Read A Book A Week
-
Carto’s Recent Posts
- Earthsea — Dragons and Wizards
- Flowers on Note Cards
- An Exhibition of Paintings by Monet
- Twisted — An Arizona garden in California
- The Thinker Waits
- Weathered — Church Bells in the Tower
- Favorites 2017 — Transition to Winter
- Transformation — Land’s End turns chilly
- Peek — Halloween in Palo Alto
- Stanford at Night
Carto’s Most Viewed Posts
Carto’s Archives
- August 2020
- May 2019
- May 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- June 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- December 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2015
- January 2015
- April 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- September 2010
Posts Organized by Category
Monthly Archives: July 2011
A Slavic Love Story: Hero and Leander Retold
Once upon a time, An overbearing father grounded his daughter Hero, a ripening young melon; he exiled her to a maiden’s tower on the edge of the water. But, that didn’t stop the willful virgin from seducing Leander, a gorgeous … Continue reading
Our Founders: How Did They Do It?
“We hold these truths to be self-evident”—this remarkable assertion begins the Declaration of Independence as written by the founders of our country in 1776 after considerable heated debate and 11th hour compromises on wording. Some few years later, in 1789, … Continue reading
Sorghum Justice: Murder and Vengeance in Mexico
As he enters the ripening sorghum field, Ramón sees an unclothed girl lying face down her own blood. He takes off his shirt to place it over the girl’s nakedness. He approaches closely: he recognizes her face; it is Adela his … Continue reading
The Whale—The Lure of the Sea
Wandering through the house with a heavy novel in my hand, I was looking at book shelves and now and then pulling a volume to read the opening lines—I was half way through my yearlong project of reading and re-reading … Continue reading
Summer on a Mid-western Horse Farm
Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley’s debut novel Barn Blind (1980) is an intimate look at a family in turmoil—Katy and Alex Karlson and their 4 teenage children operate Kate’s horse farm in the mid-west; they are caring for 40 thoroughbred … Continue reading
Harold Pinter: Tense Memory Play Recalls Old Times
There is no proscenium curtain at the Pigott Theater on the Stanford University Campus. The 200 or so seats in this intimate theater look directly onto the stage. When I attended the Summer Theater 2011 production of Harold Pinter’s Old … Continue reading
Looking Back: Vietnam and The Quiet American
Graham Green, author of The Quiet American, was a war correspondent stationed in Saigon, Vietnam during the final stages of the Indochina War pitting the French against the revolutionary forces of Ho Chi Minh. Green lived in Vietnam until the … Continue reading
Canons Reverberate in a Tiny Caribbean Harbor
The small colonial sailing vessel sailed up the roadstead towards anchorage in the harbor and readied her ceremonial cannons to fire a salute: White puffs of gun smoke over a turquoise sea followed by the boom of cannon rose from an … Continue reading
Carto's Library 