Kate's comments (member since Sep 15, 2008)

Kate's comments from the Chicks On Lit group.

I see a few people have mentioned they didn't like THE HANDMAID'S TALE...and this is the only Atwood book I really loved! I have such a hard time with her--often I abandon her books after 50 or so pages--while one of my very good friends is a huge Atwood aficianado.

That's one thing I love about Goodreads--it reminds me of the subjective nature of liking a book. I always like to hear why people have different tastes and opinions than my own.

My favorite historical novel, if you can call it that (I've heard this definition: it's historical fiction if the events take place 50 years or more from when the piece was written)... Anyway, the one I love is "The Book of Salt" by Monique Truong. It's very different from what's being discussed here. It's about the world of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas told from the point of view of their chef, a Vietnamese immigrant to France (a character created by Truong). The voice is amazing, and it's so much fun to learn about these two women and the time period from a completely different angle.

I love reading by (or in!) a body of water: by a lake, in the tub, by the ocean...

I also love "reading" books on tape on my iPod while taking long walks.

Unwanted divorce brought unexpected, joyful living.

After the Fire - Belva Plain

Skinny Bitch by Roy Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Ah, yes, Emilytessa...to come back to the moment enriches life. The moment is truly all we have. Thoughts aren't things, they are illusions.

accelerate

I heard the movie is going to star Julia Roberts?!

If you've never been to the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, it's a MUST SEE.

Harriet the Spy rocks!

Speaking of Where the Wild Things Are, I thought it was interesting that the 80-year-old Maurice Sendak came out as gay in the NY Times last year...he brought it up because his partner of 50 years had recently died.

Great discussion, all. I'm only on about page 30 right now and am realizing how much this is a voice-driven book. In that way, it's making me think of Patricia Highsmith's THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, which is inside the head of a serial killer. I loved Highsmith's book and think it's better (so far) than this one.

I think this book is considered a classic, in part, because it's so controversial--controversy gets attention (like THE LOVELY BONES).

I also think the point about whether or not the book would be so praised if the object of obsession were a boy is a great one. And what about if HH were a woman lusting after a boy (or a girl)? What then? (Will there be a book ala Mary Kay Laterno...or however you spell that...and what's intertesting about her, of course, is that she's positioned in our society as kooky but not dangerous...)

It's clear that we can't divorce the idea of a "classic" from the history of patriarchy.

PS: The only place I've ever spent time in Texas was in West Texas in a very cool, artsy town called Marfa. The sunsets and sunrises were spectacular.

Once you move in, you need to have a pool party and invite all the COLs. I'll drive over from California for it! :)

I liked it a lot. She has a new memoir out, too.

I met her when she came to my campus to speak a few years back. She's as articulate and elegant as her writing suggests.

This is a fun thread to read. I like seeing how people spend their living hours, how we find meaning in life (which is one reason I love reading May Sarton's journals because they chronicle the daily life of a writer).

My goals are to:

* Write a complete first draft of the novel I've been working on

* Spend time with my loved ones, especially my mom, since she has Alzheimer's and is diminishing before our eyes...

* Walk on the beach with my dogs

* Be spontaneous with the time I'm not writing

* Spend time in a place I've never been before (good for the neurons and the soul; we have a plan to go to Tofino for a week on Vancouver Island where we'll kayak and hike)

* Read a bunch and allow myself to abandon a book if I'm not into it after giving it a 50-page chance since life is short and there's so much out there to read.

I would have LOVED Twilight when I was 15. At 40-something, it didn't do much for me.

I agree with Heather about Sedaris.

Also, the book that recently made me laugh out loud like crazy was actually a memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, THE CACTUS EATERS by Dan White. He decides to go into long-distance hiking with his girlfriend without knowing much about it--and so it's one misadventure after another.

How about re-reading some children's classics? My favorite is HARRIET THE SPY. Re-reading it as an adult was a blast.

Aimee Bender's short stories are always great for a sideways laugh and an "ah ha!" weirdness factor.

TIPPING THE VELVET by Sarah Waters is a romp of a novel--a faux Victorian. A great read and often hilarious.

EGALIA'S DAUGHTERS: A SATIRE OF THE SEXES is a blast to read. It's very funny yet makes great comments about gender roles. It's about a world in which men and women's roles are reversed (just social roles, not biological ones). Men are called "Manwoms" because they are derivative of women, who are called "Woms." It's hard to wrap your mind around talking about it, but it really works on the page.

Holli: The book Sideways, to me, reads like a male verion of not-too-well-written chick-lit (would that be dick-lit? Am I allowed to say that on here? If not, I'll edit!) ... Anyway, I think the characters in the film were much more complex and interesting than in the book... especially the women. The women in the book are much more one-dimensional.

To those who don't like WICKED the book:

SEE THE MUSICAL! It's truly amazing. The book just doesn't do anything CLOSE to what the music, choreography, singing, etc. do in the play.

Funny how sometimes (rarely) the book isn't as good as the movie. I found that true with SIDEWAYS. Loved the movie, but the book wasn't very well written.

Holli, I agree with you about LITTLE CHILDREN. Felt like a whine-fest. (NOT a wine-fest; those I like.)