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[sikora]

I just finished Sontag's The Volcano Lover.  Great book.  I was a little intimidated by the size when I started, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down.  It was one of those novels in which I felt like I was inside walking around in the world Sontag creates.  I was sad it was over, but it clearly was supposed to be over. 

The other day I sat in on an intermediate ELL class.  Four students, from Somalia, Morocco, Laos, and Mexico, working on a basic novel.  A good little book pitched to adult language learners, with basic language.  The students were working so hard, enjoying their success and the process of reading for pleasure, relating their personal experiences to those of the characters.  I thought of the rich deep novel I was currently reading (The Volcano Lover), and I realized what a gift literacy is. 

[untenured]

Hi Sikora,

I've never heard of the book and I have no experience with ELL.  Your post looked lonely though and in need of companionship.

Untenured

[sikora]

Well, thanks!  I loved the book, and I'm enjoying another.  It's better than TV.

[betty_p]

I read The Vocano Lover for a course in grad school, but I have absolutely no recollection of it. That may say something in and of itself.

But lo! here it still is on my bookshelf.

Give me a couple of days, and I'll get back to you.

[genespleen2]

Sikora, (and others?),

If you liked Volcano Lover, you might very much like Barry Unsworth's Losing Nelson.  It's superb.