The delayed but no-less-sincere Year of Women write-up
So 2011 was my Year of Women reading theme, including books by women and featuring interesting female protagonists. I read 31 books as part of the theme and am listing the ones I rated 4 or 5 stars at Goodreads below- more than half of them, which shows that it was a highly enjoyable year!
The Wall, Marlen Haushofer
The unnamed protagonist, a middle-aged woman, must fend for herself in in order to survive the unexplained occurrence that severs her ties with the rest of the world. She must re-invent herself and piece together a new existence or perish. Graceful prose, excellent pacing and characterization, and heartbreaking.
Vilette, Charlotte Bronte
An intensely autobiographical novel in which Bronte refuses to give her protagonist, Lucy Snowe, Jane Eyre's charm and beauty, granting her a singularly perverse austerity. She is so accustomed to hiding her thoughts and feelings that she isn't even completely honest with her reader, deliberately withholding information even at the very last. Fascinating, beautifully written, and stunning characterization.
Persuasion, Jane Austen
My new favorite of Austen's, features dazzling characterization, structure, wit, and charm. Anne Elliott, whose upper-class family teeters on the edge of bankruptcy, at 27 still pines for the sailor she was persuaded to uncermoniously dump eight years earlier by a well-meaning, highborn friend. When he returns, a distinguished captain with a tidy fortune in prize money, we are in no doubt as to how the book will end. However, getting there, is of course, a great deal of fun.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
A dazzlingly-written, utterly compelling book about Tess Durbyfield, whose family's simplistic attempts to cash in on their possible relation to the ancient and powerful D'Urbervilles backfires horribly. Tess must make her way in the world with the weight of that awful experience on her shoulders, facing poverty, societal judgment, and fear for her immortal soul. This is not a wholly happy book, since Hardy has an axe to grind regarding double-standards for women, especially poor women. But neither is it a wholly depressing one, and moments of humor leaven what is ultimately a tragedy.
Or, Liz Duffy Adams
A scintillating, sexy, philosophical farce about Restoration comedy writer Aphra Behn tickles both brain and funny bone with a seamless blend of seventeenth and twenty-first century English. This is a superbly constructed play, with treble-cast actors and tightly choreographed entrances and exits, but as much as it impresses with its technical skill, what I enjoyed the most was the exuberance with which the characters embrace their new-found freedom to re-invent themselves.
Withering Tights, Louise Rennison
The first of a hilarious new YA series featuring Tallulah Casey, an aspiring actress who dreams of attending a performing arts academy deep in the heart of... the Yorkshire Dales. The frequent clashes between artistic and regular-folk sensibilities is a source of much hilarity, as is the motley crew of summer students whom Tallulah befriends. Between nervous bouts of Irish dancing, spying on owl eggs, and run-ins with the town's bad boy, Cain, Tallulah must impress her teachers in order to become a full-time student. Formulaic? Perhaps, but you hardly notice it for all the laughing.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
While this undisputed masterpiece is most certainly dense and is in equal parts cynical and didactic, it is also a relentlessly inventive narrative that balances its horrific moments with humor and happiness. This is the story of seven characters, united by ties of family or friendship, as they navigate love, marriage, children, work, and death in their attempts to find happiness. The balance and realism that Tolstoy brings to his characters' lives is part of the novel's considerable charm. My biggest problem with the book concerns the title character, who seems only to fulfill the author's needs to move the story forward and embody Themes, but she is perfectly counterbalanced by Levin, Tolstoy's stand-in, who serves a similar, but opposite purpose. Tolstoy's attempt to portray life in all its little particulars, and the novel succeeds on nearly every level.
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
There is a great deal to like about this remarkably characterized, hypnotically written novel, which takes place in a mansion belonging to the vice president of a South American nation, where the vice president, diplomats, business leaders, and an international opera star are taken hostage. As enjoyable and admirable as I found this book, I couldn't quite lose myself in it. One of the central conceits is that music and other things of beauty unite all people. However, being an opera lover and a classical singer myself, I know all too well that not everybody finds such music as compelling as I do, so I can't help but feel that having all characters be in the soprano's thrall is a bit contrived. But like the story's characters, I was able to make myself forget this for a while to enjoy this thoroughly remarkable book.
Orlando, Virginia Woolf
This delightful, witty, literary fable follows the adventures of Orlando, a young nobleman, from Elizabethan times to the twentieth century. Over this time, he has many adventures, writes and read a lot, meets historic personages, falls in love, has a diplomatic career, turns into a woman, causes scandals, re-enters society, falls in love again, and writes some more. Where "Mrs. Dalloway" feels like A Book Written To Be Modernist, "Orlando," equal parts biography and love letter- a joyful, funny, life-affirming story that is utterly unique.
Gates of Ivory, Margaret Drabble
Despite being the final novel in a trilogy, Margaret Drabble's "The Gates of Ivory," an incisive, precisely-written, remarkably-characterized book, stands solidly on its own. A mystery at heart, the book crystallizes a particular moment in time for a group of characters related, in some way, to writer Stephen Cox, from whom no-one has heard since he went off in search of the Khmer Rouge. The novel opens with Stephen's friend Liz Headleand receiving a package containing a number of his personal effects, including sketches, notebooks, and a couple of human finger bones. She must team up with his other friends and acquaintances to retrace his steps. The novel revels in small, quiet moments as effectively as it does in grand philosophical meditations, and is a thoughtful, affectionately human piece of literature.
The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Elegantly written and utterly gripping, Pearl S. Buck's novel of pre-revolutionary China tells the tale of Wang Lung, a peasant farmer, from the day of his wedding to the day of his death, encompassing war, famine, births, deaths, and revolution as seen his eyes.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Hands-down my favorite book of the year. At its heart, the story is simple- a girl wants to find love, she seeks it as an adult, finds it, loses it, and keeps going. But a simple story well told is a joy, and a simple story in a vibrant time and place with a complex woman at its heart is an indescribable pleasure. Hurston's language is stunning, ranging from lush figurative to earthy dialect. Her characters leap off the page and invite you into a world so different from your own but that feels completely real. I lack superlatives to describe this book- just read it.
Across the Great Barrier, Patricia C. Wreade
#2 in a wildly imaginative YA series about thirteenth-born Eff, the twin sister of a universally lauded seventh son of a seventh son, as she finds her calling in an alternate version of the American frontier (the "United States of Columbia"), with fabulously original magic, giant mammals from the Pleistocene era, and dragons. And despite the fantastical elements, Eff's world is a surprisingly scientific one as the naturalists Eff befriends try to figure out the ecology of a new and dangerous part of the country. One mystery element is a bit overly drawn out pacing-wise, but the world is such fun, you hardly notice.
Mastiff, Tamora Pierce
#3 in the YA-fantasy story of Beka Cooper, a medieval inner city cop, whom we met during her probationary days in the slums of Corus in "Terrier" and has survived to prevent a coup in "Mastiff," with the help of her excellent partners, a scent hound named Achoo, a sarcastic magical cat, and her own method of communicating with departed souls. This book is as emotionally gripping as it is thrilling to read, and the pacing never flags as Beka and her allies pursue their quarry despite numerous roadblocks, some extremely nasty enemies, and betrayals. Read with a sense of adventure and heart, and you will be well-rewarded. Recommended for all fans of YA fantasy and people who love stories about strong, capable women.
Miles Errant, Memory, and Komarr, Lois McMaster Bujold
Of the 12 books in the justly beloved Vorkosigan saga that I read this year (plus a few novellas), 7-11 were my favorites. This is not to say 1-6 and 12 are bad (though 12 has some truly cringe-worthy moments)- I enjoyed all of them, but it wasn't until Miles's world started to fall apart a bit that I felt that Bujold really hit her stride and started exploring the more serious implications of her clever, likeable protagonist's behavior. I still have more to read, and I'm very much looking forward to it!
The Heart of the Country, Fay Weldon
A funny, cynical, infuriating look at women and welfare: upwardly mobile and occasionally unfaithful housewife Natalie's husband runs off with his secretary and leaves her with two children, no job skills or experience, mounting debts, and a host of rapacious "friends" who are ready to leap at the opportunities the situation provides them. Thrown into the unfamiliar and humiliating world of life on the dole, she comes to depend on Sonia, another woman impoverished by divorce and having to support her children, as one of the few people who is able and willing to give her straight advice. Weldon keeps the tone light, and the wonderfully imperfect characters are thoroughly unsentimental about getting on with life as best they can. I loved this pretty much from page one onward.
2012 is the Year Without A Reading Theme (YWART), so stay tuned for a truly bizarre list at the same time next year. Especially if I decide to start in on the Proust that CS just gave me. Heh heh.
Happy Reading to All!
Libby
Mundungus42
PS If you're on Goodreads, here is me! Let's be friends!
The Wall, Marlen Haushofer
The unnamed protagonist, a middle-aged woman, must fend for herself in in order to survive the unexplained occurrence that severs her ties with the rest of the world. She must re-invent herself and piece together a new existence or perish. Graceful prose, excellent pacing and characterization, and heartbreaking.
Vilette, Charlotte Bronte
An intensely autobiographical novel in which Bronte refuses to give her protagonist, Lucy Snowe, Jane Eyre's charm and beauty, granting her a singularly perverse austerity. She is so accustomed to hiding her thoughts and feelings that she isn't even completely honest with her reader, deliberately withholding information even at the very last. Fascinating, beautifully written, and stunning characterization.
Persuasion, Jane Austen
My new favorite of Austen's, features dazzling characterization, structure, wit, and charm. Anne Elliott, whose upper-class family teeters on the edge of bankruptcy, at 27 still pines for the sailor she was persuaded to uncermoniously dump eight years earlier by a well-meaning, highborn friend. When he returns, a distinguished captain with a tidy fortune in prize money, we are in no doubt as to how the book will end. However, getting there, is of course, a great deal of fun.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
A dazzlingly-written, utterly compelling book about Tess Durbyfield, whose family's simplistic attempts to cash in on their possible relation to the ancient and powerful D'Urbervilles backfires horribly. Tess must make her way in the world with the weight of that awful experience on her shoulders, facing poverty, societal judgment, and fear for her immortal soul. This is not a wholly happy book, since Hardy has an axe to grind regarding double-standards for women, especially poor women. But neither is it a wholly depressing one, and moments of humor leaven what is ultimately a tragedy.
Or, Liz Duffy Adams
A scintillating, sexy, philosophical farce about Restoration comedy writer Aphra Behn tickles both brain and funny bone with a seamless blend of seventeenth and twenty-first century English. This is a superbly constructed play, with treble-cast actors and tightly choreographed entrances and exits, but as much as it impresses with its technical skill, what I enjoyed the most was the exuberance with which the characters embrace their new-found freedom to re-invent themselves.
Withering Tights, Louise Rennison
The first of a hilarious new YA series featuring Tallulah Casey, an aspiring actress who dreams of attending a performing arts academy deep in the heart of... the Yorkshire Dales. The frequent clashes between artistic and regular-folk sensibilities is a source of much hilarity, as is the motley crew of summer students whom Tallulah befriends. Between nervous bouts of Irish dancing, spying on owl eggs, and run-ins with the town's bad boy, Cain, Tallulah must impress her teachers in order to become a full-time student. Formulaic? Perhaps, but you hardly notice it for all the laughing.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
While this undisputed masterpiece is most certainly dense and is in equal parts cynical and didactic, it is also a relentlessly inventive narrative that balances its horrific moments with humor and happiness. This is the story of seven characters, united by ties of family or friendship, as they navigate love, marriage, children, work, and death in their attempts to find happiness. The balance and realism that Tolstoy brings to his characters' lives is part of the novel's considerable charm. My biggest problem with the book concerns the title character, who seems only to fulfill the author's needs to move the story forward and embody Themes, but she is perfectly counterbalanced by Levin, Tolstoy's stand-in, who serves a similar, but opposite purpose. Tolstoy's attempt to portray life in all its little particulars, and the novel succeeds on nearly every level.
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
There is a great deal to like about this remarkably characterized, hypnotically written novel, which takes place in a mansion belonging to the vice president of a South American nation, where the vice president, diplomats, business leaders, and an international opera star are taken hostage. As enjoyable and admirable as I found this book, I couldn't quite lose myself in it. One of the central conceits is that music and other things of beauty unite all people. However, being an opera lover and a classical singer myself, I know all too well that not everybody finds such music as compelling as I do, so I can't help but feel that having all characters be in the soprano's thrall is a bit contrived. But like the story's characters, I was able to make myself forget this for a while to enjoy this thoroughly remarkable book.
Orlando, Virginia Woolf
This delightful, witty, literary fable follows the adventures of Orlando, a young nobleman, from Elizabethan times to the twentieth century. Over this time, he has many adventures, writes and read a lot, meets historic personages, falls in love, has a diplomatic career, turns into a woman, causes scandals, re-enters society, falls in love again, and writes some more. Where "Mrs. Dalloway" feels like A Book Written To Be Modernist, "Orlando," equal parts biography and love letter- a joyful, funny, life-affirming story that is utterly unique.
Gates of Ivory, Margaret Drabble
Despite being the final novel in a trilogy, Margaret Drabble's "The Gates of Ivory," an incisive, precisely-written, remarkably-characterized book, stands solidly on its own. A mystery at heart, the book crystallizes a particular moment in time for a group of characters related, in some way, to writer Stephen Cox, from whom no-one has heard since he went off in search of the Khmer Rouge. The novel opens with Stephen's friend Liz Headleand receiving a package containing a number of his personal effects, including sketches, notebooks, and a couple of human finger bones. She must team up with his other friends and acquaintances to retrace his steps. The novel revels in small, quiet moments as effectively as it does in grand philosophical meditations, and is a thoughtful, affectionately human piece of literature.
The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Elegantly written and utterly gripping, Pearl S. Buck's novel of pre-revolutionary China tells the tale of Wang Lung, a peasant farmer, from the day of his wedding to the day of his death, encompassing war, famine, births, deaths, and revolution as seen his eyes.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Hands-down my favorite book of the year. At its heart, the story is simple- a girl wants to find love, she seeks it as an adult, finds it, loses it, and keeps going. But a simple story well told is a joy, and a simple story in a vibrant time and place with a complex woman at its heart is an indescribable pleasure. Hurston's language is stunning, ranging from lush figurative to earthy dialect. Her characters leap off the page and invite you into a world so different from your own but that feels completely real. I lack superlatives to describe this book- just read it.
Across the Great Barrier, Patricia C. Wreade
#2 in a wildly imaginative YA series about thirteenth-born Eff, the twin sister of a universally lauded seventh son of a seventh son, as she finds her calling in an alternate version of the American frontier (the "United States of Columbia"), with fabulously original magic, giant mammals from the Pleistocene era, and dragons. And despite the fantastical elements, Eff's world is a surprisingly scientific one as the naturalists Eff befriends try to figure out the ecology of a new and dangerous part of the country. One mystery element is a bit overly drawn out pacing-wise, but the world is such fun, you hardly notice.
Mastiff, Tamora Pierce
#3 in the YA-fantasy story of Beka Cooper, a medieval inner city cop, whom we met during her probationary days in the slums of Corus in "Terrier" and has survived to prevent a coup in "Mastiff," with the help of her excellent partners, a scent hound named Achoo, a sarcastic magical cat, and her own method of communicating with departed souls. This book is as emotionally gripping as it is thrilling to read, and the pacing never flags as Beka and her allies pursue their quarry despite numerous roadblocks, some extremely nasty enemies, and betrayals. Read with a sense of adventure and heart, and you will be well-rewarded. Recommended for all fans of YA fantasy and people who love stories about strong, capable women.
Miles Errant, Memory, and Komarr, Lois McMaster Bujold
Of the 12 books in the justly beloved Vorkosigan saga that I read this year (plus a few novellas), 7-11 were my favorites. This is not to say 1-6 and 12 are bad (though 12 has some truly cringe-worthy moments)- I enjoyed all of them, but it wasn't until Miles's world started to fall apart a bit that I felt that Bujold really hit her stride and started exploring the more serious implications of her clever, likeable protagonist's behavior. I still have more to read, and I'm very much looking forward to it!
The Heart of the Country, Fay Weldon
A funny, cynical, infuriating look at women and welfare: upwardly mobile and occasionally unfaithful housewife Natalie's husband runs off with his secretary and leaves her with two children, no job skills or experience, mounting debts, and a host of rapacious "friends" who are ready to leap at the opportunities the situation provides them. Thrown into the unfamiliar and humiliating world of life on the dole, she comes to depend on Sonia, another woman impoverished by divorce and having to support her children, as one of the few people who is able and willing to give her straight advice. Weldon keeps the tone light, and the wonderfully imperfect characters are thoroughly unsentimental about getting on with life as best they can. I loved this pretty much from page one onward.
2012 is the Year Without A Reading Theme (YWART), so stay tuned for a truly bizarre list at the same time next year. Especially if I decide to start in on the Proust that CS just gave me. Heh heh.
Happy Reading to All!
Libby
Mundungus42
PS If you're on Goodreads, here is me! Let's be friends!