[stylist] BLP: book review

Mon Dec 5 04:13:58 UTC 2011

Chris, 
I relate to your knee problems when you made your climb. It sounds like you
might have a book in yourself. 
I have mine in rough draft, "Lizard in the Bean Sauce," written from letters
I sent home until Idi Amin took over Uganda in a coup, and our letters were
not safe. Amin was the "Lizard."  but my blindness put a halt to it after
finding that my many corrections by hand fouled up scanning everything when
I went blind. However I recently wrote a free verse poem about climbing the
Ruwenzories. Since Bridget said none had included a writing for critiquing
lately, here it is. It got no award. It is pretty much strictly narrative,
and had a 40 line limit. I perhaps forced too much into it. So have at it.
Jackie
By the way, there were no comments on my "Poetweet" and I don't think it
came through. I expected everyone to write one. What am I doing wrong on
reaching all. I just hit Control and R and figure it is going to the group.
Thanks.
Jackie

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Chris Kuell
Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2011 11:58 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] BLP: book review

Thank you so much for your kind words, Jacqie. I wrote that for a Powell's 
Books contest--a 700 word essay on a book and how it impacted you. I wish 
you were on the judging panel! There were 10 prizes, but I didn't place.

As an aside, it sounds like you have some great life experiences of your own

to draw from in your writing. I've never been to Africa, and with the health

issues I have now, I'd still be reluctant to travel there. But I have 
climbed onto a glacier, on the Jungfrau in Switzerland back in my early 30s.

I thought I was in good shape then, but after that climb my legs/knees hurt 
for days. Still, it was a magnificent and memorable climb.

Peace,

chris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jacqueline Williams" <jackieleepoet at cox.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2011 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] BLP: book review

> Chris,
> I am overwhelmed by your review of Kingsolver's, The Poisonwood Bible." I
> also listened to it on tape shortly after becoming blind. You have 
> captured
> its essence in every possible way.
> The reason it meant so much to me is probably three-fold. My husband and
> three young boys spent five years in Uganda, East Africa, in 1967-1971.
> Everything she wrote about was so familiar to me, and the perfection of 
> the
> dialects that the reader used was unbelievable.
> Also, I had some memories of missionaries that seemed to me to be 
> violating
> the indigenous beliefs and practices that were terribly important to the
> culture. They may have meant well, but in my mind, often the results were
> disastrous.
> Additionally, I climbed the Rewenzories in "69, with three companions, a
> teacher, a biologist, and a librarian, all Brits, except myself. We got up
> past the glaciers, and looked down into the Congo where we  saw a lake 
> that
> looked like a pearl.
> The characters you talk of bring to mind many of those I met while 
> traveling
> through the bush of East Africa.
> I would recommend that book to anyone   with a thirst for far-a-way 
> places,
> different    cultures, and a deep understanding of why we must all strive 
> to
> understand differing religious practices, and social customs.
> I hope you submitted that review somewhere. It is certainly worthy.
> With greatest respect for your insight.
> Jacqueline Williams
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Chris Kuell
> Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2011 8:27 AM
> To: newmanrl at cox.net; Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: [stylist] BLP: book review
>
> Here's a review I wrote about 5 years ago about a novel which remains one 
> of
>
> my favorites.
>
>
> Jesus is Bangala!
>
> By Chris Kuell
>
> The last decade of my life has been filled with changes. Topping the list
> are the birth of my daughter, the loss of my sight,   a kidney transplant
> and my transformation from research chemist into fiction writer.
>
> I became blind in 1997 from complications of diabetes. I lost my job, sank
> into depression, then began the journey of rebuilding a new life as a 
> blind
> guy in a sighted world.
>
> Like many people, after graduate school, starting a family and climbing 
> the
> lower rungs of the corporate ladder, I found I had little time or energy 
> to
> pursue reading as I once did. Blindness gave me the time and audio books
> gave me the ability to read again. I began by listening to books on
> philosophy and the holocaust, which helped me develop a better life
> perspective. I also rekindled my love for a good story, catching up on
> classic fiction I missed growing up, and giving friends and family a great
> outlet when looking for gifts.
>
> My wife gave me The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, for Christmas
> in 2000. It was newly out on tape, and I wasn't sure it merited the large
> purchase price. A week later, I wanted to buy it for everyone I knew.
>
> Kingsolver weaves an intricate tale that expertly delves into issues of
> family, race and religion.
> An arrogant Baptist preacher takes his wife and four daughters on a
> missionary trip to the Belgian Congo in 1959. I read with fascination as 
> the
>
> family crumbled along with the Congolese government, and gained insight 
> into
>
> a time and place that is often misunderstood.
>
> I am a fan of the character driven novel, and Kingsolver is a master at
> unleashing the camera of the imagination. It had been years since I'd
> encountered such vivid characters, all of whom fascinated me as they
> struggled in their own ways to survive what life dealt them.
>
> I watched as the loathsome preacher destroyed his family by refusing to
> modify his Western ideas. Sympathized with Orleanna as she struggled 
> between
>
> the pull of her maternal instinct and role as good preacher's wife.
> Kingsolver provides a brilliant depiction of the world of Adah, the twin 
> who
>
> suffered from hemiplegia. One side of her brain defective, she spoke 
> little,
>
> yet entertained profound thoughts, often in the form of palindromes. Leah
> was caught up in trying to please her deteriorating father, and Rachel, 
> the
> tall blonde teenager who fascinated the natives, never saw much past her 
> own
>
> woes.
>
> Recorded books can be great for insomnia, but I found myself listening 
> late
> into the night, unable to stop until the end of the chapter, then unable 
> to
> resist starting the next.
>
> Although I can no longer physically see, great writing fills the screen of
> my imagination. After finishing The Poisonwood Bible, I kept visualizing 
> the
>
> fire ants as they ate their way through the entire village. I heard the
> crazy preacher as he proclaimed, "Jesus is Bangala!" mispronouncing the
> Congolese word for Savior so it meant Poisonwood, a harsher African 
> version
> of poison Ivy. I felt angry at the needless corruption of a simple people 
> as
>
> careless governments played their games. Among the many details of the 
> book,
>
> one particular thought persisted--I'd love to be able to write like that.
>
> In 2001, I began writing short stories. I'm also working on a novel and
> devouring books by great writers to learn how they transform words into
> characters who captivate us, and stories that make us feel deeply what it 
> is
>
> to be human.
>
> My goal is to someday write stories such as the Poisonwood Bible, with 
> well
> fleshed out characters who illuminate us through breathtaking detail and
> attention to the emotional world that we all inhabit in our minds. Stories
> that don't shy away from difficult or even taboo issues. Stories that 
> refuse
>
> to let the reader go away unchanged.
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site:
> http://www.nfb-writers-division.net <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
>
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> stylist:
>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/jackieleepoet%40cox.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site:
> http://www.nfb-writers-division.net <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
>
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> stylist:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/ckuell%40comcast.net 

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site:
http://www.nfb-writers-division.net <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>

stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/jackieleepoet%40cox.net