Book Blog
Here I am, back on El Jay. I decided today to start a "Book Blog," where I can keep track of my thoughts about the books I read. Too often, I fly through a book, experience some sort of profound epiphany, and later forget why it was that I loved "that book" so much. I was in the process of creating a blogspot account when I remembered my Livejournal. Even though I used this in the past as a place to blow off steam about my high-school melodramas, I think it will serve just fine as my Book Blog. I'm also going to write about the grad school process/post some of my own writing. So, enjoy. Or delete me off your friends list.
Right now I'm about halfway through Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. My friend Dan recommended this book to me, as the main character, Dolores, reminded him of my younger sister Danielle. I can certainly see the connection. Like my sister, Dolores is a quick-witted, sassy and intelligent teenager. I like Dolores because she doesn't seem to fit in anywhere, from the stuffy, two-family home of her pious grandmother in Rhode Island to her shared cinder block dormitory in Pennsylvania.
Wally Lamb does a great job capturing the intense self-consciousness overweight teenage girls experience. I felt like I was fourteen again, right along with Dolores, as I read the first half of the book. Memories of the smirks on teenage boys' faces; the cruel jokes made by girls I considered my friends; and the anonymous, malicious, and random attacks on my appearance by former classmates resonated with me long after I finished reading the first 200 pages. What makes Dolores such a great character, though, is that this isn't her sob story. There is not a shred of self-pity, nor are there any contrived emotional reactions to the way her peers treat her. Her typical responses to criticism are: "Fuck you" and "Eat shit". Her guardedness and incredibly high wall of cynicism and wit can only be products of a life of disappointments; a life of being told that she will never be good enough.
I especially like her observations about the people she meets. For example, when she moves into Hooten Hall at Merton College (a week too early), she encounters an unfriendly housekeeper (who reminded me of many of the people I've had to deal with at UMass). Of this housekeeper, Dottie, she says: "Once you left Easterly, you saw the world was full of these people: ticket sellers, snack-bar clerks. They assumed they were better than you just because they knew their own routines" (154). I thought that quote was great. Anyone who's worked a day at a shitty part-time mall or fast-food job knows exactly what Dolores is talking about.
I also love Dolores' relationship with her mother. The rawness and honesty of their relationship is remarkable- I don't think I've ever encountered anything like it in past literature. While many people might use Dolores' hostility toward her mother as an excuse to dislike her, I think her intermittent cruelty and love for her mother is what makes her so real. Nobody's relationship with their mother is simply filled with love, mutual understanding, lighthearted chit-chat. Nobody interesting, anyway. I also was able to connect with Dolores in her thoughts/feelings of wanting to express her love and affection for her mother more openly, but being so weathered by experiences of insults, rejections, and loneliness that she literally didn't know how.
Where I left off, Dolores is about eighteen years old. Reflecting on my own life, things began to turn around for me at that point. I'm eager to see where Dolores goes from here. I find myself both hoping that she will somehow get revenge on the people who mistreated her, and hoping that the story continues to reflect reality and doesn't become some fantasy coming-of-age, duck blossoming into a swan tale. This book has been so hard to put down the past couple of days- I read 200 pages in three days, and anticipate finishing it by Christmas Eve. I don't even have to finish it to recommend it to anyone looking for a good book to read over winter intersession!
Right now I'm about halfway through Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. My friend Dan recommended this book to me, as the main character, Dolores, reminded him of my younger sister Danielle. I can certainly see the connection. Like my sister, Dolores is a quick-witted, sassy and intelligent teenager. I like Dolores because she doesn't seem to fit in anywhere, from the stuffy, two-family home of her pious grandmother in Rhode Island to her shared cinder block dormitory in Pennsylvania.
Wally Lamb does a great job capturing the intense self-consciousness overweight teenage girls experience. I felt like I was fourteen again, right along with Dolores, as I read the first half of the book. Memories of the smirks on teenage boys' faces; the cruel jokes made by girls I considered my friends; and the anonymous, malicious, and random attacks on my appearance by former classmates resonated with me long after I finished reading the first 200 pages. What makes Dolores such a great character, though, is that this isn't her sob story. There is not a shred of self-pity, nor are there any contrived emotional reactions to the way her peers treat her. Her typical responses to criticism are: "Fuck you" and "Eat shit". Her guardedness and incredibly high wall of cynicism and wit can only be products of a life of disappointments; a life of being told that she will never be good enough.
I especially like her observations about the people she meets. For example, when she moves into Hooten Hall at Merton College (a week too early), she encounters an unfriendly housekeeper (who reminded me of many of the people I've had to deal with at UMass). Of this housekeeper, Dottie, she says: "Once you left Easterly, you saw the world was full of these people: ticket sellers, snack-bar clerks. They assumed they were better than you just because they knew their own routines" (154). I thought that quote was great. Anyone who's worked a day at a shitty part-time mall or fast-food job knows exactly what Dolores is talking about.
I also love Dolores' relationship with her mother. The rawness and honesty of their relationship is remarkable- I don't think I've ever encountered anything like it in past literature. While many people might use Dolores' hostility toward her mother as an excuse to dislike her, I think her intermittent cruelty and love for her mother is what makes her so real. Nobody's relationship with their mother is simply filled with love, mutual understanding, lighthearted chit-chat. Nobody interesting, anyway. I also was able to connect with Dolores in her thoughts/feelings of wanting to express her love and affection for her mother more openly, but being so weathered by experiences of insults, rejections, and loneliness that she literally didn't know how.
Where I left off, Dolores is about eighteen years old. Reflecting on my own life, things began to turn around for me at that point. I'm eager to see where Dolores goes from here. I find myself both hoping that she will somehow get revenge on the people who mistreated her, and hoping that the story continues to reflect reality and doesn't become some fantasy coming-of-age, duck blossoming into a swan tale. This book has been so hard to put down the past couple of days- I read 200 pages in three days, and anticipate finishing it by Christmas Eve. I don't even have to finish it to recommend it to anyone looking for a good book to read over winter intersession!