Anna Karenina- a review of movie and audio recording nightmares.

So I am finally finished with Anna Karenina.  It only took me 3 months to listen to it in the car!  Why you may ask?  Because HE found it boring, and I could only listen the 10 minutes between his work and mine most days.  It was a book that he had always wanted to read, in fact we even have a copy of it here at the house.  But when we put the first disk in, he lost interest.  I can only hope that the reason he had such a hard time listening to it was that the narrator was just so monotone that he couldn't stay focused. To be honest, this is one of several books I have listened to that were like that.  There is so little inflection or character voicing in so many of the recordings from Recorded Books that there have been a few books I have finished without really knowing what happened in the story.  There is definitely something to be said about being a good storyteller.  

Oh, and while I am on the subject of storytellers, we watched the movie with Kiera Knightly the other day. Dear Mr. Joe Wright, producer of the film, what was the purpose of the stage?  I found the entire stage and backdrops distracting from the real story. So many movie producers nowadays think that they can tell the story better than the original authors. Why?  These books have sold millions of copies because the original story was good.  *end rant.*

Anna Karenina is the story of a society wife in 19th century Russia who married for position but then later found love and took a lover.  Some say that this book is Tolstoy's spiritual manifesto, but that train of thought only really appears in the last chapters of the book, after Anna's death.  

While I would not count this book as one of my favorites, I did find it to be a good story, although a bit long and drawn out. Maybe next time I will go for the abridged (gasp) version.

A Second Helping of Updike...

When I got started on this reading list, I can honestly say that there were more than a few that I thought, "gee, that one's gonna suck!" As I've whittled down the ones I've done with, though, I'm finding more and more that I'm compiling not just a list of Pulitzer prize novels that I've read, but a list of my own personal favorites, books that I can say seriously that I'd like to read again.

That being said, anyone who knows me knows that a book has to be pretty bad in my estimation before I'll consider getting rid of it. Boring, dry, dumb. Yep. Off to Goodwill with them. There are a few that I'm finding are not just keepers, but perhaps books that I'll someday look for in nice hardcover editions for my "Library."

John Updike has become one of those authors. I never had time to think anything about him until Em got me started on this list, but he's rapidly become one of my favorites. True, it can be argued that when you start out reading what is considered the author's "masterpiece," chances are you're going to be a bit biased. The second of Updike's books that I'm in the process of right now is "Rabbit at Rest," a story that really seems to personify the end of the 1980s, waking up to the 1990s. I really can't say enough about the entire series, but I won't, because you'd be bored.

Truth is, what I really think about as I read through this list, and come across books like this, is the sort of literature that our kids are reading in school. Did you look forward to the reading lists that your English teachers tossed at you the first week of September? I never did. You see, I ended up stuck in a wide variety of basic English classes through high school. I had one teacher in 10th grade who asked me why the Hell I was in her class, and not the CP or AP course, and all I could do was shrug my shoulders and say, "I don't know. This is where they stuck me."

Something to do with poor grades in earlier grade levels, I'm sure, as though that were of the slightest importance...

But it has got me thinking - Maybe kids are being introduced to the wrong kinds of books these days. Perhaps high school reading lists are a bit too mundane. What if we actually let the kids read the work of John Updike, Junot Diaz, or Annie Proulx, where yes, there is sex, and drugs, and violence, but also along with those things are real consequences of those choices. AIDS, addiction and death, as well. As I recall high school, it was anything but innocent, so why do we, as parents (or they, as school boards) insist on prescribing the same stuff that was really only avant garde in 1969? Who knows.

The thing about "kiddie lit," is that though I make fun, its important that these kids read something for fun, but for crying out loud, once we're done assigning them homework on discussing the merits of Mark Twain's work in today's society, let's at least point them toward writers like Updike, Hell, even Willa Cather, or Pearl S. Buck when they graduate, so that once they're done reading what the state says is literature, they can see for themselves what REAL literature is all about.

Circus Days

The other day I was browsing the shelves at my Grandfather's house and came across The Circus Fire.  The title caught my attention after reading Water for Elephants a few years back. 

The Circus Fire is a compelling true story of the great Ringling Brothers fire in 1944, where 167 people were killed when the big top caught on fire.  As gory as the tragedy was, Stewart O'Nan wouldn't let me put the book down.  I found myself cheering on the crowd, hoping against hope that they would all get out, even though I knew they wouldn't.  I would encourage anyone who is interested in history to think about reading this book.  

But, to talk about one of my favorite books (and no, this one is not kiddie lit...)

Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob Jankowski, a nonagenarian in a nursing home who is looking forward to an outing to the circus that has set up down the street.  The story is told as events in the home trigger flashbacks of his youth in the circus.  The juxtaposition of joy in youth and longing for the past in old age was poignant; even more so in the audiobook where two distinctive voices traded with the scenes. I found myself sympathizing with 90 year old Jacob in a way that I would have never thought about before, and mourned with him as he reminisced about the life that he had lost.  

I have passed this book on to many people already, and encourage all of you to read it as well, this blog post can hardly do it justice.  Will you read it if I guarantee that it's not kiddie lit?

Punk.

So, speaking of "speed reading,"  I just got finished with "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder. At a whopping 130-odd pages, it was a bit of a barn burner itself. It won the Pulitzer in 1928, and was the subject of a couple of movies. Good read all in all, but (and I'm just learning this, so give me a break here) It's considered a novella rather than a novel. What's the difference you ask? Well, as if you haven't figured out, I'm gonna tell you. A novella is intended to be read in more or less one sitting. It's not divided into specific numbered chapters because you're not really supposed to stop when you start reading it. It's sort of like an expanded short story.

That being said, it would have been an easier read had I actually had the time to swallow it in one big gulp. The narrative would have felt more cohesive, and I wouldn't have had to think back as often once beginning to read again to figure out what was going on. Huh. Whaddaya know, right?

It got me thinking that maybe some of these "pop" fiction novels are simply extensions of this somewhat Victorian-era ideal of being able to digest a book in just one day. Sure, Charles Dickens isn't exactly novella material, but by the same time, most of the folks who could and did read regularly probably didn't have a whole lot else to do with their time (the idle rich)

Like "Hunger Games" for example...

Now, I'm not going to knock my lovely wife for reading "Hunger Games" at all. Ok, maybe a little. This IS a competition, after all, and whereas my diversion was into "The Great Gatsby" last week, (which I'll go into later on...) hers was into the kind of teenie lit that publishers are churning out left and right with no sense of whether they'll carry or not. It just seemed like the sort of book that could be easily made into a movie for people too lazy to actually pick up such an immensely readable book.

I'm delving into imagery here, so bear with me... You know how when you read a really good book, and you're into it, and the story is carrying you along, when suddenly you realize that you've been "seeing" what's happening in the book in your mind's eye? That's imagery. Your brain turns the words into pictures, and it's one of the strengths of the written word - why books are so often more powerful than the movies. It's because our own imaginations supply the setting and the characters, and even the characters' voices. Cool, huh? (except I'm not sure what that's called...) Anyway, It's what makes "Hunger Games" so good. You're there with Katniss (sp?) as she goes through her trials.

The thing is, that sort of imagery is also available in a book written nearly a hundred years ago. Or two hundred years ago, but there's a backlash against literature in our society - sort of an "anti-renaissance." As high schoolers, we're taught to dread the assignment of novels like "David Copperfield" or "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," when really they provide a glimpse into life that history books can't provide on such a personal level. Our attention has to be grabbed at the outset, or we're not interested. Well, "Bridge" can still grab your attention, but are you afraid of it because it was written in 1927 and is called "literature?" think it won't grab you?

How about five people falling a thousand feet to their death? Does that grab you? Then "Bridge" might just do the same.  But, hey, at least you won't be reading Kiddie-lit, right?

Speed Reading The Hunger Games

A few years ago I was handed a copy of the Hunger Games, and out of curiosity for the newest fad I started to read it.  I was so enthralled with the story, and curious as to how Katniss would survive the games, I just couldn't put it down. 

The Hunger Games is a scary look at what could happen if a government has too much control and wants to keep the public under submission through fear.  The residents of Panem- the new nation in North America must submit 2 children between the ages of 12-18 from their region each year to the Hunger Games, a death-match that is televised, and the last child standing is determined the winner.  

(Don't knock me for spoiling the ending, there are three books in the series, do you really think she would kill off her hero in the first book?)

I enjoyed the book so much I tried to borrow the next book from a "friend" on my e-reader, but no one was willing to share.  

Skip forward a few years to last month, when my brother-in-law shared his books with me.  I picked up the second book in the series, and just could not put it down.  There were several nights that I only got a few hours of sleep between the baby getting up early and not being able to put the book down until well after 12.  

I am trying to be patient and wait until this summer to read the last book in the series, but don't know that I can wait that long to hear about what happens next in Panem.  Unlike my loving hubby who thinks it's OK to leave the last book in the series so that the story will last longer, I just have to have the situation resolve.  I mean, how fair is it to the citizens of Panem that I am even making them wait until this summer for their freedom (cause I am pretty sure that is what's going to happen!)

Now listen here Donald Everett, I think you better go help Frodo and all his friends save the world, stop making them sit in limbo, I think several years have been enough.

The Book Nerd and "So Big" by Edna Ferber

So, I come home today, and what do I find to my surprise? The table is packed with books. Lots of books. Someone decided to do a "photo op" on the kitchen table with a bunch of books from her list (Here's a hint: It wasn't Audrey!) Now, before I can get down to business with the hot dog I planned on eating after work today, I have to go put those books away. Great. Happenstance? I don't think so. Let me tell you, people, It ain't easy being married to a book nerd. Sure, I polished one off the other day that was pretty quick, but no sooner did I finish that one, but little miss "read it in one sitting" decides to wipe out another of her books! I may be in over my head here...

About the book, anyway...

Getting a peek into a time period that you didn't live through isn't quite as easy as elementary school text books would like it to seem. Sure, they look at the industrial revolution, and (with regards to the 1920's,) at prohibition, organized crime, immigration, blah, blah, blah. Sure, that stuff's historically relevant, but is that how people really lived? And by people, I mean common schmucks like you and I. Rare is the book (even on the Pulitzer list) that has much to say about everyday folks.

So Big is a great novel that, even when it was published, had a finger on the pulse of what life was really like (albeit in the all-too-common upper echelons of society) in the pre-depression era. As we take the time to think about what's coming next in our own time period, the next big leap, it can't hurt to take a look back at something that today seems as provincial as that moment when humanity realized that the automobile was going to replace the horse-drawn cart soon. Our next big leap could be just as provocative.

Of course, I'd be happy right now with a damn kitchen table that cleared itself so I can eat my hot dog.

Speeding through Half-Broke Horses

I was very impressed with the speed with which Donny read the last book. Honey, I can't recall him ever reading something that fast before.  It must have been a one time thing, whereas I have done it frequently. I must be a much better reader than him. ;)

I just finished Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, reading in only 3 days. (Pre-baby it would have been sun-up to sun-down done in a day, mind you.)

Half-Broke Horses is the story of Jeannette's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, told from Lily's point of view.  Jeannette told as much of the story as she could with facts, but remembering her grandmother's voice, told it the way she imagined Lily would have told it.  Telling the story from her grandmother's point of view allowed Jeannette to use the same blunt truth that so captivated me as I read The Glass Castle, her own memoir.  If you have read The Glass Castle, I am sure that you will love Half-Broke Horses as well. If you haven't read either one, try them.  They both have earned a place on my top 100 list.