Tuesday, October 2, 2012

i wanna know why

we are in the middle of banned books week (which is from september thirtieth to october sixth). this means that you should go out and read a banned book. (i think banning books is one of the stupidest things the human race has accomplished so far. stupider even than the decision to put yogurt in tubes. years ago, i posted a mini-rant about this and declared that i would be honored if i ever wrote a book that ended up on a banned list.) since i just started a book last night that is too new to be banned and i am busy enough to think that a five hundred page novel will take me almost a week to read, i probably won't get a chance to read a banned book this year. i've read enough of them that i'm okay with that, but you should still read one or two for me.

i just started jk rowling's new book, the casual vacancy. i went into it expecting the worst. i had read a few reviews of it and it seemed like no one was able to get through the first few chapters without putting it down forever. it was too dark, too explicit, too depressing, too crude, there was not one likable character, and the writing was bad. or so i was told. i dunno if people are just prudes or if i've read just read too much trash, but i have yet to think a book described as too crude was in fact too crude. i'm not far enough in the book to give it a fair review yet, but the only thing that i don't like so far is that she switches between different characters so much that i don't feel that i've had the chance to sit with one long enough to like. i'm thinking that this will change later on. oh, and she named a character barry. and he's married to mary. and reading their names together in a sentence completely jarred me out of the reading experience because barry and mary? really? that got me wondering whether she wanted them to rhyme on purpose or if it was a coincidence. which led me to think of the similarity between barry and harry and wonder if that was on purpose. basically, it took me a while before my mind was able to focus on barry dying in a parking lot.

the other thing, which has nothing to do with the story itself, is the decision to put her name on the cover with a lower case i. why are all the other letters capitalized if the i is not? is this her way of distinguishing between her children's and adult writing? because it seems like a stupid decision to me.

but enough about that. my sister and her family left to the desert again. this time without a return date in mind. this was originally going to be its own post, but it was turning out good and i decided to use it for something else. so yeah. it's sad.

*I Wanna Know Why - Aerosmith

5 comments:

  1. anonymous hippopotamusOctober 3, 2012 at 1:59 PM

    but it was turning out good and you decided to use it for something else? what does that even mean?!

    btw i love having an upstairs and a downstairs and ceilings that don;t hit my head. loool you have to come visit. oh! but the fourth bedroom is basically a large storage closet with a small window and a tiny bathroom. such cruelty!

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  2. well there's this magazine and they're always having contests and this month's is stories that fall under family matters. and i thought maybe i'd work what i wrote into a short story. we'll see how it goes though.

    i say use the fourth bedroom to put all your boxes that you shouldn't unpack. and i think i kinda miss having an upstairs and downstairs, too. if only because it's forced exercise. and i think the meanest thing about the room is that you know it's meant for the maid. i'm tired so this is disjointed.

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  3. anonymous hippopotamusOctober 4, 2012 at 4:35 AM

    thats why i was saying such cruelty...because i know its meant for a maid. all the other bedrooms have complete furniture, bed, night stands, dresser, mirror....this "4th bedroom" had nothing. its awful. and then they wonder why the maids go crazy...because their place of solitude is a freaking jail cell...i think jail cells are even bigger than this room. :(

    ohh AWESOME! good luck with the short story...i thought you meant it was too good a blog post to be dedicated to me and my family.. *sob* :P

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  4. anonymous hippopotamusOctober 4, 2012 at 1:07 PM

    when i read banned books my mind immediately thought..i'm in saudi arabia any book i read is probably banned lool i know so funny right?

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  5. anonymous hippopotamusOctober 4, 2012 at 6:22 PM

    took me a while to realize what the story was supposed to be...but i liked it in a sad depressing sort of way. thought you might enjoy it:

    http://www.cliteraturejournal.com/fantasy/christinacollinsfantas.html

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