Well, the books are piling up...
Jun. 3rd, 2011 02:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalSo I really ought to review some of them. Class has started up again, but I'm reading some really interesting stuff for my Women in Leadership class, so I'll probably have more recs from there.
Room, by Emma Donaghue
This is the story of Jack, a five-year-old boy who lives in Room with his mother, Ma. Jack was born there and has never been outside. He can't even conceive of a world outside Room; the only place he ever sees things like supermarkets and cars and other people is TV, which Jack knows is all make-believe things that live on other planets inside the TV. Their only interaction with the outside world is a man named Old Nick, who arrives at night to bring them food and other basic necessities, but Ma always makes Jack hide in the wardrobe when Old Nick comes.
At first glance, a book narrated by a five-year-old seems obnoxious and unbearable, so just bear with me when I say I loved Room. The author does take some liberties with Jack's vocabulary and understanding of concepts, but once you're past the initial introduction, she manages to avoid making him too cutesy or precocious. And telling this kind of story through the eyes of a child has a breathtaking effect. It's disconcerting at first, to hear Jack describe his world, so different from ours. Then the dramatic irony hits you as you begin to realize that Jack and Ma's situation is much, much different from Jack's understanding of it. I don't want to say too much, because this is one of those books that's really better the less you know about it, but it is at times delightful, horrifying, sad, and fascinating.
The Girl Who Was on Fire: Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy, edited by Leah Wilson
Y'all know that I am am obsessed with The Hunger Games and love analyzing fiction to death, so... this book. The essays varied quite a bit in quality - some were interesting or insightful, while others pretty much just stated the obvious. Worth a read, though it's somewhat less academic in its analysis than I would've liked. Several of the essays seemed more like blog posts (including the fact that they needed a better proofreader!), which is fine, but... I can get those for free on the internet. I'd have liked it to dig in a bit more - particularly with source material as rich as this is. The topics of the essays include a character study of Katniss, reality television, PTSD, fashion, genetics, love as a weapon, politics, reality vs. illusion, and more.
Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff
This was the first assigned reading for my class. It's an attempt to separate out the truth - or at least possible truths, since so much is lost to us - from the myths and legends that have sprung up around Cleopatra. As such, it's far less sensational than some of my classmates expected, but it's also fascinating from a feminist perspective to look at the ways she has been trivialized by historians - focusing on her beauty (which, actually, was unremarkable according to her contemporaries) and her sexual exploits, without giving her the credit she is due for being a capable leader and brilliant political strategist. Like, clearly she is not seducing influential Romans for the hell of it, but rather using sex to form valuable diplomatic alliances - which is exactly what male rulers have been doing for ages by having affairs and marrying off their children, except no one criticizes them for it. But because that kind of ambition is threatening in a woman, it becomes all about how she's a wicked temptress and possibly used supernatural powers to capture Caesar and Mark Antony or whatever the fuck, lol. That's what happens when history is written by your enemies.
It's also an in-depth look at Roman and Egyptian life during the first century BC. Where sources on Cleopatra are spotty, Schiff does her best to analyze various theories and extrapolate what is most likely based on the culture of the time or what is known about the actors involved. It fills in the gaps and fleshes out Cleopatra's motivations and desires in ways that often get ignored in favor of sustaining the more lurid rumors.
Also, I seriously want to go to Egypt now. The book makes it sound AMAZING.
Room, by Emma Donaghue
This is the story of Jack, a five-year-old boy who lives in Room with his mother, Ma. Jack was born there and has never been outside. He can't even conceive of a world outside Room; the only place he ever sees things like supermarkets and cars and other people is TV, which Jack knows is all make-believe things that live on other planets inside the TV. Their only interaction with the outside world is a man named Old Nick, who arrives at night to bring them food and other basic necessities, but Ma always makes Jack hide in the wardrobe when Old Nick comes.
At first glance, a book narrated by a five-year-old seems obnoxious and unbearable, so just bear with me when I say I loved Room. The author does take some liberties with Jack's vocabulary and understanding of concepts, but once you're past the initial introduction, she manages to avoid making him too cutesy or precocious. And telling this kind of story through the eyes of a child has a breathtaking effect. It's disconcerting at first, to hear Jack describe his world, so different from ours. Then the dramatic irony hits you as you begin to realize that Jack and Ma's situation is much, much different from Jack's understanding of it. I don't want to say too much, because this is one of those books that's really better the less you know about it, but it is at times delightful, horrifying, sad, and fascinating.
The Girl Who Was on Fire: Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy, edited by Leah Wilson
Y'all know that I am am obsessed with The Hunger Games and love analyzing fiction to death, so... this book. The essays varied quite a bit in quality - some were interesting or insightful, while others pretty much just stated the obvious. Worth a read, though it's somewhat less academic in its analysis than I would've liked. Several of the essays seemed more like blog posts (including the fact that they needed a better proofreader!), which is fine, but... I can get those for free on the internet. I'd have liked it to dig in a bit more - particularly with source material as rich as this is. The topics of the essays include a character study of Katniss, reality television, PTSD, fashion, genetics, love as a weapon, politics, reality vs. illusion, and more.
Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff
This was the first assigned reading for my class. It's an attempt to separate out the truth - or at least possible truths, since so much is lost to us - from the myths and legends that have sprung up around Cleopatra. As such, it's far less sensational than some of my classmates expected, but it's also fascinating from a feminist perspective to look at the ways she has been trivialized by historians - focusing on her beauty (which, actually, was unremarkable according to her contemporaries) and her sexual exploits, without giving her the credit she is due for being a capable leader and brilliant political strategist. Like, clearly she is not seducing influential Romans for the hell of it, but rather using sex to form valuable diplomatic alliances - which is exactly what male rulers have been doing for ages by having affairs and marrying off their children, except no one criticizes them for it. But because that kind of ambition is threatening in a woman, it becomes all about how she's a wicked temptress and possibly used supernatural powers to capture Caesar and Mark Antony or whatever the fuck, lol. That's what happens when history is written by your enemies.
It's also an in-depth look at Roman and Egyptian life during the first century BC. Where sources on Cleopatra are spotty, Schiff does her best to analyze various theories and extrapolate what is most likely based on the culture of the time or what is known about the actors involved. It fills in the gaps and fleshes out Cleopatra's motivations and desires in ways that often get ignored in favor of sustaining the more lurid rumors.
Also, I seriously want to go to Egypt now. The book makes it sound AMAZING.
no subject
Date: Jun. 4th, 2011 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 4th, 2011 11:59 am (UTC)Oooooh.