I have some personal things going right now so I’ll be absent from reading and commenting on blogs, responding to comments, twitter, and otherwise blogging for the next little while. I hope you are well in the mean time.

• Like Water For Chocolate Winner!
• Google Reader Overload! + Blog Thoughts + Memelet
• Bookworms Carnival: You Are Never Too Old
• Blogging as Storytelling and Blogging Tips from an Unprofessional
• Blogging Goals for the Coming Year
• Celebrating the Classics: A Dead Author Blog Tour? (An Idea)
• Poetry Friday: If by Rudyard Kipling
• BBAW Meme + Thanks for the Nominations
• The What? When? Where? Why? and How? of Challenges

As I read, I was struck that the main obstacle that Douglass had to overcome was not the freezing weather, the starvation, the humiliations, and the beatings, but rather a broken will. Of course, all of the former abuses directly contributed to the later, but it is his will that allowed him to be himself amidst the horrors of slavery.

Douglass was a strong-willed and intelligent boy as he grew in Baltimore. For example, he tricked the white boys his age to teach him how to read and he secretly worked on learning more. But as a teenager, he found himself reassigned to an overseer in the country who had a reputation for “breaking in” rebellious slaves. Eventually, Douglass’s spirit was broken too. That was the most heart breaking to me, for the slave masters determined to turn him into something less than human.

Douglass’s story about his broken spirit reminded me of the story of Sethe and the others in Beloved, one of my favorite novels. “You your own self,” Sethe is told. And that is what I kept thinking as Douglass told his story. He was his own self, and he was strong. He had to rediscover his will to be an individual after that master “broke” him, just as Sethe ultimately had to discover herself in Beloved. As is evidence by the existence of this narrative, Douglass eventually escaped slavery and was able to tell his story, further evidence that he was able to rediscover his will to be an individual.

Douglass’s story was written just ten years after his ultimate escape from slavery, when he was 27 or 28, and that also fascinates me. It was the 1840s, and slavery was a long way from being ended. As an escaped slave, evidence of his whereabouts could bring slave catchers, and many Northern states were required to return the slaves. Yet, he does not fear to name many names. It is clear that he has a confidence in himself. He later was able to earn enough money, lecturing in Europe, to legally buy his freedom. That is a story of success and self-confidence.

As I read this account of a slave in a border state, a slave with a difficult and tragic life and yet one that was not “that bad,” I was repeatedly reminded of a picture book I read a few weeks ago. I wrote up a blurb about it and had intended to post it with other picture books about the subject in a few more weeks. My original impression of The Listeners by Gloria Whelan, illustrated by Mike Benny, was as follows:

In a beautifully illustrated large book, we learn the story of three little slave children, whose job it is to listen near the plantation house every night and report back to their parents. It’s a slave story, but it has an element of hope to it. The illustrations are gorgeous. I’ve seen some comments suggesting that it is too light-hearted a look at slavery: truly this is not like the slavery I’ve read about before, and I can accept those comments. But it still is a touching and beautiful picture book, and I can see it as a good introduction to the subject for young children.

After reading Douglass’s book, I am now confused about what I think about The Listeners. I think it gives an incorrect view of slavery. I no longer have it to reread (I had to return it to the library), but I do remember a scene where the children are dancing with their parents. They delight in those evenings.

On the contrary, Frederick Douglass said:

I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. At least, such is my experience. I have often sung to drown my sorrow, but seldom to express my happiness. Crying for joy, and singing for joy, were alike uncommon to me while in the jaws of slavery. … (page 35, emphasis added)

Gloria Whelan, author of The Listeners, is a woman from Detroit, who has written a number of picture books set in rural Michigan, as well as other stories and picture books set in other locales, such as Russia and Japan (see Wikipedia; her author site). I guess I wonder what books she’s read about real life in slavery. Has she read any escaped slave journals and accounts, like this one? Maybe she has; I don’t know. But now I doubt the veracity and the appropriateness of a picture book with slave children laughing and dancing. It gives the wrong impression.

In Douglass’s account, as a child, he received one shirt a year and when it wore out, he went naked. He was always hungry. All the children ate out of a trough, and the quickest ended up eating the most. At night, he had a burlap sack as a blanket. In the rural Maryland winters, his feet would frost over in the night. He was forced to watch women being whipped, and saw a man shot for being slow to respond to the master’s orders.

How does one teach this cruel reality of slavery to children, or do we just gloss over it with pretty picture books until they are older?

Do you think it’s appropriate to emphasize, in a picture book, imagined happy moments that some slave children may have had?

I don’t have any answers. As I said above, I’m conflicted.

• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
• Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth
• The Life of Wilkie Collins (Biographies by Clarke and Peters)
• The Book That Changed My Life, edited by Roxanne J. Coady and Joy Johannesson + Giveaway
• Golden Legacy by Leonard Marcus
• The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

I also picked up a book I own about gender-based genetics (The X in Sex), and it is so easy to read compared to DNA. It’s short, too, so I may finish it. I started skimming Daily Life in Victorian England, and while it’s not spectacularly written and there are no footnotes (a huge pet peeve of mine in nonfiction), I’m still so fascinated by the era, I’d love to keep reading. I didn’t get to any of my Japan books this week but I did read about 150 pages of East of Eden as well.

At any rate, this week, I must finish my Heyer book, which I’ve barely begun. I’d forgotten my tour dates was so soon (it’s Monday)! And I need to work on another house project so I’ll finish my audiobook. East of Eden may become a priority, but I don’t mind if I only make a little progress. Although it’s hard to put it down after just a little, the writing is so beautiful, it’s like a little reward at the end of the day and I like stretching it out.

Of course, it was due yesterday, so maybe I need to work on that…

I started swapping books at PaperbackSwap instead of Bookmooch. PBS has a “condition” requirement that attracted me to it. I’m very tired of getting really old, falling apart books, and I’ve gotten many from Bookmooch. (I still have some books from my “writing-and-highlighting” college days listed at Bookmooch, but I list the condition, so you won’t be surprised.) At any rate, the fact that my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring fell apart as I read was testament to me that it’s about time I owned books that were not in rotten condition. I’m having fun swapping away some of those nice condition books I own that I know I’m never going to read again for nice condition books that I do want to own and read again!

Do you swap books?

Finished Books

• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (110 pages, plus 30 pages front matter; nonfiction).
• Poetry for Young People: William Blake (50 pages; poetry).
• DNA by James Watson (405 pages; nonfiction).
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave (140 pages, plus 50 pages front/end matter; nonfiction/memoir).
• The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkein (490 pages; fiction). For the Lord of the Rings Readalong.

Returned or Abandoned Books

Although I wanted to read both of these, the due dates were approaching and I decided to give them a pass this time around.

• I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World by Martin Luther King, Jr. (200 pages; nonfiction/speeches). I am not really in the mood for speeches this week and it was due.
• We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson (children’s nonfiction). I flipped through this and loved the illustrations.

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week. I did make a little progress on some of these.

My Books

Here are the books I own or downloaded. I’ve been rather horrible at reading my project book this week!

• Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (140 read of 455 pages; nonfiction).
• A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (drama). Not begun yet. Some day soon?
• Reading in Bed edited by Steven Gilbar (nonfiction/essays). A collection of essays about our favorite topic: reading. Occasionally, I’ll post some thoughts about an essay for the Reading Reflections feature.
• The X in Sex by David Banbridge (40 read of 200 pages; nonfiction). My project book last month gave me a good jumping ground to read some more about genetics.
• How to Read a Poem And Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch (nonfiction). My project book for March. Not yet begun.

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (400 read of about 600 pages; fiction). For the Classics Reads Book Group.
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (on part 7 of 10, 11 ½ hours audio; fiction). So much fun!
• Daily Life in Victorian England by Sally Mitchell (40 read of 280 pages; nonfiction). I was just going to skim it, but I’m fascinated!
• The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer (25 read of 300; fiction). For Monday’s tour stop.
• Japan: A Concise History by Milton Walter Meyer (nonfiction).
• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. For IRL book club
• Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata. Haven’t begun.
• A History of Japan by R.H.P. Mason.
• A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years by Shuichi Kato.
• A History of Japanese Literature: From the Manyoshu to Modern Times by Shuichi Kato.
• Introduction to Classic Japanese Literature by Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai.

New Library Loot

• Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
• Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata

Finds

• Yukio Mishima’s The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Recommended in a comment by Claire at Kiss a Cloud
• Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros. Eva posting at Color Online
• The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. Nymeth.

• Reading Journal (24 February): My First Vlog
• Reading Journal (17 Feb): A Brief Post
• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• Reading Journal (4 Nov): Reading Progress and Library Loot
• February in Review and March Reading Journal
• Reading Journal (25 November): Unplugged Edition
• Reading Journal (6 January): Starting Off the New Year
• Reading Journal (27 January): Addicted
• Reading Journal (13 January): Exhausted
• Reading Journal (June 10): Book Clubs

In her free time, Chieko would see the cherry blossoms and visit the cedar forests. It was a celebration of the world around us, and I enjoyed Kawabata’s pace. The world today moves so quickly, it was unusual to slow down and try to imagine this foreign 1950s world. Chieko’s Kyoto seemed on the cusp of embracing  Westernization.

And that was how the book felt to me: on the cusp. I can’t say I didn’t like it: I enjoyed it very much. But as I read, I felt it was on the verge of something beautiful, and I missed it. Only in retrospect does it all fit together for me. (Note that I’ve attempted to avoid major “spoilers,” if those are even possible.)

As I read, I thought, from beginning to end, that Chieko’s relationships drove the subtle story. First, there is the obvious observation of her unknown status to her adoptive parents. Was she a foundling? Was she a stolen child? The culture threw me off here, because apparently being a foundling is far worse than being stolen. (I would have thought that discovering that your parents were kidnappers was the worse alternative.) But beyond her relationship to her parents, and even more importantly, Chieko had competing suitors that seemed to vie for attention in the novel, and she develops a new relationship with the newly discovered Naeko. Just as I thought some resolution to these relationships was to come, the novel ended.

In retrospect, I realize I misunderstood the novel. It is titled The Old Capital because Kyoto was the capital of Japan for many hundreds of years. As I reflect on the novel, I realize that Kyoto is the character that Kawabata wanted me to focus on: the city streets, the festivals, the cherry blossoms and the cedar woods, the geishas. This traditional city is the Kyoto that Kawabata probably loved most, and he, as a modern individual writing 1957, can see the growing influence of those Western shops, for example, where one cannot even purchase a kimono or an obi.

Just as the two violets in the beginning grow a few feet apart, the Western and the Japanese traditions in the Old Capital seem to be growing apart. Do they know of each other? How do they interact? In this novel, we do not see them interact much at all. The violets parallel extends to Chieko and Naeko and Chieko’s suitors as well. How do they all fit together?

I want to thank Tanabata for leading a book group discussion (I’m a few months late…). One question she asked was this:

When Yasunari Kawabata was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, he apparently remarked “that in his work he sought a harmony among man, nature, and emptiness.”  Do you think he achieved this in The Old Capital?

Yes: in highlighting the beauties of the traditions of Kyoto, Kawabata illustrates just how the cultures should work together.

In the end, I believe Kawabata is writing in mourning for the Old Capital. In that sense, the novel is simply beautiful. I want to reread this someday after I’ve gone to Kyoto, or at least somewhere I can see a proper kimono and obi. In just 50 years, even in a global environment like the Internet, such traditions are overwhelmed by the Western.

What cultural traditions do you mourn the lose of?

Random Fact for those that have read the book: I read in my recent project book, DNA, that twins are statistically rare in Japan. Less than 3 out of 1000 pregnancies are twins. In a country in Africa, on the other hand, the rate jumps to 40 out of 1000 pregnancies. Is that rarity an explanation for the superstitions revolving around twins?

Read the Nobels

• The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington
• The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (In Chancery and To Let)
• Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
• The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
• The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (The Man of Property)
• The Student by Anton Chekhov: A Perfect Short Story
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I will miss February’s calendar picture. It is just the prettiest picture in the calendar and I find it sad that it happened to be on the shortest month! The days have been filled with well-enjoyed books, though. It was a satisfying month.

March’s picture is not as exciting to me, but I do like the quote at the bottom:

Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere. Hazel Rochman

This month, I was taken around the world in an eye-opening look at the plight of women in the world. I visited Regency England and sigh at Elinor’s and Marianne’s romance. I took a trip to late Victorian England, then I jumped to an alternate 1930s Harlem. I finished my lengthy immersion in the development of English language (which covers a lot of history), took a short excursion to Japan, and then a journey as an escaping slave. I also traveled between England and Paris during the revolution and walked across the lawn, which was forbidden me. Finally, I”ve been immigrating to Salinas Valley, California and recently began immigrating to Middle Earth.

My month certainly was full of lots of different kinds of “homes.” I enjoyed my variety this month. My goal to read lots of Black History Month books didn’t really work out well (I got too distracted), but I’m satisfied with my reading.

In March, my project book will be Edward Hirsch’s How to Read a Poem And Fall in Love with Poetry. I’m hoping it will get me geared up for April’s National Poetry Month.

Where did you visit in your reading this month?

Read previously/reviewed in February:

• Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes edited by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad (50 pages; poetry).
• Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers (200 pages; poetry).
• History of the English-Speaking People by Winston Churchill, abridged by Henry Steele Commager (470 pages; nonfiction).
• Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston (300 pages; fiction).

Read and reviewed in February:

• Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (250 pages; nonfiction)
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (315 pages; fiction).
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (190 pages; fiction).
• The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Graphic Novel by Ian Culbard (120 pages; fiction/graphic novel).
• Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (11 ½ hours audio; fiction/short stories).
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (390 pages; fiction).
• Black No More by George S. Schuyler (190 pages; fiction).
• A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard (50 pages; poetry). (no review)
• Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language by Seth Lerer (265 pages; nonfiction). Began in January.
• The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata (165 pages; fiction).
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (110 pages, plus 30 pages front matter; nonfiction).
• Poetry for Young People: William Blake (50 pages; poetry).
• DNA by James Watson (405 pages; nonfiction).
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (140 pages, plus 50 pages front/end matter; nonfiction/memoir).

Non-Review Posts

• January in Review
• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• Reading Journal (10 February): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• Reading Journal (17 February): A Brief Post
• Reading Reflections: A Book Kingdom
• Reading Journal (24 February): My First Vlog

External/Timed Challenges

Women Unbound
Black Classics Challenge
Graphic Novel Challenge
Our Mutual Read
Clover, Bee, and Reverie
Scottish Literature Challenge

Personal Challenges

Monthly Project Books
A Year of Classics
Forget-Me-Not Genres
Balanced Reading
JLit Personal Challenge

Ongoing Progress

(links to pages on this site)

1000 Books
A History of Children’s Literature
HTR&W
Pulitzer Project
Read the Nobels
Newbery Award
Caldecott Corner
U.S. Presidential Reading
LDS Presidents
101 Great Books

• December in Review
• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• February in Review and March Reading Journal
• January in Review: A Good Start to 2010
• January 2009 Month in Review and February Reading Journal
• August in Review
• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• October in Review
• September in Review
• November in Review + Reading Journal (2 Dec)

A Room of One’s Own

My favorite story that Woolf shared was about Shakespeare’s sister. (This sister was a complete fabrication on Woolf’s part, but it captured Woolf’s point.) Shakespeare had a sister who had just as much genius as Shakespeare, and who likewise dreamed of the stage. How did her life play out? Despite her inclinations, she was not sent to school to learn the classics; instead, she was encouraged to focus on the needlework and mending at home. Her father also wanted her to be married young to a local young man. Although she rebelled and fled to London, seeking a life on the stage, she was ridiculed and abused, for women were not actresses in 1600 London, let alone writers of plays.

In short, everything about society would have discouraged her genius. How can we wonder that there are not female “Shakespeare’s” throughout history of the written word? As Woolf points out, it’s very probably that the ever-popular “Anon” was such a strong woman, seeking to get her words into print, even if anonymity was the only way to do so.

Woolf speaks to women in the late 1920s. As I read, I was surprised to discover that this was written at such a late date. From her discussion of how men dismissed women (referring to them as the “weaker sex” among other more cruel things), I thought it had been written two decades earlier. Yet, even a decade after women in England gained the right to vote, men still neglected to accept women as capable of creative output.

At a few points, Woolf looks to the future. One comment in particular stood out to me:

Moreover, in a hundred years … women will have ceased to be the protected sex. Logically they will take part in all the activities and exertions that were once denied them. The nursemaid will heave coal. The shop-woman will drive an engine. All assumptions founded on the facts observed when women were the protected sex will have disappeared. (page 40)

(She also comments, I suspect in a bit of a mocking tone, that maybe such a life will allow women to die off much quicker since they won’t have protection: “Anything may happen when womanhood has ceased to be a protected occupation.”)

Virginia Woolf takes care to not praise women too highly. She does not want women to think it easy to become Shakespeare. No, it is a challenge to overcome generations of inequality in education. Shakespeare had the genius, after all: his success was not only due to his ambition and education. Woolf’s point, instead, is that women, just as men, need their own income and their own space in order to create. Certainly, prolific male writers have an income and space for creation: poverty does not beget creative output very often.

I think about my own life. I have the “leisure” to stay home with my son while my husband works full-time. I also have a computer of my own where I can write and blog. If I lost that resource and/or if I needed to financially support my son, my ability to write and blog would become depleted. But then again: I am able to get a job (let’s hope), a thing that middle class women in Jane Austen’s day could not do. I would still have the ability to create because of that freedom.

Although I had not yet begun the book (other than the introduction), I could not renew it on Wednesday as I’d intended because of another person’s hold; instead, I read it in a day and returned it quickly to avoid greater fees (it was already a bit overdue). That tells you how small this book is (about 110 pages). Why did it take me so long to pick up?! (Oh, yes, I always have too much library loot.)

The message it shares in those brief pages is informative but also heartening. As a woman, it reminds me to seek to become Shakespeare’s sister in an era that no longer discourages it (quite as much).

Have you read A Room of One’s Own?

Do you have a room of your own? (literally or figuratively)

What other classic books about women and women in fiction can you recommend for my Women Unbound reading?

• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
• Why Women Should Rule the World by Dee Dee Myers
• Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dogs by Kitty Burns Florey + Giveaway
• Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
• The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule
• Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts
• Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman + Giveaway (Used Book)
• The Life of Wilkie Collins (Biographies by Clarke and Peters)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Why, then, did I struggle so much in reading it?

In October, after reading a few novels by Gaskell , Collins, and Dickens, I picked up Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Eventually, though, I decided that I just couldn’t get into yet another Victorian novel, so I set it aside after about 100 pages. This month, I was determined to get through it, so I began again. Yet, the first 100 pages still almost derailed me. Once again, I was bored. I was confused by the sheer number of characters introduced. I felt confused because of my ignorance about the French Revolution.

What was different this time? Why did I not give up? The first reason is completely superficial: The book I checked out from the library was a brand new copy. It had a crisp paperback cover and the pages were newly printed, with a strong “new book smell.” I’ve been reading lots of books with old covers lately, and that new book just kept calling to me from my library loot pile.

The main reason I was able to get through the novel, though, was I kept reading. I forced myself, and I gave myself plenty of time to dedicate to the task. After the initial hump, I was engaged in the story. To balance my lack of understanding of the French Revolution, I referred to the timeline at the front of my copy, which highlighted both the actual history of the Revolution and the novel’s story as it progressed.  By the end of the novel, I was sincerely interested in the story, and I felt emotional engaged when it ended.

Was Dickens at all to blame in my overall disinterest in A Tale of Two Cities? I don’t think so. I fully accept that my lack of engagement in the novel was mostly my fault. I am not normally interested in dark and sinister stories, and the imagery in the beginning section really did not bring me in to the novel; in fact, it kind of made me shiver, exactly the wrong reaction needed for me to enjoy a novel. I also was ignorant of even a basic outline of the French Revolution, an issue Dickens’ original readers would not have had, since they lived just 60-70 years after it.

Ultimately, what finally did bring me in to the novel was the human interest: the characterization. Once I understood how all the different characters fit together, I found myself engaged in the novel. In the end, my favorite character was Miss Pross, who turns out to be more important than we realize at first.

In the end, I found A Tale of Two Cities far superior to Oliver Twist. No, I didn’t enjoy it as much; it was a difficult and somewhat uncomfortable read for me. But Dickens’ craft is far more refined in Two Cities than in Oliver. He seems to have a wide vision of the story from the beginning, unlike Oliver Twist which just seemed to go whereever Dickens wanted, with some nice convenient plot twists. Dickens held his focus in Two Cities from beginning to end, in ways that Oliver Twist did not. It was a superior novel, but not my favorite of the two.

What was the last book you finished that you knew was well done but you just did not like it?

What is your favorite Dickens novel?

• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Victorian Second Helpings (The Moonstone by Collins and North and South by Gaskell)
• Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
• The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens
• Four Christmas Novellas by Charles Dickens
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Beauty and the Beast + The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Odyssey by Homer, trans. Robert Fagles
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

You’ll notice that I’m just as nerdy in person as I am in writing. I made an effort to pretend I was not nervous. And you know what? It wasn’t so bad.

In case you didn’t want to watch it, here’s my current reading in text as well!

Finished Books

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (390 pages; fiction).
• Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language by Seth Lerer (265 pages; nonfiction).
• The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata (165 pages; fiction).

Returned or Abandoned Books

• Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (fiction). I didn’t read any of it, but it was due at the library! I will revisit at some point.

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week. I did make a little progress on some of these.

My Books

Here are the books I own or downloaded. I’ve been rather horrible at reading my project book this week!

• Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (130 read of 455 pages; nonfiction)
• DNA by James Watson (260 read of 405 pages; nonfiction). My project book.
• A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (drama). Not begun yet.
• Reading in Bed edited by Steven Gilbar (nonfiction/essays). A collection of essays about our favorite topic: reading. Occasionally, I’ll post some thoughts about an essay for the Reading Reflections feature.
• The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkein (130 of about 400 pages; fiction). For the Lord of the Rings Readalong.

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (250 read of about 600 pages; fiction). For the Classics Reads Book Group.
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (about 200 pages; nonfiction). I have not begun.
• I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World by Martin Luther King, Jr. (200 pages; nonfiction/speeches). I have not begun.
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave (nonfiction/memoir). I have not begun.
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (on part 7 of 10, 11 ½ hours audio; fiction). So much fun!
• Daily Life in Victorian England by Sally Mitchell (nonfiction).
• We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson (children’s nonfiction).
• Japan: A Concise History by Milton Walter Meyer (nonfiction).

New Library Loot

• The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer
• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
• Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata
• A History of Japan by R.H.P. Mason
• A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years by Shuichi Kato
• A History of Japanese Literature: From the Manyoshu to Modern Times by Shuichi Kato
• Introduction to Classic Japanese Literature by Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai

Finds

Note: In my effort to get my vlog up, I did not check reader yet! I will later today.

• Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwide Dandicat. Nymeth.
• Tropical Fish by Doreen Baingana. Eva.
• Hunger by Knut Hamsen. Salvatore at Five Borough Book Reviews.

• Reading Journal (March 3): Swapping Books
• Reading Journal (17 Feb): A Brief Post
• Reading Journal (4 Nov): Reading Progress and Library Loot
• Reading Journal (June 10): Book Clubs
• Reading Journal (27 January): Addicted
• Reading Journal (30 December): Happy New Year (Briefly)
• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• Reading Journal (July 1): Summer Reading
• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• Reading Journal (25 November): Unplugged Edition

The figure of my study is round, and has no more bare wall than what is taken up by my table and chair; so that the remaining parts of the circle present me a view of all my books at once, set upon five rows of shelves round about me. … ’Tis there that I am in my kingdom, and there I endeavor to make myself an absolute monarch, and to sequester this one corner from all society. …

Michel de Montaigne*

Where is your book-kingdom? What is your dream book-kingdom if you don’t have it yet?

I own two ten-year-old four-shelf Target bookcases made of particleboard to house 200+ books. My books are stacked on top of one another and crammed together on the shelves, multiple layers deep. Most of my books were purchased used or are remnants from college days, when I wrote in them and reread them so many times they are creased and/or covers are falling off. Other books are ones I acquired for free and probably will never read. This is not me. Although I’ve been trying hard to not be overly attached to books (for budgetary reasons), I am craving a little corner of the world to be my book-kingdom.

(Note that I don’t provide a picture of my bookcases because I’m so embarrassed!)

How nice it would be to let the books breathe on the shelf in their own space, to organize them how I’d like, and to be able to sit in a comfortable, reclining arm chair as I read and see them all at once!

I tried to find some samples of what I’d like to book-kingdom to be. I can’t find the one I have in my mind. But suffice it to say, it would be an over-the-top gorgeous room like this one with hardwood shelves and with a comfortable armchair or sofa to lounge on and look at my books (all of which will be in wonderful condition, of course). Then again, maybe my dream book-kingdom would more simple and clean, like Claire’s shelves are. (Yes, Claire, even though you have books piled in front of your shelves, it is so much prettier than mine, I love it!)

See others’ home libraries at Your Shelves!

I love the idea of my book shelves being my kingdom, an extension of my personality, and a comfortable place to retreat and enjoy reading the written word. For now, I’ll have to dream.

*quoted from “The Commerce of Reading” in Reading in Bed: Personal Essays on the Glories of Reading, edited by Steven Gilbar. While I relate to Montaigne’s love of looking at books, he sounds like a snob in this essay. In fact, I’m not convinced he loves reading for reading’s sake. I’m not impressed by his comments that he goes a few months without picking up a book, for example. And his delight in his book-kingdom seems to be more because he knows he’s well-to-do. Nevertheless, his comments about a book-kingdom got me dreaming!

Reading Reflections is a new occasional feature in which I comment on an article or essay about reading.

• Survey Says…
• Reading Journal (24 February): My First Vlog
• Book Blog Search (Beta) and Other Non-Book Review Stuff
• Reading Journal (21 Oct): Victorian Second Helpings + Giveaway of an Abandoned Book
• Reading Journal (March 3): Swapping Books
• Comfort Reading
• LibraryThing and Shelfari Revisited
• Abandoned Book and Giveaway: Bridget Jones’ Diary
• Consistency Errors in Goodnight Moon and Other Book Issues for an Obsessive One-Year-Old
• Reading Journal (July 8): The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Blogging

P.G. Wodehouse’s collection of short stories about Bertie Wooster and his butler Jeeves was simply perfect. It was my first foray into the world of Bertie and his witty butler, and these stories made me crave more.

The best part of the Jeeves stories is the interaction between the two. Bertie is a wealthy British bachelor who thinks quite highly of himself. He is ridiculous. Jeeves is, quite simply, a perfect servant and a genius. Jeeves takes control of situations and use things to his advantage all the while Bertie thinks he’s in charge.

Carry On, Jeeves has ten stories, including one about the first day Jeeves entered into Bertie’s services. A few of them take place in New York, but others are in England and Europe. Jeeves saves the day in all of them, in his own style. Bertie, of course, is ridiculous.

Much thanks for my library’s e-audiobook website. The version I listened to was wonderfully narrated by Martin Jarvis. I now know I have a perfect go-to when I need an audiobook like this!

What is your favorite Bertie and Jeeves story? I’m ready for more!

• The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King
• Alexander McCall-Smith
• Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
• Einstein by Walter Isaacson
• Kissinger by Walter Isaacson
• Victorian Second Helpings (The Moonstone by Collins and North and South by Gaskell)
• Reminder: Giveaway for Really Old Classics Reviews
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
• Stories by Tommaso Landolfi

In fiction, I spent a lot of time with A Tale of Two Cities this week. I abandoned it after 100 pages in October, so I forced myself to get through page 100 again, and it is much better once I passed that hump. Now I really want to know how it ends! East of Eden is my slow fiction read: I want to read it in a long stretch, but my goal is to take it slow and savor it. I started and finished a Wodehouse audiobook while I’ve been painting. It was lots of fun. And now I’ve begun some Jules Verne, which is very delightful.

Once again, I’m tempted to do a vlog but since I’m watching a friend’s kids this morning and my son needs to be fed and dress, I’ve got to run.  Besides, I’d like to visit your blogs a today too! How do you vlog-gers have time for it?! How long does it take? What technology do you use? I’m a bit afraid of it.

Finished Books

• Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (about 5 hours audiobook; fiction/short stories).

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week. I did make a little progress on some of these.

My Books

Here are the books I own or downloaded. I’ve been rather horrible at reading my project book this week!

• Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (130 read of 455 pages; nonfiction)
• DNA by James Watson (140 read of 405 pages; nonfiction). My project book.
• A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (drama). Not begun yet.

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

• Inventing English: a portable history of the language by Seth Lerer (190 read of 265 pages; nonfiction).
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (155 read of about 600 pages; fiction). For the Classics Reads Book Group.
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (310 read of 390 pages; fiction). I’m enjoying it!
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. I have not begun.
• Reading in Bed edited by Steven Gilbar (20 read of 150 pages; nonfiction/essays). A collection of essays about our favorite topic: reading. Since this is due at the library soon and it is ILL (not renewable), I ordered my own copy for $4 from Amazon Marketplace!
• I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World by Martin Luther King, Jr. (200 pages; nonfiction/speeches). I have not begun.
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave (nonfiction/memoir). I have not begun.
• Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (fiction). I have not begun.
• The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata (fiction). I have not begun.

New Library Loot

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (on part 4 of 10, 11 ½ hours audio; fiction). So much fun!
• Daily Life in Victorian England by Sally Mitchell (nonfiction).
• We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson (children’s nonfiction).
• Japan: A Concise History by Milton Walter Meyer (nonfiction).

Finds

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  Suzanne. Because it sounds so good.
• Jamaica Kincaid, Henrick Ibsen, Henry James. Eva. Because I should read these authors.
• Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Dalloway. Amanda. Because it sounds important.
• Flush by Viriginia Woolf. Savidge Reads. Because it’s an “autobiography” by a dog.
• The Good Women of China by Xinran. Nymeth. Because it sounds important, albeit painful to read.

• Reading Journal (24 February): My First Vlog
• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• Reading Journal (4 Nov): Reading Progress and Library Loot
• Reading Journal (13 January): Exhausted
• Reading Journal (June 10): Book Clubs
• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• Reading Journal (30 December): Happy New Year (Briefly)
• Reading Journal (July 1): Summer Reading
• Reading Journal (March 3): Swapping Books
• Reading Journal (27 January): Addicted

How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June. … If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that – for that – I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that! (page 25)

And that is what happened. In the beginning, Dorian was fascinated by the painting: scowls (representative of his wickedness) immediately began etching itself on the painting, while he remained innocent and attractive looking in all respects. At times, though, the image of his soul disgusted him and he decided to abandon his life of sin, hoping his image would then right itself. But Dorian Gray found himself unable to stop embracing the life he’d created for himself, even when it disgusted him.

When I found out that Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray was written in 1891, I was surprised. It seemed far more modern than that, since it deals candidly with issues of immorality. It captures issues of sin versus innocence. But such issues seemed appropriate for the late Victorian age, since it is questioning the existing morals and the social constraints of that rigid era.

“[Society] feels instinctively that manners are more important than morals, and in its opinion the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef,”  says Lord Henry Wotton at one point (page 119). Although I found Lord Henry to be a bit of a devil, his comments on society always seemed the most enlightening. I enjoyed his interesting perspective on society.

In the end, then, is Wilde’s novel a warning against debauchery (such as American audiences thought)? Or is it a catalog of Wilde’s own life (such as British audiences thought, even calling on Wilde to defend himself)? I found the discussion of original understandings of the novel to be very interesting. (See the Norton Critical Edition.)

My Favorite Part

The part I enjoyed most was Sybil Vane’s commentary on finally falling in love:

Dorian, Dorian. Before I knew you, acting was the one reality of my life. It was only in the theatre that I lived. I thought that it was all true. … I believed in everything. The common people who acted with me seemed to me to be godlike. The painted scenes were my world. I knew nothing but shadows, and I thought them real. You came – oh, my beautiful love! – and you freed my soul from prison. You taught me what reality really is. … You had brought me something higher, something of which all art is but a reflection. You had made me understand what love really is. … Suddenly it dawned on my soul what it all meant… (page 73-4)

In contrast to Dorian Gray, who only is going through an act throughout his life (the painting is the real Dorian Gray), Sybil’s relationship with another human being helped her to understand her own life. I found it tragic to see this sweet girl contrasted with Dorian Gray, and I honestly could relate to her epiphany of what love and life were.

The Graphic Novel

The graphic novel adaptation (done by I.N.J. Culbard and Ian Edginton) was, in short, horrible. It took me about 30 minutes to read this 125-page adaption and there was nothing intriguing about the story. It moved so fast that the tension and creepiness was nonexistent. I picked up the graphic novel because January’s Graphic Novel Mini-Challenge was to read an adaptation of a classic. Since Dorian Gray is about a painting, I thought it would be nice to see the painting’s changes illustrated. The picture was creepy but it changed so quickly that it didn’t have the same effect that reading a full novel about it changing had. A picture is not worth a thousand words in this version.

It horrifies me to think people will read the graphic novel and think “I’ve read that book” when they hear The Picture of Dorian Gray mentioned. I am not a fan of the concept of adapting a classic into a graphic novel to begin with, but this was even more disappointing than I anticipated.

The Bottom Line

The Picture of Dorian Gray made me uncomfortable. I don’t like creepy books, and I guess the sell-your-soul aspect was a bit out of my comfort zone.

It seems that many love Dorian Gray, though. Since I’m leading a book group about it tomorrow night, I’d love to know: What do you most enjoy most about Dorian Gray?

• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• February in Review
• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• Graphic Novels Challenge
• Reading Journal (27 January): Addicted
• Reading Journal (20 January): Distracted
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• Childhood Reads
• Painting a Novel: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Such is the premise of George S. Schuyler’s Black No More. It caught my eye because of the science fiction/dystopian aspect. I don’t normally read science fiction, but to come across a Harlem Renaissance science fiction novel seemed so far out of the norm for that decade of African-American literature that it intrigued me.

I know I missed a lot of the humor of the era because of my unfamiliarity with most of the characters of the Renaissance. The novel’s pacing, characterization, and development also had plenty of flaws. But overall I loved the issues it raised about self image and society. It reminded me of issues today, especially the world’s obsession with body image. Today we have plastic surgery and liposuction to attempt to make everyone alike the world.

The important thing about reading Schuyler’s novel is understanding the purpose and context. It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that Schuyler is not serious in expecting things to happen like this, even if such a surgery was suddenly invented.  The introduction to my volume claims it is a burlesque, which Merriam-Webster defines as follows (third definition omitted):

1 : a literary or dramatic work that seeks to ridicule by means of grotesque exaggeration or comic imitation
2 : mockery usually by caricature

Schuyler certainly mocks the leading figures of the Renaissance. Dr. Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard is a caricature of W.E.B. Du Bois; Santop Licorice is Marcus Garvey; Mme Blandish is C.J. Walker, self-made millionaire during the Harlem Renaissance for her hair care products. Schuyler gives these characters their own agenda, and it is amusing to see their reaction to the basic elimination of the race issue.

Throughout, Schuyler is mocking the entire race issue. Would “becoming white” have solved the problems of the African-Americans in Harlem in the 1930s? In this novel, he ridicules the idea by showing how superior all the blacks became, once they were white. (For example, almost as soon as the main character, the unsuccessful Max Disher, becomes white, he is able to infiltrate the orders of the racist Knights of Nordica and siphon off the money for his own future use.)  What if white was suddenly the shunned race? What if everyone were exactly the same race? Why is race an issue at all?

I certainly hope that we have come somewhere on the race issue. If we were given the option of changing our skin color, would we? Why? Would it make a difference in how successful we are?

Even beyond the race issue, the novel still seemed familiar. After all, the world I live in does seem to force an image on me. When people get on the cover of People for having surgeries to better fit the “model,” I feel Schuyler’s novel is not that far-fetched. Of course, in his novel, he was able to provide surgeries for $50, a price that, during the Great Depression in Harlem, was well within budget for many people. If liposuction was that cheap, how many of us would flock to it?

Black No More reminded me of the Uglies series to some extent, but it illustrated the beginning of a movement to make everyone being the same. Being a classic African-American novel, Black No More dealt mainly with race issues and the effects of discrimination. But it still speaks to us today, and it is well worth reading simply for the reminder of the superficial world we live in and the dangers of forcing or expecting conformity. The satire and humor also make it an entertaining historical read, albeit one with some flaws.

Read for the February 2010 Classics Circuit.

• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• Harlem Renaissance Poetry
• My Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance
• Jazz by Toni Morrison
• February in Review
• A Stop in South Africa (Two Novels by Alan Paton) + Giveaway
• Reading Journal (16 December): A Classics Circuit TBR List from Wilkie Collins to Harlem
• December in Review
• Reading Journal (18 Nov): Planning for a Quiet December
• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly

But it grew on me. The main reason is Elinor Dashwood. Although she is stereotypically serious and sensible, she also was realistic enough that I felt for her frustrations. Although the title captures the two personalities of the sisters, this is a novel about Elinor. Even as she comforts Marianne through her emotional upheavals, Elinor is strong in dealing with her own disappointments and doesn’t break down and whine. I really admired that.

Marianne, I’m sorry to say, really irritated me. I found her to be very similar to Lydia Bennett (flighty and stupid), except Marriane’s end turned out okay because she didn’t actually run off with her lover (whew). Yet, I see people around the blogosphere with “I’m Marianne Dashwood” badges on their sites, so that makes me think I’m supposed to like this girl, and that she is supposed to be a heroine. Hmmm. I think I may be in the minority on disliking her.

*spoilers* I also detested Willoughby. With such a lovely name, I really thought he was going to be a good guy. In my mind, his “apology” was too little, too late, and really pointless. I don’t think it made up for anything he did. He married for money, and that made him shallow and heartless, considering how much he says he cared for Marianne. In any event, I found Marianne’s courtship with Colonel Brandon to be entirely undeveloped, but that was okay. For me, this novel was about Elinor, and I loved how her story resolved. *end spoilers*

I also watched the 2008 BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility this week. Some aspects had been changed (in particular, Marianne took a much larger role), but overall, it was a delightful few hours. The 1995 version is next in my Netflix queue.

As I mentioned yesterday, I read this book too fast. It was satisfying but then it ended! And I was sad! I watched the movie, and I still wanted to read more Jane Austen. I guess this is why I have to space these out every few months. I want some more Jane Austen to look forward too!

Who did you like better: Marianne or Elinor?

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Jane Austen: A Biography by Carol Shields, a Quote Book, and a History of England
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Victorian Second Helpings (The Moonstone by Collins and North and South by Gaskell)
• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• Twenty Years at Hull-House by Jane Addams
• Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
• Jazz by Toni Morrison
• What the World Eats by Peter Menzel
• The Odyssey by Homer, trans. Robert Fagles

I also picked up East of Eden this week. I read East of Eden first when my son was a newborn, and as I read, I loved it so much I wished I could discuss it with someone. I read during my one-book-at-a-time days. (I can’t imagine doing that now.) It was beautifully written, and it was full of deep issues. It would be perfect for discussion. After I finished reading it, I wrote a post or two on my personal family blog. No one commented. I found some book-specific blogs that I could comment on, and I loved the idea of sharing about my reading. Because of my experience reading East of Eden and wanting to write about it, I decided to start my own books blog!

As I began it again this week, I found myself longing to savor the language as I hadn’t savored Jane Austen’s language. I gave myself limits: no more than 10 or 20 pages (or so) at a time. I’ve only read about 70 pages this week and I am looking forward to continuing to read the novel slowly. Since I know what will happen, it doesn’t seem an issue to take it slowly. And Steinbeck is meant to be savored, I think.

I also finished a few other books. These were not take-it-slowly reads. Dorian Gray was okay. It’s creepy and I think we’ll have a good book club discussion next week, but it wasn’t a favorite for me, and I hope I don’t have to reread it. Some of Wilde’s philosophy got a bit boring to me, but the story moved quickly when it happened. My Classics Circuit pick, Black No More, was an interesting satire, and I’m glad I read it. It also wasn’t a favorite: it’s more of a novel I read for historical value. It got me thinking, and I think that was the point.

I’m still enjoying Inventing English slowly, and I picked up a volume of essays (Reading in Bed) about reading that Stefanie has been talking about. Oh, I love it already! I plan on reading these slowly (the entire book is about 150 pages) and I will pick out some favorite quotes to share with you about the joys of reading.

Do you purposely slow down your reading? Why or why not?

Finished Books

• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (315 pages; fiction). A happy ending!
• The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (190 pages; fiction). For my book club.
• Oscar Wilde’s The picture of Dorian Gray: a graphic novel by Ian Culbard (125 pages). Since I’m reading the original for my book club; also for the Graphic Novel Challenge.
• Black No More: A Novel by George S. Schuyler (190 pages; fiction). For the February Classics Circuit.
• A Visit to William Blake’s Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard (50 pages; poetry). A Newbery and Caldecott winner.

Abandoned/Returned Books

• Kings : an account of books 1 and 2 of Homer’s Iliad; The husbands : an account of books 3 and 4; All day permanent red : the first battle scenes of Homer’s Iliad; and War music : an account of books 16 to 19 of Homer’s Iliad by Christopher Logue. These are each short (80-100 pages). Oh how I want to read these! But something has to give, and these are due back at the library.

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week. I did make a little progress on some of these.

My Books

Here are the books I own or downloaded. I’ve been rather horrible at reading my project book this week! I still have eleven days in the month to finish it, though, so it’s okay.

• Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (125 read of 455 pages; nonfiction)
• DNA by James Watson (120 read of 405 pages; nonfiction). My project book. I space out after about 10 or 15 pages a day, but other than that, it’s okay.
• A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (drama). Not begun yet.

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

• Inventing English: a portable history of the language by Seth Lerer (110 read of about 250 pages; nonfiction).
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (70 read of about 600 pages; fiction). For the Classics Reads Book Group.
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I will read it this time around!
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. The brief biography in the introduction is very good, so I’m looking forward to this one!
• Reading in Bed edited by Steven Gilbar (15 read of 150 pages; nonfiction/essays). A collection of essays about our favorite topic: reading.

New Library Loot

• I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World by Martin Luther King, Jr. (200 pages; nonfiction/speeches).
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave (nonfiction/memoir).
• Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (fiction).
• The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata (fiction).

Finds

• Apologies to an Apple by Maya Ganesan. Amanda enjoyed this. I can’t find it at the my library, but I’ll keep it in mind for the “someday” pile.

I also have a long list of English history books and Shakespeare history plays to read! Thanks for your recommendations!

• Reading Journal (27 January): Addicted
• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• Reading Journal (17 Feb): A Brief Post
• Reading Journal (20 January): Distracted
• Reading Journal (13 January): Exhausted
• Reading Journal (June 10): Book Clubs
• Reading Journal (June 17): Reinforcements
• Reading Journal (March 3): Swapping Books
• Reading Journal (May 27): Distraction
• Reading Journal (July 1): Summer Reading

Don’t get me wrong: I’m glad I read it. However, I wouldn’t call Churchill’s tome a scholarly history. Even after finishing, I’m still not all that comfortable with English history.

Although I tend to avoid abridgements, I picked up this book after I read a selection of Churchill’s speeches back in October 2008. I wanted to read more Churchill. After all that time sitting on my shelf, I’m glad I got to it.

First some negatives: It reminded me of Charles Dickens’ History of England which I read last year. In places it simply felt like stories and traditions from the history, told in an interesting way and with plenty of opinion. There were few footnotes. Churchill’s writing is more detailed, informative, and overarching than Dickens’s was (Churchill made connections between kings, patterns, and eras). But I felt academic heft was missing. Despite that, I still got rather bogged down in the explanation of military strategies: I don’t care to know the details of each battle, but rather the outcomes and the effects of the battles.

And then the positive: I did really enjoy the first half, which was about the settlement of England and the kings of England. I feel so very ignorant! I am looking forward to reading Shakeapeare’s histories of England. Although those are fictionalized, Churchill mentioned some of them in passing.

I was really looking forward to the section on Victorian England, since I’ve been enjoying Victorian reads in the past month. Unfortunately, Churchill was a bit over the top with the politics and not so much about life, but it tells me where my interests lie for my next read! I have a number of Victorian English history books on my TBR list.

As for the abridgement, I can’t really compare it to the original (which I obviously haven’t read) but this abridgement, which was stated to be geared toward American audiences, had too much about America in it. Obviously, Churchill wanted to capture more than the history of Great Britain: he called it History of English-Speaking Peoples, after all. And since Churchill’s mother was American, he was just as interested in the U.S. history as the British. But I really wished Churchill would talk a little bit more about the other settlements. Surprisingly, Australia and New Zealand, in particular, had only about five pages total in this entire abridged volume. In contrast, the U.S. Civil War had a long section of about 80 pages. In a book that is less than 500 pages, that seemed a bit skewed.

In the end, I’m glad I finally got around to reading this. Churchill certainly has an interesting political perspective. But this wasn’t the best for a first look at English history.

Can anyone recommend a good nonfiction book about the history of Great Britain and its territories? I’d love to keep learning, and while I have some on my TBR, I’d always love more.

Which should be my first Shakespeare history play?

• Jane Austen: A Biography by Carol Shields, a Quote Book, and a History of England
• Speeches of Winston Churchill
• Daughter of Destiny by Benazir Bhutto
• Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott
• Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt
• February in Review
• Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman + Giveaway (Used Book)
• The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington
• The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (In Chancery and To Let)
• Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

All that said, I really liked reading Moses, Man of the Mountain. I have a fascination with retellings of the Exodus.* Because of that interest, then, I liked Hurston’s novel simply because of the premise: tell the story of Moses and the Hebrews basing it on African-American folkloric practices (hoodoo and magic).

Hurston tells the story in an easy-to-read style, and I personally liked the idiomatic speech. The story has some different aspects to it that make it a little different from the Biblical version, of course, since Moses is a hoodoo expert, but I liked that too. I just liked it over all.

To give you an idea for the writing style of the novel, here is a favorite passage (the burning bush).

The voice came again.

“Moses, I want you to go down into Egypt.”

“Into Egypt? How come, Lord? Egypt is no place for me to go.”

“I said Egypt, Moses. I heard my people, the Hebrews, when they cried, when they kept on groaning to me to help. I want you to go down and tell that Pharaoh I say to let my people go.”

“He won’t pay me no attention, Lord. I know he won’t.”

“Go ahead, like I told you, Moses. I am tired of hearing the groaning in my ear. I mean to overcome Pharaoh this time. Go on down there and I”ll go with you.” …

The Voice was hushed. The bush no longer burned. In fact, it looked just like it had yesterday and the day before and the day before that. The mountain was just as usual with the wind yelling “Whoo-youuu” against its rocky knots. (page 127)

Maybe you can tell in this passage that it’s not the strongest writing ever. I wouldn’t call Hurston’s characterization spectacular either.  Nevertheless, although the book may not be a masterpiece, I loved seeing how Hurston weaved it together simply because I love the subject and the setting. I’m willing to forgive any flaws simply because I like those aspects.

Is there any subject or time period that you love reading about, even if the book is not the best?

For the record, most of the Amazon reviewers also seem to enjoy it, rather than complaining that it’s “badly flawed.”

*Back when I thought I wanted to be a writer, I had a story idea related to the exodus. Instead of sitting down and writing that story, I read a lot about it as background. The story never was written. I guess I should say that by reading a book like Hurston’s, my passion to capture my own story dies. I could never create characters and a world so strong as this, and this is “badly flawed”!

[Really Old Classics Extra Credit: retelling of an old classic]

Related posts:

• Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales
• Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage
• A Stop in South Africa (Two Novels by Alan Paton) + Giveaway
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel + Giveaway
• Masterclass in Photography by Michael and Julien Busselle
• A Ruined Author?
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

I am a suburban American stay-at-home mom. I have always been well fed and safe. I have 16+ years of education and I could get more if I felt like it. When I was 26, I delivered my first child naturally in a hospital with a nurse midwife present. I don’t feel I’ve ever been discriminated against because of my gender, and I’ve never been abused or beaten in any way.

I am pretty naïve about the state of women in the world.

Reading Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn was eye-opening for me. I had of course heard about sex trafficking in Asia. I had of course heard of maternal deaths in Africa due to improper medical care. I had of course heard about the atrocities against woman that occurred (and are occurring) as a part of national genocide in Africa. I had of course heard about lack of education for girls around the globe and corresponding gender discrimination.

But hearing something is different than meeting the people. The stories Kristof and WuDunn share about woman around the globe made these issues real to me. These Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists capture the issues and it is heart-breaking. But because each section ends with stories of success, I feel that change is possible in the future. There is hope. What will it take to turn the world around? I think being aware is part of the first step, and Half the Sky is a great first step for all to gain a little bit more of that awareness.

I am having an incredibly hard time writing this post. I have started many times. I have pondered which direction to go. I could list all the atrocities that are happening around the world. On the other hand, I could share the success stories because people in better situations decided to start something or decided to donate money or went to Africa to see for themselves what is happening. Good things are happening because people make a difference. But I can’t decide which of the stories to share.

What I really want to tell you is that you must read this book. It taught me that the battle for women’s rights really is just beginning.

While I may be sitting at a personal computer in suburban Chicago, a woman somewhere in the world is being beaten because she burnt dinner, or because she has been sold into sex slavery, or because she asked her father to be able to go to school like her brother, or because her insides rotted after her first pregnancy at age 13 and her husband doesn’t like her smell. This book really helped me to see the place of women in the world as a whole, rather than just my limited experience.

When I checked out this book at the library, the librarian was kidding around and said she knew this wasn’t my son’s book (as the other one, a picture book, was) because it for women.

“It’s not for women!” I said.

“That’s what it says on the cover,” she responded.

I looked down. The subtitle is “Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide.”

“No,” I responded, shocked she’d think this book was meant to exclude men because women are the focus. “It’s about women. It’s for everyone.”

I do believe Half the Sky’s message is for everyone. It will not be easy to shift world culture toward respecting women. Even if you and your loved ones respect women, it’s horrible to think what a large percentage of world cultures do to women by using the excuse “they are women.”

That said, I know from experience that not every book works for every person. This is a violent nonfiction book because it describes the life of women around the world: rapes and beatings in particular enter a lot of stories. I am not one to read that type of nonfiction often, but I could get through this book because the ultimate message is one of hope and action. It is very easy to read, and I admit I struggled to put it down because once a story starts, I wanted to know how it ended. Some ended positively. Some did not.

The most important part is awareness. Maybe you don’t feel you need to read it because you are already aware. Regardless, if you don’t think you can or want to read this book, at least check out the official Half the Sky Movement website. It shares inspiring stories from the book and links to dozens of charities that the authors feel help support women around the globe.

I want to do something, and while my charitable contributions budget is stretched right now, I’m still researching options and considering where some of my charitable contributions will go in the future. I’m impressed with all the options before me, and I only wish I had more money to share or the ability to travel where help is needed.

As I was reading this book, I also was reading 1920s Harlem Renaissance poetry (which I talked about the other day). Georgia Douglas Johnson’s “The Heart of a Woman” really broke my heart because it captured the horror of being a woman in a bad relationship. It’s too bad that this still describes so many women in the world today, whether that is in a suburban USA city or in rural Africa or in a brothel in Asia. If you didn’t click over, here it is:

The Heart of a Woman

The heart of a woman goes forth with the dawn,
As a lone bird, soft winging, so restlessly on,
Afar o’er life’s turrets and vales does it roam
In the wake of those echoes the heart calls home.

The heart of a woman falls back with the night,
And enters some alien cage in its plight,
And tries to forget it has dreamed of the stars
While it breaks, breaks, breaks on the sheltering bars.

–by Georgia Douglas Johnson, 1922

• Why Women Should Rule the World by Dee Dee Myers
• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
• Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• March by Geraldine Brooks
• The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
• The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman + Giveaway (Used Book)
• Aucassin and Nicolette by an Out-of-the-Box Medieval Author

I’m already planning to read a Harlem Renaissance Classic for the Classics Circuit (Black No More), but I decided rather belatedly to read some more African-American history for Black History Month.  I went to my own bookshelves and was surprised to find I don’t have very many African-American books I haven’t read. I realize, as Teresa wrote about the other week, that I need to make acquiring African-American fiction a priority so I have it on my shelves.

I did find A Raisin the Sun, recently arrived from bookmooch, and I have a few Toni Morrison books and some others. I’m not sure I’m in the mood for another Morrison read right now, but I also requested a few books from the library: Frederick Douglass’s autobiography and Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches in particular. I look forward to adding more African-American reading to my lineup in the future, even if I don’t get to them all this month.

I finished one book since February began, and it was a good one. On the other hand, Sense and Sensibility feels a bit disappointing. People kept telling me it wasn’t their favorite Austen, and I suspect it won’t be for me either. The characters feel flat and stereotyped. But, the romantic tension is starting to build, so maybe it will improve.

I’m making slow progress on Inventing English but I enjoy it and since I’m finished with Half the Sky (great book!) I’ll make that a priority. I also really need to read Dorian Gray this week, as my book club is coming up soon, and Schuyler’s novel: my Harlem Renaissance post date is approaching.

I keep checking out books. I’m never going to catch up.

Are you reading anything special in honor of Black History Month? Even if not, I hope you follow the Harlem Renaissance Circuit.

Finished Books

• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (310 pages; fiction). For Woolf in Winter.
• History of the English-Speaking People by Winston Churchill, abridged by Henry Steele Commager (470 pages; nonfiction). My Project Book.
• Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston (300 pages; fiction). For the retelling portion of the Really Old Classics Challenge.
• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into opportunity for women worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (250 pages; nonfiction). For Women Unbound.

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week. I did make a little progress on some of these.

My Books

Here are the books I own or downloaded. I’ve been rather horrible at reading my project book this week! I still have eleven days in the month to finish it, though, so it’s okay.

• Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (120 read of 455 pages; nonfiction)
• DNA by James Watson (35 read of 405 pages; nonfiction). My project book. Very readable so far!
• A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (drama).

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (130 read of 315 pages; fiction). My Valentine’s Day read.
• Black No More: A Novel by George S. Schuyler (0 read of 190 pages; fiction). For the February Classics Circuit.
• Inventing English: a portable history of the language by Seth Lerer (55 read of about 250 pages; nonfiction).
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck (0 read of about 600 pages; fiction). For the Classics Reads Book Group. I haven’t started. I’m supposed to be halfway through by now.
• The picture of Dorian Gray (Norton Critical Edition) by Oscar Wilde (0 read of about 190 pages; fiction). For my book club.
• Oscar Wilde’s The picture of Dorian Gray: a graphic novel by Ian Culbard. Since I’m reading the original for my book club.
• A visit to William Blake’s inn: poems for innocent and experienced travelers by Nancy Willard. A Newbery and Caldecott winner.
• Kings : an account of books 1 and 2 of Homer’s Iliad; The husbands : an account of books 3 and 4; All day permanent red : the first battle scenes of Homer’s Iliad; and War music : an account of books 16 to 19 of Homer’s Iliad by Christopher Logue. These are each short (80-100 pages). For the retelling portion of the Really Old Classics Challenge.
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

New Library Loot

• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. The brief biography in the introduction is very good, so I’m looking forward to this one!
• Reading in Bed edited by Steven Gilbar. A collection of essays about our favorite topic: reading.

Finds

• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Mee. I keep hearing great things about this one!
• The Gates by John Connolly. Stefanie. A bit out of my ordinary reading but it sounds incredible.
• Beyond Blossoming Fields by Jun’ichi Watanabe. Tanabata. I was browsing her JLit lists.
• Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Akinari Ueda. Tanabata. A JLit 1700s classic.
• Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Tanabata. A JLit early 1900s classic of folklore stories.
• Nevermore a Graphic Adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe. Nymeth. I don’t the Poe’s stories so maybe these retellings would be better for me.
• A Journal of the Hebrides or London Journal by Boswell. Amateur Reader. I’m having a hard time deciding where to begin with Boswell, but Amateur Reader’s excitement is contagious.
• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Steph. Maybe this will be my first Ishiguro.

• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• Reading Journal (24 February): My First Vlog
• Reading Journal (June 10): Book Clubs
• November Month in Review and December Reading Journal
• January 2009 Month in Review and February Reading Journal
• Reading Journal (18 Nov): Planning for a Quiet December
• February in Review and March Reading Journal
• Reading Journal (17 Feb): A Brief Post
• Reading Journal (May 27): Distraction
• Reading Journal (27 January): Addicted

Yesterday began Black History Month in the USA! The Harlem Renaissance-themed Classics Circuit began yesterday as well, and I hope you follow along as bloggers unite in reading classic works by African-Americans.

Although this post is not for the Circuit, in preparing for that Classics Circuit, I did a lot of preliminary reading about the era and I really wanted to dabble in the poetry. I meant to post this weeks ago, but it never happened and now it’s already February! It works well, though, because I’d like to write at least one post about African-American literature each week in February.

In my library shelf searches, I could not find a comprehensive collection of Countee Cullen and Claude McKay and any of the other, less well known African-American poets of the Renaissance. I still haven’t really found a comprehensive Harlem Renaissance poetry anthology at my library, but I did find an out-of-print 1941 anthology of poetry for children that met my needs. (Thank goodness for my library’s reciprocal borrowing program with 15 other libraries!). This allowed me to read a number of different poets who were writing during the Renaissance and before.

Although Golden Slippers was edited and prepared for a “young readers” audience, it’s applicable to all, and while the poetry in it is not my favorite, it seems to have an important overview of some of the poets of the near-contemporary age to the Renaissance. Researching online, I found more poems by each poet. I also focused on Langston Hughes a little bit in the past few weeks.

When I say the poetry in Golden Slippers was not my favorite, I mean that the “traditional” dialect-written poetry seems a little bit stereotypical (a number of poems in the volume were labeled “traditional”). I struggle to read dialect. Not all the poems were dialect though, and I understood those more.

A few of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry was dialect poetry in the Golden Slippers anthology. He died in 1906 (age 34), 14 years before the Harlem Renaissance actually began, and his poetry paved a way for other poets. I believe his poetry is more impressive than this volume illustrates, and according to Wikipedia, he was often held back from writing his preferred standard English poetry because publishers wanted to see black dialect poetry. He resented that, and I don’t blame him. His non-dialect poetry is amazing. I went and found more of it online (in the public domain). I most appreciated “Dawn” (in Golden Slippers), “Sympathy” (with the first line of “I know why the caged bird sings”),”Dreams,” and “Emancipation.” The last three aren’t in the Golden Slippers children’s collection. They are wonderful and I think children today could relate to the themes of dreaming, feeling trapped, and ultimately overcoming.

I also loved the poetry of James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) included in Golden Slippers: “Lift Up Every Voice and Sing” and “The Creation.” The first has been called the “Negro National Anthem” because of its motivating message. The second is a clever retelling of the creation of the world. I would like to revisit James Weldon Johnson in the future, because as with Dunbar, I suspect there is a lot more here to enjoy than the first glance reveals.

Countee Cullen (1903-1946) was greatly influenced by Johnson’s poetry, and “The Wakeupworld” has a biblical element to it as Johnson’s “Creation” did (it’s the story of a bird who missed Noah’s ark). Cullen also hearkens back to the other poets of his era in “For Paul Laurence Dunbar” and “For a Poet” (the later is, I suspect, Langston Hughes.) He also comments on the race inequalities of his day in “Incident: Baltimore” (a sad story) and “For a Lady I Know” (in which he ponders the afterlife for a lazy lady he knows.) Browsing on the web, I also found some other Cullen poems I really like: “Lines to My Father” and “Saturday’s Child” (this is so good, although very sad!).

Claude McKay (1889-1948) wrote a few poems in Golden Slippers: the ones that stood out to me were “Under the Mistletoe” and “After the Winter.” Other notable poets represented in Golden Slippers were Georgia Douglas Johnson (“I Learned to Sing,” “Tomorrow’s Men,” “Youth,” “Guardianship,” “Benediction,” and “My Little Dreams”),Waring Cuney (“No Images”), and Helene Johnson (“Bottled: New York”). Many of these did not seem race or time limiting, and anyone can relate to the emotions and encouragements given in them. I’m not that familiar with poetry in general, so maybe that can be my excuse for not having heard of them before.

And then I save the best for last. I loved Langston Hughes’ contribution to the Golden Slippers anthology, and I also purchased the Poetry for Young People volume (which turns out to have been a 2007 Coretta Scott King illustrator honor winner). Then I found some award-winning children’s picture books at the library. I really should do a completely separate post on Langston Hughes because his poetry is so wonderful – and I’ve only read a couple dozen of his poems! I will definitely be revisiting Hughes at some point. Actually, all the poets I’ve mentioned are wonderful, and I think it’s too bad I’ve only read a few of each of their poems.

(Side Note/Rant: I think it’s a sad commentary on the Poetry for Young People series editors that there are only two volumes by African Americans; the other is Maya Angelou. Why not one of Dunbar or Johnson or Cullen? But then again, maybe I’m the only one seeking these out.)

Just as with the other poets I tasted briefly through Golden Slippers, it seems Langston Hughes’s poems focus on dreams and the fulfillment of them. Some are positive (like the wonderful “I Dream a World” and “Dream Keeper” and “Dreams”) and some are more negative (“What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ Like a raisin in the sun?” from “Harlem”). He looks to the future of youth and tries to help them define themselves in poems like “Merry-Go-Round” and “Theme for English B” and “I, Too, [Sing America].” Hughes also seems to impart his advice (“Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” from “Mother to Son”) and optimism (“We have tomorrow/ Bright before us/ Like a flame” from “Youth”).

The illustrations for the Poetry for Young People volume reminds me of the Harlem Renaissance art I found: it’s very appropriate. It’s not my favorite style, but illustrator Benny Andrews is obviously talented at capturing the African-American experience Hughes writes about. I am so glad this is a part of my Poetry for Young People library. And now I need to read the full collection of Hughes’ poetry: I’m sure I’m missing some great ones!

As I’ve had Langston Hughes in mind this month, I also noticed two award-winning children’s picture books of his poems!

The Negro Speaks of Rivers, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, was recently awarded the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. It captures Langston Hughes’ titular poem with gorgeous, sweeping watercolors: “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” It perfectly captures the modern and ancient echoes of Langston Hughes’ musing on the African heritage. I really enjoy the illustrations: they were so much more than illustrations.

This year’s Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner was also for a Langston Hughes poem. My People, photography by Charles R. Smith Jr., captures Langston Hughes’ thirty-three word poem with stunning black and white photographs of African-Americans of all ages. I love this: it is so beautiful. My son also loved looking at the photos. “Eyes!” “Hands!” “Hair!” he pointed out. Langston Hughes’ brief poem is also beautiful. Together, the book is a true celebration of African-American art and beauty.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Langston Hughes was my favorite: after all, I read more of his poetry than of any of the others. I sincerely enjoyed my brief foray into Harlem Renaissance and early African-American poetry, and I look forward to reading more in the future.

What are you reading to celebrate Black History Month?

• My Introduction to the Harlem Renaissance
• Reading Journal (16 December): A Classics Circuit TBR List from Wilkie Collins to Harlem
• Black No More by George S. Schuyler
• Poetry for Young People: Lewis Carroll
• Poetry Friday: Christmas Poems
• The Norton Introduction to Poetry + My Introduction to Poetry
• Poetry for Young People: Robert Louis Stevenson (edited by Frances Schoonmaker)
• Reading Journal (20 January): Distracted
• February in Review
• Jazz by Toni Morrison

I liked January’s lady, but I rarely read sitting at a table and not with such a huge book. It’s calming all the same. As you can see (although you problem can’t read it), it took me a week to finish my first book in January. But I got plenty of reading in overall! I really enjoyed the books I read, for the most part, and while a few were not favorites, I’m ultimately glad I read them. I think finishing each month with “no regrets” is a goal for the year!

Because I have red hair, February’s picture kind of looks like me (but not really). I like it already and I look forward to another great reading month. I’m going to try to get a number of African-American books read in honor of Black History Month, but I also have my book club books, the start of the Lord of the Rings readalong, East of Eden, and some other classics and retellings. We’ll see how it goes this month!

I was going to get my Langston Hughes review up, but I figured the “month in review” would be quicker to get up. And since I wrote half of it and then my laptop turned off (apparently it wasn’t plugged in) I had to start over so it’s even later than I intended. And I’m not as long-winded as I was the first time (which you’ll probably consider a good thing). I guess later postings is what happens when I unplug for Sunday and Saturday my blog was down for about 16 hours.  Oh well, we do what we can.

My February project book is DNA by James Watson. Since it’s about 400 pages it may not be tough going. I may try to read my mom’s PhD dissertation as well. It’s about Eve’s role in Medieval English literature.

How was your reading January?

Have you ever lost a blog post after writing a good portion of it?

Fiction and Nonfiction Reviews

In January, I reviewed a few things I finished previously:

• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (190 pages; children’s fiction).
• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (about 150 pages, from Project Gutenberg; children’s fiction).
• Growing a Reader from Birth by Diane McGuinness (250 pages; nonfiction).
• The Touchstone by Edith Wharton (120 pages; fiction).
• A Shropshire Lad by A.E. Housman (105 pages; poetry).
• Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (350 pages; fiction).
• The ABCs of Literacy by Cynthia Dollins (250 pages read; nonfiction).

I also read the following:

• Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes edited by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad (50 pages; poetry).
• Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss (about 12 hours audio, equal to about 400 pages; children’s fiction).  Began in 2009.
• The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon (380 pages; fiction/really old classic). Began in 2009.
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (195 pages; fiction).
• Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (350 pages; fiction). (a reread)
• Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (124 pages; fiction). (a reread)
• Jazz by Toni Morrison (230 pages; fiction).
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation trans. Simon Armitage (200, but half of that is the original Middle English; fiction/really old classic).
• The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (190 pages; fiction).
• Golden Slippers, an anthology of Negro poetry for young readers (200 pages; poetry).
• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (310 pages; fiction).
• History of the English-Speaking People by Winston Churchill, abridged by Henry Steele Commager (470 pages; nonfiction).
• Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston (300 pages; fiction).

Children’s Literature

I discussed the following picture books as a part of the 1000 books project.

• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
• The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
• Corduroy by Don Freeman
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems (and again)
• Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown
• No, David! by David Shannon
• Terrific Trains by Tony Mitton
• I Drive a Snowplow by Sarah Bridges
• Oh Say Can You Say? by Dr. Seuss

Non-Review Posts

Not all my posts were about books I reviewed.

• December in Review
• 2010: A Year of Reading Deliberately
• Reading Journal (6 Jan): Starting Off the New Year
• Bloggiesta To-Do List
• 2009 in Review + Stats
• Reading Journal (13 Jan): Exhausted
• Reading Journal (20 Jan): Distracted
• Reading Journal (27 Jan): Addicted
• Any Interest in a May Read-a-Long of Paradise Lost?

Finished Challenges

The Japanese Literature Challenge [ended 31 Jan 2010]. 2/1.I enjoyed my first two Japanese books and it’s alerted me to fact that I need to learn more about this literature. I’m starting my own personal  challenge; see below.

The Really Old Classics Challenge [ends 28 Feb 2010]. 4/4 old classics + 1/1 retelling. I enjoyed all the books I’ve so far. Although I’ve technically finished, I still want to read the Christopher Logue retellings of the Iliad that I checked out.

New Challenges

Clover, Bee, and Reverie [ends 31 December 2010]. 0/14. A poetry challenge! YEAY! The fun is the “expert” badges: we choose our poetry to fit in certain categories so we can gain some level of “expertise.” I’m going to have figuring out which types of poetry to read this year for this project.

Scottish Literature Challenge [ends 31 December 2010]. 0/1. A challenge to read pre-1914 Scottish literature. I am not very familiar with it, so I’m hoping to read a few things. Maybe Burns’ poetry. Maybe some children’s literature. Maybe Boswell’s Life of Johnson (abridged!). I haven’t decided yet. Amateur Reader’s goal is open discussion about these books.

JLit Personal Challenge [ends 31 Decmber 2010]. My goal is to read as much as I can from Japan and about Japan during 2010.

Challenge Progress Lists

These link to my internal pages where you can see my ongoing progress, updated as I get the chance throughout the month.

External/Timed Challenges

Women Unbound
Black Classics Challenge
Graphic Novel Challenge
Our Mutual Read
Clover, Bee, and Reverie
Scottish Literature Challenge

Personal Challenges

Monthly Project Books
A Year of Classics
Forget-Me-Not Genres
Balanced Reading
JLit Personal Challenge

Ongoing Progress

(links to pages on this site)

1000 Books
A History of Children’s Literature
HTR&W
Pulitzer Project
Read the Nobels
Newbery Award
Caldecott Corner
U.S. Presidential Reading
LDS Presidents
101 Great Books

• December in Review
• February in Review
• January 2009 Month in Review and February Reading Journal
• August in Review
• Reading Journal (20 January): Distracted
• 2010: A Year of Reading Deliberately
• Reading Journal (27 January): Addicted
• November in Review + Reading Journal (2 Dec)
• October in Review
• December 2008 Month in Review and January 2009 Reading Journal

Because it is epic poetry (and it’s so great I’d love for others to join me!), I’m hoping that someone else might like to read along with me. My copy (Norton Critical Edition) is about 300 pages, and there are 12 books. I’d probably post once a week about three of the books, and I could link to any participant’s posts each week too.

Here’s the idea:

Week of May 3: Books 1-3

Week of May 10: Books 4-6

Week of May 17: Books 7-9

Week of May 24: Books 10-12

Is three books a week reasonable for other people that might be interested? We could do two books a week, and go into June, but then it might feel slow, I don’t know.

Why May? Well, I’m participating in the Lord of the Rings read-along starting next month and going through April and I need to also read Crime and Punishment for my April book club. May gives me time to get ready for it. Besides, doesn’t the story of Adam and Eve in a garden just call for springtime? (At least, it will be springtime for the Northern hemisphere.) I could also wait until June if that’s better for others.

And one other thing: I need a catchy name. I almost called it Milton in May, but since Woolf in Winter is kind of the same thing, I don’t want to appear to be copying on the alliteration thing…

Would you like to join me in reading Paradise Lost? Even just one person reading with me would make me happy!

• Martel-Harper Challenge (2009 2nd Quarter)
• Reading Journal (28 October): Thoughts on Read-a-thons and Eye Strain
• Reading with Kids, Defined
• Upcoming Bookworms Carnival: Pulitzer Prizes
• Bookworms Carnivals
• How to Read and Why: Short Stories Retrospective

Although I’m glad I read To the Lighthouse, I can’t say I’ll ever revisit it. I am looking forward to reading others’ posts today, though, because as with the other Woolf novel I read, I think I missed a lot! This post is a rambling collection of my thoughts about the book, and if you’ve also read the novel, I’d love to hear your thoughts too. What did I miss?

Because I read this book as a part of the Woolf in Winter read-along (hosted at Emily’s blog today), this post and the comments may include spoilers as a part of the discussion of the book.

When I suggest To the Lighthouse has a plot, I feel a bit taken aback because I struggle to specify what that plot would be. In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa was preparing for a party. That seemed clear to me from the beginning.

In To the Lighthouse, on the other hand, it’s not as easy to pin down, despite the fact that it seems more things are happening: James wants to go to the Lighthouse, Mrs. Ramsey is busy sewing and preparing things, Minta and Paul get engaged, James and Cam and Mr. Ramsey go to the lighthouse, Lily paints a picture (actually, two pictures). But despite the action, none of those things seem to be the key to the “plot” of the novel. How does it all tie together?

As I read the first part of the novel, I thought it was about Mrs. Ramsey. Although I didn’t particularly like her character, her thoughts seemed to drive the “action” of the novel for the most part. Her thoughts were the majority, it seemed. Yet, suddenly, she was dead (just like that) and the novel was only half way through. I was startled and felt a lump in my throat at the thought. Oh no! That couldn’t be! She was the tie.

And so maybe she was still the one who tied them together. Of course James and Cam don’t have a good relationship with their volatile father, but it is the memory of a tradition of visiting the lighthouse that drives the action here, and that is reminiscent of their mother. The last section seems to focus often on Lily’s thoughts, and Lily’s thoughts are of her pleasant memories of Mrs. Ramsey, a woman she did, but didn’t, like because Mrs. Ramsey caused her to feel guilty. Lily did, but didn’t, wish she was married, and Mrs. Ramsey’s preoccupation of marriage is something that Lily does, but doesn’t, remember with fondness. Lily’s confused about what she wants.

It was unclear to me if Lily was happy in the end. I think she kept going in circles, and the painting was just one example. Although the book ended with her satisfied, I suspect she’ll find the painting the next day and decide it’s horrible and go through similar thoughts again.

So what does “to the lighthouse” mean? I also don’t know the answer to that, but maybe it means coming to a place of satisfaction. For Mrs. Ramsey, it was not ever telling her husband that she loved him (and yet, he knew). The next day, she’d probably be frustrated with him again until she got her way again. Lily’s satisfaction was being satisfied being herself: a single woman who painted pictures (even if they’d end up in attics). For James, it was getting a compliment from his father. The next day he’d be just as frustrated again.

My favorite part was section two, where time passed so rapidly. It was heartbreaking to suddenly be removed from the house after having been so intimately in the characters thoughts (which were about the books, the wallpaper, the window, and so forth). I also loved the language in that section.

I also enjoyed the last section, as Lily painted. As she painted, I found myself wanting to paint as well. This is quite amusing to me: I am not artistic in that way and I cannot capture things by drawing or painting them. (Give me a computer and I could create something, if need be, though.) Yet, there was something so relaxing about reading Lily’s thoughts as she painted. It seemed so tranquil, like the sea James was on. This was a contrast to the stormy sea and child-filled house of section one.

Conveniently, this week, in the evenings, before I relaxed into Virginia Woolf, I have been painting in my home (continuing the project I started at Christmas time). Instead of listening to an audiobook or music, I just painted in silence and let my thoughts run. It was very relaxing! I think it’s a lesson in the need for personal meditation: not reading, not listening to music, not talking. Just thinking. Virginia Woolf reminded me of that.

As I said above, I’m not sure I understood the book, but I’m glad I’ve experienced the modern novel and I look forward to trying more in the future. I’m planning on reading A Room of One’s Own (on my own) in two weeks and I’ll rejoin Woolf in Winter in a month with The Waves.

• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
• The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
• Dubliners by James Joyce
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Reading Journal (30 December): Happy New Year (Briefly)
• Stories by Vladimir Nabokov

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was, in many senses, a knight’s adventure story as I’d stereotype them, with the addition that in the end (mini-spoiler!) he learns a lesson about Christian goodness that was necessary and appropriate for the 1400s, when this story was captured. What made reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight a delight for me, then, was not the story, or the characters, or the lessons learned. I enjoyed reading Sir Gawain for the language.

Eva mentioned the luxurious alliteration in her recent review of the same work, so I sought out Simon Armitage’s translation. I loved the passages, and because I don’t know how else to say it’s awesome, I’m just going to give you a quote from my favorite part, the beginning of chapter two, in which the year passes.

So the festival finishes and a new year follows
in eternal sequence, season by season.
After lavish Christmas come the lean days of Lent
when the flesh is tested with fish and simple food.
Then the world’s weather wages war on winter:
cold shirnks earthwards and the clouds clim;
sun-warmed, shimmering rain comes showering
onto meadows and fields where flowers unfurl;
woods and grounds wear a wardrobe of green;
birds burble with life and build busily
as summer spreads, settling on slopes as it should.

Now every hedgerow brims
with blossom and with bud,
and lively songbirds sing
from lovely, leafy woods. (page 55-56, lines 500-514)

It just goes on in beauty, and if I didn’t have to worry about copyright, I’d share with you the summer and autumn passages too.

Compare to the same passages, translated by Marie Borrof (From the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, seventh edition).

And so this Yule to the young year yielded place,
And each season ensued at its set time;
Aftre Christmas there came the cold cheer of Lent,
When with fish and plainer fare our flesh we reprove;
But then the world’s weather with winter contends:
The keen cold lessens, the low clouds lift;
Fresh falls the rain in fostering showers
On the face of the fields; flowers appear.
The ground and the groves wear gowns of green;
Birds build their nests, and blithely sing
That solace of all sorrow with summer comes ere long.

And blossoms day by day
Bloom rich and rife in throng;
Then every grove so gay
Of the greenwood rings with song.

I like that one too, and it is interesting how different they are. I’ve just started a book about the history of the English language, so it may help me understand how Old English worked.

So yes, in the end, Sir Gawain learns a lesson. Although I predicted it, I still thought it was clever. And I enjoyed seeing a true knight in action: being honorable, true, and otherwise cool, like the guy in armor on the cover. I want to own this book just so I can look at this cover longer!

Next up: Beowulf! Although I am still not crazy about adventure stories, I should give it a try too. Plus, Heaney’s cover is just as pretty.

Which translation do you prefer for the passage above? While I haven’t the poem in the second translation, I like it as well, but the first (Simon Armitage) seems so much more accessible to me!

Do you like adventures or knights’ tales?

• The Green Knowe Chronicles by L.M. Boston
• Comfort Reading
• The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
• Reading Journal (13 January): Exhausted
• Literature in Translation
• Poetry Friday: Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare
• The Arabian Nights, translated by Husain Haddawy
• Reading Journal (30 December): Happy New Year (Briefly)
• January in Review: A Good Start to 2010
• Thoughts on Blogging and Reading + HTR&W Giveaway Reminder

So what did I do? I browsed among Charles Dickens and found a book, a beautiful new book with a nice binding and new book smell, and checked it out. I felt so much better.

I don’t buy books. In fact, when I moved to my first home last year, we were under budget constraints so except for a few $1 books from the library sale cart, I purposely did not buy a book between February and December. But it surprised me that checking out a book was as much an addiction as some people find buying books. At least it’s free!

Weird sensation, though, to realize my body and mind felt the need to check out a book. Not that I’m going to read it this week or next. I just needed a book as I walked out of the library.

Are you addicted to checking out library books?

Are you addicted to buying books? I’ve always wondered how people fund that addiction. Books are expensive!

My week in reading was good. I enjoyed Sir Gawain, although it wasn’t a favorite, and I’ve already talked about The Housekeeper and the Professor.  Although I’m finding my project book a little bit of a drag, I’m making progress. And the Zora Neale Hurston is a fast-paced novel that I really enjoy! I plan on reading To the Lighthouse first (for the Woolf in Winter readalong), and while I’m not enjoying it as I did Mrs. Dalloway, it’s also not bad. I shouldn’t give an opinion until I finish, because my mind could be changed.

I started dabbling in Inventing English, and I look forward to reading it slowly. Half the Sky is fascinating: it shows me how naïve and ignorant I am of the plight of women around the world. I suspect I will go through it quickly because it is so interesting to me.

What are you reading this week?

P.S. Apologies to those who were on Twitter the other night for the lack of a vlog. I chickened out.

Finished Books

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation trans. Simon Armitage (200, but half of that is the original Middle English; fiction/really old classic). For the Really Old Classics Challenge.
• The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (190 pages; fiction). For the Japanese Literature Challenge 3 and the Japanese Literature Book Group.
• Golden Slippers, an anthology of Negro poetry for young readers (200 pages; poetry). A collection of Harlem Renaissance poetry.

Abandoned/Returned Books

• All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. I couldn’t bring myself to read it. Maybe some day!

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week. I did make a little progress on some of these.

My Books

Here are the books I own or downloaded. I’ve been rather horrible at reading my project book this week! I still have eleven days in the month to finish it, though, so it’s okay.

• Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (100 read of 455 pages; nonfiction).
• History of the English-Speaking People by Winston Churchill, abridged by Henry Steele Commager (370 read of 470; nonfiction). My Project Book. For some reason, I thought there were 415 pages so I was gauging my daily read by that. I just realized it has 470 pages. Better read faster!

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (110 read of 315 pages; fiction). For Woolf in Winter.
• Moses, man of the mountain by Zora Neale Hurston (105 read of 300 pages; fiction).
• Inventing English: a portable history of the language by Seth Lerer (20 read of about 250 pages; nonfiction).
• Black no more : a novel by George S. Schuyler. For the February Classics Circuit.
• The picture of Dorian Gray (Norton Critical Edition) by Oscar Wilde. For my book club.
• Oscar Wilde’s The picture of Dorian Gray: a graphic novel by Ian Culbard. Since I’m reading the original for my book club.
• A visit to William Blake’s inn: poems for innocent and experienced travelers by Nancy Willard. A Newbery and Caldecott winner.
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck. For the Classics Reads Book Group. I haven’t started, so I’ll be a bit behind the others.
• Kings : an account of books 1 and 2 of Homer’s Iliad; The husbands : an account of books 3 and 4; All day permanent red : the first battle scenes of Homer’s Iliad; and War music : an account of books 16 to 19 of Homer’s Iliad by Christopher Logue. These are each short (80-100 pages). For the retelling portion of the Really Old Classics Challenge.
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. My Valentine’s Day read; I’ve never read it.

New Library Loot

• Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into opportunity for women worldwide by Nicholas Kristof (50 read of 250 pages; nonfiction).
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. My impulse pick.

Finds

• Haruki Murakami (Jackie’s suggestion for Japanese Lit)
• Silence by Shusaku Endo (Sherry’s suggestion for Japanese Lit)
• The Wind-up Bird Chronicle; Strangers;  Be With You; The Old Capital (Gnoe’s suggestions for JLit)
• Kenzaburo Oe’s A Quiet Life (Emily’s suggestion for JLit)
• The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. Nymeth.
• The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. Steph.
• Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglas. Eva.
• Character by F. Bordewijk. Myrthe.

• Reading Journal (20 January): Distracted
• Reading Journal (24 February): My First Vlog
• Reading Journal (13 January): Exhausted
• Reading Journal (10 Feb): The Joy of Reading Slowly
• Reading Journal (17 Feb): A Brief Post
• Reading Journal (3 February): Black History Month
• Reading Journal (March 3): Swapping Books
• Reading Journal (6 January): Starting Off the New Year
• Reading Journal (June 10): Book Clubs
• Reading Journal (30 December): Happy New Year (Briefly)