Dinnerware of the Gods

What is porcelain? A couple of weeks ago, I neither knew nor particularly cared. (Some variety of pottery, I guess?) When a friend recommended The Arcanum by Janet Gleeson, a book about the history of porcelain, I was a little skeptical.

First of all, porcelain: I learned that it's a type of ceramic in which the clay contains minerals that, fired at very high temperatures, turn vitreous, rendering the finished product glassy and non-porous. Porcelain is typically white, translucent, extremely hard, and does not need to be glazed to render it impermeable. And - this is important - for centuries you could only get it from China, because no one else knew the formula. Porcelain was highly-prized and difficult to obtain: an expensive luxury item. Any European who could figure out how to make it would break the Chinese monopoly and become very wealthy indeed.

(In this painting, completed in 1514 by Giovanni Bellini, the gods are shown feasting from Chinese porcelain dishes - surely a sign of opulence.)

In the early eighteenth century, Johann Böttger, a too-clever-by-half young German alchemist, convinced his friends that he could transmute base metals into gold. Böttger promptly became hot property, and a scuffle ensued between the rival kingdoms of Prussia and Saxony over who would control him. Böttger ended up in a prison in Saxony, where he was informed that he would start producing gold - or else. After spending several years trying to bargain, plead, or escape, he managed to discover the formula in 1707 - not for gold, but for porcelain.

Was the King of Saxony satisfied? Did his discovery instantly make Böttger rich and Saxony the wealthiest state in Europe? No way: this story is just beginning.

The Arcanum has as many twists and turns as a spy novel. It is far more interesting than a book about ceramics has any right to be.

A Serendipitous Conjunction of Narratives

I recently read a strangely provocative conjunction of two personal narratives: one by Dean Karnazes, ultramarathoner extraordinaire, and one by William Powers, global conservationist and aid worker. Each book made more of an impression on me because of the contrast between the two; an effect that professors and reading groups strive for, but was purely serendipitous for me as a free-range reader.

Dean Karnazes, whose web site can be seen at http://www.ultramarathonman.com, is a 47 year old man whose personal mission is to push the limits of human physical endurance farther than anyone thought possible. I read his book Ultra Marathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, in which he talks about his lifestyle metamorphosis from fairly standard businessman to crazy professional runner. This guy sleeps four hours a night and spends the other four running thirty miles or more. He has a family, owns his own business, and is constantly training for the next big challenge.

Then we’ve got William Powers. Powers also has a website, at http://www.williampowersbooks.com/index.htm. I read his newest book Twelve by Twelve: a One-Room Cabin Off the Grid and Beyond the American Dream. Powers talks about the time he spent staying in a friend’s 12x12 foot cabin in North Carolina after returning from working in the Bolivian rain forest. This book encompasses Powers’ reflections on aspects of both his conservationist and humanitarian aid work and his efforts to find a meaningful way to live in a consumer society. He found a valuable distinction between communities that have achieved a sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle of "enough" versus those communities torn by war, famine, disease, and poverty-- a distinction which sometimes goes unnoticed when lumping societies together as "undeveloped." During his stay in the 12 x12, he learned to live closer to the standard of "enough", and found that the benefits of living lightly and sustainably left him hours of leisure to use for socializing, writing, walking or bike riding, and appreciating his own life and the lives of those around him.

Karnazes is a man who achieved material wealth, found it wasn’t enough, and has thrown himself into twenty hour days following his unique and painful bliss, pushing himself to new heights of endurance. Powers is a man who seeks to make a difference in the world by doing environmental work all over the globe, and has been able to find meaning and sustenance in extreme simplicity. Very different people, different lives, different struggles, but each seeking meaning in his own life. The similarities and differences between the two made each more interesting to me. They’re also a reminder of the incredibly broad range of life experiences represented at the library.

Looking for a good read?

Every once in awhile people ask us if we keep a record of the books they have returned to the library. They remember they especially enjoyed a particular book, but can’t remember the author’s name or the title.

The answer for now is, “No, once a book is turned in, it is erased from your record.” That is disappointing to some people, but part of our job as librarians is to protect your privacy, including lists of what you have read. However, several online options are available for you to keep track of your reading, and to get ideas for that next great book to read.

The one I use is called Goodreads, which is free. All you need is an email address, a username, and a password, then you can start adding titles you are currently reading, books you’ve read, and what you would like to read. If you want to, you can add tags to books (Goodreads calls them “bookshelves”). Tags can be any words that help you describe a book, such as “mystery,” “classic,” “set-in-England,” or “I’d-rather-chew-on-nails-than-read-this-again!”

As on other social networking sites, you can make “friends” and share your reading selections with each other. You can also rate books, write reviews, and comment on other people’s reviews. It’s always satisfying when someone reads and enjoys a book you recommended!

Other sites for tracking reading are Shelfari, LibraryThing, and WorldCat. They all have slightly different features, so you can create an account in each one if you’d like to see which you like best.

Of course, you don’t have to use a computer to keep track of your reading. Old-fashioned index cards work just fine, and you won’t have to worry about the longevity of a website. But part of the fun of reading is sharing your observations and finding out what others have to say about a book.

Someday our catalog will give you the option to save your reading record, but in the meantime, why don’t you give Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, or WorldCat a try?

At Swim Two Boys

The other day a colleague was putting together a bibliography when she brought up the title of a book we both remembered and loved. It all came back to me in a wonderful flood of images that I just had to tell you about.

At Swim, Two Boys, by Irish novelist Jamie O’Neill is one of those achingly beautiful books whose vibrant images and deeply drawn characters remain etched in my brain almost ten years after I first read it. Jim and Doyler are boyhood friends in 1916 Dublin during the height of the Easter Uprising against British rule. Navigating their way through those violent and uncertain times, the two boys have only each other to rely on as their families and friends choose sides and draw blood. The boys’ ever-deepening relationship draws you in and you find yourself wanting to protect them from the chaos swirling around them.

The story unfolds in a stream-of-consciousness style which a number of reviewers have compared to James Joyce. I might suggest O’Neill is better than Joyce if only for the empathy which he feels for his characters. At Swim Two Boys is a beautifully, lovingly written book about the safe place where friendship and love live and the solace we can find there. And you can reserve it here.

Never let me go

I've written about novelist Kazuo Ishiguro before. I've read three of his books now, and they all somehow ended up somewhere I didn't expect when I started. I like it when a book surprises me.

Never Let Me Go is a story about three friends who met at an English boarding school called Hailsham. Does that description make you think of Harry Potter? Don't. Something very strange is going on at that school.

Kathy, the narrator, remembers her childhood at Hailsham and her friends there: vital, strong-willed Ruth, passive Tommy. The fate of these three unfolds eerily. The reader only slowly understands that they, and their England, are quite different from the ones we know.

I was reminded how much I liked this book when I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie. Carey Mulligan stars as Kathy, Keira Knightley as Ruth, and Andrew Garfield as Tommy. Check out the trailer:



Intrigued? The movie comes out in September; before you see it, give the book a try.

Interested in an great thriller?

Take a look at what NPR is doing. They've compiled a huge slate of suspense novels and are inviting the public to vote on the best. The winners will be announced on August 2.


The selection is wide: there are classics like The Hound of the Baskervilles, current favorites like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and loads of other excellent reads, like The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John LeCarré and The Poet by Michael Connelly.

There are some oddball selections: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is an undeniably suspenseful young-adult sci-fi novel; Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson is a postmodern brick that draws connections between WWII codebreakers and 20th-century programming geeks. You should go and vote -- I did!

Not only that, but NPR is featuring columns by well-known authors like Scott Turow and Tess Gerritsen on their favorite thrillers (Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory and Ken Follett's The Eye of the Needle, respectively).

The whole thing is giving me all kinds of good ideas for what to read next.

Bird guides

I saw two hawks hunting from the Waldport Bridge.

I'm not sure what species they were. I saw them while driving, so I didn't really get a good look. One of these days I'm going to have to take a walk across that graceful bridge with my binoculars and my favorite bird book.

I like the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Perhaps because it's the book I'm used to, I find it well-organized, with clear illustrations and useful maps. I know someone who swears by the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds; she likes it best because it uses photographs rather than illustrations. The library carries both of these books, along with the Sibley Field Guide and the Peterson Field Guide.

All bird field guides are shelved in Dewey Decimal number 598.2. You might find it interesting to compare and contrast them, and find the one that's best for you. The next time you're headed out on a beach walk or nature hike, why not check out a bird book for the trip? But be responsible; never bird and drive.