The Godfather by Mario Puzo

I wrote this back in 2009 when we first started the blog. I'm going to go back through and republish some of my original musings from the start of When English Majors Graduate.

I remember that I really enjoyed this book, as did my friends when we were reading it. Right out of college, feeling on top of the world. It's no wonder we were drawn to all the power.

All right, I wouldn't go so far as to call The Godfather erotic, but it was certainly more sexual than I ever imagined. Massive organs opened the book. Reconstructive surgery popped up partway through. The appetites of virgins also seemed to be a steady thread. All in all, I would go so far as to say I was pleasantly surprised by the sexuality of the book, if not a bit confounded by it. These parts seemed, to me, rather progressive, even in a novel that developed post-1950. Considering the Don's abhorrence of sex-related escapades, the prevalence in the text felt a little bit off. Plus, his hatred never really served a purpose. He feuded with the prostitution profiting family, but that's about it. What, exactly is the tale portraying about sex? How is the reader supposed to interpret it? Clearly, it is okay for males to sleep around, but women must remain chaste, monotonous, and dutiful. ::cue unnecessary and obnoxious feminism critique:: But it can't be all bad, either, you damn feminists. There is a desire for the utmost of protection for women in this novel (even if they are treated in something of an inferior light). Plus, I'd say that surgery of Lucy Mancini was very progressive. Still, the novel ends with Kay Adams going to church and becoming the perfect wife and accepting her husbands lies and lifestyle. I guess that's a bit submissive.

But enough of feminism. That was the last thing on my mind when I read the book (as it is in almost any situation). Mario Puzo created an enticing and enthralling fiction. I couldn't put it down. Seriously, I went with my family over the holiday and read all but the last 40 pages in a day and a half. The way the story develops is perfect--a bit of info here and there, and certainly not chronological or centrally focused on a character. But as the readers' involvement with the Corleone family grows, the plot develops, character background grows, and you slowly learn more and more to the point that at the end you know as much as a consigliere. Brilliant. 

Of course, I found some fabulous wordage as well. The nightclub that's a "finishing school for hookers" and the synonym "corpse valet" for "undertaker." And plenty of others that I didn't mark, simply because that would have taken away from valuable reading time. 

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Another past book club gem I just found notes on: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I don't remember much from this meeting, but I do know the book was a quick/easy read for me. I gave it four stars on Goodreads, and I said it was a beautiful depiction of character. I think I really felt for the kid, and the characters you met were memorable/different. (At the time, that is. I hardly remember the book at all, now. It's embarrassing, really.)

What I took brief note of was the writing. There is some poignant wording. It was lovely.

.... she cried and cried and cried, there weren't any napkins nearby, so I ripped the page from the book--"I don't speak. I'm sorry."--and used it to dry her cheeks, my explanation and apology ran down her face like mascara... (31)

I like to see people reunited, maybe that's a silly thing, but what can I say, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all the change, I like hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone... (109)

Maybe we're just missing things we've lost, or hoping for what we want to come. (222)

"I not know was New York. In Chinese, ny mean 'you.' Thought was 'I love you.'" It was then I noticed the I {heart} NY poster on the wall, and the I {heart} NY flag over the door, and the I {heart} NY dishtowels, and the I {heart} NY lunchbox on the kitchen table.

Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson

So, uh, I think I started writing this post in 2013. It's 2015. But the content--really, the one idea I'm suggesting--is too good not to share.

{A long time ago...}

Last night, my sorority book club gathered to discuss Running Away to Home, a novel by Jennifer Wilson.

The catch? Jennifer is a Des Moines resident and attended the event.

BEST BOOK CLUB EVER. 

She wooed us all with her wit and hilarity. (Sidenote: She's pals with an undergrad professor of mine, and I can totally tell. They're both good stuff.) She told us a few fun facts that weren't in the book, name dropped some fabulous people she works with and for, and told us a bit about the reactions to her book--family, friends, and the people she met and wrote about in Croatia. She's visited a number of book clubs in Des Moines, and she's even heard from other book clubs who were planning trips to the same area of Croatia to meet the people in her story.

It was such a lively meeting, and so much fun to feel like you're getting behind the scenes, especially on a story loaded with real people and places. Oh sure, public libraries and universities and such do readings all the time, but I never thought about our rag-tag-group of sorority gals could coax an author into joining us at the local market. But really, authors are people, too. I highly suggest your book club look into it. Probably not our star, but someone near you. It certainly breathes a bit of new life into an ongoing gig.

{More recently...}

Jennifer now works two rows down in my office. She's editing a super-fresh magazine, and she's a riot in our on-the-reg meetings. I have to admit there's some disconnect for me between the writer at that table a couple years ago and the woman now working for the man, but I think she challenges a lot of what's the norm around this joint, and I like it a whole lot.

Word is she's working on another book, and I hope our club picks it up and invites her again.

Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

I have to admit that I am a fan of both Bones and Castle. They're definitely on my guilty pleasures TV list. I found the former when I was in graduate school and watching only Netflix shows that were binge-worthy (see also: Murder She Wrote). The latter I found last year, when I was too lazy to change the channel on my TV and I didn't mind the handsome Nathan Fillion on my screen every day after work. I am way too into the Castle-Beckett relationship now, but I haven't watched anything since they got engaged. Gawd she's pretty.

Given my fondness of the shows, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to check out the books that inspired them. The audiobooks are wait-listed from my public library download site, but I wasn't too far down on the list for the first Bones book: Kathy Reich's Deja Dead. 

I listened to it in about a day and a half. It went quickly, and I was surprised when I noticed there were only 30 minutes left in the book. I guess that means things wrapped up a little bit quicker than felt natural, but not alarmingly so.

At introduction, there are a lot of differences between the TV and book characters of Dr. Temperance Brennan. I have to admit to liking TV Brennan better: she's a little bit more calculated and self-assured than Book 1 Brennan. Plus she doesn't have the same history that book Brennan has (divorce, grown daughter). But I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops in the books.

Some of the book's characters have similar/same names to the show, and I smiled with all the French crossover that happens with the Caroline Jones TV character always saying "cherie" with such attitude, which is clearly drawn from the French Canadian book roots.

Just checked my local library and Bones #2 Death du Jour, is not available on audiobook or for reading. But #3 is right there for the taking. Hmpf. You can be darn sure I'll do this in the right order. It just might take me a while.

... Stay tuned for an update when I finally get the first Castle book!

To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris

Other than reading this not long after re-reading Catcher in the Rye and feeling like there was a similarity in crappy dispositions and a tendency to get hung up on stuff... I didn't get this book. Help. Can you explain it to me?

My 2014 Reading Recap

Here's a look at all the books I encountered in 2014. It feels pretty good! It was my first year really embracing audiobooks, and it shows--I only read a small handful of the books pictured.

Top picks of the year
1. Ready Player One (audio)
2. The Goldfinch (hardcover)
3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy (audio)
4. Mansfield Park (e-book)
5. Beautiful Ruins (paperback)

Most disappointing books
1. Havisham (audio)
2. Death Comes to Pemberly (audio)
3. Anne of Green Gables (audio)
4. To Rise Again At A Decent Hour (e-book)

Best new-to-me author
Chuck Palahniuk (audio)
 
Best know-nothing pick
Out Stealing Horses (paperback)

Guiltiest Pleasure
All The Cat Who... books (audio)

Jane Austen and blogland

I follow this blog, Bookshelf (https://atkinsbookshelf.wordpress.com/), which produces a lot of bookish stuff. It's mostly something I get notifications about, see in my feed, and occasionally save an email alert if I really want to go back. I definitely don't read or click through often enough.

One post I'd been sitting on is "The Best Books About Jane Austen." This morning I decided to look quick, copy the titles into my Goodreads to-read list, and go about my day. Holy cow! This isn't a quick list, this is practically a bibliography of what to read about Jane Austen (over 30 titles). From biographies to annotated editions to etiquette books, it's quite the list! If you're a fan of Austen I suggest you check it out. And if you just like books, give the blog a test drive.

A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

I'm heading to India for vacation a week from today. It's so surreal! In light of the trip, the first book I finished in 2015 is A Passage to India by E. M. Forster. I liked the book, and thought it was more eventful than I anticipated. More eventful, definitely, than Howard's End, which I listened not more than three months ago but cannot remember. As I tend to feel about most books, I wish I had studied this in school. The echo, wasp, and caves were all recurring and had obvious secondary meaning as symbols and motifs, but I didn't quite get them on my own. The version of the book I read even had all the wasp passages highlighted and I couldn't quite find the meaning. This book may entice me to check out SparkNotes.

I also found some of the writing really quite lovely in terms of the ideas and how they are presented. Here are four of the passages I flagged. Even though they're old ideas, there's something so new about them. Maybe they're just easier to connect with this way.

If this world is not to our taste, well, at all events there is Heaven, Hell, Annihilation--one or other of those large things, that huge scenic background of stars, fires, blue or black air. (201)

The annual helter-skelter of April, when irritability and lust spread like a canker, is one of her comments on the orderly hopes of humanity. (204)

But it struck him that people are not really dead until they are felt to be dead. As long as there is some misunderstanding about them, they possess a sort of immortality. (248)

He had built his life on a mistake, but he had built it. (296)

I wish I had read this book faster, because I would have so enjoyed the opportunity to compare British-Indian affairs in this with those in my favorite mystery, The Moonstone. Alas, I am slow, and the Wilkie's work is long, and I do not want to abandon my book on the trip, so I will not be reading it right away. I've packed some others that I don't mind setting free if I need more room in my luggage. (Yes, yes, that's what e-readers are for, I know. But I don't want to hassle with all the cords and conundrums of technology while traveling in a country where my first priority is packing toilet paper.)

As a final note, totally love this cover of the book! Definitely better than the edition I read.