Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Famous First Lines
The American Review compiles their version of the 100 Best First Lines from Novels. Melville's Moby Dick takes top rank, followed by Jane Austen's famous first line from Pride and Prejudice. Also in the Top 10, Lolita, Anna Karenina, and A Tale of Two Cities. Auspicious beginnings indeed.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A Convenient Marriage
For those who are sorely disappointed that Jane Austen's novels stop at 6, Georgette Heyer's Regency stories will happily salve the hurt. In A Convenient Marriage, Heyer takes up Austen's signature diction, tone, and characterization to spin a lively tale about unexpected outcomes; however, in this standard marriage plot, the central female, Horrie, is the rascal - not a man.
Horatia Winwood (Horrie) has good intentions when she ventures out unchaperoned and unsanctioned to approach the Earl of Rule, the wealthy gentleman who has asked for the hand of Horrie's sister, Lizzie. Horrie knows Lizzie's heart is somewhere else, so she sees no reason why she can't stand in for her sister with the Lord; after all isn't one sister as good as another? Lord Rule surprisingly agrees to marry the upstart young girl, who evolves from delightful innocent to gambler and ingenue - or at least that's what the gossips are saying about her, which makes a few of Lord Rule's enemies - and his mistress - smile like cheshire cats. If they can prove that Horrie is not worthy of Rule's association, they may succeed in accomplishing their ultimate desire: Rule's embarrassment and fall from social grace for his enemies; and his devoted attention for his mistress.
Yet, the ill-wishers neglect to take into account that Rule may have different ideas about Horrie. After much deception, a sword fight, and great suspense, what starts out as a convenient marriage turns into something entirely different at the end.
Horatia Winwood (Horrie) has good intentions when she ventures out unchaperoned and unsanctioned to approach the Earl of Rule, the wealthy gentleman who has asked for the hand of Horrie's sister, Lizzie. Horrie knows Lizzie's heart is somewhere else, so she sees no reason why she can't stand in for her sister with the Lord; after all isn't one sister as good as another? Lord Rule surprisingly agrees to marry the upstart young girl, who evolves from delightful innocent to gambler and ingenue - or at least that's what the gossips are saying about her, which makes a few of Lord Rule's enemies - and his mistress - smile like cheshire cats. If they can prove that Horrie is not worthy of Rule's association, they may succeed in accomplishing their ultimate desire: Rule's embarrassment and fall from social grace for his enemies; and his devoted attention for his mistress.
Yet, the ill-wishers neglect to take into account that Rule may have different ideas about Horrie. After much deception, a sword fight, and great suspense, what starts out as a convenient marriage turns into something entirely different at the end.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Unreadable Books?
An article at Paper Cuts prompted me to wonder what unreadable books are AND if certain books just shouldn't be unreadable.
For example, a few folks in the comments listed The Great Gatsby as unreadable. I've heard this a million times - particularly when I was teaching American Literature to high school students - and the closest thing I could get to an explanation of this unfathomable mystery is that folks encounter this book too early and don't understand it.
In fact, now that I mention it, I think this may be the case with most classics. Many of my students ended up liking/loving The Great Gatsby because I took the time to explain it them. Most teenagers ARE Jay Gatsby, so it's beneficial that they understand him. The students who didn't like the book didn't read it. I am constantly running into the breed of reader who hates Gatsby because they read it in high school, didn't get it, and thought it was wretched. I attribute this reaction to one or more of the following reasons: 1. They didn't read the book. 2. Their teacher didn't care to connect the book to their point in life. 3. They weren't able to connect the book to their point in life. Point 3 is forgivable. It's difficult to connect to a book that, though may be dealing with issues of your age, is not written for your age.
I don't want to in any way imply that certain books should not be read at certain levels because one never knows which books are going to inspire which kids, but I DO think these books should be considered life courses and people should return to them again and again. I return to the same old classics that I've always loved nearly every year, and I am always surprised when I find something new. Yet, this is the nature of reading great books - a point that has been made a million times but bears repeating: classics are classics because they describe humanity and humanity is fascinating to us precisely because of the fact that it never changes. However, individuals do change in their own ways, and they change as they mature. Books that may have never made sense at 16 can seem to solve the world's great mysteries at 30.
So. I ask you: Should books be considered unreadable? Isn't it possible to dismiss a novel at a certain time of life because you just don't have enough experience to "get it" but return to it later in life and find it revelatory? Or are there some books that should never be tackled at all because they are simply unreadable?
For example, a few folks in the comments listed The Great Gatsby as unreadable. I've heard this a million times - particularly when I was teaching American Literature to high school students - and the closest thing I could get to an explanation of this unfathomable mystery is that folks encounter this book too early and don't understand it.
In fact, now that I mention it, I think this may be the case with most classics. Many of my students ended up liking/loving The Great Gatsby because I took the time to explain it them. Most teenagers ARE Jay Gatsby, so it's beneficial that they understand him. The students who didn't like the book didn't read it. I am constantly running into the breed of reader who hates Gatsby because they read it in high school, didn't get it, and thought it was wretched. I attribute this reaction to one or more of the following reasons: 1. They didn't read the book. 2. Their teacher didn't care to connect the book to their point in life. 3. They weren't able to connect the book to their point in life. Point 3 is forgivable. It's difficult to connect to a book that, though may be dealing with issues of your age, is not written for your age.
I don't want to in any way imply that certain books should not be read at certain levels because one never knows which books are going to inspire which kids, but I DO think these books should be considered life courses and people should return to them again and again. I return to the same old classics that I've always loved nearly every year, and I am always surprised when I find something new. Yet, this is the nature of reading great books - a point that has been made a million times but bears repeating: classics are classics because they describe humanity and humanity is fascinating to us precisely because of the fact that it never changes. However, individuals do change in their own ways, and they change as they mature. Books that may have never made sense at 16 can seem to solve the world's great mysteries at 30.
So. I ask you: Should books be considered unreadable? Isn't it possible to dismiss a novel at a certain time of life because you just don't have enough experience to "get it" but return to it later in life and find it revelatory? Or are there some books that should never be tackled at all because they are simply unreadable?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Colm Toibin's Brooklyn
I had heard of Colm Toibin, twice shortlisted for the Mann Booker Prize and author of the critically lauded The Master, but I had never read any of this books until I happened across his newest Brooklyn. Largely, Toibin's book is about the immigrant experience and the difficulties of returning home, but it is also a novel about one woman's maturation, her change from a person living in the shadows to one fully experiencing life.
Brooklyn follows the experience of Eilis Lacy, an ordinary Irish girl from the small town of Enniscorthy. Almost without her knowing it, she is packed off to the United States. Her sister Rose, the organizer of the family, seems to understand that Eilis will come to nothing if she sticks around the small town, so she arranges with an Irish-American priest, and resident of Brooklyn, to send Eilis to the States. Eilis is used to taking Rose's heed, so she packs her bags and boards the boat.
What she finds when she arrives in Brooklyn is that nothing is the same, not even the bread or butter purporting to be a replica of her Irish favorites. Eilis looks around her modest boarding room and job at the local department store and realizes that she is at home no where. Toibin brilliantly captures the feeling of the immigrant - really the stature of the outcast - as someone without land, place, or purpose. Eilis digs her heels in and makes the best of it, slowly overcoming her homesickness and meeting Tony, the only person she's ever really been able to talk to. Yet, Ireland is always over her shoulder.
When a tragedy calls her back to her native country, she returns, but not without hesitation. Back in Enniscorthy, she realizes that the shadows have dissipated and the shy girl who stocked cans for Mrs. Kelly and the local convenience store is now the town's glamorous darling. Boys who never looked at her twice are now vying for her attention, and she's even been offered a real job.
Here, though, Brooklyn is over her shoulder, and she has a great decision to make: does she stay in Ireland and live the life that she dreamed of before moving to Brooklyn, or does she return to Brooklyn, the place that made all her dreams possible?
With deft prose and subtle characterization, Toibin contemplates the notion of whether anyone can ever really return home.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Accursed April 23?
William Shakespeare showed up on the great stage of fools on April 23, 1564 and exited stage left on April 23, 1606. An interesting article in The Guardian wonders whether there may be some sinister coincidence surrounding this day.Here are the other folks, wordsmiths all, who exited stage left on April 23 of various years:
Cervantes
Henry Vaughn
Harold Arlen (lyricist of such favorites as Let's Fall in Love and Stormy Weather)
William Wordsworth
Rupert Brooke
Rupert Brooke
Batten down the hatches, O literary ones. Today could be a mess. For more rumination on the subject, go here.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Book Meme - Couldn't Resist
1.What author do you own the most books by?
Hard to say. Shakespeare comes to mind, but I have a huge F.Scott Fitzgerald section, though not all the books are BY him. I have several about him and his work.
2. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
This is boring, but choose your Austen hero.
3.What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children)?
The Great Gatsby and 1984 are a close tie.
4.What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It comes out this month, and do yourselves a favor, read the Princeton website about the admission process before you wade into this mess.
5. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
Disquiet by Julia Leigh. Stunning.
6.If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
There are so many! Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby, 1985, Fahrenheit 451, Pride and Prejudice...
7.Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Margaret Atwood
8.Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I read Atlas Shrugged when I was 15 and dreamed about it for months afterwards. I was actually in the village with the industrial titans. It was exciting.
9.What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I'm expecting Ulysses to be quite difficult, which is probably why I haven't delved into it yet.
10.What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
I'm lame: The Taming of the Shrew.
11. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
The Russians. There's no contest.
12. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare.
13. Austen or Eliot?
Very tough. Actually can't make a decision on that. They're both brilliant in such different ways.
14. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
(Gasp.) Haven't read Hamlet. I know this is PROFOUNDLY embarassing. I should rectify this soon, perhaps tonight.
15. What is your favorite novel?
The Great Gatsby. It's perfect.
16.Play?
Not big into plays, actually; too much dialogue, which is the very nature of plays, but I love Shakespeare. The Tempest and King Lear rank at the top.
17.Poem?
"The Lady of Shalott" by Tennyson.
18.Essay?
Hateful Things by Shei Shonagun (always makes me giggle; human nature never changes)
19.Short story?
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
20.Work of nonfiction?
84 Charing Cross Road
21. Who is your favorite writer?
F.Scott Fitzgerald
22Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Take your pick. Everyone thinks they're a writer in the grand tradition. Plus, the MFAs are sapping orignality. If I have to read one more book about the angst of some over-privileged female.....
23. What is your desert island book?
I HATE this question. Why must there be only one? How about this: I'll take Shakespeare's collected works, Austen's collected works, Wilkie Collins' collected works, and The Great Gatsby. Then! I'll have Amazon ship me books. They ship international. Hey, if I have enough time and presence of mind to collect reading for a desert island, I have enough time to set up ship list on Amazon. (See, I've thought about this.)
24. And… what are you reading right now?
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kate Grenville's Secret River, James Woods' How Fiction Works
Hard to say. Shakespeare comes to mind, but I have a huge F.Scott Fitzgerald section, though not all the books are BY him. I have several about him and his work.
2. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
This is boring, but choose your Austen hero.
3.What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children)?
The Great Gatsby and 1984 are a close tie.
4.What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It comes out this month, and do yourselves a favor, read the Princeton website about the admission process before you wade into this mess.
5. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
Disquiet by Julia Leigh. Stunning.
6.If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
There are so many! Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby, 1985, Fahrenheit 451, Pride and Prejudice...
7.Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Margaret Atwood
8.Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I read Atlas Shrugged when I was 15 and dreamed about it for months afterwards. I was actually in the village with the industrial titans. It was exciting.
9.What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I'm expecting Ulysses to be quite difficult, which is probably why I haven't delved into it yet.
10.What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
I'm lame: The Taming of the Shrew.
11. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
The Russians. There's no contest.
12. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare.
13. Austen or Eliot?
Very tough. Actually can't make a decision on that. They're both brilliant in such different ways.
14. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
(Gasp.) Haven't read Hamlet. I know this is PROFOUNDLY embarassing. I should rectify this soon, perhaps tonight.
15. What is your favorite novel?
The Great Gatsby. It's perfect.
16.Play?
Not big into plays, actually; too much dialogue, which is the very nature of plays, but I love Shakespeare. The Tempest and King Lear rank at the top.
17.Poem?
"The Lady of Shalott" by Tennyson.
18.Essay?
Hateful Things by Shei Shonagun (always makes me giggle; human nature never changes)
19.Short story?
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
20.Work of nonfiction?
84 Charing Cross Road
21. Who is your favorite writer?
F.Scott Fitzgerald
22Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Take your pick. Everyone thinks they're a writer in the grand tradition. Plus, the MFAs are sapping orignality. If I have to read one more book about the angst of some over-privileged female.....
23. What is your desert island book?
I HATE this question. Why must there be only one? How about this: I'll take Shakespeare's collected works, Austen's collected works, Wilkie Collins' collected works, and The Great Gatsby. Then! I'll have Amazon ship me books. They ship international. Hey, if I have enough time and presence of mind to collect reading for a desert island, I have enough time to set up ship list on Amazon. (See, I've thought about this.)
24. And… what are you reading right now?
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kate Grenville's Secret River, James Woods' How Fiction Works
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