Book a Week 2015 - BW29: and now for something completely different - OULIPO

[Robin M]

Happy Sunday Dear hearts:  We are on week 29 in our quest to read 52 books.  Welcome back to our regulars, anyone just joining in, and to all who follow our progress. Mr. Linky is all set up on the 52 books blog to link to your reviews. The link is also in my signature.

 

52 Books blog - Something completely different:  Have you ever heard of an Oulipo? 

 

I was recently introduced to the form during one of my writing classes and found it quite intriguing.   Ouvroir de Litterature Potentielle or OULIPO was founded by French Mathematician Francois de Lionnais and writer Raymond Queneau in 1960.  Other members of the group included included novelists Georges Perec and Italo Calvino, poets Oskar Pastior, Jean Lescure and poet/mathematician Jacques Roubaud.

 

Basically OULIPO's were designed to inspire creativity and involved introducing a constraint while writing a poem, creating a short story, or a lipogram, to name a few.  

My first experiment creating an OULIPO using Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken was a big failure. I tried the N + 7 route which is replace the major nouns with another noun which is the 7th one below it in the dictionary. However the first line ending up being Two robbers diverged in a Women.  After I stopped laughing and got over my hot flash, tried a few variations but it just wasn’t working. Then I got the bright idea to take book titles and transform them into a story, but got as far as a weird poem.



Death Comes
Brightly Burning
Across the Endless River
On the Night Road.

Dark Shadows
In the Woods
Scream for Me,
On the Night Road.

Flashback
Phantom
Rainwater
Dark Harbor.

The Door Within
All Through The Night
Vanished
A World I Never Made.

Midnight
A Lethal Harvest
Watcher in the Woods
Shoot Him if He Runs.

Forgotten Garden
Born in Fire
Icebound
Thunder of Heaven.

Blink
Shadow of Doubt
Rivers Edge
Never Go Back.
 
Brilliance of the Moon
A Walk in the Woods
The Brink of Dawn
On the Night Road.
 
Infinite Days
The Silent Gift
Everything Beautiful Began Again.
On the Night Road.



I experimented with a serial sentences short story by  picking random books and plugging together a bunch of sentences. I gave myself a constraint. I started with ten books of varying lengths. Started with book one, chapter one, line one...book two, chapter two, line two, and so on up to line 25. Then I started over again at line one at chapter 25 and so on. I kept going until I ran out of chapters, setting aside books as ran out of chapters and continue until used up all the books. I juggled the sentences a bit in order for things to make a modicum of sense and was mostly successful. All from well known mystery authors.  Below is a shortened version because the original was 99 sentences.


The engine fired with a smooth rumble. The car remained still. The long straight highway just beyond the gas station cut across an alluvial fan that spread gracefully down the mountains to the desert floor. Score watched the deputy go to the escalade and circle his finger, silently telling the Breck woman to lower her window.

“Tell Red Hill to get the hell out of my way.†He sounded excited and definitive.

“I’m not leaving Leland.†She said.

“You don’t get it, do you? He’s up that tree. I left him two messages.â€
 
And so had I. Two from Dorothy, confirming that she’d been able to rent all the equipment and uniforms I asked for.

“Right.â€

“Oh man,†Jensen said. My uniform was identical, except that I was wearing a dark blue trucker cap that also said HVAC of Reston on the front. Careful he told himself. He popped the last of the fritos in his mouth.

***

Score looked at his schedule, swore under his breath, and wished he knew what the Breck girl was up to. Now that St. Kilda was off the board, arranging the downfall of the Clever Ms. Breck would be a pure pleasure. He sat down at his desk and fought against the kind of burp that made his eyes water.

Hastily, he said, “I’m kinda like—I like to leave that kind of stuff to others you know?â€

“Yeah Grandpa Hank,†He confirmed.

He didn’t fancy his chances of walking away from that kind of op free, much less alive. Maybe he realized that things had changed in Washington, that the new administration didn’t want to do business with him. And just when they’re sure they’ve got it figured out, it’s over and they’ve been totally fooled.

“I want to present it to him as a complete package.â€

“Got it,†Zach said. “But I’ll get back to you once I do.â€

We left our interview room—which was beginning to freak me out a little, all those round watching eyes; I told myself this was a good sign—and went into the observation chamber to see how Sam was getting on.

“No I’m better now.†She waved an oak accordion file and fought back a sneeze. She placed a folder within easy reach of the table.

I nodded.

“She’s had a bad f’ing day, made all the worse by the fact her own brother wasn’t there when she needed him.â€


My challenge to you this week is to create an OULIPO.  It can be a N + 7 (or +3 or 5 or whatever number you choose), a poem created from book title, serial sentences or whatever your imagination dreams up.  Find out more about OULIPO's here, here and here.   Have fun! 
 

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History of the Medieval World -  Chapter 33 Two Emperors pp 237 - 245 

 

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What are you reading this week?

 

 

 

 

Link to week 28

[Robin M]

I'm currently reading Karen Moning's Shadow Fever, # 5 in her Fever Series.  Actually rereading since I zoomed through the first time.  Dense, complicated, intricate story that's meant to be absorbed and deserves to be read slowly. 

 

Also working on non fiction reads Wired for Story and Field Guide to Flash Non Fiction.

[Stacia]

52 Books blog - Something completely different:  Have you ever heard of an Oulipo? 

 

Oh, me! I first heard of it last year when I read Eléctrico W Hervé Le Tellier. I've also read Italo Calvino, of course, though I'm not sure that I've read an Oulipo work by him. I notice in the wikipedia explanation of Oulipo, writing w/out using the letter e is mentioned. I have an old(er) book, Gadsby (free download through Gutenberg), which was written in 1939 (predating the Oulipo movement by over 20 years); I haven't read Gadsby yet. And, mentioning that also makes me think of Ella Minnow Pea (another non-Oulipo work), which also has writing constraints applied, even though it's not technically an Oulipo work. (I didn't care that much for Ella Minnow Pea, though many seem to enjoy it.)

 

I know I mention the Bob Edwards weekend radio show on here often, probably because he regularly interviews writers. Today was an interview with a writer he's had on his show previously & I thoroughly enjoyed the interview. I think some of you might enjoy it because he really emphasizes the impact/power that literature had on him turning around his life.

 

Louis Ferrante has been on this show a few times before. This is a brand new interview. In the past, he told us about his former life of crime as a member of the Gambino family in New York. We heard about his time in prison and how the power of literature and books changed his life. Ferrante wrote a memoir called Unlocked then another book that compared Mob Rules with those of “legitimate†businessmen. Now he’s here to discuss his new book titled The Three Pound Crystal Ball: How the Dreaming Brain Can See the Future. Ferrante also talks about his time in the Clinton Correctional facility, what life in prison is really like and the difficulties ex-cons face after jail.

 

Ferrante's book Unlocked is described as:

 

A former Mafia member reveals how a childhood devoid of books significantly impacted his criminal development and how he reshaped his understanding of life, self, and faith by voraciously reading everything he could obtain while in jail.

 

[Jane in NC]

I must confess that the OULIPO is a new concept for me.  Fun!

 

Mikhail Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time is a very different sort of book, a series of related stories by three different narrators (one being the Hero himself) in non-chronological order.  In the introduction Pechorin is described both as a "Byronic hero" and a "superfluous man", the latter being a term coined by Turgenev in his novella entitled The Diary of the Superfluous Man.  Gary Shteyngart writes in the intro that both Lermontov and Pushkin idolized Byron, whereas Turgenev offers a label to the sort of men who fail to fit into mid 19th Century Russian society, cynical men who see no point to fitting into the norms of the culture yet cause a wake of disturbance in their ennui.

 

The descriptions of the Caucasus in A Hero of Our Time are stunning.  And there are the Russians fighting the Chechens.  Wow, some things don't change.

 

Eliana and VC:  I suspect that this one is for you.  VC, your husband may be interested in the issue of fatalism on which the book ends.  Let me know by PM if your library lacks this one.

 

I downloaded (yes, Jane embraces technology) Turgenev's Superfluous Man.  It has been years since I have read Turgenev; just thinking of A Sportsman's Notebook and Fathers and Sons brings sighs of pleasure.  What a wonderful writer!

 

[Jane in NC]

There will be a few book related things in this post eventually but I wanted to tell y'all about my adventure of this past week. 

 

My husband had a conference in Minneapolis so I decided to tag along.  It was a blast!  I found Minneapolis to be a welcoming place--very walkable through downtown with an easy to use mass transit system when going farther afield.

 

There were a number of highlights for me which I will share in no specific order.

 

The Walker Art Center currently has a Pop Art exhibit that blew my mind.  It was fun--something one associates with pop art--but the political pieces were moving and poignant.  In various display cabinets there were a number of artist notebooks that include some really interesting collages.  I just loved them.

 

Across the street from the Walker Art Center is the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden that features a delightful Claes Oldenburg sculpture, Spoon Bridge with Cherry.  I adore Oldenberg's whimsey so this piece sang to me.  (Now to figure out how to attach a photo from my phone.)

 

Minnehaha Falls sits in a gorge managed by Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, a dramatic demonstration of the power of glaciation.  How many cities boast a 50+ foot waterfall in a town park?  An engraving of the falls inspired Longfellow. In the park, one can find part of his Song of Hiawatha engraved in stone. Here and around the Saint Anthony Falls in downtown is an amazing system of walking and biking trails.  Very impressive. 

 

Speaking of Saint Anthony Falls...nearby there is a 19th century stone bridge that has been turned into a bike/pedestrian path.  From it you can see the "falls" (now an engineered apron) as well as various mill ruins.  I never knew that Minneapolis had its roots in flour milling--but I learned a lot by going to the rather fascinating Mill Museum operated by an historical society.  What made our stop there particularly interesting was that an opera group was having tryouts--in the ruins!

 

The conference sponsored a riverboat dinner cruise that we really enjoyed.  We went by chartered bus to Saint Paul and then enjoyed the breezes of the Mississippi on board the boat also enjoying a meal of walleye and wild rice. The bluffs are beautiful and it was heartwarming to see the number of families out fishing or playing with their dogs along the water.

 

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the out of doors.  Office workers spilled outside to enjoy the weather and to-go lunches.  One day I joined them with a curry from a food truck.  One evening we were taken out for a late evening meal at a rooftop eatery.  We were four stories above ground, surrounded by sky scrapers, and enjoying sushi in the pleasant night breezes.

 

Given that the weather in Minneapolis is not always so pleasant, it was lovely to find an eight mile system of above ground walking paths, the Skyway, a non-linear system connecting buildings downtown.  It was recommended that I get lost in the Skyway which I did.

 

A WTMer who resides in the Twin Cities gave me some brilliant ideas for my time in Minneapolis.  Thanks to her I went to the aforementioned Stone Bridge and Minnehaha Falls--as well as the Minnesota Center for Book Arts that had a lovely and sometimes provocative exhibit called The Contained Narrative: Defining the Contemporary Artist's Book. The idea of the book was transformed beyond the book as literature into small sculpture pieces.

 

No, I did not go to the Mall of America. Yes, I did try several of the local beers.  Minneapolis is a charming city, definitely worth another visit.

 

[idnib]

I'm out of likes from the thread re: ridiculous arguments.

 

I finished Marva Collins' Way and started The Sparrow. I'm not very far into the latter, but so far I like it quite a bit. I'm really not a fan of ham-fisted science fiction in which everything is slick and automated and the president is an alien, a robot, a woman, or (before President Obama) black, just to "prove" it's the future. :rolleyes:   Or everything is dystopian. Or Civil War battles are fought with robots. Or any of that stuff. If I had to write a science fiction novel, The Sparrow is the kind I would like to write, at least so far. It reads like a novel that's simply a novel, but written by someone in the near future. 

 

Plus, I'm always fascinated by Jesuits. I first heard of them when I was in college and my friend's uncle was telling me about the education he received at a Jesuit university. This came up when we showed him a problem we could not solve and he barely glanced at it and told us the answer. I was 18 years old and this was my first inkling that my education at my "good" schools had been truly inferior. I asked him about it and he told me all about his Jesuit schools and how they taught him how to think. I need to have coffee with him again soon.

 

 I'm only not even a quarter of the way through the book, however. I reserve the right to change my mind when the President is a "female" robot who pushes a button and the computer makes her tea just as she likes it before she uses hyper-_______ (fill in the blank) to go fight a robot battle.  :)

[Kareni]

 

My husband had a conference in Minneapolis so I decided to tag along.  It was a blast!

 

Thanks for sharing tidbits of your trip, Jane.  Now I wouldn't mind going to Minneapolis!

 

Robin,  I enjoyed your Oulipo inspired works.  While I wasn't familiar with the term, I had heard of such undertakings.

 

 

And, in response to messages posted in last week's thread:

 

Welcome, Colleen!

 

 

Stacia, I hope you'll enjoy The Martian when your turn rolls around.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Violet Crown]

Little reading of Smollett, as I have spent every spare waking moment planning lessons for our fall semester, which starts the second week of August. Tomorrow begins what the girls and I call "Beta-Testing Week," wherein I try out all the new things (scheduling, curriculum, tweaks) before implementation. Then they're at camp for a week while I smooth the rough places. Must get ducks in a row; no time for self-indulgent mommy reading!

 

Jane, PM on the way.

[Stacia]

Jane, sounds like a wonderful trip. I would love to visit MN someday.

 

started The Sparrow. I'm not very far into the latter, but so far I like it quite a bit. I'm really not a fan of ham-fisted science fiction in which everything is slick and automated and the president is an alien, a robot, a woman, or (before President Obama) black, just to "prove" it's the future. :rolleyes:   Or everything is dystopian. Or Civil War battles are fought with robots. Or any of that stuff. If I had to write a science fiction novel, this is the kind I would like to write, at least so far it is. It reads like a novel that's simply a novel, but written by someone in the near future. 

 

Plus, I'm always fascinated by Jesuits. I first heard of them when I was in college and my friend's uncle was telling me about the education he received at a Jesuit university. This came up when we showed him a problem we could not solve and he barely glanced at it and told us the answer. I was 18 years old and this was my first inkling that my education at my "good" schools had been truly inferior. I asked him about it and he told me all about his Jesuit schools and how they taught him how to think. I need to have coffee with him again soon.

 

 I'm only not even a quarter of the way through the book, however. I reserve the right to change my mind when the President is a "female" robot who pushes a button and the computer makes her tea just as she likes it before she uses hyper-_______ (fill in the blank) to go fight a robot battle.  :)

 

:lol:  I think you're probably safe with The Sparrow NOT entering the "female President robot who pushes a button for tea before using hyper-_____ to fight a robot battle". I'm glad you like it so far; I was pretty sure you would enjoy it.

 

And, yes, re: Jesuit education. My fil was educated by Jesuits & the extent of his knowledge & intelligence is incredible. I often say he is the smartest person I know.

 

Stacia, I hope you'll enjoy The Martian when your turn rolls around.

 

I hope I will too. It seems like a good summer read. Ds (who stays up later than my dh) snagged the book last night after my dh fell asleep. So, now ds is totally hooked & is loving it. I guess they'll have to time-share the book.

 

Re: my reading. I'm working on my Marco Polo themed reading with both The Travels of Marco Polo and In the Footsteps of Marco Polo. I'm finding it pretty fun to have the second book as it has some really great photos & interesting tidbits about their (modern-day) travels in the same areas where Polo traveled. I may have to watch the documentary when I'm finished.

 

Marco Polo mentioned Lake Van in Turkey as he passed through. That gave me a fond moment of memory for one of my cats, who my dd (an avid reader of all things biology/animal related) suggested could have been part Van due to his love of water. It's probably unlikely he was (since he was a stray found in the southeastern US as a very tiny kitten), though he did exhibit some of the behaviors & have the look of some of both Vans & Turkish Vans in various feline-related books that dd has. I still miss him! Makes me wonder if Polo happened to see any swimming cats while in the Lake Van area.

 

ETA: Dh & ds just walked in from running to Target. Guess what one of their purchases was? The Martian. :laugh:

[Kareni]

Late last night or, more accurately, early this morning, I finished a thought provoking young adult novel which I recommend.  It might be a difficult read for some as it deals with rape.

 

 

This would be a good book to read along with teens as it could lead to valuable discussions.  

 

Some Boys by Patty Blount

 

"Some girls say no. Some boys don't listen.

 

When Grace meets Ian, she's afraid. Afraid he'll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses Zac, the town golden boy, of rape, everyone turns against her. Ian wouldn't be the first to call her a slut and a liar.

 

Except Ian doesn't reject her. He's the one person who looks past the taunts and the names and the tough-girl act to see the real Grace. He's the one who gives her the courage to fight back.

 

He's also Zac's best friend."

 

 

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—If you saw Grace Collier walking down your high school hallway you'd likely step out of her way. With her "ass-kicking" studded boots and leather wristlets people think of Grace as a girl who can take care of herself. Which is why no one believes her when she claims Lacross star and ultra-popular man on campus, Zac, raped her at a party. Some Boys starts roughly one month after Grace is assaulted, and is told through her perspective and that of Ian, Zac's best friend. When Grace and Ian are thrown together to complete a Breakfast Club—style spring break detention, the two are both forced to relive the events of the party. What starts out as mutual hatred quickly turns to admiration, respect, and a touch of romance. Blount hits home with this novel, depicting rape culture without apology. Teens will find themselves torn between Grace's interpretation of the event and Ian's struggle to accept that his close friend and confidant may have actually attacked the girl he and his friends have spent the last month calling a slut. Discussion questions at the back of the novel make it a great book-club choice for libraries willing to tackle the tough topics. A great addition to most YA collections.—Jennifer Furuyama, Pendleton Public Library, OR

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

ETA: Dh & ds just walked in from running to Target. Guess what one of their purchases was? The Martian. :laugh:

 

That is funny!  Well, odds are, you'll now get to read it even sooner since they have a copy apiece.

 

 

I also read and enjoyed another young adult novel; I suspect I'll read more by this author.

 

Some Kind of Normal by Juliana Stone

 

"What is Normal?

 

For Trevor normal was fast guitar licks, catching game-winning passes and partying all night. Until a car accident leaves Trevor with no band, no teammates and no chance of graduating. It's kinda hard to ace your finals when you've been in a coma. The last thing he needs is stuck-up Everly Jenkins as his new tutor--those beautiful blue eyes catching every last flaw.

 

For Everly normal was a perfect family around the dinner table, playing piano at Sunday service and sunning by the pool. Until she discovers her whole life is a lie. Now the perfect pastor's daughter is hiding a life-changing secret, one that is slowly tearing her family apart. And spending the summer with notorious flirt Trevor Lewis means her darkest secret could be exposed."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Butter]

I'm about halfway through Across Five Aprils.  I'll probably finish is today because my darling daughter shared her germs with me.  I feel relatively okay while laying down.  Just kind of congested in a weird way (it's hard to explain).  But as soon as I walk or even just sit up I get all hot and sweaty and feel miserable.  I'm really loving that my bed is adjustable so I can sit up to read, but not have to physically keep myself sitting up.  I'm liking the book.  It was a bit hard to get into, but now I'm enjoying it.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I haven't finished anything since I posted last week.  I put a few things aside to read Paolo Bacigalupi's The Water Knife, which I'd had on hold for months. It's pretty good.  We live in CA and my dh works in water conservation, so a future with chronic drought and severely limited water resources is something we think about fairly frequently.  I like how this author's dystopias set in the near future don't rely on some big, catastrophic event like a zombie virus, but instead they really focus on possible outcomes of current conditions.  Pessimistic outcomes, but sadly realistic IMO.  None of the black-robot-female-president variety sci fi for him!

 

I'm also reading How To Raise an Adult, an interesting and sobering look at helicopter parenting, focused on the high school/college age kid.

 

Other stuff too, but those are the highlights.

 

Books Read in July:

102. Set This House in Order - Matt Ruff

101. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

100. Enchantress from the Stars - Sylvia Engdhal

99. Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel

98. Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein

97. World War Z - Max Brooks

[Just Robyn]

The last week was very busy, and I didn't get much reading done. DS and I have kept up with The Three Musketeers, and we're over half way done with that, and yesterday I read Daisy Miller by Henry James, which I would call pleasant and enjoyable. 

 

I also started reading Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine? by Mark Todd. Really, I grabbed this off the library bookshelf (in the teens room) hoping my kids would take a look at it. I have read at least half of it so far because it's just the perfect book for when I'm sitting in the car for five minutes waiting for a child to come out of a class/summer camp. It's light and is made of up many one or two-page comics or essays, so I can read just a few pages and then set it down when they climb in the car without feeling like I've just gotten into something and am being pulled away.

 

Anyway, I think it's a nice beginner book for anyone interested in making zines. It talks about the history of zines, genres, distribution, copy machine tricks. It shows several formats for zines and how to arrange your pages on a sheet (like, if one photocopy page will have more than one zine page on it) before folding or cutting. Looking at the reviews on GoodReads, several people are upset that it gives formats and writing ideas instead of talking more about the creative process, but really - people need jumping off points. From what I've learned in writing books and looking over my husband's shoulder while he was in art classes in college, it is standard practice to start out by "copying" or doing a study of some other artist's techniques. This helps you build your skills and knowledge and gives you a foundation from which to find your own voice. Okay - didn't realize I was going to go into a rant there.  :blushing:

 

ETA: There is a zine called The East Village INKY sold here that, according to the description, is partially about homeschooling. I haven't ordered it yet or anything, don't know if it's any good.

[JennyD]

Hello all.  Hope everyone has been well -- it's been a while.

 

 It reads like a novel that's simply a novel, but written by someone in the near future. 

 

 

 

 

I am not at all a science fiction fan, but this sounds very intriguing.  

 

A few weeks ago I read The Innocents, by Francesca Segal.  It's an contemporary take on The Age of Innocence, set in a Jewish neighborhood in northwest London.  I thought it was very well-done and a good read, although it was startling to realize that at this point in my life I identify more with the suffocatingly bourgeois matrons than with the Countess Olenska character.  I am planning to reread The Age of Innocence again, of course.

 

Then I went to an academic conference, my first one in many years, and in honor of the occasion I pulled out David Lodge's classic academic satire, Changing Places, which I (re)read on the plane ride home.  The next week we went on vacation, and I reread the next -- and, I think, best, book in the trilogy, Small World.  I also read a homeschooling memoir (Homeschooling Abbey) that was pretty awful, and a book about the world of ultracompetitive high school students (The Overachievers, by Alexandra Robbins), which was interesting but also rather depressing.

 

Most recently, i've been reading My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante, an Italian novel (the first of four) about two girls in postwar Naples.  A friend of mine raved about these books and in fact has lent me her copies.  I had trouble getting in to the book at first but I'm so glad I stuck with it -- it's incredibly compelling.  I so wish I read Italian, though.  The cultural/class divide between Neapolitan dialect and standard Italian (let alone the Latin and Greek one of the characters learns in her classical education) is a key part of the whole story, and the translator marks the switch by just noting that someone is speaking in either dialect or Italian.  I keep wondering how this is done in the original -- is the dialogue actually written in dialect, or would that be too difficult for contemporary Italian readers to understand?  I have no idea.  

 

 

[Onceuponatime]

I've started another mystery before I get to Remarkable Creatures, The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer.

[Kareni]

Then I went to an academic conference, my first one in many years, and in honor of the occasion I pulled out David Lodge's classic academic satire, Changing Places, which I (re)read on the plane ride home.  The next week we went on vacation, and I reread the next -- and, I think, best, book in the trilogy, Small World.

 

Ah, those titles brings back memories as I was gifted with them many moons ago by a significant other who was a British professor; they were favorites of his.  Now I'm trying to remember other books he gave me.  Ones that come to mind are Willa Cather's The Professor's House and Death Comes for the Archbishop as well as Bel Kaufman's Up the Down Staircase.

 

Now I'm wondering what other books I would associate with the person who introduced them to me.

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Guest]

3 novels:

 

The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald: Although this has a vividly depicted place and time (Russia, 1913) and no lack of plot points, this is a very quiet, inward book... but the very inwardness is implied rather than described.  Evocative and highly readable without quite catching my heart... but brilliant enough that I know I will read more Fitzgerald again some day.

 

Rebecca by Du Maurier: Rose's recent reread, and the surrounding chatter, inspired me to pick this up again.  This can be shelved with the many other books I've read recently that I appreciate more now than I did as a teen, but my reading of this as not-a-romance is unchanged.  It is scary in a very different way than the patina of Gothic-ness implies, and I can see the tragedy of it less personally now that I am not that young and insecure....   ...and I am imagining a retelling of this story from Rebecca's perspective... somewhat akin to the Hyde I read recently (though since this is already called Rebecca, would that be called Max?)

 

 

Reader for Hire by Raymond Jean: I hated this.  There was so much that could have been done with this, and the cheaply pornographic wasn't it.  I was, however, fascinated by the back story pieces, especially the narrator's relationship with her former professor.  

 

 

Posting this for now, so I have more hope of getting back to mention the poetry and non-fiction...

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

I'm heading to a quilting retreat for a few days. I've got the audio version of The Buried Giant for the drive to and from and My Antonia in book form if I need a break from sewing.  Never been to a quilting retreat before, and the amount of stuff I need to schlep is a bit daunting!!  

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

 

Eliana and VC:  I suspect that this one is for you.  VC, your husband may be interested in the issue of fatalism on which the book ends.  Let me know by PM if your library lacks this one.

 

 

 

Jane, This has been sitting on my shelves (literally) for about 7 years - I was doing some Russian reading then and my mother urged me to add it to my list... 

 

You have inspired me to pull it (and the Turgenev, which I think I last read in my late teens) off the shelf... they are now sitting on my bedside bookshelf.... Thank you, love!

 

 

 

And, in response to messages posted in last week's thread:

 

Welcome, Colleen!

 

 

 

 

:iagree:   And Colleen, you are absolutely right.  Jumping in mid-stream is perfect... and dropping by when you have the time and inclination is also wonderful.  We will enjoy your presence whenever you are here!

 

 

 

BTW, thank you for the caution re: The Sparrow.  I think I will take it off my 'someday' list... at least until/unless I develop better filters as a reader.

 

 

Re: my reading. I'm working on my Marco Polo themed reading with both The Travels of Marco Polo and In the Footsteps of Marco Polo. I'm finding it pretty fun to have the second book as it has some really great photos & interesting tidbits about their (modern-day) travels in the same areas where Polo traveled. I may have to watch the documentary when I'm finished.

 

 

 

Oh!  I should pull those off the shelf too.... 

 

 

I'm about halfway through Across Five Aprils.  I'll probably finish is today because my darling daughter shared her germs with me.  I feel relatively okay while laying down.  Just kind of congested in a weird way (it's hard to explain).  But as soon as I walk or even just sit up I get all hot and sweaty and feel miserable.  I'm really loving that my bed is adjustable so I can sit up to read, but not have to physically keep myself sitting up.  I'm liking the book.  It was a bit hard to get into, but now I'm enjoying it.

 

 

(((Heather))) Hope you feel better soon, and that you get lots of wonderful reading in while you're recuperating. 

[Guest]

I'm heading to a quilting retreat for a few days. I've got the audio version of The Buried Giant for the drive to and from and My Antonia in book form if I need a break from sewing.  Never been to a quilting retreat before, and the amount of stuff I need to schlep is a bit daunting!!  

 

 

I hope you have a wonderful time!  ...and when you get back, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Ishiguro.  After chatting with NoseinaBook about the similarities in the Ishiguros we're each reading, I was wondering if this (which is on my TBR pile) is also similar (in which case I'll wait a little before starting it) or if it has a very different flavor from Remains of the Day, Artist of the Floating World, and Once We Were Orphans.

 

 

 

 

And a beautiful book about a marriage hitting rock bottom and struggling to its feet again...The Department of Speculation....prose poetry...gorgeous.

 

Oooh!  ...and my library has the ebook... though I will have to wait my turn for it.  Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago I read The Innocents, by Francesca Segal.  It's an contemporary take on The Age of Innocence, set in a Jewish neighborhood in northwest London.  I thought it was very well-done and a good read, although it was startling to realize that at this point in my life I identify more with the suffocatingly bourgeois matrons than with the Countess Olenska character.  I am planning to reread The Age of Innocence again, of course.

 

 

 

Welcome back, love!

 

I reread Age of Innocence a couple of years ago, and I found my shift in perspective fascinating.  When I was a teen, I found it a very claustrophobic book - stifling and lacking in choice.  This time through I perceived more agency and nuance... and part of that is in Ellen's mixed perceptions... of sanctuary and kindness (to her) contrasted with some of the conventions that conflicted with her own set of values.  ...I have added the Segal to my lists... 

 

...and the Lodge.   Thank you!

[Colleen in NS]

I'm already feeling very loved in these threads!  :D  I will be back.

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

Rebecca by Du Maurier: Rose's recent reread, and the surrounding chatter, inspired me to pick this up again.  This can be shelved with the many other books I've read recently that I appreciate more now than I did as a teen, but my reading of this as not-a-romance is unchanged.  It is scary in a very different way than the patina of Gothic-ness implies, and I can see the tragedy of it less personally now that I am not that young and insecure....   ...and I am imagining a retelling of this story from Rebecca's perspective... somewhat akin to the Hyde I read recently (though since this is already called Rebecca, would that be called Max?)

 

.

 

 

I'd read that book!

[Kim in Appalachia]

I thought I would jump in.  I am reading something completely different. I just finished Financial Statements. Next up is Accounting and Financial Analysis for Managers. I'm supposed to have a techinical job interview coming up and I desperately need to brush up on the topics. All other reading has been put aside.

 

A bit off topic, but my dh and I have really been enjoy BBC's Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. We both loved the book and I think the BBC is doing an excellent job with it.  Each episode has been better than the last.  

[mumto2]

I'm heading to a quilting retreat for a few days. I've got the audio version of The Buried Giant for the drive to and from and My Antonia in book form if I need a break from sewing. Never been to a quilting retreat before, and the amount of stuff I need to schlep is a bit daunting!!

I am looking forward to hearing about your quilting experience. One person in my patchwork group goes on quilting weekends frequently and loves them. She brings some beautiful completed projects home which always impresses me, they appear to be really productive weekends! Have a great time! :)

 

I have been reading more books in Mary Jo Putny's Lost Lord's series. Still enjoying them quite a bit.

 

I started a suspense novel called The Swimmer by Joakim Zander. It isn't bad but having problems getting through the opening chapters which jump around chronologically and each one seems to introduce another character. I need some quiet time to get everyone sorted out. It is due to disappear from my kindle shortly, since I waited quite awhile for it I need to get reading!

[Jane in NC]

I'm heading to a quilting retreat for a few days. I've got the audio version of The Buried Giant for the drive to and from and My Antonia in book form if I need a break from sewing.  Never been to a quilting retreat before, and the amount of stuff I need to schlep is a bit daunting!!  

Yes, let us know how it goes.  Will you be doing Hawaiian quilting??

 

[mumto2]

 

A bit off topic, but my dh and I have really been enjoy BBC's Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. We both loved the book and I think the BBC is doing an excellent job with it. Each episode has been better than the last.

I watched the first episode of Jonathan Strange but haven't had a chance to watch more. They are waiting for me on my recorder. Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

[JennW in SoCal]

Yes, let us know how it goes.  Will you be doing Hawaiian quilting??

 

 

Well, I'm going to continue the hand quilting of my Hawaiian quilt that I've been doing on and off for a year now. More off than on, really, which is a shame!  My goal, though, for this retreat is to start free motion machine quilting -- sort of Zen Tangling with machine, fabric and thread.  Not aiming on any finished projects, just messing about, learning by doing, and perhaps starting the cutting and piecing of a quilt.  

[JennW in SoCal]

 I put a few things aside to read Paolo Bacigalupi's The Water Knife, which I'd had on hold for months. It's pretty good.  We live in CA and my dh works in water conservation, so a future with chronic drought and severely limited water resources is something we think about fairly frequently. 

 

By the way.  Are you (or you, Robin) getting any of this tropical moisture up in your neck of CA? San Diego got more rain in one day (yesterday) than we've ever gotten in the entire month of July since 1902!  And it is raining once again today. (For the rest of you east of the Mississippi, a record amount of rain in July is over an inch! Y'all get that regularly in an afternoon, I know.)  I'm lamenting that I've put off installing rain barrels around the house, but I did collect lots of bucketfuls that I'll use once to keep the tomatoes going once it dries out and returns to our usual desert conditions. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

By the way.  Are you (or you, Robin) getting any of this tropical moisture up in your neck of CA? San Diego got more rain in one day (yesterday) than we've ever gotten in the entire month of July since 1902!  And it is raining once again today. (For the rest of you east of the Mississippi, a record amount of rain in July is over an inch! Y'all get that regularly in an afternoon, I know.)  I'm lamenting that I've put off installing rain barrels around the house, but I did collect lots of bucketfuls that I'll use once to keep the tomatoes going once it dries out and returns to our usual desert conditions. 

 

We got a really rainy day about a week and a half ago - well, not really rainy, but really rainy for July in CA, when the rain is normally zero!  It felt like a winter day, or a day in Oregon.  It was so nice!  We aren't getting any rain right now, but it is hot and muggy, more humid than normal.. I think they're giving us a 20% chance of thunderstorms today and tomorrow, but it's not looking good.  Not a drought buster, for sure!

[Guest]

poetry:

 

Bells in Winter by Czeslaw Milosz: I wish I owned a longer, more complete collection of his poetry.  I will have to keep my eye out for more....

 

Nostalgia, My Enemy by Saadi Youssef: I'm not sure if it was me or the selections, but I found the later poems in this slim collection more compelling than many of the earlier ones.  ...but most of them left me wanting to read more.

 

Anthology of Somali Poetry: These I didn't love as much, but I found them very interesting, and a glimpse into a very different place and culture.  I tried to find a next step in experiencing more, but most of what I can see is written by non-Somalis, and most of the rest by expats.  That might be the best I can get, but I'm going to try looking some more.

 

 

Faust Part II by Goethe: I kept wanting this second part to be more a continuation of the first, and more a personal arc than a philosophical one.  I probably need to come back to again, after less of a gap this time, and read it while letting it be what it is rather than what I want it to be... Here's Parts I and II (translated by Stuart Atkins) in Volume 2 of Princeton Press's Collected Works of Goethe 

 

Non-fiction:

 

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin: There was an excerpt from this in The New Jim Crow that really grabbed me... and fortuitously my library had an ebook of it on hand.  Short, gripping, searing, moving, unsettling, filled with more questions than answers... and as timely now as when it was written (almost a decade before I was born)

 

Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison: This is another book I read while wanting it to be something else.   Morrison posits a fascinating premise and spends a great deal of time laying out the questions and making interesting assertions, but far less time that I would have liked examining texts to illustrate her premise.  She does talk about Poe's Pym, a bit about Melville and Cather, and (at some length) Hemingway, but I put down the book at the end not quite satisfied... but intrigued by the ideas.

[Guest]

I thought I would jump in.  I am reading something completely different. I just finished Financial Statements. Next up is Accounting and Financial Analysis for Managers. I'm supposed to have a techinical job interview coming up and I desperately need to brush up on the topics. All other reading has been put aside.

 

 

 

 

Good luck with the interview!  (and I hope you are enjoying the accounting review?)

 

I'd read that book!

 

..if only we could convince someone to write it... and write it *well*.  The more I think about it, the more impressed I am at the skill involved in Du Maurier's book.  It looks like one type of story, is steeped in those tropes and forms, but uses all of that to do something else entirely... while making the surface layers so compelling.  (Compelling enough that I'd catch myself doubting my own perceptions... doubting my doubts, as it were.)  When I was a teen I didn't give her enough credit, I saw my doubts as evidence of her lack of skill instead of the other way around... 

 

...but having read many of her short stories, especially the brilliant Old Man, I know how deceptive a writer she can be (and I mean that in the most complimentary sense).  

 

 

I'm already feeling very loved in these threads!  :D  I will be back.

 

:grouphug:   I think Robin has created a very special space here... and then we all come and color it in... a living Zentangle each week!  

[Little Nyssa]

I've been immersing myself in lots of fantasy/science fiction, preparing for Doxacon (Christianity and fantasy/sf conference) but now that that's done, I'm going to start Revolt of the Angels, by Anatole French. It was hard to find and in the end I had to order it from a print-on-demand service. I'm a little doubtful about it, but it is my very best friend's favorite book, so I'm determined to read it!! Has anyone here read it?

[Lady Florida.]

Robin, Oulipo sounds interesting.

 

Colleen - You're right. Jumping in is perfectly acceptable here. So is popping in occasionally when you aren't able to post regularly. One of the great things about BAW is all readers are welcome at any time.

 

Jane - It sounds like you had a wonderful time. Tagging along was a good idea.

 

JennyD - The Innocents sounds like something I'd enjoy. I love The Age of Innocence and had been thinking about re-reading it. Now I have to decide if I re-read first, then read The Innocents or do it the other way around. Not that I should be adding more books to my list. 

 

Brideshead Revisited started out really slow and I had to force myself to keep at it. I'm glad I did. I'm on Book Two now, and it's picking up. 

[LaughingCat]

This week I read A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear.    It was another author's blog saying they thought this book was written from thinking about what the Dragonriders of Pern type of bond would really be like that got it on my list.

Negatives:

war

sex

violent sex

far too many norse-ish names that made keeping track of people very hard

 

Positives:

even with all the many negatives still managed to draw me in

[Robin M]

Welcome Colleen. Happy you decided to dive in.

 

 

The last week was very busy, and I didn't get much reading done. DS and I have kept up with The Three Musketeers, and we're over half way done with that, and yesterday I read Daisy Miller by Henry James, which I would call pleasant and enjoyable. 

 

I also started reading Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine? by Mark Todd. Really, I grabbed this off the library bookshelf (in the teens room) hoping my kids would take a look at it. I have read at least half of it so far because it's just the perfect book for when I'm sitting in the car for five minutes waiting for a child to come out of a class/summer camp. It's light and is made of up many one or two-page comics or essays, so I can read just a few pages and then set it down when they climb in the car without feeling like I've just gotten into something and am being pulled away.

 

Anyway, I think it's a nice beginner book for anyone interested in making zines. It talks about the history of zines, genres, distribution, copy machine tricks. It shows several formats for zines and how to arrange your pages on a sheet (like, if one photocopy page will have more than one zine page on it) before folding or cutting. Looking at the reviews on GoodReads, several people are upset that it gives formats and writing ideas instead of talking more about the creative process, but really - people need jumping off points. From what I've learned in writing books and looking over my husband's shoulder while he was in art classes in college, it is standard practice to start out by "copying" or doing a study of some other artist's techniques. This helps you build your skills and knowledge and gives you a foundation from which to find your own voice. Okay - didn't realize I was going to go into a rant there.  :blushing:

 

ETA: There is a zine called The East Village INKY sold here that, according to the description, is partially about homeschooling. I haven't ordered it yet or anything, don't know if it's any good.

Hmm! Wonder if I could get my son interested since he writes his own stories.  We've been getting Creative Kids magazine, written by kids for kids 8 - 16.  Lots of fun stories and poems.  Not sure if James is actually reading it.  It disappears into his room and all I get is the typical teenage response how'd you like it.  

 

I'm heading to a quilting retreat for a few days. I've got the audio version of The Buried Giant for the drive to and from and My Antonia in book form if I need a break from sewing.  Never been to a quilting retreat before, and the amount of stuff I need to schlep is a bit daunting!!  

Hope you have oodles of fun!

 

I thought I would jump in.  I am reading something completely different. I just finished Financial Statements. Next up is Accounting and Financial Analysis for Managers. I'm supposed to have a techinical job interview coming up and I desperately need to brush up on the topics. All other reading has been put aside.

 

A bit off topic, but my dh and I have really been enjoy BBC's Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. We both loved the book and I think the BBC is doing an excellent job with it.  Each episode has been better than the last.  

Best of luck with the interview!  I have yet to watch the show but have it bookmarked to watch online.  One of these days I'll find time to watch.  

 

By the way.  Are you (or you, Robin) getting any of this tropical moisture up in your neck of CA? San Diego got more rain in one day (yesterday) than we've ever gotten in the entire month of July since 1902!  And it is raining once again today. (For the rest of you east of the Mississippi, a record amount of rain in July is over an inch! Y'all get that regularly in an afternoon, I know.)  I'm lamenting that I've put off installing rain barrels around the house, but I did collect lots of bucketfuls that I'll use once to keep the tomatoes going once it dries out and returns to our usual desert conditions. 

Yeah for rain, except haven't seen any our way yet.  I think the forecast is about a 10% chance of rain.  If my ankles and knees start aching, then I'll seriously believe it.  :lol:

 

 

:grouphug:   I think Robin has created a very special space here... and then we all come and color it in... a living Zentangle each week!  

Wow! You really have a way with words, Eliana.   :grouphug:    A living Zentangle. Such a cool thought. 

 

 

Stacia - Thank you for all the great links.  Off to follow a few rabbit trails.

[Butter]

(((Heather))) Hope you feel better soon, and that you get lots of wonderful reading in while you're recuperating. 

 

Thanks.  I did indeed finish reading Across Five Aprils today.  I loved it.  It's such a bittersweet book.

[shukriyya]

Still working away with Catherine the Great. The Sparrow has yet to appear. Heard a great interview Krista Tippet did with Maria Popova of Brainpickings fame. I think a lot of you BaWers would find it resonant.

 

Jane, your holiday sounded full of joy and serendipity.

 

Jenn, your quilting retreat sounds fab! Does that mean you hole away in a woodsy cabin wrapped in a different quilt each day with a stack of books and mug of tea at the ready? ;)

 

Robin, I loved your Oulipo poetry :thumbup:

 

All the mention of zentangling and here is yesterday's creation...

 

[idnib]

We got a really rainy day about a week and a half ago - well, not really rainy, but really rainy for July in CA, when the rain is normally zero!  It felt like a winter day, or a day in Oregon.  It was so nice!  We aren't getting any rain right now, but it is hot and muggy, more humid than normal.. I think they're giving us a 20% chance of thunderstorms today and tomorrow, but it's not looking good.  Not a drought buster, for sure!

 

I'm an hour or so south and it's really muggy here too. It's become overcast in the last hour or so. The air is very still, which is rare for this location in the evening. Satellite shows some moisture above us but it hasn't precipitated yet. I wish.

[Ali in OR]

Working on my To-Be-Read list I posted last week. Finished Guantanamo Diary before it was due (yay!) and thought it was very worthwhile. I very much wish my country would follow our own legal standards and give these prisoners due process. I hope we now have some safeguards in place to prevent sanctioned torture. I also finished Station Eleven and enjoyed that very much. Just started The Just City (thanks Eliana) and am enjoying that. Dd read Go Set a Watchman the day it arrived here--I would love to get to that soon, but since we own it I think I have to get to the library books first.

 

Holds I've placed just reading this thread: How to Raise and Adult, Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine (for youngest dd), Rebecca on CD and The Wee Free Men on CD for an upcoming car trip.

 

The TBR pile:

 

Done-Guantanamo Diary

Done-Station Eleven

Reading-The Just City

Go Set a Watchman

GlimmerGlass 

Americanah 

Dear Mr. Knightley 

The Lady and the Unicorn

My Family and Other Animals

[Cinder]

Hey all, I haven't posted in the past few weeks as I hadn't finished or started anything new. This week I can report that I have *finally* finished 1Q84 and I really enjoyed it. I'd started Size Matters Not by Warwick Davis but mostly set that aside so I could finish 1Q84, so this week I picked that back up. It's a light and fun autobiography with lots of pictures so it should go quickly.

 

When I'm done with that I plan to read the Hitchhikers Guide trilogy as part of a read-along with another group. Some are planning to read just the 3, some are planning to read all 5. I'm hoping I won't run out of steam along the way and will be able to read the 5 plus the 6th book by Eoin Colfer. Yeah.

[Momto4inSoCal]

I thought I would jump in to this group, I have decided to read 1 book a week to encourage my girls reading and to push myself to cut down my never ending list of books to read. This week I'm reading Deconstructing Penguins and Science Matters. I have The Knowledge Deficit and The Soul of Discipline checked out from the library also so those two will be next. I'm thinking of taking a break from Non-Fiction after this. I need more time between some of these books to mule over the idea's.  

[Violet Crown]

I finished a thought provoking young adult novel which I recommend.

Robospam reported. Don't click on link.

[Nan in Mass]

Colleen! I,m glad to see you here! Hugs!

[Kareni]

Yesterday I read  All for You which is an enjoyable contemporary romance by Laura Florand; it could easily stand alone although it does feature as secondary characters a hero/heroine pair from one of the author's earlier books.  I've enjoyed a number of this author's romances; I recommend her books.

 

 

"Some crushes aren't meant to be.

When her older brother's best friend left to join the Foreign Legion, eighteen-year-old Célie moved on to make a life for herself as a Paris chocolatier. Now, five years later, the last thing she needs is another man to mess up her happiness.

Let alone the same man.

But five years in the Foreign Legion is a long time for a man to grow up, and a long time to be away from the woman he loves.

Especially when he did it all for her.

Half strangers, more than friends, and maybe, if Joss Castel has his way, a second chance..."

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[Stacia]

Ds finished The Martian this morning & loved it. He's really glad to have his own copy of the book.

[Kareni]

Ds finished The Martian this morning & loved it. He's really glad to have his own copy of the book.

 

I'm glad he enjoyed it!  You might point him to this that Jenn posted on June 21:

 

  "Here is Adam Savage interviewing Andy Weir.  It is an delightful, hour long geek fest."

 

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[idnib]

I thought I would jump in to this group, I have decided to read 1 book a week to encourage my girls reading and to push myself to cut down my never ending list of books to read. This week I'm reading Deconstructing Penguins and Science Matters. I have The Knowledge Deficit and The Soul of Discipline checked out from the library also so those two will be next. I'm thinking of taking a break from Non-Fiction after this. I need more time between some of these books to mule over the idea's.  

 

Welcome!

 

I enjoyed Deconstructing Penguins and I have Science Matters around here somewhere. I keep banker's boxes of stuff for the kids' reading sorted by year and I think I put it in one of those. I should get it out and read it.

[Stacia]

I'm glad he enjoyed it!  You might point him to this that Jenn posted on June 21:

 

  "Here is Adam Savage interviewing Andy Weir.  It is an delightful, hour long geek fest."

 

Awesome. Thanks, Kareni & Jenn!

[Stacia]

Welcome, Momto4inSoCal! Glad you're jumping in with us. :seeya: