The Humans

I loved The Humans. I really loved it. The unnamed alien narrator was brilliant. I thought every bit of his comments about life on Earth were spot on and hilarious. Some observations from the narrator (who is Andrew, but not really Andrew), are just funny: "unfathomably pointless eyebrows"; but also true: "The manners and social customs too are a baffling enigma at first. Their conversation topics are very rarely the things they want to be talking about." Matt Haig created a compelling, interesting, complex character, who has to deal with our complex world.

Many of the quotes really hit me, especially in the currently global and political state. Or societal state. Or feminism: "I could write ninety-seven books on body shame and clothing etiquette before you would get even close to understanding them."

Matt Haig wrote The Humans from the perspective of an alien visitor, who has taken on human form, and is trying to fit in, though he also has a pretty awful mission. In his trying to fulfill his mission, we the see the world from the outside, in. I wonder if The Humans might contain everything that has ever made Haig frustrated about life in our world.

"Oh, and let’s not forget The Things They Do To Make Themselves Happy That Actually Make Them Miserable. This is an infinite list. It includes – shopping, watching TV, taking the better job, getting the bigger house, writing a semi-autobiographical novel, educating their young, making their skin look mildly less old, and harbouring a vague desire to believe there might be a meaning to it all."

There are just so many quotes. I have not highlighted so much from a novel since University (not that I highlighted the actual novel). Most of these are from the beginning of the novel when the alien is trying to figure out human life.  With the idea that they are being said by an alien impersonating a human, they are just so insightful. They are blunt and honest. It is the main character's honesty and innocence (ignorance?) that had me from the beginning. I also couldn't help but think, this super advanced civilization sending an alien to live among us, they couldn't have coached him better? Or given him clothes? The beginning would have been less funny, though.

The journey that not-Andrew goes through though, is just amazing. He knows nothing, but also everything. He learns so much, he moves beyond the numbers. Not-Andrew is amazed with what he is capable of. The Humans is really one of the best books I've read this year (so far). It's funny, but layered with emotion. I really didn't know what was going to happen at the end.

So here are way more quotes than I think I've ever included in a post before, but I just love them. I also tried not to include anything spoilery.

"Once there, I had several immediate reactions. First, what was with the weather? I was not really used to weather you had to think about. But this was England, a part of Earth where thinking about the weather was the chief human activity."

(I'm sure the English really appreciated this one. Also, weather is also a hot topic in Canada.)

"This was, I would later realise, a planet of things wrapped inside things. Food inside wrappers. Bodies inside clothes. Contempt inside smiles."

"Understandably, a human needs to know what kind of book they are about to read. They need to know if it is a love story. Or a murder story. Or a story about aliens. There are other questions, too, that humans have in bookstores. Such as, is it one of those books they read to feel clever, or one of those they will pretend never to have read in order to stay looking clever? Will it make them laugh, or cry? Or will it simply force them to stare out of the window watching the tracks of raindrops? Is it a true story? Or is it a false one? Is it the kind of story that will work on their brain or one which aims for lower organs? Is it one of those books that ends up acquiring religious followers or getting burned by them? Is it a book about mathematics or – like everything else in the universe – simply because of it?"

"Yes, there are lots of questions. And even more books. So, so many. Humans in their typical human way have written far too many to get through. Reading is added to that great pile of things – work, love, sexual prowess, the words they didn’t say when they really needed to say them – that they are bound to feel a bit dissatisfied about."

(I love the quotes about books!)

"Humans, as a rule, don’t like mad people unless they are good at painting, and only then once they are dead. But the definition of mad, on Earth, seems to be very unclear and inconsistent. What is perfectly sane in one era turns out to be insane in another. The earliest humans walked around naked with no problem. Certain humans, in humid rainforests mainly, still do so. So, we must conclude that madness is sometimes a question of time, and sometimes of postcode."

"Basically, the key rule is, if you want to appear sane on Earth you have to be in the right place, wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, and only stepping on the right kind of grass."

"She came to see me in my room, while a nurse watched. It was, of course, another test. Everything in human life was a test. That was why they all looked so stressed out."

"Remember, during your mission, never to become influenced or corrupted. The humans are an arrogant species, defined by violence and greed. They have taken their home planet, the only one they currently have access to, and placed it on the road to destruction. They have created a world of divisions and categories and have continually failed to see the similarities between themselves. They have developed technology at a rate too fast for human psychology to keep up with, and yet they still pursue advancement for advancement’s sake, and for the pursuit of the money and fame they all crave so much."

"As well as religion, human history is full of depressing things like colonisation, disease, racism, sexism, homophobia, class snobbery, environmental destruction, slavery, totalitarianism, military dictatorships, inventions of things which they have no idea how to handle (the atomic bomb, the Internet, the semi-colon), the victimisation of clever people, the worshipping of idiotic people, boredom, despair, periodic collapses, and catastrophes within the psychic landscape. And through it all there has always been some truly awful food."

"Where we are from there are no comforting delusions, no religions, no impossible fiction."

"A human life is on average 80 Earth years or around 30,000 Earth days. Which means they are born, they make some friends, eat a few meals, they get married, or they don’t get married, have a child or two, or not, drink a few thousand glasses of wine, have sexual intercourse a few times, discover a lump somewhere, feel a bit of regret, wonder where all the time went, know they should have done it differently, realise they would have done it the same, and then they die. Into the great black nothing. Out of space. Out of time."

Middlemarch

Middlemarch is a total soap opera.  There’s relationship drama and political intrigue.  It takes place during an interesting political point in history, where part of the political problems come from the “Reform Bill”. The business subversion and debt is abundant. Money and love seem to motivate everything, whether wanting or lacking. I could see Middlemarch done in 4 or 5 seasons… or one crazy mini-series.  (It has been done.)  I don’t think it could ever be a proper movie, there’s way too much going on.  So much so, that I would occasionally forget who a minor character was and have to look them up (thanks, Internet). Middlemarch was not an easy read, but it was worth it.

What kept me reading was George Eliot's brilliant characters. I loved Dorothea Brooke and Will Ladislaw, emotionally invested in the outcome of their lives. Their relationship was so natural and grew through genuine affection. The relationship was a huge contrast when compared to Lydgate and Rosamond. She frustrated me so much! I felt so sorry for Lydgate. Mr. Brooke was so doddering. I really liked Farebrother and wished I could have known how his life ended up. Bulstrode was a perfect character. For me though, it always came back to Will and Dorothea. They were my favourites, eager to find out what would happen to them. Eliot contrasted Dorothea and Rosamond quite a bit in the novel. One dark-haired and one light, but maybe the darkness represented Dorothea's depth of thought and emotion, while the light was Rosamond's feelings, her shallowness. I was excited when the two finally encountered each other.

Middlemarch takes place in the past for the narrator/Eliot, as she refers to how things were and the "Reform Bill". It's an interesting perspective on 1829-1832 from someone who is living in the 1870s. There are moments of apology for things happening 40 years earlier. I wonder what kind of social changes happened in those 4 decades for Eliot to occasionally take that tone. 

I also liked the cheeky tone that Eliot sometimes used: "Society never made the preposterous demand that a man should think as much about his own qualifications for making a charming girl happy as he thinks of hers for making himself happy. As if a man could choose not only his wife but his wife's husband! Or as if he were bound to provide charms for his posterity in his own person!— When Dorothea accepted him with effusion, that was only natural; and Mr. Casaubon believed that his happiness was going to begin." Was this something women and men had started to think about? About each other's happiness and not just it being one-sided?Were men regarding women's feelings? I think this is something Lydgate and Mr. Casaubon should have thought of. Fred Vincy seemed to consider it.

Let's talk medicine for a minute. Lydgate's professional goals were all about discovery and explanations for things. Why didn't people like that back then? Superstition? He seemed so much more advanced than the other medical men in Middlemarch. "He not only used his stethoscope (which had not become a matter of course in practice at that time), but sat quietly by his patient and watched him." Just, wow. Why wouldn't it be used all the time? From Eliot's comments, in the 1870s, stethoscopes were commonly used, but why did it take so long to catch on? People knew where their hearts were, right? Why wouldn't you want to have a better listen too it? This really caught my attention.

Though I kind of hated Mr. Casaubon, I felt sorry for him too. He just didn't get it. He didn't understand Dorothea. He didn't understand what marriage was, I think. Why did he ever decide to marry her? So he didn't have to hire an assistant? He had no faith in her, but she was so trusting with him. She never had bad intensions, but he couldn't see that. "Dorothea told him that she had seen Lydgate, and recited the gist of her conversation with him about the Hospital. Mr. Casaubon did not question her further, but he felt sure that she had wished to know what had passed between Lydgate and himself. "She knows that I know," said the ever-restless voice within; but that increase of tacit knowledge only thrust further off any confidence between them. He distrusted her affection; and what loneliness is more lonely than distrust?" It is so true, what is more lonely than distrust in a relationship? 

Will and Mr. Casaubon speak of the same woman: "I have not spoken too strongly now," said Will, leaning back against the angle of the wall. "There are certain things which a man can only go through once in his life; and he must know some time or other that the best is over with him. This experience has happened to me while I am very young—that is all. What I care more for than I can ever care for anything else is absolutely forbidden to me—I don't mean merely by being out of my reach, but forbidden me, even if it were within my reach, by my own pride and honor—by everything I respect myself for. Of course I shall go on living as a man might do who had seen heaven in a trance." One see the woman as heaven, the other with distrust. Why are their perspectives so different? Is it age? Life expreiences? General disposition? I don't know that Casuabon ever was really socialized with the world beyond his studies, where Will was all about the world. They are so very, very different.

I loved the language of the novel too. Eliot could craft a sentence, pour emotion into metaphor, "the years had been perpetually spinning them into intricate thickness, like masses of spider-web, padding the moral sensibility". Though it was a long read, with many devoted hours, phrases like that grabbed me, had me waiting for more.

I first read Middlemarch a long time ago, back in University, but honestly, I couldn't remember anything about it, except that I liked Dorothea and Will. I am so happy to have re-read it. It is definitely a novel I can see myself reading again in the future and it's one I would recommend to those who like a good story.

Emily Dickinson - Three Series

Emily Dickinson - Three Series is the collection of Emily Dickinson's poems, which I had to read as an ebook, since I could not find a complete printed collection in store.  Also, the complete ebook was free. Not a bad deal, right? I wrote a bit about my reading experience last week. I decided to include it on my Spin list, even though I started it a while ago, because I needed the motivation to finish it. Reading one or two poems in between novels was not cutting it anymore. Plus, I've been wanting to share what I've been reading. 

It's just so difficult to talk about all the poems, but I feel like I should, like each one deserves a moment of its own. They deserve more than just the glimpse into her work that I'm going to give here.

I think most literary people (any many non-literary people) are familiar with Dickinson's The Chariot:

Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,

Their lessons scarcely done;

We passed the fields of gazing grain,

We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed

A swelling of the ground;

The roof was scarcely visible,

The cornice but a mound.

Since then 't is centuries; but each

Feels shorter than the day

I first surmised the horses' heads

Were toward eternity.

I remember reading this poem more than once during university, for various classes. Something about it must have stuck with me, because now I've read all of her poems. All those poems and all that reading has left me with eight pages of notes and highlights that I want to go back to and read again as I read the poems.

I decided to read the poems slowly. Many of the poems are short, some are only four lines, so I decided reading them like a novel would be a waste. I wanted to take my time, think, feel each poem. I may not write about each poem, but I can go through the eight pages of notes and highlights and pick a few things to share.

The poem titled in the collection, In A Library, is great.  It starts:

A precious, mouldering pleasure 't is

To meet an antique book,

In just the dress his century wore;

A privilege, I think,

I just love it! The entire thing is an ode to books and libraries. It spoke to me.

As light as this poem was, there are many that have darkness, that come from some deep, solitary place. There are also others that seem to be observational, looking at the beauty of nature especially. There are times when I feel like she's talking about herself and others where I feel as though she is reacting to the outside world.

The Lonely House stood out for me as poem with a bit of a story. It had a good creep factor too, a poem for Halloween maybe.  The third stanza

How orderly the kitchen ’d look by night,

With just a clock,—

But they could gag the tick,

And mice won’t bark;

And so the walls don’t tell,

None will.

The walls don't tell what? Who's in my house? Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

I want to talk about The Mystery of Pain, but instead I'll just include the link. I'm nervous about looking too deeply at it.  There's pain there and maybe Dickinson wanted to solve the mystery of her own.

This one also stood out for me:

Death is a dialogue between

The spirit and the dust.

“Dissolve,” says Death. The Spirit, “Sir,

I have another trust.”

  

Death doubts it, argues from the ground.

The Spirit turns away,

Just laying off, for evidence,

An overcoat of clay.

I don't even know what to say about this one, I just want people to read it.

But for a new part of the emotional journey:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

This is actually the second time I've posted this poem on my blog. I think it's my favourite in the entire collection. 

There are just so many, too many. 

This one, near the end of the collection, almost had me crying:

We never know we go,—when we are going

  We jest and shut the door;

Fate following behind us bolts it,

  And we accost no more.

I read it shortly after the deaths of Alan Rickman and David Bowie, as well as news of the death of the oldest person in the world.  Rickman and Bowie were 69, but the former oldest person was 112. The poem just made me think that we never know when we are going to go, 69 or 112, sooner or later. I don't even know if that's what this poem is really talking about. 

Many of the titles (all?) are arbitrary, added posthumously. Some aren't even the same across all collections. Most of the poems are just numbered. I suppose that is because she only published handful of them in her lifetime. I wish she had published more in her life, but I suppose that's what many people have wished. I think that I might start re-reading the poems, just always have them on my tablet and between novels and stories, when I want a little clarity or burst of emotion, read one of her poems, a cycle from beginning to end and around again, always with me. Is that crazy? I don't know. I just find the idea comforting and isn't that what you want from what you read.

I don't think there is enough time in my world for an in depth study of her work, maybe back when I was studying in University. Let's just say, I recommend her work, from the well-known to the lesser-known and that Dickinson's work is something I see myself continually returning.

MacBeth

MacBeth was interesting, but not what I expected. Though, I don't know what I really expected. I had never read MacBeth before (even though I took an entire class in University on William Shakespeare). I knew about the witches, I knew they told MacBeth some stuff and because it is Shakespeare, I assumed MacBeth died at the end. You know what I didn't know? Lady MacBeth. She does some serious convincing, then she goes nuts! Can I blame her for the path MacBeth goes down a bit? Not all of it though. He goes mad with paranoia! All the those people, former friends, wives and children. The witches definitely put the idea into MacBeth's head, but it is Lady MacBeth that spurs him into action, and MacBeth has to be held accountable for falling into desperate ambition.

I'm left feeling like I did after reading Cyrano de Bergerac, I really want to see this play. I've heard that there is going to be a movie soon, with Michael Fassbender. I'm really excited for it, more than I would have been had I never read Shakespeare's play first. I really enjoy the witches' scenes. Something about their rhymes and laughs and talks with Hecate are so fascinating. I'd love to see it played out. The opening scene, one of the best I've ever read, I'd love to see it on stage or the big screen. The scenes with MacBeth and his wife, making plans, deciding to do the deeds. I also feel like I will connect more with the themes and emotion of the play, if I could see it. Though, the end, with the beheading, very dramatic no matter how that's played out on film or stage. 

Is it weird that this kind of reminded me of The Hunger Games and killing for power... though I suppose there are a lot plays, movies, novels, about killing for power...

I was supposed to be done on October 23 for the Classics Club Spin, but somehow didn't get it finished in time.

I wonder how I'll feel and what new insights I'll have after seeing the movie?

I wonder if I'll ever finish reading all of Shakespeare's plays?

Quotes:

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair:"

"Round about the cauldron go; 
In the poison'd entrails throw."

"Double, double toil and trouble; 
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."

"Fillet of a fenny snake, 
In the cauldron boil and bake; 
Eye of newt and toe of frog, 
Wool of bat and tongue of dog, 
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, 
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, 
For a charm of powerful trouble, 
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

"By the pricking of my thumbs, 
Something wicked this way comes."

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player 
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage 
And then is heard no more: it is a tale 
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,"

First Sentences

I recently changed the entire first page of my work-in-progress and that got me thinking of first sentences. The first one that popped into my head was from Pride and Prejudice, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." While I enjoyed Jane Austen's most famous work, part of the reason I thought of this quote was because that line gets a lot of air play. Then I wondered, what were the first sentences of some of my favourite books...

The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child. – The Turn of the Screw, Henry James

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. – David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. – The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. – The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

The servants called them malenchki, little ghosts, because they were the smallest and the youngest, and because they haunted the Duke’s house like giggling phantoms, darting in and out of rooms, hiding in cupboards to eavesdrop, sneaking into the kitchen to steal the last of the summer peaches. – Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo

There was once, in the country of Alifbay, a sad city, the saddest of cities, a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name. – Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rusdie

The day I died started out bad and got worse in a hurry. – Undead and Unwed, MaryJanice Davidson

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. – The Gunslinger, Stephen King

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. – Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. – Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

A few years ago it dawned on me that everybody past a certain age – regardless of how they look on the outside – pretty much constantly dreams of being able to escape from their lives. - The Gum Thief, Douglas Coupland

My mother thinks I'm dead. - Legend, Marie Lu

All this happened, more of less. - Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Across genres and eras, the first sentence of a novel is important. It can captures a reader's interest or make them roll their eyes in annoyance. I've learned that not all first lines hold mystery, sometimes it takes the first paragraph or first page. I have a lot of respect though, for writers that can take you away, pull you in, grab and never let go, with that first sentence.

Little Knife, by Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo's Grisha folk tales are amazing. Little Knife lived up to all my expectations. Like The Witch of Duva and The Too-Clever Fox, there was more to the story than what first appeared on the surface. Little Knife is the story of a ghost town, Velisyana. There once was a girl, Yeva Luchova, and she was so beautiful that the mid-wife, various nurse-maids, an artist, etc., tried to steal her. Duels were fought for her, but after the second death they were stopped. The Duke, her father, decides to hide her away for the protection of the people. Her response is great, '"Papa,” Yeva said to the Duke. “Why must I be the one to hide?”' Seriously.  It's not her fault, the people need to learn some self-control.

It's described as if it was magic to look upon her face. When a rich man suggests Yeva marry his son, after seeing her for himself, starts fighting with his son for her. Then the colonel, who comes to break up the fight, sees her too for the first time, and starts fighting. After she leaves, and they can no longer see her face, it is as though a spell is broken.  The colonel then suggests that the Duke end all the madness and marry off his daughter.  He puts forth three tasks and the winner gets her.  Again, Yeva has a great response, “Papa, forgive me, but what way is this to choose a husband?" So true, right?  She says it essentially three times, after he sets forth each task. Her father's response is basically, you want the Prince to win, so you can be rich, right? I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter to her if she is rich.

I love the end.  I loved the river.  Little Knife is what the river is called by a poor man vying for Yeva's hand.  Little Knife and Yeva are the real focuses of the story. Yeva is punished for the actions of other, Little Knife is used and not respected. I wish we could know her true name.  I wonder how this story will be mentioned/used in Ruin and Rising.  Is Alina Yeva?  Is the firebird Little Knife?  Or will they just be passing through a deserted town and told to stay close to the group, remembering the legend of Velisyana?  I'm so excited for more Leigh Bardugo and I feel like Little Knife is a story that's going to stay with me for a long time.

 

Clay's Ark

There is a ship, Clay's Ark, which takes Earth's first ever interstellar explorers to another planet. That doesn't turn out so well. The last surviving crew member makes it back to Earth and goes into hiding. There is also a family. A doctor and his two daughters, their mother having died some time ago. It is 2021 and America does not seem like a great place to live. Smash all that together and we have the story of Clay's Ark.

What I liked most about Clay's Ark was Octavia E. Butler's allusions to the future.  Clay's Ark was published in 1984. To me, it doesn't seem that long ago, but it has been 31 years (and that makes me feel old).  Talking about her grandparents, Keira "wanted to visit them in the flesh, not just see them on a phone screen." That's something we can relate to now. We Skype and FaceTime our family and friends who live far away, even ones who don't, but sometimes it is nice to be with them in real life. Even the main character's name is called into question.  When Eli asks where Keira got "a name like that", her response is that her mother didn't want her children "to have names that sounded like everybody's." To which Eli starts calling her Kerry.  If Butler only knew, I know more than one Kiera (and Keiran) and her sister Rane does not have an unusual name for the 21st century either. At one point, the characters "turned on the map", which I think means they turned on the GPS.  From the descriptions of the screen in the car, I'm sure it's an onboard GPS. The vocabulary to describe it was just different in the early 80s.

Of all the things that were part of the "future", this quote struck me most, "She knew about ugly reactions. Probably Jacob knew more, or would learn more, but walking down a city street between her mother and her father had taught her quite a bit." Keira's mother was black and her father is white.  She remembers the racism she has had to deal with in her life (though Butler never uses the term "racism" throughout the entire novel), about people not believing Blake is her "real" father, as she is darker skinned than her sister.  I hope we are mostly past these reactions. I haven't experienced them here, but maybe that is also about where I live.  I have gone to other places and felt "different", a feeling I hope my children never experience.  I sometimes wonder if it would be worse for them too, because their father is white. Nobody has ever stared at them though, except to say that they are adorable. I appreciate Butler writing these kinds of characters in the 70s and 80s. I've read other works by her with interracial couples and I feel like those stories might have been difficult to get published.

The story takes place in 2021, which was a long time away for people living in 1984, but that is only six years from now.  Are we going to Proxima Centauri in six years? I doubt it. Though how they got there was not based on current technology (that of the 80s or of now). Here's how they did it...

I waited for half the book to tell me about Clay Dana and why Eli's ship was called "Clay's Ark". Then, it was barely a couple pages of information, about Clay Dana giving over information for interstellar drives, based on his own psionic powers and how the potential for these powers in others could power the drive.  I'm not sure I'm on board with this reasoning, but it is what happened.   The part that irked me the most was that the ship was the only information we got about Clay.  What about him as a person?  Yes, he was with Eli and the other astronauts, but what about his life?  Who was he with?  Did he have a wife and family? What was his life like after he left his brother behind? Where is he now? What about his brother and the Patternist people?

In the end, I felt like Clay's Ark was a set-up book.  With Doro gone by the end of Mind of my Mind, the Patternists had no enemies, no one to stand against them as they spread.  By the end of Clay's Ark, there is something that can now threaten the survival of the Patternists.  It had to come from outer space, but it is on earth now.  I wonder what the Patternists are going to do about it, but I also wonder if we needed a whole book to give the organism a back story.  I think I would have liked the story better if it felt more connected to the series, instead of me just waiting for information that was never coming.  Clay's Ark was okay.  I think the story had more potential, but it didn't dive deep enough.  It did make me think though, and I can always appreciate that. I am looking forward to Patternmaster. I have a feeling there is a showdown coming.

Lady Lazarus

Lady Lazarus is a violent poem, if poems can be described as violent. It is one of the most famous poems by Sylvia Plath. For my Classics Club list, I do not only read novels, but other classics as well, like poetry.  I have read The Bell Jar and thought it was fantastic.  I could have re-read The Bell Jar, but my interest in poetry is growing and my affection for Sylvia Plath's only novel has never waned.  I knew that Plath's poetry was going to be rich and deep.

Lady Lazarus is a dark poem, full of visceral emotion. Plath uses Nazism as a metaphor for oppression. The speaker feels watched, studied; she isn't free.  As the poem's title evokes, there is death and rebirth. "The sour breath/Will vanish in a day." There's exposure, nakedness in the rebirth. She feels at home in the earth and wants to stay there. 

The oppression throughout the poem connected to me.  I appreciate poetry that has a story to it. Though subtle, there is a story here.  The speaker talks about each of her deaths and the value that others place on her.  By the end of the poem the speaker finds her strength. She warns the doctors who keep bringing her back, she "will eat men like air."

Reading Lady Lazarus has definitely made me interested in reading more of Plath's poetry. Lady Lazarus is part of Ariel, Plath's collection of poetry, published posthumously by her husband.  It is said to be her definitive work and if the other poems in Ariel are anything like Lady Lazarus, I can see why.  In one poem, I was saddened, moved, and given hope.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm was a fantastic, interesting, wonderful novel.  A very short novel (novella), I was surprised at how short, initially.  Once reading the story, however, it couldn't have gone on longer.  It was the right length.  It was everything it needed to be.  It was more than I expected it to be.  Animal Farm is one of those books I should have read years ago, maybe right after I read George Orwell's other famous novel, 1984.   Animal Farm was my Classics Club Spin book, but I was going to read it anyway.  It had been gnawing at me that I hadn't read it yet. 

 

The comparisons to Communism are obvious, Orwell was definitely not subtle about Napolean and his regime.  I feel so bad for the animals who rebelled against their oppressors, only to have it happen again.  It has a very historic Russian cycle to it.  Though I knew the story was not going to be a happy one (since 1984 was not), I was still shocked about what happened to Boxer.  The cruelty reached a new height.  I wonder what happened to Snowball.  I kept hoping that he would rally animals at another farm, then try to overthrow Napoleon.  I hoped that the horses would do something.  I almost hoped that the men would win their final battle.  I ended the book hoping that the animals would revolt against the pigs. 

 "All animals are equal

but some are more equal than others."

 

My Hubby told me there are Animal Farm movies/videos.  I'd like to see one.  There are cartoons and live-action.  I'm interested to see how the book is interpreted and if the same feelings evoked by Orwell's story are there when seeing it on screen. 

 

I think Animal Farm is one of those books that everyone should read.  It isn't long and has such a powerful story told through an almost silly way.  Animal Farm is a book I'd like to read again, but like 1984 with its ending, it might be some time.  I wished so much for the happiness of the animals, even after the brutality of their self-proclaimed leader.

Fool

Fool was hilarious. It was funny and cheeky and thoroughly entertaining. Christopher Moore has written a lot of books, and I know several people who are big fans. At first, I didn't know where to start. Should I start with Bloodsucking Fiends or Sacré Bleu? Lamb? Fool kept staring out at me from the bookshelf. A retelling of King Lear, I had to read it.

Pocket was an interesting, complex character. As the fool, he had access to more information than anyone else and could manipulate the nobles from behind the scenes. Many did not expect the fool to be so intelligent. His origins were not what I expected. Raised by nuns in a convent, Pocket had an interesting perspective and a large working knowledge of Christianity. For a time, he thought he would become a priest, a member of the clergy, perhaps copying tomes for the bulk of his life. Then he had to get himself thrown out. I think the below quote really sums up Pockets attitude about most everything.

"You might think that it was cruel of her to spend her only time in contact with the outside world telling lies to a little boy, but then, the first story that Mother Basil had told me was about a talking snake who gave tainted fruit to naked people, and the bishop had made her an abbess." (pg 67)

Pocket is referring to the anchoress, someone who is supposed to be praying for the sins of the king. She is more important than he knows.

There is a lot of shagging in Fool. A lot. There is swearing and snogging and shagging and this novel is not for the faint of heart. Everything is written humourously; this is a very funny book and it's meant to be. However, if you don't want to hear about wanks, tossers and such, be warned.

(Did you know that when I typed "fool" into Google, the first thing that came up was stock investing advice?  Seems counter-intuitive, no?)

Lives of Girls and Women

I love Lives of Girls and Women.  It was every bit as wonderful as I remember.  It is the book which made me a fan of Alice Munro. Del is such an interesting, complex, character.  I could relate to Del.She struggles against her parentage, against expectations, to become a full person. Del is multi-dimensional. She is smart, interested in reading and learning, and it sets her apart from other girls her age. She want to be more, but doesn't dismiss the possiblity of love and doesn't ignore her sexual desires in favour of her brain. She lets her personal life interfere with her academic life, like so many people do; it's not realistic to fully compartmentalize. Del feels real and I think that's what makes the novel so compelling.

It's not quite a "regular" novel.  The book feels like slices out of Del's life, moving progressively from beginning to end, but occasionally circling back on itself.  Each chapter only deals with a certain theme or subject at a time.  It is cohesive as a whole, but I can also imagine how each section can be read on its own with completeness.  That's how I felt many years ago when I first read the novel and that's how I feel now.

Before I re-read Lives of Girls and Women, I looked at the pages.  Out of them stuck scattered, bright pink, sticky notes.  I wondered what they would say and if they would change how I read the book.  For the most part, they were the thoughts I probably had anyway.  Some did lead me forward, to look out for certain events or passages, if the note referred to something near the end of the page it was stuck too. Then I was looking for what I had referred to as "masculine" or "drowning".

On page 197 of my edition (pictured above) I couldn't help but feel drawn to this line, "I wanted men to love me, and I wanted to think of the universe when I looked at the moon. I felt trapped, stranded; it seem there had to be a choice where there couldn't be a choice."  The novel is clearly about women; through Del, we see the lives of her mother, Naomi, Naomi's mother, Fern and other women in the town.  There is more than one way to be a woman, though there may be scorn from other groups of women.  Del aspires to be different than all of them.  Though this wasn't touted to me as a feminist novel in school, I think it is.  Del doesn't talk about equal rights, but she doesn't want to be relegated into a typical female category.

I'm so happy that this was my Classics Club Spin book. I wanted to re-read it for the Club, I just needed the right nudge.  I also finished it today and I'm getting the post up with just a couple hours to spare. If I had the time, I could have easily read this book in a day.  It's not long.  The writing is fluid and magical (that's right, I said magical). It makes me eager to read more by Munro that I haven't yet (Friend Of My Youth maybe) and also re-read more (Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage? There's a movie coming out). I'm excited to see what the next Classics Club Spin brings me. Also, if you haven't read Lives of Girls and Women, why not?  Not much could have stopped me from finishing it today.

MaddAddam

I don’t know if I can really explain how amazing MaddAddam was.  The third book in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, it was everything I wanted it to be.  I loved Toby.  I loved Zeb.  The ending almost had me in tears.  The Crakers are such a unique creation; they're almost human in a way that makes them sort of ideally human.  I know I'm not making sense.  

I think my favourites parts are when Toby is telling stories to the Crakers.  It's so hilarious.  Then Blackbeard, he's a brilliant character.  The books, the writing, how the days are remembered is fantastic.  It's funny too.  There are so many serious issues throughout the book.  There are some sad, angry, emotional scenes, it makes the humour really stands out.  It stands out in such a positive way.  Though the end almost made me cry, I'll always remember how many times I laughed out loud while reading.

I feel like I should still be reading this book.  There is so much to this world and so many characters with uncertain futures.  I'm a little sad that I won't be reading this book again tonight.

I don't typically pull quotes out of what I'm reading, but this one really stuck with me.

“…as the online world became more and more pre-edited and slicked up, and as even its so-called reality sites raised questions about authenticity in the minds of the viewers, the rough, unpolished physical world was taking on a mystic allure.” (pg 169)

We all know so many "Reality Shows" are "scripted".  Situations are created to keep the viewer interested. Here is a world where practically everything is online.  So much of it, that people crave the real world.  They venture out of the confines of their lives just for experience. I hope I never forget to go outside sometimes.  Also, doesn't Reality TV often drive you crazy?

Also, there's a game for the book/from the book.  Maybe I won't be saying goodbye to this world just yet.

I could keep jumping around all the thoughts I have about MaddAddam  Maybe the next time I read it, I'l be more coherent.  There will be a next time, I'm sure of it.  If you haven't read MaddAddam or the rest of the series, what are you waiting for?  If you have, I'd love to know what you think.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Select Poems

"It is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?'" (lines 1-4)

I recently read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  I was feeling the need for something classic.  I've also been feeling lately that I've been neglecting my poetry needs.  I read the Kindle edition of Rime of The Ancient Mariner, which comes with "selected poems" and a very lengthy introduction.

A quick note on "Introductions", the ones with the capital "I".  I don't often like them.  I find them mostly at the beginning of classics. Sometimes they are utterly boring.  The ones that aren't boring sometimes give away the plot!  It makes me mad.  After learning my lessons, I've started skimming “Introductions,” then after the book (or poems in this case), I go back and read the parts I’m actually interested in. Sometimes they do offer an insight into the story, sometimes I'm bored to tears and I just skip it again.  The Introduction to this collections various poems were good (though not necessary).  I found they did help, but I recommend reading the specific poem discussions after you've read the actual poem instead of before.

I read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner first about 11 or 12 years ago.  I remember really liking it.  As with a lot of poetry at the time, I found The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to be a story told in verse.  It's all about the Ancient Mariner and the curse he has brought down upon himself and his crew by killing the lucky Albatross.  It's a ghost/paranormal/angels & demons sort of story.  It would probably make a very scary movie (if done right).  It has one of my favourite lines of all time:

"Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turn’d round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread." (lines 446-451)

It gives me chills. Coleridge could certainly turn a phrase. If you like giving yourself the creeps and you like poetry, then The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is for you.

In the collection were several other poems by Coleridge.  I'm not going to talk about all of them, just a quick blurb on two.  The first is, Kubla Khan.  If I didn't mention it, I'd be remiss.  Kubla Khan is full of vision and everything you can imagine during an Opium trip.  It's a beautiful poem that will continue to endure the test of time and fascinate generations of scholars.

One of my favourites (I liked it better than Kubla Khan), is Christabel.  It's another creepy story.  It's lovely and again, full of supernatural elements.  It is also unfinished, though it has a conclusion.  Coleridge wrote that he considered it unfinished.  What else did he need to say though?  You should not pick up strange women after praying in the woods at night.  Why would you pray in the woods at night?  Crazy nobles.  

After reading these poems, I've come to realize how much I enjoy poetry that tells tales. I’m also reminded of how much I enjoyed studying the Romantic era during school.  I think I’ll be looking up one of my favourite Romantic poets (and Coleridge’s friend), William Wordsworth.  If you’re hesitant about reading poetry, I think something like The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a nice place to start.  It’s easy to follow what is happening and though it’s a “long” poem, you can easily read it in one sitting.