Mickey's Girls

See this at: netnitco.net| Added on 10/17/06

As far back as the Iron Age, the domesticated falcon has been a favorite companion of the hunter. Like the lion, it was believed never to close its eyes in sleep. Therefore, in some areas, the falcon took on the responsibilities of a watchdog. Like... See more

As far back as the Iron Age, the domesticated falcon has been a favorite companion of the hunter. Like the lion, it was believed never to close its eyes in sleep. Therefore, in some areas, the falcon took on the responsibilities of a watchdog. Like many domesticated animals, the wild and the tamed falcon each have different symbolic meanings analogous to unconverted and converted man. Wild falcons represent the unconverted Gentile and sinful thoughts or deeds. But, the tamed bird symbolizes the Christian convert with his lofty thoughts, hopes, and aspirations. During the Middle Ages, paintings of falcons attacking hares depicted the victory of the Christian over lusty temptations. Roofers, noticing that falcons sometimes took on the shape of roofing hammers, used this bird as a symbol of their trade. Egyptians associated the falcon with the Eye of Horus. Horus himself was believed to appear in the form of Pharaoh's falcon or as a falcon-headed god. He could see everything at once... See less

See this at: opusdei.org| Added on 10/17/06

Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church that helps people seek holiness in their work and ordinary activities. This website includes information, news, personal testimonies, etc.

Opus Dei is a personal prelature of the Catholic Church that helps people seek holiness in their work and ordinary activities. This website includes information, news, personal testimonies, etc. See less

See this at: fas.org| Added on 10/17/06

The military authorities took power in a violent coup on 11 September 1973. The first phase of the dictatorship (1973-75) was mainly destructive, aimed at rapid demobilization, depoliticization, and stabilization. Immediately on seizing power, the... See more

The military authorities took power in a violent coup on 11 September 1973. The first phase of the dictatorship (1973-75) was mainly destructive, aimed at rapid demobilization, depoliticization, and stabilization. Immediately on seizing power, the military junta -- composed of the commanders in chief of the army, navy, air force, and national police -- issued a barrage of decrees to restore order on its own terms. In the immediate aftermath of the 1973 coup, there was extensive repression, including summary executions of prisoners. During this period, the number of people who were detained so exceeded the capacities of the existing penal institutions that for a time stadiums, military grounds, and naval vessels were used as short-term prisons. Subsequently, at least five prison camps were established for political prisoners, mostly in the remote south and the far north. In the immediate aftermath of the 1973 coup, a semiformal umbrella group, the National Intelligence Directorate... See less

See this at: bookbrowse.com| Added on 10/16/06

Do one or more of the characters tell the story? If so, how do their own circumstances color the telling? Do you empathize with the characters? Are their voices genuine, are they believable? For example does a child narrator sound the age he/she... See more

Do one or more of the characters tell the story? If so, how do their own circumstances color the telling? Do you empathize with the characters? Are their voices genuine, are they believable? For example does a child narrator sound the age he/she should be? Does the voice of a character set in a particular place or time ring true? Are the characters or their circumstances familiar to you? * What style is it written in? Is it written in the first person, third person or both? Is the story told from one point of view or many? What genre is it? Is this a genre that you're familiar with? Does the book 'break the mold' in anyway. * What do the characters do? Do they react the way you think you would in a similar situation? Do you find their actions troubling? Are their actions consistent with their characters? If not, perhaps ask yourself if it is reasonable for anyone to be expected to act consistently in character! Do their experiences cause them to grow? If so, how? * What is the book... See less

See this at: book-clubs-resource....| Added on 10/16/06

Reading group guides, also referred to as simply reading guides, are short documents designed to assist book clubs by providing specific discussion topics and questions for a given work. The following websites offer a wide selection of reading group... See more

Reading group guides, also referred to as simply reading guides, are short documents designed to assist book clubs by providing specific discussion topics and questions for a given work. The following websites offer a wide selection of reading group guides for free. Online Reading Guide Indices Reading Group Guides An excellent starting point for readers in search of a particular guide, this site allows you to browse by genre as well as author and title. S.C.O.R.E. Cyberguides S.C.O.R.E. stands for Schools of California Online Resources for Education. The Cyberguides are "supplementary, web-based units of instruction centered on core works of literature." Geared primarily to teachers, they contain exercises and links to complement the study of literature. Paul Brians' Study Guides Paul Brians, a professor at Washington State University, has generously placed numerous study guides used in his classes on the web, ranging from sci-fi to 18th Century Literature. Guides include chapter... See less

See this at: ahml.info| Added on 10/16/06

1. Read the entire book. Note elements that seem important and list questions as they occur to you. Pay close attention to your initial responses to characters, plot, situations, dialog, and language. Note points of confusion or anything that is... See more

1. Read the entire book. Note elements that seem important and list questions as they occur to you. Pay close attention to your initial responses to characters, plot, situations, dialog, and language. Note points of confusion or anything that is unclear or ambiguous. Select a particularly meaningful passage to share with the group. | 2. Mark passages with highlighters, post-it notes, or some type of bookmark. A reference list with page numbers will insure that you aren't frantically thumbing through pages to find a scene or event. | 3. The discussion should be limited to only the book in question. Supplemental material (book reviews, author information, or other material) should be saved for after the discussion. | 4. One of your greatest contributions to the discussion is listening. Then respond thoughtfully and briefly. Ask questions if you don't understand something, or to stimulate discussion of a point you want to cover in more detail. Your opinions should be supportable with... See less

See this at: canadianbookclubs.co...| Added on 10/16/06

* Did you like the book? If you have read any of the author's other books, how does this compare? * What is this book's message? * How did you feel about the characters? Whom did you like or not like and why? * What did you think of the ending? * In... See more

* Did you like the book? If you have read any of the author's other books, how does this compare? * What is this book's message? * How did you feel about the characters? Whom did you like or not like and why? * What did you think of the ending? * In a movie version, who would play what parts? * How did you feel when the character did or said....How do you think the character felt when she did or said...? * If questions...e.g. If the characters had done this instead, how would the story have changed? * What do book reviews say about this book or more generally the author, and her past works? * What did you think of the plot line development? How credible did the author make it? * What moral/ethical choices did the characters make? What did you think of those choices? How would you have chosen? * How authentic is the culture or era represented in the book? * Why do you think the author wrote this? What is her most important message? * How do you think the main character's point of view... See less

See this at: readinggroupguides.c...| Added on 10/16/06

* For the person who chose this book: What made you want to read it? What made you suggest it to the group for discussion? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not? * Discuss the book's structure. Does the author use any narrative devices... See more

* For the person who chose this book: What made you want to read it? What made you suggest it to the group for discussion? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not? * Discuss the book's structure. Does the author use any narrative devices like flashbacks or multiple voices in telling the story? How does this affect the story and your appreciation of the book? Do you think the author did a good job with it? How do you think it might have been different if another character was telling the story? * Talk about the author's use of language/writing style. Have each member read his or her favorite passage out loud. (You might want to warn them ahead of time that they'll be doing this so they'll be prepared.) How does this particular passage relate to the story as a whole? Does it reveal anything specific about any of the characters or illuminate certain aspects of the story? * Talk about the time period in which the story is set. How well does the author convey the era? Did you... See less

See this at: waterborolibrary.org| Added on 10/16/06

Reading Group Guides.com offers Advice & Ideas for bookgroups, including sections on Starting a Reading Group, Running a Reading Group, Choosing What to Read, Books about Reading Groups, and Write Your Own Guide (or, What To Do When There's No Guide... See more

Reading Group Guides.com offers Advice & Ideas for bookgroups, including sections on Starting a Reading Group, Running a Reading Group, Choosing What to Read, Books about Reading Groups, and Write Your Own Guide (or, What To Do When There's No Guide Available -- general questions suitable for any book). Book Browser offers Things to Consider Before Joining/Starting a Book Club, an intelligent guide to planning and starting a book group. Questions to consider: How many people? What kind of people? What's the purpose? How many books do you want to read, and how often do you want to meet? Followed by Surviving the First Meeting and Tips on Handling Difficult Meeting Situations. Also from Book Browser, Suggestions For Choosing Good Books To Discuss. Multnomah County Library (OR) offers Step by Step Advice on Creating a Great Book Group, with advice on researching the book and supporting the group. Book-Clubs-Resource.com, formerly Rachel's Compendium of Online Book Discussions, offers... See less

See this at: poemhunter.com| Added on 10/16/06

(c) Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge.. About Us | Copyright notice | Privacy statement | Help

(c) Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge.. About Us | Copyright notice | Privacy statement | Help See less

See this at: ndpublishing.com| Added on 10/15/06

"Few artists will invite you in, offer a seat, and then so gracefully pull the chair out from under you." Andrew Ervin, The Journal News | The star of Roberto Bolaño's hair-raising novel Distant Star is Alberto Ruiz-Tagle, an air force pilot who... See more

"Few artists will invite you in, offer a seat, and then so gracefully pull the chair out from under you." Andrew Ervin, The Journal News | The star of Roberto Bolaño's hair-raising novel Distant Star is Alberto Ruiz-Tagle, an air force pilot who exploits the 1973 coup to launch his own version of the New Chilean Poetry, a multi-media enterprise involving sky-writing, poetry, torture, and photo exhibitions. For our unnamed narrator, who first encounters this "star" in a college poetry workshop, Ruiz-Tagle becomes the silent hand behind every evil act in the darkness of Pinochet's regime. The narrator, unable to stop himself, tries to track Ruiz-Tagle down, and sees signs of his activity over and over again. A corrosive, mocking humor sparkles within Bolaño's darkest visions of Chile under Pinochet. In Bolaño's world there's a big graveyard and there's a big graveyard laugh. (He once described his novel By Night in Chile as "a tale of terror, a situation comedy, and a combination... See less

See this at: nytimes.com| Added on 10/15/06

THE moment we "discover" a favorite writer is like our experience of a cataclysmic event — we can remember precisely where we were and what we were doing when it occurred. I can still summon up the steamy subway car where I first read Isaac Babel's... See more

THE moment we "discover" a favorite writer is like our experience of a cataclysmic event — we can remember precisely where we were and what we were doing when it occurred. I can still summon up the steamy subway car where I first read Isaac Babel's "Crossing Into Poland" and the picnic table (I was working at a day camp for the blind) where I began reading "The Metamorphosis." So I assume I'll always recall the doctor's waiting room where I opened a dimpled, out-of-date issue of The New Yorker and found Roberto Bolaño's story "Gómez Palacio." For the first time, I was glad the doctor was running late, so I could read the story twice, and still have a few minutes left over to consider the fact that I had just encountered something extraordinarily beautiful and (at least to me) entirely new. The narrator of "Gómez Palacio," which appears in a new collection called "Last Evenings on Earth," is an unhappy young writer hired to teach poetry in the bleak Mexican backwater that lends the... See less

See this at: readingtheworld.org| Added on 10/15/06

Words without Borders Book Clubs Beginning May 2006, Words Without Borders will be hosting a series of monthly online book clubs for a number of Reading the World titles. Listed below is the current schedule, but keep checking back here, or at Words... See more

Words without Borders Book Clubs Beginning May 2006, Words Without Borders will be hosting a series of monthly online book clubs for a number of Reading the World titles. Listed below is the current schedule, but keep checking back here, or at Words Without Borders for updates and more information about how to participate. Join us, then! * starting May 15th, 2006, a discussion of Dubravka Ugresic's THE MINISTRY OF PAIN, moderated by Chad Post of Dalkey Archive Press * in June 2006 for a discussion of Mati Untt's THINGS IN THE NIGHT, moderated by Radhika Jones of The Paris Review * in July 2006 for a discussion of Svetlana Alexeivich's VOICES FROM CHERNOBYL, moderated by Michael Orthofer of The Complete Review * in August 2006, for a discussion moderated by Bill Marx of WBUR, Boston's NPR News Station * in September 2006, for a discussion of Ma Jian's THE NOODLE MAKER, moderated by Mickey Pearlman of The Boston Globe, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and The Forward * in October, for a... See less

See this at: news.bbc.co.uk| Added on 10/15/06

Chilean writer Roberto Bolano has died of liver failure at the age of 50. The novelist and poet had written more than 12 novels, published poetry collections, but left unfinished a 1,000-page novel. He won a number of literary awards in Spain, where... See more

Chilean writer Roberto Bolano has died of liver failure at the age of 50. The novelist and poet had written more than 12 novels, published poetry collections, but left unfinished a 1,000-page novel. He won a number of literary awards in Spain, where he had settled after fleeing his native Chile, including the prestigious Romulo Gallegos prize for the novel Los Detectives Salvajes. Bolano had planned to edit his novel, called 2666, about the unsolved murders of 300 women in Mexico over the past 10 years, but had been too ill. He died on Tuesday at a Barcelona hospital while awaiting a liver transplant. Bolano's first book was published in 1984 and was written while he worked in various jobs including night watchman and salesman. Settled During the 1970s, Bolano formed an avant-garde group called infrarealism with other writers and poets in Mexico. He had lived in Mexico after leaving Chile when it fell under military dictatorship. He returned in 1972 but left again the next year when... See less

See this at: books.guardian.co.uk| Added on 10/15/06

Father Sebastian Urrutia is dying. Or believes that he is dying. In a single night - with sometimes querulous voice and not entirely reliable memory - he revisits scenes from his life as a failed poet but eminent literary critic. And through the... See more

Father Sebastian Urrutia is dying. Or believes that he is dying. In a single night - with sometimes querulous voice and not entirely reliable memory - he revisits scenes from his life as a failed poet but eminent literary critic. And through the character of Urrutia, the Chilean-born novelist Roberto Bolaño produces a brilliant analysis of Chilean literature and the contaminated soil out of which it has emerged. Article continues Urrutia is a member of Opus Dei, repelled by everyday humanity, twisted by the semi-repression of his homosexuality and tormented about his shortcomings by an engimatic shadow figure, a "wizened youth". Urrutia's odyssey begins with his arse being fondled by his literary mentor after listening awe-struck to Pablo Neruda declaiming poetry at the moon on a country estate. A succession of European episodes culminates in a return to Chile as Urrutia reads Greek tragedy through the heady days of Allende's Popular Unity government. He ends up instructing General... See less

Highlights: by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews 144pp, Harvill, £10.99

See this at: panmacmillan.com.au| Added on 09/25/06

This is a novel about the power of words which act as a conduit for the writer's imagination and as a haven for the reader in the exploration of our deepest emotions and fears. It's a burning testament to how words can overcome adversity, but also to... See more

This is a novel about the power of words which act as a conduit for the writer's imagination and as a haven for the reader in the exploration of our deepest emotions and fears. It's a burning testament to how words can overcome adversity, but also to how they have in extreme circumstances been used to create fanatic hatred. It's about the tragedy of what happens to the human soul when the power to express or write words is taken away from it. It's about the redemptive and the destructive power of knowledge and of love. It's about the themes of death, hope, guilt, survival and redemption. It's about the fact that each and every one of us is haunted by our capacity for evil and our desire to do good. It shows that whilst words are an inspiring force in translating feelings, and in expressing the inexpressible, they can also destroy the very things we hold most dear – that they are ultimately one of the most powerful forces by which humanity transcends the physical, and attempts to... See less

See this at: nytimes.com| Added on 09/25/06

"The Book Thief" resembles other, better novels that have been widely popular. Its roundabout approach to the Holocaust suggests "Everything Is Illuminated" Lite. Its embattled, feisty young heroine has a Potterish appeal as she makes her way through... See more

"The Book Thief" resembles other, better novels that have been widely popular. Its roundabout approach to the Holocaust suggests "Everything Is Illuminated" Lite. Its embattled, feisty young heroine has a Potterish appeal as she makes her way through a mystifying adult world. There is a Vonnegut whimsy to the mordant turns of fate here. And Mr. Zusak's narrator offers constant manipulative asides, as in the clever Lemony Snicket books, although in this case wit is not much of an option. The narrator is Death. How can a tale told by Death be mistaken for young-adult storytelling? Easily: because this book's narrator is sorry for what he has to do. "To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible," he confides, on one of many occasions when he campaigns to win readers' approval. "You see?" he says, about the demise of one of the book's best-liked characters. "Even death has a heart." The youthful sensibility of "The Book Thief" also contributes to a wider innocence. While it... See less

See this at: schoollibraryjournal...| Added on 09/25/06

Since Australian writer Markus Zusak burst on the American publishing scene about five years ago, he’s been a rising star. Zusak’s YA novels feature gritty, big-hearted, blue-collar teens, and his stories appeal to both young women and (wonder of... See more

Since Australian writer Markus Zusak burst on the American publishing scene about five years ago, he’s been a rising star. Zusak’s YA novels feature gritty, big-hearted, blue-collar teens, and his stories appeal to both young women and (wonder of wonders) teenage guys. His novel I Am the Messenger (2005, Knopf) was the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year, and a YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association) 2006 Printz Honor Book. Zusak’s latest page-turner, The Book Thief, published this spring by Knopf, may be his best yet. The story, set in Nazi Germany, charts the life of Liesel Meminger (who’s nine years old when the book begins). The narrator of the tale? None other than the Grim Reaper, death, who turns out to be a surprisingly sensitive soul. The Book Thief has been getting all sorts of rave reviews, including one from School Library Journal. Watch the interview now. Watch Markus read from The Book Thief. See our other Under Cover video interviews. Let... See less