So I haven't blogged in over a year because baby. It's not that I haven't had stuff to share and damn, there are mommy bloggers who have multiples and still get this done, but really it just wasn't a priority. BUT I thought I'd try for a quick Year-in-Review on the big three from this blog: reading, teaching, traveling. I'll admit that they often overlap, but here it goes.
This year was strange for me as a reader. While I opted for the larger phone once Orion was born so that it would be easier to read articles while breast feeding (and scroll facebook and watch videos and take better pictures...), I didn't anticipate how difficult it would be for me to sit down and read an actual book. The baby, who was less than 2 months old when the year began, often required the dedication of both of my arms, making it awkward to hold a book or turn pages. It took until spring break in April for me to finish my first full length book, No Summit Out of Sight.
Two factors brought me back to consistent reading: an idea for a memoir unit for my freshmen and Audible. The first came when I returned to teaching after my maternity leave and began my unit for Elie Wiesel's Night. In the two years I've taught the memoir, I have paired it with the required freshman research paper by creating a compare/contrast between Wiesel's work on the most well-known genocide of our time and excerpts from memoirs from the genocides in Guatemala, Cambodia, and Rwanda.
When I first created the assignment/unit, I think my goal was to expose students to history beyond Europe. While everyone seems to know about the atrocities of the Holocaust, I felt like too many students leave school without realizing that intolerance, prejudice, racism, and even genocide didn't end in 1944. I also feel like our curriculum can be too Eurocentric, so I wanted to expand the purview of the unit.
But, WOW, is that unit depressing. It's depressing to teach and it's depressing to learn. I also didn't really feel like reading excerpts of a few pages really accomplished my goal anyway. I really wanted my students to read a second full-length memoir, so I started researching teenagers and war memoirs. The prospect of vetting a bunch of these was unsettling, though. I already knew it would be difficult to find time to read a dozen or more memoirs in order to find some my 14-year-old students could connect with, but the idea of spending all of my free time reading about the horrors of war was just too sad. Instead I started finding other memoirs by teens. Teens who had overcome adversity. Teens who had invented something or accomplished something. Teens who had lessons to teach my students without enduring abuse, addiction, severe tragedy, or war.
So I set out on a year (really 8 months) of reading nothing but memoirs. The first one was wonderful but difficult to finish with an infant trying to grab it out of my hands, which is when I turned to audiobooks. I've never been a big fan of audiobooks except for long road trips because they tend to read slower than I do, which is frustrating and often sleep-inducing. But Audible allowed me to speed up the reading. Audiobooks meant I could listen/read while making dinner, taking a walk, or during my 40-minute-each-way commute. I could listen while playing on the floor with my baby or while feeding him. Audiobooks meant I could get back into reading without giving up time for sleep or seeing my husband or any of the other activities vying for my very limited time.
Here is the list of books I went through this year, mostly on Audible.
Jordan Romero, No Summit Out of Sight
9 year old decides he wants to climb the tallest mountain on each continent, completes the task by the time he is 14 and becomes the youngest person to have done so. Awesome. Easy read. Great for my students. Love. This one confirms my plan for memoir-based lit circles.
William Kamkwamba, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Been on my To Read list for ages and this memoir thing gives me an excuse. Teen in Malawi discovers a science book with a section on wind energy and decides to build a windmill to harness energy for his own home. Awesome. Great for my engineering-minded kids. Definitely going on the list.
I Wasn't Strong Like This When I Started Out: Stories of Becoming a Nurse
Short stories by multiple authors. Interesting but didn't really work for my purpose. Stopped before the end and returned, not because I didn't enjoy listening to it but because I couldn't devote time to a book that wouldn't ultimately be used for my project at this time.
Mark Owen, No Easy Day
Memoir of a member of Seal Team 6 who participated not only in the assassination of Osama bin Laden, but also several other significant events of the past decade. Totally out of my comfort zone but I LOVED it. Great for students but also great for me to read something so completely different.
Jeanne Watkatsuki Houston, Farewell to Manzanar
Young Japanese-American girl's experience before, during, and after WWII. I assumed this one was a no brainer for inclusion in my unit since the internment camp experience dovetails well with Night, but after listening to it I just wasn't sold. I'm glad I finally read it, since I'd had it on my list for about a decade, but it just didn't work for my memoir unit. Returned to Audible despite finishing (love Audible's return policy!).
Firoozeh Dumas, Funny in Farsi
Recommended by a friend for this unit but it was a no go. While I thought it was interesting and kind of funny to listen to, the book is mostly set in the 1970s and just too dated for my students. Stopped early and returned.
Bethany Hamilton, Soul Surfer
13-year-old surfer from Kauai suffers a shark attack that takes her arm, learns to overcome her struggles with faith and family. While I personally cringe from all the God stuff in this book and it made me really uncomfortable to include it, I know it will jive well with some of my students, particularly my Mormon kids. Plus the religion thing works really well as a contrast to the loss of faith in Night. It's a must-include despite my personal hang ups.
Chrissie Wellington, A Life Without Limits
In an effort to find something for athletes, I found this one by a triathlete who stunned the world by winning the Iron Man competition in Kona, Hawaii not once but three times. As a super-amateur 5k run-walker this year (more on that in Travel), I was stunned by how much I related to Wellington's journey and how interested I was in her story despite it being so far from my own life (a professional athlete? ha!). Great for my athletes, especially the girls.
Jeanette Walls, The Glass Castle
This one had TONS of recommendations. It was recommended by friends and teachers all over the internet, including all kinds of lesson ideas for including it in classrooms. But I just couldn't get on board. The premise of the story - two parents who choose their own interests and goals over providing for their young children and how the children manage in spite of this - just felt too much like neglect for my new-mom heart. I couldn't handle it. I was often with my infant son when I was listening and the behavior of the parents just disgusted me. Stopped and returned.
Malala Yousafzai, I am Malala
Another that's been on my list for a while, but I wasn't sure I could handle as an audiobook because I struggle with Ms. Yousafzai's accent. Luckily, she only reads the forward and the rest was much more manageable for me. This Nobel Prize winner who talks about peace and the importance of education despite being targeted for assassination by the Taliban is exactly the kind of teen-with-a-message I was looking for. Added to the list!
Jo Anne Normile, Saving Baby
I was looking for something for my FFA-types or even just a good book with a dog and I found this story of a racehorse owner turned activist. Again, I was surprised by how moved I was by the story considering I have no experience with horses and have never been one of those girls who dreamed about riding or owning one. Still, I fell in love with Baby (and the cause of mistreated racehorses) through Normile's words and I think my students will, too.
Kevin Hazzard, A Thousand Naked Strangers
This fast-paced, in-your-face, sometimes-gory account of the life of an EMT was gripping, funny, and just raunchy enough to be perfect for my teens. After the nurse book didn't work out, I still wanted something for my potential future medical workers. I considered Atul Gawande's Better, which I read a few years ago for the PSAT summer program at Elite, but it was too cerebral. I wanted something that was more hands-on. BINGO. I think the chapter titled "Death By Broccoli" will be the intro material when I show it to my students later this month. (Plus that title, man, way too perfect.)
Johnny Anonymous, NFL Confidential
I had a surfer girl, a woman triathlete, a racehorse book, and a boy who climbs moutains, but I still didn't have a book for my traditional football-baseball-soccer boys and I really wanted to fill that niche. I polled a lot of people and did a lot of searching in this category. I liked the idea of a really famous player but I also wanted the memoir to be current. I needed something that was going to be accessible to a demographic of traditional non-readers but that would also work in a literary-educational environment, since I know I'm going to assign writing topics like theme, character development, conflict type, and compare-contrast to Night. NFL Confidential was gritty, raw, vulgar, and totally delightful. I knew my students would absolutely love it but at the same time I knew I could never assign it. Ugh. The search continues.
Ben Utecht, Counting the Days While My Mind Slips Away
A football player who was recently in the NFL talking about the damage caused by his many concussions? Sounds awesome. Got preachy really fast. Stopped and returned and ran away.
Nate Jackson, Slow Getting Up
At first I wasn't wild about Jackson's style. It's full of terse syntax and simple vocabulary. It includes cussing (but so does A Thousand Naked Bodies and No Easy Day - certain professions seem to be either profanity-laced or way-too-preachy and there doesn't seem to be an in between). Jackson isn't a star or even a starter and most students won't recognize his name. BUT he's basically Joe Football. He's the every player that my kids could probably relate to. And by the end of the book, I really liked him. While NFL Confidential was funnier and possibly more interesting, Slow Getting Up fit more of my writing topic criteria. Done. Put it on the list!
Lawrence Anthony, The Elephant Whisperer
Still looking for a traditional pet-lover book. Found a guy who inherited a herd of wild elephants on a conservation in Africa. So NOT a traditional pet-lover book, but I still listened to about a third of it before I realized that it was also about twice as long as I could accommodate for this unit. I wasn't invested enough to finish for my own enjoyment. Stopped and returned.
Misty Copeland, Life in Motion
The first African American woman to become a principal ballerina for the American Ballet? Yeah, that works. Plus she's young and current and students will recognize her name and she's great for my dancers.
Mike Brown, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming
I was still concerned that I didn't have enough for STEM kids, which is why this one made it on the list. It's the story of the astro-scientist who, in his quest for a tenth planet, actually proved that there are only eight. It was surprisingly funny and written in a way that non-astroscientists could completely understand the controversy and the result. LOVE, again.
At this point I felt like I had enough for my students. 11 books made the lit circle list that I will be introducing in just a few weeks now. I'm still working on funding all of the copies I need (130+ books is a challenge), but the parents have been amazing so I'm not (too) worried. I wanted a variety of demographics, interests, ages, and locations. I wanted to find something for every student (because I really believe everyone can love reading if they are reading about something they love). I wanted people who had overcome adversity (both internal and external) but who hadn't been involved in the severely damaging lifestyles or events that normally lead to book deals: eating disorders, drug or alcohol abuse, physical or sexual assault/abuse, gang/prison time, abandonment, etc. I wanted inspiration.
This project stretched my reading to completely new areas of interest that I never would have ventured into before. I had experienced this a little when I taught the PSAT book camps from 2010-2013 since they often included books, especially nonfiction, that I may never have found on my own, but this was different. Reading outside my comfort zone was shocking mostly because I didn't really feel uncomfortable at all and actually felt incredible kinship with the various authors I read. I never thought I'd enjoy a book about football or triathlons or racehorses, but I fell in love with all of them.
Due to the success of reading nothing but memoir from March - October, I decided to complete the year with all non-fiction titles. These included Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, the story of the black female mathematicians who helped NASA win the Space Race and that is now a movie coming out next week; Elizabeth Royte's Bottlemania, the story of big business and natural water and fight over America's drinking water; Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, a memoir about her life leading up to and including The Office; and Originals by Adam Grant, a book in the vein of Outliers or others by Malcolm Gladwell that probes how people who rebel against conformity succeed in changing the world around them. I even started (but have yet to finish) The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, a book that Joe has been begging me to read for years.
I'm excited about the reading I did this year because it has been a while since I've read this consistently for pleasure but also because I was able to find pleasurable reading in so many different areas. I'm now looking forward to books that range from a video gamer's memoir to Reading Lolita in Tehran. Between Audible and the time I spend commuting, I have a lot of books to get through.
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Book Review: The Lifeboat
Two weeks, three books, and one 6-day trip to New York and Connecticut under my belt (food-filled blog post about that is forthcoming). I thought I'd do more reading on the flights to and from JFK, but alas, I like to sleep on planes. I did finish book #3, though: The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan.
The Basics via Amazon:
The Basics via Amazon:
Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life.
In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying Grace and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize has exceeded capacity. For any to live, some must die.
As the castaways battle the elements and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it?
THE LIFEBOAT is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.
Why I picked it up:
In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying Grace and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize has exceeded capacity. For any to live, some must die.
As the castaways battle the elements and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she'd found. Will she pay any price to keep it?
THE LIFEBOAT is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.
Why I picked it up:
Whenever I teach Lord of the Flies, I start with an activity called "Who Should Survive" that mirrors this novel's opening plot. I thought it would be interesting to see that activity played out long-form. I also thought it might be a little bit Titanic and a little bit Life of Pi, which was intriguing.
What I did know beforehand:
If my Nook version had had this hardback cover,
I probably would've gravitated toward it faster.
This is my kind of cover.
The reviews I read before choosing this book made two points that I now agree were valid: a) there are a lot of characters at the beginning and it can be hard to keep them straight; b) the novel may have been more interesting if it had been told as a multi-perspective piece including more than one of the survivors. (I was reading this purely for pleasure, so I combatted the first problem by simply glossing over most of the names and not trying too hard to remember exactly who was who. Worked for me.)
Why I recommend it:
Why I recommend it:
It's quick and easy but still intriguing. The vocabulary level is good enough to include in one of my PSAT reading camps, but I don't think the storyline is complex enough to stand up to literary scrutiny. It's mostly for recreational readers who don't want traditional beach lit. This novel is set in 1914 and isn't some flighty love story. There is a philosophical element to it because you're forced to ask if you might do the same as Grace given the circumstances (my answer is a resounding NO). It's a fun read that I will probably forget most of 3 months from now.
It's also (of course) in pre-production for a movie. I'm kind of sick of this theme right now, actually, even though I love that books are being adapted into movies. I think it's kind of the lazy road for everyone - movie makers don't have to come up with their own stories and audiences get just the gist of a novel from seeing the movie but then think they don't need to actually read the book. Lame. Anyway, this one is possibly going to star Anne Hathaway. I like Anne Hathaway, so I really hope that if this movie gets made they do some movie magic to beef up the main character and give her something to really DO with it. I don't see this being a particularly exciting movie otherwise.
Who should read it:
It's also (of course) in pre-production for a movie. I'm kind of sick of this theme right now, actually, even though I love that books are being adapted into movies. I think it's kind of the lazy road for everyone - movie makers don't have to come up with their own stories and audiences get just the gist of a novel from seeing the movie but then think they don't need to actually read the book. Lame. Anyway, this one is possibly going to star Anne Hathaway. I like Anne Hathaway, so I really hope that if this movie gets made they do some movie magic to beef up the main character and give her something to really DO with it. I don't see this being a particularly exciting movie otherwise.
Who should read it:
- People who liked Titanic
- People who like a quick read but are sick of reading about romantic relationships or crime dramas
- People who liked Life of Pi (the movie version)
- Students who loved the "Who Should Survive" activity (which a lot of you did)
What the pros say:
- People who like a quick read but are sick of reading about romantic relationships or crime dramas
- People who liked Life of Pi (the movie version)
- Students who loved the "Who Should Survive" activity (which a lot of you did)
What the pros say:
New York Times Sunday Book Review
"An enthralling story of survival at sea.... One hell of a debut." (Jonathan Raban, New York Review of Books)
"An eerie, powerful debut you'll want to race through, but try to resist the urge. A slower read reveals a psychological depth that'll leave you thinking." (Helen Rogan, People)
A beautifully constructed first novel.... Rogan crafts a harrowing, suspenseful take of survival.... The Lifeboat raises forever fascinating questions without moral posturing or sentimentality. (Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today)
"In her assured debut, Rogan has written a layered and provocative tale of survival and impossible decisions. But her biggest achievement is the disarmingly demure yet fiercely shrewd Grace, a narrator as fascinating and unreliable as they come."―Stephan Lee, Entertainment Weekly
"Rogan manages to distill this drama about what's right and wrong when the answer means life or death into a gripping, confident first novel...Other novels have examined the conscience and guilt of a survivor among the dead, but few tales are as thoughtful and compelling as this."―Christina Ianzito, Washington Post
"An enthralling story of survival at sea.... One hell of a debut." (Jonathan Raban, New York Review of Books)
"An eerie, powerful debut you'll want to race through, but try to resist the urge. A slower read reveals a psychological depth that'll leave you thinking." (Helen Rogan, People)
A beautifully constructed first novel.... Rogan crafts a harrowing, suspenseful take of survival.... The Lifeboat raises forever fascinating questions without moral posturing or sentimentality. (Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today)
"In her assured debut, Rogan has written a layered and provocative tale of survival and impossible decisions. But her biggest achievement is the disarmingly demure yet fiercely shrewd Grace, a narrator as fascinating and unreliable as they come."―Stephan Lee, Entertainment Weekly
"Rogan manages to distill this drama about what's right and wrong when the answer means life or death into a gripping, confident first novel...Other novels have examined the conscience and guilt of a survivor among the dead, but few tales are as thoughtful and compelling as this."―Christina Ianzito, Washington Post
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Book Review: The Girl on the Train
I'm one week into summer break and have completed book #2, The Girl on the Train. Not bad progress, though I think if it had been a bit more gripping from the start Paula Hawkins' 288-page debut novel should have only taken me 1 day, maybe two. Instead it took 3 days to complete and I only really enjoyed the last one.
The Basics via Amazon:Intersecting, overlapping, not-quite-what-they-seem lives. Jealousies and betrayals and wounded hearts. A haunting unease that clutches and won’t let go. All this and more helps propel Paula Hawkins’s addictive debut into a new stratum of the psychological thriller genre. From the opening line, the reader knows what they’re in for: “She’s buried beneath a silver birch tree, down towards the old train tracks…” But Hawkins teases out the mystery with a veteran’s finesse. The “girl on the train” is Rachel, who commutes into London and back each day, rolling past the backyard of a happy-looking couple she names Jess and Jason. Then one day Rachel sees “Jess” kissing another man. The day after that, Jess goes missing. The story is told from three character’s not-to-be-trusted perspectives: Rachel, who mourns the loss of her former life with the help of canned gin and tonics; Megan (aka Jess); and Anna, Rachel’s ex-husband’s wife, who happens to be Jess/Megan’s neighbor. Rachel’s voyeuristic yearning for the seemingly idyllic life of Jess and Jason lures her closer and closer to the investigation into Jess/Megan’s disappearance, and closer to a deeper understanding of who she really is. And who she isn’t. This is a book to be devoured. -Neal Thompson
Why I picked it up:The Girl on the Train is basically the It novel of the summer. I've been seeing it everywhere. It started on a list of debut authors everyone should read that I saw back in February or March and just kept popping up. Plus, several friends have read and loved it.
What I didn't know:Everything. I don't even think I read any jacket copy before downloading this one. I especially liked that it was set in London and the train the protagonist takes her to and from Euston station, my stomping grounds near University College London. She even ends up at University College Hospital in one scene, which gave me a nice warm, homey feeling as everything about London does these days.
Why I recommend it:
Mostly because everyone else is reading it and so it's going to be talked about. Plus there is (inevitably) a movie being made. It's almost always better to have read the book before seeing the movie, so...
HOWEVER
The Basics via Amazon:Intersecting, overlapping, not-quite-what-they-seem lives. Jealousies and betrayals and wounded hearts. A haunting unease that clutches and won’t let go. All this and more helps propel Paula Hawkins’s addictive debut into a new stratum of the psychological thriller genre. From the opening line, the reader knows what they’re in for: “She’s buried beneath a silver birch tree, down towards the old train tracks…” But Hawkins teases out the mystery with a veteran’s finesse. The “girl on the train” is Rachel, who commutes into London and back each day, rolling past the backyard of a happy-looking couple she names Jess and Jason. Then one day Rachel sees “Jess” kissing another man. The day after that, Jess goes missing. The story is told from three character’s not-to-be-trusted perspectives: Rachel, who mourns the loss of her former life with the help of canned gin and tonics; Megan (aka Jess); and Anna, Rachel’s ex-husband’s wife, who happens to be Jess/Megan’s neighbor. Rachel’s voyeuristic yearning for the seemingly idyllic life of Jess and Jason lures her closer and closer to the investigation into Jess/Megan’s disappearance, and closer to a deeper understanding of who she really is. And who she isn’t. This is a book to be devoured. -Neal Thompson
Why I picked it up:The Girl on the Train is basically the It novel of the summer. I've been seeing it everywhere. It started on a list of debut authors everyone should read that I saw back in February or March and just kept popping up. Plus, several friends have read and loved it.
What I didn't know:Everything. I don't even think I read any jacket copy before downloading this one. I especially liked that it was set in London and the train the protagonist takes her to and from Euston station, my stomping grounds near University College London. She even ends up at University College Hospital in one scene, which gave me a nice warm, homey feeling as everything about London does these days.
Why I recommend it:
Mostly because everyone else is reading it and so it's going to be talked about. Plus there is (inevitably) a movie being made. It's almost always better to have read the book before seeing the movie, so...
HOWEVER
I wasn't as enthralled as some people. The book was good, but it didn't amaze me. I felt the ending was satisfactory, but not great. I also didn't really like the main narrator; it's hard to get into a story when you don't actually sympathize with the person whose eyes you're seeing it through. But that's just me.
Who should read it:- People who like chiller/thriller/suspense novels and quick reads
- People who liked Gone Girl, etc. (I kept thinking as I read it that it was like Gone Girl but just not quite on the same level. Gone Girl was extraordinarily intricate and shocking, something the Girl on the Train lacked in many ways. When I started looking for pics to include in this post, I found this article from someone else who felt the same way.)
- People who like books told from multiple points-of-view, which I usually do
“[The Girl on the Train] pulls off a thriller's toughest trick: carefully assembling everything we think we know, until it reveals the one thing we didn't see coming."—Entertainment Weekly
“Hawkins’s taut story roars along at the pace of, well, a high-speed train. …Hawkins delivers a smart, searing thriller that offers readers a 360-degree view of lust, love, marriage and divorce.”—Good Housekeeping
“There’s nothing like a possible murder to take the humdrum out of your daily commute.”—Cosmopolitan
"Paula Hawkins has come up with an ingenious slant on the currently fashionable amnesia thriller. . . . Hawkins juggles perspectives and timescales with great skill, and considerable suspense builds up along with empathy for an unusual central character."—The Guardian
“Paula Hawkins deftly imbues her debut psychological thriller with inventive twists and a shocking denouement. … Hawkins delivers an original debut that keeps the exciting momentum of The Girl on the Train going until the last page.”—Denver Post
“The novel is at its best in the moment of maximum confusion, when neither the reader nor the narrators know what is occurring” – The Financial Times
“This fresh take on Hitchcock’s Rear Window is getting raves and will likely be one of the biggest debuts of the year.”—Omaha World-Herald
“Hawkins’s tale of love, regret, violence and forgetting is an engrossing psychological thriller with plenty of surprises. . . . The novel gets harder and harder to put down as the story screeches toward its unexpected ending.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A gripping, down-the-rabbit-hole thriller.”—Entertainment Weekly Hotlist
Who should read it:- People who like chiller/thriller/suspense novels and quick reads
- People who liked Gone Girl, etc. (I kept thinking as I read it that it was like Gone Girl but just not quite on the same level. Gone Girl was extraordinarily intricate and shocking, something the Girl on the Train lacked in many ways. When I started looking for pics to include in this post, I found this article from someone else who felt the same way.)
- People who like books told from multiple points-of-view, which I usually do
What the pros say:
“The Girl on the Train marries movie noir with novelistic trickery. . . hang on tight. You'll be surprised by what horrors lurk around the bend.”—USA Today“[The Girl on the Train] pulls off a thriller's toughest trick: carefully assembling everything we think we know, until it reveals the one thing we didn't see coming."—Entertainment Weekly
“Hawkins’s taut story roars along at the pace of, well, a high-speed train. …Hawkins delivers a smart, searing thriller that offers readers a 360-degree view of lust, love, marriage and divorce.”—Good Housekeeping
“There’s nothing like a possible murder to take the humdrum out of your daily commute.”—Cosmopolitan
"Paula Hawkins has come up with an ingenious slant on the currently fashionable amnesia thriller. . . . Hawkins juggles perspectives and timescales with great skill, and considerable suspense builds up along with empathy for an unusual central character."—The Guardian
“Paula Hawkins deftly imbues her debut psychological thriller with inventive twists and a shocking denouement. … Hawkins delivers an original debut that keeps the exciting momentum of The Girl on the Train going until the last page.”—Denver Post
“The novel is at its best in the moment of maximum confusion, when neither the reader nor the narrators know what is occurring” – The Financial Times
“This fresh take on Hitchcock’s Rear Window is getting raves and will likely be one of the biggest debuts of the year.”—Omaha World-Herald
“Hawkins’s tale of love, regret, violence and forgetting is an engrossing psychological thriller with plenty of surprises. . . . The novel gets harder and harder to put down as the story screeches toward its unexpected ending.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A gripping, down-the-rabbit-hole thriller.”—Entertainment Weekly Hotlist
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Book Review: The Light Between Oceans
So this is what it feels like to stay up late to read for fun again. I remember this but it's been a while.
My summer break is 3 days old. So far I've created new year-long unit maps for both of my classes and written a completely new syllabus from scratch (something I haven't done in about 5 years). I've also finished the first book on my way-too-long-to-actually-manage-it summer reading list.
I'll be honest: I put this book on my list mostly because it matches my house and would look pretty on a bookshelf. (Ironically I then read it on my Nook, so I still don't actually own a physical copy.)
So here's the basics from Amazon:
"Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a tiny island a half day’s boat journey from the coast of Western Australia. When a baby washes up in a rowboat, he and his young wife Isabel decide to raise the child as their own. The baby seems like a gift from God, and the couple’s reasoning for keeping her seduces the reader into entering the waters of treacherous morality even as Tom--whose moral code withstood the horrors of World War I--begins to waver. M. L. Stedman’s vivid characters and gorgeous descriptions of the solitude of Janus Rock and of the unpredictable Australian frontier create a perfect backdrop for the tale of longing, loss, and the overwhelming love for a child that is The Light Between Oceans. --Malissa Kent"
Here's why I decided to pick it up:My sophomores just finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front (a book I hated when I was 15 but absolutely LOVE now) and I was looking for an easy transition into summer. The Light Between Oceans features a protagonist who is a WWI soldier navigating the difficult return to civilian life. Plus it sounded like a bit of a love story and a bit of a mystery and takes place in Australia, so that sounded cool.
What I didn't know:One of the main threads of the novel has to do with the loss of children, especially through miscarriage. Tom's wife Isabel suffers three increasingly traumatic miscarriages in a row and the book explores the effect of such devastation on her before she finally has a child to call her own. My own miscarriage experience last August has made me identify with stories like this in ways I never could before. While my experience was not physically traumatic and I am now experiencing what seems like it will be a healthy, successful pregnancy, it's hard to explain the scar that miscarriage leaves on your psyche. It's always easier to like a book when you can see yourself in one of the characters, so Isabel hooked me.Why I recommend it:
There's enough intrigue and suspense to keep you turning the pages, the characters are well-formed and believable, and you can't help wondering what you would do if you were in the same situation. The last 100+ pages were all read in one swing that happened when I was planning to read for 15 minutes before bed and instead stayed up an additional several hours because I kept saying to myself, "Well, alright, just a little more..." and around 2 am that turned into, "Well, alright, I'm so close to the end now it just seems silly to stop..." Most of my favorite books have ended that way.
Who should read it:
- People who appreciate poetic writing and an author who can craft a beautiful phrase.
- People who wondered what might have happened to Paul after AQWF (if, ya know, he hadn't died).
- People who like a little suspense and a little crime and a little "but how?" in their reading but aren't looking for a thriller or a full-on mystery novel
- Pretty much anyone I talk to in the next few months, who will all be getting this recommendation from me.
- Anyone who might be tempted to see the movie version that is supposedly coming out this year. Michael Fassbender (young Magneto) is playing Tom, so I'll definitely be there. (Side note: the Tom in my head was not that sexy by a long shot...) It's a Disney/Dreamworks production and the few shots I've seen of filming make it look like a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, but I promise it's more inspiration and less devastation than that.
Some professional reviews:
"Irresistible...seductive...a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page."—Sara Nelson, O, the Oprah magazine
“An extraordinary and heart-rending book about good people, tragic decisions and the beauty found in each of them.”—Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
“M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans is a beautiful novel about isolation and courage in the face of enormous loss. It gets into your heart stealthily, until you stop hoping the characters will make different choices and find you can only watch, transfixed, as every conceivable choice becomes an impossible one. I couldn’t look away from the page and then I couldn’t see it, through tears. It’s a stunning debut.”—Maile Meloy, author of Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It
“Haunting...Stedman draws the reader into her emotionally complex story right from the beginning, with lush descriptions of this savage and beautiful landscape, and vivid characters with whom we can readily empathize. Hers is a stunning and memorable debut.”—Booklist, starred review
“This fine, suspenseful debut explores desperation, morality, and loss, and considers the damaging ways in which we store our private sorrows, and the consequences of such terrible secrets.”—Martha Stewart Whole Living
“Elegantly rendered…heart-wrenching…the relationship between Tom and Isabel, in particular, is beautifully drawn.” (Elysa Gardner USA Today)
“Sublimely written, poetic in its intensity and frailty…This is a simply beautiful story that deserves the praise and wide audience it’s receiving. A stunning debut from a new voice that I can’t wait to hear again.” (Karen Brooks, author of Illumination)
My summer break is 3 days old. So far I've created new year-long unit maps for both of my classes and written a completely new syllabus from scratch (something I haven't done in about 5 years). I've also finished the first book on my way-too-long-to-actually-manage-it summer reading list.
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| Buy It Here |
I'll be honest: I put this book on my list mostly because it matches my house and would look pretty on a bookshelf. (Ironically I then read it on my Nook, so I still don't actually own a physical copy.)
So here's the basics from Amazon:
"Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a tiny island a half day’s boat journey from the coast of Western Australia. When a baby washes up in a rowboat, he and his young wife Isabel decide to raise the child as their own. The baby seems like a gift from God, and the couple’s reasoning for keeping her seduces the reader into entering the waters of treacherous morality even as Tom--whose moral code withstood the horrors of World War I--begins to waver. M. L. Stedman’s vivid characters and gorgeous descriptions of the solitude of Janus Rock and of the unpredictable Australian frontier create a perfect backdrop for the tale of longing, loss, and the overwhelming love for a child that is The Light Between Oceans. --Malissa Kent"
Here's why I decided to pick it up:My sophomores just finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front (a book I hated when I was 15 but absolutely LOVE now) and I was looking for an easy transition into summer. The Light Between Oceans features a protagonist who is a WWI soldier navigating the difficult return to civilian life. Plus it sounded like a bit of a love story and a bit of a mystery and takes place in Australia, so that sounded cool.
What I didn't know:One of the main threads of the novel has to do with the loss of children, especially through miscarriage. Tom's wife Isabel suffers three increasingly traumatic miscarriages in a row and the book explores the effect of such devastation on her before she finally has a child to call her own. My own miscarriage experience last August has made me identify with stories like this in ways I never could before. While my experience was not physically traumatic and I am now experiencing what seems like it will be a healthy, successful pregnancy, it's hard to explain the scar that miscarriage leaves on your psyche. It's always easier to like a book when you can see yourself in one of the characters, so Isabel hooked me.Why I recommend it:
There's enough intrigue and suspense to keep you turning the pages, the characters are well-formed and believable, and you can't help wondering what you would do if you were in the same situation. The last 100+ pages were all read in one swing that happened when I was planning to read for 15 minutes before bed and instead stayed up an additional several hours because I kept saying to myself, "Well, alright, just a little more..." and around 2 am that turned into, "Well, alright, I'm so close to the end now it just seems silly to stop..." Most of my favorite books have ended that way.
Who should read it:
- People who appreciate poetic writing and an author who can craft a beautiful phrase.
- People who wondered what might have happened to Paul after AQWF (if, ya know, he hadn't died).
- People who like a little suspense and a little crime and a little "but how?" in their reading but aren't looking for a thriller or a full-on mystery novel
- Pretty much anyone I talk to in the next few months, who will all be getting this recommendation from me.
- Anyone who might be tempted to see the movie version that is supposedly coming out this year. Michael Fassbender (young Magneto) is playing Tom, so I'll definitely be there. (Side note: the Tom in my head was not that sexy by a long shot...) It's a Disney/Dreamworks production and the few shots I've seen of filming make it look like a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, but I promise it's more inspiration and less devastation than that.
Some professional reviews:
"Irresistible...seductive...a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page."—Sara Nelson, O, the Oprah magazine
“An extraordinary and heart-rending book about good people, tragic decisions and the beauty found in each of them.”—Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief
“M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans is a beautiful novel about isolation and courage in the face of enormous loss. It gets into your heart stealthily, until you stop hoping the characters will make different choices and find you can only watch, transfixed, as every conceivable choice becomes an impossible one. I couldn’t look away from the page and then I couldn’t see it, through tears. It’s a stunning debut.”—Maile Meloy, author of Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It
“Haunting...Stedman draws the reader into her emotionally complex story right from the beginning, with lush descriptions of this savage and beautiful landscape, and vivid characters with whom we can readily empathize. Hers is a stunning and memorable debut.”—Booklist, starred review
“This fine, suspenseful debut explores desperation, morality, and loss, and considers the damaging ways in which we store our private sorrows, and the consequences of such terrible secrets.”—Martha Stewart Whole Living
“Elegantly rendered…heart-wrenching…the relationship between Tom and Isabel, in particular, is beautifully drawn.” (Elysa Gardner USA Today)
“Sublimely written, poetic in its intensity and frailty…This is a simply beautiful story that deserves the praise and wide audience it’s receiving. A stunning debut from a new voice that I can’t wait to hear again.” (Karen Brooks, author of Illumination)
Saturday, July 5, 2014
The Making of Harry Potter
First off: Croatia is amazing. We've been here for 5 days and I can't wait to share pictures.
But first there's a little bit of London business leftover that I want to get on here before too long. We may have left London on July 1, but seeing as we don't have anywhere else to call home just yet, I'm still going to write about London.
One of the last major items on our London List was the Warner Bros studio set tour of the Making of Harry Potter. We dropped several London sights off our priorities in June, but this was non-negotiable. We finally booked our tour on June 16 and we travelled to the studio in Leavesden in this super-touristy converted double-decker:
The studio could have gone only two ways: boring/lame and totally awesome. Unsurprisingly, it was the latter. Now, after ten months of me taking and posting LOTS of pictures of Joe with beers (that all look exactly the same even if they taste totally different), it was Joe's turn to take pictures of me being ridiculously excited about every new set and prop. As we entered the building, I even warned him: I might cry.
The cabinet under the stairs was only in the queue leading into the sets. No, the real tour starts BIG.
The doors to the Great Hall! I don't know what I expected, but I was shocked over and over by how HUGE the sets were and how REAL it all felt. Plus there were all kinds of details that I'd never noticed in the films, like the fact that every one of the torches in the Great Hall is in the form of one of the four house animals and every statue is different.
Two of the house tables were left set for a meal and there were costumes from each house around the room, including Cedric Diggory/Robert Pattinson's Triwizard Tournament uniform, Harry/Daniel Radcliffe's first Gryffindor Robes, and costumes for each of the teachers at the Head Table.
Beyond the Great Hall were several other sets including the boys' dormitory, Gryffindor common room, the kitchen of the Burrow, Hagrid's hut, the Potions dungeon/classroom, and Dumbledore's entire two-story office.
This area also included an abundance of props, including all of the horcruxes, dozens of wands, Molly Weasley's family clock, the doors to the Chamber of Secrets and a few Gringott's vaults, and many paper items. I was struck by the fact that Rita Skeeter's The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore is a real-life paperback book.
Beyond this area is an outdoor space between studios that includes some of the larger sets. The Night Bus, Hogwarts Bridge, and both Privet Drive and the Potter's house from Godric's Hollow are in this area. There is also a stand where you can buy Butter Beer, one of only two locations in the world.
The next section of the tour includes architecture, art, blueprints, and animatronics. The animatronic Buckbeak was moving the entire time.
The last section before the most amazing store I've ever been in was the model of Hogwarts used in wide shots of the school. It was magical.
This year has been fueled by Harry Potter all along. The paper I wrote that gained me entry to UCL was about the series. The Harry Potter conference I attended in Scotland in 2012 made me confident I could handle moving to the UK. Throughout our travels we have collected multi-lingual editions of the series as well as a special British edition. In Edinburgh, we visited the cafe where Rowling wrote much of the first books. It should come as a shock to no one that we were inclined to buy wands or that I proudly sport my Ravenclaw shirt (the House to which I was assigned by the Sorting Hat on Pottermore; Joe is a Gryffindor mostly because I say so).
The details on the wands were one of our favorite parts of the tour. Every character's wand is totally different - unique in color, shape, design, and even weight. Even Fred and George Weasley, whose wands are sold as a set, have completely different designs. Molly Weasley's is very practical. Narcissa Malfoy's is highly decorative. Sometimes the design is reflective of the character, but sometimes it isn't. For someone like me who loves personalization and detail, this was just one more feature of the films for me to love.
I love this series and the movies that helped bring it to life, so being on the sets was somewhat surreal and overwhelming. Even Joe was impressed with the tour and the authenticity of everything we saw. I didn't cry, but I could have. A big Thank You to my colleagues at Diego Hills who gave us this gift for our wedding last year - it was an amazing day.
Just one more, for the road:
But first there's a little bit of London business leftover that I want to get on here before too long. We may have left London on July 1, but seeing as we don't have anywhere else to call home just yet, I'm still going to write about London.
One of the last major items on our London List was the Warner Bros studio set tour of the Making of Harry Potter. We dropped several London sights off our priorities in June, but this was non-negotiable. We finally booked our tour on June 16 and we travelled to the studio in Leavesden in this super-touristy converted double-decker:
The studio could have gone only two ways: boring/lame and totally awesome. Unsurprisingly, it was the latter. Now, after ten months of me taking and posting LOTS of pictures of Joe with beers (that all look exactly the same even if they taste totally different), it was Joe's turn to take pictures of me being ridiculously excited about every new set and prop. As we entered the building, I even warned him: I might cry.
The cabinet under the stairs was only in the queue leading into the sets. No, the real tour starts BIG.
The doors to the Great Hall! I don't know what I expected, but I was shocked over and over by how HUGE the sets were and how REAL it all felt. Plus there were all kinds of details that I'd never noticed in the films, like the fact that every one of the torches in the Great Hall is in the form of one of the four house animals and every statue is different.
Two of the house tables were left set for a meal and there were costumes from each house around the room, including Cedric Diggory/Robert Pattinson's Triwizard Tournament uniform, Harry/Daniel Radcliffe's first Gryffindor Robes, and costumes for each of the teachers at the Head Table.
Beyond the Great Hall were several other sets including the boys' dormitory, Gryffindor common room, the kitchen of the Burrow, Hagrid's hut, the Potions dungeon/classroom, and Dumbledore's entire two-story office.
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| the underside of Harry's invisibility cloak made of green screen so that it could be graphically enhanced in post production |
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| the entrance to Dumbledore's office; the password is lemon drop |
Beyond this area is an outdoor space between studios that includes some of the larger sets. The Night Bus, Hogwarts Bridge, and both Privet Drive and the Potter's house from Godric's Hollow are in this area. There is also a stand where you can buy Butter Beer, one of only two locations in the world.
The next section of the tour includes architecture, art, blueprints, and animatronics. The animatronic Buckbeak was moving the entire time.
The last section before the most amazing store I've ever been in was the model of Hogwarts used in wide shots of the school. It was magical.
This year has been fueled by Harry Potter all along. The paper I wrote that gained me entry to UCL was about the series. The Harry Potter conference I attended in Scotland in 2012 made me confident I could handle moving to the UK. Throughout our travels we have collected multi-lingual editions of the series as well as a special British edition. In Edinburgh, we visited the cafe where Rowling wrote much of the first books. It should come as a shock to no one that we were inclined to buy wands or that I proudly sport my Ravenclaw shirt (the House to which I was assigned by the Sorting Hat on Pottermore; Joe is a Gryffindor mostly because I say so).
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| Charlie and Bert joined the Order of the Phoenix! They also met their idol, Fawkes! |
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| the Elder Wand |
I love this series and the movies that helped bring it to life, so being on the sets was somewhat surreal and overwhelming. Even Joe was impressed with the tour and the authenticity of everything we saw. I didn't cry, but I could have. A big Thank You to my colleagues at Diego Hills who gave us this gift for our wedding last year - it was an amazing day.
Just one more, for the road:
Sunday, May 4, 2014
A Tale of Two Dramas
The last seven days have been chock-full of drama and by that I mean the kind you find on a stage. In addition to the Gala for St. George that Joe and I attended last Sunday, Joe traveled to the eastern coast of England to see YES! and I went to two different plays with two different friends. In between, Joe has closed three nights in a row and I spent three days writing two 2,500 word essays for my Authors exam, which accounts for a whopping 30% of my overall MA score.
Much Ado About Nothing @ Shakespeare's Globe
Thursday, 1 May
For nearly the entire programme, my classmates have been dreading the three-day pressure pot of the Authors exam (I really didn't find it that bad, but that's another post). As a way to ease the stress, Tammela and I planned our reward ahead of time: £13 tickets to see Much Ado at the Globe! We had both been wanting to take in a play at the Globe and this was the perfect opportunity. Our exam was due at 10 am and the matinee began at 2 pm, perfect timing for a lunch stop at Borough Market in between. (In reality, both Tammela and I finished our exams early and turned them in on Wednesday, leaving us a chance to sleep in on Thursday instead of heading to campus to endure the crush of 45 masters candidates all signing their tests in at the same time.)
Tammela's review can be read here.
It has been a while since I read Much Ado (high school? Is that right?), but I was looking forward to a comedy. Despite my background as an English major and my experience as an English teacher, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I can watch Shakespeare and understand what's going on without difficulty. There is such a stigma that his plays are difficult to understand that seeing them as they were intended - straightforward, relaxed, without gimmicks - is a happy reminder that really, these plays are universal and meant for everyone.
Honestly, the performance was hilarious. Emma Pallant as Beatrice and Simon Bubb as Benedick were clear standouts who stole the show with their facial expressions and comedic timing. The cast consisted of just eight players, 5 men and 3 women, who doubled-up on parts as necessary. The costuming was simple, 1950s style which kept with a "period" theme but was more relatable for the many school groups in the audience than traditional Elizabethan dress may have been.
Much Ado About Nothing @ Shakespeare's Globe
Thursday, 1 May
For nearly the entire programme, my classmates have been dreading the three-day pressure pot of the Authors exam (I really didn't find it that bad, but that's another post). As a way to ease the stress, Tammela and I planned our reward ahead of time: £13 tickets to see Much Ado at the Globe! We had both been wanting to take in a play at the Globe and this was the perfect opportunity. Our exam was due at 10 am and the matinee began at 2 pm, perfect timing for a lunch stop at Borough Market in between. (In reality, both Tammela and I finished our exams early and turned them in on Wednesday, leaving us a chance to sleep in on Thursday instead of heading to campus to endure the crush of 45 masters candidates all signing their tests in at the same time.)
Tammela's review can be read here.
It has been a while since I read Much Ado (high school? Is that right?), but I was looking forward to a comedy. Despite my background as an English major and my experience as an English teacher, I'm always pleasantly surprised when I can watch Shakespeare and understand what's going on without difficulty. There is such a stigma that his plays are difficult to understand that seeing them as they were intended - straightforward, relaxed, without gimmicks - is a happy reminder that really, these plays are universal and meant for everyone.
Honestly, the performance was hilarious. Emma Pallant as Beatrice and Simon Bubb as Benedick were clear standouts who stole the show with their facial expressions and comedic timing. The cast consisted of just eight players, 5 men and 3 women, who doubled-up on parts as necessary. The costuming was simple, 1950s style which kept with a "period" theme but was more relatable for the many school groups in the audience than traditional Elizabethan dress may have been.
The Globe itself is an open-top theatre, which meant that the groundlings in the standing-room-only section made good use of their rain gear throughout the performance. Tammela and I were very glad to have splurged on actual seats where we were protected from the rain that ranged from a light drizzle to heavy sheets. Resident pigeons fly overhead as they please, and the play is lit mostly naturally, making it all feel a bit more real.
Like Shakespeare's birthday party last week, seeing a play inside the Globe feels like being in a movie. This reconstruction was only built in 1997, so perhaps it was used when Shakespeare in Love was filmed just a couple years later.
1984 @ the Playhouse Theatre
Saturday, May 3
Just two days later I headed down to the bank of the Thames to see a dramatic interpretation of 1984 with Rebecca. I love this book but I was a bit skeptical about how it could possibly work on the stage. The reviews have been great, though, and it was even nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Play (the British version of the Tony's).
The play starts with a frame narrative of a book club meeting to discuss the novel. While this is functional and allows the characters to narrate some of Winston Smith's interior monologue from the book, it was a bit off-putting to me. The set was exceedingly simple - a single room where Winston can write in his diary with a hallway beyond that had windows into Winston's private space, so that nothing was ever actually private. This room was also used as the canteen where Winston talks with Syme and Parsons. The apartment where Winston meets with Julia was mostly included in pre-filmed scenes on a screen, making it seem like it was happening in a secret location behind Winston's apartment.
To heighten the tension and stress in the audience, loud noises, buzzers, and bright flashing lights were often employed followed by complete darkness or silence. This was effectively jarring and kept the audience attentive for sure.
The performance kept a quick pace throughout, boasting a running time of exactly 101 minutes. They kept to this by skipping the intermission and continuing straight through to the end. I was shocked by how quickly Winston and Julia found their secret uncovered and, next moment, found themselves in the Ministry of Love. While this pace was good for the audience, I don't know if it accurately captured the time period covered by the book.
The performances were well executed. Mike Arends was excellent as Winston, though he is far younger and more attractive than I would have preferred for this casting. Hara Yannas was the perfect Julia, and Gavin Spokes was just right as Parsons.
It was really interesting to see this book played out on a stage and I enjoyed spending the evening with Rebecca, but I was left a bit unsatisfied. So much of this novel is about being inside Winston's head, feeling the paranoia, experiencing the psychological conflict: I'm not sure it's possible to genuinely capture that on stage or screen. (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time came close with its portrayal of Christopher's autism.) Maybe if I weren't planning to write on dystopias for my dissertation, I'd be happier with any interpretation of this classic. I'm very glad I got the opportunity to see this adaptation, especially since I had to try several times before I could get tickets, but of the performances I've seen here in London, I was underwhelmed.
To heighten the tension and stress in the audience, loud noises, buzzers, and bright flashing lights were often employed followed by complete darkness or silence. This was effectively jarring and kept the audience attentive for sure.
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| ironic surveillance video at the theatre |
The performances were well executed. Mike Arends was excellent as Winston, though he is far younger and more attractive than I would have preferred for this casting. Hara Yannas was the perfect Julia, and Gavin Spokes was just right as Parsons.
It was really interesting to see this book played out on a stage and I enjoyed spending the evening with Rebecca, but I was left a bit unsatisfied. So much of this novel is about being inside Winston's head, feeling the paranoia, experiencing the psychological conflict: I'm not sure it's possible to genuinely capture that on stage or screen. (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time came close with its portrayal of Christopher's autism.) Maybe if I weren't planning to write on dystopias for my dissertation, I'd be happier with any interpretation of this classic. I'm very glad I got the opportunity to see this adaptation, especially since I had to try several times before I could get tickets, but of the performances I've seen here in London, I was underwhelmed.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Shakespeare's Birthday!
On Easter Monday I took advantage of a quintessentially London experience: celebrating the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birthday with a free bash at the Globe Theatre in Southwark. As we are only a week out from the dreaded Authors exam, many of my classmates have been acting like bears in winter: hibernating with their books and critical theory and refusing to come out. This study method is fine, of course, but not my style. I have always been a procrastinator and done just fine, so instead of using my last few months as a Londoner sitting in a library or at home, I'm going to jump on every opportunity I find.
I found out about this event because waaaaaay back when we first decided to make this move, I signed up for the Globe's email list. The message I got promised free activities and performances, plus the exhibition attached to the theatre, which normally runs over £13 per ticket, would be open to the public for free! Sold!
My classmate Emily met me along the river walk in front of the theatre. We were both embarrassingly excited to be at Shakespeare's Globe celebrating Shakespeare's birthday.
Costumes in the exhibition, including one worn by Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth I
Once we'd made it through the crush of party guests in the exhibition, Emily and I were thrilled by the traditional Birthday Party going on downstairs - face painting, a puppet show, and a bouncy Elsinore Castle were just a few of the family-friendly festivities.
Once we made it into the theatre it was like being transported. I know I should say that it felt like time-traveling back to the turn of the 17th century when The Globe was built and Shakespeare was there writing plays, but instead it felt like walking onto a movie set. Maybe that's the California in me.
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| Emily and I were both excited when we were offered these flags that we'd seen all the children running around with |
There was a performance by the Shakespearean improv group the School of Night, which not only performs in impromptu iambic pentameter, but will incorporate suggestions from the audience while increasing the difficulty of their performance (adding rhymes, couplets, or creating sonnets on the spot).
And of course there was a cake and the entire audience sang Happy Birthday to Shakespeare (and Kiara, who was turning 5)!
It would have been very easy to bail on this event, especially after most of the people I had planned to go with said that they couldn't make it, but I am so glad that I didn't. Not only did I get to spend some time with Emily and get to know her better, but I also got to participate in a London event that I know I'll never be able to recreate.
Afterwards, Emily and I met up with some of our classmates at her flat to celebrate Easter by eating chocolate eggs and drinking wine/sangria. From there I headed over to Euston Tap to meet up with Joe and a bunch of BrewDog friends to support the Stone Tap takeover where Joe was the default Stone rep. It was a lovely London day and even ended with us walking to our bus in the rain, both very happy.
(Just wait! Next week I actually get to see a performance at the Globe!)
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Can I get a happy ending? (Bowen, Lawrence, Nabokov review)
I like classic literature with all its complicated insights into human nature. I do. I like the way that author's manipulate characters and language and readers. But, honestly, I want a happy ending. Or at least the glimmer of a happy ending. I want some characters for whom I can cheer during the journey and rejoice at the end. Maybe it's silly or superficial or sophmoric to want the everybody-gets-married endings of Jane Austen or even the everybody-sees-the-error-of-their-ways denouement of Romeo & Juliet. Whatever. It's what I like. Suffice it to say that was also the biggest feature lacking in the last three novels I read.
Elizabeth Bowen
The Death of the Heart (maybe the title was a clue?)
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It was pretty conventional, kind of an attempt at Jane Austen in the 1930s, but it kept my attention enough. The protagonist was recently-orphaned 16-year-old Portia, who has been shipped off to live with her closest relatives, people who do not necessarily know, like, or want her living with them. She has a brief and obviously ill-fated flirtation with a family friend that was frustrating for both character and reader. She writes a diary that I found implausible for a teenaged girl because it doesn't express any of the feelings I would expect from a character in her situation (frustration, desperation, isolation, grief, infatuation) and instead lists what she ate or what lessons they did in school. Our class discussion centered mainly on whether or not Bowen passes the "Worth Reading" litmus tests of a) original b) authentic or c) historic. There were arguments on either side by both students and lecturer. We also talked about how the ending isn't really a cliffhanger at all and doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation. Basically, everything stays the same. I was waiting for someone (anyone) to have a big character arch. I was waiting for someone to stand up for something. I was waiting. And it just didn't happen.
D. H. Lawrence
Women in Love
Let me just say that this title is a total sham. None of the women in this novel are in love and I doubt any of them even understands what that means. As one of my classmates put it: "one of [the men] is a bisexual hippie, one of them is a closeted gay "alpha male", one of them has daddy issues, and then the other one is an emo/hipster art chick." Again, the book is well-written and well-paced and I was interested in what would happen. However, none of the so-called couples or even individual characters were people I wanted to root for. I didn't think they should end up together (or with anyone else) because they had such horribly misguided ideas about love, marriage, and relationships. I wasn't invested in whether or not any of them ended up happy and kind of thought they deserved it if they didn't.
Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita (the ridiculously annotated version)
This is definitely the most (in)famous of the three novels in this post and I was curious but apprehensive about reading it. I knew only the gist - a middle-aged man in lustful pursuit of a pre-teen girl. The version we read for class was heavily annotated: about a third of the text was intensely detailed and cross-referenced notes that were both helpful and overwhelming to a first-time reader. Admittedly, I cringed through much of the book, particularly the moments when the narrator describes his sexploits with the pre-pubsescent and desperately alone "Lo." The class discussion on this one was the most interesting of all, however, and actually succeeded in making me want to read it again. We talked about the way that the language and point-of-view make the reader complicit in Humbert Humbert's feelings and actions. That, repulsive though we may find it, we want him to "succeed" in a way because it resolves the tension we feel, too. We talked about how misunderstood the titular character is in modern culture and that the term "Lolita" has been appropriated to mean a nubile and promiscuous young girl, rather than a physically broken and psychologically damaged victim of child abuse. Someone in class claimed that if Lolita were a few years older, perhaps 18 or 22, then we wouldn't see this as disgusting and we'd congratulate Humbert Humbert on finding the love of his life. Personally, I disagree because once again I do not see the "love story" in this novel. I see one-sided, lustful infatuation that has nothing to do with truly understanding and accepting another person. And really, considering the subject matter of this one, there could be no happy ending.
Coincidentally, a classmate came across this article on hebephilia in fiction just after our Lolita seminar. It's definitely worth a read.
I'm somewhat shocked to say that, based on the novels in combination with our class seminars, I am most likely to re-read Lolita of these three. Still, I am very much looking forward to picking up a book that I can read exclusively for pleasure during Reading Week in Spain in two weeks time.
Elizabeth Bowen
The Death of the Heart (maybe the title was a clue?)
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It was pretty conventional, kind of an attempt at Jane Austen in the 1930s, but it kept my attention enough. The protagonist was recently-orphaned 16-year-old Portia, who has been shipped off to live with her closest relatives, people who do not necessarily know, like, or want her living with them. She has a brief and obviously ill-fated flirtation with a family friend that was frustrating for both character and reader. She writes a diary that I found implausible for a teenaged girl because it doesn't express any of the feelings I would expect from a character in her situation (frustration, desperation, isolation, grief, infatuation) and instead lists what she ate or what lessons they did in school. Our class discussion centered mainly on whether or not Bowen passes the "Worth Reading" litmus tests of a) original b) authentic or c) historic. There were arguments on either side by both students and lecturer. We also talked about how the ending isn't really a cliffhanger at all and doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation. Basically, everything stays the same. I was waiting for someone (anyone) to have a big character arch. I was waiting for someone to stand up for something. I was waiting. And it just didn't happen.
Women in Love
Let me just say that this title is a total sham. None of the women in this novel are in love and I doubt any of them even understands what that means. As one of my classmates put it: "one of [the men] is a bisexual hippie, one of them is a closeted gay "alpha male", one of them has daddy issues, and then the other one is an emo/hipster art chick." Again, the book is well-written and well-paced and I was interested in what would happen. However, none of the so-called couples or even individual characters were people I wanted to root for. I didn't think they should end up together (or with anyone else) because they had such horribly misguided ideas about love, marriage, and relationships. I wasn't invested in whether or not any of them ended up happy and kind of thought they deserved it if they didn't.
Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita (the ridiculously annotated version)
This is definitely the most (in)famous of the three novels in this post and I was curious but apprehensive about reading it. I knew only the gist - a middle-aged man in lustful pursuit of a pre-teen girl. The version we read for class was heavily annotated: about a third of the text was intensely detailed and cross-referenced notes that were both helpful and overwhelming to a first-time reader. Admittedly, I cringed through much of the book, particularly the moments when the narrator describes his sexploits with the pre-pubsescent and desperately alone "Lo." The class discussion on this one was the most interesting of all, however, and actually succeeded in making me want to read it again. We talked about the way that the language and point-of-view make the reader complicit in Humbert Humbert's feelings and actions. That, repulsive though we may find it, we want him to "succeed" in a way because it resolves the tension we feel, too. We talked about how misunderstood the titular character is in modern culture and that the term "Lolita" has been appropriated to mean a nubile and promiscuous young girl, rather than a physically broken and psychologically damaged victim of child abuse. Someone in class claimed that if Lolita were a few years older, perhaps 18 or 22, then we wouldn't see this as disgusting and we'd congratulate Humbert Humbert on finding the love of his life. Personally, I disagree because once again I do not see the "love story" in this novel. I see one-sided, lustful infatuation that has nothing to do with truly understanding and accepting another person. And really, considering the subject matter of this one, there could be no happy ending.
Coincidentally, a classmate came across this article on hebephilia in fiction just after our Lolita seminar. It's definitely worth a read.
I'm somewhat shocked to say that, based on the novels in combination with our class seminars, I am most likely to re-read Lolita of these three. Still, I am very much looking forward to picking up a book that I can read exclusively for pleasure during Reading Week in Spain in two weeks time.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
On Reading and Reflection
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| Joe liked that my shirt matched the blanket |
Right now, I think the lack of posts on reading comes down to one factor: time. The structure of this course leaves very little time between assignments to reflect on a text in a meaningful way before diving into something new. Maybe the processing time is supposed to happen when we're writing all of our papers during third term in May and June, but I'm not sure. I have classes on Wednesdays and Fridays; this has been my schedule so far this term:
Week Zero (before term): complete research and write 6,000 word rough draft of contexts paper.
Assignments
(for Authors) 23 poems by Wallace Stevens
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| 2 weeks worth of reading from fall term |
Schedule
Finish the contexts draft on Sunday for submission on Monday. Monday and Tuesday read the poetry for class on Wednesday. After Authors seminar, read the first of the four articles for Friday. Finish the Freud readings on Thursday. Class on Friday and a break in the evening.
Response
I was surprised by how many of the Stevens poems I recognized. I really liked his style in some of them, though I'm not sure how much I really understood, especially before our class discussion. He has a way with language that I like a lot, but that also confounds me.
The Schopenhauer reading ("The Metaphysics of Sexual Love") was interesting, partly because I knew that my classmates would be shouting "sexism!" in discussion. It reminded me a lot of the Psychology of Gender Differences course I took at LMU that is still one of my favorite courses ever (and literally the ONLY one I took at LMU that did not count toward anything for my graduation, I just really wanted to take it). There were some intriguing arguments, but overall his ideas seemed inherently flawed. The Freud chapters were easier to get through. I was surprised by how direct and easily comprehensible Freud's writing is; his arguments are clear, straight forward, and reasonable (most of the time). We read "'Civilized' Sexual Morality and Modern Nervous Illness," "On the Universal Tendency to Debasement in the Sphere of Love," and "Beyond the Pleasure Principle." I liked the first one best.
The Schopenhauer reading ("The Metaphysics of Sexual Love") was interesting, partly because I knew that my classmates would be shouting "sexism!" in discussion. It reminded me a lot of the Psychology of Gender Differences course I took at LMU that is still one of my favorite courses ever (and literally the ONLY one I took at LMU that did not count toward anything for my graduation, I just really wanted to take it). There were some intriguing arguments, but overall his ideas seemed inherently flawed. The Freud chapters were easier to get through. I was surprised by how direct and easily comprehensible Freud's writing is; his arguments are clear, straight forward, and reasonable (most of the time). We read "'Civilized' Sexual Morality and Modern Nervous Illness," "On the Universal Tendency to Debasement in the Sphere of Love," and "Beyond the Pleasure Principle." I liked the first one best.
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| eating alone? better get some reading done... |
Week Two (this week)
Assignments
(for Authors) two novels by Jean Rhys, Voyage in the Dark and Good Morning, Midnight (total: 320 pgs)
(for Modernism & Sex) watch Wagner's opera of Tristan & Isolde, a four and a half hour performance
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| Charlie wanted to read with me. Again, Joe just liked the the book cover matched the blanket... |
Completed Voyage in the Dark on Saturday and Sunday. Took a break on Monday to spend time with Joe before his trip home. Read all of Good Morning, Midnight on Tuesday. On the way to class on Wednesday, began next week's Author assignment on the bus. After class on Wednesday, watched the first half of Wagner's opera. Will complete opera on Thursday and read more of next week's novel.
Response
Jean Rhys uses simple, direct language, which I like because that's how I tend to write too. Even though her style isn't as elevated as a lot of the writers we read, her characters are very relatable and it's easy to see yourself in them in some way, even if your situation is very different. I had a tough time getting into Good Morning, Midnight because it's about a woman who feels out of place, lonely, and like she has no home and I happened to be reading it the day Joe left for a week in California and I was already feeling incredibly homesick. Bad combination. I really liked the seminar discussion on this one, though. The lecturer this time is one I enjoy a lot because he knows how (and when) to allow the class to follow a tangent but still remembers what got us there and how to get back on point afterward. As a teacher, I know how difficult that is sometimes so I really respect it in him.
Week Three (next week)
Assignments
(for Authors) Elizabeth Bowen's novel The Dream of the Heart (354 pgs), plus two short stories, "Making Arrangements" and "Porphyria's Lover"
(for Modernism & Sex) D. H. Lawrence's novel Women in Love (481 pgs)
Schedule
My goal is to finish The Dream of the Heart by Saturday or Sunday at the very latest. I want to finish Women in Love before Joe gets home on Thursday afternoon and then hopefully take a little time off to hang out with him.
And what's my reward when I finish these two long novels in week three? I get to start the Annotated Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov for the seminar 5 days later. And two more novels are due two days after that.
This is the first month of term.
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| books for spring term |
I feel unbelievably lucky to have a flexible schedule and the freedom to spend this year reading. I can stay up late and eat dinner with Joe when he gets home from work at 3 in the morning if I want to. I can sleep late and spend the day in my pajamas if I want to. But if anyone thinks this course is relaxed, they've been fooled. In fact, after looking at the work I have in front of me I am starting to wonder why I'm spending time writing this post when I really should be tackling some of this reading.
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