birthday, pimp, sort of a book report, not exactly an apology

[oiran]

very happy birthday to joyfulgirl41

If for nothing else, Joyful deserves our regard for finally postinjg a new chapter of SiWWtSoU ;)

bonibaru has a brilliant notion: Pointless Poll Day. It's tomorrow. I have a whole list of dumbass questions ready to go...

So I finished a book last night that I had started while still living in Seattle. I used to take it to Vivace, which was a block from my apartment, and sit, if at all possible, at the blue Volga granite-topped counter facing the reservoir, drink a fantastic quad short Americano, and read. Usually, there would be people all around, frequently the same groups I'd seen last time I was in, and so I felt somewhat at home even though I actually never spoke to anyone.

The book is Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, and I had found it very slow-going--which was just as well, as my usual habit of inhaling a book in a day isn't very cost-effective. But I wasn't really enjoying it. I was almost the opposite of enjoying it. I thought it was the book's fault, and I couldn't figure out why so many reviewers were in rhapsodies over it.

I thought I would love it because 1) I loved The Virgin Suicides, which I read when it was first published, and re-read many times over the years, until I saw Sofia Coppola's film, which is, if anything, better than the book, and 2) it's about a hermaphrodite! Who doesn't want to read about hermaphrodites? I started out reading very enthusiastically, but found myself getting irritated with the pacing, the direction, and, I must admit, the lack of perverse intersexual carnality. I packed the book up and brought it out here with me, put it on my bedside table, and forgot about it. Until my stack of books fell over, and there it was.

Well, yesterday I picked it up, dusted it off, found my old bookmark at about a hundred pages from the end, and started reading right where I left off last February.

What a difference a year and two changes of antidepressant medication makes! I loved it! I'm so glad I finally finished it! I think I owe it to the book to reread it in its entirety (though I had no trouble picking up the story where I'd left it) and figure out how much of my disgruntlement was craziness and chemical imbalance, and how much (if any), was storytelling.

I still can't finish Ian McEwan's Atonement, though. I've not been thrilled with anything he's written (Enduring Love, The Cement Garden being the ones I know I've read), though, so maybe we're just not a good fit. I feel like I see his character development coming fifty pages away, and there's not enough else of interest to make those fifty pages worth reading to get to the "action."

It's very clear that there's no sure way to make everyone happy. I am all too aware that any attempts to be positive or kind to others--or to interact with others at all, frankly--can be misconstrued, twisted, ignored or wanked, but hosting an SV love/crush meme on my LJ is intended to be a nice gesture. Still, if anyone wishes to question my motives, I am open to discussion.

Comments

[burnitbackwards.livejournal.com]

oh, i absolutely adored middlesex. in fact, i liked it even more than the virgin suicides, because i loved being inside calpurnia's head. eugenides had such a wonderful feel for the character's voice and feelings; i thought the whole thing was just beautiful. i'm glad you finally finished it!!

[digitalwave]

Jed,

I think what you've done is really sweet. *hugs*