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I initially shot for 26 in 2014 but because I was sort of trucking, I bumped it up to 72. Well some career and family poo poo slipped me up around the mid/late point in the year and I only reached 54. I am determined to accomplish last year's stretch of 72. I read a mix of things last year, but this year I'd like to read more nonfiction and poetry - do you have a babby's first poetry list somewhere in SA, Stravinsky? Last year I read some Baudelaire and some Keats and that was it. The targets continue with the Booklord's Persian pet, The Blind Owl. I also want to read the entire works of Herman Hesse, read more John Steinbeck (after Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, and The Moon is Down last year were so good), more Kobo Abe, read about my country (Straya), and there's also a woman I'm interested in who is a big fan of Jane Austen and of mysteries, so more of those two. And read more female authors in general. So far I've read: 1. Australia's Best Unknown Stories by Jim Haynes 2. Not That Kind Of Girl by Lena Dunham Reading: The Last Days of Socrates by Plato 2/72 I'll give reviews/impressions of them proper at the month's summary post.
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Jan 3, 2015 09:22
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January 1. Australia's Best Unknown Stories by Jim Haynes A collection of Australian folklore, history and poetry. The history components were really interesting - reading about how a massive ship wreck was handled in the early 1800s in Sydney harbor stands out as a highlight. Less so were the folklore sections. Passed down 'town stories' that always seemed to somehow be about toilets or using toilets and it just felt a bit played by the end. Needed more content relevant to indigenous history and figures (like Pemulwuy). 2. Not That Kind Of Girl by Lena Dunham Memoirs of a 20something year old writer/director. There's a lot to say about this book, but it does have some fantastic lines and real laugh out loud moments. At points I didn't like reading it because I didn't want her neurosis or ego to rub off on me. Everyone comes off as either pretentious or a lunatic. But I suppose that's life, and it pales next to the books terrible ordering of essays and overall arc. There isn't one. Dunham was inspired by another book that had sections like 'love and sex', 'diet', etc, that had stories of the writer tripping up in these areas, which gave the reader a sense of solidarity. But Dunham learns nothing, and constantly has the net of her parents and their connections (as much as she dismisses them). She just sort of wallows in her mistakes and I can't relate to that. No meaning is elucidated, one story ends and another begins. And that's how the book ends - you're just reading another essay and then there isn't one to follow it. But it is very funny at times, I liked it more than this comes off. 3. The Last Days of Socrates by Plato Almost the opposite of Lena Duhnam's lack of self awareness and reflection is the Socratic examined life. The dialogues are wildly entertaining, the intro calls them works of art, and they are. Socrates is wryly funny as he makes fun of his friends and himself, even when facing a death sentence in the Apology. The integrity of Socrates to his beliefs to the very end is inspiring. 4. The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler A development/reworking of Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces. It's much easier to comprehend than Campbell's work, but that's because it's less of an academic analysis of mythic structure and more simply about writing stories. There's not a lot to say about it. It's interesting as you read to spot archetypes and steps of the myth in movies you've seen recently. 5. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman One of the best humor books I've read. It moves incredibly quickly and has no characters that really feel like the weak link. Fast and entertaining, like the joker cousin of American Gods. 6. Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia by David Hunt Probably my favourite thing of the month. David Hunt manages to smoothly chart the early exploration of Australia to the end of the first few decades of settlement, with humor and cold hard fact. A self described humorous history book, it has a very conversational tone, but never at the expense of being informative. Because of its tone it was able to frame the personalities of the period with a lot more colour. Names like Macarthur, Blighy, Sir Banks and Pemulwuy suddenly had faces and character. Interesting to read that nearly everyone in a position of power was in some way corrupt or a conman. Less surprising was the treatment of the original land owners, which the final page foreshadowed further with a mention of the genocide in Tasmania that will be covered in the next book. 7. Ayoade on Ayoade by Richard Ayoade Richard Ayoade, actor in IT Crowd and director of Submarine (haven't seen) and The Double (have seen), interviews iconoclast and genius outsider Richard Ayoade, actor in IT Crowd and director of Submarine (haven't seen) and The Double (have seen). It's a pretty weird book that about 60% reads like a bizarro Truffuat/Hitchcock. It's not about Ayoade at all of course, it is a delivery mechanism for jokes and commentary on cinema and Hollywood. Where it falls down is its bundle of essays/stories that flesh out the length, a few of which are boring and repetitive. 7/72 Currently reading a collection of Ryunosoke Akutagawa stories, then probably some more Japanese lit, or a Flannery O'Connor collection I have siting on my desk. If I can keep this pace I think I'll be able to pull through and not fall short like last year.
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Jan 30, 2015 23:44
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Hocus Pocus posted:January February 8. Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa A fantastic collection written by a writer who benefitted from a short pocket of liberal education when Japan briefly opened itself to the world in the late 19th century. The combined influence of Chinese and Japanese folklore and literature, as well as Russians like Gogol and Dostoevsky make for unique stories filled with psychoanalysis and a fascination with madness. The introduction by Haruki Murakami was really interesting, too. 9. Haiku by Stephen Addiss, Fumiko Yamamoto, and Akira Yamamoto A collection of translated haikus with some discussion on translation, history and cultural significance. It was okay, I think there are layers lost in the translation that cannot be replaced, which makes me curious about any English native poets who have dipped into haiku. 10. Bad Science by Dr Ben Goldacre Fantastic book, highly recommended. It's a non fiction book written by British medical doctor and columnist Ben Goldacre who, each chapter, breaks down a particular pseudo science phenomena. Nutritionists, homeopathy, MMR autism - these are some of the topics he analyzes and criticizes as case studies to discuss pseudoscience rhetoric, how to interpret studies, and the power of the media. 11. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino I think this was a goon book club read a while back? I really enjoyed it. Snapshot vignettes of cities, some fantastical, some metaphysical, always vivid. 12. Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima The first in a tetralogy. This is a very classic tragedy novel with all the pressures of social protocol, and doomed heroes that you would expect. It's point of difference besides the psychological insight, and vivid prose of the author, is its setting, 1910 Japan. An interesting time of cultural conflict and social change. This is a very well written book, and I think I would have liked it a lot more if it wasn't for all the dumps of philosophy. Action builds and a lot happens, but the novel doesn't feel like this is enough, and throws in chapters of a character thinking about a particular area of philosophy. And I don't mind the philosophical novel as a form, but this isn't (in my opinion) incorporated well enough into the narrative to justify it. It makes it drag at the most frustrating points. Some beautiful passages, however. 13. Tehanu by Ursula K Le Guin Third or fourth book in the Earthsea Cycle. Le Guin gets rid of the hero's journey here and instead Tehanu is a study on character and society. Gender politics and the role of women in society are especially prominent, and explored effectively and efficiently. And that's the key word - Le Guin is an incredibly efficient writer. Her passages are bare, but evocative. She does and says so much with so little, that it's easy to see why she's so widely popular. 13/72
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Mar 1, 2015 00:22
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