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March 10
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Pete
added:
The Great Gatsby (Paperback)
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in March, 2008
Pete said:
"The Great Gatsby is the story of a presidential primary.
—I’m sorry; my notes must be confused here. Ah yes. Let me begin again:
The Great Gatsby is the story of the emptiness of the American Dream. Set in and around New Yo...more
The Great Gatsby is the story of a presidential primary.
—I’m sorry; my notes must be confused here. Ah yes. Let me begin again:
The Great Gatsby is the story of the emptiness of the American Dream. Set in and around New York City in the 1920’s, Gatsby explores the lives of the rich as they pursue fulfillment in an era of booming stock markets, prohibition, bustling crime bosses, and jazz.
Three figures dominate a cast of smaller, if no less compelling, characters, and the novel is narrated by the American People—I mean, by Nick Carraway.
From the outset, Nick identifies the eponymous character, Barack—excuse me—Jay Gatsby, as having an “extraordinary gift for hope.” Transplanted from the Midwest, he arrives with a splash, builds a magnificent fortune, and draws great varieties of people to his parties. With his good looks, his air of confidence, and his rise from anonymity, Gatsby is an emblem of America.
But the details of his life are unknown for much of the novel, and there remains an element of mystery that inspires many but repels others. People project onto him their own romantic or terrific vision of who he is: a war hero, the nephew of Kaiser Wilhelm, a murderer, or even the second cousin of the devil. In this way, he is as much a symbol of our own human imagination as he is of America’s possibility.
More familiar to Nick, however, is Daisy Fay, Nick’s second cousin once removed, and her wealthy husband, Bill Clin—I mean: Tom Buchanan, whom Nick knew in college. And yet, Nick acknowledges that they were yet “two friends whom I scarcely knew at all.” Nonetheless, it is Nick’s involvement in Daisy and Tom’s struggles with Gatsby that drive the novel.
For, Daisy and Gatsby were lovers years ago, and Gatsby still represents all that Daisy wishes for and desires. Yet, to secure her prosperity, she married Tom. By so choosing, Hillary—I’m terribly sorry… I must clear my notes. Let me try again—By choosing to marry Tom, Daisy comes to represent the struggle of all women in the 1920s. Women had just won the right to vote and many, like the flappers, began to explore women’s new freedoms in society. Caught in this conflict, Daisy assays to present a formal and composed visage, but her humanity—alternating between sadness and ecstasy—seems to reveal itself most in moments of tears.
At one point, it seems ecstasy will triumph. When Gatsby and Daisy first reunite, it is the stuff of dreams: “It was the hour of a profound human change and excitement was generating on the air.”
But this was not meant to be. Daisy’s husband Bill, er, Tom, we realize, is the dominating force. We first meet Tom “standing with his legs apart” and moments later discover that he has a history of affairs. He is sturdily built and, in Nick’s mind, “would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the turbulence of some irrecoverable [past].” At one point, he also reveals unsavory predilections when he declares, “Civilization’s going to pieces… Have you read 'The Rise of the Coloured Empires’ by this man Goddard?” In moments like this, Tom’s stamp of authority and will seem to take the air out of a room. Gatsby, he even charges, “threw dust into [Nick’s] eyes.”
Writ large, The Great Gatsby questions the nature and successes of all three characters. Gatsby, the dreamer whose smile has “a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you may come across four or five times in life,” proves ephemeral; Nick disapproves of him one moment, but later has “renewals of complete faith in him.” Tom and Daisy, on the other hand, “were careless people…they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made.”
But reevaluated most of all is Nick. When Gatsby meets a tragic end at the hands of a misguided delusional, and when Tom and Daisy abandon everyone, Nick also rejects the very dream that brought him East.
Nick writes the story in retrospect, as if to confront his own complicity. “Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope,” he says, but his hope evidently runs out. Overcome by the “foul dust” and “grotesque reality” stirred up by the Buchanans, and without Gatsby’s “romantic readiness,” America—
Nick, that is—
…is “borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
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March 12
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Pete made a comment in the group GoodReviews: The Official Book Review Contest—Classic Picks: Post THE GREAT GATSBY submissions here topic:
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March 08
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Pete
added:
Goodbye, Columbus: And Five Short Stories (Vintage International)
by Philip Roth
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in February, 2008
Pete said:
"If Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the New York novella about flirting with the city’s upper crust, then Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus is the suburban story for the rest of us.
A coming-of-age story about a summer...more
If Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the New York novella about flirting with the city’s upper crust, then Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus is the suburban story for the rest of us.
A coming-of-age story about a summer romance, it plumbs tensions from class, generational, religious, and educational differences, and it does so in a way that is instinctive and visceral. While not the most self-aware, sensitive, or rational, the story’s characters—Neil Klugman, a twenty-three year-old man from the poor neighborhoods of Newark, and Brenda Patimkin, the privileged and pretty young woman from Short Hills—are caught in the throes of imminent adulthood, and their flailing pulls Roth’s readers further and further into the personal tensions that drive the story.
The result is that Goodbye, Columbus is about as human a novella as I know—human in the character’s confusion about their feelings and human in their often-irrational responses to these feelings.
Do I recommend it? Yes. A complex but natural read.
Would I teach it? Yes, but it would have to be to the right group. The writing is rich with meaning and ripe for discussion, but some of the content (though a remarkably small amount of it) might seem dated or awkward.
Lasting impression: Tightly and creatively constructed, Goodbye, Columbus offers sharp insight into and humor about the vicissitudes of burgeoning adult romance.
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November 12
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Pete
added:
Breakfast at Tiffany's (Paperback)
by Truman Capote
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in November, 2007
Pete said:
"Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a natural partner text for The Great Gatsby; it is full of wealthy, careless people, and at least one character is a country bumpkin transplanted into the bright lights of New York City.
Really, the novell...more
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a natural partner text for The Great Gatsby; it is full of wealthy, careless people, and at least one character is a country bumpkin transplanted into the bright lights of New York City.
Really, the novella is a character sketch. It’s a character sketch the same way One Hour Photo, the film with Robin Williams, is a character sketch. There are slippery little mysteries that unfold in both, but the mysteries are just excuses to talk about the central character—in this case, Holly Golightly.
But it’s a really good character sketch. Holly relates directly and easily to New Yorkers, but also to many others. If there is a dreamer in you, you will applaud her hopefulness. If there is a cynic in you, you will admire her pragmatism. If you are a socialite, you will envy her mobility. If you are a lonely soul, your compassion will reach out for her.
Every detail feels significant in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and second and third reads find that they are. And, at 111 pages, it’s a quick, solid read. If you live in New York, and you consider yourself at all worldly and fashionable, you owe it to yourself to read this. But if you read it once, read it twice—and try to decide if you think it’s comic or tragic.
Do I recommend it? Yes. This is full of dense, meaningful prose. And it’s fun.
Would I teach it? Yes. Capote’s precise language and structure lend themselves well to the classroom.
Lasting impression: The narrator—worthy of discussion himself—gets pushed aside by Holly, but justifiably so. She is an elusive figure, and different people’s thoughts about her will frustrate or perplex you.
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September 30
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Pete
added:
Life of Pi (Paperback)
by Yann Martel
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in September, 2007
Pete said:
"Life of Pi is a wonder.
It is the story of a boy of sixteen who is stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger. It is a tale of survival and man’s interaction with himself and the wild. It is a lesson in zoology and spirituality. And it...more
Life of Pi is a wonder.
It is the story of a boy of sixteen who is stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger. It is a tale of survival and man’s interaction with himself and the wild. It is a lesson in zoology and spirituality. And it is just plain great.
Part fable, part allegory, part memoir, part encyclopedia, and part philosophical text—Life of Pi is all of these things. But most of all, it is a story. And it reads like old-fashioned storytelling—the kind in which a circle of boys and girls sit cross-legged and rapt around an old man who, despite his calm demeanor and soft tones, fiercely commands the room’s attention.
In this case, the story he tells is mysterious and wondrous. It is unlike anything anyone has ever heard. And so the children’s parents linger around the outside of the circle, noting the teller’s words and sensing that something is percolating deep beneath the characters and the action, something that, with a knowing glint and a rare hint, the storyteller suggests but doesn’t let on entirely, some moral or truth, or maybe some insight into the human condition.
This teller is good. He has no use for guile, and so his clarity of thought and his simplicity of narration draw his listeners in. He has come to understand life’s essential elements, and so he unfolds his story plainly and without artifice. His listeners, in their complexity, are helpless against his honesty.
And so, a story—a truly sensational and dramatic story built around an often-bloody struggle for life and death—arrives in a voice that is even, measured, paced, scaled. And this voice opens the doors for everything else that is packed in: the vivid aquatic scenes, the reflections on human need and vice, the range and import of zoological understanding.
Faced with all this, the boys and girls and mothers and fathers learn and wonder, and perhaps some of them become aware that this man is not just a storyteller, but truly also a teacher, and that everything he describes—every quandary, every explanation, every detail, every revelation—everything serves to teach something more than the story of a boy and a tiger…
Do I recommend it? Absolutely. Thoughtful, fun, full of stuff.
Would I teach it? Yes, I think so. There’s a lot to work with in there.
Lasting impressions: Aside from some tremendous plot revelations, two things stand out to me: voice and story. There’s something about the simplicity of the voice that reminds me of The God of Small Things and I wonder if it has to do with Indian culture. And then there’s just the great storytelling.
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September 15
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Pete
added:
The Secret River (Paperback)
by Kate Grenville
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in September, 2007
Pete said:
"The Secret River explores human instinct on a level that is visceral, honest... and depressing.
Or perhaps it is just Western instinct, rather than human instinct--and that is even more depressing.
The novel tracks a family of Brits at...more
The Secret River explores human instinct on a level that is visceral, honest... and depressing.
Or perhaps it is just Western instinct, rather than human instinct--and that is even more depressing.
The novel tracks a family of Brits at the turn of the 19th century as the family is deported to Australia for crimes committed by William Thornhill, husband and father, and as it engages the challenges of the wilderness. At its core, The Secret River is the story of the family's interactions with the aborigines--interactions both peaceful and confrontational--and the conflict between, on one side, the family's desire to establish a settlement of their own and on the other side, the relationship already shared between the aborigines and the land.
The theme that guides this conflict is how different people provide for themselves and for their families, and the novel gradually reveals two central models for doing so. The first is the growing fetish for materialism, isolation, and ownership among most of the British settlers. And the second is the communal, minimalist existence of the Aborigines.
Naturally, the efficient and simple existence of the "blacks"--as they are often called in the novel--reveals the moral turpitude of the settlers. We (of European descent) are embarrassed by the (male) settlers who show little ability to reason, empathize, cooperate, and/or communicate. Most of the British characters are dumb or ineffective; they victimize others and act selfishly and violently. Their actions are formulaic and predictable, right up to the end.
But here's the rub.
At every step there's a sense that their brute actions are inevitable and that the result--if we search our baser instincts, however "morally" repulsive and inhumane the means may be--is desirable. The driving away of the aborigines for the sake of establishing a safe homestead feels like the inexorable march of the West. It feels safe. It feels alpha.
The novel reveals the inherent ugliness of this instinct.
I was frustrated by the idiotic behavior of many characters' actions, and then I felt resigned to the inevitability of the past two centuries of history. "It's a sad, sad tale of Western expansion and waste." And the romance between William and Sal, his wife, unfortunately does little to assuage the ill feelings. It felt cold, rather than heroic.
Yet, there's something real in this book; it taps into a visceral and unspoken impulse, something too ugly and complicated to address casually. That makes The Secret River valuable, even if it is not always pleasurable.
Do I recommend it? Sure. Loosely. It's interesting cultural history.
Would I teach it? Mmm... As a summer reading selection, but not chapter by chapter.
Lasting impression: Transparent, brutal men; clever women; inevitable march of the West; failure of humanity....less
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August 25
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Pete
added:
Ficciones (English Translation)
by Jorge Luis Borges
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in August, 2007
Pete said:
"Reading Ficciones takes time. It is Jorge Luis Borges' most well-known collection of short stories, and it is full of dense, imaginative pieces that are full of lots of stuff, and to get out of them what he has put into them, readers n...more
Reading Ficciones takes time. It is Jorge Luis Borges' most well-known collection of short stories, and it is full of dense, imaginative pieces that are full of lots of stuff, and to get out of them what he has put into them, readers need to commit to reading slowly and carefully.
There are two interrelated elements, I think, that make reading Borges so challenging: the fantastic vision (read: like a fantasy), and the prose.
The Fantasy: Many pieces in Ficciones take place in imaginary lands or impossible buildings. Some are rooted in realities in which humans have total and perfect memory or in which libraries have infinite rooms that contain infinite volumes. The words and names are often unfamiliar. Metaphysical laws change. First and foremost, simply wrapping one's brain around these parameters of reality sometimes requires a mental leap or two.
The Prose: To make these new realities plausible, Borges draws up detailed histories of his characters and settings, and he drops references to these fictitious backstories left and right. He refers to books written or infamous deeds done by characters as if they were part of our common history and knowledge. He expounds on relationships unknown to the reader. He refers to inventions or accomplishments that simply don't exist in our world.
The combined effect of these two factors is to give the impression that the stories know much more than we do. It's like the stories are clouds, and we reach for them, and sometimes we grab wisps that we can feel and examine, but other times we merely pass through them empty-handed, aware that our hands just sifted through a great deal of matter, matter that had something to do with the universe... or dreams...? or parenthood...?
When we succeed, fresh and thoughtful revelations are availed us. We are forced to rethink the nature of time, of the infinite, of nationalism, or more. When we fail, however, we find that we must go back and read and reread, for we're aware that we've gotten something out of the tale, but we're also sure that if we see the story again through a new lens or as a metaphor for something else, some asofyet frustratingly ungraspable greater meaning will open itself up to us.
This makes for good reading, if you're up for it. You'll be confused and disappointed if you're not willing to work through it all, but with a clear head, a quiet room, and a willingness stop and think and reread, you'll be surprised by the range and reward of the stories.
In one story, "The Secret Miracle", I think Borges identifies the existential conundrum presented by his work. The character in the story, a writer himself, ponders his own novel: "Hladik had never asked himself whether this tragicomedy of errors was preposterous or admirable, deliberate or casual. Such a plot, he intuited, was the most appropriate invention to conceal his defects and to manifest his strong points, and it embodied the possibility of redeeming (symbolically) the fundamental meaning of his life."
There's a twist in there. We understand implicitly that Borges' work is deliberate--he tells us as much in "Death and the Compass"; in clever and creative ways, he re-examines our very nature. But at the same time, here Borges sneakily suggests that his tales may simply be casual inventions designed to conceal his own defects.
We know better, of course. But this, I believe, is Borges' wit, and it reads to me a bit like a dare.
Do I recommend it? Yes, to curious and patient puzzlers.
Would I teach it? Yes, for creative writing students, to show use of detail or plot structures.
Lasting impression: I enjoyed Borges' details and metaphysical musing. I will always think, however, that I need to re-read each story a dozen more times to really get it.
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August 20
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Pete
added:
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (Paperback)
by Dava Sobel
bookshelves:
tutoring
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in August, 2007
Pete said:
"I first read Longitude, by Dava Sobel, just after I finished high school, and I devoured it in a sitting or two. It was the first non-fiction book, I think, that I really couldn't put down.
The (true) story is great: legendary historical...more
I first read Longitude, by Dava Sobel, just after I finished high school, and I devoured it in a sitting or two. It was the first non-fiction book, I think, that I really couldn't put down.
The (true) story is great: legendary historical figures like Isaac Newton, Galileo, James Cook, King George III; scientific conundrums; innovative engineering; a ransom of millions at stake; and a humble, lone man competing against oppressive and manipulative big-wigs.
Background: Latitude lines are the parallel lines that circle globe above and below the equator, and any sailor could figure out his latitude by measuring the length of the day or looking at the angle of the sun or the north star. But finding one's longitude, the lines that connected the north and south poles, was much more difficult. Anyone could determine that he was on the tropic of cancer, but determining how far along the tropic of cancer was a different challenge--one that, if solved, would revolutionize navigation and save countless lives.
In 1714, Parliament offered a purse worth 20,000 Pounds (millions today) to anyone who could solve the longitude problem. John Harrison was a quiet, hard-working clockmaker who believed he had found the way.
Re-reading this now, many of the details and events in the story remain as compelling as they were ten years ago. Longitude is a tremendous tale of battling scientists and the perseverance of hard work, brilliance, and humility through political intrigue and greed.
Do I recommend it? Yes, to anyone interested in history, science, engineering, geography, politics, astronomy, navigation, clockmaking...
Would I teach it? Not in an English class, but I'd refer to it as a great example of science writing.
Lasting Impression: This book keeps a wonderful balance between the personal, scientific, and political elements of the story. It's history you can escape into.
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August 19
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Pete
added:
The Thief Lord (Paperback)
by Cornelia Funke
bookshelves:
tutoring
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in August, 2007
Pete said:
"Book of the Year Awards... Really? Is it unsympathetic of me to think that this book is... childish? How reductive should authors of children's lit be?
I've been working with a young student this summer, and The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Fu...more
Book of the Year Awards... Really? Is it unsympathetic of me to think that this book is... childish? How reductive should authors of children's lit be?
I've been working with a young student this summer, and The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke, is a big favorite on the sixth grade circuit. This particular boy had chosen it for summer reading, and so I picked up a copy for myself.
Enh.
Billed as a "fantastical journey" through "the magical underworld of Venice, Italy", The Thief Lord follows a pair of orphaned boys on the run from their condescending aunt. They survive with the help of a small gang of children run by one boy, Scipio, who takes on the titular moniker. Trouble comes their way, though, as the boys' aunt hires a detective to track them down and as the gang discovers a secret that their leader has been hiding.
Ok: Venice, gangs of child thieves, possessive relatives on the prowl... Prime fixin's for a romantic vision; sounds like the makings of a Dickensian tale. But as the story reveals itself--strict, impatient fathers; detectives with fake moustaches; grumpy shopkeepers--the more cliche and the less compelling it becomes.
The Thief Lord doesn't run too deep. It's a fun tale that takes the reader through modern day Venice, and it seems to begin and end there: a fun tale. Well, a fun tale for kids. Everyone acts like children in this novel. Even the grumpy grown-ups. Especially the grumpy grown-ups.
Even as a cultural piece (Venice!), the novel falls short. Aside from a few choice phrases in Italian, Funke doesn't take advantage of the opportunity to educate her readers (young and old) the way she could. The novel bounces from piazza to ponte, but everything--settings, characters, etc..--feels vague and undefined.
Do I recommend this? Not really.
Would I teach this? Nope.
Lasting impression: The world of The Thief Lord didn't glow with it's own hidden knowledge the way Pullman or Rowling's worlds do. Characters move impulsively. "Brilliant" ideas don't seem so brilliant. Plot twists rely too much on coincidence and contrivances. Enh.
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GoodReviews: The Official Book Review Contest
— 215 members
— last activity 8 days ago, 06:25PM
