Book 100 v.II

[novin_ha]

C - compulsory for Post-colonial proseminar
M - compulsory for or related to Masculinity proseminar
A - compulsory for American Literature class


January:

1) Possession: A Romance - A.S. Byatt - rocked my socks. The poetry! The prose! The cool subplots, the subtext and the text, and above all, the minor characters.

2) A Long Way Home by Joss Whedon - I really liked this first installment in Buffy season 8. A re-read. Because I wanted meta.

3) The Scarlett Letter A by Nathaniel Hawthorne - I admit that I'd expected to have liked it less. The book was actually not just interesting, symbolic and weird, it was also somewhat readable, once I'd got past the "Custom House" part. I hated the ending, though - I would have expected to come full circle and have the town burn or otherwise kill the protagonist. Alas, no such luck.


February:

4) Making Money by Terry Pratchett - it's Pratchett, therefore it must be good. Not my favourite set of characters by far, despite Vetinari's appearances, but a very good read, and reminded me of why I love Terry. Because he's just that cool.

5) Pan Lodowego Ogrodu by Jarosław Grzędowicz - very decent action and plot, good style. Very bad characterisation of female characters, who are all limited to being very old or sexual interests of the writer protagonists.

6) Pan Lodowego Ogrodu, volume 2 by Jarosław Grzędowicz - ditto, except that now both protagonists have had a three or foursome with multiple women in it. Mister Grzędowicz, your sex fantasies are something I'm comfortable being ignorant about. Other than being furious about a lame female character, I enjoyed the book, though.

7) Marabou Stork Nightmares M by Irvine Welsh - as I suspected, turned out to be included in the syllabus for my masculinity course. I loved the book - it was painful in its description of pathology, of a social situation that breeds sexual violence, and violence in general, incest and child abuse. There are no easy fixes, victims may become perpetrators themselves, but it isn't all that simple. The three storylines fit together perfectly, and the novel in general rocked. Even if it left me with the urge to use words like "slag" and "daft".

8) Billy Budd, Sailor A by Melville - I didn't like reading it, I admit. The homoeroticism was over the top, the text was heavy and there were no copies at the library so I had to read it on screen, which was painful. But I can appreciate it, and talking about it in class was great.



March:

9) Bring It Back Home M - by Niall Griffiths - mildly entertaining if simple, this was so far the least interesting of all his stories I have read. It had its moments, but felt somewhat cheap, as though he was writing it with only half his mind to it. It sure could be worse, but is that supposed to encourage me? I'm still curious about some of his other novels, though. Sheepshagger or what was it called especially, because I loved Kelly + Victor.

10) Elementals - some of Byatt's short stories made quite an impression on me. This is especially true of "Cold" and "Jael". Not one of them is quiet and pleasant - there's always some disquiet about them. Disturbing and unstable storylines, while the writing remains precise and clear. I liked them quite a lot.

11) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn A by Mark Twain - unlike many, I did not read this as a child, so I had a fresh attitude, sort of. I did not really enjoy it all that much. The book was quite readable, but it felt didactic, and the humour did not convince me all that much. Overall, I'd much rather have spent that time reading about something that is not adolescent boys.

12) Heart of Darkness C by Joseph Conrad - I enjoyed it greatly. It was a re-read, but for the first time in English - the text seems far more racist when read in original, for some reason. But I love the atmosphere, the denseness and darkness, and oppressiveness.

13) Contemporary Women's Short Stories edited by Susan Hill - as usual, when it comes to anthologies some of the stories are brilliant, and some just plain boring. I loved Redhead and hated Nadine Gordimer's text, which had a predictable and cheap ending. Angela Carter and Daphne Du Maurier did not fail to deliver what they promised. It was quite an interesting read, but I've read better collections.

14) Away by Jane Urquhart C - started off as a somewhat interesting story, soared around the middle and ended on a less gripping note. I couldn't care less for the contemporary subplot, but the Great Famine and all the stories pertaining to it was quite involving. A bit too metaphysical for my taste (I'd have preferred for it to go either way, more poetic or more prosaic instead of the mixture) it was nevertheless quite a digestable novel.

15) Psychology of Joss Whedon - I can't say I agreed or enjoyed all of the essays, but those that I did, I did immensely. The one showing Buffy/Spike storyline as a metaphor for narcisstic disorder was particularly striking (perhaps because it was the closest to what I do in my own studies ;) and the only complaint I have would be the lack of essays devoted to my TV boyfriend.

16) Angel: After the Fall 1-5 - YAY! I disliked the series after the second issue, but it got steadily better. The pencils and colouring still annoy me, but the storyline and the voices are spot-on. Some characters' appearances gave me a lot of joy (one of them came on a dark horse ;) and frankly, the cliffhanger really has me on the edge of my seat. Can't wait for more!

17) Contemporary Fiction ed. by Jago Morriffon - a collection of essays that certainly gave me pause. There was a lot of interesting info in it, and it convinced me that I need to read some more.

18) Smoke and Mirrors Neil Gaiman - I love him utterly and completely. "Changes" was a great short story, his poems are readable, and his images do stay with me. I read it on the train for the most part, and it almost managed to make me miss my stop.

19) Gut Symmetries Jeannette Winterson - a re-reading, actually. This is without a doubt my favourite Winterson. The imagery, the poetry, the triangle. It might not be her best novel, but it reads so beautifully. And the many cultures it refers to - ♥!

20) Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe C - I was expecting something different from what I read on the cover, but I was not disappointed. The story was interesting, the culture - fascinating, the message appreciated and the style very readable. I'm looking forward to discussing it.

21) The Awakening Kate Chopin A - I really disliked it, I admit. There was such promise in the beginning, but the heroine annoyed me, and didn't really make the impression of a great rebel against the evils of patriarchy. Her relationship with the young man she falls in love with was unconvincing, and much as I admire Chopin's ability to foreshadow, this was a bit empty.

April

22) Henry James's short stories A - I loved "The Lesson of the Master", disliked "Daisy Miller" and wish I could discuss them in more length.

23) Sandman #1-#4 by Neil Gaiman - upon re-reading I am strongly reminded how much better Sandman gets with time. These first issues have a promise of good stuff and some amazing storylines (Morning Star, Kane and Able) but for the most part, I just can't be bothered. I can't wait to get to the better ones that come later.

24) The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane - as girlupnorth said, the hero is a unique snowflake, and then he becomes a man. The less said, the better. I only read 2/3 of it anyway, because it was a bad read. My apologies, American Literature.

25) Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys C, re-reading. I think I even enjoyed it more, this second time around.

26) The Acid House by Irvine Welsh - I loved this collection of short stories. The one about film stars reading about working class men was very inventive, the sexual quartet was funny, the novella was interesting, and the entire collection - very readable. Looking forward to reading more by him.

27) Sandman #5-#8 by Neil Gaiman - this was already better than the first four. I liked the crisp and ruthless narration in 24 hours, and The Sound of her Wings was beautiful. I wish I could read them properly, on paper though.

28) Sandman 9-12 by Neil Gaiman "Doll's House" - a really good volume, even if Corintian gives me the creeps, in a bad way. I loved the way storylines intertwined and connected, though - and the one shots are perhaps even better than the main plot.

May

29) Ngugi wa Thiong'o A Grain of Wheat C - it took me a moment to start liking this book, but I certainly enjoyed the resolution. It was a very well-crafted novel. But it did remind me of Polish Solidarity in an uncomfortable way, and the imagery was somewhat sexist.

30) Alice Walker The Color Purple - I just can't stand the African subplot, it seems to me to be so remote and sort of pastede on. And I just won't say a word about Celie and Shug's relationship towards the end of the novel. But there are other aspects I did enjoy, and it's certainly a very important and strong novel.

31) Neil Gaiman Sandman 13-16 - what more can I say? ♥, Mister Gaiman.

32) F.S.Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby A - I enjoyed reading it quite a lot, even if all the female characters were unpleasant. Jay Gatsby had my love even before he first appeared, and I forgive him the "old sport" thing, because he's just so sweet. I developed a soft spot for him, apparently.

33) Neil Gaiman Sandman 17-20 "Dream County" - I love "The Dream of a Thousand Cats" and "Calliope" far more than I do the Shakespeare or Elemental Girl episodes. Calliope was such a powerful story - that's what I like about Gaiman, single striking images and lack of respect for anything.

34) Atwood The Tent

35) Atwood Murder in the Dark

36) Of Mice and Men

37) Serenity Found

June

38) Byatt Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye

39) Kureishi Buddha of the Suburbia

40) Masculinity Reader

41) Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Wolves at the Gate"

42) Angel "First Nights"

43) Urquhart "Changing Heaven"

44) Anne Enright "The Gathering"

45) Coetzee "Foe"

July

46) Spiegelman "Maus - Survivor's Tale #1"

47) Toby Litt "Beatniks"

48) Zoe Hellerman "Notes on a Scandal"

49) Peter Childs "Contemporary British Novelists"

50) Spiegelman "Maus - Survivor's Tale #2"

51) Neil Gaiman Sandman "Season of Mists #1"

52) Neil Gaiman Sandman "Season of Mists #2"

53) Neil Gaiman Sandman "Fables and Reflections #1"

54) Neil Gaiman Sandman "Song of Orpheus" special

55) Various Tales of the Slayer #1

56) Various Neptune Noir

August

57) Various Dirty Bits for Girls

58) Cleolina Jones Movies in 15 Minutes

59) Neil Gaiman Sandman: Fables and Reflections #2


September

60) Neil Gaiman Sandman: A Game of You #1

61) Neil Gaiman Sandman: A Game of You #2

62) Neil Gaiman Sandman: Brief Lives #1

63) Neil Gaiman Sandman: Brief Lives #2


October

64) Neil Gaiman Sandman: Distant Mirrors

65) Mary Shelley Frankenstein

66) William Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice

67) Toby Litt Finding Myself

68) Neil Gaiman Sandman: Worlds' End #1

69) Neil Gaiman Sandman: Worlds' End #2

70) Ian McEwan Black Dogs ("Czarne psy")

71) Neil Gaiman Sandman: The Kindly Ones #1

72) Neil Gaiman Sandman: The Kindly Ones #2

73) Neil Gaiman Sandman: The Kindly Ones #3

74) Neil Gaiman Sandman: The Wake

75) Neil Gaiman Sandman: The Tempest

76) Brian K. Vaughan Y - The Last Man: Unmanned

77) Brian K. Vaughan Y - The Last Man: Cycles

78) Brian Lynch Angel - After the Fall: #8 - #13

79) Brian K. Vaughan Buffy season 8: No Future for You (re-read)



Next up: read Watchmen, read Y - The Last Men, start reading some actual novels and stuff for the MA.