Eighty books \o/
Tuesday, 20 December 2011 20:12![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
extemporallySix very short reviews!
The Lives of the Muses, by Francine Prose.
Well-written - I wanted to enjoy this, but one too many disparaging comments about 'the feminists' soured it for me. Perhaps it comes down to the fact that the concept of a muse is incredibly problematic; how often do you come across the concept of a male muse, after all? But it's so interesting; gendered dynamics, including problematic ones, are always incredibly interesting, and in the end you do feel like Francine Prose sets up a straw person argument with all the times she says something like 'oh, the feminists aren't going to agree, but XYZ'.
I did enjoy her discussion of Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell's relationship in the context of 19th century social mores (apparently, it was normal for Victorian gentlemen to decide they wanted to marry girls who at the time were as young as 10 or 11, as soon as they came of age!). Although I'm less convinced by her use of the language of agency - Alice Liddell used her agency to demand Carroll tell her stories, fine, but there's no need to belabour the point. It doesn't make the entirety of their relationship (which in any case is difficult to illustrate without some degree of imaginative extrapolation) hugely empowering, for god's sake.
Who Runs This Place?: The Anatomy of Britain in the 21st Century, by Anthony Sampson.
Oh my gosh, I absolutely loved this book. It solidified a lot of what I know and think about British politics - Tony Blair, THOU SUCKETH. New Labour, thanks for the Third Way and your economic conservatism! etc etc.
There were some bits I disagreed with, if the number of pages I've tabbed are anything to go by - the bit I remember the most is the out-of-hand dismissal of an appointed House of Lords. ELECTION ISN'T THE UNEQUIVOCAL ANSWER, YOU FOOL. WE'LL END UP WITH A SHADOW HOUSE OF COMMONS THAT IS EQUALLY POLITICISED AND CAREERISED. THE HOUSE OF LORDS IS THE LAST REFUGE OF THE SKILLED AMATEUR "POLITICIAN".
... I realise that this makes absolutely no sense to anyone who isn't me. Nevertheless! GUYS LET'S DISCUSS BRITISH POLITICS.
Amulet, by Roberto Bolano.
I'm actually really confused as to why. Maybe I need to read it again more slowly? :(
American Pastoral, by Phillip Roth.
This had an American History X feel to it - in the sense that history is, quite often, depressing. This covered a post-WWII to 70s white-fence America in decline, and it talked about deindustrialisation and race relations and political terrorism and -- ughhhh. Philip Roth has this unremittingly dry, intellectual manner of narration, which once again isn't usually my thing, but he does it so well.
Here's a quote:
Sometimes that just isn't enough, is it?
How to Be A Woman, by Caitlin Moran.
Conversations about 'omg you're so funny and I actually adore the fact that you TALK IN CAPS all the time but please stop saying things I disagree about re: the burqa, also, that time you engaged in oppression olympics was not a comfortable moment but really were we to have a conversation it wouldn't just consist of me laughing at things you said then calling you out, because really, I WANNA TALK TO YOU ABOUT PORNOGRAPHY and how producing our own pornography is a really! good! idea! but also we need some REGULATION up in here and for sex workers to unionise. Also you're hilarious and please let's talk some more about how dressing up is a game, which can be fun, you're absolutely right about that, but when it becomes compulsory it feels less fun, which you're even more right about, thank you for articulating that, omg.'
In conclusion: yay (mostly) to Caitlin Moran! I love it when feminism goes funny.
The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga.
I feel like this is basically the story of what happens when you have all Gandhi's 7 conditions come true. Depressing, but good! :D?
... therein ends this illuminating review.
I Left My Grandfather's House, by Denton Welch | Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens | Kaddish & other poems, by Allen Ginsberg | Sappho: A New Translation, by Mary Barnard | The Lives of Animals, by J.M. Coetzee | Women & Violence, by Barrie Levy | Half + Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial + Bicultural, edited by Claudine Chiawei O'Hearn | Nazi Literature in the Americas, by Roberto Bolano | Corridor, by Alfian Sa'at | Collected Plays One, by Alfian Sa'at | Trilogy, by Haresh Sharma | Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, & Baby Be-Bop, by Francesca Lia Block | Bloomability, by Sharon Creech | Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall In Love, by Maryrose Wood | High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby | Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, by Leslie T. Chang | The Boy Next Door, by Irene Sabatini | Singapore Shifting Boundaries: Social Change in the 21st Century, edited by William S.W. Lim, Sharon Siddique, & Tan Dan Feng | The Frenzy, by Francesca Lia Block | Goodnight Mister Tom, by Michelle Magorian | The Spirit Catches You And Then You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman | Saraswati Park, by Anjali Joseph | Eston, by Stella Kon | Rape: A Love Story, by Joyce Carol Oates | Rice Bowl, by Suchen Christine Lim | The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell | Renaissance Singapore? Economy, Culture, and Politics, edited by Kenneth Paul Tan | Miss Seetoh in the World, by Catherine Lim | Free Food for Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee | Jointly & Severably, by Eleanor Wong | Wills & Secession, by Eleanor Wong | Mergers & Accusations, by Eleanor Wong | GASPP: A Gay Anthology of Singaporean Poetry & Prose, edited by Ng Yi-Sheng | Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier | Gone Case, by Dave Chua | Sex and the City, by Candace Bushnell | The Waters & the Wild, by Francesca Lia Block | Growing Up: Getting Along in the Sixties, by Tisa Ng | Oreo, by Fran Ross | Caucasia, by Danzy Senna | Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, by Owen Jones | Racism: A Very Short Introduction | Modern China: A Very Short Introduction, by Rana Mitter | Feminism: A Very Short Introduction, by Margaret Waters | A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin | Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean | Sons of the Yellow Emperor, by Lynn Pan | Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People, by Katharine Quarmby | Tipping The Velvet, by Sarah Waters | Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro | The Lantern Bearers, by Rosemary Sutcliff | The Silver Branch, by Rosemary Sutcliff | The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff | The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli | Brick Lane, by Monica Ali | The Savage Detectives, by Robert Bolano | Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell | Cat On A Hot-Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams | Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern, by Joshua Zeitz | Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson | The Moon By Night, by Madeleine L'Engle | To Live, by Yu Hua | Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer | The Next Competitor, by K.P. Kincaid | Raffles Place Ragtime, by Phillip Jeyaretnam | Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy, by Frances Mayes | Mao's Last Dancer, by Li Cunxin | Marie, Dancing, by Carolyn Meyer | Man Walks Into A Room, by Nicole Krauss | How To Be Good, by Nick Hornby
The Lives of the Muses, by Francine Prose.
Well-written - I wanted to enjoy this, but one too many disparaging comments about 'the feminists' soured it for me. Perhaps it comes down to the fact that the concept of a muse is incredibly problematic; how often do you come across the concept of a male muse, after all? But it's so interesting; gendered dynamics, including problematic ones, are always incredibly interesting, and in the end you do feel like Francine Prose sets up a straw person argument with all the times she says something like 'oh, the feminists aren't going to agree, but XYZ'.
I did enjoy her discussion of Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell's relationship in the context of 19th century social mores (apparently, it was normal for Victorian gentlemen to decide they wanted to marry girls who at the time were as young as 10 or 11, as soon as they came of age!). Although I'm less convinced by her use of the language of agency - Alice Liddell used her agency to demand Carroll tell her stories, fine, but there's no need to belabour the point. It doesn't make the entirety of their relationship (which in any case is difficult to illustrate without some degree of imaginative extrapolation) hugely empowering, for god's sake.
Who Runs This Place?: The Anatomy of Britain in the 21st Century, by Anthony Sampson.
Oh my gosh, I absolutely loved this book. It solidified a lot of what I know and think about British politics - Tony Blair, THOU SUCKETH. New Labour, thanks for the Third Way and your economic conservatism! etc etc.
There were some bits I disagreed with, if the number of pages I've tabbed are anything to go by - the bit I remember the most is the out-of-hand dismissal of an appointed House of Lords. ELECTION ISN'T THE UNEQUIVOCAL ANSWER, YOU FOOL. WE'LL END UP WITH A SHADOW HOUSE OF COMMONS THAT IS EQUALLY POLITICISED AND CAREERISED. THE HOUSE OF LORDS IS THE LAST REFUGE OF THE SKILLED AMATEUR "POLITICIAN".
... I realise that this makes absolutely no sense to anyone who isn't me. Nevertheless! GUYS LET'S DISCUSS BRITISH POLITICS.
Amulet, by Roberto Bolano.
I'm actually really confused as to why. Maybe I need to read it again more slowly? :(
American Pastoral, by Phillip Roth.
This had an American History X feel to it - in the sense that history is, quite often, depressing. This covered a post-WWII to 70s white-fence America in decline, and it talked about deindustrialisation and race relations and political terrorism and -- ughhhh. Philip Roth has this unremittingly dry, intellectual manner of narration, which once again isn't usually my thing, but he does it so well.
Here's a quote:
No. I'm not leaving. I'm not going to go. I'm not a picture, Mr. Levov. I'm myself. I'm Mary Dawn Dwyer of Elizabeth, New Jersey. I'm twenty-two years old. I love your son. That is why I'm here. I love Seymour. I love him. Let's go on, please.
Sometimes that just isn't enough, is it?
How to Be A Woman, by Caitlin Moran.
Conversations about 'omg you're so funny and I actually adore the fact that you TALK IN CAPS all the time but please stop saying things I disagree about re: the burqa, also, that time you engaged in oppression olympics was not a comfortable moment but really were we to have a conversation it wouldn't just consist of me laughing at things you said then calling you out, because really, I WANNA TALK TO YOU ABOUT PORNOGRAPHY and how producing our own pornography is a really! good! idea! but also we need some REGULATION up in here and for sex workers to unionise. Also you're hilarious and please let's talk some more about how dressing up is a game, which can be fun, you're absolutely right about that, but when it becomes compulsory it feels less fun, which you're even more right about, thank you for articulating that, omg.'
In conclusion: yay (mostly) to Caitlin Moran! I love it when feminism goes funny.
The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga.
I feel like this is basically the story of what happens when you have all Gandhi's 7 conditions come true. Depressing, but good! :D?
... therein ends this illuminating review.
I Left My Grandfather's House, by Denton Welch | Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens | Kaddish & other poems, by Allen Ginsberg | Sappho: A New Translation, by Mary Barnard | The Lives of Animals, by J.M. Coetzee | Women & Violence, by Barrie Levy | Half + Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial + Bicultural, edited by Claudine Chiawei O'Hearn | Nazi Literature in the Americas, by Roberto Bolano | Corridor, by Alfian Sa'at | Collected Plays One, by Alfian Sa'at | Trilogy, by Haresh Sharma | Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, & Baby Be-Bop, by Francesca Lia Block | Bloomability, by Sharon Creech | Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall In Love, by Maryrose Wood | High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby | Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, by Leslie T. Chang | The Boy Next Door, by Irene Sabatini | Singapore Shifting Boundaries: Social Change in the 21st Century, edited by William S.W. Lim, Sharon Siddique, & Tan Dan Feng | The Frenzy, by Francesca Lia Block | Goodnight Mister Tom, by Michelle Magorian | The Spirit Catches You And Then You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman | Saraswati Park, by Anjali Joseph | Eston, by Stella Kon | Rape: A Love Story, by Joyce Carol Oates | Rice Bowl, by Suchen Christine Lim | The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell | Renaissance Singapore? Economy, Culture, and Politics, edited by Kenneth Paul Tan | Miss Seetoh in the World, by Catherine Lim | Free Food for Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee | Jointly & Severably, by Eleanor Wong | Wills & Secession, by Eleanor Wong | Mergers & Accusations, by Eleanor Wong | GASPP: A Gay Anthology of Singaporean Poetry & Prose, edited by Ng Yi-Sheng | Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier | Gone Case, by Dave Chua | Sex and the City, by Candace Bushnell | The Waters & the Wild, by Francesca Lia Block | Growing Up: Getting Along in the Sixties, by Tisa Ng | Oreo, by Fran Ross | Caucasia, by Danzy Senna | Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, by Owen Jones | Racism: A Very Short Introduction | Modern China: A Very Short Introduction, by Rana Mitter | Feminism: A Very Short Introduction, by Margaret Waters | A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin | Tam Lin, by Pamela Dean | Sons of the Yellow Emperor, by Lynn Pan | Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People, by Katharine Quarmby | Tipping The Velvet, by Sarah Waters | Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro | The Lantern Bearers, by Rosemary Sutcliff | The Silver Branch, by Rosemary Sutcliff | The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff | The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli | Brick Lane, by Monica Ali | The Savage Detectives, by Robert Bolano | Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell | Cat On A Hot-Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams | Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern, by Joshua Zeitz | Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson | The Moon By Night, by Madeleine L'Engle | To Live, by Yu Hua | Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer | The Next Competitor, by K.P. Kincaid | Raffles Place Ragtime, by Phillip Jeyaretnam | Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy, by Frances Mayes | Mao's Last Dancer, by Li Cunxin | Marie, Dancing, by Carolyn Meyer | Man Walks Into A Room, by Nicole Krauss | How To Be Good, by Nick Hornby
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Date: Wednesday, 21 December 2011 14:30 (UTC)no subject
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Date: Wednesday, 21 December 2011 14:49 (UTC)