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Review of The Marriage Plot

On March 17, 2012

My Book club read The Marriage Plot, by Jeffery Eugenides, for our February book. I went into it with such high expectations. His other books, Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides, were awesome. As I was reading The Marriage Plot, I found myself pretty disappointed. But I think it was a matter of managing my expectations. The book is really solidly good. It’s no Pulitzer winner, but still quite good.

The problem with being awesome is that people expect you to stay that way. That sounds trite, but there is some truth to it. And it’s the reason that I was let down by a book being simply good.It’s nearly impossible for a performer to create a hit album every time, for an athlete to get MVP every game or for an author to consistently write excellent books. Author Jeffrey Eugenides created a near impossible situation for himself. First he wrote The Virgin Suicides and followed it up with the Pulitzer Prize winning Middlesex. How could he top those?

You can read my complete review of The Marriage Plot, by Jeffery Eugenides, on BookGeeks.

Giving in to the Ring

By Kate

On January 19, 2012

In reviews, travel

I caved. I succumbed to peer pressure and an annoying curiosity. I watched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.Over the years, I’ve proudly announced to anyone who would listen that I have never seen any of the Star Wars films nor any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have no logic behind the Star Wars resistance except that it seems to really bug a lot of people. For Lord of the Rings, I actually had good reasoning. When I was in high school I read the Lord of the Rings series as well as The Hobbit and I loved them. I was transported into other worlds and I loved how Tolkien’s words translated into how I pictured the characters. Once you see a movie, it is my experience that any preconceptions you had for characters’ appearances and voices go out the window.

Several months ago I saw a preview for the movie version of “The Hobbit.” It looked so good! And, I realized that I had officially forgotten enough of the book that watching it might be okay. Furthermore, I had forgotten enough of the Lord of the Rings trilogy that watching the movies might be an option for me.

Several years ago – it will be four years come this February – I actually went to Hobbiton while on my honeymoon in New Zealand. Picture me during the tour of Hobbiton, surrounded by Lord of the Rings freaks and trying not to let on that I had no clue what anyone was talking about. Fortunately, the tour was actually pretty awesome. One thing our tour guide told us that really impressed me was the level of care Peter Jackson took to be true to the book. That was such a vote in his favor! There have been plenty of things I have avoided (Harry Potter) simply because I get so indignant over how people refer to the book versus the movie or to related books.

I’m digressing.

Wonder Boy and I watched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. I am pretty sure this was a dream come true for Wonder Boy. Normally he has to watch his geek movies when I am otherwise occupied. Some reactions to the film:

It’s long. I think I got bed sores on my butt from sitting still for so long. But overall it was pretty good!
While I have certainly not sought it out, I know quite a bit about the Lord of the Rings movies. I did not know Orlando Bloom was in them. He looks so different! Make-up job well done.
In part because I was able to watch the movie from the vantage point of having been in Hobbiton, I have such a huge respect for the movie trickery done in terms of making the actors all look such different heights.
I heart Ian McKellan.
I was distracted at several parts during the film thinking about the merchandising that must have occurred afterwards. You know people have replicas of that ring as their wedding bands.

Here’s the one additional takeaway I had. Seeing a much-hyped movie, a movie that some cult-like following, long after its release can be dangerous. I have been told by countless people how this movie is awesome. I think it was hyped up too much. I mean, I thought it was good, but not awesome.

Here are some photos of Wonder Boy and I in Hobbiton:

My reaction to going to Hobbiton.

Wonder Boy’s reaction to visiting Hobbiton.

This is Hobbiton. The Hobbiton scenes were filmed on a farm and the family who owns the farm is allowed to maintain the structures but not the decorations and things from the movie, hence the white-washed buildings.

Wonder Boy and I in Bag End. We are clearly taller than Hobbits.

The tree from the party scene.

Finishing What You Started

By Kate

On December 19, 2011

In books, reviews

Do you every stop reading books midway? I generally don’t. I treat books like I do food – one thing at a time and don’t start a new thing before you’ve finished the earlier one. But. I am learning to value my time more than I value the accomplishment of reading a book.

For my book club we read The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta for the month of December. This should haver been a fabulous book – it’s made end-of-the-year top 10 lists. And the idea if really super.

The basic premise of The Leftovers is that The Rapture has occurred and a significant segment of the population just disappeared. Contrary to religious ramblings, the people taken weren’t the most devout and spiritual. Rather, a hodgepodge of people left. This leaves the remaining population to come to terms with losing loved ones, being left behind and having religious expectations challenged. Also, a valuable plus for me, this book is not religious even though it focuses so much on The Rapture.

I think Perrotta started with a really meaty idea for a story and it should have been exciting and dramatic. Instead? Yawn. A woman in my book club described her issue with the book by saying it was all one note. Like a story should have highs and lows and have something that keeps you interested throughout the book. This doesn’t mean that the ploy has to be exciting because the movement can also occur by just keeping the reader engaged or creating an emotional connection between readers and some or one character(s). Instead, The Leftovers was like reading a news article for me. I didn’t mind the story but I didn’t really care either.

And so, I returned The Leftovers to the library only half read and I have gone back to The Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. It’s a enormous book and has taken me a while but since I give a d2mn about the characters, I’m okay with devoting a little more of my time.

Review of The Paris Wife

By Kate

On September 26, 2011

In books, reviews

I have a new review online at BookGeeks of The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain.

It’s a pretty well-known fact Ernest Hemingway was intimately familiar with alcohol. Travel just about anywhere in the world and you’ll find a bar with a sign reading “Hemingway Sat Here.” Some other commonly known facts about the American author include his fame for writing some memorable novels, winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, reputation as a ladies’ man, involvement in an expatriate art movement in Paris during the 1920s and, later in life, committing suicide.

These facts do not tell the true story of the man. Paula McLain gives us a much better glimpse in The Paris Wife: A Novel by focusing on Hemingway’s relationship with his first wife, Hadley Richardson.

Read the full review on BookGeeks.

A Night Out at the Movies

By Kate

On September 9, 2011

In books, reviews

Tonight I went out with my book club to see The Help. Unbeknownst to them, I had already gone out and seen it with Wonder Boy. I almost never see movies twice, but I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to hang out with friends. It was fun, relaxing and a chance to do something different on a weeknight. (Plus, even though it’s horrible for you, I love me some movie theatre popcorn!)

There’s been a lot of controversy about The Help that I don’t remember seeing about the book, but maybe I just missed it. The gist that I’ve seen is that people resent a story where a white person or perspective is “necessary” to tell the hardships about another race or why having it told from that perspective makes it more palatable to the larger public. I know this is sharing my perspective late, but whatever.

From my end, I don’t care why or how people learn about racism and discrimination that existed and exists in our country. I just want them to learn about it. And maybe that isn’t fair or nuanced enough, but there you have it. Several months ago my book club read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Everyone loved the book and several people comments on how many things they read that were completely unknown to them prior to the book. My question back was, and I swear I posed this in the nicest way possible: Why is it that so many white girls I know (and I am one) read books about all sorts of atrocities around the world like the holocaust but so few read about the atrocities that occurred in our own country? Why were the things in the Henrietta Lacks book new knowledge?

This question has really stuck with me since then. I feel like I have gone out of my way to learn about racism, past and present. I’m still learning all the time. And while I still have a long way to go, at least I am trying.

So many people remain ignorant to our nation’s history. People who go out of their way to learn about the history of other nations or people from other countries. What about learning about their neighbors? And while The Help might be flawed, if it teaches anybody anything or inspires anyone to learn more, then all of my other opinions aside, good for the movie. That’s a huge accomplishment.