Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it

My friend sent me Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl in a package containing Vonnegut's Galapagos and Mieville's The City and The City.  Galapagos was my copy he was returning and The City and The City was a mutual friend's copy that I'd wanted to read, and Special Topics was a book my friend thought I should check out.  I don't know that I would have picked it up on my own (it's hardback which is almost enough for me to have passed it by) but I'm always glad to take a recommendation from a trusted friend.

I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book so far and I'm hoping the story picks up soon.  According to the back cover and the intro, the story is a murder mystery.  The main character, Blue, finds Hannah dead and must make sense of what's happened.  After setting this up in a few sentences, the story jumps back in time to give you an introduction to Blue and her father, a travelling university professor and kind of a pretentious dick.  OK, that's my take on him and I constantly want someone to spill something staining on his Tweed jacket.  It hasn't happened yet, but I have my hopes.  I'm ambivalent towards Blue at the moment.  She's extremely intelligent due to the constant  assignments and exercises her father has been giving her for as far back as she details.  For reasons unknown to her (and to the reader because the book is told from Blue's point of view) the high society Blueblood group reluctantly brings her into the gilded circle, lead by the soon-to-be-dead Film teacher Hannah.

The chapters are split into a syllabus of Required Reading titles that subtly relate to the chapters.  You need to be familiar with the required readings in order to see all of the parallels and, to me, the most obvious is the Pygmalion chapter, where Blue gets a mini-makeover courtesy of Jade and her mother's black American Express.  I'm glad this isn't more overt or I think this style would seem gimmicky and would take away from the story.*  One thing that is getting slightly annoying is the constant citations for ever reference she makes.  I suppose in a way it shows you how far into academia Blue is but I've found myself skipping over these.  Point made, move on.

I'm undecided on the book so far.  I'm enjoying it but I haven't been pulled into the story yet.  It's been easy for me to put the book down.  I'm hoping the story moves forward soon.  The writing is interesting, the characters are intriguing but now I need the story to continue on.  I do have high hopes though.  My friend wouldn't lead me astray.

*The other chapters I've gone through so far, in case you're curious are: Othello, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Wurthering Heights, The House of the Seven Gables, The Woman in White, Brave New World, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Madame Bovary.

Title quote from page 5.  It's the opening line.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  Marisha Pessl.  Viking Press, New York.  2006.

Let's go exploring!

I've been a fan of Calvin and Hobbes for years, though I have only vague memories of reading them in the paper, I (or rather my brother) had all of the books while we were growing up and I fondly remember reading and re-reading and re-reading these collections.  So I was excited to see the book Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip by Nevin Martell sitting on the coffee table one day.  Boyfriend's friend had recently read it and lent it to him, knowing he was also a fan. So I put down the book I had been reading so I could make sure I finished this book before Friend started demanding it back.  The book reminded me why I love Calvin and Hobbes but reading the comic strip as self would have done as much.

Martell has a tall order he's trying to fill: get an interview with Watterson, the Salinger of the cartoonist world. Unfortunately though unsurprisingly, he never gets this interview and instead writes the book using "Plan B - otherwise known as the Morbidly Realistic Plan...[writing] the book as if Watterson were dead," (14).  He interviews colleagues and friends of Watterson but never really uncovers new material.  The majority of at least 3 chapters seemed to be him quoting The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary book and an interview in Honk!!.  The anniversary book is my favorite C&H collection, precisely because it includes insights written by Watterson, so Martell didn't really provide any new information about the reclusive cartoonist, and as a result I spent a large portion of the book wishing I was reading that book because then I'd have the comics to read.

I think the book would have benefited from a different viewpoint.  Instead of being written as if Watterson was dead I would have much preferred to read his journey as he tried to get an interview.  The information was there but structured in such a way that it actually took away from Watterson's story.  The book almost makes me want to pick up The Complete Calvin and Hobbes which I've considered on a few occasions but I always put back down because it's so expensive and so large.  

If you've read all you can on C&H and still want to read more, you should check out this book.  I recommend borrowing it though.  If you like C&H and want to learn more about the series and Watterson, read The Tenth Anniversary book instead.

On a separate but related note, one of the gifts I got for Christmas was a framed copy of a Calvin and Hobbes strip.  I mentioned a panel out of the strip once before because the argument Calvin and Hobbes have is pretty much what every argument Boyfriend and I have devolves into.  And as I've mentioned, I'm absolutely Calvin in this relationship.  I wish I was Hobbes but it's just not the case.

The title quote isn't a direct line from the book, though I do vaguely remember it being mentioned.  It's the last lines of the comic strip that ran on December 31, 1995.  Boyfriend actually has this strip from his local paper hanging in his childhood bedroom

Martell, Nevin.  Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip.  Continuum, New York.  2009.

Happy Chrismahanakwanzaakah to all

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Fabulous Festivus, Exciting Kwanza, Amazing Atheist Gift-Giving Holiday or whatever you want to go with. 

I've managed to get some computer time tonight and I'm still catching up on my Google Reader for the last day or so.  It's amazing how quickly that thing can spiral out of control.  I've been travelling around* to make it to all of the family Christmases.  Thus far we've done Christmas #1 with my family.  Lots of good food, family I don't see nearly enough and, of course, gifts.  Because I'm materialistic like that.  I got that Kindle I mentioned in my last post, so I'm excited to see how reading goes on it.  I'm thinking of getting the Bill Bryson At Home book on it, since I was going to wait for it to come out in paperback but I'm incredibly impatient.  I got another Shakespeare biography, Soul of the Ages by Jonathan Bate, because I only have 4 of them and that's clearly not enough.  I also managed to nab seasons 1-3 of Mad Men and Sims3 plus a couple expansion packs so I'm set with entertainment for awhile.

Tomorrow will be Christmas with the Boyfriend's familia, which means more good food (and most likely a mix of Chinese and Puerto Rican food, which is interesting and delicious) and good people to hang out with.  I'm thinking the next few days will be as busy as the last couple have been, but next week I should have time for reading and blogging, which I know you're just holding you breath waiting for. 

Again, I wish everyone seasons greetings, happy holidays, etc etc. 

*Any potential thieves know that I own nothing of value, unless you think you can make some money off of broken Ikea furniture.  You should also keep in mind I live at the top of a 5 floor walk-up so not only will you be disappointed if you break in, you'll be tired.

Top Books I Want for Xmas

Another Tuesday, another top 10 list hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Sticking with the holiday season, this week's question is what are the top 10 books I want for Christmas.

I don't usually ask for books for Christmas.  I might ask for a gift card to buy my own books but I do a lot of my book purchasing based on whatever I feel like at the moment, so I can never really give people a list of things I want. I prefer this method to having people buy me books.  Except my Dad.  He gets a pass because he seems to know what books I'll like before I consider them.

I started this thinking I might actually be able to think up 10 books I want but I'm drawing a blank so we'll see how far I make it.

1. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde.  I love Fforde's series and I can't wait for a new world of his creation.  The Next series and the Nursery Crime series are both wonderful.  Actually, I want Santa or whomever to wait to give me this until it's in paperback.  That's the reason I haven't picked it up for myself just yet.  Maybe it could be a signed copy.  That's be pretty sweet.
2. At Home by Bill Bryson. I've been waiting for this one to come out in paperback as well.  I love Bryson and look forward to reading whatever he happens to write.  
3. Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. While on the topic of Bryson, I used to have this book and during one of my many moves it got lost or lent out to someone or something that just removed it from my possession.  I'd like it back or a new copy.
4. Anything by Christopher Moore I don't already have.  That's an extensive list.  Maybe I should start with Bloodsucking Fiends, seeing as I've read You Suck: A Love Story already, not realizing it was a sequel.  Actually I don't know where my copy of You Suck went, so I'd like that as well.
5. Some more Vonnegut.  It's been awhile since I've read his work and I should probably pick up some more of his stuff.  Any suggestions*?
6. Kindle. I know this isn't a book but I still want it.  And I actually know I'm getting it, much to the chagrin of my mom who wishes it was a secret.  But I kept going back and forth between the Kindle and the Color Nook so she eventually told me she got it.  Whoops.  I annoyed her into telling me.  It's like I haven't aged at all.

I am such a failure at these top 10 lists.  I'd just rather write out the things I think fit the topic rather than pad it out with other stuff.  What's on your want list?

*I've read Slaughterhouse-Five; Breakfast of Champions; God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; Galapagos; Sirens of Titan.  I feel like I'm missing one but since I can't think of it I guess it'd be fine if I read it again. 
Update: Paolo remembered the missing book, because he knows my bookshelf better than I do apparently. I've also read Cat's Cradle.  

Why *is* a door-nail the deadest piece of ironmongery?

In honor of the Christmas season I've decided to read Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  I have a nice copy of the book with the full illustrations I got years and years ago and I'm sure it's somewhere safe.  I just don't know where that safe place is.  Instead I am reading it on my iPod.  Awhile back, when I was first looking into eReaders, I downloaded the Kindle and iBooks apps, along with 1 free book each, to see what I thought of them.  A Christmas Carol happened to be my Kindle buy so this worked out nicely.  And reading on my iPod isn't as bad as I assumed it would be.  The screen is small but it doesn't bother me too much while I'm actually reading.  I'll still take a real book over reading on this screen though.

My favorite adaptation.

I'm not going to review the book because what am I going to say that hasn't been said a million times far more eloquently than I could put it.  I won't bother describing the plot because even if you've never read the book you've seen one of the thousands of adaptations of it I'm sure.  Perhaps if you live in a mud hut you've managed to escape all of them, but then again you're most likely lacking internet as well, which means you aren't reading this.  Instead I'll talk about the humor of the story, which I think a lot of the adaptations ignore.  They might be funny in a different way, but I think most miss the humor of the original.  Except for A Muppet Christmas Carol which uses a lot of direct quotes from the story PLUS singing Muppets! Which is why it's my favorite Christmas movie.

What surprised me the first time I really read and paid attention to A Christmas Carol was how funny it is.  The first few pages are my favorite of the book.  Sure it's mostly Dickens going off on a tangent about door-nails and coffin-nails but I love it.  For those unfamiliar with the details of this opening, here they are:

"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.  Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail.  I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade.  But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for."

 I probably find this so funny because I could see myself musing on a topic like this and then losing track of what I was originally talking about while I was on my coffin vs door nail argument.  And a coffin nail does make way more sense as the most dead piece of iron.  What's so dead about a door?  Is it more dead than a window?  What if it's a door to a morgue?  Still has lots of live people going through it while the coffin is just full of dead people.  And I'll get off my tangent now.

I like the early parts of the book the best because it's when Scrooge is the nastiest and the most fun to watch.  Sure I want him to be saved and become nice but he's fun to watch when he's a crotchety old man and I love him talking with Marley.  When confronted with the ghost he tells him that he's just a figment of indigestion and if he wanted to he could swallow a toothpick and then have a legion of goblins. Scrooge makes puns in a situation where I would have cowered under the covers. 

So those are my admittedly not-very-deep reasons for liking this book so much.  For those that have read it or are at least familiar with the adaptations, why do you like or hate this story?

The title is at least in relation to the quote I used earlier.  I'm not exactly sure how to get page numbers off this Kindle app but it lists the location as 9-12.  If that means anything to you, super.  It doesn't to me.

And then Bond fought a giant squid

I know when I was reading this I found lots of ridiculous quotes but I didn't mark them down and I can't find them right now.  So that title isn't a quote but it is what happened and is just as ridiculous.  It's too bad there were no lasers.  Also I guess this kind of includes spoilers but the title does as well and you've probably already read that.  Sorry.  Don't worry, it wasn't a huge surprise.

This would have been
awesome too.

Dr. No by Ian Fleming was a fun book and if you're a big fan of the movies I'm sure you would have enjoyed this more than I did.  For me it was entertaining.  At least a third of the entertainment came from the fact that it shows it's age and I enjoyed reading my friend passages that I would not feel comfortable reading to the general public.* The rest of it is the same sort of entertainment you'd expect from a Bond film.  A Bond film pre-Daniel Craig, where it's cheesier and has the evil-maniacal super-villain with a secret lair built into the side of a mountain.  Also a pain obstacle course that ends in giant squid fight!  I mean all of this as a compliment.  It's not a deep book with complex characters or subtle themes but really, if you're reading Bond for those things you're doing it wrong.

I would like to mention the part that I seem to keep dwelling on in the book and that goes along with the I-would-be-uncomfortable-reading-this-aloud-in-public, though apparently not discussing it publicly here:  Chigroes, which were a regular feature throughout the novel.  I want to explain why I've brought them up multiple times and not just because I thought they were horribly racially insensitive.  It's also because I can't think of too many other races/nationalities that you can smoosh the 2 together to create a descriptor for the person.  What I mean is Boyfriend is Puerto Rican** and Chinese and refers to himself as China Rican***.  (Or Chinarican.  I should ask him to spell it out for me.)  I haven't heard this happen with different nationalities but if you can think of examples, or want to make some up, please throw them out there.  So I guess this was just my "I swear I'm not racist and just find this funny.  I'm sure that makes me kind of a bad person but whatever" excuse.

*I'm not saying Fleming was a racist (probably sexist in a Don Draper kind of way) but that it was just the time.  It just makes it awkwardly funny now.  To me anyway.

**Blogger spell check does not recognize Puerto Rican as a set of words.  If I go with their first spell check options I get Puerile Rica.  Yup, that's what I was going for.  Thanks for the help.

***The classic sensibilities of a Chinese man mixed with dynamic flair of a Puerto Rican.  Boyfriend is a fan of Conan and the Pimpbot 5000.