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What Are You Reading Wednesday
Oct. 3rd, 2018 02:11 pmToday is a day for having a Mood and being a flake, apparently. Ho hum. I did make myself a fried egg and cheese toasted sandwich and lo it was glorious.
Currently Reading: Sujata Massey, 'The Widows of Malabar Hill', because pulp romance has been annoying me and my chances of at least getting a well-structured plot are higher with crime. A book on 18th century Seraphic friendship.
I think I've started TLB #39; I'm making headway with At Swim, Two Boys. I'm flicking through River Cottage Gluten-Free in the kitchen, but it's not as inspiring as I'd hoped. And finally, I resumed listening to Le Hobbit audiobook.
Recently Finished:
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is one of those weird situations where it's a *good book*, I can see that - and it was engaging enough that I didn't abandon it - but it took me so very long, and it was essentially a feat of stubbornness to finish it, not a joy. And yet.
This is a novel set during the Emergency under Indira Ghandi, and insofar as the Emergency shapes the fates of all four main characters it is about the Emergency. But it isn't a political novel - it is essentially a novel about four people set against a backdrop of extraordinary times. I like that. I like that kind of novel. I think perhaps I just wasn't in the right headspace for this one this summer. The lack of clear trajectory bothered me - while it definitely had a story, i'm not sure it had a /plot/. Character development, where it was evident, didn't seem to be going anywhere. And the ending served to unravel what apparent plot trajectory there was.
I told someone on bookstagram who didn't like God of Small Things and was considering Utmost Happiness that I thought Rohinton Mistry did the 'individuals in the midst of grand politics' thing better than Utmost Happiness, but at the same time, I /liked/ Utmost Happiness better, perhaps because the characters were more entwined in the Big Events and on clearer character arcs of their own.
Mavis Doriel Hay, Death on the Cherwell, reviewed here.
The Lifted Brow issue 38 by Annabel Brady-Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think I'm still getting used to TLB's style - it's quite esoteric in its literariness at times. For instance, Hayley Singer's essay On Touches That Cut. A lot of good stuff going on in there, but barely staying on the 'essay' side of the nonfiction vs creative nonfiction line. Dion Kagan on Queer Eye was more straightforward but also hardly new news. Alexandra Heller-Nicholls, 'Broken Highways', on Australian womens' cinema of the 80s, was an interesting one, as was Isabella Tromboli on the cultural history of punk music. Kate Prendergast 'I can't tell, with bees', on having been paid to write a bee blog, was fascinating.
Law School is on point, as usual, most notably with Ben's advice to a straight woman 'turned off men', vis, that patriarchy is shit, but some men are pretty, and it would be a shame not to sit on their faces. I'm not sure that's the WHOLE solution, but it does certainly cut to the heart of it.
I think the poetry section seems to be the section I most consistently appreciate. This time, two poems by Eileen Chong and those by Zaina Hashim Beck were stand-outs, complimented by a conversational piece between the two of them.
Stephen Pham's long essay on Carly Rae Jepsen, desire, sexuality, memes, and the music industry was fascinating. I'd read the exerpt version online and the whole thing is A Lot. A good lot, but a Lot.
The Detention Centre Diaries piece by Hessom Razavi is important, moving, and yet. We've read this story, or ones like it, over and over again. To what avail? I don't mean they shouldn't be published - of course they should. But that never seems to actually correlate to any change, in the end.
One of my first years last semester earnestly expounded to the class, when we were discussing the power of stories, that maybe if we could just hear the stories of 'those refugees' (he had Mediterranean arrivals to Europe in mind) people would change. I laughed a hollow laugh.
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
WELL. First I complain about A Fine Balance having not enough plot, and then I read... this. And liked it! I did find it very hard to get into at first, because I didn't know what I was looking for, and I missed cues that identified the characters from scene to scene. I suspect that it might have been easier to read as a hard copy than an e-book, both because it's easier to flip back and forth through a hard copy and because I tend to read hard copies only in places where I have time to focus. Once I figured out not only who each character was but what they /wanted/ (aside from Palimpsest itself), it became rapidly fascinating.
Also, I'm a big fan of the unquestioned and unproblematised bisexuality of nearly everyone involved. A++ work, do like.
(My only ? was that I had heard from at least one trans person that this book was where they found someone like them, and I didn't spot any trans or genderfluid characters. Perhaps that was not the axis on which my friend identified with the book, but from context of the rec I assumed it was.)
Outside the Lines by Anna Zabo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hmm. There's a lot I liked about this - certainly it set me off on a scrambling search for other polyamorous romance/erotica novels, and what I found was less satisfying. This one has excellent characters who are easy to love, great distinction between the emotional development at each axis of the triad, and *interesting* sex scenes that contribute substantially to plot and character development.
And yet. The tension was all... off. The climactic Problem was a miscommunication one, and it wasn't even a complex well-developed 'each of us think we're having a real Talk but actually because of mismatched assumptions we're having two wildly different Talks' miscommunication. That could have been made more complex, and more worthy of the ensuing fall-out. Then the final third of the book dragged along with a subplot, which is important in that it tightened the axis of relationship between the two ends of the vee, but after Climactic Falling Out just... dragged. All of this could've been solved by more careful work on the pacing and interlacing of subplots, but it bugged me.
Also finished of late: ARC of 'The Division Bell Mystery', review to come soon; more faintly annoying romance ebooks. And The Secret Garden, on a whim or compulsion.
Up Next:
I've gone on a review-requesting spree, so I have one academic book for a journal already on my shelf, and two more in the mail. Via netgalley I picked up a forthcoming from Text Publishing (who put most of their books on 'read now' rather than a request basis). Plus I have a couple of library books - 'Autumn' and 'Elmet' that I should start soon.
I'm not sure if this is of interest to dreamwidth, but decided to separate out my book related content on instagram, which is now under 'highlyecclectic', if you like that sort of thing.
Music notes: so, how about that Christine and the Queens album, folks? I am delight.
Currently Reading: Sujata Massey, 'The Widows of Malabar Hill', because pulp romance has been annoying me and my chances of at least getting a well-structured plot are higher with crime. A book on 18th century Seraphic friendship.
I think I've started TLB #39; I'm making headway with At Swim, Two Boys. I'm flicking through River Cottage Gluten-Free in the kitchen, but it's not as inspiring as I'd hoped. And finally, I resumed listening to Le Hobbit audiobook.
Recently Finished:
A Fine Balance by Rohinton MistryMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is one of those weird situations where it's a *good book*, I can see that - and it was engaging enough that I didn't abandon it - but it took me so very long, and it was essentially a feat of stubbornness to finish it, not a joy. And yet.
This is a novel set during the Emergency under Indira Ghandi, and insofar as the Emergency shapes the fates of all four main characters it is about the Emergency. But it isn't a political novel - it is essentially a novel about four people set against a backdrop of extraordinary times. I like that. I like that kind of novel. I think perhaps I just wasn't in the right headspace for this one this summer. The lack of clear trajectory bothered me - while it definitely had a story, i'm not sure it had a /plot/. Character development, where it was evident, didn't seem to be going anywhere. And the ending served to unravel what apparent plot trajectory there was.
I told someone on bookstagram who didn't like God of Small Things and was considering Utmost Happiness that I thought Rohinton Mistry did the 'individuals in the midst of grand politics' thing better than Utmost Happiness, but at the same time, I /liked/ Utmost Happiness better, perhaps because the characters were more entwined in the Big Events and on clearer character arcs of their own.
Mavis Doriel Hay, Death on the Cherwell, reviewed here.
The Lifted Brow issue 38 by Annabel Brady-BrownMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think I'm still getting used to TLB's style - it's quite esoteric in its literariness at times. For instance, Hayley Singer's essay On Touches That Cut. A lot of good stuff going on in there, but barely staying on the 'essay' side of the nonfiction vs creative nonfiction line. Dion Kagan on Queer Eye was more straightforward but also hardly new news. Alexandra Heller-Nicholls, 'Broken Highways', on Australian womens' cinema of the 80s, was an interesting one, as was Isabella Tromboli on the cultural history of punk music. Kate Prendergast 'I can't tell, with bees', on having been paid to write a bee blog, was fascinating.
Law School is on point, as usual, most notably with Ben's advice to a straight woman 'turned off men', vis, that patriarchy is shit, but some men are pretty, and it would be a shame not to sit on their faces. I'm not sure that's the WHOLE solution, but it does certainly cut to the heart of it.
I think the poetry section seems to be the section I most consistently appreciate. This time, two poems by Eileen Chong and those by Zaina Hashim Beck were stand-outs, complimented by a conversational piece between the two of them.
Stephen Pham's long essay on Carly Rae Jepsen, desire, sexuality, memes, and the music industry was fascinating. I'd read the exerpt version online and the whole thing is A Lot. A good lot, but a Lot.
The Detention Centre Diaries piece by Hessom Razavi is important, moving, and yet. We've read this story, or ones like it, over and over again. To what avail? I don't mean they shouldn't be published - of course they should. But that never seems to actually correlate to any change, in the end.
One of my first years last semester earnestly expounded to the class, when we were discussing the power of stories, that maybe if we could just hear the stories of 'those refugees' (he had Mediterranean arrivals to Europe in mind) people would change. I laughed a hollow laugh.
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. ValenteMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
WELL. First I complain about A Fine Balance having not enough plot, and then I read... this. And liked it! I did find it very hard to get into at first, because I didn't know what I was looking for, and I missed cues that identified the characters from scene to scene. I suspect that it might have been easier to read as a hard copy than an e-book, both because it's easier to flip back and forth through a hard copy and because I tend to read hard copies only in places where I have time to focus. Once I figured out not only who each character was but what they /wanted/ (aside from Palimpsest itself), it became rapidly fascinating.
Also, I'm a big fan of the unquestioned and unproblematised bisexuality of nearly everyone involved. A++ work, do like.
(My only ? was that I had heard from at least one trans person that this book was where they found someone like them, and I didn't spot any trans or genderfluid characters. Perhaps that was not the axis on which my friend identified with the book, but from context of the rec I assumed it was.)
Outside the Lines by Anna ZaboMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hmm. There's a lot I liked about this - certainly it set me off on a scrambling search for other polyamorous romance/erotica novels, and what I found was less satisfying. This one has excellent characters who are easy to love, great distinction between the emotional development at each axis of the triad, and *interesting* sex scenes that contribute substantially to plot and character development.
And yet. The tension was all... off. The climactic Problem was a miscommunication one, and it wasn't even a complex well-developed 'each of us think we're having a real Talk but actually because of mismatched assumptions we're having two wildly different Talks' miscommunication. That could have been made more complex, and more worthy of the ensuing fall-out. Then the final third of the book dragged along with a subplot, which is important in that it tightened the axis of relationship between the two ends of the vee, but after Climactic Falling Out just... dragged. All of this could've been solved by more careful work on the pacing and interlacing of subplots, but it bugged me.
Also finished of late: ARC of 'The Division Bell Mystery', review to come soon; more faintly annoying romance ebooks. And The Secret Garden, on a whim or compulsion.
Up Next:
I've gone on a review-requesting spree, so I have one academic book for a journal already on my shelf, and two more in the mail. Via netgalley I picked up a forthcoming from Text Publishing (who put most of their books on 'read now' rather than a request basis). Plus I have a couple of library books - 'Autumn' and 'Elmet' that I should start soon.
I'm not sure if this is of interest to dreamwidth, but decided to separate out my book related content on instagram, which is now under 'highlyecclectic', if you like that sort of thing.
Music notes: so, how about that Christine and the Queens album, folks? I am delight.