Capturing the Essence

While Willa Cather may have written a somewhat slow moving text, she was able to capture certain characteristics and mannerisms found in lazy midwestern towns (by no means am I implying that the individuals were lazy, but if you were raised in the midwest, as I was, you aren't running at break-neck speeds...slow and steady wins the race, remember!) in her novel My Antonia! As I slowly read this novel, the characters, buildings, and relationships also gradually rose from the pages. I particularly loved the way she captured the speech patterns of new English speakers, such as Antonia. As I read her words, I was reminded of a good friend of mine who served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Part of her duties as a missionary was to study the English language every day. Hearing the way she constructed sentences gave me an appreciation for my language as well as hers. I hear her voice echoed in Antonia's speech.
Jim Burden reminded me a bit of Laurie from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Kind of a lazy and rich boy who fancied those "beneath" him for whatever reason, pursued and yet failed to make anything more than a game of the pursuit. Abandoning everyone in the pursuit of his education and the seeming lackluster marriage he later made further demonstrates that he has no true passion for anything. He only pursued education as the encouragement of his idealized Antonia, only to leave her to ruin. The avoidance of her in the ensuing years shows his shame, and yet, as a survivor, Antonia still comes out on top with a hardworking husband and passel of children. She comes out conqueror through her squalor whereas Jim may have success and an easy life, but no real love in any aspect of his life.

I Know The Stranger

Right away I knew I was going to enjoy this book. There is a quality to Albert Camus' writing that immediately sucked me in even through an apathetic character. Although I can't agree with Camus' philosophy, I can respect it. Sometimes things just happen because they happen. I've spent too much of my life trying to explain why things happen. I have no more control over it if I can explain the cause or the effect of any action or occurrance. It remains the same. Being able to finally come to that acceptance of "what will happen will happen" helps alleviate stress in one's life, yet it can be very disturbing and frustrating to others involved in that life. I can't say that I can accept someone murdering another being "because it happened" but the concept is true: with or without remorse does not change what happened. However, I do believe that it can change a person to be more aware and concerned for others. We, as humans, can take responsibility for our actions while still allowing emotion and intellectual thought to co-exist.

Alice, Alice

Not that I ever enjoy a movie as much as a book, but this is definitely one I wish I'd never seen. I wish I had my own imagination (uninfluenced) to create this world of Wonderland as I read. Word play, interesting images/characters, and just plain purposeless fun! Just like a good children's story should be. I appreciate morals and lessons being illustrated in my reading, but I don't have to have it all the time. For kids just learning the love of reading, there is great value to the entertainment value; especially when someone can create such interesting assortment of characters who are just doing, well, whatever they want.

A Break from the Trend

I've been consumed with finding appropriate titles for the Book Club and steering away from the "Best Sellers" list. I chose to take a little detour and try out something a little newer. I have to say that my choice was well made as I enjoyed the concepts and drama played out in Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper.
There's been a recent movie made from this book and I hear it is a tear jerker. I've also heard that it, sadly, doesn't follow the ending of the book. I have yet to see it, so it remains a mystery.
I enjoyed this book up until the last chapter. I appreciate what happened and the chance that the ending turned out the way it did. However, in my mind, that last chapter just didn't even need to be written. Or, at least, it didn't need to be written from that particular character's vantage point. I thought there should have been one life that hung in the balance and wondering what would have happened there would have made the book ten times more appealing.
As for current dealings with the choices made available by modern technology, it was great to get my hands and head into such a topic as "designer" babies or babies with a purpose superior to merely an addition to the family. It was thought provoking to measure and weigh the "rights" and "wrongs" of each choice.
Great book. Recommend to others and possible permissible on a reading list as it has great discussion entwined with the reading of this novel.

Language and Dialect

I've mentioned before my desire to be able to read books in the native language/vernacular. Zora Neale Hurston satisfies this as well as a desire to read good African-American literature in her book Their Eyes Were Watching God. I sorted through a few different books to find this title and am really pleased with this work.
Not only did I enjoy "hearing" the speech of these characters, but I was fully enthralled with what would happen next. I found myself hanging at each page turn to discover what would happen to Tea Cake. Janie seems like a real person to me and the development of her own maturity and satisfaction with life and coping with the "lemons" she is given seems true to life.
I also appreciate the fact that an author took a chance on her audience and allowed a terrible and tragic thing to happen without trying to answer all the "what then's" that arise in a reader's mind. A lot of the wonderment is what makes the book a success. If a writer gives all the answers, it can distort the "reality" a reader has created through her own interpretation of the book.
Although there were some instances of what could be termed "indecent" as we read portions of Janie's love life, it doesn't come across as vulgar or titillating. It's kind of a fact and an aspect of the book that doesn't seem wrong or out of step. In this case, it has landed itself on the list for book selection option for February.