My two favorite essays in this book were "Farther Away" and "On Autobiographical Fiction." The first described spreading some of David Foster Wallace's ashes on a remote Pacific Island where Franzen came to birdwatch, and the second is about autobiographical fiction, as advertised. Unless the book has been, in some way, for the writer, an adventure into the unknown; unless the writer has set himself or herself a personal problem not easily solved; unless the finished book represents the surmounting of some great resistance—it’s not worth reading. Or, for the writer, in my opinion, worth writing." Coincidentally, I listened to this introduction while watching one of my sons' baseball game in a tiny, historic stadium in downtown Newport. Needless to say, it hooked me from the beginning. Started listening to it on a long camping drive with my hubby. But we didn’t finish it. When a month later we made it to Hawaii for a vacation and seen a town named Captain Cook, we decided to finish the book together.

I suspect that people less encumbered by loyalty have an easier time being fiction writers, but all serious writers struggle, to some extent, at some point in their lies, with the conflicting demands of good art and good personhood." When a father who dreams of flying goes off to war and doesn’t return, his son decides to make his dream come true. Grahame’s moving story, with stunning illustrations, shows how, with love and a bit of ambition, you can reach seemingly impossible goals. In James Cook geval is hij de grote ontdekker van wat er niet was (terra incognita) sinds hij op zoek was naar het zuidelijke continent wat uiteindelijk niet bestond. Antarctica bleek heel klein en hij voer er rondom heen, en Nieuw Zeeland en Australie waren deels al ontdekt (Abel Tasman) en zelfs Tahiti waar Cook’s naam bijna synoniem mee is was al door een Fransman ontdekt. Paaseiland was ook al een keer bezocht (Roggeveen). Op zijn derde reis ontdekte hij hij wel de Hawai eilanden waar hij bij een tweede bezoek spijtig ook gedood werd door de lokale bevolking. Overall, I couldn't connect with Franzen's writing style. His prose is usually devoid of emotion and sentimentality. Even in 'formal' writing, I prefer a bit of heart and a sense of nostalgia to come across in essays and speeches. At times, I felt like a crusty English teacher, urging her student to make me feel why saving endangered bird species or whatever other cause is meaningful. This book talks about a broken family, war and obsession. Not to mention a dream of flying, which brings me to the reason I do like this book. This book, has two meanings Father as in parent and farther, as in far away. It has so much passion in the writing, for example 'I would sit on his lap until he remembered me. FArTHER not only has passionate words but fantastic illustrations, therefore every time you look at this book you see different things.... Read Full ReviewThis is somewhat shallow history, and a straightforward story. As far as I can tell Dugard simply makes things up when he discusses Cook's inner thoughts and motivations. Certainly there appears to have been a tendency to extract far more from the indigenous populations than that which was offered. Sad but true a likely scenario played out in many other cultural encounters on history.

Franzen brings up Wallace's lying and betrayals. This too was a humiliating aspect of my friendship with a genius. Many's the time I waited for him to show up to our little "writer's group" only to have him not. Something else came along. Or he forgot. Or, later on, he started drinking. The lying, not so much perhaps, but, perhaps more because of the drinking than anything else, it too came up. Dismaying! One of the most ruthlessly intellectually and emotionally honest people I've ever known would resort to lying and cheap excuse-mongering. His girlfriends suffered far more than I did from these things, but it was still dismaying. In "I Just Called to Say I Love You," Franzen beautifully captured the societal damage being caused by cellphones. He also draws the issue close to home, describing how his relationship with his late parents may have coloured his view of cellphones. written by Angela McAllister. Farther, which uses photographic collage and illustration, is the first book that Grahame has written and illustrated. It won the Greenaway Medal in 2011. Constantly experimenting with different styles of illustration, Grahame likes to challenge the conventional boundaries with his artwork. I like a good story of seafaring adventure. Alfred Lansing’s Endurance, and Laurence Bergreen’s Over the Edge of the World are two of my favorites, and now this book is almost up there with them. At its heart are two great essays: the title piece, which explores Franzen attempting to get away from civilisation, at least for a day or two and which becomes a meditation on nature, art and personality all in one.Through the unit, the children focus on characterisation and make inferences about the author’s perspective on a particular character and finally write a new version or scene for the story in the style of the author. The frivolous, extravagant lifestyle of the novel only makes sense with the assumption the future was taken care of. But it seems like people even during that era suspected it would soon come to an end. Like this popular poem, written in 1920: A son remembers his father - his dreams of being able to fly as well as spending time together until one day the war takes him away forever.

To deserve the death sentence he’d passed on himself, the execution of the sentence had to be deeply injurious to someone. To prove once and for all that he truly didn’t deserve to be loved, it was necessary to betray as hideously as possible those who loved him best, by killing himself at home and making them firsthand witnesses to his act."

Using photographic collage and illustration, this is the first book that Grahame has written and illustrated. Constantly experimenting with different styles of illustration, Grahame likes to challenge the conventional boundaries with his artwork. About This Edition ISBN: Jonathan Franzen is the author of The Corrections, winner of the 2001 National Book Award for fiction; the novels The Twenty-Seventh City and Strong Motion; and two works of nonfiction, How to Be Alone and The Discomfort Zone, all published by FSG. His fourth novel, Freedom, was published in the fall of 2010.