Friday, January 28, 2011
Heroines
I always get excited when the book I'm reading features a strong female character. I'm gearing up for a week of posts about my favorite heroines but first I want to hear about yours. There's a poll up on the right side of the blog, all ready for you to vote for your favorite lady. If you don't see her on it, comment on here and let me know who she is and where I can read about her!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Infinitely Quotable
I've had this strange habit all my life of writing down the things that people say. I have three ring binders full of quotes from movies, songs, and books. There are pages in those binders full of quotes from family vacations and parties. There are even some pages in the Mall of America FranklinCovey store planner filled with strange things customers have said. It's always just been a compulsion of mine to keep track of things that touch me, inspire me, or make me laugh. My binders are somewhere in my parents' garage but I do have a number of books here (of course) and the delightful internet at my fingertips, so here are a few of my favorite quotes:
"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Always do right. That will gratify some of the people and astonish the rest." -Mark Twain
"The human race has one really effective weapon and that is laughter. Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." -Mark Twain
"A person with a new idea is a crank until that idea succeeds." -Mark Twain
"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." -Mark Twain
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -Mark Twain
"A cauliflower is just a cabbage with a college education." -Mark Twain
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"I'll never be certain, of course, but I think he meant to bring me up against the realities, to guide me across the river and to take me to the edge and to stand a kind of vigil as I chose a life for myself." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"If you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"All fire burns, little baby. You'll learn." -Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
"'Good luck,' whispered the Angel Islington. There was a rushing sound like a wind soughing across a lost forest, or the beating of mighty wings." -Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
"Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?" -The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
"Sometimes he would rock her to sleep in his arms, and read her left to right, and know everything he needed to know about the world. If it wasn't written on her, it wasn't important to him." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"He would fall asleep with his heart at the foot of his bed, like some domesticated animal that was no part of him at all. And each morning he would wake with it again in the cupboard of his rib cage, having become a little heavier, a little weaker, but still pumping. And by midafternoon he was again overcome with the desire to be somewhere else, someone else, someone else somewhere else. I am not sad." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"Love itself became the object of her love. She loved herself in love, she loved loving love, as love loves loving, and was able, in that way, to reconcile herself with a world that fell so short of what she would have hoped for." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"She felt a total displacement, like a spinning globe brought to a sudden halt by the light touch of a finger. How did she end up here, like this? How could there have been so much--so many moments, so many people and things, so many razors and pillows, timepieces and subtle coffins--without her being aware? How did her life live itself without her?" -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"He knew that I love you also means I love you more than anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that no one loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that I love no one else, and never have loved anyone else, and never will love anyone else." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"God loves the plagiarist. And so it is written, 'God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created them.' God is the original plagiarizer. With a lack of reasonable sources from which to filch--man created in the image of what? the animals?--the creation of man was an act of reflexive plagiarizing; God looted the mirror." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." -Mark Twain
"After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her." -"The Diary of Adam" by Mark Twain
"Wherever she was, there was Eden." -"The Diary of Adam" by Mark Twain
"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Always do right. That will gratify some of the people and astonish the rest." -Mark Twain
"The human race has one really effective weapon and that is laughter. Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." -Mark Twain
"A person with a new idea is a crank until that idea succeeds." -Mark Twain
"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." -Mark Twain
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -Mark Twain
"A cauliflower is just a cabbage with a college education." -Mark Twain
"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"I'll never be certain, of course, but I think he meant to bring me up against the realities, to guide me across the river and to take me to the edge and to stand a kind of vigil as I chose a life for myself." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"If you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"What stories can do, I guess, is make things present. I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again." -The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
"All fire burns, little baby. You'll learn." -Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
"'Good luck,' whispered the Angel Islington. There was a rushing sound like a wind soughing across a lost forest, or the beating of mighty wings." -Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
"Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?" -The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
"Sometimes he would rock her to sleep in his arms, and read her left to right, and know everything he needed to know about the world. If it wasn't written on her, it wasn't important to him." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"He would fall asleep with his heart at the foot of his bed, like some domesticated animal that was no part of him at all. And each morning he would wake with it again in the cupboard of his rib cage, having become a little heavier, a little weaker, but still pumping. And by midafternoon he was again overcome with the desire to be somewhere else, someone else, someone else somewhere else. I am not sad." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"Love itself became the object of her love. She loved herself in love, she loved loving love, as love loves loving, and was able, in that way, to reconcile herself with a world that fell so short of what she would have hoped for." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"She felt a total displacement, like a spinning globe brought to a sudden halt by the light touch of a finger. How did she end up here, like this? How could there have been so much--so many moments, so many people and things, so many razors and pillows, timepieces and subtle coffins--without her being aware? How did her life live itself without her?" -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"He knew that I love you also means I love you more than anyone loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that no one loves you, or has loved you, or will love you, and also, I love you in a way that I love no one else, and never have loved anyone else, and never will love anyone else." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"God loves the plagiarist. And so it is written, 'God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created them.' God is the original plagiarizer. With a lack of reasonable sources from which to filch--man created in the image of what? the animals?--the creation of man was an act of reflexive plagiarizing; God looted the mirror." -Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." -Mark Twain
"After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her." -"The Diary of Adam" by Mark Twain
"Wherever she was, there was Eden." -"The Diary of Adam" by Mark Twain
Monday, January 10, 2011
Work in Progress: Apocalypse by Goose
I'm thinking about doing a series of short stories and calling it Apocalypse Ridiculous. It'll be just what the title sounds like, stories about the world ending in very, very strange ways.
This is the first one I've started, tentatively titled "Apocalypse by Goose."
They descended upon the city in a flurry of feathers. They ate everything in sight, knocking garbage cans over in the twilight like long-necked raccoons. They hissed at the children and chased them for blocks on the slightest provocation. We couldn't shoot them and only the worst of us lacked guilt over poisoning them. The geese were here with their loathsome appetites and we just had to be patient. It had to end some day.
The children thought it was cool, this near ground cover of waterfowl. They fed the birds bread, first tossed on the ground with squeals of glee but advancing quickly to food taken directly from the hand, the child's determined stillness apparent and sharp intake of excited breath audible. It was our mistake, feeding them, and we would pay for it dearly.
They became accustomed to our presence as we became more unnerved by theirs. The geese soon learned that these treats fed to them need not be given but could be taken instead. They discovered our trash cans, brimming with delectable refuse, and raided them accordingly. We tried to chase them off but they simply hissed, chased, and bit when given half a chance. They bit frequently but more out of defense than anything, at least in the beginning. Scientists never could pinpoint just when this casual malice turned into a taste for human blood or why, but it did.
This is the first one I've started, tentatively titled "Apocalypse by Goose."
They descended upon the city in a flurry of feathers. They ate everything in sight, knocking garbage cans over in the twilight like long-necked raccoons. They hissed at the children and chased them for blocks on the slightest provocation. We couldn't shoot them and only the worst of us lacked guilt over poisoning them. The geese were here with their loathsome appetites and we just had to be patient. It had to end some day.
The children thought it was cool, this near ground cover of waterfowl. They fed the birds bread, first tossed on the ground with squeals of glee but advancing quickly to food taken directly from the hand, the child's determined stillness apparent and sharp intake of excited breath audible. It was our mistake, feeding them, and we would pay for it dearly.
They became accustomed to our presence as we became more unnerved by theirs. The geese soon learned that these treats fed to them need not be given but could be taken instead. They discovered our trash cans, brimming with delectable refuse, and raided them accordingly. We tried to chase them off but they simply hissed, chased, and bit when given half a chance. They bit frequently but more out of defense than anything, at least in the beginning. Scientists never could pinpoint just when this casual malice turned into a taste for human blood or why, but it did.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Taking Considerable Many Resks
I learned today that NewSouth Books out of Alabama is going to be releasing new versions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. These books are now in the public domain and available for editing by anyone. With the aid of Dr. Alan Gribben of Auburn University, this new single volume edition will not contain the words "nigger" or "injun." I am going to specifically address the former word.
I cannot say it aloud. I can't. It felt strange to even so much as type it and it's bothering me now, just sitting up there in quotes. It's a horrible word used over centuries to demean and dehumanize a group of people. And sweeping it under the rug will not kill its power but it will make us less able to face it head on. Dr. Gribben has referred to his editing as "preemptive censorship" because it will allow schools that are afraid of allowing their students to read Huck Finn to have a less offensive option. He has also said that he wants to provide students with a way to have a literary discussion about Huck Finn without distraction. Since when has talking frankly about language been a "distraction" in a literary discussion? And why shouldn't a conversation about a book turn to the topics of the history of slavery and the evolution of our language? If something is difficult to talk about, it's probably necessary to talk about it.
Erasing the n-word from Twain's great works is not "preemptive censorship" but active censorship and it lessens the impact of his language. Other words were in popular use and Twain could have chosen those but he didn't--he chose the one with the greatest impact. The language in Huck Finn is supposed to make you uncomfortable. It helps you question the circumstances of its constant use (219 times). It creates a startling disconnect between Huck's clear affection for Jim and his use of the n-word in reference to Jim.
Children and young adults hear this word in the music that they listen to, the movies that they watch, and possibly even out of the mouths of their friends. With its rampant use in pop culture, it's more important than ever that students are able to discuss its roots in an educational setting with a teacher prepared to address their concerns over its use and to explain its history.
To erase the n-word from a literary work that illustrates its common and casual use in a time when some humans weren't considered, well, human just because of the color of their skin is abhorrent. It's glossing over an important piece of our history in order to make some people feel better about reading a good book.
Deal with your discomfort. Confront our nation's shameful past. Learn from both.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place, is taking considerable many resks."
-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I cannot say it aloud. I can't. It felt strange to even so much as type it and it's bothering me now, just sitting up there in quotes. It's a horrible word used over centuries to demean and dehumanize a group of people. And sweeping it under the rug will not kill its power but it will make us less able to face it head on. Dr. Gribben has referred to his editing as "preemptive censorship" because it will allow schools that are afraid of allowing their students to read Huck Finn to have a less offensive option. He has also said that he wants to provide students with a way to have a literary discussion about Huck Finn without distraction. Since when has talking frankly about language been a "distraction" in a literary discussion? And why shouldn't a conversation about a book turn to the topics of the history of slavery and the evolution of our language? If something is difficult to talk about, it's probably necessary to talk about it.
Erasing the n-word from Twain's great works is not "preemptive censorship" but active censorship and it lessens the impact of his language. Other words were in popular use and Twain could have chosen those but he didn't--he chose the one with the greatest impact. The language in Huck Finn is supposed to make you uncomfortable. It helps you question the circumstances of its constant use (219 times). It creates a startling disconnect between Huck's clear affection for Jim and his use of the n-word in reference to Jim.
Children and young adults hear this word in the music that they listen to, the movies that they watch, and possibly even out of the mouths of their friends. With its rampant use in pop culture, it's more important than ever that students are able to discuss its roots in an educational setting with a teacher prepared to address their concerns over its use and to explain its history.
To erase the n-word from a literary work that illustrates its common and casual use in a time when some humans weren't considered, well, human just because of the color of their skin is abhorrent. It's glossing over an important piece of our history in order to make some people feel better about reading a good book.
Deal with your discomfort. Confront our nation's shameful past. Learn from both.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place, is taking considerable many resks."
-The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Monday, January 3, 2011
"My, you're full of many-faceted questions this morning."
Final book tally for the year: 103.
Including re-reads: 107.
Admittedly, a lot of this was garbage. I read almost every free trash novel I could get on my Nook. It's full of classics now that haven't been touched and it's my goal to read them all before anything else this year.
That is, before everything other than War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. I've started reading it again making it my first book of the year for four years running. It's an incredible modern fairy tale (yes, the '80s are still modern) set in Minneapolis about a rock guitarist named Eddi and her role in a war between two factions of the Folk. There are few books that can truly make me laugh out loud and this is one of them. It also makes me cry, every time I read it. The music and clothing are dated but they don't distract from the story at hand. This book is going to wear out long before I'm finished re-reading.
And when I look at the acknowledgments, I find that so many of my favorite authors are tied together. Bull thanks Patricia Wrede, an author I admire for her strong female characters and humorous prose. She also mentions being half of the Flash Girls, the other half being the Fabulous Lorraine, Neil Gaiman's assistant. Three authors I adore, all tied together.
With no further ado, I present my favorite books of 2010, in the order that I read them:
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"Oh, I know that, my sweet, but dangerous to what portion of you? Your physical self? Your sanity? Your immortal soul? Or, perhaps, your heart?"
Eddi couldn't help but flinch a little at that. "Don't be annoying. You know what I mean."
"Yes," he sighed, "I do. But are you certain you don't want the answers to the others as well?
"No. Not from you, anyway."
"I didn't really think you would. No, my iris, you may go dancing fearlessly and with the utmost lightness of foot. You will be as safe as if you were at home with me."
"How safe is that?" Eddi asked.
The phouka's gaze was measuring. "My, you're full of many-faceted questions this morning."
-War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
Including re-reads: 107.
Admittedly, a lot of this was garbage. I read almost every free trash novel I could get on my Nook. It's full of classics now that haven't been touched and it's my goal to read them all before anything else this year.
That is, before everything other than War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. I've started reading it again making it my first book of the year for four years running. It's an incredible modern fairy tale (yes, the '80s are still modern) set in Minneapolis about a rock guitarist named Eddi and her role in a war between two factions of the Folk. There are few books that can truly make me laugh out loud and this is one of them. It also makes me cry, every time I read it. The music and clothing are dated but they don't distract from the story at hand. This book is going to wear out long before I'm finished re-reading.
And when I look at the acknowledgments, I find that so many of my favorite authors are tied together. Bull thanks Patricia Wrede, an author I admire for her strong female characters and humorous prose. She also mentions being half of the Flash Girls, the other half being the Fabulous Lorraine, Neil Gaiman's assistant. Three authors I adore, all tied together.
With no further ado, I present my favorite books of 2010, in the order that I read them:
- War for the Oaks by Emma Bull: I think I've been pretty clear about why I love this book.
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood: Atwood's dystopian novels are always chilling and intriguing and entirely too possible. Oryx and Crake is no exception.
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: A ghostly retelling of Kipling's classic The Jungle Book, sure to become a classic in its own right.
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman: A great story about a boy and his quest to bring a star to his beloved. Alert: Madness ensues!
- Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer: Post-WWII author visits an island that was occupied by the Nazis during the war. It's one of the best epistolary novels I've read.
- Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane: Thrilling and chilling. It really was an interesting insight into old psychiatric practices and it had some great twists.
- Mystic River by Dennis Lehane: I actually hadn't seen the movie before I read the book this year. I've experienced both by now and can happily say that the book is better.
- Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: An angel, a demon, a witch, and a witch-finder try to avoid the apocalypse. I really want to read more Terry Pratchett now.
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman: This is one of my favorite books ever. I have lent it out numerous times and nobody's come away disappointed.
- Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough: You've seen the movie, now read the book! It goes into much more than just Dillinger and it's far less romanticized.
- Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood: A fictionalized version of the story of Grace Marks, a maid convicted of murdering her employer in 1843. Atwood humanizes Grace and fills out her story.
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Let the Circle Be Unbroken; and The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor: These books were great when I first read them as a child. They're even better and more nuanced now that I'm older.
- His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman: Again, great when I first read them when I was younger and much better now.
- Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut: This man is the master of funny-because-it's-painfully-true.
- Monster by A. Lee Martinez: A loaner from a friend at work, it's a really funny novel about mythical creatures in our modern world.
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman: Incredible story about an alternate universe underneath London. I love this novel so much.
- The Millenium Trilogy by Steig Larsson: An intricately lain story about violence against women. The heroes of these novels are very, very human and at times it can be difficult to cheer for them but cheer you will.
- Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby: Another Hornby classic about people trying to save themselves and ultimately saving each other.
- Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett: A sweet little boy charms his curmudgeonly grandfather and then all of England.
- Mairelon the Magician and The Magician's Ward by Patricia Wrede: Regency London but with magic! Kim is one of the best, strongest female characters I've ever encountered.
- Scott Pilgrim 1-7 by Bryan Lee O'Malley: A series of graphic novels celebrating video games, love, music, and stupid boys. I laughed repeatedly while reading these.
- Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson: A woman travels to the Aran Islands with her young daughter to escape her past only to find her future.
- Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia Wrede: More strong females! A retelling of the original Snow White story.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh, I know that, my sweet, but dangerous to what portion of you? Your physical self? Your sanity? Your immortal soul? Or, perhaps, your heart?"
Eddi couldn't help but flinch a little at that. "Don't be annoying. You know what I mean."
"Yes," he sighed, "I do. But are you certain you don't want the answers to the others as well?
"No. Not from you, anyway."
"I didn't really think you would. No, my iris, you may go dancing fearlessly and with the utmost lightness of foot. You will be as safe as if you were at home with me."
"How safe is that?" Eddi asked.
The phouka's gaze was measuring. "My, you're full of many-faceted questions this morning."
-War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
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