Dana (24 KP) rated Tender Buttons in Books
Mar 23, 2018
I don't normally enjoy modernist poetry much because I feel it tries too hard to be something it is not. It tries to solve problems it cannot, but I have enjoyed this book a lot. Instead of always trying to solve problems, it states how it is. The problems are still there, the chaos is still there, but there is still a sense of peace at what the world is. The speaker is an ordinary person doing ordinary things, thinking about a world that has gone to shit, and that is really relatable.
There is a lot of attention to color in this collection. In the first section, there was a focus on Red and Yellow. In the second, coal is a constant. The colors represent the changing times, the coal especially. Red, the color of blood and war. Yellow, the color of change, and illness. The war had become an illness that had spread across Europe and eventually, the world.
I love how the style is not really a poetic style. Instead it is written in a prose form, but not as a coherent story with a plot line. I appreciate how Stein is creating and experimenting with different styles of writing to try to convey what she wants to.
In the section Objects, there was a quote that I very much liked because I felt like it summed up how that section had been flowing, for me at least. "Book was there, it was there. Book was there. Stop it, stop it, it was a cleaner, a wet cleaner and it was not where it was wet, it was not high, it was directly placed back, not back again, back, it was returned, it was needless, it put a bank, a bank when, a bank care." (30) This quote is showing the chaos of the mind, the disruptions of how it thinks when trying to focus or process what is happening to it. This is how many people's thoughts may have seemed during and after the two World Wars, something Modernist literature and poetry often brings up.
"There is coagulation in cold and there is none in prudence. Something is preserved and the evening is long and the colder spring has sudden shadows in a sun." (40) I like this quotation from the second section, Food, because it acknowledges that even in a time of rebirth, there is still coldness and death. There are shadows in Spring because it is acknowledging the death that had to happen for the rebirth to occur. The "coagulation" can be a congregation of people when the times get tough. When it is "cold" people come together, but in times of prudence, or in times of happiness and peace, people do not feel the need to come together. There is a self-isolation that occurs in the good times.
"A sentence of vagueness that is violence is authority and a mission and stumbling and also certainly also a prison. Calmness, calm beside the plate and in way in. There is no turn in terror. There is no volume in sound." (40) In this section, there it shows that you cannot control the world. There will always be chaos and pain and violence, but you have to learn how to live through it and survive because if you do not, you will be left in your pain with no way out.
"This shows the disorder, it does, it shows more likeness than anything else, it shows the single mind that directs an apple. All the coats have a different shape, that does not mean that they differ in color, it means a union between use and exercise and a horse." (67) This quote shows the reason and necessity of the poem. Like I said before, this book is chaotic to show the connections in chaos. It is a portrayal of the mind in a chaotic state. Everything is able to be connected because it is all from one mind and person.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was very relevant to today, even though it was written over one hundred years ago. I recommend that you read this, even if you are not really in to modernist writing because, even though it is confusing at first, once you start thinking about it, it becomes very poignant and interesting.
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Green Darkness in Books
May 16, 2018
<i>Green Darkness</i> shares the harrowing tale of forbidden love in mid-1500s England between an unfortunate peasant girl and a Benedictine monk, betwixt the reigns of King Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth - a time when Catholicism and Protestantism (depending on the ruler) were met with persecution. It doesn't begin in that era, however; rather, the story starts in the 1960s, when Celia and her newly wedded husband, Richard Marsdon, arrive at his family's ancestral estate in Sussex. A baffling illness befalls the Marsdons, leaving the unorthodox physician, Doctor Akananda, to unravel the mysterious past that haunts the pair from hundreds of years before.
The twisting tale that unravels of that love affair is only a small part of what I enjoyed about this book, as romance is not typically my cup of tea. What truly enticed me was [a:Anya Seton|18930|Anya Seton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1224813438p2/18930.jpg]'s faithfulness not only to history, but to location, legend, and use of historical figures. Cowdray House and Ightham Mote are real places, and an unfounded rumor regarding the Mote suggests that a female skeleton was found within its walls - which Seton used as a basis for her story. Through Seton, I discovered an unknown love for Tudor England, and undoubtedly I will read more books set in that time period.
Despite my praise for the book, I was unable to give it a five star rating because of its conclusion: it was as if Seton ran out of fuel. The idea of reincarnation takes a more ridiculous turn when Doctor Akananda hints at more pasts that conveniently interlock the same people. As if that were not enough of an affront, the resolution itself fell flat. With the Marsdon family tragedy conveniently wrapped up, Celia and Stephen seem aloof and their interaction felt a bit too forced. It is for this reason that I gave the book four stars.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Leaving Time in Books
Apr 9, 2019
I have enjoyed reading Jodi Picoult novels for a long time. They always leave me with different kinds of emotions. Some happy, some sad, sometimes confused. Leaving Time was no exception. I felt a connection to each character. With Jenna, I felt sadness of the loss of her mother and her plight to find her. For Alice, a felt compassion for her work and the situation she was living in. For Serenity, I'm not quite sure my feelings about her, but she was a caring force in Jenna's life. For Virgil, it was pity, that he was unable to get his life together and accomplish his goals.
Listening to this book I was intrigued by the subject matter. Based on the idea that "an elephant never forgets" it was fascinating to learn about how elephants interact with humans and with each other, especially after they suffer a loss. A lot how we as humans grieve. This is another book that will make you think and keep you on your toes, covering subject matters of wildlife, mental illness and supernatural abilities. In the last 5% of the book there was a twist that I didn't see coming and it made me rethink everything I had just read/listened to. This is why Jodi Picoult is one of my favorites.
My favorite line from the book: "...there was a tear in the fabric I was made of and he was the only color thread that would match to stitch it back up."
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated We Were Liars in Books
Feb 13, 2018
So, this is a tough one to review. I'd heard a lot of glowing things and this had a ton of positive reviews from my friends. Even my stepmom (who lent the book to me) liked it. So maybe my expectations were just too high when I read it, but I felt "eh." That's not to say that I didn't find the big *ahh spoilery ending* to be amazing and shocking. I did, and I felt wowed and, yes, a bit amazed, and did sort of want to re-read things in that context.
But, I don't think I could. Because, overall, I found the book kind of annoying. I certainly don't think you have to like every character you read about, but good grief, I just found Cady whiny and deplorable. She and her entitled cousins were so irritating. Johnny's friend, Gat, attempts to bring them back to reality (Gat's heritage is Indian, meaning Cady's grandfather despises him and also forbids Cady's aunt to marry Gat's uncle, or risk being disinherited), but he definitely fails. The aunts are selfish and petty and only care about their inheritance, not their children. Lockhart's prose is lovely in many places, but in others just confusing - the metaphors and use of language to refer to Cady's illness (she suffers from migraines and such) is borderline confusing.
The ending was jarring, yes (don't read any spoilers - it won't be worth it), but the rest of the book didn't seem to be matched to it. I didn't see the point of all Cady's whining and the family squabbles. Just because the family was rich, they weren't interesting, nor mysterious. Perhaps I missed the larger point, but I was left shaking my head.
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