http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/101193 en-US Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:09:01 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 32060659 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:09:01 -0700 Review27828472 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27828472 Cunt: A Declaration of Independence (Paperback) by Inga Muscio
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 32060548 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:08:26 -0700 Review27828390 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27828390 to: Way of the Peaceful Warrior (Paperback) by Dan Millman
The thing about these kinds of books, where the "answer" to all of one's problems/life's mysteries is couched in some sort of not-very-well written narrative plot that has as many unbelievable moments as it does trite turns of phrase, is that they are only unsatisfying on so many levels. Not only do I not leave the book feeling any more enlightened as to the state of all things; I also didn't get to read a good story (which is what I was looking for in the first place). And here's what I've got to say to you, life: where's my teacher? Why isn't some one coming to me in MY dreams and then showing up in MY life devoting all their time and energy to helping me be more happy and physically fit? Do I just not warrant that kind of attention from the universe?

That's how this book made me feel. ]]> 30353712 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:04:14 -0700 Review26504810 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26504810 Joan of Arc (Paperback) by Mark Twain
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 29456851 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:59:06 -0700 Review25800079 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25800079 Letters from the Hive: An Intimate History of Bees, Honey, and Humankind (Hardcover) by Stephen Buchmann
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 27767174 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:36:49 -0700 Review24463772 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24463772 to: The Secret Life of Bees (Hardcover) by Sue Monk Kidd
i learned more about mamas than i did about bees from this book. still, it filled a hole... ]]> 23488706 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:57:25 -0700 Review21146047 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21146047 to: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Hardcover) by Haruki Murakami
i read through this book far too quickly. but i still want to fall into this man's hands and have him write my life. i worry, with this kind of book, that people will dismiss so much as metaphor. i don't think that people realize, with every story told, there is a new reality created. these things are stories but they're also the lives of real people, somewhere, somewhere else. this is the fatal flaw of all literary studies. it is so presumptive to study somebody else's LIFE, even if you think that life is only fictitious, because that's the form in which it has been presented to you. these limited kaleidoscopes through which we perceive all things, and text is just another one. another limited tool through which to perceive reality. and i worry about people who forget this. i worry about people who need to define the real so definitely. ]]> 23488958 Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:57:44 -0700 Review21146174 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21146174 to: Bone: One Volume Edition (Paperback) by Jeff Smith
]]> 23083046 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:30:27 -0700 Review20839839 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20839839 to: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Hardcover) by Kate DiCamillo
]]> 22602940 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:56:28 -0700 Review20488115 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20488115 to: Prayer of the Dragon (Hardcover) by Eliot Pattison
Characteristically (of EP's books, not my reading), I found it hard to pay attention to the characters and the plot of this novel. I wish so much that the author would include some diagrams or pictures. I can't quite make out all the beauty it seems he can see so clearly in his head.
Also, if this is the last book he writes about these characters, it will make me sad. ]]> 22323865 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:04:34 -0700 Review20275705 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20275705 to: Beautiful Ghosts (Paperback) by Eliot Pattison
So, I remember reading Elliot Pattison's books in the past, and being totally overwhelmed by the complexity of the characters and the plot, and the foreignness of all the names. Reading this book, I found myself pleasantly surprised with my ability to follow what was going on and keep up with it all. I was about three quarters of the way through the book when I realized, oh yes, I have indeed read this book before. The fact that it took me that long to realize it definitely says something about how much I missed the first time I read it.

That all said, I don't know how much I trust this fictional account as a true representation of what has gone down in the Tibet in recent history. Some of it is probably completely true and spot on, and other parts done for narrative effect. But THAT said, reading a story of such a spiritual land, and knowing that something that even approximates such a place exists somewhere in this world, fills me with a deepness and clarity of sight that I feel I lack too often in my daily life. ]]>