Christy Brown: The Life that Inspired My Left Foot.

Synopsis from B&N.com: Christy Brown was severely disabled from birth with cerebral palsy and unable to use any part of his body other than his left foot. Doctors said that he was a mental defective and would never be able to lead a normal life; Christy proved them wrong. Written with the help of his surviving family members and artists who knew him well, this first authorized biography tells the astonishing story of Christy's struggle with his disability and his development as an artist, author, and poet, beginning with his mother teaching him to read and write using chalk on the worn floor of their small family home. Christy's memoir My Left Foot was published in 1954 and later made into an Academy Award–winning film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, while his bestselling novel Down All the Days was described by The Irish Times as "the most important novel since Ulysses." Using previously unpublished letters and poems, this book marks Christy Brown's importance as a writer and celebrates his will to succeed.

This was...a wonderfully eye-opening book. I am so glad I read it. Last year I became very interested in Christy Brown as an artist, but I never really, really realized just what an amazing artist and person he was. I am astounded at what he accomplished with his left foot. I cannot even begin to describe well enough of how much more I simply adore this man for his perseverance and the beauty of his life.

It was interesting to know the extra details, and the people that were in Christy's life. I think Ms. Hambleton did a wonderful job with this book. Very detailed, and well, personal. I felt I got a real look into Christy's life, I especially enjoyed his letters - they displayed such an articulate mind. Not that I think someone who can only control their left foot should be an idiot, but the fact that he hadn't any proper schooling is what gets me for that fabulous mind he had.

I fear I am going to begin rambling, so I will cut this review short, it is a lovely book on Christy Brown, and this, along with his auto-biography My Left Foot, is a wonderful start if you are interested in learning more about him. I also recommend trying out his poetry. I found it very refreshing when I read it last year, he was very talented.

Eep!

Woohoo! It's got a call number, but yes, it still says unavailable. Not worried about that though. Hoping that will go away before June. :)

June Reading Plan.

Yes. I have a reading plan for June, and it's a great one if you like Christy Brown!

I decided that in June, since that is when his birthday is (the 5th), I am going to read the remainder of his books I have left on my reading list:

• A Shadow on Summer
• Wild Grow the Lilies
• A Promising Career

I've already read all of his poetry books, which I absolutely adored. I'll probably check out one of them again next month. Probably The Collected Poems. Also if another book is available through the library's Link+ program, I shall get that one too. I wanted to buy it oh so badly last year but I simply haven't been able to afford it. It's been in the catalog listing for a few weeks now, but the call number isn't up yet so it's still in processing. But boy once that call number goes up, I'll be hittin' that request button faster than a rugged highlander man. :p

a shadow, indeed.

Well, I didn't get to finish reading A Shadow on Summer. (By Christy Brown.) I only got to chapter four and back it had to go to the library. Bleah. On Link+ books they only allow one renewal. I wish I would have checked into that earlier, but ah well. I shall get this book and the three others I didn't even get a chance to start on, again (very) soon.

I think I could have finished them if my dog (Brownie) didn't have to have surgery (two weeks ago) and then be watched afterwards. He was neutered and they found a hernia (no idea how to spell it, ugh) so he needed to be pampered and watched to make sure he didn't jump up any place high or run because he could have torn his stitches. Poor little guy, he had to have a cone on his head too. lol. It all comes off tomorrow though, so he can go back to being his normal grouchy doggie-self. Barking right in my face and hording all of the good chewies in my room so the other dogs can't have them.

Anyhoo, back to the library books! I think all of that slowed me down, so hopefully this weekend I can just sit and read and start concentrating on my challenge again. :) So yay. While at the library I looked for my current book which I will start later tonight: Once A Knight, by Christina Dodd. I was pretty close to being bummed because it wasn't in the section I thought it would be in, then as I was going to leave I remembered their "new arrivals" shelves, so I stopped over there, and there it was. Not checked out after all. :) The description of the book is on the humorous side so I hope I will enjoy this read.

The Courtyard.

The Courtyard by Marcia Willett, has failed to hold my interest. Early in the novel I had gotten sucked in, but now in the middle, I cannot stand it anymore. I don't know exactly where, but I was un-sucked. The drama, I think, was badly done and even ruining to the story, the characters are not like-able enough for me and just the thought of the story as a whole makes me want to roll my eyes. I can already see it turning into a little happily-ever-after read, which I do not care for at the moment. Simply not for me after all.

First, there was Gillian, I simply despised her at first, and liked her at the same time for her bold wickedness. I still kind of liked her in the middle of the book, but not enough to keep reading to find out what happens to her and Henry. Then there was John, who plainly, was a mere idiot. Nell, his wife, was a close runner up in idiocy. I understood her situation and even where she may have been coming from, but I did not like her simply because she took all that crap and seemed too easily to let John off the hook when she was so worried. (Which was often repeated in her thoughts.) I remember on top of one of the pages (this being a library book, remember) there was written in pencil in reference to something incredibly stupid John had just done in the story: "What an idiot!" I was in total agreement. (Though very much annoyed that someone wrote in a book, which I erased.) But I could not help but agree. And chuckle at it a little. Goodness. Other characters are not really worth a mention from me, so I shall leave it at that.

I should have just stuck with my Christy Brown books. As with all of them, I am looking forward to starting A Shadow on Summer, tonight - or possibly earlier. :)

Down All the Days.

I finished reading this book, Down All the Days, by Christy Brown, last night, and I was shocked, amused, and heartbroken while reading this book. It is about a (lower, I assumed) middle class family living in the slums of Dublin, and what goes on (mainly) through the eyes of one of the sons of the family, whom is disabled. I think this book shows what a truly great writer Christy Brown was. This was lyrical, poetical, and sometimes downright vulgar. But I did indeed love that. For it's different style than what I've gotten used to - it's always nice to be emotionally shocked by a book and fall in love with the language and style of writing the author had. While it is a great read for the heart, I don't think it would be for everyone's heart.

Of Snails and Skylarks.

(Cute cover, no?) This was..wonderful, to say the least. I love his work in this book. It just seemed more freshly done and more concentrated. And, I could not help but positively die over one of them in particular, the one titled Victoria. My real name is, of course, Victoria. :D (I use "Little Lotte" here because it is my book blog, and one of my favorite books is Gaston Leroux's, The Phantom of the Opera. Christine Daae is, you guessed it, Little Lotte, and oh wouldn't I love to live and die as The Phantom's [Erik's] love interest. Ahem. Enough side-tracking now!) Anyway, I am Victoria, and I am thrilled to finally come across a poem, by one of my favorites, entitled with my name. Even though it certainly was not written for me. (I wish!) I still love it. And the fact that California (where I am from and currently still live) is mentioned in it, thrills me even more. I can't help but wonder what it was like and how they were to have such a poem written. But that's just my silly heart wondering such things as it often does.

Now back to his Down All the Days, and then concentrating on his other novels.

Come Softly To My Wake.

I finished reading Christy Brown's Come Softly To My Wake a few nights ago, so here I am writing my (late) short review of it. Not very many *new* poems in it, lots of repeating ones, which was actually on the annoying side, but ah well. It's still a lovely book of his poetry.

oh, this was one of my first Link+ books from the library. it came from Santa Clara University. :) Interesting to see where they come from.

I think this is the sweetest inscription I've ever read. :)
(inside of "Of Snails and Skylarks." - which I am reading now.)

and a stack of (mostly) all his books I've gotten from the library recently.

Background Music.

I finished reading Christy Brown's Background Music: Poems, last night and I was just as swept away and touched by this book of poetry as I was with the first book of them that I have read. (The Poems of Christy Brown.) There are some repeating poems though, but that is okay with me, because I love pretty much all of them so far.

Now I have moved on to his Come Softly To My Wake, which of course I am also enjoying. I have one more of his poetry books left to go after this one, and I am very excited about that one, because most of the poems look "new" - no repeats. So yay.

My Left Foot.

I found Christy Brown's auto-biography, My Left Foot, to be particularly interesting at this point in my interest for him. Though I wouldn't exactly say it was completely touching, it did have it's moments.

Quite different from the movie, and more enjoyable in my opinion. They are conflicting in many ways, which I did not like at all. Frankly the book makes the movie look like crap. I don't know just how many differences in the movie are true or not, but I intend to try to find out. Especially with the help of another new-ish book that has come out about his life, by Georgina Louise Hambleton. Which I found right here: on Amazon. I hope to order it for my birthday in a couple of weeks so I can find out what her book about him has to say. She says she has interviews and such from his family, and friends as well if I remember correctly. (Family is a definite.) So I hope it will be interesting, and from reviews and such that I've read on it already, I have no doubt it very well will be. Perhaps it will help show how things really were for him and his wife and in other events in his life, as I believe the movie did not. I think they sort of veiled things so it will look happy and sweet - which it did come across as, but that doesn't make it okay because I'm not so sure anymore that the film makers were very truthful, no matter how small or big those parts were.

I'm still (slowly) reading Down All the Days, and I'm also reading another of his poetry books, which I am absolutely loving; Background Music: Poems. I am so glad I got his poetry books (though some of the poetry repeats in the different collections of them, ah well), I am very picky about poetry and his just sweeps me away. So it's been good to find another poet I like, when I have so very few favorites of something I positively live for.

The Poems of Christy Brown.

I read this last night, and was swept away by it. Especially his poem "End". It is my favorite of his so far. There were also lots of single lines in here that I positively loved. I am looking forward to his other poetry books I have coming to the library. :)

Now I am currently reading his novel, Down All the Days. I'm only one short chapter in but I like how it's really different already from what I'm used to reading & I cannot wait to get further into it. :)

another drop.

These are too many book drops for me. Ugh. Anyhoo, I'm not going to read The Dangerous Gentleman after all, because the Christy Brown books I put on hold at the library are starting to trickle in. (Yayness!) So I shall save it for another day. I was only one chapter in, anyway. I don't think I was really in the mood for a romance anyhow. I hope to pick up the first book (The Poems of Christy Brown.) that has arrived already, today. I need to return some things anyway, so it will work out okay. I have 8 more of his books coming though, I hope I won't have to go back and forth all week! I love going to the library, but it's so hot out there lately! lol. Oh well. :p

Even though I'm very excited to be finally getting his books to read, I'm not quite sure I'll like them. (His fiction books, anyway. I'm quite sure I'll like the poetry.) Yesterday I went on to amazon.com, and looked up his books to see if they had the "search inside" option for any of them, which I never thought to look at before - why, I don't know; but I looked yesterday, and they have that option for "Wild Grow the Lilies." I looked inside and I'm just not sure whether I liked it or not. I'm hoping it's one of those stories that will suck you in as you get further into it. I just don't want to be disappointed by them, because I am highly fascinated by his life.