Angela Palm grew up in a place not marked on the map; her house set on the banks of a river that had been straightened to make way for farmland. Every year; the Kankakee River in rural Indiana flooded and returned to its old course while the residents sandbagged their homes against the rising water. From her bedroom window; Palm watched the neighbor boy and loved him in secret; imagining a life with him even as she longed for a future that held more than a job at the neighborhood bar. For Palm; caught in this landscape of flood and drought; escape was a continually receding hope. Though she did escape; as an adult Palm finds herself drawn back; like the river; to her origins. But this means more than just recalling vibrant; complicated memories of the place that shaped her; or trying to understand the family that raised her. It means visiting the prison where the boy that she loved is serving a life sentence for a brutal murder. It means trying to chart; through the mesmerizing; interconnected essays of Riverine; what happens when a single event forces the path of her life off course.
#3586368 in Books 2016-12-08Original language:English 9.00 x .34 x 6.00l; #File Name: 1540873072150 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Unexciting; but not bad.By medfairMyths are still one of the best (and apparently inexhaustible) starting materials for all arts. The author (authors? Or whatever Hourly History means) wrote three very short primers on Greek; Norse; and Egyptian mythologies. Although I am not really enthusiastic about this series; it is definitely better than many other similar primers. This is predominantly due to the well written and humorous text in the Greek and the Norse sections; which regrettably peters out in the Egyptian part. It is also considerably strengthened by citation of sources. The purpose of this type of concise guides is not informative; as the framework requires both careful choice of items and laconic brevity of description; but rather as a well prepared bait aimed at making the reader curious enough to enjoy more extensive handbooks; or even sources. This is best in the first two parts; but also weakens in the Egyptian Mythology part. I did have a problem withg the choice of material; with too much stress and pages devoted to the mythical cosmogonies (not cosmologies as the author states). The connection between the sociology of the cultures and the myths is emphasized in the Egyptian part; but fares rather poorly in the Greek and the Norse parts. Moreover; there are some embarassing bloopers; such as Minotaur being defined as a Centaur (which translates as bull-killer); as Pacifae mating with a Zeus manifesting as a bull (I think there was a mix-up with Europa); as the return journey of Theseus and Ariadne (she was abandoned on the isle Naxos; after she did what he needed to kill the Minotaur and find his way back); writing hieroglyphs on ostraca (really an Athenian way of voting); the location of the North Star indeed does not change; but that of Orion certainly does; and more. Also the syntax is strange here and there. On the whole; unexciting but not bad.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Very good read for young and old.By GrammyVWhat a nice series of works to introduce mythology. The books are just the right length to inform and whet the appetite for more. Well done.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. good readBy KAMIt contains a lot of great information; but I found the writing a bit dry. This reads more like a research paper and I would have preferred it to bring a little more life to the various gods/goddesses.
