Land of Marvels

I've been wanting to be more involved in my immediate community, so I joined a JP Book Group. I thought it would be nice to get to know some more people in my neighborhood and read some different books.  The focus of my long-running friend book group has always been less on reading and more on getting together to catch up, so I also felt obligated to read this book.

Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth was quite the challenge.  It seemed promising-- a group of archaelogists in the early 1920s in what is now Iraq searching for treasure-- both ancient and modern (oil).  But I found myself scanning over paragraphs and easily falling asleep.  The evening of the meeting I raced home to finish reading it (close, but no cigar!) and felt the dread of having to go to class without my homework done.  As it turned out, they were a nice enough group and nearly all agreed that it wasn't the best read.  There were also two guys, which was interesting.  We sat in the Jame's Gate and had food and beer.

I finished the book that night and would say that if you can make it through the first 2/3rds of the book, the last 1/3rd is worth it.  But if historical fiction isn't your thing, I'd skip this in favor of something else.

Netflix stars 2/5

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Recommended to me, and with a very long wait at the library, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery seemed like a sure fire hit for me.  It's also French!  But it just never really took off.  The main protagonists, a French concierge in a fancy apartment complex and the 12 year old daughter of a pair of inhabitants, are both philosophical and literary snobs. The concierge, Madame Michel, pretends to hold up the stereotype of the concierge-- lazy, uneducated and with little interest beyond her tv.  Paloma is a smart girl, but hides from her family, who she thinks are ridiculous.  It was hard for me to figure out why both these characters were playing so miserable and it wasn't until late in the book the reader is clued in.

Part of my issues with this might have been the poor translation.  The basic sentence structure was at times awkward, and there names and places that just didn't translate at all to the American audience.  I'm a patient reader and it takes a lot for me to not give a book a full chance, but if I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't finish it.  But I did and it partly redeemed itself, so I'm giving it 2 stars.  Read at your own risk.

New Moon

I was told it wasn't good. Even by people who enjoy the series, I was told this particular book was bad. My sister thought I shouldn't read it because Edward's departure would trigger unhappy personal memories. My coworkers thought it focussed too much on Jacob.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer.

Here's what I liked: an accurate portrayal of grief following abandonment. Bella gets through each day by sheer force of will. Her friends being likewise 17 and 18 have little patience for this and soon give up on her. Jacob. He's 15 and is characterized like a 15 year old. He's got a crush on Bella but can still relate to her as a friend.

Here's what I didn't like: Edward. (It's true, I'm Team Jacob!). You'd think after 110 years he'd know that just leaving an 18 year old-- the day after her birthday no less-- would be unkind to say the least. The writing and editing. It was bad. If I'm going to read these kind of books, I need to read them fast! There are award winners and classics out there to read and I'm not getting any younger...Then again, if I were immortal I could read them all. Alice?

Netflix stars 2/5

A Wedding In December

The best thing about A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve is that I finished it and can now get rid of it. The wedding in question is of two former high school sweethearts, reconnecting after 20+ years. Their closest friends from high school are also invited to the wedding and over the weekend secrets are revealed and relationships are strained.

As I was reading this I kept thinking, "this is like The Big Chill--only bad." There was every possible cliche-- audultery, cancer, accidents and death, not to mention the gratuitous mention of 9/11 (did not enhance the plot at all). I didn't find myself to be especially sympathetic to the characters.

Ms. Shreve has a very simplistic writing style, and her descriptions seemed dated and out of touch (reference to a gay classmate who had to adjust to "gay life" and even clothing and hair descriptions).

Within the novel, there was a sub-story written by Agnes. It was about a massive explosion in Halifax during WWII and I felt that plotline was way more believable and interesting. It's for that alone that this book is getting 2 stars.

I have a few more books by Ms. Shreve on my shelf. I know she is a beloved author so perhaps this book was just an anomoly-- something she wrote quickly to fulfill a contract?

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

After I took the required Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry in high school, I was done with math. I wasn't good at it, it wasn't a "fun challenge" and it made me anxious and miserable. I knew practical applications of math, like how to calculate 25% off while shopping, and even how to calculate a nifty 18% tip. I knew how to count change back using the fewest coins possible and I could balance my checkbook. But in the IB program everyone had to test in some math...realizing that some of us were more artistically based, a class called Math Studies was created just for us. Have you ever had to compose a term paper for a math class? I did. I wrote mine on the geometry of sailing. Annie wrote hers on the geometry of billiards (keep in mind that diagrams added to the total number of pages submitted-- another practical math application!). I can't remember what Caron wrote hers on....Caron? By the time I got to college I did have to take Calculus. My mom signed me up for an intro class at Butler County Community College the summer before Sophomore year, figuring that a failing grade in a community college would be serve as a prep for my BU class, and hopefully allow that I get a C+ there. My mom is very smart.
Fast forward ten years. Mihee rightfully encourages teens, especially girls, into math and science careers. She mentors and leads a fulfilling life in the lab (with excursions to bars, parties, and book club). When it's Mihee's turn to pick a book for book club, we all groan and know that she is earnest in her obscure pick, which this month was Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott. Despite Mihee assuring me that it was a "romance" I wasn't fooled for long. THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT MATH! There is even a quote on the back from Mathematics Teacher. It was only 83 pages, so I read it. A square in flatland is introduced by a sphere to the novely of spaceland. But more than onerous math, this book contained the 3 things I most despise in this world: sexism, racism and religious proselytizing and persecution. Because I respect Mihee and because she tries to educate, I will give this book 2 netflix stars. Also because it was only 83 pages. That's it.

How To Be Alone

An Open Letter To Jonathan Franzen:

I'd like to start by thanking you. Your book The Corrections entertained me for a good couple days at my first post-college job. But perhaps the joy that was The Corrections bears re-reading, because I found your book of essays, How To Be Alone, in a word, annoying. In two words, annoying and obnoxious. The book consists of essays written from the early to mid-90s and finishes with one written on Inauguration Day, 2001. Many of the earlier essays are stuck in their time-- ruminations on the deterioration of society due to cordless phones and answering machines. I guess it's noble to write one's novel on an old typewriter...if you're 78. But Mr. Franzen, at the writing, you were in your early thirties! Isn't that a bit young to become a curmudgeon? Personally, if I had written an essay predicting that the Internet would fall the way of beta max and AOL email, I'd want to make sure it stayed hidden, presumably under lock and key in old gray file cabinets, and not compiled in a "Best Of" album. I felt embarrassed for you.

You lament that people don't read anymore and inform us that you gave away your old tv so that there would be no distractions from reading. While you might like to think you are a martyr for doing this, the reality is, Mr. Franzen, that many, many people read. And many, many people can just turn off the tv for a couple hours. I daresay that even Mr. Frey would be able to abstain from tv for an evening to read a forlorn and dusty book in the prison library.

But Mr. Franzen, it's not all gloom and doom. I sincerely enjoyed your expose on the deficiencies of the Chicago Postal Service (because who doesn't enjoy bitching about the mail?) and your last essay on Inauguration Day 2001 showed growth and insight. The essay about your father's brain was poignant and your interviews with prison inmates were thoughtful. But when you just offer your opinion on a given issue, you often straddle both sides, leaving me wondering which side you are really on.

I'm sure you'd be happy knowing the Marie Claire Book Club probably would not wade through your verbiage of "big" words (two words missing from your essays are "hubris" and "humility"). In fact, I couldn't finish the book. I decided to take the challenge you proposed and read...but life's too short to read condescending opinions set forth by spoiled artists.

Mr. Franzen, your book may be so lucky to fall into the same company as your beloved typewriter and even the answering machine-- at a garage sale in a box of $.10 books.

Sincerely,

Andrea

Netflix stars-- 2/5

The Emperor's Children and In The Drink

With summer comes the inevitable Summer Beach Read. The SBR was created so that one could read, doze and pick up again without having to re-read the previous page. The topic should be lighthearted with easy to remember characters and plain vocab that doesn't require dragging along a dictionary. My most recent two books met most of these requirements.

The first, a book club pick, The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud, detailed the lives of a handful of 30 something adults living in Manhattan. The second, a several years old hand me down from friend and former bar night buddy, Tishka, called In The Drink by Kate Christensen detailed the lives of a handful of 30 something adults living in Manhattan.

This summer has not produced the number of weekend beach days that I normally enjoy, so I've been imagining my front porch and inside sofa (with a soft breeze coming in from the window), as my beach. Since I haven't had to take frequent cool offs in the water, I was able to speed through these books. Being nearly 30 myself I was anticipating identifying with the characters in The Emperor's Children, but instead found their lives to be completely incongruous with mine; Marina is entitled, spoiled, and self centered. She lives with her parents and is unemployed, save for a manuscript she's been working on for seven years. Her close friend Danielle is slightly better off-- she has a "real" job and lives on her own, but is professionally and personally unfulfilled. Any respect I had for her I lost completely when she started an affair with Marina's famous father. Julian is their token gay and ethnic friend. I refer to him as such because he has no real function in the context of the rest of their lives. It's unclear to me what any of them have in common. Oh, he is mostly unemployed as well. Marina's 19 year old cousin, Frederick "Bootie" Tubb is the catalyst character and the most interesting and dynamic. Whereas the rest of them are filled with ennui, Bootie sets out and repeatedly makes changes to his unhappy life. I was pleased that the novel ended as it did.

Claudia is the primary character of In The Drink and she, along with her friends William, Jane and a few others whose names I've already forgotten, could easily be friends with the gang from The Emperor's Children. Claudia is an alcoholic with a dead end job (commisserate with Julian!) as a personal secretary to a socialite Jackie (who could float in the same circle as Marina's father, Murray Thwaite). She longs to write her own books (talk to Marina) instead of ghostwriting Jackie's. She doesn't eat well, she is broke, lives in a cruddy apartment and drinks too much. She has an on again off again affair with a married man (compare notes with Danielle) and makes no effort to improve her situation. In The Drink was similar to The Devil Wears Prada and any number of the other books that feature loser young adults living in Manhattan. I cringed while reading this book and couldn't imagine anyone with so little self esteem...and I subsequently felt miserable and depressed after reading it.

I need to change directions with my next book...no more beach reads! Or, maybe I just need to get off the couch and to the beach...

Netflix stars for both books: 2/5.