The City of Brass - S.A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass grew on me as I went along. In the beginning of this story, scrappy polyglot Nahri is living in Cairo, where she uses her street smarts and unique magical healing abilities to swindle wealthy merchants. She dreams of saving enough money to become a legitimate physician, but these plans are turned on their head when she accidentally summons a mysterious djinn warrior. The rest of the novel is an romance/adventure set in the fantastical realm of Daevabad. 

Some of the writing felt a bit clunky to me, particularly the romantic bits, and I found it difficult to keep track of the byzantine djinn tribal histories. However, the Middle Eastern setting was beautifully realized, and a nice change of pace from the Euro-centric fantasy I'm used to reading. The action also heated up as the story progressed, and there were some thrilling fight scenes. Alizayd, the king's spartan and idealistic son, was my favorite character - if I continue with the next books in the trilogy, I hope we see more of him. 

Cordelia's Honor - Lois McMaster Bujold

I absolutely loved our bookclub's most recent pick, Cordelia's Honor. It is the story of Captain Cordelia Naismith, a scientist/explorer in the mold of Star Trek's Captain Janeway - kind, strong, resourceful, compassionate, and with a powerful moral compass. Cordelia is enjoying a routine survey mission to an unclaimed planet when she and her crew are attacked by a squad of Barrayans, a militant race with a revered warrior caste, the Vor. She is taken prisoner by their honorable commander, Aral Vorkosigan, and the two unexpectedly fall in love. Eventually, Cordelia returns with him to Barrayar as Lady Vorkosigan, where the two are swept up in intergalactic politics and domestic revolution. Powerfully written, with interesting reflections on war, love, gender dynamics, and the stigma of disability. Not your typical romance novel.

Vanity Fair - Thackeray

I told my doc I was reading Vanity Fair, and she asked if a new one had come out. Well... Not since 1848!

Anyway, this gossipy novel follows the beautiful schemer Becky Sharp as she climbs from her lowly beginnings as a poor opera dancer's daughter to the height of English aristocratic wealth and influence. A gorgeous portrait of English and continental life during the Napoleanic war, which sounds utterly blissful (although of course filled with ridiculous intrigue).

Thackeray is a master of the language, and this lighthearted but keen examination of vanity is a delight to read.

Recommended if you liked The Scarlet Pimpernel, reviewed here: http://blogenburyisreading.blogspot.com/2012/01/scarlet-pimpernel-by-baroness-emmuska.html?m=0

Dad's VF review: http://blogenburyisreading.blogspot.com/2009/06/vanity-fair.html

The Mill on the Floss

George Eliot's books are highly intelligent and rewardingly insightful - the scope of setting and action is intentionally narrow, with a corresponding intensity of examination - like focusing sunlight with a magnifying glass so tightly that the spot bursts into flame. This book describes the Tulliver Family, centering on brother and sister Maggie and Tom, as they grow from childhood to young adults. The Tullivers have lived for generations as owners of a mill on the River Floss, near the larger city of St. Oggs (both fictional). The heart of the book is the troubled relationship between Maggie and Tom, made inevitable by the important difference in their characters. Tom has a strong moral sense and an unwavering confidence in the correctness of his judgments. Maggie is a sensitive and caring person, quick to empathize with others, but prone to impulsiveness that invariably leads her into troubles.

But if Tom had told his strongest feeling at that moment, he would have said, "I'd do just the same again." That was his usual mode of viewing his past actions; whereas Maggie was always wishing she had done something different.

Imprudent legal actions by Mr. Tulliver lead disastrously to bankruptcy and disgrace. Tom responds with courage and purpose, eventually paying the debts and restoring the family's honor. With the best of motives and honor, Maggie is nevertheless drawn into two conflicting romantic situations, causing a decisive break with Tom, who cuts her completely. Maggie remains devoted to Tom, however, and the book concludes with an emotional reconciliation between the two.

The preface of my edition (another beautiful Folio) states that this is Eliot's most autobiographical book - reflecting her estrangement from her own family and especially her brother, which resulted from her unconventional and socially unacceptable relationship with a married man. The book is deeply absorbing, with detailed and thoughtful exploration of relationships, with moving descriptions of powerful consequences resulting from small choices, and with a variety of strong characters - some good, some weak, some generous and some selfish - but every one convincingly and sympathetically rendered. Very highly recommended!

Anna Karenina

Another post on a book I read a year ago, so my thoughts are not as fresh. However, I have thought about the book a lot since then so have more broad-picture type comments.

Anna Karenina is one of the best books I have ever read. Tolstoy's writing is incredibly realistic, complex, deep, moving, and beautiful, and his thinking is prophetic. For me, the best things about this book are:

1. The complexity, coherence and realism of the world that Tolstoy invents. His writing comes as close to representing reality on paper as I can imagine is possible, and he does this in such a way that it feels completely natural. It is also fascinating: he knew such an immense about about so many things! Horse keeping, hunting, domestic life, business affairs, fashion, politics, relationships, gambling, agriculture, adultery, etc, etc. - all topics on which Tolstoy writes in depth and with ease.

2. The complexity, understanding and sympathy with which Tolstoy regards humanity: from the peasant to the nobleman and from the virtuous to the amoral, Tolstoy seems to understand everyone. The grace with which he is able to portray the inner life of various individuals is unparalleled. Anna Karenina is the greatest exception to this sweeping realism: for me she felt (at times) flat and under-explored, which was disappointing. Lyovin, on the contrary, is shockingly real, perhaps aided by the near-autobiographical nature of his character (by many accounts).

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

My Name is Will

When my mom and little brother came back from the state meet in July, they brought back with them a cute read from the Miami bookstore called My Name is Will, which they thought I would enjoy, as it had a lot to do with Shakespeare.

The book itself was funny and a good story. Essentially the book is a story about a boy named Willie/Will who is a UCSC college student who, instead of completing his master's thesis in the past two years, has instead gotten stoned and hooked up with all different sorts of girls. In short, a college degenerate.

Things start to take an interesting turn, however, after he finds the biggest "shroom" of his life when "cow-tripping"- essentially looking for mushrooms to get you high that grow off cow-manure. When his drug-dealing friend gets busted, it falls to him to deliver the drugs to the Renaissance Faire a ways up the California coast. The various misadventures he encounters on the way include no less than getting arrested, having a threesome with one girl he's never met and his Teacher's Assistant, and ruining a comedic production of Romeo and Juliet. Mingled in with all this, every other chapter is devoted to the real Will Shakespeare and his own life as a womanizer. The book reaches a climax when their two lives coincide, and both are changed forever.

The recommendation is a little harder here than for most of my reads. I really enjoyed this book because of the tons of Shakespeare quotes and Latin. I know that that isn't necessarily an enhancing factor for most people, so that's to consider. Also, the book has many, many references to drugs, and steamy sex scenes that rival hardcore romance novels. So, definitely not for small children (watch out for Henry), but for any other teenagers and adults, you could read a bit into it and then stop if you don't like it. Barring those things, the book is actually a really great read and has some interesting points to consider at the end, especially for teenage males.

Vanity Fair

There is a great quantity of eating and drinking, making love and jilting, laughing and the contrary, smoking, cheating, fighting, dancing, and fiddling: there are bullies pushing about, bucks ogling the women, knaves picking pockets, policemen on the look-out, quacks, (other quacks, plague take them!) bawling in front of their booths, and yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind. Yes, this is VANITY FAIR: not a moral place certainly; nor a merry one, though very noisy.

A lively and delicious read - rather like a practical and entertaining version of Machiavelli!

Erica Jong Votes for Stoats: Random Story of the Day

Hi All- thanks for having me here as a guest on your blog! The joys of being done with grad school is that I've got the same hunger for literature, but have the time to read fun things now and follow up on all the great things I learn. I could (and will) write a long post about my new-found appreciation for Vonnegut (he's dead, so I can't write to him. I just missed him) and the fits of outloud giggles that Gabriel G. Marquez gives me. But my most favorite literature moment came on election day when I decided that Erica Jong herself must hear, from me, what I'd learned that day and how it related to her book. I looked up her email and wrote to her. This is what we'd had to say....

On 4, Nov 2008, , at 11:09 AM, Jillian Krupski wrote:

Ms. Jong,

This past weekend after a devastating breakup I was nursing my sore ego in the kitchen of my favorite aunt (editor's note: yes, ALMP, that's you! Hooray!) She handed me Fear of Flying and said “enjoy”. It is my first experience with your literature and I can’t put it down!

Today I read while standing in line to vote, attempting to pay no attention to the republican behind me reading over my shoulder. I assume he caught a dirty word and was intrigued. I was reading the chapter where Isadora and Goodlove are about to consumate their relationship for the first time and he calls her a stoat. “What is a stoat?” I thought. I had no clue. Then I followed a link that someone had sent me to a random website and found that a stoat was the featured animal of today. http://www.cuteoverload.com/

What a random set of coincidences. I highly doubt that this stoat has anything to do with the stoat to which Adrian referred, but it was funny nonetheless! Mystery solved!

Happy election day.

Jillian Krupski

*************************************************************

From: emjongburrows@mac.com [mailto:emjongburrows@mac.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 11:32 AMTo: Jillian KrupskiSubject: Re: vote.....a stoat?

Dear Jillian--

I'm thrilled by your letter.

I wrote "that book" (as people call it) throughout my twenties--and when it was acquired by Holt in 1970, I was a baby (and a babe). I had no idea what I'd wrought.

The reactions were ecstatic, mean, unprintable, hateful, horrid and wonderful. The "official" lit'ry types called me "a mammoth pudenda" (Paul Theroux in the New Statesman), but Henry Miller of Tropic of Cancer fame loved it and so did John Updike in the New Yorker. Thus my first novel (third book) was SAVED!

And here we are in 2008 & you have just found it at a time in your life you need it. The wonder of books!

So--read it and remember that men are compelling but another one always comes along (like a bus).

Remember who you are! Fantastic, individual, beautiful inside and out. If one creep doesn't get it, a wise man
will come along who does.

I've had 4 marriages and my 4th husband is my soulmate. We are now married 19 years--a record for us both.

The others were just warm-ups.

BE WELL!

EJ

So I guess the moral of the story is....I shouldn't plan on being happy in love until my fourth marraige!! We're just warming up!