March Retrospective

As far as reading books goes, March was a dismal month. I got stuck in The Fellowship of the ring and then in the Two Towers. This isn't to say that they are bad, just...gooey I guess. I didn't have a taste for the Limoney Snicket books so I've given those a rest (also my library is missing the Ersatz Elevator and I hate reading series out of order.) But, I did finish up a paper that was hanging over my head. As for favorites, I don't think there is really enough for comparison so I'm going to roll them into April.

24. Changing Planes

By Ursula K. Le Guin (pp 246)

This is a re read and perhaps one of my favorite Le Guin books. It's a collection of short stories on a theme. This theme being plane travel. Planes as in different planes of reality. I always enjoy reading it in airports.

23. Sensational Trials of the 20th Century (NF 5)

by Betsy Harvey Kraft (New York: Scholastic 1998. pgs. 216)

This was lent to me by a friend. Hence being popped up the list a bit. This briefly narrates eight of the most infamous trials in the last century.

1. The Saco-Vanzetti Trial
Did two Italian immigrants commit armed robbery? Or did someone get executed wrongfully. It seems pretty safe to say that the author believes at least one of the men convicted might have been innocent. Regardless, it seems that more than being on trial for robbery, Saco and Vanzetti were on trial for being immigrants.

2. The Scopes "Monkey" Trial
This is why the book got lent to me. The trial came up in a Trivial pursuit game and I'd never heard of it before. There is an air of the grotesque in this one and I was reminded of the movie 'Chicago'

3. The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial
This is one of the ones you first hear about in 8th grade social studies. Unfortunately it didn't make much of a dent the first time around. This time it did. The whole thing seemed like something out of a soap opera. But rather I think the soap opera writers are getting their material from this sort of thing.

4. The Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Spy Trial
Another one I was first exposed to in Jr. High. I rather suspect that the school's text book wasn't as frank about it as this book was. The whole thing just proves to me that even people who are none too bright are capable of being very clever.

5. Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka
This one, of course, changed education in America. I was glad to learn something about it rather than just know it had an affect.

6. The Watergate Trials
'Changing the way news is reported' should be the name of this one. Nixon seems such a pitiable person in this...and stupid to boot. One wonders if he weren't certifiable paranoid.

7. The John Hinkley Jr. Trial
One of the one's I've heard about but didn't really know anything of. I think Hinkley must be the source of, "But he seemed like such a good boy."

8. The O.J. Simpson Trial
This is the only one of the eight that I was alive and cognizant for. At the time I was just sick to death of it. Reading about it though I realize why people got so caught up in it.

22. Fellowship of the Ring

by J.R.R. Tolkien (pp 21-398)

This is a re-reading. The first time I read this I was about 12. My initial estimation that it was a great story poorly written. While I still have some of the problems with it now that I did then, my estimation is somewhat more mild. Tolkien is given to a dryness that makes his fiction more like an essay in comparitive liguistics, than a novel. This isn't to say he's bad but I'm still skeptical when someone tells me he's the greatest fantasy writer of our language.

In anycase, this covers the formation of the fellowship to the splitting. It's a good read but I still think the Hobbit is better.

21. One More For the Road

by Ray Bradbury (289 pgs. Copyright 2002 First Edition)

This is a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's fiction is, as always, fantastic, wonderful, stupendous, and amazing. But I gush. There are 26 stories and I couldn't tell you which was my favorite. Among the top would be 'Well, What do You have to Say for Yourself?' 'Diane de Foret,' 'Laurel and Hardy Alpha Centauri Farewell Tour,' and 'The Dragon Danced at Midnight.'

It's a beautiful and varied collection of Bradbury's work and something I would recommend to a first time Bradbury reader.

20. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (NF 4)

by David Sedaris (257 pgs first edition, Little Brown and Company 2004)

When I originally put this on the list, I rather expected that it would be fiction. It reads like fiction but what it really is, is a collection of auto-biographical essays. I really almost feel bad calling it Non-Fiction because I enjoyed it in much the same way as I would a collection of short stories. That being said, I didn't find it funny, the way most people seem to think it should be. I have a friend who assures me that some of his earlier collections are funnier.

Somehow, I see the humor, I enjoy the humor, but I don't think I will be laughing at Sedaris' humor. This is not a dig or disparaging...it just doesn't hit my giggle reflex.

March List

Well I didn't quite meet quota last month so now the monthly total is a solid 18 books. On the other hand, I did quite a bit better than January. I've devised a new list. Whether I read them all in order or, indeed, at all is up in there air. I find there are so many books that I'd like to read that it's very difficult to stick to the list exactly.

1. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
2. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien
3. Moorish Spain by Fletcher (NF)
4. Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Hostile Hospitol by Lemony Snickett
6. One More For the Road by Bradbury
7. The Vile Village by Lemony Snickett
8. The Return of the King by J.R.R Tolkien
9. Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem
10. Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. LeGuin
11. Portrait of the Artist by James Joyce
12. Islam by Karen Armstrong (NF)
13. A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick
14. The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain by Bernard Reilly (NF)
15. The Lathe of Heave by Ursula K. LeGuin
16. The Art of Medieval Spain by Metropolitan Museum of Art (NF)
17. Game-Players of Titan by Philip K. Dick
18. Illuminated Manuscripts of Medieval Spain by Mireille Mentre (NF)

and insanity books are

19. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
20. Victors and the Vanquished by Brian Catlos (NF)


Obviously I've created an overly non-fiction heavy month but I'm taking advice from a friend and trying to read 10 or so books in fields I might want to get a grad degree in. So we'll see how it goes.

February Retrospective

I didn't quite meet the goal of 18 books but I managed to get within spitting distance. I read 15 books in February, most of them not from the list. Oh well is all I can say about that. I think I've learned a bit about writing those lists though.

So looking back:
My 3 favorite books of the month:

1. The Neverending Story
2. Chocolat
3. The Hobbit

Favorite Non-fiction book of the month:

1. Zen in the Art of Writing

3 Hardest reads of the month:

1. Name of the Rose
2. God of Small Things
3. The Neverending Story

3 Best Children's books of the month:

1. Wise Child
2. Skellig
3. Sourcery

19. Skellig

By David Almond (182 pgs Dell Yearling 1998)

It may be that my perception has been colored by the last thing I read but it seems to me that this is a story about overcoming despair with love. A young boy discovers a stranger in the derelict garage of his parent's new house. Between worrying about his ill baby sister and learning about learning from his new friend Mina, he discovers with Mina's help that the man is not perhaps a man after all.

I think this is a lovely book and a good work of fiction for children. The reading level is 10 years old but I feel a precocious 8 year old could probably manage it.

18. Deadly Sins (NF 3)

(125 Pgs William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York 1993)

This is a collection of essays written on the Deadly Sins and the one unforgivable one (Despair) by novelist, fiction short story writers, and a poet. What drew me to this book was that I recognized some of the authors and I'm glad I gave it a shot. Each sin was covered by a different author :

Sloth by Thomas Pynchon
Anger by Mary Gordon
Lust by John Updike
Gluttony by William Trevor
Pride by Gore Vidal
Avarice by Richard Howard
Envy by A.S. Byatt
and
Despair by Joyce Carol Oates.

I think Envy and Pride were my favorites, closely followed by Sloth and Gluttony. This is a book well worth owning and I think I may try to find a copy to add to my library.

17. A Series of Unfortunate Events : The Austere Academy

By Lemony Snickett (227 pgs)

Book number 5 in the series. It seems the three orphans have finally run out of relatives. Either that or the relatives have wised up since all the one's who've taken in the children have ended up dead. In any case, this time the Baudelaires find themselves in a wretched boarding school.

The Baudelaires meet some kindred spirits in two children named the Quagmires. That's about the only good thing going for them in this one. Count Olaf of course shows up and his plot isn't quite as obvious as most have been. This one was kinda blah....but then I'm not the biggest fan to begin with.

16. Wise Child

by Monica Furlong (240 pgs)

This is a story about a child who's parents, while not dead, have left her a virtual orphan. Set in Middle Age Scotland, Wise Child is taken in by Juniper, the local herbwoman or witch, depending on who you talk to. Juniper begins to teach Wise Child her art and a sudden renewed interest in the part of Wise Child's mother begins to cause a great deal of strife.

There is a pervasive moral discussion going on here about idleness and sloth and I found as I read I was much more inclined to do housework (which is....just weird.)

15. The Hobbit

by J.R.R. Tolkien (255 pgs)

This was actually better than I remember it being, although I always felt it was the best of the four. I think I understand much more than I did 12 years ago when I first read it. I was a little surprised by some points of the book that I didn't remember previously, particularly those concerning Elrond. I think I forgot altogether that he was in The Hobbit.

14. A Series of Unfortunate Events : The Miserable Mill

by Lemony Snicket (199 pgs)

this is the 4th installment of the series and I actually found this one enjoyable. The word defining nonsense is still there but it's being played with and almost clever in places.

The children seem to be running out of relatives and they end up in a lumber mill...working...even the baby. Count Olaf doesn't seem to be there but Klaus is acting very...strange.

13. The Name of the Rose

by Umberto Eco (611 pgs)Warner Books edition 1980 copyright

This is a very large book of Faulknerian density. Like Faulkner there is a definite sense of pride in having read it, also it's worth the read. It is a good book and having read it I can honestly say that I'm glad that I did. However, Eco indulges in too much nearly useless exposition. Many of the theological debates are interesting but are only marginally important to the plot. The book could easily be 200 pages shorter simply by editing out the useless exposition or condensing it.

12. A Series of Unfortunate Events : The Wide Window

by Lemony Snicket (218 pgs)

*sigh* I'm pretty sure children's literature could potentially be better than this. It's not that this is awful but it strays fairly close to obnoxious. I know kids love it, but there's better stuff out there for them. Anyway....

In this, the third, book of the series we find the Baudelaires with their rather droopy Aunt Josephine. The aunt is rather annoyingly afraid of absolutely everything. Thankfully it annoys the children as well but unlike the previous installment there was a dearth of witty dialog. Of course Aunt Josephine doesn't survive very long and I'm beginning to wonder if the orphans will have any relatives left for the next book in the series.

11. A Series of Unfortunate Events : The Reptile Room

by Lemony Snicket (190 pgs)

This is the 2nd book in the series and a rather large improvement over the first. The Baudelaire children find themselves in the care of yet another relative but this time the very pleasant Dr. Montgomery. Things soon go wrong however when Dr. Montgomery dies from an apparent snake bite and his mysterious assistant turns out to be someone the children recognize.

I tend to feel that these books are rather patronizing...Particularly the way the author insists on defining words for the readers, and the children's) 'benefit.' Luckily in this volume the children start getting annoyed with it too and that made it somewhat easier to get through.

10. Zen in the Art of Writing (NF 2)

by Ray Bradbury (176 pgs)published in 1994.

I first encountered this book the summer after my freshman year in college. It was sitting on a sale rack at one of the Toledo Borders Booksellers. I picked it up, flipped through it, noticed the poetry in the the back, and bought it on a whim. The book ended up being one of the saving graces of the summer ruled by unreasonable bosses punctuated by sheer retail boredom. Of course, I lent it out and of course it never came back. Well I replaced my copy and just finished reading it.

Zen in the Art of Writing is a collection of essays and poems by Bradbury on the subjects of writing and creativity. Much of it is out of context, being pulled from various places including prefaces, film interviews, and lectures, but still relevent and oddly compelling. This book has, and I suspect always will, inspire me to write. I love this book and, no, you can't borrow it. :-P

9. Around the World in Eighty Days

by Jules Verne (170 pgs) originally published in 1872, I read the Dover Thrift Edition published in 2000 translated from French by George Makepeace Towle.

Phileas Fogg is an odd English gentleman obsessed with punctuality. Passepartout is his new French manservant who took the job looking for a quiet position in which to enjoy the pleasures of domesticity. Together they undertake circumnavigate the globe on a wager of 20,000 pounds. The difficult task is soon complicated by the appearance of detective Fixx, who is convinced Phileas Fogg is a bank robber.

I remember trying to read this book when I was 12 or 13 and not being able to get in to it. Now that I'm a bit older, I found it an enthralling read. I became truly invested in the characters and found myself laughing at the end and agitated when some obstacle appeared to delay the journey.

8. The Neverending Story

By Michael Ende (445 pgs)

Originally written in German this book has spawned one of the classic children's movies of my childhood. Surprisingly the movie is actually pretty close to the first 200 pages of the book and in, some few ways, the movie is better than the book. The differences though make sense in the context of the whole novel. The second movie, while less true to the book, contains many of the same themes.

The story is aimed towards a younger audience and is about the wishes universal to all children. I wish I had read it when I was younger. I think I would have found it immensely comforting.