Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the category “reviews”

02 Jan 2013
3 Comments

Pass the Marple Syrup


Cover of "A Murder Is Announced (Winterbr...

Cover via Amazon

Although I do enjoy a mystery now and then I must ,with some embarrassment, confess I hadn’t read an Agatha Christie until most recently. Shocking, I know.  After all, Dame Christie is the Queen of Mystery.  That reason why I hadn’t read any of her books was my contentment to experience the film adaptations.

That is until I watched A Murder Is Announced.  

This particular series stars Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple, and while I have no real complaint with her portrayal, I do have concerns over other liberties. For one, Miss Marple is well-known for her ditzy little old lady approach to solving crimes, which makes the juxtaposition all the more interesting, for who would think this sweet spinster who continually knits has a mind sharp enough to see past the obvious and solve what the detectives can’t?

Exactly.

When something is seasoned right, don’t add more spice.  Or in this case, let’s pass on making the Miss Marple sweeter for modern audiences.  For instance, Miss Marple is classified primarily as a cozy mystery, meaning the murders are more mystery than gory. Also, Miss Marple plots tend to be conservative, not straying too far in social issues. Then there is the main personality of  Miss Marple who is known for her prudent, if not prudish manner and values.   With all that said, it is perplexing why the McEwan series takes viewers on such a darker path than Christie ever did.  This series includes topics not overtly addressed in the books: incest, homosexuality, racism, feminism, religion.  The addition of these spicier elements does not improve the plot, and actually detracts from it.  There is also the suggestion Miss Marple had an affair with a married man in her younger days. All these extras did not entice me to continue with the series; it actually quelled my interest in continuing.  It’s as if the producers felt a good solid mystery wouldn’t be enough for modern audiences.

 

At this point you might be wondering how I know about what Christie had or didn’t have in her books if I hadn’t read them.  Easy–I consulted an expert.  ET, my local librarian and mystery aficionado, assured me Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series did not focus on those previously mentioned topics, and she’s read them twice.  After watching A Murder Is Announced I read it for myself. Already knowing the identity of the murderer rather spoiled the read, but I was actually reading for comparison.   They should have stuck to the original plot.

While I might read more of Agatha Christie I will have to be careful not to read those which I’ve watched.  Nothing spoils a good whodunnit more than knowing whodiddit. Then there is the fact I very much prefer Hercules Poirot, especially David Suchet’s studied performance of the Belgium detective. The little grey cells find his plots decidedly delicious and there are extra sweeteners in Suchet’s series.

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

 

Posted in Books, Movies, reviews and tagged , , , , ,
08 Dec 2012
4 Comments

Jane Eyrror


Disclaimer: my commentary (not to be confused with a diatribe) is by in no means a diss upon those authors who have achieved success in their ability to appease the hunger of a ready populace for further forays of their favorite literary characters. I applaud publication success, even though I may not applaud the content.

The Janes of my reading life have left me wanting.  Wanting more that is.  Having read through Jane Austen and desiring more of Jane Eyre, I have continued to found solace in the many continuations that are currently available.

As we all know, there truly is no satisfying replacement for the original.  However, when you crave a Godiva and only Hershey, sometimes you are willing to settle for less when the best is no longer available.  In my Search for More Jane (not a book title, but wouldn’t it be a fun one?) I have scoured my GoodReads lists to find plausible reads.  I attempted several titles and grew weary in my searches for a true Elizabeth and company.  Only JA knew Elizabeth best. Besieged by the plethora of Pride and Prejudice knock-offs, I have turned to other novels of classic inspiration.  Jane Eyre is one such hopeful.

I dutifully read Wide Saragossa Sea since it ranked a place on the AP Suggested Reading List. Touted as the prequel to Jane Eyre and hailed as a classic, I braved through the novel ever hopeful it would answer those nagging questions of how Edward Rochester became smitten and taken in by Bertha.  The novel turned out to be more of a stand alone than a companion read.

I then chanced upon Death of a Schoolgirl  by Joanna Campbell Slan at my local library on the new releases shelf.  Seeing it featured Jane Eyre in her married state of Mrs. Rochester I quickly plunked it into by book bag.  Overall, I enjoyed this as a weekend read with its premise that Jane’s curiosity and tenacity makes her a rival to Miss Marple in sleuthing skills. A fun read, granted, it offered only a shadow in terms of the depth of Jane.

image: amazon.com

 

I then remembered reading a book review about a contemporary version of Jane Eyre.  Setting the intrepid ET upon the search, she found Jane by April Linder. I too checked it out.  Here is the catalog summary:

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, a world-famous rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance.

Book Jacket for: Jane

image: amazon.com

I read it anyway.

No, Jane had not been what I had originally been looking for, and fortunately I found the lost review buried under my get-to-it-someday stack.  The Flight of Gemma Hardy, proved a much better replacement crave read and definitely proved the glowing review it received.

image: amazon.com

Set in Iceland and Scotland in the fifties and sixties, Gemma Hardy’s life parallels that of Jane Eyre’s in travail and hardships.  Gemma is a young woman who becomes an au pair for the precocious niece of a Mr.Sinclair, who infrequently visits his Scottish home.  Gemma’s journey and subsequent flight adequately pays tribute to that of Jane Eyre’s, yet manages to be a distinctive and well-written plot twist of its own merit.  I reluctantly finished Livesey tribute novel, quite satisfied with having found a glimpse of Jane through Gemma.  I am looking forward to discovering her other works.

Sometimes the best way to find a continuation of a familiar voice is to discover a new acquaintance.

Conclusion: There is real no “eyrror” in finding replacement reads for Jane; it’s only a matter of discernment.

Related articles

 

Posted in Books, Literature, Reading, reviews, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , ,
11 Nov 2012
1 Comment

Life Imitating Art Imitating Life


Cover of "The Last Action Hero"

Cover of The Last Action Hero

Yesterday I thought I would be enjoying my extra day off, the perk for having worked two twelve hour days.  Instead , I was doing the porcelain hug–yup, the flu bug caught up to me and bit me rather nastily. Lipton soup, napping, and the wonderful ministrations of my MEPA (most excellent personal assistant) righted me from prone to errands.  I had to get my Saturday library run in–plus I expanded my horizons with a chocolate taste-testing lesson from ET, my librarian compatriot.

With a bag of AP Cyrano journals to grade I needed a movie to keep me company–my MEPA had a previous engagement with the roof. It’s an oldie but goodie: Last Action Hero. I checked it out again (third time watching it) because Ahnold plays Hamlet.  “Hey Claudius, you killed my fadder.  Big mistake.” I’m readying for Hamlet in AP and thought it would be appropriate to show how far Shakespeare’s influence reaches.

One reason I like LAH so much is the irony, paradox, parodies, and outright clichés. Here it is in a nutshell if you haven’t seen the movie: Arnold  is playing Jack Slater who is Arnold playing Jack Slater, who is the  quintessential action hero.  There are a bazillion inside jokes and cameos. Maybe this movie gave me the idea for my NaNo novel. Who could resist writing a novel about a girl writing a novel during National Novel Writing Month?  I couldn’t.

If you are writing your NaNo, hang tough, because this is the week people start to find the going tough and drop out of the word count race.  You can do it.  You can do it. You can do it.  Yes, you can.

See you on the other side of 50,000.  It’s one word at a time making each sentence reach into paragraphs into pages.

And with that,
Happy Pages
CM

 

Posted in creativity, Movies, reviews, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
29 Oct 2012
1 Comment

A Novel Approach to Amish Fiction


Birth of Mennonite movement

Birth of Mennonite movement (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At one time I had a fascination with the Amish, having both a curiosity and a respect for their way of life.  I read both fiction and non-fiction on them, and even though my interest is not as keen, it’s still there. There has come a certain realization I am not alone with this interest as I am noticing a plethora of Amish fiction titles  appearing  in bookstores, and as choices for my review selections.  Why the sudden interest in the Amish?  Probably, like me, there is a fascination, a curiosity, and it’s hoped, a respect for their gentle way of life.

Most of these Amish titles are of the romance variety and I quickly pass on them; however, I recently came across an author whom I had been searching for, W. Dale Cramer, while trying to locate a previous read title, and found Cramer’s, Levi’s Will. Having been impressed with his previous title, Summer of Light, I grabbed this newly discovered title  and checked it out for my weekend read.

Summer of Light by Author Dale Cramer

image: www.dalecramer.com

The cover said it had been selected by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2004, and that intrigued me even more beyond the inside cover which indicated the plot revolved around a son seeking his father’s forgiveness, a shunned son of an Amish farmer.  I decided to revisit my interest in the Amish.

One of the more interesting aspects of this novel is Cramer’s profound inside knowledge of the Amish. The details didn’t smack of Internet researching. The mannerisms, the everyday expectations, even the conversations bespoke of intimate knowledge that comes from living the life.  The acknowledgements indicate the events are loosely based on family events, which of course prompted me to go to Cramer’s site and investigate. It turns out his father was raised Old Order Amish, and his mother was raised as a daughter of a Georgia sharecropper.  There definitely is a story with that family history. The story revolves around Will, who runs away from responsibilities foisted on him that he is not ready to take on.  As the story progresses he attempts to find a compromise between his Amish upbringing and the modern world.  Although he could have fallen on declaring himself a conscientious objector in order to avoid WWII, he philosophically explains his reasoning for joining up with the Army to his younger brother: 

“How is it right to seek out the protection of men with guns and yet refuse to take part in that protection? Is there not a debt?  Is it not hypocrisy?”

The rest of the plot addresses Will’s struggle to live among the “English” as he valiantly struggles to receive the forgiveness of his father.

I found the plot intriguing, well-written, and timeless.  The story of the prodigal son dates back to biblical times, which makes this story all the more relevant: there is an innate need for the love and favor of our parents, particularly the blessing of our father for our chosen life decisions.

The novel opens up with a poem by William Carlos Williams:

What power has love but forgiveness?
In other words
by its intervention
what has been done
can be undone.
What good is it otherwise?

The theme of forgiveness mixed in with the cultural journeying of Will Mullet made this a read that ended too soon.  This was an unusual Amish read, and for those who are looking beyond the “bonneted” Amish love stories, I suggest picking this one up.  It’s also a suggested read for those who are seeking to bridge the gap in a parental or family relationship.

Then again, pick up the book since W. Dale Cramer is a writer who spins a great story.Levi's Will

Related articles
Posted in America, Books, Family, Reading, reviews and tagged , ,
27 Oct 2012

Battleship and Black and Blue Reviews


Sometimes after a long week of teaching direct objects, nuances of symbolism, and grading ceaseless stacks of papers I need to unwind.  Discovering chocolate is a downfall to dieting, and being a longtime teetotaler,  I have succumbed to the ACTION movie for unwinding on Friday night.  We have a local grocery store that offers new releases for only a buck on the weekends.  Who can resist?

I am prone to choosing action movies with disasters or aliens, and I can’t resist the Navy.  So it was natural I selected Battleship. Expecting major cheese for ninety minutes I found myself rooting and hooting for the entire movie.  Being a movie trivia addict, I Googled up IMDb.  Glancing through the reviews I couldn’t help but wince at the meanness of many of the comments.

This brings me to the subject of Black and Blue Reviews.

These are reviews that involve slicing and dicing of the given subject, be it a book, a movie, restaurant or product.  Having been a reviewer for various journals over the past twelve years I have developed a philosophy: it is much easier to depreciate than it is to create.  We all know how much easier it is to diss and dismiss than it is to praise and raise. And being a published writer I tend to stem the critical ink flow when it comes to someone else’s creative effort because I know the stings of criticism do sting. As Thumper once said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Or least compromise and try to say two things for every bad.

Back to Battleship. Of course it wasn’t going for Academy Award status; it’s intent is action and it delivered.  How could you not like a movie that:

  • features Liam Neeson as a Navy admiral?
  • is filmed in Hawaii?
  • has aliens who wear helmet sunglasses and sport wicked porcupine goatees?
  • debuts Rihanna as a  sailor who holds her own with the big boys?
  • stars Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Skarsgård?
  • also has Japanese legendary actor Tadanobu Asano?
  • laughs at itself with borrowed kitsch from Jurassic Park and Transformers?

Instead I found most reviews were negative.  Here’s some samplings:

Of course, in the old B-movie tradition, our response to the alien visit is immediately military. There’s not one word of discussion about the aliens possibly just making a social call. We invite them, they come and we open fire. This despite the fact that they’re remarkably humanoid; when we finally remove the helmet from one alien’s spacesuit, he turns out to look alarmingly like James Carville. Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times

Alien invasion movies usually work based on three things: strong characters, cool aliens and a good idea. “Battleship” has boring characters, boring aliens and a couple of minor ideas stupid enough to elicit a temporary smile. Jeffrey Anderson, San Francisco Examiner

Those represent the pro-view.  Here are a couple of IMDb user review comments:

A simple way to describe Battleship, is that it’s basically a $200 million naval recruitment video that was made by a schizophrenic 8 year old who likes video games and things going Ka-Boom.

Turning a board game into a big-budget summer blockbuster was always going to be a stretch. But Hasbro the company behind the cinematic juggernaut Transformers series thought they had locked on to a winning formula for their adaptation of their best-selling board-game Battleship…namely ditch Michael Bay for the supremely talented Peter Berg, add aliens and throw shed-loads of money at the screen. And it almost works…

Ouch. What were this people expecting from a summer movie?  Hamlet on Mars? Sheesh…

These people totally missed how the film did something totally remarkable by:

  • having Japanese and American military forces  collaborate at Pearl Harbor, no less
  • featuring real life vets of the USS Missouri, some who had even served in WWII
  • showcasing real life active duty Army Colonel Gregory Gadson., who is the first bilateral amputee to serve as a Garrison Commander to any post in the United States Army. This man is a war hero.
  • honoring the military, particularly those from our past.

Sadly, I didn’t see anyone impressed with these positive attributes.  They were too busy complaining about how a movie could be made based off of a toy.  Oh yeah, it’s much better to make movies inspired off of a Disney ride.  Then it’ll be taken more seriously.

Don’t let the black and blue review sink your enjoyment of Battleship.  Besides, the chicken burrito scene is worth the watching all in itself.

image: guardian.co.uk

Posted in Americans, Movies, reviews, technology, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
24 Oct 2012
5 Comments

Just Another Gothic Girl


English: Gothic girl.

English: Gothic girl. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT THE GOTHIC TO WHICH I REFER

I have admittedly strayed from my AP book list and I am in the midst of coasting in my reading tastes: the gothic romance novel. oh yeah.

I’m not talking your acceptable-found-on-the-list novel like Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre. Nope, I’m talking about the forgotten books by a forgotten author that needs rediscovering.  Maybe I will start a resurgence of Dorothy Eden readers. You  never know.

Intrigued by what constitutes a gothic romance novel I Googled to find a most excellent site called Virtual Salt, which is written by Robert Harris, former professor and general busy guy.  He’s got an exciting menu of topic choices on his website and it is a recommended stop by.  I chose “Element of the Gothic Novel” and will definitely be borrowing from and referring to his article once I get to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre in AP Lit.

Currently I’m cheat reading and have discovered amidst the buried “E”s when I was last shelf shopping,  Dorothy Eden, who had once upon a time a long writing career spanning from the 1940s into the 1980, being known primarily for writing these smashing gothic romances with heroines exhibiting contemporary tendencies.  I’m deep into my second one and these are exactly what I need,  having come off of a grading campaign of freshmen poetry notebooks.

Here is Gothic Romance Elements 101 in a Nutshell.  For in-depth article investigation I encourage you to investigate Robert Harris’s site.

A Gothic Romance needs to have the following:
1.  a castle
2. inexplicable events
3. suspense
4. a damsel in distress
5. overwrought emotions
6. metonymy of gloom and horror *

*refresher for metonymy: it’s a type of metaphor.  For instance, in movies to get some immediate gloom and horror tone going the script will throw in some approaching footsteps and of course you gotta have the sudden torrential downpoour complete with thunder and lightning.

Here’s what Dorothy Eden fare I’ve dined upon so far–the title alone, let alone the cover art, indicate a GR is within the grasp.

The Shadow WifeI couldn’t improve on Amazon:

There was something about the tall, dynamic Dane that disturbed Luise Amberley. But he was so attentive, so charming, that she silenced the small warning voice within her and yielded to his passionate persuasions. The wedding ceremony was hasty, almost furtive, but Luise was too wildly infatuated to care. Even his insistence that their marriage be kept a secret did not seem unreasonable. Otto Winther was, after all, a Count…a man whose ancestors were royalty in Denmark. Not until they left the small seaside resort where they had met and arrived at Maaneborg Castle did Luise become aware that something was wrong. It was not merely the coolmess of the welcome. There was an atmosphere of desperation and danger. They were hiding something. And Luise was determined to find out their secret, no matter what the risk. She did not want to remain a SHADOW WIFE.
It’s actually much better than the description. Considering the publishing date was 1967 I found myself surprised that the following being mentioned: a)computers b)open love affairs within a marriage c)abortion.  Plus Luise is no fainting Melba.  She does not easily whimper off or get locked up in a dungeon.  She reminds me a lot of Jane Eyre, one of my all time fave heroines.
I’m in the middle of Winterwood and once again I will let Amazon do the honors.
 WinterwoodSee the castle?  See the damsel in distress?  Gloom and suspense?  And you know that inexplicable event is about to happen.
Enough of the blogging.  I must return to my saga of the socialite forced by circumstance to become governess to the wealthy family consisting of handsome husband, aloof wife with a myriad of light illnesses, and two spoiled children.  I did mention the dying, extremely rich aunt, did I not?
Related articles
Posted in Books, Reading, reviews, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
14 Oct 2012
9 Comments

oh, yes–please read me a story…


Over the past couple of years I’ve been fortunate to journey with some of the more elite and talented thespians of this age.  The likes of Jeremy Irons, Cherry Jones, Jessica Tandy, and Sissy Spacek have kept me company on my long travels and daily commute.  They have challenged me, enlightened me, and entertained me.  And I showed my appreciation by never interrupting them as they spoke.

“Read me a story.” These words are among the first requests we have as a child once we figure out language.  Somewhere between infancy and childhood the request to be read to drops to the wayside–maybe it’s seen as being rather babyish, since, after all we have learned to read books on our own. Yet, I never tire of having a book read to me.  I especially have learned that while I need to read, I’m not very good at juggling the reading of more than one book unless one of them is an audio book.  I am hooked on audio books.

Audiobook Collection

Audiobook Collection (Photo credit: C.O.D. Library)

I’ve been listening to audio books since they became available on cassettes all those years ago.  Sometimes the dratted tapes would fuss up and I’d lose part of the story. Aggravating. Then came CDs, (much better thank you–although occasional scratching causes blips and hiccups–so annoying).  Now there are websites, Ipods, and Playaways, where all that is needed are a set of headphones.

There is nothing like having a good story read out loud on a long, solitary car trip.  As I prepare for my trip I gleefully check out several audio books from my lovely neighborhood library and perch them on my passenger seat as my companions.  Most books play any from seven to fourteen hours. Great for those long hauls.  I’ve been known to stay in my car to listen to the last of the story even after arriving at my destination.

The downside to audio books is due to their very nature of interactive reading–once started as an audio book, it’s difficult to finish it by traditional eye-to-page.  I made that mistake with The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Coming home I was about halfway through listening to the book and decided to finish reading it via my checked out library book. What better way to spend the remaining sunny summer afternoon?  However, as emotionally involved as I got with the story, due to the excellent voice of Cherry Jones, I couldn’t sufficiently feel the proper grief when * SPOILER ALERT* I read of Singer’s demise. It didn’t register at all.

Lately, I’ve taken to listening to audio books on my short commute to work.  It helps get more reading done, since I get tired of listening to music.  Except I have run into a bothersome problem. My last audio book still resonates with me and I am having a difficult time moving on to checking out my next selection.  How can I possibly find a better reading than what Jeremy Irons did in The Alchemist?  I may have to go back to listening to music for a while. I even tried to recapture the glorious reading by checking out both library copies which are wonderfully  illustrated.  Nope,  wasn’t the same thing as listening to Jeremy’s sonorous tones.  I may even be spoiled for the movie they keep saying will eventually be made.

What is your favorite audio book?  Is it just me, or is there really something about having someone read you a story?

Related articles
Posted in Blogging, Libraries, Literature, Reading, reviews, technology, Uncategorized and tagged , , ,
25 Sep 2012
4 Comments

When Chick Lit Goes Bad: BB Week #2 entry


Cover of "The Awakening: And Other Storie...

Cover via Amazon

While Lady Chatterly’s Lover made the Banned list, Kate Chopin‘s The Awakening did not.  Both miffed, shocked, and outraged many a reader upon its respective appearance; but only Lady Chatterly’s wanderings provoked the censors to add D.H. Lawrence’s offering on venturing outside the lines of socially acceptable behavior of women of the 19th century.  Here’s Lady Cha Cha’s rap sheet according to ALA.org:

Banned by U.S. Customs (1929). Banned in Ireland (1932), Poland (1932), Australia (1959), Japan (1959), India (1959). Banned in Canada (1960) until 1962. Dissemination of Lawrence’s novel has been stopped in China (1987) because the book “will corrupt the minds of young people and is also against the Chinese tradition.”

Admittedly, it did have some naughty language, even for today’s standards, and some rather risqué scenes, which explains its appearance in a 1959 obscenity trial.  The book went on to fame and fortune, appearing in various forms, even a BBC 1993 mini-series with Sean Bean and Joley Richardson. Bad girls don’t go away, they continue to spice up literary history,

However, a point to consider is that D.H. Lawrence wrote the book from a man’s point of view.  Perhaps he should have borrowed the POV Gun from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  Lawrence is a writer of merit and his works have lasted the fickleness of time and reader tastes, so I can’t fault him for his chick lit bad girl book.  But honestly how can a man know what a woman’s feelings are?

Enter Kate Chopin.  She wrote The Awakening with a woman’s point of view in mind.  Like they say, “It takes one to know one.”  If not familiar with her 1899 novel, here is the micro precis:

Edna Pontellier awakens out of her expected role of wife and mother and goes against the tide of conventionality and is last seen swimming somewhat unhappily ever after into the sunset.

If Chopin had put in the naughtiness, her novel certainly would have made the BB list.  Instead it was censored for its open depiction of a female protagonist exploring her wild side.  This chafed against expected 1899 norms of decent behavior.

Reactions to her novel ranged from hostile condemnation (“We are well-satisfied when [Edna Pontellier] drowns herself,” “Poison”) to critical lambasting (“It was not necessary for a writer of so great refinement and poetic grace to enter the over-worked field of sex-fiction,” (Chicago Times Herald), to lukewarm chastisement (“”next time I hope that Miss Chopin will devote that flexible, iridescent style of hers to a better cause.”–Willa Cather).

Some compared The Awakening to Flaubert’s 1856 Madame Bovary (another BB list member).

So even though Chopin did not include the naughty stuff, she still received censure for writing about how a woman had become dissatisfied and wanted to flap her wings a bit.  That was considered bad form.

The moral is here that Chopin never wrote another novel.  In fact, she didn’t publish much after The Awakening‘s disappointing reception.  The irony is that Chopin ushered the advent of many a literary foray into a woman’s point of view, including Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, Henry James, and Tennessee Williams.

After recently finished Chopin’s novel I am saddened to not have the ability to continue reading more of her work.  The critics too well censored her without ever lifting their pen to add her name and novel to their list.

Enjoy a good book this week, even if others deem it bad–it’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

English: First ed title pg

English: First ed title pg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles
Posted in Literature, Reading, reviews, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged , , , , , , , ,
22 Sep 2012
10 Comments

Burn and Turn: Censored and Challenged Books/BB Week #1


What have To Kill A Mockingbird, The Awakening, Huckleberry Finn, and The Hunger Games all have in common?  Easy. Besides making the bestsellers list, they have also made the banned books list. And let’s pause this opening for a bit of clarification. Banned Book Week is actually misleading, since books aren’t technically banned anymore–they are challenged, since we all have, at least in the US of A, the ability to procure what we want to read.

Banned Book Week is the annual emphasis that occurs during the last week of September, and serves as a reminder how society, during given points and times in history, get tweaked about what is available to read.  However, it is not only in the United States that books have created ire in the powers of say so.  Read Tweak happens around the world.  For instance:

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland:  Used to be banned in the province of Hunan, China, beginning in 1931 for its portrayal of anthropomorphized animals acting on the same level of complexity as human beings. The censor General Ho Chien believed that attributing human language to animals was an insult to humans. He feared that the book would teach children to regard humans and animals on the same level, which would be “disastrous.”

Then again sometimes banning is not good enough–let’s just burn the bugger and totally purge society’s ability for intellectual discernment.  Burned books would include:

  • Ulysses, by James Joyce–Burned in the U.S. (1918)
  • The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck—Burned by the East St. Louis, IL Public Library (1939)
  • The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway–Burned in Nazi bonfires in Germany (1933)
  • Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut–Burned in Drake, ND (1973)

Although there haven’t been any recent burnings, Ray Bradbury (rest in peace, Ray, you are missed) foresaw a day when all books would be burned. Not because of poisoned opinion, offended sensibilities, or societal outrage–no, Ray thought books would be burned due to lack of interest.  Intellectual thought via the printed page would be overridden by the quest of Jello entertainment(that ubiquitous substance which has form but no true nutrition and is quite similar to most television programming). In the near future Bradbury believed it would be illegal to own or read books so the government created a mockery out the fireman and had him burn books instead of saving that which would burn.  The paradox is stunningly brilliant, which is why Bradbury and his insights will be missed.

The book I refer to is, of course, Fahrenheit 451. The delicious and sad irony is that F451 was censored for its language in order for school districts to allow it on reading lists.

This week I will be posting views, trivia, and insights about banning, censoring, and challenging intellectual matter, because it does matter.

Banned Book Week.  Read a book and challenge your brain.

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles
Posted in Books, creativity, education, Reading, reviews, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , ,
06 Sep 2012
4 Comments

Author Snapshot: Carson McCullers


Cover of "Heart Is A Lonely Hunter"

Cover of Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

As a writer and a reader I am curious about authors.  I like to poke, prod, and discover who they are to understand how they write. Some authors definitely have backgrounds which influence their writing.  One such author is Carson McCullers.

It was a bit of deja vu when I began reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I then realized I had read it so long ago that I couldn’t really recall the story, so it was similar to revisiting a place attached with faded memories.  After reading the book I looked up Carson McCullers and immediately became fascinated by her background. Amazingly enough Heart was her debut novel–at 23.  The book registers such emotions and craftsmanship it is  unbelievable it came from the pen of a woman so young.

If you aren’t familiar with Carson McCullers here is a snapshot of an author who produced some fine writing despite the setbacks in her life.  Then again, maybe her writing is a result of the impediments she encountered.

McCuller’s style focuses on the loneliness and isolation of individuals of the South employing imagery which pinpoints an emotion, a moment which simple, yet breathtaking accuracy. Her writing has a sense of musicality, due no doubt to her interest in it.  The words flow and swirl much like notes in a recital piece.  In fact, she once described The Member of the Wedding as a fugue, and it actually reads much like a fugue would be played out.
What have I gained from reading Carson McCuller?  It is this: a realization that it is discovering a sense of beauty even when we are living out our imperfections, and that we often gain the most growth through adversity.  McCullers has a way of peeling back the façade and intensely scrutinizing the individual beneath. Once there, a realization occurs—other people have the same thoughts and feelings as I do.  Then again, do they?  This admission is daunting since her explorations tend to leave an undefined rawness, a discomfort, a vulnerability. And this can be uncomfortable.
Novels/Novella
The Member of the Wedding (1946)
 Other Works
The Square Root of Wonderful (1958), a play
Sweet as a Pickle and Clean as a Pig (1964), a collection of poems
The Mortgaged Heart (1972), a posthumous collection of writings, edited by her sister Rita
 Passage from The Member of the Wedding
Yesterday, and all the twelve years of her life, she had only been Frankie. She was an I person who had to walk around and do things by herself.  All other people had a we to claim, all other except her…Now all this was suddenly over with and changed.  There was her brother and the bride, and it was as though when first she saw them something she had known inside of her: They are the we of me.
A couple of noted facts:
  • First novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter at age 23
  • Planned to study piano at Julliard, but lost tuition and worked instead
  • Became invalid due to illness
  • Friends with Tennessee Williams
  • died at age 50

Her works have been adapted into plays and movies, and though she is no longer with us, her writing definitely  continues to influence the literary world. She is a stellar definition of the Southern gothic genre.

Related articles
Posted in Reading, reviews, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged , , , , , ,

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →