Book Blog – Page 31 – …on the B.L.

Autobiography of Us

June 22, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 304
Quick Review This is a great summer read about female relationships changing through the years.

Aria Beth Sloss tried to tackle the incredibly complex topic of female friendship in her book Autobiography of Us. Set in the 1960’s in Pasadena, two friends, Rebecca and Alex, live on the same street becoming close friends as children. The story is told through Rebecca’s perspective. She starts telling the story to someone as a reflection upon her past. It is evident that her best friend, Alex, has passed away, which is the catalyst for the story. She begins her narration when Alex moves into the neighborhood. There is immediate tension building between the two. Rebecca deals with an inferiority complex the entire book. Alex was the daughter of extravagantly rich parents, while Rebecca’s family struggle to maintain their wealthy facade. Alex was pretty, and Rebecca was less so. Alex had an air for the dramatic and always pulled everyone’s attention. Coming of age in the sixties, Rebecca was pressured by her family to fulfill all the traditional roles; however, she fought an internal battle contradicting her family and the times she lived in.

Sloss draws attention to the times by often using Rebecca to reference how different the times were then for girls. Usually making the statement about how young she was and naive. Though making some feminist statements throughout, this self-infantilization undermined the attempted message of female empowerment.

Sloss likes to bring characters into scenes without naming them. Integrating them into the action and conversation for paragraphs if not a page or two creates a bit of confusion instead of mystery. I had to look back a few times just to make sure I hadn’t accidentally missed it.

Autobiography of Us is a story about female friendship, familial relationships, societal pressures, and marriage. Sloss adds a few more twists than the usual story, but, in general, she sticks to a generic storyline.

Memorable Quotes
“There are years she meant more to me rush anyone, years our lives besides into each other’s so neatly I’m not sure, to be honest, they ever came undone.”
“How little we know the ones we love. How little we know of anyone, in the end.”
“I believe injustice eventually gives way to justice,” he said ““Slowly, perhaps. With great effort, and too often through the unfortunate medium of violence.””

Title: Autobiography of Us
Author: Aria Beth Sloss
Publisher: Picador
Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 9781250044051

Books

White Teeth

June 13, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Read
Length 448
Quick Review A funny, smart glimpse into the melange of cultures residing within London and the young people growing up among them.

I am ashamed to say, this is my first Zadie Smith novel. I’ve been hearing fabulous things about her for years, and yet I never got around to reading anything by her. I bought this book a few months back, and it had sat on my shelves untouched. I read her short story in The New Yorker and knew I had to read her book immediately. If you can’t tell by the Memorable Quotes section, I loved this book.

White Teeth follows the lives of two men Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal in suburban England, and their children as they struggle to find their place. Archie Jones is a white man who marries a young black Jamaican women; together they have a biracial daughter. Samad Iqbal is a Bangladeshi married to a woman from also from Bangladesh; they have twin boys. Archie and Samad served in the war together, and reconnect when Samad emigrates to the UK from Bangladesh. Their children deal with the difficulties of being mixed and Bangladeshi in a society predominately white.

Smith dives into issues of race, religion, assimilation, and even hair products with depth, insight, and a sense of humor. She writes each character with so much profundity and sincerity it is easy to sympathize with even the least likable people.

I can’t wait to read more of her works.

Memorable Quotes
“This was a decided-upon suicide. In fact, it was a New Year’s resolution.”
“No matter what anyone says, suicide takes guts.”
“…making sure they didn’t get too close, scared they might catch religion like an infection.”
“Samad, when the male organ of a man stands erect, two third of his intellect go away.”
“If religion is the opiate of the people, tradition is an even more sinister analgesic, simply because it rarely appears sinister.”
“I think I have been cursed with two sons more dysfunctional than Mr. Cain and Mr. Abel.”
“Greeting cards routinely tell us even-handed deserves love. No. Everybody deserves clean water. Not everybody deserves love all the time.”
“Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.”

Title: White Teeth
Author: Zadie Smith
Publisher: Vintage Books
Copyright: 2000
ISBN: 9780375703867

Books

The Greater Journey

June 9, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 558
Quick Review A great look into how Paris affected America and how America affected Paris in regards to art, science, and intellect over the last almost two centuries.

I am a huge fan of David McCullough, who happens to be a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. I think he is a fabulous scholar, author, and researcher. It is blatantly obvious he has a passion for history with an unparalleled ability to convey an immense amount of research without ever being dry.

The Greater Journey is about Americans who spent time living in Paris. Many of the Americans returned to the US after Paris, but a handful remained in France. The Americans flocked to Paris as the center of style, art, intellect, etc. Paris is commonly known to have been home to American writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway in the 1920’s, but Paris was home to many more American greats as much as a century before.

McCullough never lightly takes on the task of telling the history of a subject. He really goes all out. I always complain how a vast majority of scholars write incredibly dry books. They know so much about the subject that they try and cram in all the details but forget to make it interesting for the readers who do not eventually want to write a dissertation on the subject – so most. McCullough has never fallen into this category of academics. He is always engaging and interesting. I am always impressed by his thorough yet entertaining rhetoric.

I would highly suggest The Greater Journey. If you’re not interested in Americans in Paris, I do suggest his other books on topics ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to John Adams to the Wright Brothers to American Pioneers and a bunch of other interesting stuff. He’s a great author and historian. I highly suggest him!

Memorable Quotes
“To Wendell Holmes she was a shining case in point of why women should not be excluded from a medical education.” about Madame La Chapelle

Title: The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
Author: George McCullough
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 9781416571766

Experiences, Travel

Bald Head Island

June 1, 2017September 8, 2019 RaeAnna

I actually visited Bald Head Island, North Carolina over Memorial weekend. I took so many pictures around the island for my Bookstagram. Between the fact I loved the island immensely and all the pictures I took, it is very easy to write about the lovely little island just South of Wilmington.

Bald Head Island is home to Old Baldy Lighthouse, a vast swamp, gorgeous wildlife, and a lovely collection of houses. It can only be reached by ferry, an expensive but worth it ferry. On the ferry, you see islands and gorgeous houses, which epitomize the North Carolina style with windows overlooking the sea and sprawling front porches. Sailing into Bald Head Island’s harbor, the lighthouse is visible past the trees and buildings. Along the coast you’ll see beautiful houses, beaches, and wildlife stretching behind. Right off the ferry, there are restaurants and a few shops lining the harbor.

Walking off the gang plank, I made a beeline for the lighthouse. On the way, the first thing I noticed was the utter lack of cars. No cars. None. The people got around by way of golf carts, bicycles, or their feet. The houses lack garages. At first, it’s disconcerting, but then I noticed there are miniature garages tucked into the tree line by the houses to accommodate the golf carts. I love the absence of cars. Golf carts have a quiet hum, unlike the rev of car engines. It provides a quiet background, allowing the sounds of nature to permeate the soul and calming the inner chaos life imposes.

The lighthouse is a towering structure dating back to 1817. It was an active lighthouse for over a hundred years between 1818 and 1935 bearing witness to the civil war. It is the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina. It takes a few minutes to climb to the top, but it is worth it. Climbing stairs until the very top, you have to climb up a short ladder and through a narrow hole. The top is a 360 degree wall of mirrors looking out onto the ocean and the entirety of the island. Below you can see the church steeple poking out through the thick tree tops. It’s hot at the top of the lighthouse with very little air movement, but the view is worth it.

There is a beautiful bridge crossing from the harbor over the swamp to the lighthouse, a quaint church, historical places, and houses surrounded by trees. Unfortunately, Nicholas Sparks and his movies have put the image of North Carolina in everyone’s minds. I’ve spent some time in North Carolina over the past few years because my best friend is stationed there in the military. I had never seen the North Carolina Nicholas Sparks depicts until I wandered around Bald Head Island, and begrudgingly I understand why he writes so obsessively about the state… It’s beautiful and serene. As ridiculous as it sounds, the post office even subscribes to this calm North Carolina aesthetic.

It is amazing how happy and welcoming the citizens of Bald Head Island are. Everyone smiled and waved at everyone else. It was like being home in the Midwest but on steroids. It’s how genial I image the North Pole to be on Christmas Eve. The island is populated with older people who have decided to retire there, vacationers, and those who spend holidays in their houses on the island.

I fell in love with every aspect of the island. Every spot is a reader’s paradise. The sounds of nature help you get lost in your book if you can pull your focus away from the natural beauty surrounding you. There are so many beautiful spots to cozy in with a good book. The church has a beautiful front garden with benches shaded by trees; it’s what I’ve always imagined the secret garden to look like. There are spots overlooking the harbor and simultaneously the swamp with views of the lighthouse and everything nature.

I didn’t have enough time sufficiently explore the island, but I think I could spend weeks walking around acquainting myself with this beach side community. Someday, I hope to rent a house for a month on the island to read, write, and wander. A girl can dream.

Books, Fiction

The Luminaries

May 18, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Eh
Length 848
Quick Review A story and a mystery about gold mining in New Zealand during the 1800’s.

I am biased on this review for sure… Like every other review because we either like, dislike, or other sentiments about something. In this case, I did not like The Luminaries. I personally could not get emotionally invested into the story, and so it took me a great amount of time to wade through the text.

Eleanor Catton is incredibly talented in coming up with a complex and intricately planned out plot. She writes exceptionally well balancing description and action with prowess. Her characters have depth and roundness, which can only be accomplished through experience.

It was a technically brilliant novel. I did not find it pleasurable to read due to personal tastes. I know many people who did find it wonderfully entertaining, so please do not take my experience as the epitome of all experiences.

Memorable Quotes
“It was a strange thing to behold a whore in mourning – rather like seeing a dandified cleric, or a child with a moustache; it gave one a sense of confusion”

Title: The Luminaries
Author: Eleanor Catton
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Copyright: 2013
ISBN: 9780316074315

Books

Women Who Run With The Wolves

April 23, 2017 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 608
Quick Review This is an incredible psychoanalysis of women and the wild woman through storytelling. It’s an incredibly diverse and rich feminist text.

Clarissa Pinkola Estés is known for a lot of things. She has her PhD and is a well known Jungian analyst with storytelling experience reaching to her cultural roots as a Latina. She combines all expertise into Women Who Run With The Wolves a groundbreaking feminist work, which has remained popular since it was published over twenty years ago in 1992.

Women Who Run With The Wolves is a search for woman’s most inner woman, feelings, and history. Throughout history women have been molded and suppressed. Estés argues it is important to look at women throughout history and story to find their most quintessential essence. She believes it is important for women to be in touch with their inner wild woman, or they will go crazy in their suppressed role.

The book is a collection of fourteen stories from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Estés tells the story as traditionally as possible at the beginning of each chapter. After each recounting, she analyses every aspect of the story through a psychoanalytical and feminist lense. Each story offers an important learning opportunity for women to be in touch with themselves.

There is a reoccurring theme of life-death-life mother across many cultures. In today’s society, we often are confronted with the idea of life and death. Estés reiterates the idea of life-death-life as missing from most accounts of the evolution of life in Euro-centric culture. I think the missing reoccurrence of life is an equivalent to the pieces of ourselves as women we have lost of the years and generations of being molded into cultural ideals.

Women Who Run With The Wolves is not necessarily an easy read, but it is an important.

P.S. There would have been far more quotes, but I would have ended up infringing on copyright laws because I would have quoted the entire book.

Memorable Quotes
“This Self must have freedom to move, to speak, to be angry, and to create.”
“This early training to “be nice” causes women to override their intuitions.”
“So many women themselves are afraid of women’s power.”

Title: Women Who Run With The Wolves
Author: Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.
Publisher: Rider
Copyright: 1992
ISBN: 9781846041099