Friday 28 January 2011

Book Review: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

A Vindication of the rights of womanA Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

Publisher: Mobile reference

Genre: Non-fiction

Challenges: A Year of Feminist Classics

My Thoughts: The basic thesis of this book is one I can absolutely agree with: Education is important. My biggest problem with the book is that Wollstonecraft belabours the point a bit. She is extremely long winded.

That aside I found the book quite interesting, especially when one takes it in relation to the time when it was written. You see, while I was reading Vindication I was also watching Jane Austen’s Emma (the BBC version with Romola Garai), and although I didn’t enjoy the book when I read it, I found it interesting that Austen (1775-1817) was critiquing the same aspects of society that Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) found so repugnant. The sillyness of society which gets some critique in Emma but even more so in Northanger Abbey (my favourite Austen) and in Pride and Prejudice.

Wollstonecraft felt that education was the key to a better society. She felt that educated women were better wives and mothers. She believed that by educating men and women together they would better understand each other and therefore make a better society. She also wanted women to be educated so that if tragedy should strike they are able to care for themselves and their children. They wouldn’t have to rely on the charity of relatives. In addition, she felt that by educating women the petty behaviour between women that she saw would be eradicated. I wish she was right. Today we educate men and women together but we don’t seem to understand each other better or behave better. We, as a society, still put a premium on looks. In some parts of society what we wear and who we hang out with is still more important than our intellectual achievements.

Despite the fact that we still have many similar problems to the society that Wollstonecraft criticizes I still believe that education is the key to make society better. And that we MUST educate women and men EQUALLY. Iris from Iris on Books in her commentary to the early parts of the book wondered about the fact that she as a modern reader had issues with the fact that although Wollstonecraft believed in educating women, she still thought that men and women had different places in society. I too have these issues. I do believe that we as individuals are good at different things, but I don’t believe that these things are dependent on our gender. And because of this I believe that education should be tailored to the individual and not a collective. Of course to a certain extent public education has to be tailored to the collective. I have 10 students in my classroom and part of my lessons I teach to the collective. Even though I have them 6 hours a week I can’t completely tailor my class to them because they are different. But the part that I do tailor, I tailor after the individual, not after my perceived idea of what the individual needs due to their gender. I think I am rambling here so I will end by saying that I do agree with Wollstonecraft’s basic thesis: Education is a must. But I want to take it further.

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Sunday 23 January 2011

TSS: Bloggiesta Winter ‘11 round-up

The Sunday Salon.com

My TSS post today is doubling as a re-cap for what I have gotten done during the weekends Bloggiesta.

blogiesta

  • Write up template posts for all books planned for the year
  • Organise covers folders
  • Write book basket post
  • Write some rainy day posts
  • Decide and draft 4 weekend cooking posts (I’ve Decided but not started the drafting)
  • Comment on all the Nordic Challenge Review Posts that have come in so far
  • Research/write posts for Nordic Challenge
  • Clean up and re-organize GR
  • Write review for Vindication (started)
  • Try and figure out how to make a template post in Live (isn’t an option today)
  • Check out mini-challenges
  • Check over About page and make any necessary changes (No changes necessary)
  • Update Book Review page
  • Find and catalogue pictures to use in blogposts
  • Organise my sidebar
  • Organise my labels
  • READ so that I have something to blog about
  • As you can see I didn’t really manage to get any of the writing posts done. I am still suffering badly from the thesis-from-hell induced writing block that has been plaguing me of late. I am hoping that this will lift in the next few days, especially since, due to my uni being stupid my course load will be less this semester than I had planned. No matter which courses I do end up being able to take this semester I have decided to take a break from school in the autumn. I hope that less academic writing will help in the writing for pleasure department. I am still pleased with what I did manage to accomplish, especially the amount of reading I got done. I am now ahead in War & Peace having just finished Part One. I’m really enjoying it and so I wanted to keep reading. It will also take the pressure off if I should fall behind at some point.

    I did do Beth Fish Reads Mini-challenge in that I cleaned up amongst my tags. I still have some work to do with it but I made a good start. I will continue doing it during the year, as it takes forever to do some of the changes I want to do.

    I have decided on the topics for some of my rainy day posts, amongst others I want to write a post based on Jenn from Jenn’s Bookshelves mini-challenge on organizing your books. I’ve just not had time this weekend to finish organizing my books. I did it last year but I’ve got new books and I’ve had to do some re-organizing.

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    Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

    Friday 21 January 2011

    Bloggiesta Winter 2011 Starting Post

    blogiesta

    Natasha from Maw Books Blog is once again hosting bloggiesta and I have quite a bit to be getting on with.

    To Do List

    • Write up template posts for all books planned for the year
    • Organise covers folders
    • Write book basket post
    • Write some rainy day posts
    • Decide and draft 4 weekend cooking posts
    • Comment on all the Nordic Challenge Review Posts that have come in so far
    • Research/write posts for Nordic Challenge
    • Clean up and re-organize GR
    • Write review for Vindication
    • Try and figure out how do make a template post in Live
    • Check out mini-challenges
    • Check over About page and make any necessary challenges
    • Update Book Review page
    • Find and catalogue pictures to use in blogposts
    • Organise my sidebar
    • Organise my lables
    • READ so that I have something to blog about Open-mouthed smile

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    Sunday 16 January 2011

    TSS: On the Importance Libraries

    The Sunday Salon.com

    On the Importance of Libraries

    I started teaching this week and the importance of libraries for those of us who live in quite rural settings was really brought home to me.

    My local library is awesome and has been a real lifesaver for me while I’ve been studying. They have a fantastic ILL system that includes both books from the other libraries in the state* and universities around the country. This means that I can sit at home and realise that I need a book for my course, look it up in their catalogue and if it isn’t there, look it up  at LIBRIS, and if it isn’t in my university library**, send off an e-mail to the local library who order it for me. I get it in a week or two depending on the day of the week I order it, usually it is less than a week.

    My library is part of the state wide library system which meant that on Monday I could walk into the library in the town I work in (conveniently located in the same building I teach Open-mouthed smile) and have them add their library to my current card. It means I can now borrow any books I need there, which will make it so much easier for me since my local library isn’t open when I need it to be.

    On Tuesday, when I met my students for the first time, two of them sang the library’s praise (warmed my little bibliophile heart it did) without any prompting from me. One of them commented on how good her local library was as a place for her to go and study because if she was at home she just did other stuff. The library allowed her to focus on her studies and she felt it had really made a difference in her learning.

    Another student, who is a refugee and is still learning Swedish (as well as the English I am endeavouring to teach her…my students blow my mind), spent her break in the library borrowing books for herself and her children. She got a hardcopy and an audio book of the same book so that she could listen and follow along in the text at the same time. I just wanted to hug her.

    So here we have three different women, with three different backgrounds (my two students and I) and for all of us the small, local libraries around here provide an invaluable service. Services that we would find difficult or impossible to get elsewhere.

    Libraries rock!

    *I use state for ease of understanding, the Swedish word is län and it is slightly different from states.

    **My university has a fantastic system for us distance students where they will send us books through the mail when we request them. I can have any book from their catalogue in my mailbox within a day or two of ordering it, all I have to pay is return postage.

    Bloggiesta Announcement

    blogiesta

    Next weekend is Bloggiesta Weekend, YAY!!! My poor blog has suffered in the last few months when I have been very busy and I am hoping to get some much needed maintenance work done. I am also hoping to get some “rainy day” posts written as well as some of my more regular features so that I don’t have to leave the blog quite should things get busy again.

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    Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

    Wednesday 12 January 2011

    Book Review: The Unstrung Harp; or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel

    The Unstrung HarpThe Unstrung Harp; or, Mr Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey

    Publisher: Bloomsbury

    Genre: Short Story

    Synopsis: Mr Earbrass is a famous writer and this is the story of the writing process for his latest novel: The Unstrung Harp.

    My Thoughts: This is a small book that my dad gave me last night. It was supposed to be in my stocking but only arrived yesterday *glares at Royal Fail*. But in a way its arrival was most serendipitous. Mr Earbrass has a difficult time writing his novel. His characters really do not do what he expects them to. And they also pop out of nowhere on occasion. He also feels a certain melancholy when the book is over, not to mention the dread of editing.

    Although it has been a very long time since I wrote any work of fiction I very much recognise the frustrations and pitfalls of a writer.  Today I especially found the following passage very apt:

    The next day Mr Earbrass is conscious but very little more. He wanders through the house, leaving doors open and empty tea-cups on the floor. From time to time the thought occurs to him that he really ought to go and dress, and he gets up several minutes later, only to sit down again in the first chair he comes to. The better part of a week will have elapsed before he has recovered enough to do anything more helpful. 

    I feel much like Mr Earbrass at the minute. Today I have gotten very little of real substance done. Or at least it feel that way. Had I not had things that really had to get done I doubt I would have done anything at all.

    Each spread has a short text like the one above and a black and white drawing of Mr Earbrass doing something to do whit the text. It took next to no time to read but I think this is a book I will be looking at again and again. It touched something in me in a very strange way. I can’t explain it.

    My dad gave me this book because I write. Mostly academic papers, but occasionally I dabble in fiction writing. The process that Mr Earbrass went through was one that was very familiar to me. At least up to the point where the book gets published, although there were scenes afterwards that were also familiar to me (the slight disconnect one feels to society at large especially others who write). I highly recommend this book.

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    Sunday 9 January 2011

    TSS: Bits and Bobs for the Nordic Challenge

    The Sunday Salon.com

    Have you ever noticed how once you start thinking about something or reading something new you start seeing connections all over the place? I’m having that with the Nordic Challenge right now and I thought I would share the link love. I will be doing this every so often during the year.

    Nordic Challenge 2011

    A tonne of reviews for Three Seconds by Roslund and Hellström have popped up in my reader in the last few days. With them have also been a couple of giveaways. There is also an article in the New York Times that might be worth a read.

    Reviews from:

    Roxelana has a great post up reviewing BBC4s Nordic Noir. There is some great information there about Nordic crime fiction.

    For those of you who like (or who want to dip your toe in for the first time) Nordic crime fiction I highly recommend the blog Euro Crime as a great resource.

    Zoe at Playing by the Book has had some great posts about Finland lately. They are primarily for families with children but they are well worth a look! I love her blog and if you have children I really recommend poking around as she has some awesome resources and ideas.

    If anyone else has more links (things you’ve seen or reviews you’ve written) that fall into the realm of the Nordic Challenge please share in the comments!

    In other news: Thesis is DONE, or at least done enough that I can defend it on the 18th. I start my first teaching job tomorrow and I am assuming that I will need some time to get settled into that. I have gotten my reading mojo back though so hopefully I will start writing reviews again. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) I’ve managed to choose some chunksters to start the year off, but I am making progress. And I am really enjoying what I am reading.

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    Friday 7 January 2011

    Book Review: Belgarath the Sorcerer

    Belgarath the SorcererBelgarath the Sorcerer by David and Leigh Eddings

    Publisher: Harper Collins Publisher

    Category: Fantasy

    Synopsis: Belgarath tells the story of what happened before events of Pawn of Prophecy.

    My Thoughts: As I’ve said in my previous posts on this series I find it difficult to review books that I have such an intimate relationship with. I’ve grown up with these books, they are old friends. But I shall try non the less.

    What I like about this book is that the author speaks to the reader as if you really are an old friend. There is a feel about the book that Belgarath really is telling the story to someone he knows, and someone who was there for the events which follow the events in this book, and if you’ve read the other books in the series (which really you must in order to get anything out of this book) you are an old friend.

    The “I must know what happened” part of me also really enjoyed getting the beginning of the story, as well as a little bit of how the characters live “now” through the start and end of the books.

    This book, like the others in the series, does deal with the fight between good and evil, or as Belgarath prefers: them and us. But I can’t help but feel that to some extent it is much more superficial in its treatment of these aspects than some of the other books in the series, and certainly less so than the book that follows this one. It feels much more like a high school history survey book than a book that delves into the nitty gritty.

    Even as a fan of the book I do have to admit that there are some parts of the book that drag and drag and drag. Which is probably why it took me two months to read the book. As I know what happens I didn’t have the compulsion to read the book that I do with other books.

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    Thursday 6 January 2011

    Why Reading Novels is Important

    Underbara dagar framför ossI am currently reading Underbara dagar framför oss (Wonderful days ahead of us) by Henrik Berggren which is a biography over former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. So far I am only a couple of chapters in but I was struck by something as I was reading:

    How important the novels I read as a child are to my understanding of this book.

    As a child I loved books set in historical times (I hesitate to call them historical fiction because some of them were books written in the time they were set). I loved the Little House on the Prairie books and the Anne of Green Gables books. I also loved some Swedish series Kulla-Gulla and then a series that was written as I was in my early teens (thus making it historical fiction) about a girl named Lina. I also devoured Astrid Lindgren’s books. As a teenager I read for school and fell in love with Per Anders Fogelströms City series which covers, as historical fiction, the growth of Stockholm through the eyes of a working class family. All of these books had an impact on my understanding of the non-fiction book I am currently reading.

    Kulla GullaBoth the books about Kulla-Gulla and Lina are set around the turn of the last century (the final book about Lina covers the actual turn of the century) and that is also the time period that the chapters I’ve read in Underbara dagar cover. Kulla-Gulla is the story about a young orphan who gets sent out from the orphanage to work for the lowest bidder (the county would pay people to take in orphans to work and pay them, the person who wanted the least amount of money “got” the child). She lives in what can only be described as abject poverty. Later in the series it is discovered that she is actually the granddaughter of the master of the large country estate to which the cottage where she works belongs. The later books come to discuss class issues and class differences in a great deal. Something that is mentioned in Underbara dagar as Palme’s grandmother comes from the higher social classes while his grandfather is from a merchant background with no money of his own as his father failed in business. The grandfather is a lieutenant in the army and later works in his brothers insurance business. Because he has very little money of his own he needs to marry someone who has money of their own. This is a concept that is discussed in Kulla-Gulla as she, through her grandfather has a large fortune and she is therefore the object of interest from a young lieutenant without a fortune of his own.

    Although the books about Lina don’t tie quite as tightly to the parts I have read I am sure they will come into play later on since I know that Palme and Lina have been tied together for me previously. You see before Palme became Prime Minister he was ecklesiastikminister or minister for education. We studied him in my history of education class which was part of my M.Ed. studies. Many of my classmates really struggled with that class. They found it difficult to understand and remember the different educational reforms. I didn’t. Because for me it wasn’t the first time I had come across many of these ideas and events. I knew from Lina about the differences in the education received between the poor and the better offs (not the upper classes but the rich farmers and well to do merchants). I knew about the growth of what we call folkhögskolan (a school form that still lives today and is often considered an alternative to those who do not do well in normal school settings as it is often concerned with a more artistic way of expressing things, and/or with educating the whole person). In the books about Lina folkhögskolan gives the children of the middle classes a chance to continue their education after the end of compulsory education.

    Mina_drommars_stadWhen it comes to the City series by Fogelström I could immediately draw parallels to Underbara dagar since, much like the main character in the first of that series, Palme’s grandfather comes to Stockholm with dreams of making good. Palme’s grandfather was able to realise those dreams whereas Henning gets caught in the poverty trap of so many others. Palme did have advantages over Henning in that he had an education, something Henning did not.

    The point of all this is that works of fiction that I read as a child and teenager for pure enjoyment have become important to me when I make connections both in my professional and personal development. By reading as a child I am able to draw conclusions as an adult. And those readings give men a leg up on people who have not read as much as I have. This is why I always give books to children. That is why I will always encourage reading. And above all that is why I love reading.

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    Monday 3 January 2011

    War & Peace First Thoughts and Read-A-Long Sign-Up

    war and peace vintage classics

    I’ve now started my year long reading of War and Peace by Tolstoy and I thought I would write a little about my initial thoughts as well as to say that I will be following along with Jillian at A Room of One’s Own’s read-a-long. She is doing the following schedule:

    • February 2011 – Chapters 1-59

    • April 2011 – Chapters 60-120

    • June 2011 – Chapters 121-181

    • August 2011 – Chapters 182-243

    • October 2011 – Chapters 244-304

    • December 2011 – Chapters 305-365 (and final thoughts)

    And I will follow roughly that too. I will in all probability do my bi-monthly War and Peace post as one of my TSS posts.

    My initial thoughts

    So today is January 3rd and consequently I have read 3 chapters. So far so good. I’m starting to get a feel for the book and so far I am liking it. My biggest problem so far is that I know enough French to understand a bit of each of the sentences that are in French but not enough to get what they are saying. So you might say “just jump to the translation and don’t try to read what it says”. Well I know to much to do that. I WANT to try and understand what it says in French. I just can’t. Today I was better skipping to the translations directly but still.

    I am reading the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation and I am really happy with it. I used to own a different translation, where the translator wasn’t even named, and after my Translations course last spring I decided that investing in good translations was well worth the money. If you are interested in issues around translation I highly recommend reading the introduction to this translation as there are many interesting ideas in it.

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    Sunday 2 January 2011

    TSS: 2010 Challenges Round-Up 2

    The Sunday Salon.com

    Week before last I did part 1 of my 2010 Challenges Round up. This week is round 2.

    World Religion

    My start of challenge post
    Level: The Unshepherded Path
    My List of Books:

  • Freedom in Exile by The Dalai Lama
  • Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine
  • The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose 
  • The Odyssey by Homer 
  • Om Gud (About God) by Jonas Gardell 
  • I would have liked to have read more books for this challenge but simply ran out of time. I did enjoy all of the books I read but if I had to pick a favourite it would have to be Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine. I enjoyed both the topic, girls in the Lubavic community and the way the book was written. Levine manages to present her subjects very well. I am glad that with the five books I cover four different religions.

    woolfbutton GLBT challenge

    My start of challenge post
    Level: Lambda 4 Books
    My List of Books:

  • Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
  • En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) by Jonas Gardell 
  • My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
  • The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
  • Och jag läste att det var omöjligt att leva lycklig förutan dig (And I read that it was impossible to live happily without you) by Mark Levengood
  • Om Gud (About God) by Jonas Gardell
  • In my start of challenge post I set out to read 4 books by GLBT authors but hoping to read more. I’m glad I did manage this goal. One of the books was a re-read En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up). I read it as a teenager and it had as much of an impact now as it did then. Out of the books I read I learned a lot in Om Gud (About God) by Jonas Gardell but my favourite was probably Och jag läste att det var omöjligt att leva lycklig förutan dig (And I read that it was impossible to live happily without you) by Mark Levengood it was just really sweet and funny.

    Flashback button

    My start of challenge post
    Level: Literati 6 Books
    My List of Books:

  • Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb
  • Madicken by Astrid Lindgren
  • The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
  • Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb
  • Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
  • En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) by Jonas Gardell
  • I could have added loads more books to this list but I’ve kept it to the six that I signed up for. Five of the six books are books I have loved. One I’m less fond of. The two In Death books are books I loved as an adult. I so love this series SmileMadicken by Astrid Lindgren and Anne of Avonlea are books I loved as a child. Madicken (the title character) was one of my childhood heroines as was Anne. I really must get back to my Anne re-read (which I will now that I have them for free on my new kindle (more on that later)). Finally the two books I read in high school: The French Lieutenant’s Woman and En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up). I really enjoyed En komikers uppväxt but wasn’t that fond of The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

    really-old-classics3

    My Start of Challenge Post
    Level: 1 book
    1.  The Odyssey by Homer

    A challenge that only requires one book isn’t that hard to manage Smile. I really did enjoy the audiobook I listened to for this challenge. And look for more Greek classics on my blog in 2011.

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    Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

    Saturday 1 January 2011

    Nordic Challenge 1st Quarter Reviews (January-March)

    Nordic Challenge 2011
    So excited to get this started! Here is the post to link your reviews for the first quarter of 2011 (January-March). Please provide a link to the review not just your blog. Entries that just link to the blog will be deleted.
    Since I know people who will be joining this challenge read a wide variety of books I have decided to offer 4 different bundles for the winner to choose from:

    Classics bundle: Ibsen, Henrik (Norway): Hedda Gabler; Laxness, Halldor  (Iceland): Independent People 

    Children's bundle: Björk, Christina (Sweden): Linnea in Monet’s Garden; Jansson, Tove  (Finland): Who Will Comfort Toffle?

    Mystery bundle: Sjowall, Maj & Wahloo, Per (Sweden) Roseanna; Holt, Anne (Norway): Blind Goddess

    Fiction bundle: Sinisalo, Johanna (Finland): Troll: A Love Story; Oksanen, Sofi (Finland): Purge

    Please note that you can pick ONE of the above bundles.

    I will draw the winner using Random.org one of the first days in April. Please check back in April to see if you have won. I will attempt to contact you directly if you have contact information on your blog. If the winner has not replied back to me by April 30th I will pick a new winner.


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    Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.