tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-383394029908082562024-03-12T19:35:34.303-04:00Book PhantomEncouraging the reading lifestyle and answering the question "What do I read next?"
Are you a Literate Spirit?The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-16886170676999496782011-10-23T13:24:00.003-04:002012-12-12T20:16:57.578-05:00Dr. Pellinore Warthrop's Favorite Raspberry Scones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, aka The Monstrumologist of Rick Yancey's horrifying series, spends much of his time at his necropsy table in his basement. When a new specimen comes his way, Warthrop works around the clock, often forgetting to eat for a day or two. When he finally emerges from his lab, his food of choice is typically scones. It's one of those great character quirks you can look for in each installment of the series. Here are some passages from Yancey's books showing Warthrop's cravings for these delectables:<br />
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Book One: <em>The Monstrumologist</em>:<br />
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<em>If I simply returned to bed, he would wait until I was on the brink of sleep again, and them my name would echo throughout the house, </em>Will Henreeee!<em> until my will was broken. Down to the kitchen, then, I trooped, where I set a pot of water on to boil and plated the scones. I prepared his tea, leaning against the sink and yawning incessantly while it steeped. I loaded the tray and carried it back to his room...</em><br />
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<em>"What is this? Tea and scones! How thoughtful of you, Will Henry."</em><br />
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<em></em>Book Two<em>: <em>The Curse of the Wendigo</em><br /><br /><em>The monstrumologist retreated to his shuttered study, where he brooded in a gloom both actual and metaphysical, refusing to even acknowledge my halfhearted attempts to alleviate his suffering. I brought him raspberry scones (his favorite) from the baker's. I shared with him the latest gossip gleaned from the society pages (he held a strange fascination for them) and the local doings of our little hamlet of New Jerusalem. He would not be comforted..."</em></em><br />
<em><br /></em>Book Three<em>: <em>The Isle of Blood</em><br /><br /><em>I was dispatched on the occasional errand, for tea and pastries (the doctor's profound disappointment that there was not a single scone on board would have been comical, if I had not been the one to bear the brunt of his displeasure) and newspapers, any and all I could find, in any language (the monstrumologist was conversant in twenty). He read, drank copious amounts of Darjeeling tea, he paced the compartment like a caged tiger, or stared out the window, pulling and pinching on his lower lip until it grew fat and red...</em></em><em> </em><br />
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<em><br /></em>My husband and I have been reading Yancey's series for the Halloween season, and since my Dearest is also known in my household as "Scone Man", I recruited him to bake Dr. Warthrop's Favorite Raspberry Scones. Here's the recipe:<br />
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Ingredients:<br />
2 cups all-purpose flour<br />
1/4 cup packed brown sugar<br />
1 tablespoon baking powder<br />
1/4 teaspoon salt<br />
1/2 cup butter, chilled<br />
1 cup fresh raspberries<br />
3/4 cup half-and-half<br />
2 eggs<br />
1 egg plus turbinado sugar for topping (optional)<br />
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Directions:<br />
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.<br />
2. Cut butter into mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add raspberries and toss to mix.<br />
3. In separate bowl, beat cream and 2 eggs, and pour gradually into dry ingredients, stirring with a rubber <br />
spatula until doughy. Knead about 3-4 times, until dough comes together. Don't over-knead. (If dough<br />
is too sticky, add in up to 1/3 cup extra flour).<br />
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<em></em>4. Roll out dough on floured surface. Use a biscuit cutter to cut into rounds.</div>
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5. Brush tops with a beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar (optional).</div>
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6. Bake on ungreased sheet about 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve warm with butter, jam, or lemon curdand a hot cup of Darjeeling tea.</div>
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Serve these at your Monstrumologist Book Club reading, or some morning when you're thankful the sun has chased the dark night and the monsters away. You'll devour them like a horde of hungry Anthropophagi. They may even be tasty enough to curb the hunger of the Wendigo. Happy reading and eating!</div>
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The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-24938009939759793962011-10-16T15:54:00.001-04:002011-10-16T16:02:58.736-04:00A Fancy for Yancey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's Halloween time, and at the tail of September, Book Phantom searches for a little something in the horror realm to make the season spooky. I'm not usually into horror films and books - I don't relish watching or reading about the torture, maiming, and murder of my fellow man, especially when it is by another human. But I'm not bothered by the strange and supernatural like ghosts, bogeymen, and monsters because I've never actually seen any of them under my bed (though I've had a few monsters <em>in </em>my bed - but that's another story).<br />
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Last Halloween, I was perusing scary books via Amazon, and I came across <em>The Monstrumologist</em> by Rick Yancey. It was a Young Adult book that didn't much seem like a Young Adult book, besides the fact that it had a child narrator and some trendy leanings toward the paranormal. What got my attention was that it was set in Victorian New England. It had that American Gothic creepiness of Washington Irving and Edgar Allen Poe combined with the angst of Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein. The novel's historical element was a clue that this might be so much more than typical YA fare. What sealed the deal for me, however, was this review:<br />
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<em>I'm a grandmother, somewhere between menopause and death, and my usual selection of books would never include a monster book (except for the Twilight series maybe), but this was a free book for Kindle, so I downloaded it. Late one night, I finished "The Help" (excellent) and just opened this to prove to myself that I didn't like it, and I could delete it from my Kindle. I read a couple of pages, then a couple more, and before you know it, my husband is going to bed and I'm sitting up, scared to death and can't stop reading. Oh, it's gross, it will make your skin crawl at times, it's totally creepy. It's definitely not the kind of book you should read sitting up alone at night with hubby already gone to bed, but I loved it. I'll probably have nightmares for a long time over this, with the cold mist of the fog over cobblestone streets and unthinkable things that go bump in the night. </em><br />
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<em>The surprise was the writing style. I didn't expect eloguent language, talented writing, page-flipping suspense, but it delivered all of that. So don't rule this one because you don't think this would be your cup of tea. It just may be. </em><br />
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Well, if Granny could stomach it, nay, <em>enjoy</em> it, I decided I should put on my big-girl pants and give this skin-crawler a try (even if it meant I might soil said big-girl pants). I was not disappointed.<br />
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I opened the book, and was immediately drawn in by the front matter. Any author that finds his antagonistic force via Herodotus and Pliny the Elder has already captured my heart. (I write historical fiction and often find inspiration from Classical sources - a kindred spirit!). This book has everything a reader could want: deep characterization, profound themes about humanity and the nature of evil, and poetic prose. Yancey's voice almost approaches grandiloquent, but never is overly so because it fits the story; it suits the time and place and characters, reminding me of Herman Melville at his best (and, yes, Melville could turn a phrase when he wasn't boring us with whale biology). This is the highest compliment I can give Yancey: he actually <em>sounds</em> like a 19th century New England author, lending his novel authenticity.<br />
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I won't give a synopsis of the book, but I will say that the story is told by the Monstrumologist's apprentice, Will Henry. The relationship between the eleven-year old and his master, Dr. Warthrop, is complex and twisted. It is riddled with guilt, anger, fear, awe, desperation, coldness, and co-dependence. In spite of the the macabre and dangerous nature of the work, coupled with the abuse Will Henry takes at the hands of Warthrop ("Snap to, Will Henry! Snap to!"), the boy remains loyal to the doctor. And although the doctor is loathe to compliment the boy, he readily claims to his peers that Will is indispensable to his work. <br />
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The eerie moodiness of the scenes puts you in the Monstrumologist's world, and the storytelling is as tight as young Will Henry's precious hat. The monsters and gore are horrific, but these are never gratuitious and are almost secondary to (or merely symbolic of?) the story's deeper themes. To slather the proverbial icing on the cake, Yancey throws in bits of humor, cameos from famous Victorians, and poignant scenes between Will Henry and Warthrop. I devoured the book like a ravenous Anthropophagus, but after I read the last page, the story kept crawling back from the grave. I was left chewing on the deeper meaning, picking the meat of it from my teeth, and "gnawing on its bones" for weeks after.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthropophagus from the Nuremburg Chronicles</td></tr>
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This Halloween season, I have already read Yancey's second book in The Monstrumologist series, <em>The Curse of the Wendigo</em>. It was so good, I finished it in a few days and promptly ordered the third installment, <em>The Isle of Blood</em>, newly released in September. I'm halfway through, and as I read, I find myself behaving like Dr. Pellinore Warthrop examining a specimen in his lab: picking it apart, scrutinizing every detail, and periodically exclaiming aloud to myself, "Magnificent!".<br />
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Although <em>The Monstrumologist</em> won the Printz Award for Excellence inYoung Adult Literature, and <em>The Curse of The Wendigo </em>was a <em>Los Angeles Times</em> Book Prize Finalist, I think the series has not had the commercial success it truly deserves. Part of this may be due to mis-marketing it under the Young Adult flag. <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/monstrumologist-series-dropped-by-simon-schuster_b36480">Simon & Schuster was about to drop the series, but fans protested, and the publisher brought it back</a>. And just so all of you know, Yancey seems a decent guy who doesn't take his fans for granted. I tweeted something about how I thought the books were under-appreciated, and Yancey actually responded to little ol' me! Now I love his books, <em>and</em> I have a literary crush. *blush* <br />
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The best news? I have a rendez-vous planned with Will Henry in 2013 when the next Monstrumologist book will be released. Guess I'll be wearing my brown pants for that date!The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-44109377399466972122011-06-23T06:00:00.000-04:002012-12-12T20:26:01.016-05:00Calling All Adults! Read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In case I forgot: the illustrations by Ana Juan are exquisite.</td></tr>
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Why aren’t you reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making</i>?</div>
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Do you think you’re too old for fairy tales?</div>
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Did you give up <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Alice</city></place> in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz when you were ten?</div>
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If you go anywhere near the young adult section in a bookstore, are you looking </div>
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for vampires or angels or dystopian societies?</div>
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Does <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GWCFSHOM</i> seem too saccharine?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too little-girlish?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too fanciful? Too bizarre?</div>
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Is the title too long for your pre-Alzheimers brain to hold onto?</div>
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I don’t care about your preconceived notions, your inflexible literary preferences, or your personal limitations: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dammit!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read this book!</b></div>
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Catherynne M. Valente has dreamed up a kaleidoscope world with vibrant settings, shining characters, and glorious themes – yes, themes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You probably think this is some flimsy tale of whimsy where the author gratuitously paints with neon words and flashes fantastical images that hold no purpose other than to dazzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be sure, Valente is a lush Dante Gabriel Rosetti with words, who is every bit as linguistically acrobatic as Lewis Carroll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, her story has heart; it has soul and feel-good stuff that burns off that surrealistically creepy fog that dulls Carroll’s Wonderland or Baum’s Oz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fairyland is treacherous and scary but it never devolves into a nightmarish freakshow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Valente sprinkles the story with revelations about growing-up, loyalty and love, courage and fortitude, longing and loss, and even redemption, and she does it so gracefully that it takes the nasty edge off all that is unfamiliar and strange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Here’s what I mean – this is a beautiful passage where a soap golem sacrifices her own finger to clean the twelve year-old protagonist:</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“When you are born,” the golem said softly, “your courage is new and clean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are brave enough for anything: crawling off staircases, saying your first words without fearing someone will think you are foolish, putting strange things in your mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as you get older, your courage attracts gunk and crusty things and dirt and fear and knowing how bad things can get and what pain feels like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time you’re half-grown, your courage barely moves at all, it’s so grunged up with living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So every once in a while, you have to scrub it up and get the works going or else you’ll never be brave again.”</i></div>
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Valente’s story begins when September, the heroine, is whisked away from her home in <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">Nebraska</state></place> by the Green Wind; he flies her to Fairyland on a magical leopard because she “seems an ill-tempered and irascible enough child.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon her arrival, September agrees to retrieve a magical spoon, the property of a very well-dressed witch named Goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This spoon is in the hands of the evil Marquess who rules Fairyland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On her way to fulfill this quest, September meets a Wyvern, who is half-library (I won’t try to explain), as well as a sea-djinni (like a genie) whose past and future selves can show up at any time in the present.</div>
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Before you make any obvious comparisons to Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, or Gulliver’s Travels, let me just say: “This ain’t your Granny’s Fairytale.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Valente gives props to her predecessors of fantastical literature with references to magical wardrobes, boons of fancy shoes (not ruby slippers, but little black heels, mind you), references to winds whisking away waifs from the Midwest (Nebraska rather than Kansas), an evil queen of whom everyone is afraid (although she doesn’t scream “Off with their heads!”), and tiny customs guards who wear huge gargoyle automatons to appear more imposing than they really are (a la the wizard in Oz).</div>
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SPOILER ALERT:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that we’ve gotten some of the obvious similarities to other stories out of the way, here are some of Valente’s original details:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have you ever heard of beaches carpeted with treasure, entire cities made of cloth or baked goods, a girl whose hair changes colors with her moods, movie screens where the people on the film can see the audience and speak to them, half-people that mix and match with their siblings, inanimate objects that come to life after 100 years, or wild herds of velocipedes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could go on and on, but I think I’ve already said too much.</div>
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Today I sat at the swimming pool waiting for my kids to work out their overabundance of energy, and I finished the last chapters of the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A woman I didn’t know at a nearby table said, “That must have been a good book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were smiling the whole time you were reading it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If nothing else convinces you that the book will push every wholesome pleasure button in your being, that woman’s observation should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must’ve been grinning, not like a Cheshire cat, but like a flying Leopard.</div>
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So again, I ask, why aren’t you reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know how this book is being marketed, but I do know it transcends age, gender, cultural preferences, and literary tastes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t let it languish on a Young Adult or Children’s Lit bookshelf, and don’t compare it to the fantasy tales of your youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s modern in tone, it’s universally appealing, and it’s an indulgent gift you should give yourself.</div>
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The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-42024157072930153592011-06-19T11:23:00.004-04:002011-06-19T11:27:45.800-04:00Spring Reading Thing 2011 - What Happened?My success rate for Spring Reading thing was about fifty percent. I'll recap my list and explain (make excuses for) why I didn't complete my challenge:<br />
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<ol>
<li><em>Swamplandia</em> by Karen Russell. I had high hopes for this book because the book flap was enticing. Although the book had a few great moments, it was a slow-paced read overall. I suspect Russell was trying to dazzle us with her prose rather than move her story along. It could have been a great story had the pacing been a little better. Here's my <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-of-swamplandia-by-karen-russell.html">extended review</a> if you'd like the deets on this one.</li>
<li><em>The Weird Sisters</em> by Eleanor Brown. I had low expectations for Brown's novel about three sisters, a sick mother, and a Shakespeare-obsessed father because I thought it was going to be fluffy chick-lit (which I will read, but that's not what I was seeking here). I ended up liking this story. The characters were well-developed and showed growth. It wasn't melodramatic (and the subject matter could have easily slipped into melodrama). I found myself laughing during some scenes and my heart constricting in my chest in others. Here's my <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/04/review-of-weird-sisters-by-eleanor.html">extended review</a>. <a name='more'></a></li>
<li><em>Infinite Jest</em> by David Foster Wallace. I wanted to know what all the hooplah is surrounding David Foster Wallace, whom I consider the Jim Morrison or Kurt Cobain of the literary world. His voice is as controversial as it is original: it is the sound of smug intellectualism strangely combined with earnest and humble self-awareness. But this voice was interrupted - DFW was dead by age 46. In spite of the respect I have for DFW, I failed at <em>Infinite Jest</em>. It's a long book (about 1000 pages), and it's semi-autobiographical, which depressed me. I had too many other books that were easier and happier to tackle at the time, so I put it away. Some day I will give it the attention it deserves. This foray into DFW was not a complete loss - right now I am reading his collection of essays entitled, <em>Consider the Lobster</em>. I think I enjoy him much more as an essayist than as a novelist. I consider this a partial success.</li>
<li><em>A Visit from the Good Squad</em> by Jennifer Egan. This book seemed compelling to me even before Jennifer Egan won her Pulitzer for it. There was recently much ado about Egan pooh-poohing the works of other female writers (of non-literary genres). Even though I think the whole controversy is stupid, the negativity generated makes me want to step back from the book temporarily (I don't entirely disagree with Egan - young female writers should aspire to heights of literary craft, but at the same time, I think the perception that a "female" flavor of writing is vapid, inferior, or "feminine tosh" is just silly snobbery. I have since changed my opinions about the value of chick lit in the literary world. Keep this in mind if you read my review of <em>The Weird Sisters</em>). I will read Egan's prize-winner some day. For now, it's simmering on a backburner with <em>Infinite Jest</em>.</li>
<li><em>Light in August</em> by William Faulkner. I wanted to get a little bit of Southern-fried literature in, but I failed to even get my hands on Faulkner. I've never read any Faulkner, but I've a suspicion that <em>Light in August</em> isn't the introduction to Faulkner I want. Should it be <em>Absalom! Absalom!</em> or <em>The Sound and the Fury</em>? Any Faulkner fans out there want to offer a suggestion? While I failed at Faulkner, I succeeded in reading the Southern and fantastically surly Flannery O'Connor (her personality was charmingly ill-tempered). Her novel <em>Wise Blood</em> was not a pleasurable read, but I gnawed at that story when I was finished like a coonhound with a hambone. You can read about my thoughts on <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/04/review-of-wise-blood-by-flannery.html"><em>Wise Blood</em> here</a>- it's not really a review so much as my untangling some sort of meaning from it for myself.</li>
</ol>
So, I failed to read three of the five books on my Spring Reading Thing list, but I did manage to make some substitutions for the books I put aside. I tell myself that what's important is that I'm reading and enjoying it. I'm reading and becoming a better writer for it. Whether it's cereal boxes, tabloid rags, Harlequin novels, bestsellers, or Pulitzer Prize winners, I read and glean something from it all. These varied experiences are the best way for me recognize the sound of my own voice so that I may (someday) contribute my own verse.The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-29936009004561735542011-06-16T21:15:00.003-04:002011-06-16T21:56:30.815-04:00Punctuation and Grammar – An Update on My Summer Creative Writing Course<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
This summer, I am embarking on a self-taught creative writing course (see my post: <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/05/autodidacts-summer-writing-workshop.html">Autodidact’s Summer Creative Writing Course</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to become a better writer. I need help becoming a better writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I can’t leave my kids to fly off to a formal program, nothing is stopping me from reading instructive materials and putting the advice I gather into practice. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This week, I started with the basics: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">grammar – more specifically, punctuation</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a slow start with my self-assigned readings. The subject matter evoked shameful memories of my undergraduate composition class where my essay, composed during the first class meeting, was chosen by my classmates as the best-written. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why does this memory make me wince rather than glow with self-esteem?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because my professor systematically reamed the essay to show us all that we didn’t know shit about writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Since then, </span>I have never rushed to pat myself on the back – I try to avoid the embarrassment of premature congratulation.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once I got into Strunk and White’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elements of Style</i>, I realized the subject wasn’t so bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never bothered with Strunk and White during my university life (non-English major here – that obnoxious composition professor probably put me off the entire discipline), but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Elements of Style</i> is great little book of writing basics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s short, but eye-opening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I now realize how moronic I must seem to my blog readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am red-faced that I don’t remember as many of the guidelines of good writing as I thought I did (what was I saying earlier about hasty self-congratulation?).</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once I absorbed Strunk and White, I moved on to Noah Lukeman’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a technical read, but Lukeman provides abundant examples to make his points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first section Lukeman covers the three primary marks: period, comma, and semi-colon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also covers colons, dashes and parentheses, quotation marks, and paragraph and section breaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chapter format for each point is as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how to use it, the danger of overuse, how to underuse it, the danger of underuse, context, what your use of the [insert punctuation here] reveals about you, and exercises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My use of various forms of punctuation, more often than not, revealed my amateur writer status: no surprise there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t done the exercises yet, but they can all be applied to my work-in-progress, which I am sure will render further revelations and self-loathing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, Lukeman has shown me the stylistic force of these seemingly mundane symbols, and I am, at long last, more confident about how to use semi-colons and colons.<br />
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’m now about a third of the way through an entertaining yet edifying book called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English</i> by Roy Peter Clark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of the appeal of this book is <place w:st="on">Clark</place>’s raging enthusiasm for the written word and word play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was laughing out loud at some of his pun-laden passages (probably because I’m a big dork who loves puns – didn’t someone say “puns are the lowest form of humour”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess I’m lowbrow, too.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me offer an example:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><place w:st="on">Clark</place> was writing a story where he linked the coincidental deaths of President Gerald Ford and Kind of Soul, James Brown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He writes, “Gerald Ford saved the nation, it is said, by getting us out of a funk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James Brown saved it by getting us into one.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<place w:st="on">Clark</place> also amuses the reader by offering a minilexicon of neologisms coined by his family: <em>poop du jour</em>, a word that indicates regularity of a member; <em>keysta louista</em>, a reminder to grab one’s keys; and <em>left ovary</em>, the yucky stuff at the bottom of jelly or mayo jars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The conversational tone of the book makes the reader want to join in the game, and <place w:st="on">Clark</place> offers “keepsakes” at the end of each chapter, which are suggestions of how to get in on the fun. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have yet to read Paula LaRocque’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book on Writing: the Ultimate Guide to Writing Well.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This reference is the least attractive of the lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have thumbed through it, and it seems that the first half is largely a recap of style guidelines from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Elements of Style.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second part is about storytelling, which may come in handy in weeks 3 and 4 of my summer course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The final section is on language and writing mechanics, which are relevant to my grammar lesson – I may just skip ahead and see what LaRocque has to offer on the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say that her first chapter on keeping sentences short with one main idea was immensely helpful – not because I hadn’t heard this suggestion before, but because she mentions the Flesch Reading Ease score.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t aware that Microsoft Word could compute this score (I know, pathetic), but armed with this discovery, I immediately tested my own writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>La Rocque suggests that most Americans prefer to read at a tenth grade level or less and that a suitable score on the Flesch readability index is between 60 and 70.</div>
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Guess what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write with all the sophistication of my nine year-old daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grade level was 4.2 and my readability score was 84.6. No one wants to believe one’s writing is childlike (especially a few drafts into a project), so I searched online for “Flesch index scores for bestselling authors”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s what I found: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1631812776">Author J.V. Smith Jr. analyzed </a><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.writers-site-builder.com/readability.html">the work</a> of Stephen King, Danielle Steele, Elmore Leonard, Jan Karon and six others with the Flesch-Kincaid equations to see how these favored writers compared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They averaged 83% on the readability index with a reading grade level of 4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I take comfort in the fact that I am in the range of what adult readers in the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">U.S.</place></country-region> prefer to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, I’d love to have the complexity and virtuousity of David Foster Wallace, but I’m encouraged that I’m at least as readable as commercial writers.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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And speaking of David Foster Wallace, I am reading his collection of essays, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Consider the Lobster,</i> as part of my coursework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His works are often listed on syllabi for creative writing classes; I would be remiss I didn’t consider his style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infinite Jest</i> this spring, but put it down after about 100 pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reasons are varied: I checked it out of the library but realized this was a book I needed to own so that I could spend time with it and scribble notes in the margins; I found sections of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infinite Jest</i> evocative of my own depression and I don’t like going to that low place; I also found myself enthralled with the author and the hype surrounding him, and I had to ask myself whether I liked his work or whether I thought I was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">supposed</i> to like his work or whether I thought he was some cool but intellectually smug guy I would’ve smoked doobies with in college.</div>
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All that aside, I’m glad I’m reading his essays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One particular essay, “Authority and American Usage” highlights the debate between Prescriptivists and Descriptivists regarding the need for lexical standards of usage and meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a long essay, and I’m still working through it, but I find the subject apropos for my grammar lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DFW is a conundrum: he’s at once vulgar and erudite; he’s elitist at times and democratic at others; he uses classical references like “Heraclitean” on one page (forcing me stop reading and go wiki Heraclitus), and then I flip a few pages in and I read the pop culture reference “Twelve-Year-Old-Males-Whose-Worldview-Is-Deeply-Informed-by-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Southpark</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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According to all the standard style advice I’ve read so far, DFW is as stylistically deviant as authors come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He uses foreign words and Latinate jargon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His signature footnotes, while entertaining and informative in themselves, make his essays read like a sixteen-year old driving a stickshift for the first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These copious asides teeter between self-effacing personal confession and scholarly showing-off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this duality is what endears him to his fans: while he’s schooling us ignoramuses with his extensive knowledge and perspective, he’s also trying to convince us that he, too, is human, as foolish and fragile, as anyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s precisely Wallace’s breaking of style rules that makes his essays so important to my lessons: does mastering the craft mean you can write however you want?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, should a writer care about readers and how much work the prose requires of them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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According to Lukeman, a writer should strive for balance between self-indulgent craftsmanship and readability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen video of DFW acknowledging that most people don’t want to work too hard at a piece of literature, but that he preferred to challenge his readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a debate not easily won, and there is value in both perspectives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose the question I should ask myself is, “Do you want to be a commercial, money-making writer, or do you want to shoot for the stars and become a paragon of literature?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, I’m so far from “paragon of literature” that I’d feel validated by earning even a little bit of cash for my efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll let you know when I’m feeling Pulitzer-worthy – with a little luck it could happen in my next ten lifetimes.<br />
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<span style="color: black;">*Next week, I’ll be extending the grammar lesson with readings on sentences and syntax.</span>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-39026754888838101712011-06-12T11:00:00.000-04:002011-06-12T11:00:24.239-04:00A Great Feast Inspired by Chris Adrian's The Great Night<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The kids are out of school for summer, which means there will be no more rushing to get them out the door in the mornings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will be hot, lazy days by the pool and reading lots of books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To celebrate the season, I made a Great Feast inspired by Chris Adrian’s book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So get out your grill, and crack open a beer and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Adrian</place></city>’s book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll be feeling the midsummer magic in no time.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeKoM8n_4n1rbvD53W6rdMNjdjQyOeH6DEAmQ_bP68bfCUJlVndNmAdMR5jRUOHlwnribg9PutayA1OI2L5EC90N0U40HsvjFhuZInNq_TkrmgQebofv8uKfocutf7iIdvMNILgMEhA/s1600/DSC_0472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeKoM8n_4n1rbvD53W6rdMNjdjQyOeH6DEAmQ_bP68bfCUJlVndNmAdMR5jRUOHlwnribg9PutayA1OI2L5EC90N0U40HsvjFhuZInNq_TkrmgQebofv8uKfocutf7iIdvMNILgMEhA/s400/DSC_0472.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet and "Sorrow" Chicken on bed of "Soy"-lent Greens</td></tr>
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Molly’s Sweet and "Sorrow" Chicken</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"She hadn’t meant or wanted to enjoy that unexpected feast, but she had, and it made her feel big in her soul, how she could delight in the texture of a crispy bit of chicken skin at the same time that she mourned her lost boyfriend and her lost mind, and she didn’t have to choose between delight and despair: she could experience them both to their fullest simultaneously."</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3FBp8nNMjAhLGXgZOT1GBHrVi6J4B0eUSH4D_t1V594EgpbOmOsauC97A3G3GaWboVC2oL9TAVk6ethWEDOmY5rUHs5XNAWDFZuzoPSAIVm5wjUsNpqlrM_NQ7MW6XNDIeDP3fZP7A/s1600/DSC_0462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3FBp8nNMjAhLGXgZOT1GBHrVi6J4B0eUSH4D_t1V594EgpbOmOsauC97A3G3GaWboVC2oL9TAVk6ethWEDOmY5rUHs5XNAWDFZuzoPSAIVm5wjUsNpqlrM_NQ7MW6XNDIeDP3fZP7A/s400/DSC_0462.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bird on the barbie</td></tr>
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Ingredients:</div>
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Whole fryer hen (giblets removed)</div>
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Fruit punch soda (12 ounces)</div>
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Small can of tomato sauce</div>
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¼ tsp oregano</div>
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1 clove of minced garlic</div>
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1 bell pepper, thinly sliced rings</div>
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1 onion, thinly sliced rings</div>
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2 T cider vinegar</div>
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2 T brown sugar</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Lay hen breast-side down on cutting board and cut along the back bone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turn over and press bird flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put hen in a 13 x 9 baking dish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">To make marinade: Combine punch, tomato sauce, oregano, and garlic in bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pour over chicken in baking dish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Refrigerate and stir every hour to make sure it is well-soaked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marinate for at least four hours.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Make sweet and sour sauce: In a bowl, dissolve brown sugar in cider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add peppers and onions and stir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put in refrigerator with marinating chicken.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Fire up the grill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put hen in grill basket and grill on indirect heat for 30 to 45 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brush leftover marinade on the bird every fifteen minutes during grilling.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Just before chicken is done, heat up the pepper and onion mixture until warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Place chicken on platter, and pour heated vegetable mixture over the bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allow the sauce to soak in for a few minutes before serving.</li>
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Serves 4</div>
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Huff’s “Soy”-lent Greens (It’s not people. I promise.)</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Putting on the musical was Huff’s idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had seen the movie years ago and almost entirely forgot it…He lay unmoving and watched Charlton Heston have his dystopian near-future adventure, and when he proclaimed Soylent Green </i>was people<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Huff knew what he had to do…He considered the implications of what he had seen and suddenly conceived of the project by which he would bring down the coalition between the Mayor’s office and whatever latter-day Soylent corporation was helping him turn people into food."</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdO1DjrwC28YV0cggu6SnoG1MJG-V_cu40Yq-Y1YnFLyZ0K231jbMdS2oCfh9LV6nJ-1b0YPPkvYE8xTjLWI7980FUNR2ZCu84pJ5Gw2qrt4DTy0Y1VuDb1KtkSxHS-q-ofJXrRyhEw/s1600/DSC_0467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNdO1DjrwC28YV0cggu6SnoG1MJG-V_cu40Yq-Y1YnFLyZ0K231jbMdS2oCfh9LV6nJ-1b0YPPkvYE8xTjLWI7980FUNR2ZCu84pJ5Gw2qrt4DTy0Y1VuDb1KtkSxHS-q-ofJXrRyhEw/s400/DSC_0467.JPG" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stir-fry the leafy greens and stem slices</td></tr>
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Ingredients:</div>
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Large bundle of bok choy (or curly kale)</div>
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1 T canola oil</div>
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½ tsp toasted sesame oil</div>
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2 tsps soy sauce (can use up to 1 T if you like a more intense flavor)</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Slice leaves from bok choy stems and put aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thinly slice the white stems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thoroughly wash leaves and stems.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Heat canola oil on high heat in a non-stick frying pan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once it is hot, add bok choy stems and stirfry for 40 seconds to a minute (until they begin to soften).</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Add sliced leaves and continue stir-frying for about 30 seconds until they have wilted.</li>
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Serves 4</div>
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Beverage Recommendations:</div>
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<a href="http://weepingradish.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69">Weeping Radish IPA</a> (This is a beer brewed in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">North Carolina</place></state>. IPA’s are good with Asian flavored food): </div>
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In a scene from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i>, a fairy named Radish is being destroyed by Puck, who is disguised as a woman with whom Will had his first sexual affair:</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Radish was my name,” the woman said, more calmy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You cannot help me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are not my death, you should run away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are not my death, he’ll not treat you kindly.”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I’m going to get you to a hospital,” Will said, though he couldn’t imagine what hospital would be able to care for her, given her unusual size…He looked up and saw a naked woman in the tree…pissing on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wiped stinging urine from his eyes and shouted, “What are you doing?”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“What I do,” the lady said, and climbed down the tree, head first like a lizard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She leaped on the table, took the tiny lady in her hands, and tore her in half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I am your host,” she said to Will, as blood sprayed around his eyes and his head and against his open lips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It tasted quite strongly of rosemary.</i></div>
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If you can’t get your hands on Weeping Radish, <a href="http://www.bellsbeer.com/"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Bell</place></city>’s Oberon Ale</a> is another suggestion. </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Oberon had still not returned, and when she [Titania] sent Radish to fetch him she said only, “He’s still weeping. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she held a thimble up, brimming with tears."</i></div>
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In case you were wondering, none of this is really fairy food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You won’t be obliged to stay in the fairy realm for indulging in these tasty morsels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bon Appetit!</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-28953808872469404142011-06-06T21:07:00.002-04:002011-06-07T06:52:56.508-04:00Discussion of The Great Night by Chris Adrian<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7T2d3k3GTq78y6-ZpEZE5WqdDaKki_iBsDB9zlFcQ7C7XeHx42hwCb8UO6sySRx3MMzS4IAgpe8ke_GhGudMbHofVu9BmHOdhXwCWAamZryvMr3SiGVBEQ5T7HTDE9r92Rst1ElMjzA/s1600/greatnightcover+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7T2d3k3GTq78y6-ZpEZE5WqdDaKki_iBsDB9zlFcQ7C7XeHx42hwCb8UO6sySRx3MMzS4IAgpe8ke_GhGudMbHofVu9BmHOdhXwCWAamZryvMr3SiGVBEQ5T7HTDE9r92Rst1ElMjzA/s320/greatnightcover+001.jpg" t8="true" width="214" /></a></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i> by Chris Adrian is Shakespeare’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> wearing the mask of tragedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a quick synopsis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three mortals coming from three different parts of <city w:st="on"><city u2:st="on">San Francisco</city> get lost in <place u2:st="on"><placename u2:st="on"><place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Buena Vista</placename></place></placename> <placetype w:st="on"><placetype u2:st="on">Park</placetype></placetype></place> on Midsummer’s Eve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are all on their way to a party thrown by Jordan Sasscock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The get lost because fairies live under the hill in the park, and Puck causes all hell to break loose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oberon, the fairy king, has left his wife, Titania, because she couldn’t stop grieving a dead human child they had both come to love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Titania sent Oberon away, she is depressed and wants him to return home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Desperate to get Oberon to return, she unleashes Puck from his magical bonds that keep him in control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Puck is a murderous menace to faerie and mortals alike, and only Oberon can stop him.</city></div>
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The three lost mortals are Henry, a pediatric oncologist with OCD issues resulting from his abduction as a child and his “mommy” issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was dumped by his lover who couldn’t deal with his compulsive behaviors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there is Will, an arborist/short story author, who falls in love with <place u2:st="on"><city u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Carolina</place></city></city></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will and <city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Carolina</place></city></place></city> both lost their brothers and hooked up in their mutual sorrow. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Carolina</place></city></place></city> eventually dumps Will because of his sexually adventurous extra-relationship activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will unrealistically hopes he’ll see <city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Carolina</place></city></place></city> at the party and get back in her good graces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, there is Molly, a floral shop girl, who grew up in an uber-religious family that rocked a Christian band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were like a Holy Rolling Partridge Family or the Jackson Five on Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During Molly’s childhood, she felt she didn’t fit in with her family and related better to the troubled foster children that cycled in and out of her home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She tried becoming a Unitarian minister, but couldn’t relate to grieving parishioners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That all changed when she found her boyfriend’s corpse hanging from a tree.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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There’s also an acting troupe of homeless folk performing a musical of Soylent Green in the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huff, the buffoon leader of this band of indigents, thinks the mayor is feeding missing homeless people to other homeless people in the soup kitchens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The musical is his political protest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huff mirrors the jack-ass-headed actor and his band of players from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, but this part of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i> was the least compelling to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It felt forced into the story and was given too much importance in bringing about the conclusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t even offer comic relief, which <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on"><city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on">Adrian</place></city>’s story could have used. </place></city></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In spite of all the depressing-as-hell backstories for the characters, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i> was a pretty good novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow, <city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Adrian</place></city></place></city> managed to keep it from being so dark that it was unreadable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pacing was good, and there is plenty of titillating sex in the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one scene, I found myself checking to make sure I didn’t mistakenly pull <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Naked Lunch</i> off the shelf instead of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Yes, one part was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> kinky).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All lit-porn aside, I found myself flipping pages to learn more about what happened to each of the mortals during their childhoods and in their love relationships. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><place u2:st="on"><city u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Adrian</place></city></city></place> did a fantastic job of linking together the stories of all the humans as well as the fairies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a veritable six degrees (or less) of separation which was fun to watch unfold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, the plot was not wrapped in as pretty a package.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems <city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Adrian</place></city></place></city> is one of those authors with a gift for characterization, but who turns out to be a bit of a chaos magician when it comes to plot.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For instance, much is made about Jordan Sasscock in the beginning of the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sasscock is the host of the party where the three mortals are expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a sense, this character is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">deus ex machina</i> in reverse: rather than offering an inelegant resolution to the story’s problem, Sasscock initiates the action and is quickly and clumsily forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Chekov said, (and I’m probably giving a sloppy paraphrase):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If you have a gun in Act I, it had better not be on the mantle in Act III.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jordan Sasscock, to me, was the gun that was still on the mantle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I half expected Jordan Sasscock to be the missing Oberon in human form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, the name itself – “Sasscock” – sounds like a horny, licentious fairy trying to pose as a human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Call me a naïve and unsophisticated reader because I like a plot to work out neatly and maybe even way too obviously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can tolerate a plot that isn’t tidy, but only if the theme comes across in such a manner that the reader can decipher it without being a psychoanalyst or a symbologist.</div>
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Having Oberon come and save the day (whether he was Jordan Sasscock or not) would have been trite, I suppose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the ending was so disappointing to me that I was hoping somebody, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anybody</i>, would save it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Adrian</place></city></place></city> is clearly writing a story about the perplexities of grief and failures to assimilate death into life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order for <city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Adrian</place></city></place></city> to stay true to his theme, perhaps he felt it was necessary for a sacrifice to be made at the end and for life to move on as if nothing happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why did I want to rewrite the ending?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that sounds pretty arrogant coming from a casual reader, but even the youngest child can judge when story feels complete or not. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city u2:st="on"><place u2:st="on"><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Adrian</place></city></place></city>’s conclusion gave me no sense of resolution, nor did it make the “big sacrifice” in the climax seem worthwhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i> was a great story until the last twenty pages or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can tolerate a weak (although not disastrously horrible) finish, you should give it a chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its unique concept and the wonderfully human backstories make it a well-paced and worthwhile read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-67312556944574461342011-06-03T06:00:00.003-04:002011-06-03T06:00:12.680-04:00Midsummer Madness: Books to Celebrate Fairy Magic<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_022.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Die Elfenkönigin Titania streichelt den eselsköpfigen Zettel by Johann Heinrich Füssli ca. 1780 - 1790 </td></tr>
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Midsummer’s Eve (June 24<sup>th</sup>) will soon be upon us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a shame Americans don’t celebrate it like the Europeans do, especially those wild Scandinavians, Finns, and Estonians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess when you’re pounded by icy cold most of the year, you like to really throw it down in the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Midsummer is a time for bonfires, drinking, singing, dancing, giant swings, picking flowers by the moonlight, and finding treasures beneath a will-o-the-wisp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I imagine there’s also a little romance involved and a fair amount of lewd behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, those crazy Latvians like to run around naked at three a.m. to mark the festival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that’s as good a reason as any to visit the Baltic countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoo-hoo! Where’s the sarīkojums?! (That’s Latvian for par-tay.)</div>
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Sadly, Book Phantom can’t make it to <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Latvia</place></country-region> and will have to make her own little Midsummer Celebration; there will probably be a bonfire and some drinking, and with enough of said drinking, there may be something that approximates singing and dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll probably have to draw the line at streaking through my little town, because I’m middle-aged and that’d just be gross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, I doubt the local Baptists would turn a blind eye toward naked shenanigans done in the name of heathen debauchery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I’ll just have to settle for some reading revelry (and I anticipate a bit of it will be lewd!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For June, I’ve selected books that will imbue me with the magical feeling of this happy season – all of my picks pertain to fairies and fairy enchantment.</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>New Release</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i> by Chris Adrian is a modernized take on Shakespeare’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes place in <city w:st="on">San Francisco</city>’s <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Buena Vista</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Park</placetype></place>, where three mortals who have experienced tragic losses find themselves lost on their way to a party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fairy magic is afoot when Titania releases a dark and murderous Puck from his bonds in hopes her absent Oberon will return to save the day. <a name='more'></a></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Classic</u>: I know the obvious choice here would be Shakespeare’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, but I’ve already read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As much as I love it, I’m looking for something different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I chose a classic from Shakespeare’s age:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edmund Spenser’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Faerie Queene</i>, a massive, Infinite-Jest-sized, allegorical poem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laced with virtue and chivalry and anti-Spanish and anti-papal sentiment, it was an ode to Queen Elizabeth I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spenser was clearly a genius with the sucking up; he curried favor like an Indian chef curries a vindaloo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can download <a href="https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/784/faeriequeene.pdf?sequence=1">the full text here</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u></u></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Nonfiction:</u><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doublers in the Middle Ages</i> by Claude Lecouteux.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lecouteux analyzes Western European legends and discusses the concept of a triple soul, whereby one, The Double, can leave the body and journey where it chooses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m projecting (not astrally) that there will be plenty of mythology and maybe even some Jungian analysis of the soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Juvenile Fiction:</u><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making</i> by Catherynne M. Valente.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is listed as a Young Adult book, although, with its drawings, it looks like a modern-day <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alice in Wonderland</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wizard of Oz</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a newish release (May 10, 2011), and the title evoked such strong associations of girl power, I just had to get it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twelve-year old September from <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Nebraska</place></state> is whisked away to Fairyland by the Green Wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She meets mythical beasts and goes on a quest for a witch’s spoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder if her battle cry is “Spooooon!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That’s for all you Tick fans).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>September’s adventures are both sweet and tragic because Fairyland is both magical and dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tale has been called lyrical, whimsical, flavorful, and complex. </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><u>Writers’ Reference:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly</i> by Gail Carson Levine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Levine is the queen of reworked fairytales, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ella Enchanted</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep</i>, so she’s bound to be a helpful Fairy Godmother for aspiring authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although this is a writer’s how-to for young adults, I’m sure even the mature reader could benefit from a sprinkle or two of Levine’s authorial fairy dust.</li>
</ul>
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Here are some suggestions for “bonus” reads if you're not beguiled by the above selections:</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell</i> by Susanna Clarke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clarke is a genius at world building and characterization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stewed in this story like I was in a luxurious bubble bath.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> by William Shakespeare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you haven’t read it, it might be good to read before picking up Chris Adrian’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Great Night</i>.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">If you love YA or have a tween reader like I do, Aprilynne Pike’s Wings series might be for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about a teen girl named Laurel who discovers she’s a fairy when a huge blossom grows out of her back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Book one is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wings</i>, book two is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spells</i>, and book three (released in May 2011) is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Illusions.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked the first one well enough, but book two didn’t draw me deeper into <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Laurel</place></city>’s character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I probably won’t read book three, but my ten-year old has read them all and really liked them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first two were pretty safe for tweens, and I like that my daughter and I could share a reading experience.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">If you want some classics of children’s literature, you can download Rudyard Kipling’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Puck-of-Pooks-Hill-ebook/dp/B000JQTYWK/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307066270&sr=1-2">Puck of Pook’s Hill</a></i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rewards-and-Fairies-ebook/dp/B004TRXKX4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307066333&sr=1-1">Rewards and Fairies</a></i> free at Amazon.com.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will probably peruse these in my spare time, when I’m not shakin’ it around the bonfire.</li>
</ul>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-80554301272695082172011-06-01T06:00:00.002-04:002011-06-01T06:00:02.769-04:00Books to Celebrate Bathroom Reading Month<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbCJsi-Az1LR3JG-_SWnSyrHnE-L95EkKcTJFgqQVxcliEHqEMFXT9fb6d68JhMgPgk9lS26ULbFEYr-visJa4KjxsXjqTL47Azm8SUG3UTNpO9YksevFxmLYIa0GX81QgtWMJ2Hmog/s1600/DSC_0403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbCJsi-Az1LR3JG-_SWnSyrHnE-L95EkKcTJFgqQVxcliEHqEMFXT9fb6d68JhMgPgk9lS26ULbFEYr-visJa4KjxsXjqTL47Azm8SUG3UTNpO9YksevFxmLYIa0GX81QgtWMJ2Hmog/s320/DSC_0403.JPG" t8="true" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My reading room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“That’s exactly why I’ve designed the Home Help Sanitation Initiative,” Miss Hilly say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“As a disease-preventative measure.” </i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m surprised by how tight my throat get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a shame I learned to keep down a long time ago.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Miss Skeeter look real confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Home…the what?”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“A bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the colored help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve even notified the surgeon general of <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Mississippi</place></state> to see if he’ll endorse the idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pass.”</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Miss Skeeter, she frowning at Miss Hilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She set her cards down faceup and say real matter-a-fact, “Maybe we ought to just build you a bathroom outside, Hilly.”</i></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>From <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Help</i> by Kathryn Stockett</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“After his breakfast he walked the path to the outhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He felt remarkably peaceful sitting there, shut away from the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d always thought of the privy as a holy place, a refuge from all but the most basic human concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a novitiate he scandalized his superiors by claiming it wasn’t the church but the shithouse that was God’s true home in the world, the pungent effluvium as meditative an odor as incense, sunlight through the crescent moon carved in the door providing the dusky ambience of a monastery cell.”</i></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>From <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> by Michael Crummey</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“…at once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next second, the sink began to move; the sink in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.”</i></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>From <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</i> by J.K. Rowling</div>
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In literature, the bathroom has served as a means of racial oppression, a place for spiritual contemplation, or an entryway to secret dangers. It's also a great place to read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>June is Bathroom Reading Month, and to celebrate, I’ve compiled a list of "bathroom-y" books for all reading types.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep ’em on top of the toilet for those captive moments throughout the day.</div>
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For the Literary fiction lover:</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Centuries of June</i> by Keith Donohue : Jack is conked on the head and is face down on the bathroom floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He journeys through time and space without leaving his bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He encounters seven phantom women, and eventually his wife, experiencing each of their life stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack’s part is in their tales is that he stands in for the most disappointing men throughout history.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Bathroom</i> by Jean-Philippe Toussaint: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A young Parisian researcher lives in his bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sits in the tub meditating on his existence, and the people around him enable his lifestyle.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Toilet, the Novel</i> by Michael Szymczyk: A surreal tale of a toilet that becomes a pregnant man after a nuclear disaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kafka-esque reading at its weirdest.</li>
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For the Horror lover:</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Down the Drain</i> by Daniel Pyle: Although I’m usually skeptical about self-published e-books, this one has some good reviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s short and cheap (99 cents), so it may be worth the time-money gamble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a monster-in-the-plumbing novella.</li>
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For the Romance lover:</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phantom of the Bathtub</i> by Eugenia Riley: Riley’s novel features a Victorian Era damsel trying to win the affections of a respectable clergyman while fending off the advances of a roguish ghost that haunts her bathtub and a handsome, arrogant werewolf who lives next door.</li>
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For the Science Fiction lover:</div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Memoirs Found in a Bathtub</i> by Stanislaw Lem:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one’s been described as “complicated” and a “real stumper”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The year is 3149, and a paper-destroying blight has obliterated much of written history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The memoirs are found preserved in volcanic rock and chronicle the strange life of a man trapped in an underground community.</li>
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For the Non-fiction/How-to lover:</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Toilet Paper Origami</i> by Linda Wright: A little something to do with your hands while you…well, you know.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kama Pootra: 52 Mind Blowing Ways</street>to Poop</i> by Daniel Cole Young: I’m not even going to try to explain this one, but I'm strangely fascinated.</li>
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For the Young Adult lover:</div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman</i> by Bruce Robinson:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once you get past the title character’s penchant for crapping his pants, this book is supposedly a wonderful coming-of-age novel that’s both funny and touching.</li>
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For Kids:</div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</i> by J. K. Rowling:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How appropriate that it’s book “number two” in the Harry Potter series! </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets</i> by Dav Pilkey</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everybody Poops</i> by Taro Gomi: A classic for kids learning to do their business</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub</i> (Caldecott Winner) by Audrey Wood and Don Wood: Members of the royal court try to coax King Bidgood from his bath but end up in the tub with him having ship battles, feasts, and dancing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds like a party to me!</li>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Centuries of June</i> was just released today, and it will be on my toilet this month. Any other bathroom-related reading I overlooked?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What books are in your bathroom?</div>
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<br /></div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-86799930588748824352011-05-30T06:55:00.001-04:002011-05-30T07:23:00.189-04:00An Autodidact's Summer Writing Course<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
When I went on vacation at the end of April, I took a vacation from writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I have been back from vacation for over a month, I still haven’t resumed work on my work-in-progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose I should call it my work-in-limbo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It's funny that</span> it has gone from a WIP, which makes me think of a whip cracking me into action, to a WIL, whereby I am trying to passively <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> my story to completion. </div>
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The worst part of all this wasted time is that my children will be out of school for summer in less than two weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Summertime is a ten-and-a-half week stretch of non-writing for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can imagine how impossible it is to work with two children under the age of ten bubbling with excitement over their freedom from school drudgery, pulling and tugging me every day, ALL day long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have come to accept summer as a forced hiatus, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t do something that will further my writing progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to make the best use of my arrested creativity, I have decided to do a summer creative writing course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I know what you’re thinking, but, no, I won’t actually be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">going</i> to a creative writing class with other adults, where we can happily workshop our latest bits of inspiration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Summertime is a time for me to enjoy my kids, and I won’t be taking them to day camp or shipping them to grandma’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will never be an Iowa Creative Writing Workshop for me, nor a Gotham Writers’ Workshop, nor even the closer-to-my-geographical-range Wildacres Writers' Workshop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I accept this with no regrets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a middle-aged mom, I have come to terms with the fact that I have to be, well, “creative” about my creative writing aspirations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, my creative writing workshop will be of my own making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This summer, I will be an autodidact.</div>
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I did some research on writing programs (including the prestigious <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Iowa</place></state> program) and made notes about texts used in the curriculum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also read a few books about writing fiction and studied what tools make up a professional novelist’s toolkit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From this information, I devised a ten-week course of study, beginning with the most basic creative writing elements from undergraduate level courses and ending with a few more “experimental” methods of writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I have no academic or professional background in writing (not even a degree in English, for Pete’s sake!), I humbly begin with the grinding tedium of grammar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, it’s been twenty years since I’ve had a composition class, so it couldn’t hurt to have a refresher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Each week I will read a general book on writing that covers a multitude of topics from motivation to grammar to story structure to revision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to the general writer’s reference, I will read a couple of resources specific to the topical focus of the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will also read something by an author considered exemplary in the literary arts (these were selected from text lists of the Iowa Writers’ Summer Workshop).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without a teacher to guide my readings, I will have to figure out the literary significance of these exemplars on my own, but I am confident, at least for now, that I will glean something from the exercise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, without further ado, here is the “syllabus” for my ten-week course. It's ambitious, but I've got plenty of time to read by the pool...</div>
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<u>Week 1<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grammar and Punctuation</u></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strunk and White’s Elements of Style</i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical References:</li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English</i> by Roy Peter Clark</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation</i> by Noah Lukeman</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Consider the Lobster</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by David Foster Wallace (essays)</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 2<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sentences</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Writer’s Portable <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Mentor</city></place>: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life</i> by Priscilla Long</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical References:</li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sin and Syntax: How to Write Wickedly Effective Prose</i> by Constance Hale</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One</i> by <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Stanley</place></city> Fish</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collected Stories of Amy Hempel</i></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 3<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theme and Story</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well</i> by Paula LaRocque</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical References:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Theme</i> by Brian McDonald</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Invisible Ink</i> by Brian McDonald</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jorge Luis Borges – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collected Fictions</i></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 4<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plot</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide from <state w:st="on">New York</state>’s <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Acclaimed</placename> <placename w:st="on">Creative</placename> <placename w:st="on">Writing</placename> <placetype w:st="on">School</placetype></place> </i>by Gotham Writers’ Workshop<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical References:</li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Story Engineering</i> by Larry Brooks</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plot and Structure</i> by James Scott Bell</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beginnings, Middles, and Ends</i> by Nancy Kress</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level2 lfo2; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plot Versus Character: A Balanced Approach to Writing Great Fiction</i> by Jeff Gerke</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao</i> by Junot Diaz</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 5 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scene and Structure</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Making Shapely Fiction</i> by Jerome Stern</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical References:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer</i> by Sandra Scofield</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scene and Structure</i> by Jack Bickham</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Showing and Telling: Learn How to Show and When to Tell for Powerful and Balanced Writing</i> by Laurie Alberts</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Best American Short Stories 2010</i> by Richard Russo and Heidi Pitlor</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 6<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Setting and Description</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercises </i>by James Scott Bell</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical References:</li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elements of Fiction Writing – Description</i> by Monica Wood</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Word Painting – A Guide to Write More Descriptively</i> by Rebecca McClanahan</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Art of Description: World into Word</i> by Mark Doty</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Description and Setting: Techniques for Crafting a Believable World of People, Places, and Events</i> by Ron Rozelle</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dubliners</i> by James Joyce</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 7<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Characters and POV</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fiction Writer’s Workshop</i> by Josip Novakovich</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elements of Writing: Character and Viewpoint</i> by Orson Scott Card</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Characters, Emotion, and Viewpoint</i> by Nancy Kress</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plot Versus Character: A Balanced Approach to Writing Great Fiction</i> by Jeff Gerke</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><street w:st="on"><address w:st="on">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Miguel Street</i></address>
</street>by V.S. Naipaul</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 8<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dialogue</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Your Words Work: Proven Techniques for Effective Writing</i> by Gary Provost</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical Reference:</li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writing Dialogue</i> by Tom Chiarella</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Write Great Fiction</i> – Dialogue by Gloria Kempton</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing</i> by Melissa Bank</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 9<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Voice and Style</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On Becoming a Novelist</i> by John Gardner </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spunk & Bite: A Guide to Bold Contemporary Style</i> by Arthur Plotnik </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Finding Your Writer’s Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction</i> by Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Sound on the Page: Great Writers Talk about Style and Voice in Writing</i> by Ben Yagoda</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo3; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Writer’s Voice</i> by A. Alvarez</li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blizzard of One</i> (poetry) by Mark Strand and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ballistics</i> (poetry) by Billy Collins</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>Week 10<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Revision</u></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">General Reference:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Writing Experiment: Strategies for Innovative Creative Writing</i> by Hazel Smith</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;">Topical Reference:</li>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="circle">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Line by Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing</i> by Claire Kehrwald Cook</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise Novels with Creative Writing Tips, Tools, and Strategies</i> by Darcy Pattison</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Manuscript Makeover: Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore</i> by Elizabeth Lyon</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo4; tab-stops: list 1.0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print</i> by Renni Browne and Dave King </li>
</ul>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: list .5in;"><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Readings</city></place>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Best American Short Stories 2010 </i>by Richard Russo and Heidi Pitlor</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Comments or suggestions?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you know any resources I didn’t list but shouldn’t miss, I'd love to hear about them.</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-413139020978273582011-05-27T06:00:00.013-04:002011-05-27T06:00:09.612-04:00Save the Whales Bookmarks and Whale Book Speed ReviewsIt's time once again for Book Phantom to return her library books, which means another bookmarking caper! This month, I bought my bookmarks from Save the Whales, and proceeds go to protect these intelligent and graceful giants. I won't publish the bookmark fronts on my blog due to copyright, but here's the <a href="http://www.savethewhales.org/books-bookmarks.html">link</a> so you can order some yourselves (the bookmarks are at the bottom of the link page). There are eight different whale designs to choose from, and at only fifty cents each, you can order them all for less than a cup of Starbucks or a bargain paperback. Below are the messages I left on the backs of the bookmarks for unsuspecting book borrowers.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGx7a3zm10rWO3-q3C2S2MEE-1fSZYPA1VIfuIDdyc7dIfbk9DaqByAm-NF3xkkGRkZko1jQXlP44MD2s41H4ToK2n0zcQlubZ7Q8IFa6WfSP01PRMgIB8nln0HYzI8bPmphyt05tEAQ/s1600/GraysonBM+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="121" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGx7a3zm10rWO3-q3C2S2MEE-1fSZYPA1VIfuIDdyc7dIfbk9DaqByAm-NF3xkkGRkZko1jQXlP44MD2s41H4ToK2n0zcQlubZ7Q8IFa6WfSP01PRMgIB8nln0HYzI8bPmphyt05tEAQ/s400/GraysonBM+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gray Whale Bookmark for <em>Grayson</em>. It's a memoir, so the quote about time and memory seems proper.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRSWc43CZFnqGKq40a18Sh_1Z6meiXY4GisNMK5_LpCZnfKqY0xtaEvWheEqXhM9JjdNwY5JFQ3UO17IslGSsVfW6vm2J7lfohUB9w6WtAxnjcvW1x7tVrIE6Zt_-5sWn-zMQkCiDNg/s1600/MobyDickBM+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="121" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRSWc43CZFnqGKq40a18Sh_1Z6meiXY4GisNMK5_LpCZnfKqY0xtaEvWheEqXhM9JjdNwY5JFQ3UO17IslGSsVfW6vm2J7lfohUB9w6WtAxnjcvW1x7tVrIE6Zt_-5sWn-zMQkCiDNg/s400/MobyDickBM+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sperm Whale bookmark for <em>Moby Dick</em>. I'm placing this in Chapter 32: Cetology, where Melville debates whether a whale is a fish or a mammal.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGaGLAEUrki32VWOpSas-fapGWD31bX2dhoL8eGMqS7NLuuY30fNgXL5qzDlxQEohkcibxR1fFH17vEs0jxYSjSTESZIO4yHtv7loclIaJnvqgB1DZLF78GTmYGw80qrDzCCRe81bFA/s1600/RightWhaleBM+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="125" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGaGLAEUrki32VWOpSas-fapGWD31bX2dhoL8eGMqS7NLuuY30fNgXL5qzDlxQEohkcibxR1fFH17vEs0jxYSjSTESZIO4yHtv7loclIaJnvqgB1DZLF78GTmYGw80qrDzCCRe81bFA/s400/RightWhaleBM+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">North Atlantic Right Whale bookmark for <em>Galore</em>. This mark is just right for a story set in the North Atlantic island of Newfoundland. The story begins with the removal of a man from a beached whale. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although I don't promote my blog by placing bookmarks into children's books I borrow, I'm putting my Save the Whales sticker (a lagnaippe that came with my bookmark purchase) into <em>Nightbirds on Nantucket. </em>Just a little surprise for one of the younger readers out there.<br />
<a name='more'></a> Now, to recap my Tales of the Whales selections for May:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>My new release pick for the month was Michael Crummey's <em>Galore</em>. I can't say enough good things about this book. Read it; it has a wonderful, chowdery flavor you're going to love. Here's my extended <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-of-galore-by-michael-crummey.html">review</a>.</li>
<li>My classic pick was, of course, <em>Moby Dick</em> by Herman Melville. This novel is a mixed bag. An experimental tome in its day, it features comedy alongside the darkest tragedy, with pedantic passages interlaced throughout. I'm not sure if I love it or not, but it's better than I expected. Melville's way with words is just as mixed - sometimes overwrought, sometimes pure poetry.</li>
<li>My nonfiction pick was a memoir by Lynne Coxe called <em>Grayson</em>. Coxe is a life-time long-distance swimmer. During a training swim when she was in high school, Coxe picked up a stray baby gray whale. Fearing it would follow her to shore and beach itself, she stayed with it for hours in the water until the mother whale showed up. The writing is unimpressive, and the short synopsis I gave you includes all that's interesting about the story. Coxe attempts to be inspirational, but her insights sink beneath waves of bad writing. Here's the <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-of-grayson-by-lynne-cox.html">review</a>.</li>
<li>For the kiddies, I read <em>Nightbirds on Nantucket</em> by Joan Aiken. It was written in the mid 1960s about children in the late 19th century. I'm not sure modern children will have the patience for it, although, on the whole, I enjoyed it. The story trots along very well for the most part, but the climax was a little off-putting to me. It seemed like a device to pander to Kennedy-era American readers rather than something that truly belonged in a story about whaling ships and a spunky English girl. For more explanation of that, read my <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/05/nightbirds-on-nantucket-by-joan-aiken.html">review</a>.</li>
<li>For writers, I read <em>Steering the Craft</em> by Ursula K. LeGuin. A short little book developed from a workshop, <em>Steering the Craft</em> includes fun exercises to help writers better steer and craft their work. LeGuin's conversational and encouraging tone adds to the appeal. She feels like your own personal mentor. For more details, read the <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-of-steering-craft-by-ursula-k-le.html">review</a>.</li>
</ol>
For more fun with whales, check out these websites:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.powermobydick.com/">Power Moby Dick: The Online Annotation</a>: This site has the complete text of the novel as well as helpful hints for modern readers struggling with the 19th century jargon.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.shmoop.com/moby-dick/">Schmoop's Moby Dick</a> : This site gives a thorough and entertaining discussion of everything in <em>Moby Dick</em> from symbolism, to point of view, to characters, to plot. This site guts and fillets the whole novel for you so you won't miss any of Melville's literary goodness.</li>
<li><a href="http://ironboundbucket.tumblr.com/">Iron Bound Bucket</a>: A tumblr dedicated to Moby Dick, Melville, and all things "whaley".</li>
<li>There's actually an @MobyDick Twitter listing. Tweets appear to be mostly quotes from the book.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.savethewhales.org/index.html">Save the Whales</a>: In addition to giving visitors a chance to donate money to Save the Whales, this site features educational information, whale folklore, and heart-warming stories about how whales have helped humans. There is also a neat Right Whale science activity teachers can do with their classes.</li>
<li>There's a book by English author Carol Birch that will be coming to America in June. It's called <em><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9593705-jamrach-s-menagerie">Jamrach's Menagerie</a>,</em> and it's generating some buzz across the pond. It's partly based on the real-life sinking of the whale ship Essex in 1820. Read these reviews from <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/jamrachs-menagerie-by-carol-birch-2218078.html">The Independent</a> and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/05/jamrachs-menagerie-carol-birch-review">The Guardian</a>. You will be intrigued. </li>
</ul>
My Tales of the Whales module is complete. Stick a harpoon in it - it's done!The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-27355897693672809592011-05-26T09:36:00.000-04:002011-05-26T09:36:42.529-04:00Ten Things I Liked About Moby Dick<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I’m not reviewing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby Dick</i> on this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that I have completed it, I have mixed feelings about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s basically a treatise on whales and the whaling industry from a 19<sup>th</sup> century perspective stuffed between a slice of comedy (the first 100 pages) and a slice of tragedy (the last 100 pages).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could never tell whether I was reading through Ishmael’s eyes or through Melville’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author wasn’t kidding when he had Ishmael say, “…a whale-ship was my <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Yale</placename> <placetype w:st="on">College</placetype></place> and my Harvard.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby Dick</i> read like a dissertation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all I’m saying from a critical perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others more qualified than I can pick apart the literary nuances of the novel with greater skill and insight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I’d much prefer to list a few kooky things I loved about Moby Dick:</div>
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<ol style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Melville <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">loves</i> the word “phantom”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He probably used the word every ten pages or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, too, love the word phantom (for obvious reasons).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Melville also liked the words “monomaniac”, “milky way”, and “verdure”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Monomaniac” is probably used in every one of the 135 chapters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps a thesaurus may have helped Melville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could have said “single-minded”, “over-zealous”, or “fanatical”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, none of these are the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mot juste</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, I accept the liberal usage of “monomaniac”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> Ahab.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby Dick</i> makes me crave chowder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it makes you crave chowder, check out my earlier post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a recipe for <a href="http://bookphantom.blogspot.com/2011/05/mrs-husseys-try-pots-inn-chowder-recipe.html">Mrs. Hussey’s Try Pots Inn Cod Chowder</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mmm-mmm, good!</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby Dick</i> features a cool “bro-mance” between Queequeg and Ishmael.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Melville sometimes comes across as quite modern: he didn’t shy away from male-on-male intimacy, and he showed tolerance of native cultures and pagan beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, Queequeeg is just Bad Ass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He proves himself to Captain Peleg by harpooning the tiniest drop of tar on the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He rescued Tashtego from a sinking whale head like a midwife performing and underwater C-section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No wonder Ishmael was enamored of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who wouldn’t be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ass.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The second mate, Stubbs, is a ball-buster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He provides some much needed comic relief between the dismal Starbuck and the bat-shit crazy Ahab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Stubb’s men are rowing the whale boat, he doesn’t encourage them to row harder or faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He verbally flogs them:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Come, why don’t some of ye burst a blood-vessel?...Halloo, here’s grass growing in the boat’s bottom – and by the Lord, the mast there’s budding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This won’t do, boys…will ye spit fire or not?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also talks smack when a competing group of Germans is after the same whale as Stubb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pequod’s boats bump the German boat aside so forcefully that some of the men are spilled into the drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stubb yells back at them: “Don’t be afraid, my butter-boxes; ye’ll be picked up presently – all right – I saw some sharks astern – St. Bernard’s dogs, you know – relieve distressed travelers.”</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">I now know more than I ever wanted or needed to know about 19<sup>th</sup> century whaling and cetology.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Although Melville isn’t easy to read, the man could turn a phrase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He loved alliteration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s everywhere, but my favorite example is: “…leaving a milky-way wake of creamy foam, all spangled with golden gleamings.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Say it over and over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s poetry.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Ishmael describes a whale skeleton he once encountered on a tropical island that was covered in vines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Life folded Death, Death trellised life; the grim god wived with youthful life, and begat him curly-headed glories.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only are the words beautiful, they exemplify one of the major themes in the book which is the inevitable feedback between life and death and how it’s all wrapped up in one thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ahab himself, with his living leg and his dead bone leg, is another example of life and death dancing around in one being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“On life and death the man walked.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ishmael’s final rescue by way of Queequeg’s coffin-cum-life buoy is another example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all the major themes in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby Dick</i>, this one resonated most with me.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">In Chapter 105, Ishmael philosophizes about the impossibility of extinction of the whale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, to me, is an inadvertent cautionary message from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby Dick</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As modern readers, we can see that Melville got this wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can see the folly in Ishmael’s inability to believe that so powerful and enduring a species could ever be wiped out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we know that whales are endangered, and international policies prohibiting whaling are ignored by some nations like <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Japan</place></country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This says something to me about man’s inability to fathom environmental tragedies.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Pip reminds me of the fool in King Lear, and Starbuck is a bit of a Hamlet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like that Melville brought some Shakespearean elements into his prose and his story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s cool that he experimented with dramatic devices within the novel format, even though it made following point of view a real bitch.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Here’s my kookiest observation about Moby Dick:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found a connection between Starbuck’s character and coffee!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Pequod gams with the ship The Virgin, Stubb says, “…no, no, it’s a coffeepot, Mr. Starbuck; he’s coming off to make us our coffee, is the Yarman; don’t you see that big tin can there alongside if him? – that’s his boiling water.”</li>
</ol>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-61715135529781038462011-05-25T06:00:00.005-04:002011-05-25T06:00:08.997-04:00Mrs. Hussey's Try Pots Inn Chowder Recipe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43u0iz5RDoWrT28y0bZwqTaZ47hLMlBnyO-3X_BbcWSyLFfIXrUNe5rxCeIRfEW5KWrq04ZIwhQ1gPcUq0wVksqEViiDaCeUVTygyrJxFQF7rtoUbtvjIEChmYQMCSz10GdLYuTtshA/s1600/chowdercloseup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43u0iz5RDoWrT28y0bZwqTaZ47hLMlBnyO-3X_BbcWSyLFfIXrUNe5rxCeIRfEW5KWrq04ZIwhQ1gPcUq0wVksqEViiDaCeUVTygyrJxFQF7rtoUbtvjIEChmYQMCSz10GdLYuTtshA/s320/chowdercloseup.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div>
The first hundred pages or so of <em>Moby Dick</em> are surprisingly fun and humorous. Melville devotes an entire chapter (albeit a short, three-page chapter) to chowder. Ishmael and his pagan friend Queequeg spend the evening at the Try Pots Inn on Nantucket before shipping out on the Pequod. The inn is famous for its chowder. This chapter gave me such a craving for chowder, that I just had to make some. Here's a passage from <em>Moby Dick</em> that's sure to get your mouth watering, too:<br />
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<blockquote>
<em>Mrs. Hussey hurried towards an open door leading to the kitchen, and bawling out "clam for two," disappeared.</em></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<em>"Queequeg," said I, "do you think that we can make a supper for us both on one clam?"</em></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<em>However, a warm and savory steam from the kitchen served to belie the apparently cheerless prospect before us. But when that smoking chowder came in, the mystery was delightfully explained. Oh! sweet friend, hearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuits, and salted pork cut up into little flakes! the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt. Our appetites being sharpened by the frosty voyage, and in particular, Queequeg seeing his favorite fishing food before him, and the chowder being surpassingly excellent, we dispatched it with great expedition: when leaning back a moment and bethinking me of Mrs. Hussey's clam and cod announcement, I thought I would try a little experiment. Stepping to the kitchen door, I uttered the word "cod" with great emphasis, and resumed my seat. In a few moments the savoury steam came forth again, but with a different flavor, and in good time a fine cod-chowder was placed before us. (Chapter 15, Moby Dick)</em></blockquote>
<a name='more'></a>Mrs. Hussey, the proprietress of the Try Pots, inquired of all of her guests: "Clam or cod?" I had to ask myself this same question. Not wanting to deal with shucking clams or using a canned substitute, I chose to make cod chowder. Here's my recipe for Try Pots Cod Chowder:<br />
<br />
3 slices of bacon, "cut up into little flakes"<br />
1 onion, finely chopped<br />
2 ribs celery, diced<br />
1/2 tsp. dried thyme<br />
1 bay leaf<br />
2 T. flour<br />
2 cans diced potatoes, drained<br />
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth<br />
Salt and pepper, to make it "plentifully seasoned"<br />
1 pound frozen cod, cut into 3/4 inch pieces<br />
1 small can of corn, drained<br />
1 cup half and half, warmed<br />
1 or 2 T. butter (optional)<br />
Oyster crackers for serving (call them "ship biscuits" if you like)<br />
<br />
Cook bacon in a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Cook until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon bits and put aside. Leave the bacon grease in the pot.<br />
<br />
Add the onion, celery, thyme, and bay leaf to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes. The vegetables should be soft but not brown. Add the flour and stir for another couple of minutes.<br />
<br />
Add the potatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. <br />
<br />
Season with salt and pepper. If you want "the whole enriched with butter", add the butter here, along with the cod and corn. Do not stir. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow the cod to finish cooking.<br />
<br />
Return chowder to heat and add the half-and-half. Stir it in gently to avoid flaking the fish. Add more salt and pepper or butter to taste. Warm chowder over gentle heat, uncovered. <br />
<br />
Dish into bowls and sprinkle reserved bacon bits over the top. Serve with oyster crackers.<br />
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*If you choose clam instead of cod, substitute two 6 1/2 ounce cans of minced clams for the cod. If you prefer a "fishier" flavor, use 2 cups of chicken broth and two 8-ounce bottles of clam juice instead of four cups of chicken broth in either recipe.<br />
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This chowder is so good, I may imitate Ishmael and Queequeg and have it for breakfast with "a couple of smoked herring by way of variety."The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-72477562716422634412011-05-20T06:00:00.012-04:002011-05-20T06:00:14.415-04:00Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken: A Sympathy Message for Kennedy-Era American Children<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszN1U3Ui4xjizj9MAvlRpC2sBG6Y80nOCvKpPywLt7bb6o_UIz7vcRxNT2eNdsJusKch20OPyFnwrQ9e1Sa5sUR9gZ3PWedcE4rczY1xFRQAoUCSDxLDmvnhX02o1hJRL-_cb93sIHA/s1600/NBNCover+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszN1U3Ui4xjizj9MAvlRpC2sBG6Y80nOCvKpPywLt7bb6o_UIz7vcRxNT2eNdsJusKch20OPyFnwrQ9e1Sa5sUR9gZ3PWedcE4rczY1xFRQAoUCSDxLDmvnhX02o1hJRL-_cb93sIHA/s320/NBNCover+001.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who can resist this jacket design by Edward Gorey?</td></tr>
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For the kiddie portion of my Tales of the Whales booklist, I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightbirds on Nantucket</i> by Joan Aiken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story begins when ten-year old Dido Twite, an English girl, awakens from a ten-month coma aboard an American whaling ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Dido recovers, Captain Casket asks her to befriend his skittish daughter, Dutiful Penitence, who refuses to leave her cabin because she is afraid of the sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dido teaches the serious Quaker girl to have fun and play games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, Dutiful, or Pen, as Dido calls her, musters her courage and leaves the cabin.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Captain Casket is on a mission to find a pink whale he rescued from a beach in his boyhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is so obsessed with finding “Rosie” the whale that he leaves Pen and Dido at his <place w:st="on">Nantucket</place> home with Aunt Tribulation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aunt Trib is like the stepmother in Cinderella – she forces the girls to do chores all day and to wait on her like servants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dido teaches Pen to stand up against Trib, and the girl develops some backbone.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightbirds</i> is an “off-shoot” of Aiken’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wolves of Willoughby Chase</i> series, but the story won’t confuse readers who are unfamiliar with the earlier books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Readers will like Dido because she</span> is brave and heroic and a tad full of herself. It’s great fun to see her give Aunt Tribulation what-for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aunt Tribulation (who isn’t who you think she is) is deliciously bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nate the cabin boy is Dido's friend and ally. He owns a talking bird named Mr. Jenkins who offers plenty of laughs with his silly, aristocratic squawking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Dido asks the bird where he’s been, he merely answers, “Your Grace’s wig needs a little more powder!”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From what I know about Aiken’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wolves</i> series, the books revolve around an alternate history, where King James II was never deposed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her world, King James III rules, but he's constantly harassed by The Hanoverians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This conspiring is critical to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightbirds on Nantucket</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dido, Nate, and Pen thwart an assassination attempt on King James III in the story’s climax.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wolves of Willoughby Chase </i>books are set in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">England</place></country-region> with English characters, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightbirds</i> has a distinctly American flavor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plot thickens when the children discover a huge gun on <place w:st="on">Nantucket</place> brought overseas by the evil Hanoverians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a 19<sup>th</sup> century intercontinental missile aimed at King James’s palace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kick from this “cannon” would be so massive as to cause a tidal wave and knock Nantucket into <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New York</place></state> harbor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s bad for <country-region w:st="on">England</country-region> and bad for <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">America</place></country-region>.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I was really enjoying the book until this gun came into play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the whole book had been outlandishly anachronistic, I would have believed this piece of technology belonged in Aiken’s 19<sup>th</sup> century alternate world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story was doing well enough with the developing friendship between the girls and the vexing of Aunt Trib.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t need anything as remarkable as a long range missile– perhaps a low-tech plot against the crown would have worked better for me?</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So why did Aiken put this unwieldy gun in her story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a theory that’s based upon historical context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightbirds</i> was published in 1966, which means Aiken was probably writing it in 1965 or before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She clearly wanted to target her American fans by setting it in an American locale with American characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But w</span>hat did American children in the mid-60s think about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would they be interested in reading?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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If I’d been a school-aged child at that time, I would have been wiggin’ out about the Cuban Missile Crisis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’d be highly upset that my young and charismatic president had been recently assassinated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aiken catered to these concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The big gun pointing at James III’s palace is like the Cuban missiles pointing at <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">America</country-region></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Professor Breadno character who made the Hanoverian gun is a German scientist; he calls to mind the German scientists behind early nuclear experimentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The setting in <place w:st="on">Nantucket</place> and the threat that it would be destroyed is a sad reminder of John F. Kennedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Kennedy Compound in <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Hyannis</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Port</placetype></place> is a straight shot across Nantucket Sound from the island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is well-known that JFK spent many a summer day sailing those waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dave Powers, a longtime aide to President Kennedy wrote of Kennedy’s passion for sailing and for his boat, the Victura:</div>
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<em>“Victura was among the President's most prized possessions. A gift on his fifteenth birthday, he sailed it as a young man, Navy hero, Congressman, Senator and finally as President. It was on the Victura that he began winning races at the age of 15, and on which he taught his wife Jacqueline how to sail. If the President wasn't sailing on Victura, he was thinking about it as evidenced by his many doodles of the sailboat. Even during his toughest crises like the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy's doodles reflect his love of Victura and of the sea...When the President visited <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Hyannis</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Port</placetype></place>, he was never happier than when he was at the helm of Victura, sailing with family and friends.”</em> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/About-Us/News-and-Press/Press-Releases/New-Exhibit-to-Celebrate-JFKs-Love-of-the-Sea.aspx">[Excerpt from a News Release from JFK Library and Museum, Mar. 27, 2000]</a></div>
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</blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBInxbs9kkSzA_bBVJYEx5iC_vJrusOCGkHkLyaX_LFMvZBmpOI6hMhuXMpkt5oq8cPaCkv8vtvTTm1eO0s8JKM4eBV1i0L7TYlb-sGQPY12ZytEWkq3GKOK-tRfyweU2HC8iX7X06w/s1600/KennedyVictura.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBInxbs9kkSzA_bBVJYEx5iC_vJrusOCGkHkLyaX_LFMvZBmpOI6hMhuXMpkt5oq8cPaCkv8vtvTTm1eO0s8JKM4eBV1i0L7TYlb-sGQPY12ZytEWkq3GKOK-tRfyweU2HC8iX7X06w/s320/KennedyVictura.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/PTcJLKYb_kexGe_ga0G1MQ.aspx">Kennedy on his beloved Victura</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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If only our fallen president had Dido to foil his enemies as King James III did…</div>
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Perhaps I’m reading too much into Aiken’s plot, but it’s not unreasonable to suspect she pandered to the American market to boost her sales and gain readership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, Nightbirds read as if this is what the author did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The climax was meant to be exciting and suspenseful, but I found it forced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like a poorly-solved problem – the end of the story was satisfactory, but getting there was a circuitous mess.</div>
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Nightbirds on Nantucket had a yummy, sea-salty flavor that I enjoyed, but I’m not sure whether today’s young reader would savor it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect it would be a little slow-moving for my daughter – she may not have patience with the dialects or the historical and political aspects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, kids today like gadgets and technology – they just might be able to swallow the existence of an intercontinental-range gun in the 19<sup>th</sup> century as easily as the whale swallowed Jonah.</div>
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<br /></div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-16612745631373450892011-05-18T06:00:00.003-04:002011-05-18T07:42:58.455-04:00The Lovely (Whale) Bones - Field Trip to NC Museum of Natural SciencesHappy International Museum Day! To celebrate this event and to encourage reading books about whales, Book Phantom visited the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. This museum has an expansive collection of whale bones hanging from the ceiling of the first floor exhibit hall. In fact, one particular whale, a sperm whale nicknamed "Trouble", is the museum's official mascot. This 54 foot, 100,000 pound behemoth shored on Wrightsville Beach, NC in April 1928. It's decaying body presented quite a problem for the local health department, hence its moniker. Over 50,000 people from six states came to view it. Eventually, the <a href="http://susan747.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/a-beached-whale-spells-trouble/">state museum towed the whale to Topsail Beach</a> to let nature do its work on the carcass before taking the remains back to Raleigh. According to marine biologist <a href="http://www.ncwildlife.org/WINC/documents/Sample_06/sample_jul06.pdf">Todd Pusser</a>, Trouble is one of only a few adult male sperm whales on display in the world. Here's what's left of him:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSYF4qUHf9U1Z2xZJr9NiSh9i3mPX6OA6626tMJnxhAG0OQtGzOQIgXksj417dZ5EtinxRFT2V0bwAOgQSGeKs5AhChyphenhyphenPoneFJTnU_zXabX0IUyoNcKGSbGR_XQC1vheYY3pppzFYpw/s1600/DSC_0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSYF4qUHf9U1Z2xZJr9NiSh9i3mPX6OA6626tMJnxhAG0OQtGzOQIgXksj417dZ5EtinxRFT2V0bwAOgQSGeKs5AhChyphenhyphenPoneFJTnU_zXabX0IUyoNcKGSbGR_XQC1vheYY3pppzFYpw/s320/DSC_0301.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a name='more'></a><br />
As you know, readers, I am tackling <em>Moby Dick</em> this month. Herman Melville includes many didactic chapters about whales and whaling that break up the narrative. As I read some of these sections, I thought about Trouble's skeleton. Here is a passage for you to mull over with me:<br />
<blockquote><em>"But it may be fancied, that from the naked skeleton of the stranded whale, accurate hints may be derived touching his true form. Not at all. For it is one of the more curious things about this Leviathan, that his skeleton gives very little idea of his general shape...the mere skeleton of the whale bears the same relation to the fully invested and padded animal as the insect does to the chrysalis that so roundingly envelopes it. This peculiarity is strikingly evinced in the head...It is also very curiously displayed in the side fin, the bones of which almost exactly answer to the bones of a human hand, minus only the thumb. This fin has four regular bone-fingers, the index, middle, ring, and little finger. But all these are permanently lodged in their fleshy covering, as the human fingers in an artificial covering."</em></blockquote>Here are some photos to illustrate Melville's point. The first photo is a picture of the sperm whale with all its flesh intact. Compare it to the skeleton of Trouble.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPM5o5Uo5qhsz18jZjPewv2oKz1XBZywCxff04D0RHo3TCoFgQ57xXdofGtLg971SxtQ0E1NZjkgEE-uUbG93dd0FpiC0K1l_Z9CVUp8dmHMaOcof30sfH7qjjayOXCfSrK0D8XBkbsA/s1600/spermwhale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPM5o5Uo5qhsz18jZjPewv2oKz1XBZywCxff04D0RHo3TCoFgQ57xXdofGtLg971SxtQ0E1NZjkgEE-uUbG93dd0FpiC0K1l_Z9CVUp8dmHMaOcof30sfH7qjjayOXCfSrK0D8XBkbsA/s320/spermwhale.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdSNJ_IWDLHQaui-NKTVKRZyBeX35BFcPT7RikCzyNn9zLyPw4ZJKK8tKNbFENxm-N4pvrc48Q8MxP8nkSm3O139DuMk79n95BF5DcDADQ2fs83GnVqgbdHeIDHCQTXDNA8thszWhkg/s1600/TroubleMarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdSNJ_IWDLHQaui-NKTVKRZyBeX35BFcPT7RikCzyNn9zLyPw4ZJKK8tKNbFENxm-N4pvrc48Q8MxP8nkSm3O139DuMk79n95BF5DcDADQ2fs83GnVqgbdHeIDHCQTXDNA8thszWhkg/s320/TroubleMarked.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Melville, like other Romantics, believed that literature could be a vehicle to record history. <em>Moby Dick</em> teaches readers about the whaling industry and the limitations of scientific knowledge about whales during the 19th century. In addition to all these facts, Melville throws in a pretty good story. It's a built-in bonus (or perhaps I say "BONE-US" for Trouble's sake?)<br />
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Now go to your local museum and celebrate!The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-12759527364670136202011-05-16T06:00:00.007-04:002011-05-16T06:00:12.455-04:00Review of Galore by Michael Crummey<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsqloWAMH-o7BB2XvfpS5gXXO_kYdmIbSYy4eqlmGrZAKjpghoOZcKZIJ7l5ikzrxzPjNRSkYlGz0dnJTbJTlD1YXJwOraa5N2Fl9zcVtiQkMilxe4Ld1YYMV0V7m09MqqsQHtDqLxw/s1600/Galorecover+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsqloWAMH-o7BB2XvfpS5gXXO_kYdmIbSYy4eqlmGrZAKjpghoOZcKZIJ7l5ikzrxzPjNRSkYlGz0dnJTbJTlD1YXJwOraa5N2Fl9zcVtiQkMilxe4Ld1YYMV0V7m09MqqsQHtDqLxw/s320/Galorecover+001.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Michael’s Crummey’s novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore </i>takes place in a small <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Newfoundland</place></state> fishing village called Paradise Deep and the surrounding coastal wilderness in the middle 1800s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trusty “stranger comes to town” scenario puts the story in motion when a man with white skin and hair, naked as a newborn baby, falls out of a beached whale the local fishermen have gutted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man is mute and reeks of fish forever after, but his is a mystical presence, responsible for healings and bountiful catches of fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, however, he is a pawn in the perpetual feud between the Devine and Sellers families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is a scapegoat who keeps the peace by offering himself up for his "newfound" family and friends. The reader is taken through the many rites of life in and around Paradise Deep; we share with the inhabitants strange births, bizarre illnesses, forbidden loves, loveless marriages, and peaceless deaths. Even figurative rebirths happen – patterns are played out generation after generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time marches on, but human nature is unchanged.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Here is a list of things I liked about the novel:</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> is magical realism at its best; the story delivers plenty of folklore, superstition, and just plain weirdness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <em>Galore</em></span> is never dull because the characters' almost medieval adherence to superstition makes them unpredictable.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">In spite of their brutishness due to ignorance and poverty, the characters are likeable and sympathetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You both love and hate them just as they love and hate each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like life, the feelings are a mixed bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the realistic part of the story.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The community had a ritualized way of demanding conformity without direct confrontation with people who had broken village mores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Christmastime, during the feast of the Epiphany, mummers went about in costume demanding food and drink at various houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A man dressed as a horse, aptly named Horse Chops, was led around the host’s house by the King mummer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The King selected a particular person from the party and asked the all-knowing Horse Chops questions about the chosen one’s personal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No subject was taboo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Horse Chops would answer yes or no to these questions in front of the whole party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one case, the mummers shamed a boy who carried a torch for his female cousin whom he could never marry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In another case, they called out a gay man who was in love with his best friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a way for the community to say, “We know what you are, and we think you are hurting yourself and those around you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Everyone </span>seemed to accept this informal trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the questioned parties were angry or embarrassed by Horse Chops, they held no grudges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sociologically, this was a fascinating means of depicting the closeness of the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> is a family saga, and as a genealogy freak, I loved the family history aspect of the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s interesting how generations tie together, one generation’s behaviors affecting the next. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mistakes and patterns are often repeated by sons and daughters because people rarely talk about the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crummey writes in the first chapter of Mary Tryphena’s ignorance: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“She felt she’d been delivered into a universe where everyone’s knowledge but hers was complete and there was no acceptable way to acquire information other than waiting for its uncertain arrival.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This lack of communication between parents and children, elders and descendants, new comers and old timers occurs throughout – until someone lets information slip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes the “loose lips” will be Horse Chops with his violation of secrets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it’s Obediah and Azariah Trim sharing the genealogy of Paradise Deep and the Gut with the American doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of Galore, it’s Esther, who, in her bouts of drunkenness with sickly Abel, unlocks the mysteries of his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her sharing is an act so intimate in this culture, it becomes a seduction scene.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">There really isn’t a plot, and surprisingly, it doesn’t matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> is a story like a fable or a folktale – it has bizarre characters, magical events, heroes and villains, moral lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept asking myself, “With no plot, how can this end?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to worry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crummey wrapped it up in a neat little package – it was elegant, a thing of beauty, a perfect full circle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His characters often say, “Now the once” to mean either soon, a bit later, or some unspecified point in the future:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“As if it was all the same finally, as if time was a single moment endlessly circling on itself.”</i> I don’t want to spoil it, but this timelessness and circuitry is the key to <em>Galore's</em> satisfactory conclusion.</li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">There was nothing I disliked about Galore, but here are some things other readers may find problematic:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 39pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 39.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>There are many characters to love, not just a main character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you like one hero or heroine, you may find reading about multiple generations confusing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From time to time, I had to check the family tree at the front of the book to remember familial connections, but each character is so unique and so carefully crafted, you won’t confuse them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 39pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 39.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Crummey’s characters are sexual; everyone from a fourteen year-old child bride to two prepubescent boys playing naked in the pond to a renegade Catholic priest are having sex in this book, and it’s not spoken of in polite 19<sup>th</sup> century diction as you might expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Delicacy in any form would be out of character for these hardened people who were taught by Father Phelan that denying one’s appetites is an insult to God. It’s not just sex either; lots of times it’s vindictive hate sex. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing in this book is what it seems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love and hate, fear and respect all combine in a confusing net of repressed emotion – it's a chowder pot of passion and resentment threatening to boil over.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 39pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 39.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Crummey doesn’t use quotation marks, and in many cases he doesn’t even use complete sentences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t trip me up because it seemed fitting for a culture unskilled in words and loath to communicate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a people whose speech is truncated and curt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Language is a blunt tool only to be used when necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jude Devine never speaks, Absalom and <place w:st="on">Henley</place> stutter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Esther and Abel lose their voices when they go abroad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Levi has a stroke and slurs his speech. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The village as a whole has no “voice” in the larger world, and the inhabitants are captive to its political and economic whims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Crummey breaks g</span>rammatical rules in service to the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 39pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 39.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Although the narrative moves through time from about the middle 1800s to WWI, there is some going back and forth from past to present which hinges on the arrival of Judah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Judah</place></country-region> is like Faraday’s constant on the show LOST.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is the common thread from beginning to end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, some characters fill in backstory and regale the reader with community legend and lore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These sections are neatly layered into the narrative, and the reminiscences into the past never seem artificial or out of place.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I could spout on and on about how much I loved this book, but if you are like me, you don’t trust gushy reviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I can say is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> is original.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span>t’s well-crafted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word choices, the use of grammar, the symbols, the dialect, the social behaviors – every piece of the story has a reason for being as it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s one of the best books I've read this year, and it deserves readers galore.</span><br />
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</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-27633953302112984482011-05-13T14:42:00.001-04:002011-05-13T14:44:04.019-04:00Mark Twain: Ad Man?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In her writing guide, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Steering the Craft,</i> Ursula Le Guin uses “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain as an example of how to “be gorgeous” with your prose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By being “gorgeous” she’s referring to how the words sound on the page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Jumping Frog” has wonderful dialectical cadences that make it sound authentic and folksy if not gorgeous.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Twain wrote such great-sounding stories because he observed real people and listened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In “Jumping Frog”, he portrayed Mr. Wheeler, a man who prattled on and on about Jim Smiley, even though it had nothing to do with the narrating character’s inquiry about one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leonidas</i> Smiley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This confusion is typical when talking to the elderly or the perpetually bored – they don’t know who or what you’re asking about, but they do know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something</i> and, wanting conversation and company, by golly, they will tell you everything that they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no way to interrupt someone midway into such rambling without being rude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such storytellers never pause for an instant to let you make your excuses and get away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best just to hunker in until something else catches their attention.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a name='more'></a>By the end of “Jumping Frog”, when Wheeler is called away, the narrator tries to quietly take his leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Wheeler comes back, and he starts a brand new yarn about Jim Smiley’s cow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By now, Wheeler’s spun so much yarn he could knit a scarf, a sweater, some mittens and a dozen socks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrator, as good-naturedly as he can, says he’ll listen no more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being blunt is the only way to get out of the clutches of the Energizer bunny of anecdotes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, it’ll just keep going, and going, and going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I’ve come to the conclusion that Energizer should use Twain’s Mr. Wheeler as a spokesman for their batteries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s my idea for the commercial:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scene</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Two men sit on a screen porch of a tavern with a sign saying “Welcome to <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Calaveras</placename> <placetype w:st="on">County</placetype></place>” in the foreground.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><u>Mr. Wheeler</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smiley he stood scratching his head and looking down at Dan'l a long time, and at last he says, "I do wonder what in the nation that frog throw'd off for I wonder if there an't something the matter with him he 'pears to look mighty baggy, somehow." And he ketched Dan'l by the nap of the neck, and lifted him up and says, "Why, blame my cats, if he don't weigh five pound!" and turned him upside down, and he belched out a double handful of shot. And then he see how it was, and he was the maddest man he set the frog down and took out after that feller, but he never ketchd him. And…<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">[Wheeler’s head nods to his chest as if he is asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tavern keeper comes out, opens a hatch in Wheeler’s back and removes two generic batteries. He holds an Energizer battery in his hand (close-up of new battery, then pan to narrator’s face).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing that Wheeler’s getting an Energizer, the narrator is panic-stricken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He runs for the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Wheeler, now energized, snaps his head up.]</i><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u>Mr. Wheeler</u>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, thish-yer Smiley had a yeller one-eyed cow that didn't have no tail, only jest a short stump like a bannanner, and…</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">[Camera pans to a hole in the screen door in the shape of the narrator’s body as Wheeler keeps talking incoherently in the background.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">[Scene cuts to the Energizer Bunny and a massive frog under a “Start” banner for a race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bunny speeds away, but the frog only sits there and croaks.]</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><u>Announcer</u>: Energizer batteries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They keep going and going and going…</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Before you dismiss my little advertising experiment as too bizarrely random, here’s a little trivia for you:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Energizer Bunny was born in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Missouri</place></state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So was Mark Twain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coincidence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, if Twain were alive today, he would sell out to Madison Avenue to alleviate his dire financial straits before a Calaveras frog could hop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Yes, in spite of his fame, he was bankrupt).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">You can click this link to read the entire text of Twain’s <a href="http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/projects/price/frog.htm">The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Check out the <a href="http://www.energizer.com/energizer-bunny/Pages/bunny-center.aspx">Energizer Bunny Page</a> for fun stuff like games, cute bunny slippers, and proof that he is, indeed, a native Missourian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Anyway, this was my rambling and long-winded way of saying "Happy Frog Jumping Day!"</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;"><br />
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</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-5130403897300293022011-05-04T10:22:00.001-04:002011-05-04T10:23:38.504-04:00Tales of the Whales – May Reading List<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/WhalingVoyage_ca1848_byRussell_and_Purrington_EssexDetail_NewBedfordWhalingMuseum1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" j8="true" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/WhalingVoyage_ca1848_byRussell_and_Purrington_EssexDetail_NewBedfordWhalingMuseum1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Whaling Voyage Round the World" c. 1848 by Benjamin Russell and Caleb P. Purrington</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This month Book Phantom will be reading about whales and seafaring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How did I come to this subject?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s nearly summer, and time to start thinking about seaside vacations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, little synchronicities in my life have been pointing me towards “whale lit”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, when I was browsing Books of the Month at Amazon, I came across a recommendation for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> by Canadian author Michael Crummey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pulled in by the blurb about a strange, pale man cut from the body of a beached whale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My next sign came as I was reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia!</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the chapters that took place at The World of Darkness theme park, Karen Russell described a ride called the Leviathan in which tourists could slide down into the innards of a great fake whale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third sign came when I took my daughter on a field trip to Shackleford Banks last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This island was the site of a small whaling community in the 1800’s called <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Diamond</placename> <placetype w:st="on">City</placetype></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was abandoned in 1899 after a great hurricane flattened most of the town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned on this trip that <state w:st="on">North Carolina</state> was the only state south of <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">New Jersey</place></state> that had a whaling industry of any note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">My final reason for choosing whale tales is that whaling is in my family history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband’s great-grandfather left the Azores at the age of fourteen upon a whaler and eventually settled in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Erie</city>, <state w:st="on">Pennsylvania</state></place> in the late 1860s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to give my kids a better understanding of their ancestry, I thought it would be helpful to read some literature about it.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.25in;">So, the universe was giving me a nudge, and the notion to read about whales emerged from the depths of my subconscious as clear as a tail fin or a spout from a blowhole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are my “Tales of the Whales” reading selections:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> by Michael Crummey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore </i>is a couple of years old now, it will serve as my New Release/Contemporary read this month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book flap was beguiling – I guess I was “hooked” (har, har).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The description offered everything I love in a book – regional flavor (it’s set in <place w:st="on"><state w:st="on">Newfoundland</state></place>), a mysterious stranger, superstitious lore and magic, as well as an epic quality spanning generations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we know how cunning those book flaps are, don’t we?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s see if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galore</i> lives up to the publisher’s “bait” (so sorry for that – couldn’t resist).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moby Dick</i> by Herman Melville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose it wasn’t too hard to see The Great White Whale looming in the horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was in middle school, I participated in a reenactment of Moby Dick for an academic competition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My fellow students and I tried to read the book, but no one could get through it in time for our contest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Per our teacher’s suggestion, we leaned on Cliff Notes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel this was a missed opportunity, and now I’m going to take a second stab – or should I say “harpoon” – at it.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grayson</i> by Lynne Cox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is my non-fiction title for this month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a memoir by Cox recounting a day when she was seventeen years old and swimming a couple hundred yards off shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During her training swim, she encountered a baby gray whale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whale followed her for about a mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Already fatigued, she was ready to go to shore, but she didn’t want the calf to follow her and become beached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was seventeen I wouldn’t have had the sense to know what to do in this situation (but then again, I wouldn’t have had the motivation or courage to swim miles in the ocean, either).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m eager to see how Cox managed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightbirds on <place w:st="on">Nantucket</place></i> by Joan Aiken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aiken is the author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wolves of Willoughby Chase</i>, a favorite (if not a classic) of modern children’s literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The protagonist of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nightbirds</i> is Dido Twite, an English girl, who is found adrift in the ocean by a <place w:st="on">New England</place> whaling ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ship’s captain, Captain Casket, has a young daughter on board named Dutiful Penitence, who is fearful of the ocean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The captain asks Dido to help Dutiful Penitence overcome her fears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, the girls are left at a farmhouse with Aunt Tribulation, a dour and nasty woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story also features a pink whale, but I have no idea how it fits in. I can’t wait to see the trouble Dido gives Aunt Tribulation or whaddup with that pink whale.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew</i> by Ursula K. Le Guin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is my writer’s choice for May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LeGuin is best known for her science fiction and fantasy novels, but this book sprang from a writing workshop she taught in the mid-90s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first chapter is called “The Sound of Your Writing: Being Gorgeous”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gorgeous-sounding writing is my personal “white whale”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have good ideas and can develop plots and characters fairly easily, but my lexical arrhythmia belies my “serious writer” status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, sound is what separates the true literary craftsman from the story-telling dilettante. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Le Guin can help develop my writer’s ear even a little, this will be well worth the read.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">NOTE:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel it’s important to say that although whaling was a significant chapter in American history, I do not condone the killing of whales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s sad is that these highly intelligent creatures are capable of great compassion towards humankind even though we are collectively responsible for the depletion of their species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read <a href="http://www.savethewhales.org/Dolphins_Rescuing_Humans.html">here about whales</a> who have rescued people in peril at sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not all Ahab and Moby Dick.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-74243088932826796442011-05-03T12:23:00.000-04:002011-05-03T12:23:44.445-04:0015 Favorite Books from My Childhood<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbE79UCXKAqwQvtDKzXMDwPMxEmKp7U0p4NlEBWwKf0ZYHIfLtGuIyDB9IqjuTdd32UAMmClSMKfvMvMFpzMPBO6d1yh9NK02_1qyJJtzUv_tEz7PNf9KZvA0yakN2SOH86lS02ZHog/s1600/Kidbooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbE79UCXKAqwQvtDKzXMDwPMxEmKp7U0p4NlEBWwKf0ZYHIfLtGuIyDB9IqjuTdd32UAMmClSMKfvMvMFpzMPBO6d1yh9NK02_1qyJJtzUv_tEz7PNf9KZvA0yakN2SOH86lS02ZHog/s400/Kidbooks.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original Books from Phantom's Childhood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It’s Children’s Book Week, and Book Phantom has been reminiscing about the books on her childhood shelves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still have many of my dog-eared and Pepsi-stained paperbacks (most of them cost between 95 cents and $1.25!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure I had very good taste when I was a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother bought me the best titles of that time (early 80s), many of them Newbery Award winners, but as I flipped through them, I realized that I don’t remember the stories as well as I should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps my comprehension wasn’t as developed as it is now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps I only read part of them before casting them aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only books I absolutely remember loving to the point of re-reading was Judy Blume’s books. My copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Are You There God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s Me, Margaret</i> is pretty tattered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I also remember loving a couple of fluffy books that my mom probably gave away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess they didn’t seem to merit saving for twenty years until I had my own home to clutter with childhood detritus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of their dubious literary value, I remember details from those books that I don’t remember from the award winners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just goes to show you that what appeals to kids is often very different from what parents and critics like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids should always be allowed an opportunity to choose most of their reading, even if their selections make you roll your eyes and fill you with dread of story time.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Here is a list of important books from my childhood:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Ages 3 - 8</div><ol style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Like Winter</i> by Lois Lenski.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the first book I ever read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some reason, the memory of reading “clicking” for me is fairly vivid while much of my childhood is a haze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother had checked this out from the library, and we read it so frequently that I began to link the spoken word with the symbols on the page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hate to admit it, but I don’t think we ever returned the book to the library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had an old green cover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess nobody missed it, but I never forgot it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On my daughter’s first Christmas, I purchased it for her.</li>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSxtsaVZqk6WiVr8u_iAEUrOHWou9P8LDBGvysfIPMhfPzLcEIqT-zOZ2V4ukkbgccTG_ObeHPTjok0fI404kCULuVh-7mIAFzDR5JNKdSbXRMxhCo1L47UCiCQmwZu5Nojm1-PGKEQ/s1600/ilikewinter+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUSxtsaVZqk6WiVr8u_iAEUrOHWou9P8LDBGvysfIPMhfPzLcEIqT-zOZ2V4ukkbgccTG_ObeHPTjok0fI404kCULuVh-7mIAFzDR5JNKdSbXRMxhCo1L47UCiCQmwZu5Nojm1-PGKEQ/s200/ilikewinter+001.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><li class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The Arthur the monkey books by Lillian Hoban.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a series of books about a cute monkey named Arthur and his sister Violet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stories were usually seasonal and thematic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I specifically remember <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Arthurs-Christmas-Cookies-Read-Book/dp/0064440559/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304437479&sr=1-1">Arthur’s Christmas Cookies</a></i>. This was my sister's book, and she wouldn’t share with me (I must have snuck to read it - I was sneaky back then, too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Arthur </span>looked like he was having so much fun rolling out the cookie dough on the cover.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pippa Mouse</i> by Betty Boegehold and illustrated by Cyndy Szekeres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an adorable book with six separate stories about Pippa and her forest friends. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorites were “Ice Mice” and “Not-Even, a Mouse”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not-Even was the mouse from Twas the Night Before Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m seeing a pattern here – I loved Christmas books and stories as a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christmas is the end-all and be-all of childhood – looks like it influenced my reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The illustrations are irresistably cute.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Old-Hat-Bright-Early-Books/dp/0394806697/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304437531&sr=1-1">Old Hat, New Hat</a></i> by Stan and Jan Berenstain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was never really a fan of the Berenstain Bears, but I loved this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, the appeal was all those crazy pictures of the hats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids love the idea of putting goofy things on your head. It seemed like this one was always checked out of the library.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Boy and the Tigers (aka Little Black Sambo) </i>by Helen Bannerman. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, readers, I ask that you please forgive me for this one if it offends you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book was first published in 1899, so the title and the illustrations are considered racially insensitive today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The version I read as a child most certainly was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That being said, the story itself captured my imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought Sambo was clever and brave, and nothing is better than those tigers running in circles until they turn to butter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story still makes me crave pancakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo">Contemporary authors have made efforts to save Sambo by making the title and illustrations palatable for modern audiences</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Ages 9 – 12</div><ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">More Lois Lenski:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lenski wrote a series about girls from different regions in the <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">United States</country-region></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cotton in my Sack</i>, about a girl from <state w:st="on">Arkansas</state> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strawberry Girl</i>, about a girl from <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Florida</place></state>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span> loved Lenski's illustrations and the maps at the front, and I liked reading about kids from other places.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trixie Belden and the Mystery in <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Arizona</place></state></i> by Julie Campbell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother gave me this to read on a long car trip to see my Uncle in El Paso.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trixie, her best pal Honey Wheeler, and all their friends spend a summer working at a dude ranch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t read a lot of mystery now, but I sure loved this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working at a ranch couldn’t really be as much fun as this book made it seem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I still had my copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one that mom gave away, but I never forgot it.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Judy Blume: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Are You there God? It’s Me Margaret </i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were my two favorite Blumes, although I read and loved almost all of her books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judy Blume had the guts to have “the talk” with Generation X when our full-time-working and oftentimes single parents didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved Sheila the Great because I could relate to her fear of the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also have paperback copies of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Then Again, Maybe I Won’t</i> (which taught me what I didn’t know about adolescent boys), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blubber</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also read the juicy parts of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forever</i> in a friend’s copy because mom never bought it for me.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Best Christmas Pageant Ever</i> by Barbara Robinson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My teacher read this aloud to the class, and we thought it was the funniest thing we’d ever heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we didn’t behave, her refusal to read the next chapter was our punishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I read it to my kids, however, it seemed to have lost this magic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were not impressed.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Noel Streatfield’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dancing Shoes</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ballet Shoes</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never took dance lessons as a girl (I was always in gymnastics), but these books made me want to be a ballerina like nothing else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The unique identities of each of the Fossil girls (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ballet Shoes)</i> intrigued me, and I wanted to run all over the world exploring like Great-Uncle Matthew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to give a tiny bit of credit to this story for inspiring me to study archaeology in college.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Shel Silverstein’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where the Sidewalk Ends</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my favorite poems is “My Beard”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved that kooky picture of the little naked guy with his beard wrapped around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shel still rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My seven-year old son can’t get enough.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read many Beverly Cleary books, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mouse and the Motorcycle</i> series, but Ramona was the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure Cleary was an inspiration for Barbara Parks’s Junie B. Jones books.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">P.S. I Love You</i> by Barbara Conklin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the tween equivalent of a Harlequin romance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was part of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweet Dreams</i> series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember how fun it was to read about Mariah buying a new wardrobe for her newly trim figure. It was a really sad book, but that exciting girl-meets-boy thing appealed to me as a middle schooler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, I’m not the only one who remembers it fondly: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/P-S-Love-You-Barbara-Conklin/dp/0553140191/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304283403&sr=1-2">of the 33 people who reviewed it on Amazon, 28 gave it five stars</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not too shabby for a fluffy little romance. </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><em>Tales for the Midnight Hour</em> by Judith Bauer Stamper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought this at the school book fair, and it scared the pants off me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My cover had a maniacal skull on it with these great bulging eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After reading the stories, I’d have to turn the book face down before going to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t deal with that crazy skull-face watching me in my sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite stories were “The Black Velvet Ribbon” and “The Jigsaw Puzzle”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still freak out at night thinking some monster might be looking in my window.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Edgar Allen Poe stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got one of those children’s mini books by classic authors in my stocking one year (Christmas again?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one had all of Poe’s short stories watered down for young readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorites in this book were “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.”</li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Other books that have a place in Book Phantom’s childhood:</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bridge to Terabithia</i> by Katherine Paterson (sniff, sniff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boo-hoo-hoo!), </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cricket in <place w:st="on">Times Square</place></i> by George Selden</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in left 99.75pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chocolate Fever</i> by Robert Kimmel Smith (we read this in school)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How to Eat Fried <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Worms</place></city></i> by Thomas Rockwell<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat the Turtle Drum</i> by Constance C. Green<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rabbit Hill</i> by Robert Lawson<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Cat Ate My Gymsuit</i> by Paula Danziger<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Green Eggs and Ham</i> by Dr. Seuss (can’t forget the Seuss)</li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in;">I'd love to hear about your favorite books from childhood. Please leave a comment and tell me why you loved them.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-17346257663176986652011-05-01T07:00:00.003-04:002011-05-01T08:04:24.067-04:00Review of Swamplandia! by Karen Russell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i2xsZC2jSCyhE8DUA1ZJXFnP15Q9ABGosLb1o4fuTd-hoZHVWpGm5sNapxtM5KJWhyphenhyphenPBAubaAEh1mIaPl8204ePejronS4jJbaUzSY7MuM_NMrQGOpWrrTym-pFBTzwQGBJayCM5NA/s1600/swamplandiacover+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i2xsZC2jSCyhE8DUA1ZJXFnP15Q9ABGosLb1o4fuTd-hoZHVWpGm5sNapxtM5KJWhyphenhyphenPBAubaAEh1mIaPl8204ePejronS4jJbaUzSY7MuM_NMrQGOpWrrTym-pFBTzwQGBJayCM5NA/s320/swamplandiacover+001.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Why do I dread writing this review?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so excited about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia!</i> – couldn’t wait to read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I b</span>egan reading a few pages but stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t read it over vacation because I wanted to be alone with it for a stretch (yet I couldn’t be bothered to lift it on the five hour road trip back).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished some other books and picked it up in earnest again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got sleepy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read some more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Got sleepy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was going on?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked the characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked the concept – it had so much potential and originality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why wasn’t I loving this book?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I pushed on because it wasn’t terrible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t even bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just made me very sleepy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think part of the problem was Russell’s extensive use of metaphor and many self-conscious turns of phrase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gustave Flaubert said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“An author in his book must be like God in the universe; present everywhere and visible nowhere.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt that Russell was too visible in too many places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes the description of the setting slowed the pace without adding anything to the general mood or tension in the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got “bogged down”, so to speak. (har, har).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of her prose was beautiful but pointless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of it didn’t seem to fit in the characters mouths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, the main character, Ava, muses:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I tried to imagine what species of bird could make a sound like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A single note, held in an amber suspension of time, like a charcoal drawing of Icarus falling.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It was sad and fierce all at once, alive with a lonely purity.”</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Beautiful words, but I wouldn’t have put them in Ava’s mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ava often waxes poetic like this, but it doesn’t sound like a thirteen year old with a substandard education and a sheltered life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounds like Karen Russell trying to dazzle me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another thing that slowed the book down was the insertion of historical facts about the <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Florida</place></state> swamplands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were not seamless – I always felt like they were asides basted in with sloppy whipstitches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It interrupted the flow of this fantastically original story.</div><br />
<a name='more'></a>Anyway, the World of Darkness is so surreal, it screams out, “Yes, I am a symbol of something larger in this story.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, that something larger is the lingering shadow of death, especially the death of one as significant as the mother, wife and raison d’être of Swamplandia!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Hilola’s passing, the Bigtrees lost any draw they had to their park, and Ava is still too young to replace her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each Bigtree copes with the loss of Hilola in his or her own peculiar way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Chief Bigtree, the father, the answer is “Carnival Darwinism”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He plans to compete with World of Darkness with lame and expensive ideas (which they can’t afford because of their substantial debt).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no matter what gimmick he thinks he might try, nothing can replace Hilola.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He retreats to the mainland to “do business”; the children presume this means he’s getting investors for his schemes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is absent from the family for most of the novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His means of coping with his wife’s death is to try to compensate for her loss by investing more in the park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He futilely clings to the false mythos he manufactured about Swamplandia!.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To let it go would be to let her go.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The eldest Bigtree, seventeen year old Kiwi, thinks his father’s plan is ridiculous and decides to go to the mainland and get a job to help save Swamplandia!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically, he ends up working at The World of Darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kiwi’s version of hell is working this menial, dead-end job that pays barely enough to cover his expenses, let alone make payments on his father’s bank loans. Through his stint at World of Darkness, we come to understand the anger he feels about Hilola’s death as well the insularity of his swampy upbringing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kiwi is taunted by the other employees his age because of his pretentious vocabulary and his lack of social grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">All the Bigtree children were haphazardly homeschooled on the island, but Kiwi wants to go to college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He attends night school in the city to try to make this dream come true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through a series of accidents and fateful encounters, Kiwi slowly gains the respect of his peers and gets a few lucky breaks that help him build his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever the realist, Kiwi plunged headfirst into The World of Darkness, taming the Leviathan of grief that would swallow him up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He comes out stronger.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The middle child, Osceola (Ossie), is sixteen and has never been kissed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her first birthday without her mother is the saddest attempt at a celebration ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her brother and sister give her an XXL sweatshirt from the Swamplandia! gift shop that doesn’t fit her, and the Chief gives her a pair of moccasins from the park museum that she had outgrown. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cake is even stale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ossie longs to have friends like mainland girls do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wants to go to prom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, she knows she could never fit into that world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ossie leaves her birthday party, saying she wants to be alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">When Ossie discovers a book on spiritualism, she begins contacting the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She uses a Ouija board and finds herself numerous ghost “boyfriends”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ossie herself is like a ghost – she has white hair and fades into the background of the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her mother was a famous gator wrestler, and Ava was Hilola’s up-and-coming protégé.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kiwi was the smart one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where did this leave poor, weak Ossie?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A ghost in her own life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ossie doesn’t belong in Swamplandia or the mainland, so she retreats to the Underworld, running away with her ghost husband, “The Dredgeman”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the last minute, right when she was ready to join the land of the dead, her ghost husband leaves her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without him, she “couldn’t finish it” (her life).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Sweet Ava is the youngest victim in this family tragedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her brother, the only voice of reason in the family, has left home in a show of rebellion against his father’s schemes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chief Bigtree leaves the girls alone in Swamplandia to “do business”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re never really sure if he’s abandoned them altogether or if he’s really trying to pull it together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then Ossie, Ava’s last remaining companion, runs off the meet her ghost man on his derelict dredge in the swamp, admonishing Ava not to wait for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She tells Ava to call the Chief and use their stash of money if she needs it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Ava partly thinks Ossie is playing a game with this spiritist stuff, thinking her sister will eventually come home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she doesn’t return, Ava goes deep into the swamp, searching for The Underworld to find her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A stranger named Bird Man is the only adult who shows any interest in Ava’s predicament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells Ava that she’ll never find Ossie if she calls the authorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They won’t believe her, he says, nor will they know where the Underworld is – but he, the Bird Man, does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ava follows him, willingly, into her own personal hell.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Because Ava misses her mother terribly, she wants to believe that Ossie’s ghosts and the Underworld are real. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She holds hope that if she finds it, she will get both her sister and her mother back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The liminality of the swamp contributes to this seductive belief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ava says:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Every doubt got pushed away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kiwi’s voice (There are no such things as ghosts) I ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Faith was a power that arose from inside you, I thought, and doubt was exogenous, a speck in your eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A black mote from the sad world of adults.”</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This desire to put her faith in what is false leads her into a harrowing situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ava is broken in so many ways, but she learns that instead of seeking strength from outside of her – either from her mother, her family, the Bird Man, or the crowds of adoring tourists – she can find her strength within.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She discovers that she doesn’t need ghosts or the Underworld.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her grief doesn’t rip her apart like an ancient Seth prowling the marsh; she wrestles with her grief and emerges stronger.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The best character in the book was the one that existed only in the memories of the others: Hilola Bigtree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia!</i> didn’t get a deep emotional rise from me, there were a couple of heart-rending scenes at the end which revolved around the mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First was Kiwi’s remembrance of Hilola in the weeks before her death:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Brush your teeth, son!” she’d screamed at him once from her hospital bed, nine days before her death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You’re not brushing are you…?” and the pleading and suspicion in her voice belied the stupidity of this accusation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was all doped with morphine.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I can’t explain why this particular scene got to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a mother, I think the hardest part of facing mortality would be leaving behind my children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only a mother loves her children enough to fret over these small and seemingly unimportant details of our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without the mother, who would attend to these matters for the Bigtree kids?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly not the Chief. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The other emotional part is when Ava is lost in the swamp and swimming in a gator pit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Seth clamps down on her leg, and she can’t surface from the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She remembers the training her mother gave her and does everything she was taught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gator releases her, and she swims to safety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But before she can escape the jaws of the Seth, she must release the burden of clothes she carries with her – her sister’s ribbon, the Dredgeman’s shirt and jacket, a scrap from her mother’s dress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had to let go of these symbols of loss to save herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She says:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I wasn’t scared now; my insides still held the space of the shape my mom had filled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d lost everything, all the clothes, even the ribbon on my wrist.”</i></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgYbC0fo5bIooYsuizK7quOXI_y9VY2yqLjM2VfBTVviyIr6xSI0GgemiUtJC4PdYbYJ-rnjjmN8AQzrwGeQTAakbQ6GNRO13bVr9gC77jCEsLag1-rR3QclOpYBAuNt6vVl7DX1cpg/s1600/SixSeths.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgYbC0fo5bIooYsuizK7quOXI_y9VY2yqLjM2VfBTVviyIr6xSI0GgemiUtJC4PdYbYJ-rnjjmN8AQzrwGeQTAakbQ6GNRO13bVr9gC77jCEsLag1-rR3QclOpYBAuNt6vVl7DX1cpg/s320/SixSeths.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Seths basking in the sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In the end, the chaos catalyzed by the World of Darkness subsides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no happy ending – only a shift to bland neutrality in the Bigtree’s lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is from this calm and drab place that they will begin their lives again.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Overall, I think I liked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book would have been perfect without the patchy history lessons or the poetic prose that slowed the pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia! </i>could have been a great book with some simple deletions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its blurb offered so much promise, and I think my expectations were too high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to like this book more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will I read Karen Russell again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You bet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was plenty here to like, and I think she’s only going to get better as she writes more long fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admit I was a little disappointed – like a diner in a fine restaurant who orders the special that’s good but doesn’t live up to its description.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia!</i> was served with a tad too much unnecessary seasoning which prevented me from devouring it or savoring it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, the story was satisfying, and it filled me up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I foresee this isn’t the last or the best we’ll read from Russell – here’s hoping what’s next will be more subtle to the taste.</div><br />
Here is the plot synopsis in a jif:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thirteen year old Ava comes from the Bigtree family of alligator wrestlers who run a theme park called Swamplandia!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They call their gators Seths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the book opens, Ava’s mother Hilola, the star wrestler in the park, has died from ovarian cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the aftermath of her death, The World of Darkness sweeps in and turns the Bigtree family’s world upside down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The World of Darkness is a competing theme park that takes away all of Swamplandia’s tourists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a surreal place where people vacation in a replica of hell – you can be swallowed by the Leviathan or swim in the blood-red <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">Lake</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Fire</placename></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can fly over the dismal swamp lands in a plane flown by one of the Four Pilots of the Apocalypse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tourists in “The World” are called Lost Souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, the World of Darkness is absurd – what sort of crazy parents would take the family to such a macabre place for entertainment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Well, maybe the more extreme Baptists who send their kids to “hell houses” on Halloween instead of haunted houses would enjoy the World of Darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really couldn’t say for sure.)The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-7229519046937844922011-04-30T07:00:00.005-04:002011-04-30T07:00:08.713-04:00Calling on The Book Lady in Savannah<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxQynKOnoZtpeFQxIUCtT-WHrPTJWSyolkUPA5iPIdomo1CjuacRtln8L49inbS3c7QPtgSFwnj5JlurlGfbOU612GAH8PJh3q4JUEm8pTZFjeb_f8zaIqxjQCSUXVVQsR3f-fumHAGQ/s1600/DSC_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxQynKOnoZtpeFQxIUCtT-WHrPTJWSyolkUPA5iPIdomo1CjuacRtln8L49inbS3c7QPtgSFwnj5JlurlGfbOU612GAH8PJh3q4JUEm8pTZFjeb_f8zaIqxjQCSUXVVQsR3f-fumHAGQ/s320/DSC_0027.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to The Book Lady</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">If you are ever in the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city> area, go to The Book Lady book shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an excellent used book store on <street w:st="on"><address w:st="on">Liberty Street</address></street> in the Historic District.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is located in the bottom of a building, almost like a basement, but it is cozy and well-stocked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main room has that comfy reading-room-feel, with a large well-worn sofa and easy chair by a fire place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband got the kids some treats while I poked around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t see the entire refreshment selection, but I know they sell coffee, water, prepackaged biscotti, and out-of-this-world oatmeal chocolate chips cookies (homemade by the store).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">As I wandered through the tiny shop, it revealed itself to be a labyrinth of shelves, hallways, and rooms practically spewing books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The front area had a classics section and a regional section, as well as what appeared to be some first editions of better-known authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One room was dedicated to women’s literature and contemporary bestsellers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Book Lady had a small but interesting collection of literary criticism, as well as the obligatory shelf or two dedicated to Flannery O’Connor, whose childhood home was just blocks away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The interior staircase had stacks and stacks of books resting on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was the effect of all of these books, lying about and covering every wall?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt blissfully blanketed in spines and pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFeycDTI1Pr3Y3TgUAJFz_3UF4mBVrZw1WJ_IOy4QQgk70MIjtBFDHQri8OKF28b6zJDWS3B1HQOEZDalFs-jfk0rRzwgwM5tDivD26fVJ_w2ulaKqNTrWIu9m-n0aaxBxp3gqljWKg/s1600/DSC_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFeycDTI1Pr3Y3TgUAJFz_3UF4mBVrZw1WJ_IOy4QQgk70MIjtBFDHQri8OKF28b6zJDWS3B1HQOEZDalFs-jfk0rRzwgwM5tDivD26fVJ_w2ulaKqNTrWIu9m-n0aaxBxp3gqljWKg/s320/DSC_0026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sign and shop window (look for the nib)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The beauty of a used book store is that you can’t go in with preconceived notions of what you will buy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hub wanted to read The Fountainhead while we were on vacation, and I forgot to bring it for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hoped I might find copy of it at The Book Lady, but I didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazon or Barnes and Noble, it ain’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, a good used book store – like The Book Lady – is where the reader discovers hidden treasure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t know what’s in the chest, but you’re pretty sure there’ll be something valuable – like a bargain first edition or an out of print memoir or that children’s book you loved when you were little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only downside is that buried treasure requires the time and effort of digging. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lengthy browsing, scanning pages, leaving no cover unturned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not the kind of thing you do with two kids in tow (like I did) or when you have thirty minutes left on your lunch break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Ah, if only I were a native Savannahian! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would spend my Saturdays leisurely perusing The Book Lady’s unique stock until I found that one book I didn’t know I wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turning the pages of my prize on the comfy chair and packing my cheeks with homemade cookies, my new book would surprise and transform me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Buying new books is one of life’s great pleasures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I buy new books from all sorts of places:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Independent sellers, even Target.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes my purchase selection is about price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it’s about fantastic displays that appeal to the consumer in me, or because an author is coming for an event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it’s a simple matter of convenience (book shopping while I’m making a toilet paper run).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the used book store delivers a different experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the experience of allowing Fate to deliver you exactly what you need to read exactly when you need to read it – it’s handing control of your literary choices over to the “powers that be”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What could be more fun, spontaneous, and meaningful than that?</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-54996361148382032952011-04-29T06:00:00.003-04:002011-04-29T06:00:08.710-04:00Greetings from Low-Country Georgia! Postcard Bookmarks<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">It’s time once again for the Book Phantom to return her library books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wise Blood</i> by Flannery O’Connor will go back with a postcard bookmark of <placename w:st="on">Forsyth</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Park</placetype> in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Savannah</city>, <country-region w:st="on">Georgia</country-region></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city> was O’Connor’s birthplace, and although I have a postcard from her childhood home, it was too large to fit into the paperback copy I borrowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>o add meaning to my postcard bookmark, I put a snippet of my historic <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city> map on the back of the postcard with O’Connor’s home on Charlton Street<br />
</street>circled in red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the front depicts the <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Forsyth</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Park</placetype></place> fountain, I slipped the card into Chapter 5, where Enoch enters the gates of City Forest Park to ogle female swimmers and insult animals at the zoo.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPLwtnBWh1268gPDoqr1BRaPeTsSnhqT3HXT8DCn1I9dhtIw8hhawAZCK0nOY2Aae_pU5AAaLFbdDzubKuiLpO3KhBmVrTcWELHiwA1-W_VThXB-ty9hQ_E9JeVJJjX8h9W7cVG9CoA/s1600/ForsythParkFinalBM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPLwtnBWh1268gPDoqr1BRaPeTsSnhqT3HXT8DCn1I9dhtIw8hhawAZCK0nOY2Aae_pU5AAaLFbdDzubKuiLpO3KhBmVrTcWELHiwA1-W_VThXB-ty9hQ_E9JeVJJjX8h9W7cVG9CoA/s320/ForsythParkFinalBM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forsyth Park Postcard Bookmark for <em>Wise Blood</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Savannah Breeze</i> by Mary Kay Andrews is also due.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> BeBe, the</span> heroine in the novel, is a well-to-do business woman who is swindled by her conman boyfriend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All she has left in the aftermath of this affair is the run-down Breeze Inn on <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Tybee</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Island</placetype></place> and a few good friends to help her fix up the property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These same friends help her get her money back from the villain, and they serve up his just desserts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Savannah Breeze</i> gets a <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Tybee</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Island</placetype></place> postcard depicting an aerial view of the pier and coastline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the back I added a clip from a <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Tybee</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Island</placetype></place> map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Note: I didn’t post the fronts of the postcards as they are protected by copyright.)</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0W5tZp7L6Uvk4SxArXfNthcJZGmHMC1fIf26TmxunnXryfS633S7-Ifyrpg6_qHys9jobclFMxzCIzA-x8qsKo_vzo7KbCNAl2KpNAF1ft-0oyV3J0BndmqRc4mAi7s-J-1ADP3zXgw/s1600/TybeeFinalBM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0W5tZp7L6Uvk4SxArXfNthcJZGmHMC1fIf26TmxunnXryfS633S7-Ifyrpg6_qHys9jobclFMxzCIzA-x8qsKo_vzo7KbCNAl2KpNAF1ft-0oyV3J0BndmqRc4mAi7s-J-1ADP3zXgw/s320/TybeeFinalBM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tybee Island Postcard Bookmark for <em>Savannah Breeze</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Here’s hoping the next readers enjoy this taste of low-country <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Georgia</place></country-region>!</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-62787604056762496462011-04-27T06:00:00.005-04:002011-04-27T06:00:01.971-04:00Pilgrimage to Flannery O’Connor House<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT64y0sadbo8m7jlU32l_GD032XvmzxJWpoDcNft3KSMRg_jd_DkIaS3MT8-DH95x5XKFbyUHlJAqPsO4uo4B1IRQAHDHrXObsta_T1xTCbJHis26TtWQ3NWF8mfifmbzAyl89tLEGeQ/s1600/HomeExt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT64y0sadbo8m7jlU32l_GD032XvmzxJWpoDcNft3KSMRg_jd_DkIaS3MT8-DH95x5XKFbyUHlJAqPsO4uo4B1IRQAHDHrXObsta_T1xTCbJHis26TtWQ3NWF8mfifmbzAyl89tLEGeQ/s320/HomeExt.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">O'Connor Childhood Home, 207 E Charlton St.,Savannah</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The only museum my family and I bothered going to in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Savannah</city></place> was the Flannery O’Connor childhood home (we spent the rest of the time eating in spectacular restaurants).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My nine year old daughter and seven year old son had no idea who O’Connor was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They only knew Mommy was reading one of her books, which made her look baffled most days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids heard me go on about “weirdos” and “freaks” and asking what these characters could possibly be trying to tell me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of the obsessive muttering to myself about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wise Blood</i>, the kids and The Hub were willing to humor my need to see the crazy environment that produced such a disturbing author.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwLVlA8XdEFEjRUtE9wbD6Db-oJXaISJqTCXl7cjTMbOhWWUgXOrZprPfRC93mQKBPjc5bLdiT6LNZyINudmgiPsXsHrN6p_xueryLKgorQaOEQRLlDhxRMsCkIPonO6QqrKw3HIalQ/s1600/FOCMomDad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwLVlA8XdEFEjRUtE9wbD6Db-oJXaISJqTCXl7cjTMbOhWWUgXOrZprPfRC93mQKBPjc5bLdiT6LNZyINudmgiPsXsHrN6p_xueryLKgorQaOEQRLlDhxRMsCkIPonO6QqrKw3HIalQ/s320/FOCMomDad.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portraits of Mary Flannery and her parents, Edward & Regina</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">But O’Connor wasn’t raised in a loony bin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was raised in a loving and cozy home supplied by a wealthy and doting aunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her parents were attentive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They sent Flannery to good schools and attended Mass regularly at <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">St. John’s</place></city> Cathedral, the steeple of which was ever-present in O’Connor’s view from the upstairs window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O’Connor’s Catholic faith heavily influenced her work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of her religious nature, she was a precocious child who was not the silent and obedient type.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At age six, she called her parents by their first names and attended the adult-only mass rather than the family mass at church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> When a </span>nun told her she should attend family mass, Flannery replied something to the effect of: “The Catholic Church will not dictate what mass my family attends.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There appeared to be a thread of rebellion beneath her unshakeable faith.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1hsoABxLQLIpzWCFfD17llLEqaqwIifXusN4OG1aYTKnHuzhhjF0hrJAONjvGpR95IRi_lmXT0xpI9y_17EjMeOL7sswNNJ8P0AsOfZ953-lS1GbL1U39R-id5c77b6Y3qgqtfkOyg/s1600/ViewStJohns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1hsoABxLQLIpzWCFfD17llLEqaqwIifXusN4OG1aYTKnHuzhhjF0hrJAONjvGpR95IRi_lmXT0xpI9y_17EjMeOL7sswNNJ8P0AsOfZ953-lS1GbL1U39R-id5c77b6Y3qgqtfkOyg/s320/ViewStJohns.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of St. John's from upper bedroom</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">O’Connor was always a reader, but, as her report card shows, she was a terrible speller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From an early age, Flannery was a literary critic who penciled terse reviews inside her readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Below is an example, where she scrawled, “Not a very good book.” </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZsutJ2TSsU81QgJTqbc0p6GKipIZqGMGT7ZqO29o_EP_RSey9f4W1qQuPdjCvYE3WivgJ4qO0Gw1rcT7giooKpbHRyau16gnKUi9Q3_jKUVifBzR5EmAf6CrWFy_AKkmj3fKJtDQ5A/s1600/FOCReadinggirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZsutJ2TSsU81QgJTqbc0p6GKipIZqGMGT7ZqO29o_EP_RSey9f4W1qQuPdjCvYE3WivgJ4qO0Gw1rcT7giooKpbHRyau16gnKUi9Q3_jKUVifBzR5EmAf6CrWFy_AKkmj3fKJtDQ5A/s320/FOCReadinggirl.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary Flannery O'Connor at about age 6</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyJAiUxZ1H-msFnBHsVsrfPCFsS4AouC5q_YjDHo4bQQUBePTbKusLHqtAk-2RIRn7sY5Aw-vXyh1UZ5_0_OEGjpqME1JMBJxJTXrCYgpYsUnYxmPsE6YyII5lGHeejrWZzELmiA7dw/s1600/reportcard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyJAiUxZ1H-msFnBHsVsrfPCFsS4AouC5q_YjDHo4bQQUBePTbKusLHqtAk-2RIRn7sY5Aw-vXyh1UZ5_0_OEGjpqME1JMBJxJTXrCYgpYsUnYxmPsE6YyII5lGHeejrWZzELmiA7dw/s320/reportcard.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Report Card, Grade 7</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc9T0i8S0bPrNG-2IYW_e9Yspd-oUudfGrP0UQk7jf15Vi6Ovymd8L6-_LJio7m5L0t_LexMCqSZuvJSA8-kw7SemndyLUuR5V0WAamuTw-Xu0eZBwth9eqdjzp0WDdYP2gqZdLIyHw/s1600/FOCCritique.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc9T0i8S0bPrNG-2IYW_e9Yspd-oUudfGrP0UQk7jf15Vi6Ovymd8L6-_LJio7m5L0t_LexMCqSZuvJSA8-kw7SemndyLUuR5V0WAamuTw-Xu0eZBwth9eqdjzp0WDdYP2gqZdLIyHw/s320/FOCCritique.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early literary criticism</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Because she was an “old soul”, she preferred the company of chickens to the company of other children. She even taught her hens to walk backward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <a href="http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=28819">Pathé Newsreel</a> people heard about this and came to film her and her birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">O’Connor’s mother insisted that she try to make friends her own age and invited girls over to play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flannery wasn’t happy about this, but she would take these visitors into the bathroom where she presided over readings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To prepare for these visits, she put flower petals in the bathtub and toilet to “decorate”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the friends came, she would give them samples of her writing to read aloud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This “read aloud” method helped her revise her work, and she would carry this method into adulthood.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7utNojQeXHdpSDUsaiimgWKwTqrOme6N1nszUhYLP8nRXjI_RtmFHf7p-9ISVudK9sghowePC3V2TtkoQnTH8sZ8u3THMo-r_5GpyN3BlzIZQdQlB7Mt6u4C7KbugHmXO9xqaiZ69A/s1600/BathroomReading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7utNojQeXHdpSDUsaiimgWKwTqrOme6N1nszUhYLP8nRXjI_RtmFHf7p-9ISVudK9sghowePC3V2TtkoQnTH8sZ8u3THMo-r_5GpyN3BlzIZQdQlB7Mt6u4C7KbugHmXO9xqaiZ69A/s320/BathroomReading.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bathroom and reading room in O'Connor home</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">If you are ever in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city>, visit the Flannery O’Connor childhood home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The docent was fantastic – I forgot his name, but he had a grey ponytail and plenty of knowledge about O’Connor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even my seven year old son was laughing through the short tour, partly because of the docent’s enthusiasm, and partly because Flannery was such a funny child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O’Connor died young (at age 39 from lupus), so it seems Fate or God made her a grown-up little girl so she wouldn’t waste precious time on childish pleasures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps she sensed she had only a short time to make a deep mark, a mentality befitting a short story virtuoso.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Recommended reading - <em><a href="http://thesecondpass.com/?p=588">Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor</a></em> by Brad Gooch. </div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-84237619901952315832011-04-25T06:00:00.027-04:002011-06-14T08:50:04.974-04:00Review of Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Wise Blood is a truly baffling piece of literature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew when I read O’Connor it would be Southern Gothic with plenty of freakish, grotesque characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I was expecting to understand more clearly where the story was taking me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After reading it once, chewing on it for a few days, and still finding the point of the story “hazy”, I went online to see what critics and scholars were saying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the better scholars I found was Yale’s Amy Hungerford.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After watching <a href="http://academicearth.org/lectures/flannery-oconnor-wise-blood-2">part 1 of her lecture on Wise Blood</a>, I gained a clearer vision, if you will, of Hazel Motes and his motivations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Armed with some of Hungerford’s insights and pondering questions she posed to her students, I went back through Wise Blood and thought more about the symbols and themes in the novel.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here is a quick plot synopsis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The protagonist, Hazel Motes, was raised in a fire-and-brimstone preaching family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His grandfather was a roving minister who put the fear of Jesus in Hazel at an early age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hazel realized that the easiest way to avoid the scary Jesus of his grandfather’s sermons was to avoid sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thinks he will become a preacher, but he is drafted into the army, and that plan is thwarted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During his service, fellow soldiers try to take him to a brothel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haze refuses, saying he will protect his soul from the government and foreigners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His comrades tell him he has no soul and leave him behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This plants the seed in Haze’s mind that maybe he truly has no soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he were rid of his soul – converted to nothingness instead of evil – he would have some relief from the Jesus moving “from tree to tree in the back of his mind.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When Haze returns from the army, he finds his family home abandoned; he is adrift – a roving, godless prophet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He takes a train to a city where he plans to commit sins he’s never committed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, he goes to a whore whose name and address he finds in a bathroom stall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whore says he looks like a preacher in his dark hat and blue suit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a mistake characters in the book make throughout the story, but Haze vehemently denies being a preacher.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In spite of his denial of being a minister, sinners are drawn to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even as he blasphemes about his Church Without Christ, people follow him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when he is rude and hateful, people want to interact with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He meets a woman on the train who wants to talk to him even though he’s disinterested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He meets a young man named Enoch Emery who begs for his friendship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He attracts a charlatan preacher, Onnie Jay Holy, who would use him to exploit believers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also fifteen year old Sabbath Lily Hawks who wants to seduce Haze so she can leave her conman father, Asa Hawks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, there is Mrs. Flood, Hazel’s landlady, who believes he has some important insight which she wants for herself.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Enoch Emery is a foil to Hazel Motes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Hazel attracts company he doesn’t want, Emery can’t seem to befriend anyone no matter how hard he tries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Enoch was a boy, his father gave him away to a religious woman Enoch hated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he was eighteen, his father forced him to go to the city and get a job while he ran off and married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enoch laments that the city is unfriendly, and no one wants to be friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one has so much as shaken his hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hazel blows him off cruelly, but Enoch doesn’t give up.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the end, Hazel is stripped of nearly everything he thinks is important for his Church Without Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He goes home to the boarding house and blinds himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With this blinding, I believe he is able to “see” something he was unable to see before – a sort of “blind faith”, perhaps?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not clear to me whether Haze is truly redeemed in the sense that he comes to embrace Christ, but he is certainly changed and even repentant of his sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s upsetting is that the world around him is completely unchanged in spite of his struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world around him practices a faith of convenience, and as Haze says, “If you are redeemed, then I wouldn’t want to be.”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Certain themes and symbols stood out to me, largely because they left me guessing as to what they could possibly mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O’Connor’s use of animal symbolism was interesting, especially as it pertained to Enoch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enoch is a man who believes he has “wise blood” that leads him to certain courses of action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is almost like an animal instinct with no human reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically, Enoch hates the animals in the zoo where he works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thinks they are lazy and useless, and resents that men feed them and clean up after them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each day when he leaves work, he has a ritual that includes insulting the animals in their cages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His landlady has a picture of a moose in his room which he finds frightening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is it about animals that he hates?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it because these soulless creatures get better treatment and more attention from people than he does?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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At one point Enoch encounters Gonga, a Hollywood gorilla, at a movie theater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enoch thinks this is a perfect opportunity to insult an animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lines up with some children to shake the gorilla’s hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the first hand in the city that has reached out to Enoch, and he is moved by it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He begins talking to the gorilla, whose celluloid eyes become replaced with human eyes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A voice inside the costume tells him to “go to hell”, and the hand is jerked away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t give anything away, but Enoch symbolically devolves into his true animal nature – soulless and ignorant, guided only by instinct.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, this is a foil to Hazel, who is guided by faith, even when he tries to have none.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enoch fears and hates animals, which represent his instinct (“wise blood”), while Hazel fears and hates Jesus, who represents his faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither man can escape his true nature.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another interesting theme is O’Connor’s use of doppelgänger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the beginning of the novel, Hazel is described as looking like his preacher grandfather who had “a particular disrespect for him because his own face was repeated almost exactly in the child’s and seemed to mock him.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His grandfather drove from place to place, spreading his gospel in a Ford and preaching on the nose of the hood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haze cannot escape this legacy, no matter how much he tries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the beginning, people mistake him as a preacher because of his dress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haze even gets a car that he drives from place to place, preaching about his Church Without Christ from the nose of the hood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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This “twin” theme is repeated when Haze angers Onnie Jay Holy (aka Hoover Shoats), the crooked evangelist who tries to profit from Haze’s “church”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Haze won’t play along with Holy’s scheme, Holy hires a consumptive man named Solace Layfield to dress like Haze and drive a gray car like Haze’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Layfield and Holy arrive where Haze is preaching so they can fleece the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of Haze’s listeners, a fat woman, asks, “You and him are twins?”, to which Haze responds, “If you don’t hunt it down and kill it, it will hunt you down and kill you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haze even develops a consumptive cough like Layfield’s, and it is here that he decides to put an end to the mockery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like his grandfather, Haze cannot abide the face that seems to mock him.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another baffling symbol in the novel is the small mummy, which Enoch steals from a museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enoch’s “wise blood” compels him to deliver it to Haze to be the “new jesus” for Haze’s church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sabbath Lily, who seduced Haze the night before, answers the door of Haze’s room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She dismisses Enoch and opens the package.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than feeling revulsion, Sabbath likes the mummy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She cradles it like a baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is perhaps a symbolic “love child” of their unholy union – an empty, soulless shell of a human: “She might have sat there for ten minutes, without a thought, held by whatever it was that was familiar about him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had never known anyone who looked like him before, but there was something in him of everyone she had ever known, as if they had all been rolled into one person and killed and shrunk and dried.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, we have Christ-like symbolism, where the sins of all people are rolled into one person who was killed to redeem all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the mummy represents a dead and dried-out faith instead of a living and vital faith.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When Sabbath shows the mummy to Haze, he grabs it and throws it against the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The head pops off and the body explodes, and Sabbath protests that he is mean and evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She says, “I seen you wouldn’t never have no fun or let anybody else because you didn’t want nothing but Jesus!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, a self-blinded Haze also becomes a lifeless shell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His corpse is brought home to his landlady, Mrs. Flood, who happily welcomes him home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not realizing he is dead, she holds his hand and gazes into his eye sockets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haze’s soulless body is revered by someone with no spiritual sight, just as the mummy was adored by Sabbath.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you are looking for a book with heroic or even flawed characters who redeem themselves, look elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally, I need a book with likeable characters, but I was able to manage Wise Blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, the novel is short and O’Connor’s prose is compact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her symbolism packs a lot of meaning into a short space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a word is wasted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is, after all, a short story artist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Secondly, the freakishness and insanity of the characters is morbid, but compelling – the reader has to keep reading just to see what these weirdos will do next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thirdly, the reader has to do some work on his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will noodle over the meaning of it, and this puzzle-like quality enriches the reading experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O’Connor gives nothing away. </div>
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Even though she explained parts of Wise Blood in some of her letters, the novel offers plenty of room for individual interpretation.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Flannery O’Connor isn’t for everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While she described Wise Blood as comic, I call it surreal and absurd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Darkly funny” is even a stretch in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O’Connor has something deep and important to say to us, but secular readers like myself are akin to the spiritually blind people in Wise Blood: we readily recognize O’Connor as a literary prophet, but her message remains just beyond our grasp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to reach for that “pin point of light” in the darkness.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38339402990808256.post-26349184749363798362011-04-15T06:00:00.061-04:002011-04-15T06:00:12.087-04:00Spring Break Reading List - Swamp Things<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><em>"Books – the best antidote against the marsh-gas of boredom and vacuity."</em></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 3in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– George Steiner</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 3in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczpI532edFB-c-sLkcz4wrTMJDcBEF_DTRF1kjzDI62cx-7dov5RjCtHs6TEb5Ci3UGyZZ4jHLN-beqwRf-SV5r06BxZHDluElNCwKVR0qI9CCaO2ezR3E7gHLSyFvgRM8noZzc6hhg/s1600/Heron.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczpI532edFB-c-sLkcz4wrTMJDcBEF_DTRF1kjzDI62cx-7dov5RjCtHs6TEb5Ci3UGyZZ4jHLN-beqwRf-SV5r06BxZHDluElNCwKVR0qI9CCaO2ezR3E7gHLSyFvgRM8noZzc6hhg/s320/Heron.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The Book Phantom is leaving for vacation this week-end, and I will be in the marshy low-country of <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Georgia</place></country-region>, partying with alligators in a “drinking town with a fishing problem”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s right – I’ll be in <placename w:st="on">Tybee</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Island</placetype> for a little R & R, with plans to jaunt into <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city> for some culture and good food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I’m going to be in the “swamp”, my New Book pick is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia!</i> by Karen Russell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully, Russell will cure me of the aforementioned marsh-gas of boredom, but since I’ll be on vacation, I can deal with at least a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">little</i> vacuity.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">In fact, my reading list will be a little fluffy this go ‘round.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Shakespearean tragedies, my mind craves some lighter fare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m leaving out my usual professional development book selection, just because I don’t want to think about working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, I’m adding a contemporary “chick lit” title for leisurely reading on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here is my non-boring yet non-taxing reading list inspired by Swamps, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city>, and the Seashore.</div><br />
<ol style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swamplandia!</i> by Karen Russell (New Release).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've had this book for a little over a month, saving it for the vacay, and it hasn’t been easy not to peek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about a girl and her carnival-type family who run a gator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades (I know, I know – the <country-region w:st="on">Georgia</country-region> low-country isn’t exactly the Everglades, but did you read about that <a href="http://savannahnow.com/news/2011-04-05/savannah-alligator-death-case-can-proceed">grandma that was eaten by an alligator</a> in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Savannah</city></place>? I'm a little scared I’ll <a href="http://savannahnow.com/intown/2009-07-23/gator-snared-tybee-island">encounter one on the beach</a>, too! Maybe Russell will have some “gator wrastlin’” tips in her book - just in case.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, the character descriptions on the book flap totally sucked me in: Ava Bigtree, the thirteen year old heroine, must save the family theme park from a competitor called The World of Darkness; Ossie, the sister, falls in love with Dredgeman who is probably a ghost; Kiwi, the scholarly brother, betrays the family by joining The World of Darkness; and Chief Bigtree, the father, is missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and there’s a cast of 98 gators in little Ava’s charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t get more original than this.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wise Blood </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by Flannery O’Connor (Classic).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a Southerner, I admit with some chagrin that I have never read Flannery O’Connor (although I have a foggy notion that at least one of her short stories crossed my path in high school English class).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O’Connor was born and raised in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city>, so I will make the pilgrimage to her <a href="http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/savannah.html">childhood home</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She only wrote two novels – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wise Blood</i> is one of them.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://reading-group-center.knopfdoubleday.com/2010/01/09/midnight-in-the-garden-guide/">Midnight in the <place w:st="on"><placetype w:st="on">Garden</placetype> of <placename w:st="on">Good</placename></place> and Evil</a></i> by John Berendt (Non-Fiction).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read this title in the mid-90s when it was released, and I loved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I plan to thumb through it again to refamiliarize myself with the <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city> locales mentioned in the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems de rigueur for one touring <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city>. </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fallen</i> by <a href="http://laurenkatebooks.net/">Lauren Kate</a> (Young Adult).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the first in a paranormal series about fallen angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes place in a boarding school in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Savannah</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second book is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Torrent</i>, and the third, due for release June 14<sup>th</sup>, is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Passion</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I </span>perused this a few times at Target but didn’t buy it because I thought it might be a bit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twilight</i>-y (not that there’s anything wrong with that – I just like variety).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I want to go out and immediately buy the rest of the series, you’ll know it’s a winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><place w:st="on"><city w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Savannah</i></city></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Breeze </i>by <a href="http://www.marykayandrews.com/content/index.asp">Mary Kay Andrews</a> (Contemporary).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is chick-lit beach reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Here's a quick synopsis: BeBe Loudermilk is in a relationship with a con-man who said he was an investment counselor. He absconds with all her money, and all she has left is a run-down motel on Tybee Island. BeBe and her friends fix up the motel, saving her from financial ruin. When she locates the crooked boyfriend in Florida, BeBe heads south to get her money and perhaps some sweet revenge. </span>I’ll be enjoying this in lieu of a writer’s reference this week. </li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=TPy4dp7IP9AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=walking+on+alligators&source=bl&ots=HHnmwl38pB&sig=C-xLXdiXgr9MLiyDRu4XbNgm3gI&hl=en&ei=2i-mTfrbHtO2tgebuamFAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false">Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers</a></i> by Susan Shaughnessy (Writers’ Reference).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I won’t be doing any professional development reading, I'm at least <em>suggesting</em> a writer’s reference book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This title seemed appropriate for my "Swamp Things" reading list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">I'll be posting my reading adventures next week from Savannah (unless the gators eat me before I can eat them!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stay tuned…</div>The Book Phantomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06580840903044783569noreply@blogger.com0