A Tale to Swoon Over
Claire Danes in the major motion picture of Stardust, based on Neil Gaiman's novel
Neil Gaiman’s Stardust is delightful. A lovely little fairy tale for grown ups, the adventure sucks you through a wall into a magical world of falling stars, unicorns, witches, spells, and flying ships. Gaiman provides all the adults in the room a Faerie romance we can swoon over without re-reading Cinderella and Thumbelina for the hundred-thousandth time. We get a handsome Romeo, a bit of a love triangle, true-love from the stars, and a happy ending (even if it goes out with a limp – literally). Stardust made for a wonderful wintery read by the fireplace this Christmas.
Journal Entries from Christmas Past
I’ve been going through my old journals, looking for scraps from stories that haven’t quite made it into my computer, pieces of characters for the books I’m writing that already exist on paper somewhere but are not yet official.
Instead, I find this:
Carlos said he’d grow his hair back if I’d be his girlfriend. I told him I can’t because I’m getting married, I’m just not officially engaged yet. Carlos has done nothing but proposition me since the day we met which makes me laugh because nothing will (or even would have aside from Jon) come of it. But he is a good guy, fun, and attractive.
Ironic, I don’t remember this. I vaguely recall the person I’m referencing, but I don’t really remember the particulars aside from a fleeting memory of him grabbing my hand at college and saying, “Let’s skip class and go make out instead.” I remember that moment because my ears burned red and I pulled my hand away, flustered, and said absolutely not. I can’t remember why not, but honestly, until the re-reading of my old journals, remembered it as a one time occurrence. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t.
How do we forget these things? How do we not know them in the moment. From my journals, I would tell my younger self that this was a man that was truly interested in something – maybe just physical – but something about me. Yet, in my journals it is also clear that I was perfectly unaware of it all and I wrote about him as though he was scenery.
What else did I miss?
Light Holiday Reading
Rebel Angels: Part II in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray
Delightful, though predictable, Bray’s second novel in her magical realms series was an exciting and fanciful Christmas adventure. The sequel is much more intriguing than the original piece. I found myself more drawn in to the lives of the girls of Spence while on their Holiday Vacation than I was with their previous escapades at school. Over all, well done and I look forward to Part Three in the trilogy.
The Act of Reviewing
I was reading a blog earlier this evening (http://anthropologist.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/limits-gardening-up-in-the-air/) about “Up in the Air” a story recently made into a movie by Walter Kirn. It caught my eye because I work at a bookstore and I was shelving a few books by Kirn the other day and thought, “Didn’t they just make that a movie? Splendid, someone will be looking for this soon.”
Anyhow, while reading this blog, I kept thinking how clever the author was to pull little quirks of her daily life into her reviews. It seems personable and fun.
I do no such thing. My book reviews are a few lines about the book and anything I was reminded of by that book.
Then I realized that I do no such thing, because I don’t exactly have a life to mention. I read at home, make lists of what I shall read, clean my house, love my husband, pet and feed the dogs, read some more. I go to work and shelve books all day thinking about what I will read when I get home, I even read for an hour on my lunch break. When I get home I clean the house, pet the dogs, love my husband, and read some more. When I’m done reading, I write. I write books that will probably never be published, but I am so engrossed in my own storylines I don’t care; and I write reviews for a blog no one reads.
Then, I put my laptop down and read some more.
I am not complaining. I think I lead a very adventurous life… In my head. But my lack of interaction, excitement, and deviation from routine causes a lack in my writing.
Now, I have much to ponder.
Except, I’ll probably post this, close my laptop, finish my book, journal, and write a review of said book. Because, for me, the act of reviewing is my only act… until a new whim hits me.
Unexpected Gem
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Reader is a touching coming of age novel that reads like a memoir. Reminiscent of McEwan’s Atonement in its themes of shame and intense raw humanity, Schlink constantly begs the question from his characters and his readers: “What would you have done?” The humility of illiteracy, ignorance, and confinement brought tears to my eyes. I found The Reader to be an unexpected gem.
JARS… a book club
Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco – general fiction The Templars – Piers Paul Read – history/ religion/ secret societies
The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand – general fiction/literature
On Art and Life – John Ruskin – essays
City of Dreaming Books – Walter Moers – young adult/fantasy
Time Was Soft There – Jeremy Mercer – traveling memoir/bookstores
French Pressed: A Coffeehouse Mystery – Cleo Coyle – mystery
Coffee and Coffeehouses: The Origins of a Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East – Ralph S. Hattox – history/sociology
Nefertiti – Michelle Moran – historical fiction
The Search for Nefertiti – Joanne Fletcher – archeology/egyptology
East of Eden – John Steinbeck – fiction/literature
Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters – John Steinbeck – journals/letters/lit.crit
Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirovsky – general ficiton
Hermit in Paris – Italo Calvino – memoir
Arlington Park – Rachel Cusk – general fiction
The Seduction of Place: The History and Future of the City – Joseph Rykwert – Urban Studies/Architecture
Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover
Book One of the Black Sun’s Daughter Series
Unclean Spirits is a fun adventure filled fantasy to veg out with your favorite snack and a comfy pillow. Hanover did a good job of taking an overused theme (vampires and metaphysical ghosties verses the good guys fighting evil) and turning it into something fresh and fun and not too plot heavy with romance. Jayne Heller makes for a great escape fiction heroine and I’ll be interested to see how the rest of the trilogy turns out.
Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Lady Susan is by far my least favorite of Austen’s work, to no fault of Austen herself but rather to my own reading preferences. I am not a fan of reading stories by way of letters between characters, I find it difficult for characters to really have their own unique voice. The only books I have read in which the viewpoint is in constant flux and was done exceedingly well have been Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible and Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife. I appreciate Austen’s change from her typical storytelling routines, but I much prefer the titles I have re-read since I was a kid. We’ll see how I feel about Lady Susan in ten years when I have re-read her a few times, as of now, I don’t much care for her.
My Life All Mapped in Names:
I’m related to a Nikki.
I climbed trees in a field with a Lauren.
I sat in the lap of an Aleeta.
I grew up with a J.R.
I sparred with a David.
I had a crush on an Ian.
I got kissed on the cheek by Jon.
I adopted an Alex.
I stood in a celtic wedding for a Stefany.
I made eyes at a Ray.
I wrote letters to a Mark.
I was friends with a Danielle.
I held hands and couldn’t let go of Jon.
I pissed off a Ricky.
I played Warlords in the cafe with a Chris.
I got drunk with a Seth.
I sat in a truck with a Justin.
I took long walks with a Ryan.
I got my very first kiss from Jon.
I gallivanted with a Jasper.
I went running with a Jared.
I made out with another Ryan.
I dated two Adams.
I stood up a Derek.
I finally got a chance to be with Jon.
Anakalian Whims 
Fantasy vs. Reality, Bella Swan Meet Emma Bovary
December 14, 2009 at 1:28 am (Reviews, The Whim) (austen, Bella Swan, book, cervantes, coming of age, edward, emma bovary, fantasy, fiction, flaubert, Kristen Stewart, love, review, romance, social commentary, twilight, twilight movie image)
Kristen Stewart, actress, as Bella Swan in the Twilight Saga movies
While reading Madame Bovary and coming to these conclusions, I couldn’t help but compare this theme to the realities of today – to the fad that is known as the Twilight Saga. Since I first read Stephenie Meyer’s books I have told people the story-line of the Twilight Saga is terribly frustrating because it sets unrealistic and pitiful standards on the beautiful thing that is love. Not to say the books are inherently bad, they were entertaining and held my attention until the end, but there are so many things young men and women should understand when sitting down to read these novels. Well, one thing specifically: Edward is not real. Jacob is not real. These boys do not exist, they will never exist. And truth be told, they don’t act like real men, and in the end, even if they did exist, you would be unsatisfied. Beware of expecting the wrong things and becoming the next Madame Bovary, wench of all wenches.
Below is a review of Twilight my sister Nikki Dawn Bratton wrote:
In short, read Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn to your hearts content. Inwardly swoon all you want, but please, please, please, read Flaubert’s Madame Bovary as soon as you do. Get acquainted with Emma Bovary and understand her weakness for all affairs and selfishness, and remember that is not a road you want to take. Real love, real passionate and blissful love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not rude or self-seeking, is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrong. It’s also a daily choice and a lot of hard work. Do it right and you will see the fruits of your labors. Do not expect butterflies and tingles every time you look at the object of your affection, but don’t be so certain that they ever completely desist either.
I love my fantasies, but I know I cannot be so involved in them to find reality boring. Books are awesome, but real life is the ultimate treat.
Buy Madame Bovary from Amazon.com
(And for fun, because I love this guy… http://musingsofahighschoolvampire.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/musings-of-a-high-school-vampire-cursing/)
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