Published by Vintage Books (Random House Inc.), 1994

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

My thoughts regarding my introduction to Philip Roth’s work are extremely mixed.  While I enjoyed the story he’s crafted here and the way he has played with the notion of authorship and ownership of both the written word and of identity in general, I’m not sure that I am completely in love with his work.  There’s no doubt that he’s a great writer, but there were multiple times when reading this book where I felt that brevity should have been considered.  (There are many passages that seemed nearly unnecessary that dragged on for sometimes 10 pages.)

A description of the plot of this text is highly complex and I feel that I will never do it justice.  Essentially, the book follows Roth to Jerusalem, where he has discovered that a man is living under his name and posing as Philip Roth while presenting a plan for Jewish Diasporism that will (in “Philip Roth’s” mind) replace Zionism.  The book becomes a labyrinth of mystery as Philip Roth tries to figure who his doppleganger is and what he wants.

The subtitle of this text forces a number of rather interesting questions as well.  While the back of the book classifies the genre as “Fiction/Literature,” the subtitle places it somewhat closer to nonfiction (perhaps resembling memoir).  So how much of this book is true and how much is fabrication?  And to what extent does that matter at all?  Very shortly after finishing the novel, I feel that the question of truth is rather important, considering the varying viewpoints on the question of the validity of the existence of Jewish state posited in the book (I’m hesitant to call it a novel) by an author who is supposedly depicting his own experience.

I think this one is worth the read, just be prepared to push through the longer passages that can at times feel redundant.  I think it’s also important to note that despite what the blurb might say, I don’t really find Roth’s writing all that funny.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by Three Rivers Press, 1995

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while.  I was beginning to think that it may just be a lot of hype: perhaps Obama’s book was only popular during his 2008 campaign because of the publicity the author obviously received.  However, I was very impressed with Obama’s writing.  He has crafted an engaging exploration of his own racial identity as it has continuously been split over the lines of racial division.  It reminded me a great deal of Richard Wright’s Black Boy, and I feel confident that it may even come to be a more commonly used text in curriculum’s at the high school level.  The prominence of its author and his visibility for today’s students make this a great choice for cracking open the discussion based around race and its implications in what some consider to be a “post-racial society.”  More importantly, I think (as a white reader) this book forces those who often are able to neglect their own race to make important considerations regarding the effects of race on individuals and the importance of continuing the discussion on race in American society, despite whatever supposed progress has been made.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by Vintage Books (Random House Inc.), 1997

Rating: * * * * * (out of 5)

I can say with the utmost sincerity that this book is one of the most powerful books I have ever read.  Now that the movie has been released, I’m sure many of you are familiar with the book’s premise, but just in case:  Precious is an illiterate teenager who has been sexually abused by her father and has bore him two children, the first when she is only 12 years old.  The book is presented as her journal writings as a member of a GED program where she meets the first teacher in her life to encourage her to continue to pursue an education despite the challenges she faces/faced both personally and in terms of her own learning.  Aside from the graphic nature of the plot, the use of language is really powerful.  Sapphire wrote the entire novel in the way Precious would have written based on her success at school.  The use of dialect is a strong reminder of the importance of using writing as a way to explore feelings and emotions and not necessarily as being something that needs to be hierarchical.  Despite its controversial content, this book is really popular with teenagers, especially those growing up in an urban setting (this was one of the most popular books amongst my students this past year in Jamaica, Queens).

In all honesty, this book reaffirmed for me that being a teacher was the best choice I ever could have made.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by Harper Perennial, 2003.

Rating: * * * * * (out of 5)

HOLY CRAP!

I just finished reading this book.  And I had to run over here and post this right away.  This book is amazing!  I purposely waited to see the movie so I could read the book first, and I am really glad I did (… and also really looking forward to the movie).  I don’t want to say too much about the plot line, because this is one book where it is imperative that nothing is spoiled.  So all I’ll say is that Teddy Daniels is a U.S. Marshal investigating a missing inmate/patient at Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island.  Rachel Solando seems to have vanished, but there’s no trace of her on the island, so Daniels is called in to investigate.

That’s where the story starts.  Oh dear god, read this book to find out what happens.  In addition to the fast-paced plot, there is a great deal going on here in terms of commenting on treatment of the “insane” in America.

READ THIS BOOK!

Happy Reading!

~J

P.S. Apologies for the very manic post.  I just can’t get over how much I enjoyed this book.  It was the perfect choice for a light Spring Break read.

Published by Random House, 2006

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

The cover of this book promises contents on “new jobs, old loves, fighting the Man, having a kid, saving the world, and everything in between,” and the contributors certainly do not disappoint.  The book is the result of an essay contest held by Random House to find “new voices” in writing, and I have to say that I think they found a group of writers that have a great deal of potential.  While the book does have its more serious essays ( “Cliche Rape Story” by Marisa McCarthy, “The Mustache Race” by Bronson Lemer, “Backlash” by Shahnaz Habib), many of the essays are reminiscent of the Augusten Burroughs essay: a hilarious take on the completely ordinary.

Some of my favorites:

“Tricycle” by Rachel Kempf

“Think Outside the Box But Stay Inside the Grid” by Emma Black

“Sheer Dominance” by Christopher Poling

For me, this book helps to prove that my generation is not entirely useless, that we do in fact have something to say and we are not just apathetic losers who will watch the world collapse around us.  My generation has lot’s to say; we’re just taking our time to find the best way to say it after being inundated with so much other stuff that we no longer feel that we have anything that is both original and worth saying out loud.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by Knopf, 2007

Rating: * * * * * (out of 5)

Every now and again, I begin reading a book and somewhere within the first 100 pages or so, I can tell that this is going to be one of those books that will mean a lot to me.  The Book Thief has recently joined the ranks of Slaughterhouse Five and The Perks of Being Wallflower on that list.

This is not the typical Holocaust novel.  Zusak presents his story in a very different way and from a completely different point of view.  Liesel Meminger is only 9 when she travels with her mother and brother to Molching, Germany, where the two children are to be left in the care of foster parents.  Her brother does not survive the trip, leaving Liesel to face her new life alone.  The only thing she brings with her is a book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook, found by her brother’s grave and taken stealthily by Liesel. After finding her with the book, her new foster-father teaches her to read, and Liesel’s love for words and books begins amidst the horrors of Nazi Germany, where Liesel’s new family and friends are forced to make decisions that they should never have had to make.

Zusak’s writing is extremely powerful and poetic.  He has a knack for making the mundane and disturbing somehow beautiful.  The power of his words is matched nicely by the power of seeing the story of the Holocaust from the viewpoint that Nazi Germany was not filled only with Hitler sympathizers.  Zusak portrays the reality of common people feeling forced into keeping their mouths shut and following orders in order to save the lives of themselves and the ones they loved.  This book is utterly heartbreaking and beautiful.  It’s one that I hope to be teaching to students in the very near future.

WARNING: Keep a box (or 4) of tissues nearby.  You will spend a lot of time crying, especially in the last 50 pages of this absolutely outstanding book.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by Aunt Lute Books, 2007

Rating: * * * * * (out of 5)

I’ve been reading excerpts of Anzaldua’s work since my days as an undergraduate, but there is a great deal of power held within the complete version of this book.  Part poetry, part social commentary, part theory, Anzaldua explores the intersections of race, culture, gender, and sexuality through her own understandings/experience as a Chicana Lesbian.  She beautifully recounts the unknown history of her ancestors here in the United States, and powerfully examines her various identities: cultural (Indian, Spanish, Anglo), race (Mexican, Chicana, American), and sex/gender (woman, lesbian).  Her existence in both physical and metaphorical borderlands serves as the basis for her discussion.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in examining the various parts of their own self, or for those interested to understand the various oppressions that intersect and have an impact of the life and identity of an individual.  The ideas in here greatly shaped the thinker that I have come to be.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by Verso, 2006

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

According to Anderson, he set out to set out several themes with this text: “print-capitalism, piracy in the positive, metaphorical sense, vernacularization, and nationalism’s undivorcible marriage to internationalism” (207).  While Anderson did indeed discuss each of these topics in his work, I feel that there was a lack of continuity in his discussion of these themes and their relation to the idea of nationalism.

Anderson’s main argument is sound and interesting: the concept of the “nation” was constructed by man and therefore has no concrete groundings, despite the fact that it has become entirely ingrained in our social psyche.  He points towards the rise of print-capitalism and the power granted to vernacular languages with the decline of Church power as major causes of the creation of the idea of the nation, and thus nationalism.  He also definitely plays with some ideas of multiple definitions of nationalism (popular nationalism vs. official nationalism) that are reminiscent of the Taylor text I reviewed previously.

As interesting as this all sounds, I enjoyed Taylor’s book a lot more than I did this one.  There are two major issues I have with Anderson’s text:

1. He continually makes reference to major events in the history of a number of countries, such as Indonesia or Switzerland, which while I don’t doubt their importance, I could not wrap my head around their actual significance.  This is because the history he relies on (and in many ways assumes his readers will have a prior knowledge of) are histories that are not commonly taught.  Despite the fact that I fit the description of the reader that he hoped to target with his text (Westerner that is well-educated… that’s his description, not mine), my knowledge of internal affairs in Indonesia is very limited.  This would not be problematic for me, except that there were many times where I felt that Anderson did not effectively explain the inclusion of the information and simply relied and names of events and dates to be enough.  (Rather funny, considering he pokes fun at antiquated writers who did just that in earlier centuries.)

2. He includes wonderful passages from literature that is indigenous to the areas that he discusses in his book, but he does not translate them for an English-reading audience… despite the fact that that is his target audience with this book.  How is the reader expected to understand his interpretation of such a passage if he/she cannot understand the passage itself?

Despite a number of really interesting ideas that are really important to an understanding of how nationalism and race interact, Anderson’s book seems very similar to the dense academic writing that he seems to think he’s avoided.  If you like academic, theoretical work, then by all means, pick this one up.  If that’s not your thing, read a few more blurbs on his theories and you’ll enjoy it much more than you would the full text.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by University of Minnesota Press, 1999.

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

For most readers, academic writing is the epitome of boredom and pretension.  But Taylor’s work proves that writing can be academic in nature without ostracizing a large group of readers.  Through essentially jargon-free writing and an interdisciplinary approach, Taylor presents concepts and theories regarding social and economic change to what is today considered to be “modern” that will be both understood and enjoyed by readers of all educational backgrounds.

Taylor explores the question of what it means to be “modern.”  He begins by explaining the difficulty in pinpointing a single type of modernity as the only or best modernity.  From there, Taylor provides case studies of three hegemonic powers that changed the face of modernity: the rise of Mercantilism and a focus on the domestic middle class in the sixteenth through eighteenth century Dutch society, industrial modernity in nineteenth century Britain, and finally consumer modernity in twentieth (and pushing into twentieth century) America.  In addition, Taylor explains the use of the geohistorical interpretation, which emphasizes the importance of considering both time and place/space in terms of how we understand a particular event/situation in history.  This interpretation also allows readers to see that there are multiple forms of modernity, and all are equally important in understanding the way that modern society and a modern economy functions, for better and worse.

One point I found to be particularly interesting was Taylor’s refutation of the idea of “post-modernity.”  In the simplest terms, Taylor defines modernity as constant change over time (in order to accommodate the different conceptions of modernity throughout history and across disciplines).  Taylor asserts that if the modern is signified as change, then we are by no means in a post-modern state.  Instead, we are experiencing a new form of modernity.

Happy Reading!

~J

Published by Forge/Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 2004.

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

As I began reading this book, I expected an extremely light read that would probably seem little more than a bit of fan fiction that would entertain me for a weekend.  But as I dove deeper into this novel, I found that it was actually a very well-researched tale that grew out of what is clearly a strong appreciation and deep understanding of Bram Stoker’s most famous work, Dracula.

Presented as a journal found in the author’s attic, left there by his grandfather whom he had never met, the book is composed of several entries from the journal of Van Helsing, which many readers will be familiar with from Stoker’s work.  The journal is supposedly annotated by Daniel Kupfer, the grandfather responsible for leaving the journal where Allen Kupfer would eventually find it.  In addition, Allen Kupfer includes minor commentary on the text that provides his insight into the events held in the journal.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about this book is the fact that the journal is comprised of events that take place before and after the events of Dracula, incorporating mention of characters and events from the more famous novel in a seamless fashion.  In addition, Kupfer does not merely explore vampirism in Eastern Europe.  The story is brought to the Middle East, where those dorky enough to be familiar with vampire lore (such as myself) will recognize some of the rich “superstitions” that are indigenous to that area of the world.  I was highly impressed with the (apparent) research that went into this novel.  Kupfer clearly knows this subject matter very well, as well as literature in general (the text is filled with amusing discussions and allusions to great works of literature, such some of the Romantic poets that will make us literature buffs smirk with joy… or snobbery, depending on one’s point of view).  Overall, I found this to be a really enjoyable light read that’s perfect as an escape.

Happy Reading!

~J