Poems and Books . . .

During our trip it felt almost like a literary book club at times! With Isaac a pre-plan lit major, and Becky, Kenyon and Cait combining literature with their studies, not to mention Tucker and Dede as 'real' lit majors (as opposed to fake ones), it made for some interesting discussions with the whole group. (This image at left was under a bridge in the old section of San Jose....)

I decided, on the last day in San Jose, to write down some book names for readings on Central America and South America, etc. This blog post section can be for book titles and authors; maybe with a brief summary of each (not to get too academic here!)....I am sure Tucker y Carolina can post some interesting Costa Rica books here as well.

Here is a section of poem that I have always loved....on our river walk, it just came to me, but I could not remember all the lines, or the author's name (I was a lit major after all!). I saw my first kingfisher along the river bank, hanging out in the tree root structure of the bank (a good example of a natural way to combat erosion). The poem that I recalled the fist line of is actually by Gerard Manley Hopkins (I thought it was Wm. Carlos Williams), and I will paste my favorite section here...Hopkins was a Jesuit, who taught James Joyce I just found out! He was never published in his lifetime, but his friend toiled to get the work published after his death.

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies, dráw fláme ;

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells

Stones ring ; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name ;

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same :

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells ;

Selves—goes itself ; myself it speaks and spells,

Crying Whát I do is me : for that I came.

______________________________________

Other books (people can write in their names next to the books so we can see who suggested them--I am hoping Debbie can write some as she is an avid reader also and can be in my virtual book group--!:
Dede's
In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alverez (one of my favorites...set in the Dominican Republic).
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (set in Haiti and a great read about a doctor who singlehandedly tries to make a difference)
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (cultural/medical anthropology set in post-Vietnam war California about a Hmong family with a daughter who has epilepsy)
Tucker's pics:
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv (first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for development)
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson (written by a climber, traces Mortenson's decade-long odyssey to build schools, especially for girls)
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (the story of a man’s redemption, found in the most unlikely of place, and one he never imagined, upon a riverbank in a rural Indian village)
Isaac's pics:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (both Dede and Isaac say this book is not for the feint of heart...disturbing and beautifully written)
Russian lit (C&P, AK, W&P, etc.) -- basically all!
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Eggers
Becky's . . . I can't remember all!
The beat poets . vlv.v.v. Kerouac's On the Road
Cait...ditto
Kenyon (Capullo de rosa) . . . please add some!
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Debbie Dorsett recommended The Soloist by journalist Steve Lopez
Randy's:
Group interaction books he discussed, etc. More to come...

Environmental Studies and other books from Dede:
Reading the Mountains of Home by John Elder (Vermont cultural anthroplogy, geology/history)
The Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray (longleaf pine ecosystem)
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert (about the somewhat 'eccentric' Eustace Conway)
Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer (this is supposed to be amazing...)
The Prodigal Daughter by Barbara Kingsolver (lots of info on moths)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
The Solace of Open Spaces and A Match to the Heart by Gretel Erlich
ANYTHING by Wallace Stegner is great, but my favorite is Crossing to Safety
The Prelude by William Wordsworth
Field Work by Seamus Heaney
Poets on the Peaks

Más venir . . .