Book report
Dec. 4th, 2013 11:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormkeeper_lovedorisHere’s a book report. Being on a cruise means I have a lot of time to read. I am going to log into the internet to post this, but forgive me – because internet access here is so pricey, I haven’t read anyone’s LJ entries since Saturday. I do always say when I am out though: please feel free to comment with links to post of yours that you’d like me to read, and I will eagerly do so when I am home!
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan – In this memoir, the author tells us of her struggle with a mysterious illness. She was leading a ‘normal’, productive life when all of a sudden she starts acting mentally ill. Due to the failings of the medical system, she nearly misses a lifesaving diagnosis. Definitely a page-turner. If I am ever unlucky enough to see someone I love in this position, I need to be sure that I am as relentless as Cahalan’s family was in getting the right diagnosis for them; some medical personnel just wanted to give up and institutionalize her. Now she is totally back to normal, thanks to the persistence of her parents and boyfriend. Grade: B
Vagina: A New Biography by Naomi Wolf – I think that maybe Naomi Wolf is a lot like Dan Savage; there’s plenty to disagree upon with the ideas in her books but she does have some flashes of insight. So this book, as you may guess, is all about vaginas and women’s sexual contentment. Wolf takes us through some biology, some history, some literary references, tantric sex, and much more. Her section on porn was very well done; she provided a lot of evidence on how it harms both men’s and women’s sexuality. (I’m not judging anyone for using porn and have used a ton of it during my lifetime, just FYI). Her repeated use of the term “violent rape” (as opposed to….what, nice and romantic rape?) is really problematic and I hate how she creates a dichotomy between “clitoral orgasms” versus “vaginal orgasms” or the never-really-explained “combination orgasms” – I’m in the camp of most researchers that an orgasm is an orgasm is an orgasm, and all orgasms are clitorally-based to some extent since the clit actually covers a lot more space than most people think. I guess I just really dislike her assertion that one way of having orgasms – her way, of course – is better than others. Also, Wolf’s book is focused on heterosexual women only, but that aspect didn’t bother me that much since she defines it from the get-go and indicates that she doesn’t have the bandwidth (or, presumably, the interest) to cover lesbian and bi women. I guess the book is worth a read though; I don’t have to agree with everything an author says in order to gain some wisdom from her. I should try tantric sex one of these days if Doris wants to. Grade: B
More books behind the cut!
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker – Wow! This was an amazing page-turner of a novel. The young protagonist and her family awake to learn, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights get longer, gravity is impacted, and the environment starts to dwindle into chaos. The prose is beautiful and it’s just an emotionally compelling, fantastic story. It feels like a long time since I gave a novel a grade of A, but this one deserves it. Also, it reminds me thematically of one of my all-time favorite novels, “Into the Forrest” by Jean Hegland. Grade: A
Willpower’s Not Enough: Recovering from Addictions of Every Kind by Arnold Washton and Donna Boundy – I could write a few pages on this book, but I won’t. I’ll just say that it amazes me how long I’ve been in denial about being an addict. Other people were addicts, not me; I was never addicted to drugs, alcohol, porn, gambling, or anything like that so I wasn’t “one of them”. But I’ve come around to seeing my love for “fandom” as an addiction itself, not unlike shopping or gambling. This book was published in 1989 but I found it very relevant today and it is inclusive of people struggling with a broad range of addictions (though obviously it doesn’t cover internet addiction, given the date it was published. I wonder if a similar book published today might cover fandom addiction?) I learned from the book that I really need to change my mindset and world view. It won’t be easy but I look forward to working through the steps in this program. Grade: B+
Give Me Everything You Have on Being Stalked by James Lasdun – This is the author’s account of being stalked by a former student. It lL starts out innocently enough as Lasdun describes it: after the class concluded, they exchanged a few emails, and he offered to put her in touch with his agent to review her work-in-progress novel. At some point, the former student starts actubg crazy and begins to stalk him – mostly by sending him dozens of harassing emails each day and undertaking a smear campaign of his name (via a number of different websites and by contacting his employers). What a terrifying situation – to have someone you barely know decide to out and out ruin you. Lasdun covers his experience with trying to get the law to come to his aid, but his book suffers because of the inexplicable detours he takes. He goes off on long tangents about train trips, his father’s architecture career, his visit to Israel. They are related to the main point of the book; he does weave them in but in my eyes they really detract from the urgency of the storyline. I’d have given the book a grade of B if it weren’t for all the tangents. Grade: C+
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahara Delijani – I’ve not exactly had a banner year in terms of being able to stay focused on things, for lack of a better way of putting it. I listened to this novel on audio. It takes place in Iran from the 1980’s till current times, and it weaves together stories of interrelated characters, many of whom have been imprisoned in harsh conditions for offenses such as signing a petition. Right away I admired the author’s writing skills and her ability to use metaphor and create characters. Due to a variety of reasons, probably none of them the fault of this book, I just couldn’t stay focused on the novel. I’d pop in a music CD during my commute and not want to put this book back in.
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan – In this memoir, the author tells us of her struggle with a mysterious illness. She was leading a ‘normal’, productive life when all of a sudden she starts acting mentally ill. Due to the failings of the medical system, she nearly misses a lifesaving diagnosis. Definitely a page-turner. If I am ever unlucky enough to see someone I love in this position, I need to be sure that I am as relentless as Cahalan’s family was in getting the right diagnosis for them; some medical personnel just wanted to give up and institutionalize her. Now she is totally back to normal, thanks to the persistence of her parents and boyfriend. Grade: B
Vagina: A New Biography by Naomi Wolf – I think that maybe Naomi Wolf is a lot like Dan Savage; there’s plenty to disagree upon with the ideas in her books but she does have some flashes of insight. So this book, as you may guess, is all about vaginas and women’s sexual contentment. Wolf takes us through some biology, some history, some literary references, tantric sex, and much more. Her section on porn was very well done; she provided a lot of evidence on how it harms both men’s and women’s sexuality. (I’m not judging anyone for using porn and have used a ton of it during my lifetime, just FYI). Her repeated use of the term “violent rape” (as opposed to….what, nice and romantic rape?) is really problematic and I hate how she creates a dichotomy between “clitoral orgasms” versus “vaginal orgasms” or the never-really-explained “combination orgasms” – I’m in the camp of most researchers that an orgasm is an orgasm is an orgasm, and all orgasms are clitorally-based to some extent since the clit actually covers a lot more space than most people think. I guess I just really dislike her assertion that one way of having orgasms – her way, of course – is better than others. Also, Wolf’s book is focused on heterosexual women only, but that aspect didn’t bother me that much since she defines it from the get-go and indicates that she doesn’t have the bandwidth (or, presumably, the interest) to cover lesbian and bi women. I guess the book is worth a read though; I don’t have to agree with everything an author says in order to gain some wisdom from her. I should try tantric sex one of these days if Doris wants to. Grade: B
More books behind the cut!
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker – Wow! This was an amazing page-turner of a novel. The young protagonist and her family awake to learn, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights get longer, gravity is impacted, and the environment starts to dwindle into chaos. The prose is beautiful and it’s just an emotionally compelling, fantastic story. It feels like a long time since I gave a novel a grade of A, but this one deserves it. Also, it reminds me thematically of one of my all-time favorite novels, “Into the Forrest” by Jean Hegland. Grade: A
Willpower’s Not Enough: Recovering from Addictions of Every Kind by Arnold Washton and Donna Boundy – I could write a few pages on this book, but I won’t. I’ll just say that it amazes me how long I’ve been in denial about being an addict. Other people were addicts, not me; I was never addicted to drugs, alcohol, porn, gambling, or anything like that so I wasn’t “one of them”. But I’ve come around to seeing my love for “fandom” as an addiction itself, not unlike shopping or gambling. This book was published in 1989 but I found it very relevant today and it is inclusive of people struggling with a broad range of addictions (though obviously it doesn’t cover internet addiction, given the date it was published. I wonder if a similar book published today might cover fandom addiction?) I learned from the book that I really need to change my mindset and world view. It won’t be easy but I look forward to working through the steps in this program. Grade: B+
Give Me Everything You Have on Being Stalked by James Lasdun – This is the author’s account of being stalked by a former student. It lL starts out innocently enough as Lasdun describes it: after the class concluded, they exchanged a few emails, and he offered to put her in touch with his agent to review her work-in-progress novel. At some point, the former student starts actubg crazy and begins to stalk him – mostly by sending him dozens of harassing emails each day and undertaking a smear campaign of his name (via a number of different websites and by contacting his employers). What a terrifying situation – to have someone you barely know decide to out and out ruin you. Lasdun covers his experience with trying to get the law to come to his aid, but his book suffers because of the inexplicable detours he takes. He goes off on long tangents about train trips, his father’s architecture career, his visit to Israel. They are related to the main point of the book; he does weave them in but in my eyes they really detract from the urgency of the storyline. I’d have given the book a grade of B if it weren’t for all the tangents. Grade: C+
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahara Delijani – I’ve not exactly had a banner year in terms of being able to stay focused on things, for lack of a better way of putting it. I listened to this novel on audio. It takes place in Iran from the 1980’s till current times, and it weaves together stories of interrelated characters, many of whom have been imprisoned in harsh conditions for offenses such as signing a petition. Right away I admired the author’s writing skills and her ability to use metaphor and create characters. Due to a variety of reasons, probably none of them the fault of this book, I just couldn’t stay focused on the novel. I’d pop in a music CD during my commute and not want to put this book back in.
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no subject
Date: 2013-12-04 06:09 pm (UTC)(Yikes--I didn't realize you'd be paying for WiFi out there--I keep forgetting the Internet isn't free in all public places.)
My mom wants to read Brain on Fire--it sounds really interesting. What was actually wrong with her, or would that spoil the story?
Meh, I reckon The Vagina Monologues is probably more inclusive in terms of the different types of women and the different types of arousal and the different ways we react to things. I tend to take a, "Nuh-uh!" approach to anyone telling me there's only One Way to do . . . just about anything really.
As far as addiction goes--sounds like you're committed to turning your priorities around. That's a good thing. I have many fandoms myself, and it hurts when they dissolve unexpectedly, but they don't rule my life that much? If that makes sense? I am still interested in someone doing a study about whether there's a physiological predisposition towards Fandom Squee and what the effects are. It would change a *lot* of world views, I'm sure. There's a Strong Bad video (can't remember which one, they start to blur after a while, and I haven't looked at them in ages) where he says: "Too much of a good thing is an awesome thing, but too much of an awesome thing is . . . really, really dumb . . . and . . . bad." It doesn't make any more sense in context, trust me.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-04 10:21 pm (UTC)In Brain on Fire, what it was (I don't believe it spoils the book to know this) was a virus was literally attacking her brain.
I think that if your fandom doesn't rule your life, then you are fine. Then it's just a hobby you love a lot. Me, I let it rule me for 10 months. I went overboard. That quote you have above is perfect!
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 04:12 pm (UTC)Take care of yourself, and keep enjoying the cruise--sounds like you've had a couple really cool heart-to-hearts out there! :)
no subject
Date: 2013-12-04 06:30 pm (UTC)I might add Willpower’s Not Enough book to my lists. It sounds interesting.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-04 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-07 12:04 pm (UTC)Well, if fandom counts? But I'm interested in the subject in general, too.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 12:55 am (UTC)I laughed at your comment about rape. I mean seriously, 'violent rape'. You don't say.....this culture is so very strange in it's ideas about sex and rape. I'm disgusted about the 20 Shades of Gray movie that is coming out. I've heard some very, very bad things about the book and it's portrayal of BDSM and consent. Sounds like this Ms. Wolf read too much Freud with her talk about vaginal and clitoral orgasms...
Age of Miracles sounds very interesting. I'm going to have to look for that one.
Maybe I should look into this Willpower book, too. *sigh*
I'm thrilled that you finished it despite the tangents! (Tangents are the reason I never finished Silas Marner(sp?)...I kept trying to read it and it was so dull and tangent laced that I kept getting lost and having to start over. I think I spent about an hour reading the first couple pages over and over again.) This sounds like a terrifying experience. Wow.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 03:55 am (UTC)For the Willpower book, if and when you're ready to work through it, I think it will be a good help. I will keep LJ posted on my progress when I start.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 02:02 am (UTC)I am with you on the use of the term "violent rape," FWIW. I feel like it's always used the same way "gray rape" was used this past year - to try to minimize the impact/effects/criminal nature of any sexual assault where the victim isn't attacked in a dark alley. It seems to come up in cases like Steubenville a lot, ie, "well, it wasn't a VIOLENT rape, they just took advantage of a drunk girl..." It's pretty disappointing that someone like Wolf who is supposed to be sex-positive/female-positive would use that term.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-05 08:29 pm (UTC)brain on fire sounds really interesting (and scary). the human body is resilient but fragile. i see it at work every day.
re: orgasms - while i am totally on board when it comes to trying something new to get off, i totally 100% agree that it's ridiculous and closed-minded to say x is the best/only way to do just about anything in relation to orgasms. i've had people tell me before that it's not physically possible that i am getting off from penetration - that if i'm having intercourse, it must be that his hips are stimulating my clit externally and that's what's actually getting me off. i guess i just can't understand the concept behind 'this is true for me, therefore it must be true for everyone else who also has a vagina'
Age of Miracles is next on my to-listen list :) i'm looking forward to it.
i'm interested in hearing more about the addiction book. maybe you can tell me more about it on the 15th?
with the book you couldn't finish... do you think it was possible it was the person doing the reading? one thing i noticed about the sedarises is that i love to listen to david sedaris reading his material but i don't enjoy reading it myself. with amy sedaris, it's the opposite - i don't enjoy listening to her but i do enjoy reading her stuff myself.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-08 01:29 am (UTC)I'll definitely share on the addictions book. I will likely use LJ to write up about my progress through it,
I swear the narrator had nothing to do with my dislike of that novel.