Love's not just blind; it's deaf, too!

Pages read today: 120 for Meredith (completing Why We Broke Up), 44 for Ilya

Don't let Ilya persuade you to feel too sorry for him or feel that I'm reading all easy peasy novels over here.  While it's true that my most recent read, Why We Broke Up, includes pictures, wide margins and fairly large font, that has not been the case for any of the last 9 entries.  Besides, we are each in control of the books we choose, so perhaps Ilya will start learning to choose more wisely.  From what I've gathered, it seems he is strongly disliking Lord Jim, which is why it's taking him so long to finish.  Personally, I say if it's that bad that it's drawing out this long, time to cut your losses and move on!  But to each his (or her) own.

Why We Broke Up was exactly what I needed after the last two intense reads of mine and it was much better than I had anticipated.  I loved it, really.  There was a short adjustment period getting used to Daniel Handler's unique writing style but once I got into the rhythm and got the hang of it, my word... it was pure genius!  This was my first read of Daniel Handler's but I'm sure it won't be the last.  It's hard to explain his style and there are so many creative, beautiful, hilarious, brilliant lines in the book it's hard to single out just one.  So instead, let me just say that you should read this book.  While yes, it was a lighter read than the last couple (only because it wasn't dealing with death!!), it still had a lot going on and a lot to digest/analyze.  Each chapter details one of the items Min (short for Minerva, but do NOT call her Minnie!) has in the box she will be dropping at her ex-boyfriend's house - a box of items from their relationship, each item having marked a joyous moment while in the relationship, and in retrospect marking obvious signs of trouble with the relationship.  When I first got wind of it (a friend had read it on goodreads) I was unsure what to expect.  It seemed like it could just be a teeny bopper book.  I'm glad that I didn't get stuck in thinking that and decided to read it, because that's not how it is at all.  It's actually quite masterful - a beautiful portrayal of what happens during and after a relationship, both for the direct participants as well as the bystanders.  How blind love is and how 20/20 hindsight is.  How painful it is as a bystander when a loved ones' relationship is so clearly a train wreck.  What could you even say to them that they would hear?  Most likely nothing, because love is blind and deaf; and to me, this is also a lesson for life itself.  Things aren't always as they appear and depending on the lens through which we view them, they can seem to be completely different things.  Honestly, just read the book.  It's too difficult to do it justice in a post.  

Also, I found out tonight that Hulu Plus had the Documentary version of Touching the Void, and I took advantage of this opportunity and watched it (Ilya and I definitely watched it at some point before, but I didn't remember it at all when I read the book and only vaguely remembered it while watching tonight).  The Documentary definitely had its merits and even a certain advantage over the book insofar as Joe, Simon and Richard (their travel mate who didn't climb with them but stayed behind at the base camp watching their stuff) all took part and provided details and insight into their experiences.  However, it was not as emotionally charged for me as reading the book and as always with any movie of any kind, there were several big ticket events left out.  Don't get me wrong though; I still bawled my eyes out like a baby when Simon and Richard found Joe (how can you NOT?!).  Overall, the book is much denser, richer and just plain better overall (in my opinion), but the Documentary is worthwhile for hearing the commentary from all of the men.

My next book is up in the air right now... The unread library books still currently in my possession are We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Road and A Week in Winter, none of which are inspiring me to read right now.  I am able to download ebooks from the library on my Nook but everything I really want to read right now has at least 20 people in line ahead of me so I don't think I should hold my breath waiting for any of those to become available.  I did come up with a list of a bunch of others that are allegedly on the shelves of our local library right now and Ilya and I plan on making a trip out there tomorrow morning.  We'll see where that leads, though I'm hoping between tonight and tomorrow morning I become responsible enough to just suck it up and read  We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Road as my next two entries, as they are due back to the library fairly soon.  Who wants to be responsible though, right?  We've had enough of that lately between selling our smart phones and downgrading our cell phone plan by switching to dumb phones (I didn't even know they still made those but sadly they do and they cut the bill down by half) and cutting down the number of visits from the dog walker per week (don't worry about Gizmo...Ilya will come home on lunch to let him out of the crate to do his business on the other days).  We have an irresponsibly huge amount of debt (I will take the credit for that...sigh...) so this is just how it has to be for a while, but man does it stink!  Along the same lines, I would love to just buy the books I want to read on my Nook (or even in real book form) so as to not have to wait, but that's just not a very smart thing to do right now.  Realistically, I should read the 3 books I still have out from the library before running out to borrow another 7 or 8.  But that's an area I'm just going to allow myself to have fun with, because it doesn't cost anything to hoard library books! (well, I guess that depends on the length of time of the hoarding) 

So that's where I shall leave it for the night, with thoughts of hoarding library books.  As Ilya loves to say, keep the pages turning! (which makes me think of the intro for Days of Our Lives for some reason...)

Lay on, MacDuff

Pages read today: 233 for Meredith, 19 for Ilya

It's not about the quantity of reading, it's about the quality of reading.

...on which dubious point I would still lose, as you will all see once I finish Lord Jim and have to post my so-called "thoughts."

But really, the type is so small, and the plot so diffuse, and Meredith's book has much larger type and lavish illustrations and such profuse amounts of marginal and interlinear space and whine whine whine cheese whine.

It's no Heart of Darkness, of that I'm sure. If I only could fathom the depths of "how and why," then this won't all be for naught.

I will finish with a song and no dance:

There once was a girl who loved reading,
In this contest she was certainly leading,
     She read many a book,
     (Not all on her Nook,)
Way more than her husband, no keeding.

(I had to cheat the rhyme a little. Apologies to all.)

Thank goodness for google!

Pages read today: 98 for Meredith 31 for Ilya

Google ended up coming to my aid in reading both of my last entries, The Giver and Touching the Void.

I suppose I'll go in the order in which I read them.  So first up... The Giver.  I really enjoyed this one, as it touched on one of my favorite themes...free will!  The book centers on the issue of free will, with arguments for both sides.  One which asserts free will is what makes us alive and able to really feel and live; the other arguing that free will is what inevitably brings about the destruction of civilization/mankind.  I enjoyed the writing style, which inserted me directly into the bizarre utopia community at the center of the story and kept me hooked until the last line of the book.  Now, I suppose my view of the community as "bizarre" is biased, due to my having lived in American suburbia my entire life; though I would like to think it was based on more than that, incorporating compassion and morals as well.  To me, the world described in the book sounds horrible, and not just relating to the utter lack of free will, I swear!  I found myself getting angry quite frequently as details were laid out as to how people in the community are treated. (SPOIILER....STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW DETAILS ABOUT THE BOOK!)  I mean, they beat babies and old people (and children of older ages, too).  With children it can be for things like mispronouncing a word.  Seriously?  I'm sorry, but to me that is just wrong no matter what purpose you claim it serves.  Though weren't teachers in American schools allowed to beat the students back in the day for the same purpose?  I guess it's just babies and old people that gets to me.  Or killing the babies because they were born as part of a twin set but you can only have so many babies born per year (and also can't have 2 people looking alike, heaven forbid!), so the one that weighs the least gets offed.  GAH!  So awful!  I could go on and on, but you get the gist.  Despite this anger I felt towards the "Elders" of this community who kept all this going, I couldn't stop reading!  It kept me wanting more, needing to know more.  Sadly, the ending left me knowing nothing and that's where google came in for this one.  The ending was so confusing to me (though perhaps this was because I finished up the book quite late at night and my brain couldn't work out the necessary pieces of the puzzle?) that I honestly had no clue what had just happened.  So I went to the googlemobile and looked into what other people thought about the ending.  Mostly this was useless, providing subjective opinions only, but there were some pieces of information thrown in there that helped me understand it a bit better (I think), though it requires me to read the rest of the books in the series.  This is no problem, though, as I was already planning on it.    

Next up was Touching the Void.  Wow, was this ever a good read.  Amazing, really.  It is a tale of survival for two men, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, on their journey climbing and descending the Siula Grande in the Andes.  *SPOILERS COMING!*  The entire book is so riveting and emotional, it was nearly impossible to put down.  Both men already had several close encounters that could easily have claimed their lives before they even got to the part of the journey where Joe broke his leg.  Each man ends up in their own fight for survival after the pivotal rope-cutting moment (which, by the way, doesn't happen until after Simon spends an entire day assisting broken-legged Joe, trying to get them both down the mountain, in a grueling physical battle and battle against the elements for both men).  After the rope is cut and Simon sees where Joe has fallen, it seems inconceivable that anyone could have survived.  So he makes the dangerous journey back to base camp alone, while dealing with the decision he made to cut the rope.  Joe did not die from the fall but figures out that Simon cut the rope and surely must think he is dead, and so he is left with an even more dangerous and challenging independent journey.  By the time Joe makes it close enough to base camp where Simon hears his calls and finds him, I was sobbing like a baby (even though I already knew, obviously, that Joe survived...seeing as he is the author of the book).  The emotions both men felt through their initial combined ordeal climbing the mountain (and beginning the descent), as well as their independent ordeals completing the descent, were portrayed so beautifully that it was impossible to not feel right there with them through all of it.  

Ok, so how did google come to my aid here?  Well, the only issue I had with the book (at first, anyway) was its abundant use of mountain-climbing and geographical terms that aren't necessarily known to everyone (though honestly, I don't know how else you describe the scenery and crucial items involved... I mean, that's just what they're called).  So being a non-mountain-climber myself, it was difficult for me at first to really visualize what was being described.  Thankfully, though, there is google!  So when I noticed this was the case (certain terms being used repeatedly, none of which made any sense to me but seemed pretty important in understanding the situations and visualizing the surroundings), I began searching these terms and finding images of each term that enabled me to more adequately place myself in their shoes (well, as much as is possible, anyway, while reading the story in my warm house snuggled under a blanket as opposed to actually living it in the sub zero temperatures with frost-bitten hands, a sunburned face, dehydration, starvation, sheer exhaustion and/or broken bones).  There is a glossary at the back of the book, but it is limited and I'm very visual so for me it was more helpful to be able to see pictures of these terms that were being used frequently.  If you're a mountain climber yourself, though, you would have no problem at all.  Personally, I think everyone should read this book.  It's truly inspiring to read and showcases how powerful the will to survive can be.  Go read it!

Next up for me will be a lighter read, as these last two were pretty dark.  Granted, the title (Why We Broke Up) doesn't sound too uplifting, from what I have gathered it is definitely a more lighthearted read.  There's even pictures!  I look forward to starting that one tomorrow.  Until then... keep the pages turning!

Another sitrep for another day

Pages read today: 117 for Meredith, 42 for Ilya

The need to keep plugging along at Lord Jim must of course prevent any detailed updates. Your Honors, I really must object to the typeface of the novel being so teensy; it makes the reading unnecessarily slow. Wah.

Another lame-o status update

Pages read today: 159 for Meredith, 17 for Ilya

Long day and we are both spent!  A more insightful post will follow at a later time.

Your One-Stop Source for Reading-Progress Updates

Pages read today: 140 for Meredith (120 of Water for Elephants, 20 of The Giver), 13 for Ilya

...and that's all we wrote read.

You're never too old to run away with the circus!

I just finished Water for Elephants and absolutely, positively, thoroughly and completely LOVED it!  I was wary going in, as the reviews all seemed to be in a love or hate camp, and the hate charged it with being boring and fizzling out after a couple of chapters.
This was not my experience at all.  Yes, it opens with a bang, then going back in time to bring everything back to that point, so naturally the opening is more momentous than the subsequent few chapters.  While it did take me a chapter or two to really feel immersed in the younger Jacob's world, becoming acclimated to the circus lingo and getting the gist for the 1930s, depression-era circus world, it did not take long at all before I found myself feeling completely in that world, having difficult to put the book down and never wanting it to end.  
There was a good amount of animal cruelty documented in the book, so animal lovers/activists beware.  As a hard core animal lover myself, though, I did not find it to be enough to turn me away from the book.  It served its purpose to the story, to reveal this element of that world and develop one of the main characters as well.  
The story is told in part from the narrator's younger self's perspective (the one in this world of the 1930s train circus) and his older, 90 (or 93) year old self's perspective.  At first I found myself enjoying the chapters told from the older point of view, but once I was hooked into the younger perspective's world I found myself enjoying both points of view equally.  I loved all of it!
So, to summarize, I am all in 100% on the love side of the spectrum for this book and will surely read this one again.  I'm finding it hard to want to dive into my next book because of how much I enjoyed this one and not wanting to let go of the feelings I had after reading it.  
Next up, though, is The Giver, which seems to have a strong following behind it and hopefully won't disappoint (though I must remind myself of the wisdom from my previous post and not go in with too many expectations, unless looking for certain disappointment).
I will start that one a little later tonight and let Ilya write a post with our completed daily progress report. 

My Tale of Woe

Pages read today: 119 for Meredith, 48 for Ilya

Oh, butt, how you continue to be kicked.

Not every day can be a winner

Pages read yesterday, 1/24/14: 26 for Meredith, 10 for Ilya

Yesterday certainly wasn't a winner on the reading front.  Eh, that's just life sometimes, right?  Other things needed tending to.  It's ok, we'll get back in the swing of things today!

This is a post

Pages read today: 70 for Meredith, 10 for Ilya :)

So I finished Flowers for Algernon, as my esteemed co-author has already informed you yesterday, Gentle Reader. You didn't think there'd be a quiz, now did you?

Flowers is fairly famous, as sci-fi books go; its reputation precedes it. I knew the basic outline of the story long before I picked up the book. (I also dimly recollect that I once saw the '60s movie version, starring a younger and spryer version of Spider-Man's Uncle Ben as Charlie Gordon, but I knew the same basic outline before that, too.)  Spoilers, I guess?: it's your basic, classic story of a rise to greatness and/or power, followed by a decline and fall. Charlie Gordon begins the novel as mentally challenged, has his mental capacities greatly enhanced by a sci-fi surgical procedure (there's something or other muttered about "enzymes" also), and then tragically returns to his original level as the effects of the surgery prove to be temporary; and this is all traced through entries from the diary that Charlie himself keeps over the course of the experience.

I wonder if it's the way the story embodies that archetypal rise-and-fall arc that draws people to the novel, because really it's only competently written. The prose and dialogue are efficient but never especially memorable. Some of the ideas would have been best left out entirely: there's some passages that feature a troublingly unquestioning acceptance of musty Freudian notions, and in general the symbolism is pretty unsubtle. (Charlie in his genius phase thinks of his past self almost as a different person, so of course there's a scene where he talks to his past persona in the mirror; that sort of thing.)

The novel was expanded by Keyes from a novelette he published in 1960 in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, when it won the Hugo award (for "best science novelette," according to the author bio in my edition). I haven't read the shorter version, but I feel fairly confident that the inserted material Keyes used to pad out the story to novel length are the "flashbacks" to his troubled childhood that Charlie describes in his diary. These flashbacks have almost no relationship to the rest of the story, and in their early appearances they're written in a style that doesn't match up with Charlie's intelligence level.

The best or most interesting thing about the novel, the point at which it doesn't just follow along with the archetypal arc, is how it depicts Charlie's rise with all its thorns intact (hi, mixed metaphor!). Despite the way he dissociates mentally from old Charlie, genius Charlie makes, several times, the point that old Charlie was a person, a human being, deserving of more respect than he ever received; that his meteoric ascent in IQ, in other words, is not the only worthwhile thing about him. At the same time, the novel also describes how, once he reaches genius levels, Charlie falls prey to arrogance and contempt for the people around him, whose intelligence his own prodigious mental powers have outstripped. I appreciated these elements as complications, however minor, of the archetype.

The next book I've selected to read (3a) is Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim. Here, again, I have seen the '60s movie, starring Peter O'Toole (RIP) not long after Lawrence of Arabia, but have yet to read the novel (though I am a big fan of Heart of Darkness).

"Unwittingly, I had earned a Ph.D. in survival"

Pages read today: 90 for Meredith, 50 for Ilya

Our poor kitty (Kali) has been having a rough go of it the last couple of days (once the pain meds ran out) from her dental extravaganza last week.  After a couple of days of not eating we decided it was time to take her back to the vet.  Armed with some additional, new meds, hopefully they will help her be in less pain so she will start eating and be back to her normal self again soon!

So with all of that going on (dropping her off at the vet before work, picking her up at the vet after work, etc.), coupled with it being one of those days at work where it seemed like I just couldn't get anything done so I skipped most breaks trying to actually get something done, there was far less reading time for me today.  Nevertheless, I managed to finish up Running With Scissors!  I have noticed that the reviews for this cringe-worthy-moments-laden memoir seem to be pretty polarized.  Love it or hate it, it seems.  Overall I would have to say I'm in the love camp.  It was certainly unlike anything I've ever read before and there were more times than I count where I laughed and/or said "oh my GOSH!" (or some derivative thereof) out loud.  The subject matter is quite intense and if it is all in fact true to the author's life, then wow... just wow.  I also read some conflicting information on that... apparently the family members have sued and claimed that everything is a gross exaggeration (but really, who wouldn't say that with the kinds of things being discussed in here!).  Ultimately, there's no way for anyone other than the author or the people involved to know for sure, but I'm ok with that.  The book was well-written and entertaining and if nothing else will really make you appreciate your life, as it seems highly unlikely that it can be anywhere near as messed up as what is set forth in the book!  It certainly isn't for everyone (again, love or hate), and I will try not to judge too harshly if it's not for some of you, but I really liked it and will be checking out some of the author's other memoirs as well (which I have heard chronicle later periods in his life).  

Now I shall move on to Water for Elephants.  All of my friends who have read this one have thoroughly enjoyed it, and it seems the reviews in general are quite rave-esque.  We shall see... I'm not entirely sure I understand what it's supposed to be about.  I have never seen the movie for this one, so I'm going into it completely fresh, like a sponge ready to absorb all of its goodness!

Ilya also finished up Flowers for Algernon.  This one might actually make it onto my "to read" list as well, based on what he has told me about it.  I believe he will be writing a post tomorrow with his thoughts on the book, so look forward to that!  


As for now, we're both going to stare at the back of our eyelids for about 7 or 8 hours.   Good night and keep reading!

Progress report

Pages read today: 158 for Meredith, 116 for Ilya

Flowers for Algernon is much lighter lifting than Henry James was, that's for sure. Tomorrow I'll doubtless complete the book and write about it at length (the horror). Tonight I'll keep it short and sweet.

The show must go on

Pages read today: 353 for Meredith (297 of PS, I Love You, 56 of Running with Scissors), 157 for Ilya (107 of What Maisie Knew, 50 of Flowers for Algernon)

Day off from work, feeling pummeled by some kind of sinus/cold thing, what's a girl to do?  Read, of course!  Read lots!  So that's exactly what I did.  I snuggled up with the animals and had a nice relaxing day of reading (I just love these little fuzz-buckets!).   

PS, I Love You is now complete and has become a favorite in the chick-lit category for me.  Be warned...spoilers lie ahead!  The basic premise is a bit cliche, I suppose... woman dealing with her grief after her husband's death.   However the presentation was done in a way that made it feel unique.  I was instantly drawn into the main character Holly's world and felt everything right along with her.  Essentially, her husband Gerry had a brain tumor and died at 30 years old, which devastated her world.  They had been together since high school, and as is pointed out on several occasions, Holly's life had revolved around Gerry and her marriage, so when he died she found is incredibly difficult to figure out a life on her own.  i.e. "When he was alive she'd lived for him, and now that he was gone she lived for his messages."  These messages being notes he had written and placed inside envelopes for each month left in the year he died (apparently knowing at a point that he wouldn't make it past March).  The messages are usually instructing her in some way to do something that will help her move on with her independent life and work through .  It's very emotional, these notes...in a sense they are what leads her through working out her grief and finding her way on her own.  At the same time, in some ways they prolong her grief, as she sees Gerry in these messages, as if he's still there with her (so rather than just ripping the bandaid and having to come to terms with him really being gone, in a sense he continues to be with her for another 10 months).  Ultimately, though, she finds a way in which to live her life without him, while always having a place for the memories of him and their life together within her.  Sounds sappy, I'm sure, because it is sappy.  There are also a couple of the usual unrealistic and/or cliche moments that remind you you're reading fiction/chick-lit (for example, you know how easy it always is for everyone to just decide on and get their dream job regardless of experience/skill), but nothing even remotely on par with My Sister's Keeper, and the writing here was far superior and compelling and the characters much easier to relate and empathize withPS, I Love You did that brilliantly.  I recommend it for anyone who enjoys chick-lit.  Just beware, as it's a very sad story and you should be in an emotionally ok place in your life before reading it.  Also, it's vastly different than the movie (though for me this was kind of a good thing...while I did cry at several parts of the book, it in no way compared to the nonstop cry-fest that occurs whenever I see the movie!).  Not better or worse, really...just different.  
I guess for me, my enjoyment of a book largely comes down to whether or not I truly feel "in it."  If I can feel along with the character, and believe in what is going on (at least for the most part), then the experience is much more enjoyable for me.  Of course there can be some over-the-top moments (I mean that's part of what reading fiction is about, right?  to escape the reality of everyday life), they just need to be immersed within an overall story that feels relatable.  

Next up?  Running With Scissors.  My sister-in-law is currently reading this one as well, though I haven't had a chance to see what she thinks of it so far.  Time to just dive in and find out for myself what it's all about.  

Ilya and I are both still working on our reading for the day, so we will come back to fill in the blanks in this post with our complete page counts before we hit the hay (though as of right now I'm still kicking Ilya's booty!).  For now, it's time to keep turning the pages!

Something like a romance

Yes sir, that Henry James sure knew how to tangle a sentence. Consequently, What Maisie Knew took me this long to finish. (When you read that sentence, Gentle Reader, be absolutely sure to stretch your arms wide, wide open when you come to "this long.") So very many concepts reduced so often to identification merely as "it," so many poor, woebegone persons reduced to repeated pronouns!

Beyond the sometimes impenetrably tangled style, we also find that the story we've received is not the story we were promised. The divorce of Maisie's parents is not really the central plotline of the novel. 'Tis true that they divorce, but that's a done deal in the first two pages; nor does the rest of the novel deal, at least not primarily, with their post-divorce strife as it filters through Maisie's perceptions. The actual story is what happens to Maisie and her new step-parents (each of the divorcees rapidly remarries): the step-parents prove to be much better people than the divorcees and gradually, in defending Maisie's interests and in gathering allies for her against her selfish parents, proceed to fall in love with each other. Really, it's something more like a romance, merely inverted because of the alteration in point of view.

Looking at What Maisie Knew as a romance throws into relief the incongruous ironies of the novel's ending. (Here be spoilers.) By the end, both of the parents have, not altogether plausibly, put aside any claim on their daughter and are each separately making plans to leave England: her father to America, her mother to South Africa. Each of her step-parents are therefore free of their obligations to their respective partners and their romance can blossom. But at this point, Maisie's third ally, her governess Mrs Wix, pronounces judgment upon the irregularity of the development of their romance. In the end, it is with Mrs Wix that Maisie ends up to be raised, not the happy united couple. It's an ending interesting to me, I suppose, in its tacit acknowledgement of the overall weirdness of the storyline.

I don't think I'd recommend the novel very vigorously, though. Aside from the challenges of the style (or perhaps because of them), I never felt the characters to be particularly compelling. The dialogue, I felt, also left something to be desired. I continue, in short, to not be inspired to any genuine affection for Henry James.

My next selection is Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon.

Brevity is the soul of wit

Pages read today: 78 for Meredith, 111 for Ilya

Today we decided mutually to bump up the minimum page-count requirement of the duel to 300 pages instead of 200. The latter is just too, too slim!

Meredith has been feeling under the weather, which has rather curtailed her reading for today (as we can see).

The "radically briefer" book I've opted to read after wrestling with Dostoevsky is What Maisie Knew, a short (248 sweet pages) novel by Henry James, published in 1897. It's about a very young child, the titular Maisie, who is caught in the middle of her parents' nasty divorce. The trick of the story is that the entire narrative is filtered through the young girl's perceptions and experiences, so that we have to interpret the character and behavior of the adults exclusively as they appear to the ripening understanding of the growing child. Seems like an interesting way to go about it (though previous James I've read has yet to inspire any especially ardent affection).

The forbidding thing about Henry James, or, as he's called by his fans, "The Master," is that the more he writes, the more he writes; the longer his career as a writer went on, the more convoluted his prose style became. I do believe the Master's output is divided into stages, of which the last is characterized (among other things, I'm sure) by an especially ornate style, deployed, allegedly, in the service of making extremely fine psychological and moral distinctions. Maisie is not so late as other James works (he didn't surrender the ghost until 1916), but I do believe it's the latest of anything I've personally read, and though I'm not sure precisely when the "late James" period of his life is slated to begin, I am finding the prose style comparatively challenging (though not as challenging as it is in the book's Preface, which James wrote for a collected edition of his works dating from 1909). As a Faulkner devotee, a convoluted sentence should not frighten me... but at least Faulkner pauses every so often to identify, usually parenthetically, a dangling pronoun. James does not. Ow, my brain.

Tomorrow is a holiday and I expect to finish the book. I'll write more about it then, hopefully more cogently.

"The best way to avoid disappointment is to not expect anything from anyone."

Gizmo loves to read with me!

To add to the quote above, one shouldn't expect anything from anything, either, including books!  I believe expectations are a big cause of the disappointment I felt with My Sister's Keeper.  Not the sole cause, but certainly a contributing factor.  Going in, based on descriptions I had read about the book, the expectation was that I would be reading an entirely fresh and original novel.
WARNING... SPOILERS AHEAD!
The basic premise sounds fresh and original - a girl (Anna) who was genetically conceived by her parents solely as a means of prolonging the life of their daughter (Kate).  I say prolong rather than save because the kind of Leukemia that Kate has is explained as being one that will inevitably kill her, however may be slowed down by various forms of treatment (all of which need a donor; and not just any donor, but a perfectly matched donor which they do not currently have within the family).  So what is a mother to do here?  Well, genetically engineer an offspring that is a perfect match, of course.  Anna has served as this life-prolonging donor for Kate for 13 years through various forms of donations/surgeries, but now Kate needs a kidney and Anna seeks out a lawyer to sue her parents for medical emancipation.
This is what drew me in.  It sounded like a story of Anna seeking out control over her life and a means of asserting her own free will as well as a story that would address all sorts of ethical questions and an internal struggle between wanting to save a loved one but not in a way in which you have to sacrifice yourself in the process.  However, it turns out it wasn't even Anna's own free will/control being sought after, but rather was Kate's wish to stop fighting the fight against her disease that led to the lawsuit in the first place.  There were some deep ethical questions raised (hello!  The mom conceiving the child solely as a donor for her daughter and who, no matter how much the book tried to make it seem otherwise, never loved Anna the way she did Kate), but the way in which they were presented was simply not what I had expected.  Quite frankly, in my opinion, it was not in a way that was fresh or original, but rather was riddled with cliches, poorly written and contained unnecessary subplots and slapped together ending that seemed designed solely for shock value rather than tying up the story.  It felt like The Lovely Bones again, except a million times worse because in this case, I was not impressed with the book leading up to the ending in any way.  The chapters alternated between points of view, which is typically a method I enjoy.  However, in this case there were SEVEN points of view.  Yes, that's right, seven.  Several of these could easily have been done away with, as they did not contribute anything for me to the true focus of the story, and their subplots were just plain stupid.  Take, for example, the points of view of Anna's lawyer and her guardian ad litem, who just happened to have had a star-crossed high school romance (her being a hipster and he being a rich, preppy jock... cliche much?), and now thanks to the fates have been reunited, reconnect and get married all within the span of the novel!  If I sound bitter, it's because I am.  This story line was just plain stupid and did not need to be there.  There was by far enough subject matter to explore just within the basic premise without including this stereotypical, superficial storyline thrown into the mix.  If these characters truly needed to be developed in order to tell the main story (though I honestly do not feel that they needed to be), there certainly must have been a better way to do it.
The other subplot that made me so angry I wanted to throw the book across the room the second I figured out what was happening was that of the firefighter dad and arsonist son.  I mean really?  Seriously?  Again, like there isn't enough good, rich material to develop in the main story, we have to throw in yet another horrible cliche?  Because of this and the aforementioned disappointing subplot, every time there was a chapter devoted to Jesse (arsonist son), Campbell (lawyer) or Julia (guardian ad litem) I just wanted to skip past them.  I didn't, but the point here is that 3 out of the 7 points of view felt out of place, as if they were taking me away from the real content, which meant almost half of the book was nothing more than an annoyance to me. 

Reading parties are the best!

Yet I forged ahead, and after working through, skipping back and forth amongst these seven different points of view, we end up discovering that what seemed to be the main story (Anna feeling inner turmoil over wanting to have some control over her life by way of medical control and thereby being able to exercise some free will of her own while also wanting her sister to live) was actually something else entirely (that it was actually Kate's own desire to stop receiving treatment and asking Anna to help her die that facilitated everything).  This felt like yet another cliche, of being torn between respecting the wishes of a dying loved one while still wanting to do everything in your power to keep them alive for your own selfish desires.  When this was revealed, I had essentially given up on having any positive feelings about the book.  Fortunately, this happened to correspond with the moment in which the author seems to have run out of steam (what little steam she even had) and then threw the ending on, an intense ending which only received 10 pages of book space.  In this ending, Anna is on her way to the hospital with her lawyer to see her dying sister Kate, gets in a car wreck, ends up brain dead, her parents have to remove her from life support and the lawyer who is now in charge of her medical well being has to be the one to decide to donate her kidney to Kate.  We got 10 pages for all of this to unfold, when the mind-numbingly stupid subplots received at least 5 times that.  It was an ending slapped on for shock value and I found it insulting.  Oh, and then we receive a couple pages of epilogue from Kate's point of view 8 years later... just to let us know yeah, she had a bit of a rough go after the kidney transplant but now she's somehow perfectly healthy!  Oh, and that arsonist son who was so deeply troubled throughout 400 pages of the book?  Well he just happened to miraculously turn around (because you know...losing a sibling wouldn't cause him more trauma, it would just make him a better person) and he became a decorated police officer.  And underneath all of this, I wonder... WHAT THE HECK?!!  The entire main story about control over one's own body, finding out it was actually Kate's wishes to not receive the kidney (rather than Anna's wish not to give her one) culminated in everyone knowing this...including her parents and Anna's lawyer yet it never seemed to be a question (not that there was any room for questions in the ridiculously unsubstantial 10 pages allotted to the ending) whether Kate would get the transplant.  Though I suppose that's because the main focus of the book was never actually the main story.  
I went into this one, as I said, expecting a profound novel when in fact it is chick lit.  Don't get me wrong here, I LOVE me some chick lit.  However, I love it when I'm going into it with the intention of reading a chick lit book.  Though honestly, I can't imagine liking this book even as a chick lit read, because the cliches, uninspired subplots and annoying characters were far too plentiful and I felt manipulated by the author every step of the way.
I'm going into my next read, PS, I Love You, fully expecting chick lit.  I have never read this one, but have seen the movie a bunch of times.  It's a movie that I enjoy even though I cry through about 95% of it.  I'm curious to see how the experience of reading the book will compare to watching the movie.  There's only one way to find out (by starting to read it), which I shall be commencing now.

"Time is an optical illusion - never quite as solid or as strong as we think it is"

Pages read today (at this point, technically yesterday... so 1/18/14):  209 for Meredith, 92 for Ilya (62 of The Brothers Karamazov, 30 of What Maisie Knew)

My thoughts on My Sister's Keeper will have to wait until tomorrow.  It is quite late, I just completed the book a few minutes ago and am still trying to recover from the intense emotional ride the last 15 pages or so took me on!  I will, instead, provide a brief update pertaining to our non-reading-related life, specifically involving our fur babies. 

Kali (our kitty) had to go in to the vet yesterday to have some teeth extracted and has been getting quite a bit of attention after her ordeal, as we watch her to make sure she is recovering all right.  Here she is with the spaced-out gaze of coming down from the anesthesia high.  She took it all like a champ and has proved the vet right in how she suddenly morphed into a happier, more energetic kitty (not sure why this is surprising, though... of course she's happier now that she's not in constant mouth pain!).

Gizmo has been quite distraught due to the amount of attention being paid to her, and so he has been spending most of his time sulking like this --------->
It's quite a tough life for a cute little dog. 

 






On an unrelated topic, after working too much overtime this week, there is the dreaded scratch in the back of my throat that can only mean illness is headed my way.  I'm counting on an intense regimen of Zicam and sleep to kick it to the curb.  Fortunately there is no work for me on Monday, so there is plenty of time to rest (and read!).  Let the intense sleep regimen commence now!

Amazing Journey

And so at last I have come to the end of The Brothers Karamazov.  What a long strange trip it's been.  The organizing principles by and large continued to escape me through to the very end.  What is the book even about?  I know now what happened in it, but what's the significance of those events?  What is the basis of their claim to be not just what happened in a story, but what happens; to be a type, an emblem, of the sort of thing that happens everywhere all the time?

I don't know; it's too big to summarize, too fragmented to piece together. Let's just examine an interesting-looking fragment or two and then move along. This is a race we're running. The following discussion will no doubt contain what are unwisely dubbed spoilers.

Near the end of Karamazov, Dmitri is convicted for the murder of his father, a crime which the reader is by now quite certain was committed by his father's valet (or perhaps illegitimate son) Smerdyakov, dead at that point by his own hand. The case against and then for him are summed in two lengthy closing arguments. Why Dostoevsky bothers to devote so much time to setting forth, in such copious detail, the errors and misunderstandings of the court officials may be something like the following: both the prosecuting and the defending attorneys link the fate of the defendant Dmitri to the moral destiny of the Russian nation, and that moral destiny of the nation is in turn a battleground between piety and atheism, tradition and progress, mysticism and reason. So that even the novel (perhaps this collaboration with those looking for profundity and significance is a mark of the "great novelist," so called?) gets busy explaining how what happened is just what happens.

The novel ends with a speech given by Dmitri's devout and benevolent brother Alyosha to a group of schoolboys after the funeral of one of their playmates, Ilusha (the name is a diminutive of Ilya, incidentally). Alyosha says that Ilusha's example will live on in all their hearts, and in times to come, when the boys, less innocent and more adult, may be struggling with the pressures of life, perhaps Ilusha's memory will arise before them and give them some aid in remaining uncorrupted, unbroken; or, if the question for them is no longer one of remaining, then it may aid them in regaining their moral footing and correcting the course of their lives. Does that strike anyone else as Dostoevsky's mission statement? The novel, once read, lingers as a memory that may aid us in the project of becoming good people.

This is about to get a little glib and superficial, but: when Dostoevsky's characters ruminate on the destiny of Russia, be that destiny high or low, noble or not, it can be difficult not to project onto Dostoevsky knowledge which he, writing almost four decades before the Communist Revolution, could not have possessed, of the actual Russia's actual fate. No, that's not quite right; it would be more apt to say that many of the topics Dostoevsky undertakes to discuss appear, to my admittedly scanty and piecemeal knowledge, to have remained pertinent through the period of the Revolution (and of course some of them persist to the present day, nor in Russia alone). So that the effect is as though you've been reading something prophetic: as though Dostoevsky, however indefinitely, foresaw a coming cataclysm, and sought to warn people: to give them an example, a memory, that would rise in their minds at the relevant moment of temptation and steer them back toward wisdom and virtue. Wow. (That it obviously didn't work is not a mark against Dostoevsky since prophetic warnings are usually ignored.)

I'm not yet sure what I'll read next. Something radically briefer. I'll go survey my bookshelf. Until next time.

We are all Kosh

Pages read today: 73 for Meredith, 49 for Ilya

I hate to reveal myself as a one-trick pony, but I am: and the trick apparently is to compare great works of literature to TV shows I've watched.  I did it with "The Grand Inquisitor" and Angel, and now I must, alas alack, confess that (oops) I did it again by concocting in my head a comparison between Dmitri Karamazov's dream and ye olde classic mid-90s low-budget sci-fi epic, Babylon 5. Of the two dreams I discussed yesterday, Dmitri had the redemptive, life-affirming one, and it reminded of an episode from the third season of Babylon 5, in which the character G'Kar gets hopped up on space meth, or something, and hits rock bottom (like Dmitri) after inflicting near-deadly violence (like Dmitri), at which point he has a spiritual revelation. Check, check, check. The points of divergence, however, are these: no space meth in Karamazov, and in Babylon 5 it's made rapidly clear that G'Kar's revelation is the fruit of telepathic manipulation by an alien, Kosh, who very much enjoys playing God.

Another point of divergence, and really the major one, is that G'Kar's epiphany, manipulation and all, takes in a way that Dmitri's doesn't seem thus far to have done.  From that point of epiphany onward, G'Kar becomes steadily more and more generous, self-sacrificing, noble, and virtuous, as the show goes on, until, admittedly rather late in the show, there comes a time when one says, "I think I've had enough of G'Kar and his insufferable bouts of wisdom." Dmitri, on the other hand, though his dream has made some sort of deep impression (his dialogue continues to be laced with those oblique references to it that no one else in the novel can comprehend), continues to be a Dostoevskian character: violent, passionate, deeply riven and conflicted.  The dream has not brought him any lasting peace or clarity.

Although the novel ain't over yet. I have 62 pages left to go.  A lot can happen in 62 pages; I may even develop a new trick. We shall see what we shall see. Keep the pages turning.

In Dreams Begins Responsibility

Pages read today: 115 for Meredith, 46 for Ilya

I'm so close now to the end of Karamazov, and the story's clicking along very swiftly indeed.  When he wants to be, Dostoevsky is quite thrilling.  Supposedly he studied the stories of Charles Dickens extensively, but Dostoevsky is definitely more into a flagrantly philosophical kind of storytelling than Dickens ever was. One could compare the section I just finished, in which Ivan Karamazov dreams of being visited by the Devil to, say, Dickens's A Christmas Carol (which I reread back in December, actually), and there are some similarities, but the differences are profuse.  Difference number one is the basic nature of the conversation: where Scrooge submits to his supernatural lessons very quickly, Ivan's visit is much more of a debate, even a struggle.  He's an atheist and he believes, or wants to believe, that the Devil is a figment of his subconscious; which he can hardly be wrong about since at the end of the chapter he wakes up.  But is he (the Devil, that is, the figment) something else as well?

The back cover advertises the primary plot of the novel as the story of the four brothers who "become involved in the brutal murder of their own father."  Best not to give the summaries of advertising hacks too much credit, as in fact the murder takes place more than halfway through the book.  A slow boil, to be sure, and Dostoevsky makes it even slower in some ways by, once the murder is committed, jumping forward in time so that we the reader are separated from the chain of the immediate consequences, the chain we were so involved in beforfe; and even by jumping sideways to a subplot which barely even existed in the novel before the murder took place.  It's a peculiar and sometimes frustrating technique.

Speaking both of dreams and of diverging from the primary points of interest: Dmitri Karamazov, the suspected murderer, has a curious dream in the hours shortly after his arrest and initial interrogation, and the dream evokes in him some kind of compassionate, humanity-loving response, and since then we've only seen Dmitri through the narratives and eyes of others. Boo. It's unclear, therefore, whether the effect the dream produced has been lasting, though the speeches that we "hear" Dmitri make are occasionally laced with references to the dream. I suppose I'm interested in the story of what we might call Dmitri's moral resurrection.  Redemption is a compelling topic for a story, which is a little strange because virtue so rarely is.

I ended tonight's reading on a pretty exciting cliffhanger. Therefore I'm going to bed that tomorrow may come all the sooner, and I can get back to the book.

Toodles!

Oh happy day

Pages read today: 149 for Meredith, 60 for Ilya



Today marked the 4 year anniversary of our first date.  To mark this occasion in some way, I'm including
some semi-blast-from-the-past photos of us in the earlier stages of the relationship.

 In the reverse of the stereotypes, he had a card for me this morning (handmade, even!) whereas I was empty handed.  It's not that I was unaware of the date of our first-date-aversary, but I guess I just figured since we're married now we wouldn't be doing anything.  Ultimately I recovered and made him a card of my own and had a day full of reminiscing about our first date, the formation of our relationship overall and how much I love my husband.  Take that, stressful work day!  There was no way to drag me down!

Add into that the fact that I completed Winter's Bone, putting me at 4 completed entries for the duel, and it has been a pretty great day!  As for my thoughts on the novel... it wasn't love, but wasn't hate either.  I certainly wanted to love the book, after reading all the rave reviews.  In actuality, it just felt like too much - too much description, really.  I have never been a fan of over-the-top usage of description as a means to place the reader "in" the story, and that is exactly what Winter's Bone does (IMO).  It feels like there is very little actually happening at any given moment, with a whole lot of description as to the scenery, the clothes people are wearing, the weather, etc.  This is not to say the writing was bad; the writing, including the descriptive parts (being most of the book) was powerful and effective in its own right, just not in the way that pulled me in to where I felt truly "in it" (and to me, feeling "in it" is important for my overall experience of a novel like this).  The story itself was quite riveting, though, even when looked at from more of a removed stance, and the main character (Ree) was a strong female lead, which was refreshing.  She wasn't simply strong as in the ability to harden herself to situations she faced, which is often how "strong" females in books and films can come across these days. 


 I would not add it to my favorites and most likely will not read it again, but am glad that I did read it.  If nothing else, it reminded me how good I have (and have always had) it living in the suburbs and caused me to reflect on and appreciate the life that I have. 

Just a quick progress report

Pages read today: 181 for Meredith (101 of The Reader and 70 of Winter's Bone), 27 for Ilya

Ilya is in real trouble if he doesn't start cracking soon!  The problem is he is a writer too, so it's tough on the weeknights to fit in as much as he wants of each of them.

I say it's time we won the lottery!

"The truth of what one says is in what one does"

I'm going to go in reverse discussing my last 2 reads, doing my best to avoid spoilers.  Having just finished The Reader a few minutes ago, I am still reeling a bit and find myself at a loss as to how to explain it in a way that will do it the amount of justice it deserves.  For a fairly short (and definitely a fast) read, it contains an abundance of thought-provoking subject matter and themes.  Even just taken for the surface story you encounter love, betrayal, fear, shame, guilt and moral dilemmas pertaining to relationships, the Holocaust and life in general.  I found the writing to be captivating and I was deeply emotionally invested in the characters.  As I read along with Michael's story, I found myself evaluating the roles in which the fear, shame and/or guilt we feel under the surface so deeply affect our behaviors and our motivations in how we interact with others, as well as the influence of our past experiences on our everyday lives.  I particularly like this quote from the book: "The tectonic layers of our lives rest so tightly on top of the other that we always come up against earlier events in later ones, not as matter that has been fully formed and pushed aside, but absolutely present and alive."  YES.
I know some people have an issue reading it because of the fact that the main characters' relationship begins in an intimate way when he is only 15 and she is 36.  Personally, this did not pose a problem for me.  Do I think that in itself is wrong and abhorrent?  Absolutely.  However, this is a book about fictional characters and the story is about WAY more than that.  The book presents information in which the reader could potentially choose a side (Michael vs. Hanna) as to who was to blame for the others' pain, but ultimately I think what comes through is that both characters are deeply flawed and to a large degree bring their own problems on themselves by way of insufficiently dealing with their own shame, guilt and fears.  In a nutshell, I found The Reader to be added to the list of my favorite books.  I found it profoundly moving and thought provoking and would highly recommend it.   

The Lovely Bones is not as cut and dry.  I found myself feeling conflicted about this one.  The writing was superb and grabbed me in such a way that I genuinely felt as if I were seeing everything through the narrator (Susie)'s eyes, feeling her experiences right along with her.  The book addresses life after death, morality and grief, with a unique view of the afterlife which I found to set it apart from other books that deal with the same issues.  My only issue with this book was the ending... overall I loved reading this book, but at a point it seemed as if the writer just realized "oh!  I better end this book now!" and set off on a path that did not seem to fit with what had been going on and quite frankly was just bizarre.  It ended up wrapping things up for most of the characters in a way that made sense with the rest of the novel, but for a few (being main characters) it simply did not (IMO).  It's a shame because the rest of the book was compelling and gripping and even though dealing with the afterlife felt like I was "in it".  It kind of burst the bubble when it started off on this strange path and took me from feeling complete understanding and compassion with the narrator to not being able to relate at all, which essentially ruined it for me.  It's worth the read, as the vast majority is so well written, just be warned that when you get into the last 20 or so pages, shit's gonna get weird!

Now I'm moving on to Winter's Bone.  It seems I am on quite the book/film kick right now.  Time to read!
 

Heavy eyelids

Pages read today: 203 for Meredith (85 of The Lovely Bones, 118 of The Reader), 50 for Ilya

Having stayed up far too late last night reading, enduring a long day of work and more work at home, I was still able to get in a good amount of reading but my eyes couldn't handle any more time in front of the computer to write an insightful post about The Lovely Bones.

I'm over halfway through The Reader, though, and anticipate having that completed by tomorrow evening, so my hope is to write a combined post about both books tomorrow night.  We'll see how that goes!

Until then... here's a photo of our little family having a reading night. 

Ilya looks unsettled here, probably because I'm crushing him in the duel!

Moving along nicely

I just finished reading The Lovely Bones.  I will write some kind of proper post about it later, but as a generic review I would say it was captivating and enthralling, well-written and definitely worth the read.

I have decided to read The Reader next (kind of funny, right?  Me, the reader, reading The Reader).  Ok, I guess it's not all that funny, but it amuses my dorky sense of humor.

The Reader is 219 pages, which technically counts as a book, per the rules of the duel.  However, I do not really feel like I should count this one on its own.  I mean, it just barely makes it past the 200 page marker and from what I see so far it is broken up into very short chapters so there will be a lot of half blank pages.  Therefore, I have decided that after The Reader, I will move on to Winter's Bone which is only 193 pages.  These together, I feel, make up an adequate entry into the duel.

I saw the movie version of The Reader a few years ago and don't remember much except that I enjoyed the film.  It is always helpful for me going into the book with an open mind in this kind of situation (not really remembering details from the film), to avoid the constant comparisons along the way.  I'm looking forward to this one and am going to try and get a few pages in before my lunch break ends.

Additional update(s) to follow later tonight.  

Driven to distraction in a vehicle made of instant streaming video

Pages read today: 124 for Meredith, 92 for Ilya

It can be difficult to be a reading machine when one suddenly discovers that seminal movies of one's adolescence such as Star Trek: First Contact are on Netflix Instant; but despite the lure of this gross temptation I have reached and surmounted the midpoint of Karamazov. I seem to have adapted to the peculiar mix of philosophy and emotionalism which forms the style of the novel; or perhaps (again) the previously uneasy mixture has simply congealed (for lack of a better word) into a more solid and, uh, I don't know, easily digestible (?) substance. What a peculiar metaphor.

And now the weekend is over, and tomorrow it's back to work and the consequent dearth of reading time. Meredith, who estimates that tomorrow she will complete The Lovely Bones and then move on to book #4, whatever that may be, is kicking my booty so very very hard. Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the downfall of once-prodigious bookworms...

Vroom vroom

Pages read today: 143 for Meredith, 56 for Ilya

I have now read through a very famous section of Karamazov, the chapter called "The Grand Inquisitor." In the guise of a story written by one of the titular brothers, Ivan, it describes the return of Jesus Christ to Earth in the 16th century (not, I gather, the official Second Coming, merely a visit) and his interrogation by an official of the Spanish Inquisition. (Insert Monty Python-derivative joke.) Would it sully my artsy-fartsy cred to reveal that much of the time I spent reading aforesaid chapter I also spent ruminating upon the parallels with the last five episodes of the fourth season of Angel? (I mean, we start with an image of a god returned to earth, surrounded by adulating worshippers, and then spend a considerable amount of time pontificating on the distinctions between peace and free will.) Yet I think the more thrilling passages are the section immediately foregoing ("Rebellion"), which is closely related to the "Inquisitor" section, and then the section following, describing the final hours and thoughts of the character of the monk Zossima, which is diametrically opposed to the "Inquisitor."

"Rebellion" leads into the "Inquisitor" by letting Ivan describe at some length his anti-religious attitudes. Earlier passages in the book had dealt with religious philosophy as well, but the discussion found previously had seemed, for lack of a better term, old-fashioned. Saying that a world without a God is a world without morality, as some of Dostoevsky's characters seem to be saying, seems to this contemporary reader like a naive and glib answer given by a past age to the genuinely challenging question of where moral codes come from in the first place. In the "Rebellion" section, however, the narrative becomes imbued with a passion (there's that word again) and fire that earlier discussions had lacked. Ivan is asking the perennial question of why a loving God allows evil in the world, which I'm sure seems to many modern religious people to be as naive and glib and hackneyed as the earlier passages were to me, but I found the exposition of the dilemma forceful and even exciting. For a time the narrative assumes the focus that I appreciated about Underground.

After the "Inquisitor" section Dostoevsky moves on to the diametrically opposed Zossima passages. Where "Rebellion" and "Inquisitor" were bitter and skeptical, Zossima speaks in the final hours of his life of love and hope and virtue. It's a pretty wild pendulum swing from bitterness to hopefulness, and it's impressive to think that Dostoevsky's vision is broad enough, that he as a novelist is confident enough, to just let the representatives of both viewpoints speak at such length and divert the novel for so long.

So is Karamazov getting better and more exciting or  am I simply reaching sections that I am better capable of grasping and understanding? (Is there even any actual distinction to be made there? Conventionally yes, but actually? I'm not sure there is.) Whatever the cause, it's nice when your reading isn't so much of a slog. I look forward to tomorrow's reading time.

I think I'll just stick with the here and now

As promised, here come my thoughts on The Time Traveler's Wife.  THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!! Do not read if you don't want to know some fairly large pieces of the plot.

Ultimately, I was able to read the book almost completely removed from comparison to the movie and only reflected on the similarities/differences between the two after completing the book.  What it comes down to, for me, is that the movie always felt like experiencing a great love story with some tragic elements to it, whereas the book felt like a Shakespearean tragedy that raised all kinds of philosophical questions.  Don't get me wrong though, as this isn't to say one is better than the other but simply that they each felt vastly different for me.  

I greatly enjoyed the style of writing in the book, which utilized flashbacks and alternating sections from Henry's point of view and Clare's in order to develop the characters.  This built up a history for each character within the back of the reader's mind so that by the time the serious business starts to go down the reader can better feel what each of them is experiencing.  Strangely enough, though, the story portrayed felt much more like "The Time Traveler" rather than "The Time Traveler's Wife."  While the sections from the point of view of Henry and those from the point of view of Clare felt fairly balanced, it always seemed as if Henry were the one narrating the story and Clare was merely providing some additional insight.  This wasn't necessarily an issue for me in reading the book or even something I would consider to be a negative, but was simply something that I noticed and found odd considering the title.  

While the movie does portray some of the tragic elements at the root of Clare and Henry's love (the fact that Clare is so often sad/lonely/miserable/worried/scared in Henry's absence), for me the actual chemistry and love between these 2 characters came through much better on the screen.  For me, in the book their love is something that is pointed out, stated as a fact, rather than something that is demonstrated and felt.  You know that they HAVE to end up together and get married because that's how they are in the future and that's just how it is (based on Henry repeatedly explaining to people how nothing in the future can be changed or avoided), but you don't necessary see why it is these people would actually love each other.  In fact, a lot of it is just disturbing when you think about it... I mean, Henry is in his late 30's-early 40's when he travels back in time and spends time with young Clare between the ages of 6 and 18.  Henry's character discusses in the book how he has to exercise extreme self restraint when he sees her in her teenage years (some being towards the lower numbers of the teenage years), and ultimately, her first time "making love" with him is on her 18th birthday when he is 41.  He's 41 and in his present time, he's married to Clare who is 33, has had a baby (as well as numerous miscarriages) and certainly doesn't look how she did at 18.  While the writing for this scene did make a point of having Henry note he's fond of the marks on older Clare's body, there's still a lot of discussion about her youthful body and I'm sorry...this is just feels weird rather than sweet and romantic. 

So Henry is always older (and already married to or at least with Clare) when he visits her younger self.  After their little rendezvous on her 18th birthday, there is a 2 year gap between when they see each other, and their next time seeing each other is actually when they are both in the present time together when Clare is 20 and Henry is in his late 20's.  He doesn't have any memories of her yet since all of his encounters with younger Clare happen for him when he's in his late 30's-early 40's and so he has no idea who she is.  He's selfish, kind of a jerk, has drug problems, and there's just nothing there that really explains why it is that she wants to be with this guy (aside from how she loved being with him when he's 40 and because it's what Henry has always told her is how it is in the future and the future can't be changed).  This was the one thing I had a hard time with - not really feeling the connection between them.  At least not a non-physical connection.  There are several pretty explicit bedroom scenes in the book and honestly, if I hadn't seen the movie I would have no clue why it is these two people love each other, aside from a good time in the bedroom and because they just know they have to end up with each other. 

I realize this is sounding quite negative, yet I actually did enjoy reading the book!  I just don't necessarily think that it is the mushy love story many readers find it to be.  I suppose this is because for me, all of the aforementioned issues tie into the more fundamental underlying themes of love, fate, destiny, morality and free will.  There were several times in reading the book I asked myself "wait, so which came first?  The chicken or the egg?"  I just wish the book had shown more why it was that Clare and Henry together in the present time loved each other, removed from her memories of the past and their knowledge about the future.  

There were so many tragic elements to the story, there was never a point in the book where someone wasn't suffering in some way and Clare and Henry in particular suffer through every part of the book.  Clare is in a constant state of waiting, from the beginning of the book where she is 6 years old and starts waiting for Henry's future visits to the end where she is 82 and has been waiting for his visit (to be the first time she sees him after his death) for 47 years.  The book even ends with her discussing how her life has been a constant state of waiting.  For Henry, he is just hopping from one form of suffering to the next, sometimes enduring more than one at a time, including physical and emotional suffering.  That is life though, right?  Suffering and trying to find love to make the suffering not as painful.  The thing is, though, Henry and Clare's love is often the source of their suffering.  I suppose that's also a part of life and maybe that's kind of the point.  The suffering of life is inescapable.  Even if you can time travel and know everything ahead of time, you still have to suffer right along with everyone else. 

There were so many big issues brought up through Henry and Clare's story, and I am still pondering many of them (particularly the extent to which my actions would change if my perception as to the amount of free will I have changed and how much, if anything, I would want to know about my future if that were ever an option).  I would recommend the book for anyone who is interested in the nature of love, free will, fate, morality, destiny and, of course, time travel. 

Patting myself on the back!

Another one bites the dust!  I now have 2 completed books under my belt in this duel and I'm not gonna lie, it feels quite good.
I will post some kind of reflective entry tomorrow about what I thought of The Time Traveler's Wife.  All I will say for now is that it exuded a major Shakespearean Tragedy vibe to me.  There is never a point in the book where someone isn't suffering (and actually there is usually more than one person suffering at any given time).  Even the underlying love between Henry and Clare is itself tragic in many ways, as it causes them both so much suffering.
On that happy note, it's time for me and my non-time-traveling husband to get some sleep!  Next book up for me will be The Lovely Bones.  Another uplifting tale, I'm told.  ;)

Pass

Pages read today: 177 for Meredith, 27 for Ilya (le sigh)

Yes, it does appear that Meredith is whupping me all over the place. They say that "slow and steady wins the race," but I've never found that fable altogether convincing: what if the Rabbit had just decided to postpone his nap until the race with the Tortoise was over? 

Nevertheless, bit by bit I'm making my way through Fyodor Dostoevsky's last novel, The Brothers Karamazov. By comparison to my previous experience with Dostoevsky, the concise little novella Notes from Underground, I'm finding Karamazov something of a slog. (That I haven't had much time per day to read compounds the difficulty.) Karamazov is long, diffuse, and the principles organizing it have, thus far, by and large escaped me. But a little perspective is in order: it's 700 pages long. I haven't even reached the midpoint yet. Frankly, for those of you who remember studying Freytag's triangle in school, I'm not sure I've even reached the inciting incident yet.

That sounds a little horrifying, actually (259 pages without a discernible plotline? Say what?), but that just brings me to my second thought for the day: is there even a point in trying to evaluate this thing? "His characterization is iffy and there's no sense of place at all." Pass. It seems to me there's potentially a lot of value in surrendering the sense of judgment, switching it off for a while, and seeing what understanding that brings.

That all being a rather roundabout way of saying I'm still reading.

Three cheers for the (almost) weekend!

Pages read today: 119 for Meredith, 14 for Ilya

Well, I'm continuing to lead Ilya in the amount of reading, but I'm making sure not to get too cocky.  He really didn't have much time for reading today but I know soon he will have the time and when he does, he is a reading machine!

My brain is fried and I am unable to come up with anything to write on here tonight that would be of any value, so I shall simply call it a night and spare you all from reading my nonsensical, exhaustion-induced ramblings.

Sometimes life just gets in the way

Pages read Yesterday, 1/8/13: 132 for Meredith, 7 for Ilya

Yesterday was just a bad day for me.  A long day filled with a bunch of unpleasant encounters.  One of those days where I actually wished there was a way to time travel.  Time travel, though, in a way that would allow me to actually change things without some kind of catastrophic consequences for the future.  Alas, this isn't possible.  We just have to roll with the punches in life and try to find a way to learn from our mistakes and become better people in the process.  And actually, on second thought, from everything that happens to Henry in The Time Traveler's Wife as a result of his time travel (or in connection with), I think I'll just stick with the punches from life.
Anyway... by the time I was done with the long, bad day at work, was done with my overtime work at home last night, Ilya was done with his writing and we actually sat down to do some reading, we were both so exhausted that we passed out in a matter of minutes.  My decent page count for reading was only because I had extra time in the morning and had time to read on breaks and lunch at work. 
Ilya didn't have those opportunities, as he was using his free time for last minute preparations for his interview (which he says went well, he just wished he had been a little farther along in the timeline of interviews so he wouldn't get lost in the shuffle).
Today is a new day, though.  I have dusted off the debris from yesterday and am determined to have a better day today, and Ilya and I both have big plans of getting in some quality reading time tonight.
Happy Thursday!

"I worried all day about pants for the man cause he seemed like he really wanted pants" - Clare, The Time Traveler's Wife

Pages read today: 107 for Meredith, 29 for Ilya

In Ilya's defense, he has an interview at work tomorrow for a higher-up position, so his free time over the last couple of days has been almost entirely devoted to prep work for said interview.  Fingers crossed he will get the position!  I have complete faith in him, of course, but fingers crossed never hurt. 

Overtime has started back up at my work as well, so it will be interesting to see how I can balance my time and still fit in reading.  Today, even with a couple hours of overtime at home tonight and watching the latest episode of Bob's Burgers on Hulu, I was able to fit in a good amount of time to read.  FYI, for anyone who hasn't seen Bob's Burgers, you should check it out.  It's absolutely hilarious!  It's one of those shows that is difficult to explain to someone, but just trust me and at least check out one episode!  The first 2 seasons are on Netflix Instant.  Do it!

I have been trying to read The Time Traveler's Wife and take it in on its own, as a completely separate thing from the movie (basically attempting to not compare the book and the movie constantly as I'm reading).  This is proving to be quite challenging for me.  It's a problem I have always had with book movies and it goes both ways (if I read the book first, then while watching the movie my mind is comparing it to the book and vice versa).  For the most part, though, I do think this go around is going better in that respect, as I am really focusing on appreciating the book in and of itself.  The only major difference I have noticed is more of a general underlying theme difference.  The movie focuses its attention almost entirely on the love story element, which is understandable for a movie to do and which I am fine with (as previously stated, it is one of my favorite love story movies).  The book certainly has the love story in there, and in many ways it is even better developed (fairly common difference between books and their movie counterparts), but the book also explores pretty deeply the question of free will and the extent to which we have it.  The existential question as to the extent to which we have free will as well as the question of how our perception of the extent to which we have free will affects our actions are questions that have always interested me, so I'm finding this theme to be what I am enjoying the most so far.

It's not just a chick flick/romance novel, people!

Such a productive reading day, even with working all day!

Pages read today: 217 (phew!), and Gone Girl is complete!

Gone Girl was one of the best books I have read in a good, long while.  So gripping that I crushed it in only 2 days, one of those days being a full work day!  I read far later than was probably wise last night, read as much as I could this morning between getting ready and heading to work, read more in the car on the way into work, read on both breaks and all of lunch, read more in the car on the way home... you get the point.  Every available opportunity was spent reading this book.  It's just that good.
Book 3 did crank up the crazy level of the characters by about a gazillion percent, and I'm not entirely sure yet how I feel about the ending (seriously...the crazy levels!), but the book as a whole was truly topnotch and I can't wait to check out some of Gillian Flynn's other works as well.
Next up for me, though, will be a re-reading of The Time Traveler's wife.  My sister-in-law and I were talking about movies over dinner on New Year's Eve.  I believe it started with a discussion about our favorite movies, and how I'm a weirdo who doesn't think Love Actually is one of the greatest romantic movies ever (maybe because of all the hype - every female ever told me it was the most amazing chick flick movie of all time) and then veered into a discussion about The Time Traveler's wife, which is by far one of my favorite love story movies.  Even though so much of the story is completely unromantic (I mean, he's constantly disappearing on her, leaving her feeling unfulfilled!), the underlying love story itself is so captivating.  Plus Rachel McAdams is one of my favorite current actresses to watch, so beautifully pulling the viewer into whatever emotion her character on screen is feeling.  Yes, this should be what acting in general is about, but many actors simply don't pull this off (IMO).  There's just something about her that really works and sucks me in every time.
Anyhow, I digress... so we were discussing the film and how my sister-in-law hadn't seen it but had heard the book was much better than the movie, and it hit me that I had no recollection about the book or how I had felt about it after reading it (I definitely did read it before though!  About 2 years ago, I think).  So it seems like a good time to re-read it and figure it out!
I'm looking forward to starting in on it tomorrow.   For now, I'm spent from the rollercoaster ride that was Gone Girl and am in need of some serious rest for my eyeballs!
(P.S. I'm totally crushing Ilya so far!)

Quest inception headiness!

Pages read today: 198

Today marked the first official day of our literary duel/quest.  For those reading buffs who may scoff at such a quest, thinking this is an insult to literature in some way, I hope to put your mind at ease a bit.
Ilya is the most intellectually driven reader I have ever known.  While he far surpasses me in reading speed, it is in no way at the expense of attention and/or retention.  Also, his books of choice have always been those of a far higher intellectual standard than mine.
This year will in no way be any different for him in this regard.  Clearly, as reflected by his first book choice!  
I, contrastingly, have almost always chosen to read lighter material with a few classics thrown in here and there.  This year, however, I'm hoping to actually expand my horizons in book choice and include more books of richer substance.  
There will be no speed reading, no choosing "easy books" or anything of the sort.  This truly is, at its core, about us both wanting to read more books this year, a resolution we have each had for several years, typically with very minimal success.  Our hope is that blogging our way through it with a competitive edge thrown in will simply serve as a means of holding us more accountable and possibly even provide some kind of outside motivation and cheerleading!  
All of that said, I dove into the challenge with Gone Girl, which had been coming up all over the place lately (I presume because it is set to be made into a movie in the near future).  So far it has me completely hooked.  It is extremely well-written, with the appropriate level of attention to detail that refrains from going to the point where you ask "what was even happening before this long description about the trees?"  It has rich, flawed characters you can't help but relate to in your own way (all of us human beings are flawed in some way(s)!).  Every chapter leaves me with the need to know what will happen next, and as such it's time to get away from the computer and back at it with the reading!
I'm including 2 pictures from this morning, one of Ilya and one of myself, each surrounded by our fur buddies, as we began on this quest.  I'm on the fence as to whether they help or hinder the project...especially when they're both laying with me snoring!  It sure does make me feel sleepy...