My next literary adventure

When I started this blog, I had real intentions of updating it regularly and writing about the books I was reading, authors I liked (and disliked), reviewing books and just writing in general about the world of books. But then a combination of laziness and stagnation overtook me and I stopped. I did spend some time coming up with ideas for posts and the different books and authors I could write about but then something else came to me…all because of Batman.

For many reasons, The Dark Knight was probably the most anticipated movie of summer in 2008. Among those reasons (likely lower on the list, but still significant) was the trailer for the movie Watchmen. I’d heard of the graphic novel before but didn’t know much about it or the movie…then the trailer blew me away. Honestly, watching the trailer, I didn’t care that I only knew a brief overview of the story. I could have known nothing and still would have wanted to see the movie. In ensuing conversations about Watchmen, I learned that it is the only graphic novel to make Time Magazine’s 100 Best Novels of All Time list. (I also learned that author Alan Moore has a big hate-on for Hollywood and adaptations of his work, but I’ll save that for another time.)

In recent years, graphic novels have been gaining more respect as a literary medium, possibly because successful movie adaptations are more readily referencing the source material. But to see a graphic novel on a best-of novel list intrigued me which meant, of course, that I had to know more about Time’s list.

So, here it is.

How did they arrive at this list? There are criteria: books must be novels, originally written in English and published after 1923 (the year Time began publishing). Simple enough, but these three basic rules cut out a lot of literary giants. Gone were the Brontes, Dickens and Austen; Dostoyevsky; Flaubert, Camus and Dumas; Cervantes; and the list goes on.

But there are a lot of great authors and books on the list. Many writers I’ve heard of, even if I’m not familiar with the chosen book. To start off, I’ve decided on my first three books. The inaugural book will be (in fact, must be) the book that spurred me into this project: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Book the second will be White Noise by Don DeLillo and the third read will be Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume.

(I feel I should also note that these three books were chosen as the first three because I also happen to already own them. Minor detail.)

There are books on the list I've read and liked; books I've read and hated; books I've always wanted to read and some I had hoped to never pick up again. There are authors I recognize and some I've never heard of. Of the authors I know, there are some surprises as to which book was chosen, while other choices are almost cliche.

So on Wednesday October 1 (after Criminal Minds and CSI:NY) I will crack the cover of Watchmen and begin my adventure in literature. Let’s see where it takes me.

This will be fun.

Revamp!

When I started this blog, I had big plans for it. I wanted to post book reviews, talk about authors I love and loathe, post lists of what I like and dislike, discuss book formats and genres and just generally bookishness.

And that hasn't really happened. Yet.

I've got plans for this blog, oh yes I do. They're coming, slowly but surely. But I will get this to where I want it, mostly because I love talking about books almost as much as I love books themselves.

A very Late review

Alright, so I finally finished Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay. Giller Prize winner, don'tcha know. As this is the first Giller Prize-winning book I've read, I can't say conclusively that it deserved to win. What I can say is that I can understand why it would win. It is a fantastic book.

Set in Yellowknife in 1975, Late Nights focuses on a radio station and the various people who work there, as well as the surrounding community. Harry had a failed television career and has returned to what he knows best. Dido was discovered off the street and immediately enraptures Harry, but Dido loves Eddy. Gwen drove across the country to try her hand at something she has always loved and slowly blossoms. Eleanor keeps things running smoothly as the station secretary. Ralph also works at the station and adds a debonair, educated air to the book. Mrs. Dargabble makes for an interesting neighbour, as she has her own secrets. As the characters' lives intertwine, you feel like you are watching any small town simply be.

It did take me awhile to get through this book, mainly because I never felt rushed. Even though there were plenty of times I wanted to know what would happen, I never had that sense of urgency to finish it. I find this is mainly due to Hay's way of writing and of creating a story that is calm and peaceful and almost quiet in the way it engages the reader. (Does that last part even make sense? I don't even know, but it's how I feel. So there.) Perhaps that is the main reason I like the book - by creating a story and characters that are so calm, Hay made me feel like these could be real people, real lives, real situations. Given, parts of the canoe trip felt a little far-fetched, but I've never canoed any great distance, so what do I know? Still, all the characters were flawed in real ways and all struggled to find what was right. And there was no rush to reveal all about the characters either; they continued to develop well into the book and still had a few surprises even towards the end.

Hay also managed something that quite impresses me for a Canadian author: she was able to write about small-town/wilderness life without coming across as "man vs. nature in a BATTLE TO THE DEATH" kind of way. In fact, Yellowknife became another character, moving and changing with the seasons and with the characters as they moved and changed through their lives. And when four of them set off on their canoe trip through the Barrens, the wilderness never felt oppressive or monstrous; rather, it was painted as beautiful and perhaps misunderstood, as alive and thriving and finicky as any living thing.

I think the best books are the ones that seem to be a snapshot of those involved, a slice out of their lives. You know more came before - and you may learn some or even most of it - and you know more will come after - and much could be hinted at what this will be - but what you are given stands alone as a whole, but you can still imagine it between this beginning and this end. Late Nights on Air is just like this.

I read, therefore I am

I made an interesting discovery today: my voracious reading habits are actually useful. The current pick for my book club is The Plague by Albert Camus and, while reading it, I have been able to pick out instances of absurdism (as a literary device, not just as absurdity) as well as indirect references to George Orwell (who is listed as an influence for Camus in the Wikipedia entry).

Had I not been forced to read 1984 in Grade 12 or chose to study Edward Albee in one OAC English class, I would not be nearly as knowledgeable on absurdity or the Orwellian view of society as I am now. And - voila! - I now have an example of how this is helping me. Hurrah!

There. Now I feel so much better about my booknerdishness.

So proud!

Today on my lunch hour, I went into a bookstore and I purchased...nothing. Nada. Not one single, solitary book. I walked in, I looked around, I picked up books, I read descriptions, I perused the remainder table and then I walked away.

I. Am. So. Proud.

That's not to say I wasn't tempted. I contemplated a few books today:

Night by Elie Wiesel

The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Invisible Prey by John Sanford

Our Gods Wear Spandex: Secret History of Comic Book Superheroes by Christopher Knowles (this was actually considered for my beau, not myself, but I would totally steal it from him and read it cover to cover)

I also discovered this book and what is one of my favourite covers in recent history. I would buy this book for the cover. Seriously. I have done that before. The fact that I am also interested in reading the book doesn't hurt either.

I purchased this book based primarily on its cover, but it's a Roald Dahl book, so was there really any worry about quality? It should also be noted that I HATE snakes. But Roald Dahl is worth it. That said, everyone should go buy this book now. NOW. Don't be strong like me. Cave to the pressure of the written word!! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!

Why hardcover is hard

I'm still slogging my way through Late Nights on Air and I don't know why, but this book just hasn't grabbed my attention the way I hoped it would. I can handle books that move a little slowly or that spend time developing characters and showing character interaction. In fact, I appreciate a well-written book that does this, and Late Nights is one of them. But it just isn't grabbing me.

Wait...scratch that "I don't know why" bit from the last paragraph...I have a pretty good idea why I'm not getting into this book as readily as most and it has nothing to do with how it's written; as petty as this might sound, it is the format of the book that is holding me back. My copy of Late Nights on Air is hardcover. Generally, I don't do hardcover. (For the record, the book was a Christmas gift from my mother and I did request the title, knowing if I received it, it would be in hardcover. So I guess I did bring this on myself.)

Don't get me wrong - I can appreciate the beauty of a hardcover book, complete with dust jacket. And with the various finishing techniques that are used on the jackets and covers, hardcover books are often very pretty to look at. One recent book of note is The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, which has a sturdy cover with a die-cut shark and no dust jacket. Even though I have not yet bought this book, I may have to buy the hardcover version just because it's so damn cool.

Cool or not, I just find hardcovers awkward to read. I like to read in bed and holding up a hardcover is tedious and sometimes more effort that it's worth, particularly when I'm tired. But since I like to read before going to bed, I'm more likely to grab my latest issue of The Hockey News than Late Nights. And hardcover books can be heavier, meaning carrying them with me to read on transit or in a coffee shop is (literally) a bit of a pain.

My preferred format is trade paperback and I will often wait for books to be published in this format before buying them. Okay, trade paperbacks tend to be the same size as the hardcover version, but the spine is softer so it's easier to hold the book open and they are a bit lighter so it's easier for me to transport them and the covers (sans dust jacket, which I always remove anyways) can be just as neat as the hardcover predecessor.

But I've already got Late Nights on Air in hardcover and I've already begun reading it, so I will soldier on and finish. It just might take me a bit longer than I'd like.

The List #1 - Some of the worst

I'm in a list-y kind of mood, as noted in a post on my autre blog so I thought I'd carry on here.
Here I give you...

10 BOOKS THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED
(In the order that they pop into my head)

10. Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen
9. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
8. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
7. The Revenge of Kali-Ra by K.K. Beck
6. Bleeding Hearts by Jack Harvey (who is really Ian Rankin)
5. Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie
4. That really bad book of poetry by Margaret Atwood I had to read in university.
3. Through Violet Eyes by Stephen Woodworth
2. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
1. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

This list was much harder to make than I had originally anticipated. Funny how that is. I've read a fair amount of books and plenty of them have been not-so-great, but since this list is books I think should never have been published, that's a new level of badness. Although it will be equally as hard to put together a list of the best books, as it takes a certain kind of specialness to be considered "the best". I'll have to start on that list now and see where I end up...