I’m one story away from finishing The Aspen Papers, Turn of the Screw and two Other Stories, so I will write about that when I finish it. In between reading the first three stories in the book and the last, however, I read the following.

Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth by Alice Walker. I love Alice Walker. She’s one of my heroes, and I adore her writing. That said, I’ve loved previous collections of her poetry more than this one. I liked the things she said in them, they just didn’t … move me. That could entirely have been the frame of mind I was in when I read them, and I’ll give them another shot another time.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Apt 3W by Gabriel Brownstein is a really interesting collection of short stories that all take place in the same apartment building. The titular story is a reimagining of the Fitzgerald story of the same name (without the Apt 3W part), and is really well done. The stories as a whole are really good, and very piercing.

I was prompted to reread Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh as I discussed the movie based on it in a series of e-mails with that fine gentleman Jamie S. Rich. (His blog at confessions123.blogspot.com is highly reccomended even though I don’t know how to make a link to it.) I enjoyed it far more this time than when I read it before, I think because this time I knew what I was getting into. The book is a series of wacky events, and the main character really doesn’t ever do anything, he just has things happen to him. That bugged me the first time through, but this time I’ve come to the conclusion that that’s the point. Anyway, I liked it this time, but will probably wait to see Bright Young Things (the movie version) until it comes out on DVD.

I read The Slippery Slope and The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket in a matter of hours. You could say, if you were so inclined, that I inhaled them, a phrase which in this case means “read very quickly while not skimming any parts, no matter how much you want to know what happens next, so as not to miss any important clues as to the disposition of the VFD or a certain Mr. Snicket”. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist a little Snickety joke. If you didn’t get it, you should read the books.) I’m more and more enthralled by this series the farther I get into it. As the series goes along more clues are being dropped as to what’s going on, and the complexity is incredible. I love these books and will defintly be reading them to my kids. In the midst of all the gothic-y gloom and unfortunate events is a great message about literacy and doing the right thing. I’m most likely going to die of anticipation and impatience before the next one is released.

I just finished The Secret Letters of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy by Wendy Leigh. Wow. This fiction is based on the premise that Marilyn and Jackie started corresponding shortly after the wedding of JFK and Jackie, that they became confidants, and that they continued the correspondence until just before Marilyn’s death. (It also presupposes that JFK and Marilyn were having an affair.) I’m still reeling after finishing this. The author did an incredible amount of research into these women, and they really come alive in all their gorgeousness, vulnerability, strength, and falibility. I’ve always had a soft spot for Marilyn, but I have a new admiration for Jackie, and need to do some reading up on her. This book is among my top of the year, it could easily have been trashy or silly, instead it tells the story of these amazing women, and what could possibly have happened if they came to depend upon each other. I give it highest marks.
Now I’m going to get back in and finish that last story of James’, and then it’s on to Hippolyte’s Island by Barbara Hodgeson. I’ve been meaning to read it for ages, and finally picked it up at the library.

Current total: 97
Just Finished: The Secret Letters of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy by Wendy Leigh
Next Up: Hippolyte’s Island by Barbara Hodgeson

I think perhaps I’m not supposed to read Tokyo Suckerpunch by Isaac Adamson. This is the second time I’ve tried to start it, and the second time I’ve gotten completly distracted from it. I’m going to have to decide if I’m actually going to get to it in the near future, seeing as I’m borrowing it from a friend who is being extremely patient in not getting it back. Anyway, Mr. Adamson, it’s not you, it’s me.
I got distracted, predictably, by another in the fairy tale series edited by the wonderful Ms. Datlow and Ms.Windling. This time I went for the first in the series, Snow White and Blood Red. The stories in this collection are more sad, more grim than those in the later books. A large number of them deal with child abuse. Seeing as many fairy tales deal with children in dangerous situations, that’s not really suprising (for example, Red Riding Hood’s wolf being interpreted as a sexual predator isn’t too big of a stretch). Some of the stories however, were pleasantly startling in their interpretations. Rapunzel became a story of the cycle of abuse, as the witch, in an attempt to sheild Rapunzel from the abuse she herself suffered at the hand of her father, abuses her just the same. The Neil Gaiman story “Troll Bridge” whlie not about abuse was poignant and meloncholy and beautiful. Overall, a great collection.
I just started The Aspen Papers, Turn of the Screw and Two other Stories by Henry James. I’ve read Turn of the Screw before, and am looking forward to reading it again. So far The Aspen Papers is great.

Current Total: 91
Just Finished: Snow White, Blood Red ed. by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Currently Reading: The Aspen Papers, Turn of the Screw and Two other Stories by Henry James

I finished Dorothy Parker in Her Own Words, and enjoyed it despite the fact that I’d read most of the quotes or exerpts before. The book was organized by topic rather than chronology, and that served it well I think.

I also finished The Little Women by Katharine Weber, and I have to admit to having jumbled thoughts about it. While it appears to be both an updated version of Alcott’s Little Women, and a deconstruction of it, I really don’t know if it’s either. I’m going to work through my thoughts here, so hold on to your seats here, this could get messy.

The novel by Katharine Weber is, in the world of the novel, actually a novel written by Joanna Green, one of the characters of the novel. It’s the somewhat fictional, somewhat factual, story of the year that she (Jo) and her sisters (Meg and Amy) ran away from home. Her sisters are not happy that she’s written this novel about them, and have an agreement with her that they can insert comments into the manuscript where they deem them necessary, which they do quite often. These comments generally center around the difference between fiction and reality, and also serve to give more insight into the “real” characters of Amy and Meg. So really, we have 2 sets of characters: the “real” Jo, who is writing a novel, and her sisters Amy and Meg who are commenting on it; and a “fictional” Jo, Amy, and Meg.

What results is a twist on the postmodern authorial voice, as the author (Weber) intrudes into her novel but uses a fictional author to do so. An example may be in order. As the novel begins, background is given about the girls’ parents. Partway through, Meg (the real Meg) inserts the comment: “Boring, boring, boring! This is totally dragging! How much family history will most readers be willing to tolerate?”. If this was a regular postmodern authorial voice, one would believe that this comment was meant ironically, and one that was more cynical would believe that it was also meant to dissuade critics. You can’t fault something for being boring if the author admitted it already, can you? But in this case, it gets tricky. Is Weber trying to protect her novel through Jo’s defense of it? Or is she making a comment about authors who use that defense?

This confusing of authorial responsibility continues throughout the book. The story isn’t really an update of Alcott’s story, as the real sisters live in a world where Little Women is a book and they’ve been named after the characters in it. Their life mirrors the book only in certain moments: Meg works as a governess; Amy is a painter, and brings treats to school and is chastized by a teacher; Jo is a writer and turns down Teddy. The question becomes, how much of that is intended by Weber to be created by Jo? If Weber’s novel is supposed to be a new version of Little Women, its really not a very good one. If Jo’s novel is supposed to have elements of Little Women, then the effect is different- it becomes an attempt by Jo to create literature out of her life so that she can deconstruct it and find meaning. She is, in effect, deconstructing both her own life and Alcott’s novel.

Perhaps that’s the meaning of the entire book. Jo makes the statement at one point that , “The meaning of the story is the story”, but to which story is she referring, and is that authorial voice Jo or Weber? Is Weber telling us to look not at the story that Jo is telling, but the story of her telling it? The novel that Jo writes really isn’t all that great. It’s firmly rooted in the school of “tell not show”, a fact that her sisters call her on. Emotional moments are skipped over and just alluded to. (Amy’s description of Jo’s reason for this is hilarious- she recalls that when Jo was little all of the people in her drawings had their hands in their pockets since she couldn’t draw hands, and her skipping the emotional moments is the eqivalent in writing.) The story ends abruptly. I thought as I read that the inserted comments were intended to flesh this out, to tell the additional story of what happens when someone writes fiction based in real events, but I think it’s more to give us the story of Jo’s attempt to make sense of her life.

I still don’t know for sure how much of the twist on the postmodern voice was planned, and how much was just an actual postmodern defense mechanism. It’s complicated by the fact that near the end of the novel there’s a whole twist on the authorial voice that I just can’t get into because I’m already confusing myself trying to write about all this and be clear who everyone is. I do know that it all made me think about Alcott’s Little Women, and what her Amy and Meg might have to say about the way her Jo presented the events of their lives. So I guess in a way it deconstructs Little Women by ricochet.
…………
I have no idea if any of that will make sense to anyone other than me, but this exercize has proven to me the statement that you can’t really understand something until you’ve written about it. I don’t feel like I completely understand what Weber was trying to do, but I think I’m closer. Anyway, the book was good, and definitly thought provoking.

My favorite bit was commentary sniping between Jo and Amy:
“Author’s Note: Wilde said that there is no such thing as a moral and an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.
Reader’s Note: I didn’t suggest that the novel was immoral. I was referring to the author. AG”

Current total: 90
Just Finished: The Little Women by Katharine Weber
Next Up: Tokyo Suckerpunch by Isaac Adamson

I finished Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters, and I officially adore the man. While I will never see Pink Flamingos or some of his other work, I think he as a person is really interesting. It’s interesting to see where some of his ideas come from, and the gems in his life that he’s since translated into his movies. To just dismiss him as a kook is missing whole sides of him. (How many sides does he have? I don’t know. ) He’s done some really varied things in his life, and that adds to his depth and range. I want to read more of his writing, he has a style that I really like. Plus I love the fact that in his Independent Spirit Award speech he told stars that they should pay for their own award show outfits, that free clothes should be for the poor, and that they should take the amount of the free clothes were wearing and donate it to the homeless. !!! He wins.
I picked up Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne because I was at the airport and I’d just finished Crackpot so I had nothing to read. In my experience, airport bookstores are either fabulous or full of junk (junk being books I don’t want to read) , and this one definitly fell in the latter category. It was all romance novels or political commentary. But that was actually probably a good thing, in that I picked up Around the World in 80 Days, and I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. How have I never read this book before?? It was so fun! Adventure, drama, great locations, and great humor. I actually laughed out loud a couple times.
Tying into my overall theme of this blog- the connections between books that depend on the order you read them- if I hadn’t read Way of the Peaceful Warrior recently before this one, I don’t know that I would have noticed that Phileas Fogg basically has a Zen approach to his journey. In the book he’s referred to as cold and distanced because he doesn’t react when bad things happen, but he could also be seen as just not wasting energy on things he can’t change. Passepartout is the complete opposite, freaking out over every little thing, and as a result, causing more problems and more delays. Interesting.
Anyway, I need to read more Jules Verne.
I just started Dorothy Parker in her Own Words, a sort of autobiography made up of things Parker wrote or said about her life in her various writings. So far there’s nothing new, but I enjoy Dorothy Parker as a person, so I don’t really mind reading the same things again.

Current total: 88
Just Finished : Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Currently Reading: Dorothy Parker in her Own Words ed. by Barry Day

Over the past couple weeks I’ve finished a number of books and haven’t had time to write about them, so its time to play catch up.
I thoroughly enjoyed Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, a book whose title really tells you everything you need to know about the tone of what’s inside. I was suprised and delighted by a number of clever references to old children’s books, and the multimedia approach to the tale was inventive and well executed. Rather than just being a empty ploy for more Snicket fan dollars, it contained a lot of clues about the mysteries contained in the books. No answers- and perhaps more questions, but some interesting hints nonetheless.
I picked up Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach because I’d read good reviews, and because it was on sale. (Yay to buying books at Costco!) The book is about different things that happen to bodies after death; everything from simple burial and decay to use as crash test dummies. The subject matter could easily slip into the truly distasteful, but Roach stays professional and respectful at all times, and what results is very educational and entertaining. Roach does have a tendency to veer off on tangents and her writing is very conversational, two elements that alternated between being endearing and irritating. But overall I really enjoyed it, and unfortunately for those who have to listen to me, learned just enough to be dangerous.
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman is a parable of sorts, a meditation on learning Zen philosophy. The description of the characters’ application of Zen practices made the reason behind the practices clearer, and the story itself was engrossing, as it is based partially on the author’s own life.
The Children of Cthulhu, edited by John Pelan and Benjamin Adams, is a great anthology of stories inspired by the Lovecraft mythos. The quality of the stories varied, but overall the stories were well written and quite creepy.
I just finished The Fun of It: Stories from the Talk of the Town, a collection of columns from the New Yorker. The constraints of the the column, ( word count, voice, style) made for little works of art that are concise, consistent, and clear. The collection spans 1920-2000, and while each column functions as a snapshot of a point in the culture of New York, the collection read in order becomes a timeline of life in the U.S.
I just started Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters, an amusing followup to The Fun of It, in that it too is a collection of articles, but the subject matter couldn’t be more different. It is, in true John Waters form, delightfully trashy, and a fun insight into his crazed mind.
The most prevalent theme through the books in this batch? Titles with colons and subtitles.

Current total: 86
Just Finished: The Fun of It: Stories from the Talk of the Town by Lillian Ross
Currently Reading: Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters by John Waters