New Book!

Okay, so I guess I'm up...sorry for the delay. High-Rise by J.G. Ballard. My choice is a bit of a cop-out, since I've read it, but I do think it's a super interesting book--plus, I'm writing about it for my dissertation as we speak, so 1. you'll get to beta read my chapter! 2. you'll be able to understand when I go on ad naseum about every detail! 3. Ballard is super innovative and important in contemporary British literature and the SF genre and 4. is about to go through a resurgence in popularity, so you're getting on the cool train early 5. really? you need more? this isn't selling it?

Since it's a short book, here's my proposal--a week for all parties to get the book and then two reading check points: one half way through and one at the end, so...

Ch's 1-8 (read through "The Predatory Birds") by May 13th
Finish book by May 22nd

Lemme know if that works for everyone!

Tunnels, Travels and Conceptual Boats? Raw Shark Part 3

I really enjoyed reading part three of this book, well, most of it. There are still parts I just don't get, but oh well, at least I'm following the story and liking it. I found the whole journey through un-space kind of cool. I wonder if it is supposed to represent something, but I don't really care to take the time to elaborate on that possibility. I did think it was neat how Scout and Eric's relationship developed along the journey. Oh and Ian...Scout clearly has something going with the cat. Is this a clue that she's connected to Clio?

It felt good to finally get some meat on the bones of the story. The journey, finding Fidorous, the first Eric's bedroom and things, even the fight between Scout and Eric gave the story something solid to hold onto and enjoy. I am finally eager to continue on for the sake of the story. Before this I felt much of the book was a vague story line held together by a lot of weird sci fi. I suppose though that this is how Eric felt as well. He even mentions somewhere in part three about finally feeling like he was building a life of his own. That's partially why Scout's betrayal hurt him I think.

The boat...This one was really weird. It took me way too long to read the diagram and descriptions, though I loved that "Ian the cat" was included. I can't wait to see what happens with this...especially since I'm not sure I really understand what happened at the end. I'll have to read on.

On to part four...it will make or break this story. I'm really nervous now that I'm into and enjoying the story. Will I be thrilled with the ending, just satisfied, disappointed, or throwing the book across the room?!

I Am Reading

But like Emily mentioned, I'm not quite sure how to respond to the book along the way, but here goes, some jumbled thoughts (no conceptual prey will be catching a strong trail here!).

How on earth do the automated letters get sent? Are there an infinite amount of sets waiting in case he blanks again? What happened to the 10 in between the first and now?

It wasn't until Katie mentioned her mistrust of the first Eric Sanderson that I had any doubts. I was believing his tale wholesale, especially since the first attack occurred before the protagonist read the letters, so it sort of corroborates the story. But now I'm not sure, especially with Nobody trying to capture and use Eric, the Un-Space Exploration Committee avoiding Eric, and Eric and Scout's history. In some ways, it seems like Eric could be the victim of some conspiracy of sorts--that he ticked off the wrong people, though there are still pockets of vigilantes ready to believe him.

With the repetition of people knowing him that he doesn't remember know...is he a part of some life conceptual loop (like with the tapes and the dictophone) protecting something or someone else?

I'm fascinated by the concept of "un-space," which seems to be what I'm calling "liminal space" in my dissertation.

I'm worried that the "it's a dream" ending Nate is fearing may be that he wakes up after the shark gets him again and it starts the cycle all over with this quest to find the doctor (very Momento-esque indeed).

Remember all--"Live every week like it's shark week."

Eric & Scout

This book just keeps getting weirder, but I'm still intrigued. I really didn't like Mr. Nobody and his gruesome description and I'm still confused about who he is. At one point it seemed to suggest he was Eric in a nother form...but it wasn't really resolved and left me confused. Scout interests me. I liked her from the moment she entered the story, but now I'm dying to know who she really is, what her role will be and what part her identity plays. The last line of the section made it for me..."Scout had a tattoo of a smiley face on her big toe." Who is she??!!

I don't have much else to say. I feel like I need to read this whole story and actually understand the point before I can really unpack the story.

Raw Shark Texts Part 1, tastes like cabbage...

Hi all… Sarah’s brother, Nathan, here. Good pick Katie, I like it so far!
First off, I like the amnesia story as a convention; Bourne Identity, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc., it always makes for a fun mystery-ish drama. Second, this is a cool new take on the old sci-fi standard artificial intelligence trope. The way it (Ludovician, aka- the big bad idea shark-see attached photo) arose out of collective consciousness instead of just being an A.I. that the internet birthed is kinda unique… I like it. Third big plus, I love it when authors try to push the “text only” convention a bit. House of Leaves by Danielewski does a lot of the strange formatting and adding drawings and stuff, probably too much, but RST is starting to show some promise… I just hope an ASCII Ludo shows up and starts eating the narrative by the end.
The story does, however, have that possibility of ending up with an “it was all a dream” kinda psychological twist. I hate those endings, they always feel like an allegorical cop out. Either be blatantly in the world of fable and allegory or be spec fic, don’t try to switch it out at the end so people get your point better. I do think that RST probably won’t go there.

n8

Question: If RST is Moby Dick, is the new Eric Sanderson Ahab?

Raw Shark Texts Part 1

I also am feeling too tired to come up with a more interesting title. I am really interested in the first part of this book. I love the unique format of it, the parts where there are words forming pictures or little excerpts from who knows what. I really like all the water imagery and the feeling like he is drowning and having to stay afloat in his own mind. Also the shark or Ludovician is really interesting to me. I'm confused as to whether it is a good or a bad thing at this point. I mean, is the shark what he thinks it is, this figurative fish coming to eat up whatever memory he is able to restore, or is it the memories of his past life trying to come back to him, or is it some sort of mental disorder?

Because of the differences between the first Eric and the Eric we see narrating the story, I am unsure how much of a trustworthy narrator the first Eric is. I mean, he never managed to recover his memory and obviously is getting worse instead of better since this is the 9th time Eric has lost all of his memories and had to go see Dr. Randle, and this time is the worst of them all because he can't remember anything at all. Does this mean the Ludovician is succeeding in getting more and more of Eric's memories, or is all this light bulb coding and everything else he does to protect "live" texts actually hurting his recovery? Maybe I'm being influenced by Memento, too, but I wonder how much we can trust the letters and communications he is receiving because he can't remember anything that happened to know whether or not to refute the first Eric.

I am really curious to see where this book goes. Like Emily, I love the whole psychological process of it, how it is like a living thing but it is actually all going on in his mind. My questions right now are: Is Clio really dead? If so, how did she die? How much should he trust and follow out the first Eric's instructions? Is it in fact the Ludovician that is stealing all of his memories or is it something else? I guess this is kind of repeating what I said earlier but in a more concise format.

Oh, and I really like Ian. I like the part when Eric is in the rain and thinking about just letting the river take him but doesn't because he has the responsibility of taking care of something, even if it is a cat.

The Raw Shark Texts part 1

I apologize for the boring post title. I'm also not sure if I'm supposed to be posting yet...dates got a little mixed up. Anyhow, Wow! I don't really know what else to say. This book definitely grabbed me from the beginning...the mystery and intrigue sucked me in as did the bizarre premise of the book and the possible psychological angle. (I'm a psych major remember.) To be honest I'm not really sure what I think yet. I think there are three possibilities...1) This book will be brilliant and I'll love it, 2) The book will be too philosophical and I'll be just plain lost, 3) It will be one of those stories like Monty Python and the Holy Grail where I love it until the end and then I hate it. I suppose number 4 would be any combination of any of thee above.

Very bizarre, the idea of words, ideas, communications being a living stream. I don't think I completely agree with this, but I do find it intriguing. It feels weird having the old and new characters of Eric. They are supposed to be the same person and yet they feel like they are two different characters. I guess that's the point. Finally, the first Eric's attempt to get Clio back...his search that led him to Dr. Fidorous, it's the search for eternal life, the attempt to hold back death, that search that is a theme from the beginning of time until now. I'm very curious to see where this all goes.

Raw Shark Texts

Okay, here is our new schedule for the book.

Part I can be posted on Friday, January 30th.

Part II can be posted on Friday, February 6th.

Part III can be posted on Friday, February 13th.

Part IV can be posted on Friday, February 20th.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Claus

I really ended up liking the last of the Mrs. Claus' story. Meredith was around our age, and though I am no orphan-heiress, I really kind of identified with some things about her. I understood how she felt kind of unsure about her relationships with men and feeling the need to prove herself as capable. I was a little unsure of Nick at first because of the grey hair, but ended up liking him. Although, I felt like it was a bit of a cop-out with his big secret being he was working on a research project. I kept expecting something bigger.

Definitely one of my favorite things about this book has been the strong female relationships. They spent as much time developing the female friendships as they did the romantic friendships. In all, a fun, enjoyable book.

And to give you all the heads up since I get to pick the next book, it will be The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.

Here's the tentative schedule, pending approval:

Part 1: January 23
Part 2: January 30
Part 3: February 6
Part 4: February 13

Does this sound reasonable to everyone?

Meredith...and the end

Here I was thinking I'd found a nice little story with some fun characters and comedic scenes and story number three stars a young woman who's lost both her parents in a tragedy. I nearly threw the book across the room...but then I went ahead and read it. After all, it was my book and it was supposed to have a happy ending. While I think this may have been my second favorite of the stories, I also found it to be the least plausible. A few of the plot details seemed a bit far fetched, such as the sleigh in downtown Chicago and the miraculous finding of Meredith's mom's glass ornaments. These details were lovely little miracles, but hardly believable. Still, I am glad that things turned out well for Meredith and I enjoyed the guessing game about just where her man had gone and who he was.

The epilogue was cute. I love how the three Mrs. Clauses ended up at the same place at the same time and that they all made a connection in some way. I also enjoyed hearing a little of what had happened to each woman one, two or three years after her story. I thought it was a fun and clever way to end the story. Over all I found this an enjoyable read and was glad for a little "fluff" after the seriousness of the last book as well as my own life. I hope everyone else enjoyed it as well.

Meredith (and the epilogue)

This one was nice. I think I liked it better than Cassie's, but I'm not sure if better than Olivia's. Ms. Alexander has a thing for good girlfriends (Gia in this one) and I like that. Nick was great. The whole thing had a very 'Miracle of 34th Street' feel about it. And I totally felt Meredith's frustration about her job.

The epilogue felt really cheesy to me. Too perfect and wrapping it all up. I mean, it's a nice touch, but it turned me off. I like that Cassie's mom, Agate was Mrs. Claus, but that they were all there the next year...yeah, it just didn't seem possible.

And I totally spotted at error on pg. 340 (listing of Meredith's cities that she was in charge of. Baltimore is there twice). Just thought I'd share.

Till next time.

Cassie (i like your cassie better, faubles)

Loved loved loved Tyler. He was great. I really don't know if I buy him as a five year old boy, but i'm not good with ages and development, so whatever.

Yeah, the relationship between her and Buchman. It was okay. It just seemed really shallow. I liked him, but i just didn't think i was prepared for the relationship. I write short stories and I think I could have made the connection work better.

Cassie annoyed me that she was soooo stubborn about TJ. He was awful. I mean, why did it take her so long to figure that out? I wanted to slap her. In a nice friendly way.

Once again, liked the main character's friends. They seem to be the solid (more) ones.

one more!!

Olivia (should we come up with better titles? :))

Okay, I admit it took me awhile to get into this story. I'm not sure why i was resisting, but there you go.

I really liked it. I liked how she changed and how she liked being with the kids. I loved her friends and how different they all were. And I agree that Woody wasn't really necessary, but he was nice and sweet. The stuff with the show was hilarious.

I definitely had warm feelings when it ended. Made me want to more to Baltimore. Especially when they referenced Hairspray in the beginning.

On to the next one!!

Olivia

I really liked Olivia's character and her development, probably as Em notes, we get the most character in this story. I liked how the story was about her changing and how that came as a result of more than just (or at all really) a relationship with a guy. I barely felt like we learned much about Woody, in fact the story would have worked just as well without him other than the fact that it wouldn't fit the genre as well. I felt like I knew Olivia's friends better than any of the guys (other than maybe Hank).

Another good thing about this story was all the side characters; I could tell that there were big back stories that existed, but weren't necessarily shared, for her friends, her mom, etc. Did we ever hear what started her mom's anxiety? Jonah was the third husband? Why is Turtle looking for a new city? ZZ was a therapist? (Okay that last one was potentially more handy than indicative of more story, but still...) Feeling like the other characters had lives beyond just being supporting cast to Olivia made the story much richer and more believable.

Cassie

Loved her name of course, but wasn't sure about all the hot and heavy physical stuff going on between her and Buchman. I can identify with her in many ways...being a mom, wanting the best for her son, enjoying decorating and yet I can't agree with all of her decisions. I feel like a woman with a young son should be way more responsible than sleeping around, but again, my morals are a lot different than most these days. I was glad that she made up with her mom, especially in lieu of my own personal experiences lately. I think her job must be way cool and really fun, both the creating window displays and the Mrs. Claus part. I did enjoy the story for what it was, a short, fun Christmas story. I also appreciated the emphasis put on the importance of family. I realize that family can be a mix of blood relations and close friends and I think this little tale did a good job of showing that.

Olivia

I think the first short story about Olivia was my favorite one, partially because it was the cleanest but mostly because it was the longest and thus in my opinion, the most developed. I enjoyed watching Olivia's transformation and dawning self awareness as she figured out what she really wanted in life amidst the magic of the twinkle lights and gumdrops of Santa Land. I think so often people, myself included, have these huge grandiose dreams of what we want to do in life, when if we thought about what the truest desires of our hearts are, we'd realize what we really want are simple things. 

I really like Hank's character and how he helps not only Olivia, but also her mother. I love that Olivia ends up with her childhood sweetheart (the geek turned successful genius) and that his name is Woody! Overall it was a cute, happy story that even had me wanting to play Mrs. Clause in a cute and sexy little red, fur trimmed number!

Mrs. Claus

I'm only a little into this, but I was amused by the prologue. One, I like that Rossman's Department store is in Chicago on Michigan Ave., clearly a Marshall Field's substitute. But, the financial issues that they are worried about and the idea of scaling back Christmas seems very topical with this year. Interesting.

Captivating End

Finished a couple of days ago, but haven't been able to sit down with the book, plus I was mulling some things over. I don't really have an answer for this, but I'm thinking about the femininity/masculinity of Christ. Without really having specific Biblical passages to point to, I've always kind of thought that God was without gender and that since we are made in His image that men and women are just varied expressions of his masculine or feminine traits. If that's the case and then since I also believe that Christ is fully God, how do I reconcile his earthly masculine persona with a non-gendered heavenly one? If I'm supposed to try to live my life like Christ, what of what he did was masculine and not what I as a female should be doing? How do I avoid what they caution "You must not let them [I think they mean 'the World' but didn't think it was too clear] shape you into their view of what a woman is. You'll end up a man" (212).

Another part that I'm not sure how to deal with is this from the final chapter: "God desires that wherever and however you offer yourself to the Body of Christ, you'll have the protection of good men over you. Not to hold you back, but to set you free as a woman. Christ has made man as his warrior, to offer his strength on behalf of Eve so that she might flourish. If that's not the context you've found yourself in find one that is" (211). That seems difficult to do in a fallen world, how on this earth can we do that? Often times the men in our worlds are not these kind of men, so I think women need to rely on God and His power and strength in them, regardless of the men around them. And the fact that the Eldredges have a whole chapter on "Warrior Princesses," makes it hard for me to accept that man is Christ's only warrior.

Anyway, this book has brought up some interesting things to talk and think about--good choice, Eden!

Finito!

Sorry, i got distracted by other things, most that didn't much matter. I finished the book, although not the study guide. I will get to that. I hope.

Chapter 10: Mom and I are a lot alike. At least that's why i think we argue as much as we do. She wants what's best for me and I don't want her to think that I can't do it. I don't know. But I love her. And there is so much about her I hope to emulate.

Never had sisters. But I've got you girls. Friends over the years that have given me love. People who stick around even when i'm not 'pretty' inside or out. That's sisterhood. I hope I do the same for you.

I think, with daughters, whether I ever have any officially is something that I do have. My readers. Most are girls (methinks) and I really do want to impress upon them through my stories, some good ideals. Most of my girl characters are strong and have good senses of self. It's all romance, but often there's more than just the guy. Well, half of the time.

And in my real stories, I'm trying to do the same. Create realistic female characters who are more than just looking for a guy. I guess they are my daughters.

Chapter 11: Okay, who doesn't want to be a Warrior Princess? I love the idea that we are ones. I've never wanted to be in a war story, but i do get excited when i hear about missions and the work people do for God. I would love to be a warrior. To be strong and mighty.

I like that the book says things like "But often, there is not a man present in a woman's life to fight on her behalf." (195) I guess, I'm fortunate enough to have my dad to do that for me. He probably always will too.

But I'm warming to the idea of being a woman on my own. At least for now. With God in my corner, I can be a warrior princess. A daughter of the king who can kick butt by loving and giving and standing strong. Tis thrilling.

I think I overdo vulnerable. So it's not offering my heart or vulnerability. It's doing it when it's needed. That's what I have to learn.

Chapter 12: I have always wanted to impact the world. Mostly by performing, but i think I've had that desire for a long time. The book says that I'm (we're) irreplaceable. I may not ipact the world in such a way that I'll be remembered by historians, but there is something specific that God wants me to do. I just have to figure out what. Telling stories, maybe. Being me and loving people, definitely.

I think in rereading this book, I've had time to remember and dwell on ideas that I read so quickly last time that I cried, but didn't set into motion. I hope in rereading that I'll take much more to heart and practice. That's the goal.

I hope it was good for everyone. That it opened your eyes to new ideas or reiterated some old ones. That it gave you all something to be excited about being you. You too Chris!!

December book

Okay, here's the deal. I've picked a fun, Christmas pop-fiction novel. I needed something light this month for obvious reasons. It's called The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander. I read about a quarter of it to make sure it was okay...don't think it's too sleezy and actually has some heart-warming messages so far. It basically has three shorter stories which are linked by a common theme/prologue. I'm not going to set specific dates for when each section is read, but I'd ask that we try and read it all by the first week of January if possible, since it is a Christmas book. I'm also going to suggest that we post on each section seperately since each of the three stories is sort of independant. With Christmas break coming up this should be doable for us I think...plus it's a fun read. Hopefully the rest of the book is good.