Book Review: The Woman Upstairs

The third book we read for our book club was The Woman Upstairs, by Claire Messud, which we read during January and February of 2014. The illustration originally appeared in the New York Times.

After reading The Marriage Plot, and feeling a bit let down by that book's female lead, we were eager to find a book with more dynamic  female characters. I had heard a little bit about the controversy surrounding The Woman Upstairs and its author, Claire Messud; in an interview, Messud had been asked whether she would be "friends" with her protagonist, and her response was critical of the premise of the question, or the idea that a protagonist, and specifically a female protagonist, would need to be "likable." I was curious to read a novel about a female character who was perhaps unsympathetic, so I suggested the novel to the group, and people seemed interested.

The book is, in essence, a monologue or rant by Nora, the main character; as it unfolds, she tells us about her worldview, her frustrations, and the recent events that led her to become so angry. The story maintains an intimate focus and is told entirely from her subjective point of view, with her interpretation of the story warped by a lifetime of disappointments and her hopes for something better.

Book Review: The Marriage Plot

The second book we read for our book club is The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides, which we read during November and December of 2013. The illustration is by Ward Sutton, and was drawn for the 12 Days of Drawn to Read. Please note that this review does contain plot details and spoilers.

When the book club selected The Marriage Plot, we were hoping to discuss something with a strong central female character. We were disappointed.

The book centers around three Brown students during the eighties, and follows them through their college and postgraduate years. The first, Madeleine Hanna, is a beautiful and privileged English major who has an unfashionable fascination with the classic marriage stories of British literature during a period when her peers are more interested in semiotics and literary theory. Her classmate Mitchell Grammaticus is a theology student with an obsessive crush on Madeline, and spends the book trying to reconcile his religious beliefs with his human failings. Finally, Leonard Bankhead, who dates, and eventually marries, Madeline, is an enigmatic, brilliant, and initially charismatic biologist with self-destructive and manic-depressive tendencies.

Book Review: Everything is Illuminated

I will be posting reviews of the various books I've been reading as part of the book club. The first book on this list is Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer, which we read during October and November of 2013. The illustration is by Gemma Correll, of the Picture Book Report blog. Please note that this review does contain plot details and spoilers.

Everything is Illuminated is ostensibly about the author's search for a woman, pictured in a photograph, who saved his grandfather's life during the destruction of Trachimbrod, a remote Ukranian village, by the Nazis during World War II. However, the story of his search, as narrated by his guide, Alex, is interwoven with the fantastical history of the shtetl itself, and with the story of Alex, his family, and their connection to the story of Trachimbrod.

Booked

In October 2013, my friend Liz and I met up for a low-key afternoon of coffee and chatter. At some point, the two of us got onto the topic of literature, and how we had gotten away from the practice of regularly reading books. Out of that conversation came the idea of starting a book club, and, fortunately, we were able to run with the idea. As a result of that short conversation, I've gotten to read six books that I probably wouldn't have checked out, engaged in interesting conversations, tried out a few cafes, and gotten to know some new friends. The weekly meetings have really been a fun thing to look forward to over the past year.

The group started small, with three active members, but expanded to six in the spring. While life would sometimes get in the way of meetings, and people may occasionally need to sit a book out when other responsibilities take priority, we've persisted and been able to keep up a good pace without abandoning any books.

Roughin' It, Reading Readily, and R-Twork

One of the pleasures of a close relationship, romantic or otherwise, is that you get to open yourself up to a whole new set of experiences that you wouldn't necessarily seek out on your own. Friends and family have left their mark by introducing me to some great artists or works of art (I learned a whole lot about Alfred Hitchcock when I tagged along for Chrissie's classes at USC), fun activities (I was introduced to wine tasting by my good friend Tiffany), and interesting places (I first encountered Barnsdall Art Park when I accompanied my sister to a play there).

So, it is no surprise that I have picked up a few new hobbies from Andy. Most obviously, I have been camping regularly over the past three months, visiting sites all around the Los Angeles area.

Until this year, I had not gone camping since I was a student at Marlborough and the school took us on field trips to Catalina, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Marin, and Yosemite. I didn't get the "camping bug" at that point, possibly because, in my high school days, I was more averse to the outdoors, less willing to put up with the unexpected, and a bit more easily winded by outdoor activities. Plus, camping with ninety other students and a handful of chaperones is a fundamentally different experience from going in a small group, where a person is more likely to set her own pace and follow her own agenda.

More than Kindle, and Less than Kind

I've been curious about e-readers for a while. Since I have a trip coming up, and didn't want to pack a lot of travel books, a reader became an increasingly attractive prospect. So, once I heard about the new Kindle, I figured that "it was time" and snapped one up.
I've spent the last week getting a handle on the device, and, while it won't completely replace traditional books, it has many advantages. I'm glad I have a Kindle to carry around, and I expect to read many more books on it.
Pros:

• It's easier to carry around, and easier to read on a whim. This is especially true with respect to larger books. I can make a point of carrying the Kindle around with me where I go, and can decide to start a new book at any time. If I wanted to start reading a given printed book, I'd have to be more deliberate about it.
• E-books are searchable, which is a valuable feature with certain kinds of books, like reference books.
• It is easy to get cheap, or even free, versions of out-of-copyright classics.
• Books in general are cheaper.
• The Kindle encourages reading; when I have a small library at my fingertips, I'm more likely to read when I have a free minute, and less likely to do something less edifying with my time.
• There are some books I don't want to keep around forever, and I don't have to feel guilty about deleting them. (and I can get them back for free if I want to)
• There are costs to owning a physical object (like a DVD, CD, or book), and it's nice to "own" a book, and have access to it at any time, without having to carve out space for it, organize it, or move it around.
• I like being able to underline texts or make notes without "defacing" the book.
• I like the e-ink technology used by Kindle. It more or less mimics a printed page, and it's nicer to read than a backlit screen (especially since I spend way too much time in front of backlit screens).

Cons:

• Traditional books engage the spatial part of my mind in a way that an e-book simply couldn't. After reading a printed book, I can flip through, and remember the place where a favorite passage was, or where a certain plot development occurred. I can, of course, perform a search on an e-book and find what I need, but I can't interact with the book as an object. 
• It is easy to share paper books. I'm not sure that it's possible to share your e-books without lending your reader.

Ultimately, I think I'll rely more and more on the Kindle for my everyday reading, but I would still like to get "traditional" paper copies of the books I deem special. If nothing else, I'm glad that the Kindle is getting me more engaged in books and reading, and I hope that I can maintain my level of interest.

Greatest Hits: Hermione Granger Don't Be A Stranger & Sirius Black, Leader of the Pack

I haven't been up to much lately; mostly, I've been catching up on movies, DVDs, and books. I saw some of the major Oscar contenders before and after the ceremony, although I have yet to see Crash, Pride & Prejudice or Memoirs of a Geisha, and should at least attempt to see Crash. In terms of books, I just finished Madame Bovary and have moved on to In Cold Blood. It's easy to get too preoccupied for novels or long-form fiction sometimes, so I'm hoping that I can find the time to finish some of the books that I've been meaning to read.

I've been to a few events as well. Last night, some law school friends and I went to a concert of Gary Sinise's band, which was fun in spite of the fact that the woman in front of me stepped on my foot twice. Tonight, I am going with my sister, Matt, and my sister's friend Emily to a concert by one of Emily's friends, who is in a Harry Potter tribute band; I'm slightly surprised and amused that a Harry Potter band subculture exists in the first place, so I'll be curious to see how the concert is.

Cough, Cough

I've been feeling a bit under the weather as of late; in addition to the routine sore throat problem, my eyes keep feeling strained and I am getting tired more easily. I'm also feeling sore, and had terrible back pains a few days ago. The only thing I can do right now is try and take care of myself and wait for things to get better. I feel better than I did yesterday, but I'm still a little worried.

I started reading Don Quixote the other day. One of the interesting things about Quixote is that, while it's famous as a world classic, I think it exists more as a conceit than a literary work these days (though maybe this is different in Spanish-speaking cultures), being altered and romanticized to the extent that the novel and people's conceptions of it are very different creatures. I guess that's true of most works, especially the most famous ones, but I think it would be interesting to take a good look at the original. Yes, I'm a pretentious dork...

Other than that, the day has been fairly ordinary. I had an extra Torts session today (because tomorrow's class had to be canceled), which made things a bit exhausting. At least I'll get some extra break time tomorrow. I was also able to relax a bit, and watched Annie Hall before finishing with my reading.

Maul

After getting up late, I made my way to the King of Prussia Mall, one of the larger malls on the east coast. I was able to get a white May Day dress for tomorrow (I am great at planning ahead). While I was there, I was also able to get some camera stuff and a few other articles of clothing). I was also able to get a good amount of reading done; one of the advantages of taking public transportation is that you don't have to pay attention for long stretches of travel time and can devote yourself to reading.

And then I got back, read some more, and slacked.

Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis...

I woke up late (again) today and did some reading, though it was not was much as I would have liked. The book I had started with was unfortunately a bit dense, and that made it difficult for me to plow through my work. I'll try and spend most of tonight doing all the reading I need to do.

Tonight was the Chorale concert. Though I wasn't perfect, I'm happy with how I did; I was finally able to get a good sound without pushing or tiring out my voice. I enjoyed the performance a lot... going through an entire piece like the Mozart Requiem can be an exhilarating experience. I didn't realize it until the concert had finished, but the act of singing had really left me in an elated mood. Hopefully the good mood will help me to study.

Doing Work

I had another late start today, but I managed to pick up my film, finish my reading, and do some work on my math project.

I got a gift basket from home today. It's nice that they think of me, but half of the things in the baskets are things I don't eat and end up giving away anyways. And it's kind of funny that my mom will harp on my weight and then give me a basket with lots of food in it. Ah, hypocrisy...

Most of the Rosencrantz... photos didn't come out very well, but I have enough good shots to work with. Shooting photos of productions is difficult, since there's limited light and a lot of action, and it's not really appropriate to use flash. Even though I was using relatively high speed 800 film, it's difficult to take good pictures. On the bright side, the photos of the production I was in came out well; they were taken after the production and were posed, plus there was more light.

It was difficult for me to get down to doing my reading at first. I sometimes have trouble finding a good place, where I won't be distracted or uncomfortable. My room's a bad place to study, since I often get tempted to use the computer or rest. Libraries aren't always the best place to study either. Dorm lounges and the space immediately outside my room are better, but there's the noise problem.

Anyway, after finishing with my reading, I did some math project work... the bulk of which consisted of counting lots and lots of little blue squares. I'd be hard pressed to think of something that could be more of a threat to one's sanity.

I was also able to order the plane tickets for my Seattle trip this evening. I can't wait until school's out!

I Did Reading! Stay Tuned for More News!

Today was more productive than yesterday. Though the bulk of my morning and afternoon was dedicated to slacking, I was still able to get a decent amount of work done. I completed my reading for film class (though it was admittedly a short assignment) and senior sem (this week's readings focused on the history of sex and the body) as well as making some inroads into my 20th century Russia reading. I only have a bit of reading to do tonight and tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll be able to dedicate more time to math tomorrow.

In other news, I am pretty hungry tonight. I ran out of clementines (several of them were rotten and had to be thrown away, so they didn't last as long as they should have), and I skipped lunch, since there's only brunch here on sundays. Sunday dinners are usually pretty filling, and I had a good meal, but, since I ate early, I'm now hungry again. Oh well.

Class and Things

Today, I got a sort of late start; I guess staying up late Sunday caught up with me. I skipped lunch (it was hot dog and onion rings day, which I hate) and went to classes. In Chaotic Dynamical Systems, we were studying fractals, and about half the class time was devoted to coloring in Sierpinski triangles. You get a ST when you take an equilateral triangle and inscribe it with an empty triangle, and take the three resulting triangles and do the same, and so forth. It looks like this:


I also got my midterm grade back... I got an A-, which I'm happy with, particularly since I knew I made some mistakes with the calculations.

I then went to film class, where I turned in my Wizard of Oz paper. We continued the discussion on experimental films, which was alright since I felt more awake than last time and they only showed portions of the more interesting films from last week.

After relaxing a little and having dinner (it wasn't good, and I ended up only having bread, cereal, and dessert), I went to the library to do some reading; I was able to finish Kruschev's 'secret speech' and the textbook chapter on the 'Thaw'.

Sleeping In

Last night I tried to go to sleep after the party had stopped and the music had been turned off; however, there were semi-drunk sounding people talking loudly on the stairs right by my door. Occasionally someone would say "Shhh!", but that really had no discernable effect. I tried to muffle it by putting pillows over my head, but that didn't help much either. I eventually fell asleep, but I didn't enjoy having a bunch of loud people right outside my door.

Unsurprisingly, I got a late start this morning. The alarm woke me up, but I was so tired that I just got up and turned it off before going back to sleep again. I was so groggy that I even unrooted one of my cactus plants in the process of going to my dresser to turn off the alarm and had to throw it away (luckily, I wasn't pricked or anything).

After waking up again, having lunch, and procrastinating, I did some work on the second part of my film class project; a 4-6 page analysis of a particular sequence of the film. I decided to do the Munchkinland sequence, so I ended up taking an insane amount of notes and DVD screengrabs to work with. Once I had finished with that, I made some progress on a book I'm reading for class; hopefully I'll get that finished early tomorrow.

Semi-Productivity

Today wasn't the most productive day ever, but I at least managed to get a little bit done. I called the American Philosophical Society and arranged to visit the archives again tomorrow, so that should be interesting. After making the call, I went over to the supermarket and got some food. I did a tiny bit of reading, and, since the dorm lounge was empty (this being fall break and all), I also treated myself to a few cartoons.

Raiders of the Lost Archive

Please forgive the godawful pun in the title.

Anyway, after class, I met Rachel to visit the archive of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. After meeting up, we got on the train to central Philly. The archive was located in the 'historical' part of town, near Independence Hall and other landmarks from the revolutionary period. All the landmarks were closed, presumably as a precaution after the World Trade Center attacks. It's understandable, but still a bit sad.

We quickly found the archive. After filling out reader forms, we met with an archivist, who was nice enough to give us a tour of the vault, which had the most valuable documents in the collection. Luckily, the original Lewis and Clark journals were out since they had recently been displayed, so she was able to show them to us. We also saw a Darwin manuscript and a scientific manuscript from the 1600's, among other things. After touring the vault, we talked with another archivist, who basically told us what the archive had to offer.

In terms of less extraordinary documents, Rachel spotted this near the vault entrance; one of the archivists had posted it as a joke. The archivist offered to make copies for us, so we got an amusing little souvenir.

After doing some reading, I decided to audition for a series of one acts. The director didn't ask for schedules, so that won't work against me this time. I knew the director a little, so I think that kept me from being too nervous. The audition went well despite the fact that I had too much caffeine beforehand; I was able to make the director laugh a few times.

In other news, I joined ICQ today and got an, um, explicit message about two seconds after I got on. Lovely...

First Semester, Junior Year

Well, it's almost time to go back home for winter break. Right now I am taking a short break from my reading. Tomorrow, I am going to try and write my paper for my 19th Century cultural history course, on Elizabeth Cady Stanton & The Woman's Bible. I have quite a bit of reading left to do, but I feel able to complete it. I have been keeping up to a greater extent than usual, and was able to do my three other finals on Sunday so I could concentrate on this. I've felt much more on top of things than last spring; I think I had really hit my nadir that time... I was too depressed even to go to class much of the time, and doing my work was a real ordeal. I've been feeling pretty good the past week or so - more comfortable socializing with groups of people. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this up.