Around the Year Reading Challenge #TBD: A book you are embarrassed to read in public
I wasn't actually embarrassed to read this book in public, but I wAround the Year Reading Challenge #TBD: A book you are embarrassed to read in public
I wasn't actually embarrassed to read this book in public, but I was reading it before I had announced that I was pregnant, so I was keeping the book secret.
Now that I'm no longer keeping a secret (and couldn't if I wanted to if you saw me IRL), I'm happy to talk about this book.
I am not an economist like Oster, but I very much related to her obsession with knowing exact numbers and exact reasons behind different pregnancy outcomes and advice. I've spent countless hours Googling (often in vain) for specific statistics and studies to back up general pregnancy/conception advice. Oster looks at a lot of these studies so you don't have to. I loved the tone of this book, which is empowering in that Oster believes women are capable of weighing the risks themselves and making their own decision rather than blindly following conventional wisdom.
Oster's overall takeaway is that women can be much more permissive during pregnancy than one might believe -- moderate drinking is OK, moderate caffeine is OK, invasive genetic testing is not really that dangerous. While she can back all this up and a lot of women will probably feel freed by her information, I still ended up following pretty much all of the "conventional" wisdom because I am so risk averse that even a small increase in the chances of something going wrong is more than I'm willing to take. But it is nice to know I don't need to stay up all night worrying if I give in to the craving for an occasional coffee or sip of beer. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #40: A Novella from Your Favorite Genre (literary fiction/historical fiction are not my favorite genres, but I hAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #40: A Novella from Your Favorite Genre (literary fiction/historical fiction are not my favorite genres, but I had trouble finding a fantasy/sci-fi novella after I discovered the one I'd been planning to read all year was nowhere to be found)
The prose in this book is beautiful. In fact, I'd call it more of a prose poem than a novella. It is told from a collective "we" consciousness and goes through the experiences of Japanese women who immigrated to the United States as brides for working-class Japanese immigrants. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of life as a Japanese immigrant in the U.S., starting with the experience of coming over on the boat and following up through the Japanese internment during World War II. All important stories that in this book are told beautifully.
However, the book has no real plot, in that it doesn't follow any particular characters and the obstacles to be overcome are "collective" obstacles rather than individual. Because of that, even the lovely prose was not enough to hold my interest -- I found myself drifting off and needing to take breaks often. At a certain point it just begins to feel like a litany. Although the combination of all the stories throughout history is powerful in its own way, the prose may be better appreciated in smaller doses, perhaps one chapter a night rather than straight through over a couple days. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #52: A book published in 2016
Karen Cushman's first foray into middle-grade fantasy is well-grounded in her skilAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #52: A book published in 2016
Karen Cushman's first foray into middle-grade fantasy is well-grounded in her skill as a writer of historical fiction. The world, where magic is real but somewhat erratic and unpredictable, feels believable and solid. (The author's note at the end detailing the origins of much of the "hedge magic" and "cures" that Grayling and her mother employ also deepened my appreciation of the world-building.) The characters are charming and unique, and Grayling's journey from an insecure, healf-hearted magic apprentice to a powerful witch in her own right is satisfying. The commentary on the often-fraught mother-daughter relationship is also poignant and age appropriate for younger readers while resonating with the ring of truth for older readers. A really beautiful fantasy tale for both children and adults....more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #29: A book by an author who writes under more than one name
It's a little hard to keep reviewing these books beAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #29: A book by an author who writes under more than one name
It's a little hard to keep reviewing these books because so much of what I think of them holds true for the series in general -- I keep reading because I like J.D. Robb's characters and much of her dialogue, and as the series goes on the murders get less predictable as she seems to settle into this "new" genre. A few things I noticed about this book in particular:
1. I liked that the mystery in this one involved the medical field; I read all of these in order, anyway, but it's an extra treat when the themes are of interest to me outside of their role as a plot device; 2. Some of the stuff Eve Dallas did really annoyed me -- there are times when she is trying to come across as "tough cop" that she really just feels like a jerk, especially when she is dealing with those who are "down-on-their luck" like drug addicts and others who are desperate or impoverished. I don't know if this has always been an issue and I am just becoming more critical, or if it was especially bad in this book; 3. I liked how Eve's job security being called into question as part of the plot allowed for an opportunity to deepen her character and her sense of identity outside of being a cop.
The next book in this series is not available on audio at my library. Noooooooo! The audio of these are so good and are also how I first fell in love with the characters. I don't want to go all old-school just to progress the series. :/...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #51: A short story by a well-known author
Gah, I took so long to write this review that I hardly remember this lAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #51: A short story by a well-known author
Gah, I took so long to write this review that I hardly remember this little story anymore. I do remember that I somehow wanted MORE from it -- a bigger twist, more creepiness, more resolution. It was interesting, but I guess not interesting enough to stick with me!...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #50: A book originally written in a language other than English
Yes, this is a deeply unsettling book.
The artworAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #50: A book originally written in a language other than English
Yes, this is a deeply unsettling book.
The artwork is garish and creepy, nightmare-like, really. There is far more going on than either the cluttered, overlapping images or the text will say. There are no easy answers, and ultimately I gave this book four stars instead of five because I was left with a few TOO MANY questions. (view spoiler)[ Like, was panther an imaginary friend Christine used to work through past or present trauma? Was he a psychotic break, her own psyche setting out to harm her, a brush with schizophrenia? Or was he really a being from another world come to seduce and molest her (along with his creepy friends)? I also had the uncomfortable fear that Panther was really her father coming to visit her in the night, and that she "coped" by imagining him as an actual predator -- a panther -- or that he coaxed her into thinking of him that way. This is the interpretation I like least, and I wish I could shake it, because I really want to believe that Christine has SOMEONE safe she can turn to. (hide spoiler)]
This is a book best read in the light of day, although that won't be enough to keep you from filling icky. There's just a better chance you'll be able to shake it off by bedtime. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #38: A book about an anti-hero
This was a light read, but not shallow. It had just enough heart and smart culturAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #38: A book about an anti-hero
This was a light read, but not shallow. It had just enough heart and smart cultural commentary to be substantive despite its sometimes breezy tone. The relationship between Blackheart and Nimona was super sweet, and any potential weirdness in the adult male/teenage girl dynamic evaporated when (view spoiler)[ it became clear that Blackheart was gay. (hide spoiler)] I also liked the shameless meshing of traditional fairy tale elements - kings, knights, market days - with modern communication like news alerts and video chats. And the question of who is really the villain in any given system is always worth examining - Blackheart had a sense of "honor" and a personal ethics that belied his moniker.
I would have liked to have known more about Nimona's actual backstory; the gist of it was there but the edges remained a little blurry. The ending felt a bit abrupt to me as well, although the epilogue took the edge off. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #49: A Book with a Great Opening Line
This book has intrigued me since it first came across my desk when I was aAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #49: A Book with a Great Opening Line
This book has intrigued me since it first came across my desk when I was a teen services librarian -- I remember my intern taking it home the day it was processed and reading it all in one night. But I put off reading it until I could no longer put it off (my book club was reading it.)
So, why the resistance to a book that caught my attention right away? I was afraid that it would be "gimmicky," that the actual story would never live up to the stories promised in the creepy vintage photographs scattered throughout. Within the first few pages, I was pleased to find that I was wrong -- the prose is actually very good, and the storyline is strong enough to stand on its own. The photographs become a delightful perk, pushing the book into the realm of "experimental" or "mixed media" rather than the sole reason for the book's existence. There were times when the usage of photos felt a little incongruous -- places where they were used as "illustrations" without any explanation of why a photograph of that thing would exist were a little off-putting to me.
I liked the first half of this book better than the second. The beginning section is so atmospheric, with the descriptions of the bombed out, empty house, the rainy island, the creepy mummy in the tiny museum. Some people may find this slow to start, but I wanted the anticipation to go on and on. I liked the mystery more than its resolution.
The second half of the story doesn't take a nosedive or anything. It just gets a little jumbled, with a bunch of characters bursting into what has been mostly a solitary journey for Jacob, a somewhat questionable romance, some skewed parental interactions, and a lot of different plot points jammed together into a mostly coherent puzzle.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I have a feeling it will focus on the "peculiar" children and rush through the opening, which would be a shame. It also makes me somewhat less inclined to read the follow-up novels, since they'll probably more closely resemble the second half of the book than the first. I invite those who have read them to make a case for or against continuing the series!...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #24: A "Between-the-Numbers" book of a series
This was pretty much what you'd come to expect in a J.D. Robb bookAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #24: A "Between-the-Numbers" book of a series
This was pretty much what you'd come to expect in a J.D. Robb book, except shorter. There is no who-dun-it because Eve knows who the killer is -- an escaped convict that she put behind bars three years ago. The tension instead comes from the fact that Eve as well as a close friend are both on his "hit list" and she must find him before he kills the others on the list and without losing her own life.
The book was fine -- prose, pacing, plot pretty much on par with the full-length novels. I was annoyed that a book so short still had to waste pages on sex scenes that did nothing to advance plot or character, but mostly I rated this book three stars because it followed the J.D. Robb formula TOO well. I was hoping the shorter form might give her the opportunity to try something a little different, but this is just a miniature version of what she's been doing all along. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #39: A book set in a place you'd like to visit
After discussing some of the book's flaws with my book club last Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #39: A book set in a place you'd like to visit
After discussing some of the book's flaws with my book club last week, I realize I may have been a bit generous in awarding it the elusive five stars. But despite its weaknesses, while I was reading this book I did not want it to end -- this happens rarely even when I am enjoying a book, and that tends to be what bumps it into five-star territory.
While I agree that Rosie is a bit of a manic-pixie-dream-girl, and while I do think she's a bit on the self-centered side, and while I had such a hard time picturing her even though she WAS described, she didn't really get on my nerves or interfere with my enjoyment of the book. The most fun aspect of this book for me was Don's "voice" -- I loved the unusual way he saw the world and the various adventures and misunderstandings that arose from this. Not only is the book a sympathetic portrayal of someone who is on the autism spectrum, but it also underscores the ways that neurotypicals and those with different brain types are very much alike. All of us have certain ideas that we are unwilling to be flexible about, and all of us feel pretty clueless when it comes to understanding love.
Overall, this is a "feel-good" book that would make a delightful romantic comedy -- and this coming from someone who isn't a huge fan of romantic comedies. What I liked about this as a romance is that the misunderstandings and tensions that arise in Don and Rosie's relationships are not manufactured for the sake of plot -- instead, they arise naturally from the way that their minds work differently. Thus, it's not one of those books where all the tension would be dissipated if the characters would just TALK TO EACH OTHER ALREADY. Talking to each other, with their differing communication styles, is often part of the problem.
I like that Don's relationship with Rosie made him more "open" to new experiences and "flexible" in the way he lived his life, but I think the criticism that he was expected to change "too much" is valid. Rosie probably could have learned a thing or two about being organized and methodical, too!...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #25: A Book Whose Main Character is in a Profession that Interests You
This feels like two different books smashAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #25: A Book Whose Main Character is in a Profession that Interests You
This feels like two different books smashed into one: the first half is something of a memoir of Cutie's experience in the priesthood, while the second half is essentially his rant about all the things that are wrong with the Catholic church, which he mostly attributes to the celibacy requirement for clergy.
This has a bit more of a "celebrity memoir" feel to it than I usually like, and the writing in the first half feels a little labored, clunky, and obligatory. I didn't realize that Cutie was such a public figure, so his need to tell "his" side of the story and his many references to how the media and those around him perceived him felt a little bit overly defensive to me. If you're looking for a love story, you will be disappointed -- he goes into very little detail about the relationship that was ultimately the last straw in his decision to leave the Catholic church, probably out of respect for his wife, whom he characterizes as a "private" and "shy" person.
The book picked up steam (and interest) for me after Cutie stopped acting as an apologist for why he remained in the Church for so long and instead dissects all that he sees to be wrong with it. There is nothing incredibly new here, although there are a few interesting insights, such as his belief that the Catholic church has been so silent in speaking out against dictatorial governments because it is itself a dictatorship. The idea that all of the Church's problems stem from the celibacy requirement is a bit of a stretch, but he makes a compelling argument for it nonetheless. I liked having the "insider look" behind the veil that is the Catholic hierarchy and appreciated that Cutie's role as an outsider allowed him greater than priests still within the system are afforded. I felt a bit uncomfortable with how Cutie seemed ready to give priests accused of sex abuse the "benefit of the doubt" as well as his conflation of homosexuality and predatory sexual preferences, even though he claims to be an ally to the GLBTQ community.
As a memoir it's a little stiff and wooden, and it's not the greatest treatise on the failings of the Catholic church. But I'm still glad to welcome Cutie among the chorus of dissenters calling for change in an institution that too often does more harm than good to its adherents. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #21: A book from the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ recommendations page
The philosophy behind this book is pretty much the same as tAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #21: A book from the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ recommendations page
The philosophy behind this book is pretty much the same as that powering Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, but I found this book to be a lot more enjoyable. Goldberg's tone is a bit less pretentious and her advice, overall, feels more grounded and less self-involved. The writing prompts vary from the whimsical to the thoughtful to the practical, and I felt a little smug to see her recommending several practices that I already incorporate. The book is full of analogies to the writing life to make it seem a little less mystical, and it includes a healthy dose of author humility. While less exuberant than "Bones," the advice in this book is both inspiring and sustainable.
A couple things did bug me about the book. I felt that Goldberg included far more examples of her own writing than were needed to convey the sense of what she was advising; these felt self-indulgent. I also can't help notice that in many of these, "free yourself and write" advice books, the authors do not have traditional employment -- either they are supporting themselves with their writing, or they have some mysterious source of income squirreled away somewhere, and the advice about letting writing permeate every part of your life can feel unattainable when you are squeezing it in around the rest of your life. Goldberg does address this in several places, but there's a sense that she doesn't feel it down in her bones when she writes about quitting her one-day-a-week paid gig because it interferes with her writing mojo. Yup, jobs are hella inconvenient. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #46: A Crime Story
I am only a casual fan of Batman, but the credit for any of the fandom I have for the series Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #46: A Crime Story
I am only a casual fan of Batman, but the credit for any of the fandom I have for the series goes back to Batman: The Animated Series from the nineties, which I still consider to be the best incarnation of Batman yet. So I was excited to read this graphic novel (memoir) about one of the original writers for the series, and his relationship with the Batman of his imagination.
I enjoyed this book, although it wasn't quite as phenomenal as I hoped it would be. I really liked getting a peek "behind the scenes" on the writing of the animated series, as well as the movie "Mask of the Phantasm," which Dini was working on when the attack depicted in this book takes place. I also liked the reflection on how fictional characters can become real to us, to the extent that they can actually influence our attitude and the outcome of our lives, as well as the look at how the life of the imagination can be disrupted, spoiled, and rebuilt after tragedy.
The art is appropriately gritty, dark, and realistic, although I felt that the female characters were more sexualized than was necessary. I also didn't particularly like the "framing" mechanism of having Dini "tell" the story to some unknown audience -- it seemed like a gimmick without there ever being a reveal on who his "listener" was, besides the reader.
Still, if you like graphic memoirs or comic books, I think this one brings something truly new to both genres. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #26: A Book Everyone is Talking About
I usually don't explicitly review audiobook performances even though I lisAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #26: A Book Everyone is Talking About
I usually don't explicitly review audiobook performances even though I listen to tons of audiobooks -- if something stands out, I'll mention it, but I focus my reviews on the things I would have noticed regardless of the medium.
I'm making an exception this time because this audiobook is *so damn good.* This is one of the rare cases where I'm honestly not sure I would have liked the book as much as I did if I read it the old-fashioned way.
The book is set up as a collection of "files" -- interviews, transcripts, diary entries, etc. -- surrounding research on a giant, ancient robot whose pieces are scattered throughout the world. I usually like this "self-aware" storytelling style, wherein the characters are aware that they are writing, being recorded, etc., as they tell their story. What this means in the audio version, however, is that each character is played by a different reader. And the readers, with their accents, quirks of inflection, rate of speaking, etc., all feel like real people, making this somewhat fantastical book ALSO feel as if maybe it *could* really happen. It's a totally immersive experience -- the kind that leaves you walking around in your normal life with your brain still living somewhere back in "book world." It's been a long time since I read a book that seeped so deeply into my subconscious, and that I wanted to sink into as much as I did this one. Perhaps I would have had the same experience if I had read it -- the book could not have done as well as it did if it were only audiobook listeners who liked it -- but I still think audio is definitely the way to go on this one.
So, why only four stars with all that gushing? One nitpicky thing is that this book does what a lot of "documentary," "epistolary," or "diary" books do -- there are places where it strains credibility that the characters would actually go into such detail when talking/writing about certain things, and you know the only reason the author did it is because he wants to reader to have that information, and his chosen medium has constrained the way that it can be delivered. There was only one place in here that I really noticed this, but it was big enough to jar me out of the story for a little bit.
Also, this isn't the type of sci-fi that I generally go for. I'm not a big fan of "giant robot" stories, and this one has a lot of military overtones, which is something else that is a turn-off for me in science fiction. And I kept feeling like there should be a bigger reveal at some point, like we were perhaps building up to something that never actually happened (although the epilogue was pretty cool.) So, I think it was not the story itself that captivated me, but rather its execution. This isn't the best story out there, but its execution is brilliant. And its audio adaptation is even brilliant-er....more
Around the World Reading Challenge Item #14: A Book with One of the Five Ws or H in the Title
This is one of those books that is hard to review.
It's anAround the World Reading Challenge Item #14: A Book with One of the Five Ws or H in the Title
This is one of those books that is hard to review.
It's an "unconventional memoir," a collection of short reflections and memories that are instigated by Williams' mother bequeathing her journals to her before she dies. When Williams opens the journals, she finds nothing but blank pages.
I liked to imagine that Williams filled those journals with the thoughts that became this book, but that is never explicitly stated.
At first, the vignettes seem a little random and unrelated. Then themes begin to emerge tying them together -- the idea of what it means for women to have a voice and to find a voice, stories involving birds, reflections on storytelling. I wanted the book to be more about Williams' mother; although she keeps returning to the empty journals in her attempt to make meaning out of them, the mystery is never quite solved. And that is unsettling -- perhaps as it should be.
The writing is almost uniformly gorgeous. There were passages here and there where I drifted off, but there were more that I wanted to read again and again. ...more
**spoiler alert** Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #3: A Winner of the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Reader's Choice Awards
I probably would have given this book fou**spoiler alert** Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #3: A Winner of the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Reader's Choice Awards
I probably would have given this book four stars if it hadn't been for all the hype.
It wasn't a bad book; it held my interest all the way through, which is something many three-star books do not do. I found Rachel to be sympathetic despite her flaws, and I liked the narrative choice to tell the story from the perspectives of three women whose lives were only tenuously connected to one another. All three women were fairly well developed, although the male characters remained fairly one-dimensional throughout.
Perhaps what really ruined this book for me were the rampant comparisons to Gone Girl. While both books deal with unreliable narrators and troubled marriages, this one does not have near the psychological dexterity or astuteness of "Gone Girl." It resorts far too often to plot devices that seem merely convenient -- such as Rachel's blackouts, or the vagueness of Megan's interactions with (view spoiler)[ the men she is having affairs with, so that the reader is misled into believing she only has one extramarital lover, not two. (hide spoiler)] Whereas in Gone Girl each piece felt meticulously fitted together, in this book I got the feeling that the author was making it up as she went along, so that when the killer was finally revealed, it didn't feel so much like a revelation as like the author looked at what she had written and decided, "Eh, I guess I can make this work."
The book's small cast of characters makes it feel claustrophobic, which is actually a point in its favor as it heightens the sense that danger is near and inescapable. I'm not quite sure what to make about some of its themes, though. While, on the one hand, I really liked (view spoiler)[ that in the end Rachel and Anna had to make peace with one another over the secret they shared, choosing solidarity over competition (hide spoiler)], I was a little uncomfortable with the way the book seemed almost obsessed with babies and motherhood, from (view spoiler)[ Rachel's descent into alcoholism beginning with her infertility, to her hatred of Anna for having her ex-husband's baby, to Megan's problems all stemming from the death of her child, to her own pregnancy at the crux of the violence perpetrated against her. (hide spoiler)] While I understand that motherhood or the desire for motherhood can be a compelling motivator for women, this book made it feel like motherhood was the defining feature of being a woman.
In the end, this book is interesting because it's a bit of a small-casted soap opera with a murder thrown in, and not because it has something particularly substantial to say or a twist that you never saw coming. And I can't help but think less of the book because it puts on airs of accomplishing both those things. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #13: Reader's Choice
This book held my interest all the way through, but I'm having trouble coming up with sometAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #13: Reader's Choice
This book held my interest all the way through, but I'm having trouble coming up with something coherent to say about it.
Like the best memoirs, Orenstein is not afraid to sacrifice her pride for the sake of emotional honesty, and she writes candidly about many situations and conversations that do not present her in the best light. Still, the pain, disappointment and powerlessness that accompany infertility are very real, and it is in these deeply painful places that Orenstein sometimes recedes into the shadows. She brushes off her first miscarriage, and subsequent miscarriages are covered in varying levels of detail. She captures the danger of obsession that can emerge when high-achieving women confront infertility, one thing for which they seemingly have little control over -- but that doesn't mean they don't try! Orenstein details her attempts to "control" the uncontrollable by doing everything from acupuncture to building shrines in her bedroom. There's always that tantalizing "one more thing" that just might work.
But this book is strongest in the moments when Orenstein steps away from her infertility-fueled neuroses (no judgment) and reflects on what it means to her identity, particularly as a feminist. She struggles with her dedication to a woman's right to choose when she feels desperate for the pregnancy many women would give up, as well as the way women's sense of "worth" or "femininity" is tied to their ability to be mothers. She depicts how such an ongoing crisis colors the whole world in different ways, from how you interact to your friend who has 15 kids (yes, really), to how you think of sex, to the things you do when you travel (one of the most touching segments is when Orenstein visits a shrine for miscarried or aborted babies in Japan, the mourning of which happens mostly invisibly in the U.S.) Perhaps most impressive is her astuteness in pinpointing how the desire to become a parent can be subverted by the desire to get pregnant -- pregnancy becomes the "achievement" rather than the means to an end, a goal that can be focused on to the extent that it obscures serious consideration of parenthood (this has its parallel in brides who are so obsessed with the wedding that they don't contemplate the idea of marriage, I think).
Orenstein's journey is truly harrowing, (view spoiler)[ rife with three miscarriages, two failed in vitro attempts, a handful of failed IUI procedures, a disastrous attempt using an egg donor, medical issues that interfered with Orenstein's ability to get pregnant or made doing so dangerous, and an adoption that fell through (hide spoiler)], and yet, I couldn't help but notice that this memoir is still coming from a place of incredible privilege. Although Orenstein briefly notes that advanced reproductive technologies are only available to those who can afford them, she spends very little time examining her privilege beyond that point. She even mentions feeling envious of a couple who cannot afford IVF and so can forgo the emotional, financial and physical strain of it -- although I expect that couple would prefer to have Orenstein's "problem."
It's not a perfect book, but as memoir goes it's eminently readable; the pages turn and the suspense of when and how she will finally get her daughter pulls you forward. (This is not a spoiler -- her author bio on the book mentions a daughter.) More importantly, it breaks the silence and offers companionship to the many women and families who are facing down what is still very much a silent struggle. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #18: A Book from a Summer/Beach Reading List
(I got this one from NPR's ).
Although I knAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #18: A Book from a Summer/Beach Reading List
(I got this one from NPR's ).
Although I knew that this book was beloved by many queer women, I always thought it was because a same-sex love story could be "read into" Idgie's and Ruth's friendship. I saw the movie as a kid and at the time accepted "friendship" as a believable explanation for the women's bond, and I expected the book to be similar. So I was surprised, pleasantly so, by how overtly queer the book is. There is no hedging around the issue that Ruth and Idgie are in love and are forging a romantic partnership that is much like the relationships of the opposite-sex, traditional couples around them. It is heartening to know that, even with this relationship at the heart of it, the book still managed to cruise the mainstream back in the mid-eighties.
The town of Whistlestop, Alabama, is a strange, surreal kind of place. On the one hand, it's refreshing that no one really seems to give a damn about whether Idgie and Ruth are lesbians and that they are universally accepted for who they are, just as the community accepts the eccentricities of the town's other residents. I would say that this book romanticizes small-town life -- there seems to be fairly minimal gossip; what gossip there is is not mean-spirited, good-natured hijinks and pranks abound, and ultimately the town's sense of allegiance to the community trumps all other concerns. But the book is not without its darkness -- the Ku Klux Klan is a real threat; black men are jailed for crimes they did not commit; one character is an especially egregious rapist and wife beater; and then, of course, there is (view spoiler)[ the murder and cannibalism (hide spoiler)], which gives the whole sweet veneer of the book a deliciously dark underbelly.
Still, I found myself ambivalent about the portrayal of Whistlestop. It almost seems to be something of a utopia: a place where blacks and whites are friends in the segregated south; a place where professionals don't charge for goods or services even in the grip of the depression; a place where spouses rib at each other but are generally happy with their lit; a place where a lesbian couple lives openly without any fear of harassment or worse. It's all a little hard to swallow for the realist in me, and it has me wondering about its overall purpose. Is this meant to be a sort of escapist reality, a glimpse into how the author (and others) wish the world could be? Is it only because it is seen primarily through the rose-colored glasses of 86-year-old Ginny, whose disposition seems to make her incapable of saying an unkind word about anyone? It makes me wonder whether Whistlestop was really what we are led to believe it is, or whether its portrayal in the book is the result of an old woman's loneliness, delusion, and revisionist history. Are we supposed to accept this idyllic place at face value, or are we meant to question the veracity of the perspective from which it comes to us?
The fact that the Whistlestop story is intertwined with middle-aged Evelyn's journey toward a feminist awakening and then self-acceptance also makes me wonder about whether we are being fed truth, or an inspirational fiction. It is this place that seems too good to be true, after all, that gives Evelyn a vision of the way her own life might change. Ginny sees something good, strong, and beautiful in Evelyn that she does not see in herself; might she similarly have seen more good in Whistlestop than what was actually there?
Because of this dichotomy, I actually felt more invested in the Evelyn storyline because her untapped anger, her dissatisfaction with her marriage and her life choices, her exploration of what she really believed all felt more real and credible to me. There were times when her story was a bit over the top, when things I knew I was supposed to find funny just struck me as annoying. In general, I didn't really buy into the "humor" in this book -- it was a little too quirky and quaint for my tastes and felt as though it were just trying too hard. But then, it's very seldom that humor in books really hits the right note with me.
Still, I can see why this book resonates with so many people. It offers a glimpse of community and solidarity that many of us long to believe is possible, but it also does not shy away from examining issues of racism and feminism -- topics that remain ever-relevant even if the presentation of them in Fried Green Tomatoes feels just a little bit dated. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #11: A Book from the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
Gosh, I wish I hadn't waited so long to write this review.
ThAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #11: A Book from the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge
Gosh, I wish I hadn't waited so long to write this review.
This book was different than I expected it to be. Based on its descriptions, I thought it would be focused on the lives of the girls in the authors book group, and how their dreams and their realities intersected via the focal point of the book club. Although the book begins and ends with these girls, the long middle section details the slow creep of the Islamic Revolution into ordinary citizens' lives, until it had all but blotted out individuality.
Even though I've read a handful of books on Iran's Islamic Revolution, I still had to work hard to stay focused and keep the various factions and political figures straight. When the author detailed the way people she knew would show up dead with little provocation, I read with the sort of engrossed horror of someone who has just discovered the genre of the dystopia. I wanted to thrust this book (or others that went into similar detail about the day-to-day horrors of a dictatorial regime) into the hands of all teens obsessed with the genre and say, "LOOK, we don't NEED to make these terrifying societies up; they actually exist, and the more we learn about them, hopefully the better prepared we will be to fight them."
This memoir is organized by books, with the author using each book to encompass a different era of her life and the politics surrounding it. I was glad that I had read most of the books referenced, since the author's academic writing background spills into this memoir in the form of long digressions analyzing the texts she and her students studied and how they related to the current political climate. Between the book analyses and the political details, the book did come to feel a little dense in the middle; still, a subject as complex and nuanced as the Islamic Revolution cannot be quickly explained or summarized, nor does it lend itself to a "breezy" read. Considering the subject matter, this is a fairly accessible book, especially to those familiar with Western literature.
I couldn't help but contemplate the fact that nearly all the voices we get out of Iran come from writers who have either spent significant amounts of time outside the country or who left the country eventually. This makes me wonder if Westerners can ever truly understand Iran's history or its bearing on Iranians' contemporary realities, when our instructors have a decidedly Westernized mentality even from within their Middle Eastern culture. This is one of the many costs of censorship, I guess, that the only voices that will ever reach us are those that have, in one way or another, already made it to the outside. ...more
Around the Year Reading Challenge Item #45: A Book Related to a Hobby or Passion You Have
If you are looking for beautiful writing, then you'll want toAround the Year Reading Challenge Item #45: A Book Related to a Hobby or Passion You Have
If you are looking for beautiful writing, then you'll want to pass on this book. It's not badly written, especially as far as self-published works go. The writing is merely functional, and a little perfunctory -- it feels a little as if the author is writing an email or a blog post detailing his and his son's latest antics, with a reporting style that kind of assumes the reader already knows these people. Out of the whole "cast," Ben comes across the most clearly, which makes sense since the whole book revolves around him. I had less of a sense of his mother's or stepmother's personality (his stepmother seemed like just an occasional footnote), and his father, as the storyteller, makes himself fairly vulnerable but also tells "his side of the story" and says the sorts of things you'd expect a caring father to say.
Still, if writing style isn't a huge deal and what you want is to learn more about a unique family's experiences with autism and the lengths they went to to bring their mostly non-verbal son out of his shell, this book will fit the bill. It moves along at a decent pace, and I had to admire the fact that Ben's parents were willing to uproot their lives to move closer to Disney World, a place where their son seemed to make enough progress on their first visit that they believed it would be a further catalyst for his socialization -- and in many ways, it was, although there's really no way to know how his development would have proceeded had his parents not made this momentous decision. To that end, perhaps what comes across most strongly in this book is the love and devotion these parents feel toward their autistic son -- I like Disney World, but visiting multiple times a week, only to ride the same ride dozens of times ... it must have been mind-numbingly boring. But these parents soldiered on without much complaining.
If you are not a Disney fan, this book may be a little nauseating to you. The author is a total Disney World fanboy and the book reads so much like an open love letter to Disney that I wouldn't be surprised if they sell it in their gift shops. I'm totally on board with the magic of Disney, but the total lack of any critique at all, especially considering the fact that his impressionable autistic son was marinating in Disney ideology 24/7, was a little off-putting to me; it felt like a bit of a "sell" at times even though I know it wasn't.
Still, I mentioned earlier that this is self-published, and in that market, you could do a lot worse. This is cleanly written and formatted and not a slog to get through. And the photos of Ben sprinkled throughout were a very nice touch. ...more
Loading...
