New Century Reading

Christmas goodies

Yes! I got me some reading goodies this weekend!

This one really tickles me. My 16-year-old son picked it out himself. As soon as I finish the library book I'm reading that has a waiting list and no renewals allowed, I'll read this. And of course I will love it.

Both teen sons were in wonderment that their mother not only received, but actually wanted a book about zombies for Christmas.

I've heard so many good things about this novel. And I love the cover. 

From my bro and SIL, who know how much I love to cook and to hang out on Twitter.

As someone who likes to travel in the off-season, I'm anxious to read McAlpine's take on it.

But that's not all. Shortly before Christmas, I had tea with a friend who managed to find a way to increase my general Jane Eyre geekiness.

Jane Eyre pencils!!!

A cheeky little button. And....

Jane Eyre, illustrated by Paula Rego! I'd never seen or heard of this edition. It's not the entire book, but sections selected for specific illustrations. And oh, what glorious illustrations they are:

This accompanies a short section where Jane talks about reading Bewick's History of British Birds. This book is really a thing of beauty.

And one last book-related item:

Truer words were never spoken.

Yes, I was spoiled rotten. And you? 

Anne Frank: A Graphic Biography

When Girl Detective mentioned this book, I have to admit to some skepticism. She didn't love it, comparing it unfavorably to the wonderful Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife (which, if you have any interest in Anne Frank, or the Holocaust, or literary process, you should definitely read) and, of course, the Diaries themselves. I thought, really, a graphic novel about Anne Frank and the Holocaust? Nah, that's just not right.

It turns out I found it a more favorable read than Girl Detective did. It might be because I read it long after reading the Prose book and re-reading the Diaries, but I found it a good blend of historical context along with Anne's life and family bios. It looks like the author incorporated some of Prose's findings in terms of Anne having purposefully revised her diaries with an eye toward publication. Even better, this is no Saint Anne, but the Anne of the diary: sometimes petulant, always a teenager, deeply thoughtful and very talented, but no doubt challenging at times.

So, Girl Detective, I throw this one back to you: maybe you'd like it better if you gave it some space?

Asterios Polyp

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Another one of Girl Detective's evil machinations to get me to respect graphic novels. Between this and Stitches, I have to capitulate. OK! All right! I get it! There's some seriously good shit going on in the graphic novel world!

Sheesh.

Asterios Polyp is the title character of this story, a pompous, egotistical professor and architect, whose life has somehow gone profoundly wrong. When the book opens, he's a sad sack watching porn in a crappy apartment when a bolt of lightning strikes and burns down the building. From there, we see how his past and present came to be.

The illustrations are gorgeous, with the past sections done in shades of blue, mauve and purple, while the present is in shades of purple and lightning gold. The story is deeply explored, and the narrator has an intelligent, sometimes wry point of view. At one point, he notes that while on a driving trip with his wife Hana, notices her knitting as he drives. "Ever since, he's thought of the distance as a matter of yarn-inches."

This is a thoughtful examination of one man's life, how he lived it, the consequences of his actions, and his effect on the people around him. It's lovely, both literally and as a reading experience.

Surely, though, Girl Detective, this is as good as it gets, right? Of course, that's saying something. Mazzucchelli sets the bar pretty darned high.

Stitches

Girl Detective has set out on a most determined course to convince me to read graphic novels. I am not really a visual person, and I like words, and aren't these graphic novels all just comic books anyway? Well, maybe there are one or two that are "one-offs", but overall, c'mon, they're not literature, right?

Stitches by David Small, is a gem of a book. It's a memoir of growing up in a dysfunctional family, but to slot it into that tired genre is grossly unfair. Small developed cancer as a child, probably due to his radiologist father's insistence on frequently x-raying him. The surgery to remove the cancer saved his life, but destroyed his vocal cords. That, and his family, obviously played a huge role in the way his life unfolded.

But this is where the illustrations make this book rise above the "poor me" memoir genre. His parents, especially his mother, are cruel, ugly caricatures, and yet by book's end, you know more about them, enough to feel the pain they must have gone through in their own lives.

Best of all, David himself is often drawn as a close cousin to Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes. He sulks and glowers, frustrated by the lack of interest and understanding shown by the grownups in his life. The perspective he gains from being an adult himself and the distance of years hasn't allowed him to paint himself as a saint, but as a real child, with real struggles. It's as if he drew his parents as he remembers seeing them through his childish eyes, but also allows flashes of years-later understanding to occasionally alter the illustrations.

I feel like I'm not giving this book its proper due. It's lovely and touching without being maudlin. The illustrations are heartfelt, and it's hard to imagine the story being told as well without them.

OK, Girl Detective, you're weakening my resolve.

The 15/15/15 Project--day 10

Blankets, by Craig Thompson. At 582 pages, this is a doorstopper of a graphic novel, and while I enjoyed it very much, I do think it could have been a little shorter. It's a story of first love, but rather than sweet and sappy, there's enough real life in here (overly religious parents, school bullies, broken marriages) that it never becomes overly sentimental. And the artwork is gorgeous--I found myself just staring and staring at some of the winter scenes, so beautiful and stark in black and white.

I'm on track to complete this challenge, maybe even slightly ahead of schedule. It's quite an experience, and I have to say that one of the things I've learned is that in picking books for a challenge like this, it's best to pick things that don't make you want to linger. Re-reading Betsy-Tacy and Tib was great fun, but I didn't mind flying through it. I could have gone more slowly with this book, just for the art, and I mentioned that the Vita Sackville-West book was definitely one I'd like to have spent more time with. In fact, I have another one of her books, Passenger to Teheran, waiting for me at the library. It's quite short and would easily fit a day's reading, but I'm going to save it for some post-challenge savoring.

The 15/15 Project--day 1

I feel like I'm doing the Tour de France or something. Except it's not a competition, just a personal best sort of thing.

It's Girl Detective's 15 Books in 15 Days Project, which started yesterday. I was easy on myself for day one and picked this book:

Emma, by Kaoru Mori. Kind of an odd combination of manga and Victorian Britain, Emma is the story of a maid for an elderly woman who apparently is so lovely that men of all social stature try to woo her. But she holds steadfast in her refusals of them, because she does have feelings for William, a young man whose upscale family is not in the least bit interested in having him involved with a maid.

At 183 pages, I blew through this in an hour, so it almost felt like cheating. That said, I don't know exactly how I feel about it. It's the opening book in a series, which means that most of the book is spent introducing characters, setting up backstory, etc. In other words, not a whole lot happens. I haven't read many graphic novels, but the ones I've read--Fun Home, Persepolis, Logicomix--had much weightier themes to them, and this feels pretty darned lightweight. I thought I'd enjoy it more, because I love that whole Victorian era, and the artist's illustrations are lovely, but--but...

I dunno. Part of me is just "meh" about it, and yet another part of me wants to get volume 2 from the library and see if it improves. I guess, given how quickly I read it, I wouldn't be committing a big chunk of time to another installment.

Now onto book 2: it's going to be an all-poetry weekend. Stay tuned.

Logicomix

Of all the books I would not have expected to see myself reading, this one would be pretty high on the list.

Logicomix. It had two big strikes against it: I'm not always excited about graphic novels, and it was about mathematics.

I'm pausing now, trying to see if there's anything I could possibly care less about than mathematics.

Huh...nope, that's pretty close to bottom of the barrel.

So why did I read this? Turns out it also had two things in its favor: it made the shortlist for the Tournament of Books (which starts Monday!), and my friend Girl Detective, who likes graphic novels more than I do, had a copy and offered to lend it to me.  

I should also add that in spite of my general distrust of graphic novels, I'm rapidly becoming aware that I should give them more of a chance. Teen 1 had the option of reading Persepolis (both parts) last year for world history, so I read it too, and mostly liked it, although at points I thought it was a bit pedantic. Another good friend pushed a copy of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home into my hands, and I ended up thinking it was brilliant and moving. 

But--a graphic novel about mathematics?

Well, you know what? It was pretty good. Some of the logic/philosophy talk went zooming right over my head without mussing a single pretty hair, but the story was much more entertaining and engrossing than I expected it to be. I knew very little about Bertrand Russell before I started reading, so everything was a revelation to me, including his family background (sad) and treatment of his first wife (also sad), as well as his obsession (to put it mildly) with the importance of logic. I may not understand everything he worked for, but I understand the passion behind it, and the price he sometimes paid to continue his work.

In its first round at the ToB, it's up against the daunting Wolf Hall, which I expect to flatten poor Logicomix. I haven't read Wolf Hall yet--its length has caused me to seek out the shorter competitors, as I have a better chance of reading more of those quickly than what I think will be a slower read with Wolf Hall.

Whether or not Logicomix survives its first match, I'm still glad I had the opportunity (and the motivation) to read it.

Even for a non-mathematician.