What I Read: June 2017
8:44 AM
Holy
moly, there
is nothing quite like finishing graduate school and getting hired for a new job
to kick my little reading butt into gear. This month, free from the obligations
of grad school and living in anticipation of work starting in the fall, I read
like the wind. Some of these were for work, some for play, some incorporated a
bit of both. This was also the month that I discovered the best history
book I have ever read. Which coming from a gal who studied history in both
undergrad and graduate school, means a great deal.
Wives
and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Goodreads
Description: Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives
and Daughters centers on the story of youthful Molly Gibson,
brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new step-sister
enters Molly's quiet life - loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The
narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the
gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.
My
Thoughts: This was my first time reading Elizabeth Gaskell and I was
profoundly impressed, not only by her skill for characterization, but her
ability to so sharply render early 19th century English society. Like Jane
Austen, she has a phenomenal grasp of conversation and is able to use dialogue
to reveal a great deal about her characters. Molly is wonderful, and Cynthia is
fascinating. The plot moved a bit slowly for my tastes, but
this is a good one if you are happy to kick back and take your time.
Tragically, Gaskell died before she was able to finish the novel, so there are
some plot elements that are not tied up by the end.
Wildwood
Dancing by Juliet Marillier
Rating: 3/5 stars
Goodreads
Description: High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi,
live five daughters and their doting father. It's an idyllic life for Jena, the
second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her
constant companion, a most unusual frog. But the best by far is the castle's
hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass
through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance
through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm.
My
Thoughts: I love re-adaptations of fairy tales, which was one of the reasons
why I picked this one up. I thought it was lovely, and well-written for a
middle-grade novel. The world that Marillier creates is lush and vibrant, and
delightful to read about. However, I did not quite connect with the narrator,
Jena. I think I would have preferred this story if it had been told through the
eyes of her younger sister, Paula (who happens to be the narrator of the next
book in the series).
Wishing
For Birds by Elisabeth Hewer
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads
Description: Reaching inwards to explore the self; reaching back to explore
what made us who we are. In this collection of 50 poems, Elisabeth Hewer
ponders love and the world, whilst tackling the inexplicable desires and
dangers that threat through our daily lives. At times hopeful, at times
despairing, her poems ruminate on the things we come up against, even if, on
occasion, it's only ourselves.
My
Thoughts: Elisabeth's voice feels like somebody who you would encounter on
tumblr, and I don't particularly mean that as a criticism. You can tell that
she is young, and for a young poet, these poems pack a great deal of meaning. I
connected with them. I found myself resonating with them. They are written in
the language of a young woman growing into adolescence in the 2000s and thus
the images and metaphors that she employs are ones that speak to me. I feel
like I share common ground with the speaker. Though not sophisticated or
particularly deep, these poems do at times open up space for deeper
observation. It will be interesting to see what Hewer does in years to come.
Angels
and Insects by A.S. Byatt
Rating: 3/4 stars
Goodreads
Description: In these breathtaking novellas, A.S. Byatt returns to the
territory she explored in Possession: the landscape of Victorian
England, where science and spiritualism are both popular manias, and domestic
decorum coexists with brutality and perversion. Angels and Insects is
"delicate and confidently ironic...Byatt perfectly blends laughter and
sympathy with extraordinary sensuality."
My
Thoughts: I wanted to love this. I think that Byatt is a
phenomenal author and her prose is some of the most beautiful that I have ever
encountered. She could write about paint drying and it would be lush and
vibrant and humming with meaning. She also captured Victorian England in a way
unlike any author I've ever read. While I loved the prose, the plot of neither
novella did much for me. I didn't like the characters, and the stories failed
to capture me. There were moments of beauty (the butterfly room in Morpho
Eugenia for instance), but it was the power of her prose, not the
genius of her stories that held my interest. I much prefer her first
novel, Possession.
The
Apple that Astonished Paris by Billy Collins
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads
Description: This collection includes some of Collins's most anthologized
poems, including "Introduction to Poetry," "Another Reason Why I
Don't Keep a Gun in the House," and "Advice to Writers." Its
success over the years is a testament to Collins' talent as one of our best
poets, and as he writes in the preface, "this new edition...is a credit to
the sustained vibrancy of the University of Arkansas Press and, I suspect, to
the abiding spirit of its former director, my first editorial father."
My
Thoughts: Collins is one of the best, and reading him is a joy.
Here
I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
Rating: 2/5 stars
Goodreads
Description: In the book of Genesis, when God calls out,
“Abraham!” to order him to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham responds, “Here I
am.” Later, when Isaac calls out, “My father!” to ask him why there is no
animal to slaughter, Abraham responds, “Here I am.” How do we fulfill our
conflicting duties as father, husband, and son; wife and mother; child and
adult? Jew and American? How can we claim our own identities when our lives are
linked so closely to others’? These are the questions at the heart of Jonathan
Safran Foer’s first novel in eleven years--a work of extraordinary scope and
heartbreaking intimacy.
My Thoughts: I was profoundly disappointed by this book. I
loved Foer's first two novels, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Everything
is Illuminated. I feel like in this one he was just trying to do too much.
There was a great deal going on in this novel, but the only thing that I walked
away with was a bad taste in my mouth about his terribly cynical portrayal of
marriage and family life. There were moments of incredible humor and beauty,
but overall, it was not my cup of tea.
American
Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 by Alan
Taylor
Rating: 5/5 stars
Goodreads Description: Often
wishfully understood as a high-minded, orderly event, the American
Revolution builds in this masterful history like a ground fire
overspreading Britain’s mainland colonies, fueled by local conditions and
resistant to control. Emerging from the continental rivalries of
European empires and their native allies, the revolution pivoted on
western expansion as well as resistance to new British taxes. In the seaboard
cities, leading Patriots mobilized popular support by summoning crowds
to harass opponents. Along the frontier, the war often
featured brutal guerrilla violence that persisted long after
the peace treaty. The discord smoldering within the fragile new nation
called forth a movement to consolidate power in a Federal Constitution.
But it was Jefferson’s expansive “empire of liberty” that carried the
Revolution forward, propelling white settlement and slavery west,
preparing the ground for a new conflagration. This magisterial
history reveals the American Revolution in its time, free of wishful
hindsight.
My Thoughts: I loved this book.
Technically, I read it for work, but it was so masterful and fascinating that I
felt completely caught up in Taylor's narrative and never once was bored. His
interpretation of the Revolution is compelling, fresh, and in my mind,
brilliant. He demonstrates rigorous research and has shaped these 54
revolutionary years into a compelling and cohesive narrative. Particularly helpful
was his insistence on situating the revolution within a global context and
zooming out from the physical and intellectual battlefields in the 13 colonies
to paint a grand picture of how events in the West Indies, the Southwest,
Europe, and the rest of the Atlantic world contributed to the arc of the
Revolution. While a rigorous work of history, this book is written for the
everyman and could be enjoyed by anyone who has even the slightest interest in
this period. It's outstanding.
Blues
Triumphant by
Jonterri Gadson
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads Description: The poems
in Blues Triumphant ask the question, “What am I most afraid to say?” and then
these poems say it. Blues Triumphant is about triumph in spite of motherhood’s
demands, in spite of family dysfunction, in spite of depression and anxiety, in
spite of heartbreak, in spite of racism and identity crises, in spite of it
all, seeking, finding and celebrating the spaces where one feels most alive.
My
Thoughts: These poems were wonderful, and I'm glad that I discovered this
collection. I reviewed it in greater detail for Collaboreads here.
The
Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff
Rating: 1/5 stars
Goodreads
Description: The cause for which the colonists fought,
liberty and independence, was glorious indeed. Here is an equally glorious
narrative of an event that changed the world, capturing the profound and
passionate struggle to found a free nation.
My Thoughts: Maybe I did this book a disservice by
reading Taylor's American Revolutions first. Or maybe it
really was just terrible. I was so bored by this book. Other
books in the Oxford History of the U.S. have been great and capable of
holding my attention but I found this one to be an absolute slog and it did
little to help me with planning for my class. While Middlekauff does provide
some sharp commentary of the social, political, and economic forces that
propelled the Revolution forward, he gets bogged down in minute and detailed
descriptions of the tactics individual battles. I found it all profoundly
dull. This felt like a work of military history rather than a narrative
history of a complex political movement. I'm just proud of myself for
finishing.
The
Whitsun Weddings by Phillip Larkin
Rating: 3/4 stars
Goodreads
Description: Philip Larkin (1922-1985) remains England's
best-loved poet - a writer matchlessly capable of evoking his native land and
of touching all readers from the most sophisticated intellectual to the
proverbial common reader. The late John Betjeman observed that 'this tenderly
observant poet writes clearly, rhythmically, and thoughtfully about what all of
us can understand'. Behind this modest description lies a poet who made
greatness look, in Milton's prescription, 'simple, sensuous and passionate'.
My
Thoughts: I know that Larkin is a masterful poet, but there was much about
this collection that felt like it was from another place and time. I struggled
to connect with it. While that should not disqualify it as a great work of
poetry (which it surely is), and is admittedly an immature and self-indulgent
way to approach poetry, it did impede my ability to enjoy it. Many of these
poems carry a deep sadness, a heavy lonesomeness, the remorse of missed
opportunities, and the feeling of a life that has not been lived to its full
potential. Sometimes, these feelings are rendered in startlingly beautiful
language and metaphor. There are some poems in here that I will certainly keep
nearby.
The
Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel
Wilkerson
Rating: 5/5
Goodreads
Description: In this epic, beautifully written masterwork,
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great
untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black
citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a
better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people
changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the
migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand
people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this
definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys
unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
My Thoughts: I was lucky enough to save the best for last.
This book is a triumph, and it swept me up from the very first page. Wilkerson
is a talented writer, and she manages to tell a story that is truly epic in its
proportions through the narratives of 3 profoundly compelling people.
Although this book tells some hard truths, I wanted to cherish every page
because of the tenderness and love with which Wilkerson portrays the people
whose stories she tells. While searingly honest, I find it to also be robustly
hopeful in that it bestows on every person the dignity of choice and action.
This is the type of book that I would give to anyone to read: my grandmother,
my brother, my friends, my students. I believe it could touch anyone's life and
carries a story that is essential for any American to understand.
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