by Richard Subber | Feb 21, 2026 | Books, Books Commentary, Joys of reading, Tidbits
no such thing as too many books
“O quam dulcis vita fuit dum sedebamus in quieti . .
inter librorum copias.”
Alcuin of York (c735-804)
Advisor to Charlemagne
“Oh, how sweet life was when we sat quietly . . .midst all these books.”
All of the books in Alcuin’s library were written by hand, of course.
Read his reflection on books a couple of times, you may see a different image each time…
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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review:
John Eliot: “Apostle to the Indians”
…a righteous man of his times
by Ola Elizabeth Winslow
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As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Feb 19, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Human Nature, Joys of reading, Language
Faulks has so many words that mean “ache”…
Book review:
The Girl at the Lion d’Or
by Sebastian Faulks (b1953)
New York: Vintage International/Vintage Books/A Division of Random House, Inc., 1989.
246 pages
Sebastian Faulks writes about the vagaries of life, the daily choices in our lives, the uncountable futures, and the singularity of the past. We think we remember various pasts, and we may struggle to reconcile them.
In The Girl at the Lion d’Or, Faulks invites us to live in the minds of Hartmann and Anne. Sometimes the reader realizes that confusion is in their minds, usually their failures are clear enough, and their successes of the moments must be cherished for their bounty.
Richly Gallic, redolent of the interwar period in Europe, The Girl at the Lion d’Or is a cumulative revelation of Anne (the girl) and a steadily burdensome understanding of the sad hindrances in her life. She comes to love Hartmann, who is ultimately contemptibly weak and viciously temporizing.
I wanted to read faster near the end so I could learn the outcome, but I resisted the impulse.
Faulks makes it worthwhile to read every word. His prose is tenaciously literate and evocative; he has no mere words—he writes passages that invite the reader to understand deeply and to feel deeply.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Proud Tower
…a lot more than a history book…
by Barbara Tuchman
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many waters: more poems with 53 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Feb 15, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Theater and play reviews
a paucity of drama
Book review:
The Birthday Party and The Room:
Two Plays by Harold Pinter
by Harold Pinter (1930-2008)
New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1959, 1960
118 pages
It is possible that a talented cast could breathe some life into Pinter’s words on stage.
It is possible that stage design could invest some reality into Pinter’s words.
Maybe you have to be in a narrow frame of mind to experience some drama and some human wisdom when you read a Pinter play.
If you can ignore the tiresome repetition, and the not-so-pregnant pauses, and the paucity of drama in the dialogues, then maybe you can enjoy reading a Pinter play.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Bartender’s Tale
Ivan Doig’s story, I mostly loved it…
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many waters: more poems with 53 free verse poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Feb 3, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Poetry, Reviews of other poets
without a lot of passion
Book review:
A Shropshire Lad
by A. E. Housman (1859-1936)
New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1990
51 pages
reprint of the “Authorized Edition 1924”
Alfred Edward Housman embraced the late 19th poetry style of relentless rhyming,
which limits word choice and the scope of imagery.
His narratives are very simply credible without a lot of passion. It’s too easy to let a singsong rhythm be the main feature of verse after verse after verse. A lot of his poetry is written in iambic tetrameter.
Housman’s A Shropshire Lad does offer some paths to reflections, as in Section II, which is an
acceptance of the reality of the seasons, and acceptance of the reality of the rhythms in our lives,
and a recognition of natural beauty that surrounds us:
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Book review: The Scarlet Letter
the beating hearts…by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups with 59 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Jan 29, 2026 | American history, Book reviews, Books, History, Reflections, World history
…the last battle never comes…
Book review:
We Were Soldiers Once…and Young
Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway
New York: Random House, 1992
412 pages
Like Moore and Galloway, I salute the brave American and North Vietnamese soldiers who fought and died in the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965 in the first major combat action of the War in Vietnam.
We Were Soldiers Once…and Young is a bloody testament to the grinding horror of war. It’s too much to read all at once. It has too much death.
A North Vietnamese commander who was on the ground in the valley recalled, many years after the war, that his guiding principle had been “win the first battle.”
He forgot to mention that no one knows how to win the last battle and end all of it.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
Movie review: A Doll’s House
Henrik Ibsen’s classic on abuse…
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Seeing far: Selected poems with 47 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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by Richard Subber | Jan 22, 2026 | Book reviews, Books, Human Nature
think “victims”
Book review:
The Anxious Generation
by Jonathan Haidt (b1963)
New York: Penguin Press, 2024
385 pages
Haidt’s book is subtitled How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. If you think he’s talking about the internet, and cell phones, and computers, and television, and social media, you’re right on the money.
“Screen time” and all of the accompanying behaviors are making our kids sick.
It seems a bit strange to me that Haidt did not use the word “victims” in The Anxious Generation. All those folks didn’t ask for smart phones and devices when they were born.
Haidt makes compelling arguments that too much “screen time” is devastating too many young people, and old people too. Among his suggested pathways to remedy:
Just say “no.”
Don’t use social media today.
Use crayons with your young grandchildren.
You probably didn’t have a phone with you when you were a school student.
Your kids don’t need one.
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Book review. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2026 All rights reserved.
A quote from General Custer
Hint: something to do with Indians…
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In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”
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