the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime on the way to north carolina

Intro:

I am by no means a frequent flyer, but I must admit that I find flying supremely uncomfortable. On our most recent delay-ridden escapade to the southeast, I brought along Nate's library book (which he had finished; he was reading Sherlock Holmes--and is not impressed by the movie's trailers because the real Sherlock Holmes manages his genius withOUT action, not PACKED with action, but anyway). I finished it before we even caught our connection out of Dallas.

In sum:

It seems to belong to the epanding genre of "kids who are a little too curious for their own good, have at least one quirk that separates them from normal kids, solve a mystery by making some kind of journey, and become friends with an elderly person," which is great, because I like all of those things. (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close & The History of Love are also this genre.)

The detracting:

The swearing, of course, but they're British. (Which is what Nate said when he handed it over to me.) Now you can't be surprised. Also detracting was the main character (Christoper) 's mother, who I ended up not feeling very pleasant about. But since the book is in first person from Christopher's point of view there is probably a lot more to her than what he sees, so maybe she's ok; you'll have to see for yourself. And last but not least is that when the book is finished you don't really feel like you've gotten anywhere (despite the solved mystery). Now you can't be surprised.

The winning:

The voice, the tone, the characterization of Christopher (who is, did I mention, autistic). He is sweet and very amusing, and I really thought the author did a good job of portraying an autistic personality without condescention. Not that I would know for sure, since I'm not autistic, but it seemed really good. Also, the genre was good by my opinion, as you won't be surprised to find out.

Et viola

But of course I want to know if you've read it/thought about it/heard about it.

shine your shoes for the fat lady

I read Franny and Zooey recently and to be honest, I have mixed emotions about it. At times I thought it was terrible. In fact, most of the time I struggled with it because I couldn't relate to the characters, a lot of the dialogue was over my head, and there wasn't much of a plot. I had a hard time wanting to keep reading. It was more modern than what I usually read, but I thought I would be adventurous and read something a little different. I left it alone for stretches of time and almost didn't finish it. However, when I did go back to it, each time I found myself somehow sucked in. It was strange. I am glad I finished it because I actually liked how it ended. In fact, I was quite moved by it. Ah yes, "shine your shoes for the fat lady." A good lesson indeed. Any thoughts on this one?

but it felt like reading

i'll skip the whole bit about aren't you so shocked that i would condescend from my apparently too busy life to contribute something to the fine establishment of let's be onto something.....

i can never remember if its julie and julia or julia and julie, and frankly when i first heard the title of the movie i was wary because i somehow had it in my mind that was julia child may have been a lesbian...and before you find that offensive, its not that i'm homophobic or anything i just was like, oh brother, is this a movie about the secret life of one of our cultural icons? was that whole paragraph only one sentence?

oh brother, this isn't going well at all!

anyway, i just want to say that i couldn't watch this delightful movie without repeatedly exclaiming to martin, "this is my favorite movie already!" he wasn't as into the experience, but nodded supportively, fully absorbed in the task of making yanphoto t-shirts.

and i don't think any of you will be able to wach this movie without wishing you were just a tad more jolly and joyful the way they made julia child's character seem. also, i was rather touched by the love story between julia child and her husband, and what a relief given my intial hesitation! (i'm making fun of myself here).

i did feel as though the ending was slightly abrupt, and a little too perfect, and rather unsatisfying, as though they decided to give us everything we wanted (sans one thing, and you'll see when you watch it) in a hurry so the movie could be done already. but i threw my hands up in the air and forgave them immediately.

lastly i don' cook, and wasn't even able to relate on that level, but i still loved the movie! so if you've seen it, what are you thoughts? and if you haven't, i hope you will. i think we'd all enjoy watching it together.

p.s. meryl streep is an amazing and inspiring actress, the other female lead is refreshingly not hollywood beautiful, and did i mention the words "based on a true story?"

sweet and funny

I was at my parents' house for Thanksgiving, and upon my impending exit, I began to peruse the wall-length bookshelves, like usual. My dad suggested some deep eco-philosophical tomes. I thought about Jane Eyre, but it sure looks long...so my mom gave me this book, Funny in Farsi. Bingo Gringo.

Like a good memoir does, the book introduces you more and more to this Iranian-American woman's family as you read further. Each essay is short, which is excellent for reading when no one's looking at work. The writing style isn't extraordinary, but you can tell Firoozeh is no dummy. The anecdotes are all pretty amusing, but I have only LOLed about twice, so I wouldn't say the book's main charm is its funny.

What would I say is the book's main charm then?

Um. Its charm, maybe.

It's the kind of book that makes me think I could write a book, which is dangerous but rather appealing.

Yes, I recommend it.

mansfield park

I am now watching the 1999 version of Mansfield Park. It's different than other Austens, is it not? I haven't read it, but now I'd like to. How many of you have read it and what are your opinions?

here we go again

From the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem.


According to Amazon...
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities. As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It’s survival of the fittest—and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

CLICK HERE TO SEE A (rather ridiculous) VIDEO CLIP!

good grief

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. It's playing on my itunes as I write. It's actually grating on my nerves right now. If you'll believe that.

Not Walden Pond, but something more like Lake Mooslookmeguntic in Maine.

Well, here's the thing. I always associated with the Transcendentalists when I learned about them in school; I thought I would fit in with them, had I been Louisa May Alcott myself. Therefore, I thought I should read (um, listen to) Walden in its entirety. I had read excerpts in English 293 and enjoyed them. I also have a pretty intense romance with Nature. I can get short of breath just by looking at it (regardless of whether I've been hiking to see the view).

This is why I was so surprised that I find Mr. Thoreau's staggering work heartbreakingly smug, patronizing, and closed-minded. There are bits I still embrace, of course, but they way in which he presents his subject--is rude, mostly. True, I don't think he should apologize for his opinions, but he could be a little less condescending, right?

Example: "They [the classics, including the bible, the bhagavad gita, Shakespeare and Homer] are the only oracles which are not decayed, and there are such answers to the most Modern inquiry in them." Okay, I'm with you, Henry, until he said: "I aspire to associate with wiser men than this our Concord land has produced," following an anecdote about a dumb farmer. And then there was "I do not make any very broad distinction between the illiterateness of my townsmen who cannot read at all and the illiterateness of him who has learned to read only what is for children and feeble intellects blah blah blah." And that's where I'm totally gone.

I have not yet given up the fight, however, because I need something to listen to while I crochet. And this is where I ask if any of you have read/have thought you'd like to read/listened to the great Walden?