Book Blog Hop: This Week in Our Year

Thanks for stopping by the Book Blog Hop.  We think the idea our host Crazy for Books had was a great one and we love meeting fellow book bloggers.  Last week we met Jane Doe over at Dead White Guys and Pam over at 100 Books, 100 Journeys. 

This Week in Our Year:
This week we started a Library Link-up and would love for you to join the party.  Go here and check out our stacks, then link up your own. 
We also got a double review of Letters to a Young Poet and Keep the Aspidistra Flying.  It's odd, check it out.
And in shameless promotion of a museum of sorts: please check out the Reliquarium for our movie review of High Noon.

Happy Book!

-L and D

Letters to A Young Poet Obsessed with Aspidistras

I rarely read more than one book at a time.  I tend to lose focus if I do.  But, for some reason, I was reading two books this past week that met in some fortuitous way to help one another.  The two books in question: Letters to a Young Poet by Ranier Maria Rilke and Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell.  Both are books about or to poets.  Both deal with the pain and struggle poets must go through to produce art.

You know how when you find a distasteful character in a work of fiction, you find yourself wanting to fix them, wanting to have a conversation with them, to set them on the right track?  OK, maybe it's just me.  Well, instead of wanting to fix the main character in Orwell's book, I wanted to introduce him to Rilke.  I wanted so badly for the letters Rilke wrote to Mr. Kappus to be written to Gordon Comstock.  Because, like Kappus, Gordon needed some direction.  He needed to figure it out.  I mean the man is 30 years old and still hung up on money and himself, so much so that he keeps himself from the things he desires most.

Gordon's problems are numerous.  He is obsessed with money, having declared war against the "money-god" without realizing he bows down to his altar on an almost constant basis.  He is obsessed with as-yet-unrealized physical intimacy with his girlfriend of two years.  He has a dead-end job.  He has been working on one poem for two years and each day whittles it down, instead of adding to it.  He sees everything as a class warfare thing.  But with him it starts and ends with money.  Thankfully, Rilke had something to say on these topics.  I think it would go a little something like this.

Gordon on successful poetry: You were a made man once you had had a poem in [the Primrose Quarterly].  In his heart Gordon knew that the Primrose Quarterly would never print his poems.  He wasn't up to their standard.  Still, miracles sometimes happen; or, if not miracles, accidents.

Rilke: You ask whether your verses are good...You send them to magazines.  You compare them with other poems, you are disturbed when certain editors reject your efforts.  Now...I beg you to give up on all that.  You are looking outward, and that above all you should not do now.  Nobody can counsel and help you, nobody.  There is only one single way.  Go into yourself.  Search for the reason that bids you write; find out whether it is spreading out its roots in the deepest places of your heart, acknowledge to yourself whether you would have to die if it were denied you to write.

Gordon on fruitless days: The ticking of the alarm clock on the mantelpiece became audible to Gordon again, bringing with it the consciousness of the sinister passage of time.  He looked about him.  Another evening wasted.  Hours, days, years slipping by.  Night after night, always the same.  The lonely room, the womanless bed; dust, cigarette ash, the aspidistra leaves.  And he was thirty, nearly.

Rilke: seek [themes] which your own everyday life offers you; describe your sorrows and desires, passing thoughts and the belief in some sort of beauty - describe all these with loving, quiet, humble sincerity, and use, to express yourself, the things in your environment, the images from your dreams, and the objects of your memory.  If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.

Gordon on employment:  He went to Ravelston and asked his help.  He told him that he wanted some kind of job; not a "good" job, but a job that would keep his body without wholly buying his soul.

Rilke: I can only advise you to consider whether all professions are not like that, full of demands, full of enmity against the individual, saturated as it were with the hatred of those who have found themselves mute and sullen in a hum-drum duty.

With these bits of advice from another poet, Gordon's story would be the same, but his attitude could have been different.  It is the attitude and the words stemming from it, that make Gordon such a distasteful character, that alienate him from all those who love him. 

But, all is not lost in Orwell's story.  This is only the character sketch of Gordon that takes up the first six (tedious) chapters of the book.  Then, in the final six chapters of the book, we find character development through actual events (praise for actual events in a novel, how necessary they are).   We see, finally, the development of boy into man at the ripe age of thirty.  So it is a bildungsroman, a coming of age novel.  It is a shame Gordon had to become complete at such an old age (middle-age, for the time).  It stands in contrast to the letters to Mr. Kappus, a boy of nineteen developing into a man a full decade before Gordon.

Also, in the last couple of chapters we find the explanation for aspidistras being a central device in the novel.  I will not reveal it here because if anything is a mystery throughout this novel, it is the meaning of aspidistras. 

Ratings: Keep the Aspidistra Flying: 2 of 7 (The plot is non-existent until the last of the book, I need some plot, please!)
Letters to a Young Poet: 6 of 7 (will return to this one regularly, thanks for the recommendation, Dad)

-L

Library Link-up

We were inundated with (1) request for a look at our library.  After much cleaning and pruning, it is now presentable enough to show to the general public.  I was checking out a back issue of a defunct style magazine yesterday and saw an article for party-planning where the bar for the party was situated in front of a wonderful collection of books.  That got me in the party mood and got me thinking I would love to host a party in my library.
Well, short of that (maybe later), I thought it might be fun to have an online progressive party where we show off our libraries and serve up a course or two of our favorite foods. 

Since we are starting this shindig, we will get the party going with drinks mixed by -D and tapas.  Who's next?

The Book Blogger Hop

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop!  Thank you to our host at Crazy for Books!  Take a look around.  A little bit about our blog:
We are a husband (-D) and wife (-L) team of bloggers, writing about extremely varied books.
We are attempting to get through a book a week this year (the wife is woefully behind).
We are happy to hear from you and get feedback; so please comment, comment, comment!

Lately I have been immersing myself in the book blog world (who knew it was so large).  I have found some great blogs that inspire.  Here's some links:

New Dork Review of Books
Page Turners
The Reading Ape
Book Lust

Enjoy!

-L

The Poisonwood Bible

Upon opening this week's book, I was immediately struck with the feeling I would never get through it.  The prose is so ethereal and without context.  My persistence was rewarded upon turning the first page of the first section: The Things We Carried.  I was suddenly immersed in a world of context narrated by the female relations of a missionary man from Georgia, setting himself and his family down in the strange land of the Congo at the precipice of independence.  His ignorance of almost everything in life leaves scars on his daughters, his wife, and even himself; only he is unable to recognize or admit them.  The tale of The Poisonwood Bible (by Barbara Kingsolver) is one of striving for the purpose of independence to find there is no such thing.  Oppression is the lot of all men in life - it is just a matter of one's perspective on their suffering.   Do you choose to submit under the hand of an angry god?  Do you choose to build a life of the scraps of hope you find along the way?  How will you survive a land so destructive even the jungle will creep in on you, seeking dominion, if you turn your back on it for a moment?

The themes of this book are worn on it's sleeve.  They permeate every page with an outspokenness that must fit the struggles for independence of all conquered nations.  If someone does not stand up and raise their voice, there will never be freedom, right?  In telling this story oppression must be defined.  Kingsolver accomplishes this through the first two books: Genesis and Revelation.  She identifies the major players in their respective roles of oppressor and oppressed, each a metaphor for the greater struggle for Congolese independence.  The third (Judges) serves as the wake-up-call to the consciousness of all involved.  There must be a paradigm shift; something must change.  The last four books cover the ground of independence sought and gained (?). 

Maybe it is just me, but the last couple of books really could have been left off.  Maybe it is the free person in me that understands the struggle, the attainment, that doesn't need reminders of a life of oppression left behind.  They slithered and crawled and worked their way free, I don't need a recap of the rest of their lives.  They are free, right?  Well, "not so much," says Kingsolver.  They only thought they were free, they were only free of certain things.  They still have the memories.  The memories will never free them, no matter how they deal with them.

Memory is the device of the narrators of this tale.  All is told in reminiscence.  All is recounted with the understanding of what happened in the end, where each person ended up.  In keeping with this Kingsolver foreshadows many of the plot points  in a heavy-handed way.  For the most part the reader knows what is going to happen well before the action takes place.  Somehow it doesn't mar the story.  It reads like a person telling a joke and letting slip the punchline, long before they are supposed to.  It doesn't mean it is not just as enjoyable, it is just not surprising. 

Memory also is the thing each person carries out of the Congo with them.  The memory of what has happened shapes the lives of each character.  Each character remains true to the original sketch of themselves, but because we are looking back, they tell only the things they think are important to who they are now.  Each one a pragmatist, a scholar, a narcissist, a survivor.  The reader gets from them just what they want to give; but cleverly, he knows more about them than they think he does.  This is due to the device of multiple narrators.  Kingsolver tells her story through the eyes of the Price women.  Each is a a fully realized character, with her own narrative style.  My favorite is Adah, the crooked-backed, palindrome spouting, lesser-twin to Leah.  Her story resonates more fully because she uses words sparingly and speaks even fewer.  Her chapters are rich because the reader would not know her otherwise.  Each of the other characters are easily understood through the telling of their counterparts; but because Adah is silent most of the time, she is privileged to tell her story her way.  She is easily one of the most compelling characters in modern literature. 

With memory comes regret.  Kingsolver deals with this in various ways, but no more clearly than here, the words of Orleanna Price:

Try to imagine what never happened: our family without Africa, or the Africa that would have been without us.  Look at your sisters now.  Lock, stock, and barrel, they've got their own three ways to live with our history.  Some can find it.  Many more never do.  But which one among you is without sin?  I can hardly think where to cast my stones, so I just go on keening for my own losses, trying to wear the marks of the boot on my back as gracefully as the Congo wears hers.

The scars remain; the bruises, and the illnesses never healed.  But the characters learn how to deal with regret, by understanding it must have been this way.  The story could not be told, but by walking down that particular road.  What they would have been otherwise is unthinkable; this is who they are now.

I could write a whole other post on the particulars of the theology that took them there.  A works-based system, insisting the justice (in human perception) of God would reward the "goodness" of a man bent on becoming a spiritual giant, without any of the tools necessary. I would set it against the backdrop of a tribal theology that is not very far displaced from the theology of the missionary, just set on a different focal point.  This could be discussed in grand detail to tedium by this humble church history (theology) major, but I have already said the most important stuff regarding this book.  Read it for yourself and discover a world of themes hidden just under the skin, like the zillion parasites of the Congolese jungle.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 7

-L

Reading Habits

We had a fellow book blogger stop by and post a comment earlier today, so we went by her blog to spy (ahem, check) on her.  Drew spotted the following questionnaire and said, "We could do that."  So we did.  Enjoy.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack:

L: Yes, often.  I do not have a favorite snack, but I refuse to eat popcorn while reading (buttery pages, no thank you).
D - I'm sure I do, but it's a little difficult to eat and read at the same time. I'll probably go with anything that I can drink while reading; made easier by the Nook. One handed reading without cramps!

What is your favourite drink while reading?
L: I am not so much on the hydration front (I get carried away and forget to drink); but if I remember: coffee.
D - Well, I like drinking just about anything except coffee. I'll take a soda (Dr.Pepper preferable, but that doesn't mean that I won't dumb myself down for Pepsi if that's all there is) or milk.
Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
L: I would love to mark my books, but Drew does not allow me (in certain books).  I will if it is a book I know he will not read.  But I have been making notes on index cards lately.
D - Sorry, but books are not made to be written in. If you want to take notes then you do it in a notepad, or on the computer. Funny that the wife wants to keep books looking like they've never been read, but then she'll write in them if she can. No sense.... not to mention, I don't want to buy a book that's been covered in ink other than the authors.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
L: I am utterly opposed to dog-ears and laying the book flat.  Books are treasures.  One does not bend treasures.  How unthinkable!  To keep my place, I either remember the page number or use a piece of paper.
D - I'll use a bookmark with a real book, and the Nook takes care of it for you. This may be something for the last question, but the Nook allows you to add bookmarks if you want. I guess for keeping quotes fresh.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
L: Both, with a strong lean toward non-fiction
D - Both, with a strong lean toward fiction

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
L: I can and will stop anywhere, but I believe the authors placed the chapter divisions for a reason.  Thus, reading the book this way works for me.
D - I'll usually read till I get tired and stop there. If I feel like I'm behind on the book I'm reading for the blog then I'll usually give myself goals on X amount of chapters, but that's rare. I'd prefer to read as much as I possibly can unless it's just a horrible book.
Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
L: No.  There are better ways of expressing disgust, like closing the book.
D - It'd probably have to be something by Al Gore or Michael Moore, but that would be out of enjoyment AND irritation. Otherwise, if the book is boring, I'll set it aside for a few months and try again.
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
L:  I do not look it up right away unless I have a dictionary close by.  Otherwise, I write it down and look it up later.  But, context is king.
D - If I can't figure it out I'll ask Leah, and if she doesn't know then I might go check it out. Re-reading the paragraph will tend to give you an idea of what the author is trying to say.

What are you currently reading?
L: The Poisonwood Bible; Eats, Shoots, and Leaves; Letters to a Young Poet; The Light and the Glory; Taste and See; and 4 books of the Bible.
D - Reading Dark Tower IV by Stephen King and another Robert Jordan book. I'll probably a very short novel by Saki this weekend for the book blog. (got me beat this time!)

What is the last book you bought?
L:  H.P. Lovecraft Collected works (We took a cross-half-country journey last December in part in search of this book.  We found it less than 2 hours away from home, in the opposite direction)
D - I'm not too sure. It's either Dark Tower IV or a Glen Cook book. hmmm.......
Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
L:  Please see the above list.  But it is very out of the ordinary for me to be reading more than one book, the Bible, and a devotional-type book.
D - I'll tend to read three books at a time. I'll get in a Robert Jordan sized book(600+ pages), a non-fiction book(too boring to read all the way through without some relief), and a smaller book(200-400 pages). I just can't decide on what I want to read.
Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
L: No. But I love to read in the afternoon.  Every time I make a slow-cooker dinner, I look forward to using the afternoon to enjoy a good book.
D - Well, usually in bed or just in the bedroom, but I've been reading a lot downstairs in the living room. The chair is majorly uncomfortable, but that's where I have the nook charger.
Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
L: One-offs.  I have tried only one modern series I can think of and it was tedious because the author did not have his books edited properly.
D - I would say stand alone novels just b/c I don't want to be boxed in to what I actually read. If you look over the book blog you'd have to believe series books and that's pretty much the case. I love being able to sit down with an epic one day and end up a couple months later finally finishing it off. You figure you have a bakers dozen of Robert Jordan novels and 7,000 pages or more. LOVE IT!

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
L:  Jeffrey Archer (any, but more specifically As The Crow Flies), Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolfe, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
D - I keep on adding more authors to the list. I have Robert Jordan, Glen Cook, Tad Williams, Joe Abercrombie, and Weis/Hickman at the top of my list. I'll have you know that Cook and Abercrombie are on the list b/c my wife saw them at the bookstore and pointed them out.
How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
L:  By color (I bet there aren't many who will say that)
D - I don't have a specific way of organizing my books. Leah filled up the bookshelves and I happen to be relegated to two locations. I am in the far back middle of the last bookshelf. I'm assuming that's so HER friends can come by and she won't be embarrassed by my collection of Fantasy novels. Mind you, there's nothing risque about these! The other location is behind the door when you walk in and that's for my biographies and non-fiction. I have no clue why they get put there b/c we do share the same political and socio-economic ideals. Other than that, they'll get put by series and in random order.

Angels. Did you really mean Angels?

After taking so long to read the last book, I was relieved to find it was not a chronic condition as I read this week's book in just three evenings.  The choice this time around?  Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster.  What a delightful thing to find quotation marks after an entire novel of dialogue written directly into the text.  How lovely some punctuation marks are!

First observations upon reading this novel.  The dialogue is so much like a play that I could see it being performed upon a stage quite easily (at least the first couple of chapters).  Forster must have felt much the same as he drops hints to playwrights a couple times: "dropping like a curtain on the scene" and a mention of "horrible modern plays where no one is right."  Forster also makes glorious use of adjectival phrases.  He often couples them together in odd ways, creating a poetry-like quality to his prose.  I found myself writing down these couplets often and just thinking about how many authors do not think so much upon their adjectives as Forster must have.  He packed more descriptive dynamite in the short 114 pages than most authors do in 300.  It truly is something to behold.  Here are a few of my favorites:

glorious invariable creature...brief and inevitable tragedy...purple quivering beef...smart and vociferous...grating sprightliness....timorous, scrupulous...burly obtuseness

. 
And to think, he must have accomplished these feats of literary magic without the assistance of a thesaurus. 

The themes of this book are varied and interesting for the period.  The repression of women ( quotes: "as if she could choose what could make her happy!" and "the usual feminine incapacity for grasping philosophy") juxtaposed against the supreme mother rule of  a certain female character over most other players in her game (her son calls himself her "puppet" and does not think of "his own moral or behavior anymore.") is a theme that weaves its way through the entire novel.  As I was reading, it seemed one could make a case that Forster was one of the first feminist authors (sorry to Kate and Virginia).   He appeals to the plight of women, while pointing out their absolute authority over other women and men in certain social circles. 

Another theme picked up and then dropped as the novel progresses is hypocrisy as a social convention.  All the characters float through this world performing for societal acceptance rather than following their own hearts.  They maintain their social status by conforming to what they call "proper behavior."  All the while, their hearts betray them by their very words.  As most of the characters develop, the hypocrisy is not so easily hidden, and thus it becomes less evident.  The climax of the novel finds most of the characters laid bare, unable to hide their inner feelings any longer.  This incisive character study of both men and women by Forster is not just accurate for his day, it is a statement of the human condition for all ages.

The last theme worthy of discussion for this post is the abandonment of all moral strictures when on vacation.  There is something about getting out of one's comfort zone that strips one of all one's closely-held customs.  In the novel, each character that dares leave the comfort of Sawston, finds themselves utterly changed, doing surprising things and exploring feelings they would have never imagined.  Forster uses the change of scenery to depict a literal change in character and then mentions, late in the book, that people are more apt to notice change in others than in themselves who "hold [their own] characters immutable, slow to acknowledge they have changed even for the better."  He also speaks of one of the characters "changing her disposition never and her atmosphere under protest."  This is the one character who rebels the most against the strictures of her societal restraints upon being thrust into the world of Italy.

The last thing I kept track of whilst reading was the mention of angels.  Because I had never read this book before, nor had a read anything about it; I was unaware of the reason for the title.  Thus, I wrote down every mention of angels, thinking it would help me discover the purpose.  Well, for those of you who will in the future read this one, don't bother.  I discovered that the mention of angels is not important.  After reading the book,  I looked it up and found it is a reference to a quote from some other book: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread." - Alexander Pope.  Don't I feel sheepish?  But, honestly, that fits a lot better than anything I came up with.  Would have been nice to have included this quote in the front page of the novel for us unlearned folk.

Rating:  4.5 out of 7

-L