the_lady_lily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_lady_lily) wrote2012-09-30 08:59 pm
the_lady_lily) wrote2012-09-30 08:59 pm
Entry tags:
Bibliography
Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists From Brontë to Lessing - Elaine Showalter
This is, I think, one of Showalter's earliest books, and while I read a second edition that had been slightly updated, it was still showing its age. Not in terms of the commentary - the textual analysis and discussion of the novels was still sharp and insightful - but the framework in which that analysis was placed was less nuanced than A Jury of Her Peers, say. (Either that, or I've come to expect more of my critical texts since 2010 - anything is possible.) I don't really want to say much about this, as it strikes me that you'll know if it's the sort of thing you fancy reading without too much intervention from me; if you think you'll be interested in a survey of women's novels and the sort of thematic development you can trace through them, and don't mind generating a bit of an extra reading list into the bargain, then definitely give it a go.
Girls of Riyadh – Rajaa Alsanea
A curious piece, this - a chic lit novel set in Saudi Arabia, with all of the attendant social norms and problems. It's an interesting glimpse into the world of women in the upper class (as the novel freely admits) of the country as they seek husbands and then try to make their marriages work. This was originally published in Arabic and has quite an interesting epistolary format. The novel purports to be a series of e-mails about the writer's close friendship circle and their experiences, meaning each e-mail begins with the anonymous author's response to her readers - including those who chastise her for all sorts of social infringements, which she claims is ridiculous as she is just telling the truth about how things are.
On some levels, it's cheesy rom-fic, but on others, it's a fascinating yet chilling glimpse into the social expectations and corsetry experienced by women living in another culture.
Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín
A young woman finds herself whisked away from provincial Ireland to a job in a department store in Brooklyn, and must manage the dialogues between her old and new identities. I think it made it onto The List because it had won the 2009 Costa Award or was on the Observer's best 10 historical novels list this year, something like that.
In some ways, this is a fascinating bit of psychology that explores what happens when we lie to ourselves and also the strangely powerful methods small communities have of controlling their own. The whole project is about identity, shaping who you are, choosing who you want to be. One of the things I found most frustrating about the heroine, Eilis, is her complete passivity - she lets other people write who she is going to be and doesn't take any motivation from her own whims and desires. I'm fairly sure, given the other characters in the novel, that this is just her and not the result of her cultural formation, and thus it's bloody irritating - you just want to shake her to think through what she's doing, what she wants, what her aspirations are. Whenever you feel she's getting to the nub of what she wants, something or someone to whom she defers always appears. Even in simple things like being shanghai'ed into serving at the Brooklyn church's Christmas meal for the homeless and destitute - other people write her life for her.
I suppose in some ways this is an inversion of the usual trope in these situations, where the young woman goes off and finds complete, satisfying autonomy - but the pendulum's gone too far the other way, I suspect. A good read, but ultimately a deeply frustrating one, given that the bad life choices are made through passivity rather than any vim.
The Camomile Lawn - Mary Wesley
We watched the BBC adaptation of this earlier in the year, and so I fancied I'd read the source material. The problem is that the book is perfectly suited to adaptation, and the writers did such a faithful job of it, that there's not really much to add! There are a couple of additional sentences and scenes, but in the main, the series perfectly replicates the book. So while I did enjoy reading the novel itself, it felt more like a repeat than a fresh experience - a sign of a job well done in the television series, I think.
Parable of the Talents - Octavia Butler
I have to say that I was not entirely convinced by this and found it a little frustrating. I am not quite sure why.
The story follows the growth of the alternative religion/philosophy Earthseed; the narrator of the story's mother had founded the movement, but had lost her daughter during the early days of its development because it happened to coincide with an uprising of extreme Christian right wing power in the US. There's something about the heavily moral 'watch out for those right-wing nutjobs' that grates - not that it's not based on truth and possibility, but... yeah. The novel also, I think, feels a bit conflicted between whether it's being a sci-fi 'mankind to the stars' sort of job, or a family tragedy, or what. The set-up makes you think Earthseed is going to collapse, but then... it doesn't. And I guess there's just something - hugely problematic? Difficult? Badly constructed? about the way it reads.
I think all I can say is that while this was an interesting idea and an interesting format, there's just something about the execution of it that makes me feel frustrated and unsatisifed by the narrative resolution. I know not everything has to be happy and cheerful, so it's not a happy ending I'm after, but... some of the emotional oomph which the book relies on is either under-explored or not sufficiently convincing. I'm honestly not sure which, sadly.
This is, I think, one of Showalter's earliest books, and while I read a second edition that had been slightly updated, it was still showing its age. Not in terms of the commentary - the textual analysis and discussion of the novels was still sharp and insightful - but the framework in which that analysis was placed was less nuanced than A Jury of Her Peers, say. (Either that, or I've come to expect more of my critical texts since 2010 - anything is possible.) I don't really want to say much about this, as it strikes me that you'll know if it's the sort of thing you fancy reading without too much intervention from me; if you think you'll be interested in a survey of women's novels and the sort of thematic development you can trace through them, and don't mind generating a bit of an extra reading list into the bargain, then definitely give it a go.
Girls of Riyadh – Rajaa Alsanea
A curious piece, this - a chic lit novel set in Saudi Arabia, with all of the attendant social norms and problems. It's an interesting glimpse into the world of women in the upper class (as the novel freely admits) of the country as they seek husbands and then try to make their marriages work. This was originally published in Arabic and has quite an interesting epistolary format. The novel purports to be a series of e-mails about the writer's close friendship circle and their experiences, meaning each e-mail begins with the anonymous author's response to her readers - including those who chastise her for all sorts of social infringements, which she claims is ridiculous as she is just telling the truth about how things are.
On some levels, it's cheesy rom-fic, but on others, it's a fascinating yet chilling glimpse into the social expectations and corsetry experienced by women living in another culture.
Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín
A young woman finds herself whisked away from provincial Ireland to a job in a department store in Brooklyn, and must manage the dialogues between her old and new identities. I think it made it onto The List because it had won the 2009 Costa Award or was on the Observer's best 10 historical novels list this year, something like that.
In some ways, this is a fascinating bit of psychology that explores what happens when we lie to ourselves and also the strangely powerful methods small communities have of controlling their own. The whole project is about identity, shaping who you are, choosing who you want to be. One of the things I found most frustrating about the heroine, Eilis, is her complete passivity - she lets other people write who she is going to be and doesn't take any motivation from her own whims and desires. I'm fairly sure, given the other characters in the novel, that this is just her and not the result of her cultural formation, and thus it's bloody irritating - you just want to shake her to think through what she's doing, what she wants, what her aspirations are. Whenever you feel she's getting to the nub of what she wants, something or someone to whom she defers always appears. Even in simple things like being shanghai'ed into serving at the Brooklyn church's Christmas meal for the homeless and destitute - other people write her life for her.
I suppose in some ways this is an inversion of the usual trope in these situations, where the young woman goes off and finds complete, satisfying autonomy - but the pendulum's gone too far the other way, I suspect. A good read, but ultimately a deeply frustrating one, given that the bad life choices are made through passivity rather than any vim.
The Camomile Lawn - Mary Wesley
We watched the BBC adaptation of this earlier in the year, and so I fancied I'd read the source material. The problem is that the book is perfectly suited to adaptation, and the writers did such a faithful job of it, that there's not really much to add! There are a couple of additional sentences and scenes, but in the main, the series perfectly replicates the book. So while I did enjoy reading the novel itself, it felt more like a repeat than a fresh experience - a sign of a job well done in the television series, I think.
Parable of the Talents - Octavia Butler
I have to say that I was not entirely convinced by this and found it a little frustrating. I am not quite sure why.
The story follows the growth of the alternative religion/philosophy Earthseed; the narrator of the story's mother had founded the movement, but had lost her daughter during the early days of its development because it happened to coincide with an uprising of extreme Christian right wing power in the US. There's something about the heavily moral 'watch out for those right-wing nutjobs' that grates - not that it's not based on truth and possibility, but... yeah. The novel also, I think, feels a bit conflicted between whether it's being a sci-fi 'mankind to the stars' sort of job, or a family tragedy, or what. The set-up makes you think Earthseed is going to collapse, but then... it doesn't. And I guess there's just something - hugely problematic? Difficult? Badly constructed? about the way it reads.
I think all I can say is that while this was an interesting idea and an interesting format, there's just something about the execution of it that makes me feel frustrated and unsatisifed by the narrative resolution. I know not everything has to be happy and cheerful, so it's not a happy ending I'm after, but... some of the emotional oomph which the book relies on is either under-explored or not sufficiently convincing. I'm honestly not sure which, sadly.