The Archivist by Martha Cooley

The Archivist has been around for a good ten years. Every now and then I see it pop up on a shelf at some over crowded book store, hidden among thousands of other books. The summary intrigues, the blurbs confirm its place in history, this book is a gem.  The writing is eloquent, the plot, well it constantly thickens, the story grabs and then pulls you in and leaves you wondering "seriously, this is her first novel?"  I only wish I had read Cooley sooner.

Matt, is an aging archivist at a well recognized, yet unnamed, east-coast school. He has in his charge of, among other items, a sealed vault of letters T.S. Eliot wrote to his would-be mistress, Emily Hale. (If you don't know the story here, it can all be summed up with a single picture, of which I have yet to find, but will do my best. Eliot meets Hale, Eliot marries Vivienne, Vivienne goes crazy and is institutionalized, all the while Eliot maintains a relationship with Hale, one which he can never fully confirm or dismiss.) To make things a bit more intriguing, Matt once had a wife who was unable to keep the lines of reality and fiction from blurring together...sound familiar, wait there's more. Then Matt meets a young woman Roberta (read here Emily Hale) and she is both the key to his unleashing of the past and his pursuit of the future.  Okay, so you are thinking this sounds obvious and too easy. Now add in an absurd understanding, on Cooley's part, of Eliot's work. Plus questions of love, religion, faith, insanity, books, solitude and so much more. There is so much in this novel. And the real kicker is, Cooley makes it look like a walk in the park. It feels so simple yet you finish it and there are so many questions. It penetrates the souls of its characters and a bit of the reader as well. I don't even know how to fit it all in.  So I end with this blurb, which I think sums it up well:

"Remarkable...Though Cooley has twinned the tales of poets and madness, Christians and Jews, caretakers and gatekeepers and betrayers, the stories never appear contrived, only very, very human." -Martha Baker, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

To Read Or Not to Read...Harry Potter

Right, so you may have noticed my lack of posting over the last few months. There are many reasons for this, but lack of reading is not one of them. I finally started the Harry Potter books, years after the rest of the world, in August. And today, I closed the cover on book seven--The Deathly Hallows. It feels a bit absurd to be posting about Harry Potter. In part because it's like posting about some fad that has come and gone. And what can I say that has not been said already?

So I write this post to anyone who has not read the books. Those people whose camp I was in just a few months ago. Maybe you are like me? You read the first few books, and you were not feeling it! I mean really how many books do you have to read in a series to start getting into it? Or you have seen all the movies, and while you like them, they have not inspired you to read the books. After all why read them when you can watch them in two hours. Possibly, you are just so sick of hearing about them from everyone else that it puts you off. Trust me, I understand.

But here is the thing. Generally, if nearly everyone you know is raving mad about something, be it good or bad, there is some truth to it. And its probably worth checking out. I admit I begrudgingly picked up the books, but I am so glad I did. Particularly books five, six and seven. They are so good. The ending so very much lives up to seven books of climax and that my friends is quite a feat! Yes, I know the writing leaves a bit to be desired but Rowling more than makes up for it with the story and I promise the writing does get better as the books go along. I promise, you will not be sorry. Even if you hate them--you can hate them with just cause!

On a final note, I will say this. I think the first two books are easily replaced by the movies, so if you are on the edge and don't have time for all seven, watch the first two movies and start with the third book!

Your Old Book

I always enjoy stories like this one.  It makes me excited for the other hidden secrets that shall reveal themselves in time.  

110 years ago a man named Charles H. Hackley donated a stack of books to his local library. The library Incorporated the books into their collection and then shelved them, storing one book, already 50 years old in a  glass storage case on the library's second floor where rare and fragile books were kept where it was eventually forgotten. "In 1999, library personnel started going through the books in that case, [and] discovered the Book of Mormon." According to the Muskegon Chronicle, "It was one of 5,000 books printed in 1830 by Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after he said an angel named Moroni guided him to gold tablets documenting the teachings and lives of ancient tribes."  The book is likely to fetch around $70,000. Talk about a gold mine!

Ever wonder if you have a valuable book hidden in the far reaches of your attic or basement. It is possible. Many of the rare books that come on the market today are books were simply overlooked for a few generations. But how to know?  

A great place to start is by reading a small publication found on the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section  site called , Your Old Books.  It will teach exactly what makes a book rare and how you can go about figuring out the potential value of your item.  The number one rule: demand that is greater than the supply. You could have the only copy of a book in existence, but if no one wants it...well, then no one freakin' wants it. 

If you read through this document and you are still convinced that you might have discovered a gold mine, then its time to start doing some research. Sites like ABAA.org and abebooks.com, can give you an idea of how many copies of a book are currently being offered for sale.  

If you are now nearly willing to bet your pets life that you have a book that could pay off all your students loans and still leave enough money for a down payment on your dream house, then its time to contact a book seller. Don't bother going to your local library, it is against the law for them to tell you how much your book is worth. 

Good luck, and be sure to report back to Luminous when you strike gold.

The right to read.

Politics is not something that I have ever brought to the pages of Luminous before, but this story isn't just politics, it is about books and politics and therefore I feel confident that the story fits well to luminous' mission.  That is: anything related to books.  

Sarah Palin has been the talk of the town for a whole week now.  A few disturbing things have come to our attention about Mrs. Palin but this bit of news takes the cake for all of us who have dedicated our lives to the right for intellectual freedom. 

Shortly before becoming mayor Ms. Palin approached librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, at the Wasilla town library about the possibility of banning some books, which books Mrs. Palin would not say.  Anne Kilkenny, a Democrat "who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. 'They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,' Ms. Kilkenny said."(NYT.)

Mrs. Emmons, of course resisted all efforts at censorship, in accordance with the Library Bill of Rights. And how did Mrs. Palin respond to not getting her way? She fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office.  Mrs. Palin under estimated her constituencies, who made a great show of support for the librarian in question, and she was untimely given her job back. 

So what is the big deal here?

Our whole system of government was based on the idea that the purpose of the state was to preserve individual liberties, not to dictate them. The founders uniformly despised many practices in England that compromised matters of individual conscience by restricting freedom of speech. Freedom of speech – the right to talk, write, publish, discuss – was so important to the founders that it was the first amendment to the Constitution – and without it, the Constitution never would have been ratified.

How then, can we claim that the founders would support the restriction of access to a book that really is just about an idea, to be accepted or rejected as you choose? If the library is doing its job, there are lots of books in the collection that people won't agree with; there are certainly many that I object to. Library collections don't imply endorsement; they imply access to the many different ideas of our culture, which is precisely our purpose in public life. The best way to know your stance on an issue after all is to have a grasp of the opposing view point.  Libraries, of course, provide evidence that not everybody agrees with each other; but that's true, isn't it?

Harry Potter Book Club?

Let me take you back two years: It's the summer of 2006 and I am a few years out of undergrad and desperate for a dialogue about books. After much arm twisting to get a book club going and still no compliance on the part of my loved ones (I even tried to sneakily read books that friends were reading, books I had no interest in, just so I could talk to someone about books) I started this here blog. I figured, this way I could process what I was thinking about and maybe, just maybe, someone would come along who had read or was reading the book and talk to me. For the most part its been a success.

Now, part two. Harry Potter (henceforth referred to as HP). I read the first two HP books a long long time ago. Like in the late 90's. And, well, this was before the craze and I just did not get that into them. Years go by and slowly HP creeps into EVERYONE'S LIFE. But I refuse to partake, because I tried, and we did not work, and that was enough for me.

So along comes a certain friend, who shall remaine anonymous, with a sneaky little idea. The friend tells me he wants to start a book club, obviously I am giddy with joy, as he predicted. "What shall we read?" I wonder aloud. I should have seen it coming. "Harry Potter." Dang it! What is a girl to do? She has no choice. So I am in a Harry Potter book club. We have already meet once, for the first book, after which we watched the movie. I'm was probably the most negative. But it was really great anyway.

We are meeting again for discussion of books 2 & 3 next weekend. And, believe it or not, I've read both the books already. And even started the fourth one prematurely. Suffice it to say, I've moved past the poor writing and am totally into the story. I LIKE HARRY POTTER! Who woulda thought?

Now here is a fun little video for you to enjoy:

Man Booker Longlist

'Tis that time of year again. The Man Booker Committee has announced their longlist fiction. In regards to the actual list, Chair Michael Portillo commented:

"With a notable degree of consensus, the five Man Booker judges decided on their longlist of 13 books. The judges are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK. We also are happy with the interesting mix of books, five first novels and two novels by former winners."

And the potential winners are:

Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture
John Berger From A to X
Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
Joseph O'Neill Netherland
Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence
Tom Rob Smith Child 44
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole

I bet Rushdie wins. Anyone want to go up against that??

Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon

This is my first post on Luminous, and I am admittedly scared. I wanted to write some elloquent, powerful analysis of the two tomes that have comprised my summer reading thus far. But I realized that such expectations would proabably keep me from ever posting. So, here is a brief response to the first two books of a 6-part historical fiction/romance series by (best-selling...dare I say that) author, Diana Gabaldon.

Claire Randall, a mid 20th-century woman, is caught in an unconventional love triangle that spans 300 years of history. On a vacation/research tour in the Scottish Highlands with her husband, Frank, Claire ventures off one afternoon and finds herself displaced. When she awakens, she realizes that while she vaguely recognizes the landscape around her, she knows she is not in the same place she just came from. Claire quickly learns that she has just traveled back to the 1700s!

Action immediately ensues as Claire is rescued from a harassing Englishman, Jack Randall, by James "Jamie" MacKenzie Fraser, a Scotsman. The relationship that develops between Claire and Jamie is the primary focus throughout the series (at least thus far). It is a relationship that the reader cannot help but support, regardless of the cost.

There was a secondary short-term "relationship," (perhaps better described as an encounter) that began in the first book between 2 of the above mentioned characters, while it's affects were explored further in the second book. It was this disturbing encounter that I found unforgetable. Not only for it's darkness, but for it's redemption. It was a glimpse into the emotionally and physically painful window of sacrifice in the name of the one (or even ones) you love.

So, would I recommend this series? If you are looking for something with a little history, a little (ok more than a little) romance, a little steaminess, a lot of adventure, and time traveling(!), then I would recommend you read Outlander. If you don't like it, I'm sorry. But if you do, there is good news!...The series is 6 books long; and each one is around 600+ pages (in small print), so you have time to revel in your facinatation with the story and it's characters.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

The History of Love. You have seen it on the EL, or at the bus stop, or maybe a friend read it a few months ago. It's on display in the window at the local book stop. Whatever the case, you have heard about it. It's everywhere. That is basically why I picked it up. Sometimes curiosity gets the best of me...and if everyone else is doing it...I know that is not a good reason, but I just can not help it. Anyway. So I read The History of Love. It's a mere 250 pages and by all means fits the definition of a light summer read. There are at least four different narrators in the novel (I think maybe a fifth one shows up for a chapter but don't hold me to that) and some of them are really great. Such as Leopold Gursky, a persnickety old man with a fondness for making people uncomfortable by forcing them to come in contact with his aging body. He's great and hilarious (laugh out loud funny) and also charming and heartbreaking. Then there's 14 year old Alma Singer, and all I have to say to Krauss on this one is: "did you let your husband right this part?" These chapters are incongruous with the rest of the text and sound like they have come straight out of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...which is too bad, not because that book was bad, I rather enjoyed it, but because that book has already been written.

Okay, so you want to know how the book is already? I get it. It's a lot of fun for the first third. Bland and un-notable (if that's a word) for the second third (I almost put the book down and gave up). The final third, well it was good. The stories came together pretty nice, although there were a few things that were never resolved that kinda irked me. But over all it was enjoyable. And it gives you a little more time with Gursky, who I really had a fondness for. So, should you read the book? Well, maybe if you are sitting at the beach and feeling kinda go-with-the-flow. Or if you happen to have a copy laying around and nothing else to read. Then sure, read it. It's good, but it won't knock your socks off. And if you can get over the fact that she pretty much plagiarized one of her husbands characters (and apparently he doesn't mind) then yeah, you will like it.

Sister Carrie

For my first post on the Luminous blog, I am going to jump in with the all-encompassing Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. As a lit person, I probably should have read this novel a long time ago as it represents a fundamental shift in the history of the American novel. Fortunately, I was never asked any questions about it because up until last week, I thought that the main character was a nun...which I soon learned wasn't the case.
I finished the book in the wee hours of Friday morning because I couldn't put it down. I also couldn't escape the world of the book for the rest of the weekend. Dresier's detailed depictions of Chicago and New York are amazing, probably even more for those of you who live in those cities and know all of the landmarks referenced. These meticulous details filled out the world of the novel and played a large role in drawing me into the book and making me care about the characters.
Dresier also does a great job of showing both Carrie and Hurtwood as products of choice and environment. They are trapped within a system, but they are still responsible for their own decisions. Because of this, I still can't decide whether I feel bad for them as helpless victims or see them as products of their own decisions. I guess this dichotomy is why I still can't shake the book. It is definitely worth a read, even if it is just to help you avoid looking stupid when talking with lit professors!

book-a-licious...so delicious.

About a year ago I came across an image on the internet of a scene from Alice in Wonderland cut out of a book. My heart skipped a beat with excitement and I immediately printed off the image and pasted it on to my planner so that I could look at it every day. Its still there, but the mysterious creator has finally been discovered, and her name is Su Blackwell. She has tons of other awesome pieces of book art that you can drool over on her website. Take a look see for yourself, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Calling all co-authors...

Hello friends and other readers!!

Luminous is looking for some new co-authors to post about book related stuff. Books you are reading, books you want to read, books you've and loved (or maybe hated), book news, book awards. You name it. All we ask is that, should you commit to posting, you post at minimum, once a month. Seriously, could you be less obligated? Of course, we would love it if you posted more than the minimum. Interested? Or interested in at least trying it out? We can give you a free trial posting period if you are curious. Just email me (Amber) or post to this response!

Buttercups

I haven't much time for reading novels as of late, but I was reminded today of one of my all time favorite passages ever in a novel. Here it is, with some text chopped off on either end. If you find yourself entranced, you can read more in the The Brothers K by David James Duncan.

     I was hiking a south-sloping headland on the Strait this morning, trudging along in a funk the beautiful but long-lost cause of which chivalry demands I not name, when the sun burst out of the fog, and so did I, I guess, because all of a sudden I found myself standing so funkless that I felt naked in a huge marshy meadow just blazing with early summer buttercups. A sunlit lake of brilliant yellow, Natasha. With me grasping, nearly downing in the middle of it. And I’d scarcely noticed the coming of spring.

     The word “stunning” may describe the meadow. But not “stunning” the adjective: this yellow hit like a fist. This was Stunning the Noun. And it Its presence (odd as this may sound) Everett the Noun vanished.

Want proof that I vanished? Probably not, knowing you. But being the skeptical sort, I do. So let me mull this event over a little:

     You and I didn’t make it close enough to Spring for you to learn this about me, but I’ve never liked to pick flowers. Blossoming is a sexual activity, and anything engaged in sex ought, it seems to me, to be left alone. Yet in the lake of buttercups, the instant after I vanished, what remained in my place dripped Stunned to its knees and began, regardless of my opinion, to pick buttercups as fast as it could work its fingers. 

So good.

It's deceiving, I know. That little box on the the right side of your computer screen. You are thinking, "Is she reading or is she not?" "She says shes reading this or that book," but then you never hear about it. Well, I am here to confirm your suspicions, its true I have been doing some extra-circular reading as of late. Since we moved north I have gained nearly four hours of train time a day. This means, I now have almost TOO MUCH time to read and yet somehow still not enough time to post about my readings. So here is a review of some of the books I've read over the past few months.

A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson
How I have been able to make it to 26 and not have read a Bill Bryon book I have no idea. I kinda wonder if I maybe have bad friends. I mean how could no one have insisted that I read one of his adventure stories. The point is, A Walk In The Woods, is wonderful. It's the perfect book to pick up when you are aching for summer to come but can't actually go outside without at least a warm sweater on. It gets you through that last stretch of barren winter trees without going losing your mind. Oh, and did I mention that it's f*@king HILARIOUS! Goodness me, I had to put it down at times because I was crying from laughter. Highly recommended!

Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling
One part curiosity, one part peer pressure...this was what got me to pick up the first book in the Harry Potter series again. That's right, I read the first two books back where there were only two books in the series and did not love them enough to keep going. So I figured, since I enjoy the movies and my husband (and nearly everyone else) is obsessed with the books I might as well give it a try again. So I read the first book again. And it was okay. Sorry. I know, scandal. But it just isn't amazing. It's cute and enjoyable but not that enjoyable. That's all I really have to say. Oh, and yes, I do plan to continue on reading them...eventually.

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
Okay, so I am actually smack dead in the middle of this one now, but really it is hard to go wrong with Anne Tyler. She just is a great novelist. End of story. That said, while reading this novel I have had a very real sense of being a woman of a different generation from her. I can't quite put my tongue on it yet but maybe some of you know what I am talking about. It is as if her female characters have this ridiculousness to them. As if to be a woman means you must have an element of absurdity--which is probably true in reality--but the problem is, it's not a universal characteristic, in Tyler's book it is distinctly female.

Last thing, I started reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and wow is it slow!! Can someone please give me the encouragement I need to keep on? I'm only 60 pages in, the writing is beautiful, but honestly it puts me right into a beautiful nap everytime I pick it up.

Well that's it for now. I will be back with a few more soon (I hope).

Two worlds become one

My two favorite things have finally merged: books and food. That's right! All around the world on April 1st bibliophiles, book artists, and food lovers gather to celebrate the book arts and the (literal!) ingestion of culture for the Edible Book Festival. Participants create edible books that are exhibited, documented then consumed. Some of my personal favorites from this year event held at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign are: Robinson Mouss-o, Grape Moments in Literary History, Clockwork Orange & Lard of the Rings.

I love Harry Potter. I no longer love J.K. Rowling.

I don't know if you are following this, but a gentleman has been keeping a Harry Potter Encyclopedia online, which Rowling has said that she loves. Now the Encyclopediast, Steven Vander Ark, is being sued by Rowling for copyright infringement.
That's fine. I don't mind that. What is the problem? This:
"Rowling (her name rhymes with bowling, rather than howling), testified Monday that the Harry Potter characters she created are as dear as her children, too precious to allow an inferior Potter encyclopedia to be published without letting the world know the ordeal is draining her of her will to write."
Apparently someone existing, who loves her work so much that he has devoted 9 years to her work (albeit as an "inferior writer," sorry dude) and wants to add something to the understanding of the Potter world is "draining her of the will to write?"
It's a good thing Tolkien or C.S. Lewis or you know, every popular writer that has ever written a book had a bit stronger of a constitution regarding their reading public.

Carol Shields, again.

We all know how much I love Carol Shields, so telling you I loved The Stone Diaries might sound a bit like beating a dead horse--but before you stop reading, hear me out. First off, I don't think The Stone Diaries is quite on par with Unless, I doubt I'll even think anything is on par with Unless. So if you haven't read Unless yet and you are wondering which of her books you should read I still recommend that over The Stone Diaries. That said there are lots of similarities about the novels. Both are the first person narratives of a woman trying to figure out her place in the world. Both understand much of who they are through their relationships with others. And both of them have won some pretty hefty awards. The Stone Diaries in particular has won the Pulitzer for fiction, The Governor General's Award, The Prix de Lire in France, The U.S. National Book Critics' Circle Award and Unless was shortlisted for the Booker.

The Stone Diaries begins in 1905 with a woman who shockingly discovers she is labor, shockingly because her naivety has kept her from realizing she was even pregnant. And thus begins the life of Daisy Stone, a child brought into the world as her mother leaves it. This is in part why she never really understands who she is or who she is supposed to be. As if she never got the chance to live the life she was supposed to have. We follow Daisy through childhood, college, marriage, life as a widow, married again, motherhood, widowed again and on into old age. Its begins at the beginning of the century and ends at the end of it. Its a beautiful story told that spans an array of situations and emotions and has the ability to sweep you off your feet and into a different life--and to help you get there book even includes a series of family photographs inserted into its pages. It does have some drawbacks though, it starts off slow and the climax is possibly somewhere around 3/4 of the way through--thus the ending seems somewhat unnecessary at times, or maybe just anti-climatic. But that's not much of a complaint if you think about some of the crap people are reading. Carol Shields does what she does best in this novel, that is portray the beautifully quotidian lives of women. In an interview with the NYT's after the book came out she said, "Someone wrote me a letter, saying, 'I wish Daisy had tried harder.' Well, I didn't think there were enough novels about women who didn't make the historical record."

More books about books...

As you all know I haven't much time for extra-curricular reading, and poor luminous has taken the brunt of the fall. I've thought about posting about my readings, but how many of you really want to know the antonym of insects or how to tell an american cockroach from an oriental one. Few of you, I'm positive. I am curious to know what books you are reading though, and I think our other visitors are too. A few sentences would do for a posting, a might just be the life blood that keeps luminous going.

That said, I did recently finish a book. Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. The writing was simple, the ideas mostly dull and yet I read it cover to cover--never mind the fact that it took me three months. If you are interested in learning key words that come up in the book business (and by that I do mean the used and rare books business) this book is a great primer. From foxing and sizing to rag paper and red rot, there are many great terms scattered through out the book that anyone interested in working with books for a living should probably know.

That said the couple who co-authored the book are both supposedly writers but didn't come to have a love for book collecting until their mid-thirties. Whaaa? And if they had really read all the books that claim to have read, I would think their writing would be more refined and poetic. But alas, it's not. It also takes them all of 200 pages to and thousands of dollars to come to the conclusion they started off with. $7,000.00 for a book isn't reasonable for the average person. Lord knows how they were able to afford this "hobby" on writer's salaries. But since they the dropped book collecting like a bad habit by the end of the book, I guess it's not worth spending too much time trying to figure out.

want something to look forward to?

I was browsing the non-book website Rottentomatoes, and came across this story and thought, whoa, awesome. It said:
"After the extraordinary success of No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers are hitting the books again, this time adapting Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. The two will direct the film after their next announced project, the dark comedy A Serious Man."
I haven't yet read Chabon's latest book, but I love his work and have read all his other books (except Summerland). The Coen's can do pretty much anything, it seems, and Chabon is a graceful and wonderful storyteller, so start anticipating.

The Time Travellers Wife

I loved this book.

With that I shall start by saying, before I picked up Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveller's Wife, I knew I would either hate it or love it. Everyone I've meet who has read it has the strongest of feelings about it. But lucky me, I was head over heels, unabashedly in love with everything about it. For seven short days I stopped reading it only to sleep (and then I would dream about it) and sometimes to eat. For those of you who are living in a different world, or maybe a different time and have not heard about the book. It is the love story of Henry DeTamble and his once and future wife Claire Abshire. Henry time travels (uncontrollably) backwards and forwards through time. The book opens with Henry in his late 30's and 40's visiting young Claire as a small child, where she first falls in love with him. When Claire is grown and meets Henry in "real" time, he has no idea who she is--because hes too young--and so the love story blooms again but in a more sophisticated and tangible manner.

It gets better though, the book has a third (and arguably my favorite) major character, Chicago. If one gets nothing else out of this gem of a book its Niffenegger's love for this wonderful city. Her visual of the buildings and streets and venues are worked into every page. She relives concerts, (Violet Femme's early 90's appearance at the Arragon--of which I know of at least one other person who was there). She gives you the ins and outs of her favorite records stores, restaurants and all other things perfect about Chicago. It's an intimate and quotidian tour in your very hands.

I love love loved it.

Disclaimer: This is the first novel I was able to read in months. And as you all know by now, I live and breath for the moments in which I can curl up with a novel. So, it is possible that Niffenegger book may not have struck me so intensely had it just been one of many I was in the middle of. So, on that note, if you know you enjoy the same kinds of books as me...what the hell are you still doing here?!? Go get it...NOW! But if you generally find my likings disagreeable then please by all means stay the hell away (from the book, not me.)

p.s. the paper quality of the book is also amazing.
p.p.s if you aren't into reading, it will soon be a film.

English Major? Part II

Stanley Fish is back in the Times, defending his article that the study of Humanities serves no purpose. He clarifies his point (it's not that works of literature and art do nothing, it's that studying them in a classroom does nothing) and he reestablishes his point (real world understanding and academic understanding are independent).

"All of this should not be taken to mean, as it was by some, that I am attacking the humanities or denigrating them or declaring them worthless. I am saying that the value of the humanities cannot be validated by some measure external to the obsessions that lead some (like me) to devote their working lives to them– measures like increased economic productivity, or the fashioning of an informed citizenry, or the sharpening of moral perceptions, or the lessening of prejudice and discrimination."

Well, Stanley. You've made your point pretty clear. And reluctantly, I might have to agree with parts of it. ("What benefit do literary studies hold out to those asked to support them? Not much of anything except the (parochial) excitement experienced by those caught up in arcane discussions of the mirror stage, the trace, the subaltern and the performative." Half the time, I bore my wife and friends with my discussions of 16th century religious discourse surrounding Lancelot Andrews' influence on drama. If the wife can't listen, what hope is there?) And yet. I do think studying literature, not just reading it but breaking it down in the classroom can "sharpen moral perceptions" and "lessen prejudice and discrimination." So.

English Major? What good will that do you?

Stanley Fish has an Op-Ed in the NYTimes today on the what value can be found in studying the humanities. (answer: "none whatsoever")

" Do the humanities ennoble? And for that matter, is it the business of the humanities, or of any other area of academic study, to save us?The answer in both cases, I think, is no...Teachers of literature and philosophy are competent in a subject, not in a ministry. It is not the business of the humanities to save us, no more than it is their business to bring revenue to a state or a university. What then do they do? They don’t do anything, if by “do” is meant bring about effects in the world. And if they don’t bring about effects in the world they cannot be justified except in relation to the pleasure they give to those who enjoy them."

All this time I thought I was "do"ing something that had an effect on the world. Oh well, Fish, you've always been the reader-response man. Short-sighted, in my opinion.