Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Since I Love Lists
I love reading articles about lists. However, I do take some issues with this list of the best read cities in the US.
It certainly is interesting to see, but I don't think it's very accurate. For example, I wouldn't even register on this list at all, and do not think that I am exaggerating when I say that I read more than your average person. Obviously, my reading and living in DC doesn't offset DC's place on this list at all; my point is that, my situation exemplifies why the criteria for the list are misleading on larger scale.
It certainly is interesting to see, but I don't think it's very accurate. For example, I wouldn't even register on this list at all, and do not think that I am exaggerating when I say that I read more than your average person. Obviously, my reading and living in DC doesn't offset DC's place on this list at all; my point is that, my situation exemplifies why the criteria for the list are misleading on larger scale.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Symbolism for Breakfast
I rather enjoyed The Talented Mr. Ripley. It wasn't amazingly, painfully beautiful like my absolute favorites are, but it was a lot of fun. It has many of my favorite things, specifically a murder mystery of sorts, Venice, European travel in general, and hotels. Lots and lots of hotels. Really, what more could you want?
I haven't actually seen the movie, but now I want to. I have, though, of course, read The Ambassadors. I think reading that one first definitely increased my enjoyment of this particular book. If you've ever wanted to murder a Henry James character, this truly is the next best thing! It was so much fun for that reason alone. I'm not sure that I would ever need to read the (many, many) additional books in this series, but this one was a good romp. I particularly loved the ending.
As I mentioned earlier, it doesn't have the qualities that make me adore a book, and there isn't a whole lot to really analyze here. It's just fun, and sometimes that's a good thing.
For example, it's a good thing before tackling yet another Henry James, say. I read The Golden Bowl after this one, which was not a coincidence. Did I like this book? No, I did not. There was one scene that was amazing, and the last 100 pages or so were pretty compelling (essentially once Maggie starts to take some control of the situation). Overall, though, I couldn't get past the creepy factor. I ask you, would you set up one of your friends with your father? She's not even an older friend, really. She is two years older than you. That's just creepy. The story already has some creep due to the father/daughter vibe that is a bit sketchy. I do like Maggie's arc a bit, but it was so claustrophobic, the symbolism of the golden bowl was heavy handed, and I do not like his style. I just don't, and I don't care that I should.
That said, drum roll please! Because I have now finished all the Henry James' works on the list! I am so excited. The only one of his that I liked was The Wings of the Dove, and I don't think I liked it in the proper manner.
I haven't actually seen the movie, but now I want to. I have, though, of course, read The Ambassadors. I think reading that one first definitely increased my enjoyment of this particular book. If you've ever wanted to murder a Henry James character, this truly is the next best thing! It was so much fun for that reason alone. I'm not sure that I would ever need to read the (many, many) additional books in this series, but this one was a good romp. I particularly loved the ending.
As I mentioned earlier, it doesn't have the qualities that make me adore a book, and there isn't a whole lot to really analyze here. It's just fun, and sometimes that's a good thing.
For example, it's a good thing before tackling yet another Henry James, say. I read The Golden Bowl after this one, which was not a coincidence. Did I like this book? No, I did not. There was one scene that was amazing, and the last 100 pages or so were pretty compelling (essentially once Maggie starts to take some control of the situation). Overall, though, I couldn't get past the creepy factor. I ask you, would you set up one of your friends with your father? She's not even an older friend, really. She is two years older than you. That's just creepy. The story already has some creep due to the father/daughter vibe that is a bit sketchy. I do like Maggie's arc a bit, but it was so claustrophobic, the symbolism of the golden bowl was heavy handed, and I do not like his style. I just don't, and I don't care that I should.
That said, drum roll please! Because I have now finished all the Henry James' works on the list! I am so excited. The only one of his that I liked was The Wings of the Dove, and I don't think I liked it in the proper manner.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
List from the List!
Some authors appear on this list a lot. An awful lot. Here is how many I still have to read for some of those repeat offenders.
Phillip Roth = 4
Kurt Vonnegut = 1
Henry James <1 (since I’m reading the final one for him at the moment; fist pump!)
Charles Dickens = 2 (fist pump!)
J.M. Coetzee = 5 (gulp)
Salman Rushdie = 3
Virginia Woolf = 7 (gulp)
Ian McEwan = 3
Kazuo Ishiguro = 2
Margaret Atwood = 3
D.H. Lawrence = 3
Phillip Roth = 4
Kurt Vonnegut = 1
Henry James <1 (since I’m reading the final one for him at the moment; fist pump!)
Charles Dickens = 2 (fist pump!)
J.M. Coetzee = 5 (gulp)
Salman Rushdie = 3
Virginia Woolf = 7 (gulp)
Ian McEwan = 3
Kazuo Ishiguro = 2
Margaret Atwood = 3
D.H. Lawrence = 3
Monday, May 23, 2011
What is the Problem?
You might well ask. It's a fair question. Yes, I have slowed down a tiny bit. You see, I recently discovered four recent issues of the New Yorker (including a double issue) from this past April. This is why taking out your recycling is so exciting! You should try it; maybe you will also find amazing, time-consuming magazines. Thanks, random person who lives in my building and doesn't appear to have actually read these magazines.
The consequence has been that rather than reading books from the 1,001 list, I have been reading articles about human perception of time, corruption in Russia, oil drilling in North Dakota, European tours targeted to the Chinese, and taxi unions. It's been so fun! I'm almost tempted to get a subscription, because the savings off the cover price are incredible. However, I'm worried it could have a pretty negative impact on the project.
The consequence has been that rather than reading books from the 1,001 list, I have been reading articles about human perception of time, corruption in Russia, oil drilling in North Dakota, European tours targeted to the Chinese, and taxi unions. It's been so fun! I'm almost tempted to get a subscription, because the savings off the cover price are incredible. However, I'm worried it could have a pretty negative impact on the project.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Read what you know?
When I noticed the title on the list, I was immediately drawn to it. When I read the description of the hostel/boarding house, the May of Teck Club which is the center of the story, I nodded my head in recognition: "The May of Teck Club exists for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender Means below the age of Thirty Years, who are obliged to reside apart from their Families in order to follow an Occupation in London." Seriously. Just flash forward 66 years and switch the location to DC, and you have me. Well, not really, but still. I loved that description. The young ladies of slender means under 30 in DC should form a club; the best part is, we already have a name!
Anyway, I really enjoyed Muriel Spark's The Girls of Slender Means. It's more a novella than a novel. It's set in London right before and right after the end of WWII, and follows the trials of several residents of the May of Teck Club. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that this was by the same author as Up the Down Staircase, when it really is by the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I don't know why I had that mixed up, though I do tend to associate those two books in my head (I read them right around the same time ages ago in Phoenix; I vividly remember checking them out of the Juniper Branch library; weird). That said, stylistically it is just like The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and once I got that confusion out of the way everything started to make sense.
I also recently read Black Dogs by Ian McEwan. If you follow this blog, you know that I adore McEwan, so it should come as no surprise that I loved this one. There is just something so beautiful about the way that he writes. It was also incredibly short, but it's one where you do have to just stop and re-read some passages. Strangely, they part that effected me the most was actually in the prologue when he described leaving his young niece when he went to college.
Like most McEwan's, this novel explores the impact of single moments on people's life trajectories. There's the obvious instance of the black dogs themselves, which shape the whole story the author is telling (and by author, I mean the protagonist who is ostensibly writing a memoir; I know I've complained about that convention in the past, but either a) it works for McEwan or b) I give him an unfair pass, you decide). However, I was also struck by how McEwan contrasted those moments with the moments the characters wanted to make meaningful or telling in their lives. For example, one character wanted the fall of the Berlin Wall to really matter in his life personally and felt a disappointment by the disconnect. I loved those contrasts, between the moments we want to infuse with meaning and the moments that take us by surprise but change everything. But yes, Saturday is still my favorite.
Anyway, I really enjoyed Muriel Spark's The Girls of Slender Means. It's more a novella than a novel. It's set in London right before and right after the end of WWII, and follows the trials of several residents of the May of Teck Club. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that this was by the same author as Up the Down Staircase, when it really is by the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I don't know why I had that mixed up, though I do tend to associate those two books in my head (I read them right around the same time ages ago in Phoenix; I vividly remember checking them out of the Juniper Branch library; weird). That said, stylistically it is just like The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and once I got that confusion out of the way everything started to make sense.
I also recently read Black Dogs by Ian McEwan. If you follow this blog, you know that I adore McEwan, so it should come as no surprise that I loved this one. There is just something so beautiful about the way that he writes. It was also incredibly short, but it's one where you do have to just stop and re-read some passages. Strangely, they part that effected me the most was actually in the prologue when he described leaving his young niece when he went to college.
Like most McEwan's, this novel explores the impact of single moments on people's life trajectories. There's the obvious instance of the black dogs themselves, which shape the whole story the author is telling (and by author, I mean the protagonist who is ostensibly writing a memoir; I know I've complained about that convention in the past, but either a) it works for McEwan or b) I give him an unfair pass, you decide). However, I was also struck by how McEwan contrasted those moments with the moments the characters wanted to make meaningful or telling in their lives. For example, one character wanted the fall of the Berlin Wall to really matter in his life personally and felt a disappointment by the disconnect. I loved those contrasts, between the moments we want to infuse with meaning and the moments that take us by surprise but change everything. But yes, Saturday is still my favorite.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
For Whom Does the Bell Toll?
Why, for you, dear reader! Yes, that's creepy, but it's true!
Seriously, though, this one was okay. It was my favorite Hemingway (and also my last; coincidence?), but that isn't really saying all that much. I was more of a Pilar fan than a Maria fan. I appreciated the ending. It was pretty compelling, and I do love a good story about the consequences of fascism and how violence warps us.
That said, what stood out for me the most was how annoying the Spanish was. There would be something literally like, que caballo! What a horse!, or no me gusta, I don't like it, and you'd think, why put the very easy, Spanish 101 Spanish throughout the story and follow it my an English translation? Is that really what all that French has been in these novels that I just skip because I am too lazy to Babel Fish it? Maybe I haven't been missing anything all these years! Truly, all you need is je detest John Tesh to get by.
Seriously, though, this one was okay. It was my favorite Hemingway (and also my last; coincidence?), but that isn't really saying all that much. I was more of a Pilar fan than a Maria fan. I appreciated the ending. It was pretty compelling, and I do love a good story about the consequences of fascism and how violence warps us.
That said, what stood out for me the most was how annoying the Spanish was. There would be something literally like, que caballo! What a horse!, or no me gusta, I don't like it, and you'd think, why put the very easy, Spanish 101 Spanish throughout the story and follow it my an English translation? Is that really what all that French has been in these novels that I just skip because I am too lazy to Babel Fish it? Maybe I haven't been missing anything all these years! Truly, all you need is je detest John Tesh to get by.
Monday, May 16, 2011
I haves been in a bit of a dry spell lately, I think. Fortunately, I now seem to have passed that. Captain Corelli's Mandolin was definitely a favorite, and as a bonus it is one that I would recommend to other people. Score! Seriously, though, I have some pretty warped tastes, so it's always nice when I hit one that I liked and I think others will as well.
The novel works as an enjoyable love story (though SPOILER ALERT, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the ending; it sort of worked, but it also felt a little too cheery in some ways), a thought-provoking historical drama, and even a semi-literary piece. You can fall in love with the characters, the lush descriptions, or the ideas.
The story explores several themes, such as the impact of various forms of totalitarianism on the human spirit, and the consequences of war and violence on soldiers and civilians alike. You could do a lot with those various themes, but I was particularly interested in its exploration of various kinds of love, the relationship between love and identity, and the meaning of family. He explores those in large-scale and intimate ways. For example, we have a pine marten that is treated like a cat, and we have an occupying soldier serving a fascist country who ultimately is the hero of the story. And music, of course, plays a huge role in the story, both in terms of character progression and narrative.
I haven't seen the movie, but I haven't heard good things about it, so we might skip that one.
Keeping going with the "Vonnegut Faze," I next read Good Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. I don't have too much to really say about that one. It was pretty hilarious in parts. I laughed out loud at the telephone conversation between the father and the son; so funny. It was a very quick read. I definitely get Vonnegut's style now. I'm not sure how many of his I have left to go. Yep, that's all I've got.
The novel works as an enjoyable love story (though SPOILER ALERT, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the ending; it sort of worked, but it also felt a little too cheery in some ways), a thought-provoking historical drama, and even a semi-literary piece. You can fall in love with the characters, the lush descriptions, or the ideas.
The story explores several themes, such as the impact of various forms of totalitarianism on the human spirit, and the consequences of war and violence on soldiers and civilians alike. You could do a lot with those various themes, but I was particularly interested in its exploration of various kinds of love, the relationship between love and identity, and the meaning of family. He explores those in large-scale and intimate ways. For example, we have a pine marten that is treated like a cat, and we have an occupying soldier serving a fascist country who ultimately is the hero of the story. And music, of course, plays a huge role in the story, both in terms of character progression and narrative.
I haven't seen the movie, but I haven't heard good things about it, so we might skip that one.
Keeping going with the "Vonnegut Faze," I next read Good Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. I don't have too much to really say about that one. It was pretty hilarious in parts. I laughed out loud at the telephone conversation between the father and the son; so funny. It was a very quick read. I definitely get Vonnegut's style now. I'm not sure how many of his I have left to go. Yep, that's all I've got.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Don't Get Too Attached
I have a bizarre tendency to over identify with fictional characters and/or become overly attached to specific characters. This sort of extends beyond fictional characters in some situations, which is why the Olympics are so stressful for me (I always have favorite gymnasts or ice skaters).
This tendency of mine is likely the reason why I had such problems with soap operas as well. Seriously. You mess with Jessica Buchanan and I will never forgive you.
Why, you may ask, is this relevant? Well, when I become overly attached to a character or characters, my reading really slows down. Significantly. I don't want to deal with the bad things the characters are destined for, so I take pauses. Lengthy ones. That's why it took me longer to read Captain Corelli's Mandolin than it really shoudl have.
Sometimes, the more I enjoy a book the longer it takes, and not because I'm savoring it per se (though sometimes it was the savoring piece as well, and that was true with Captain Corelli's Mandolin; really, it's a mix of both of those). Part of increasing my speed is disciplining myself to push past the tendency when it is that first aspect; I don't feel the need to push past when it has to do with savoring.
This tendency of mine is likely the reason why I had such problems with soap operas as well. Seriously. You mess with Jessica Buchanan and I will never forgive you.
Why, you may ask, is this relevant? Well, when I become overly attached to a character or characters, my reading really slows down. Significantly. I don't want to deal with the bad things the characters are destined for, so I take pauses. Lengthy ones. That's why it took me longer to read Captain Corelli's Mandolin than it really shoudl have.
Sometimes, the more I enjoy a book the longer it takes, and not because I'm savoring it per se (though sometimes it was the savoring piece as well, and that was true with Captain Corelli's Mandolin; really, it's a mix of both of those). Part of increasing my speed is disciplining myself to push past the tendency when it is that first aspect; I don't feel the need to push past when it has to do with savoring.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Now I Know What the Gentleman Wanted
And knowing is half the battle!
Lost Illusions, Balzac's lovely little story, is tres French (side note, little is a facetious comment: this book was 700 pages long; I read it in three days, which isn't too bad, but still). It wasn't exactly a favorite, but there were some fun parts. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Paris. It made me think of French paintings and French music. Overall, I enjoy French things, though not really French food. Anyway, that element was fun.
However, it wasn't really a particularly enjoyable read. It reminded me of Oscar Wilde, though I suppose that should probably go the other way. Part of why I wasn't much of a fan, though, is that I mostly just really hated Lucien, and right from the beginning really. Unfortunately, this spilled over into me not thinking much of Eve, David, Coralie, and just about every character in the story. I did find his descriptions of journalism and its place in the world to be amusing, though.
Speaking of journalism, the other book for this post is The Midnight Examiner, which is about the employees at this tabloid publishing company and their run-in with organized crime. It's about as over-the-top and ridiculous as it sounds. I enjoyed the first half more, where we met the characters and saw the rather hilarious business and writing practices of the company. The part where they take on the mafia was also pretty amusing, but it got a bit old for me.
Anyway, it was a funny read, but I really have no idea why it is on the list. Really, if you only have time to read, say, 999 books before you die, you could probably skip this one.
Lost Illusions, Balzac's lovely little story, is tres French (side note, little is a facetious comment: this book was 700 pages long; I read it in three days, which isn't too bad, but still). It wasn't exactly a favorite, but there were some fun parts. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Paris. It made me think of French paintings and French music. Overall, I enjoy French things, though not really French food. Anyway, that element was fun.
However, it wasn't really a particularly enjoyable read. It reminded me of Oscar Wilde, though I suppose that should probably go the other way. Part of why I wasn't much of a fan, though, is that I mostly just really hated Lucien, and right from the beginning really. Unfortunately, this spilled over into me not thinking much of Eve, David, Coralie, and just about every character in the story. I did find his descriptions of journalism and its place in the world to be amusing, though.
Speaking of journalism, the other book for this post is The Midnight Examiner, which is about the employees at this tabloid publishing company and their run-in with organized crime. It's about as over-the-top and ridiculous as it sounds. I enjoyed the first half more, where we met the characters and saw the rather hilarious business and writing practices of the company. The part where they take on the mafia was also pretty amusing, but it got a bit old for me.
Anyway, it was a funny read, but I really have no idea why it is on the list. Really, if you only have time to read, say, 999 books before you die, you could probably skip this one.
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