Adventures in Reading: "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Matt suggested this one to me. The book is a detailed version of the events of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster in which 12 people were killed, as remembered by Jon Krakauer, a mountaineer and journalist on the trip.

This book is fascinating. Krakauer prefaces the story by saying that he's writing as a kind of therapy. He is attempting to make sense of what will surely be the most terrifying and tragic event of his life. Krakauer writes about himself and others in a really honest way, something he's taken heat for since the book's release. Human error is mainly to blame for the accident, and no one person is completely at fault. His refusal to gloss over mistakes, even those made by himself, is what gives this book it's depth and believability, as well as its controversy. Krakauer's telling has a great pace that keeps the reader interested, and gives enough detail about mountaineering to ensure even someone with zero climbing experience understands what he is talking about. In fact, he is extremely detail oriented throughout, which is an necessary trait for someone wanting to tell a story of this magnitude.

I would reccomend this book to anyone who is looking to read a compelling story. Some details of the story are fairly graphic, and the focus is on a very tragic event, so bear that in mind. It isn't a difficult read in the sense that Krakauer's writing is smooth and engaging. What is difficult is making sense out of such a tragic event.

Adventures in Reading: "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl

I just finished "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl. I work at a bookstore, and when we have copies of books that don't sell, employees usually get first dibs. I was going through a stack of this kind when I found "The Dante Club". I'm not sure what it was about it that caught my eye, but I read the back cover and it sounded interesting: a group of (real, non-fictional) poets in post-Civil War Boston attempt to solve a string of murders that copy punishments found in Dante's "Inferno". Now, that doesn't really fall under the category of something I would normally read. I like a good mystery, but I don't like graphic blood-and-guts type stuff. I also had never given much thought to historical fiction genre. But the literary aspect of the story caught my attention. The author uses actual non-fictional characters like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes as his main characters, and the story centers around Dante's classic work on several levels.

The book isn't terribly long, and it's a quick read. The characters and the action keep you interested, and it's not too gory (at least it wasn't for me, and I'm pretty squeamish). Basically, it's an interesting story set at a good pace. The reader isn't bogged down by details of scenery or by long dialogue. The author jumps from character to character, keeping the reader interested and wanting to know more. I would definitely recommend this book to just about anyone!

my love/hate relationship with Stephenie Meyer

I am not a huge "Twilight" fan. I was pretty set against having anything to do with the series, until one day I was in need of a new book. In a brief and temporary moment of insanity, I decided to read "Twilight". I assumed it would be bad, but I was prepared to be wrong. I hoped I was wrong.

*sigh*

I think "Twilight" is HORRIBLY written. Based on reading all four of the books in this series, I have come to the conclusion that when asked to write an essay, Mrs. Meyer was likely never desperately looking for more information in order to come up with the minimum word count. There were times when I thought I could probably skip ahead a page or two and not miss a thing. I also don't particularly care for her writing style. It's very juvenile, and while I'll concede that the books were written for a young adult audience, and it is told from the point of view of a young girl, it's the writing itself that seems immature. It did get better as the series progressed, but I was still left with the feeling that the books were written by someone who hadn't quite gotten control over her writing style yet. Her repetition of words and her sometimes strange sentence structure were often enough to cause me to sigh out loud.

However, if the stories weren't at least mildly captivating, I would have stopped after the first one. I decided to keep reading with a "it can't get worse" sort of mentality. And there is something to be said for her characterization and attention to detail. As a reader, I did care about the characters on some level. They were generally believable, sometimes falling flat or becoming predictable, but never so much so that I lost complete interest.

All this to say, I am fantastically jealous of Stephenie Meyer. According to Meyer, one night she dreamed about a vampire that fell in love with a mortal, and BAM! Three months later "Twilight" was finished. And people LOVE it. Now, I'm not saying that I want to write so that I can have a cult-like following of crazies, but I do want people to connect with what I write. And Meyer has that. She just has it from a demographic who apparently feel the need to express themselves through squealing and fits of hysteria! (Note: I know several sane, non-crazies who also loved these books) So here's what I'm really jealous of: Meyer had an idea flash before her eyes, and she knew she had to run with it. And apparently it poured out of her, based on the fact that she finished so quickly.

Maybe it's the immature writer in me, but that's what I want. I want to be smacked on the side of the head by an idea that I have to get on paper. I don't particularly want to spend hours doing writing exercises. But maybe that's what I need. Maybe in order to avoid all the things that I dislike about Meyer's writing, I need to put in the hours before I have my big epiphany. Better get started...

focus

I've decided to take this blog in a new direction. I think turning the focus of what I write on here toward actual writing will be a really positive encouragement to me. I will probably continue to write some random this-is-what's-going-on-in-my-life posts as a way to unscramble my thoughts, but for the most part I want to focus on writing and reading. I want to discuss the books I'm reading; my own process in writing; music, movies and other things that inspire me; and other topics of that nature.

Hopefully later today I'll have my first post of this kind up, so uhh...stay tuned!

give it the old college try

Matt keeps telling me to write a book. In all honesty, I would love to do that. I think one of the first things I was ever conscious of wanting to "be when I grow up" as a kid was an author. That title too: author. Not a writer, an author. Someone who makes literature, art with story. Matt thinks that is funny/endearing, and proof that it's a desire I was born with. I believe him, too. I believe there is something inside of me that needs to come out. That's what I love so much about dancing (lyrical or modern). It's one of the best ways I've ever been able to express whatever it is that's trying to get it's way out of me. I really love writing, too, but it takes so much more effort for me compared to dance. I can dance to a song, having no choreography in mind at all, and feel like I actually accomplished some sort of expression.

Writing is harder. I keep telling Matt that I don't have anything to write about. I only partially believe that when I say it, though. I know I am a born story teller. I think if you spend any amount of time with me, you'll agree. I just have absolutely no idea where to start when it comes to actually writing down a story. All I know is that when I hear certain songs, see certain performances or art, or, heck, even when I'm just staring at books in the library or at a book store, I feel something. Something I can't exactly describe. Something that makes me feel...human. And feels like it needs to be expressed somehow. I need to get past my self-consciousness and make some sort of plan to at least try. I can't keep waiting for inspiration to just fall out of the sky and hit me like a meteor.

Sometimes trying is the best a person can do. It's probably about time I find out where that lands me.

that's just plain bad luck

From now on, any time I'm feeling sorry for myself, I'm going to reread this:

http://www.cracked.com/article_17416_7-most-bizarrely-unlucky-people-who-ever-lived.html

Oh boy!

bienvenue

I think it's pretty standard to have one's first blog post be some sort of justification for writing it. I think most people, subconsciously or otherwise, feel bad for blogging, at least initially. I think it's a totally natural human characteristic to want to share stories and feelings, and to have those stories and feelings be validated in some way. I don't know where the sense that we don't deserve some sort of validation comes in, but it's there for most people. We're embarrassed to admit that we want people to understand us or that we have something to say.

So, I won't apologize for starting a blog. Instead, I'll give a few reasons why I did start it, because I think that's a good jumping off point.

- Over the past month or two, several things have happened in my life that I wanted to have some record of. I've gotten more involved at church, I was a juror on a week-long rape trial, and I seriously sprained my ankle. All of these events (plus others) have all made me think and feel a lot of things. I couldn't seem to motivate myself to actually hand-write most of the stuff, but since I spend MOST of my work day in front a computer, this seemed like a logical way of recording things.

- I enjoy writing, but I have been absolutely terrible about doing it over the last few years. I'm hoping this will motivate me to do more.

- I like the idea of having people I know dialogue with me about my life, and this seems like an interesting way to do that. I may never get any "followers", but maybe I'll get a post or two once in a while. Could be interesting.

Anyway...there's a short list for ya. Something in the way of a real post will hopefully follow shortly.