on book 10.

book 10 of 60: the textual condition by jerome mcgann

date started: 2.7.2014
date completed: 2.15.2014

thoughts: 
this is a reread from my grad school days.  i've just started work on a new bib methods/textual studies paper/project where mcgann is relevant, so i decided to refresh myself with his work.

true to form, there are moments in this text that are extraordinarily dry (especially since i don't particularly care for ezra pound--whom mcgann pulls from A LOT), but for a textbook it is filled with engaging insights on reading, creating, and understanding texts.

probable next read:  radiant textuality: literature after the world wide web by jerome mcgann (he's kind of a big deal in my scholarly life right now...)

on book 9.

book 9 of 60: the dog stars by peter heller

date started: 2.3.2014
date completed: 2.12.2014

thoughts:
wow!  this one was a tough slog.  i wept.  i openly wept over this book. this may be the only book in recent years to ever move me in such a way.

it's post-apocalyptic, which speaks to my dark and twisty soul (and has apparently become a specialty of my academic career).  basically, i've read A LOT of post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, and it takes A LOT to impress me in these genres.  this book pulls it off easily.

i don't want to reveal anything about the plot, because that would ruin it for everybody.  read this book. it's worth it.

probable next read:  maze runner by james dashner

on book 8.

book 8 of 60: sonnets from the portuguese by elizabeth barrett browning

date started: 2.8.2014
date completed: 2.10.2014

thoughts:
i've been on a bit of a poetry bender as of late.  it's the stress.  i've been super stressed at work (too much to do, too little time...you all know the way it goes), and when i'm stressed i tend to come back to home base, which, for me, is poetry.

i have a few poets in my back pocket who always serve me well, but this year i'm trying to read more new-to-me stuff.  enter elizabeth barrett browning.

while i've read and taught browning before, i haven't read her completely or in this way.  my book is her sonnets from the portuguese illuminated with letters between EBB and robert browning during their courtship.

i absolutely adore their peculiar, not-likely-to-make-it affair, so i thought this might be a nice read.

it was just that.  nice. sweet. disgusting.  all the things you expect from love poetry. seriously though, i am about as romantic as a wooden spoon, so i'm certain many of these beautiful verses were completely lost on me.

i did, however, find her mastery of the form quite wonderful and appreciated a sonnet cycle from a female voice (which is SUPER rare--trust me, i have degrees in this stuff).

EBB is a wonderful poet in her own right, and i wish that she was more widely read and in more depth.

probable next read:  red rising by pierce brown; back to my delightfully non-romantic post-apoc/dystopian genre

on book 7.

book 7 of 60: birthmarked by caragh m. o'brien

date started: 1.24.2014
date completed: 2.3.2014

 
thoughts:
meh.  it was fine.  at various points it read like a cheap YA version of handmaid's tale.  

the narrator, gaia stone (really?!), is quick to anger and seemingly incapable of rational thought, except when in high pressure situations.  she reminds me a bit of daenerys in the a song of fire and ice collection--always quick to anger and screaming about being the mother of dragons.  gaia is very much like her, but without the dragons adding a degree of awe to her plight.

add to that the 'villain' isn't very villainous.  sure, they take a few babies to adopt out to approved families, but their aim is to improve living conditions for all.  maybe it's because i don't have a motherly bone in my body, or maybe it's because i've ready WAY too much dystopian fiction, but the enclave just isn't heinous enough to do it for me.

overall i was unimpressed and plan on culling this trilogy.  the first book ended in such a way that i can deal with not reading the next two.  plus, there are so many other great books out there that need my attention more.

probable next read:  the dog stars by peter heller (if i make it through--i have my doubts!)

on book 6.

book 6 of 60: love is a dog from hell by charles bukowski

date started: 1.12.2014
date completed: 1.30.2014

thoughts:
i'm a poetry snob, and you should know that right away.  i studied the classics--everything from homer and virgil--up through the greats of the renaissance like wyatt, spenser, and sydney.  i have a soft spot for metaphysical poets like donne and for whitman.  poetry is something i revere and cling to.

bukowski is a terrible, brilliant poet.  i want to hate him for the terrible things he does to verse, but i just find myself intoxicated with the solid reality of his poems.  his bitterness and condemnation of love and life are--well--awesome.

i want to hate this type of poetry because it flies in the face of all the poets i have studied, loved, and respected, but i kind of love this, too.  and why not?  at the very least, it's good fun.

probable next read:  BZRK by michael grant

on book 5.

book 5 of 60: country of the pointed firs by sarah orne jewett

date started: 1.20.2014
date completed: 1.25.2014

thoughts:
while i don't generally enjoy american lit, i do have a soft spot for post-civil war american colorists.  sarah orne jewett intrigued me back in undergrad when i read a short story of hers.  this book did not disappoint.

it's a quiet text, serene and lovely.  jewett paints a beautiful landscape of the coast of maine.

while the plot here is quite unimportant (jewett focuses on creating the world and making the reader appreciate it), there is some substance.  the narrator's relationship with mrs. todd develops and strengthens over the course of the narrative, and it's quite nice to experience this friendship along with them.  

all in all, this is a quick, lovely read.

probable next read:  harry potter and the sorcerer's stone by j.k. rowling (my first re-read of the year!)

on book 4.

book 4 of 60: night film by marisha pessl

date started: 1.13.2014
date completed: 1.23.2014

thoughts: 
pessl is a fine writer. not great, just fine. this book received high critical praise, and it was entertaining and downright creepy in some spots, but all in all it let me down.

the book excels in the creepy factor. devil worship, black magic, voodoo, masters of gore cinema, elusive pop culture figures, black market internet sites--you name it, it's here, and somehow it all seems to work.

pessl fails to develop her characters in any sort of substantial way.  each character is like a shadow figure--a placeholder for the fully crafted, three dimensional characters that an audience craves.  mcgrath, for all his investigative prowess, is inept at realizing the circumstances of his own life and those close to him.  he does manage to figure things out, but it seems he's always last--we'll behind the reader. nora and hopper are more like caricatures than "real" people.

the end of the book left me hating it (kind of). i understand why pessl needed to leave the ending vague  (which i won't disclose here for sake of spoilers), but, given the sheer quantity of interesting conclusions available in this text, the chosen one feels like a cop out.

all in all, this book wasn't bad, it was fine.  and that's ok.

probable next read:  birthmarked by caragh m. o'brien