Ann Patchett's Bel Canto

     A house full of men and one woman-- how seductive. Ann Patchett's Bel Canto is suspenseful and romantic. It tells the story of famous opera diva Roxanne Coss, Mr. Hosokawa and his translator Gen, terrorist and beauty Carmen, and last but not least,  love-sick Monsieur Thibault. Their lives change completely all because of one fateful night-- Mr. Hosokawa's Birthday. In an attempt to kidnap the president and overthrow the government in hopes of a revolution, a group of terrorists hold a group of important people hostage for 4 and a half months. The story is about the intangible things that bring people together in trying and desperate times-- the main intangible thing being love.  Although this was a lovely read, the jury is still out on how I  feel about it. No doubt, Patchett is a talented writer with a penchant for beauty and decadence, but I couldn't help feeling that something was missing. Maybe I was expecting more romance? More terror? I think at some point I was waiting for a tear-jerker (I know that sounds horrible). In my defense, however, not all tear-jerkers make terribly cheesy literature. Ultimately I feel as though the main characters lack depth-- I think this is so mostly because the reader is not offered a real glimpse into a character's background, thereby making it difficult to form any real attachments. Albeit, I still couldn't help being attached to Carmen because I empathize with her desire to learn. Alas, I am every bit ambivalent about this novel.

     The most enjoyable parts of the novel where the ones involving the dissolving tensions between the terrorists and the hostages. At other times, I was inspired to listen to opera or maybe even learn to play piano. Patchett is just that good. Overall, it was a pleasant read, even though the ending is a little on the sad side. 

Toni Morrison's Sula

     If I could chose any one author to sit down with and have a little chat, Toni Morrison would be at the top of my list. I read this gem in one day. Sula is heavy, rich, and lighthearted all at once. The effect is intoxicating, just as strong as the spirits Shadrack drinks by pint.
    Sula is about the broken families and the broken women that make up the community of the Bottom, a section in a small town named Medallion. Morrison is capable of writing about race in a manner that is attentive, but not tedious in any way. Mostly though, this novel is about friendship and the bonds formed between women. It follows Sula and Nela, two girls who grew up together but eventually take separate paths-- one conventional and one eccentric. Two guesses who takes the eccentric path. Sula is a testament to energy, courage, and having a mine of one's own.
   On another level, the novel is about good and evil and questioning our conceptions of what is immoral as opposed to natural inclinations coined as evil. Of course Sula and Nel symbolize this dichotomy, with Shadrack as the perfect blend of both good and evil. Nel embodies and internalizes societal expectations while Sula debunks and subverts them. Shadrack on the other hand, who suffers from PTSD, is referred to as evil, when he is really misunderstood by those who surround him. He drinks and swears and yells at small children, but he is harmless. Ultimately, Morrison communicates that deciding what is good and evil boils down to human intent.
     I will probably pick this novel up again next year. It's haunting and acerbic. It left me speechless and aching.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

     "What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?"

     I just finished Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and I have to say that Kundera is a master at weaving stories. The novel is mostly about dualism, opposing forces, and the tensions and conflicts that arise as a result of being torn between two opposites. 

     Central to the novel is the concept of Einmal ist keinmal, or whatever happens might as well not have happened at all. There is no such thing as eternal return. Although Kundera makes this claim, his characters subvert and contradict it; their stories are recurring patterns, essentially repeating the same words, actions, and emotions. Kundera seems to be communicating that even though there are no second chances at life, there are opportunities to make wiser decisions, design a new pattern.

    Speaking of patterns, this is a book that I could read repeatedly, and find something new each time. It is a thoughtful and at times meticulous exploration into the human condition, lovely to read, and masterfully executed. 

     

     

Happy Holidays!

Publish Post

I'm thinking about doing a smaller one of these for my dorm! Photo Source

Decatur Book Festival 2010

Every year Decatur, GA hosts the biggest independent book festival in the country, the AJC Decatur book festival. Here are a few pictures from this year's festival.

Free poetry on demand. Jimmy Lo (who can be found here) was nice enough to write a poem about Oglethorpe's mascot, the Stormy Petrel.

Really amazing street performers!

Spoken word at Java Monkey. You can't see it in the picture, but the host is wearing a t-shirt with Franz Kafka's The Trial as the design. He told me that he purchased it in Kafka's hometown of Prague.

Click here to learn more about the AJC Decatur Book Fest.

This is Jimmy Lo's poem about Petrels. I thought it was awfully clever way to talk about the oil spill which was still going on at the time.

 Poetry goes well with pretty leaves, don't you think?

Books and Other Drugs 2011

 Here is the list of books I want to read in 2011. I think 30 is definitely manageable, but I hope the number swells over time. On second thought, I think I will include the works I read in English classes only. However, Re-reads do not count! The point of this project is to read new books. So here goes!

1) Sula-- Toni Morrison

2) The Bell Jar-- Sylvia Plath

3)To The Lighthouse--Virginia Woolf

4) The Unbearable Lightness of Being-- Milan Kundera

5) Disgrace-- J.M. Coetzee

6) Native Son-- Richard Wright

7) In Cold Blood-- Truman Capote

8) Lolita-- Vladimir Nabokov

9) The Time Machine-- H.G. Wells

10) House of Leaves-- Mark Z. Danielewski

11) Naked Lunch-- William S. Burroughs

12) For Colored Girls-- Ntozake Shange

13) Invisible Man-- Ralph Ellison

14) The Picture of Dorian Gray-- Oscar Wilde

15) On Beauty-- Zadie Smith

15) The Shipping News-- E. Annie Proulx

16) Out of Africa-- Isak Dinesen

17) The Five People You Meet in Heaven-- Mitch Albom

18) The Poisonwood Bible-- Barbara Kingsglover

19) Alias Grace-- Margaret Atwood

20) The God of Small Things-- Arundhati Roy

21) Push-- Sapphire

22) Her Fearful Symmetry-- Audrey Niffenegger

23) Never Let Me Go-- Kazuo Ishiguro

24) Slaughterhouse-five-- Kurt Vonnegut

25) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao-- Junot Diaz

26) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close-- Johnathan Safran Foer

27) All The Pretty Horses-- Cormac McCarthy

28)What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng-- Dave Eggers

29) Middlesex-- Jeffrey Eugenides

30) The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles-- Haruki Marakami

31) A Short History of Women-- Kate Walbert

I cannot contain my excitement about starting this list! I'm finding it very difficult to focus on my finals because I just want to go out and buy these books! Hopefully this upcoming year will be a happy one, filled with plenty good reads!  

New Name, New Game

     After neglecting this blog for a year, I'm feeling more than a little guilty. So I've decided to focus the point of this blog to something that I do everyday-- read and digest literature. Instead of writing about books and fashion (which required more energy than I was willing to put forth apparently), I'm on a mission to read at least 30 books within the next year. Sounds like a small number, I know. But here's the catch: the books I read as a part of school course work (even in my English classes!) do not count towards the books on the list. I think this is going to be especially challenging because it's hard to find time to read for pleasure, but starting this month (after the impending doom of finals is over) I will read at least 2.5 books a month and review them here on the site. Hopefully this project has a little more longevity and staying power than the last. As I can't seem to stay away from the nearest library or bookstore, I think I have very little to worry about!