The Optimist's Daughter

This is a book by Eudora Welty.

I found a copy of this book a while back in a "give-away pile" and got around to reading it this past week. It is fairly short, so it can be read quickly.

Ms. Welty was what I guess you could call a great "Southern" writer. Even though I am a southerner myself, I usually don't care for the works of such authors - usually too slow, wordy and tragic for me. Maybe my Cajun roots are showing.

Anyway, I thought this book by Ms. Welty was OK. It had some interesting subplots, characters and settings, but it seemed to end rather abruptly to me and not say as much as it seemed to have the capacity to say. I gather she liked the short story, so maybe this was just her way - this was a very short novel. I think that the title may be a bit ironic.

It does offer a view of the South in a transitional time of recent years, but it concentrates on issues other than race. That might make it of use especially to people from outside the region; the South is about more than just racial issues.

If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

WFB's Passing

As many probably have heard, William F. Buckley died recently. I read through the memorial issue of National Review that paid tribute to him. Very interesting read it was.

I remember watching him on Firing Line once in a while, but he was a little hard to understand at times. He did overuse some very obscure vocabulary, but he could be quite amusing to listen to very often. Since I am not a liberal, I usually agreed with him as well.

After reading the tributes to him, I came to realize that I had not come close to appreciating what a character (the good kind) he was. I was especially intrigued about the book he wrote long ago called God and Man at Yale - this is the book where he condemns the misuse of "academic freedom" at Yale and suggests that the alumni cut off donations to control it. And this was in the 1950's. WOW!!

Well, he was one hell of a guy, and I am sorry he is no longer with us. On this note, see the National Review tribute issue (one of the March issues) for the mock memo to Buckley in heaven from St. Peter - it is hilarious!!

The Rug Merchant

This is a novel by Meg Mullins.

I first noticed this book on a table at a bookstore in Lousiana when I was visiting family in January. It has a picture of a very beautiful Persian rug on the front. I have had an interest in those rugs for many years, so I decided to take a look at the book.

While the backdrop for the book does have to do with these rugs, it is more a story about a man trying to find a place in another world - here an Iranian in New York City. There is a romantic part and lots of tragedy. Overall, it was a good book, but maybe a little more "chick-lit" than I bargained for perhaps. Rather interesting that it was written by a woman, but from a male point of view.

Anyway, it has much to recommend it, but I do warn you it is a little on the "chick-lit" side. Give it a try if that doesn't put you off.