Miss New York Has Everything by Lori Jakiela

Title

Miss New York Has Everything

Author

Lori Jakiela

Copyright

2006

It seems to be a theme recently for me to read books that I would normally not be reading. This is one of those books that I would usually not even find mildy interesting, but now am so glad I read. You may have figured out if you follow this blog that I do not post all the books I read on the blog itself. If I don't like a book, it doesn't go up. Very subjective, I know, but I'm not about to reccommend books that I don't like as a reader.

This book is a memoir about Jakiela's time as a flight attendant in the eighties. It is incredibly funny and charming, the characters in the book are vividly portrayed and even the ones you don't particularly like, you can see and the whole people that they were. Lori's voice is witty and doesn't skimp on the self-observations and doesn't try to hide the embarrassing moments in her life. In fact, the book skims over most of the positive events in her life and focuses on the difficult, the uncomfortable, the insane, and ultimately the devastating.

Although this is a memoir, it is not told in chronological order. Times and dates are consistantly unclear, and truthfully it doesn't really matter. Don't put a lot of effort into remembering who the characters are outside of Jakiela's mother and father. Usually characters come into the book at the beginning of the section they're in and exit at the end of it.

I highly highly highly reccommend this book. Sometimes you will laugh out loud. Sometimes you will cry. Sometimes you will do both on the same page. The themes of this book include (did you guess it?) the parent/child relationship, home and escape from it, family and what makes us part of a family, what it means to be a woman, identity, and loss of the things we love.

Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

Title

Diary: A Novel

Author

Chuck Palahniuk

Copyright

2003

So, first of all, if you knew my reading habits well, you would know that I, until recently (perhaps the last year or two) instinctively shy away from writers like Stephen King and Chuck Palahniuk. Their writing tends to be painfully accurate, describing things that no one wants to know about. After a selection from one of his books was read out loud in one of my reading classes, I swore I would never read a Palahniuk book for the simple reason that I didn't want to upchuck ontop of the book I was trying to read.

That being said, when Say gave me this book and told me to read it, I was a little hesitant, but I trusted her not to steer me wrong. After all, I know where she lives . . . So I sat down and said a prayer to the gods of literature that I wouldn't be utterly freaked out and started reading.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book. Although this book has a fixation on shit (as in fecal matter), it is highly entertaining, creating the environment of a small New England island town and casts Misty, the main character, as both savior and outsider.

I highly reccommend this book, although I do so with a warning. This book doesn't wrap all loose ends up nicely and don't expect to finish feeling fufilled. For a horror novel, the ending is both smart and haunting and more than scared it leaves you wondering whether the struggle against our own destinies is even a worthwhile battle.

The themes in this book are a little hard to place since it isn't my usual reading and the themes don't conform with my usual list of interests. Don't look for romance in here, and although the mother/child relationship is active in the book, its barely a theme. Read it to figure out the mystery of what is going on and pay close attention to any quotes, notes, or other writings Misty comes across. Another great way to read the book is to look at the writing style, specifically the point of view. It is both first and third person at the same time, narrated by Misty, although often she talks about herself as if she were a character in the story. Sometimes she talks to "you", the reader as if you were her comatose husband. Enjoy!

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen

Title
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax

Author
Liz Jensen

Copyright
2004



Well, I don't really know where to start on this book. It is a great read, let me assure you and it will definitely mess with your head. I guess the only way to describe this book is that it is a paranormal mystery in which a nine year old comatose patient named Louis Drax is communicating with through doctor's spells of sleep walking, but even so this description falls short. Louis is what you would call an emotionally disturbed child. He is constantly having accidents, and each year he nearly dies. The circumstances that have caused young Louis to be in this coma are unclear, but his life has been anything but interesting.

The narrative style of this particular book is very interesting in that it shifts in first-person semi-"stream of consciousness" writing between both Louis (who is still in his coma) and Dr. Dannachet (who tells what is going on in the "real" world). I would highly highly highly reccommend reading this one, and I have delayed posting it until Sayshana finished reading it. Odds are we'll get some commentary on it from her, as well.

The main focuses of this novel are on the parent/child relationship as well as on what is paranormal versus psychological. I warn you when you read this novel, that nothing is really exactly what it seems so be prepared to be shocked.

Oh, and there is also recent information about a movie planned for 2008. Here's the link to imdb about it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422829/

On Writing by Stephen King

Title:

On Writing

Author:

Stephen King

Copyright:

(My copy of the book isn't with me but I'll fill it in later)

Okay, so if you haven't heard of Stephen King, I'm not entirely sure that you have actually ever read a book. Stephen King is a remarkably successful horror writer, and in this book he discusses that career and the accident that almost ended it all. To be honest, I'm not particularly a fan of Stephen King, I don't care for his style and often I feel like he "gets away with" a lot of shoddy plot devices simply because of his fame. That is not to diminish his success or say that I think I could do better (Needful Things blew my mind), but in this book, you can truly see his mastery of writing.

This is not a horror novel but rather a clever blend of autobiography and analysis of craft. This is a book that carefully narrates many events from his life and turns to his discussion fo what makes a writer great as the book closes.

I adore this book so much that I bought a copy of it and keep it on my book shelf all the time, because he talks so frankly about the art of writing and what makes a great writer. This is a book written for writers, and every time I finish it, I put it back on the shelf and feel like I want to write.

I may not be a fan of Stephen King novels, but this book makes me respect him as a writer and as an artist and I highly reccommend it to anyone who wants to get inside his head.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Title
The Secret Life of Bees

Author
Sue Monk Kidd

Copyright
2002



I would not be surprised if you have heard of Sue Monk Kidd and immediately associate her with poorly done chick flicks. It's sad but true that her books tend to get turned into relatively mediocre Lifetime movies (die, Mermaid Chair, DIE). However, Kidd is a brilliant writer and this book is incredibly moving.

This novel takes place in 1964, during that tumultuous time of the Civil Rights Movement. The main character in this novel is named Lily and she has spent her life haunted by the day her mother was killed. Lily remembers this day vividly and it formed much of her identity up until that point. Her relationship with her father is, at best, shaky, but luckily she has the company of Rosaleen (a black nanny) to guide her and give her the love and affection she desperately needs.

When Rosaleen "insults the three deepists racists in town", Lily's world is turned upside down and she breaks Rosaleen out of jail and the two of them run away to Tiburon, South Carolina, a mysterious town her mother wrote on the back of an old picture of the Virgin Mary. There she meets and is "taken in by a trio of black beekeeping sisters" and is forced to confront not only her idealistic views on her mother, but also her own latent racist beliefs.

The two main focuses of this novel are racism and more importantly to the novel, the mother-daughter relationship. The novel is written compellingly with beautiful descriptions and the voice of Lily calls out to the reader and draws you into her world. This is a beautiful book and I highly reccommend it.

Note: Quotes are from the back cover of the novel.

Sayonara by James Michener

Title:
Sayonara

Author:
James Michener

Copywrite:
1954

Okay, so this is one of my absolute favorite books. It is not a recent book, I believe it was written in the fifties, actually. It is a romantic tragedy about an Airforce pilot named Lloyd Gruver. The story is set in Japan in the 1940's. At this time in our history, American soldiers were prohibited from marrying Japanese (or other "native girls") and even if they did manage to get permission to marry, their new brides were not legally allowed to move to the United States. Lloyd is completely baffled as to why an American boy would want to marry a Japanese girl, but nonetheless he is given the mission to escort a young man who has managed (through writing to his congressman) to get permission to marry his Japanese bride back to Japan. Once there, falls in love with a beautiful actress named Hana-Ogi and becomes entranced by Japan and Japanese culture.

This book covers a variety of topics including romance, tragedy, politics, class conflict, racism, and the Japanese/American culture clash. I'd reccommend reading it, wholeheartedly!

About the New Canon

I guess the most important way to start this is to explain why I have declared this blog "The New Canon". Do you know what the Canon is? Just in case you don't here's a brief description and an explanation of why I hate it.

About 50 years ago, a group of scholarly blokes at the most acclaimed universities in the United States sat down and decided what books were to be considered literature and what books were just . . . well books. They didn't have any literary value and were not even considered "literature". The books in this Canon are said to be those literary works which have defined American culture and thus are the only ones fit to be taught.

What you must understand is that these books are incredibly limited. They are essentially a list of books written by dead Eurpopean men. They were judged to be ideal books against which all other books are to be measured. I want to create here a list of great reads that aren't necessarily written by someone who could not imagine what life would be like for our generation. The value of the books included on the Canon cannot be ignored, but by limiting ourselves to a strict list of valuable books, we eliminate the voices of our current generation.

Here's a link to Wikipedia that has more information about the Canon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_canon