World Lit Wednesdays

I'm one of those people who need structure and guidelines in order to function. My little black notebook is chock full of To-Do lists (and To-Read lists!), agendas and deadlines and on those rare occasions when I misplace the notebook or forget to bring it along I'm pretty much an aimless, freaked-out mess. SO, in order to encourage regular blogging I am going to try to give myself a strict schedule of themes. I'll throw in additional book reviews and commentary as needed, but I'm hopeful that the schedule will help guide my reflections a bit more!

With no further ado, I bring you....

World Lit Wednesdays!

My graduate work focused primarily on West African diasporic lit so I consider myself fairly well-read in contemporary African and Afro-Caribbean fiction, but digging deeply into that area meant that I tended to neglect other areas. I'm going to try to remedy that by dedicating my Wednesday book reviews and commentary to explorations of fiction, poetry and criticism from writing cultures outside of my usual haunts.

As a starting point I plan to use the novels shortlisted for the 2012 Commonwealth Writer's Prize. I'm having a hard time locating many of the books, but I managed to have three special ordered for me by my local bookstore so I should have them on hand in the near future. While I'm waiting for those book to arrive, however, I thought I would use today's post to talk about one of my new favorite obsessions: the poetry of Vera Pavlova!

Pavlova is one of Russia's most celebrated contemporary poets, but she was completely new to me when I stumbled across one of her poems on (of all places) Pinterest last week. She has published 15 collections of poetry in her native Russian, as well at one each in French, Dutch and English, and to date they have been translated into twenty-one other languages. Her 2010 English language collection, If There Is Something to Desire, is stunning in its deceptive simplicity and physicality. Short, sweet and wryly wise, the poems I came across actually gave me a jolt-- forced me to sit up sharply in my chair and utter a puzzled/illuminated "huh" of surprise. I'm not usually a big fan of poetry-- I prefer the explication and exploration of lyrical prose-- but I found myself copying poem after poem of Pavlova's into my notebook and quoting snippets of them to myself as I went about my day.

Tomorrow is National Poem in Your Pocket Day and I plan to carry copies of these two texts around in my pockets to share and distribute.

"He marked the page with a match"

He marked the page with a match

and fell asleep in mid-kiss,

while I, a queen bee

in a disturbed hive, stay up and buzz:

half a kingdom for a honey drop,

half a lifetime for a tender word!

His face, half turned.

Half past midnight. Half past one

and

"Writing down verses"

Writing down verses I got

a paper cut on my palm.

The cut extended my life line

by nearly one-fourth."

Next week's WLW will be The Wandering Falcon by Pakistani writer Jamil Ahmad

Top Ten Tuesday-- Favorite Characters

When I fell off the blogging wagon, one of the things I missed most was the excitement of logging on Tuesday mornings and discovering the Top Ten theme of the week. Top Ten Tuesdays (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) has always been a favorite meme of mine because you can learn so very much about fellow bloggers in such a short period of time. I really do believe that 'you are what you read,' so the Top Ten lists are basically a series of snapshots or windows into other people's reading lives. It's so voyeuristic, I love it :)

This week's theme is:

Top Ten All Time Favorite Literary Characters (whoa....)

Talk about an open-ended prompt! I'll probably spend the rest of the day going "oh WAIT! I forgot so-and-so!" and "How could I have possibly left who-si-whatsit out of my list?!" but for the time being, here's the list I've come up with. 

In no particular order:

1. Ada(h) Price from The Poisonwood Bible: Poisonwood was probably the first book that I ever fell head over heels in love with, and a large part of that appeal was the quirky, sarcastic, and illuminating voice of Adah. I'd never come across a character like her before, and I'm not sure that I've met another one yet. The child-Adah of the first couple of sections is so dark and fraught with insecurity and resentment over her role in the family, and yet at the same time she is the one character who consistently finds beauty in her surroundings and seeks out new perspectives and interpretations for "obvious" facts. Obsessed with rhythm and parallelism, the chapters in her voice manage to be incredibly poetic and playful while dwelling on the darker side of love and family.

2. Ida Scott from Another Country: James Baldwin is one of my literary ( /political/social/just-about-everything) heroes. I'm haunted by a number of his books and characters (Hall Montana from Just Above My Head could easily have made this list as well), but Another Country was my first Baldwin and will probably always have a special place in my heart. As the sister of talented but tragically troubled jazz musician Rufus, Ida carries a lot of emotional baggage relating to her race, gender and class and the role those "identities" play in relation to others living and working in Harlem. It's a heavy and highly introspective book, but Ida carries more than her share of the tension with grace, passion, and unwavering determination. Despite her very human failings, Ida is probably one of the strongest female characters I've come across.

3. Jo March from Little Women: This is kind of self-explanatory. I don't know many American girls (much less bookish, somewhat tomboy-ish ones) who read Little Women without identifying with the harum-skarum Josephine. Years later, I'm still mad that she didn't end up with Laurie...

4. Oy from The Dark Tower Series: To be fair, I love just about all of the characters from the first four books of the series (it gets a bit too Stephen King-y for me after Wolves of Calla). Roland, Susannah, Eddie, Jake, even the Man in Black, fabulous characters! And don't even get me started on the wonderfullness of Cuthbert Allgood, Alain Johnson, Susan Delgado and the rest of the crew in Wizard and Glass! But I have a soft-spot for the "billy-bumbler" (dog/raccoon/thing) and his loyal, self-less dedication to Jake and the ka-tet community. I thought about naming my dog after him, but she's a girl dog and Oy sounds a bit too much like 'Boy' 

5. Radcliffe Emerson from the Amelia Peabody Series (particularly Crocodile on the Sandbank and Curse of the Pharaohs): This is a blast-from-the-past favorite whom I haven't come across since Middle School (gasp!) but whose adventures have stuck with me. Emerson is one part Byronic hero, one part Indiana Jones, and about 9 parts hysterical. He's an opinionated, cranky archeologist with a well-hidden romantic side. I seriously need to find copies of this series for a re-read-apolooza.

6. Speaking of Byronic heroes... M. Paul Emmanuel from Villette: I guess I have a thing for fiery-tempered, unpredictable male romantic leads with tortured pasts. M. Paul can be a real jerk, but every once in a while you have a break in the clouds and his deeply sweet and emotional side peeks out. I think I'd fall in love with him myself once I got over hating him for the damage he'd do to my pride.

7. Bean from the Ender's Game Series: I wasn't actually wild about little Bean in the original Ender's Game, but when I finally came across the companion book Ender's Shadow I was a goner. Bean has snark and ego to spare, but at the same time he's a hugely vulnerable character. I alternate between rolling my eyes at his hubris, and wanting to hug him for his pain.

8. Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games:  I was reluctant to add Katniss because the Hunger Games really don't rank in my list of favorite books ever, but at the same time I love what Katniss has done to the image of the female protagonist in contemporary YA lit. She's no shirking violet who screams and faints and hides between her big bad male companion and I love that. She's one of the first main-stream female superheroes who isn't dressed in skin-tight leather so she gets major props for that.

9. Kambili from Purple Hibiscus: Kambili is a great young protagonist wrestling with issues of post-colonialism, gender, and modernity in contemporary Nigeria, but I'm adding her here mostly because she's the embodiment of one of my favorite author-philosophies ever-- Chimamanda Adichie's "Dangers of a Single Story." If you've never seen Adichie's TED talk on the subject, GO! Watch It NOW!!

10. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice: Cause it wouldn't be a favorites list without her.

Ok. that's Ten. Now let the second guessing begin!

Oh right...My Blog

This has been a year of frustrating changes for me, and when the latest upheaval hit in mid-December I admit that I threw my hands up in resignation and abandoned all sorts of projects that used to help keep me grounded. Things are slowly falling back into place now so I'm trying to dust myself off and return to normal. I'm going to make a concerted effort to be an active blogging presence-- especially since bookish conversations are no longer part of my professional life (more on that later!)-- but I think the content of this blog will change a bit. I am (and will always be!) a reader, so reviewing and debating recent reads will obviously be a big part of my online project, but I also want to use this space more self-reflexively and creatively. We'll see what shape those agendas take over time...

Major changes in my life:

I FINISHED my thesis and am now a card-carrying (or diploma hanging) member of the literary academy.

Despite the aforementioned credentials, I struggled to find a teaching position and became a bit desperate, applying to any job posting that had the word "education" mentioned anywhere in it.

Eventually I interviewed and was offered an administrative position at an absolutely fabulous international school in Washington DC. It's not the geographic area I was hoping for, and there is extremely limited contact with students (fuss fuss!) but I feel passionately about the school's philosophy and mission. Now if only they'd let me start a book club or something...

Thanks to the job, I moved (again!). It was my third relocation in 3 months-- all of which were consisted of me jamming everything I owned into my tiny Beetle convertible and then desperately stalking craigslist for minor additions like, oh I don't know..a BED! I still don't have any tables or a bedroom dresser, but the apartment is slowly coming together :) I will admit that despite the fact that my car is absolutely tiny, I did manage to fit three boxes of books in the back seat, and my second purchased piece of furniture (after the bed..) was a bookcase :)

I don't know many people in this city, so I'm trying to come up with bookish ways to weasel my way into a social life. Book clubs, literary happy hours, volunteering at ESOL classes, and-- my particular favorite activity at the moment-- World Book Night!! I have a copies of Ender's Game stashed all over the place-- my office, apartment, purse, gym bag, etc.-- ready to hand out whenever somebody I meet looks like they could use a good dose of fiction. I gave away 10 to strangers waiting for the bus this morning and plan to hang out in the metro station this afternoon to distribute a couple dozen more. LOVE IT!!

That's all for now, but I hope to be back soon with some content that's less newsy and more booksy!

Oh right, blogging....

The past 3 Weeks:

What I meant to be doing:

• Revising my thesis (ew, gross, barf)
• Reading my R.I.P book list
• Finishing up the last couple titles on my Margaret Atwood list
• Writing Reviews

What I actually ended up doing:

• Driving a bazillion miles around New England
• Interviewing for jobs
• Not hearing back from those interviews
• Applying to new jobs
• Fussing about unemployment!
• Avoiding my thesis

So, needless to say, the job search and-- to a unproductively lesser degree-- the thesis project have taken over my life and my well-intentioned effort to re-start my blog kind of fizzled right off the bat... Bad Ali!

I am going to try to balance my life a bit better now. In theory I'm going to use reading and reviewing as rewards for "good behavior." If I write a thesis chapter, I get to go through the blog roll and comment. If I apply to 2 new jobs, I get to post a review... etc. etc. 

We'll see how well it works...

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril VI

There's something about the fall that just calls out for a cup of cocoa, a guttering candle, and a wicked spooky  paperback (e-books just don't do it for me in this situation...no atmosphere I suppose?). In response to that 'call of the creepy' comes the annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) challenge hosted by Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings. The challenge asks readers to pick up new reads that could be classified as mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, or supernatural and to report back about their experiences. I've decided to go for the Peril the First category (4 reviewed books) because I have quite the horror TBR pile going on and I need the incentive to make inroads.  

My projected reading list (subject to change of course!) is as follows:

1. The Stand by Stephen King

2. The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

3. Song of Kali by Dan Simmons

4. Koko by Peter Straub

5. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

I've heard great stuff about all of these and I'm excited to start digging in to them! 

What's your favorite fall/Halloween read (or movie!? I'm always game for a good scream-at-the-tv marathon)

Review-- Ape House by Sara Gruen

Title: Ape House
Author: Sara Gruen
Published: 2010

Why I picked it up: I was a big fan of Gruen's Water For Elephants so when I stumbled across this one in the library I knew I had to pick it up. The back cover features positive reviews from authors and big name researchers of primate socialization and I thought that was an interesting combination. Factually accurate AND an entertaining piece of fiction? Innnnteresting.

What it's about:  Part mystery, part critique of American fascination with reality television, part Discovery Channel special, Ape House is the story of six bonobos (a species of high-functioning great apes) who have developed the ability to communicate with humans through sign language and a complex pictographic system as a result of their time at the Great Ape Language Lab. The apes, along with their human trainer/researcher Isabel Duncan, are breaking boundaries of inter-species communication and Philadelphia Inquirer reporter John Thigpen can't wait to dig deeper into their incredible story. Shortly after John's interview with Isabel and the apes, however, the Language Lab falls victim to a horrific bombing and the story takes a more sinister turn. An Animal Rights group claims responsibility for the act and for subsequent acts of domestic terrorism with the aim of shutting down the Language Lab and 'liberating' the bonobos. With Isabel in the hospital recovering from the bombing and John halfway across the country, the Language Lab is shut down and the apes are sold off to a mysterious bidder. A few weeks later the bonobos resurface as the stars of a new reality tv show (the Ape House) that promises to push the boundaries of taste and figure out how far, exactly people will go in their drive to consume all things unscripted. With the entrance  of a teenaged green haired militant who may or may not have ties to John's past, a group of unruly strippers, a television producer with no morals, and a drooling pit bull named Booger, Isabel and John soon find that their quest to free the bonobos will take them down paths they'd never expected.

What I thought: I'm really torn about this book. On the one hand, the bonobos made for fabulously engaging characters. Each ape had a unique and developed personality (Mbongo-- the prototypical 'middle child'/sulking adolescent-- was particularly well drawn. I wanted to give him a hug and a cheeseburger (his favorite food) every time he showed up. The majority of the apes' dialogue came directly from transcripts of Gruen's visits to the Great Ape Trust complex in Iowa so I was fascinated by the complex thoughts and logic systems they demonstrated. The ape's characterization raised some great questions about Animal Rights and capabilities (one of the most interesting questions came up when the senior male ape-- Sam-- identifies the bombing culprit. Could Sam testify in court? He has the ability to communicate and he was an eye witness to the crime... can we call him to the stand?).
I was less impressed with the human characters as they're considerably more two dimensional than their bonobo partners. I was also turned off by the pacing of the second half of the book. Once John and Isabel arrive at the set of the reality tv show things start happening really really quickly and the narrative gets choppy and overworked. Too many dramatic plot elements (a random exploding meth lab? What?!)  and not enough reflection for my taste.

I'd give the book a 3/5, but would recommend it whole-heartedly if you're looking for an entertaining but educational look at the social lives of great apes and their uncanny similarities to those of their human cousins

Top Ten on my TBR this Fall

I was a frequent Top Ten Tuesday participant on my last blog and, I must confess, getting back into that habit was one of the things that I was most excited about when I started thinking about getting a new site going. The meme-- run by the great crew at The Broke and the Bookish-- encourages book bloggers to share, compare and generally gush about a select list of books or characters that they have some kind of passionate response to (or expect to have that kind of response to in this week's case...)

The list this week is the Top 10 Books on your To Be Read Pile for this fall. My TBR list isn't a nice neat stack with any sort of strict order to it, so who knows if I'll actually read any of these books this fall or if I'll run off and read whatever strikes my fancy at a given moment... but these are books that I absolutely, positively (Absotively! in the words of Grahame Coats from Anansi Boys) want to read in the near future.

1. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch.  I love the idea of this book-- reading as therapy that deepens our understanding and appreciation of our connection to the world around us.

2. Graceland by Chris Abani  I first came across Abani's work in a graduate seminar on West African fiction and have been absolutely hooked ever since. He's an incredible man who has been through some horrible things but who still manages to love, laugh, and forgive. If you haven't already, please please please check out his TED Talk! Author-crush aside... I'm excited to read Graceland because it deals with the real issues of globalization and cultural identity from a child's perspective. Also, the child protagonist is a precocious Elvis Presley impersonator... What's not to love there?

3. The Marriage Plot by Geoffrey Eugenides This one is pretty straightforward. Middlesex= Incredible, The Marriage Plot= Eugenides next book, Ali = sooooo pumped to read.

4. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan  I'm a bit behind the crowd in reading this one but since it's received such strong reviews I think I'm obligated to give it a try. I'm also drawn to the term "Goon Squad." Why don't we use that any more?

5. American Gods/Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman I read my first Gaiman last week (review is here) and really enjoyed it. American Gods seems to be the big kahuna of his work so I plan to start there and then work my way up to his newer short fictions

6. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak *What? You haven't read this?! And you call yourself a bookie?!* I know, I know, there is no excuse here. I have it queued up in my Kindle ready to go as soon as I can find the motivation to start

7. Zone One by Colson Whitehead Due out in mid-October. If you haven't read Whitehead's John Henry Days or The Intuitionist I highly recommend you do! JHD is one of my all time favorites. Zone One, Whitehead's latest book, is a it of a departure from his earlier work-- it's a post-apocalyptic zombie novel, for one thing-- but I've heard that his dense, playful approach to language is the same so I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with the horror genre.

8. The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje I had the incredible privilege of sitting down with Ondaatje last spring to talk about his poetry, his upcoming work, and (oddly enough) his connection to the African American author and social activist James Baldwin. He mentioned that the protagonist of his latest novel was one of his favorites to write because the character-- a young boy whose adventures are limited to the decks of a small ship travelling from Colombo to London in the 1950s-- relies so heavily on his own imagination and childlike logic to make sense of the world around him. Ondaatje is a poet at heart so I'm looking forward to the imagery and lyricism that characterizes much of his work.

9. Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi A lecturer at my school gave a great talk last fall about the symbolic use of traditional Islamic dress in recent Middle Eastern fiction and it occurred to me that I've never really engaged with authors of the Islamic faith. I went up to the speaker afterwards and asked for some recommendations and she immediately suggested I check out El Saadawi. I picked up the book that afternoon but it has been languishing on my shelf ever since.

10. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka I taught Otsuka's previous book, When the Emperor Was Divine, to some of my multicultural lit classes last spring and they (and I!) were enthralled by the narrative voice and the heart-rendingly powerful story. Buddha continues that tale of Japanese mail-order brides sent to America in the 1920s by laying out the challenging, but poetically beautiful struggles those women undergo as they settle into new lives in a new country. 

What are you excited about this fall? Anything I need to add to my list?

P.S. How had I not heard about this?! MetaMaus by Art Spiegelman. A look inside the creative process behind the Maus graphic novels