Rebecca Reads

Equality 7-2521 lives in a dark futurist dystopia in Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem. He has no words for love or self, and being alone is a crime. Yet, as do characters in countless other dystopian novels, he still finds moments to write his story of discovery.

By itself, Anthem is slim – just 100 pages – and quick to read. I enjoyed the story of Equality 7-2521’s literal self-discovery and I love the concepts within it: What is joy? What is pleasure? What is self?

Anthem has its faults, notably a complex ideology that Rand obviously hopes to impart to the reader. For me, this philosophy seemed to overshadow the story of Equality 7-2521 a bit too much. But, because it is a slim story, it was still a worthwhile reread for me. Read the rest of this entry »

My son is getting better at sitting still for board books! This month, he took control of turning the pages of a few of them, wanting to turn them over and over again. It fun to watch him try to read: I tell him the book is upside down and turn it over for him. Then he promptly turns it upside down again. Apparently, he likes it better his way. Read the rest of this entry »

While I didn’t like Hemingway’s short stories when I read them, I did enjoy Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. While it has an element of sadness, there is also a beauty and majesty around its short plot. Read the rest of this entry »

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn has the apt subtitle “A Novel in Letters.” Through a series of epistles between friends and family members, we learn of the tragedy most recently befalling (literally) the fictional small island-country of Nollop.

The tragedy is this: Slowly but surely, the letters are falling off of the national memorial:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Unfortunately for Ella and her friends, the local government believes that this is a sign from the God-like Nevin Nollop, the native-son who created the pangram (the sentence above, which uses each letter of the alphabet). Therefore, when the first letter falls, it is decreed that no one in Nollop is to implement said letter in speech or in writing: Nollop himself is challenging the citizens of the country from beyond the grave to better express themselves.

Fortunately, that letter is “z.” No one will miss “z,” will they? But when the “Q” and “D” and “J” also fall, writing and speaking to each other becomes a little more difficult.

At first glance, Ella Minnow Pea is what you’re probably thinking:

A quirky novel with pages of zany, jumbled lexicon.

But at second glance, this is a story of a dystopia, and a reminder to all word-lovers of the significance and influence of each letter, A to Z.

Ella Minnow Pea has its faults (limited setting; predictable plot development; superficial characterization). But I believe it meets its goal (satiric commentary on religion and totalitarian dystopias) in a delightful way that resonates with me, a word-lover. Read the rest of this entry »

Bookshelf Meme

Eva at A Striped Armchair created a fun meme about the books on our bookshelves. Read the rest of this entry »

In an effort to be more organized on Rebecca Reads, I’ve decided I’m going to touch base once a month with a review of my reading progress and plans.

In November, I read some very heavy things, like The Iliad and Nabokov’s stories. I plan on reading lighter fiction in December, as well as some light nonfiction and some poetry. Here’s a rundown of my November reading and posts on Rebecca Reads, in case you missed it the first time around. Read the rest of this entry »

In The Planets by Dava Sobel, one learns of the trivia and facts associated with each planet, as well as the moon and sun, in poetic terms. Scientist Dava Sobel, a New York Times bestselling author, shows that science can be beautiful and lyrical, not technical. Among other things, she tells of the mythology of Mercury, the superstitions associated with the Moon, the science fiction of Mars (told from the perspective of a rock from Mars), and the astrology of Jupiter, adding lots of interesting tidbits of information.

I enjoyed reading The Planets: it was a quick and naturally paced overview that gave me increased appreciation for the science that decorates the sky. I’d highly recommend her book for people looking for a popular (non-technical) approach to the subject.

Because I’m also watching a Carl Sagan program on the same subject, I felt like Sobel’s book was lacking. Both Sagan and Sobel impart of their own passion for the cosmos, but while Sagan’s seems full of facts, Sobel’s for some reason seems superficial – although it’s clear she’s done extensive research (and she includes a bibliography at the end).

In the end, though, Sobel’s book is probably just right for a general, easy-to-approach book (and a fast read) about a fascinating part of our life: the night sky. Read the rest of this entry »

While Mo Willems hasn’t been awarded the Caldecott Medal for his children’s picture books, he has been nominated a number of times. Do multiple Honors equal a Medal? I doubt he’d think so. Nevertheless, I think his simple illustrations are award-worthy and therefore worthy of my review.

Here’s a rundown of some of Willems’ books, along with my thoughts on his brilliant illustrations. Read the rest of this entry »

In his stories, Vladimir Nabokov so perfectly captures a character, or a setting, or an emotion, that I feel that the character is real, the setting surrounds me, and the emotion is my own.

His writing in these stories is so well done that I, a very amateur writer, feel the urge to try my hand at capturing the images around me, a task I will surely fail because I know I will never even remotely measure up to Nabokov’s incredible talent.

The unfortunate aspect of reading more than 60 of Nabokov’s short stories in one month is that the characters he so adroitly creates, the settings he so carefully draws, and the feelings he so perfectly captures are, for the most part, miserable, gloomy, and ultimately depressing. Also, some of his stories have fantastical elements that failed to resonate with me, and most dwell on negative aspects of human nature – subjects that weren’t pleasant for reading in bulk.

But I feel that the overall quality of Vladimir Nabokov’s writing is so extraordinary that he should be read simply for the marvelous experience that comes from reading his words, even if the reader doesn’t necessarily consider the negative underlying themes amazing. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m finishing my review of Vladimir Nabokov’s short stories, which I loved reading. I hope to have it done by tomorrow.

But I feel I can’t write a post about Nabokov (even his short stories) without mentioning another work by this author that I probably don’t even need to name. Read the rest of this entry »