WWW Wednesdays

Posted on January 19, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream, by Steven Watts. It’s very readable nonfiction, and a subject that I’m interested in, so although it’s long, it’s going just fine.

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished Lee Child’s 61 Hours this weekend. It was great like all of his, but I found the ending to be a frustrating cliff-hanger. Guess I’ll have to read more of him…

What do you think you’ll read next?

There are always a bunch floating around in my head, but I’m feeling pretty inspired about The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas right about now. Perhaps I’ll go ahead and set it aside. Mr. Playboy shouldn’t take but a few more days.

Filed under: book reviews | 4 Comments »

61 Hours and Mr. Playboy

Posted on January 18, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Ack! So sorry it’s taken me this long! See what a three-day weekend does for me? No, I didn’t mean it, don’t take them away. It was a GREAT three-day weekend. Yesterday was a stellar day on the mountain bike trails up north (didn’t see another soul!) followed by a sushi pig-out with the Husband, ahhhhh, lovely.

So I just had a hard time catching up today, and I’m sorry this post is so late. I do have things to tell you.

I finished Lee Child’s 61 Hours this weekend, and it was everything I want a Lee Child/Jack Reacher book to be. It was fast-paced and exciting and suspenseful, with a good mystery that I solved myself this time (although I doubted in the final moments, I confess). Reacher was a superman and I was impressed and it was great fun. BUT! I was totally dissatisfied with the ending. It was far too up-in-the-air; I need greater satisfaction than that, greater resolution. I don’t think people read page-turner head-bashing mysteries to be left up in the air; I think we like conclusion! Without spoiling, I hope, let’s say it leaves Reacher’s fate decidedly in question. Luckily I know that the next Reacher book is already out, so either he survives or is reincarnated. That saves Child from some of my frustration. But really, if he were reading this: Mr. Child, you do such a good job. Next time do go ahead and tell us what happened! Ah well, this will just get me into the next one all that quicker. Perhaps this was his aim all along.

Next I started reading Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream by Steven Watts. This one has a due date at the big library where I don’t work, so I thought I’d go ahead and get started. Also, it’s a bit of a brick – close to 600 pages, only 450ish of which is the book itself (lots of notes, not a bad sign with a biography).

And it was easy to get into! I observed in last Friday’s book beginning that it had a strong start; seemed readable (what a drag to have to force oneself to follow really dry nonfiction, you know what I’m talking about) and also seemed to approach the subject in the way I was hoping. I’m reading a Hefner biography because I find him a fascinating character: complex, and polarizing, and prolific in his influences. I’m pretty clear that I do admire him, but I know he’s complicated and suspect that not everything about him is admirable. So, I’m looking for a biography to help me understand these complexities.

And I think I’ve found it! First of all, it does turn out to be a very readable book. I sat down and got through 125ish pages in one sitting, which means that by the second sitting I’m more than a third of the way through this brick. That’s an endorsement. I also appreciate Watts’ approach; he’s working to place Hefner in the larger forces guiding the US and all the ways in which our culture was changing during Hefner’s youth. I’m still dealing with the early years of Playboy magazine, barely scraping 1960, so there’s plenty to come. We’re getting to know a number of the characters in his life and in the Playboy commercial empire. I find it plenty entertaining. I like learning about Hefner’s intricacies and contradictions. If you’re looking for a Hefner biography I would recommend this one so far.

It’s a beautiful day because I got up and rode my bike before work this morning. Here’s to pleasurable reading and rain-free mornings to ride. 🙂 I’ll be back more reliably to you tomorrow; til then, enjoy!

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Broadway presents West Side Story: one more thing

Posted on January 16, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Referencing yesterday’s post about West Side Story: I failed to mention the bilingualism. This morning I read a Houston Chronicle article about the production, and it mentioned several changes in this revival tour, including a “grittier” feel with more violent, scruffier gangs, which I think I did observe. It also mentioned the addition of quite a bit of Spanish, and in fact for the tour it said the director returned some lyrics to English to make it more accessible. I feel that he did achieve his goal of creating realism, in that bilingual characters seemed to use Spanish when they would in real life. I’m from Houston, and I don’t know how this change plays everywhere, but Houston is a city accustomed to quite a bit of Spanish. It worked for me. I understood enough of the Spanish to be comfortable; and when I didn’t understand it, I felt at home, because that’s what living in Houston is about. I thought it was a great effect. Just wanted to add that. I’ll be back tomorrow or maybe Tuesday to tell you about finishing Lee Child’s 61 Hours and why I found the ending highly unsatisfying.

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Broadway presents West Side Story

Posted on January 15, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Oh my goodness. I had the most fabulous time last night! My wonderful father bought the Husband and I tickets to go see West Side Story here in Houston. It was at the new(ish?) Hobby Center. I was frankly surprised that the Husband was interested, but he had a great time too! (Perhaps he would not say “fabulous.”)

I have to say that my greatest reaction was to be transported back to the first Broadway musical I saw, at age 16 or so, at the Nederlander Theatre on the actual Broadway in NYC. My same wonderful father and I were visiting prospective colleges, including NYU, and he took me to see Rent while we were there. We were really far back, maybe just a row off the back wall, but it was a tiny theatre and the seats seemed to just go straight up – we were fairly far away from the stage but it was all vertical distance, as I remember it. I was just transfixed. The personality and emotion conveyed by the actors was enormous. I guess musical theatre by definition expresses itself through exaggeration, kind of like how the ancient Greek theatre used oversized masks to make emotions and characters extra-obvious to those sitting really far away in the amphitheatre. I felt simultaneously taken in by the characters and their struggles, and interested in the process by which these actors created the characters. I liked thinking about how they did this, the rehearsals, and everything that goes into it.

Rent is a powerful story. It’s a rewrite of the opera La Boheme, which I have not seen and do not know much about, but apparently it follows the story quite closely, re-setting the love of Rodolfo and Mimi from 1830’s Paris into 1990’s New York City. The illness originally was consumption (whatever that means) and now is HIV/AIDS. In Rent, then, a group of young, impoverished actors in NYC deal with AIDS’ effect on all of them, although only some are infected.

This story captured me so powerfully at 16. I cried, and I still cry and cry when I hear songs off that soundtrack. It was perhaps one of my more powerful experiences to date at that time. I also had a gay friend who came out to his family around the same time, and I remember being excited to share with him the gay culture I discovered in Rent, in San Francisco, and in Seattle during my travels.

Like Rent, West Side Story is a remake, of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Again the story is re-set in a more modern time and place: this time in 1950’s NYC. The Capulets and Montagues have become rival street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. I had seen the movie years ago, but had forgotten how racially charged and not-PC it was: the Puerto Rican Sharks are reviled by the Irish-Catholic Jets but also by the police lieutenant (who doesn’t completely spare the Jets his racism, either, but being white they get gentler treatment). So that was a little shocking to me. One of the most fun scenes, in which the Shark girls sing back and forth about the charms of the US vs. PR (“América”), plays to some of the stereotypes, too. It’s a great, fun, funny scene, but again not entirely PC (as comedy often isn’t, I suppose). It was interesting to note.

It was such a great, fun play in general. Husband and I were both shocked and impressed at the outrageous dancing the women did in stiletto heels! (I can’t even walk in them, or even stand still!) I find it perfectly acceptable, in theatre, to know the ending; for me, it’s not about being surprised by plot twists, but about seeing a story executed. Still, I was surprised by the ending which diverges slightly but crucially from Shakespeare. For the bulk of it, though, I enjoyed knowing what was coming and appreciating how these incredibly talented actors, singers, dancers take me through a series of emotional reactions. I’m so touched.

Tony & Maria

And again, I was taken back to that little theatre in NYC when I was 16 and so touched by Rent. What a beautiful experience. There were little parallels: when Tony and Maria touch for the first time, they exchange comments about cold hands;

Roger & Mimi

I can still hear Roger and Mimi singing, “cold hands”… “yours too”… “big… like my father’s… wanna dance?” “with you?” “no… with my father.” These lines are more readily available in my memory than those from last night.

Musical theatre is amazing stuff. What a special treat. Thank you so much, Pops.

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Have You Read These Books?

Posted on January 15, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I am responding to Danielle’s post at A Work in Progress entitled Have You Read These Books? She tells us about Michael Dirda’s Book by Book: “In a chapter on the pleasures of learning, he lists books he calls ‘patterning works’. These are not necessarily obvious classics, but he says that these are the books later authors regularly build on. ‘Know these well, and nearly all of world literature will be an open book to you.'” What a fun concept, hm? She’s listed the books for us, so I don’t have to read Book by Book to play along 🙂 (unless I want to). So I wanted to list which ones *I* have read, as Danielle did:

The Bible (Old and New Testament–King James Version): Heck no. Raised by atheists and am the same. I’ve always thought I should, for this very reason: literature and culture reference it so frequently that I should know what the heck is going on. I DID however have a book when I was kid called Children’s Bible Stories, for this very purpose: to prepare me for The Bible In Pop Culture. My mother bought it from some door-to-door sales people and my father was scandalized. Then when I suffered my very bad wreck in 2007, my best friend brought me some flowers and a Bible – not to proselytize but, again, because I’d told him about my goal of reading it one day for the sake of cultural and literary references. My mother, this time, was scandalized. I still have not read it.

Bulfinch’s Mythology (or any other accounts of the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths): Haven’t read Bulfinch, but have read the Greeks pretty exhaustively from many sources. Roman and Norse, no.

Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey: over and over. Love them.

Plutarch, Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans: No, I read some Plutarch but not this…

Dante, Inferno: I don’t think I finished it.

The Arabian Nights: no

Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur (tales of King Arthur and his knights): I know I read The Once and Future King and I think I’ve read some other tales but not Malory. I’m vague on this.

Shakespeare’s major plays, especially Hamlet, Henry IV, Part One, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest: yes. I’m pretty solid on Shakespeare.

Cervantes, Don Quixote: No, it’s always been a goal, though.

Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe: Yes

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels: Yes

The fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen: No, I don’t guess I have. I have vague knowledge of them…

Any substantial collection of the world’s major folktales: No

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice: absolutely, several times

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland: Yes several times.

Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Recently in fact.

I faired only okay on this test. But it gives me some good ideas! Maybe this is the year for Don Quixote, for example. That would go towards the Classics Challenge.

Thanks Danielle for the great idea!

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book beginnings on Friday: choices

Posted on January 14, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Katy at A Few More Pages for hosting this meme. To participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you’re reading. Then, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence.

I’m still working on Lee Child’s 61 Hours but I already gave you a Tuesday Teaser from it, so I’ll refrain from moving backwards to begin it. Instead I’ll give you a few choices on my possible next read.

I still have Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream, by Steven Watts, waiting for me to begin. It starts:

“Mention of Hugh Hefner instantly evokes a host of images that dance through the imagination: visions of voluptuous women and uninhibited sex, mansion parties and celebrity entertainers, grotto hot tubs and rounds beds, smoking jackets and sleek sports cars.”

This is a strong start. Nonfiction and/or biography is in danger of beginning in a dull fashion: “Hugh Hefner was born in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, the elder of two sons born to Grace Caroline and Glenn Lucius Hefner” (thank you wikipedia for the paraphrased perfect example). Beginning instead with imagery and a straightforward reference to Hefner’s notoriety gives me a good feeling about how Watts is going to treat his subject. I like my nonfiction to be nice and readable. I am hoping for a biography that will fairly handle both the notoriety as mentioned, and his cultural rebellion, and his aid to a number of causes of social justice, without taking sides. We shall see.

My other option is Norman Mailer’s The Castle in the Forest, which begins:

“You may call me D.T. That is short for Dieter, a German name, and D.T. will do, now that I am in America, this curious nation.”

A matter-of-fact start with a hint of suspense: Why is Dieter in America now? Why does he feel the need to rename himself? What does he find so curious about this nation? I’m excited about beginning my experience with Mailer, and the ambitious subject matter both intimidates and interests me. This book was well-received, so I’m not concerned that the illustrious Mailer will fall short; that’s not what I mean by intimidated; I mean, it’s heavy stuff.

Which book shall I dive into this weekend? Any thoughts?

Filed under: book beginnings | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

a collection of destinations for you

Posted on January 14, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Today I wanted to share with you how I start my day, and where it takes me. Maybe you’ll come along.

When I get to the library in the morning, one of the things I try to do as it fits into other necessary morning tasks, is read my Shelf Awareness email. This is a daily digest for booksellers (or, in my case, librarians) with bookish news. A lot of the news regards the bookselling industry specifically – how Barnes and Noble and Borders are doing, profiles of small or family-owned book stores, market trends, and whatnot. These items are not terribly interesting to me, usually, but I skim them and am sometimes interested. I read it, more, for the book reviews and interesting links. Generally, bookish trends are of interest to me and help me do my job. It does pay for me to know what people want to buy because I buy the books for my library and obviously I try to provide what people are wanting these days. If you’re interested in the emails, you can sign up here.

Today, for example, I learned from Shelf Awareness of the renaming of the Boscobel Aerodrome in Orcabessa, Jamaica as the Ian Fleming International Airport. Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond books, reportedly at a “scenic retreat” nearby. That’s a fun fact.

I also found this teaser: “the Guardian asked readers to check their literary balances with a ‘banking in literature’ quiz”, and I thought, oh boy a literary quiz! but it turned out to be quite specifically a quiz about banking in literature, which turns out to be something in which I am not an expert, so that was kind of a flop, for me personally. Maybe you’ll do better.

But then I found Tom the Dancing Bug’s classix comix version of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Corrected to reflect modern sensibilities). If you’re reading my reading blog you’re probably the sort of person who is also aware of the general furor regarding NewSouth‘s republication of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn without use of the n-word or “injun”. I will say very briefly that I am scandalized and strongly against this move, for the oft-cited reasons that a) we respect Mark Twain for his original genius and no one should be re-writing him, b) he put those words in on PURPOSE for goodness sake and with a purpose, which included satire and the bringing to our attention that these words are and were overused and wrong, and c) that the use of these very words always incites discussion (as evidenced by this recent furor), which is a good thing. YES these words are offensive, and this offense is still relevent; that’s why we still need Mark Twain’s work as he originally, thoughtfully created it. So. See the above cartoon for what I think is a very clever satire of the republication.

Next, Shelf Awareness tells me that David Nicholls’ book One Day is moving forward and being made into a movie, which was predicted from the very start. I read this book when a patron loaned it to me, and I enjoyed it fine, although I definitely agreed with Publishers Weekly’s view that it was made for the screen. I don’t watch a lot of movies (largely because the Husband doesn’t like to) but I do like Anne Hathaway, who’s in this one, so I may find a way to see it (without the Husband).

Something else I got out of today’s Shelf Awareness email – and this is a little embarrassing – but when I followed the above link to that ‘banking in literature’ quiz, I found mention of Watership Down as “bucolic children’s fiction”, which didn’t sound familiar to me. I mean, I know the name Watership Down (by Richard Adams), but didn’t think it was a children’s book; I think I had it crossed up in my head with Fahrenheit 451 or Slaughterhouse 5 or something. So I had to go look up Watership Down, and it sounds lovely (and also it turns out that at least somebody on wikipedia agrees with my vague impression that it’s highly allegorical), and now I am determined to read this book because it sounds great. So there you go, after clicking several links and looking things up, I have a new book TBR, and I guess that’s part of what Shelf Awareness is all about.

Finally, in my blog explorations, I came across a really, really delightful post today from author Sharon Kay Penman, in which she discusses historical accuracy, her dedication to it (hear hear! something I blogged about earlier), her responsibility to us readers, and some specific challenges. For example, the personalities she writes about, from the Middle Ages, have significantly different values from ours, regarding women’s rights, animal cruelty, conduct in warfare, etc. I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read this post from an author I deeply respect. (Sharon Kay Penman–>)

You’ve just taken a tour through my morning ramblings on the interwebs; hope you’ve found something interesting. 🙂 What do you play with on the internet to find bookish news or tidbits?

Filed under: book reviews, musings | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

just a little musing (little a-musing?)

Posted on January 13, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I was intrigued to read today’s post from Thomas at My Porch about grammar (oh woe) because I was also going to make a language comment in today’s post. Mine is not a complaint, though, more of a musing.

One of my favorite bands is the Drive-by Truckers. The Husband and I are a little bit fanatical about them, in fact. This morning on the way to work I was blessed by the iPod which gave me “Thank God for the TVA”, a Truckers song that was written and performed by Jason Isbell who is no longer in the band. So, we don’t get to see it played live. 😦 But I did hear it in the car, and I love it. Here, I found you this recording of it.

The line I’m most concerned with right now says is, “I wanted her to want me so bad it hurt.” I notice some ambiguity here. Let’s use parentheses in the mathematical way: he could mean “I wanted her (to want me) so bad it hurt.” Or he could mean “I wanted her (to want me so badly it hurt).” Does he want, so badly that it hurts, for her to want him? Or does he want for her desire for him to be painful? (I’m leaving aside the grammatical wrongness of “so bad it hurts” – should be “so badly” – but I can appreciate the southern flavor it gives.) This is the same ambiguity we see in pronoun use such as “Maria gave her mother the card, and her eyes sparkled.” Because Maria and her mother are both female, “her” is ambiguous. Whose eyes sparkled? Maria’s, or her mother’s? I think ambiguity in language is generally a problem. If I came across a sentence like the one I just made up in a book I would be frustrated. The purpose of language, after all, is to communicate.

But I guess there are exceptions to my statements, that language is solely a tool of communication, and that ambiguity is frustrating. Because the above line in the song is poetry; it’s beautiful; and the meaning of the sentence works both ways. I appreciate it. I’m okay with the ambiguity; in fact it adds to the song and, what do I know, may even have been purposeful. When is language not just about communication? When you’re passing the time, when you’re trying to look busy, when you like to hear the sound of your own voice, when you’re stalling, when you’re trying to get something you want without someone else noticing they gave it to you. Etc. But also, when it’s poetry. I think Jason Isbell is a poet, and he’s brought us our musing of the day. Thank you Drive-by Truckers.

Filed under: musings | Tagged: , | 6 Comments »

Just acquired

Posted on January 12, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Norman Mailer is on my list of TBR, just as an author. I’ve read nothing by him and have no plan as to where to start, so I’ve just been waiting for something to cross my desk. Today was that day! A fine hardback copy of his final novel, The Castle in the Forest came my way. This is exciting. Thus, you can look for Mailer to compete with Mr. Playboy to be my next read.

The Castle in the Forest is a fictionalization of Adolf Hitler’s childhood and upbringing. Wowza, there’s a topic for you. Apparently Mailer is sort of exploring the evil that was Hitler, in a Freudian analysis of his family dynamics, and whatnot. I could quote other people’s synopses all day but I’ll just wait and give you my version after a bit.

Have you read any Mailer? What would you have recommended I start with? I’m interested in the nonfiction too of course; and I’ve heard very good things about The Executioner’s Song as well. But I sometimes like to do it this way, and just pick up the first thing I see. If an author is really strong, it’s a strategy that should pay off.

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WWW Wednesdays

Posted on January 12, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I just started Lee Child’s 61 Hours and it’s as great as his others that I’ve read!

What did you recently finish reading?

I’ve recently finished two Audrey Niffenegger novels in a row: The Time Traveler’s Wife followed closely by Her Fearful Symmetry. I much preferred the first.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Well, I have Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream, by Steven Watts, waiting for me on my desk at home. It’s a library book (from the public library, not my library), so it has a deadline attached to it. That should definitely come up soon. I dabble in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and This Book is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson here and there; I pick them up and put them down around the house. Perhaps one of those will get full-time treatment one day. But it’s always a crapshoot to see what I’ll read next! I’m still interested in Emma Donoghue’s Room, too, but I’m not sure I can stomach the maternalism at this moment (see an earlier post).

I have to confess I’m not feeling strongly motivated to read anything particular right now, so Lee Child and the like are suiting me just fine. Things are fixin’ to get a little crazier, too: it’s time to start training in earnest for our annual mountain bike trip to Terlingua, TX in February, and the spring race season; and I start a class in Database Searching next week. Fingers crossed that I can keep up with it all and still keep in touch with you! I’m optimistic, though. Even if nothing else, I have my lunch breaks, a glorious hour of uninterrupted reading, ahh. And road trips to races provide some reading time if the Husband-Driver allows me to zone out. 🙂 He’s really very good to me.

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