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Jan. 27th, 2003 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
decemberthirtyWell, I'm still reading A Star Called Henry, and I really like it. It's reminding me a lot of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, which I also really enjoyed. Both books deal with the history of a nation through the life of a character who somehow manages to be a true everyman, and yet to have an extraordinary knack for being present at all the crucial places and times of his age. A bit like Forrest Gump, now that I think about it, although totally different in tone and effect. Hmm. That was not the comparison that I was going for. Nonetheless, both Rushdie and Doyle have used that method with really extraordinary results. I loved Midnight's Children, but I'm finding that I'm having an even stronger reaction to Henry due to the fact that the history in question is the history of Ireland. As I read it I can't help but imagine my grandfather as Henry, surviving poverty and starvation, getting mixed up in the Easter Rebellion, standing next to de Valera... Of course this is patently ridiculous, because my grandfather was born in Syracuse NY to a family that had been in America for quite a few years. But somehow I can't avoid the romance of imagining it. Dreaming of a distant, hopelessly romanticized past? Gosh, I guess I really am Irish.
In culinary news, I made an excellent roasted tomato and onion soup last night. Very good and very warming, which is certainly necessary in weather like this! And I'm cooking my specialty tonight: pasta with vegetables sauteed in pesto and romano cheese. Yum.
In culinary news, I made an excellent roasted tomato and onion soup last night. Very good and very warming, which is certainly necessary in weather like this! And I'm cooking my specialty tonight: pasta with vegetables sauteed in pesto and romano cheese. Yum.
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Date: 2003-01-27 05:18 pm (UTC)i adored midnight's children (and am currently forcing the boyfriend to read hartoun and the sea of stories by way of introduction to the wonders of Rushdie), i shall have to look up this Henry book then, and add it to my pile of books to read.
Did you by any chance make it to the ALA convention this past weekend? I so wanted to...
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Date: 2003-01-28 08:52 am (UTC)10-12 plum tomatoes, halved
2 yellow onions, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
4 cups chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup half and half
2 tbs. tomato paste
Put tomatoes and onions, cut sides up, in a roasting pan. Combine olive oil, garlic, and dried herbs, and drizzle this mixture over tomatoes and onions. Roast in 400 degree oven for 40-50 minutes. (Your house will smell lovely during this step.)
Remove from oven, let cool a little bit, and then put tomatoes, onion, and all juices from the pan into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Put in a large soup pot and add broth, wine, half and half, and tomato paste. Simmer over low heat for as long as you want.
I happened to have some old bread in the house, so I made garlic croutons to go with it, but it would be just fine without. Let me know how it turns out when you make it.
As for Rushdie, I've never read anything but Midnight's Children. I read it for a class and loved it, and always meant to seek out more of his stuff, but I just never seem to get around to it. Maybe I'll have to find something of his for when I finish my stack of Christmas books... What would you recommend I try next?
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Date: 2003-01-28 09:12 am (UTC)as for Rushdie, i can't seem to keep track but i believe i've read only a fraction of his work, i wish my memory for titles were better though. i suggested haroun and the sea of stories to my boy and i do adore that book, it's unusual for him though. the writing style remains, but the subject characters and plots are woven very differently from, say, midnight's children, which is dense and twined.
His nonfiction pieces (I've read snippets in books and web sites) show his pattern of thought and argument far more clearly than his fiction and are genuinely captivating. as for other novels, i believe the ones i admired most were shame and the ground beneath her feet?? They're both relatively recent ones, if I've gotten the titles correct, and I've found that his writing has matured and benefitted from his chase and final settling down, or at least the maturation seems to coincide with those events.
And if I may, I believe you live in the Philly area still, do you know of any good book clubs who might accept me as a reader? I haven't found any that appeal to me yet (and my sense of where to look for them is failing as i realize that most occur by word of mouth), but would really like a situation like that.
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Date: 2003-01-28 01:08 pm (UTC)As for book clubs, I'm afraid I can't really be of much help. I do live in Philly, but I really don't know anything at all about the world of book clubs. You could always start your own, of course, although I wouldn't really know how to go about that either. Hmmm. I've never really thought about joining a book club before, but if you find a good one (or start one!) let me know 'cause I might be interested...