Closing Down

In case you haven't guessed, I'm closing this particular blog down. I set myself an interesting challenge but it got a bit too much for me! I will continue blogging at www.km-librarian.blogspot.com and www.eclectic-rose-knits.blogspot.com.

Interlude: More excuses, but no more!

Well here I am, still behind. My excuse this time is that my husband has been working very hard on a film and therefore it has been very hard to get to the computer. But no more - I am writing from a very shiny new laptop that is ALL MINE! Hurrah!

So where am I up to? I went on a big Dresden Files kick and knocked over 5,6 and 7 -
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat

Jim Butcher is an awesome writer, he has the hard-boiled detective genre nailed and is endlessly inventive with his supernatural plotlines. I find the Dresden books really hard to put down.

I only got partway through A History of the Beanbag and Other Writings by Susan Midalia. I read the first couple of stories and really liked the gentle style - she writes little vignettes linked by a character or an object (eg the beanbag). Unfortunately I find it hard to stay involved in short story collections and have run out of time to finish it before returning it to the library. Oh well.

I'm currently reading Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds. Hubby and I are both big fans of space opera so I went out of my way to find a new author. I'm having a little bit of trouble getting into it (not sure I relate to the characters yet) but will push on.

I'm also reading (and loving) Everything Is Miscellaneous by David Weinberger. It is FANTASTIC. If you have any kind of interest in organising or finding anything, from your cd collection to the files on your computer to the state library to amazon.com, this book is a fantastic read. Will write more on it later!

Interlude: The Sniffles

I'm sick.

I hate being sick. Just a common cold, but I have no energy, a throat that feels like someone took a nailfile to it, and more mucus than seems possible compared to the size of my sinuses.

Being sick is a good time for reading books. It is not, however, a good time for reviewing them. Writing reviews takes energy, a resource in which I am sorely lacking at the current time.

So here's a quick list of the books which I have recently read but still need to review:

Fables: The Good Prince (MUST read graphic novel series)
The Friday Night Knitting Club (actually much better than I expected)
Captain's Fury (Fourth book in the Codex Alera which I wrote about a couple of months ago)
The Boleyn Inheritance (follow-on from The Other Boleyn Girl)
Pay the Piper: A rock-n-roll Fairytale (you guessed it, more fairy tale revisions)

That puts me at 25 books, which is pretty much right on track for my target of 52 this year.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to crawl back into my sniffly hole.

Book 19 - Princesses & Pornstars

Here's something a little left of my usual reading centre. Princesses and Pornstars: Sex, Power, Identity by Emily Maguire is a fascinating and frank analysis of the roles and images of women as defined by our modern, supposedly "post-feminist" society. Maguire draws on the messages of everything from raunch culture to the modesty movement, sex education in schools to porn, marriage to same-sex relationships, plastic surgery to dieting and tabloids. She uses personal anecdotes, interviews, media and scholarly studies to point out how women's roles are still very much defined by their relationship to the male, and not necessarily in a positive way.

This book is absolutely packed with insight. It's told in a conversational style and is therefore thoroughly readable without compromising on the issues it is discussing. Here are just a few of the key messages that stood out for me:

- School sex education usually covers the mechanics of getting pregnant and how to avoid it (protection, abstinence). It rarely covers the reality of teen sex - how to comfortably say no (even in the middle of things), how to actually initiate sex (it's not always the boys!), other "forms" of sex and whether they're safe, how to make it pleasurable for both parties (and this doesn't always mean boy-girl either). Alternative sources of education are very male-centric - porn, raunchy music videos etc. I was vaguely alarmed by her interview with three teenage girls who knew and would talk about every way of pleasing a boy but clammed up completely when it came to their own pleasure.

- Girls are constantly told how to stay "safe" and avoid being raped. Maguire asks: why not direct the rape prevention message at boys? As she points out: "Of course not many boys will grow up to become rapists, but that's no reason not to direct the message at them. Not a single woman has caused her own rape, and yet girls are bombarded with advice that can do nothing except cause our would-be rapist to find a different victim" (p79).

- When it comes to career and motherhood, societal pressure and government policy push women into an either-or situation about staying home. Maguire also points out the idea that women "naturally" know how to look after babies and children is a load of guff. With the exception of breastfeeding, a person of any sex can change a nappy or supervise a child. The difference is that an expectant mother tends to read books, seek out advice and support from others and generally learn parenting on-the-job. There is no reason a man couldn't do any of this - if the incentive to existed. And in our current society (with the exception of single dads) it rarely does.

These are just a few of the ideas at play in this book. While I wouldn't ascribe to everything in it blindly, it did help to clarify my concerns with certain trends I've noticed in our current society, and open my eyes to a whole bunch of others. And I wholeheartedly agree that we need continue pushing for the ultimate goal of Maguire's style of feminisim - that each woman be seen as an individual member of society with various choices, beliefs and lifestyles first, rather than simply as a "woman".

Book 19 - Anne's House of Dreams

When I chose something to read, I am usually following one of two inclinations. The first is to try something new, to read about a different life or culture or concept. The second is to engage with the familiar - to reconnect with an old story or friend (and many of the characters in books I read as a teenager did indeed become my friends).

This particular read very much falls into the latter category. I came to the Anne of Green Gables series a little late (age 15 or so), and while I enjoyed the rapscallion adventures of young Anne, it was the books where she was a growing young woman in love that I truly enjoyed - Anne of the Island and of course Anne's House of Dreams.

A little background on the Anne of Green Gables series. Set around the start of the 20th century in Prince Edward Island, Canada, it is the story of a young orphan who well and truly surprises her new family and turns the small town of Avonlea on its head. There are around 7 books in the series, following Anne from childhood through to seeing her own children grow up.

Anne's House of Dreams opens with Anne and her childhood enemy-turned-sweetheart Gilbert arriving at a tiny cottage in Four Winds Harbour to start their married life. The childhood relationships of Avonlea recede with distance and new friendships are forged - with Captain Jim the lighthouse keeper, the unique man-hating Miss Cornelia and haughty Leslie. It is the unfolding history and hidden hurts of these characters that make this a magical read. Captain Jim may have had the most adventurous life, but his heart is with a sweetheart long ago lost at sea. Leslie's pride masks a deep bitterness at the harsh hand dealt to her - forced into a loveless marriage with a man who later suffered a severe brain injury. Anne responds to the people around her in a very Anne-ish way - with great empathy and a hint of creativity. Meanwhile she and Gilbert suffer their own pain, which helps to draw her closer to Leslie and the others around her.

While it has some pretty unbelievable plot twists, the charm of Anne's House of Dreams is in its characterisation. The interaction between the newlyweds and their friends and neighbours makes this a light but pleasant read.

Book 18 - Crescent: A Novel

Crescent: A Novel by Diana Abu-Jaber is one of those exquisite, magical reads that makes me ache with its beauty. Often these books don't have a great deal happening in the plot - it's the descriptive writing and fluid imagery of such works that draws me in and creates a sense of rapture.

"No one ever wants to be the Arab - it's too old and too tragic and too mysterious and too exasperating and too lonely for anyone but an actual Arab to put up with for very long."
Crescent, p. 38

Crescent is a story of Iraqis in exile. Sirine, orphaned daughter of an Iraqi and an American, lives with her uncle, an academic, and works at Nadia's Cafe. Despite never having visited the Middle East, sensually authentic food flows from her fingers. Exiled Arabs from all over Los Angeles and particularly the university where her Uncle works are drawn to the cafe. Regulars include Hanif, a lecturer in Middle Eastern literature, and a slow, almost reluctant love affair commences between the two. No hot-headed teenage love affair, this romance draws on the sensuous maturity of the older pair. Passion is tempered by the mystery and not-knowing of what happened in the magical Iraq of Hanif's past and the war-torn version of today.

Food and storytelling pervade this text like a fabulous banquet and create its magic. Luxurious descriptions of food create a longing for the lost Iraq and a pleasure in Sirine's present world. Even the every-day city of Los Angeles takes on a feeling of mythical wonder, peopled with lonely young photographers, sensual and scheming professors and the love-struck couple.

The storytelling of Sirine's uncle's draws on the magic of Arabia's 1001 nights as well as gently mocking American stereotypes of the legendary Arab. It also creates a reflexive kind of intertextuality, reminding the reader that Sirine and Hanif's story is also a fiction even if the characters have more complexity and authenticity than the Arabs of Hollywood movies. I am inadequate to the task of describing this work's amazing imagery so I will leave you with a final description of the lost Iraq of legend from the storytelling of Sirine's Uncle.

"The streets of Aqaba are shell spirals and, on summer nights, crowded and complicated as women's hearts. Boys sit on the curb and wonder about love, women run their hands through their hair, locks dense with sea salt, men unfurl velvet prayer rugs, hands on their knees, the bow, rise, rock into the sea-waves of prayer."
Crescent, p?

Interlude: Book Indecision

Sometimes I just don't know what I'm in the mood to read. Or there's a book I feel I "should" be reading, but I just can't get into it. And I actually really dislike this feeling - it's the proverbial "I'm booored" as it relates to the reading world. A gazillion books out there, but still "I'm bored".

So what is it that I'm "supposed" to be reading? No. 1 on the "should" list is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers. "That's a strange choice", I hear you say, especially as my 10 year high school reunion is on this year. Believe it or not, my doctor recommended it and I don't want to go back to her until I've finished it! I'm not a big fan of self-help plus reading it at work during lunch would be a bit embarrasing, so it's been lounging around at home for far too long. I've started it though, and once you get past the high school examples the principles behind it are quite good and the conversational style makes it quite readable.

Next is Baudolino by Umberto Eco. I bought this on sale a year ago because I love Eco. Only problem is he's challenging reading, and since I'm a deadline-oriented girl I tend to ignore my purchased books and work through the library pile before they're due to be returned. So anyway, I've started Baudolino which is set in Constantinople in the 1100's. Good reading but it's an enormous hardcover which rules out taking it on the bus. Yet another book floating around at home.

Princesses and Pornstars is a much more portable work, so I carted it along on the bus yesterday. It's a feminist critique on the modern perceptions of women which has been getting some media lately, and it's highly readable. Baudolino and 7 Habits are in danger of being shunted for this one I'm afraid.

Honourable mention goes to Micah. Yes, that would be from the biblical Old Testament. I am trying to get back into the habit of reading the bible on a regular if not daily basis. The whole theory is to find a daily time when you can dedicate your attention to it and to praying. I have difficulty with that because my day doesn't have enough of a structure to include a set space for that. I shall have to work on it.

I'm also two reviews behind folks - Crescent and Anne's House of Dreams. I hope to get to them tomorrow. Until then!

Book 17 - Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a pretty big thing in the fantasy/horror and comic community. I loved the depth and creative mythology of his Sandman comics, and have heard rave reviews about American Gods and Good Omens. So I guess my standards were pretty high when it came to reading Stardust, recommended by my friend Ozhaggis.

Stardust is the story of Tristran Thorn, born half of this world and half of faery. Raised in the town of Wall, which is just this side of the wall between the two realms, he has no idea of his heritage. At around the age of 17 he impulsively vows to bring the town beauty a falling star in return for granting him his one desire. Of course the star has fallen on the other side of the wall, so he sets off on a quest to find it. Faery being what it is, the star is not a chunk of rock but a girl with a broken leg who strongly objects to being given to someone else. And of course Tristran is not the only one looking for the fallen star.

Overall the interplay of plot and characters is well done, and the play on traditional fairy tale themes is quite clever. But it just seemed a little light to me - some of the characters and sideplots were a little underdeveloped. I think the problem was that I was expecting it to be a more adult fairy tale along the lines of Gaiman's other work, especially as I found it in the Adult Fiction section of the library. In reality it's probably more suited to the young adult audience, 11+. When viewed from the YA perspective it's a pretty enjoyable read and a great way to look at fairy tale themes and plot techniques. I have to say when it comes to modern fairy tales with a bit of meat to them I still prefer Robin McKinley's "Beauty" or the Once Upon a Time series.

Book 16 - Wide Sargasso Sea

Ok, so I didn't read Wide Sargasso Sea this week, and in fact haven't read it since 1999. But the last text of Regarding Jane Eyre, a series of letters by the author Jean Rhys, took me right back to where I started - my year 12 HSC class where we studied both Jane Eyre and Rhys' revisionist novel. It may not have impressed me as deeply as Jane Eyre, but most of it came flooding back after reading these letters. Apologies in advance for errors in plot or theme - as I said, it has been 9 years and unfortunately my copy of the novel is at my parent's house 5 hours from here.

A native of the West Indies and a product of the 20th century, JeanRhys objected strongly to Bronte's portrayal of Rochester's first wife as the mad Creole woman in the attic. It took her years to craft her response: a story of a sensual yet innocent woman named Antoinette Bertha and a suspicious young man who falls violently in love. In the lush and humid tropics lust and Obeah magic clash violently with Victorian prejudice and colonialism. The way I'm describing it makes it sound like a bodice-ripper!

Actually it's quite disturbing - Rochester projects all his inner conflict with his intense passion and sensuality onto Antoinette. His Victorian sensibilities could not handle a sexually responsive wife - as Bronte has Rochester suggest in Jane Eyre, Bertha's "gross sensuality" must have been early symptom of true madness. Combine that with her tainted Creole blood, and Rochester instantly believes the first poisonous story he hears of madness in the family.

What follows is a spiral of cruelty, lust and betrayal where Rochester gradually strips Antoinette of her identity - her friends, her country, her name, until she becomes poor mad Bertha, trapped in an English attic. She can only reassert her identity by burning down Thornton Hall and throwing herself to her death. The question hovers above the text - was Antoinette/Bertha truly prone to madness, or did Rochester drive her to it?

Trust me when I say that you will never look at Rochester in quite the same light again. Don't read this if you object to your heros having feet of clay. It's an intense read ripe with violence and sensuality. One image from the text still stays with me, nine years after reading Wide Sargasso Sea - the image of a moth, drawn to the light and heat of a candle that in a moment of ecstasy will prove to be its doom.

Book 15 - Regarding Jane Eyre

More Jane Eyre folks! I promise I am almost done with the topic.

Regarding Jane Eyre is a collection of writers' responses to Jane Eyre. It's an eclectic little collection, containing excerpts from various biographies on Bronte, some literary criticism, and some fictional writing as well. It's an Australian publication edited by Susan Geason, and several of the texts had a distinctly Australian flavour.

Here's a quick rundown of what's included: an excerpt from the Bronte biographies of Gaskell and Lyndall Gordon; an article on what boarding school was really like at the time (the stories are chilling), a psychologist's analysis of the child abuse and recovery that Jane experienced, questions about where Jane's rage went after Lowood; Amy Witting writing the ongoing story of a very minor character; and Morag Fraser relating the complex relationships of fathers and lovers to her own modern family. I will talk about the other three texts in a little depth as they had more of an impact.

My favourite article was janeyre@window by Carmel Bird (click the title to read the full text online, it's worth it). She has terrific fun identifying all the recurring symbolic motifs within the text - from red, fire and windows to Jane's inherent materialism revealed in an ongoing obsession with describing the furniture of a room. I love recurring motifs and teasing out their possible significance, it's what draws me to poetry as well.

Bird envisioned a cd-rom with a hypertext network of links between all these themes - clicking on "window" in the text would take you to all the other references to window etc. This was probably reasonably groundbreaking, given that it was written in 1996 in the early days of the web revolution. It's certainly a great idea and if it's been done I would like to know about it.

The strangest text was Jean Bedford's Crown me with Roses Pastiche, a somewhat bizarre modern re-imagining of the story where Gateshead is a commune, Lowood is an abusive cult and Thornfield a solitary outback homestead. Let's just say that the ending is nowhere near as positive as in the original text!

The last text, a series of letters by Jean Rhys, actually leads me to her novel Wide Sargasso Sea, which I think deserves an entirely separate review. So sorry, you will have to put up with Jane Eyre for one more post!

My final take on Regarding Jane Eyre: overall I felt there was a bit of an obsession with Jane's childhood and the boarding school, and Rochester suffered significantly under the withering gaze of modern feminism. But nevertheless it is quite a refreshing way to dig deeper into a text without having to resort to the traditional and not always reader-friendly literary criticism.

Book 14 - Villette

Well I just finished Charlotte Bronte's Villette and I was horribly dismayed by the ambiguous ending. You don't need to read Charlotte Bronte's biography to know that she had a difficult life - it comes through in the stoic manner of her characters. Lucy, like Jane, suffers from difficult circumstances and certainly does not lead a smooth life.

Lucy Snowe is an essentially penniless and friendless young woman (sound familiar?) who takes it into her head to travel to France with no secure situation. With determination and a dash of luck she secures a place teaching English in a French boarding school. As her name symbolically uggests, Lucy is a fairly detached and observant woman who depicts the character of those around her with honesty, wit and accuracy. She observes the flirtations and romances of her friends and acquaintances but does not actively seek to participate, nor would she announce her feelings to those she is drawn to.

Despite her self-effacing ways, Lucy catches the attention of the fiery and volatile Monseur Emmanuel, Professor of Literature. He claims to see beyond her modest facade and accuses her of being a passionate and wiley woman. The strange relationship that grows between the two is highly compelling - M. Emmanuel's voluble lectures and flamboyant actions are met by Lucy's innate stubbornness and pointed barbs. It is not a conventional relationship - at first it appears the two truly irritate each other, and even so they appear to be more friends than lovers for most of the book.

I mentioned that Lucy is a stoic and Villette reflects the author's sufferings. Certainly Lucy is more pragmatic than optimistic. When commenting on the courtship of two friends, Dr John and Paulina, she observes that some such as these are born to live fortunate and blessed lives, where she is not. I felt a sort of pity for this character who did not expect much for her life beyond being a single teacher and paying her way. This refrain reoccurs throughout the book and heightened the suspense considerably for the last series of events - there could be no guarentee of the conventional "happy ending".

A bit of a spoiler alert here for those who may want to read the book. I really want to discuss the ending because it affected me signficantly. Eventually the relationship between Lucy and M. Emmanuel deepends into love, but many obstacles are placed in their way - from financial circumstances to family objections and even religious issues (Protestant vs Catholic). Lucy is even led to temporarily believe that he is betrothed to another. Just as it all comes through Emmanuel's friends and family find a way to separate them by sending him off to manage an estate in the West Indies for three years. With all this tension, it seems impossible that it won't resolve in a happy marriage between the two. But alas! in the Epilogue Lucy tells of her three years of waiting which end in a series of wild storms that occur just as M. Emmanuel's ship should be returning. But instead of telling us his fate, she writes:

"Here pause: pause at once. There is enough said. Trouble no quiet, kind heart; leave sunny imagines hope....Let them picutre union and a happy succeeding life."

Aaagghhh! I would rather be told and have Lucy's gloomy predictions on her life confirmed than be left hanging like that. To invest so much in characters and then be deprived of a resolution is incredibly frustrating. How terribly postmodern - 100 years before that particular "ism" existed. But as I said, I really feel that the disappointment that Lucy - and the reader - suffers speaks a great deal of the kind of life that Bronte led. No doubt I will have more on that later if I manage to get through her biography!

Book 13: Wives and Daughters

There was a natural progression in moving from Jane Eyre to Wives and Daughters. Its author, Elizabeth Gaskell, was a contemporary and close friend of Charlotte Bronte. In fact she wrote Bronte's biography, which I may attempt to read at some point in the future (I borrowed it from the library but you should see how tiny the print is!).

Molly is the half-orphaned daughter of Dr Gibson, raised to be quite a sensible and engaging (if shy) young woman. When invited to be a temporary companion to Mrs Hambly, the ailing wife of the local squire, her gentle and empathetic nature impresses itself on the entire household, including the rough-natured squire and his sons Osborne and Roger. Osborne is considered to be the genius of the family, whereas they view hardworking and good-natured Roger as a bit of a "plodder". However it soon becomes clear that Roger's strength is not the Classic fields of learning but progressive science and maths, and he soon makes a name for himself amongst the scientific community. His kind nature endears him to Molly and she quietly falls in love with him.

Circumstances at home seem to require Molly have a chaperone and the doctor somewhat unwisely plunges into marriage with Hyacinth Kirkpatrick, a widowed schoolmistress with a daughter of her own. Her somewhat vapid and selfish ways soon become a trial to Molly and her father. For Molly the greatest advantage in the marriage is that she gains a new sister, Cynthia, a beautiful, outspoken and strong-willed young lady with the ability to make all men drop at her feet. Molly's love for her new sister is strained when it becomes evident that Roger has fallen for Cynthia. But Cynthia also has a secret engagement with the unscrupulous Mr Preston, one that threatens to ruin not only her reputation but Molly's as well.

I suspect my going from Jane Eyre to Wives and Daughters was a bit of a disservice to Gaskell - she does not exude the same unorthodox passion and willpower that Bronte does. Essentially this book is just as much about family relationships as romance and society and in fact feels a bit like a wordier, Victorian version of Austen's Mansfield Park. Some of the characterisation is thoroughly enjoyable - Hyacinth is perfectly awful and the Squire Hambly is a wonderfully rough character. All in all it's not a bad read, although somewhat wordy.

Book 12 - Jane Eyre

Now I've been diverted down the classics path. A friend lent me the latest BBC production of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, which reminded me of the deep affection I developed for this book while studying it for my HSC. So down off the bookshelf it came, and I devoured it in a day or two. It made me realise again how great a difference there is between merely reading a book and actually studying it. Despite having last read it nearly 10 years ago, so much was familiar to me - not just plot and character but also themes, significant quotes, the symbolism of locations and visual cues, even structural elements and facts relating to the author's life. There are few books that I know so thoroughly, and of them this is perhaps my favourite. I must also give my heartfelt thanks to my English teacher, who really did inspire in me a love (or at least healthy respect) for all of the texts we studied.

So - back to Jane Eyre. I'll start by saying don't just read my pathetic summary - go and read it!

Jane Eyre is an orphan, perceived to be a wild and passionate child by the relatives who eventually cast her into a cold and heartless charity boarding school. Trust me, this is probably one of the most horrible descriptions of what a boarding school can be. She somehow emerges from it as a strong-willed yet quiet woman who takes a post at Thornfield Hall as governess to Adele, ward of Edward Rochester. Rochester is a cynical and abrupt man embittered by a secret past, yet he finds himself drawn to Jane's integrity and quiet determination. He proposes to her, but unfolding events force Jane to chose between her passionate love and her personal integrity and morals.

Jane narrates the story, and she truly is a unique individual - passionate yet retiring, fiery yet restrained. Bronte has a genius for dialogue - the repartee between Jane and Rochester positively zings with wit and unsaid feeling. I could read those conversations again and again. The BBC miniseries does a fair job of bringing this across, although it seems to miss some of my favourite passages in the book. The plot has a couple of improbable moments but these are more than made up for by the richness of the narrative. Watch for the clever use of symbolism - the interaction of the elements (air, fire, ice, earth), names of locations and people, Jane's fey dreams. As I mentioned earlier, this book has such depth that it can be read again and again while retaining its freshness and providing something new each time. I strongly recommend you read it as one of the more unique love stories ever written.

Book 11 - Child of my Heart

Child of my Heart by Alice McDermott was for me a vaguely disquieting (perhaps the word is sophisiticated?) coming of age novel. Theresa is 15 years old and beautiful - a gift her parents are banking on as they send her out to baby-sit and pet-sit for the wealthy folk who spend their summers on Long Island. Their hope is that she will marry into that wealthier set and bring them up in the world. Theresa may be still a child but she sees the people around her with old eyes, which quickly uncover the tragic secret of her young cousin Daisy, who has come to stay with the family for an idyllic summer holiday.

More disturbing (for me) is her involvement in the bizarre relationships of an 70-year artist's household, whose young wife flounces off to town in a huff, abandoning her two year old daughter to the care of the maid and Theresa. Theresa knowingly watches the artist's affairs and eventually becomes a willing participant. The relationship makes her appear "older", much moer so I suppose than a tumble on the beach with someone her age would have been. However the deliberate way that she becomes with the artist, who could be her grandfather, lays way outside my moral compass and as such I find it hard to empathise with Theresa's actions. I found it much easier to sympathise with her attempts to cover up Daisy's illness and make this summer the high point of her life. A beautifully written but for me uncomfortable read.

Book 10 - Woman on the Other Shore

It's interesting to document my reading like this - I'm starting to see some trends and themes as I move from one book to the next. Some are obvious - like continuing the myth thing - but some seem to appear by themselves. For example, the role of women within society and story seems to be a common theme in my last few reads, including this latest one.

Woman on the Other Shore, written by Mitsuyo Kakuta and translated by Wayne P. Lammers, was winner of the Japanese Naoki Prize in 2005 and is the first of her works to be translated into English. I have a quiet fascination for Japanese culture and literature, from the popular (manga) to the literary (such as Haruki Murakami) which led me to pick up this book.

Sayoko is a quiet woman, very much submissive to the will of her husband and his mother, who worries that her antisocial tendencies are being transferred to her young daughter. She resolves to put her into daycare and go back to work, finding a job under the independent, capricious and compelling Aoi. Aoi's adventurous spirit and charm draws her into activities that she would never have expected of herself. Little does she know that Aoi suffered terrible bullying in high school. When she moved to another town, she became caught up in a similar compelling relationship with charismatic Noriko that had severe consequences but also led her to become the strong-willed yet flawed businesswoman that Sayoko admires. Both stories unfold and inform each other throughout the course of the novel.

The parallel stories and reversed relationships are the most fascinating element of this read. For me there was also a sense of dislocation - of common themes and relationships set in a different context and culture, with different reactions. An interesting read.

Book 9 - Ithaka by Adele Geras

Ok, so I was on a bit of an ancient myth kick after reading Chimera. I studied Homer and Ovid at uni and have always had a bit of a fascination with these ancient myths. So while at the library I picked up Ithaka, a young adult novel by Adele Geras, an author with a history of reversioning fairy tales and myths.

Ithaka is the "other" story of The Odyssey - the story of the people waiting for Odysseus to return. For those of you not familiar with the myth, Odysseus came up with the idea for the "Trojan Horse" which ultimately caused the fall of Troy. Because of this he was cursed by Poseidon (the sea god) to wander the seas for many years before being able to return to his kingdom Ithaka, and his wife Penelope. During the intervening years, many lords invited themselves to Ithaka and took advantage of Penelope's hospitality, with the intent of forcing her to admit Odysseus's death and marry one of their number. To buy time she said she would decide only after finishing the burial shroud for her father-in-law. Each night she would unravel half of that day's weaving, until Odysseus finally did return.

In Ithaka, the long wait is seem through the eyes of two young people. Klymene is a kind of lady-in-waiting to Penelope. She and her brother Ikarios were childhood friends of Telemachus, Odysseus' son. Their idyllic childhood is shattered when rough men overrun the palace, gorging on wine, food and pretty girls. The two must grow up quickly to survive in such an enviroment. They must also cope with the usual difficulties of adolescence - first loves, strained friendships and betrayals. Klymene must watch her childhood love Telemachus fall for a beautiful and cunning girl, even as he struggles with his inability to take his father's place and cast the suitors from the palace. The book surges with the daily tension of waiting which is ultimately resolved in Odysseus' return and a battle with the suitors in which the young people play a pivotal role.

An interesting feature of the book is the role of the gods. As in the Iliad and Odyssey, they walk among the humans, creating hope or havoc in their wake. Klymene and Ikarios are blessed with a form of second sight that allows them to see and even converse with gods such as Poseidon, Aphrodite and Athena, a gift that gives them insight into the greater scheme that is the Odyssey. It is important also to note the significance of Penelope's weaving - in addition to the shroud, Athena grants her the power to weaves Odysseus' story as it happens. It is intimated that she not only sees Odysseus' adventures through this but also protects him as he journeys homeward.

Adele Geras has a strong interest in the role of women in myth, which flows through in Ithaka and its earlier companion novel, Troy. They are bound by their circumstances but exercise power over the men around them, and sometimes even the gods. Troy and Ithaka are both enjoyable reads from the Young Adult genre and I would recommend them to anyone with an interest in ancient myths or the role of women.

Book 8 - Chimera

"Chimera" by John Barth is a classic postmodern text. It consists of three novellas that are based on and reinterpret ancient myths - the story of Scheherazade from 1001 Arabian Nights, the story of Greek hero Perseus who killed Medusa, and the story of Bellephron who tamed Pegasus. Each story is quite distinct, and yet references each other to create an intertextual "chimera". The book is full of humour and delights in twisting the reader through some fascinating and complex concepts regarding literature, myth and storytelling. I guarentee that anybody who has an interest in mythology will enjoy it - mostly!

Now here's my guilty confession - this book is actually Book 7 and 2/3. I never made it through the third story. The same thing happened the first time I tried to read it. Barth's narrative structure grows increasingly erratic and whimsical. It's a bit like the progress of James Joyce's works - from the quite straightforward "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" to the convoluted "Ulysses" to the incomprehensible "Finnegan's Wake". It may not be that extreme, but that's how it felt to me. It also directly correlated to my knowledge of the myths - to be honest I've never even heard of Bellophron, the hero of the third story. And given the distinct lack of narrative structure by this point, some prior knowledge would be helpful to understand what the hell they're talking about. Anyway, there is a natural progression to the whole text so I will go back and review the stories in order.


"Dunyazadiad", the first story is named after the sister of the famous Scheherezade. For those of you not familiar with 1001 nights, here's a quick summary. A sultan and his brother are both cuckolded by their wives. They vow to marry and kill a virgin every night, for no woman is to be trusted. When the kingdom starts running out of girls, the chancellor sends in his daughter Scheherezade, who devises a cunning plan. After the wedding, she begs the sultan to allow her to tell her younger sister a bedtime story, ending it with a cliffhanger just as dawn arrives. The sultan keeps her alive another day to hear the rest of the story and so on, until 3 years later she runs out of stories and he forgives her (and woman kind etc), he marries her (again?) and the brother marries Dunyazade.

Barth's version is narrated by Dunyazade - to whom we don't find out till the end. His alterations are clever and have all the hallmarks of postmodernism. On the eve of her first night with the sultan, Scheherezade inadvertantly summons an author from our time, who loves her myth and supplies her with all of the 1001 stories. There's a worry for the time-space continuum! This is the first of many plays and discussion around the nature of stories and story-telling - the genesis of stories and the inherent relationship between teller and listener being two of the issues explored. Sex plays a big role as well (it does in all 3 stories) - 1001 nights being enough time to get through a big chunk of the Karma Sutra when you think of it. Sex and gender are tied into the storytelling relationship - telling is a viewed as a masculine, active role, whereas the listener is feminine, passive. Of course that is all convoluted and reversed both in the original myth and this version where the woman regains power over the man through stories.

Dunyazade, too finds her role reversed by the end of this tale. Now married to the Sultan's brother, she finds herself armed with lots of knowledge and no personal experience - of sex or storytelling. And yet she is required to master both in a short amount of time. I won't tell you what happens next - suffice to say the brother has also learnt some quite different lessons on life and women from his years of taking virgins.

The Persiad, narrated by Perseus himself, both relives his glorious adventure and his middle-aged attempts to rediscover his heroic glory. The short version of the Perseus myth is that he's one of the sons of Zeus, who came to his mother as a golden shower (go figure). He was tasked to bring King Polydictis the head of the gorgon Medusa. During the quest he also rescued the Princess Andromeda from being sacrificed to a sea monster. Now married to a waspish Andromeda, he is bored with his life and retraces his quest to find new meaning in it.

I won't say quite so much about this story. Again storytelling, sex and gender play a significant role - Perseus tells much of his story to a nymph priestess and lover, Calyxa, who has also been tasked with painting his life in a series of murals. As in the Dunyazadiad, there is another, surprise audience discovered at the end. We also get to hear the story from the point of view of Medusa herself, and how she viewed herself and the events that unfolded is a fascinating reminder of how many of the women in ancient myths, including this one, were perceived. Chained chastity (Andromeda), helpless lover (Perseus' mother Danae), monsterous Gorgon - not much room for a woman to create her own role. Of course thanks to Barth they do get to rearrange their fates in a rather amusing and interesting way.

As for the "Bellerophoniad" - as I mentioned, I didn't get very far. Who is narrating at what time is difficult to work out, it seems even to switch within paragraphs. A little background research indicates that Bellerophon rode Pegasus and killed the Chimera (a creature part lion, snake and goat). The original myth appears in the Iliad, but Perseus often was substituted for Bellerophon in Medieval retellings. So clearly there's still plenty of intertextuality to be explored. Maybe I'll go re-read that part of the Iliad and have another bash at the Bellerophoniad. If it's as good as the first two stories it'll be worth the effort.

Interlude: Still Reading!

I've been getting some comments about my blog from friends, asking if I'm still doing it etc. I guarentee I am keeping up on the reading side. It's the reviewing side that is slowing down - I am now 2 1/2 books behind! There are a couple of reasons for this.

The first is that I am excrutiatingly busy with work and other activities. The second is that I have a hard time prying my husband off the computer. The third is that these reviews are actually reasonably hard work. Summarising a plot without spoiling it and then providing thoughtful commentary can be a bit of a challenge (especially when I don't do it straight away, naughty me). My hubbie keeps saying "write more, more about the book" but that can be quite hard and actually puts me off writing them. I do want to have a good blog that people want to read, but I also want it to be fun and not a chore. So there is a balance to find.

In the meantime, thanks for sticking with me. I have some time off work this week, I will try to put it to good use and catch up!

Book 7 - Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher

Some of you may know Jim Butcher from his Dresden Files books - hardboiled detective stories with a wizard(!). I picked them up for my hubby and got somewhat hooked myself. So I thought I'd give his fantasy series a whirl.

Cursor's Fury is the third in the Codex Alera. Tell you what, I've got to stop reading middle books in fantasy series 'cause it means I have to review the whole thing! :( They're not bad reads, although I don't think the concept is as unique as that of his Dresden books.

Aleran people all have a connection to an elemental, or "fury", that gives them supernatural powers related to wind/water/fire/earth. Tavi stands out - not only is he an orphan, he has no fury and is considered a freak and weakling. This makes things tough, especially on the border of Alera where steadholds are under constant threat from wild animals, furies, and the savage Marat. Despite this he manages to pull off some amazing stunts, and the actions of Tavi, his aunt and uncle attract plenty of attention from Alerans and Marat alike. Not to mention his mysterious past and the secrets they all keep (dum dum DUM!)

By the third book, Tavi has completed training to be a cursor (spy) for the First Lord, and is sent for his first post to be an officer in newly formed legion that is never expected to see action. Of course it comes under attack from a greater threat even than the Marat, and when all the senior officers are killed Tavi must take control. Which he does admirably - displaying amazing leadership skills which speak of his mysterious heritage.....!

The battle scenes are quite good, Butcher has a knack for describing how different types of armies such as legions would fight. For me this is the best element. For some reasons his characters don't quite grab me so I find it hard to get going, especially at the start of each book when things are slow.

All in all, the Codex Alera books are not a bad read. Not brilliant, but good to take in your bag on a bus trip, or when you don't want to think TOO hard.... 3 out of 5 from me.

Book 6 - The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume 1 - The Pox Party

Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson was another challenging and thought-provoking read where I got much more than I expected.

Octavian, son of an African princess, is raised by a group of radical Bostonian philosophers. Supplied with the best classical education, and with his mother held in high regard with the group, it is a long time before he realises the true nature of his situation. He is a slave, and the subject of an experiment to see whether the savages of Africa have the potential to equal Europeans in intellect, or whether they are genetically inferior.

The events of the American Revolution eventually intrude upon the philosopher's oblivious society. With the loss of their British patron, the society relies on the funding of a group of Americans who wish to uphold the practice of slavery, and therefore see Octavian fail. Pushed to breaking point, he escapes and joins the Patriots in their fight against the British. But he soon realises that the cause of Liberty has distinctly different definitions for black men than it does for white.

The story is narrated by Octavian, and his classical education and intellect provide the vehicle through which many insightful observations and comments can be made. There is also a section narrated by an idealistic young patriot who befriends Prince - his naive belief in the cause of liberty for all is a stark contrast to the more sophisticated and world-weary views of Octavian and his owners.

There are so many intriguing themes running through this novel, I hardly know where to begin. There is the satirical parody of 18th century philosophical societies, the deeply challenging issues of race and rank, the nature of education at the time and more. The most challenging and confusing element for me was the Revolution. I've never had much of an interest in this aspect of American history, and at first tended to confuse it with the Civil War - especially since in this case it was being viewed through the context of race and slavery. As the story progresses the Patriots start to look less like heroes and more like hypocritical slave masters bent on maintaining the system by sending their slaves to die on their behalf.

This is the first of two volumes, although it reads quite well on its own (the second won't be out till later this year). It has deservedly won several awards. Octavian Nothing, like The Book Thief, is one of a burgeoning genre of literature written and marketed for Young Adults but of equal interest and relevance to adults. Its author, M.T. Anderson, also wrote another book, Feed, that I found deeply thought-provoking and will appeal to sci-fi lovers and consumer culture haters. I highly recommend both.

Book 5 - Tomorrow They Will Kiss

Tomorrow They Will Kiss by Eduardo Santiago was a bit of a risk read. I picked it up off the library's new books display, mainly because of the rather lurid cover. It actually looks pretty raunchy to me - something about the high-contrast colours I guess. But the story actually turned out to be intriguing and the characters really made it.

Three Cuban women share their stories - from growing up together in the village of Palmagria to working the same conveyor belt in a doll factory in New Jersey. Graciela is a free spirit, a woman who lives life to the full and wants to leave her past, with its mistakes, behind. Imperio and Caridad are two judgemental women who are quite happy to remember Graciela's past for her, and pounce upon every move she makes in trying to forge a new life in America.

The key to this novel is the three voices - the chapters cycle through each woman's narrative. Graciela focuses on the present and the future, which the other two fill in the history of their life in Cuba. Each perspective is entirely subjective - the reader must decide what is "truth" by assessing each woman's narration of the event taking into account her character and perspective.

I also learned a lot about the Cuban revolution and the migrant experience of middle-class Cubans - the book is set in the years just before and after the revolution in 1969. The heady excitement of the revolution was quickly followed by cold reality as they were stripped of their possessions. The poverty grew worse as the US trade embargo struck. Getting permission to leave the country was a year-long ordeal. As soon as the application was made an official would come and make a catalogue of every item in the house - and if anything was missing or broken when the application finally went through a year later, then permission might be refused.

Imperio and Caridad speak of returning to Cuba "soon" and cling to their old ways. Graciela is the only one with the courage to create an American life. Their situation - and that of many Cubans - is made all the more poignant by the fact that it is only now, 48 years on, that Fidel Castro has retired and the Castro brothers' grip on Cuba is loosening.

Book 4 - The Stone Key

The Stone Key was the book I waited 8 years for. And I think it was worth the wait. It's book 5 in the Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody, and you really do have to go out and read the other four first. Which you should anyway, they're really good books.

The series is set in a post-nuclear holocaust world which has essentially reverted to a medieval way of life, complete with oppressive rulers and religious fanatics. The protagonist, Elspeth Gordie, is an orphan and a Misfit - she has a range of psychic talents including telepathy and beast-speaking. Misfits are burned at the stake - or sent to Obernewtyn, which is where Elspeth ends up. As the series progesses she and a group of misfits take control of Obernewtyn and gradually set about redefining the power structures of the land and the place of Mistfits in it. Elspeth also has a secret destiny - to find and destroy the Machines that created the holocaust in the first place - and a secret nemesis who wants to finish what the holocaust began.

Obernewtyn was Isobelle Carmody's first novel, and it's fascinating to see her growing sophistication as a writer. The plots of each book grow increasingly intertwined and complex (not to mention long) and the enormous cast of characters display complex motivations. Not the least is Elspeth herself. Being the narrator, the reader has the greatest insight into her thoughts - and yet she is definitely not 100% perfect or even that likeable. That said, she - and the books - are most definitely compelling. The Stone Key is no exception - as I mentioned earlier I blew through all 1000 pages in a week, and that's pretty unusual even for me. So get out there and read these books!

Book 3 - From Baghdad with Love.

From Baghdad with Love by Lt Col. Jay Copelman and Melinda Roth has the tagline "A marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava". On the surface it looks like a nice animal story, but it actually paints a confronting image of an American soldier's experience of war. The premise is quite simple - some marines rescue a puppy while on patrol in Fallujah and one in particular takes it upon himself to get it out of Iraq despite the strict rules against it.

"General Order 1 -A is taken pretty seriously by the military. No pets allowed. That's because they've invested a lot of time and money into trashing your moral clarity, and they don't want anything like compassion messing things up. Your job is to shoot the enemy, period, and if anything close to compassion rears its ugly head, you better shoot that down too, or you're in some deep scary shit."

(p 31)

It's the "deep scary shit" that makes this memoir so interesting - the ethical and moral dilemmas that Kopelman and no doubt many other soldiers struggle with while serving in the mess that has become the Iraq war. Here is someone who believed in the cause of the invasion, but has also seen the death, destruction and civil war that it unleashed on the men, women and children of Iraq first-hand.

Frankly, as a pacifist Aussie I can't even begin to grasp what goes through the heads of the people who live and serve in Iraq, or any of the other hotspots in this world. But this book offers a glimps. I pray that one day no one will ever have to live with the consequences with being ordered to shoot another person - or even a puppy.

PS Lava makes it.

Interlude: More recommendations

For those interested in my dilemma, I ended up reading The Stone Key. AND I managed all 1000 pages in a week, thank you!

However, I am now guilty of being two reviews behind.....I will post them tomorrow, after my birthday party tonight.

And thankyou to my friend David, who is not only planning to read some of the books I review (which I hope he will comment on), but also provided me with some more recommendations:

...In no particular order:
Executioner's Song, Norman Mailer(or his new one, Castle In The Forest)
Witches of Eastwick, John Updike
Stardust, Neil Gaiman(one of my favourite books of all time)
Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner(Good luck getting through it in a week though! 600+ pages)
Naked Lunch, William S Burroughs
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (aka Bladerunner), Philip K Dick(or any of his short story anthologies)
Bonfire of the Vanities, tom Wolfe(or My Name is Charlotte Simmons)
Wicked, Gregory Mcguire(Elpheba ... how I love thee!)
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Labyrinths, Jorge Luis Borges
Children of Men, by P.D.James
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
Complete Stories of Dorothy Parker
Short stories of Harlan Ellison
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut
Anything by Terry Pratchett
Okay, I could go on and on and on ... but I'll stop there.

Interlude: Dilemma

Just started a new book today - Tomorrow They Will Kiss by Eduardo Santiago. Seems promising, considering I've only read the first chapter. But then the unthinkable happens. I walk into a bookstore....and I see the Grail.

Craig (my husband) is a toy collector and he often talks about the Grail - the one toy you can never seem to find or afford but would cut your hand off for etc etc. Well, if I were to have a literary Grail, it would be the fifth book of the amazing Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody. It took her eight years to get around to writing it. I had completely given up hope, considering the number of books she's written in the interim. I thought she wasn't going to bother. Only this weekend I was telling someone it would never happen. But I walk into the bookstore and there it is - the fifth book, The Stone Key. So of course I buy it instantly, budget and loyalty to libraries notwithstanding.

But what do I do now? Do I finish "Tomorrow They Will Kiss" in a big rush, while Carmody's 1000-page tome calls to me from the bookshelf? Or do I plunge into The Stone Key, knowing that Tomorrow is due back to the library soon and I may never manage to finish it? Neither approach will do the two books justice. What to do?

Manga Corner: .hack// Legend of the Twilight

Last week I read the first three volumes of .hack// Legend of the Twilight. It's actually some manga that I bought for the public library I used to work at - it's recommended for the Young Adult collection.

I think it's fair to say that it really is aimed at teenagers - 11-15 years or so. And gamers. The premise is that there's a enourmous world-wide virtual reality RPG called the World - sort of like World of Warcraft but VR style. A brother and sister win the avatars of two famous former players. As they start to play with their new characters, they discover the "Mystery" of the World that their characters once sought - and also discover that the vaguely sinister corporation that runs the World is not always as in control as they would like.

There's lots of monster fighting and leveling up and quests - like I say, a real gamers' read. It's a bit like Pokemon and those other franchises - computer games, anime, manga. I think the computer game came first here. I might pick up the anime at the library for a look, but I don't think I'll go further with the manga. The story isn't bad, but I think I'll stick to my current fave, Fruits Basket.

Interlude: Credit where credit is due

After some gentle nudging (I'm sure the bruise on my ribs will heal) I must acknoledge my good friend Shadowfire for recommending the Hyperion books to me in the first place. He also recommended Intervention by Julian May which I have reread several times - he can pick 'em.

Shame he couldn't be bothered reading my recommendations. :P

And thanks to Ben for recommending Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. He's an author that has been on my "to read" list for a long time - funnily enough I think Shadowfire recommended him too! So I shall endeavor to read Snow Crash later this year. But not yet - I don't want to overdo the sci-fi!

I'm currently reading "From Baghdad with Love" - about a Marine who rescues a puppy in Iraq. More on that later.

Book 2 - The Fall of Hyperion

Hyperion finishes as the 7 pilgrims finish their tales and prepare to walk into the valley of the Time Tombs and the terrifying Shrike.

I hate cliff-hangers, don't you?

The Fall of Hyperion (thankfully) tells us the events that happen in the valley, but the view-point widens to include the cataclysmic impact of these events on the greater Web of worlds. Most of this is narrated by a most intriguing character - John Keats, the poet. Or rather, a cybrid Keats (part human, part AI) constructed by the TechnoCore to recreate the poet's life and thoughts, who has escaped into the world Web.

Literature, philosophy and theology are deeply embedded in Dan Simmon's work. Hyperion is the name of an unfinished poem by Keats on the clash of the Greek Gods. The character Silenus struggles to tell the same tale in his Cantos. The poetry of Keats and Yeats are sprinkled throughout the books, and the theology of St Teilhard underpins the whole philosophy of the books: that God, or the Ultimate Intelligence, grows out of the collective spirit of humanity - the animus mundi, to borrow from Yeats.

I think the fact that I've studied both Keats and Yeats, and have a general understanding of theology, was one of the reasons I enjoyed the Hyperion books so much - it really opens up the concepts they try to convey. I love the swirls of intertextuality that run through literature - this concept informs that novel etc. The richer your experience and understanding of literature (or culture in general), the more you will draw from a text. There you go, there's a little treatise on an aspect of postmodernism for you. It's also gotten me thinking about the poetry I studied in high school and uni, so you may find some poetry reviews popping up in here later.

Book 1 - Hyperion by Dan Simmons

One of the great things about Science Fiction is that it allows authors/creators to draw concepts from philosophy, science, sociology, literature, you name it; throw it into the future or an alternate reality; and see what might happen.

In Hyperion, Dan Simmons envisions a future where the culture of humanity has become stunted by its sense of biological superiority while at the same time being entirely and unwittingly dependent on the AIs and technology it once helped to create. Despite having access to hundreds of worlds, there is a homogeneity within human culture created by the ability to step from one world to the next in the blink of an eye. I suppose you could say it is a sad display of the ultimate globalisation, characterised by everything from mediocrity in literature to the fall of religion and the destruction of unique ecosystems and life forms in the name of tourism.

The one variable that cannot be computed by the AIs is Hyperion, home to the mysterious Time Tombs and the Shrike, a creature straight out of nightmares. The Tombs are opening and the Church of the Shrike has hand-selected a last group to take the pilgrammage to the tombs. During their journey, each narrates their story in an homage to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - and to a variety of literary styles including a hard-boiled detective story and a Heart of Darkness-style missionary quest.

Hyperion is a gripping, deeply intelligent read. It rightly won a number of awards, including the Hugo. I'll be writing about some more aspects of it in my next post, since you simply cannot read it without dashing out to find its sequel, Fall of Hyperion.

52 Books in 52 Weeks

I'm a pretty avid reader, so I probably don't need any additional motivation to read more than 52 books in a year. However, I can also sometimes be a lazy reader - there are lots of classic books that I just "haven't gotten around to", or if I do get stuck into a meaty book I may not take the time to really think through what I've read or even form an opinion on the book beyond "it was ok".

So here I am, determined to keep a record of my thoughts on everything I read this year and more than willing to share it with (inflict it on?) my dear friends and fellow readers. And please add your own thoughts or recommendations to my posts.

Love,
Linda