Anika’s
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(group member since Dec 25, 2011)
Anika’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1,701-1,720 of 2,801
15.6 AbCFinland: J. A. Hollon palkinto
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
+20 Task
Task total: 20
Season total: 835
20.8 PoetryThe Romantic Dogs by Roberto Bolaño
I was reminded it is National Poetry Month here in the U.S. when I went to pick up some holds from the library and saw a display. I decided to read some more new-to-me poets to celebrate.
The first book I grabbed was this one. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a brief "about the author" section, as I'm completely unfamiliar with this poet's background and am curious how it manifests in his art.
The poems reminded me of Day of the Dead parades I've been to: darkness that sets off colorful skeletons, celebrations of grungy drunkenness, unexpected flashes of light revealing true art and beauty making its way down the street to a distinctly Latin beat. The modern and dark (detectives/guns/blood/prostitutes/suicides/poison/bombs) are abutted with the elevated (art/poetry/philosophy/activism/Poe/Satie/Shakespeare/Catullus).
After all of the life and action that is mashed up in the collection, we are reminded that "Our affairs/Are finite (charming, yes, ferocious,/But finite)" and it ends with this epitaph:
"With the Flies"
Poets of Troy
Nothing that could have been yours
Exists anymore
Not temples not gardens
Not poetry
You are free
Admirable poets of Troy
+20 Task (b. 1953)
+10 LiT (translated from Spanish)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.4)
Task total: 45
Season total: 815
20.3 Ella Minnow PeaMarta Oulie by Sigrid Undset
Thanks to Karen Michele, who unknowingly inspired this read.
I'd been trying to decide on a book for this category, but kept coming up with books I've already read and really wanted something different. I've also always wanted to read a book by Sigrid Undset after staying in the room named for her--a room which has since been renamed for a different author :-(--in the Sylvia Beach Hotel about fifteen years ago but Kristin Lavransdatter has always seemed rather intimidating. Then I saw Karen Michele post this book that I'd never heard of by the author who for so long has eluded me, and I knew what I'd be using for 20.3. This short book was a great introduction to her writing!
This book could have been set at any time and in any place...it's about the internal struggles of a woman, struggles I and my friends discuss over coffee or wine, that I've overheard my mother and aunts talk about late at night when everyone else has gone to bed...
This is Marta's journal that we are reading, where she writes about her deepest loves, her darkest sins, her fears and striving, spelling out her motivations behind her questionable actions, and where she spills the pain of her heartbreaking loss. The things that resonated with me most were about her and her husband's marriage--how much she loved him, yet resented being taken for granted and treated as a possession rather than a person; her desire to chase her own passions and interests and her husband's resentment at her being away from the home. Even the actions she takes that I could never imagine making in my own life are entirely understandable and realistic.
This was a quick read, beautifully and thoughtfully written. Five stars.
+20 Task
+10 LiT (translated from Norwegian)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub. 1907)
+10 Combo (10.8, 20.1)
Task total: 60
Season total: 770
Valerie wrote: "Good, I'm glad you all found the info useful!In other news - I was VERY disappointed/angry to learn, last night, that our provincial government has seen fit to cut libraries budget by 50%!!!! Thi..."
I'm sure you are already familiar with this resource, but in the off-chance that you're not: you can download quite a few classic authors/public domain books for free at project gutenberg. Also (at least in the US--I don't know if it'll work in Canada), you can search for most classics on Amazon and find free copies if they're in the public domain.
This is probably information you already have, but just in case thought I'd throw that out there so you don't get too discouraged in your classic author challenge quest!
10.3 ScrabbleMiracle Fair: Selected Poems by Wisława Szymborska
It's so hard to "review" poetry...I can only share my impression.
This collection felt like a wise old woman who has silently observed the birth of the world and all of history up until today sharing her impressions--tinged with the humor that is earned in the learning. She speaks to us of the earth, water, the clouds, the stars. She tells of us insects and animals and creatures of the imaginations. She recites love and hate, war and art, history and immediacy. She puts us in our proper place in the Universe--a place both infinitely small and immense in scope. The title makes one question: is it a fair (i.e.: an exhibition or exposition, like a state fair or science fair) of miracles, with each poem highlighting a different wonder? or is it fair in the sense of beautiful? or true? or so-so? So many meanings of one word and each of them finds a place in the interpretation of these poems.
I'd like to share the one poem that I think perfectly encompasses the everything-ness that the poet is tackling, "A Speech at the Lost and Found":
I lost a few goddesses on my way from the south to north,
as well as many gods on my way from east to west.
Some stars went out on me for good: part for me, O sky.
Island after island collapsed into the sea on me.
I'm not sure exactly where I left my claws,
who wears my fur, who dwells in my shell.
My siblings died out when I crawled onto land
and only a tiny bone in me marks the anniversary.
I leapt out of my skin, squandered vertebrae and legs,
and left my senses many many times.
Long ago I closed my third eye to it all,
waved it off with my fins, shrugged my branches.
Scattered by the four winds to a place that time forgot,
how little there remains of me surprises me a lot,
a singular being of human kind for now,
who lost her umbrella in a tram somehow.
+10 Task ("Miracle"=7 letters)
+10 LiT (translated from Polish)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8, 20.8)
Task total: 40
Season total: 705
Valerie wrote: "In case you don't know (which is usually my state!) amazon is having a free book give away to celebrate World Book Day. https://www.amazon.com/article/read-t......"
Thank you so much for sharing this! I already had one of the featured selections downloaded/read, but was able to add the rest and look forward to reading them :-)
10.2 DecadeThe August Sleepwalker by Bei Dao
This is the third and last book of poetry that I stumbled upon when the one I was searching for was not to be found.
The first (written by a Polish woman) was like a babushka bearing a heavy load noticing the antics of a dog, equating them to the foolishness of men, chuckling to herself, then moving on.
The second (written by a Pakistani man) was a man held in a cell, yearning for his love and his revolution, a fire burning in his heart and eyes.
This (written by a Chinese man) was a ghost crying out from the dust, a desire for a better world--but a hope darkened by the fear of history's shadow.
It is haunted with the imagery of shadows, ghosts, coffins, skeletons, and birds in cages. It is at times claustrophobic, but it is fierce.
Bei Dao was born months before Mao rose to power. He was a revolutionary student during the Cultural Revolution in the late '60s, but lost faith in the revolution. At that time, he began writing poetry --a poetry seen as so threatening (his poems were read and chanted at the student uprising at Tienanmen Square) that it got him expelled from the country he loved and from which he has been exiled since 1989.
One of the most powerful in the collection is "Declaration"--one of the poems that appeared on student banners at Tienanmen Square:
Perhaps the final hour is come
I have left no testament
Only a pen, for my mother
I am no hero
In an age without heroes
I just want to be a man
The still horizon
Divides the ranks of the living and the dead
I can only choose the sky
I will not kneel on the ground
Allowing the executioners to look tall
The better to obstruct the wind of freedom
From star-like bullet holes shall flow
A blood-red dawn
* * * * *
This collection was beautifully translated and it was strong--but it was definitely heavy. I started it nearly a month ago, but could only read a few pages at a time.
+10 Task (pub. 1988)
+10 LiT (translated from Chinese)
+5 Oldies
+10 Combo (10.8, 20.8--b. 1949)
+10 Review
Task total: 45
Season total: 665
20.6 Ellen FosterJane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
"Reader, I married him."
Ah, it gets me every time! This is one of my favorite books ever and have been meaning to revisit it for a while. This challenge was the perfect impetus. Besides, having just noticed the other times I've read it were also in April, it appears this is my "Jane" month.
This is the high bar set for love stories and I can't think of one that passes it...Pride and Prejudice comes close--but they don't have to overcome near what Jane and Rochester do...and they're pretty people on top of it--that makes it far too easy. Jane is plain--it's pointed out over and over again--and Rochester is called "ugly" several times...it's not the stuff of fairy tales, that's for certain. They're the most believably *human* fictional characters I can think of. And their love! It sees through the plainness, through the challenges, it calls through the night and is answered, and, reader, it is enduring: "...our honeymoon will shine our life long: its beams will only fade over your grave or mine."
On re-reading, I'm reminded again how very much I dislike St. John--how someone who is supposed to be a beacon of Christ's love yet is utterly devoid of any interpersonal warmth or kindness is beyond me.
+20 Task
+15 Oldies (1847)
+5 Jumbo (MPE 507 pgs)
+10 Combo (20.1, 20.7)
+10 Review
Task total: 60
Season total: 620
I'm planning to read Tevye the Dairyman by Shalom Aleichem for this task. The MPE is a volume that also contains The Railroad Stories which is not contained in the book I'll be getting from the library--and which would also disqualify it for 10.1 ("stories" would make it fit 10.3). Will I still be able to use this book for 10.1? If so, which edition should I reference in my post? Thank you!UGH! Just realized after I posted this: Duh. Of course this is going to fit for sisters! So I'll just stick to my question about which edition I should reference in my post ;-)
10.8 MegafinishMatchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson
I've had this on my Kindle Unlimited shelf for nearly a year now and the time has come to clean that shelf off! This was a fun rom/com with a sprinkle of pixie dust on top. Blix is a witchy woman who lives in a Brooklyn brownstone held together by love and a little bit of magic (the "witchy" part being an accurate description...she even has a book of spells). She has a lover of twenty years, a ragtag chosen family that she has ushered into her home, and a cancerous tumor she has named Cassandra. She also has a wretched family in Virginia. Her great-nephew is about to be married, so she heads back to the family home to meet his fiancee and (unbeknownst to the family, since she wants no one to know) say her final goodbyes as Cassandra is unrelenting in her advancement. Marnie is the fiancee to whom Blix feels an immediate connection. I don't want to give anything away (or for this review to end up being ridiculously long), so that's all the teaser you get. ;-)
This reminded me of a strange mix of Practical Magic, The Last Lecture, and Emma, with a strong dose of anything-by-Sarah Addison Allen.
It was inspiring (I want to be Blix), frustrating (Marnie was such a doormat and just plain dumb sometimes...she made me want to scream), unexpected, and I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it--at 6 a.m. :-/ I adored how it describes so many different faces of "love". I loved the sections set in Brooklyn--such a strong sense of place, I felt like I was right there and never wanted to leave the neighborhood. I hope I remember Blix's mantra for a long time to come: "Whatever happens, love that." It makes accepting life as it comes in all of its ugliness and misery and beauty and glory so much easier...
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 20
Season total: 540
20.5 Myra BreckenridgeThe Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
I heard this author speak while at the Tucson Festival of Books in March. It just so happened, that was precisely when the group read selections were announced and I saw that Kate had chosen it. From there, it was a done deal that I'd be reading this book.
I'd seen its cover pop up as a recommendation on my library page, but the cover just seemed--blah. Another reminder to NEVER judge a book by its cover! This is one of the best books I've read in an age! Makkai's prose is stunning, her treatment of her characters is gentle and kind (even as they're dying, even when they do stupid things, even in their imperfections), her pacing of the action is flawless.
I love that even though the men in this novel are fictional, they give voice and humanity to those who died in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, since the men who actually suffered and died were denied those things in life.
I can't talk about this book without crying. It was so powerful and beautiful and unexpected and I can't recommend it enough.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8; 10.10)
Task total: 40
Season total: 520
20.2 RebeccaRebecca by Daphne du Maurier
How have I gone this long without reading this one?! I blame my mother. She loved the book and tried to get me to read it when I was a teenager...an obstinate, pigheaded lout who wanted to find her own favorites and didn't want anything at all in common with Mom.
Well, once again, Mom was right.
This book was fantastic! At times it reminded me of Jane Eyre (view spoiler), other times--especially the mood, the feeling of making one's way through a fog-filled moor--it was reminiscent of The Woman in White or The Moonstone. I love that, in 1938, du Maurier wrote a book that is right at home next to those classics.
Now excuse me while I go apologize to my mom. :-/
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies
+15 Combo (10.3; 20.1; 20.7)
Task total: 55
Season total: 480
10.4 AnimalMonologue of a Dog by Wisława Szymborska
This is another of the books I discovered when I could not find Neruda. In reading all of the forwards (which I felt necessary for these, as I was wholly unfamiliar with the poets), I was struck by how each was effected by war, revolt, and struggle. It has been interesting to see how this theme plays out so differently in each volume/voice.
Wislawa Szymborska won the Nobel Prize in Literature...at the age of seventy-three. Go, Wislawa! It's even more notable since, at the time of her winning of the award, her poetry was extremely difficult to find outside her native Poland. I'm so glad she came to be noticed on the global stage, that her poems were eventually translated and distributed abroad, and that they ended up on the shelves of my library where I could stumble upon them. I don't quite know how to put my finger on what it is that I like so much about the images she creates with the words she chooses, but I love it. I wanted to include my favorite, but it's on the long side so I'll just include a link to it: http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets...
+10 Task (dog)
+10 LiT (translated from Polish)
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8--"Monologue"; 20.8--b. 1923)
Task total: 40
Season total: 425
20.8 PoetryThe Rebel's Silhouette: Selected Poems by Faiz Ahmad Faiz
I was at the library, looking for a specific volume of poetry that I wanted for this task (a collection of Neruda's) but it wasn't on the shelves. Instead, I went home with three volumes of poetry by authors I'd never heard of. This is one of them.
Faiz Ahmed Faiz was born in a part of British India which later became Pakistan. He was politically active, jailed and given a death sentence before finally being released four years later. This selection of poems clearly reflects his spirit of revolution.
He establishes a sense of place with his repeated images of the (stereotype of the) East: temples in ruin, goddesses in tinkling anklets, jasmine and cypress, ancient winds, calligraphed banners. The reader is immersed in sensual sumptuousness, almost lulled into a meditative state. Then comes the blood and ash and dust, the resistance and captivity. There is a constant sense of being on the verge of horror, and one poem in particular distills this feeling to its essence:
"When someone quickens his step, you think
at any moment he'll be ordered to halt.
When someone raises his arm, you wait
to hear the sudden chains of a handcuff...
Each young man walks like a criminal,
as if the scaffold's shadow were on his neck.
Every beautiful woman's bracelets mark her a slave."
(from The City from Here)
There's not a lot of hope in this volume--a lot of blood spilled, ash and dust blowing throughout--but there is power. The desire for revolution is the constant pulse that bleeds through these poems.
+20 Task (b. 1911)
+10 LiT (translated from Urdu)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1991)
Task total: 45
Season total: 385
15.4 AbCAustria--Austrian State Prize for European Literature
The Only Story by Julian Barnes
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 340
10.7 Olive KitteridgeSigns Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
The first chapter had me feeling unbalanced: I wasn't sure if the action was real or a dream/fantasy. The language was atypical which added to that sense of being unsure of quite what is going on--works perfectly in this novella, a story about leaving behind the comfortable and familiar to venture into the unknown. The author uses language, symbols, and the convoluted quest of the main character to put the reader in the shoes of an immigrant--a far more effective device than mere description could ever accomplish. This book reminded me of Dante's Divine Comedy and the movie Maria, Full of Grace and a little bit of Aesop in there for good measure. It was concise, spare, poetic and I'll be thinking about this one for a good while to come.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 LiT
+5 Combo (10.8)
Task total: 35
Season total: 325
Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Anika wrote: "10.9 SistersThe Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand
Too bad I wasn't on a beach for this one, cuz it's a perfect beach-read: two identical sisters, split ..."
@ Annika, give the author another try. I have read a few books by this author.
I felt awful writing a “bad” review for a book chosen as a “group read” by a fellow RwS member :-/ I will definitely give the author another shot.
10.9 SistersThe Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand
Too bad I wasn't on a beach for this one, cuz it's a perfect beach-read: two identical sisters, split apart when they were 17 and their parents divorced, switching places as adults. It's only believable when you've got your toes in some sand and a (very strong) drink in your hand. I didn't feel sympathetically toward any of the characters, even quite disliked many of them. Their internal dialogue, motivations, and conversation were not realistic, even bordering on absurd. Perhaps I'd have liked it more had I not listened to it, but actually hearing a person SAY some of the things that these characters were thinking highlighted their absurdity--a sixteen-year-old girl not knowing what rock-paper-scissors is?! You've got to be kidding me. That being said: I did love the sense of place(s) and the small-town feel of the islands. Based on what I read of other reviews on goodreads, I might give another Hilderbrand a try...but only if I've got a beach and a bottle of wine ;-)
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8, 10.10)
Task total: 30
Season total: 290
10.5 Civil WarThe Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson
I picked this one up because I'd seen it compared to Station Eleven which I LOVED. I felt that this was only similar in that it was about a small group of people living through the aftermath of the apocalypse (fires/disease/war having killed off most of humanity) and that small group eventually coming into contact with other humans. It also jumped back and forth in time, slowly dropping pebbles of information about how the "before" caused the "now." The prose wasn't nearly as strong and I didn't feel at all hopeful by the end, as I did with Station Eleven. I wish I hadn't seen the comparison between the two, because I might not have been constantly judging this book by that standard--I might have enjoyed it more.
This one didn't rely on the writing so much as the action--it was entirely plot-driven, which isn't always a bad thing (unless, of course, it's being judged against a book that has a fantastic plot with writing to match). It was an interesting story, but the end wrapped up a little too perfectly for my taste. 3 stars for me.
+10 Task (CSA General Albert Sydney Johnson)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.4)
Task total: 25
Season total: 260
