feminism

September Bookworms Carnival: Class is in Session

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Welcome to the September Bookworms Carnival!

Our theme, this month, is classics (new or old). I picked this theme because it’s back to school time for many of us, whether it’s kids going back to grade school, or starting a university program ourselves. Because of that, I decided to style the carnival like a college course catalog. Below you’ll find the courses that are offered, and the selected reading for each course. (And yes, for curiosity’s sake, they are REAL college courses I borrowed from the catalogs of a couple of universities.)

Enough blathering. On with the carnival.

ENG 201: Introduction to Literature
An overview of the best literature has to offer. Cami (Turpin Family Blog) offers up her ten favorite classics, spanning both the continents and the centuries.

ENG 210: World Masterpieces
Major world civilizations as see through literature. Nymeth, at Things Mean A Lot, finally got around to reading The Odyssey, and found that she thoroughly enjoyed it. The status of The Last Summer, by Boris Pasternak (of Dr. Zhivago fame) as a classic is questioned by John at Book Mine Set. And Jan (Jan’s Journal) delves into the world of Franz Kafka, reading and reviewing several of his works.

ENG 211: British Literature
Selected readings from medieval times to present. Chris at book-o-rama reviewed one of her favorite authors’ works: George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss. I read Jane Eyre and decided that I like Charlotte Brontë much better than her sister Emily. Ann at Patternings read Stella Gibbons’ novel Cold Comfort Farm, and found it a delightful parody of Hardy, Lawrence and Mary Webb with superb comic timing. Eva at A Striped Armchair posts her thoughts on a few classics: The Eustace Diamonds, The Scarlett Pimpernell, and Candide (which I know isn’t British, but bear with me here.) Lostcheerio (The Harpoonist) bucks the tendency for people to like everything by Jane Austen and expresses her frustration with Ann Wentworth and Persuasion here. Last-minute addition: Becky (Becky’s Book Reviews) reflects on her relationship with Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.

ENG 221: American Literature
Selected readings from Puritan times to present. Karen (Misadventures of an Aussie Mom) and Nyssaneala (Book Haven) both weighed in on Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. Suzanne at Adventures in Daily Living read, and was surprised she liked, John Gardner’s classic, Grendel. Gautami tripathy at My Own Little Reading Room focused on an F. Scott Fitzgerald work, Tender is the Night. Jan (Jan’s Journal, again) reviewed Richard Halliburton’s lesser known work, The Royal Road to Romance, and highly recommends it. Last-minute addition: Annie (reading is my superpower) reviews Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen, a 1970s feminist classic and finds it hopelessly depressing, even if 30 is the new 20.

ENG 305: Critical Reading
Analyzing the meaning of classic and what constitutes a classic work. Corrine at Littlest Bird and Heather (Litter of Leaves) each muse on what defines a “classic work”.

ENG 335: Young Adult Literature
Reading and discussing specific works of middle-grade and young adult literature. Jeremy, at Jeremy’s Consumer’s Corner, proposes The Spiderwick Chronicles as a series that will appeal to children of all ages. Valentina (Valentina’s Room) read Lois Lowry’s Newbery-winning classic, The Giver, and decided that while it was a quick read, it was anything but simple. Last-minute additions: Dewey (the hidden side of a leaf) reviews the 1923 Newbery-winning The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle. Annie at reading is my superpower reflects on the death of Madeleine L’Engle with a series of quotes from her books.

ENG 470: Special Topics in English
This term we will be discussing Fantasy Classics. Alatáriël, at One Blog to Rule them All (which is devoted to Lord of the Rings, itself a classic), asks the question that many a fantasy fan has asked: Narnia or Middle Earth? Olli at Pieces of Speculative Fiction lists his Top 10 classic fantasy novels. Suzanne (Adventures in Daily Living, again) read the latest novel set in Middle Earth, Tolkein’s Children of Hurin. She found that while it was a slow starter, it eventually picked up and was worth the time spent reading it.

Bookstore
If you’re wondering about how to get your hands on a classic, Annette at Homeschooling Journey has a list of links to free literature textbooks.

The next carnival will be hosted at This is the Life. Her theme is Thrills and Chills: Spooky Books That Keep You Up at Night. Deadline for submissions is October 12.

Mrs. Mike

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I hate Valentine’s Day.

Oh, I’m sure I liked it as a kid — decorating valentine’s boxes (there would always be a competition, and I would never win), handing out store-bought valentines. But sometime in high school (during my mismatched earrings, torn-jeans, hairy-legged feminist stage) I grew to loathe this holiday. Why do we need a day when we get chocolate and flowers? I don’t especially like red or pink or white, and while roses are pretty, I think I prefer them on a bush. Cheryl wrote about her friend’s anarchist fiance who boycotts major holidays. While I don’t subscribe to it during the month of December, anarchism in February sounds just about right.

All that said, Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman, is a perfect Valentine’s Day book. (It’s also book number four for the classics challenge.)

The story is simple enough: It’s 1907 and Kathy, an Irish immigrant living in Boston, is sent to Edmonton, Alberta, because of her pleurisy. Once there she meets Mike Flannigan, a Canadian Mounty, falls in love and marries him. She follows him to his post in the Northwest Territory, where she’s pretty much the only white woman. And they experience life. Fires, bears, babies, death, mutilation, festivals, friendship, love. It’s a quiet little book, but a tender one. Kathy learns to cope with a husband who belongs not just to her, but to the whole community. She makes friends, she deals with loss. She finds strength in community and in her husband.

I can see why it’s a classic.

The Mommy Myth

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I have to admit up front: I bailed on this book by Susan J. Douglas and Meredith W. Michaels after a chapter and a half. It’s an interesting idea: a couple of female professors (one at Smith and one at University of Michigan) study the effect of the media on motherhood and how it relates to the feminist causes from the 1970s. Why did I bail? I read The Price of Motherhood by Anne Crittenden a while back, and it seems to me that she had pretty much the same idea (motherhood is unrecognized by the government and society as a viable occupation) and went about it in a more interesting way. The thing that irritated me most about The Mommy Myth was all the snide and snarky comments by the authors. They assumed that whoever was reading this book was already pretty angry that society encourages mothers to stay home and not work, and set about mocking the non-feminist/liberal point of view. As a side note, though, it did deepen my resolve to get rid of the Barbies.

Non-Fiction Reject Pile

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Okay — I read most of these a while ago… take everything with a bit of a grain of salt. Sometimes a bad mood or a bad day can affect how I react to a book.



Is Jesus a Republican or Democrat?, Tony Campolo (Possibly because I was reading this while I was 9 months pregnant with my daughter Caitlyn…)

Philistines at the Hedgerow, Steven Gaines (I just don’t care that much about the Hamptons. )

Blue Latitudes, Tony Horwitz (The information on Captain Cook was good, but it’s hard for me to have respect for an author who spends about 90% of the book either drunk or drinking.)

Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (I picked it up because of the buzz, and I just didn’t get why this was supposed to be so great.)

Mothers who Think, Camille Peri and Kate Moss (Feminist mothering schlock.)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig (I only read the first part, and found that this was not a travel book. I felt betrayed.)

12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time, Mark Jacobson (It was an okay memoir of a family’s travels in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, but I thought he spent too much time ruminating about his teenage daughters and not enough on what they saw.)

Live From New York, Tom Shales (If you have fond endearing memories of Saturday Night Live you might be more interested in the sordid lives of those who were on the show that I was. I also find oral histories hard to be consistently interested in..)

Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris (He’s not as funny in print; he’s better when he reads his stuff.)

My King Arthur Fixation

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I don’t know where it came from, or really even how long I’ve been interested in Camelot and the whole King Arthur story. But it seems that I’m drawn to books that are set in and deal with the whole King Arthur myth.
First off, there are (at least) two big holes in this list. I have never gotten around to reading T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. Actually, I think I tried to read it once and found it frightfully dull and have never attempted it since. The second hole is Sir Thomas Mallory’s King Arthur and the Round Table. (At least I think that’s the title.) No excuses on that one.

That being said, the King Arthur books I have read and my thoughts on them:

Ladies of the Lake, Caitlin and John Matthews: I bought this on a whim; it turned out to be an equal balance between new-agey hippy stuff (full of meditations on this line: “Imagine you’re Guenievere. You’re wandering through the garden, about to meet the love of your life…”) and decent scholarship on the women in the Arthur story: Guinevere, Morgan/Morgause, Nimue and Vivian. Kind of silly, but an interesting book overall.

In the same New Age vein, there’s… Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley: A heady piece of feminist fiction. The first time I read this, I was enraptured by the way she tells the story from the women’s point of view. Granted, I was 20-something at the time, and very much into the whole feminine power thing. This time through, it wasn’t as good as I had remembered. Perhaps it’s because I have children now that I just found it to be a bit heavy-handed. Anyway, maybe it’s a great book for 20-somethings. In addition, there’s Lady of Avalon. It’s Bradley’s “prequel” to Mists of Avalon. I had a hard time getting into the story for all the New Age Goddess schlock. If you choose to read either, read Mists. It’s better.

As for youth fiction, try…

The Lost Years of Merlin series (The Lost Years of Merlin, The Fires of Merlin, The Seven Songs of Merlin, The Mirror of Merlin, and The Wings of Merlin), T.A. Barron: I really wanted to like this series, since Barron is dealing with Merlin’s backstory. But, in the end, it was just okay. I think I had to start and re-start the first book just because I wasn’t interested in the story Barron was trying to tell. I did really like the Seven Songs of Merlin, though, so it wasn’t all a waste.

or…

Passager, Hobby, Merlin, Jane Yolen: Another look at Merlin’s backstory. Usually Yolen is a great writer; I’ve enjoyed many of her picture books. But I found this series to be a bit forced and choppy.

And, my favorite look at the King Arthur legend:

The Merlin Trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment), Mary Stewart: It’s a good trilogy, though it drops off by the last book (and the fourth, The Wicked Day, is abominable). Mary Stewart is obviously more interested in Merlin, and by the end when Arthur is playing a more prominent role, she (and as a result the book) is less interesting. But the first book and most of the second are quite compelling.