Category Archives: Books

Fiction: “The Quarry” by Damon Galgut

Posted on by

Africa. Summer. A murder, a fire, a circus. Dark and brooding. Slim, concise. Lots of solitude and alone-ness, some chosen, some not. Identities stolen, crimes misattributed, things concealed, things admitted. Some longer chapters broken up by many short and choppy others. Lots of dust and heat and listlessness.

Sometimes confusing pronoun usage (purposely I think). Often left to the reader’s interpretation which he “he” is. At one point, something happened to a “he” that, I thought, had to be one of three certain “he” people. Yet if I interpreted later chapters correctly, it couldn’t have been any of those three it happened to. So to whom? (And at one point, the book said “Ho” when I’m pretty sure it meant “He”. Otherwise, one of the “he” characters was named “Ho” but, if you ignore that, we don’t ever find out that particular dude’s name (we do know the others) and pretty sure we’re not meant to so I think it must have been a misprint.)

Had read a previous Galgut “The Good Doctor” from the Booker short list a few years back and if you search this page for “Galgut” you can see my brief comments.

Mystery: “Who Killed the Curate?” by Joan Coggin

Posted on by

My parents gave me this for Christmas (along with this) both selections from The Rue Morgue Press, a small publishing house in Colorado that’s reprinting old mysteries from the 30s and 40s. (I’ve now got an entire list I need to order!!)

A completely ditzy-blonde society deb-type marries a vicar, moves to his small-town, and finds herself embroiled in mystery when his curate is murdered on Christmas Eve. There’s illegitimate children and blackmail and poison and a secret service agent…and so much more.

Quick easy read. Lots of fun! If you like old mysteries (Agatha Christie?) or new mysteries written like those of old (Jacqueline Winspear or the Laurie King Russell/Holmes series) then you need to check out the offerings from The Rue Morgue!!

Fiction: “Black Cat” by Martyn Bedford

Posted on by

Bedford wrote one of my very, very favorite books “The Houdini Girl” which for a long time I thought was his only book; as it turns out, he’s very hard to find in the US and in fact I bought this one in the UK.

Mysterious and spooky. A “dowser” (which I would have called a “diviner” but not sure if that’s a UK vs. US thing or just a “depends where you heard about it” thing). A myth hunter. A climber. A reporter. A strange quest. A connection made, and then broken.

Really entrancing and beautiful. Some brutal bits. Lovely.

Proust on…

Posted on by

…the Weapon of Silence:
It has been said that silence is a powerful weapon; in a quite different sense it has a terrible power when wielded by those who are loved. It increases the anxiety of the one who waits. Nothing so tempts us to approach another person as what is keeping us apart, and what greater barrier is there than silence? It has been said too that silence is torture, capable of driving the man condemned to it in a prison cell to madness. But what even greater torture it is, greater than having to keep silent, to endure the silence of the person one loves!

…Physical Illness:
It is illness that makes us recognize that we do not live in isolation but are chained to a being from a different realm, worlds apart from us, with no knowledge of us and by whom it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body. Were we to meet a brigand on the road, we might manage to make him conscious of his own personal interest if not of our plight. But to ask pity of our body is like talking to an octopus, for which our words can have no more meaning than the sound of the sea, and with which we should be terrified to find ourselves condemned to live.

–from “The Guermantes Way” as translated by Mark Treharne in the new Penguin edition

Fiction: Marcel Proust Bk 3 of Remembrance… titled “The Guermantes Way” in this translation.

Posted on by

Finally finished this, after (supposedly) slogging through it all of February. Probably my slowest reading month in years, but I just had a lot going on, wasn’t on the El very much (my prime reading time!!), and didn’t ever get the energy to pick anything else up so if I wasn’t in the mood for this, then I just didn’t read.

I liked that in this book Marcel stays an identifiable (and seemingly) same age the whole book (vs. book 2 when sometimes the narrative tone seemed to change ages/decades intermittently). He drives you nuts though (in every book) with his obsessions. He’s so consumed with people that he doesn’t even really like but yet is completely attracted to/consumed by. So focused on those slightly above him in society. Trying to find meaning in their (in reality meaningless) aristocratic mannerisms and customs. Finding fault while at the same time trying to emulate.

I’ve said similar things before — so yes I’m repeating myself — but I continue to think the reason these books have maintained their high profile for so many years is because Marcel represents that worst part of all of us. The neurotic, obsessive, self destructive part of us that we don’t show very many people, if any. Yet reading about it is quite fascinating.

Best of February.

Posted on by

February’s over? I personally happen to love February but I have to admit, I was pretty much of a schlub all month.

Let’s see, the best gig I went to in February had to be…the Essex Green opening for Camera Obscura because, horror of horrors, I only went to one concert all month! (What was I doing with my time?)

The best book I read in February…well I guess that would be Proust Book 3 (or “The Guermantes Way” as it’s called in this translation) but I’m not done reading it! I started it Feb 1, I believe, or Jan 31, and I’ve still got (exactly) 104 pages to go… Doh! That said, I did have some pretty unexpectedly busy weekends in the month, so what’s a girl to do?

Only one concert? and one book? OK, this is pretty pathetic so far…

The best movie I saw in February was by far Blood Diamond, although I may have personally enjoyed Music & Lyrics a little more. You know, it had music, and it wasn’t as heartbreaking.

I am all about not getting my heart broken in February since I certainly get it broken every other stupid month of the year.

As for tunes in February, I’ve been all over the place. Obsessively listening to the soundtrack for Music & Lyrics, enjoying the new Fall Out Boy, listening to lots and lots of Rogue Wave especially after a (new?) single played on FNL, digging The Bees (US) and Midlake (who I told you about twice (1, 2) and then finally got…very ’70s peaceful, easy feelin…), and listening to some stuff I bought at the very end of January that didn’t get much play that month (new Youth Group!!!! “Casino Twilight Dogs” (*LOVE*) and The Guggenheim Grotto). Still lovin’ the Shins although my ear can’t recognize what’s the new album and what’s old…

Random personal highlights of the month were: a) Ame came to visit!; b) I went “home” (to NYC) and quilted with Jackie (and ate with Em, Stephanie and Jenn!) and saw Shawn and the kids!!!; c) new specs; d) brunch with the Strizz and her man!; e) Steph and Mark slept over in a storm; f) another night at the darkroom (hey Chicago Amy! Tracy and I missed ya!); g) finally finding yummy Chinese in Chicago!; h) flowers from MaryKay (so sweet!); and i) we got some snow!!!!

Lowlights: a) Bears lost the Bowl; b) new computer didn’t work for a week and had to be dragged back and forth to the store; c) even OLDER! Ah, well. On to March…

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

Posted on by

Making: A third sock in the pair I’ve been making since Rhinebeck, good lord I am fucking slow. Ugh. I was completely done with #1 (ends woven in and everything) and up to the toe on #2 when I decided they were just too damn snug. Started over… Now about to start the heel on “#3” although obviously #s 1 and 2 do not exist anymore… And the only quilting I’ve done is vicariously through Jackie as I gave her direction at the sweatshop this weekend…

Reading: “The Guermantes Way” by Marcel Proust, a.k.a. book 3 of À La Recherche du Temps Perdu. I read book one in 2005 and book two in 2006…so at this rate, I’ll finish the series in 2010. Pathetic! The problem being, as with everything in my life, there’s just tooooo many things (or “other books”) I am interested in so I have to spread the GR love around… Anyway, as to Proust, Marcel is soooo neurotic and really isn’t that why these books became such classics? Because he’s the worst things about yourself that you would never tell anyone about? Unless you’re completely narcissistic and have an entire web site devoted to detailing your idiosyncracies…. Oh, hmmm, wait a second…. (Hahahahaha)

Watching: Friday Night Lights. And obsessively so. Watching it when it’s on (on Wednesdays), at random times throughout the week on the DVR in the living room, on the TiVO in the bedroom, on NBC.com, on my iPod…. Whenever, wherever. (Again, pathetic.) Also rewatching Tristan & Isolde, which is NOT a good movie, but James Franco is all sullen and miserable and HOT in it so there you go. Btw, my dad says “Blood Diamond” is really good so I may have to suck it up and go see it, even though it wasn’t really on my list… As of now, that’s my movie plan for the week. At the sweatshop this weekend, Jackie and I rewatched some old Party of Five…only to see Milton! from OfficeSpace! playing Bailey’s football coach. How nuts is that!!! (Also (re)watched Almost Famous, Singles, Garden State, last week’s OC, this week’s Brothers & Sisters, and a few episodes of Sex&theCity.)

Listening: The new Fallout Boy “Infinity on High” , which I really like. Also two albums by The Essex Green (“Cannibal Sea” and “The Long Goodbye”) that I picked up at the concert. And still listening to everything I bought in January….

Fiction: “The Eternal Footman” by James Morrow

Posted on by

The third in the trilogy of God’s demise that I have told you about several times now.

Not as funny as the previous two / a lot more doom&gloom (appropriately so). Darker, nastier, but more hopeful, in the end? Tough call. Black and sarcastic. And while not as funny as the first two, still pretty damn funny.

Morrow’s a genius. And there are still more books of his to read, oh happy day. And here’s an interview just chockful of information.

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

Posted on by

Does it seem like all I am doing these days is listening to CDs? Well, that’s mostly true… BUT, I am also…

Making: About to sew the binding on to the first Strippers quilt! WOOOOOOOT! (Sleeping under it anyway without the binding on. Hello!) And randomly trying to reacquaint myself with knitting via the half finished Ribovili. Doh.

Reading: “The Eternal Footman” by James Morrow, the third in the trilogy of God’s demise that I have told you about several times now. Sooooooo funny.

Watching: Do I watch anything other than Friday Night Lights (new – and sooooo good) and Everwood (old, two episodes away from finishing the zillioneth rewatch of season 1)? Well, I do, but none of it delights me as much…

Just watched the pilot of Dirt though and I think it’s pretty good. DARK, but good.

Listening: In addition to a bunch of stuff from people’s 2006 top 10 lists, I’m listening to a bunch of Brits: Long Blondes, Paolo Nutini, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (Best Name EVER! and bonus, I LOVE the album!!), as well as the new Shins.