tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86268303285703593352024-03-13T13:43:25.250-07:00Blog For Kids Who Don't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too*A place to visit for literature and laughs every other Wednesday, sometimes more*Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-18121973018934698412020-04-15T10:50:00.002-07:002020-04-15T10:50:21.955-07:00New site!<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Hi everyone! I've moved my reviews to a snazzy new site: </span><a href="https://www.lyndsayslitreviews.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">https://www.lyndsayslitreviews.com/</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. Go check it out if you know what's good for ya.</span></span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-86046104656713481832019-08-28T13:15:00.001-07:002019-08-28T13:20:37.067-07:00The Girls<span id="docs-internal-guid-c714b305-7fff-6fc5-dd0a-b110495a40e0"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guys and gals, you need to read </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Girls* </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Emma Cline. I haven't slurped up a book so quickly in a while, and this one had me staying up late into the night (and then sleeping in an inordinate amount). </span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Girls</i> is about the Manson Family without being about the Manson Family. Charles </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Manson has made a comeback in mainstream media recently. We've learned he's short (thank you, </span><i style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Mindhunter</i><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">) and we've learned that Brad Pitt can still get it (thank you, </span><i style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Once Upon a Time in Hollywood</i><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">). </span><i style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Girls </i><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">never uses the M-word; instead, it focuses on a fictional cult inspired by the Manson Family, seen through the lens of a fringe member, Evie, whose insecurities and curiosities render her vulnerable to the cult's allure. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Emma Cline gets some backlash for taking the Manson events and changing very little aside from the names. Sure, fair. But for me, <i>The Girls</i> reads like a coming-of-age story and Cline's writing of Evie hits the nail on such a weird, specific head. She articulates a character that I have never seen. </b></span></span><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even a few pages in, Evie comes to life in my mind so vividly-- a move that few authors are able to orchestrate as effectively. I feel so many things towards Evie: fascination, revulsion, empathy, disappointment. Nothing is simple about Cline's depiction of the cult or Evie's involvement with it. She doesn't say *the cult is bad and Evie regrets her decisions*, nor does she say *the cult is good and Evie is thankful for them*. Cline wades the nuance through Evie. She moves back and forth between present-day Evie and cult Evie, and in doing so, she carefully walks the line between plot and reflection. So, I don't care that I'm reading about a guy named Russell who did the same shit that Manson did. I care about Evie's perspective of it all.</b><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Also, the cover is rad. ALSO, this is Cline's first novel! <u><i>The Girls</i> receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</u>.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>*Cline, Emma. <i>The Girls.</i> New York: Random House, 2016. Print. </b></span></span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-35879944171516746922019-08-07T14:02:00.000-07:002019-08-07T14:07:53.235-07:00The Sympathizer<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sympathizer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* by Viet Thanh Nguyen won the 2016 Pulitzer for Fiction. I respect the book and appreciate that Nguyen gave a voice to a Vietnamese American point of view while shitting on America's shittiness in Vietnam.</span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The narrator is half-French, half-Vietnamese. He grows up in Vietnam but spends a large portion of his adult life studying in America. He is secretly a communist agent in disguise as a Vietnamese army captain working with America to democratize Vietnam. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This info is on the back of the book; if it wasn’t, I’d be lost from the get-go. The narrators’ contradictory identities are disorienting for the reader-- and I’m sure </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that’s the point </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">since the narrator is disoriented himself. Regardless of intention, the result-- for me, at least-- was that I read almost 400 pages of someone’s voice and still had no idea where his allegiances truly lay. He seemed to have convictions, but I couldn’t identify them. I wasn’t invested in the narrator enough, because I didn’t really know him at all. So, when things happened to him, I found it hard to care. I didn’t have an emotional connection to him. I usually dig an unreliable narrator (hello, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/05/slaughterhouse-five.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Slaughterhouse-Five</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love you), but this dude bored me, which surprised me since it’s touted as a spy novel of sorts.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There were several moments when I simultaneously didn’t enjoy an aspect of the book and thought to myself, well, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that’s probably the point</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I think the last 80 pages are total gibberish. I didn’t enjoy reading that portion at all, but I think that’s the objective because the narrator is also not enjoying himself. Maybe I’m overemphasizing “enjoyment” and underemphasizing Nguyen’s achievements covering controversial topics (Vietnam war, responsibilities towards refugees, communism vs. democracy, etc). My takeaway: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sympathizer </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is more suitable for a classroom setting. Intellectually, it has much to offer, but no, I did not enjoy reading the book. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sympathizer </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 2 out of 5 camel humps.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Nguyen, Viet Thanh. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sympathizer.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> New York: Grove Press, 2015. Print.</span></span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-89862475485180863432019-07-17T14:21:00.000-07:002019-07-17T14:21:46.203-07:00Jitterbug Perfume<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>A friend mentioned that she doesn’t enjoy reading and I responded, “Saying you don’t enjoy reading is like saying you don’t enjoy watching movies. You just haven’t found the right ones.” And then I immediately stitched that on a pillow because honestly…profound. Let’s take a moment.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you take it a step further and say you don’t like fiction, well, you’re wrong, but you’re also not going to like Tom Robbins. He is the funkiest. His stuff is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>very</i> made-up. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He always has several parallel and interweaving storylines, each one with its own oddities. He’s always some combination of philosophy, feminism, wit, sexuality, and outlandishness without making me gag. I’ve talked at length about his writing style, so I won’t waste our time here. If you want examples of the kind of crazy characters he uses and a pic of Uma Thurman playing one of his lead characters, peep my review of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/06/even-cowgirls-get-blues.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Even Cowgirls Get the Blues</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want a detailed comparison of Robbins to Vonnegut, peep my review of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/12/still-life-with-woodpecker.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Still Life with Woodpecker</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you want to see a picture of my penis bookmark, peep my review of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/02/half-asleep-in-frog-pajamas.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Robbins is just so fun. He’s like a breath of fresh air. His work is meandering and silly and it reminds you to not take everything so seriously (but also to take the important things kind of seriously, sometimes). If I was a doctor, I’d prescribe Robbins once a year. And then I’d do surgery on a grape (If you know, you know).</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I gave </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even Cowgirls Get the Blues </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a 5/5, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still Life with Woodpecker </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a 3/5, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Half-Asleep in Frog Pajamas </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a 2/5. How fitting that I give </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jitterbug Perfume </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a 4/5. He continues to be that loveable weirdo; however, the plot gets a little helter-skelter at times due to overcrowding. </span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Robbins, Tim. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jitterbug Perfume. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York: Bantam Books, 1984. Print.</span></b></span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-49285859291904462602019-06-19T14:26:00.001-07:002019-06-19T14:26:38.472-07:00Consider the Lobster<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Some days my favorite author is </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/05/bluebeard.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Kurt Vonnegut </span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">and some days my favorite author is David Foster Wallace. Someone told me at a party that </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Infinite Jest</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is overrated and I was SHOOK. I reacted dramatically, obviously, but it was self-defense because not appreciating </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Infinite Jest </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">feels like a personal attack. Okay wowow, now I’m worked up.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider the Lobster*</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a collection of essays that DFW previously published in various magazines. I shall break it down:</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Big Red Son </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(published in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Premier)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">: Wallace’s reporting on the AVN awards, which is the Academy Awards of pornography. I love this clever piece; per usual, he simultaneously teaches and entertains me. He has a unique twist on </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-rum-diary.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">gonzo journalism</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">.</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Certainly the End of Something or Other, One Would Sort of Have to Think </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Observer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">): A review of a John Updike novel, which I have not read. I think I hate John Updike now?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some Remarks on Kafka’s Funniness from Which Probably Not Enough Has Been Removed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harper’s Magazine)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: A speech about Kafka, whose work I have not read. I think I love Kafka now?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Authority and American Usage </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Harper’s Magazine</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">): An overly-deep-divey review of a dictionary. I couldn’t get through this one-- sorry, David. It's a dictionary.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The View from Mrs. Thompson’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Stone)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: A raw portrayal of how he experienced the 9/11 attacks. He’s really not afraid to be vulnerable/honest and it’s awesome.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Up, Simba</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rolling Stone): </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He reports on John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign. I had no idea that he did this, and it was a very pleasant surprise. DFW’s reporting is brilliant--his attention to detail is unmatched and he talks about politics in a uniquely non-partisan way.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider the Lobster </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gourmet): </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His commission to write about a Maine Lobster Festival turns into a thought-provoking (and somehow non-judgemental) discussion of the ethical concerns of boiling lobsters. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Village Voice</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">): A review of a review of Dostoevsky. I like Dostoevsky, but not this much.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Host (The Atlantic</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">): A profile on an LA talk show host, which feeds into larger commentary about conservative talk radio. I learned a ton about the mechanics of radio and remained interested.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">So, my impression is mixed. I do not like his book reviews very much but I absolutely love his reporting. I wish so badly that he was still alive to report on Trump. His political reporting strikes some magical pose where he acknowledges his own views + remains balanced + criticizes all sides without succumbing to false equivalency. I’m going to always come back to his work because he is so obviously incredibly intelligent. He never misses a detail and he shows you that seemingly meaningless details are actually important. He never misses nuance and he always follows a thought, making tangential arguments through footnotes when necessary. He really poured himself into every single piece he wrote. There will never be anyone else like him and no one at a party can tell me otherwise (If you’re reading this, sorry that I’m throwing so much shade). If you're curious about his fiction-- I previously reviewed his short story collection, </span><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-rum-diary.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Girl with Curious Hair</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">.</span></i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider the Lobster </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 4 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-77198663173282913032019-06-12T14:05:00.000-07:002019-06-12T14:05:45.086-07:00Lincoln in the Bardo<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GEORGE SAUNDERS BABY, you did it again! Saunders is the king of short stories. His short story collection, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/03/tenth-of-december.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Tenth of December</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">won a bunch of awards because it’s fabulous. He has made many contributions to magazines, which land him in short story collections like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-best-american-short-stories-2013.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The Best American Short Stories 2013</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2017, he debuted his novel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lincoln in the Bardo* </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and it did not disappoint.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don’t listen to me-- listen to the Guy from </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">High Maintenance</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I’ve tweeted before and I’ll inevitably tweet it again: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">High Maintenance</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is the best show currently on television. Ben Sinclair </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">has</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to have excellent taste in books and he’s reading </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lincoln in the Bardo </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in season 2 episode 10. This is why we stan.</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back to Saunders, whom we also stan. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lincoln in the Bardo</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is an incredibly inventive undertaking. I normally avoid reading the back of books because I don’t want to go into a novel with set expectations; however, this novel is an exception. I think that it requires context to grasp and get on board. Without spoiling anything (again, this is all on the spine): Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son, Willie, dies during the Civil War (This is a historical fact that I never learned because I was really only taught Texas history #LoneStar). Lincoln is very upset by his loss, and he visits his son’s grave to mourn. Saunders takes the fictional reins here, incorporating 50+ perspectives of all of the different ghosts in the grave. The story is told by everyone, not just a single person, and this style wins mega creativity points. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lincoln in the Bardo</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> manages to hit all my existential hot spots (What is the meaning of life? How do the ghosts acknowledge their death? How do the ghosts deny their death? How does Lincoln keep living?) AND it’s entertaining. I laughed a lot. I enjoyed all of the characters’ backstories. I appreciated Saunders’ spin on the historical context. Please keep giving us more content, Saunders, because you know what you’re doing. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lincoln in the Bardo </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>*</i>Saunders, George.<i> </i><i style="font-style: italic;">Lincoln in the Bardo. </i><i>New York: Random House, 2017. Print.</i></span></b><b style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></b></span></span></div>
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Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-67828235577894821532019-05-29T10:37:00.000-07:002019-05-29T15:08:25.805-07:00Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started my blog five years ago (!), and I sometimes look back on my reviews, thankful that I can relive both the book and the time period in which I read it. There are plenty of reviews that embarrass me-- the writing is clunky, I come across as too try-hard, my jokes don’t land, etc. Whatever. I’m just trying to do the damn thing without taking the plunge into an overly self-critical headspace, ya know? </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One post that gives me pride rather than embarrassment is my review of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/05/goodbye-to-all-that-writers-on-loving.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I read the book and wrote the review when I was moving from NYC after 4.5 years. Many of the reasons why I wanted to leave matched with sentiments expressed by writers in the collection. So, it felt fitting that on my first real trip back to visit the city precisely a year after my departure, I read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York*. </span></span></b><br />
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After publishing </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/05/goodbye-to-all-that-writers-on-loving.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Goodbye to All That</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in 2013, Sari Botton got complaints from whiny NYC die-hards. Her response: publish a collection of stories by writers who love New York and want to stay. The result: a fairly redundant set of less interesting stories. Most of the writing in </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never Can Say Goodbye </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is still heavily anti-NYC. So much for “unshakable love”. It also comes across as formulaic: [insert bit about how NYC is so expensive], [insert bit about how it’s hard to find love in NYC], [insert bit about how I have these beautiful, exciting, specifically New York nights that make me stay despite the aforementioned expenses and lack of connection], [insert bit about how, through some lucky break, I finally stumble upon reasonable rent and a stable relationship]. All in all, it is boring, which is a pitiful depiction of a very non-boring city. </span></span></b><br />
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To my surprise, the only piece I really love in the collection is Elizabeth Gilbert’s. I’ve never read </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eat, Pray, Love</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but the judgmental streak in me assumes it is very cheesy. Turns out, she has some serious edge. </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never Can Say Goodbye </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">details her time working as a bartender for the Coyote Ugly Saloon-- as in, the one that inspired the movie. Her piece is unique and well-written amidst the cookie-cutter blandness. Other contributors that slightly pique my interest include Whoopi Goldberg and Nick Flynn, whose memoir, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/another-bullshit-night-in-suck-city.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Another Bullshit Night in Suck City</span></a></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, still haunts me on a regular basis (in a good way). </span></span></b><br />
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overall, I’m disappointed in </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never Can Say Goodbye</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, especially given how much I love </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/05/goodbye-to-all-that-writers-on-loving.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Goodbye to All That</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It comes across as forced, and I think the collection should have been more carefully curated considering the fact that a few of the writers did, in fact, love </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> leave New York. New York will always feel a little bit like home to me and I’m happy that I too can love and leave. </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 2 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Botton, Sarah. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York. </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York: Gallery Books, 2014. Print.</span></span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-7108313918572062282019-05-01T18:03:00.000-07:002019-05-01T18:03:16.026-07:00Norwegian Wood<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s official: Murakami’s novels don’t do it for me. Goodbye dude, we’re done. I can’t take it anymore. I read his memoir, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-i-talk-about-when-i-talk-about.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">What I Talk About When I Talk About Running</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and it got me fired up to be healthy, balanced, creative, and awesome. Then, I read his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/03/colorless-tsukuru-tazaki-and-his-years.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and thought he had booby-trapped me into a colossal waste of time. Then, I read his short story collection, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/11/men-without-women.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Men Without Women</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">,</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and he sucked me back in his favor with a little tease--some stories were bad, but some stories were excellent. Then, I read one of his fan-favorites, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Norwegian Wood*, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and now I realize we should part ways.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Norwegian Wood</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is about death and sex. That's it! I’m no lit-prude, but the sex scenes were gratuitous. Let’s eat dinner -- okay, insert sex scene....let’s go to school -- okay, insert sex scene...let’s have an intense talk about suicide -- okay, insert sex scene. It took me so long to finish (wink, wink) the book because I knew it would just continue to recycle through the same old same old. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dialogue does not feel natural to me and his similies continue to be hit or miss. He either completely and totally nails a feeling or he fumbles it entirely, leaving you more confused. In every Murakami fiction I've reviewed, I’ve called out a terrible simile. In Murakami fashion, I’ll continue the tradition here. One character says, “I’m just kinda tired. Like a monkey in the rain” (Murakami, 58). I like monkeys as much as the rest of you, but I don’t think people talk like this in casual conversation. I also don’t think that comparison is useful. It </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">does</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have some nice imagery, but I’d be much more accepting if he was remotely selective. Instead, he’s like YOU GET A SIMILIE...AND YOU GET A SIMILIE! It’s extra.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve decided that Murakami shoots his shot a little too much. He’s written so many books, and because most of them are lengthy, I’m scared to trust another one now. He has name recognition going for him for a reason. He can do some things very well. For example, he rocks at giving plainness a little vibration; as in, I enjoy the subtle life he injects into descriptions of ordinary feelings and actions. He’s skilled at making simplicity beautiful. Unfortunately, he throws a lot of trash in there with the beauty. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Norwegian Wood* </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 2 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -- don’t @ me. </span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Murakami, Haruki. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Norwegian Wood. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trans. Jay Rubin. New York: Vintage Books, 2000. Print.</span></b></span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-70951385853361536932019-04-03T07:54:00.000-07:002019-04-04T08:00:01.284-07:00When You Are Engulfed in Flames<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I “borrowed” </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When You Are Engulfed in Flames*</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by David Sedaris from a popsicle stand Airbnb about a year ago. I realize that’s not a cool move and I’m a hypocrite because I would be sad if someone took one of my books without telling me. But we learn from our mistakes and I have learned that I just don’t belong in Airbnbs then! Also, yes-- it was a tiny home that used to be a popsicle stand. It was an awesome work of art that gave me grotesque, popsicly nightmares at night. No wonder I took the book.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book sat on my shelf for a year and then I read it a couple of weeks ago while vacationing in Playa del Carmen, Mexico (am I coming across as well traveled???). I don’t like to label books as “beach reads” because I feel like it’s code for “this was a dumb book that I perceived as less dumb than usual because I was getting a tan”; however </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When You Are Engulfed in Flames </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was very nice to read on the beach.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was not a big David Sedaris fan at first. Two years ago, I reviewed </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/02/me-talk-pretty-one-day.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Me Talk Pretty One Day</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and didn’t find it very funny. Sedaris tells stories about his life (perhaps embellishing a little) and, as in life, some things are funny/worth telling and other things are better kept to yourself. I should take this to heart with my own Twitter, but I prefer telling other people what they should and should not write. </span></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my opinion, the stories in </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When You Are Engulfed in Flames</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are inherently funny and Sedaris’ writing chops improved from his </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/02/me-talk-pretty-one-day.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Me</span></a></i></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/02/me-talk-pretty-one-day.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"> Talk Pretty</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i> </i>debut </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">eight years prior. </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When You Are Engulfed in Flames </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is still a collection of essays and most of the book is about his experiences while quitting smoking. His method of quitting was to move to Tokyo and distract himself by learning Japanese. Dude, just take Chantix like Ray Liotta and get a commercial deal out of it. </span></b><br />
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<b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, maybe I was blinded by the beauty of the Playa del Carmen sun, but I’ll give </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When You Are Engulfed in Flames </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></b></div>
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Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-79702365923258151732019-03-20T18:33:00.000-07:002019-03-20T18:33:46.793-07:00The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I just got back from a resort in Playa del Carmen, which had a beautiful beach, plenty of food/booze, and a ton of old people. I was surrounded by James Patterson novels and cataracts. Meanwhile, I read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life*</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and took the snide looks in stride, not giving a single f*ck.</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I am wary of self-help books, especially ones with bright orange covers that claim to be super chill. I’m happy to say that while this book is self-helpy, it’s not the insufferable kind. Mark Manson, the author, poses some questions that I had never before asked myself. He had me doing a mental health double-take. There are some “duh” moments, but he adds twists that make self-improvement more accessible and navigable. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year, I read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-power-of-habit-why-we-do-what-we-do.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The Power of Habit</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and, while I respect the book’s well-researched theories about forming and breaking habits, it all sounded like a ton of work. You know when you want to change some things but you only want to put in minimal effort? I’m lazy! And I’m not sure I want to change that just yet.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is less scientific and more opinionated, but I still find Mark Manson's advice helpful and applicable. Like… I’ve </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">actually </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">been trying some of his approaches. Here’s a lil taste of his perspective: Everyone is wrong all of the time--growth is about becoming a little less wrong. Give fewer f*cks. We are responsible for every single thing in our lives-- the good and the bad. Commitment paradoxically gives you freedom.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>We're all just trying out best out here, right? Manson (no relation to Charles... I think) provides a new lens with which to try your best. And he's funny at times. </b></span></span><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck </u></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>receives 3 out of 5 camel humps</u>.</span></b></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><br /></b></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-901c5efd-7fff-e485-e0b0-6570f454d006"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>*</b></span></span></span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Manson, Mark. </span></b><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life</span></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><i>. </i>New York: HarperCollins, 2016. Print.</span></b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><br /></b></span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-81786237146317982052019-03-13T08:23:00.003-07:002019-03-13T11:44:57.982-07:00Native Son<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394;"> Native Son*</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> by Richard Wright is a challenge. Wright challenges your sense of right/wrong, he challenges your understanding of race in America, and he challenges your attention span, because his book is too long and overly repetitive. </span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wright’s main character, Bigger Thomas, commits a crime; the novel goes on to indirectly excuse the crime, arguing that the systemic racism of Chicago in the 1930's made the offense inevitable. Wright’s painting of a racist, segregated Chicago is valid and powerful. The idea that Thomas is not entirely responsible for his crime is hard to swallow. Like when you accidentally swallow a full ice cube and your throat feels like a cavernous abyss that just betrayed you and you turn to your mom and cry because you don’t think you’ll ever be able to swallow properly again. Kinda like that.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Truly, Bigger Thomas is an unlikeable narrator. I really, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> did not like him. But I appreciate why Wright wrote him that way (lol *wright wrote*). If a likeable character commits a crime, we might try and exempt him. If an unlikeable character commits a crime, it’s easy for us to label him as guilty-- he’s a criminal </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>and</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he sucks. Wright shows us: Bigger Thomas is unlikeable, he’s guilty, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he’s a victim. As readers, we’re forced to confront the subtle reasons for why we might not like him/not have empathy for him.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Native Son</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> asks important questions but that does not mean it is a good read. The first portion is riveting; it has crime, drama, suspense, and horror. The second half is subdued and tedious; it belabors the point. I can’t in good faith strongly recommend a book that I believe is 150 pages too long, even if the content is historically (and presently) significant and necessary. So, </b></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Native Son</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> receives 2 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></div>
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<br />Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-79212280979519070962019-02-20T15:35:00.004-08:002019-03-13T08:21:33.763-07:00Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I’m a liberal snowflake, so the title spoke to me for obvious reasons. The memoir is by David Litt, a young Obama-era speechwriter. He is currently the head writer/producer of Funny or Die and he’s well-respected within the comedy community, evidenced by his impressive back cover endorsements. I’ll include John Mulaney’s since John Mulaney is perfect: “An outstanding, hilarious, and precise memoir, and an excellent account of what it felt like the work for the second to last president of the United States.”</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As much as I love a good Trump jab, especially by horse-in-the-hospital Mulaney, I did worry the book would overflow with anti-Trumpisms. I mean-- I don’t like Trump, duh, but I can only handle so much not-hot-take political whining. I turn to Twitter if I want to be sad about policy. In a book, I want anti-Trump rhetoric to be funny or not there at all. Litt does in fact skillfully slide in the Trump comparisons without overstating the obvious.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">While Litt wrote many types of speeches for Obama, he was considered the “funny guy” on the speech-writing team. I am surprised at how pertinent “joke writers” were throughout Obama’s presidency. I figured it might only be necessary for the White House correspondents’ dinner, but turns out there were plenty of opportunities where Obama wanted to bring comedy into his speeches. I enjoyed learning about how the </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>speech-writing</b></span><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> network operated and Litt explains the power structure well. There are many references to fellow speechwriters, like the </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pod Save America</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> dudes. To be honest, I’m a little sick of those guys yapping, but I listen to them anyway because what are podcasts for if not to cram information in your head that you don’t necessarily want or need?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">A big perk of Litt’s memoir is insider info. It doesn’t shy away from controversy-- it talks about the problems within the administration, like when the initial </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>roll-out</b></span><b style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of Obamacare was a disaster, and how the </b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>speech-writing</b></span><b style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"> team worked to respond. But it also reminds us of all the good things about Obama and I like the glimpse into his interpersonal life. </b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other hand, I think that the memoir is too long and Litt squeezes the juice out of every single possible interaction he had with the president. His writing is relatively down to earth (given that he worked for the most powerful man in the world) and I am interested in most of the stories he tells, but some of it is clearly padding. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overall, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 3 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Litt, David, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years. </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York: HarperCollins, 2017. Print.</span></span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-10032316380527885482019-02-06T15:51:00.000-08:002019-02-20T15:44:32.632-08:00Gorilla and the Bird<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Zack McDermott was a public defender in NYC when he had his first psychotic break. Convinced that he was being filmed </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">à </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">la </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Truman Show</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, he waltzed out of his East Village apartment and put on a show. He got a bipolar diagnosis instead of a Golden Globe. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> At first, I was nervous to review Zack’s memoir, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gorilla and the Bird*. </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My lovely friend Sarah Keenan recommended it to me because she and her husband Mike are friends with Zack. Zack and Mike went to UVA law school together (swag). In fact, Sarah designed the dope original cover for Little, Brown & Company:</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R8vjbDmGksM/XFtvzhzbkiI/AAAAAAAAA0I/jcQsq29ySw4tpGmm8i-4366xyZciZWDgACLcBGAs/s1600/gorilla.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R8vjbDmGksM/XFtvzhzbkiI/AAAAAAAAA0I/jcQsq29ySw4tpGmm8i-4366xyZciZWDgACLcBGAs/s1600/gorilla.jpeg" /></a></span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also, Sarah and Mike get a shout out on the memoir’s acknowledgments page--<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">before</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Channing Tatum, who optioned the book. A limited series based on the book will be released by HBO and directed by Jean-Marc Vall</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">é</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">e (the dude behind </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Big Little Lies</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sharp Objects). </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I'm saying is-- I'm famous and talented by association.</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> With my nepotistic ties, I feared that I wouldn’t like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gorilla and the Bird </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but that I’d have to lie and fake-rave about its merits. Thankfully, I don’t have to do that, because </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gorilla and the Bird </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is very, very good. I truly didn’t want to put it down because I had to know how he'd end up </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> how the people he represented as a lawyer would fare. He explains the complexities of our messed up legal system well and the backgrounds of the people he defends are humbling. Zack speaks with genuine empathy; he sees the parallels between his own tumultuous upbringing + newfound mental disorders and the systemic struggles that vulnerable, imprisoned populations constantly face. Perhaps he would be in their shoes if he didn’t have the fierce love and guidance of his mother (“the Bird”) to swoop in and assist.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not bipolar, but there’s something about books like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gorilla and the Bird</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2014/12/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Brain on Fire</span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394;">that feels uncomfortably close to home and thus even more horrifying. Both authors were just trying to kick it in their 20s, balancing relatively new jobs with their social lives, when illness abruptly struck them and invasively attacked their world. Zack uses levity to cope, which makes for strong, relatable writing. As he says, “Shit got better because hard shit usually does” (McDermott, 50).</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Big sigh of relief that I actually loved the book and can return it to my friend without feigning a book-orgasm! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gorilla and the Bird </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">. Zack will be appearing at the Virginia Festival of the Book in March (</span><a href="https://www.vabook.org/participant/zack-mcdermott/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">more deets here</span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">). You can also find out more about his </span><a href="https://gorillabirdfoundation.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">GorillaBird foundation</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, which seeks to end the “mental illness-to-prison pipeline”. </span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*McDermott, Zack. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gorilla and the Bird. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2017. Print.</span></span></b></div>
Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-44260962023363411522019-01-30T09:44:00.002-08:002019-01-30T09:50:18.894-08:00Siddhartha<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Siddhartha* </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">while at a meditation retreat in Virginia a few weeks ago. I get that that makes me sound like a basic white girl BUT I think that meditation is a rewarding practice and I want to get better at it. The retreat was helpful and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Siddhartha </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was the perfect supplement. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hermann Hesse won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946 and he published </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Siddhartha </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seven years later. Despite his award-winning status, the novel did not receive popularity in America until the 1960s, as all the hippies stopped showering and started seeking enlightenment. It’s one or the other, folks.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The novel follows Siddhartha, a fictional contemporary of Buddha, who wants to find the meaning of life. He tries many routes: asceticism, materialism, nature stuff, etc. His conclusion is different than the Buddha’s, but he does not advocate for any singular path. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are three things I really like about this novel:</span></b></span></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1. Siddhartha does not shun experience. He embraces his past experiences, not as regrets, but as stepping stones; therefore, he is self-affirming. So much of religion is “fix this, do that” (atone for sins, pray this prayer, make this sacrifice), but Siddhartha’s point of view is less about what you should and should not do and more about finding your own way.</span></b></div>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2. The writing is simple. Others do not appreciate this (in which case, Siddhartha would say *that is your prerogative...bitch*). The novel is split into tiny chapters that are almost like parables, and there are aphorisms throughout worth underlining (and then probably forgetting about later unless you tape them on your wall). There is not a whole bunch of inaccessible jargon. </span></b></div>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3. The book is positive towards women. I repeat: this is a spiritual book that is relatively positive towards women. It’s the four-leaf clover of spiritual books! There’s a woman who teaches Siddhartha some things and then she has her own ethereal awakening. She's a strong, independent woman-- Beyonce before Beyonce.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Siddhartha </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is not a holy book. It’s also not a guide book nor a transcendence how-to. It’s just a fictional tale of someone’s spiritual process and a pretty good one at that. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Siddhartha </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Hesse, Hermann. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Siddhartha. </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trans. Hilda Rosner. New York: MJF Books, 1951. Print. </span></span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-11043676832093427392019-01-16T17:25:00.000-08:002019-01-16T17:25:00.339-08:00Notes from Underground<span id="docs-internal-guid-20aeea04-7fff-f714-987e-74300a8bcee1"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Dostoevsky was a total drama queen. </span></b></span></span><br />
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<span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also, apparently, he wasn’t the life of the party. The afterword of my collection states, “He was spiteful, intolerant, [and] irritable. Turgenev once described him as the nastiest Christian he had ever met” (227). Great epithet idea for his tombstone. </span></b></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently finished a collection that includes four of his fictional works: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">White Nights</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1848), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The House of the Death</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1860), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notes from Underground </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(1864), and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dream of a Ridiculous Man </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(1877). The dates of publication are important because Dostoevsky evolved in his views about religion and the human condition, which heavily influenced his writing. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">White Nights </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is my favorite, probably because it’s a less dejected Fyodor Dostoevsky. He still believed that humans could overcome their suffering. IRL, his dad was murdered by their peasant workers and Fyodor/his mom continued to live with the killer peasants because their dad was such a dick that he kind of deserved it. Fyodor was affected by the plight of the poor masses, so he rooted for them in his writing. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The House of the Death</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (how is it that Russian authors are so pleasant??) was written during a dark period of Fyodor’s life. He was imprisoned in a Siberian labor camp for meeting in a progressive literary group, so he wrote fiction based on the cruelty that he saw there. It is not uplifting, but it is good writing. He also makes thought-provoking philosophical claims about capital punishment.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notes from Underground </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">shows a full 180</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">° </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">White Nights. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The narrator is not a pleasant person. He rejects some of the trends of the time (nihilism and rational egoism). At this point, Dostoevsky believed that humans were not good or rational, and he was all like, “Y’all need Jesus.”</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Dream of a Ridiculous Man</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> takes a lighter tone; it feels a little silly because it mostly describes a dream. It’s a different iteration of “Yall need Jesus.”</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My collection is a great start if you want a taste of Dostoevsky without getting knee-deep in angsty Russian literature. I previously wrote about his longer works, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-brothers-karamazov.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The Brothers Karamazov</span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394;">and</span><span style="color: red;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2014/05/crime-and-punishment.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Crime and Punishment</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I reviewed both in the beginning stages of my blog-- in fact, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crime and Punishment </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0b5394; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was my very first review four and a half years ago! I’ve read a lot. I’ve gabbed a lot. These beginning reviews are entirely too lengthy, but I was just really amped about reading and writing. Check out those reviews if you want: further explanation of Dostoevsky's fraught past, a deep-dive into his religious and political sentiments, a story about me stealing things in Australia. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back to my collection, which goes by the title </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notes from Underground</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* because that is his most successful short story of the bunch. I have to be in the mood for Dostoevsky. He is not someone I pick up when I want a casual, easy read. He </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">someone I pick up when I want existential exploration. Unlike other authors of his time period, he tells a pretty straightforward story. I understand the story, I understand the character’s positions, but I do not always understand the philosophical arguments. He creates a balance between accessibility and challenge, which I appreciate. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notes from Underground</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> receives 3 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Dostoevsky, Fyodor. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Notes From Underground.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Trans. Andrew H MacAndrew. New York: NAL Penguin Inc., 1961. Print.</span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-72831972290090803142019-01-09T16:03:00.000-08:002019-01-09T16:06:35.905-08:00The Goldfinch <span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b> It's very important to me that I don't spoil <i>any</i> part of </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">The Goldfinch*</i> <b>for you because the twists and turns of the novel's plot were such a treat for me. I'll simply, lamely say that the main character, Theo Decker, became my friend. Humblebrag-- the book is long (771 pages, big ones), which allows us to grow attached to Theo as we thoroughly follow his transition from boyhood to manhood. Some people complain that it is too long, but that's showbiz baby. Seriously, I liked its length-- it made me privy to the particulars of Theo and invested in his day to day life.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b> I thought about this book constantly, even when I wasn't reading it, which is partially attributable to Tartt's magnetic writing. Additionally, there are elements to the story that make it feel true, so I consumed it as I would an urgent news piece. Most of the novel is set in New York City, where I lived for ~5 years, so the contemporary references she makes grounded me in a realistic setting. Also, the novel centers around an actual painting: </b></span><i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">The Goldfinch </i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">by Carel Fabritius. He is not cute.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> So, if you're looking for a book to get totally lost in--this is it. When I had to put it down for the night, I worried about Theo and his troubles crept into my dreams. When I picked it up in the morning, I tried to guess what would happen next (inevitably, I was wrong-- Tartt's imagination is endless). Every time I picked it up for "just a little", I was unable to put it down. Maybe this book is as excellent as I think it is, or maybe I just need to chill. Either way, this is an easy recommendation: read it if you want to get sucked into a compelling fictional maze. </span><i style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>The Goldfinch </u></i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><u>receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</u>. PS: It won the 2014 Pulitzer for Fiction.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span> <span id="docs-internal-guid-579d5c13-7fff-656a-cfa7-66395ac20682"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Tartt, Donna. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Goldfinch</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2013. Print.</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-8276949910495420692019-01-02T15:39:00.000-08:002019-01-03T10:40:33.066-08:00The Glass Castle<span id="docs-internal-guid-eb804b47-7fff-1ef8-874e-67a4d349612a"></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-eb804b47-7fff-1ef8-874e-67a4d349612a"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Glass Castle*</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a memoir, but it reads more like a novel because of the ABSOLUTELY BANANAS shenanigans it contains (bananigans?). Jeannette Walls tells the story of her turbulent upbringing. </span><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a reader, I feel unsettled with how entertained I am by Jeannette’s real-life struggles; however, her parents are like mythical creatures. Terribly negligent, selfish mythical creatures, like if Sasquatch had little zucchini kids but he made them fend for themselves while he drank and gambled. Maybe that’s the premise of the new </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smallfoot</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> film?</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-eb804b47-7fff-1ef8-874e-67a4d349612a"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I am entertained because Jeannette’s parents </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> entertaining, in spite of their many flaws but also because of them. Her dad is manic, intelligent, and impulsive, which allows him to fiercely love AND severely traumatize his family. Her mom is bohemian, optimistic, and self-absorbed, so she’s capable of inspiring positive values in her children, as long as it benefits herself. Jeanette tells many distinct stories as they bopped around America and had different experiences, but there is a similar theme: her parent's vacillation between negligence and passion. Strap in for an emotional rollercoaster. </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Some Goodreads reviewers describe Jeannette’s tone as too clinical---that she is descriptive without being emotional. I love that about this book! She tells harrowing stories of the resilience of her and her siblings without nagging us every five seconds to feel bad for her. She gives her parents grace when they don’t deserve it, and it’s impressive that she’s created a healthy life where she doesn’t feel the need to reject and bury her past, but rather acknowledge how it has shaped her as a person. Thank you, next.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-eb804b47-7fff-1ef8-874e-67a4d349612a"><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b> <b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I also appreciate the unremitting love and protectiveness of her and her siblings. She has one older sister, one younger brother, and one younger sister. The way that they care for each other is so admirable. They were forced to become self-sufficient at such a young age and they still chose to put each other before themselves--surprising, considering their adult models for behavior mostly did the exact opposite. The sibling loyalty reminded me of another stellar memoir,</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-heartbreaking-work-of-staggering.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius</span></a></span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Dave Eggers. Additionally, Jeannette’s parents’ preference for homelessness reminds me of Nick Flynn’s memoir, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/another-bullshit-night-in-suck-city.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Another Bullshit Night in Suck City</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just do yourself a favor and read all three.</span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Glass Castle </span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-eb804b47-7fff-1ef8-874e-67a4d349612a"> <b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Walls, Jeannette. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Glass Castle</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print.</span></span></b></span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-3501492790135527742018-12-26T13:50:00.001-08:002018-12-26T13:50:18.412-08:00The Death of the Heart <b style="color: #0b5394;"> </b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"> Since it's the holidays, last week I kept it light with the effects of brash consumerism on the fate of our planet, and this week I'll go even lighter with a book titled </b><i style="color: #0b5394; font-weight: bold;">The Death of the Heart*. </i><b style="color: #0b5394;">Published in 1938 by Elizabeth Bowen, </b><i style="color: #0b5394; font-weight: bold;">The Death of the Heart</i><b style="color: #0b5394;"> is as old school as... </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> I picked her novel for a reason I'm not too ashamed to admit: I wanted to scratch it off my book scratch-off list. Indeed, </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">Time</i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> listed </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">The Death of the Heart </i><span style="color: #0b5394;">as one of the </span><a href="http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/slide/all/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">"100 best English-language novels published since 1923"</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. Seems like a weirdly specific flex, but okay (not really-- it's the year </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">Time </i><span style="color: #0b5394;">magazine started). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> I have mixed feelings about the scratch-off </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">Time</i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> list because, while I love the strangely satisfying feeling of rubbing a quarter against plastic until it becomes a different color, I do not entirely agree with its contents. </span><b style="color: #0b5394;">The list includes absolute bangers like </b><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2014/10/catch-22.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Catch-22</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2014/08/lolita.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Lolita</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/05/slaughterhouse-five.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Slaughterhouse Five</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/11/things-fall-apart.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Things Fall Apart</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-catcher-in-rye.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The Catcher in the Rye</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, Infinite Jest, 1984, </span></i><b style="color: #0b5394;">and</b><i> <a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/05/to-kill-mockingbird.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">To Kill a Mockingbird</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></i><b style="color: #0b5394;">Unfortunately, it also includes lesser literature like </b><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/09/blood-meridian.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Blood Meridian</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2018/01/lord-of-flies.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Lord of the Flies</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/01/white-teeth.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">White Teeth</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span></i><span style="color: #0b5394;">and</span><i> <a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/07/american-pastoral.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">American Pastoral</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></i><span style="color: #0b5394;">Then there is</span><b style="color: #0b5394;"> complete and total trash like </b><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/09/naked-lunch.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Naked Lunch</span></a></i><span style="color: #0b5394;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">The Death of the Heart </i><span style="color: #0b5394;">falls in the *meh* category. Put simply: it is mediocre. It is an interwar novel that exhibits the tensions of the time. Everyone is self-conscious and adherent to an unspoken code of conduct, which makes everyone insufferable. The novel's focus is Portia, a sixteen-year-old orphan sent to live with her half-brother and his wife in London. Portia falls in love (because of course she does) with a manipulative man who toys with her heart. Not much occurs plot-wise, but innocence is lost. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-weight: bold;"> I do cynically enjoy watching the characters all slowly realize that they suck but it's kind of a bummer to not root for anyone. I didn't get much out of Bowen's novel and I wouldn't recommend it. If you want to read a female novelist from the 1920s-1930s, check out </span><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-room-of-ones-own.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Virginia Woolf</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394; font-weight: bold;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u><i>The Death of the Heart</i> receives 2 out of 5 camel humps</u>.</b></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Bowen, Elizabeth. <i>The Death of the Heart</i>. New York: Vintage Books, 1938. Print.</span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Tinos;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Lacayo, Richard. “All Time 100 Novels.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time. </i>Time Inc., 06 Jan. 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2018.</span></b></div>
</span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-45911216677765590972018-12-19T15:53:00.000-08:002018-12-20T13:47:10.026-08:00Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The great comedian Aparna Nancherla once tweeted, “THANKSGIVING GAME: nobody gets pie until you go around the table & everyone has to say ‘climate change is real.’” Thanksgiving has passed, but it’s not too late to play this at Christmas. If your family has follow-up questions, perhaps steer them towards </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming*.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Merchants of Doubt </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">exposes the doubt-mongers who have attempted to cast uncertainty on established scientific fact. It details the dirty deeds of a small network of individuals who, fueled by political and financial motivations, have opposed thousands of scientists collaborating internationally through the peer-review process. These individuals sometimes had the ear of presidential administrations and they definitely had the ears of the American people. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? Because we’re a bunch of morons. They led highly effective, large-scale publicity campaigns and we slurped them right up because we like a lil drama. They cherry-picked data, started/funded institutes--usually conservative thinktanks-- that were extra shady, and distorted scientific research, all with the goal of “maintaining controversy” so that we would think there was more than one reasonable side. The EXACT SAME DUDES that argued against claims that cigarettes caused cancer then went on to fight evidence of human-induced global warming.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why? Because they are free-market fundamentalists. They wanted to defend their products (tobacco, oil, household items that emitted CFCs, etc.) from regulation. Americans tend to get off on capitalism, and as such, we ignore its imperfections. Capitalism is great--because I can have Amazon Prime Now deliver me $10 asparagus water from Whole Foods in less than two hours-- but “free market economics, focused as it [is] on consumption growth, [is] inherently destructive to the natural environment” (Oreskes & Conway, 183). The authors of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Merchants of Doubt </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">did a good job of explaining in layman’s terms how markets fail to account for pollution because its “collateral damage is a hidden cost not reflected in the price of a given good or service” (Oreskes & Conway, 93). The authors maintain that, when it comes to environmental issues, government regulation is needed, and they brainstorm various practical options, backed by evidence.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oh boy, the evidence. This bad boy is packed with footnotes and its 60+ page notes section will fool your friends into thinking you’re reading an extra large book. I’m glad they support their claims with massive amounts of credible evidence-- especially since they are calling out people who made influential claims </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>without</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> any evidence; however, it makes for an especially dense read. To reveal all of the shadiness, the authors (historians) had to get into the gritty details, and sometimes my eyes glossed over and I looked like Bran Stark from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game of Thrones </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">when he’s having one of his warg visions. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The effort is worth it because now I can force family members at the dinner table to admit our culpability in altering the planet AND sling some facts WITH page numbers. In all seriousness, I feel better equipped to have conversations about the environment. I also learned about the history of the EPA, the particulars of Reagan’s truly wacko “Star Wars program”, and how holes in the ozone were first discovered. I consider climate change to be one of--if not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>the</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">--most pressing issues of our time, and I’m down to read any book that sheds light on the topic. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 4 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Stay woke!</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Conway, Erik & Oreskes, Naomi. </span></b><b style="font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming</span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print.</span></b></span></div>
Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-42433409902080658392018-12-05T17:54:00.000-08:002018-12-05T18:05:38.117-08:00Travels with Charley in Search of America<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">*Travelogue*. You learn something new every day, and today I learned the term “travelogue”. I’ll use the Merriam-Webster definition because they have a hilariously clever and surprisingly political Twitter account, so they deserve it. Travelogue (n.): a piece of writing about travel. You’re not supposed to use the word in the definition, but if you don’t know what travel means, I can’t help you.</span></b></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So, lovely readers, are you feeling restless? Do you want a travelogue that’s not the soul-suckingly shallow ramblings of Jack Kerouac in </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/02/on-road.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">On the Road</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">?</span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Of note, I believe Kerouac redeemed himself as an author in </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/12/dharma-bums.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The <span id="goog_506599415"></span>Dharma Bums</span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" style="color: #0b5394;"><span id="goog_506599416"></span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">. </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He never redeemed himself of his misogyny. </span></span></b><br />
<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I present to you: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travels with Charley in Search of America* </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by John Steinbeck. In 1960, Steinbeck went on a road trip throughout the United States with his poodle Charley to answer the question: “What are Americans like today?” Posthumously, his sons have speculated that Steinbeck’s rapidly declining health spurred the final farewell journey. Some critics have questioned the veracity of routes he claimed to have taken and certain conversations he claimed to have had; I don’t care in the least. It’s a very good book with very good writing and I don’t give a damn if he made up that he went to the Badlands. </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Wow, his nonfiction slays. His deep introspection makes me think he had access to a top-shelf therapist. He’s honest about himself and his shortcomings. He’s articulate in his observations. He’s prescient in his concerns for the country (almost sixty years ago, he forecasted today’s global warming, immigration crises, and race relations). He’s perceptive of the people he encounters, and his careful questions allow them to open up to him. He writes the book with a sense of duty; he made a promise to his readers that he would show them the America that he saw, and he follows through. </span></b><b style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And his dog! I love when he talks about Charley. He really respects his canine companion and he elegantly weaves Charley through his stories. </span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I can’t shake the sense that when you read </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travels with Charley in Search of America</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, it feels like Steinbeck is talking directly to you. You’re sitting next to him in his campervan, Rocinte, sharing a whiskey-enhanced coffee.</span></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> Looking ahead, I’m excited to read collections of his letters, of which there are many. Looking to the past, I’ve reviewed some of his fiction that might be of interest to budding Steinbeck fans. </span><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/08/east-of-eden.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">East of Eden</span></a></i><span style="color: red;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">is long but worth it, and I appreciate his thoughtful take on the good-evil duality. </span><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-pearl.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The Pearl</span></a></i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> is a short, simple but poetic story that tugged at my heart-strings. </span><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-red-pony.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">The Red Pony</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span></i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">is meh-- it reads more like an unfinished manuscript. </span><i><a href="https://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/08/tortilla-flat.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Tortilla Flat</span></a></i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> is a fun, silly book full of sin, forgiveness, and parables (no, </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">Tortilla Flat</i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> is not the Bible).</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> Overall, I recommend </span></span></span></b><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Travels with Charley in Search of America </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to any and all. Part of me already wants to re-read it. Seriously! <u>It receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</u>.</span></span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steinbeck, John. <i>Travels with Charley in Search of America.</i> New York: Penguin Books, 1961. Print</span></b></div>
Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-72976977320090463872018-11-14T17:16:00.000-08:002018-11-15T15:44:37.161-08:00The Hate U Give<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>We can all agree that a policeman’s job is hard, right? We can also agree that it’s a policeman’s job, reinforced by their training, to remain levelheaded during chaotic circumstances in order to keep us safe, right? A lot of people have no chill, and we don’t want them to be the face of law and order. We only want Ice-T to be the face of law and order. </b></span></span><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">(I previously wrote Ice Cube and my boyfriend had to correct me. In other news, I'm very white).</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I think we can also agree that it’s a policeman’s duty to refrain from excessive force and definitely avoid using a lethal weapon at all costs, especially since officers have a bunch of other resources at their disposal. Lethal weapons, like guns, are...lethal. You can’t turn back time on those things. When an unarmed boy is violently confronted for “looking suspicious” and then he’s shot, that’s murder [Trayvon Martin]. When a man is pulled over, immediately tells the officer he has a weapon in the car, explicitly says that he is reaching for his license and registration (as asked) and not that weapon, and then he’s shot seven times, that’s murder [Philando Castile]. When a man suspected of illegally selling cigarettes is choked as he says, “I can’t breathe” 11 times, that’s murder [Eric Garner]. When you’re a woman partying with a group in a park and you get shot because the officer mistakes a cell phone for a gun, that’s murder [Rekia Boyd].</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Like any given population, cops are not “bad”; but, there are poorly trained bad apples, and the consequence of those bad apples isn’t a terrible fruit salad, it’s murder. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know that white people get shot by police too, but, put simply, that’s not what </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hate U Give* </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is about. The black community is understandably incensed by systemic racism, and they want change. They want accountability for police officers who wrong them. Is that so bad? Shouldn’t we all want to improve our communities? Shouldn’t we support a movement that fundamentally wants the world to be a safer place? </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Angie Thomas started writing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hate U Give </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">after Oscar Grant was shot by a policeman while he was lying on his stomach, hands behind his back, and confirmed unarmed. The murder is depicted in the movie </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fruitvale Station</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with my boy Michael B. Jordan.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>In the book, Thomas creates a fictional situation that seems all too real. [Note: The next sentence is not a spoiler-- it’s on the back of the book] The main character, Starr Carter, witnesses firsthand the fatal shooting of her friend Khalil, who was unarmed, cooperative, nonprovocative, etc. (all the usual excuses people give are out the window). Cue community outrage. The novel does not condone violence, but it does give some perspective on how the frustration of oppression might lead to violence. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I expected to confront tough, racially charged topics in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hate U Give. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I did not expect a lesson in second chances. Through Starr, Thomas advocates for forgiving people...when they deserve it. She acknowledges that some people make mistakes that they can atone for over time. She also acknowledges that when people make irrecoverable mistakes that speak to the core of their character, and those mistakes are repeated and justified rather than repented, you can feel free to kick those knuckleheads out of your life. I think that’s excellent advice for adults and kids. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hate U Give</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is marketed as “young adult” (am I in that age bracket still…?) but it’s certainly applicable to people of all ages. Thomas’ voice is unique, compelling, and funny. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hate U Give</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> receives 4 out of 5 camel humps.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Thomas, Angie. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hate U Give. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York: Balzer + Bray, 2017. Print</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></b></span>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-53529796830620926812018-11-07T09:08:00.000-08:002018-11-14T17:17:12.163-08:00Things Fall Apart<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m dramatic, so in the wake of the midterms, I read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things Fall Apart*</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Chinua Achebe. I vote that every high school English class lists the novel as required reading. Do I get a sticker now?</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even though Achebe writes in English, he uses the voice and syntax of the Igbo people, who are native Nigerians IRL. Writing from the third-person, Achebe focuses on Okonkwo, a fictional warrior in the fictional Umuofia clan. </span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Achebe spends more than half of the novel telling stories about the clan to help readers conceptualize how their superstitions shape every aspect of their lives. The clan has a predetermined answer for everything based on the traditions of their ancestors and the will of their gods. I am enamored by the black-and-white clarity that comes with belonging to their group. They know what to eat, how to eat it, where to eat it, what time of day they should eat it, and who should serve it (Taco bell, with your hands, in the car, during fourth meal, made by the public servants of the company). Life is more or less decided for them, and they (mostly) willingly accept those terms because they fear their god’s wrath and respect their god’s desires. </span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few years ago, my interest in religion and its progression over time lead me to a wonderfully informative book: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Evolution of God </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Robert Wright. In it, Wright details certain patterns of monotheism that have deep connections to “pagan” beliefs, like the ones practiced in Umuofia. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things Fall Apart </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">inconspicuously shows parallels between the beliefs of the clan and the Christian beliefs of British colonialism and its missionaries. The progression of the novel brilliantly lures you in; the subject matter is interesting and “other” (I know very little about clan traditions) but Achebe opens your eyes to how that “otherness” isn’t so wildly unrelatable. Achebe also breaks down the “otherness” wall through poetic similes and metaphors. He speaks to the human condition, as it applies to people of all backgrounds.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Okonkwo, the novel’s protagonist, is elusive, which is a relatively odd choice for a main character. We don’t know much about his inner thoughts. I believe Achebe intentionally keeps us in the dark because Okonkwo is elusive to his own self. He’s an impulsive man who prides himself on his strength and derides the weakness of emotions; he’s not one to self-reflect. I don’t like him! I don’t think he’s a good guy. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good book.</span></b></span></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My only difficulty with </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things Fall Apart </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is a result of me being sOoOoOo basic. Honestly, I had trouble keeping track of the names of characters (Okonkwo, Obierika, Unoka, Ogbuefi), because they aren’t names I’m familiar with and they sound similar to each other. Then, I remember we’re over here like Chris, Christopher, Christina, Kristina, and Chrissy. </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overall, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things Fall Apart </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sucked me in, kept me interested, and taught me some important lessons, so it receives 5 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Achebe, Chinua. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Things Fall Apart</span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. New York: Anchor Books, 1959. Print</span></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-26056272860951234922018-10-31T12:53:00.000-07:002018-10-31T12:53:20.844-07:00The Alice Network<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today is Halloween and what’s spookier than historical fiction??? They say that history repeats itself, like a broken record stuck on the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halloween</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> theme song. Michael Myers has never looked better:</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Alice Network*</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Kate Quinn is extra historical fiction-y because it follows two parallel timelines (no spoilers-- this is “back of the book” stuff). One involves a female-dominated spy ring in World War I; it focuses mainly on Eve, an English native who moves to German-occupied France to spy on some German dudes. The second is set in 1947, where a young woman searches for her missing cousin throughout war-torn, recovering Europe. </span></span></b><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m a big fan of the former thread and less enthused by the latter.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First and foremost: the book is too long. It’s over 500 pages when it doesn’t need to be. The novel’s two threads weave in and out of each other, which provides plenty of material, but not 500 pages worth. Since the book jumps around in time, place, and narration, I was initially worried that I’d get lost in the shuffle; however, Quinn does an excellent job of transitioning between settings in a straightforward, sensible way. </span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fictional spies are cool; actual spies are even cooler. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Alice Network</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is inspired by Louise de Bettignies, a secret agent whose code name was Alice Dubois. Speaking of Dubois, one of the plot points that I found most dubious ended up being an actual event. The novel holds my interest in its historical accuracy and I like Quinn’s focus on women as unlikely yet potent forces during both world wars. On the other hand, some of the inner dialogue is cheesy and, as aforementioned, many chapters are redundant, which leads to unnecessary length. Overall, </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Alice Network </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receives 3 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Quinn, Kate. </span></b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>The Alice Network. </i>New York: HarperCollins, 2017. Print.</b></span><br />
<br />Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-76103443677712172042018-10-24T13:54:00.002-07:002018-10-24T13:56:03.186-07:00Deliverance<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve never seen a Burt Reynolds movie (RIP-- Yes, I know, I should watch </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boogie Nights</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). So, when I read </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deliverance* </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by James Dickey at work, all of my middle-aged coworkers crooned over Reynolds’ role in the film adaptation and I pretended to know what the heck they were talking about. Apparently, I’m the dumb dumb, because it earned several Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. And Burt looks like a boss.</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This novel so obviously checks every box for a good thriller, especially in the second half. As a book, it’s not as compelling as it could be. The suspense relies heavily on the readers’ ability to maintain a complex visual, and with the constantly shifting nature-scapes, I struggled. Instead of getting swept in the current of the plot, I fixated on the complicated minutia of the actual river where they canoed. I love being in nature and I recognize that it’s no easy task to successfully place a reader there. Still, if you can’t picture the most harrowing scenes, they don’t take an emotional toll. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The latter half is filled with adventure and the former is filled with philosophical discussions about survivalism. One of the guys in the crew (Reynolds’ character) devotes his life to preparing for any potential disaster, and he does so very obnoxiously. I would not be friends with this dude and I grew tired of his one-dimensional dialogue. I know that people like this exist, but is it really all they ever talk about? Is survivalism the same as Crossfit? </span></b></span></div>
<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I appreciate the plot twist, especially because it caught me off guard despite knowing a plot twist would come eventually. I’m glad Dickey wrote this book because it deserved to be turned into a movie; but, in book form, I don’t recommend it. </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deliverance</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> receives 3 out of 5 camel humps</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626830328570359335.post-89918444821240349362018-10-10T11:00:00.000-07:002018-10-10T11:48:30.753-07:00Olive Kitteridge<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Nobel prize in literature will not be awarded this year because some men can’t keep it in their pants. The academy experienced backlash for its association with Jean-Claude Arnault, who faces 18 allegations of sexual assault and physical abuse. Instead, two prizes will be given next year. In the meantime, readers can turn to the Pulitzer Prize for guidance on the best fiction of 2018.</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, I feel like the 2009 Pulitzer, </span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Olive Kitteridge*,</span></span></b><b style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> failed us a bit. The novel</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Elizabeth Strout is a collection of 13 short stories that feature a fictional woman, Olive Kitteridge, in one way or another. Sometimes the story is told from her perspective, sometimes it is not. Sometimes she is the main character, sometimes she’s only peripherally mentioned. Although the stories jump around in point of view, they pass through time linearly. So, we initially experience Olive indirectly as a middle-aged wife and mother in Crosby, Maine and we eventually experience Olive directly as an old woman who has undergone many life changes. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeing her character grow through a multitude of lenses certainly shapes my perception of Olive as three-dimensional. It gives me empathy and reveals how much she understands her own weaknesses and strengths. That being said, I don’t like her as a person. I think that’s fine; not everybody likes everybody.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t need to rally for the short story structure more than I already have, but Strout’s writing takes the format to a whole new level. She gives us detailed snippets of different character’s worlds (and in doing so, inhabits completely different voices) while connecting those pieces into a complex matrix. I admire her work and appreciate her ability. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still, I’m not crazy about the story, nor am I sold on the worthiness of Olive’s character to be featured in such a prominent manner. In an interview, Strout says, “the quotidian life is not always easy, and is something worthy of respect” (Strout, 281). While I agree with her, Olive’s life simply did not draw me enough to regularly want to read the book, and I found it difficult to finish. </span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="color: #0b5394; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Olive Kitteridge </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">is good enough but not necessarily meritorious of the Pulitzer. I don't buy into the hubbub, so it receives 2</span><u style="color: #0b5394;"> out of 5 camel humps</u><span style="color: #0b5394;">. I gave fellow Pulitzer novel </span><i><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/07/american-pastoral.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">American Pastoral</span></a></i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> 2/5 as well. </span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other Pulitzer-winning novels that I bestowed 3/5 humps include: </span></span></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-brief-wondrous-life-of-oscar-wao.html" style="color: #bc290f;" target="_blank">The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao</a>, </span></i></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-visit-from-goon-squad.html" style="color: #bc290f;" target="_blank">A Visit from the Goon Squad</a>, </span></i></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/01/beloved.html" style="color: #bc290f;" target="_blank">Beloved</a>, </span></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/04/all-light-we-cannot-see.html" style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">All the Light We Cannot See</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;">, </span></i></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span></span></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-old-man-and-sea.html" style="color: #bc290f;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The Old Man and the Sea</span></a></i><span style="color: #0b5394;">. I gave </span></b><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/06/interpreter-of-maladies.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Interpreter of Maladies</span></a> </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">a well-deserved 4/5. </span><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2017/05/to-kill-mockingbird.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cc0000;">To Kill a Mockingbird</span></a><i style="color: #0b5394;"> </i><span style="color: #0b5394;">and </span><i><a href="http://humpdayhardbacks.blogspot.com/2014/07/middlesex.html" target="_blank"><span id="goog_1764344576"></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Middlesex</span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span id="goog_1764344577"></span> </span></a></i><span style="color: #0b5394;">top us off with </span><span style="color: #0b5394;">5/5. </span></span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></span></b> <b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Strout, Elizabeth. </span></b><b style="text-indent: 48px;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Olive Kitteridge</span></span></b><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. New York: Random House, 2008. Print.</span></b>Humpdayhardbackshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14176118686753062251noreply@blogger.com0