Adventures in Reading: "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton

I really loved "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton. A reference to "Ethan Frome" by my high school English teacher is actually the first I ever heard of Wharton, and for some reason it stuck with me. When I was wandering around the library a week or so ago and came across "Ethan Frome" on the shelf, I knew it was finally time.

Wharton's writing is just perfect. "Ethan Frome" is very short, about one hundred pages, so it could be considered more of a long short story than a novel, I suppose. And in my opinion, those are much more difficult to write. A short story writer must craft a story that is engaging and compelling, while being concise and to-the-point at the same time. Anyway...

"Ethan Frome" is the story of the title character, and how he came to be the broken man he is at the beginning of the story. The bulk of the story is told through a flashback, and recounts the tragic romance between Frome and his wife's cousin Mattie. Wharton's description of the tension and anticipation between all of the characters and the dynamics the contribute to their circumstances is spot on, and makes the entire story move at a steady pace.

Since the story is so short, I don't want to say too much about it as to give anything away, but I would definitely recommend this one. It will only take a couple of hours to read, and it's well worth it.

Adventures in Reading: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" By Junot Diaz

I've tried to write this post three or four times now. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long. Anyway...

This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. I mean, if that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is. I was also told by several people that I had to read it, and I think I actually boxed out a librarian in order to check it out. And it didn't disappoint. It's vivid and heartbreaking and funny and disturbing. Never boring.

The story of Oscar is told by an unnamed narrator who we eventually learn is a character in the story. The narration is deceptively casual, using slang (a lot of which is in spanish), footnotes and references to science fiction and fantasy literature. However, despite the informal feeling of the narration, the story is tight and rarely dull or dragging.

The book is broken up into several parts which focus on Oscar, his sister or his mother, and how their stories weave together. Their stories are heavily influenced by their Dominican heritage, and their family's belief that they live under a curse. Because of the skipping around between characters, there tend to be gaps in the story, though these are mostly filled in by the end. You have to focus on each individual story as it's told and trust that the narrator will give you the whole story by the end.

There is also quite a bit of Dominican history scattered throughout the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It's not always an easy read, both because of content and structure, but it's definitely worth the time and effort.

** I feel like this post is missing something, but I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to actually write this post. I probably waited too long between finishing the book and sitting down to type this. If I come up with some sort of epiphany about what else I need to say about it, I'll come back and edit it.

A Prayer

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of my enemy. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Adventures in Reading: "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

I wish books didn't make me feel so woozy.

This book was not always easy to get through. The writing is engaging and honest. The content is heavy. And toward the end there's a lot of blood, which caused some serious flashbacks and unwanted fainty feelings. Ugh.

However, I think the thing that I enjoy most about the book is its truth. Not only is the story itself fairly autobiographical, but the sense of suffocating in the open air, the internal disconnect, the fear of not being able to trust your own mind...these are things that real people struggle with every day. There were times when I was frustrated during this book, when I felt the hopelessness of Esther Greenwood and, like her, just wanted it to end. Whether this effect was intended by the author or not, I can't say. But looking back, I would say that the tension created by this feeling makes the novel even more believable and worthwhile in the end.

Despite her gradual breakdown, I love that Esther never sounds insane. As a narrator, she is trustworthy, and this is what allows the novel to function. I understand why this book is essentially a classic. It speaks to the place in all of us that is broken and unsure and searching.

And now, I'll leave you with my favorite passage:

"I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.

From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and other fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out.

I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, staring to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinke and go black, and one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."

Oh and also this part:

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart.

I am. I am. I am."

No time!

I have three books sitting on my couch. I want to read all of them. I'm also right in the middle of moving. Well, let's be honest: I'm right at the end of moving, which means my life is in a state complete chaos for the next four days.

So, I will continue to read "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath as often as I have time (aka, probably not again until Tuesday), and I will wait as patiently as possible to get to my other books as soon as this is all over.

I hate moving packing.

Motto

"If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."

That's my motto for 2011. My main areas of focus are really letting God control my life, and being financially independent. So far, I'm off to a good start.

Big step

I just submitted (and paid for) my application to graduate school. All that's left to do is finish editing my writing sample and send that in. Oh, and cross my fingers that my transcripts and letters of recommendation get in on time.

Feeling excited, relieved, nervous....

I'll keep you posted!