In returning to the classical canon side of reading, I decided to go with a little Victorian gothic. Considering how immensely popular to current fiction and other pop culture vampires have become, I decided to explore one of the earliest famous vampire novels. So of course...
Title: Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
My start date: 8/15/10
My finish date: 8/19/10
Book count: 40/100
For some reason, this novel has sat unread on my shelves for half a dozen years. I bought it during my early college years during which time I started collecting classical works of literature for my library, however I had only made it through the first chapter before losing interest and putting it aside. How that is possible, in retrospect I don't know. I loved this novel! The plot was great, the epistolary form made it easy to read and the characters were all well written. It was a classic adventure tale with all the great elements of a spooky but not terrifying story!
It is interesting to earlier characterizations of horror type characters, especially in contrast to present usages. One question I had wanted to explore in my academic research involved discovering at which point our writers started writing and our readers started craving characters who are traditionally evil figures but who are good. The vampire with a soul who doesn't hunt humans (Meyer's Cullen family, Buffy's Angel, the good vampires of True Blood, or those of Vampire Diaries), the protective werewolf pack (again, Twilight) or the good witches and wizards made world famous by J.K. Rowling. I was fascinated to register in reading Stoker's novel, the very epitome of horror genre, gothic classic, that even at the turn of the century these figures were not depictured as universally evil. Regular reference is made to their pitiable nature and the desire by all characters to free these evil ones from themselves. Granted, there is no human-vampire ill-fated love scenario, but they aren't entirely maligned either. Interesting.
All in all, a very fun read. Perhaps one of my favorites among the classics. Considering my affinity for vampires, werewolves and witches, I will definitely read this one again.
In the meantime,
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Had me wanting to learn to dance the Charleston!
Oh how I love Sophie Kinsella! Her Shopaholic series is among my very favorites and one of four works/series of which I collect different editions and copies in foreign language. I previously posted on another work by this author, albeit under her legal name of Madeleine Wickham and her stand alone books rarely disappoint me. So I went into this reading knowing I had some good pages ahead of me. She didn't fail me.
Title: Twenties Girl
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Dial Press Trade
Publish Date: 2010
My start date: 8/11/10
My finish date: 8/15/10
Book count: 39/100
As is often the case with even my favorite books, the first chapter of this one left me a wee bit hesitant. I mean, a girl and ghost duo? Really? Yet Kinsella/Wickham has that touch. I LOVED it! Her characters pull me in without fail. I just can't help but to identify with and like them! Her shopaholic protagonist, Rebecca Bloomwood, somehow always makes me want to immediately go shopping. These characters were no different. By far the most charming was the ghost half of the duo, Sadie. Kinsella brings the youth of the 20s alive and, perhaps more importantly for me, puts a youthful and vibrant face of these wonderfully cherishable but oft forgotten and underacknowledged seniors of the world. How easy it is for us to regard our grandparents and greatgrandparents, or even our parents and older siblings as nothing other than the adults which they represent to us. Can you picture your grandparents clubbing? Just because they didn't dance the same techno craze you might find today, doesn't mean they didn't have just as much fun. We tend to remember our grandparents the way they are at the end, rather than the way we would all perhaps want to be remembered, and that is at our prime. Kinsella exlores that feeling, but in a rich and often comedic way. How she pumps so much emotion into so light a work just amazes me.
For fear of giving too much of the plot away, I will leave it at that, but suffice it to say that this is yet another homerun for the already successful Kinsella.
Also, since this blog is my personal space in addition to the more professional review side of things, in thinking about grandparents I want to dedicate this particular post to the memory of my stepgrandmother, whom we lost yesterday. Although far too young to have had anything to do with the twenties, she was nonetheless a grandparent about whom I have many cherished memories and about whom I hope we can all remember in her "prime" moments. You will be missed, Kathymarie.
Oh, and one last note on Kinsella. In checking her webpage for tidbits on this particular novel, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a new addition to the Shopaholic series rolling off the press next month. Woohoo! They don't usually sneak up on me like that, but I am thrilled to know I won't have to wait long for it! Expect that one on this blog before too long!
In the meantime,
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Title: Twenties Girl
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Dial Press Trade
Publish Date: 2010
My start date: 8/11/10
My finish date: 8/15/10
Book count: 39/100
As is often the case with even my favorite books, the first chapter of this one left me a wee bit hesitant. I mean, a girl and ghost duo? Really? Yet Kinsella/Wickham has that touch. I LOVED it! Her characters pull me in without fail. I just can't help but to identify with and like them! Her shopaholic protagonist, Rebecca Bloomwood, somehow always makes me want to immediately go shopping. These characters were no different. By far the most charming was the ghost half of the duo, Sadie. Kinsella brings the youth of the 20s alive and, perhaps more importantly for me, puts a youthful and vibrant face of these wonderfully cherishable but oft forgotten and underacknowledged seniors of the world. How easy it is for us to regard our grandparents and greatgrandparents, or even our parents and older siblings as nothing other than the adults which they represent to us. Can you picture your grandparents clubbing? Just because they didn't dance the same techno craze you might find today, doesn't mean they didn't have just as much fun. We tend to remember our grandparents the way they are at the end, rather than the way we would all perhaps want to be remembered, and that is at our prime. Kinsella exlores that feeling, but in a rich and often comedic way. How she pumps so much emotion into so light a work just amazes me.
For fear of giving too much of the plot away, I will leave it at that, but suffice it to say that this is yet another homerun for the already successful Kinsella.
Also, since this blog is my personal space in addition to the more professional review side of things, in thinking about grandparents I want to dedicate this particular post to the memory of my stepgrandmother, whom we lost yesterday. Although far too young to have had anything to do with the twenties, she was nonetheless a grandparent about whom I have many cherished memories and about whom I hope we can all remember in her "prime" moments. You will be missed, Kathymarie.
Oh, and one last note on Kinsella. In checking her webpage for tidbits on this particular novel, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a new addition to the Shopaholic series rolling off the press next month. Woohoo! They don't usually sneak up on me like that, but I am thrilled to know I won't have to wait long for it! Expect that one on this blog before too long!
In the meantime,
Keep Reading!
Sarah
A Kashmiri technical win
In case you haven't noticed in previous posts, I love Kashmir. I have been fascinated with India and Pakistan in general for as long as I can remember, but I have always been especially attracted to the inate beauty of Kashmir. Obviously, this is not a place I have been able to visit in person yet, and perhaps it will never be stable enough for Globus to set up a tour, but that doesn't stop me from being instantly interested when I spot a book about the region. Which led me to my next read:
Title: Chef
Author: Jaspreet Singh
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publish date: 2010
My start date: 8/8/10
My finish date: 8/10/10
Book count: 38/100
This book has won many awards and has been well praised, a fact about which I am truly happy. I am really glad that many others have liked this book, because despite my initial excitement over it, I did not. Technically, this book is stunning. I just wasn't looking for technical that week I guess. I am not even entirely sure where it went wrong for me. Let me see if I can figure it out.
On a very petty and minor note, Singh lost me in the first two pages when he immediately indicated that the protagonist was dying of a brain tumor. I have a thing with brain tumors. Not a fan. That is personal though, strictly a me thing, so the rest of you out there could probably read that as just another literary device. However, there was an immediate darkness over the novel and not necessarily in the "deliciously chilly" sense I mentioned in regards to The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps haunting might be a better word and others might find it beautifully haunting.
I think my bigger issue was with the books inability to deeply engage me. The narrative shifts times between various presents and marginally chronological memories of the past. Sometimes I forget or am plain unable to determine in which setting the action currently was.
I found the main character distant and hard to identify with. This is one of those stories in which you find the protagonists story interesting to hear but don't feel a connection to your own life. For me, I was left on the outside looking in. Even if the inside might be fascinating, I am still stuck on the outside.
Hmm, I think that as closely touches my issues as possible. As I said, Singh was highly praised for this work and there are some beautiful technical aspects to it. It was simply too distant to make my top ten list. Sigh. And I do love Kashmir so!
Oh well, onward and to one of my favorite authors!
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Title: Chef
Author: Jaspreet Singh
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publish date: 2010
My start date: 8/8/10
My finish date: 8/10/10
Book count: 38/100
This book has won many awards and has been well praised, a fact about which I am truly happy. I am really glad that many others have liked this book, because despite my initial excitement over it, I did not. Technically, this book is stunning. I just wasn't looking for technical that week I guess. I am not even entirely sure where it went wrong for me. Let me see if I can figure it out.
On a very petty and minor note, Singh lost me in the first two pages when he immediately indicated that the protagonist was dying of a brain tumor. I have a thing with brain tumors. Not a fan. That is personal though, strictly a me thing, so the rest of you out there could probably read that as just another literary device. However, there was an immediate darkness over the novel and not necessarily in the "deliciously chilly" sense I mentioned in regards to The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps haunting might be a better word and others might find it beautifully haunting.
I think my bigger issue was with the books inability to deeply engage me. The narrative shifts times between various presents and marginally chronological memories of the past. Sometimes I forget or am plain unable to determine in which setting the action currently was.
I found the main character distant and hard to identify with. This is one of those stories in which you find the protagonists story interesting to hear but don't feel a connection to your own life. For me, I was left on the outside looking in. Even if the inside might be fascinating, I am still stuck on the outside.
Hmm, I think that as closely touches my issues as possible. As I said, Singh was highly praised for this work and there are some beautiful technical aspects to it. It was simply too distant to make my top ten list. Sigh. And I do love Kashmir so!
Oh well, onward and to one of my favorite authors!
Keep Reading!
Sarah
A brave young girl
I purchased this next work because seeing the title sitting on the Target shelves just plain shocked me into curiousity. Let's see what you make of it!
Title: I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
Author: Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Publish date: 2010
My start date: 8/7/10
My finish date: 8/8/10
Book count: 37/100
So, you saw the title, right? It is serious. This is the memoir (albeit short memoir) of a ten year old girl who already has a divorce. Wow. I am just not even really sure what to say. Must read, that about covers it.
These brief memoir tells the fascinating story of a young Yemeni girl who is forced by her family, driven by poverty, to marry a man three times her age. She is abused in a myriad of ways, yet finds the courage at the tender age of ten to make her way to the court and plead for a divorce. Her story made headlines around the world, as she is presumable the youngest divocee ever.
This is a very short work; even slower readers can finish it relatively quickly. Also, although Ali has an adult professional writer who is technically behind the book, it is clear the Minoui has left the voice largely to young Nujood herself. Thus, the writing is very childlike and characteristic of a kid pulled out of her elementary school class to go be a wife. Not exactly high brow language. Yet beautiful and charming nonetheless. Ali has a sense of self and poise that most adult women would envy and her story comes breathtakingly to live in these 188 pages.
That is really all there is to say, much more and I will have given the entire short story away! This memoir is simply captivating, so what are you waiting for?
Keep Reading!
Sarah
Title: I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
Author: Nujood Ali, with Delphine Minoui
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Publish date: 2010
My start date: 8/7/10
My finish date: 8/8/10
Book count: 37/100
So, you saw the title, right? It is serious. This is the memoir (albeit short memoir) of a ten year old girl who already has a divorce. Wow. I am just not even really sure what to say. Must read, that about covers it.
These brief memoir tells the fascinating story of a young Yemeni girl who is forced by her family, driven by poverty, to marry a man three times her age. She is abused in a myriad of ways, yet finds the courage at the tender age of ten to make her way to the court and plead for a divorce. Her story made headlines around the world, as she is presumable the youngest divocee ever.
This is a very short work; even slower readers can finish it relatively quickly. Also, although Ali has an adult professional writer who is technically behind the book, it is clear the Minoui has left the voice largely to young Nujood herself. Thus, the writing is very childlike and characteristic of a kid pulled out of her elementary school class to go be a wife. Not exactly high brow language. Yet beautiful and charming nonetheless. Ali has a sense of self and poise that most adult women would envy and her story comes breathtakingly to live in these 188 pages.
That is really all there is to say, much more and I will have given the entire short story away! This memoir is simply captivating, so what are you waiting for?
Keep Reading!
Sarah
18th century travels and a note on modern movies
Ok, this is going to be one of those classics that I just briefly note. Here it goes:
Title: Gulliver's Travels
Author: Jonathan Swift
My start date: 7/26/10
My finish date: 8/6/10
Book count: 36/100
First of all, don't let the long length of time that I took to read this work fool you. It is not at all long. However, I was attempting to read this will helping my grandmother move from Arkansas to California and crossing the desert, my least favorite place. I was so exhausted each day that I could only read a few dozen pages, if that. So, first note on this experience: reading Swift is not a half-hearted type of activity. As mentioned many blogs ago, my academic focus is 18th century fiction. This should be right up my alley. However I found it immensely difficult due to my inability to deeply engage at any given time. Writers of this period, and Swift in particular, can get rather dry in their writing as they were very interested in making the work extraoridnarily ordinary and believable. Thus these works often include extended passages in which they detail minutia. Let's just say that if you are already tired, this might as well be counting sheep.
Reading this work tired didn't allow me the focus to appreciate Swift's famous talent for sarcasm and satire. Swift was incredibly witty and, while I did catch many of the hidden swipes at his society, others were missed in my sleepy haze. What a pity. By the time I got to the section in which horses rule the world (a section which, as a passionate equestrian I figured I was bound to love) I was just so ready to be done with it I couldn't muster up the right amound of appreciation. Argh.
Oh well, next time.
Also, just a quick note on modern film. Although I love that modern film makes loving and comical use of classical works, it is pure coincidence that my first to classical works (well, first of this project) happen to be two which are the inspiration for upcoming films. Of course, mere happenstance aside, I am now very curious to see how Hollywood treats Hawthorne in Easy A and how Jack Black manages the lead in Gulliver's Travels. All the more fun having recently read the books.
Ok, on to a few more recent works!
Happy Reading!
Sarah
Title: Gulliver's Travels
Author: Jonathan Swift
My start date: 7/26/10
My finish date: 8/6/10
Book count: 36/100
First of all, don't let the long length of time that I took to read this work fool you. It is not at all long. However, I was attempting to read this will helping my grandmother move from Arkansas to California and crossing the desert, my least favorite place. I was so exhausted each day that I could only read a few dozen pages, if that. So, first note on this experience: reading Swift is not a half-hearted type of activity. As mentioned many blogs ago, my academic focus is 18th century fiction. This should be right up my alley. However I found it immensely difficult due to my inability to deeply engage at any given time. Writers of this period, and Swift in particular, can get rather dry in their writing as they were very interested in making the work extraoridnarily ordinary and believable. Thus these works often include extended passages in which they detail minutia. Let's just say that if you are already tired, this might as well be counting sheep.
Reading this work tired didn't allow me the focus to appreciate Swift's famous talent for sarcasm and satire. Swift was incredibly witty and, while I did catch many of the hidden swipes at his society, others were missed in my sleepy haze. What a pity. By the time I got to the section in which horses rule the world (a section which, as a passionate equestrian I figured I was bound to love) I was just so ready to be done with it I couldn't muster up the right amound of appreciation. Argh.
Oh well, next time.
Also, just a quick note on modern film. Although I love that modern film makes loving and comical use of classical works, it is pure coincidence that my first to classical works (well, first of this project) happen to be two which are the inspiration for upcoming films. Of course, mere happenstance aside, I am now very curious to see how Hollywood treats Hawthorne in Easy A and how Jack Black manages the lead in Gulliver's Travels. All the more fun having recently read the books.
Ok, on to a few more recent works!
Happy Reading!
Sarah
A high school favorite
A good friend of mine recently recommended I try a few of the classics and among her suggestions was one that had been a favorite from my high school reading list. That suggestion led me to pick up, for the second time, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. So here is what I thought the second time around.
(P.S. when I post on the classics, I will not be putting publisher info, etc, there are dozens of copies out there, just search for one.)
Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
My start date: 7/22/10
My finish date: 7/26/10
Book count: 35/100
I can no longer remember which year in my high school curriculum this work was required, but I do actually remember reading it. I read it all in one sitting one night while my parents had guests. At the time, although I loved English and adored reading, I remember loving the plot but feeling that the writing was a little slow. I knew nothing yet about style and periods within literature. Well, this time I do. This enables me to appreciate things in a different light. And I was pleased to find that, although there are definitely still sections that drag on, I was able to polish off some great new aspects of this work that I had previously been unable to appreciate.
I love Hawthorne's characters. So intense! This time around I was able to find a deeper richness in these characters than I had previously grasped. As mentioned, Hawthorne's style, particularly here, is not exactly action driven. In fact, there is very little real action in this story. Entire chapters are devouted to single moments in detail in which the author makes the reader stand very still and examine something. What I get now more than I did as a high schooler is the way in which this inaction drives a deeper understanding of the characters. I don't think I understood then that a book could be more about understanding a character than about any sort of plot or action! I get it now. :-)
That being said, don't let those slow chapters fool you into thinking there isn't a stellar plot. I love the build up as Hawthorne slowly lets you into the secret which Hester is keeping to herself and I really love the mounting tension as the main characters come to a head and must face the ties that bind them. Brilliant.
So, while nothing about Hawthorne's great classic has gotten any more action packed in the last ten years, I loved going back and re-experiencing the chill. You just feel so deliciously cold when you read this book! And I especially appreciated how much my growth in experience has allowed me an even deeper love of a previously enjoyed classic. Many thanks to to Uzma for the recommendation to return once again to Hawthorne's chilly pages!
Until next time!
Sarah
PS, the link I provide below on the classics is not necessarily the same copy I personally read. It is the first link that Amazon shows. As indicated above, though, they are essentially the same. If I recommend a particular copy, say, for especially helpful added notes, or something, I will let you know.
(P.S. when I post on the classics, I will not be putting publisher info, etc, there are dozens of copies out there, just search for one.)
Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
My start date: 7/22/10
My finish date: 7/26/10
Book count: 35/100
I can no longer remember which year in my high school curriculum this work was required, but I do actually remember reading it. I read it all in one sitting one night while my parents had guests. At the time, although I loved English and adored reading, I remember loving the plot but feeling that the writing was a little slow. I knew nothing yet about style and periods within literature. Well, this time I do. This enables me to appreciate things in a different light. And I was pleased to find that, although there are definitely still sections that drag on, I was able to polish off some great new aspects of this work that I had previously been unable to appreciate.
I love Hawthorne's characters. So intense! This time around I was able to find a deeper richness in these characters than I had previously grasped. As mentioned, Hawthorne's style, particularly here, is not exactly action driven. In fact, there is very little real action in this story. Entire chapters are devouted to single moments in detail in which the author makes the reader stand very still and examine something. What I get now more than I did as a high schooler is the way in which this inaction drives a deeper understanding of the characters. I don't think I understood then that a book could be more about understanding a character than about any sort of plot or action! I get it now. :-)
That being said, don't let those slow chapters fool you into thinking there isn't a stellar plot. I love the build up as Hawthorne slowly lets you into the secret which Hester is keeping to herself and I really love the mounting tension as the main characters come to a head and must face the ties that bind them. Brilliant.
So, while nothing about Hawthorne's great classic has gotten any more action packed in the last ten years, I loved going back and re-experiencing the chill. You just feel so deliciously cold when you read this book! And I especially appreciated how much my growth in experience has allowed me an even deeper love of a previously enjoyed classic. Many thanks to to Uzma for the recommendation to return once again to Hawthorne's chilly pages!
Until next time!
Sarah
PS, the link I provide below on the classics is not necessarily the same copy I personally read. It is the first link that Amazon shows. As indicated above, though, they are essentially the same. If I recommend a particular copy, say, for especially helpful added notes, or something, I will let you know.
Getting into the classics
Well, it has been awhile again, but definitely do not equate my lack of posts with a lack of reading! Not sure if I will get all caught up today, but I have plenty of great stuff coming your way! And in a bit of a turn from my usual, I have taken the opportunity of a delightful summer environment (one free of required school reading, that is) to delve into some of the classics in a more relaxed fashion. Several of my upcoming posts will detail these.
Now, I note on these. Although I initially stated that my blog was going to be more a diary documenting the experience of trying to read 100 books this year (a goal which I can't say I am going to meet, but will not yet give up trying!) and less a critique of the books, I have somehow wound up writing reviews after all. Despite my initial misgivings about reviewing, I have indeed found this to be something I can get behind and might actually like doing on a semi-regular basis. That being said, it is one thing to review the latest in popular fiction on the must read aisle at Target, but it is an entirely different matter to "critique" Shakespeare. Obviously that would be a bit pretentious. Further, as I had previously insisted and once again reiterate, this is pleasure reading, not school reading. So just because it might be a work from the classical literature canon (no debates about the legitimacy of canons, please!), that does not mean I will be doing any sort of close reading or even really deep thinking. I am seeing if it is possible to read these for plot and pleasure only and then writing a few lines about what that feels like.
Oh, and there are still a few good and fresh reads in here too!
Ok, so that being said...
Now, I note on these. Although I initially stated that my blog was going to be more a diary documenting the experience of trying to read 100 books this year (a goal which I can't say I am going to meet, but will not yet give up trying!) and less a critique of the books, I have somehow wound up writing reviews after all. Despite my initial misgivings about reviewing, I have indeed found this to be something I can get behind and might actually like doing on a semi-regular basis. That being said, it is one thing to review the latest in popular fiction on the must read aisle at Target, but it is an entirely different matter to "critique" Shakespeare. Obviously that would be a bit pretentious. Further, as I had previously insisted and once again reiterate, this is pleasure reading, not school reading. So just because it might be a work from the classical literature canon (no debates about the legitimacy of canons, please!), that does not mean I will be doing any sort of close reading or even really deep thinking. I am seeing if it is possible to read these for plot and pleasure only and then writing a few lines about what that feels like.
Oh, and there are still a few good and fresh reads in here too!
Ok, so that being said...
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