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June 03 ThemI just wanted to enter the newest URL of the Bookclub Web Page in case anyone else needed to have it. I tried Bing, and Google and the closest I got was the older URL. So here it is-you found it!
Them was a good read. Yes Sue, and I read it already. Not always fun, but good in the it hurts kind of way, as in 'the truth hurts'. Maybe we can't all get along. Or only in the extremes, as in the army, or when we have to at work. Maybe someday. More comments AFTER the next meeting, like usual. April 26 Wao Wow!If you didn't need this glossary:
Asqueroso: dirty person (masculine) Abuela: grandmother Ande: to go, to travel Abrazo: hug Alegre: happy Azaroso: unfortunate, disgraceful person (masculine) Algiuen: someone Arroz: rice Amor: love Azabaches: a fossilized form of wood that is black in color and is carved and polished into pieces of jewelry to protect against the evil eye Asesino: killer Acabaron: finished Acabar: finish Aqui: here Bueno: good Buenmoso: handsome Blanquito: white boy Barrio: neighborhood Brutos: stupid people (masculine) Brutas: stupid people (feminine) Bebe: baby Que dios te bendiga: God should bless you (response to "bendicion") Bendicion: blessing Bacalao: dried salt cod Bachata: a type of music Braceros: migrant worker, laborer Burbuja: bubble, blister Bailarina: ballet dancer Bella: beautiful Bochinche: gossip Boca: mouth Bien: good Ciguapas: mythological creature of Dominican folklore. They are commonly described as having human female form with brown or dark blue skin, backward facing feet, and very long manes of smooth, glossy hair that covers their otherwise naked bodies. They supposedly inhabit the high mountains of the Dominican Republic. Cuidate: Take care Cuero: slut Correa: belt (el) cuco: a mythical monster, a ghost, witch; equivalent to the boogeyman found in many Hispanic and Lusophone countries Coje: take Culo: butt (slang) Cabeza: head Chancletas: slippers, sandals Caramba: exclamation of surprise or dismay, darn! heck! Cibaeños: northern Dominicans, from el Cibao Chinos: Chinese people Con: with Candela: candle Comunista: communist Chulo: sexy guy Caracol: snail, seashell, ringlet Capaz: capable Clavo: nail Comparona: snotty girl Ciclon: cyclone Capitalenos: people from the capital Campesinos: country-dweller Colmado: store? Cabana: hut Capitan: Captain Comeme: Eat me Campo: countryside Compañero: companion Cochinos: dirty people (masculine) Coño: damn Chacabana: type of shirt Cuarenta: 40 Cojones: testicles, courage Carajito: the most common way a Dominican would refer to a child whose name he or she doesn't know Corona: crown Callejon: alley Culenado: ? Chica: girl Dale: give Dique: like Diosa: goddess Dios: god Diablo: devil Dentista: dentist Diario: diary Digas: speak Desgraciado: disgraceful person (masculine) Dura: hard (feminine) Diaburlas: ? Dulces: sweets, candies Dejame: leave me Doña: title of courtesy preceding a woman’s first name Dime: tell me Dio: gave Delincuencia: delinquency Dolores: pains Dos: two Esta: this, these Eres: are El: he Ella: she Existe: exists Exigente: demanding Esponja: sponge Esa: her, that woman Esposa: wife Esto: this Encendida: passionate, burning, flushed Entiendes: understand Educado: educated Fuku: ? I think he made this up? Fua: bam! Fea: ugly (feminine) Flaca: skinny female Fulano: that person, that someone Feminino: feminine Fuera: away, outside Fuego: fire Guapo: handsome male Guapa: handsome female Galletazo: great big slap Gordo: fat male Gran: big Ganas: desires Gallo: chicken Gallear: to show off Gringo: white male Hombre: men Hija: daughter Hijo: son Hambre: hungry Hermanita: little sister Hamaca: hammock Haitianos: haitians Infierno: hell Insuperable: insufferable Jodido: screwed (masculine) Jurona: savage animal? Jefe: boss Jodiendome: bothering with me Jodas: f--k Jipeta: jeep Junta: military government coalition Llamas: calls Lambesacos: see document Muchacho: boy Muchacha: girl Maldito: maldito: Meteselo: Shove it Moreno: dark-skinned male Mio: mine Mami: mom, sexy girl Madre: mother Malecon: street along the seawall Maestra: teacher Mesera: waitress Mas: more Mujer: woman Monita: monkey girl Mataron: killed Madrugada: early morning, day break Maldito seas: damn you, dammit Mamahuevo: see document Muy: very Maricon: faggot Mariconsito: little faggot Muchachita: little girl Merengue: a type of music Mirador: lookout Madrinas: godmothers Malapalabras: bad words Negra: black female Nino: boy Negrita: little black female or affectionately black female Novio: boyfriend Norte: north Numero: number Puta: slut Perrito: little dog Puerca: pig female Paliza: beating, pummeling Pariguayo: weak man, coward Pequena: small (female) Pulperia: small grocery store Princesa: princess Paso: pass Pendejada: Parque: park Pista: trail Popola: female sexual organ Pela: beating Prendas: jewelry Primavera: Spring Palacio: palace Pendeja: moron, idiot (feminine) Plataneros: people of the plaintain Politicos: politicians Preocupas: preoccupied Peledista: (According to helpful commentator, Joe) a member of the Dominican Liberation Party. The PLD, as it is known in Spanish, is the political party of current president Leonel Fernandez Reyna. Pobre: poor Paja: straw Plantado: planted Pulpo: octopus Pollo: chicken Pana: corduroy Paloma: dove Pueblo: people, village Semana: week Santa: saint Senora: woman Sancocho: to parboil, traditional soup/stew Santisimo: sacred? Sindicatos: union, guild Saca: to pull out Sueno: dream Sola: alone (female) Senorita: young girl, young woman Surenos: southern Serio: series Supermercado: supermarket Sientase: felt like Sacrificio: sacrifice Tio: uncle Tia: aunt Tu: you Tuya: yours (feminine) Tesoro: treasure Tengo: have Tranquilidad: tranquility Tetas: breasts Tetua: big breasted female Todavia: still, yet Tienes: have, has Taza: cup Tormenta: turmoil, storm Traquila: tranquil female Todopoderoso: all powerful Tranquilisate: calm down Toto: derogatory term for vagina Taxista: taxi driver Uno: one Una: one (female) Unica: only (female) Vayanse: leave! Veras: you will see Ven: come Verguenza: disgrace Viejos: old males Vieja: old females Zafa: to loosen Zangana: drone Lo siento: I’m sorry No lo pareces: you don’t look it Poco hombre: barely a man Pan de agua: bread of water Gente de calidad: quality people Fuera de serio: out of series Posted by Aliza "La Jewminicana" Hausman at 12:01 AM Labels: chronic pain/fibromyalgia, culture/multiculturalism, family, grandparents, hair, Hispanics/Latinos, Junot Diaz, Oscar Wao 14 comments: LatinBlog said... I can't believe you guys did that! Well done Alys. After this, I might just refuse to speak to you in English ever again! 7:05 PM Aliza "La Jewminicana" Hausman said... It's just a shame how many people are complaining that they feel they're not 'getting' everything in the book because they don't understand the Spanish. There really should have been a glossary. It's been helpful to hear all this feedback though since I want to use Spanish in my book and I want to make sure it is understood. 12:38 PM Anonymous said... Thank you so much for doing this. I really have felt I've missed a lot in the book so far. Without actually understanding the language, the effect of having all those Spanish-language phrases is just sort of cute but irritating. I can't believe that's the effect Diaz wanted. 3:26 PM Aliza "La Jewminicana" Hausman said... No problem. Hope it's helpful. If there are any words I didn't catch, just let me know. I'll get you the translation. Everyone should fully enjoy Oscar Wao, it's quite the book. 7:07 PM Jori said... Terrific! Thank you! 12:54 PM Joe said... Peledista is a member of the Dominican Liberation Party. The PLD, as it is known in Spanish, is the political party of current president Leonel Fernandez Reyna. 6:50 PM Mel said... I just stumbled across your post when I was looking for a definition of "galletazo," which nicetranslator couldn't understand. Thanks so much for this! I was beginning to worry I'd miss half the book at this rate, since I'd already stopped to look up about ten things in the first 15 pages. Thank goodness my husband knows comic book characters, or I'd need those definitions, too. 9:18 PM Kim Flournoy said... This post has been removed by the author. 1:03 AM Kim Flournoy said... Darn, I wish I'd seen this page earlier! I went ahead and created a site for the book, including all the pop culture references, which I thought would be helpful to people as well, but the Spanish was definitely hard to track down! http://www.annotated-oscar-wao.com 1:20 AM Aliza "La Jewminicana" Hausman said... Sorry, Kim! It certainly does help that Spanish is my second language. 7:15 AM Anonymous said... Thank you for this! It's awesome! -karla jane 8:43 PM Anonymous said... your title should be "you're" just saying, if you want to write a book and all. 4:06 PM Anonymous said... You're awesome for this, thank you! 11:41 AM Aliza "La Jewminicana" Hausman said... I have changed "your" to "you're." It was a typo, Snarky McSnark. 12:38 PM
Provided by a member, Judy, you might have enjoyed/appreciated our last book more. Judy found a website that provided this 'study aide". I left the comments (after the glossary) on because they add texture to our discussion. Some of our members thought the book was worth the trouble to read. Others read it to see what the troubled characters were going to do, how it was going to unwind. Oscar's life was a teribble waste, he courted disaster and consummated the relationship. What a family he had, and what was the pull of the Dominican country on them? Was it a fuku, curse? It sure seemed like one. Is a difficult, depressing, sad story worth a Pulitzer? I think not. What were they thinking? Jana hosted like a grand Hotel: fruit, veggies, dips, cheeses, crackers, and a fine cake with hand whipped cream, and a fine collection of drinks. We won't forget the police action either! We discussed the schedule, skipping May, and trying a set 2nd Saturday regular meeting. April 06 Dashiell Hammett's Lost StoriesDashiell Hammett wrote the Maltese Falcon, which we read in bookclub, and I looked for something on him. This book, edited by Vince Emery, has a lot of history of early 20th century America besides the works of Hammett, and a lot about the author. If you want to know how someone clawed his way out of illness, and poverty to wealth and fame, and crawled back to die after a riotous life read this book. It's not a pretty story, but quite a story none the less. This book goes into the literary business , as well as the Movie business. The depression is a major character, as is WW2, and American politics right and left. I enjoyed it enough to not only like Hammett more, but want to read more about him. March 29 Wandering in the desert, with dessertWe gathered at the appointed time, Sue prepared some veggies, chips and dip, after the talk about the book, Secret Knowledge of Water, by Craig Childs,
we had some homemade carrot cake, washed down with beverages. Our author told a tale of his wanderings in search of water, in water, avoiding murderous water, witnessing the after effects of floods, and thinking about the wet stuff. Sometimes he was new age poet, other times he was scientest, and always he was in the desert experiencing water, or the lack therof. This bothered some of our readers. Childs did some things in searching for water that would make a skydiver nervous. I'm not talking about driving through sand 3 feet at a time either. Who would risk hypothermia in a flooded canyon, or walk toward a flash flood?
Certainly not most people, and even most risk lovers. Given the close knowledge of desert floods, such behavior was asking for it. There was a mystical quality around Childs searching for water cisterns in arid lands. Sad about the poisoning of the 'trash' native fish to usher in the more desirable sport fish. Things were different then, and the perpetrators didn't know what we know now. Carol and Bob heard Childs at the Book Fair at the U of A. We heard him through his web site reading about the Peregrine falcon. After hashing around the details about the next meetings and books we broke up. Another book, some memorable scenes, and an author who may be too much in love with death.
March 19 Interpreter of MaladiesWhat a good time we had talking about the finely written stories in Maladies. While they were not earth shattering they were not totally forgettable either. Some of us had trouble remembering all the stories, but a few of them came to mind. Memoirs? Imaginings of what might have happened to an acquaintance? Characters from a group we worked with once? People we met on vacation? Childhood friends, or their parents? Bob and Jackie made us welcome, and we did our thing.
I'm listening to the CD version of Blasphemy by Douglas Preston-what a romp! From the sleepy beginning to the riotous encounter with G-d! What is going on, and who is doing what? It's a conspiracy mystery with a filling of science vs. revelation inside.
The two books I'm still reading are The man with the Iron Heart by Turtledove, and the Lost Stories of D. Hammet, are still going well, but it's hard to find time. (Same old excuse!) January 11 Book club meets, eats talks books
Maltese falcon was the dingus the book described. Clear moonlight lit the white hybrid at the keypad. It moved on, and we went to it's space, keyed the number, and drove through the gate. Talk was good, damn good, better have been good. Devilish v of lips parted and food moved in. Food on crackers, sweet, chypre, washed down with red and white wine, fruit too. Hard boiled detectives wore out shoe leather before Samuel Spade, but future generations of gumshoes nodded back to Mr. Spade. In the bookclub we have laid the paver to the foundation for future mysteries we read. Yeah, we'll read 'serious' fiction, and other stuff, but now we will be able to compare new reads to Hammett's book. There is a part which describes where the bird came from, which sounded like the best of Dan Brown's Templar history. Of course for this enthusiastic scholarly tale the teller of choice was Gutman, who searched for the falcon almost 2 decades before running upon SS in San Fran. After a bit of reminiscing about books discussed in the past we looked forward to new challenges: after next month we'll read Secret Knowledge of Water, by Craig Childs, selected by Pat at Larry and Sue's 3/28. And I picked Robert Crais' LA Requiem for September, since Leslie, and Jana agree it's a good read.(I copied Bob's web page because he said the website might go away. If it does I'll carry on here to keep a webpresence for us until something else develops.) One thing I was curious about was if Spade put the guns into the hall closet, why didn't the kid try to get them when he left?.... December 15 Chi Newman and RichardThere was a packed house at Bob & Carol's for FAREWELL, MY BEIJING, Chi's memoir. After we all got there Chi rose and recapped her story, with Richard participating.
They brought the book back to life, and added a lot to the memories she shared. I'm glad her family pulled it out of her. Like she said about her son goading her into Tennis the book wasn't her idea. With so much travel, and a difficult journey it was, there were many interactions, and difficulties, it seemed like a very interesting life.
Chi even brought a new recipe for some cookies. It was fun to talk to her, and Richard. She even signed my copy of the book. Bob & Carol hosted us like royalty, with goodies, Sparkling wine, and Red and white wine too!
 (I intend to return to blog about the last few books we read in the club, which I have neglected. Probably the best book I listened to on CD recently was L.A. Requiem, by Robert Crais.) September 07 Who's on first...Latest movement in the Bookclub besides fast turning pages in Heart Seisure. Thanks to Carol, who sent a note to Susan Vreeland about her call in.
(Some names & details were changed to protect innocence in general):
Bob: Hello All, The server for the bookclub web site crashed and we have been migr...
Sep 6 (2 days ago) Bob: Loading...Sep 6 (2 days ago)
Larry - Hi Bob, I put the next 4 books/hosts/dates in my blog after checking with som... Sep 6 (2 days ago) Bob to show details Sep 6 (1 day ago) Reply OK, I have updated the site with the information from Larry’s blog. Please check to make sure I have everything right. We now have 11 hosts and 16 selectors in our illustrious group. Here is my initial suggestion for the 2009 year and start of 2010. I would like to suggest we keep this order and cycle through and switch out on an as needed (or as wanted) basis. Date Host(s) Selector Jan-09 Jackie & Dave Jana Feb-09 Pat Jim Mar-09 Sue & Larry Jackie Apr-09 Susan C. Leslie May-09 Jana Pat Jun-09 Leslie Susan C. Jul-09 Jan Dave Aug-09 Judy & Bob Bob A. Sep-09 Maggie & Jim Larry Oct-09 Deanna Bob H. Nov-09 Carol & Bob Deanna Dec-09 Jackie & Dave Judy Jan-10 Pat Sue Atilla Feb-10 Sue & Larry Jan Mar-10 Susan C. Maggie Apr-10 Jana Carol May-10 Leslie Jana Jun-10 Jan Jim Comments and suggestion are welcome. Bob (it was a lot of fun moving everyone to the right after cutting and pasting the program clumped everyone to the left side. Sue, my wife, however could not be moved further to the right since Atilla was there. ;-) August 29 Next booksOK the website seems to be down so I'll enter the next books as a service to the many who read this blog :-):
September 20 Heart Seisure Bill Fitzhugh Bob & Judy
October 18 Suite Francaise Irene Nemirovsky Maggie & Jim
November 15 Garden of Last Days Andre Dubus III Deanna
December 13 Farewell My Beijing Chi Newman Bob & Carol
Any corrections and/or additions will be appreciated, so let me know. Next booksOK the website seems to be down so I'll enter the next books as a service to the many who read this blog :-):
September 20 Heart Seisure Bob & Judy
October 18 Suite Francaise Maggie & Jim
November 15 Garden.... Deanna
December 13 Farewell My Beijing ?
Any corrections and/or additions will be appreciated, so let me know. Next booksOK the website seems to be down so I'll enter the next books as a service to the many who read this blog :-):
September 20 Heart Seisure Bob & Judy
October 18 Suite Francaise Maggie & Jim
November 15 Garden.... Deanna
December 13 Farewell My Beijing ?
Any corrections and/or additions will be appreciated, so let me know. August 25 Luncheon of the book clubYes I see our bookclub a bit like the group that was imortalized in Luncheon of the Boating Party. (OK we met in the evening and it wasn't a luncheon!) But we create an experience together by our input with the books we talk about together. Anyway we talked about the book, then we called the author and talked about it with her, and then we talked about it some more. Some liked it, others were not impressed by the characterization, or some other factors. For me, the book took me to the post Franco-Prussian war world which the Impressionists helped heal, and reflected a nation in change. I got to see a famous painter and his world. Most thought the scholarship was impressive. Susan Vreeland told us about her next book and would let us know about it's publication if we send her our emails.
Then we discussed the membership issues. It was difficult for our hostess to ask the recent and proposed guest to not attend since we were discussing membership, but their presence would have been a trial too. Jana prepared ballots for the issues and Pat was voted in, with a maximum upper limit of 16 for practical reasons-we can't accomodate more in our homes, and besides we would lose the closeness which we value in our group if it got too big. We planned a few more books, and picked some dates. Bob is having some issues with the website which should be up soon , so I'll referain from going there for a bit. Good choices, more community to close out 2008 - long live the art we are! August 22 Less than a day
I'll be waiting, Susan LAWRENCE NEWMAN wrote: Dear Susan, August 12 Size mattersThe discussion is spirited about new members! I think we should shut the door after the people under discussion. Just as long as we all get it together ffor the call with Susan Vreeland I'll be happy. I tried to add some new photos from recent trips, etc. August 06 Getting to yes...I spoke to Jan today about Susan Vreeland taling to our book club when we discuss her book and then emailed Susan:
Dear Susan, Our hostess for the night our book club will be discussing is Jan. We'll start around 7:30, Tucson AZ time, and I hope that won't make speaking with us too late for you if you are East of us. We can call you, of course, and you can call me at my home number, 520-299-2092 to leave your number, or email me (lawrencenewman1@msn.com). If August 23 doesn't work for you we'll be meeting on later dates, which are on Bob's website (http://dakotacom.net/~batwell/Bookclub.html). So let me know how we can link up. Larry Newman Let's see what happens. July 28 Vreeland responds!
Dear Lawrence, I don't visit book clubs in person, but I do welcome book clubs of ten or more to arrange a call to me during their meeting if they have a speaker phone. It works best if they have 45 minutes to discuss the book and decide on what they want to ask me before you make the call. Your email doesn't give a date so I can't say whether I would be available. Regards, Susan Vreeland So if it's OK with Jan, on the 23rd, and Bob and Judy on the 20th (of September) as an alternate we can tell Susan V. we'd like to call her. That would make an 8PM call a possibility, and if she's on the East coast it would be late, but possible. July 27 Calling Susan Vreeland
Dear Susan,
I liked your book so much I recommended it to our book club. I don't know if this would work, but I think I saw somewhere on your extensive website that you can come to bookclubs. So if you're in Tucson...:-) I guess by phone is possible, and I'd be happy to call you so you wouldn't have a big phone bill, but you may want to keep your privacy, or have other concerns with that, Anyway I listened to the Luncheon, and know some of our other members will want to read some of your other books too. We'll be assembled by 7:45 or so. My wife, who is also a Susan, has one of the numerous copies of your book owned by our library, but wants to listen to it too. A little about us- Bob has maintained our website for quite a while now, and you can see you are on our list. The URL is: http://dakotacom.net/~batwell/Bookclub.html I'm Larry Newman, and I blog comments about our meetings: http://hyprnertomachia.spaces.live.com/ Noone reads my blog, but you can if you want to see more about us, from my point of view. (And to see whether we are nuts) I can give you Jan's number if you want to call the night of the meeting to say hi to those of us here in Tucson who will be discussing your book. Someone might have a question for you. I'm sure if we know you are calling, we will come up with something. (understatement-for the humor challenged) We had a few authors attend our meetings, and it's quite a thrill for us. Some of us are retired, Jan works at xxxxxx so she is on board with authors. When I told the group about my choice I mentioned that I saw something about how you can interact with readers. My number is xxx xxx xxxx. Keep writing, and we'll keep reading, Larry P. S. The email address I check the most is lrrynmn@gmail.com. I hope to hear from you if we can set something up. L. July 25 On the way to the big island...I have trouble entering spaces-go figure, but it looks like I'm in, and the words are appearing on the screen so here goes.
Leslie had the group just before the trip with Deanna. So I had to leave, but now I'm back. Bottom line-some members like dogs, and some don't. More about the author than his dog, or the family, but that's who writes memoirs. Jim thought he did a good job of the writing. Grogan was a journalist after all. I had some problems with the dangerous neighborhood he first lived in, and of course, Marley-the dog was a disaster, and some other arrangements should have been made. Then there was Grogan's career. The progression of jobs seemed to go very well, and I was jealous, but that's the way it goes for some folks. As for his wife, who also started out as a journalist, She made the transition to baby producer just fine, and how did she feel about that? Well, as an allegory for life Marley and Me wasn't bad, but we need to see about what books we read, as a group I mean. Universal themes, something with enduring value, and of course the important criteria- short, and available, are the reasons to suggest books, not just "I liked it!". This isn't Oprah's book club, or the masters literature class, but let's have some standards.
June 16 Liberated by the Chicoms!Saturday we celebrated 7 Years in Tibet. Bob H. showed us just how hard Harrer's trip was for on the map it was a long way, and on the ground it was up and down, cold and high in elevation. Then to become a respected contributor to the Lhasa upper class community was quite an achievement for an escaped POW(sort of). Unfortunately the Shangri La life came crashing down with the chinese absorbsion of tibet. H. H. decided to go home. Yes he had a family, and he was away for a long time, but one has to wonder if it were not for the invasion would he have ever wanted to go home. The War (second World) was over, and it was safe for ex-nazis to go back to the reich for 5 years or so. This adventurer gave us a good view of the tibetan world, warts and all. Some parts of it needed to change, and probably could have been better served if it were changed for the better earlier. A good read, and Jana treated her guests well :-) Well it's to the dogs next time for Marley and Me. |
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