half a dozen
Aug. 8th, 2009 11:06 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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50books_pocI've been lurking for awhile but this is my first post.
1. What It Is by Lynda Barry - An illustrated companion book for creativity by a Filipino-American cartoonist and novelist. This is basically Barry's writing workshop in hardcover form. I love her work and loved this, but it is not a straightforward step-1, step-2 kind of guide. It is more about remembering things and drawing them and figuring out stories to tell.
2. Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith -- Poem cycle about Hurricane Katrina by renowned black Chicago poet. A work of heartbreaking ventriloquism. Some poems are in the voice of Katrina, some are other hurricanes, some are dead people, some are survivors. There is a great indictment of Barbara Bush. Many angry poems. The most wrenching section for me was the kind of Greek chorus of the nursing home residents left to drown. There's a shocking poem about finding the dead left in the houses afterwards. There's the horror of children being torn out of your arms by the water. There's also the small snapshot pain of a dead pet dog. It's a scarifying book. It's structured chronologically, tracking the storm hour by hour, so there's a satisfying sense of narrative to the whole thing, even though it doesn't tell a linear story. It's a formal kaleidoscope -- Smith has lots of free verse testifying, but there are also blues structures, sonnets, a sestina, and tanka poems. This was a National Book Award finalist. I recommend it, and it's a pleasurable read, but it's not a fun book.
3. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - Growing up in revolutionary Iran and in European exile; graphic novel/memoir. Interesting but slow. I mostly liked the strong sense of the autobiographical protagonist, how she had a consistent personality from child to adult. The graphics were good but ultimately too much of a sameness, too stylized for my taste.
4. The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus by Peter J. Gomes - Harvard minister discusses slackness of mainstream Protestantism, argues for gay marriage/more inclusion of gay people as a matter of civil rights. Gomes was fun discussing his book on The Colbert Report, but the book was not as much fun as he is.
5. Crossing to Avalon: A Woman's Midlife Pilgrimage by Jean Shinoda Bolen - A "New Age" travelogue about a menopausal trip to various sacred sites associated with Arthurian legend and Celtic goddesses. Traveling and the inner journey, finding one's inner goddess, etc. Bolen is the author of New Age classic Goddesses in Everywoman. I enjoyed this because I like Arthurian legend and enjoyed my own visit to Glastonbury a few years ago, but if you do not have a special interest, there is nothing much to recommend this. It really reads like she just published a trip journal. Given the nature of this community it might be worth noting that Bolen (and other Jungians) have been criticized for paying insufficient attention to issues of race. Also, Bolen is currently offering workshops in partnership with Brooke Edwards (aka Brooke Medicine Eagle), who has been denounced by several Native American groups as a "pretendian".
6. Push by Sapphire - I'm glad I read this gripping novel, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone as it's so grim. A young woman in Harlem is victimized by almost everyone in her life, but struggles to get her GED and make a life for herself and her children. Very small and hardwon triumphs in comparison to the horrific abuse. The forthcoming film has really great buzz.
1. What It Is by Lynda Barry - An illustrated companion book for creativity by a Filipino-American cartoonist and novelist. This is basically Barry's writing workshop in hardcover form. I love her work and loved this, but it is not a straightforward step-1, step-2 kind of guide. It is more about remembering things and drawing them and figuring out stories to tell.
2. Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith -- Poem cycle about Hurricane Katrina by renowned black Chicago poet. A work of heartbreaking ventriloquism. Some poems are in the voice of Katrina, some are other hurricanes, some are dead people, some are survivors. There is a great indictment of Barbara Bush. Many angry poems. The most wrenching section for me was the kind of Greek chorus of the nursing home residents left to drown. There's a shocking poem about finding the dead left in the houses afterwards. There's the horror of children being torn out of your arms by the water. There's also the small snapshot pain of a dead pet dog. It's a scarifying book. It's structured chronologically, tracking the storm hour by hour, so there's a satisfying sense of narrative to the whole thing, even though it doesn't tell a linear story. It's a formal kaleidoscope -- Smith has lots of free verse testifying, but there are also blues structures, sonnets, a sestina, and tanka poems. This was a National Book Award finalist. I recommend it, and it's a pleasurable read, but it's not a fun book.
3. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - Growing up in revolutionary Iran and in European exile; graphic novel/memoir. Interesting but slow. I mostly liked the strong sense of the autobiographical protagonist, how she had a consistent personality from child to adult. The graphics were good but ultimately too much of a sameness, too stylized for my taste.
4. The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus by Peter J. Gomes - Harvard minister discusses slackness of mainstream Protestantism, argues for gay marriage/more inclusion of gay people as a matter of civil rights. Gomes was fun discussing his book on The Colbert Report, but the book was not as much fun as he is.
5. Crossing to Avalon: A Woman's Midlife Pilgrimage by Jean Shinoda Bolen - A "New Age" travelogue about a menopausal trip to various sacred sites associated with Arthurian legend and Celtic goddesses. Traveling and the inner journey, finding one's inner goddess, etc. Bolen is the author of New Age classic Goddesses in Everywoman. I enjoyed this because I like Arthurian legend and enjoyed my own visit to Glastonbury a few years ago, but if you do not have a special interest, there is nothing much to recommend this. It really reads like she just published a trip journal. Given the nature of this community it might be worth noting that Bolen (and other Jungians) have been criticized for paying insufficient attention to issues of race. Also, Bolen is currently offering workshops in partnership with Brooke Edwards (aka Brooke Medicine Eagle), who has been denounced by several Native American groups as a "pretendian".
6. Push by Sapphire - I'm glad I read this gripping novel, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone as it's so grim. A young woman in Harlem is victimized by almost everyone in her life, but struggles to get her GED and make a life for herself and her children. Very small and hardwon triumphs in comparison to the horrific abuse. The forthcoming film has really great buzz.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-09 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-09 06:05 pm (UTC)I should have said in addition to the grimness that I could not put the book down! I thought it was great, but one of the reasons I read it was because a few students had requested that we read it in class (community college). Now that I have read it, I am ambivalent about assigning it because 1) it raises complex issues about race and racism that I do not necessarily feel competent to present from a position of authority 2) the level of sexual abuse et al. might be triggery for people and 3) it is a pretty grim downer of a book to assign to other people who might not have chosen to read it on their own. On the other hand, it is college, it's a great book, and at least it wouldn't be boring! So I haven't really decided yet. If anyone here read the book in a school or college setting, I would love to know how it went.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-09 06:31 pm (UTC)