I can NOT wait. So excited.
I’ve beenmonumentally busy so I’m finally planning my day right now, but I’m sure it will be a wonderful day. There are books, there are authors, there are people who love books and authors. Plus, it’s the greatest city in the world.
Heaven… come on down!
http://www.bostonbookfest.org/
The results of my Books on the Nightstand Bingo are in and it’s BINGO!
I read so many other books than this, but they didn’t fit. Sad trombone. In truth, the only category I had to go out of my way to find was ‘Set in South America’. I had to Google books set in South America and was pleasantly surprise to find Bel Canto in the results. I adore Ann Patchett and here was a book I hadn’t read. That the entire book takes place inside a large home with characters from all over the world, thus it’s actual physical setting isn’t that relevant doesn’t matter! It still counts.
Thanks to Books on the Nightstand for the fun and interesting twist on summer reading. I think I’ll continue on and try to fill in all the squares, just for shits and giggles.
This northern gal once visited Charlotte, NC where she saw a historical landmark sign indicating ‘President Davis slept here’. I thought: we never had a President Dav….. OHHHhhhhh.
I have a theory on Harper Lee, and it probably won’t be popular, but I kind of hope it’s true. I think Go Set a Watchman was the story she wanted to tell or the story she needed to tell to work through her own issues. Because she is a person raised in a small town, who goes off the New York and sees the the world differently. How disappointing to be disillusioned with a place you once loved, a society you believed in, a father you loved so well. Her society, how she was raised, her childhood itself that tarnished now. How to go on? Certainly long, rambling rants against the injustice of it all is one way!
After pulling off the feat of writing a novel as a first time author, and one with many lovely passages, then to be told that the flashbacks to childhood are more interesting, to be asked how did Atticus become such a hero, what did young Scout see to believe so much in him, in her world ? And then this idealized version of the person who hurt her, who let her down so much becomes a hero to the world? What happens when you are acclaimed, win the Pulizer Prize and all the rest by portraying potentially your biggest heartache as idyllic? You become a recluse, lapse into Boo Radley mode. Why not. He didn’t like the world he saw, and nor do you. And now, in your advanced years, sister is gone, you think: I’m going to tell my real story, of how the south let me down, how even though my father is flawed, I can still find a way back to love him. He’s a character from his time, fighting for life as he’s always known it.
This is a flawed book, that certainly could have improved with an editor. But it’s also a thought provoking book, a book that makes one feel things, think about who Scout and Atticus are, who you are, which is what makes literature great. So those of you ranting and raving at the disappointment of this different Atticus, aren’t you feeling the same things Scout is feeling? The rants I’ve heard and read rival Scout’s in the book. Good! Feel the feels! I do, and I’ll be thinking about this book for some time. That and wondering what ever became of Boo…
You aren’t, either.
Today my copy of Go Set a Watchman arrived… finally (one whole day after release, the torture). I may never pre-order a book again. Then again, it could just be I shouldn’t have pre-ordered this book. You see, I’m on a sort of internet black out, at least a bookish internet blackout and since I adore the bookish internet, this is torture. I am not reading reviews, discussions of reviews, spoilers, other’s opinions, anything, until I’ve read it. I haven’t read one word, yet, and if it’s poorly written or horrible in some way, I will be sad, but still fascinated because we’ll get a glimpse into the difference between a first ‘finished’ draft and what it became: the creative/editorial process at work!
I was attempting this, but I do scan the front page of the New York Times every day, so I know, I read, I processed. Really dumb, NYT, really dumb. You know what you did.
Ok, one spoiler coming. If you are somehow completely off the grind (and yet reading this.. hmmm), and don’t know, the NYT has spoiled that Attitus may be a racist, in the headline of the review no less. Again: really dumb, NYT, really dumb. What do I think about the perfect father and lawyer, not being ever so perfect? A. He’s a white man, in the south, in the 1950s… he’s not unusual. B. He should also be in 70s by the time of Go Set a Watchmen. I’m sure we all know older people with views different than the current times, and we still love them. C. He’s a human being, thus by definition not perfect and what is literature, but a device to hold a mirror to ourselves? To Kill a Mockingbird was a fairly unflinching look at a town at a period of time, why should this be different. If we ignore our past because we don’t like it, we are dishonest. Frankly, it sort of makes me like him more because he still did the right thing.
So, I can’t wait… and I hope you can’t, either, and won’t let something like an imperfection deter you. Plus, Scout all grown up and living in NYC!
I’m giving the BOTNS Bingo card a whirl. By kismet, I’ve read three books since Memorial day that fit a square, but naturally I want to read ALL the squares. That will take some planning..
Now that I’m home, but the BEA buzz hasn’t yet worn off, I decided to see what CSPAN had filmed for us (tip to BEA lovers: CSPAN films some sessions at BEA. They are then broadcast on Book TV on the weekends or available at their website. Also, PBS has Book Now Live, which records bookish events, including some BEA and Bookcon. Sweet!). On CSPAN I find a panel entitled: Women and Leadership in Publishing:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?326180-1/bookexpo-discussion-women-leadership-publishing
This rings all my bells. Well, women and leadership in almost any field is an interest of mine so.. Let me get some popcorn. though I know what I’m going to hear: that it’s hard to balance everything, that men are asked or expected to balance everything, that some men don’t realize any of this and expect it all anyway and that we can’t have it all, we have to choose. Still, bring on the horror stories, because we like to understand each other’s experience.
The above is a shot of Bethlam Forsa and Madeline McIntosh after Bethlam described that she felt she had done something wrong by getting pregnant after taking on a new role and that she returned to work 2 weeks after giving birth (Mcintosh audibly said: “oh..” after). I immediately thought: that was her choice. No one could legally make her do that. And then she immediately went on to say it was her choice. She did what she thought was needed for her career. At this point, I turned it off. Just this and the earlier descriptions by Lisa Sharkey of previous jobs where men threw typewriters if angry and ‘sneaking out’ via the back stairs at 8pm was enough to sate my penchant for the horror stories.
But I kept thinking about it. Yes, Bethlam made a choice, and maybe she made that choice because it’s what she truly wanted, or maybe she felt she had to make the choice to return or her career would suffer. It is an unfortunate fact that the later is a reality in some workplaces and having recently watched quite a bit of Mad Men, I know that things have improved substantially, though there is a long way to go. But she’s fortunate because it was her choice, and no one should criticize her for it. She has a right to live her life on her terms. What makes me more sad if all the women who do not have that choice: lower income women, single moms, people without easily affordable child care. I originally started writing this as a whine about not being able to have it all, to have to make decisions, but in thinking about it more I realize it’s a luxury to have those choices. I’m sad that it’s a luxury, I wish that everyone could have those choices.
Maybe I’ll return to watch the rest of the panel. Perhaps these smart, successful women will have something to say that will make me feel better.
One of the things I love after BEA is the book haul postings. Love it! There are many people who will a completely different haul, 100% different than mine, and be just as thrilled. I love that because it means there are so many books out there, to please so many kinds of people.
I’m just going to keep posting mine, because I’m pretty happy.
And so I return home after another wonderful BEA. Here is my two day haul:
Day 1 (Thurs)
Day 2 (Fri):
AND:
All this certainly looks like less than it felt like when carrying it or rolling it down the street in this bag, which was completely stuffed, and another entire tote bag.
I will not be attending Book Con because of last year’s experience. Being herded like cattle in a small, sweltering space just isn’t for me. I hear some of the issues have been resolved, but I’ll reserve judgement until this year’s attendees weigh in. Wait.. maybe not. I’m not sure I want to hear about things I’ve missed. 🙂 I’m already sad about missing Nick Offerman, and I’ve avoided knowing who else is there so I’m not sad…
More complete recap coming soon!
Gone Girl meets Rear Window? Sign me up.
Sadly, this book was neither Gone Girl or Rear Window, but it was an entertaining romp. It’s a nice beach read for when you don’t need or want to think that hard because the ending is fairly obvious. Due to it’s references to Gone Girl and a twist, I was looking for the twist the entire time. My favorite of my own twists was (spoiler alert!) that Rachel had a psychotic break, creating an entire second world for herself. There is only one couple, Tom and Scott are the same person. They basically are the same character, nice, good looking guy to the outside world, secret devil when pushed. Their houses are exactly the same layout therefore Rachel knows where everything is in Megan and Scott’s. Come on! Of course Megan must be missing, because she can’t compete with herself. Rachel consoles Scott, right. See what a golf club hole in the wall and being blamed for a marriage’s demise can do to a person? I think this would be a more interesting book, but alas, it was not so.
I found it challenging to endure Rachel making one self-destructive choice after another. Get yourself together, girl! You have at least a friend and your mother who will help you. You had a bad life blow, things didn’t work out the way you wanted, but are you going to let that ruin the rest of your life. How much lower can you go than getting fired, sleeping with a missing woman’s husband and going to see the same missing woman’s shrink? You never met her. How could involving yourself possibly be the sane choice. Spend your time in AA! But then we wouldn’t have this novel would we? And an alcoholic stabbing someone with a cork screw… come on. 10 on the obvious meter.
Despite my description above, I liked this book. If Gone Girl had never existed, I may have loved it. But the gauntlet has been thrown and standards are higher now. I enjoyed my own imagining of what could be more than the actual book, however it was the book that inspired those dreams. So.. enjoy this at the beach, the plot will keep you interested.
I’m finally reading Gone Girl. There is immense pressure in my social circle to see the movie, but I won’t go until I’ve read the book. I always do work better under a deadline. Ben Affleck is going to rock this so hard. Even if I didn’t know there was a movie, he’s what I would imagine Nick Flynn looks like.
It’s so great. Why didn’t anyone tell me it was so great? And by that I mean when everyone told me it was so great, why didn’t I jump on it immediately? When can I schedule time to read all the Gillian Flynn books?
Living Reflections 