Happy Banned Books Week!

No, I have not radically changed my personality in honor of today, the real beginning of senior year (a.k.a. the first time I've whipped out my rain boots). Celebrating Banned Books Week doesn't mean that you seek to have books banned. Rather, it honors books that have, at one time or another, been banned or challenged. How do you do that, you may ask? The New York Times has a few helpful suggestions. I, of course, was particularly drawn to number five. That's "blog all about it," for those of you too lazy to click on a little linkage.

I, unlike those I admonish (lovingly!), am not afraid to click on links, and so I fell with glee upon those offered up by the Times, and followed one to this list the ALA has compiled of the Top 100 (by now we all know how much the de Plumes like top whatever lists) of 2000-2009. I was surprised (but not too surprised) at how many of these books were books for young readers--children and young adults--and how many of these books were either classics or just out on shelves when I was young. The time frame is right for it, of course; I was eleven for the majority of 2000.

The other thing that surprised me (but not too much) looking at this list was how many of the books were, for lack of a better word at this hour on a Monday night, boring. Innocuous, would probably be better. Well-written, for the most part, but they didn't capture my imagination or become one of my legion of childhood or continuing obsessions. Julie of the Wolves was just okay, everyone always liked The Giver more than I did, and Go Ask Alice was just pulpy.
Of course, To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best books I've ever read. The movie holds up surprisingly well too. His Dark Materials, while not my favorite Philip Pullman series, deserves recognition, at least the first two books. And then there's Beloved and Slaughterhouse-Five and The Kite Runner and Fahrenheit 451 (oh the irony) and A Wrinkle in Time and...oh okay fine. They're not all innocuous. Not at all. But my point remains. Some of them are and a lot of them are children's books and what exactly does this mean, anyway?

And then there's Speak. Speak is a young adult novel about a girl who is sexually assaulted and stops talking. Seeking to silence that particular story follows the worst kind of logic. Yes, the story is upsetting. It's supposed to be. It's also educational and well-crafted and miserable and entertaining and plot and character driven (something not all "adult" novels can claim) and shocking and, hopefully, thought-provoking. And it has a happy ending! So what's the problem? Are we supposed to pretend these things don't happen? That can't be right. Is it that they're afraid this book might fall into the hands of younger children? Now we might be getting somewhere.

Yes. I read Mists of Avalon before I was ready. I read a lot of things before I was ready. But "not ready" doesn't mean that I was warped and horrified and unable to go on to healthy teen years and adulthood. "Ready" just means that you understand what you're reading and that you can think critically about it and engage the way you're supposed to. By that definition, I would argue that the majority of those seeking to ban these books aren't ready to read the books on the list.

There are books I'm still not ready for. I'm just about to start the fourth book of a quartet that has me constantly questioning myself and the author and what I expect books to do and what I expect authors to owe their readers (and no, this isn't the Raj Quartet; it's the Red Riding Quartet; I seem to have a problem with quartets) and what it's okay to say and what violence it's okay to depict and why I'm reading it and...I could go on. But I'm getting there, and one of the joys of reading is re-reading and, finally, understanding. If banning books is about protecting children (and, I mean, what isn't?) then that strategy needs to be rethought. The Top 100 list the ALA provides is full of books about historical wrongs (some of which have yet to be made right), people of different races and sexualities and religious beliefs, alternate realities, realistic depictions of puberty, and, in the case of Goosebumps, some really silly scary stories.

What they are is complicated. What they are not is dangerous. Not by themselves. Children can tell the difference. Give them some credit.

I had a bit of a reading crisis last summer, brought on by reading the third volume of the Raj Quartet and my dad's subsequent comments. It started with me wondering if it was okay for Paul Scott's characters to be racist if the author was critical of them (of course it would be), and expanded into doubt (is he being critical?) and finally questioning (does it matter? the series is good, and it's just one series).
I wrote at the time:

My reflections about this series and Dad's comments about it (latest one: "these books remind me of Gone With the Wind.") is turning into a full-blown reading crisis. And I can't play what I call the Wagner's Music Card (i.e. the fact that he was an anti-Semite shouldn't keep us from liking his music because none of that comes across when we listen to it) since Paul Scott's prejudices (if they are his prejudices--and this rubs against one of my other reading squicks: assuming the author's voice is the voice you hear most clearly in the novel) come across loud and clear.
But, I tell myself, this series was written during the sixties and seventies. It's a product of its time and of its author. Is one troubling facet enough to throw the entire thing off? If that were true, I would feel guilty for liking Jane Eyre (and loving Mr. Rochester) because of Mr. Rochester's obviously sexist attitudes (which turned me off while reading the obviously-based-on-Jane Eyre Rebecca).
The fact is, everyone's guilty of picking and choosing what they take away from what they read. I love Jane Eyre in spite of its sexism, The Big Sleep in spite of its homophobia, and (apparently) The Raj Quartet in spite of its racism. (And I'm certainly not going to wade into the most controversial picking and choosing people, myself and nearly everyone I know included, do: religious texts written centuries ago.)
Am I okay with this state of affairs? Not by a long shot, and I still have a lot of thinking to do about it. Is that the way it is for now? Yes. Will I finish reading the quartet? You bet.

And I did. And it was great. To rectify the situation further, I decided to read some books about India by Indians, to see what was missing from The Raj Quartet. In Colorado, I read A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, and it was fantastic. Nearly all 1,474 pages of it. If you've got the time and the patience, I highly recommend it.

Headed out into the wilds of Colorado tomorrow, so I'm finishing up this book thing today. I'm also rejoicing over the Netherlands win yesterday, and hoping for a happy ending for Germany today.

Day 28: A Book That Made You Think Deeply


I gave blood for the first time because of this book. So there you go.

Day 29: Saddest Death


I'm going to go with Professor Lupin and Tonks and the whole cadre of characters who died kind of pointlessly off stage in this one.


Day 30: The Book That Changed Your Life The Most


This made me start writing.

Last night was Mom's revolution-themed birthday party. We had about 25 people in our back yard, chatting and listening to Motown from five until midnight. It was a great group and the food (and cake!) were delicious, but the best part for me was an impromptu, unexpected, belated gift.
Apparently my French godfathers gave me a condom when I was three or four, seeing it as their godfatherly duty to keep me safe in the Frenchest way possible. My dad put it away for safekeeping. This story came out over the course of the evening (we talk about condoms over dinner at our house...what do you talk about?) and Dad suddenly leaped up from the table, rushed into the house, and emerged about three minutes later with this:



So yeah. Not having gotten to know my godfathers as an adult is one of the things I regret most, so suddenly learning a new story (when I thought I had heard all the stories) and sitting there in my back yard with something in my hand proving the story was true meant a lot.

Day 26: Most Despicable Character

I thought this one would be hard. It's actually quite easy.


Ronald Merrick is the biggest sleaze ever (despite his unfortunate self-hate and missing arm, I only felt about three seconds of sympathy for him over the many, many hours I spent reading this (excellent!) four-book series.

Day 25: A Book You Intend To Read

There are so many of these. 215+ of these, in fact. So here's one at random.


Because I'd rather read this than Lolita.

Day 24: Favorite Author

Real answer: Dorothy Dunnett, or John Banville, but I've used them way too much already, so let's look elsewhere.


Raymond Chandler. Allow me to explain. This is the guy who kicked off my love of noir, and it was because his writing was far from dry, or even spare. Philip Marlowe, as it turns out, is a tough guy, but he's also very sensitive, and his motives aren't always clear. He makes Sam Spade look like a not-too-interesting cartoon cutout.
Here are some choice Philip Marlowe quotes (from the LA Times Magazine):

"I like smooth shiny girls, hardboiled and loaded with sin."
"It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window."
"The minutes went by on tiptoe, with their fingers on their lips."
"I don't mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a Scotch bottle. I don't mind your showing me your legs. They're very swell legs and it's a pleasure to make their acquaintance. I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them on long winter evenings."

Tell me that's not awesome.

Tomorrow we get up really, really early to head home. It's been fun here at the beach, and I managed not to get sunburned a single time, or pooped on by a seagull (pending our final Ocean City visit tonight to see Aunt L and The Street). That's victory for you.
Also, Viking Golf last night yielded a 3-way tie with 47 points each, a visit to Eric the Red and Thor, and two hole-in-ones for yours truly.

Day 23: Most Surprising Twist


I had to get this book on this list somehow. There is no plot twist per se, but rather a slowly dawning realization that the narrator is not as reliable as he first seemed. And that's always good.

Day 22: [A] Favorite Ending

It's a fact proven by anecdote that I rarely want books to end. So there aren't many endings I like. This is one, and it was an ending for me, since I didn't go on to read the rest of the series (except Anne's House of Dreams, but I can barely remember what happened in that one).

Day 21: Favorite Ship(For those readers out of the loop, this means favorite romantic pairing.)

Thinking about this prompt, I came up with three instant reactions: Francis Crawford of Lymond and Philippa Somerville from the Lymond Chronicles, Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester from...Jane Eyre, and Percy and Marguerite Blakeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel. Then I thought to myself, huh, these couples all have one thing in common: the man totally lies to the woman for an extended period of time because he thinks it'll make life easier (for him, and/or for her). What is that all about? Doesn't mean I like these characters or their relationships any less, but it did bother me a little.
So I'm taking a different route and going with Stephen Maturin and Diana Villiers from the Aubrey/Maturin series. They're both awesome, and for most of the time she's the one stringing him along.


Also, funnily enough, this relationship takes place, in part, on an actual ship. So that's nice.

Down at the beach, watching the Netherlands play Slovakia, I'm left missing Edgar Davids.

I always rooted for the French in past World Cups, but Davids was a fun player to watch. He had pizazz, an awesome head of hair, and a more lasting commitment to sunglasses than Jack Nicholson.

Anyway:
Day 19: Favorite Set of Characters

Such great friendships between such different people. And it went on and on and on. Who could ask for anything more?

Day 20: Favorite Kiss

Fred and Sally decide they don't hate each other, and kiss in the kitchen. Wow. And later heartbreaking (see May 8, 2008).

Time to play catchup! I've been in transit for a while, fighting tornadoes in Chicago (I was there for this, on the 22nd floor of a hotel that started on the 15th floor) and crazy drivers in West Virginia (it was the full moon).
Highlights included: eating Ann Sathers cinnamon rolls, watching the US 91st minute victory with random Chicagoans, people watching in the Palmer House lobby, and eating mussels and french fries with aioli and drinking(!) Anchor Steam at the Hopleaf, listening to the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy radio play in the car the next day as we drove to Baltimore, getting the Aged Ps hooked on Lady Gaga.
Today we went to the Walters Art Museum, bought tickets to the Orioles game tomorrow, drove up to Federal Hill and had slurpees and walked around, and finally returned to prepare (i.e. change into our crab-matching clothes and, in my case, make an ill-advised attempt at nail-painting) for the Great Crab Massacre June 2010. This involved the entire clan heading to Schultz's where we were joined by Fr. J, Uncle D, and Cousin R (aka The Street!) who I hadn't seen in way too long.
The quote of the night occurred when we needed someone to take a picture of the entire (seventeen person) table. The waitress appeared. The Street said, "You're Midwestern. You ask."

More catchup:
Day 15: Favorite Female Character

Dido Twite rocks so hard. She's who I want to be when I grow up. (This is hindered somewhat by the fact that I'm older than she ever gets in the Wolves Chronicles.)



Day 16: Your Guilty Pleasure Book

I like a lot of books, and some of them are less literary than others. This is what I'm reading right now. There are pirates in it. I offer no further excuses.


Day 17: Favorite Short Story


Colum McCann's short story "Breakfast for Enrique" (which appears in his book of short stories Fishing the Sloe Black River) is everything I want my short stories to be: narrative, beautiful, with fully developed characters and heartbreaking brevity. It also has a larger message or two, but they take some digging to find (i.e. are not hammering you over the head as you read). Also it's narrated by an Irishman in San Francisco, so it was practically written for me.

Day 13: Favorite Childhood Book



This was the beginning of a lot of things: my Dickens reading (the result of a correspondence with Joan Aiken, the author, who told me my favorite character was based on a Dickens character but wouldn't tell me which one), my own interest in writing, puberty (suddenly the lead male character was interesting for a lot of reasons)...

Happy Fathers' Day! I, for one, am very lucky that my dad is my dad, seeing to it that my life is made up of all the good things: Harold Stories, ice cream crawls, the bus game, Babe Witch and Boog, Baltimore TV show binges, and much more. So far today we've watched the awesome Italy/New Zealand game, gone food shopping, and baked a cake. Next on the horizon: Brazil v. Côte d'Ivoire at the Union, and then dinner at the Esquire and finishing up Band of Brothers.

Day 12: A Book That Disappointed You



I wasn't as wowed as I thought I would be, and although there were parts that I identified with, for the most part I was left with a resounding "meh."

Day 10: A Book You Thought You Wouldn’t Like, But Did

Last summer I went through a Hemingway phase, which was totally kicked off by this book.



I spent most of my teen years hating Hemingway...without ever having read any of his novels. Thank you, English 201, for showing me the error of my ways.

Last night I had a great picnic and minigolf outing with CornellBoy, StOlafBoy, BrandeisGirl, and Redhead. I won, which was especially great considering the competition, and then we did something truly Midwestern. Like, almost verging on country bumpkin. We went to Wal-Mart, bought a six pack of Klondike bars, and then sat in the parking lot eating them and chatting. 21 years later, I have really and truly arrived.

Day 09: Best Scene in Any Book



There are waaaay too many to choose from in this book, but I'm going with Stephen watching over Dil's funeral pyre. That really got to me, in a book filled to the brim with great Stephen scenes.

First of all (and unrelated to what follows), Roommate J gets a shout-out for not only liking the concept of these book and movie lists, but almost-daily fueling my insanity by going along with my Homicide obsession. So she rocks, for those and other reasons.

Also unrelated: I just got back from celebrating the Aged Ps' 36th wedding anniversary. We went to The Bar, where I ordered a Midori sour to start and then switched to water as part of my role as Pathologically Responsible Kid/Designated Driver until crazy Irish bartender handed me a glass of dessert wine. Now, we all know that I am endeavoring to like grownup drinks, and at the moment dessert wine seems like the best route. This particular one tasted like liquid honey with alcohol in it. Luckily, it came on the heels of a three-course dinner (and I am not the aforementioned Roommate "Three Sips, Three Hour Nap" J), so I was still good to drive home. And to write this. Unless I wake up in the morning and discover the entire thing is in Wingdings, but that would be a disgrace to my Irish/German heritage.

Day 07: Least Favorite Chapter of Favorite Series



Lymond spends too much time doing who the hell knows what in Russia (and is moody) and Philippa spends the novel in a post-harem letdown. Still, even though this book is the low point of the Lymond Chronicles, it is still better than almost anything else. It has lows lows, and, on the flip side, high highs. In fact, it contains what is actually my favorite scene in the entire series, a scene which takes place somewhere called the Hall of the Revels. Hmmm. Now I wonder what I could name after that?

Day 06: Favorite Chapter of Favorite Series



Drunken rooftop chases! Scots in disguise as Irishmen! Sex! Drugs! Lute 'n' roll!

Day 05: Your Favorite Book, Ever

It may not come as a shock, but I'm a series girl. I like stories that go on and on and on and on and on and ON. This one, though, will always have a place in my heart. (Caveat: I don't have a favorite book.)

Day 04: A Book You Hate

Here's the thing. When I buy a book, or check one out from the library, I have usually researched it so much that it's pretty much a forgone conclusion that I'll like it. Similarly, the people who give me book know me well enough to know, at least, what I won't hate.
So that being said, I don't really hate this book, but I read it for class and didn't like it.



The heroine was too perfect. That can really kill it for me.

Day 03: Your Favorite New Book (Published 2009-10)