Book 9: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Title: Persuasion
Author: Jane Austen
Length: 188 pages
Year Written: 1818
Why I chose this book: 'Persuasion' was a favorite of the protagonist in Chuck Palahniuk's books Damned and Doomed, which I read (and loved).

I "read" 'Pride and Prejudice' during my junior year of high school. I couldn't remember if I actually tried to read it and couldn't, or if I was just being a lazy asshole. When I was reminded of Jane Austen while reading another book recently (where the 13-year-old dead girl Maddy Spencer adores 'Persuasion'), I added it to my reading queue. What a mistake. I must still be an asshole, because I oh-so-barely enjoyed this novel. Even at under 200 pages, it took me a while to finish - and not for lack of trying. The language is difficult, but not the oldest writing style I've encountered this far in my bookventures. The plot is very slow, very dry, and very detailed about mundane minutiae. I actually had to look up why this book, and Austen herself, is considered so great. I know the issue lies with me, and not the book itself. I've got to pay respect. It just wasn't for me in the least bit.

I did, however, find a great review that explains what it is this book does so well, that everyone else in the world besides me seems to love: http://www.bookdrum.com/books/persuasion/9780141439686/review.html

It's a love story, like so many books are, and I can't say the end was surprising or very satisfying at all. It ends happily, but didn't make me happy. Maybe I've got to wait another eight years to take a stab at Austen appreciation.

Rating: 2/10

Book 8: This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

Title: This Is How You Lose Her
Author: Junot Diaz
Length: 217 pages
Year Written: 2012
Why I chose this book: This was a birthday gift from another of my book club ladies, Bess (this actually rounds out the birthday-given book collection)!

This was the perfect book to make up for the sluggish pace with which I read the last one. I finished this one in two to three sittings, max. The language is so engaging, so easy to ingest. I'm also glad to have read a second book by Junot Diaz—it's always great to read multiple books by the same author. There tend to be themes that reappear throughout an author's collection of works. Diaz is certainly no exception.

Much like The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the main characters are Dominican. There is again a Yunior (who some say is a novelized representation of the author himself that he uses in more than one book). There is again a weaving of narratives that portray doomed relationships, family strain, and sexual escapades. This book, written five years after Wao, is more bare-bones, more focused on smaller-scale stories that still mightily represent the human experience. The book's central theme is infidelity, and we see both how a string of relationship fuck-ups dented the main character's life, and how it seems like it was in his blood for him to fuck up as horribly and frequently as he did.

There is something we can all relate to in this book, whether it is trudging through difficult post-infidelity reconciliations, or reminiscing on the struggles of a trying childhood. Lots of people told me I'd love this book, and I'm glad to say that's absolutely the truth.

Rating: 9.5/10

Book 7: The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe

Title: The Romance of the Forest 

Author: Ann Radcliffe 

Length: 363 pages 

Year Written: 1791 

Why I chose this book: This was a birthday gift from my friend Marianna, who read this book for a gothic literature class in school. 

Wow. It's day 70 of 2014 and three weeks since I last finished a book. That definitely throws me off track, but with good reason! This book was incredibly hard to read, especially coming off of a series of rather contemporary novels. The language in this book is certainly indicative of its time, which also involves haunting abbeys and escapes by horseback. 

Important to note is that I probably never would have chosen to read this book on my own. That is the good thing about books as gifts—you are urged to explore pages that might otherwise have been forever unknown to you. The heroine of this book is named Adeline, and for a while, boy does it seem like she has the worst life ever. She is handed off to strangers by her father, who then turn around and hand her off to more strangers who are on the run from the law. She falls in love with a dude that works for a king-type of guy, and after a scuffle, he ends up injuring the head honcho and is sentenced to death. That same head honcho is relentlessly in pursuit of Adeline, who has not a penny or friend to her name. She adamantly refuses, and although the story becomes somewhat convoluted with names and flashbacks, there is a happy ending. 

This book (much like other historically based movies I've seen recently) made me think about lifestyles before technological conveniences. These were days of "meet me at sunset" scrawled on wrinkled papyrus, far before "come outside" popping up as a blue iMessage bubble. There are also strong themes of power vs. helplessness, as we see with Adeline's plight (and lack of control for her own circumstances) and the Marquis de Montalt (her pursuer) being near tyrannical with his position of authority. 

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to anyone, unless gothic literature was already their thing. I certainly wouldn't recommend it for someone on a tight reading schedule. But, if you've got the time and the willpower, this is a pretty unique book to add to one's reading repertoire. 

Rating: 8.1/10

Book 6: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo

Title: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
Author: Xiaolu Guo
Length: 354 pages
Year Written: 2007
Why I chose this book: This was a birthday gift from my friend Yohana, who fittingly just got back from a semester abroad in London.

This book is about a young 20-something Chinese woman who goes to study in London, completely unaccustomed to English attitudes and customs. She speaks very poor English at first, and whole book she write like this. However, through studying her translative dictionary and spending time with her newfound lover who is white and almost twice her age, she strengthens her command of the English language rapidly as the novel progresses.

The woman, who is usually referred to simply as 'Z' (because no one she encounters can pronounce her real Chinese name), quickly becomes enraptured by the lover she has only known for a few weeks, even moving in with him. He eventually encourages her to travel by herself through Europe, where lots of strange and lonely things happen. The most interesting aspect of the book, for me, was imagining myself as Z: traveling foreign lands, meeting various communication barriers, longing for something that doesn't quite come to the anticipated conclusion. The book made me think about the masses of people throughout history, my mother included, who came to a new land and felt their way blindly through. I imagine it to have a potential depth of loneliness that I've not yet experienced in my life, and coming to find a oasis of intimacy in a strange country is probably very important, as Z so poignantly demonstrates.

This book reminds me of Flowers for Algernon or even Push in its diary-like, first-person format complete with the colloquial language of the narrator. It is a sad, beautiful book that stirs up many thoughts of human nature and loneliness.

Rating: 8.8/10

Book 5: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Title: Things Fall Apart
Author: Chinua Achebe
Length: 209 pages
Year Written: 1959
Why I chose this book: This was the latest selection for my awesome book club! Thanks, Kiara!

I have always meant to read this book. Most people were required to read it at some point, but somehow I evaded that assignment in my life. Last year, when Chinua Achebe died, I added Things Fall Apart to my to-read list. Luckily, it seemed the majority of my book club had not read it either, and wanted to.

This book is written like a long Aesop's fable, from the POV of some storyteller that is privy to many personal details—though not all of them. The book follows Okonkwo, his three wives, their children, and their journey from well-respected to completely disjointed. It isn't hard to learn who Okonkwo is as a man. He is strong-willed and often violent. He makes it clear that men fight, and women talk. My favorite line from Okonkwo (that nicely sums up his general demeanor)—"If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head. That is what a man does."

Things Fall Apart raises questions about colonization, cultural and family values, and religion. In the end, things really fell apart for Okonkwo and his family. I'm not exactly sure, however, of who we can reasonably blame for the fall.

Rating: 9.2/10

Book 4: Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk

Title: Doomed

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Length: 329 pages

Year Written: 2013

Why I chose this book: This was part two to Damned, which I read last year (and loved), and my friend Kiara got me this book for Christmas.

It's the last day of January, and I've just wrapped up my fourth book. Not too bad.

Let me first say that Chuck Palahniuk is one of my very favorite authors. I can't summon suitable adjectives for the way he tells the grossest, most outlandish stories with style and poise. I'd recently visited Palahniuk's website, and found out he doesn't accept fan correspondence except for during a few predetermined timeframes. Well played, Palahniuk. Way to stay in the zone. I thank you for that.

Doomed is the sequel to Damned, a story about a 13-year-old girl named Madison Spencer, born to celebrity parents (think a far more obnoxious Brad and Angelina) and killed in a sex game gone awry. She is sent to hell, where the terrain is rough (think mountains of toenail clippings and lakes of hot urine) and her neighbors are tougher (hi Hitler). Doomed follows Madison's journey as a ghost stuck on earth, after being caught on the wrong side of afterlife on Halloween night. There are far too many memorable scenes to recount gracefully, but just know that Palahniuk is never lacking in his descriptive force.

I can't imagine anyone other than Palahniuk writing about a truck stop gloryhole incident turned penile dismemberment via one thick Charles Darwin book. If it sounds crazy, it's because it is, but I couldn't imagine it any other way. There will be a book three, as I found out on Doomed's last page, and I can't wait for it.

Rating: 9/10

Book 3: Orange Is The New Black by Piper Kerman

Title: Orange Is The New Black
Author: Piper Kerman
Length: 327 pages
Year Written: 2011
Why I chose this book: This was a Christmas gift from my sister, and since I loved the television series, I figured it would be interesting to read the book on which it was based.

I finished this book, like, three days ago. I haven't read much since then. This challenge is so hard because it can so easily go ignored. Thankfully, my book club had a meeting tonight and it really got me in the mood to stop slacking. Technically, I'm ahead of schedule for these 50 books, but as I know so very well, that can all change with a few lazy days of choosing Netflix over paperbacks.

Speaking of Netflix, chugging through season one of Orange Is The New Black is a great activity if you have a few days off. Reading the book, however, is not so entertaining.

OITNB was my first stab in a while at reading non-fiction for pleasure. Piper Kerman (who TV's Piper Chapman is modeled after) does a great job at exposing how little incarceration does to prepare petty criminals (or even seasoned murderers) for functional, productive life in the real world. The conditions of jail time can cause irreversible psychological damage—but luckily for Piper, she had a great network of family and friends to provide resources like money, a job, and moral support. Piper describes the women imprisoned alongside her who were not so lucky—those that had no home to return to, no job skills to tout, no formal education to rely on. The truth is that although this was an easy, almost conversational read, it was pretty boring. I was actually pretty disappointed when I learned just how much of the show was fabricated or very, very exaggerated. Piper does not cheat on Larry with Laura from That 70's Show. Laura wasn't even in the same jail! Well, there's more to it, but I guess you could read it if you really want to know.

At best, Kerman makes a solid argument for prison reform, but at worst, she wrote a book that was entirely eclipsed by a subsequent television rendition.

Rating: 6/10