It's written in chronological order; so far I've gotten to his World War II years.
I've found from reading just this small part of the book that I previously knew virtually nothing about Jackie Robinson; what I've learned so far is impressive. What stands out more than anything is that Robinson was tremendously gifted athletically and incredibly disciplined and determined mentally. What he was able to accomplish against formidable odds is astonishing.
Jackie was skilled in a wide variety of sports--football, basketball, baseball, track, tennis, table tennis. He lettered in four sports at UCLA, despite being there less than two years. If he had been white, he would have been famous when he was in high school. He would have been signed to a professional team as soon as he was eligible. He would have been celebrated across the country and treated with dignity, instead of being ignored or passed over for honors, and made to submit to Jim Crow humiliation everywhere he went.
So, this is a very interesting biography by a writer I enjoy. I've had the book a number of years and started to read it once before, but got overwhelmed by its size. So I'm looking forward to getting to the end . . . sometime around May, I figure. Stay tuned.
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