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jane eyre
Member since Jan 16th 2007
715 posts
Sun May-20-07 01:32 AM

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52. "RE: Another dumb book post"
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3 Fiction

1. The Street of Crocodiles. Bruno Schulz. Translated by Celina Wieniewska.
Sometimes the book is published under the title Cinnamon Shops, but I think it's usually billed as TSOC. The translation is a feat in and of itself. TSOC is a "collection" of longish-stories about Bruno's childhood, written from a child's point of view....not strictly autobiographical but not made-up, either. More memoir-ish. It's an incredible book-- mythological, imaginative, particular, innocent, a little claustrophobic but "big" at the same time. I haven't read anything like TSOC. Schulz is a rare talent. A writing god. I think some would say that his prose is like poetry, but I don't think he's aiming to write poetry. He stays true to the beat of the prose and shows that a lot of magic can happen in a sentence.

2. Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte.
My favorite novel ever. I read Jane Eyre a year or so ago. I was convinced that Jane Eyre could be nothing but a very bad book. I imagined it'd be about as exciting as reading Aphra Behn or Phyllis Wheatley or Mary Rowlandson whining about her baby. I was wrong. All in all, it's a sheer delight to read. I love the novel the most for it's imperfections.

G.K. Chesterton says this about Jane Eyre:

"'Jane Eyre' is in itself so monstrous a fable that it ought to be excluded from a book of fairy tales. The characters do not do what they ought to do, nor what they would do, nor, it might be said, such is the insanity of the atmosphere, not even what they intend to do... The scene in which Rochester dresses up as an old gipsy has something in it which is really not to be found in any other branch of art, except in the end of the pantomime, where the Emperor turns into a pantaloon. Yet, despite this vast nightmare of illusion and morbidity and ignorance of the world, 'Jane Eyre' is perhaps the truest book that was ever written. Its essential truth to life sometimes makes one catch one's breath. For it is not true to manners, which are constantly false, or to facts, which are almost always false; it is true to the only existing thing which is true, emotion, the irreducible minimum, the indestructible germ....It would not matter if George Read stood on his head, and Mrs Read rode on a dragon, if Fairfax Rochester had four eyes and St John Rivers three legs, the story would still remain the truest story in the world. The typical Brontė character is, indeed, a kind of monster. Everything in him except the essential is dislocated. His hands are on his legs and his feet on his arms, his nose is above his eyes, but his heart is in the right place."

3. The Book of Disquietude. Bernardo Soares. (Fernando Pessoa).

It's hard to say who wrote this book but I'll give credit to the heteronym known as Bernado Soares.

"Fernando Pessoa, strictly speaking, doesn't exist."-- Alvaro de Campos.

Alvaro de Campos happens to be one of Pessoa's heteronyms, too. I recommend TBOD because Pessoa is a fascinating guy. Usually books are supposed to be all about the writing, yes? But TBOD is also about authorship. More than anything, TBOD invites people to think about authors and truth and trust...about the lines separating fiction and non-fiction and what or who "makes it so". Identity is a big thing in this book and thankfully, exploring identity isn't a cliche venture in Pessoa's world. TBOD is a philosophical-diaryish impression about everday life. I say impression (which is almost too "strict") because there's not any kind of narrative to gel TBOD together into a cohesive beginning middle or end. TBOD is different structure-wise, but not to be reactionary or rebellious. More so to be genuine. It's a sensitive book and Pessoa doesn't resort to cheap tricks to write it. I sometimes read this book by opening up to any given page and stopping when I feel like it.


1 Non-Fiction

Strong Democracy. Benjamin R. Barber.
It's a nice mix of political theory and pragmatism and it's all about participatory politics. This book helped me to stop being so apathetic. In a sense, the book puts out the idea that a responsible citizen is someone who has a sense of his responsibility for others and for their community. Ofcourse, Barber's got a way to get people to feel invested in performing their civic duties. The citizen that's apart of strong democracy kind of brings up a moral question but I don't think Barber ever explicitly poses it as one. I'm glad he doesn't. He simply offers a solution in a practical manner. SD re-distributes power to "we the people" without proposing a system of government that's unfamiliar or unconstitutional.

1 Poetry

De/compositions: 101 Poems Gone Wrong. W.D. Snodgrass.
Sondgrass re-writes famous poems the "wrong" way. It's a demonstration about poetry (what poetry does, rhyme, meter, metaphor, blah blah) without being text-booky like Sound & Sense. It's also funny. Which is an achievement. Funny isn't usually something people would think of if they had to learn about poetry.

Few things grieve me more than bad poetry. Most poets have written a bad poem or two and Snodgrass shows how come poems go bad. I consider what he's done a public service. I also like the book because it shows that rules and form aren't always the enemies of poetry. Free verse isn't always the hand-maiden of the creative flow. Imagine that.

Thank you Snod.

  

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Another dumb book post [View all] , janey, Fri May-12-06 05:36 PM
 
Subject Author Message Date ID
thanks...
May 13th 2006
1
You might like Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
May 15th 2006
10
      Middlesex is amazing and i loved The Virgin Suicides
May 19th 2007
51
A question about Paul Farmer that I never bothered to research
May 13th 2006
2
He's married....
May 15th 2006
3
      Exactly
May 15th 2006
5
           well and plus he was practically homeless while growing up
May 15th 2006
6
                I don't know if you know how ridiculous that last statement is
May 16th 2006
14
                     Are you a doc?
May 16th 2006
15
                          He's closely aligned with Brigham & Women's in Boston
May 16th 2006
16
                          Third year med student
May 16th 2006
21
                               I think that;s what we're saying
May 16th 2006
23
                                    Thanks
May 16th 2006
24
                                    Well, I will say if you are interested in trying to provide universal he...
May 17th 2006
25
                                         Yeah I guess there's a dual reason
May 17th 2006
26
                                              I just started reading
May 30th 2006
27
                                                   You've convinced me, thanks for reminding me
May 31st 2006
37
                                                        I LOVE that Anne Fadiman book
May 31st 2006
39
                                                             Thanks, janey
May 31st 2006
40
                                    *ears perk up*
May 20th 2007
53
i'm FINALLY starting Secret History
May 15th 2006
4
I named my imaginary baby Henry
May 15th 2006
7
i just read one of the funniest lines i've ever read in any book
May 15th 2006
11
      Oh yeah, most definitely
May 15th 2006
12
I just started it, and am thoroughly enjoying it
May 30th 2006
31
      okay, and I've told you before
May 31st 2006
32
           you hadn't told me specifically
May 31st 2006
33
                you MUST do it sequentially
May 31st 2006
34
I just started the Glover
May 15th 2006
8
I just took it really slowly
May 15th 2006
9
      I'm already reading paragraphs over 3 times
May 15th 2006
13
my list...
May 16th 2006
17
Gilead came this -----><----- close to making my list
May 16th 2006
18
      a powers post?
May 16th 2006
19
           by the way, re: Gilead
May 16th 2006
20
                RE: by the way, re: Gilead
May 16th 2006
22
RE: Another dumb book post
May 30th 2006
28
Yesterday, a friend of mine returned the copy I loaned him
May 30th 2006
29
      well I adored them both
May 30th 2006
30
I've already read two books this week
May 31st 2006
35
I just finished...
May 31st 2006
36
Check post #37 for some "medically" themed fiction and non-fiction
May 31st 2006
38
another word on The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Jun 15th 2006
42
      I believe that's reading for an International Health class
Jun 15th 2006
43
           no -- should I?
Jun 15th 2006
44
                I'm not sure yet
Jun 16th 2006
45
                     I finished The Spirit Catches You this morning.
Jun 16th 2006
46
some of my favorites
Jun 01st 2006
41
^
May 18th 2007
47
I just checked out The Road and Little Children from the library
May 18th 2007
48
Roughly halfway thru The Road, and I'm ready to slit my wrists.
May 31st 2007
57
3/4 of the way through Lolita
May 18th 2007
49
booksz!
May 19th 2007
50
just finished Cloud Atlas, gotta talk about it (spoilers!)
May 31st 2007
54
Mitchell's books ranked & very briefly described:
May 31st 2007
56
I finished "A Fighter's Heart" by Sam Sheridan last month
May 31st 2007
55

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