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Scrambled Eggs Super! Dr. Seuss. 1953. Random House. 64 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

I don't like to brag and I don't like to boast,
Said Peter T. Hooper, but speaking of toast
And speaking of kitchens and ketchup and cake
And kettles and stoves and the stuff people bake...
Well, I don't like to brag, but I'm telling you, Liz,
That speaking of cooks, I'm the best that there is!
Why, only last Tuesday, when mother was out
I really cooked something worth talking about!

Premise/Plot: Peter T. Hooper is bragging to a girl, presumably his sister? presumably named Liz? that he is the best cook ever, and that he recently made the best scrambled eggs ever. Of course, his scrambled eggs weren't ordinary. His eggs didn't come from ordinary hens. His eggs didn't come from a store. He sought out extraordinary birds--both big and small--and spared no expense or effort. He even recruited helpers to help him collect the most exotic bird eggs. 

My thoughts: Like If I Ran the Zoo, this is all about the rhyme. This is classic Seuss coming up with silly, bizarre yet oh-so-fun words to say.

Then I went for some Ziffs. They're exactly like Zuffs,
But the Ziffs live on cliffs and the Zuffs live on bluffs.
And, seeing how bluffs are exactly like cliffs,
It's mighty hard telling the Zuffs from the Ziffs.
But I know that the egg that I got from the bluffs,
if it wasn't a Ziff's from the cliffs, was a Zuff's.

The book is definitely silly and over-the-top. And Seuss is definitely beginning to develop his style.  Is it my favorite? Far from it.

Have you read Scrambled Eggs Super? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to know what you think of it!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is Horton Hears A Who!

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/1991. Del Rey. 179 pages. [Source: Bought]

It was a pleasure to burn. 

I've written about Fahrenheit 451 quite a bit. Once in May 2007, which was the first time I read it. Twice in 2010; one was a graphic novel. I've read A Pleasure To Burn: Fahrenheit 451 Stories, a book of short stories and novellas that show the thematic evolution of Fahrenheit 451. I've reviewed the movie. I reread it in June 2012 and September 2013.

Obviously this is a book that I absolutely love.

Fahrenheit 451 is a novel set in a world where thinking is a crime. I exaggerate perhaps. Thinking deeply is dangerous. Thinking for yourself is dangerous. Thinking superficial thoughts that everyone-else-in-society is thinking--like about what to watch, what to listen to, what to buy, where to go to have a good time--that is okay, more than okay. It is to be encouraged. It is individuality and contemplation and reflection that is dangerous. Every minute of every hour of every day is to be packed full of distractions making it impossible to think, to consider, to reflect, to observe, to question, to feel anything truly and deeply. It's a more, more, faster, faster world. And it's a world that our hero, Guy Montag realizes he loathes. He is a fireman. He burns books, houses, and sometimes people. But Guy Montag is living a secret life: he doesn't like burning books; in fact, he wishes he could save them and read them. He does manage to "save" a handful here and there. But taking them home and hiding them, well, there's a risk involved. He's willing to take it because he's so miserable, and he feels that society is so unreal and pointless. He wants answers, not ads. He wants to learn, to know, to feel.

Quotes:

"People don't talk about anything."
"Oh, they must!"
"No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else..." (31)

"We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?" (52)

Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute. (58)

Ask yourself, What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn't that right right? Haven't you heart it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren't they? Don't we keep them moving, don't we give them fun? That's all we live for, isn't it? For pleasure, for titillation? And you must admit our culture provides plenty of these. (59)

Did you listen to him? He knows all the answers. He's right. Happiness is important. Fun is everything. (65)

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over." (71)

Every hour so many damn things in the sky! How in hell did those bombers get up there every single second of our lives! Why doesn't someone want to talk about it! We've started and won two atomic wars since 1990! Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world? Is it because we're so rich and the rest of the world's so poor and we just don't care if they are? Is that why we're hated so much? Do you know why? I don't, that's sure! Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. God, Millie, don't you see? An hour a day, two hours, with these books, and maybe. (73-4)

It’s been a long time. I’m not a religious man. But it’s been a long time.’ Faber turned the pages, stopping here and there to read. ‘It’s as good as I remember. Lord, how they’ve changed it in our parlors these days. Christ is one of the family now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we’ve dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He’s a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn’t making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshiper absolutely needs.’ (81)

"You're a hopeless romantic," said Faber. "It would be funny if it were not serious. It's not books you need, it's some of the things that once were in books. The same things could be in the 'parlor families' today. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through the radios and televisors, but are not. (82)

 Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more 'literary' you are. That's my definition, anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. the mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies. So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless. we are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. (83)

"Caesarians or not, children are ruinous; you're out of your mind," said Mrs. Phelps.
"I plunk the children in school nine days out of ten. I put up with them when they come home three days a month; it's not bad at all. You heave them into the 'parlor' and turn the switch. It's like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid." Mrs. Bowles tittered. "They'd just as soon kick as kiss me. Thank God, I can kick back!" (96)

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/2003. Random House. 190 pages.

It was a pleasure to burn. 

I first read and reviewed Fahrenheit 451 in May 2007. I then read the graphic novel in October 2010. I couldn't resist reading the "real" book at that time as well. I even sought out A Pleasure to Burn, a collection of stories that traces Bradbury's developing themes. That collection included two crucial stories: "The Fireman" and "Long After Midnight." (Also I watched the movie.) The summer of 2012, I read tons of Ray Bradbury, and, of course, I had to reread Fahrenheit 451!

I definitely consider Fahrenheit 451 one of the rare must-reads. It is intense and thought-provoking. The novel, as a whole, is powerful. But it is in conversation (or dialogue) that this one truly shines. Guy Montag's conversations with Clarisse, with Faber, and to some extent even his boss and wife. It's a very reflective novel as well. In its pages, readers get a glimpse of a man at his most vulnerable: a self awakening of sorts as a man wakes up to the nightmare world in which he's been a part of all along.

Favorite quotes:

Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute...Remember, Montag, we're the happiness boys. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. (50-1)  

 We've started and won two atomic wars since 1990! Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world? Is it because we're so rich and the rest of the world's so poor and we just don't care if they are? Is that why we're hated so much? Do you know why? I don't, that's sure! Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. God, Millie, don't you see? An hour a day, two hours, with these books, and maybe... (62)

Good God, it isn't as simple as just picking up a book you laid down half a century ago. Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord. (78)

 It’s been a long time. I’m not a religious man. But it’s been a long time.’ Faber turned the pages, stopping here and there to read. ‘It’s as good as I remember. Lord, how they’ve changed it in our parlors these days. Christ is one of the family now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we’ve dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He’s a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn’t making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshiper absolutely needs.’ (81)

Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more 'literary' you are. That's my definition, anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies. So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless. We are living in a time when flowers are trying to live on flowers, instead of growing on good rain and black loam. (83)

Though this one is "about" books, in a way, it is not. It is about the ideas, emotions, concepts behind the books. It is about the knowledge and wisdom sometimes contained in books, but never exclusively found in books. It is about choices and lifestyles. The nightmarish culture found in Fahrenheit 451 is a result of people choosing to be shallow, selfish, materialistic, technology-obsessed, and pleasure-seeking. People are "happy." But their "happiness" is fake. It comes at the cost of suppressing emotion and intellect. Free thinking is not encouraged. Thoughts shouldn't have depth and substance! One shouldn't ponder, consider, or reflect! It's about lives packed with noise and busyness--a blur of distractions--all designed to keep you from realizing there is something more, something that has been lost.

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/2003. Random House. 190 pages.

It was a pleasure to burn. 

Fahrenheit 451 is so wonderful, so beautiful, so amazing that it almost leaves me speechless. It is a haunting story of a bleak future. Our hero, Guy Montag, is in a loveless marriage with his wife, Mildred. He meets a young, vibrant girl, Clarisse, and they talk--talk of nothing and everything. She dares to think, to ask questions, to be curious, to be full of wonder and life, to have a spark of something that has almost been lost in society and civilization. But, her tragic end helps focus Montag's perspective. It has been coming for a while now, perhaps ever since meeting that old man, Faber, in the park, but Montag knows that he can no longer live the lie. He no longer wants to burn books, to burn houses of people who love books. He no longer wants to be a fireman. He wants to read books; he wants to learn; he wants to know what it is like to LIVE again, to think, to think critically, to think about things even if it means being sad or sorrowful or anxious and worried. He doesn't want to be mindlessly entertained by "the family" on three of his walls or a seashell in his ears. Even if there is a scary war coming. He wants to stand against the majority and face reality.

I think this is a book everyone needs to read...at least once. I could easily read it once a year! It's just a wonderful novel!!!

Favorite quotes:

Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute...Remember, Montag, we're the happiness boys. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. (50-1)  

 We've started and won two atomic wars since 1990! Is it because we're having so much fun at home we've forgotten the world? Is it because we're so rich and the rest of the world's so poor and we just don't care if they are? Is that why we're hated so much? Do you know why? I don't, that's sure! Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. God, Millie, don't you see? An hour a day, two hours, with these books, and maybe... (62)

Good God, it isn't as simple as just picking up a book you laid down half a century ago. Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord. (78)

 It’s been a long time. I’m not a religious man. But it’s been a long time.’ Faber turned the pages, stopping here and there to read. ‘It’s as good as I remember. Lord, how they’ve changed it in our parlors these days. Christ is one of the family now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we’ve dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He’s a regular peppermint stick now, all

5 Comments on Fahrenheit 451, last added: 6/18/2012

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Jillian said, on 6/16/2012 9:04:00 AM

Oh my! I just bought this book. It sounds incredible. Can't wait to read it. :-)

FABR Steph said, on 6/16/2012 10:09:00 AM

I have yet to read a Ray Bradbury book. Shameful, I know. I will have to start with this one. Thank you for the lovely post. It was especially good to see all of the covers that you presented.

hopeinbrazil said, on 6/16/2012 10:32:00 AM

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. The scene near the end with the people who have memorized whole books is amazing. The movie version was pretty dumb except for that last, powerful scene.

It's a must-read for book lovers.

Stephanie said, on 6/17/2012 2:30:00 PM

I finally read this book, a few weeks ago, for the first time. I can't believe I put it off this long. It is such an amazing book, especially when you consider it was one of the first of its kind, and it's full of thought-provoking passages. :-)

Abigail@The Story Factory Reading Zone said, on 6/18/2012 9:00:00 AM

I really enjoyed this book as well. Here's the link to my review about it: http://abigailannreading.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/fahrenheit-451-by-ray-bradbury-review.html

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A Pocket Full of Rye. Agatha Christie. 1953. 256 pages.

I really enjoyed this Miss Marple mystery. I'm not sure what more I can add to that. I mean, it's a mystery. A mystery with multiple victims. A mystery that kept me guessing until the very end--or close to it.

I always enjoy Miss Marple, she's such a delightful character. And I enjoyed this Miss Marple mystery very much. I wouldn't say it is my favorite and best Marple--but it's certainly worth a read or reread!!!

The first victim, Rex Fortescue, is a business man who dies in his office after drinking his tea. They're almost positive he was murdered--poisoned. But they're also positive the poison was not in the tea. Someone in his family--someone close to him--murdered him. But can they figure out just who the murderer is?

One puzzling clue--you may have guessed it--is a pocket full of rye in his pocket. But that's just one of many puzzling clues that abound in this novel!

I definitely liked this one!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Sleepy ABC. By Margaret Wise Brown. Illustrated By Karen Katz. Text, 1953. Illustrations, 2010. HarperCollins. 40 pages.

Karen Katz illustrates Margaret Wise Brown's Sleepy ABC. I was not familiar with this Brown title. Brown is of course best known for her books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. This one is fairly obvious--an alphabet bedtime book.

A is for Aaaah when a small kitten sighs
B is for Baaaaaa when the lambs close their eyes
C is for Caw when the last crow crows
D is for Dreams and the Dark Wind that blows
E is for Eyes that all must close--the child's, the rabbit's, and the rose.
F is for Feet that won't fall asleep
G is for Grazing of sleepy sheep

I thought this one was just okay. (It's not as fun as the Katz book writes herself.) Part of me is relieved to find that SLJ didn't find much to praise in this one either.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

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Barnes, Margaret Campbell. 1953/2009. The Tudor Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York. Sourcebooks. 336 pages.

A long-drawn sigh of feminine ecstasy filled the room as the white velvet was lifted from its wrappings.

This is my third Margaret Campbell Barnes, and I absolutely loved it. Okay, maybe absolutely is putting it a little too strongly. After all, I'm not saying this is the most wonderful, amazing book ever written. What is it about? Elizabeth of York? Who is she? She's the daughter of Edward the IV. The sister of the two (supposedly) murdered princes. The niece of Richard III. The wife of Henry VII. The mother of Henry VIII. (You can read my thoughts on Shakespeare's Richard III.) This one novel spans many decades. We first see Elizabeth as a young woman, a girl preparing for a wedding, the "feminine sighs of ecstasy" are nothing improper, rather her reaction to trying on her wedding gown. (The engagement falls through, however.) We see her taking delight in being a daughter, a sister. We see a brief glimpse of the before. Before what? Well, before everything fell apart and then some. Before her father dies. Before her younger brother becomes the king. Before her brothers lives are at risk from someone very close at hand.

This story could not be told without focusing in on the politics. What things people will do (and say) for a chance at absolute power and control. The novel reveals a personal story. How these power plays, these political manipulations can control one's life. Because of who she is--whose daughter she is--many things are out of her control. It's not a matter of who she loves, who she desires, what she wants, what she needs, what kind of life she'd like to have. Reading this one made me see the human side of history.

The book was compelling. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down. I didn't expect that. I didn't expect a must-read feeling. I didn't expect to find such an instant connection with these characters. I didn't expect such a strong reaction. I find it interesting that even though I knew what would happen, it was so suspenseful, that I had to keep reading. I didn't find it boring...at all. So I would definitely recommend this one to fans of historical fiction. If you haven't discovered Margaret Campbell Barnes, you should really give her a try.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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