But Channi’s graduating today! It’s been very hectic. Not that I haven’t been reading. For fun I read ‘The Broker’ by John Grisham and ‘ No Choice But Seduction’ by Johanna Lindsay. For fun. But they weren’t that fun. Okay, but not great.
I think John has lost the magic. It was very unsuspenseful for something that was meant to be a thriller- I think. My mom has every book he’s ever written, so when I was moving her I borrowed a few. The last few I’ve read have been actually pretty boring.
Johanna is always an escape, but her characters do so much thinking to advance the plot I find myself skipping whole sections at times. It’s sad really. But it was better than the Grisham, so what else can I say?
I’m reading ‘The Best Short Stories of 2008′ and really loving it. I’ll start reporting on those next.
Okay, I was totally unprepared for ‘Myra Breckenridge’. Completely.
I think I’ve mentioned before that I have a coy of the list of the 1001 books you should read before you die. I’m trying to whittle it down. I mean, I’m a reader, so I thought if there was a list of books I would probably have read a lot of them. Well, I’ve only read about 6% or something. It’s pathetic. So I’m working on it. The other day Channi was going to the library, so I gave her a list of about 8 books and asked her to bring any one of them home. The only one they had was Gore Vidal’s ‘Myra Breckenridge’, so that’s what I read.
Admitting that I missed every clue, and was just reading shocked most the time is a bit embarrassing. I mean, there is something going on in this book that I should have caught on to. However, I guess I lost my way a bit amount the man hating, the orgies, the rape, the blackmail, the entire round of hateful characters and all the other wierdness. At the end I sort of came around, because the character comes around, but I’m not sure I could say it’s something I enjoyed. If given the choice, I’d probably read Dickens and just be depressed but whatever. It had something to say about changing mores and sexual values, that’s for sure!! Maybe reading it now just made it hard to relate–the seventies are a long way away after all, and in every way.
Henry James has always been an author I’ve admired and enjoyed reading. He is a man of many words, but those he chooses to leave out intrigue me. I loved this book. Years ago I saw the movie with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ben Chapman, I think, and it was such a story, but I’ve never read it. Now I’m very glad I did.
We have the tale of a girl with a great fortune, and a domineering and controlling father who thinks very little of her, despite all her attempts to completely fulfill his wishes. She falls in love with a fortune seeking mooch, and father threatens to cut her off if they marry. James gives us enough of her reactions and emotions to let us know a bit of what she’s feeling but never explicitly gives us her intentions or why she makes the choices she does. This is what makes reading so fun. Can people miss things? Can they have another interpretation? Of course. I love that in the end, in her own patient and small way, Catherine wins over both men, standing firm and living a life that can be admired, and that I believe she enjoys.
The father is like many men of older generations conscious only of his wants , and perfectly unwilling to see anyone else’s happiness or desires as having any value. The fact that such a patient temperament as Catherine’s grew under his thumb is a testament to the fact that personality is born in some ways. She spent her life trying to please him, but refused, in the end, even for a fortune to give him the simple words he wanted, which happened to correspond with her intentions anyway! Good for her!
I’m working on Myra Breckenridge now. Of course class starts today, so I’ll be reading about taxation of exempt entities and corporations, but that’s no fun…
Well, hubby really knows the way to my heart. Okay, I told him, so at least he listened. I wanted truffles and a new book, so he bought me two pounds of truffles from See’s candy, which I love, and then took me shopping for a new book. Time with him and a book? Double fun.
I bought ‘Best Short Stories of 2008′. I have really enjoyed buying this and reading in the past, and often it leads to an author I really end up loving. This is actually how I learned about Annie Proulx, and that was after K had recommended ‘The Shipping News’.
I’m feeling pretty bad though. My friend Laurel, who loaned me ‘Child of My Heart’ came over and I could not find her book. I’m loosing everything, including my head lately. It’s not as if there are a ton of places for it to go around here! I am freaking out a bit and don’t really know where to look. It is probably with the paperwork I filled out with my social security number, address and other info on it that went missing at the same time. Identity theft anyone?
Happy Mother’s Day all!
Luckily, the author of “The Given Day’ left the character I was so stressed about and went to other story lines, and in one of those, the character in trouble was ‘helped’ so it was safe to go back to him later. Not a totally happy ending, but not utter terror. I generally liked the book. Remember though, when you’re reading ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and you feel so helpless and depressed and just beaten down? This book reminded me of that. Oh, he’s no Steinbeck, but the thing is, you could see the parallels of everything awful going on in this book with the way things are working in our world right now. It’s depressing to see that some things never change, that human nature is hypocritical, and that we will always be fighting and hating. A bit of a downer.
I also think it expressed that we should remember to be happy with what we do have. Maybe we don’t have all the money in the world, and even though studies show that rich people are ‘generally’ happier, we still have a great family, or it’s summer and beautiful today and I love the little metal table set I just bought for the patio…you know? Maybe these people were messed up, but they had something to celebrate, something to love and find happiness in. Everyone didn’t die helpless and alone. Only the one bad guy. Did I give too much away? There were some really bad people that prospered, so you’ll never know which gets which until you read it.
In addition to finishing ‘The Given Day’, I read ‘Child of My Heart’, by Alice McDermott. It was a quick, really enjoyable read. Brings you back into childhood again, which was fun. Of course I don’t think I ever had as much responsiblity or insight as the 15 year old in this novel. The character was in fact, so lacking in reactions and bad judgement I commented to my friend that it as almost as if this main character were the stage for all the other characters instead of a character herself. Just a bit weird reading it. I’ve calmed down a lot in my old age, but I could not have put up so nicely with some of the stuff this girl did. But I loved reading it and enjoyed the escape. What next?
I’m still working on ‘Washington Square’, and I started ‘Myra Breckingride’ which Channi picked up at the library for me. Other than that…..