Jonathan Franzen, You're Pretty Awesome

Jonathan Franzen, the author who was recently featured on the cover of Time Magazine (the first living authors since Stephen King in 2000) and dubbed "Great American Novelist" has released an author video, in which he discusses author videos. Take a look:

Washington Square by Henry James

I really like Henry James. In Washington Square we are introduced to Catherine Sloper, an average girl with average looks who is quite close to her father. Her mother had died when Catherine was small, leaving her to live with her father and her father's sister, the widow Mrs. Penniman. Catherine has inherited her mother's estate and will inherit her fathers upon his death or her marriage, whichever comes first.

Enter Morris Townsend; a young man who has spent all of his fortune on travel and frivolities and now lives with his widowed sister. Of course he is immediately drawn to Catherine when they meet at a party and, like Catherine's father, we are lead to believe he is only interested in Catherine's wealth .

The majority of the novel takes place in Manhattan's Washington Square, where Catherine and her father, Dr. Sloper, live. There is something to be said about this old New York; something romantic and exciting. "I know not whether it is owing to the tenderness of early associations, but this portion of New York appears to many persons the most delectable."

Of course Catherine's father despises Morris and forbids Catherine to marry him, threatening to disinherit her from his fortune. Thus Catherine is left with the timeless dilemma of choosing between her family and true love.

What I liked best about this novel was that James lets the reader decide the intentions of Morris Townsend. We are never given a true glipse into his underlying purpose and must decide for ourselves whether he is truely in love with Catherine or if he is just in it for the money. Dr. Sloper does not think very highly of his daughter and can't understand how she would attract such a handsome man, leading him to decide Townsend's intentions must be callous. The doctor tells Townsend, "My dear young man, you must be very susceptible. As Catherine's father I have, I trust, a just and tender appreciation of her many good qualities; but I don't mind telling you that I have never thought of her as a charming girl, and never expected any one else to do so."

As I mentioned earlier we aren't ever told whether or not Townsend truly loves Catherine or if he is a mercenary. But perhaps the readers confusion is a reflection of the character's confusion. Maybe Townsend himself isn't even sure of his intentions, leading to his ambivalent nature. I really loved this book and looking back, I'm not even sure why. I think Henry James is a genious, as he was able to make me somewhat ambivalent toward the story but all the same completely engrossed in it, much like Townsend himself. James is a terrific writer down to the very last word and I look forward to reading more of his works.

Publisher: Harper & Brothers, 1881

I Love Half Price Books

A new Half Price Books opened near my house and I love it. Well, they actually relocated across the street but had a Grand Opening for their new location.

The goods:

The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingstong

The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank

The Book of Illusions - Paul Auster

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

To Mrs. Penniman

Reading now: Washington Square by Henry James

Dear Mrs. Penniman,

Please stop trying to convince Catherine to marry Morris Townsend. He is clearly just in it for the money. His own sister even said so. Your stupidity is really starting to bother me. I'm not sure why Dr. Sloper even lets you live in his house. You're messing everything up.

Love,
Brenna

Driving With Dead People: A Memoir by Monica Holloway

I didn't love this book, but I was very much intrigued. 

To start, there are only a few instances when Monica is actually driving with dead people. I'm not sure it's an accurate title for the book, but it is creative and caught my eye, which is why I picked it up.

Driving With Dead people is the memoir of Monica Holloway, a girl from small town Ohio with an extremely dysfunctional family. It only gets worse as her life goes on. As a girl, Monica develops a fascination with dead people after she befriends the daughter of a mortician. She spends her childhood lying in coffins and playing in cemeteries. While this all sounds very dark and sinister, Holloway writes it in a way that is captivating and often hilarious. For instance, after a local girl is killed who is Monica's age, she becomes obsessed with the idea of going to the girls funeral but doesn't know how she will get there. She decides her Granda is a good candidate:

"Granda was my mothers mother, but the opposite of my mom in every way. Granda was a realist, and that's how she needed to be approached. She could be very sentimental and loving, but she'd also killed her own cat. He bothered her. She had a bad hip and she'd gotten tired of getting up and down out of her chair to let him in and out of the aluminum door of  her trailer. So she'd locked him in her freestanding garage that the pole barn company had built for her right beside her trailer; she'd lured him in with a raw hot dog, closed the door, and left the Buick running for three hours. I felt she could be persuaded to attend a funeral"

The first half of the novel is much more light-hearted than the second half. By the time I got to the ladder half of the book I was holding back tears. Things get pretty intense with scenes of child molestation, rape, domestic abuse and suicide. If you think you're life is rough, read this book. I'm sure afterward you will consider yourself blessed. 

There is also an interesting scene near the end of the book when Monica returns home and visits her friend whose family owns the mortuary. Monica watches as a new body is brought in and is prepped for the funeral:

"He looked too young to be dead, but he definitely looked dead.  His skin was a yellowish bruised color, his eyes were shut but sunken, and his fingernails were blue... She took a scalpel and help it up for me to see. I have her the thumbs-up and she cut a small incision in the man's shoulder near his collarbone and used a small metal hook to pull up an artery and a vein. The hose in the artery was attached to the embalming machine. When Liz switched the machine on, embalming fluid gurgled and pumped into the artery, forcing blood he would never need again to drain out of his veins. The reddish maroon liquid emptied into a canal along the edge of the embalming table, and then swirled into a drain below. Within a few minutes his skin took on a peach-colored hue and his blue fingernails turned pink. It was magical and unsettling."

Driving With Dead People is about learning to deal with the pit falls of life and creating happiness for yourself. It's about finding strength and reliance in a world of chaos. It's an impressing and empowering story, in which Monica Holloway asserts herself as the calvary in her own life. She is truly an inspiration.

It's most definitely a page turner, perplexing and discomforting at the same time.

Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 2007

LitGeek

A few days ago I was driving, happily listening to LCD Soundsystem, going a steady 75 mph when a SUV passed me with the coolest license plate I have ever seen. It read: LITGEEK.

Of course I was in the car alone and couldn't share my enthusiasm with anyone so I tried to snap a quick picture. Needless to say LitGeek had a lead foot and I didn't feel comfortable when I saw the speedometer approaching 95 so I backed off. This is what I was left with:

I did my best, however I figured I would for sure get a ticket if I told the cop "I was speeding because I needed to get a picture of that guys license plate for my blog!" 

So, LitGeek, if you're reading this, are you free next weekend?  

I Am The Cavalry

Reading now: Driving With Dead People: A Memoir by Monica Holloway

"Knowing there is no cavalry is much better than hoping for a cavalry that never comes. I am strong because I have to be. I am the cavalry."

This is a dark and twisted memoir of a morbid girl from small-town Ohio with a very dysfunctional family. Despite the bleak subject matter, so far the book is quite interesting and terribly funny.

I'm Excited About Books Because...

“Because books are still the most valuable commodities we have. Because books can transport you to a different world, or change your own perception of the one you live in. Because the notion of ‘getting lost in a good book’ transcends time, generation, and even the page itself.”

-Jason Pinter, author and literary agent, via Guy LeCharles Gonzalez "Why Books? 9 Reasons To Be Optimistic"