Book a Week in 2014 - BW6

[Stacia]

Now those are definitely PINK boots! Rofl.

[Hoot]

Given that you bathed in herbs while reading Medicinal Herbs, I fear for you if you select either The Hot Zone or Deep Survival!

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

:lol:

 

I do like things to match, but I think I'll show some restraint here.  

[JadeOrchidSong]

Just finished Harry Potter 6.

Spoilers below, so don't read if you haven't read HP up to 6.:-)

And if you read all 7 HP books, please no spoilers for me. :-)

I simply want to share a little of my feelings now.

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I can't believe Sirius Black died. I cried my eyes out along with Harry.

 

The biggest shock is: Severus Snape WAS on Voldemort's side. I have always been anticipating him to turn out as the best man in the book, I had a soft spot for him and wanted to believe he was good.

 

I can't believe that Dumbledore died. I thught the Phoenix wold have revived him.

 

I love HP books. What other books can you recommend to me? Thanks!

 

Now I am starting Book 7.

[LostSurprise]

Why is that do you think? Is it the construction of the language? Are they more plot driven? Less internal? More refined? I'm really curious as to how you and anyone else who wants to chime in defines a novel that reads as masculine or feminine. Because I think I know what you mean but naming it accurately is pretty darn hard and yet I know I've read a lot less 'masculine' novels than 'feminine' ones.

*****

See, I loved elaborate fairy tales as a child. Grimm's and HCA kept me company throughout my girlhood. And I would consider myself an imaginative idealist and yet...LOTR doesn't do it for me despite the wonderful characters. I do love Goldberry.

 

Ah, the question of Tone! Tone is a very difficult thing to recognize and very easy to debate because it's the 'feel' of the story. It's the sum of all the choices the author makes creating the story; the word choice, the syntax, the diction of the dialogue, the characters, the point of view, the format, the action. Everything feeds the Tone and creates the 'feel' of the story. This is why just having male characters or intense action or any one thing makes for a masculine or feminine Tone. In fact, I've rarely read stories which read masculine or feminine to me. Most authors don't have that much control or are too busy working on other things. I would argue that the stories/novels I listed above have a masculine Tone ("A River Runs Through It," All the Pretty Horses) because of what is said and not said, which things are described in detail and which are clipped short, and generally how the characters bond, converse, and what they consider important. Each time I finished reading I was struck by how masculine the whole thing felt to me, whereas reading Zane Grey or Chuck Palanhuik doesn't automatically do that for me. 

 

****

 

Interesting, I wouldn't really consider The Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson elaborate. They have a short story arc. I guess in thinking of elaborate fairy tales I think more of The Arabian Nights, Alice in Wonderland, "Puss in Boots," The Blue Fairy Book, "The Clever Shoemaker," Jason and the Argonauts...that kind of thing. 

 

 Imho, it is often the audience and the critics who expect women (or any minority writer) to write from the "____ perspective" rather than just letting a piece of writing speak for itself.  This sort of reductionist cricicism is endlessly frustrating to me.  Sure, some literature is written diliberately from X point of view and is seeking to make a statement about politics or gender issues or fill-in-the-blank special interest.  But do we really think that every writer intentionally does so?  I can't see Hemmingway or Faulkner sitting down and worrying over whether or not their female characters were believable, or if their male characters were embodying some stereotype.  (Some might argue that Hemingway created his own male stereotype, but I think he simply wrote what he knew.)

 

:iagree:

 

Although I do think Hemingway created his own male stereotype. I think it's a male ideal he held for himself though, and it gets a bit enlarged in his writing. 

[Onceuponatime]

Maybe it is  a false impression, but I have a tendency to think that women writers are more likely to pay more attention to aesthetics (beauty and harmony) in the language and the details of a story and less likely to use graphic violence or shock tactics.   But how much of that is a reflection of my personal choices in literature? Besides, I have read many male authors who certainly meet my criteria.

[shukriyya]

Ah, the question of Tone! Tone is a very difficult thing to recognize and very easy to debate because it's the 'feel' of the story. It's the sum of all the choices the author makes creating the story; the word choice, the syntax, the diction of the dialogue, the characters, the point of view, the format, the action. Everything feeds the Tone and creates the 'feel' of the story. This is why just having male characters or intense action or any one thing makes for a masculine or feminine Tone.     

 

>>snip<< 

 

I would argue that the stories/novels I listed above have a masculine Tone ("A River Runs Through It," All the Pretty Horses) because of what is said and not said, which things are described in detail and which are clipped short, and generally how the characters bond, converse, and what they consider important.

 

I would agree with most of this. And I would add that I think Silence is equally important in determining tone, not silence as that which is left out or implied, but actual Silence, the empty places in a story or in a character where the mind-body is allowed to roam and drift because there is a complete lack of need, on the author's part, to be heard. This is a rarity though because most authors write to be heard and I think one tends to find it more in poetry than fiction and that is more a function of structure than anything else. In fact only Emily Dickinson, Rilke, Rabia and Rumi, all poets, come to mind at the moment as examples of authors who allow Silence its own breathing body though I'm sure there are more.

 

Maybe it is  a false impression, but I have a tendency to think that women writers are more likely to pay more attention to aesthetics (beauty and harmony) in the language and the details of a story and less likely to use graphic violence or shock tactics.   But how much of that is a reflection of my personal choices in literature? Besides, I have read many male authors who certainly meet my criteria.

 

Yes, possibly and again this observation engenders some wonderful inner questions for me.

[Angel]

Dd and I finished our read aloud, Anna of Byzantium, yesterday.  I had read it a few years ago with my older dd who really enjoyed it.  Dd13, I'm not so sure.  She is my extremely picky reader, being unwilling to try something new.  Her response was it was ok.  Funny enough, she has asked me to read it every day this week, even asking last night before bed. A little fishy for someone who thought it was just ok.  :glare: I enjoyed the story the second time around, though I think that I "saw" more in the book this time.  I was very concious of Anna's pride.  Continually, it was a stumbling block to her.  I kept wanting to yell at her, to let her know that she was making a mistake.  She was such a smart young woman but was blinded by the pride of her station.  It was very sad that her life turned out the way it did.  A good story, and I liked the way the author included information about the real Anna afterwards.  

 

*1 – The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs (Isarel)

 

*2 – Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans (USA)

 

*3 – The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

 

*4 – Michael Vey:  The Rise of the Elgin by Richard Paul Evans (USA/Peru)

 

*5 – Soulless by Gail Carriger (England, BaW rec)

 

*6 – Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley (England)

 

*7 – A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (12^th Century, England/Wales,BaW rec)

 

*8 – Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere by Richard Paul Evans (Peru)

 

*9 - Divergent by Veronica Roth (USA)

*10 - Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett (Turkey, 11th/12th Century, Dusty Book)

[Robin M]

Duh! Now why didn't I ever think of that. Reusing the corner of old envelopes as a book marker.


 

 

[mlbuchina]

Just finished Harry Potter 6.

Spoilers below, so don't read if you haven't read HP up to 6.:-)

And if you read all 7 HP books, please no spoilers for me. :-)

I simply want to share a little of my feelings now.

...

...

...

...

...

...

I can't believe Sirius Black died. I cried my eyes out along with Harry.

 

The biggest shock is: Severus Snape WAS on Voldemort's side. I have always been anticipating him to turn out as the best man in the book, I had a soft spot for him and wanted to believe he was good.

 

I can't believe that Dumbledore died. I thught the Phoenix wold have revived him.

 

I love HP books. What other books can you recommend to me? Thanks!

 

Now I am starting Book 7.

I loved Snape from book one. I've read all books, and still love him. I hope that isn't a spoiler, but just encouragement. :)

 

 

I am enjoying this thread so much. I have sooo many thoughts, but using my phone is a deterant to long posting. Plus, I can't use .gifs. LOL

 

Oh, and the Doctor Who post wins the interwebs, AND gets extra points for using the tenth Doctor. *grins*

[Stacia]

Love your new photo, Angel!

[LostSurprise]

I would agree with most of this. And I would add that I think Silence is equally important in determining tone, not silence as that which is left out or implied, but actual Silence, the empty places in a story or in a character where the mind-body is allowed to roam and drift because there is a complete lack of need, on the author's part, to be heard. This is a rarity though because most authors write to be heard and I think one tends to find it more in poetry than fiction and that is more a function of structure than anything else. In fact only Emily Dickinson, Rilke, Rabia and Rumi, all poets, come to mind at the moment as examples of authors who allow Silence its own breathing body though I'm sure there are more.

 

Sometimes Silence is what characters don't say to each other when there is every expectation that they will or should speak. There's a very male aesthetic there. Not in Silence itself, but in the way they don't communicate their need. 

[Stacia]

I loved Snape from book one. I've read all books, and still love him. I hope that isn't a spoiler, but just encouragement. :)

 

I still haven't read all the books.  :blushing:  (I've read only the first one. I suppose I really should finish them someday.)

 

I have seen all the movies, though. From the first, I loved both Neville & Snape. My 2 favorite characters throughout the entire series.

[JadeOrchidSong]

I loved Snape from book one. I've read all books, and still love him. I hope that isn't a spoiler, but just encouragement. :)

 

 

I am enjoying this thread so much. I have sooo many thoughts, but using my phone is a deterant to long posting. Plus, I can't use .gifs. LOL

 

Oh, and the Doctor Who post wins the interwebs, AND gets extra points for using the tenth Doctor. *grins*

I am so glad I am not the one that loves Snape. I just finished the seven Harry's chapter. I hesitate about watching the movies, though. Do you recommend them? I don't want the movies to spoil the feelings that the books generate in general. Too much is lost in the making. Les Miserables the movie is never the same as the book. Not that I expect the movie to be equal to the book. It is just that oftener than not, movies make me forget why I like the books in the first place.

[shukriyya]

Sometimes Silence is what characters don't say to each other when there is every expectation that they will or should speak. There's a very male aesthetic there. Not in Silence itself, but in the way they don't communicate their need. 

 

This brings to mind the stereotypical 'asking for directions' image when the man won't and the woman wants to nab the nearest person and get on with the trip  :lol:  Though I must admit to being a non-direction asker at least 50% of the time :smilielol5:

 

On a more exploratory note my mind is musing now on the wonderful possibilities wrt to Silence in writing. Though I wouldn't attempt to define it I do know that I find Silence to be a fairly sensuous experience. There's nothing austere about it. It is a voluptuous, yielding presence, a breath, its own realm, a place of return in which there is no arrival. I would even go so far as to say that Silence is cellular.

 

 

I loved Snape from book one. I've read all books, and still love him. I hope that isn't a spoiler, but just encouragement. :)

 

 

I still haven't read all the books.  :blushing:  (I've read only the first one. I suppose I really should finish them someday.)

 

I have seen all the movies, though. From the first, I loved both Neville & Snape. My 2 favorite characters throughout the entire series.

 

I haven't read any of the HP books. I did try the first one but didn't get too far. I have seen the first movie though :D

[Robin M]

Link to week 7 - please continue conversation in new thread