Fall, Football, and Flu season

Although I have been MIA from my blog and facebook page, I promise I've been doing what this blog is all about; reading!  And whether it's for my list or for grad class on a deadline, I've torn through a few books in the past two weeks.  I don't even know where to begin.  I had plans -- big plans -- about the topic of blog posts, but since I procrastinate like a mo-fo, now they simply seemed backlogged and pointless. Even right now I'm at work, which is the last place I want to be considering I think I caught whatever it was that my mom and dad both had; I was going strong until the third quarter of the football game last night, when all I wanted was tylenol and sleep.  I thought I'd be fine once I got some rest, but I woke up this morning feeling worse than ever with no one to cover for me at work, so here I am, wishing to be anywhere else but here, attempting to update my blog so that somebody will read it, but my head is making it difficult for me to concentrate on any logical thoughts.

Instead, I'll give you the run down on what I've read recently with some short blurbs of drawn out pontification  That's a fancy way of saying I'm going to just say whatever the hell comes to mind.  Enjoy!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - This was a book I had to read for grad class in the category of Popular Fiction and we had to determine if popular always equals good (which we all know it doesn't) and does being a popular novel limit the teaching of said book?  My dad loved all three of the books, but I don't know if it was the looming critical reader punching me in the back of the head as I read (my fellow English majors can agree, it's hard to read a book and avoid accidental analysis) or the nagging questions of translation and credibility, but I didn't enjoy the book as much as everyone thought I would.

It wasn't that it was a bad book; to the contrary, I can see why people would love the books, and I'm almost disappointed that I didn't love them.  They are the type of book I love for an easy beach read, but really, the analysis part of it ruined the simple enjoyment of reading a thriller.  I saw too many other books in there, and as a side note, if you like the book, try Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

My other issue (well, more question) regarding the book was translation.  The book is translated from Swedish into English, and I always wonder how much credit is really due to the translator.  The original title was even changed from Men who Hate Women to the well-known The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  And let's be honest; the original title would not have sold well in America.  Can you imagine any significant percentage of the male population carrying that book around?  Not so.  Probably a good marketing choice on the publisher's part.

Yet another reason I had trouble with the book was the marketing part of it.  Obviously an author wants his or her book to sell, but these were published posthumously (that means he was DEAD for those who are confused by multisyllabic words, like Keanu Reeves) so his aim was not to make money.  Instead, the books seemed like they've been turned into a corporation.  There is an obscene amount of product placement in the novels, especially concerning up-to-date technology, always a flaw in literature that is trying to stand the test of time.  It's fine to mention someone driving, for example, a VW bug (preferably one that is red and named Lola), but when you give specific details of the certain make of her laptop, down to memory and serial specifications, you loose the timeless nature and narrow your focus too much.

It's hard to read a book thinking that you are being sold a product instead of a story.  And I'm the first to admit my love for some 'product' type series or books (heck, even Harry Potter is a franchise) but maybe I'm becoming cynical in my lack-of-job-living-at-home-again early 20's.

The Swallows of Kabul - This was another book assigned for grad class.  It takes place in Afghanistan and as part of our final project requirement, it is translated into English.  Oddly enough, it was written by a soldier under a female pseudonym which really threw me at first.  Dealing with a culture that demeans women is a rough story line, but his treatment of the issue, as well as my reading it thinking it was a female author, was disturbing in some ways.  The novel starts with a woman being stoned to death, and although we have one female character who rejects the idea of the burka, there is still no positive to any of the female characters.  They do exactly as the men as even as they are claiming to be more forward minded women.

I am a big proponent of multicultural literature and education, but not in the way most public schools like to teacher the genre.  I'm sorry, but the curriculum at my old job for multicultural literature was a joke.  We taught Night in Multi.  And you know how much I love that book, and true, the majority (meaning all but one) of my students had no background or associations with the Jewish faith, but if that's multicultural, then I want that class to read books in the vein of Queer Theory and Feminist Theory.  How do we define minority and multicultural literature?

Teachers and students and schools (and readers, in general) have become the comfortable medium of literature; yes, it's a culture different from our own, but not so much that we are disturbed or forced to question our reality.  We're too middle ground in most of our entertainment choices.  I didn't love the book, but I love how I am forced to question why I don't love the book, and really examine a culture I am very removed from.

Our final project for class is a multicultural assignment, hence the reading of The Swallows of Kabul as a class assignment.  I struggled with finding a book, sent the librarians on a whirlwind search (they have the best search options on their computers, I wish they had it on the catalogue computer) and finally found a book called Border Town.  The assignment is to read a non-Western European book by a non-Western European author.  I went for Asian because I feel like I know more about Middle Eastern cultures than Asian cultures.  Already I can feel a divide in what I know and what is foreign, but I find that in the descriptions and reviews of the book, Shen Congway is always compared to William Faulkner and Pearl Buck.  He wrote before Faulkner!  Why do the Americans always win?
 
 I also read Food Rules: An Eater's Guide, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, and Blankets, but I feel those books deserve their own attention.  For now, the ramblings of a not feeling so hot girl who really just wants to go lay on the couch and sleep.