The other day, I walked into the living room to see my dad watching the end of Deliverance on TV. And right away, I thought about one of the very first poems I ever read and fell in love with, way back during my sophomore year of high school. How on earth did I connect a beloved poem with one of the most infamous movies ever made, you might ask? Well, James Dickey, the guy who wrote the novel Deliverance, was actually a very successful and respected poet. Isn't the world of literature weird sometimes?
Anyway, thinking about that poem made me realize I needed to go back and reread it. I hadn't seen it in years, and I only remembered the gorgeous language and moonlit tone. I am glad I found this poem again. It's so beautiful and painful. That last line is an absolute killer. Enjoy!
The Lifeguard, by James Dickey
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Adventures in Re-Reading: The Book Thief
Book Re-Reviewed: The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
I accidentally started a book club. Back in November, I did a program at my library where I led a discussion of Kathryn Stockett's The Help. Only a few people attended, but they were all interested in continuing with further book discussions. Because my library branch only has the financial backing to do one program per month, I had to take the book club project into my own hands. I chose The Book Thief as our first official book because I loved it so much and wanted to share it with other people. The discussion is on Thursday, so I'm not sure yet how many people read it and liked it. However, my mother read it and absolutely loved it. So I hope that means other people will enjoy it, too.
So anyway, I had to reread The Book Thief. Luckily, it's such a good book that I don't mind digging into it again only six months after my first reading of it over the summer. I won't bore you with details of what the book is about or my basic feelings about it. I covered that pretty well in my first review. Let's just say it's a tremendous book and leave it at that.
I've always believed that good books should be read at least twice. I always get more out of the second reading than the first because I'm not worried about plot anymore. Instead, I can enjoy the language or the dialogue or the character development for its own sake. This time around, I was really impressed by just how damn ambitious this book is. I don't think this novel is perfect by any means; it gets maybe a little too sentimental at the end and sometimes the writing style can get a little repetitive. But you have to give Zusak some major credit for taking on this kind of project and pulling it off so beautifully.
I think the reason the book works so well lies in its narration. Making an inhuman figure like Death the narrator of a book about the nuances of language and humanity is a pretty tricky prospect. Zusak uses it to his advantage, making his strange, choppy style (which can even be off-putting in his earlier books like Fighting Ruben Wolfe) come from the voice of someone who can't help but look at things in an episodic, off-handed kind of way. I applaud Zusak for taking risks that even the most admired masters of literary fiction don't even attempt.
The other thing that struck me when reading this book again was the relationship between Liesel and Rudy. In my original review for the book, I gushed about how much I loved Rudy and his friendship with Liesel, but somehow I missed just how truly bittersweet the whole thing turns out to be. There's so much regret and lost opportunity by the end of their story that it made me cry all over again. Having read the book once and knowing everything that was coming made their scenes together towards the end just that much more heartbreaking. There's a scene where Rudy and Liesel are hanging out in his father's shop at Christmas that almost hurts to read. The amazing thing is that the bittersweet elements don't come solely out of the fact that [SPOILER ALERT] one of them eventually dies. It also comes out of the fact that they are just at that age where first crushes and missed opportunity go hand in hand. Fourteen year olds are supposed to feel too scared to act on their emotions, and Zusak understands this perfectly. He seriously gets everything right about their situation, and it makes the book just that much more wonderful and sad. I am super-excited to see what he does in the future. When the official date for his next book is announced, I will be pre-ordering it months in advance.
To be brief, this book remains as amazing as ever. I definitely did not regret re-reading it so soon.
I accidentally started a book club. Back in November, I did a program at my library where I led a discussion of Kathryn Stockett's The Help. Only a few people attended, but they were all interested in continuing with further book discussions. Because my library branch only has the financial backing to do one program per month, I had to take the book club project into my own hands. I chose The Book Thief as our first official book because I loved it so much and wanted to share it with other people. The discussion is on Thursday, so I'm not sure yet how many people read it and liked it. However, my mother read it and absolutely loved it. So I hope that means other people will enjoy it, too.
So anyway, I had to reread The Book Thief. Luckily, it's such a good book that I don't mind digging into it again only six months after my first reading of it over the summer. I won't bore you with details of what the book is about or my basic feelings about it. I covered that pretty well in my first review. Let's just say it's a tremendous book and leave it at that.
I've always believed that good books should be read at least twice. I always get more out of the second reading than the first because I'm not worried about plot anymore. Instead, I can enjoy the language or the dialogue or the character development for its own sake. This time around, I was really impressed by just how damn ambitious this book is. I don't think this novel is perfect by any means; it gets maybe a little too sentimental at the end and sometimes the writing style can get a little repetitive. But you have to give Zusak some major credit for taking on this kind of project and pulling it off so beautifully.
I think the reason the book works so well lies in its narration. Making an inhuman figure like Death the narrator of a book about the nuances of language and humanity is a pretty tricky prospect. Zusak uses it to his advantage, making his strange, choppy style (which can even be off-putting in his earlier books like Fighting Ruben Wolfe) come from the voice of someone who can't help but look at things in an episodic, off-handed kind of way. I applaud Zusak for taking risks that even the most admired masters of literary fiction don't even attempt.
The other thing that struck me when reading this book again was the relationship between Liesel and Rudy. In my original review for the book, I gushed about how much I loved Rudy and his friendship with Liesel, but somehow I missed just how truly bittersweet the whole thing turns out to be. There's so much regret and lost opportunity by the end of their story that it made me cry all over again. Having read the book once and knowing everything that was coming made their scenes together towards the end just that much more heartbreaking. There's a scene where Rudy and Liesel are hanging out in his father's shop at Christmas that almost hurts to read. The amazing thing is that the bittersweet elements don't come solely out of the fact that [SPOILER ALERT] one of them eventually dies. It also comes out of the fact that they are just at that age where first crushes and missed opportunity go hand in hand. Fourteen year olds are supposed to feel too scared to act on their emotions, and Zusak understands this perfectly. He seriously gets everything right about their situation, and it makes the book just that much more wonderful and sad. I am super-excited to see what he does in the future. When the official date for his next book is announced, I will be pre-ordering it months in advance.
To be brief, this book remains as amazing as ever. I definitely did not regret re-reading it so soon.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Poem of the Week: "Sad and Alone," by Maurice Manning
I have a terrible confession to make. Maurice Manning's newest book came out last April, and I still haven't gotten my hands on it. How could this happen? He's one of the only contemporary poets I actively follow!
Well, I am waiting no more. My reading backlog will have me covered for the next month or two (I still have Anne Carson's latest to digest), but I hope to get my hands on that Maurice Manning book very soon. In the meantime, here's one of his poems that came out in Poetry magazine a couple years ago. I quite like the funny little ending. Enjoy!
Sad and Alone, by Maurice Manning
Well, I am waiting no more. My reading backlog will have me covered for the next month or two (I still have Anne Carson's latest to digest), but I hope to get my hands on that Maurice Manning book very soon. In the meantime, here's one of his poems that came out in Poetry magazine a couple years ago. I quite like the funny little ending. Enjoy!
Sad and Alone, by Maurice Manning
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
List Lovers Rejoice!
Book Reviewed: Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists, by the writers and editors of the AV Club.
Over New Years weekend, I ended up with a nasty sinus infection. With a high fever and no desire to move, I couldn't concentrate on books with plots or involved writing. Luckily, a friend had just given me the AV Club's Inventory as a Christmas gift just a few days earlier. I could not have read this book at a better time. Lists of bizarre and hilarious pop-culture topics were the perfect thing for my fevered, list-loving mind.
It's no great secret here that I love the AV Club and will read anything they publish. This book actually came out at the end of 2009, but my library didn't have a copy and the big book seemed a little too inconsequential to buy with my hard-earned money. That's why it was a perfect gift: something I'd like but wouldn't buy myself. Inventory is a book for people who know a lot about insignificant things. It's a compilation of lists about specific pop-culture subjects, a collection of the Iventory feature that the website runs every Monday. Lists about things like songs that hate on specific cities, movies too brutal to watch more than once, and books with strange plots make this book a blast to read. Seriously, I had as much fun reading this book as I might have had actually seeing any of the movies listed in this book.
Some of these lists went a bit over my head, talking about bands or foreign films that I have very little knowledge about. But some were just pitch-perfect, making me laugh or think in equal measure. A few of my favorites include "Tell Me a Tune: 26 songs That Work as Short Stories," "Peter Parker Had It Easy: 18-plus Truly Tough Superhero Adolescences," "Superdrunk!: 10 Film Alcoholics Who Sober Up to Save the Day," "Noises Off: 15 Movies with Great Dialogue-Free Scenes," "Night of the Killer Lamp: 22 Ridiculous Horror-Movie Adversaries," and many more. But without a doubt, my favorite list is one that also doubles as the AV Club's memorial to Kurt Vonnegut, "So It Goes: 15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has or Ever Will." It's a surprisingly moving and wonderful list, one that makes me miss Vonnegut's writing and personality very much. Great job, AV Club! I doubt I've ever read a list that brought tears to my eyes like this one did.
Side Note: Apparently being sick makes me crazy for lists. The other thing that kept me occupied while I was stuck on the couch was VH1's five-part series on the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s. This list kicked some major synth-laden ass. I've been listening to selections from it on Grooveshark ever since.
Over New Years weekend, I ended up with a nasty sinus infection. With a high fever and no desire to move, I couldn't concentrate on books with plots or involved writing. Luckily, a friend had just given me the AV Club's Inventory as a Christmas gift just a few days earlier. I could not have read this book at a better time. Lists of bizarre and hilarious pop-culture topics were the perfect thing for my fevered, list-loving mind.
It's no great secret here that I love the AV Club and will read anything they publish. This book actually came out at the end of 2009, but my library didn't have a copy and the big book seemed a little too inconsequential to buy with my hard-earned money. That's why it was a perfect gift: something I'd like but wouldn't buy myself. Inventory is a book for people who know a lot about insignificant things. It's a compilation of lists about specific pop-culture subjects, a collection of the Iventory feature that the website runs every Monday. Lists about things like songs that hate on specific cities, movies too brutal to watch more than once, and books with strange plots make this book a blast to read. Seriously, I had as much fun reading this book as I might have had actually seeing any of the movies listed in this book.
Some of these lists went a bit over my head, talking about bands or foreign films that I have very little knowledge about. But some were just pitch-perfect, making me laugh or think in equal measure. A few of my favorites include "Tell Me a Tune: 26 songs That Work as Short Stories," "Peter Parker Had It Easy: 18-plus Truly Tough Superhero Adolescences," "Superdrunk!: 10 Film Alcoholics Who Sober Up to Save the Day," "Noises Off: 15 Movies with Great Dialogue-Free Scenes," "Night of the Killer Lamp: 22 Ridiculous Horror-Movie Adversaries," and many more. But without a doubt, my favorite list is one that also doubles as the AV Club's memorial to Kurt Vonnegut, "So It Goes: 15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has or Ever Will." It's a surprisingly moving and wonderful list, one that makes me miss Vonnegut's writing and personality very much. Great job, AV Club! I doubt I've ever read a list that brought tears to my eyes like this one did.
Side Note: Apparently being sick makes me crazy for lists. The other thing that kept me occupied while I was stuck on the couch was VH1's five-part series on the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s. This list kicked some major synth-laden ass. I've been listening to selections from it on Grooveshark ever since.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Poem of the Week: "Arrival," by Heidy Steidlmayer
This is another poem I discovered on my Poetry Foundation phone app. I love this app so much; it's tailor-made for poetry nerds looking for something new to read.
We received record amounts of snow up here in the South Bend, Indiana, area this weekend, so everything is cold and white. Midwinter is one of my least favorite times of year, but it can also be very beautiful at times. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I don't want to get away from it sometimes. Here's a short and lovely little poem in that spirit of mind. Enjoy!
Arrival, by Heidy Steidlmayer
We received record amounts of snow up here in the South Bend, Indiana, area this weekend, so everything is cold and white. Midwinter is one of my least favorite times of year, but it can also be very beautiful at times. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I don't want to get away from it sometimes. Here's a short and lovely little poem in that spirit of mind. Enjoy!
Arrival, by Heidy Steidlmayer
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Poem of the Week: "Burning the Old Year," by Naomi Shihab Nye
I thought this poem was a perfect fit for ringing in a new year. I love the language of this poem, how the sounds of the words create an image of fire on the tongue. I'm always in awe of poets who can use language this effectively. I hope you'll agree that this is a pretty cool poem. Enjoy!
Burning the Old Year, by Naomi Shihab Nye
Burning the Old Year, by Naomi Shihab Nye
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy 2011!
Welcome to a new year, everyone. It's time for New Year Resolutions, and I have a few myself. On the personal front, I've got the usuals: losing weight, managing my money better, etc. On the literary front, I've got much more specific goals. 2010 was the year I realized the entertainment potential of genre books, but it wasn't a very intellectually-fulfilling year for reading overall. So in 2011, I want to tackle more classics. When I was a teenager, 80% of my reading time was dedicated to old, famous novels. I miss those books, so I hope to tackle at least one good one a month. To be super-specific, I want to read at least one Shakespeare play and one Faulker novel, as they are both writers I was exposed to too early in life and didn't understand or like at that time. I want to see if my opinions have changed as I've gotten older and wiser.
This isn't to say that I'm done with Trashy Reads or Neil Gaiman or teen books, of course. I plan to read a couple more Gaiman books in the coming months, and I have a very awesome pile of historical romances stacked on my desk. I hope to continue supplying this blog with reviews of books from all kinds of genres. It's what makes my life (and hopefully yours) interesting.
What about you guys? Do you have any books on your to-read list that you absolutely are determined to get to this year?
This isn't to say that I'm done with Trashy Reads or Neil Gaiman or teen books, of course. I plan to read a couple more Gaiman books in the coming months, and I have a very awesome pile of historical romances stacked on my desk. I hope to continue supplying this blog with reviews of books from all kinds of genres. It's what makes my life (and hopefully yours) interesting.
What about you guys? Do you have any books on your to-read list that you absolutely are determined to get to this year?
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