New Literary Lounge

Visit my new Literary Lounge at: http://mlhliterarylounge.wordpress.com/

Coming Soon: New and Improved

I'm working on a new and improved "Literary Lounge" on wordpress.com. I recently moved my other blogs to that site and really like the format better. I'm all about ease and increased capabilities. I hope you will enjoy my new sites.

As for reading ... I did finish Arrowsmith and was less than impressed. I plan to review it on the new site but don't expect much. It was one of THE most boring books I've ever read. And, of course, the only character I really liked, Martin's 1st wife Leora, died. I kind of knew she would (either that or she'd leave Martin because of his totally selfish existence) because I read in a review something about "Martin's 1st wife" so I knew that it probably meant there had to be a 2nd wife eventually. I've now moved on to The Good Earth by Pearl Buck and so far am enjoying it. Anything is better than Arrowsmith! I am in a state of fascination with Wang Lung's wife, O-lan, in The Good Earth. She works in the field with her husband while pregnant, goes into labor in the fields, quietly goes back to the house, has her baby, and then comes back to the fields to continue her work. All in the same day!! Amazement ... pure and utter amazement!

Stay tuned for a link to the new "Literary Lounge." Until then, Happy Reading!!

DONE!!

I'm done with Gone with the Wind. It was definitely a trial to get through it ... mainly because of the length. The beginning part of the book really grabbed me. I felt like I was in the middle of the Civil War with the residents of Atlanta. I felt hungry with them. I felt tired with them. I felt defeated with them. But after the war, there wasn't much of interest in the book. Scarlett became the character I'd most like to slap off the page. I became Melanie's cheerleader and Rhett's advocate. I wanted to play with Wade and Ella and put Bonnie in a chair in the corner until she started acting better. But then Bonnie died in two sentences. And that was the end of her. I knew it was coming but it's definitely more dramatic in the movie.

I don't really have much more to say about the book. The beginning half was the best. It could have been a lot shorter. I'm glad I read it but I'm glad it's done.

Reality Bites: A New Goal Set

So I realized the other day, after reading back over my blog, that I've been at my "Year with Pulitzer" for more than one year ... and have only read 12 of 82 books. So much for my goal. I decided it was time for a recap and a reassessment of my goal.

This all started with an article I read in the Atlanta Journal about a book reviewer who took on this quest, but in her journey, she gave herself a scant 6 months to accomplish her goal. Now, I can't remember if she accomplished it or not (I know she read them all but I can't remember her time frame), and I can't find the article I saved. I do remember her saying that she started the project several times over several years before actually completing it.

I knew a year was optimistic but I was hopeful to get farther into my list than just 12. I've also kept track of the other books I've read during this year ... and I think I found the problem. Maybe if I had only read the Pulitzer Prize winners I'd be closer to half way through. But, as I've mentioned several times in my postings, I have reading ADD and I tend to stray from reading lists.

Also in this quest of mine, I have gotten caught up in several of the epic novels. Lonesome Dove took awhile. BUT not as long as Gone with the Wind is taking. Reading back, I think I started Gone with the Wind in February ... and it's almost October. I've still got about 300 pages left. Like I've said before, it's an incredible novel ... but for my attention span!

This weekend I decided I wanted to make my list an even 12 ... for some reason I don't like odd numbers much. So I read the shortest PP winner I own and haven't read (in this quest yet ... I read it years and years ago): The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

Ernest Hemingway. Where to begin. I think it's his tragic life that is more entrancing than his writing ... at least for me anyway. I've read several of his works: A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and The Old Man and the Sea. But ... I just don't get it. Many people consider Hemingway a literary genius. My opinion: He's a guy that had major mental health issues, interesting cats, and a house in Key West I'd like to visit one day. The writing ... doesn't do it for me. If anyone can explain it to me, feel free.

The Old Man and the Sea is just what it sounds like. An old man. A sea. Boring. There is a fish and a boy thrown in there for ... variety ... I guess. The one thing I can say for the book is that I really felt like I was stranded out at sea with no one to save me! I guess that says something for Hemingway's talent for setting the scene. The book also made me re-state my abhorrence for raw fish of any kind. The only good thing about reading this 1953 PP winner is being able to cross one more off my list. Sorry, Ernest, that's the best I can do.

As for reassessing my goal: I think that I'm in a more realistic frame of mind right now so my goal may sound small but actually doable this time. My new goal is to have read 20 PP winners by the end of 2008. I know that this is 8 more novels in three months and based on my progress so far not sounding all that realistic. BUT I'm so close to being done with Gone with the Wind and there are several other short books on the list. So that's it: 20 before 1/1/09. Stay tuned!

The Short Story

I can describe my feelings about the short story as a form of literature in one word: finicky. Some short stories that I have read leave me with a bitter feeling. Either I’m struggling with why the author felt the need to write the story at all, or I’m perturbed that the author stopped the story and didn’t expand it into a novel. Then, there are the short stories that inspire me, that tug at my creative mind and beckon me to join the fray of literary ambition. One such short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, I first read in high school and then re-visited many times in college.

Many say that Gilman’s story of a young mother’s slow descent into madness is autobiographical. I think that’s part of the draw for me … being a counselor. But I am also captivated by Gilman’s writing talent. Her words draw the reader into not only the mind of the young woman but also into the wallpaper that symbolizes and, in some ways, causes the downward spiral. The reader has to be careful not to get caught in the mix of madness. The ending of the story makes the reader want more but yet be satisfied with “just enough.”

In my quest to read all the Pulitzer Prize winning fiction, there are several collections of short stories on my list. When I noticed this, my reaction was displeasure, to say the least. I love novels. I love to get lost in a character’s world, which in my opinion is usually best conveyed through more than just 20 pages or less. BUT, with a lot of these epic novels, like Gone with the Wind, I’m finding that I need occasional quick breaks and these short story collections are fitting the bill perfectly.

While Scarlett continued in her days of reconstructing her life in Atlanta with her new husband Frank Kennedy, I got a little bored. So I picked up The Stories of John Cheever (1978 winner). Cheever’s stories surprised me a little. I guess I should have had higher expectations since the collection did when the PP, but with some of the other novel winners being less than entertaining, I have found that my enthusiasm as I picked up another winner was waning.

Cheever’s stories focus on the lives of New Yorkers, mainly the elite, and their ironic ways of life. His characters portray one portrait on the outside but have far darker pictures on the inside. The reader is grabbed by Cheever’s literary construction as well as his subject matter. So far my favorite is “The Enormous Radio,” a story about a family who can hear the conversations of their neighbors through their new radio. Creative story idea. Moving plot. Intriguing and unforeseen ending. In just a few short pages, Cheever made me a fan of his work and his writing ways. I haven’t finished the collection yet but as I get further along I’m sure I’ll post about other stories. I also have added several of his novels to my WishList at Amazon. So stay tuned for more about John Cheever’s contribution to our literature world.

Anna Quindlen: Not Lovin' Her Fiction

On my list of writers whom I most wish to emulate, Anna Quindlen is definitely in the top 10. She uses words gracefully and poetically. A journalist and novelist, Quindlen has the ability to grab my attention and captivate me by newspaper articles that are so far from my own personal beliefs ... simply through her masterful sentence structure and vocabulary waltz. If her name is on it, I'll read it ...

That is if it's non-fiction. Quindlen wrote one of my favorite books about reading: How Reading Changed My Life. In the short work of non-fiction, Quindlen recalls some of her all-time favorite books and how the authors' works influenced and shaped her life as a woman and a writer. Some of her favorites are mine too. I read portions of that book over and over and over just for the quick trip down memory lane and for the opportunity to get lost in wonderment at how simple language can have such a powerful impact.

Feeling as I do about Quindlen's writing, I eagerly started reading her fiction as well ... expecting the same wit, craft, and attention-grabbing prose. Unfortunately (you knew that was coming, right?!), I have been disappointed. My first Quindlen fiction was Blessings, and while the story was fine and the writing was decent, the overall novel lacked that magic I've grown to expect from Quindlen. After finishing the book, I deleted Quindlen's other works of fiction off of my Amazon Wishlist.

Recently, however, I decided to give her fiction another chance. I was deep in the tragedy and thickness of Gone with the Wind and needed a quick break from Scarlett and Rhett. I picked up Rise and Shine at the grocery store and tossed all of my previous criticisms aside. Rise and Shine is the story of a high-profile sister who falls from grace as told from her social worker sister. There are many side stories running through the quick read, including relationships with dead parents, memories of childhood, a son raised in luxury, divorce, social justice, shootings, failure, and redemption. Add some marriages and pregnancies and you get way too much story and not enough time spent on developing a strong plot. The character develop is subpar. I really only felt like I knew the main character, Bridget; however, some of her reactions and motivations toward the end made me question whether I really knew her at all.

When I read a novel, I like to become friends with the characters. I like to become so engrossed in their lives that I feel like I am living right with them. Quindlen doesn't do that for me with her fiction. I felt like I gave her ample opportunity to impress me ... but it didn't happen. So I guess I'll stick to her non-fiction ... and get back to Tara.

War Time

I'm stilling in my state of renewed vigor with Gone with the Wind. I'm 600 pages in and can't wait to pick it up again tonight. I've even made a plan to spend some quality reading time at my favorite Starbucks this weekend.

With a book this long, I know that my final review of it will not be able to include all the impressions I have along the journey ... so I thought blogging as I go would help in that respect.

Right now, in the story, Scarlett has just made her harrowing trek back to Tara with her toddler son (who doesn't exist in the movie), Ashley's wife Melanie and her newborn baby, and Prissy. As in the movie, Rhett Butler abandons them at the outer edge of Atlanta to go join the army. Scarlett, who longed for her mother's loving embrace, finds herself motherless -- as her mother died the day before she arrived home -- and in the role as mother and plantation mistress to organize and plan everything that needs to be done, take care of her ill sisters and sister-in-law, and do much of the hard labor herself.

Thus far, what most intrigues me about the book is Ms. Mitchell's ability to create and develop such a wide range of characters. She uses their descriptions, their dialogue, and their actions to craft characters that the reader gets to know and love ... or in some cases ... hate. So far, my sympathy is not with Scarlett or Rhett. Scarlett gets on my nerves and Rhett needs a good slap. But even with these feelings, I, the dedicated and determined reader, hope for good things for both these characters. I wait in anticipation for Ashley to come home, even though everyone believes him to be dead, and I try to read between the lines of Scarlett and Rhett's interaction to decipher the early signs of true love and respect.

I also am amazed at Ms. Mitchell's ability to so accurately and desperately describe the inner cravings of people in the middle of war that it's hard to believe that the authoress didn't live through this war herself.

Gone with the Wind appears to be beyond the hype and is a true mastery of fictional accomplishment.