Funny, I could have sworn I was further along...(Books 5-12)
12 / 50
(24.0%)
I have to be forgetting a book or two, it's been so long since I updated. I'll check my stack when I get home and add any stragglers later.
Book #5 was An Instance of the Fingerpost by Ian Pears
From the Publisher:
We are in Oxford in the 1660s - a time, and place, of great intellectual, scientific, religious and political ferment. Robert Grove, a fellow of New College is found dead in suspicious circumstances. A young woman is accused of his murder. We hear about the events surrounding his death from four witnesses: Marco da Cola, a Venetian Catholic intent on claiming credit for the invention of blood transfusion; Jack Prescott, the son of a supposed traitor to the Royalist cause determined to vindicate his father; John Wallis, chief cryptographer to both Cromwell and Charles II, a mathematician, theologican and inveterate plotter; and Anthony Wood, the famous Oxford antiquary. Each witness tells their version of what happened. Only one reveals the extraordinary truth.
An Instance of the Fingerpost is a magnificent tour de force: an utterly compelling historical mystery story with a plot that twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing until the very last page
My entire Feburary was consumed with this book, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It was handed to me by my best friend, who usually is a very good judge of novels. And this is an incredibly rich, incredibly involving novel. Pears has the ability to hit all your senses when he writes --which is a mixed blessing when he's writing graphic scenes about vivisection, autopsy, and various other scientific experiments of the 17th century. There were points where I had to put the book down to let the nausea pass, especially during the first section which is narrated by a physician (or is he? Hmmmmm...)
The central concept of this book -- that perspective will influence our perception of "truth" -- is an intriguing one. I loved seeing the murder mystery from the different points of view, and the stark ways in which the "truth" at the heart of each narrative differed was astounding. Just when you think you have the murder figured out, another narrator comes in to tell another piece of the story.
The historical research for this book is meticulous, blending real personalities from the scientific and political worlds with fictional characters. Given that I'd just read two other books taking place in this period, I was sort of attuned to the historical time frame, and was not disappointed.
That said, by the time I waded through this weighty tome, I was ready for it to just be done. I'm glad I read it -- it's a definite mind-twister -- but it's a bit of a slog.
And under no circumstances attempt to read this on your lunch break, if you want to actually enjoy your repast.
Book #6 was Wrestling with the Angel: Faith and Religion in the Lives of Gay Men, edited by Brian Bouldrey
From the publisher:
In Wrestling with the Angel, twenty-one authors - gay men who are Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, and Mormon - explore in moving and powerful essays the paradox at the center of their faiths: If God creates each of us in His own image, then how can that image be "wrong"? In vivid descriptions of their paths toward spiritual and sexual identity, such eloquent contributors as David Plante, Mark Doty, Lev Raphael, Alfred Corn, Andrew Holleran, Frank Browning, Michael Nava, Brad Gooch, Fenton Johnson, and Felice Picano reveal the joys and frustrations of communicating with one's excommunicator or, in some cases, of constructing a faith of one's own. Heightened by the urgency of this brutal age of AIDS, their essays are both intensely personal and partisan. They rise off the page like rambunctious prayers, reflecting not only the spiritual hunger brought on by the new millennium, but also the fact that we can no more choose our God than we can our sexuality.
I picked this book up because faith, religion, and sexual identity is one of my main research areas. Plus, my research tends to focus on personal narrative. So this book seemed a perfect fit for me.
The stories are diverse -- some are moving and incredibly well written, others are less so. I was hoping for some sort of sociological analysis of the narratives, but the book is simply a collection of gay men's stories. This is not in an of itself a bad thing -- reading the writers' stories is an enjoyable experience. But I would have liked more context. I also would have liked to see more narratives from those outside the Judeo-Christian/Islamic tradition. Given the publish date of 1995, it may be that the editor simply did not have access to contributors outside those traditions.
Worth a read for those interested in issues of religion and identity, and in the ways we make sense of ourselves through telling others about ourselves. I would consider using sections of this in a class on queer studies or on religious identity construction.
Book #7 was Tales of the Lavender Menace : A Memior of Liberation by Karla Jay
From the Publishers Weekly:
Jay writes with wry humor and astute historical analysis in this memoir of her early days as a feminist and gay liberation activist. Currently the director of women's and gender studies and professor of English at Pace University, she was raised in a middle-class Brooklyn home by an emotionally disturbed mother and a father who didn't believe she was his daughter. Jay's political life began in 1964 when she entered Barnard College; by 1969 she was a member of the Redstockings radical feminist collective and a leader in the newly formed Gay Liberation Front. With a canny eye for detail, she creates a vivid, realistic portrait of early 1970s feminist and sexual radicalism, from communal living to group sex to the watershed feminist protest in the offices of Ladies' Home Journal. She charts how women's and gay liberation were made possible by the black civil rights and antiwar movements and is careful not to idealize or whitewash complex, sometimes petty and factional, political struggles, while clearly expressing the joy and excitement she felt in the moment. Nor does she hesitate to contradict the memoirs of luminaries such as Rita Mae Brown and Betty Friedan, taking them to task for what she considers historical misrepresentation. Jay has turned out a political and personal memoir that succeeds in its aim to convey "what it was like to live then and what some of us did to forge social change." Photos not seen by PW.
This book was, quite simply, a blast to read. Jay is an engaging and entertaining writer. She is honest about the fact that her recollections might not be perfect, and that she's taken some liberties with the finer details of her life story. She presents an amazing and witty history of American feminism and gay liberation -- and the sometimes contentious relationship between the two -- as seen through her eyes. She weaves personal stories with the larger historical narratives, and attempts to put the feminist and gay movements in a larger context. She also was enough of a player in both movements that she has inside stories, funny asides, and insight that make the movements and the culture in which they took place come vividly alive.
I will definitely be assigning this in my classes on queer culture, feminism in the US, gender studies, and anywhere else I think I can wedge it into the syllabus!
And I sooo want to have a beer with Karla Jay :)
Book #8 was Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present by Lillian Faderman
From Amazon.com:
First published in 1981, this feminist classic began modestly as an academic essay on Emily Dickinson's love poems and letters to her future sister-in-law, Sue Gilbert. In her original introduction, Faderman recalled her surprise at finding these records of an erotic attachment between women that showed no evidence of guilt, anxiety, or the need for secrecy. Yet 60 or 70 years after they were written, the original letters had been bowdlerized by a niece of Dickinson's, who clearly found them too shocking for publication. Why, Faderman wondered, was passionate love between women, once almost universally applauded in the Western world, now almost universally condemned? She learned that the love between Dickinson and Gilbert had many precedents, and that it was only in the late 19th century that medical literature and antifeminism combined to rank women who loved women "somewhere," as she puts it bluntly, "between necrophiliacs and those who had sex with chickens." For this new edition, Faderman explains that she has resisted the urge to update her text, hoping that her exploration of romantic friendship, from French libertine literature through the dawn of feminism through the lesbian panic of the 1920s will still serve as "solace and ammunition" for those hoping to find "a usable past.
If you want to know the origin of Western stereotypes of lesbianism and female same-sex erotic and romantic love, this is your book. Faderman takes us on a tour through the last 500 years of Western civilization and looks at the myriad ways in which friendship and love between women has been conceived -- from the exotic, to the expected, to the deviant. Drawing on literature from different periods, as well as the lives of real women who engaged in romantic friendships and Boston marriages, and historical information about the cultures in which these women lived and loved, Faderman illuminates the different ways in which conceptions of women's roles and natures influenced the ways in which female same-sex relationships were constructed and constrained.
I have fresh understanding into American lesbian culture after reading this book. It's a quick and breezy read but in no way superficial. Her research is meticulous -- though given the publish date of 1981, not as deep as it would likely be if it were to be researched today in light of the new information we have about gender and same sex relationships. It's easy to see why this book is a classic in queer studies, and I will be assigning it in class in the future. If you want to understand Western culture's obsession with "girl on girl action," this is a great place to start.
Book #9 was Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Divine Feminine by Sue Monk Kidd
From Amazon.com:
The author's journey to capture her feminine soul and to live authentically from that soul makes a fascinating, well-researched and well-written story. Kidd's successful pilgrimage from her Southern Baptist roots and away from the patriarchal and fundamentalist Christian religious systems surrounding her is an account of anger turned to courage, creativity and love. A mid-career realization that she had lived without "real inner authority" and with "a fear of dissension, confrontation, backlash, a fear of not pleasing, not living up to sanctioned models of femininity" produced in Kidd the new mindset that made her journey possible. Additionally, her extensive knowledge of many subjects, including theology, mythology and the arts, made possible the copious references and cross-references that will prove invaluable for readers who wish to follow her in this same search. While Kidd cautions that each woman's path will be unique, there is no question but that many women will find in her book a mirror of their own present conditions and a hopeful call to self-discovery
I cannot say enough about this book. I love Sue Monk Kidd, and reading about her personal journey put her novels in different light for me. Plus this book came along at a time in my life when I have been wrestling with the ways in which I've sold myself out as a woman, given into the dominant cultural scripts that have kept me from fulling experiencing myself as a whole person. I was alternately nodding in agreement, laughing, and crying throughout the entire book. Though I have long since lef the Christian tradition and been in the presence of the Divine Feminine myself, I was still moved by Kidd's journey. Her revalations about the Divine Feminine were not news to me -- I have been in the feminist spirituality community for most of my adult life. But her accessible, conversational way of presenting ideas that might be challenging to many women who have spent their lives in mainstream religion was refreshing. So much of feminist theology is radical and antiChristian -- Kidd is not. She is honest about her anger at patriarchy, at her religious heritage, at the culture which disenfranchises women. But she is also open and accessible, honest and real. I'm in a reading group about this book right now, so I'll be wibbling about it in my LJ. If you are a fan of Kidd's novels, definitely check this out.
Book #10 was Standing at Water's Edge: Moving Past Fear, Blocks, and Pitfalls to Discover the Power of Creative Immersion by Ann Paris
From Amazon.com
For most people who seek to create - whether they are artists, writers, or businesspeople - the daily task of immersing themselves in their creative work is both a joy and a profound challenge. Instead of stepping easily into the creative state, they succumb to chronic procrastination and torturous distraction.
In Standing at Water’s Edge, psychologist Anne Paris calls on her extensive experience in working with creative clients to explore the deep psychological fears that block us from creative immersion. Employing cutting-edge theory and research, Paris weaves a new understanding of the artist during the creative process. Rather than presenting the creation of art as a lonely, solitary endeavor, she shows how relationships with others are actually crucial to creativity. Shining a light on the innermost experience of the artist as he or she engages with others, the artwork, and the audience, Paris explores how our sense of connection with others can aid or inhibit creative immersion. She reveals a unique model of “mirrors, heroes, and twins” to explore the key relationships that support creativity. Paris’s groundbreaking psychological approach gives artists valuable new insight into their own creative process, allowing them to unlock their potential and finish their greatest projects.
I'm reviewing this book for PanGaia magazine, so I won't say much here -- I'll link to the review when it hits the website. But let me say this book is a must read for anyone who is stuck -- not just artists. Paris looks at the creative process and the ways in which we self-sabotage or get bogged down. And she discusses the many ways we can get past that bogged down feeling. I wish I had had this book when I was suffering through writer's block on my dissertation! While in some ways the book seems geared for artists, Paris shows how the creative process is a part of all we do, and thus needs to be supported. I was afraid this would be another watered down version of something like The Artists Way, but it is not. Paris is a psychotherapist, and she helps us see the ways in which relationships and life patterns either contribute to or detract from our ability to move forward in life, and that life is in fact our greatest creative endeavor.
Book #11 was Skin of Glass: Finding Spirit in the Flesh by Dunya Dianne McPhereson
From Amazon.com
Memoir, prose poem, erotic journey, mystical discourse and cultural commentary Dunya s brave book also launches a new genre of writing from the body. It is a book sorely needed by a culture disembodied by fascination with electronic devices. Dunya s sensuous writing will draw you in from page one. You will travel inside her body, within her shadows and glory, as she recounts her spiritual quest. The urge to devour this book for its content is almost irresistible. But you will receive more from Skin of Glass, if you read slowly enough to let the author's rich language fire your neurons and seep into your flesh and blood. --Mary Bond, MA, author of 'New Rules of Posture'
Dreamy, deeply searching, and so smart kinesthetically, this book beautifully punctuates poetic narrative with startling reality checks school, food, father, shrink, guru, and other juicy reveals. As the memoir becomes more intensely Sufi, she journeys through organs, bones, muscles, delving into an other realm of thinking. A wondrous and thought-provoking excursion. --Janet Soares, Professor of Dance Emerita, Barnard College, Columbia University
Dunya eloquently expresses how exploration of body awareness opens doors to understanding, not just of movement and skill, but also about the essence of being. Hers is a searing story about negotiating between life in an exotic enclave of rarified mystical practices and life in the real world, where the search for love and healing is no less mysterious. Her tale offers insights and inspiration on every page. --Christopher Pilafian, Dept of Dance & Theater, UC Santa Barbara
This is an absolutely beautiful book. Part memoir, part guidebook, McPhereson goes beyond most books on dance as a spiritual path and takes you within the body. Rather than just describing dance, she attempts to describe the somatic experience of dance, to take you inside the body itself. I read this in about a day and a half. This is an amazing, textured, moving, embodied book. I can't even really talk about it -- you need to experience it. It's another I'm reviewing for PanGaia.
Book #12 was The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
From Amazon.com
Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid Chair is the soulful tale of Jessie Sullivan, a middle-aged woman whose stifled dreams and desires take shape during an extended stay on Egret Island, where she is caring for her troubled mother, Nelle. Like Kidd's stunning debut novel, The Secret Life of Bees, her highly anticipated follow up evokes the same magical sense of whimsy and poignancy.
While Kidd places an obvious importance on the role of mysticism and legend in this tale, including the mysterious mermaid's chair at the center of the island's history, the relationships between characters is what gives this novel its true weight. Once she returns to her childhood home, Jessie is forced to confront not only her relationship with her estranged mother, but her other emotional ties as well. After decades of marriage to Hugh, her practical yet conventional husband, Jessie starts to question whether she is craving an independence she never had the chance to experience. After she meets Brother Thomas, a handsome monk who has yet to take his final vows, Jessie is forced to decide whether passion can coexist with comfort, or if the two are mutually exclusive. As her soul begins to reawaken, Jessie must also confront the circumstances of her father's death, a tragedy that continues to haunt Jessie and Nelle over thirty years later.
By boldly tackling such major themes as love, betrayal, grief, and forgiveness, The Mermaid Chair forces readers to question whether moral issues can always be interpreted in black or white. It is this ability to so gracefully present multiple sides of a story that reinforces Kidd's reputation as a well-respected modern literary voice.
The emotional asskicking of the season, I read this in less than 24 hours. It's not The Secret Life of Bees, but it comes close. This is Kidd at her finest. This story resonated with what's been going on in my life, and the influence of her journey described in Dissident Daughter is apparent throughout this novel. In typicall Kidd fashion, it's mutlilatyered, multitextured, and moving. I cried throughout, something I hardly ever do with novels. It's hard to say much without spoiling the story, and the tensions in the story are what keep you moving through the pages. Suffice to say, it's not a light beach read, but it will touch deep places in you, especially if you are a woman who's ever struggled with questions of what makes you happy, what makes you whole, and whether or not you need to implodeit all. Kidd says in Dissident Daughter, "The truth will set you free, but first it will shatter the safe, sweet way you live." This novel is the narrative of that shattering and the putting back together.