Booking Through Thursday: Sensual

Each week Booking Through Thursday asks a bookish question. This week the question is: Which do you prefer? Lurid, fruity prose, awash in imagery and sensuous textures and colours? Or straight-forward, clean, simple prose?

Well after my review of Anne of Avonlea it should come as no surprise that I am a fan of the “lurid, fruity prose”. I love a text filled with metaphors and similes, with imagery and colours. I am not only a bookworm but also a wordworm. Words make me happy. The more words the better.

That said, choose your words well. I do not want ten words when one could have done. I don’t want a five syllable word when a one syllable word would have done. One of the things I find annoying in academic writing is the use of more complicated words than entirely necessary, all in an attempt to sound clever and intelligent.

But for my fiction, give me flowers. Give me words. Give me imagery. Words Words Words and more words. Those are the things that make me happy.

The first two images are from wiki commons. The final image is of the Library at Trinity College Dublin, it seems to be in the public domain but if it is not let me know.

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: Beginning Theory

Beginning Theory by Peter Barry

Category: Non-fiction (textbook)

My Thoughts: Normally I would not review one of my textbooks here but I thought it fit with the general theme of bookblogging and that maybe someone would find it useful.

We have used this book for my introductory lit. theory class this semester and I have found the book to be readable and helpful. Barry has a way of talking TO you, not down to you. Yes he expects that you don’t know about lit. theory before but he does expect you to know about literature. It is written in a rather “chatty” way which I like. I felt like I was sitting in his class and he was talking to me.

In many of his examples he makes use of Shakespeare plays for his examples. This lends a certain amount of universality to his examples. It is also interesting to see how he uses the same play for different critical approaches. This does mean that you need to have at least a passing familiarity with several Shakespeare plays (Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night) with Hamlet being the play that is used the most.

Each chapter has a Stop and Think section which is useful in thinking about the material already covered. In addition he often sets out the points he is making in bullet point form, which, I for one, find incredibly helpful. It is easy to flip back to these sections to see the point of a particular section (or for me when I have been answering essay questions). These sections are often titled “What a X critic does”. So helpful!

Overall I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to start looking at Theory of Literature. It is very accessible.

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.

Teaser Tuesday: Tracks

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“I could feel the distance rush between us like cold water from a broken dam, and at the same time I was drawn by Eli’s heart, by the warmth of him as he didn’t mind anything but his small task. He laid the fish in a pan of water, wiped his hands on the grass, and stirred up a cooking fire in the yard.” (76)

From Tracks by Louise Erdrich

Book Review: Anne of Avonlea

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Category: Classic (Children’s)

Challenges: Flashback Challenge, Childhood Favourites, 2010 Challenge,

Synopsis: This book sees 16 year old Anne teaching the Avonlea school, help bring up twins (again) and make new friends. As with Anne of Green Gables Anne is full of imagination and fun.

My Thoughts: I loved this book as a teenager and if possible I loved it even more now. I also realised that Anne (or Montgomery really) is completely responsible for my inability to punctuate and my rather flowery prose (see my Teaser Tuesday for an example). I can write pretty good descriptions of places (if I do say so myself) but I struggle with the voices of individual characters and dialogue in general. Anyway that is beside the point really. Back to my love of Anne.

As I am currently studying to be a teacher I particularly loved Anne’s thoughts and feelings regarding teaching. She, like me, wants to teach a love of learning. She is earnest and endearing in her efforts. I loved how she took a stance on corporal punishment (I know that she goes against her convictions later but still). For me the question of corporal punishment is such an important issues (and relevant this month with the Social Justice Challenge). For me it is interesting that Montgomery even discussed the issue in her book.

Montgomery has a way of making the characters very real. The dialect which annoyed me in The Commitments the other week here helped separate the characters. Davey with his way of speaking became more real. She manages to perfectly capture a young boy (I, like Anne and Marilla, have a soft spot for mischievous little boys).

Anne’s imagination is something I admire. When I first read these books I had Anne’s romantic view on life. I too wanted a prince charming who was handsome and dark (actually Gilbert was my dream man, I’m sure I’m not alone). I could (well still can) wander around the woods and see magic and beauty in everything. I wanted to BE Anne. To write like her. To imagine like her.

I took my time with reading Anne this time and I am so glad. A chapter or two each evening really made me focus and I think. I realised that I didn’t remember as much of the book as I thought. There were small surprises throughout because it has been several years and because I took my time to read each word. Montgomery has, as mentioned, a rather flowery prose and this style lends itself to reading slowly. By reading the book deliberately I really got the feeling of the small Canadian village where it was set. It allowed me to catch my breath and really “go there”. I could see the kitchen at Green Gable. I could see the small one room schoolhouse where Anne teaches. And I could see the nature surrounding them.  After some quite upsetting reads recently this was something that I really needed. It really was the antidote I wanted it to be. I am so glad I read this again.

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: Non-fiction

What Caught My Fancy This Week

This is going to be a rather short Salon post, I’ve got a bad case of writers block brought on by to much thesising this week (I did get the chapters in on time though so yay me!)

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I have come to realise in the past few months that I really love non-fiction. I’ve always known that I loved fiction but I had more of a standoffish relationship with non-fiction. It was something I read when I wanted information. Not something I read for fun. But in the last few months the books I have enjoyed the most have been non-fiction. I have a bunch of non-fiction I want to read and found some more browsing blogs this week but I would like more suggestions. What non-fiction books have you loved in the past? Why?

So you have an idea of what I have liked in the past my favourites in the past year have been:

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Freedom in Exile by The Dalai Lama

Reading

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Tracks by Louise Erdrich. Just started today so don’t really have an opinion yet.

The Distance Between Us by Masha Hamilton. Also just started so I don’t really have an opinion. I’m reading this for the Spotlight Series which starts today! Check it out!

Reviewed

 Only one book reviewed this week:

The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. Didn’t particular enjoy it but I do think it filled its function for what my teacher wanted.

I also finished Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery and will be reviewing next week. Really enjoyed it, possibly more now than when I read it as a teenager.

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.

Social Justice Challenge: Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Intro Post

• What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of domestic violence and child abuse?

That it is a blight on our society. Every child that is abused is a child we have failed. Every time a woman is hit we have failed. It is a failure. Not to mention every time a child dies where social services have been involved (there have been several cases in the UK in the last few years, and some here), we have failed. Every time a woman is murdered by her partner, we have failed.

But perhaps right now what I think about is Frida Stenberg’s children, who lost their mother and are now about to lose the rest of their family. A double tragedy.

• What does domestic violence and child abuse mean to you personally?

For me personally? It makes my heart hurt. I have been incredibly fortunate in my life to not have been touched by abuse, but that doesn’t mean that my heart doesn’t hurt. That it makes me incredibly angry.

• What is your current knowledge of domestic violence and child abuse?

That it is far far far to prevalent in our society today. And that as a society we are far to concerned with not putting our nose in other peoples business to protect those abused.

• Are you aware of the resources available for men, women and children who find themselves in domestic violence and child abuse situations?

I am aware of resources for women and children but probably less so about the resources for men. In Sweden we have Kvinnojouren for women who are victims of abuse. We also have BRIS which offers services (confidential hotlines) for children who are abused. We also have Tjejjouren which offers support to girls who are victims of abuse, but also other support for girls. A friend of mine volunteers with them.

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• Have you chosen a book or resource to read for this month?

I will be reading a book called Mias systrar (Mia’s sisters) by Maria Eriksson and Kerstin Weigl which is a non-fiction book about domestic violence in Sweden. I was given it a few years ago and leafing through it really upset me so I put it to the side. Now I want to read it. If I have time I will also read Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian (if I can find my copy) and I have A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini on audio book that I might listen too.

• Take some time and think about what potential action steps you could take.  (I’ll have a post dedicated to this shortly).

I will be donating to BRIS which is an organisation that looks after children’s rights in society. One of the things they do is work with children who are victims of abuse. This is however just one of the many things they do.

The images in this post are there to remind me of the beauty in the the world. I have a tendency to get worked up on this subject (rightfully so I believe) and sometimes I need to be reminded to take a deep breath and think because running off and acting might not be the best choice. Getting upset is okay. Acting on that upset is okay. But think first. Act second. Your actions will make more of an impact that way.

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.

Booking Through Thursday: Illustrious

Every week Booking Through Thursday asks a question reading and books. This weeks question is: How do you feel about illustrations in your books? Graphs? Photos? Sketches?

I like illustrations, graphs, photos etc. if they are used appropriately. Illustration can really enhance a reading experience. Sometimes you need a good illustration in order to understand what the author is trying to do. I recently had a writing assignment for gradschool where we had to write instructions for someone on how to do something and we weren’t allowed to use illustrations, all this to teach us the limitations of the written word.

Two books that I recently read and reviewed that brought home the importance of illustrations both as aids and enhancers. The first one was the map in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I read the book in Swedish where a map of Hedeby Island. I didn’t realise that the maps weren’t included in some of the English translations. This map made it a lot easier to follow along in the story. The other book that showed how illustrations can be used effectively was The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett and illustrated by Paul Kidby. The illustrations in this book really enhanced what was already an amazing story. The illustrations in these two books are very different but they both really enhance the stories.