The Art of Merging Book Collections

My wife and I didn't really have this problem - not yet anyway - as I've always been the collector. However, as we prepare to move into a new place, with our respective books in storage waiting to be redistributed on shelves, the following article may prove to be relationship-saving:

How to Say “I Do” to Shared Bookshelves Without Ruining Your Relationship

Have a great week. 

Do Not Talk About Book Club comeback?

My wife and I watched newly received Christmas present and thoroughly enjoyable Julie & Julia yesterday. And, upon seeing how blogging reinvigorated 30-something Julie Powell into a meaningful existence, I decided that I, too, can be reinvigorated. DTABC has more or less been on a hiatus for the last six months, and I need some inspiration: not by cooking a French recipe a day, but by reading - wait for it - a book a day! Starting January 1st, I would read a book a day for a grand total of 365 books by January 1st, 2011. I was ready to go: a book a day, and real books, like Dickens and Tolstoy and Pynchon and Atwood - no grey areas, such as novellas or blogs, or Nick Hornby books. I was really inspired... until I read that after Julie Powell completed her massive Julie/Julia Project, she was once again lost and needed to find herself again, and turned to an adulterous affair and an apprenticeship at a butcher shop. After that, she was lost once again and decided to travel to world destinations where beef and meat processing are a major industry. After that, she wrote about her experiences in a new book, Cleaving, about butchering and, apparently, how to butcher personal relationships.

And all of a sudden, my fantastic dream of 365 books in 2010 disappeared. It was an impossible dream, if Powell was my guide. As Kim Moritsugu of The Globe & Mail writes, "the real Julie Powell is no Amy Adams". By all accounts, Cleaving is a self-absorbed tell-all that tells too much, and she takes up butchering "for reasons that are not made clear (nor even explored)". An unmitigated disaster, really: "Reading this book is like watching an automobile crash in slow motion". Ouch!

A fellow blogger, Jen from A Book a Week With Jen, felt similarly inspired by Powell's lead, and her blog is a result. She is still going strong, but her review of Cleaving shows that she's outgrown her mentor and become her own blogger:
"The reason I don't like the book is because the retelling of the whole sordid thing is dull. She whines -- a lot. Powell becomes that best friend who is dating the absolute wrong guy, knows it, still does it, and won't shut up about it." (Good for you!!)

I decided that the real Julie Powell was a poor role model to follow, and so I will follow the fictional Julie Powell, aka Amy Adams, who is sweet and cute and sympathetic, and I will try to blog on a regular basis if only to keep myself entertained. Of course, my wife will continue to be mortified, but I will persevere: Do Not Talk About Book Club will make a comeback in 2010!

P.S. Notes on Julie & Julia - Jen provides thoughts on the movie, Amy Adams, and Cleaving. She also provides the link to her first review, of Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1Tiny Apartment Kitchen.

What My Wife Is Reading #4

After a long hiatus, the popular series What My Wife is Reading is back. Updates from the last post: The Unbearable Lightness of Being never had a chance, as my wife took an immediate disliking to Kundera's style and characters. Such is life.
Recently, my wife has been reading academic work, with two conference papers down and a dissertation chapter drafted. However, she did pick up Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It is a great book, a test of will against 900+ pages of 19th magic and darkness. I admit, I had a love-hate relationship with this book. Way back in 2004, my wife bought this for me for Christmas. I started it immediately, and it took the entire rest of my holiday to finish, even with several long nights of reading. I was frustrated by the 19th century pace - Clarke indeed channels Austen, Bronte and Eliot with this book. Also, as is the issue with every introductory novel, she spent a long time introducing the characters and setting. I believe that is the point my wife is at right now in the book - the good parts are just beginning. Yes, they wouldn't be as good without the background material; yes, knowing the dynamic between Strange and Norrell informs all that follows, but it doesn't seem worth it until the very end. I do admit that I had trouble putting it down after a certain point. Hence, the love-hate relationship. I resented the book for making me read so much of it, but the latter half was rewarding enough to admit that it was worth it. I am not sure how my wife feels at this point, but I am sure it is much the same.
I will say this: I have not read anything like it. The book is regularly touted as a Harry Potter for adults, but I feel that it is different enough to avoid such comparisons. I hope my wife likes it. I will let you know.

What My Wife is Reading - Watchmen and Adventures

This past month my wife and I survived, I mean, enjoyed three family visits, which left little time for reading. However, my wife did finish two of the books on the previous list, Watchmen and The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I took the opportunity to ask her about them:

M: Okay, let’s talk about these books.
W: Let’s do it.
M: What did you think of Watchmen?
W: Hmm. It was quite graphic in parts, and there’s a misogynistic tone to Alan Moore’s writing that disturbs me. I liked it, just not as much as I thought I would.
M: Moore’s intent is certainly to change the way the idea of the superhero. Does he succeed?
W: Well, I hated Rorschach. He was a disgusting character, really. I was happy when he died. Dr. Manhattan was an interesting character, though; it seems that he could’ve changed things, but, in the end, chose not to as he could see the outcome and determined that it was best.
M: I suppose in that way Moore does succeed, as the image of Rorschach as superhero never seems right. Comedian, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre – they succeeded in spite of themselves, but never triumphantly.
W: I don’t think I would’ve read it if the movie wasn’t out.
M: Right. We should see that soon. Okay, now to Michael Chabon.
W: I loved The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It was epic, exhausting at times, great detail, good length.
M: Yes, you do burn through books quickly. What were the strong points?
W: It’s a great story and the characters of Kavalier and Clay are well-developed and intriguing.
M: Was it engaging?
W: I’m married.
M: [silent embarrassment]
W: There was comedy, intensity, the whole gambit – Chabon is a great storyteller. It is an awesome book.
M: So you would recommend it?
W: Easily.

Now my wife is reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Not only does this book have the distinction of being on the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list, it is also on mental_floss’s Top 25 Most Powerful Books of the last 25 years. Written in 1984 and set in 1968 Czechoslavkia, Lightness “made life behind the Iron Curtain seem real to Westerners, even sexy.” Furthermore, it contributed to the falling of the Berlin Wall: “The bureaucratic intimidation, pervasive spying, and grim Communist kitsch are there, but so is an unwavering erotic force that proves stronger than any repressive regime.” I look forward to hearing about it.

What My Wife Is Reading: Essays and Exams

Last week my wife didn't get to any of the books she was reading - we had a family visit followed by marking of essays and preparing an exam. However, she did have to re-read a house favourite, Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson, in preparation for the next set of essay topics for her class. Monkey Beach centres around a teenager dealing with the loss of her older brother, who mysteriously vanished at sea. Set in a Native community on B.C.'s West Coast, Robinson ties together a modern setting with Haisla lore "into a multilayered story of loss and redemption" (from the jacket). I really liked it - it is another example of a Canadian novelist using the landscape as an additional character in the story - the shadows of the forest and the darkness of the sea are mystical elements that play as much a part of Lisamarie's story than her mother, uncle or cousin. My wife also liked it, hence teaching it for her class. Robinson's writing is dark and violent but also hilarious - Monkey Beach is a coming of age story centred around a teenager, and every emotion that a teenager feels - anger, confusion, violence, fear, love - is represented well. My wife also had the opportunity to meet Robinson at a conference, which is pretty cool. Robinson was dark and hilarious herself, making inappropriate jokes about her own depression at a breakfast meet and greet.
Update on the other books my wife is reading: Watchmen is still going and will be read, as will the Michael Chabon book, which is so far funny but also dense ("and epic" my wife chimes in). And 2666, for all its critical acclaim, is back on the shelf. I suspect it requires more of a focused read, perhaps when classes are over. More next week!

What My Wife is Reading

My wife is an intelligent, voracious, relentless and unmerciful reader, devouring dozens of books a month in her quest to calm her brain after taking a beating from her dissertation, planning classes and marking essays. As a PhD student, she is no stranger to literary criticism. However, she is a lazy blogger. She will admit as much. I have taken it upon myself to report her reading habits, her likes and dislikes, her thumbs up/thumbs down. I will observe the books she is currently reading, which, somehow, is often four or five books at a time, and ask her questions as she progresses. Sometimes, a book will fall by the wayside – most times she will give a book a very short time to impress her. If it does not, back on the shelf it goes. As I said, unmerciful. She is insightful and often ties together two disparate themes I would not guess to be in the same ballpark (did I mention how much I love and respect my wife?). However, she is unrelenting in her criticism of an unremarkable read. I will be a faithful journalist in this series, reporting only her own thoughts and impressions of the books she reads, inserting my own opinions only as a contrast or to build context. I will begin by listing, Nick Hornby style, books started and books read, and I will pull no punches when it comes to an unfavorable review. If a book sucks, I want to know why. I’m planning for this to be a weekly post, starting with this one. I’ll call it “What My Wife is Reading.”

Books started: Watchmen, The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, 2666, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Books read: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

This week my wife started reading a few books, and by all indications 2666 by Roberto Bolano will be an ongoing project. It is, after all, five volumes. The posthumous work of the Chilean author is reportedly a master work of 21st century fiction, described by one critic as “a novel of stupefying ambition with a mock-documentary element at its core” and is Time magazine’s Best Book of 2008. It might be on this list for a few weeks to come. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is interesting and intense, and her only complaint right now is that it is too big to read in bed comfortably. But she must be close to finishing, and so I will report further next time. The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon was brought into the house after I saw it on Entertainment Weekly’s Top 100 New Classics (it’s #53). So far it’s funny and interesting and I feel that we will explore the rest of Michael Chabon’s works in time. The only book actually finished in the past week, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, the basis for the classic film Blade Runner, got a favorable response: “I liked it” (I can see that I will have to encourage my wife for more engaging descriptions in the future). All the books on this list are connected only in that they are quite different from each other, and that both my wife and I will probably read them. Next week, I expect that my wife will finish 2/3 of the remaining list and start a couple of new ones. And I’ll tell you what she thought.