THE SHELL COLLECTOR

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a b Sierwald, P.; Bieler, R.; Shea, E.K.; Rosenberg, G. (1 December 2018). "Mobilizing Mollusks: Status Update on Mollusk Collections in the U.S.A. and Canada". American Malacological Bulletin. 36 (2): 177. doi: 10.4003/006.036.0202.

Paul Grant is a relative newcomer to the area, and his work with former military dogs needing rehabilitation has been good for the town. Though he loved once before, he's convinced he's not suited for romance and is determined to find meaning--alone--through his work and role in the community. When Amanda moves with her two kids to a small beach town in NC to start over after losing her husband she isn’t quite ready for all that she encounters. She spends her days on the beach with her kids where she meets another widow in her elder years, and they become fast friends. Also enter Paul, the best man and best friend of her late husband, who happens to have opened a business in this same beach town. There are also these mysterious shells that people find around town with sayings or quotes on them, and it is always when they need to hear those words the most that they appear.If the sorrows of life are too much right now, maybe wait for a while, but don't miss it indefinitely. Okay—so in none of Howey’s worlds would anyone want to live. But once you start reading, you never want to leave. The Shell Collector is set more than a quarter century away on the coast of Maine and in a submerged New York City. It brings the usually speculative and remote welfare-of-your-great-grandkids argument on climate change, to the table. But unlike, say, the hard-hitting image of water that’s “a hand sweeping everything from the table” in Jim Shephard’s “The Netherlands Lives with Water,” Howey’s conservationism here is more subtle. This story is more about the characters—Ness Wilde and Maya Walsh, Holly, Special Agent Stanley Cooper, and a generation of what could be our future grandkids coping with disappearing shores. And because these characters are convincing and realistic individuals, like all Howey’s characters, they have to point their fingers somewhere—the past. I really liked how the author wrote the process of mourning and healing and the way fate gave Paul and Amanda a second chance at love. This was a touching and heartfelt story. I disagree with the reviewer that said the leads didn't have chemistry. I thought they had real chemistry. It took me a few minutes to get past the Botox lips of the lead actress, but I thought she did a great job with expressing grief and hesitancy and walking through healing to wholeness. Same with the lead actor. If they had had what is typically thought of as chemistry, where are they have a spark, and are all smiley at the beginning of the movie, it wouldn't have been right for the story. They had to tread carefully as they walked through forgiveness and healing and restoration. The children and the older actors were well cast, too. They were touching and very believable. With beautiful scenery on top of it all, it was a great movie. I thought the script was well written.

Karin Leonhard (2007). "Shell Collecting. On 17th-Century Conchology, Curiosity Cabinets And Still Life Painting". Early Modern Zoology: The Construction of Animals in Science, Literature and the Visual Arts. Brill: 192–196. doi: 10.1163/ej.9789004131880.i-657.52. ISBN 9789047422365. God's hand placed Amanda where she would meet Maeve, and they blessed one another, in more ways than one. We are given unconditional love at all levels, and the gifts keep giving. An interview with the elusive Wilde just falling into her lap isn't enough for Maya. Extra convincing comes in the form of FBI Special Agent Cooper, who I assume enjoys a slice of cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee every now and then (thankfully, there were no dancing dwarves in the book). Cooper shows Maya three perfect lace murex shells, which would apparently be worth millions on the open shell market. They both immediately conclude that Ness boy must be up to no good! What motive an oil billionaire who owns most of the beachfront property and possesses a museum-worthy collection of shells would have for counterfeiting and selling new shells is never really touched on. A natural storyteller, Doerr explores the human dilemma in all its manifestations: longing, grief, indecision, heartbreak and slow, slow recuperation. Shimmering with elegance and invention, The Shell Collector is an enchanting and imaginative book by a young writer just setting off on what will surely be a hugely compelling literary odyssey. When he lightens up, ("July Fourth"--oily feel to it, and "For a Long Time This Was Griselda's Story") he can sound a bit like a more self-conscious Lewis Nordan, which is weird but good. Doerr has potential; but he needs to branch out and stop projecting his fantasies on real things.On the other hand, the genre is doing just fine as it is, so perhaps it's for the best there will be no crossover between audiences. Doerr's first collection is made up of a mere eight stories, some of such quality as to inspire amazement, and others seriously off the mark. This makes me wonder if The Shell Collector wasn't rushed into print in the wake of his literary prize. Might he have produced a finer, more consistent collection if he had waited just a few more years?

The Shell Collector has a perfect setting, an assurance that, even after loss, life does go on, and a faith-revealing message that God is always with us. It also reminds us that love comes in many forms, and each one is equally important. Romantic love is wonderful, but the love between friends can be life-altering and life-sustaining! Nancy Naigle has written an exceptional book and I recommend it to all who enjoy contemporary women's fiction. As of 2020 [update] the world's largest assemblage of mollusc shells was held by the Smithsonian Institution, which has c. 1 million lots [6] representing perhaps 50,000 species. [7] The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture also has a large collection which was donated by Dr. Phil Nudelman in 2013. It includes about 100,000 specimens and 24,000 species, mostly from the Indo-Pacific region, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean. The grey Ohio climate saps the life out of Naima, however. She tries to take an interest in ants, bees and a despondent pair of zebras at the zoo, but finds them scant consolation for the loss of her beloved rainforest. "She was learning that in her life everything - health, happiness, even love - was subject to the landscape. She heard a pulse inside her ear, a swishing cadence of blood, the steady marking of every moment as it sailed past, unrecoverable. She mourned each one." The Shell Collector, which premiered this week, is thus notable as a stake in the ground for Fox’s investment in soft power. It’s “family values” carried on the ocean breeze of a beige, uncomplicated love story, an inexpensive, in-house method for palliating the network’s core message of white Christian theocracy to those outside the traditional Fox News demographic. Namely: younger (white) women. “These films are definitely targeting the female Fox News fan,” Fox Nation’s president, Jason Klarman, told the Hollywood Reporter last month. Original films like The Shell Collector “will absolutely attract her, and creating unique originals that she can’t get anywhere else is certainly part of the strategy to drive growth”. I found it annoying that Paul kept promising things to Amanda that were unwise promises, just like the one he made to her about keeping her husband safe. I think the author should have realized that this was one of Paul’s flaws and made it a part of his growth as a character to overcome that tendency. Paul was too perfect a character.This was my first book by Anthony Doerr. Each story was made up of rich, dimensional characters and beautiful prose. This collection of short stories tempers hope with despair and you will find yourself thinking about them long after you finish. All The Light We Cannot See has been on my TBR list for sometime, I am looking forward to reading it. This has been an awesome year of reading for me with many new authors!

Rich characters, hard truths, deep sorrows, unbelievable joy, and trust in the Lord--just a few things this book touches on. Honestly, I don't think a review can do it justice. It produces such complicated emotions that you don't know where to begin. All I can say is if you love rich storytelling that doesn't pull punches when they're needed, you'll love it. During the Renaissance people began collecting natural objects of beauty for private cabinets of curiosities. Because of their attractiveness, variety, durability and ubiquity, shells frequently became a large part of such collections. Scientific interest began to develop towards the end of the 17th century, and in 1681 The Jesuit priest Filippo Bonanni publishedthe two-volume atlas Ricreazione dell'occhio et della mente nell'osservazione delle chiocciole ("Recreation of the eye and of the mind in the observation of molluscs"), the first treatise devoted entirely tomollusc shells. [1] In 1692 Martin Lister published Historia Conchyliorum, a comprehensive conchological text with more than 1,000 engraved plates. Two years after her husband’s death, Amanda Whittier has two children to raise alone, an abandoned dream of starting a business, and a fixer-upper cottage by the sea. She has no room in her life for anything else and little interest in moving on after losing the man she loved. The Caretaker was interesting in that it seemed like Doerr started with a particular story in mind and then he let his mind and his character wander.Maya," Ness whispers in my ear. If there is more, it is lost as he buries his head in my shoulder. The steel shell around us groans. We are the torus inside. There is no space or time. No concept of being. Just a floating feeling, a sense of escape and flying, another Icarus kiss, completely free, the empty cosmos around us, exploring each other there at the bottom of the sea. There is a difference between grief and suffering. You see, suffering is solitary, but you share your grief with good people. It's the way you release the pain and adjust to the loss." (p 164, Large Print Edition) This striking debut collection of eight stories offers several boldly imagined and scrupulously detailed explorations of the mysteries inherent in both the natural world and human interconnection.