Why can't you...

Sometime early last week, I read something, somewhere about "Jigs & Reels" by Joanne Harris. I've been racking my brain over the weekend, trying to remember who/where I heard about this short story collection because I really enjoyed it.

I put it on reserve at the library, and read "Chocolat" while waiting for it to come in. I knew nothing about "Chocolat", other than the obvious: chocolate and France. It was beautifully written; everything was lushly described and I felt as if I too could smell the chocolates in the morning air, or taste her coffees in the morning. I also enjoyed the "good vs evil" aspect to this story, and how it tied in event's from both Vianne's past and Reynaud's, the village priest.

I wish she'd "ended" it more, instead of leaving it open like she did because now all I can wonder about is what the wind decided.

As for "Jigs & Reels", well, I think, out of all the incredibly well written stories, that my favorites were:

Gastronomicon, the story of a wife who only cooks for her husband from her mother in law's family cookbook. With surprising results.

Class of '81, about a class reunion of witches, one of who has lost all of her magics. And another, who didn't.

Free Spirt, the story of just that. I don't know if spirt is the right word, but it's a creepy story.

A Place in the Sun, which was just frightfully real. I mean, it's not real yet, but it's going to be. And that is just a sad, sad thought.

In the meantime...

I've been steadily working on "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet and man, is it ever dense. Dense as in really detailed, very well thought out, with a ton of description. (Yes, I know, that whole sentence just repeated itself, but that's how I feel about his writing. I'm enjoying it, but it's very detailed.) However, despite my best efforts, it's taking a while for this to get read and I'm worried it'll be due back before I get a chance to finish it.

I've also read "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" by Gloria Steimen. (I'm almost ashamed to say it's my first piece of feminist literature. Almost. Yeah, I don't know why either.) I decided to start with some of her essays, and I'm very glad I did. Most, if not all, of what she had to say, I've heard in one form or another all my life. But as a young, just turned 27 year old female, I never felt I had to think about it. Of course we are treated unfairly. Of course men get paid more. Of course we protest about this. Of course we want control of our own bodies. To me, those have always been facts, or truths. It saddens me that we still don't, too. (Jessa, of Bookslut fame, wrote an article after the death of Betty Friedan, in which she metioned several different/new feminist writers, one of which is Leslie Cannold, who wrote "The Abortion Myth", which is sitting on my coffee table (next to a stack of other books) waiting to be read.)

And finally, "The Last of the O-Forms" by James Van Pelt, which I started and finished today while at work. It was incredible. Seriously, incredible. It was like a cross between Phillip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury, two authors that I love. (Phillip, because he can scare me, and Ray, because he wrote "Fahrenheit 451", a book I adore.) Colleen, from Chasing Ray, (another Ray fan!), recently wrote a post about this book, and after reading it, I again went to my library home page and request it.

It's just excellent. It's short stories, sci-fi ones this time instead of more mystical ones like "Jigs & Reels", and it's just excellent. (You know I love something when I can't find words anymore.) I'd have to say that my favorite stories were:

The Last of the O-Forms, in which the O-Forms, or Original Forms, are all dead or dying and what's left is mutated and how one man is using it for his own benefit. The ending surprised me, because, from the hints that I was seeing, I thought Caprice was going to end up in an entirely different sort of cage. Although the "daddy" was a particularly nice touch.

Once They Were Monarchs, a story of shapeshifters surviving the modern day and age.

Friday, After the Game, in which there was apparently some sort of plauge/outbreak, so now people no longer go anywhere, instead using virtual reality pod things to "see" and "meet" people.

The Stars Underfoot, because it's creepy and scary and you know I'm not going to be walking on any frozen over lakes. (Not that I ever did.)

The Long Way Home, which was about survival after WW3. It jumps from one point in time to the next, eventually circling it's way back around to the 'beginning'.

Do Good, about a Vice-Principle who goes around leaving $10 bills taped inside of student's lockers with the words "Do Good" written on them. And ghosts.

A Flock of Birds, which is also about living after an "event". I love the way that he ties in the birds with humans, returning.

Finally, Nothing is Normal and For the Good of the Herd, which are set in the same universe and rock. I'm not going to say anything because I don't think I can without giving away the story, but seriously, so good. Especially, Catdeath. And the "file" on her. And her skin art. Loved her skin art choice(s).

Because consistancy is just boring,

I started "Chocolat" last night and finished it this afternoon.

Post Script

Currently, I've just finished "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" by Ann Brashares, started and put down "The Garden of Eden", which was my first and last! Hemingway which is a shame because it was from my shelf of classics, and am now reading both "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett, and "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" by Gloria Steinmen.

Can you tell I'm trying to make up for lost time? I've also read a couple of other light fictions, entertainment books, which I'm not going to list here. Unless you wanted me too...

Happy March!

The Buffalo Soldier

Book five of the "50 book challenge" was "The Buffalo Soldier" by Chris Bohjalian, author of "Midwives".

The book starts off with the first real tragedy to hit Terry and Laura's lives; the death of their twin girls during a flood. From there the story jumps to the 'present', where Alfred is already living with Laura and Terry, having become their foster child. We experience this story through the various characters' points of views, bouncing from Laura struggling to recover from her grief and depression, wanting badly to connect with Alfred, to Terry's distance from them and his affair, to Alfred's resignation of a new "family" and his acceptance that this too would end. We also get to see these people from Paul, and elderly neighbor who Alfred accepts almost immediately, to Phoebe, the woman that Terry has an affair with.

While it starts off slow, I did get drawn into the story, going so far as to get angry with Terry when he completely misreads a situation with Alfred, who was only preparing himself for what had always happened before. Laura was also a character that took a bit of work, but you could see that she genuinely wanted Alfred to be a part of her family, with or without Terry.

I won't ruin the end for you, but I will say that I did not expect it to end the way it did. In fact, it didn't end the way I wanted it too, with Terry and Pheobe and Terry's brother, who's name totally escapes me right now, to die a firey death, but alas. It does not end that way. Honestly, I would have liked more resolution to the ending, as it feels to open for me.

And for the record, I have read "Midwives". It was a couple of years ago but I remember being unsatisfied with that book as well.

As for the online book club and it's choice for March, "Saturday" by Ian McEwan...yeah. I've got some time still, right?

Little Children

So, I've only managed to read one book this month, "Little Children" by Tom Perrotta for my rl book club.

I didn't really enjoy this novel, but that was mostly because I didn't like the characters. As the title suggests, allmost all of the adults in this story are nothing but children in the way they act. I spent most of the time reading this thinking that "if they would only just grow the hell up!" I'd enjoy it more. (As a side note, the only adult characters I did like were May -- the mother of the neighborhood pediphile, and Slutty Kay -- an internet porn star...with her own fan club. They were the most adult characters throughout the entire story.)

I don't know if it's because February is so short, because life got away from me, or because I've had Emily (my niece) with me, but quiet reading time has been slim. I didn't even have a chance to pick up "On Beauty" for the on-line book club. I'd be ashamed if I wasn't so tired.

Also, to be honest, Zadie Smith just does not grab me as an author. I've tried, really, but no.

I hope March is better. I've got "Buffalo Soldier" to read for this month's rl book club, and "Saturday" for the on-line one.

Happy February.

Blindness

"Blindness", by Jose Saramago, the first book chosen for the book club over at prettier than napoleon.

I have to be honest when I say that this book started off incredibly slow for me. Still, as it was one of the books that I voted for, and the cover blurb made it sound intersting, I pushed through. (I think it helped that I was on a flight to Atlanta and I didn't let myself bring anything else to read.) And while I did end up liking it, I'm not really sure how to express that, but here goes...

I liked the way it felt real. The soliders and their "blind" fear of the the blind, the condemnation of anyone who was "contaminated" by them, the way they would yell at the blind when they were searching for food or to get back to the door really struck a cord with me. Even when they shot the thief, and the others, it felt, normal. (For lack of a better word.) I liked the way the doctor's wife tried to hide her sight from the blind, because yes, they would have insisted that she do everything for them. I liked the way the call girl chose the old man to sleep with, before the group rapes, rather than the younger, more insistant pharmacist assistant.

And, while "like" is NOT the right word, I did like the rape build up. The way the men came back with the message, that these thugs have now taken over the food supply, demaning anything of value, and then sexual favors, that felt real. I can imagine all of this happening, if suddenly, everyone here started to go blind. I agree that human nature doesn't change just because something else has.

Also, I liked the dog of tears. I don't know, maybe because I'm a dog lover, but I really liked that. I also liked how the doctor's wife goes blind after everyone else's sight comes back. That it's now her turn to be blind. To be the one who doesn't see the horrors, the damage, the death. To be less able one, now that it's all over. Although, really, it isn't, because I think that after witnessing everything that has happened, that's all she'll see. The whiteness in her eyes won't change that. And I think that she'll have the hardest time, out of anyone, becuase she'll go from being the only witness, to being blind, to seeing, while everyone else experienced it the other way.

I'd be interested to know what the author was thinking about when he came up with the idea for this novel.

As for what I didn't like, I didn't like the way this book was structured. The run-on sentences, the lack of punctuation, drove me nuts. I understood why it was written that way, but I didn't like it. I actually had to use a piece of paper to block the sentences below the one I was reading to help me focus sometimes. Which, I also didn't like.

So that's my commentary on "Blindness". Again, I don't know how to exactly explain what I thought, except, that it felt real, which is depressing, that I could see all of this happening, which is also depressing, and that I expected the doctor's wife to go blind at the end, so I'm glad I was right.

What did you think?

The Protest

Well, book number two was started and finished yesterday, in anticipation of my book club meeting on Tuesday. It was The Protest by Dianne Kozdrey Bunnell.

And just like the previous book, I'm not sure I liked it. Or perhaps it's that I couldn't really relate to the story. It's about a girl/woman who's starting to realize that the cult-religion she's been basing her life around is wrong and her struggle to not only break free, but to stay free.

Which, honestly, is where I was having problems. I really didn't have any sympathy for the main character, because I saw her as weak for so long. The choices she made, the way she let herself be pushed around, that's never happened to me. I can't ever see that happening to me. Then again, I've never been a memeber of a cult-religion. The only time I really felt involved in this story was when the main character was remember/talking to/about her dead brother or sister (Lousie, who I really liked), or in the last few chapters, where she finally makes a decision and then deals.

However, as the author of the book is going to be at the meeting on Tuesday, I've got to think of more to say. I really don't think that "I didn't like this book because I couldn't relate to the main character at all, and therefore didn't feel anything for her until the very end" would be productive.

But it would be honest.

Next up is The Blindness for the book club over at prettier than napolean. But as that book isn't "due" until the end of the month...I think I'll take the rest of the weekend off.

Ella Minnow Pea

So, first book of the year was Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.

It was recommended by a friend of mine, so I added it to the tbr stack, where it was promptly forgotten about it until last week, when I needed a book for work.

I liked the premise of this story, set on a fictional island off the coast of the Carolinas, where everyone there reveres the written word and language and this man named Nollop. Sort of their demi-god it seems, as when the letters from his famous sentence start to fall off of Nollop's statue, the town council decides that going forward, those letters are no longer to be used.

The townspeople, for the most part, seem to see this as an amusing quirk oops! 'q' was the first letter to go, something to challenge them, but then it spiralled out of control. As more letters fell, more people were either banished or left in protest and the council began to seize more power over the remaining people and the island. Eventually though, good overcomes evil...I mean, the council is beaten, the entire alphabet is restored, and one has to assume that things will go back to normal for the islanders, since that's basically where the book ends.

After thinking about it for a day or so, I'm still not sure if I enjoyed this book or not. As a vocabulary builder, it's excellent; the Nollopians love the alphabet and use it extensively. It was also a quick speedy read, but I was left wanting in regards to the ending. The underlying theme of censorship was never directly addressed and that struck me as odd.

As a side note, it'd be an interesting choice for a high school English class: starting out quite incredibly vocab intensive, it ends in pheonetically spelled words and some slang. It could also be tied in with a censorship theme, since it's written in a much lighter tone, than say Orson Well's 1984.

Heh.

Right. Well, to be honest, I do have another blog. But it gets cluttered, and messy, what with all the ranting I do, so the book part of my life get's, well, get's put away like Rochester's crazy first wife.

So, I've decided to start this, as something of a resolution* which I never do. Or maybe, just as a more practicle approach to remembering what I've read, and whether or not I've like it.

I'm going to try and keep this as "other" free as possible, although I don't guarantee it. Where'd be the fun in that?

Check back in 11 days for the first post.

*resolution: the public acknowledgement of an upcoming failure.
and while I don't make these, I will acknowledge the fact that there are things I'd like to accomplish this year, bookwise.

1 : do the 50 book challenge again. I'm 4 books away from "meeting" this goal (although I've read more than 50 books this year) and I like the sense of acomplishment.
2 : read at least 1/3 of the "classical" books I have. There are 71 odd-ish (some collections) books, only a few of which I've read in the past, that I want to read. I didn't get to any of them this year.
3 : expand my reading selections. I'm a big fiction fan; whether it's literature, science fiction, or young adult, it's my primary reading choice. Still, I feel like I'm missing a lot of good non-fiction and I'd like to change that.
4 : God, read at least 12 of my tbr books. Seriously, I have shelves of them. And at the book sales, I'll no doubt fill another book case with more books that I plan to read. Someday. So I really do need to read at least 12 of them.