28 Books in 2008

This is part of the 28 Books in 2008 Challenge.

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Books Listed: 34

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
Publisher: Signet; 1963 Genre: Fiction Pages: 272 Rating:	I do like that the narrator - Chief Bromden - is not reliable and that this tells of the darker side of psychiatry. I don't like the blatant sexism and racism. Written in 1960 is an excuse (since I do like Twain's Huckleberry Finn and that's far more racist) but it makes it almost uncomfortable to read. I did not like that women were either monsters or whores in this novel. Considering my past with the psychiatric profession it's fascinating and horrifying to read how much power psychiatrists (and psychiatric nurses) had over the patients. I'm so grateful we've moved beyond lobotomies and (mostly) electroconvulsive therapy.
Lighthousekeeping, Jeanette Winterson
Publisher: Harcourt; 2005 Genre: Fiction Pages: 240 Rating:	Storytelling within a novel. This novel interwines the tale of Silver, a young girl, and Babel Dark, a priest who is not as moral as his professional would make one think he is. Their stories are work with each other, light and dark. Winterson has a gift for poetic language that makes beautiful images without the novel being overloaded to the point it turns too rich. A big issue is that the novel's plot is discarded in favor of playing with language. I wasn't quite sure what the point of the novel was after finishing it beyond telling stories about stories but I had a fun time along the way.
Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally
Publisher: Touchstone; 1993 Genre: Historical Pages: 400 Rating:	The movie was more cinematically grand but this novel lays out the story of Schindler as a flawed figure. He is not the same larger than life figure of the movie, he is more human and we see his growth as a person. Instead of remaining one of those Nazis who stood on the sidelines as human beings were slaughtered he found a way to work the system and save lives. I did not find the prose style groundbreaking but the story was effectively told. I concentrated more on on the lives laid out, the humanity of Schindler and the people he worked to save and those who worked against him. Amon Goeth remained a terrifying figure that held the power to destroy Schindler and those Goeth held power over. I hadn't read a story relating to the Holocaust in years and it remained just as moving.
Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov
Publisher: Vintage; 1962 Genre: Classics Pages: 320 Rating:	This novel should be read by everyone but I don't think it should be enjoyed by everyone. It is a difficult book with a crafty narrative that cast doubts on who is narrating and, ultimately, is an outright lie. At least the foreword and the commentary are told by a highly unreliable narrator - Charles Kinbote - who is written to be disliked. His counterpart, Shade, the supposed writer of the poem, is meant to seem approachable and American in a way that Kinbote can never be because he is a liar and overpowers Shade's poem with his own self-obsessed narrative. He wants us to believe he is more than he claimed to be at the beginning and though he claims to have a 'secret' he drops anvil-sized hints to Shade and the reader as to his supposed secret identity. Pale Fire is both brilliant and infuriating. It wasn't written to be liked.
Forty Stories, Donald Barthelme
Publisher: Penguin Classics; 1987 Genre: Short Stories Pages: 272 Rating:	Barthelme defies the general short story tradition and comes up with quirky short stories that rarely go beyond a few pages. I would have loved to see him assigned in a short story workshop because it would give the message that all bets are off, it would give freedom to move beyond the general way a short story proceeds and give us instances in time. However, it probably would also be a terrible idea because Barthelme has the skill to work within the length of his stories, with the Q&A stories, with the images, etc. in a way that fledgling or even seasoned writers would fail utterly at. I don't quite understand Barthelme but it was an easy read and I respected his ability to work outside of tradition.
Lunch Poems, Frank O'Hara
Publisher: City Lights Publishers; 1964 Genre: Poetry Pages: 76 Rating:	Ave Maria is a delicious poem, it seemingly chides the mothers of America to allow their children to watch movies so that their children will not hate them. Then the oh-so-casual reference to getting picked up at the movie theater. These poems feel casual. Largely using every day language and every day situations to build up a beautiful image of New York City. I enjoyed the second half far more than I enjoyed the first half. The first half felt too abstract, too unclear on what they were about. I can't say O'Hara is my favorite poet but he is worthy of being read. Oh Lana Turner we love you get up.
Mirror Mirror: A Novel, Gregory Maguire
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 2004 Genre: Mythology Pages: 320 Rating:	I did not enjoy this one as much as Confessions of a Wicked Stepsister (thought I was going to say Wicked, right?). It plodded along but nothing really caught my attention. The only characters remotely interesting were the Borgias but still nothing much happened. It felt like Maguire was trying to write a full length novel out of what could have been a tight novella, at most. Even then, I'm not sure this story could have been saved. I could not care about the de Nevada's at all. They suffered but Maguire does not do his job as an author at making the reader care that they are suffering. Disappointing. I think three stars is generous, only given for the descriptions and the Borgias.
Rhett Butler's People, Donald McCaig
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 2007 Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 512 Rating:	It certainly paints a harsher, more realistic South - in terms of history - than Mitchell's original story but Scarlett becomes a shadow of herself, Melanie is far more self-aware than her GWTW counterpart. What the story did to these two women gives the idea that McCaig has no idea how to write women or at least no idea how to write the women of GWTW. I highly doubt Melanie would have stuck by Scarlett after learning that Scarlett did not love Charles, that she knew about Scarlett and Ashley's feelings or that she seduced Ashley to reclaim her husband. That doesn't read at all like the Melanie we know. Scarlett isn't the selfish businesswoman we know. She loses all her hard-earned money for no reason! She is vapid and says lines that GWTW Scarlett would never say especially after Rhett leaves. Also, why on earth would Rhett leave Scarlett to work in the fields again? They're still married and how would he "keep talk down" if this happened? This isn't GWTW. There are so many inconsistencies. Terrible book.
The Quiet American, Graham Greene
Publisher: Penguin Classics; 1955 Genre: Fiction Pages: 192 Rating:	Like the title, this felt like a quiet book. I can't say I loved it or that I would relish reading it again but I can see how this, in some ways, mirror's the world's view of Americans. Ignorant and idealistic in the wars the American government fights. Not the covert wars but Vietnam, certainly. There were those who clung to the idea of fighting until there was no fight left even after it proved to be a failure. Fowler is a snob and is almost a caricature of how some American's view Europeans, unconcerned with the welfare of the world, complacent to let the world crumble around them, while these same Americans view American's and America as places of action and movement.
Live Through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction, Sabrina Chapadjiev
Publisher: Seven Stories Press; 2008 Genre: Non-Fiction Pages: 240 Rating:	An interesting book. Obviously, from the title, it connects the thread between creativity and self-destruction. Yet while I think a number of writers, artists, or performers self-destruct or, in the past, have practiced self-destruction I don't think the connection between the two is clear cut. I had to roll my eyes at one essay citing Plath and Sexton as their past models of example. Brilliant writers but I wouldn't describe them in such familiar terms, as almost *friends* rather than writers whose lives are anything but examples and whose creations are what should be commemorated about them. Some essays were interesting but, strangely enough, I had a hard time connecting myself to these writers. I felt removed because my past self-destruction, however much at hand at times, feels apart from my creativity. Medication can dim creativity, as one essay points out, but I don't think self-destruction nourishes creativity or is as closely related as it may seem. It reminds me of the beginning of back patting I saw elsewhere when an opinion pieces saying those who are depressed or are otherwise mentally ill have a higher intellect than those who aren't. I don't know about you but I've met less than brilliant depressed individuals and more than brilliant individuals who appear stable. I'm not denying that there are wonderfully imaginative, genius, writers or artists or performers who are self-destructive or depressed or mentally ill. I just think that, as a whole, there can be some undeserved back patting - on my part as well - and expectancy of being more brilliant than the average creator of art, writing, etc.
Switch Bitch, Roald Dahl
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; 1977 Genre: Short Stories Pages: 144 Rating:	Witty and engaging stories that, in some cases, turn around the plans of the narrator so much that they backfire on them. I found the "The Last Act" not to be the best of the lot but the most chilling, revenge taken many years later from an unexpected source. It was fun to read - for the second time - a more adult Dahl who does not shy away from sex or descriptions that would not fit within a children's story but without being so descriptive that it becomes the main focus of the story. "The Great Switcheroo" is not great because of the sexual activities of the two men, rather it becomes great - and hilarious! - when it describes the morning after, when the narrator falls into a trap of his own making.
Atonement: A Novel, Ian McEwan
Publisher: Anchor; 2003 Genre: Fiction Pages: 368 Rating:	Beautifully written book, especially the first section. It reminded me of a languorous summers day gone terribly wrong. There's so much going on on a day that seems to be of little consequence. The later parts with Briony attempting atonement are interesting, considering her change in perspective and her growing up. I liked the detail of the parts detailing the war, both in the hospitals and in the retreat. You generally hear about people *in* war but not retreating, it was a nice change of pace. Finding out the fates of Cecilia and Robbie... gah.
The Night in Question, Tobias Wolff
Publisher: Vintage; 1997 Genre: Short Stories Pages: 224 Rating:	A short stories collection I picked up when a local bookstore was shutting down. Interesting and captivating stories. I wasn't always quite sure I 'got' them but they made me think and question. My favorite was the one about the boy who painted the side of the house red with the girl he loved. A few of the stories were chilling, such as the one about the teacher (history teacher?).
Impulse, Ellen Hopkins
Publisher: Simon Pulse; 2008 Genre: Young Adult Pages: 688 Rating:	I thought the writing was horrible. I remember reading Crank a long time ago and liking it. This book contained characters that feel flat for me. They must have been in some classy psych hospital to have a wildness hike and spending weeks and weeks there. Long-term facility? Either way, I hate this book. I hated how the characters all had to have horrible pasts and cliched feelings. It was terrible and not even the fact it was written as a series of poems saved it. They were more prose than poem, anyway.
Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1999 Genre: Fiction Pages: 208 Rating:	I think this is one of the Chuck Palahniuk books I enjoyed the most, which is utterly expected, I guess. I never watched the movie - blasphemy! - so the ending came as a pleasant surprise. The book is sharp and witty and utterly captivating.

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