Books from the Backlog, hosted by Carole's Random Life in Books, is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your shelf unread.
I stumbled onto this one thanks (again) to Chuckles. I have been toying with this one for a while because I have so many memes and features that I participate in, there are hardly time for reviews it feels like. But I am hoping this will also help with my whole TBR situation, so I can find some treasures that I have forgotten about.
Neglected Book of the Week
Why did I add From Camelot to Kent State to my TBR?
Because this is time period I would love to have experienced. Not lived through, just experienced. Like with a time machine. But since those don't exist, books.
Have you read this book, or is it somewhere on your TBR? If you've read it, would you recommend it to others?
I've read something like it, called "Too Good to be Forgotten". It was one person's account, but I remember it making the sixties seem more real and less mythic. I grew up on fifties/sixties hits, so I had a really dreamy version of it that idealized both Ozzie and Harriet and the hippies. (I still love Ozzie and Harriet. ;))
ReplyDeleteI've never seen Ozzie and Harriet! But I did watch Leave It to Beaver reruns when I was little and I loved it as a kid and wanted to live in the 50s. Now, I know there is no way I could survive then, what with all the smashing of the patriarchy that I'd like to do and all.
DeleteI have looked up the one you mentioned, is it the book by David Obst?
That's the one! I can't remember anything about it other than it changing my perception, though.
DeleteGood to know, it is the one I am adding to my TBR then. Thanks!
DeleteI have not read or known about this one. I am almost to the end of my 1964 reading list; books published in that year. Right now I am reading Ben Bova's first published novel: Star Watchmen. I lived through the time period. I was 13 in 1960.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be really hard to deal with living through a decade that would see the murders of JFK, Malcom X, Dr King, and then RFK - especially the last two so close together. Plus the horrors of Vietnam beginning, and then Kent State. Not to mention the peaks and valleys of the Civil Rights Movement aside from the assassinations.
DeleteAll of that was hard to deal with but it radicalized me forever!
DeleteAnd my generation will be forever thankful for your radicalization, to show us how it is done. I am cautiously optimistic for the upcoming protests, as people see what is happening in Hong Kong and in London with ol' Boris already losing his majority.
Deletei do remember the sixites. this would probaby bring back some good and maybe some not so good memories
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
I'm sure! I could not imagine living through a decade that saw the murders of JFK, Malcom X, Dr King, and RFK, plus the highs and lows of the Civil Rights Movement beyond the assassinations, and all that was brought about by the Vietnam War. Such tumult.
DeleteI know what you mean about wanting to see it or experience it with a buffer from it being really life. I hope its a good one when you get the chance.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sophia Rose! I certainly do not think I could have handled such a tumultuous decade, and am happy to look back on it from a safe distance.
DeleteI was around in the 60's (though not really paying too much attention to notice it!) but remember the 70's better. I always find it a bit... weird... reading about an era/time you actually lived through. Almost like hearing echoes in space-time....
ReplyDeleteI agree, I read books about cultural things in the 90s and feel nostalgic, but also a little weird because, it was my life. The seventies scare me a bit, what with all the bell bottoms and such.
DeleteI've always been told that the sixties really didn't start until '68 or so, so maybe that's why.
DeleteInteresting, I have never heard that. It offers a different perspective.
DeleteI could use a time machine to experience a few time periods :) I was born only 10 years after Kennedy's assassination so my parents did talk about this time. Sounds like an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was four, but I have asked my grandma about it and she remembers it very vividly. The nation was seriously traumatized.
DeleteThis sounds like an interesting read. My parents lived through the sixties. It was a tumultuous time. I sometimes wonder how the decade we are in now will be remembered.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was born in 1960, but I have asked my grandparents about the period and they recall a lot of those events very clearly. I treasure those conversations, because I am both drawn to and repulsed by that decade.
DeleteThe idea of a time machine to let us go back to experience all the big historical events would be so amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell let's get to work on building it then, shall we? ;)
DeleteI agree. I'd like to experience the time period, but definitely not live it.
ReplyDeleteIf we all work together, I am sure we can create a usable time machine. It'll be great!
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