This was almost more philosophy than narrative, but it philosophized about narrative in a way that really made me rethink what I expect from fiction.....moreThis was almost more philosophy than narrative, but it philosophized about narrative in a way that really made me rethink what I expect from fiction...and what I expect from life. It talked a lot about how we narrativize our lives in a way that isn't quite healthy.
The main character, Meg, writes YA series books while she tries to get her "real" novel written, but she just keeps deleting more and more words from her novel. But instead of the novel becoming nothing, it's like it could be anything--a grocery list, a note to her boyfriend. This book feels similarly ambiguous, but in the best way.(less)
I put this on my "academicnovels" shelf even though it's not a novel. It's almost a documentary in book form. And it's about a freshman composition cl...moreI put this on my "academicnovels" shelf even though it's not a novel. It's almost a documentary in book form. And it's about a freshman composition class, which is kind of dear to my heart. I really enjoyed it. It does a good job exploring the complexity of the composition classroom, through the perspectives of the students and the teacher. The author, Doug Hunt, is a composition teacher himself, but here he's the observer of a T.A. named Rachel and her composition class at the University of Missouri. He focuses his book on six students in particular and talks about what they say in the class discussions and gives snippets of interviews with them during the course of the semester. It's so interesting to hear about the class from the students' perspective.
The book was exciting for me, mainly, because Rachel has trouble communicating her assignment to her students and most of them don't even get it on their first try, but Rachel feels very conflicted about grades and ends up grading really low, even though it's kind of scary because how can you even judge this kind of thing? And then one girl is really excited about a C on her second paper, after getting a D on the first paper! And that's just a really encouraging thing because it shows that students, good students, will still work hard after getting a low grade, they won't just give up because they don't understand.
A thrilling adventure from beginning to end.(less)
This book was cozy. I'm glad it was about post-war Britain. I can't read books about mid-war. But part of the fun was how giddy everyone was that the...moreThis book was cozy. I'm glad it was about post-war Britain. I can't read books about mid-war. But part of the fun was how giddy everyone was that the war was over and they were free to enjoy life, even though there were some losses.
The basic idea is that an author, made famous by her humor column during the war (funny women! yay!), starts up a correspondence with some people from the island of Guernsey and enjoys it so much they become friends and she visits them, etc. I loved Juliet, the author, and I was very drawn to the people she loved, her Guernsey people, but I just didn't love them. Juliet was delightful, her publisher friend Sidney was hilarious, his associate Susan was definitely a good time, but the Guernsey people seemed to be written as just too provincial. It was like if L. M. Montgomery had made the townsfolk of Glen St. Mary (I use that town because it's in Rilla of Ingleside) just as eccentric, but more flat. I enjoyed the first half of the books, where Juliet is in England, much more than the second half where she's in Guernsey, even though the second half is cozier.(less)
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