Gorgeous and intensely problematic. The Orientalism and misery porn of sexual exploitation were unrelenting, but within that, there's a ripeness for dGorgeous and intensely problematic. The Orientalism and misery porn of sexual exploitation were unrelenting, but within that, there's a ripeness for discussion that I honestly don't mind. If Thompson could have dialed those down and turned up the transcendental Islamic and Christian mysticism, this could have been an amazing graphic novel. ...more
This was a great graphic novel. Atmospheric, unsettling, and drawn so that the words alone didn't tell the story, "The Underwater Welder" read like a This was a great graphic novel. Atmospheric, unsettling, and drawn so that the words alone didn't tell the story, "The Underwater Welder" read like a movie. Likened to a "Twlight Zone" episode in the introduction, in my mind it outclassed anything on television by straying into the realm of art, both on a literary level as well as an artistic one. The style of the drawing is shaky, but in that it evokes a rough, weather-beaten working-class town there even the pretty things have grit to them. Highly recommended. ...more
For those who don't know, Eloisa James is a tenured Shakespeare professor and Robert Bly's daughter. And she just happens to write historical romancesFor those who don't know, Eloisa James is a tenured Shakespeare professor and Robert Bly's daughter. And she just happens to write historical romances, which have been some of my favorite mind candy as of the past year. She has a knack of being able to characterize the privileged class of England as complex, relatable people, and is, as would be expected, a gifted writer.
That said, this book was a huge disappointment for me. I've greatly enjoyed many of Ms. James' previous books, and have especially loved it when she makes a nosedive into really uncomfortable, almost gritty situations and stories.
"Say Yes to the Duke" had a promising beginning. The main female lead, Viola, has such severe social anxiety that she vomits before and during all social gatherings. Then she meets our main male lead (whose name I've already forgotten), and is magically able to be witty, snarky and charming. After that: Voila! no vomiting.
Then there is our male lead, who we are told is cold and friendless, and who grew up with a drunk and belligerent father. What we are shown, however, is a man who is on very comfortable and intimate terms with his cousin--one would almost think they're friends--and who comforts and reassures Viola with an astonishing amount of emotional intelligence for one with such a background.
I get that romances are often dismissed as escapist. I get that the aristocracy of England is made into a fantasy land in this subgenre, and that Happily Ever Afters are the name of the game. But still...
Perhaps I'm in a very tiny minority in expecting more from the more gifted writers of this genre. Romance is so often derided by intellectuals and written off as fluff, but I for one think that it has enormous potential, and serves a very real and important purpose of reinforcing our belief in the healing power of loving relationships. And because of this, I think those romance writers that are capable of going deep and have a solid and nuanced grasp on psychology should go there. In real life, both of these characters would likely have had traumatic roots, and recovery should be depicted as what it is--a process, not a wedding as a finish line.
And if I'm to go one step further--stop fucking writing about dukes, earls, marquesses and the like. I'm sick of it. The social history of England informs our worship of privilege and wealth here in the States, and we blindly overlook the exploitation and suffering that allowed and still allows that class to thrive and survive. There are already some authors on the fringe committed to shattering this myth of the glory days of the aristocracy, and some in the mainstream such as Courtney Milan. It would be amazing if someone as gifted and popular as Ms. James did so as well, because I for one don't buy that marrying a duke means that one lives a life of bliss with no problems ever after. I don't even think one needs to marry into wealth. Where are the historical romances depicting working class people? Don't we deserve to be the subjects of these novels of epic love?
I could write a dissertation about this, but I'll get off my soapbox now. ...more
I combed through a lot of reviews hoping to find some mention of the brilliant way Dimaline used the myth of the rougarou to evoke the continuing tragI combed through a lot of reviews hoping to find some mention of the brilliant way Dimaline used the myth of the rougarou to evoke the continuing tragedy of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and no luck. Perhaps there’s one out there, but before you read this book, I suggest you look into it. It’ll heighten your appreciation of the novel by dialing up the creepiness and your concern and fear for Joan on her quest to find her lost husband. ...more
This book is fucking funny. And heartwarming, raunchy as hell, smart, well-written and fun. A smile came onto my face during the first couple pages anThis book is fucking funny. And heartwarming, raunchy as hell, smart, well-written and fun. A smile came onto my face during the first couple pages and rarely left for the rest of the time I was reading it. Talia Hibbert takes gender stereotypes and throws them on their noses as the vulgar, workaholic, commitment-phobic PhD student Dani Brown meets the romance-reading, wears-his-heart-on-his-sleeve ex-Rugby player turned security guard Zafir. The usual romance novel tropes are there in spades, but that's what makes it a romance--you wouldn't have a mystery without a murder, sci-fi without space, and you don't have a romance without tropes and a guaranteed happily ever after/happy for now.
If anyone out there wonders why read romance when the world is filled with beautifully written novels that explore the subtleties of human nature and the world, then I would hand them this book. In it, as English doctoral candidate Dani gives Zaf grief for his reading preferences, Hibbert launches a solid defense and explanation as to what makes the genre relevant and--dare I say it?--important. Sometimes we just need to believe that everything will be ok, and that people will work through their shit and heal the wounded bits of their psyche as they grow into relationship with another person. Love is important, and books that make us value it shouldn't be maligned or written off as being "for women". There is a latent misogyny in the status that romance novels have in the literary world, one which would have us believe that love and relationship aren't as important as...well, nearly every other genre.
I rarely read contemporary romances, but this one was laugh out loud funny and had a wonderfully diverse cast of fully fleshed out characters. RecommeI rarely read contemporary romances, but this one was laugh out loud funny and had a wonderfully diverse cast of fully fleshed out characters. Recommended for whenever you want reading as light as cotton candy ;)...more
Solid writing, exceptionally worthy topic, but the tragedy of it all kept me from wanting to finish it, as if that would (view spoiler)[keep Yale fromSolid writing, exceptionally worthy topic, but the tragedy of it all kept me from wanting to finish it, as if that would (view spoiler)[keep Yale from dying in the end (hide spoiler)]. ...more
What an absolutely lovely book. To bask in the peak of summer in a rural English village, and wander around the countryside while visiting pagan ruinsWhat an absolutely lovely book. To bask in the peak of summer in a rural English village, and wander around the countryside while visiting pagan ruins encapsulated in an old church...that was what lured me in, but the complex humanity of the characters kept me going. "Seven Summer Nights" is a truly wonderful romance that fully embraces the life-affirming fantasy of the genre in the most literal terms without ever being trite or shying away from the ugliness that exists in the world. Highly recommend it. ...more
This is a question I circled back to repeatedly while reading 'The Wings of the Dove'. At one point in this novel, Kate proclaims thWho is Kate Croy?
This is a question I circled back to repeatedly while reading 'The Wings of the Dove'. At one point in this novel, Kate proclaims that Sir Mark is a genius for his evasiveness, the fact that no one seems to know what he knows or doesn't know. To me, this seemed to summarize the aim of James in writing this book--to show the extent to which we are and are not enigmas to one another, and how much of that is by design. How often do we understand someone, only to pretend to ourselves, as well as others, that we don't?
There are two classes of characters in 'The Wings of the Dove': those that wish to be known and those that don't. Milly Theale, Susan Stringham and Maud Lowder, as well as Kate's sister, constitute the former, and Kate herself, Merton Densher (horrible name), Sir Mark, and Kate's father are of the latter. Our sympathy is clearly directed in this classification--we may know that we like Milly and Mrs. Stringham, and though we might find Aunt Maud and Kate's sister a bother at times, they're not perplexing. The others...what we feel about them will be anything but simple. The astonishing indirectness of the language of the novel itself reflects this, at once brilliant and maddening in how it circles around making a definite point.
James keeps us near to the world of the abstract for the bulk of the book, obfuscating Kate's machinations by never laying out in absolute terms what her aim is, though we understand it completely. The point where everything changes, where the moral cost of seducing a dying woman so that one might inherit her money, become clear, occur so late in the novel that it is as a house of cards toppling down in the effect it has upon a reader.
In the end, I came away with more questions then I had answers. How much do we cast Kate at a manipulative villain, the daughter of a near sociopath that she is? Does Densher's love of Kate, then Milly, excuse him from understanding the repercussions of his actions? Is Aunt Maud to be disliked for being so controlling, or to be grudgingly admired for her appreciation of the beauty of people? Only Milly Theale is unambiguous in her goodness, her desire for life in the face of death.
Ultimately, I did not find myself transported or transformed by reading this, however. I loved where it took me, and I will never deny the genius of Henry James. There was a dryness to this work that kept me from being fully immersed in it, and though I'm glad I read it, I didn't feel about it as I did the Portrait of a Lady or the Princess Casamassima. ...more
Listening to this on audiobook, I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud as I walked my dogs down the street. Humor and tragedy are woven seamListening to this on audiobook, I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud as I walked my dogs down the street. Humor and tragedy are woven seamlessly together in Cranford. As soon as the reader is pulled into thinking that this is a book about light nothings, something terrible happens. Life and death are in constant relationship with each other, and because of it, a story that could seem trivial has a subtle profundity to it. I was reminded strongly while reading it that Gaskell was the wife of a clergyman. There’s an indulgence and understanding of the petty foibles that are part being a person made me think of the perspective of someone who has seen a great deal of humanity. This is middle class life at its most gracious and benign, and I feel slightly better for having read it. ...more
Thoroughly enjoyable with fantastic chemistry between its two leads, 'The Hating Game' was a delightful read. It didn't come close to transcending itsThoroughly enjoyable with fantastic chemistry between its two leads, 'The Hating Game' was a delightful read. It didn't come close to transcending its genre, and stumbled majorly when the female lead attempts to play family therapist for the male lead, but don't let that stop you. This is relational escapist reading (aka romance) near its best.
**Upon some reflection, I want to add that I feel the author passed up a teachable moment in failing to more explicitly address eating disorders in men. Having just read "Trade Me" by Courtney Milan where she tackles this issue head on, Sally Thorne let it slide. In 'The Hating Game', our male main character works out at lunch every, but only consumes a protein shake after. He keeps vanilla ice cream in his freezer but doesn't eat it. He is meticulous about all aspects of his food intake to the point it appears mildly disordered to say the least. Instead, Sally Thorne talkings about how his body is insane, and how it makes the female lead feels a little bad about her own nutrition. The author sounds only the quietest alarm bells about the obsessive and extreme methods he takes to get it.
Yes, there is a double standard. Women often live this kind of life surrounded by the obsessive fear of calories and the need to maintain an amazing body. But, looking back, had the eating habits of 'The Hating Game' been reversed, I would have been equally disturbed. The eating disorders of men often go hidden in plain sight, as in Josh. It would be nice if pop culture acknowledged them more. ...more
Reading "Split Tooth" at the same time as Mircea Eliade's "Shamanism", and right after Bathsheba Demuth's "Floating Coast", I'm seeing nuances that I Reading "Split Tooth" at the same time as Mircea Eliade's "Shamanism", and right after Bathsheba Demuth's "Floating Coast", I'm seeing nuances that I would have otherwise overlooked. Listening to Tagaq's music, watching her videos, now reading her book, there is a mysticism in her work that is undeniable and sublimely gritty. This book delivers a content that sweeps through the life of a woman who starts off ordinary, then becomes swept up by the transcendent.
I did not think that this book was at all overrated. How many of us have lived in the Arctic? How many of us have had our community and way of being ripped apart and reassembled into a ghost of its original, bringing with it terrifying vices and people who would exploit resource you have at your disposal? How many of us have lived in the whiplash aftermath of colonization, a member of a group of people you are told are 'lesser', and should be ashamed of the way of life of your ancestors? How many of us have reclaimed the sacred rites of our ancestors with a fury that is as authentic as it is beautiful? I would like to challenge those who tried to critique this book, saying it was overhyped to think in these terms, then revisit it with a mind open to both heartbreak and an ecstatic proclamation of selfhood flying in the face of adversity.
The imagery Tagaq uses to capture life growing up in the Arctic is extraordinary. Everyday childhood struggles contrast with sexual abuse so rampant that there is no question of telling someone or not. There is no authority to tell, with the adults all but absent from the frame, lost to alcohol, drugs, and other tools of colonial suppression. And in the background, a world so vast, so terrifying and awe-inspiring and elemental that it defies standard description and begs for poetry.
So go ahead and rate this lower than five stars. Add a clever reason why you think Tagaq's prose didn't live up to some subjective gold standard. Bypass any feelings of guilt about the genocide our country and ancestors perpetuated. Just know that there is more to a work of art than the execution--there is the context. And in this case, to ignore context is to be complicit in the silencing of a people that our country has been trying to silence for generations....more
For those who are romance-curious, but worry the genre is either going to be too a) silly, b) trite, c) unintelligent, d) stereotypical, or e) fluffy For those who are romance-curious, but worry the genre is either going to be too a) silly, b) trite, c) unintelligent, d) stereotypical, or e) fluffy for you, then start with Courtney Milan. Smart, funny, and heartfelt with twisty and engaging plots--she singlehandedly changed my mind about the genre. Now that she's also exposed the romance writer's union as being less than transparent about how they treat minority writers and topics such as racism amongst their ranks, she's become one of my heroes. Seriously, the woman is kick-ass, and a damn good writer. If you find yourself in the mood for some quick, light reading that still manages to be smart and suspenseful even while a happy ending is guaranteed, pick up any one of the Brothers Sinister novels. You won't be disappointed....more
"The Water Dancer" is a book that exists, relentlessly, on multiple levels. On one level, it is a lush, beautiful, and accessible novel about slavery "The Water Dancer" is a book that exists, relentlessly, on multiple levels. On one level, it is a lush, beautiful, and accessible novel about slavery that, while not shying away from the everyday brutality of it all, doesn't take a perverse pleasure in depicting torture. On yet another level, it is an intentional subversion of adventure fantasy genre and the superhero storyline, with a hero that makes Captain America look like a vacuous flibbertigibbet. And on yet another, it is a brilliant deconstruction of the psychology behind slavery in the American South.
And therein lies the reason for four stars instead of five.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a tremendously thoughtful writer. He's made a name for himself writing non-fiction about the Black experience in the United States, and he's done it with insight, empathy, and razor-sharp intelligence. The very thoughtfulness that has made him successful in his non-fiction writing worked against him in his fiction. "The Water Dancer" doesn't suffer for lack of action, well-drawn characters, and historical context. It does, however, go off on philosophical and psychological musings about its subject. These are wonderful to read, but at the same time, they take one out and away from the story, and because of that, the emotion. I appreciated that to some degree, as I find reading about what happened to people during slavery almost unbearably heartbreaking, but it dulled the overall emotional impact of the book for me.
I still would wholeheartedly recommend "The Water Dancer", and I'm glad I bought it. Intellectually, I found it to be wonderful. It just didn't leave me in that foggy daze a truly transporting work of fiction does. ...more
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