The Gentle Tamers is a collection of true stories about the women of the wild west. Some who are included are true pioneers, like Janette Riker, who survived a harsh Montana winter alone in a covered wagon, others are included because a history of women in the Wild West wouldn't be complete without them, like Calamity Jane. The stories are not told in a straight timeline, but are collected into themes which include chapters on the dangers of the pioneer trails (which included bad weather, food shortages, epidemics and attacks by natives), fashion and finery, gatherings and entertainment, to name a few. Some of the women in the book are heroes while others are victims. There are army wives, wild women, educators, settlers, entertainers, suffragettes, prostitutes and various other kinds of women. Some have a remarkable history of their own, others are included because their experiences are representative of the experiences of women of the time. All of them are treated with respect, although the author does make the occasional subtly sarcastic remark about some of them. Their stories are told in a simple, straightforward style with a number of quotations from the original sources that give the narrative colour and depth.
The text is well written and informative, and there is an extensive bibliography at the end for those who whish to do further research into the subject. No attempt is made to put forward any kind of thesis on the subject - this is simply a collection of stories about real women, a popular history that is first and foremost meant to entertain.
Rating:A fun and interesting read about the lives of women, ordinary and not so ordinary, in the Wild West. 5 stars.
---- I can't leave out one endearing thing about this particular copy: it has an inscription in it. I bought the book in a second-hand shop in Hamburg, Germany. On the inside front cover there is a sticker indicating that it was originally bought in the Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, Kansas, USA.
The inscription is as follows: My dearest woman of the new Wild West, Maybe you find the time in the Old World to read this book, to help remind yourself that the women of the New World had the same problems and struggle, like you may have. But of course they havenot had me. Yours (The signature is unreadable)
Full title: The Gentle Tamers: Women of the Old Wild West Author: Dee Brown Year published: 1958/1981 Where got: second hand bookshop Genre: Social history, women, pioneers Cover image
This looks like a promising piece of women's history. If we were to go by the history books we read in school, it would seem that men single-handedly settled the western parts of the United States. This is of course not so - women did their share of the work and had a great deal of civilizing influence on the men. I'm looking forward to exploring the west with them, through this book.
It's rare to find a history book that is as readable as Seabiscuit. One history book I have already reviewed, Cod: A biography of the fish that changed the world tries and fails, perhaps because the author simply isn't as accomplished a writer as Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit. Hillenbrand's writing seems effortless and she manages to hold the reader's attention throughout the book.
Of the two parts of the book, the second is the most gripping. In the first part Hillenbrand is introducing the people and animals involved in the story and laying out a description of American society in the first decades of the 20th century. This will at first seem somewhat longwinded, simply because of the wealth of information she has chosen to bring into the narrative.
In the second half of the book, which is mostly about the preparation for Seabiscuit's greatest race, it becomes clear that without all the information in the first half of the book, it would not have been as good a narrative. Her detailed descriptions of the racing practices of the era and the horrible situation of the jockeys (who had no union and hardly any human rights), of Seabiscuit's noble lineage and the character portraits and short biographies of Seabiscuit, owner Howard, trainer Smith and jockey Pollard before they came together, bring into the narrative a sense of continuity and a deeper understanding of what the race meant to these men and to the thousands of admirers of the "Cinderella horse".
There are some profoundly sad moments in the book (jockeys and horses being injured or dying), but also occasions for laughing out loud - especially in the description of Seabiscuit's appearance and habits and Smith's mischievous sense of humour and his war with the press.
Rating: Very well written biography of a horse and the men who believed in his abilities and made him a star among racehorses. Recommended for anyone with an interest in American history, sports or horses. 5 stars.
Full title: Seabiscuit: An American Legend Author: Laura Hillenbrand Year published: 2002 Where got: book store Genre: History, biography, sports Cover image
This book is about a famous American racehorse and the men whose belief in him took him from the lowest rungs of the racing world and right to the top.
I am not particularly interested in sports, and know next to nothing about horse racing, so this is not a book I would have picked up if it had not been for the fact that it has been made into a film.
As a teenager I enjoyed a film about another famous racehorse, Phar Lap, and so when Seabiscuit hit the cinemas I decided this was a film I wanted to see.
Well, somehow I managed to miss it. However, after watching a National Geographic documentary about Seabiscuit, I decided I would read the book to tide me over until the film comes out on video. So far I have not been disappointed.
A dictionary of idioms is essential (in my opinion) for learners who want to become truly proficient in a new language, to translators like myself, and to native speakers who whish to enrich their language and avoid constantly repeating the same clichés. The last group will benefit most from a dictionary of idioms that is organized like a thesaurus where you can look for meanings as well as the expressions themselves. This book is not for them.
The organisation is that of a regular dictionary, except it isn't always the first word in an idiomatic expression that is indexed, but rather what the editors thought was the word people were most likely to look for in an expression. In cases where there is some doubt as to what word people are likely to look for, cross-references are provided, which makes it easy to find the expressions you are looking for.
Apart from some rather unfortunate omissions - there is no explanation of "the whole nine yards" for example - this is a good basic dictionary of idioms that that is small enough to be easily slipped into a school backpack or a briefcase for reference or casual browsing.
On the downside, as a translator I feel I need to get my hands on a thesaurus of idioms in order to enable me to translate Icelandic idioms into English, but apart from that little detail, this is a good dictionary that has been of invaluable help in explaining some baffling English idioms.
Rating: Good, basic dictionary of idioms, suitable for translators and ESL learners. 3 stars.
Full title: The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms Editors: E.M. Kirkpatrick & C.M. Schwarz Published: 1993 Where got: Bookstore Genre: Dictionary, reference Cover image
Every translator needs to own at least one dictionary of idioms. This is mine.
Idiomatic expressions number in the thousands in the English language, and new ones are being crafted all the time. Without them the language would be poorer and not nearly as colourful. Many idioms of course have become clichéd and bother some people endlessly, but the fact is that sometimes it's better to resort to a well chewed cliché everyone knows, rather than try to explain something in twice as many words and only have half of your listeners understand what you're talking about.
Rating: A fun and fascinating collection of eclectic glossaries. Especially interesting for people who love unusual words, and handy for those who whish to increase their vocabulary. Too bad it's so short. 4 stars.
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About me
What this blog is about:
Reading and books.
If you’re wondering about the name 52 books, it stems from a book-a-week reading challenge I set myself. The challenge is over, but I'm still reading, and will continue to blog about the books I read and my reading experiences, and other stuff connected with books and reading.
I rate the books (if I feel like it), giving them stars ranging from zero to 5.
Books I have already read (sporadically updated):Cover gallery
Note: Some of the entries are linked to the months the reviews appeared in, because I made several entries for each book. I have marked those reviews with an asterix (*). If you want to read the whole review from beginning to end, you must scroll down and read from the bottom up (but you probably already knew that ;-) >
