tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post4414920838896613879..comments2024-03-28T16:17:20.965-05:00Comments on Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Bonus FFB on Wednesday: The Novel -- James A. Michenermybillcriderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-26738190546850048002017-08-04T17:42:41.826-05:002017-08-04T17:42:41.826-05:00I tried LOMOKOME PAPERS first, perhaps foolishly, ...I tried LOMOKOME PAPERS first, perhaps foolishly, and that killed further interest in Wouk. YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE put me off with its title.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-10129777802177648222017-08-04T17:41:14.894-05:002017-08-04T17:41:14.894-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-72533565627580311672017-08-03T07:23:29.878-05:002017-08-03T07:23:29.878-05:00I loved YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE, too, and would reread it...I loved YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE, too, and would reread it if it wasn't so long. I may do it anyway, one of these days.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-85702588157381786742017-08-03T07:22:56.630-05:002017-08-03T07:22:56.630-05:00Youngblood Hawke is another favorite here, althoug...Youngblood Hawke is another favorite here, although I haven't read it since around 1960 or so.mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-86894541863878460522017-08-02T23:35:00.012-05:002017-08-02T23:35:00.012-05:00In high school I read Wouk's YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE ...In high school I read Wouk's YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE and loved it. Haven't revisited it, but I've always been a Wouk fan, though a few of the books have missed me. THE CAINE MUTINY holds up. To a degree it's about a writer, too, though he's not the central character.Max Allan Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00867456003618637948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-87983143518597278112017-08-02T14:46:56.093-05:002017-08-02T14:46:56.093-05:00Bill Pronzini: Those are all good. I love the McMu...Bill Pronzini: Those are all good. I love the McMurtry. mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-67094791261023064532017-08-02T14:27:59.249-05:002017-08-02T14:27:59.249-05:00D'Este. Darn you, autocorrect.D'Este. Darn you, autocorrect. Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-73719626317178606502017-08-02T14:27:07.053-05:002017-08-02T14:27:07.053-05:00Rick's comments are on target. I've done ...Rick's comments are on target. I've done the same with other authors. Before we went to Italy for the first time I read Irving Stone's THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY, which was actually quite helpful on Michelangelo and Florence, in particular. Also read Eleanor Clark's very good ROME AND A VILLA, about the Villa D'Estee in Tivoli outside Rome.Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-53323109545000935382017-08-02T14:19:49.685-05:002017-08-02T14:19:49.685-05:00THE NOVEL is the only book of Michener's I'...THE NOVEL is the only book of Michener's I've read. Flawed, as you noted, but interesting. <br /><br />Like you, I'm a sucker for novels about writers and writing. My favorite, a book I reread every couple of years: Westlake's ADIOS SCHEHERAZADE. Others: McMurtry's ALL MY FRIENDS ARE GOING TO BE STRANGERS, THE HACK by Wilfred Sheed, and THE MAN WHO WROTE DIRTY BOOKS by Hal Dresner.Bill Pronzininoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-10399465097109467232017-08-02T11:46:46.641-05:002017-08-02T11:46:46.641-05:00I read pretty much all of Michener up through CENT...I read pretty much all of Michener up through CENTENNIAL, starting with HAWAII--my parents and I lived there for a couple of years when I was a toddler, so I was curious. (My father said Michener talked to him briefly about the islands, but as a newcomer himself, my dad was unable to say anything useful.) Like Jeff Meyerson, I was even more impressed with the (yes, even longer) THE SOURCE, and Michener's early real novel (as opposed to novelized history) THE FIRES OF SPRING. I liked THE DRIFTERS quite a lot, though it is probably very dated now. I lost most of my taste for Michener with CENTENNIAL, about my home state of Colorado, knowing enough to see that much of it was basic history with events renamed and the serial numbers filed off. Still, Michener did play a large role in the early years of my reading life. I may still have copies of THE COVENANT, SPACE, and TEXAS in a box somewhere, but haven't read them yet.Mike Stammnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-10401644669670985702017-08-02T10:57:48.974-05:002017-08-02T10:57:48.974-05:00Anybody remember an early Simpsons throwaway gag a...Anybody remember an early <i>Simpsons</i> throwaway gag about Springfield's bookstore?<br /><br />This is (regrettably) approximate:<br />One of the signs in the bookstore's display window:<br /><br /> <b>SPECIAL!<br />ALL THIS WEEK!<br /><i>MICHENER!</i><br />ONLY $5 A POUND!</b><br /><br />I've heard (can't confirm) that James Michener saw this gag - and liked it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05527404061764217504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-34151726018386099692017-08-02T10:41:09.630-05:002017-08-02T10:41:09.630-05:00I started my Michener reading with his slim SOUTH ...I started my Michener reading with his slim SOUTH SEA TALES (and I'm surprised that prof. didn't have you compare that with the Melville, or Conrad) and liked it for what it was. Later I read HAWAII, THE DRIFTERS, CENTENNIAL, TEXAS, ALASKA and probably at least one other not coming to mind. I looked at them as, basically, popular history lessons. I read ALASKA before our 2008 trip there. I knew he wasn't a profound writer, but I learned from the books.Rick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07978136287154214297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-74159807148126592552017-08-02T10:02:34.505-05:002017-08-02T10:02:34.505-05:00Bryan Woolley's opinion of Michener is that hi...Bryan Woolley's opinion of Michener is that his team of researchers was not as good as it should have been for the type of book he wrote. They contain a lot of factual errors.Janis Gorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11656703722929026827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-25689692298207577022017-08-02T09:19:39.851-05:002017-08-02T09:19:39.851-05:00SAYONARA as that's usually transliterated. By ...SAYONARA as that's usually transliterated. By CENTENNIAL, I definitely had the sense he was sharecropping the lecturesome non-fiction element of his docunovels.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-62513725458574293372017-08-02T08:28:53.970-05:002017-08-02T08:28:53.970-05:00I've only read his SAYANARA (probably not spel...I've only read his SAYANARA (probably not spelled right). I was never a real fan of his writing, but he undoubtedly made millions from his books.Tom Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05594257113339405939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-30547352744247701632017-08-02T07:53:19.598-05:002017-08-02T07:53:19.598-05:00Or, even, THE DRIFTERS, but I only got as far as t...Or, even, THE DRIFTERS, but I only got as far as the first drifter.<br /><br />Apology for the shooting at Kent State doesn't surprise me in the least.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-66189814108891604712017-08-02T07:51:10.681-05:002017-08-02T07:51:10.681-05:00I agree on WONDER BOYS, a terrific book that was e...I agree on WONDER BOYS, a terrific book that was even made into a very enjoyable movie. Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-28620191085794077102017-08-02T07:48:38.427-05:002017-08-02T07:48:38.427-05:00Joe Gores's HAMMETT, Bill? Barry Malzberg'...Joe Gores's HAMMETT, Bill? Barry Malzberg's HEROVIT'S WORLD is bitter fun. Malzbergs "Writers Heaven" stories collected in THE MAN WHO LOVED THE MIDNIGHT LADY. There certainly is a lot of this sort of thing, of course, and much of it fine, sticking to the fiction alone, much less all the nonfiction (Vivian Gornick's THE MEN IN MY LIFE).<br /><br />I tried to read THE DRIFTER, HAWAII and CENTENNIAL, but all three being lecture series lightly dusted with fiction made that rather a chore, and seeing SOUTH PACIFIC on stage and taking in the Enormous cop-out the narrative indulges in (I was told the source fiction by Michener does the same, haven't investigated myself thanks to previous experience) simply killed all interest in ever giving his work a further tumble.<br /><br />I strongly suspect that the characters' opinions on other writers are going to have been Michener's, even when one shouldn't assume...and that, perhaps more than anything else, might have me eventually pick this one up. Goodness, Bill.Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-74068635964605389612017-08-02T07:45:12.023-05:002017-08-02T07:45:12.023-05:00The only book of Michener's I remember reading...The only book of Michener's I remember reading was THE DRIFTERS which I read in high school and liked--but not enough to read anything more by him. I remember THE DRIFTERS having a distinctly anti-Vietnam War tone (or perhaps it's just that one of the characters was a draft dodger, iirc), so I was really surprised to read (many years later) Michener's apologist, white-washed account of what happened at Kent State.Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-91703167759194354202017-08-02T07:45:05.381-05:002017-08-02T07:45:05.381-05:00Jo Ann, maybe I'll try, one of these days.Jo Ann, maybe I'll try, one of these days.mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-84399976547446195732017-08-02T07:44:23.170-05:002017-08-02T07:44:23.170-05:00The only Michener novel I've read is THE DRIFT...The only Michener novel I've read is THE DRIFTERS, which I enjoyed. I liked the TV mini-series made from his novel CENTENNIAL, though. Michener's niece was one of my professors in college and said that everybody else in the family hated him, but that's just hearsay.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-26665438125005646992017-08-02T07:43:59.275-05:002017-08-02T07:43:59.275-05:00Texas was magnificent on all levels for me, albeit...Texas was magnificent on all levels for me, albeit long. Come on Dr. Crider, lose yourself in one more Michener novel! I read most of them, but I was young, strong and able to function on 4 hours of sleep or less (high school). Still, I would read Texas all over again. <br />Signed, Your former studentJo Ann Honeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-22065006656918730922017-08-02T07:26:12.835-05:002017-08-02T07:26:12.835-05:00Chabon's WONDER BOYS is a favorite.Chabon's WONDER BOYS is a favorite.mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-7821049144695458532017-08-02T07:20:37.484-05:002017-08-02T07:20:37.484-05:00What other books, fiction or nonfiction, about boo...What other books, fiction or nonfiction, about books and writers do you enjoy/recommend?Darren Mitchellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668066.post-85253534682125059462017-08-02T06:58:40.185-05:002017-08-02T06:58:40.185-05:00Back in the day I quite enjoyed Michener, HAWAII f...Back in the day I quite enjoyed Michener, HAWAII for one and (especially) THE SOURCE, which I believe was even longer. In the early '70s we were at my in-laws eating dinner, and while we were waiting I picked up my mother in law's book club edition of Michener's THE DRIFTERS (his "hippie" novel), which I believe got lousy reviews. But I read the first chapter and liked it, so I took it home and raced through it. I don't care what critics said, but I enjoyed it.<br /><br />Still, that was the last Michener I read. Don't ask me why, except (as Bill mentioned) the length of all his books. HAWAII was 937 pages, THE SOURCE 1104, and THE DRIFTERS 751.Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.com