Happy Endings

Hey there, friends!

Even though I've been quiet in the blogosphere of late, you better believe I have still been reading. It got a little dicey there for a while, especially when Victor Hugo decided to devote over a 100 pages to describing a battlefield in his Les Mis--that's right folks, not the battle, just the field on which that battle took place. I will admit that I actually considered the potential benefits of abridging a novel (or heck, just turning it into a snappy musical) but I'm happy to say I survived.

In rather stark contrast to that two-month struggle with French Romanticism,  I raced through two incredible contemporary novels this past February: The Round House, by Louise Erdrich, and A Hologram for the King, by NovelTease favorite Dave Eggers. The stories are completely different: the first is a coming-of-age tale spurred by one horrific event; the second focuses on a middle-aged man's desperate attempt to do something great in an utterly unpredictable world. Though actual oceans separate these two novels, I was struck by one startling similarity--these are both books that kind of just end. Not neat and tidy, not with a big bow, and certainly not with "...and they lived happily ever after."

I don't want to ruin these stories for you, so I'll keep my comments general here. Let me just say that in both of these cases, the ambiguous ending really worked. Sometimes when a story ends this way, I find myself frustrated, asking: BUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!? Will he/she/it/they be okay/happy/in love forever? Thankfully, I didn't have any of these worries here...I felt satisfied, really. Not satisfied in a simple 'everything will everything work out for my new imaginary friends' way, but in a deeper, truer way--the way that says, yes, this is how the book should end, because I have enough information now to imagine where the story will go from here. In this way, the author invites us to take over the storytelling process, which I really love.

The Classics

Happy New Year, friends!

The past couple months, I have been mixing up my reading list a bit more than usual. No, I'm not referring to the dark side (historical biographies), and no, I haven't given up my guilty tween-reading serial pleasures, such as Harry Potter or the Hunger Games (eek). Speaking of Harry Potter, I've actually been reading the series from beginning to end for the first time in about a decade, and am not ashamed that I'm enjoying every magical minute of it...

However, in between these Hogwarts excursions, I've been peppering in classics, such as Jane Eyre and Les Miserables. Also on the list: This Side of Paradise, Tale of Two Cities, and Othello. Besides being available for free download onto my Kindle, these books have something else in common: I've never read them.

Gasp! 

I know. As an ardent reader and erstwhile English major, you would think that at least some of the titles would be old news. It's rather embarrassing to admit this here. I mean, what self-respecting graduate of high school hasn't read Dickens' most classic tale? And don't all teenage girls love Bronte's bildungsroman? Alas, for one reason or another, these novels were never "required reading" for me, and so have remained unread--until now.

Call it pride, an early New Year's resolution, or just a long overdue sense of duty, but as a self-proclaimed lover of books, I feel like it's important to cross these classics off my personal reading list. How else will I know for sure how evil of a villain Iago is?

What about you? Any books you've faked your way through reading? What are those classics you never read way-back-when? Share your most embarrassing almost-reads here.

Your Brain on Jane Austen

I came across this interesting article today on NPR, and wanted to share.  It discusses the measurable differences in brain activity when comparing leisurely reading vs. intensive analytical reading of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park....so cool!  You can read a summary or listen to the original interview through the link below.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/10/09/162401053/a-lively-mind-your-brain-on-jane-austen

Cloud Atlas...The Movie?

As some of you loyal readers might know, I'm a huge David Mitchell fan.  However, I would never have said that his books (sweeping, painstakingly researched, and above all, lengthy) readily lend themselves to film.  So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that his 2004 novel, Cloud Atlas, is being made into a movie--not to mention a movie with a cast that includes major players like Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and Hugh Grant.

I think I'm excited about this, though I definitely have some concerns.  For one thing, CA [the book] has a really inventive structure: six stories that sit within one another like Russian nesting dolls, so that we begin and end with the same narrative.  This format suggests the complexity of individual lives while emphasizing an underlying interconnectivity, a shared experience of what it means to be human.  To translate this to the silver screen, each of the main actors will be playing multiple characters, regardless of race, time period, age, etc.  Kind of sounds like a gimmick, but then again, with this cast it could be okay.  After all, the film did get a ten-minute standing ovation at the Toronto Film Festival.

We only have to wait a few more weeks for the premiere on October 26, but until then, check out this extended trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWnAqFyaQ5s

The Art of Fielding

You are probably familiar with the phrase that baseball is a metaphor for life.  Well, I'm not that big of a baseball fan--unless of course I'm at the ballpark with a hot dog in one hand and a beer in the other.  So as you can imagine, I had my concerns about Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding, a novel centered on college shortstop Henry Skrimshander.  However, what makes this book so fascinating are the other metaphors taking place within its pages.

Relatively early on in the story, you find out that the fictional Westish College (a bucolic liberal arts school somewhere in the midwest) has interesting ties to Herman Melville, famed author of Moby Dick and erstwhile seaman.  And so, when hearing about the grueling training exercises Henry and his fellow players go through in the impossible pursuit of perfection, one can't help but make the connection to Ahab's monomaniacal search for the white whale.  Similarly, the sometimes tenuous, homosocial ties that inevitably exist between teammates echos the fractious bonds that hold together Ishmael and his shipmates--these are people who didn't choose each other, yet rely on one another for survival.

Oftentimes, when authors are trying to weave together these types of analogies, it seems like character development can get sacrificed.  However, Harbach manages to effortlessly balance these ideas with a heartwarming rendering of the book's main characters.  Henry, Schwartz, Owen, Pella, and Affenlight are all so immensely relatable, so empathetically portrayed, that I found my thoughts wandering their way even when I wasn't reading the book.  Is Affenlight's love requited?  Will Schwartz get into law school?  And Henry, oh Henry...that's all I can say until you've read the book.

Just like Moby Dick is about more than the title whale, Harbach's Fielding is about much more than baseball, which for me at least, is very good news.

Self-Editing

Since I've just recommitted myself to blogging (and since I'm a little bit narcissistic and a lot bit judgmental), I thought I'd flip through some of my old posts to see exactly what I had to say. Here are a few observations:

1. I say utterly, magical, and fantastic/fantastical/fantastic-o way too often.  Why haven't you told me?  I hope it's only in blog form, and not in real-life conversations.  Either way, I promise to work on this, because it is totally, utterly lame.

2. It's a little embarrassing to see how many times my blog has made some kind of reference to getting back on the blog "train" or blog "saddle," as well as how many times I've apologized for long absences.  Hopefully this time my commitment to the blog will stick, but I kind of feel like Robert Downey, Jr.  in the '90s.  Perhaps if I truly kick the quitting habit this time I can star in an Elton John music video to commemorate my triumphant return.  That would be awesome.  I love that music video. And Sir Elton. Not to mention RJD.  Hmm...maybe if all seven of my followers launch a big campaign we can make this happen, because lip synching is one of my top five talents.

3.  My dog is much cuter than the pictures on this blog suggest.  I'm thinking specifically of the image in this post.  I mean, yikes.  Here's an image that is much more representative of the fellow.

Ruff Waldo Emerson

The Believer

4. I can't believe that I neglected to mention the incredible magazine subscription my brother Brian got  me for Christmas this past year.  Are you familiar with The Believer?  It is self-described as: 

"A monthly magazine where length is no object.
There are book reviews that are not necessarily timely,and that are very often very long.There are interviews that are also very long.We will focus on writers and books we like.We will give people and books the benefit of the doubt.The working title of this magazine was The Optimist."

Rise again, nod to me, shout, 
And laughingly dash with your hair.”
 -Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

Put together by many of your favorite McSweeney's peeps, I would describe it as postmodern and hilarious and yet earnest, too. (Note: I wanted to use the word fantastic as one of my descriptors but--thanks to my recent self-editing--I've realized that would be redundant and annoying.)   Thanks for the gift, Brian.  And by the way, thanks to my brother, Brett, as well, who happens to be growing his hair out in an admirably Whitman-esque coiffure, sans beard.  Brett gave me a beautiful copy of 1Q84 this past Christmas, which I blogged about a few days ago.

A little self-editing can be a beautiful thing.  Except when it comes to hair.  In that case, take a cue from Whitman and Brett: no editing needed.

Coming Soon...

Hi Friends! Sorry for being such a stranger these past few months; V. and I have had some big (and exciting) changes, including a relocation to Arizona.  Now that we've finally settled into desert living a bit, I have high hopes about resuming my blogging.  After all, there are dozens of recent reads to share with you!

To reflect this new start, I decided to give the blog a facelift as well, but it's a work in progress, so pardon the mess.  Hopefully it will look super-cool in the next couple days.  Maybe not as super-cool as anything my graphic designing brother could create, but passable at least.

Since you have been oh so patient with me, I thought I'd share a quick list of "bests" from these last few summer months:

1. Best book I've borrowed all summer: Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett.  My mom lent this to me (for a second time) while I was visiting the Adirondacks.  I read it years ago and remembered enjoying the experience, but it was so lovely to revisit the intricate, nearly dreamlike world woven together by Patchett.  

2. Best book I've been given: the lovely Sarah from the equally love blog TWIMO gave me a copy of The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.  For those of you who are familiar with the title bakery's confections, you can understand the excitement of being able to replicate favorite treats like old fashioned, red velvet, and chocolate heaven cupcakes, not to mention banana pudding and lavender shortbread. YUM.  And for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of visiting this Savannah, GA gem, you should seriously think about making it happen.  Like tomorrow. You will thank me, I promise.

3. Best book based on a Shakespeare play: okay, a rather limited category, but still!  A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley, won the Pulitzer Prize a few years back, and offers a compelling--albeit at times strange and disturbing--re-imagining of King Lear.  Be forewarned: Smiley's version of Lear might just make your stomach churn.

4. Best Book for my mom to read: The Mom Squad is looking for a new read, and I'm thinking she should give The Art of Fielding a try.  I'm in the middle of it right now and so far, so great.  Other potential titles that are on my short list for upcoming reads include: The Age of Miracles, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (thanks for the suggestion, Aunt Lorin!), A Visit from the Goon Squad, and The Marriage Plot.

5. Best Book I've read: 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami. I was thinking of saying best book I've read this year, or perhaps best book I've read since I can't even remember when, but suffice it to say that I really enjoyed Murakami's latest masterpiece.  It manages to be at once utterly fantastic and yet vividly real...you know, one of those books that immerses you in a world so mysterious and impossible and eerily familiar, with characters you just can't shake.  If you like Murakami as much as I do, and if you're okay with a commitment (the book can either be purchased in a three-volume set or as a single, 900 page tome),  I would definitely give it a try.

Alright, that's it for now, but I look forward to chatting with you all again very soon!