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Showing posts from July, 2013

Cruise Bound Poet--- also see below Tim McHargue's Book review of Portuguese novelist, Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago,“All the Names,” (1922-2010).

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Cruise Bound Poet June, 23 2013             The worst part of a cruise is the check- in. Everyone told me this and it is true.  You will have a headache after airport security. I suggest using the cruise bus shuttle to get from the airport to the cruise ship, though a bit pricey it is worth the extra money and you will be in a better mood for the next round of cruise ship lines and security before embarking.  An Alaskan Memory in Water color             Gosh, I’m on a cruise. When did I become my mother? And when did I join the ranks of the bourgeoisie (even if only in comfort levels)? The truth is I’m just an aging Baby Boomer on the precipice of senior hood (well technically I’ve slid over the precipice or at least that’s how I feel some days). I just want a little pleasure without a lot of fuss.             I’ve paid my dues (and yes this is directed to those who seem to be more plentiful nowadays than spam) who refer to hard work and deductions from pay checks (mine s

A Book review by Tim McHargue

Friday, July 26, 2013, Seville, Spain by Tim McHargue ALL THE NAMES               Just finished a challenging book by the most famous contemporary Portuguese novelist, Nobel Prize-winner Jose Saramago, (1922-2010). The book is called “All the Names,” and it is a Kafkaesque book with its description of the depersonalization of the bureaucracy, including,ironically, the absence of names for most characters in the books.             It is challenging because it is written largely without paragraphs and no quotation marks or indentation to indicate dialogue. Conversation is contained within standard prose sentences and suggested by commas and a capital letter. The paragraphs are often pages long.             It is also a challenging read because it is about a lowly civil servant, a clerk, who works for the Central Registry for Births, Marriages and Deaths, a government agency that files records of the living and the dead. The Central Registry, therefore, contains “all the name