Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Oliver Sacks's luminous memoir charts the growth of a mind. Born in 1933 into a family of formidably intelligent London Jews, he discovered the wonders of the physical sciences early from his parents and their flock of brilliant siblings, most notably "Uncle Tungsten" (real name, Dave), who "manufactured lightbulbs with filaments of fine tungsten wire." Metals were the substances that first attracted young Oliver, and his descriptions of their colors, textures, and properties are as sensuous and romantic as an art lover's rhapsodies over an Old Master. Seamlessly interwoven with his personal recollections is a masterful survey of scientific history, with emphasis on the great chemists like Robert Boyle, Antoine Lavoisier, and Humphry Davy (Sacks's personal hero). Yet this is not a dry intellectual autobiography; his parents in particular, both doctors, are vividly sketched. His sociable father loved house calls and "was drawn to medicine because its practice was central in human society," while his shy mother "had an intense feeling for structure ... for her [medicine] was part of natural history and biology." For young Oliver, unhappy at the brutal boarding school he was sent to during the war, and afraid that he would become mentally ill like his older brother, chemistry was a refuge in an uncertain world. He would outgrow his passion for metals and become a neurologist, but as readers of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat know, he would never leave behind his conviction that science is a profoundly human endeavor. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Long before Oliver Sacks became a distinguished neurologist and bestselling writer, he was a small English boy fascinated by metals–also by chemical reactions (the louder and smellier the better), photography, squids and cuttlefish, H.G. Wells, and the periodic table. In this endlessly charming and eloquent memoir, the author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings chronicles his love affair with science and the magnificently odd and sometimes harrowing childhood in which that love affair unfolded.

In Uncle Tungsten we meet Sacks’ extraordinary family, from his surgeon mother (who introduces the fourteen-year-old Oliver to the art of human dissection) and his father, a family doctor who imbues in his son an early enthusiasm for housecalls, to his “Uncle Tungsten,” whose factory produces tungsten-filament lightbulbs. We follow the young Oliver as he is exiled at the age of six to a grim, sadistic boarding school to escape the London Blitz, and later watch as he sets about passionately reliving the exploits of his chemical heroes–in his own home laboratory. Uncle Tungsten is a crystalline view of a brilliant young mind springing to life, a story of growing up which is by turns elegiac, comic, and wistful, full of the electrifying joy of discovery.

Customer Reviews:

Uncle Oliver.......2007-07-19

The relationship between uncle and nephew is the most precious. Why? Because nephews confide in uncles like they don't confide in a father or mother. And uncles are sort of pseudo fathers to nephews. The responsibility of an uncle is not less than a father: to inspire and stimulate the child wherever he resists parental influence. I would imagine the rapport between an aunt and a niece is the same way, looking up to the corresponding role model and same sex mentor.

Although Dr. Sacks paints a portrait of his extended family in this book, his Uncle Dave "Tungsten" is highlighted as an important source of inspiration. His retelling of his childhood and adolescence is fascinating. This is a beautiful book, sometimes overwhelming when scientific lingo becomes predominant but very warm and engaging. Even with a poor knowledge in chemistry -- my case -- it's immensely enjoyable. Dr. Sacks' childhood memories are colorful, jam-packed, very serious at times but also humorous, a bit like John Boorman's movie "Hope and Glory".

I wish all children were introduced to science like this!.......2007-05-15

Sigh...as a science educator who sees students turned off of science in spite of it being much more interesting and useful then English and history, it's frustrating to read about a child whose family managed to convey the fun of science. I've enjoyed Oliver Sacks books so much. He is such a great person, a great neurologist, a great writer who manages to introduce the world to his scientific world and keep them interested. Too bad we cannot get someone like Sacks to write some of our textbooks because they are too dry, without showing the practical applications of the science. Sack's was lucky in having a family with immense background in the sciences, who spent their entire lives performing or doing science in some way. Very few of us have access to the equipment and the materials needed to do lab science at home, but Sacks did have access to this stuff and he certainly made the most of it.

Sack's stories include information about his big family and their great variety of work in the sciences. His descriptions of his family members, his memories are filled with both love and awe for their patience with him and his interests in sciences which sometimes were not the same as theirs (his mom and dad wanted him to be a physician, and not a chemist).

Sack's books are usually compendiums of short stories, which make for interesting reading. He has had so many intriguing forays into different fields of chemistry, and his ability to remember the textbooks and the books that famous scientists from that golden age in England and Germany are phenomenal in the recall. I remember the teacher in science who made such an impact on my perception of science, and I am only too aware of how short we are in obtaining good science teachers and introducing science programs into public schools. Maybe reading this book will encourage other young people with talent to look into science as a career possibility.

Karen L. SAdler

Memory is Precious.......2007-03-15

I loved reading this book for multiple reasons, but I will restrict myself to mentioning two. The first is that it is a well constructed story with excellent writing---a combination I cannot resist. The narrative moves at a pace to engage and captivate the reader without making the story just a rush to get to the next page. Writing that is thoughtful makes sure that the reader will savor and think about the events presented. This is worth a read merely to have the understanding of one more perspective presented well.

But there is more to the book that makes me give this an enthusiastic five stars. As a chemist I was delighted to read a book that gave insight into this space of history of the chemistry profession. The history is two-fold: first it is a history of childhood enthusiasm for science and second it is a history of chemistry in the middle of the 1900s. many a child is enthusiastic about something. For all those children who loved science but never had the means to explore this book will bring sadness at what they lost for not being given such freedom and support. But the book also brings joy at reading that someone, somewhere had the chance to be the brilliant child you always thought you were. Today we highly restrict certain chemicals and also have an emphasis on safety in working with all chemicals. Sacks presents a time period when chemistry and science in general was done with little concern for safety. Instead of glossing over things Sacks presents information and experiments without deluding the reading into thinking it was perfectly safe.

This book is an excellent exploration of multiple themes that are well worth thinking about. I challenge anyone to read it and not find something in it that doesn't provoke some thoughts about what you are doing now with what you are enthusiastic about or what you loved childhood and now have lost as an adult.

If you rated it poorly, you'll never understand........2006-07-15

I ran across this book quite by accident, on the bottom shelf of the Engineering section in the bowels of a major brick-and-mortar bookstore. Perusing the first few pages convinced me to give it a try. I was hooked, and devoured the book in two nights.

There are enough reviews here to give you a feel for the book. My only point for writing this is that those who have given the book poor reviews simply don't "get it", nor, likely, shall they. If you grew up with an avid interest in what makes the world work, wore out VHS tapes of Cosmos, and were reading Gribbin, Rucker, and Asimov (nonfiction) in second grade, you "get it" and will adore this book. Sacks's voracious appetite for knowledge at this young age mirrored my own, and his enjoyment of discovery for discovery's sake made me nostalgic of my own youth within the first few pages - an amazing testimonial of the timelessness of his relevance, given the nearly-50-year difference in our ages.

Note: I'm a professional manager of computer geeks, not a chemist.

A Chemical Childhood.......2006-05-28

Oliver Sacks is one of my favorite authors and I especially like his autobiographical-chemical tome "Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood." I read it a while back and never reviewed it, but on the second reading while flying from El Paso, Texas, to Washington, DC, recently I was so delighted with it that I thought that I would put in my 2 cents worth.

I was lucky enough to meet Oliver Sacks about the time I read this book the first time and had a chance to talk with him (with a group of students) for a few minutes after his lecture. He is certainly a very interesting man and well versed in a number of fields.

His book on his early life and his association with chemistry as a nearly all consuming hobby was in many ways somewhat echoed in my own childhood- except I became consumed by both astronomy and chemistry in my teens. Still, like Sacks, I performed a number of experiments with a friend of mine that would now curl the hair of any parent, and in the process learned a lot about chemistry (it was my favorite science after biological sciences in college). Also like Sacks I became a biological scientist, but in a different specialty. Unfortunately I had no relatives who remotely understood my interests and I do envy him for his uncles and even his parents, who were not always so supportive, but did give him a love of learning and science.

Sacks has written an account of his early life with its sorrows (being sent away to a boarding school run by a sadistic head master during the Blitz in London) and the ecstasies (chemistry, books, science history and even marine biology)of a young boy caught up in the pure love of science and life, despite the trials. The book is simply charming and shows what a resourceful child can do, even under often difficult times, to make his or her life interesting and even joyful.

I recommend this book highly. It will brighten up any reader's day.

W, or the Memory of Childhood (Verba Mundi)

Average customer rating:

Ughhh
Give it a second.
THE STORY OF ONE MAN'S JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY!
Perec's "W" a Winner
Disturbing- and yet compelling

W, or the Memory of Childhood (Verba Mundi)
Georges Perec
Manufacturer: David R Godine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1567921582

Product Description

From the author of Life: A User's Manual (Godine, 1987) comes an equally astonishing novel: W or The Memory of Childhood, a narrative that reflects a great writer's effort to come to terms with his childhood and his part in the Nazi occupation of France.

Guaranteed to send shock waves through the literary community, Perec's W tells two parallel stories. The first is autobiographical, describing the author's wartime boyhood. The second tale, denser, more disturbing, more horrifying, is the allegorical story of W, a mythical island off Tierra del Fuego governed by the thrall of the Olympic "ideal," where losers are tortured and winners held in temporary idolatry.

As the reader soon discovers, W is a place where "it is more important to be lucky than to be deserving," and "you have to fight to live...[with] no recourse, no mercy, no salvation, not even any hope that time will sort things out." Here, sport is glorified and victors honored, but athletes are vilified, losers executed, rape common, stealing encouraged and violence a fact of life.

Perec's interpretive vision of the Holocaust forces us to ask the question central to our time: How did this happen before our eyes? How did we look at those "shells of skin and bone, ashen faced, with their backs permanently bent, their eyes full of panic and their suppurating sores"? How did this happen, not on W, but before millions of spectators, some horrified, some cheering, some indifferent, but all present at the games watching the events of that grisly arena?

This book, a devastating indictment of passivity and the psychology of crowds, will find its place beside such great works as Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and Primo Levi's The Periodic Table and If Not Now, When?

Customer Reviews:

Ughhh.......2006-02-04

I was required to read this book for a college english class. It was absolute horror. I didnt enjoy the book what so ever. It isnt a book I chose to read however. I didn't expect it to be entertaining, but I usually expect to learn something from a book, and I dont think I learned anything but how to argue with an english professor over his choosing this book.

Give it a second........2004-09-16

You know those dreams that are especially absurd, but quite realistic? So realistic that reality and fiction have a strange way of mixing the next morning? You awake thinking that your boyfriend is angry at you for cheating on him. With Val Kilmer. Or that you won the Apprentice and are now working for Donald Trump, not at your pathetic job shelving books in the library. And for that brief second reality is clouded and hazy. You have to spend a minute or two telling yourself that you don't even know Val Kilmer. Such is Georges Perec's W, or the Memory of Childhood. It is a confounding blend of reality and fiction. In the beginning it is easy to make a clear distinction, but by the time you reach the end you are not sure where one ends and the other begins. It takes a second to sort it all out

Be forewarned. This is not a book for the Danielle Steele fan.

The story is a twisting dual narrative. One narrative is a memoir of Perec's own childhood during the Holocaust. The other a created story about an island obsessed with sport. Both stories seemingly have nothing to do with the other, but by the end of the book you understand that one was written for the other, the effect much like transposing two photographs on top of each other.

Perec's childhood is with recounted (not in italics) with factual lists-he had a mother, a father, a potty, a cot-and a confession that he has little memory of his childhood. He tells the reader how he remembers his childhood-recalling to the reader the way he recalls it, not how it may have actually happened. (He adds addendums now that he is older to help aid the confused reader.) He retells his childhood devoid of emotion-his mother is sent to the death camps, his father killed in combat, he is sent to different border schools. It is stark in black and white print, told with a voice of indifference. It is this lack of emotionalism that sets the tone for the other story-the story of W (in italics).

Woven just as elusively in his memory of childhood is the story of W. W is a tiny island that at first glance seems to be a land of joy and triumph-a land where the Olympic ideal is revered and honored. It is in the tale, in this island of W that we learn of unspeakable horrors, where champions are elevated like gods and losers killed, beaten, and tortured. A land where Law is chaos and deceit is rewarded. A place where there is no value for human life, just the result it is capable of producing. It is this grotesque story that is charged with emotion and we recoil in repulsion. It is in this story that Perec connects with his own memory of childhood and shares with us how he feels. Perec tells us, "How can you explain that what he is seeing is not anything horrific, not a nightmare he will suddenly awake from, something he can rid his mind of? How can you explain that this is life, real life . . . wherever you turn your eyes, that's what you will see, you will not see anything else, and that is the only thing that turns out to be true."(Perec 139-140).

Perec's unusual method allows us to experience the history of the Holocaust in two ways: one a factual representation of the author's own life and the other an emotional horror through the story of W. It is in W we see the full extent of what human nature is capable. Because of this W, or the memory of childhood will haunt and challenge you. It is branded in your memory, as you try to understand it. It takes a second to sort it all out.

THE STORY OF ONE MAN'S JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY!.......2004-09-15

The story of one man's journey of self-discovery! Georges Perec's W, or The Memory of Childhood is a semi-autobiographical work that forces readers to suspend disbelief and accept that the juxtaposed narratives are a reflection of the author's total human experience. Perec divides his work into two parts with two alternating narratives. The first narrative introduces a narrator the audience believes will travel to the land of W to find Gaspard Winckler, a boy whose identity he assumed to reach Switzerland. The second narrative is an autobiography of Perec's childhood experiences. Perec moves from very basic information, like birthdays and relative names, to more detailed stories with vivid descriptions. In part two, Perec abandons the microcosmic story of the individual searching for another individual established in part one, and turns his focus on the macrocosmic story of the society and culture of W, a world defined by the organized chaos of competitive sport. The society is segregated, has rules with no real meaning, and power is taken to a demonic extreme.

This reviewer initially believed that the W narrative in part one makes readers want to find Gaspard Winckler. The perceived abandonment of the Gaspard Winckler plot and the flip flop between the two possibly unrelated narratives can create questions about the validity of Perec's writing. The author departed from the initial storyline and takes readers to a place that they had not expected to go. Discussing the work with a fellow reader allowed me to look at the total experience of the work in a different light. The book is cumbersome when the reader looks at the two stories as events occurring in two different places. The work should be analyzed as a window into the mind of Perec. The distinctly individual way in which Perec has processed and recorded his memories in his mind allows him to create, extrapolate, reconstruct, destroy, and deny images from his life experiences.

W serves as a sociological metaphor for the past, the present, and a possible reality of the future. Like Miner's `Body Ritual of the Nacirema' article, Perec is creating a metaphor for the reality he has seen, is seeing, and could possibly see. W for Perec's past is how he has come to understand the Nazi occupation in France. W for Perec's present, when he published the work, represented concentration camps in Chile under Pinochet. For the future of the world, W is an apocalyptic vision of a world in which the status quo is not questioned and followed blindly. The W narrative ends in a Rod Serling-esque fashion in which an omniscient perspective reveals that W's inhabitants are slaves to society because they do not challenge the system they live in. The society of W could possibly free itself from its situation if they decide to end the cycle of violence, apathy, humiliation, and sorrow.

Perec's W or The Memory of Childhood chronicles the author's journey to learn more about who he is as a unique individual. He is trying to reconcile his past, present, and future. The journey to understand himself as an individual leads Perec to explore the environment and society he has been subjected to (C. Wright Mill's idea of the sociological imagination). Perec is making a powerful statement about the control humans possess in their lives. Humans are influenced by larger forces within society, and blind obedience to an unseen power could be cancerous. The W narrative and the autobiography reconcile Perec's understanding of his experiences. Perec's W or The Memory of Childhood must be framed as a complete entity that is independent of space and time to appreciate the personal journey through a man's mind.

Perec's "W" a Winner.......2004-09-15

Georges Perec's "W, or The Memory of Childhood" is both an autobiographical and fictional look at the world Perec grew up in around the time of World War to and the Nazi occupation of Europe. The work introduces two alternating stories; the first, an observation of an island, W, off Tierra del Fuego, and the second, an autobiographical piece, rely heavily on one another to accurately present an allegorical look at a place easily compared to Nazi Germany.

"W, or The Memory of Childhood" begins in a captivating narrative of Gaspard Winckler, a man who deserted the war and is discovered by one investigating the disappearance of a paraplegic child who bears the same name. Because Gaspard took the child's name in taking a new identity to avoid capture after deserting, he is commissioned to find the child whose body is discovered missing from the wreckage of his mother's yacht after an accident claimed everyone on board's life. This task leads to the island of W, scrupulously depicted as a place where athletic domination reigns supreme and physical capabilities are all that determine a person's worth. When coupled with the autobiographical section of the life of Perec, one gains a clear understanding of his intentions in taking us to W. The reader becomes aware of the horrible circumstances under which the people of W must live. The simultaneous offering of the two stories allows the reader to sympathize wholly with Perec's plight during childhood, as we are able to grasp on multiple levels the tribulations he experienced growing up as a Jew under the Nazis.

For one to obtain a complete recognition of the effect the Nazi regime had during World War II, one must read the allegory and autobiography in alternating fashions as presented. In this manner, we can accurately see, especially in "Part Two" of the narrative, Perec's feelings and interpretations of the Nazi regime and how his life was affected by the fear inflicted by them. For example, Perec was baptized to save himself from being branded in similar fashion to the way novices were branded on the island of W, which, if the representative symbol of the island alone was observed more closely, one could see that it can be rearranged to form either a Star of David or a swastika (such rearrangements of symbols were observed intimately in Perec's autobiographical section). Intriguingly, Perec struggles to separate actual memories from those he has either invented of have been invented for him. He is aware that there are memories he actually recalls himself, such as his mother being sent to a concentration camp and his father dying in war, and those he's unsure if he invented. The concept of real and imagined memories adds complexity to the autobiography and allows one to sympathize further with Perec as he is unable to perform basic memory recollection due to the traumas faced during childhood.

One is unable to deny that "W, or The Memory of Childhood" portrays a powerful message to the reader concerning the fallout of Nazi occupation in Europe. Unlike many stories of the Holocaust, Perec's work focuses on his individual struggle through the time of the Nazi regime allowing a vivid and more personal look into the effect this period had on those who experienced it. Furthermore, the narrative section allowed for one to witness, in comparative fashion, the type of society that the Nazi regime exemplified in their conquest of Europe. Both the intensely emotional aspect of the autobiography and remarkably captivating nature of the narrative easily entrance the reader in Perec's work. "W, or The Memory of Childhood" is a magnificent piece of literature for those possessing even the slightest interest in WWII history.

Disturbing- and yet compelling.......2003-07-24

Some memories are so terrible that revisiting them is more than a person can stand. And yet there are stories that need to be told. Goerges Perec, who lost both his childhood and his parents to the Nazis in World War II deals with this problem by telling two stories, one real, and one metaphorical.

The real story of his youth is told almost dispassionately, as if he cannot bear to bring up the emotions of that time- or perhaps it is an accurate telling of a childhood in which emotion was repressed as a way of surviving. The metaphorical tale of the nation of "W" is also told from a distant, and somehwhat dispassionate perspective; it is a cruel land, but the narrator speaks of it as a historian or an anthropolist might.

It is only when the two are read together (the chapters alternate) that the full effect is appreciated by the reader. The cruelties of "W" are in fact alternate tellings of the realities left out of the true narration. Through this, the true horror of Perec's childhood emerges.

Average customer rating:

So true and moving.

Review: The War of Our Childhood

Fascinating contribution to historical record, 4 1/2 stars

Good book-German Children's view of War, Occupation

Good effort not Great

The War of Our Childhood: Memories of World War II
Wolfgang W. E. Samuel
Manufacturer: University Press of Mississippi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World War II | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | Germany | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Children | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1578064821

Customer Reviews:

So true and moving........2007-03-20

I purchased this book for my wife who survived the war as a child in Berlin. She said the book was so true and is was difficult to relive the repressed memories of the childhood she was robbed of by the horrors of war. She said the book was a factual and riveting description of events, and she wants our childern to read it. My wife never wanted the children to know what she experienced, but she now feel they probably should know these things.

Review: The War of Our Childhood.......2007-01-10

The War of Our Childhood is a perfect compliment, perhaps unintended, to German Boy. The trials and tribulations of a boy, which are seen in greater detail in German Boy, appear in lesser detail and intensity throughout the profiles of other children. Yet, in their collective memories a common thread is revealed, a golden thread if you will, of all the positive qualities necessary to succeed. It is most significant that amid the horror and setbacks, and in spite of it, the children behave with prime elements of mental health. There is a common display of flexibility under stress, recognition of individual assets and limitations, and a commendable quality of productive activity. The War of Our Childhood is a showcase of the human spirit at its best. It is beyond admiration that such human spirit appears in children during circumstances that may be unbearable to so many adults.

Fascinating contribution to historical record, 4 1/2 stars.......2005-03-26

This collection of short reminiscences by adult Germans who were children in Nazi Germany at the end of World War II is not quite as captivating as the author's own memoir "German Boy" but it is a fascinating nonetheless. If anything, given its format, this book would be even more accessible for a pre-teen reader than "German Boy."

For me personally, the biggest revelation in these stories is the repeated memory of children of running for cover from strafing fighter planes ("Tiefflieger"). Many of the children in this book mention this experience. Anyone who has seen the PBS documentary "A Fighter Pilot's Story" will find these descriptions of the air war over Europe from the point of view of children walking home from Kindergarten particularly chilling.

Good book-German Children's view of War, Occupation.......2004-04-04

I enjoyed reading this book because I am interested in the social aspects of WWII not tactical battle discussions. This book does a good job a telling what happened in post war Germany through a child's eyes... even though the interviewees are now senior citizens.

The extreme hardships and moral dilemmas that faced women and children in an occupied country come to life. The book does an excellent job of illustrating how often women and children become the victims of war. Starvation, begging and rape, become daily events in the lives of once comfortable middle and working class children.

The difference between the kindness of the Americans soldiers and the often cruelty of the Russian forces is a major point. A shortcoming of the book is that no mention (in the narrative) is made of how most Russian soldiers probably came from villages that had been destroyed by Nazi forces (not that this justified their cruelty, but helps to explain it.) Several other books I have read explained how Russian soldiers entering Prussia were shocked at the apparent prosperity of Germany and wondered how they could be so greedy to take over less prosperous Russian land.

The book is well written and worth a read.

Good effort not Great.......2003-06-08

If you read Samuel's book "German Boy" you just wanted to know more about that time in German history and the people who lived in it. This book is somewhat perfect for it, because as it's premise it is about the German Children of the war. It is an interesting read because you get an insight into what happened during and after the war to the people in the book. They tell many insighful stories and you find out that they were also good people in Germany and not every one was a Nazi. Something every one needs to learn.

Where this book fails really and it could have been avoided by interviewing either more people, making the book shorter or getting different aspect of the life during and after the war and concentrating there; either way, the stories seem to repeat themselves. If you read three interviews of the people in the book, it seems like you have read most of the other interviews. At times you get confused and think you are reading about the same person you read about 50 pages ago but you don't. It's truly understandable that all these people had the same story to tell but better editing and more detalied interviews could have addeed more to the book.

Even though the Map is very helpful another map would have been welcomed that discribed where these people use to live. But the photos in this book are really touching. You learn many things about the postwar year of Germany and how the war never really ended after all the shots were fired. There was still lots of poverty, starvation, and crimes being commmited because you were of a Different Ethinic backround than the people who were now in Control. Much like it was when the Nazi's were in control. The things, specially, what the mothers' did for the children makes them true heroes.

Overall it is a good book but not a great book. It should go along with "German Boy" after you have read the Battle of Berlin because this leads right after that. One of the great quotes of the book is "Do not think about tomorrow because it has not arrived yet, live for today" There are some really touching interviews in this book and if you are interested in the aftermath of the war and about the Heroes after it, read this book.

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GRANDMA DID IT THIS WAY MEMORIES OF AN IRISH CHILDHOOD
Peat Louisa W.
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QA4DG6

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Joyful childhood memories of a pioneer woman: Some not so joyful
Hazel W Dalziel
Manufacturer: H.W. Dalziel]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Colorado | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00071IYBO

Average customer rating:

read it again and again

Lingering Memories

Lingering Memories

Transformed in time.

A childhood revisited

Lingering Memories
John W Reynolds
Manufacturer: Five Corners Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Midwest | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1886699232

Book Description

As time marches on, we tend to forget past customs, lifestyles, hardships, and pleasures. The upcoming generation is often not interested in the past until it's too late, and it's gone and forgotten. This book tells of seven decades of life in a the rural south so the young can know what is meant by "The Good Old Days" and the old can reminisce.

Customer Reviews:

read it again and again.......2000-08-28

Lingering Memories is a book that will NOT be read once and then placed on a shelf to collect dust. Some of my greatest memories are the ones of sitting with my dad and listening to stories of the "good ol' days". Dad has been gone for several years now, but when I pick up Mr. Reynold's book I feel I have a little re-visit with him. Thank you, Mr. Reynolds, from the bottom of my heart for sharing Lingering Memories with us!

Lingering Memories.......2000-08-15

My wife and I enjoyed this book very much. It portrayed life in the delta when times were simple and gave insight into southern culture during the mid-1900s. Many descriptions associated with farm life were familiar, but there were some unfamiliar ones as well. We learned much from reading this book. The southern "phrases" at the conclusion of the book were delightful. Thank you, Mr. Reynolds, for helping us remember our past as southerners.

Lingering Memories.......2000-06-14

This is truly a poignant collection of stories and descriptions of how it really was. Throughout, it evokes a wide range of emotions from painful to very happy ones mixed well with humor. It reflects the strong moral fiber and self determination required to sustain a generation experiencing devastating economic conditions. The grueling work, hardships and lack of resources reflect the faith and foundation for better times to come. Without social programs or governmental assistance the phase, 'root hog or die' clearly reflected the times. An excellent picture of 'the best of times and the worst of times, serving as a bridge to our heritage. (With the difficult start in life, these same young men by the millions with characteristic resolve and determination selflessly engaged in a global conflict to preserve freedom.) A book to keep.

Transformed in time........2000-03-19

Mr. Reynolds sent us his book, Lingering Memories, after a telephone conversation about a car that he had for sale. I read it in one evening! I read some of the passages to my ten-year-old son, he became very interested and read it himself. Lingering Memories will definitely not be forgotten here. I thank Mr. Reynolds for opening our eyes to see what living back then was really like. We all take today's modern conveniences too much for granted. It really makes me appreciate what we do have. Mr. Reynolds, you really are a true "Country Gentleman". I am glad to have had the privelege of chatting with you.

A childhood revisited.......2000-01-04

Reading LINGERING MEMORIES was a delightful way to revisit my childhood. I'm sure not everyone would remember using butter on your freckles to try to "cure" them. Mr. Reynolds makes everything seem so realistic. It was truly a pleasure to read this book. Thank you, Mr. Reynolds, for reminding us of our roots.

Average customer rating:

Memories of a Country Childhood
Judith Wallace
Manufacturer: University of Queensland Pr (Australia)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Australia | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books

General | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0702216267

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John W. Stoneberger, Memories of a Lewis Mountain Man (1993)

Memories of a Lewis Mountain man
John W Stoneberger
Manufacturer: Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Customer Reviews:

John W. Stoneberger, Memories of a Lewis Mountain Man (1993).......2005-05-25

Memories of a Lewis Mountain Man originally appeared as a series of articles in Mountain Laurel, an "informal periodical ... produced by Laurel Publications in Wytheville, Virginia ... devoted to chronicling the life and lore of the Blue Ridge Mountains" (at p. iv). These stories were edited by Michael E. Monbeck, who tried to wield "the editor's pencil as lightly as possible, with my chief function being to eliminate the inevitable repetitions and redundancies that creep into such occasional pieces, while at the same time retaining the original character of ... [Stoneberger's] unique and colorful writing style, including his vocabulary, word usage, sentence structure, and so forth" (at id.). While Stoneberger died after the first rough edit, the resulting collection is one of which he could have been truly proud.

Memories is largely focused on Stoneberger's family and boyhood, thus it is only from the Preface that we learn of his hitch with the CCC and his subsequent career operating heavy construction equipment (at p. v). While one might have preferred a linked and amplified narrative, we should be grateful for what we have; Stoneberger had the gift of evoking pictures and his memories of life on Lewis Mountain in the pre-Shenandoah Park era are hard to beat. Sometimes he shows how outside events such as the courthouse shootout at Hillsdale (see p. 29) or the sinking of the Titanic (see p. 41) affected people in the region. Other descriptions convey an in-depth understanding of country practices that would be almost impossible to replicate today- the descriptions of butchering hogs (at pp. 45-49) and of driving a horse team up a steep mountain incline (at pp. 69-71) immediately spring to mind. Memories also preserves some wonderful/horrendous stories; the man who lost his pants killing a deer (at pp. 56-57), the black man forced to dance all night (at pp.78-79), and the boy who trained two large rattlesnakes to drag "logs" to his play sawmill (at p. 26). Occasionally there are references in passing (riding the freights to apple pickings; at p. 16), or sometimes only a cryptic comment (why was John Scott Roche known as "the mountain prophet"?; at p. 6). While most of the stories relate to the Stonebergers, the Roches/Roaches, and the Lams, readers with no mountain ancestry will appreciate this unique insight into the region's culture.

Samuel Pyeatt Menefee

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Memories of a Riverina Childhood
Joan Austin Palmer
Manufacturer: New South Wales Univ Pr Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Australia | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0868403415

My Journey: Experiencing the Abuse, Navigating the Aftermath, Finding Hope and Healing

Average customer rating:

Beautiful presentation of awful truths.

My Journey: Experiencing the Abuse, Navigating the Aftermath, Finding Hope and Healing
W SC
Manufacturer: Lulu.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Abuse | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1430314893

Book Description

You are not alone! My true story of being a sexual abuse victim and overcoming my childhood trauma is now available in this very personal book. My story begins almost thirty years after the abuse ended when I began to face the aftermath; it continues still today. Men and women who are survivors of sexual trauma, incest survivors, and those with sexual abuse repressed memories can find hope in my healing process. From the bottom of my heart, my main goal is to give you hope that you will survive and find better days. Read some of my book by clicking on the Preview this book link above. (No link? Click on the book title first.) Learn more about me and read my blog at SurvivingIncest.com. This is a website I have developed (and continue to refine and update) that is devoted to survivors of incest and childhood sexual abuse.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful presentation of awful truths........2007-04-08

I had written an earlier review that got taken down when I added a URL. So, I will not include the URL.

For me, this true story of an incest survivor struggling to deal with the meaning of her past in her present life helped me know that I was not the only one walking this road. If you're a survivor of incest or childhood sexual abuse, you know what I mean. If you are looking for a book that will give you hope because somebody else made it, then this is the book for you. There are struggles of faith, of believing the memories (recovered memories), of simply "being" after realizing all of the awful things that happened to her.

I wish you peace and hope on your own journey.

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