TSS Week 15

I may not do it every week but I love these Sunday Salon postings :)

I am still reading most of the books I previously blogged about, but I have also started new ones. Last week I read American Born Chinese because a friend lent it to me. It was a quick read, being a graphic novel, and I thought it was fabulous. It had three different narratives that came together as one at the end, all focusing on either Chinese culture or the Chinese-American experience. I thought Gene Yang presented the plight of the "Other" very well.


I also reread Lucy this past week, a short novel by Jamaica Kincaid about a West Indian au pair in New York City. In only 164 pages, Kincaid takes you inside the mind of one of the most complex literary characters of all time. She uses Lucy, her protagonist, to shine a light on colonialism and its effects, woman's place in the world and its effects, mother-daughter relationships, friendships and more. I loved this book when I first read it four years ago, and I still do.




Finally, I am rereading Prozac Nation. Again, I loved this memoir when I first read it years ago. I am enjoying it again now though I am certain that it could have been shorter had Wurtzel been less repetitive. That is starting to annoy me, to be honest, so I have been putting it down for some time and picking it back up.

Over at Women on Writing, there is a wonderful piece on how to focus your writing. I love tangible tips and charts, but that is just me :)

I recall that a couple of years ago I was fixated on becoming a creative non-fiction writer. I went and saw Lee Gutkind, the creative non-fiction guru, speak at the Texas Book Festival and I started reading his how-to books. I have since let that fall by the wayside as my writing has developed, but I still think about it from time to time and wonder if it is something to explore.

Alive Magazine just published my article, "My Solo Travels in Italy," in their August issue (beginning on page 25). I cannot get over the amazing layout job the editors did. I hope you will check it out!

TSS Week 14

The friend who turned me on to Jane Eyre in the first place has had me over to her place several times for a viewing of the BBC version. It is great - Timothy Dalton is so Mr. Rochester.

Anyway, on to what I am reading. I started the copy of Erica Jong's Parachutes and Kisses that I picked up from the local bookstore for a dollar. I admit that I have not yet read Fear of Flying or How to Save Your Own Life, the two previous titles in the series, but I am enjoying it nonetheless. It is about 400 pages long and I have only read 70, so it is hard to predict if the plot will be pleasing to me, but the writing and the characters have been enjoyable so far. Isadora Wing, the protagonist, is a famous author who is dealing with her painful third divorce by drowning her sorrows in exploits with younger men. Jong's writing is fun for us analytical types because there are tons of passing references and allusions to classic literature, religion and popular culture. It makes you feel like part of the 'in group' to pick up on them.


I am also reading E.M. Forster's A Room with a View. I enjoyed Where Angels Fear to Tread and have been wanting to read A Room with a View since my visit to Florence years ago. It was slow for a while but now, in the second half, I am started to get interested in what might happen. In a nutshell: Lucy, the young beauty in the story, allowed a young man of lower social standing to kiss her while vacationing in Florence (simple kiss = big no-no back then). She is now back in England and engaged, yet the young man and his father have made a return appearance. Will this youthful indiscretion ruin Lucy's future happiness? (It's like a soap opera. Tune in next week to find out.)


Finally, I started my first ever reading of Pride and Prejudice. Most people would balk at this since my formal training is in literature, but no, I have not yet read the novel. It is pleasant so far - I didn't expect it to be as humorous as it is at times. Not much has happened so far except Mr. Darcy seems to have multiple personality disorder and Jane is very sick at Mr. Bingley's house. The feminist in me wants to kill Mrs. Bennet for being happy about this, just so that her daughter can spend more time at the wealthy bachelor's pad.