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#50 Fight Club
Fight Club: A Novel
Throughout the year I’ve been talking with people at work about the books I’ve been reading. Two of my co-workers mentioned Fight Club. I’ve never had a desire to read this book or see the movie. They are six and 13 years younger than me respectively and I reasoned that I was too old. I missed the boat for this book. After arguing that I was not, in deed, too old to read this book, I asked if either of them had a copy of the book that I could borrow. I figured that would be the end of the story. Not so fast. The very next morning, I was handed a nearly pristine copy in paperback.
After finishing Love in the Time of Cholera, I wanted something quick to read. Thumbing through this book, it seemed the obvious choice. Well, maybe it wasn’t such a good next choice. Given the lack of hope, kindness, and charity of the characters, it wasn’t the best book with which to start off the holiday season. Additionally, where there was too much personal hygiene-type information in Cholera, that was amplified and modernized in Fight Club. Had I not made a promise to myself that I would finish every book I started this year, I would have tossed this book as soon as I found out that the main character, who is never named (what’s up with that type of thing happening all at the same time with my book choices?), does not kill the wanna be veterinarian. I can not stand torture in art (or life – but I thought that should go without saying – although I am saying it here). I threw up because my date wouldn’t let me leave The Silence of the Lambs. Reading that scene in Fight Club wasn’t much better for me.
Now that I’ve finished the book, it’s good that I didn’t simply toss it during the torture scene. It gave a very interesting insight into human nature – especially when not everything is fitting together as it should. I can’t say that I would ever read it again, but I’m glad that I read it the first time. If for no other reason, knowing what happens will save me from ever having to watch the movie. I can now report back to my co-workers that no, I’m not too old for this book (or the movie). I just don’t have the stomach, and that’s been true since I was in college.
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To buy this book, click here
#49 Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera
This novel tells the story of two young lovers who, in their time and circumstance, carried out a love affair almost completely through the use of letters and telegrams – at first because Florentino Ariza was of a perceived lower class than his love Fermina Daza and then because her father forbade the coupling. As it turned out, despite the fact that she agreed to marry Florentino, Fermina was in love with the concept of their distant relationship, not with Florentino himself. She broke off their engagement and ended up marrying a wealthy, well-respected doctor, Juvenal Urbino. From that time forward, Florentino lives in wait of Doctor Urbino’s death so that his love for Fermina can finally be returned.
On the outset, it might feel right to pity Florentino. After all, the love of his life went on to have what appeared to be a happy marriage. He did not, however, remain a virgin as he pined hopelessly for Fermina. Although he could tell you the number of years, months, days, and hours since Fermina broke off their relationship, he enjoyed other women shamelessly. His woman range from virgins to lonely widows in need of a sexual release. The one woman in his life with whom he doesn’t have sex ends up his best friend – and their relationship wasn’t solely platonic because of any decision he made.
I have not read anything by Garcia Marquez until I read Love in the Time of Cholera. Without kn0wing what to expect, I was looking forward to getting started. I was not disappointed. What I enjoyed the most about it is that the time, the place, and the characters are so very different from anything I’ve read this year. This story was also told at a much different manner and pace from other books this year. It was a very interesting read.
What intrigued me most about this book was the reason why cholera was mentioned in the title. Yes, there was much illness from cholera in the book. Doctor Juvenal Urbino’s physician father in fact dies of the disease, and it is important to the last passage of the book. In the end, I found that this title, along with much of the book, provided a little too much information about people and their hygiene. It kept me grounded within the reality of the narrative.
As a side note, I mentioned in my last review that I didn’t think that it worked for the main character not to be named in The Ice Queen. By contrast, the characters in this book were almost always (I counted two exceptions – one each for Fermina and Florentino) referred to using their full names. This literary devise worked very well here as it distanced the reader from the characters with this formality much in the same way that cultural formalities kept Florentino from Fermina.
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To buy this novel, click here
The Other Boleyn Girl: The Trailer
I am excited to share that the trailer for The Other Boleyn Girl is now available online. I’ve just watched it and cannot wait for the movie! I recently won a half-vacation day at work for making my United Way donation. It’s a certainty now that I’ll be saving that for the afternoon of Leap Day, February 29. I hope to see you there!
This leads back to the conversation we had earlier about what makes a movie based upon a movie good. I agree that to do any book worthy of a movie justice that it has to be longer than two to three hours. Based on the trailer, the movie will not be 100% faithful to the book; but is that necessary for the movie to be enjoyable? I loved this book so much, but I’m not a purest when it comes to film renditions – at least not all the time. Now that I’ve seen the actors in motion, I’m excited about the casting. I had thought that Scarlett Johannson would make a better Anne than Mary, but I like what I see of her here. I also see that Natalie Portman can be an effective bitch when she needs to be. 
I Should Have Been In Bed An Hour Ago…
but I got an email from iLike.com with this interview with Bono just before I meant to turn off my screen:
Today, U2 used iLike to post a personal message from Bono, singing – and talking us through – “Wave of Sorrow.” It’s a track that U2 demoed during sessions for The Joshua Tree in 1987. Just recently Bono laid down vocals for the song and it will be released for the first time next week on the remastered release of The Joshua Tree. As Bono plays us the track, he also tells the powerful story of the song. I found it quite moving!
Oh My Guuuwaaahhh!
Me too!
Needless to say, I will be purchasing the remastered release of The Joshua Tree. If I ever wondered why I someday hope to get a tattoo of the Joshua Tree from this album on my back, I know for sure why. U2 stand for everything I hold holy. Blessed was the teenager who grew up with The Joshua Tree. Blessed am I indeed. Thank you, iLike!
#48 The Ice Queen
The Ice Queen: A Novel
Something I’ve never really warmed up to in general fiction is not naming the narrator. I suppose that author’s have their reasons. I might by it in circumstances where the reader could be the narrator or “anyone” could be the narrator. This is not the case in The Ice Queen, the story of a young woman who is plagued by relationships with other people after she wished her mother to never come home the night her mother’s car runs off the road and kills her. I don’t believe that this narrator could be “anyone,” so this narrative device doesn’t work for me. It frustrates me instead. That being said, I enjoyed reading this book and exploring the narrator’s world (henceforth referred to as Jane).
As I read the beginning of this book, I felt very much for Jane. As a child,who didn’t have negative “wishes” or thoughts about one’s parents from time to time? How would your life be different had your parent died before you saw them again? Jane simply determined that she was a selfish and unlovable soul. She became introverted and obsessed with death. Jane finds that she is a good listener and only has a series of casual sexual affairs throughout her life. As soon as a suitor indicates that he wants more than sex, she ends the relationship.
Jane and Ned, her older brother, were taken in by their maternal grandmother after the car accident. They were close as children. Jane grows up loving Grimm’s Fairy Tales while Ned prefers the scientific. He becomes a meteorologist and moves to Florida to work at Orlon University, the school at which his wife is also a professor. Jane remains in New Jersey. She becomes a research librarian and takes care of their grandmother. Although they haven’t remained close, Ned convinces Jane to move to Florida with him after their grandmother’s passing. On the way down there, Jane makes a near fatal wish to be struck by lighting. It didn’t take long for her wish to become reality.
This book explores how lives are impacted by one single factor. This story was an interesting story within which to wonder “what would happen if.” I enjoyed reading about her relationship with her brother and sister-in-law. Her struggles with friendships and adult relationships felt true to her. This may not be a story that will live with me forever o even next year, but I enjoyed my time in this world. It is a pleasant read. Everyone wishes for one of those every now and again.
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To buy this novel, click here
My Tudor Fan Site
Update: February 17
I’ve updated my link. The site is complete, at least for the time being. Thanks again for everyone’s comments!
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I am taking an intermediate level HTML class. The project for this class is to create a web-site of no less than five pages. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this myself, but my husband suggested that I create a Tudor fan site. That’s what I’ve been working on over the past four weeks.
Here is a link to the main page. It doesn’t have any content yet. I used a Latin generator to act like text where I will eventually put it. I’m just building the structure. I’m not sure what format the Notes on The Scandals page is going to take, either. I thought I would offer it up to my loyal readers for comments and suggestions. I really mean it, too. I am going to buy web space and keep working on it after the class. It will be a fun way for me to continue to learn about my favorite dead people.
Literate Housewife Presents: The Tudors
#47 Without a Map
Without a Map: A Memoir
I am angry. Correction. I am pissed. Really, I’m f*cking pissed off after reading this book. I am angry and hurt for Meredith in specific and for all women in general. That one woman should have lived through a teenage pregnancy is horrific to me. That this is by no means an isolated incident makes this even worse.
Meredith Hall became pregnant, at the age of 17. This happened after a non-conventional summer romance that ended with one sexual encounter on the beach before Anthony, five years her senior, returned to college. Meredith’s mother, who had been left to raise her three children as a single mother, also found love that summer with a hippy. After spending so many years using negative pressure to keep Meredith a virgin, she began staying out until all hours of the night herself. She, in fact, left Meredith alone at the beach most days while she worked with her new lover. Going from suffocating boundaries to nearly none at all made that summer confusing for Meredith. She ended up paying dearly for it.
Meredith’s family was seen as an upstanding family in their small New Hampshire town. After her father left, Meredith’s mother became extremely involved in her local Protestant church. Once it was discovered that she was pregnant, Meredith was permanently expelled from her school. She was then abandoned immediately by her church and her mother. When Meredith’s father asked what they were going to do about the pregnancy, her mother simply replied, “She can’t stay here.” Meredith went to live with her father and step-mother, but being forced to stay alone in the house (and mainly in her upstairs room) for the remainder of her pregnancy was of no comfort. There was no one for her to cry with. There was no one to explain what was happening to her body. She was not allowed to take an active role in the decision to place her unborn son for adoption – except she was forced to set up a meeting with the baby’s father by herself and get him to sign the adoption papers. I will not even get into the verbal abuse she suffered at the hands of the obstetrician who allowed an abusive family adopt the baby.
I read this portion of the book on the plane from Atlanta to Denver last week. It was enough to make me want to lash out at society. Sex is a shame that is only worn by women, and most especially when they get pregnant outside of socially acceptable settings. There was no shame for Meredith’s father when he left his family with almost nothing to settle down with another woman. Yet, no one could speak to or about Meredith because her unplanned pregnancy was so shameful. I could scream.
So, Meredith was told either directly or indirectly by everyone who was supposed to love her that she was a dirty, shameful person. One sexual act and your life is judged as unworthy of any respect. You are shunned by the rest of society. She was not even allowed to have a roommate at the alternative school she graduated from after the birth of her son. No one wanted her to have the opportunity to even share her experiences with another girl for fear of “infecting” the others. Yes, because this was all working out so well for Meredith, right? Wouldn’t every young woman want to sign herself up for a complete societal shunning? So, alone in her grief and full of shame, Meredith did a lot of wandering after she graduated. The relationships she became involved with were not (in my opinion) good enough for her. They were only good enough for a woman who thought she was tarnished and trash. The reactions to her pregnancy became a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is what happens when people and institutions only use principles to guide their choices and reactions instead of love.
I have the greatest respect for Meredith Hall. She ultimately discovered her own self-worth. She has raised two exceptional sons and has established a warm and familial relationship with her first son. Due to circumstances, she was not able to ever confront her parents about how they abandoned her when she needed them the most. Her mother developed MS. When she needed her children the most, Meredith did not abandon her. Although it was painful for her never to get the opportunity to even tell her mother how the shunning impacted her life, she was an ever faithful daughter. Even though her brother and sister’s families were always invited to her father’s house, Meredith was not allowed because of an argument with her step-mother. Still, she made a point of meeting with her father before he died to tell him that she loved him.
This memoir stirred up many personal things in my heart. I can only hope that I can forgive as Meredith did. She was able to do for her parents the very thing that they and her church failed to teach her by example.
Meredith, thank you for sharing your story.
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To buy this book, click here
Turning Fiction into Film
Whitney from Pop Candy (one of my favorite pop fiction blogs), posted a link to this article that lists 21 books that could make great movies. What do you think about movie versions of books? What elements make for the best translations?
In my experience, I’d prefer to keep to the book. That being said, I love Gone With the Wind’s movie counterpart. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Currently, I’m interested in seeing what will happen with The Other Boleyn Girl. I will go to see the movie no matter what. I just hope I don’t walk out wishing I hadn’t.
Even if you’re not interested in film, you should check out this list anyway for good reading ideas. I’ve only read two of the 21 books myself (Middlesex and The Time Traveler’s Wife). If you’ve read any of the others, let me know. I’d be interested in hearing more about them.
Have a great weekend! I’m off to see The Wiggles with my girls tonight. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m looking forward to it. That Anthony sure is cute and the girls and I love to sing in our own Big Red Car.
#46 Bel Canto
I have only attended one opera in my life. I cannot remember its name. I saw it in Berlin on my second night in the city. Jet lag did not help me to stay awake or become involved in the experience. Still, I do not imagine that I would have been that much less sleepy or bored had I been fully awake. My lack of overall interest in opera did not in anyway impact my enjoyment of Bel Canto.
This book tells the story of a grand South American government banquet that is taken hostage by guerrilla warriors. The banquet was held for a Japanese businessman in hopes that he would open a factory in their country. Mr. H only agreed to attend the event because they paid a great price to have Roxanne, a brilliant soprano, perform for him. He never had any intention of opening a factory. Opera had been his passion from early childhood and he could not turn down the opportunity to see her in person.
The president of this country was supposed to be in attendance at this birthday banquet. He begged off at the last minute to stay home and watch the special Tuesday evening episode of his soap opera (he’s a man after my own heart – Latin soap operas are the best. I have such warm memories of watching those at my Bolivian youth group leader’s house on Wednesday nights). As the president was the object of the guerrillas, the kidnapping was a debacle from the beginning.
The beauty of this book comes from two for me: the descriptions of the main characters’ histories and their love of music and the description of the life that unfolded in the Vice President’s mansion throughout their months of captivity. Although I do not enjoy classical music or opera, I do have a strong connection to the music I do enjoy and can relate to the way in which music can move you beyond language. I know that I might very easily agree to attend an event at which U2 would be performing just for me if I only had to lie about something I might do in the future. I could then imagine being held hostage with Bono in close quarters…
I found Patchett’s writing very beautiful and, in comparison with Claire Messud, non-obtrusive. Thankfully, you can write about art and sophistication without having a pickle shoved up your bum. My only complaint would be with the short chapter that occurred after the siege was ended. There always seems to be a need to tie things up – even if it’s not always neat. I would have preferred to let my imagination take me into the character’s future.
#45 The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn
The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn by Janis Hallowell
The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn tells the story of Francesca, a young teenager from a broken home, who comes to believe the hype when a local homeless man makes his belief that she is the holy mother of a new savior. This is an interesting story that explores the nature of fantastical spiritual beliefs on a girl, her friend, her family, her neighbors, and her town.
There are many different themes that could be discussed here:
- Single mothers and the struggle to raise children without losing oneself
- Religious/spiritual fanatics
- Schizophrenia and the homeless
- Young girls cutting themselves
- Phantom pregnancies
What I am choosing to discuss is the role of the parent when a teenage daughter becomes pregnant. Francesca believes that she is pregnant and her body is showing the physical signs, including morning sickness. Francesca lives at first with the fear of being pregnant, but this fear soon skews as she grows to believe that she has spiritual powers and that the life she is nurturing inside her womb is someone special.
Francesca’s mother, an atheist, at first overlooks the changes in her daughter’s body because she is shocked and overwhelmed at the role that religious fanatics are playing in her life. When Anne finally asks her and learns that Francesca is pregnant, she is doubly shocked. She immediately makes arrangements for a pregnancy test and abortion with her gynecologist. Francesca knows that her mother plans on getting her an abortion, but she has no intentions of letting that happen.
Had Anne forced her child to keep her child or even place the child for an adoption, she would have been portrayed as a villain. Although I did like her character, I found it equally wrong to push an abortion upon your child – even more so when you do so under the guise of “taking care of everything.” Yes, women have fought for the legal right to have an abortion, but does that mean that this should always be the plan of action when an unplanned pregnancy occurs? How is a forced abortion any better for women than forcing a woman to raise or place a baby for adoption?
So, what are the rights of pregnant teens or any other expectant mother who is suffering from a mental illness? Should the wishes of these mothers to abort or to carry a child to term be honored or should a parent or guardian be able to determine what is best? As the mother of two young daughters, this book gave me a lot to think about.
Although elements of the story line are not probable and seemingly dictated by the author’s agenda (gynecologist ends up getting shot by religious fanatic who turns against Francesca after he/she believes that an abortion has taken place), it was an enjoyable book with interesting characters.
BBAW Is Coming!
WE Magazine’s A Woman Blogger to Watch
Literate Challenges
What's in a Name? 3
