Tuesday, November 29, 2011

"Ethan Frome" - Lynn's Take

I just finished Ethan Frome this very moment and I am so mad at Ethan that I could spit -- talk about someone who needs to grow a pair!

If he hadn't just accepted, unquestioningly, the constricts and demands of his life (and his wife), he could have done what he wanted, whether it be studying or running off with Mattie.  For that matter, if he had been less colorless, maybe Zeena would have been a better wife.

I love and hate this book.  The writing is spare and crisp, the story is compelling - that, I love.  But the women are (unflatteringly) stereotyped - that I hate.

I would love to read this same story told from Zeena's point of view, and from Mattie's

Saturday, November 26, 2011

"Their Eyes Were Watching God" - Lynn's Take

I started to read the novel's introductions by two renowned Zora Neale Hurston scholars, but I stopped because they were so stiflingly academic.  I'm glad I didn't read them through, because they came close to killing my desire to read Their Eyes Were Watching God, and it is a profound and profoundly enjoyable read without all the folderol about how important it is.

I had a little trouble at first with the dialogue, which is written in stereotypical southern-black vernacular.  It made me feel vaguely bigoted for participating in something that seemed so disrespectful.  I had to remind myself several times that it was written in the early 20th century, and by an African-American writer.  Times change and context matters.

Once I got past the dialogue, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  Janie Crawford is a strong woman who withstands, but doesn't bow to, the indignities in her life.  Despite the constricts of her position as a woman in a  male dominated society, she refuses to be satisfied with what is acceptable and looks until she finds a relationship that allows her to experience the love she wants and to be completely herself.

Beyond the strong character Hurston built in Janie, the descriptive power of the book is captivating, and the innovative framing of the story (Janie telling her story to her friend Phoeby in the course of an evening) grounds it.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

"Franny and Zooey" from Kelli

Most people know J.D. Salinger for his novel "The Catcher in the Rye" (which all of us have already read, so you won't be seeing a post about it). Lesser known, but still on the top 100 novels list, is another short read - "Franny and Zooey".

The novel opens with an interaction between Franny, a young college girl, and her beau Lane. We witness a reunion between the two for about 40 pages before Franny falls out and the section ends. We then open up on the Glass' house, where we meet Zooey - Franny's slightly older brother. The rest of the novel is basically the siblings dealing with still being sad about their eldest brother, Seymour, committing suicide and Franny being disgusted with the egos of everyone around her and trying to start saying the Jesus Prayer all the time.

The best part of the book is the first 40 pages. Afterward it goes in a strange spiral where everyone is snippy and then sad and they talk about Jesus, but you're not really sure if it's really about their feelings toward Jesus, or the world, or if it's just about two siblings coming together after some tough times in the family.

Either way, Salinger still has an ear for colloquial language and it was a fairly quick and enjoyable read. If you have to choose, though, take "The Catcher".

Monday, November 21, 2011

"My Ántonia" - Caitlin's Thoughts

This was the only one of the 100 books I had brought with me to school this semester so I really had no other options when one Saturday morning I decided to check a book off the list. Here are my thoughts.


GENERAL IMPRESSIONS: Typically when a book takes place in Black Hawk, Nebraska, I won’t pick it up. Call it close-minded prejudice or husker-hatred or whatever you want. Black Hawk, Nebraska just sounds boring. This was always my impression of My Ántonia. And you know what? My impression was right. It is kind of boring. That said, I really enjoyed it. It was the kind of boring that happens in Laura Ingalls Wilder or Louisa May Alcott books. Very nineteenth century “here’s-everything-that-happened-during-my-entire-boring-day” narrative but with a twentieth century theme of nostalgia, a wonderful hint of religious apathy and just a pinch of early feminism. Plus once in awhile there’d be a just perfect sentence. Not like super beautiful literary techniques or anything an English major would appreciate but a great sentence that just ended a chapter so well that I wanted to put the book down and think about it for a minute or two before continuing. The general condemnation of eastern European immigrants was vaguely uncomfortable but the rest of the book felt contemporary and accessible. As my roommate said- “Nostalgia done well!”

SPOILER ALERTS: I typically love really happy sappy romantic endings but the fact that this book didn’t have one made it all the better.

MUSINGS: Is it wrong that my favorite character was a slutty dressmaker?

GRADE SHEET:
Narrator’s Likability: B+
Pace: C+
Readability: A
Satisfying Ending: B
Attention to Detail: A+++
Facts about extreme cold: C- (not once did she mention your breath might freeze!)

"In Our Time" - Lynn's take

It took me a long time to "get into" this book.  I was looking for a strong theme between the stories, and I didn't find it.  Finally, the beautiful writing overtook the lack of connection (at least that I could find) between the stories and I began to enjoy it.

I am so, So, SO glad that I slogged through the confusion of not understanding the book's theme.  The payoff at the end was tremendous.  I don't believe I've ever read a more absorbing story than the two part, "Big Hearted River." Hemingway's writing is so clear, so transparent, that I felt I was actually on the river with Nick.  Here's an example of the shining prose, describing Nick's interaction with a trout:

"He hung unsteadily in the current, then settled to the bottom behind a stone.  Nick reached down his hand to touch him, his arm to the elbow under water.  The trout was steady in the moving stream, resting on the gravel, beside a stone.  As Nick's fingers touched him, touched his smooth, cool, underwater feeling he was gone, gone in a shadow across the bottom of the stream."  


When I finished the book, I still didn't have a sure idea what the theme was.  I thought about it for awhile and decided that all of the stories were about men with whom Nick served during WWI.  I was wrong.  In fact the book's theme is much looser:  "In Our Time" (just after WWI) is the theme.  Good name then, eh?

The Challenge

We're all busy. That goes without saying. But sometimes our lives are so busy we lose time for what's important, sharing our lives with family, keeping up with friends, watching the Amazing Race when it's new, and most often- books. So the brilliant Kelli came up with a solution to all of those problems (well, except the Amazing Race issue)- the 100x4 challenge. We will read 100 books from the 20th century by the end of the year 2014. The list (chosen by Kelli for whatever reasons she has not disclosed to me) can be found here: http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/radcliffes-rival-100-best-novels-list/.


At first, I thought this challenge would be easy. I can read a translated 300 page novel from the 19th century in about eight hours. An English language 200 page book from the 20th century? Less than four. The problem is that to read 100 books in four years, I have to read twenty five books a year. That averages out to about a book every two weeks. That means that every two weeks I need to find four hours where I won't be reading law books, outlining for finals, trying to find a job, eating, sleeping, working out, talking to my grandparents, or watching the West Wing. Obviously, this challenge is going to be a lot harder than I thought when I agreed to participate. As a competitive person who loves reading, I think I can do it. I think we all can. And so, it begins!


Totals as of October 1st which is approximately when we began:
Lynn (who has an advantage because she's been reading a bit longer than us): 40
Marie (who was an English major): 27
Caitlin (who didn't have friends in middle school): 22
Kelli (who has a lot of work ahead of her): 21