TSS: 2010 Challenges Round-Up 1

So the year is coming to an end. Time to sum up the reading done. Since much of my reading has been for challenges I am going to start by wrapping up those challenges I have not yet written wrap up posts for. Since I took part in quite a few challenges I’m doing them in batches (also I am still living in a somewhat vain hope that I will get a few more books read before the end of the year and thus get in a few more challenges done).

My start of challenge post
Level: Suffragette (8 books, at least 3 non-fiction)
My List of Books:
Fiction

1. My Ántonia by Willa Cather
2. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (short story)
3. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Madicken by Astrid Lindgren 
5. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
6. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal 
7. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
8. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

Non-Fiction

1. Mias Systrar (Mia’s Sisters) by Maria Eriksson and Kerstin Weigl
2. Lilla Feminist-boken (The Little Feminist Book) by Sassa Buregren
3. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
4. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine
5. Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent 

I enjoyed all the books I read for this challenge. The books that stayed with me the most though are Gaudy Night and Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers. I read Gaudy Night on the recommendation of several bloggers and although I enjoyed the earlier books in the series this one pretty much bowled me over. I stayed up late several evenings to read it. I really couldn’t put it down. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers was interesting from a different perspective as I felt that it gave me a nice insight into a world that I didn’t even know existed. In addition to this from a very geeky perspective, I found reading the methodology and reasoning for the methodology to be quite interesting. I am definitely glad I took part in this challenge.

My start of challenge post
Level: Read 3 Books
My List of Books:

1. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
2. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal 
3. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal

My favourite here was beyond a shadow of a doubt Haunting Bombay. It was really quite spooky but also very interesting. I will admit that I was disappointed by The Namesake. I really liked Interpreter of Maladies by the same author but this book suffered from not having a proper ending. You can tell that this story was originally meant as a short story. This is a challenge I will be repeating in 2011.

My start of challenge post
Level: Read 20 Books
My List of Books:

1. Young Adult
   1. My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
   2. The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
2. T.B.R. **
   1. John Adams by David McCullough
   2. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
3. Shiny & New
   1. White Noise by Don Delillo
   2. A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
4. Bad Blogger’s ***
   1. Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent
   2. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
5. Charity
   1. The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
   2. Emma by Jane Austen
6. New in 2010
   1. Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb 
   2. Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb
7. Older Than You
   1. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
   2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
8. Win! Win!
   1. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
   2. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal
9. Who Are You Again?
   1. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
   2. The Distance Between Us by Masha Hamilton
10. Up to You! Memoirs
    1. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
    2. True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy

I really enjoyed that this challenged made me read a wide variety of books. Since I have already spoken of my love for Gaudy Night I will comment on some other books I read for this challenge. I found True Compass to be absolutely fascinating. I am at times a bit of a political junkie and it was so interesting to hear about American politics in the last 50+ years from someone who saw it from the inside. Further this was an audiobook for me and I really enjoyed the narration. A Fountain Filled with Blood is part of the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series that I discovered at the beginning of this year and absolutely adore! I can’t wait for the next book in the series which is due out in April.

My start of challenge post
Level: Cashier at Ankh-Morpork Mint (3)
My List of Books:

1. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
2. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett 
3. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

I’ve loved Terry Pratchett for many many years and that particular love affair continues. Hogfather was a re-read that I enjoy reading around Christmas. The Last Hero was a beautifully illustrated book which I HIGHLY recommend. The illustrations elevated a great book to awesome. I enjoyed Unseen Academicals both because of its discussions of football (soccer) and it’s commentary on social classes. All of the books were fantastic.

My start of challenge post
Level: Read at least 4 Memoirs/Biographies/Letters/Diaries
My List of Books:

1. Freedom in Exile by the Dalai Lama
2. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton 
3. Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent  
4. The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson 
5. John Adams by David McCullough 
6. True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy

Since I’ve already talked about True Compass in this post I wanted to highlight two other books: Baby Catcher and John Adams. Baby Catcher was really interesting for me even though I have never given birth. The experiences of Vincent’s patients sound so incredibly different from all the birth stories I hear here in Sweden. Yes she has an agenda but still… John Adams was a very interesting look at American history. I have to admit that although I have a fair general idea of American history the two books by McCullough I have read have really helped me understand the history around the formation of USA. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history. This is another challenge that I am repeating for 2011.

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.

Book Review: Gaudy Night

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

Category: Classic Crime

Challenges: Women Unbound, 2010 Challenge (Bad Blogger)

Synopsis: Harriet Vane finds herself returning to Shrewsbury College, Oxford, much to her own surprise. While there she discovers a poison pen note in her gown and a disgusting drawing on the College quadrangle. When the college faculty later asks her back to deal with a spate of notes and “mischief” from the poison pen she does not hesitate. As the year goes on and she comes no closer to finding out the identity of the poison pen she asks Sir Peter Wimsey for help and the two are left to deal not just with someone trying to hurt others, but also with their feelings for each other.

My Thoughts: Oh how I loved this book! I read it because Nymeth of Things Mean A Lot, HIGHLY recommended it and I am just so incredibly glad I did! (I’m also glad I read them in order)

This book had me captured from the very first page, when it transported me to Oxford. The opening passages felt like one of those time traveller movies where you’re current location gets blurred and instead another location comes into focus. I went from being curled up in my bed, dressed in my pjs, with the wind howling and the rain smattering against the window, to the quadrangle at Shrewsbury College, Oxford, in the 1930s. Sayers wrote so vividly that I felt as if I was there.

The vivid writing was one of my favourite aspects of this book, it allowed one to really feel the fear and suspicion that was present at the college. Although the tempo of the book felt slow this contributed to the unease of the situation. One never knew when the poison pen would strike, but life still had to go on, especially if they are to catch the poison pen and all they stands for. Throughout the book I had a vaguely uncomfortable feel of being constantly on edge. Not only about when the poison pen would strike next and what they would do, but also about who they were. The strain of not knowing who the enemy was took their toll on me as well as the characters. Sayers really did a masterful job with creating the tension.

Part of the tension also came from Harriet’s feelings for Peter and her coming to terms with them, and what they meant. As well as Peter’s feelings (although to a much lesser degree) as he grappled with Harriet and her feelings. These multi-levelled tensions just had me captivated and forced to continue reading (really bad case of just one more chapter had me finishing the book in two days, at 3.30am).

A theme that was hinted on in previous books (and one that I highlighted in my reviews) was brought to the forefront in this book, and that is the role of women in society. The story takes place in the, still relatively early days, of co-education at university level, in one of the all female colleges at Oxford. The poison pen’s actions are very much directed towards those women who seek a higher education, and therefore to their* mind attempt to supplant a male field. Through the characters we meet at Oxford Sayers actually manages to make a very compelling argument for education (one of her dear to heart topics). Although we meet more men who are not serious about their education, Sayers also introduces us to women who are at the university for completely the wrong reasons. She manages to show us, the readers, that education only matters if we take it seriously, but that taking it seriously shouldn’t mean let it consume us. A balance is important. Further she argues that a well educated woman isn’t a threat to men, but rather a benefit to society, if she is allowed to use her education (an argument that is nailed down very early on in the book).

For me one of the great enjoyments of the book was seeing Harriet’s emotional growth. She had been so badly damaged in previous books that to see her grapple with her feelings for Peter was very gratifying as one could see a real growth throughout the book. And, as Nymeth mentioned, the river scene, oh my the river scene. Possibly the most perfect scene in the book (although I have another favourite in the final scene of the book). It was just packed with emotion and vividness. Like in the opening scene I felt as if I was in one of the boats on the river. I could see it all in front of me.

If I have one criticism of this book, it isn’t for Sayers writing but rather for the edition I read. It was a modern reprint with a new foreword and I would have loved a glossary at the back explaining all the academic terms. Although I myself am a graduate of one of the Ancients, my Alma Mater has been thoroughly modernised (well excepting the whacking with the Geneva Bonnet at graduation) and I had to do some googling to understand the differences in gowns and some of the academic terms. Now this might just be me and my general academic geekedness but I think that a book where much hangs on the academic world it would have been nice to explain it further to those who are not as involved in it. However, this is a VERY minor point.

Overall I agree with Nymeth on her assessment that one MUST read the books in order, otherwise one misses out on much of what makes this book great. The book also left me wanting to read the books that feature Peter Wimsey and Sayers essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” In addition I want to say that everyone should read this book, it is AWESOME!

Purchase Gaudy Night from BookDepository

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.

Book Review: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Category: Crime Fiction

Challenges: POC Challenge, Women Unbound

Synopsis: Mme Ramotswe is the only female private detective in Botswana. She has vowed to take on all cases. Some are big, but most are small domestic matters, philandering husbands and teenaged daughters with secrets.

My Thoughts: This book, with its rather quite contemplative style rather grew on me. Most crime fiction have One Big Crime that it focuses on. There might be smaller storylines as well, but in general they are connected in some way to the One Big Crime. That wasn’t the case with this book and it made for a different read. Most of the cases were solved in one or two chapters but they added to a whole that was really rather nice. I would put this book in the very cozy cozy mysteries.

Although (as frequent readers of this blog will know) I love mystery books, that wasn’t actually what I loved the most about THIS book. My favourite part of this book was the chapter titled All Those Years Ago which is narrated by Mme Ramotswe’s father and tells both his story and the story of Botswana and its people. It was a beautiful, evocative and somewhat sad chapter. But it really stuck with me. And I think that the descriptions in this chapter and in subsequent chapters are where McCall Smith’s strength really lies, or perhaps it is my own prejudice, I love myself a good description.

I also really enjoyed Mme Ramotswe’s independence (and this is why I am counting it towards Women Unbound). She is set on doing things her way, and although she employs the help of men, especially her friend Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, she does so on her own terms. I also liked getting her back story in the way we got it. She tells the story in a very matter of fact way, but throughout the rest of the book it becomes very clear how her past has influenced both her chosen career and her decision making process.

The book is mainly comprised of short chapters and is in itself not a very long book, the length of the book doesn’t really matter to me (other than the fact that I am now in desperate need of the next one in the series) but I did like the short chapters. I read much of the book at work (yep I can occasionally read at work, one of the few perks (the other being the fact that we wear scrubs and comfy sandals…after years of suits, pantyhose and high heels trust me this is a perk)). The short chapters made it easy to put down the book to do, you know, actual work without loosing the plot.

I will definitely be reading more of McCall Smith (especially since will be going to at least one presentation by him in September at Bok och Biblioteksmässan which is focusing on Africa this year).

Purchase The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency from BookDepository.co.uk

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.

Book Review: Baby Catcher

Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent

Category:  Non-fiction (Memoir)

Challenges: Memorable Memoirs, 2010 Challenge (Bad Bloggers), Women Unbound

Synopsis: Peggy Vincent tells of being a midwife in California from the early 70s until the early 90s. In those years she caught over 2000 children and she has some hilarious, sad and interesting stories to tell. She also tells the tale of the poor care women sometimes get at the hands of the medical profession, for something that is actually perfectly normal.

My Thoughts: Although this book has been on my radar since I read Eva at A Striped Armchair’s review late last year I didn’t start reading it until this week. The week my little sister is due with her first. Isn’t it strange how some books, despite being on your bookshelf for months don’t move to the top of the TBR pile until just the right time. Yes my sister being pregnant had something to do with me reading this book, but she has been pregnant for 9 months now, why did I choose to read the book now? I really don’t have an answer for it, but it did fit well right now.

Before I go any further I am going to warn sensitive readers that there is a strong risk that this post might veer into TMI territory. It is just that kind of book, and I am just that kind of person.

This book had me laughing, crying and angry all within a few pages. It also made me count myself lucky that I live in Sweden and not the US. One of the ongoing themes in the book is the constant battle midwifes have to engage in with regards to the medical community. Here, in Sweden, midwifery is firmly entrenched in the medical community. I have never seen a gynaecologist, my sisters pregnancy has been monitored by midwifes the whole time. That is the norm here. For your woman business you see a midwife, whether it be pregnancy, birth control or the pap-smear it is the local midwife. Now everything isn’t rosy when it comes to midwifery here, my sister has had some bad luck. Because midwifery is part of the regular health care here we will not have the same midwife at the birth as does our pre- and post-natal care. And the midwife at the surgery where my sister is registered quit, then her partner buckled under the pressure of a babyboom and a new management that were, well not very good. So at the end of a pregnancy that has not always gone smoothly (poor thing had hyperemesis) she ended up with agency midwifes. So although Vincent talks about midwifery being more excepted in other countries, it is not always a rosy picture here either. That said I think I prefer our system, at least there isn’t the antagonism that there is in the states. And we don’t have the insurance issues.

All that said though, the events that caused me to see red and rage against the medical profession would, to my knowledge NEVER happen here. Vincent tells a story at the end of the book of a woman who comes into the hospital and wants to have a midwife present. She wants a birth on her terms. The doctor on duty decides that she is progressing to slowly and starts her on pitocin and breaks her water while Vincent is attending another woman. All because HE doesn’t want to be woken up should there be need for a caesarean. To my (slightly limited) knowledge births here are rarely medicated. Births are allowed to take the time they take. I was so angry I actually had to put the book down for a while.

However most of the stories Vincent tell don’t have that component of anger. Most of them are simply lovely stories about the strength of women and the camaraderie that birth brings out in the women present. It is also a story of family. I recognized Vincent’s children in myself. Although my mother isn’t a midwife, she is a nurse and so is my sister. Dinner conversations in our house, like those in Vincent’s house would probably horrify most people, but in our house they are completely normal.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it.

Purchase Baby Catcher from BookDepository.co.uk

Authors website

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.

Book Review: Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers

Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey Among Hasidic Girls by Stephanie Levine

Category: Non-fiction

Challenges: World Religion Challenge, Women Unbound

Synopsis: Stephanie Levine, Harvard Ph.D student, spends one year with girls from the Lubavich branch of Judaism. She gets to know the girls, their hopes, dreams and worries. What comes out of this study is a thoughtful and thought provoking portrait not just of the girls, their religion but also of girlhood in general.

My Thoughts: This was a thoroughly engaging, interesting and informative read. Levine’s portraits of the young girls touches upon some of the central aspects of growing up, aspects that are similar to girls in most of the world, while at the same time showing the differences between the girls in this community and the secular world, AND the differences between the girls themselves. She manages to draw important conclusions and highlight aspects where those of us in the secular world can learn from these deeply religious girls.

The book is part of Levine’s graduate study in American studies and as such reads like an academic paper. It is essentially divided into three sections: what she hopes to achieve and her methods; an introduction to the community and then the girls themselves; and finally the lessons she feels that the secular world can learn from her study.

As a student of humanities I loved her method discussion. She discusses previous studies that has impacted on her choice of method. The method chosen for this study is in depth interviews that follow no previous script, but rather flow, dependent on a relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee. This caused Levine to live within the Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for a year. I loved both the discussion of the methodology chosen and the way it worked. I can definitely understand how and why she got such detailed portraits of each of the girls. You can tell from the way she writes about them that they became her friends, that she cared deeply about them and their lives. This came across in the writing and made me want to know more about the girls, what happened next, did they fulfil their dreams etc. I do hope that Levine follows up with the girls in ten years time.

Some of Levine’s discussion regarding her findings are highly relevant for me as a future teacher and they are definitely something I will take into consideration in my future career. She discusses creating spaces for girls to be themselves without the competition both with boys, and with other girls for the attention of the boys. Lubavitch girls live a life with strict gender segregation and although this partially offends my feminist sensibilities I can also see the advantages, especially amongst teenagers. Levine argues that many girls lose their authentic voice as teenagers due to the tensions that are created in mixed gender settings, as someone who has spent time with teenagers I can only agree. In Sweden we often end up with gender segregated classes in high school because of the track system we have. For example Barn & Fritid (the Child & Recreation) program attracts a lot more girls than boys, conversely at the school where I do my placement we have a class on the mechanic/trucker program with only boys. These classes often have very different dynamics to those classes that are more evenly matched. Levine goes to great length to point out that gender segregation isn’t for everyone, or something that should be ongoing, but rather argues that it could offer girls especially a way to find their own voice. Setting it up as something temporary with support once it changes. It is an idea I can buy.

For me it was interesting to learn about the Lubavitch because I had never before come across evangelical Jews. The Lubavitch work to increase the observance amongst Jews. Although a large concentration of Lubavitch Jews live in the Crown Heights area many also live in Chabad houses around the world. These outreach houses are there to help local Jews to become more observant. The Lubavitch believe that Jews following rituals will call forth the Messiah. The Lubavitch have in the past been lead by the Rebbe, a spiritual leader whom some believe was the Messiah or will return as the Messiah.

If I have one criticism of the book than it is the choice of girls. Levine does comment that it was often easier to get the girls on the extremes of religious acceptance to talk to her. The very religious girls were willing to talk to her in order to increase her faith whereas the “rebels” were willing to talk because they liked hearing from someone outside of their faith. Although she does include some “normal” (their own word) girls, I personally felt that the book could have benefited from more of them. From what Levine says in the opening chapters and what she alludes to throughout the book, these girls often shape the community, and I never felt that I got to really see one of them.

One of the aspects of the Lubavich culture that Levine found fascinating, as did I, was the emphasis put on self examination. Not navel gazing, but “how do I fit in in the bigger picture”, “how does my actions impact on the goal”. Levine rightly points out that in much of secular society this type of reflection does not exist, or is at least not encouraged. Part of the Lubavich faith is the belief that each holy action brings the Messiah closer. It could be an action as simple as lighting the Shabbos candles that brings him into the world. Because of this the girls are encouraged to examine their actions and their faith on a regular basis.

I found the book incredibly interesting. There were things in it that informed me about the religion that is at the centre of these girls. And there were other things that I felt I could use in my future profession. And further things that allow me to see humans in general in a different light. It is a book I highly recommend for anyone who is interested in different cultures and in what makes people who they are.

Purchase Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers from BookDepository.

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.

Book Review: The Forbidden Daughter

The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal

Category: Fiction

Challenges: South Asian Author Challenge, 2010 Challenge (Win! Win!), Women Unbound, POC Challenge

Synopsis: Isha and her husband Nikhil are expecting their second child. When an ultrasound reveals that the child is a girl, just like their older daughter, Isha’s in-laws start pressing the young couple to have an abortion. When Nikhil dies under mysterious circumstances tension between Isha and the in-laws reach breaking point and she must make decisions to protect her girls.

My Thoughts: Books or discussions about selective abortion never fail to get me riled up. Although I am staunchly pro-choice I believe that every abortion is a tragedy. I find it especially repugnant when abortions are done on basis of gender, no matter what that gender is. I thought the book dealt very well with the arguments used both for (weak as they are) and against gender selective abortions. It shows how people who can appear to be one thing are really something else entirely.

Gender selection is perhaps the main theme of the book, however, another strong theme is relationships and when we choose to lean on those with whom we have relationships. Isha, the main character in the book, loses her husband to, what appears to be a senseless act of violence. This causes her already tenuous relationship with her in-laws to break down completely. Alone in the world with one small child and another one on the way she seeks refuge with the nuns in town. Here is where I start having problems with parts of the story. Isha is perfectly happy accepting the help from the nuns, but she is initially resistant to accept it from both her sister-in-law and from the doctor she meets, except she isn’t really. These instances of reluctance seem to be present to portray Isha as both independent and unwilling to accept charity. For me there is nothing wrong with accepting charity when you need it, which Isha clearly did. But her initial reluctance followed by quick acceptance felt forced and contrived.

I got the same feelings from the conclusion of the story. I don’t want to spoil but I will say that the ending felt like Bantwal went, “oh dear I can solve this problem by doing this but it doesn’t solve this one, and really I must have some excitement…” For me she could have left of the excitement she chose. There was plenty of it anyway and it introduced a new character far to late in the story and to me, honestly made it seem a bit like a bad soap opera.

What I did enjoy was the growing relationship between Isha and the doctor. It was sweet and touched upon some interesting ideas regarding moving on when you lose a spouse. It presented some of the cultural aspects of arranged marriages that I had little understanding of in an easy to understand way.

In addition to this Isha overall comes across as a strong character. She stands up to her in-laws when they abuse her daughter. She works hard to provide for her daughters, she feels a sense of duty to those whose lives she matters in.

The subject matter of selective abortion touched me, the story in the book felt rather pedestrian. I felt that parts were rushed, came out of left field and the characters were rather flat. I would have like to get to know Isha better. But it felt like it jumped from crises to crises without any depth.

Overall I did like the book. It was a quick, entertaining read with a very important main subject matter. I felt the story itself could have been a bit better told.

Purchase The Forbidden Daughter from BookDepository

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.

Book Review: Living History

Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Category: Memoir

Challenges: 2010 Challenge (Up to You), Memorable Memoirs, Women Unbound

My Thoughts: I’ll admit I didn’t actually know that much about Secretary of State Hillary Clintons life before she became the First Lady so I found this book to be informative as well as fascinating.

One of the reasons I read this book was for the Women Unbound challenge and I have to say it sounds like Secretary of State Clinton has done a lot of work for women, for many many years. I really do admire her for sticking with a cause for so long and for the work she has done to highlight issues that matter to women around the world. Personally I am very much for the “teach a person to fish” approach that she seems to support. She talks about the advantages of microloans for quite some time in the book, I do wish she had been a bit more specific about how it works and more on what type of things the women who get them do.

It was interesting to see how her political ideas had grown and changed as she grew up. I always find it interesting to see where peoples political ideas come from, especially if they aren’t exactly what their parents ideas are. Her discussion of the social justice issues that informed much of her thinking seemed particularly important for her, which I find important for today’s debate regarding where social justice fits in with society.

Many of the issues she touches upon are still issues in today’s American politics (and the politics of other countries). She discusses the polarization of American politics, something that I find very evident today too. In addition to this, especially towards the end of the book she points out the fear based rhetoric used by many to increase this polarisation. I found this particularly relevant when discussing the health care reform she and the President tried to implement. Many of the tactics she described as being used then are the same tactics that have been used today.  It really made it evident that very little has happened in politics in the last ten years. It is still the same as it was then. And seeing it from someone on the inside was very illuminating.

One thing that really annoyed me was how she seemed to become lifelong friends with everyone she met. Really, every time she met someone new she seemed to say that they had become life long friends. It became tiresome after a while and made me wonder if they were really that good of friends. It came across as almost fake and rather insincere. Maybe I’m projecting, I have a hard time letting people in and count them as friends.

She strikes me as a woman with a great deal of self-awareness. She isn’t afraid to put her hand up and say “what I said was stupid”. She points out her own mistakes. She does say this is what I actually said or this is what I actually meant, yes. But she also realises that she made mistakes. I have always wondered why she chose to stay with her husband after what he did and this book made me understand it a bit more. I don’t think I would have made the same decision but I have a better understanding of why she did it now.

Overall it was a very interesting read and I felt I learned a lot about her as a woman and her as a politician, as well as about the political process (and I am a political junkie). There was a definite political bias but I don’t think this is unexpected. Although politically I fall on the liberal side of the scale I would like to read a memoir or two from someone on the other side of the aisle at the same time. Just to see the different points of view.

I read this book in translation and I was once again reminded why I really do prefer to read books in the original where ever possible. I am going to have to re-read this book in English one day. I think I might be due a bit of a ranty post about translation.

Purchase Living History from BookDepository.

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.

Book Review: Lilla Feminist-boken (The Little Feminist Book)

Lilla Feminist-boken (The Little Feminist Book) by Sassa Buregren

Category: Children’s Non-fiction (ages 9-12 I would think)

Challenges: Women Unbound

Synopsis: The book features ten year old Ebba who discovers that the world isn’t as equal as she thought.

My Thoughts: Some days everything comes together. I was at the library the other day and wandering the shelves I came across this little gem. It is geared at children but it is a fantastic little book, especially considering that I have been hip deep in feminism for my thesis lately.

The book starts with Ebba leafing through the paper to get to the comics, instead she comes across this picture. Ebba wonders why it is titled “The Worlds Most Powerful Men”. What about women. This leads to a great deal of questioning by Ebba and her friends. I loved how the book didn’t focus on how things should be more equal for women but also how men (and boys) should be allowed to do what they want too. That men shouldn’t be penalised for being home with their children. How we shouldn’t have jobs that are male or female.

The book is a nice mixture between history, biography and call to action. It tells this story of some of the most important figures in the feminist movement in the world in general and Sweden in particular. It explains Mary Wollstonecraft’s arguments along with Simone de Beauvoir’s. And it does so it a way that children could understand without being patronising. As I have been reading extracts from both A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Second Sex lately I felt that it was a very accurate summation of the different authors arguments.

The book is a lovely little introduction to what feminism is, why it is important and where it started and where it is going. It shows how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. It mixes the history and philosophy with the story about Ebba and her friends and their awakening to the issues of feminism. I felt that this made the book more accessible. I also liked how it discussed many of the issues involved in feminism without ever sounding heavy handed. I really want to find something similar in English to send to my little cousins and honorary niece. Although Ebba’s story is fiction this is firmly a non-fiction book, and thus a perfect addition to the Women Unbound Non-Fiction requirement.

I have not been able to find this book in translation unfortunately

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.

Book Review: Mias Systrar

Mias Systrar (Mia’s Sisters) by Maria Eriksson and Kerstin Weigl

Category: Non-Fiction

Challenges: Women Unbound, Social Justice Challenge

My Thoughts: I am reading this book for the Social Justice Challenge: Domestic and Child Abuse. Because of this I am not going to do a normal review of this book (what I liked, what I didn’t like etc) but rather tell you, my reader, about what I learned from this book. I am going to start with a bit of a back story for those of you not in Sweden, those of you who might not have heard the story of Maria (Mia) Eriksson. First off, Maria Eriksson isn’t her real name. We don’t know her real name because she had to flee Sweden when the threats and attacks by her former partner became so severe that the authorities here couldn’t protect her or her family. Mia Eriksson’s story was first told in the book Gömda (Hidden) and this book and its follow-up books (Asyl, Mia’s hemlighet and Emma, Mias dotter) have been the subject of a lot of criticism here with people arguing that they are not true. I have heard an interview with the journalist who wrote Gömda, Liza Marklund, where she explains that they had to change certain details in order to protect people, and that the fact that Mia was given asylum in the US proves the truth in their story. I, personally, choose to believe that these stories are based in truth. Mias systrar tells the story, not of Mia, but of three other women, Veronica, Anette and Leila. Veronica and Anette are both victims of domestic abuse whereas in Leila’s case it is her father who is the abuser. This book therefore covers both domestic abuse and child abuse. Although Leila’s story also touches upon forced marriages.

The book starts off by raising a very important issue with regards to domestic abuse. The woman portrayed, Veronica, asks (and I am translating myself here) “how can one woman keep doing all this. Women are supposed to keep reporting even though the report goes nowhere—even if it is starting at all. In addition they have to work, tend their children, go to meetings, hunt down lawyers and government agencies, cook nutritious food, keep the house tidy and in every way convince the world of their own excellence and blamelessness.” Women in these situations are asked to keep a record of it all but at the same time we are all busy, would you like to add having to keep a record of threats and calls and contact with a person you would just like to forget, to erase? Can you remember what happened last Monday? What did you have for dinner? Did your child wear the blue sweater or the read one? All of these are things these women are asked to remember. They are also asked to remember if they were hit on the right cheek before the left arm or after. So many times these beatings flow into each other and they can’t remember. These lapses in memory are then used as “proof” that they made things up. Many times they are also afraid that reporting the man will only make it worse. This was the situation Veronica found herself in. She wanted her son to have a relationship with his father. She wanted things to work because of this she didn’t want to anger the man and consequently withdrew her reports. Didn’t call the police.

The book also touches upon another aspect of the aftermath of domestic abuse. The women who can’t get away from the men. When the men are no longer in prison or they haven’t even been sentenced to prison, when these women have to go into hiding. It talks about the inefficiencies and dangers of bureaucratic  Sweden.  Here in Sweden we have Social Security numbers that we use for EVERYTHING. And I mean everything. You can’t get a library card without one. On one hand it is incredibly practical. Your Social Security number is your date of birth plus four numbers. Easy to remember. But oh so dangerous to these women. Maria Eriksson, at one point in the book, calls up a social worker to talk about Leila and this woman does nothing to verify who Eriksson is. She gives up sensitive information without problem. There was a report on the radio just the other day about the lack of protection for these hidden women and their children, especially when it comes to school. Schools in Sweden are public institutions, and class lists and grades are public record. How do you protect these women and their children then? I got really annoyed while listening to this report because me and my classmates asked the question last term (we never got an answer about what to do when faced with a student with protected identity) but there is a man from the Education Department on claiming that no one has asked the question! Excuse me! (sorry I am getting upset just talking about it).

The bottom line is that we as a society have to get better at protecting these women. At the end of the book the authors list a few things that they feel need to happen in order to protect these women (Neither they nor I claim that only women get abused but this book is about the women) and their children. Some of them are the need for specially trained staff who can put together comprehensive far reaching plans for the protection. There needs to be the power to help these women financially if they have to leave the country. That every report of domestic violence be fast tracked.

Overall I found this book to be very informative. It did this by telling the story of different women. It also showed the toll domestic abuse takes on a woman without being graphic about it. I hope books like this exists in other countries as well.

I have chosen to include this as a book for Women Unbound as well as the Social Justice challenge because Maria Eriksson continues to fight for the rights of these women. She continues to tell her story as well as their stories. She continues to support women in abusive situations and for that she is a strong woman.

 

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.

The Sunday Salon: On Reading Childhood Favourites

What Caught My Fancy This Week (and kinda last week)

So I didn’t do a Salon post last week. I was in a funk and then I had a bit of an accident and got myself into more of a funk. I’ve had to snap myself out of the funk and am still recovering from the funk. I do want to warn my readers that the funks are likely to come frequently for the next couple of months as the deadline for my thesis draws nearer (final submission day is May 19th). I have taken steps to minimize the risk of funkdom setting in by booking myself on a mini vacation at the end of April (something to look forward too) and once I have read the final book for lit theory (only one left to read) my reading for pleasure should go up. Right now I have been feeling a bit guilty reading for pleasure when I know I have books to read for school, which has lead to little reading at all (my brain works in mysterious ways).

Okay now that that disclaimer is out of the way, on to my topic of the week: Reading Childhood Favourites! I am currently reading the last of my books for the Childhood Favourites Challenge hosted by Debbie of Debbie’s World of Books. During the week I got into a discussion with Eva and Nymeth on twitter (where all good ideas are born) about re-reading childhood favourites and their fear of reading them now as adults because they were worried that they would be changed for them. It is an interesting concept to me because I hadn’t actually thought of it that way.

My family tend to hyperfocus on things (my mum can probably quote Glee episodes at you verbatim and I KNOW I can do it with West Wing lines)  and this goes for books as well. This means that I have read many of my favourite books to shreds. Literally. I’ve had to buy new copies because the old ones had pages missing. Which books I tend to hyperfocus on goes in waves. But because of this I have read childhood favourites many times in many different seasons of life. And yes they do change. They change a lot. And I see new things. And sometimes I see things that annoy me now that I probably didn’t even notice as a kid. And that is both positive and negative. Take the books we were discussing on Twitter: The Little House on the Prairie series. I LOVED these books both as a child and as a teenager (my copy of These Happy Golden Years is not my original, it is copy I got from a friend when she heard mine had missing pages from being read to many times in junior high). I grew up with Laura. I recently re-read Little House on The Prairie, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie and These Happy Golden Years (reviews pending on the last two) and a few things struck me that I am not sure I noticed as a kid. The first one is Ma’s hatred of Indians. I think we MIGHT have discussed it as a child but I honestly can’t remember. At first it really bothered me. I felt that the view that was being presented was not one that I would want children today to have. Then I realised that Pa’s view slightly tempered Ma’s view. Pa has a much more “modern” view. Plus I think that their different view’s can lead to discussions. Then we have the fact that the Indian’s are portrayed in a rather stereotypical way but to me this is a sign of the times when the books were written, again something that can be discussed. The second thing that I noticed and that made me think was the inclusion of religion in the school day. In once scene in (I think it was The Long Winter) the school day is started with reading Psalm 23. Now today that wouldn’t happen in a public school, here or in the states. It made me think about the differences then and now.

I guess what I am trying to say is that although I noticed different things now from when I read them as a kid, the books aren’t ruined for me, they are simply different. Reading them now serves a different purpose. Take one of my current reads, Anne of Avonlea, I had planned on reading this book for the Childhood Favourites Challenge, but the reason I chose to read it now was because I needed a dose of escapism. Anne of Avonlea was a book that I read, repeatedly, around the same time as I was reading These Happy Golden Years. Anne was as much my friend as Laura was. I admired both women (or should it be girls?) for their independence and spunk. I also admired Anne for her imagination. And it was that imagination I wanted. Anne sees things in the world that I occasionally catch a glimpse of, she has a quality I admire. I read these books knowing full well that I will find things that I didn’t find as a young girl. I read them knowing that they will now be different and maybe I will see my childhood differently. But I also read them knowing that they have the power to pull me back to a less complicated time, both in their setting but also in their ability to pull me back to MY childhood, with its good parts and its bad parts, a childhood that made me who I am, warts and all. And that for me can never be a bad thing.

Reviewed

Two weeks worth of reviews this week. Still not that many, see aforementioned funk.

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. Really really did not like this book. Really. It made me feel a bit sick and is a major reason why I needed to read something fluffy to read.

 

Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb. Robb’s In Death series is a series of books I tend to hyperfocus on :). I have read this book several times and it never fails to make happy, in a weird way, I mean it is a murder mystery :D

 

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles. A post modern novel that I really didn’t like. I don’t like it when the author tries to have a conversation with me in the middle of the story. Stick to the story OR have a conversation. Not both for me please.

 

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Read on a whim on a cold and miserable day. It completely served its purpose as it cheered me up.

 

 

Currently Reading

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. Anne never fails to cheer me up. Really she makes me happy happy happy, which is why I seriously considered signing up for the Anne of Green Gables Reread Challenge, but, alas I have to recognize my own limitations. I might read more Anne this year but I also want to expand my horizons a bit more.

Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction: Utopia and Dystopia edited by Judith A. Little. I am reading this for my thesis and normally I wouldn’t put that in my currently reading file (I reserve this for books I intend to review and text books don’t normally get reviewed by me) but this book will not only be reviewed but highly recommended to anyone that is interested in Feminist philosophy and science fiction. It is an anthology of sorts with writings regarding feminist utopias and dystopias and it also has a introductions to feminist philosophy and dystopian and utopian ideas. I’ve only read the introduction and leafed through the rest of the book but that was enough for me to go online to buy my own copy. I need to make notes in the margin, it is that good. I will be counting it towards my Women Unbound Challenge, non-fiction (even if it has fictional elements).

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.

Book Review: Mrs. Dalloway

Mrs. Dalloway  by Virginia Woolf

Category: Classical Fiction

Challenges: Women Unbound Challenge, GLBT Challenge

Synopsis: Mrs Dalloway tells of a day in life of Clarissa Dalloway, Septimus Warren and Peter Walsh. Clarissa and Peter have a past, Septimus is a troubled young man. The novel explores class and gender differences through Clarissa’s and Peter’s recollections of their past, their thoughts on their present and Septimus story.

My Thoughts: I was assigned this book for my grad school class on Theory of Literature. I say this because some of my opinions of this book come from before class and some from after class(I prefer it after class).

I found this book to be a bit hard to get into. The many names at the start were confusing and the sentence structure had my head spinning. As I mentioned in my Sunday Salon post last week I have some issues with assigned reading. This is a book I would have like to take my time with but I felt I had to rush through it in order to have it done in time for class (yes I could have started earlier but I am the kind of person who is grateful for ‘last minute’). 

All that said, now that I have read more about the book, Woolf’s thoughts on writing and such and discussed it with my classmates and teacher I have a much greater appreciation for the story and the writing.

I have a tendency to write either long rambly sentences that can benefit from punctuation or short simple subject-predicate sentences. I found her sentences difficult at first because she makes use of semicolons and commas. Now I use commas but I think the only time I have used semicolons in my writings was in the grammar class I took a couple of semesters ago. It took me a while to get used to them. Reading for class I realised that Woolf was trying to create a female style of writing. She was trying to do something different from the distinctly male cannon that was the status quo. In addition there is something inherently beautiful about sentences like this one:

It was precisely twelve o’clock; twelve by Big Ben; whose stroke was wafted over the northern part of London; blent with that of other clocks, mixed in a thin ethereal way with the clouds and wisps of smoke and died up there among the seagulls—twelve o’clock struck as Clarissa Dalloway laid her green dress on her bed, and the Warren Smiths walked down Harley Street (104).

Just the idea of time wafting in the air fills me with awe. Time in and off itself is as fleeting as smoke and to use the imagery of it as such paints such a beautiful picture.

Much of our discussion in class centred around feminist critique and if there are traits that are essentially female or essentially male. Personally I find it hard to believe that. I am pretty postmodern in my world view (see my post on White Noise for more on my views on postmodernism) so for me who we are is a bit floaty. This was something I greatly appreciated about Mrs Dalloway, she mixes the “typical” gender traits. No one (apart from the two doctors perhaps) are given stereotypical traits. I am sure we are all aware of traits that are often employed in order to make a woman more or less feminine in books and that just wasn’t the case here.

I found myself to feel the most for Septimus, I felt that he was the only character who had not had the opportunity to make himself his own. He had not been given a choice in following the rules of society and these rules broke him down and then could not deal with him afterwards. Clarissa on the other hand had a choice, she might not have had the choice she would have had today (when she would probably have chosen Sally) but she did have a choice between Peter and Richard and she chose Richard because he seemed safe. Richard symbolises society and safety. One of the articles we read for the class says:

“Jean Wyatt argues that society insists on a rigidly defined and compartmentalized self because this formation of the self ‘reflects the pretense to permanence of the social institutions in which it is embedded…Society requires that people be circumscribed individuals so they can play the singular parts designed for them by social systems’. The powers controlling societal demands are determined to cast people into roles, regardless of individual needs or differences, in order to continue the stable stable system supporting their society” (Taylor*, 370).

This quote to me symbolises the trap in which many women find themselves in. Society expects certain things of women (this was even more true in Woolf’s time) and often the choice is narrow and the cost great for not choosing it. Clarissa was forced to choose, that is undoubtedly true, but the choice that she made might have seemed the lesser of two evils at the time, but ultimately it forced her to give up that which made her herself.

When I first read this book I found it difficult to follow but the more I think about it the more this book sticks with me. I would definitely want to read more of Woolf and if I had time I would join in Woolf in Winter, unfortunately the following months will be very hectic for me. If you want to read other peoples thoughts on Mrs Dalloway I suggest you head on over to Sarah’s and see what was said for the first Woolf in Winter book.

I normally like to have the cover picture of the book I actually read as the cover picture at the start of my posts, but the copy of Mrs. Dalloway that I read was the Penguin Popular Classic edition and they all have lime green covers with white text. Not so fun to look at but it is cheap and since I 1) am a poor gradstudent 2) like to write in books it is great to have cheap copies and I thought I would link to the cheap copy this time.

*Taylor, N. “Erasure of Definition: Androgyny in Mrs. Dalloway”, Women’s Studies, vol 18 (1991). 367-377

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.