So last night, I went to a reading and book-signing for Lauren Groff, author of The Monsters of Templeton. I went because I adored Monsters and because it was at the bookstore that is closest to my house, and because it popped up on Librarything, and I had earned a break. I went because I had never gone to one of those things and I was very very curious. Who is this person, who I know is fairly young, and who with her very first published novel created something that I find so spectacular?
The answer to that question is, of course, far more complicated than anything that I could have gotten from an hour long reading. But the parts of the answer I could see: she's much like a lot of my friends. She is young, and she comes off younger than she is, due in part to a face that seemed almost adolescent. She's enthusiastic and she talks with her hands. She loves what she's doing, and it seemed to me at times that she can't quite believe that she is actually getting to do it. I'm not sure if I was able to recognize that delighted disbelief in her because I so often feel it myself or if I projected that emotion onto her enthusiasm and slight self-effacement because it's how I would feel in her place, how I do feel in my own life sometimes.
She is not great, perhaps not even good, at reading her own work aloud. She rushes, and her tone is flat. I find this very surprising, not because I assume that all author's are actors, but because her prose reads for me with wonderful inflection, in particular the passage from The Monsters of Templeton that she read aloud. I imagine therefore, that the writing has a similar quality in her mind, and should from her mind to action, keep that quality when she presents it. I don't know if the reality of the situation is that she lacks talent for translating the words in her head to the "performance" of a reading (which seems a likely possibility) or if I, as someone who reads aloud often and dramatically during the editing process am again projecting my thinking patterns into the minds of others. Either way, charming as she is, I don't think that she did her own work justice reading it aloud.
An interesting moment for me during the reading: someone asked a question, I forget what it was, but it led Groff to ask if she was a writer, and then who in the audience was a writer. Now I was sitting in front, so I couldn't do a comprehensive survey, but it seemed like just about everybody raised their hand. I did not.
What does that mean? Are these book readings attended more by people who write as opposed to just enthusiastic readers? Certainly plausible. Maybe something about this particular author or signing brought those other people away from their writing desks and out to Joseph-Beth last night? I couldn't tell you.
And I wonder how much of a writer any one of those people are. I'm not trying to be a snob here, and I know it sounds that way, but I wonder if a single one of them makes a living with writing, or even wants to. What makes a person decide to call themselves "a writer"? Would these same people answer the question "What do you do?" with "I'm a writer." Or would they say first, "I'm a banker/teacher/student/real estate agent." Are they simply raising their hand to confirm some small part of their identity, as I would if someone asked, "Who here is a slob/lover of peanut butter/Red Sox fan?" Or do they think first, "I am a writer" the way I think first, "I am a student. I will be a doctor."?
I think I wonder this for entirely self-conscious reasons. Because I didn't raise my hand. Because I want to be a writer. I have always wanted to be a writer, I can't remember a moment in my life, even during those brief periods when I wavered on medicine, that I was not sure that publishing a book would remain a life goal. If I don't get that in before I die, I will have failed somehow.
And I recognize that there is something silly about wanting "to write a book" it's sort of like wanting "to be an inventor." You can't do it without an idea. I have had several ideas in the past, and I'm sure that I will have several ideas in the future. Non-fiction seems likely, I continue to hope that my work will present me with a shiny topic I simply can't resist, but who knows where it will come from in the end. Still, sitting here at 26, I am not ashamed to admit that I hope, one day, to be accurately described as "a physician, scientist and author."
I've been thinking about writing a lot lately, even before this moment last night when I did not raise my hand. Perhaps this is because I have also been reading a lot. Perhaps too much. (Possible? I'm still not sure.) When I got home last night, I started reading Stephen King's On Writing, which unlike the other library books I have out at the moment, I didn't just grab off the shelf. I requested it, from another library, because I was thinking about writing.
And I'm going to be writing more, not just here, maybe not even here. I have a couple of short stories that I want to get out of my head and down on paper (or onto hard drive as the case may be). So maybe I do have some fiction in me. I'm not sure what's going to come of it, but I am going to allow myself the little luxury of spending some time each day, because for me along with the reading sometimes comes the writing itch, and from childhood to today, these are two of the great joys in my life.
Maybe that does make me a writer. But if asked again this evening, I'm still pretty sure I wouldn't raise my hand. At least not yet. I feel I am a writer like I am a physician, like I am Andrew the Wonderful's wife. It's something I have decided to become, something I am on course to become, but something that I am not yet. This is funny to me, because lately the combination of loving medical school and being so very excited about my future with AtW has left me with the feeling that I have grown into my real life, that I am getting what I've always wanted. But really, I'm not there yet. The change in the last year is not that I have a become the adult that I hope to be, but rather that I am not waiting for others to make the decisions that give me the opportunity to become that adult. I'm not waiting for an admissions committee to decide that I am worth training, for Andrew to decide that he wants to keep me. It's happening now, I've been picked.
The writing though, it's something that I decide when it happens. Nobody has to accept me or ask me, at least not at this stage of the game. I suppose there will have to be some accepting once I get rolling, but first I must get rolling all on my own. And I guess, in the face of feeling like the other parts of my life are working out, I have to admit that I sort of adore the striving. My life, at the moment, is clearly charmed, so there's no time like the present.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Songs Without Words
I remember reading Ann Packer's first novel, The Dive From Clausen’s Pier on my mother’s recommendation several years ago, and liking it very very much. In my mind I am reading it in Weathersfield, but it came out in 2002, so either it was a summer read or my mind in playing tricks on me. Couldn’t tell you which for the life of me. Anyway, I had glanced over and passed over Songs Without Words several times since it came out, and when I saw it at the library (free!), I decided to finally pick it up.
Before reading the book itself, I read the summary on the inside of the dust jacket, which starts with the following sentence: “Ann Packer’s debut novel, The Dive From Clausen’s Pier, was a nationwide best seller that established her as one of our most gifted chronicles of the interior lives of women.”
That kind of introduction not only made me slightly skeptical about this book, it made me wonder if I had really liked The Dive From Clausen’s Pier as much as I remembered. “Oh dear.” I thought. “I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means… the dreaded CHICK LIT.”
But that was indeed what it meant, at least for this book. Song Without Words is a portrayal of the friendship between two women, Sarabeth and Liz, and how that friendship is tested by a challenging time for Liz’s family. The book just didn’t take off. Neither of these main characters were overly compelling or sympathetic, I found Liz’s husband annoying, and I was very unsure what Packer was trying to accomplish with the character of Liz’s son, which I suppose means she didn’t accomplish it. The only character I found even remotely interesting was Liz’s cripplingly depressed daughter, Lauren, but even she seemed one dimensional at times.
Overall, I was disappointed with the book. While I was emotionally invested in Lauren’s recovery, I didn’t care overmuch about the friendship between these women, and I suppose it only mattered that they were reunited in the end because it was obvious that they would have to be. For a book that seems intended to be more about that relationship than any particular plotline, that’s a pretty major failure. Not impressive.
Read something else. Maybe The Dive From Clausen’s Pier, if for no other reason than to tell me if it really is excellent, or if I was just in a chick lit mood when I read it. On that point, I am curious, but not near curious enough to even think about reading it again.
LT: 2 stars, modified excerpt from this.
Want more information on this book, or to see what else I've been reading?
Check out The 2009 booklist.
Before reading the book itself, I read the summary on the inside of the dust jacket, which starts with the following sentence: “Ann Packer’s debut novel, The Dive From Clausen’s Pier, was a nationwide best seller that established her as one of our most gifted chronicles of the interior lives of women.”
That kind of introduction not only made me slightly skeptical about this book, it made me wonder if I had really liked The Dive From Clausen’s Pier as much as I remembered. “Oh dear.” I thought. “I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means… the dreaded CHICK LIT.”
But that was indeed what it meant, at least for this book. Song Without Words is a portrayal of the friendship between two women, Sarabeth and Liz, and how that friendship is tested by a challenging time for Liz’s family. The book just didn’t take off. Neither of these main characters were overly compelling or sympathetic, I found Liz’s husband annoying, and I was very unsure what Packer was trying to accomplish with the character of Liz’s son, which I suppose means she didn’t accomplish it. The only character I found even remotely interesting was Liz’s cripplingly depressed daughter, Lauren, but even she seemed one dimensional at times.
Overall, I was disappointed with the book. While I was emotionally invested in Lauren’s recovery, I didn’t care overmuch about the friendship between these women, and I suppose it only mattered that they were reunited in the end because it was obvious that they would have to be. For a book that seems intended to be more about that relationship than any particular plotline, that’s a pretty major failure. Not impressive.
Read something else. Maybe The Dive From Clausen’s Pier, if for no other reason than to tell me if it really is excellent, or if I was just in a chick lit mood when I read it. On that point, I am curious, but not near curious enough to even think about reading it again.
LT: 2 stars, modified excerpt from this.
Want more information on this book, or to see what else I've been reading?
Check out The 2009 booklist.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Island of Lost Girls
I saw this book for the first time on one of those tables in Borders that will eventually be the end of me. On that day, I decided that half off or not, I was only allowed to buy one mystery story about a person trying to solve a modern abduction mystery that might in some way be related to the disappearance of one of their own childhood friends... and on that day, I picked Tana French's In The Woods (Which, by the way is very good. I sat down on a couch over Christmas break during a blizzard, and read the whole thing. It was a wonderful time. It's a good book.)
But then I saw this on the shelf in the library, and decided that if it was free, I didn't have to feel bad about reading it. And last night, when I finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but still couldn't sleep. I picked it up out of the library pile.
It sure as hell didn't help me fall asleep. I started it sometime around 11pm, read about half of it before falling asleep (with it still open in my hand), and I finished the rest of it doing laundry and having my Sunday morning bagel. It's a bit of a page turner.
It's a great mystery. It's two mysteries really, and they're both intriguing. Some of it is predictable, but I still couldn't put the damn thing down.
Sure, when a compulsive reader like Maggie compulsively reads something, it's not news. And I'm not saying that this is the best book of 2008, but if you are looking for a quick read, and you like complex mysteries, it would make a fabulous companion for your next plane ride or beach trip.
Want more information on this book, or to see what else I've been reading?
Check out The 2009 booklist.
But then I saw this on the shelf in the library, and decided that if it was free, I didn't have to feel bad about reading it. And last night, when I finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but still couldn't sleep. I picked it up out of the library pile.
It sure as hell didn't help me fall asleep. I started it sometime around 11pm, read about half of it before falling asleep (with it still open in my hand), and I finished the rest of it doing laundry and having my Sunday morning bagel. It's a bit of a page turner.
It's a great mystery. It's two mysteries really, and they're both intriguing. Some of it is predictable, but I still couldn't put the damn thing down.
Sure, when a compulsive reader like Maggie compulsively reads something, it's not news. And I'm not saying that this is the best book of 2008, but if you are looking for a quick read, and you like complex mysteries, it would make a fabulous companion for your next plane ride or beach trip.
Want more information on this book, or to see what else I've been reading?
Check out The 2009 booklist.
The Shadow of the Wind
LT Review:
This is an excellent and thrilling tale with complex and likable characters and a Barcelona setting that becomes a character itself. I was engrossed from the beginning by the complexities of the connections between the characters and their beautifully developed relationships. The history behind the story is gradually fleshed out through a series of flashbacks, but rather than feeling fragmented, it is easy for the reader to remain connected to the emotions the characters must be feeling as they learn the same information. Full of twists, magic and coincidence, heroes and villains (both truly evil and just misunderstood), this is a book that will keep you engaged throughout. A delightful read. (4.5 Stars)
Maggie's thoughts:
So I initially picked this up as a book on tape to listen to driving back and fourth to visit Andrew the Wonderful. When I was buying it, I had apparently forgotten that I live MUCH closer to Andrew than I used to. This is a good thing for pretty much every aspect of my life, except that it means that the drive isn't long enough to finish most audiobooks.
I do have to say, while I only listened to the first half of this book, the recording is WONDERFUL, and if you are an audiobook person, I VERY highly recommend it. It had me sitting in my car outside the hotel and listening while Andrew the Wonderful was at work.
Anyway, I didn't really have time to listen to the rest of the book, but I found myself thinking about the story *all the damn time* so during finals, when I knew that I was going home for break, I went to the bookstore and picked up a copy. I decided that since it had been a couple of weeks and it's a pretty complex story, I would start again at the beginning. I spent part of my evenings at the Mountain View Grand in New Hampshire sitting either in front of the fire or in a wonderfully warm tub getting totally sucked into the story (again). (I should also note, the more important activity of my time in New Hampshire was getting engaged. This is the now the blog of the future Mrs. Andrew the Wonderful!)
I didn't finish the book in NH, and when we got back to my place in CT, where, after reading until I was about 30 pages from the end, I left the book on the bedside table in the basement bedroom.
It would seem that God didn't want me to know the end of the story.
But who cares, because I wanted to know the end of the story, so I got ANOTHER copy at the Cincinnati Public Library, and finally finished the damn thing.
The real point though, is that the book was worth all the effort. It's wonderful. Go read it. Now.
This is an excellent and thrilling tale with complex and likable characters and a Barcelona setting that becomes a character itself. I was engrossed from the beginning by the complexities of the connections between the characters and their beautifully developed relationships. The history behind the story is gradually fleshed out through a series of flashbacks, but rather than feeling fragmented, it is easy for the reader to remain connected to the emotions the characters must be feeling as they learn the same information. Full of twists, magic and coincidence, heroes and villains (both truly evil and just misunderstood), this is a book that will keep you engaged throughout. A delightful read. (4.5 Stars)
Maggie's thoughts:
So I initially picked this up as a book on tape to listen to driving back and fourth to visit Andrew the Wonderful. When I was buying it, I had apparently forgotten that I live MUCH closer to Andrew than I used to. This is a good thing for pretty much every aspect of my life, except that it means that the drive isn't long enough to finish most audiobooks.
I do have to say, while I only listened to the first half of this book, the recording is WONDERFUL, and if you are an audiobook person, I VERY highly recommend it. It had me sitting in my car outside the hotel and listening while Andrew the Wonderful was at work.
Anyway, I didn't really have time to listen to the rest of the book, but I found myself thinking about the story *all the damn time* so during finals, when I knew that I was going home for break, I went to the bookstore and picked up a copy. I decided that since it had been a couple of weeks and it's a pretty complex story, I would start again at the beginning. I spent part of my evenings at the Mountain View Grand in New Hampshire sitting either in front of the fire or in a wonderfully warm tub getting totally sucked into the story (again). (I should also note, the more important activity of my time in New Hampshire was getting engaged. This is the now the blog of the future Mrs. Andrew the Wonderful!)
I didn't finish the book in NH, and when we got back to my place in CT, where, after reading until I was about 30 pages from the end, I left the book on the bedside table in the basement bedroom.
It would seem that God didn't want me to know the end of the story.
But who cares, because I wanted to know the end of the story, so I got ANOTHER copy at the Cincinnati Public Library, and finally finished the damn thing.
The real point though, is that the book was worth all the effort. It's wonderful. Go read it. Now.
Monday, February 02, 2009
2009 Booklist
I'm not even going to bother trying to keep track of exact dates this time, but here's the list of books for this year, with as much information as I have on hand or LibraryThing has attached to the description. I will do my bestest to actually put in all the books that I read this year. Here's hoping.
Note: If the title of a book is linked, that will take you to the entry in this blog that talks about it.
A * next to a book's title indicates that I wrote a review for LibraryThing as pursuitofsanity
A ** next to a book's title indicates that I wrote a review for LibraryThing as troubleactingnormal
January
The Shadow of the Wind*
by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
2005
487 pages
American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
2003
624 pages
Just After Sunset*
by Stephen King
2008
384 pages
New England White**
by Stephen L. Carter
2008
640 pages
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death*
by Charlie Houston
2008
336 pages
The Addict:
One Patient, One Doctor, One Year*
by Michael Stein
2009 (Advance copy, not yet released)
288 pages
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere *
by ZZ Packer
2003
256 pages
January totals: 7 books, 3015 pages
February
The Path of Daggers
by Robert Jordan
1998
685 pages
Winter's Heart
by Robert Jordon
2000
780 pages
The Memory Keeper's Daughter **
by Kim Edwards
2006
432 pages
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest **
by Ken Kesey
1962
277 pages
Island of Lost Girls **
by Jennifer McMahon
2008
255 pages
Songs Without Words
by Ann Packer
2007
322 pages
Totals for February: 6 books, 2751 pages
Late February, March:
The books that I read between then and now:
Rise and Shine
by Anna Quindlen
2008
352 pages
Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
1908
425 pages
Anne of Avonlea
by L.M. Montgomery
1909
276 pages
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery
1915
243 pages
Anne of Windy Poplars
by L.M. Montgomery
1936
288 pages
Intern: A Doctor's Initiation
by Sandeep Jauhar
2008
299 pages
An Irish Country Doctor
by Patrick Taylor
2004
337 pages
Books from the time that I was doing a crappy time keeping track: 7 books, 2220 pages
April
Brain Surgeon:
A Doctor's Inspiring Encounters with Mortality and Miracles *
by Keith Black
2009
225 pages
The Book of Lost Things*
by John Connolly
2006
339 pages
Sarum: The Novel of England *
by Edward Rutherfurd
1987
1032 pages
Tell Me Where It Hurts
by Nick Trout
2008
304 pages
Outcasts United
by Warren St. John
2009
320 pages
Totals for April: 5 books, 2220 pages
May
Neuromancer
by William Gibson
1984
271 pages
Delicate Edible Birds
by Lauren Groff
2009
306 pages
Bright Shiny Morning
by James Frey
2008
501 pages
What is the What
by Dave Eggers
2006
538 pages
Fantastic Voyage
by Isaac Asimov
1966
186 pages
Between Late May and Late July (with Promises to Try Really Hard to Do Better!)
Cutting For Stone
by Abraham Verghese
2009
541 pages
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
1844-1845
1243 pages
The Given Day
by Dennis Lehane
2008
720 pages
A Wolf At the Table:
A Memoir of My Father
by Augusten Burroughs
2008
256 pages
Full Circle:
One Man's Journey by Air, Train Boat and Occasionally Very Sore Feet Around 20,000 Miles of the Pacific Rim
by Michael Palin
1997
320 pages
Embracing the Wide Sky:
A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind
by Daniel Tammet
2009
304 pages
A Study in Scarlet
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1887
90 pages
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
by Marisha Pessl
2006
514 pages
The Angel's Game
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2009
531 pages
An Instance of the Fingerpost
by Iain Pears
1998
685 pages
My Stroke of Insight:
A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
by Jill Bolte Taylor
2009
224 pages
Different Seasons
by Stephen King
1982
508 pages
What Patient's Taught Me:
A Medical Student's Journey
by Audrey Young
2004
228 pages
The Overacheivers:
The Secret Lives of Driven Kids
by Alexandra Robbins
2006
439 pages
The Children's Hospital
by Chris Adrian
2006
615 pages
Weekends at Bellvue
by Julie Holland, MD
2009
308 pages
ARC
The Elephant Keeper
by Christopher Nicholson
2009
298 pages
ARC
Strength in What Remains
by Tracy Kidder
2009
272 pages
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
1932
268 pages
Note: If the title of a book is linked, that will take you to the entry in this blog that talks about it.
A * next to a book's title indicates that I wrote a review for LibraryThing as pursuitofsanity
A ** next to a book's title indicates that I wrote a review for LibraryThing as troubleactingnormal
January
The Shadow of the Wind*
by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
2005
487 pages
American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
2003
624 pages
Just After Sunset*
by Stephen King
2008
384 pages
New England White**
by Stephen L. Carter
2008
640 pages
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death*
by Charlie Houston
2008
336 pages
The Addict:
One Patient, One Doctor, One Year*
by Michael Stein
2009 (Advance copy, not yet released)
288 pages
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere *
by ZZ Packer
2003
256 pages
January totals: 7 books, 3015 pages
February
The Path of Daggers
by Robert Jordan
1998
685 pages
Winter's Heart
by Robert Jordon
2000
780 pages
The Memory Keeper's Daughter **
by Kim Edwards
2006
432 pages
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest **
by Ken Kesey
1962
277 pages
Island of Lost Girls **
by Jennifer McMahon
2008
255 pages
Songs Without Words
by Ann Packer
2007
322 pages
Totals for February: 6 books, 2751 pages
Late February, March:
The books that I read between then and now:
Rise and Shine
by Anna Quindlen
2008
352 pages
Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
1908
425 pages
Anne of Avonlea
by L.M. Montgomery
1909
276 pages
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery
1915
243 pages
Anne of Windy Poplars
by L.M. Montgomery
1936
288 pages
Intern: A Doctor's Initiation
by Sandeep Jauhar
2008
299 pages
An Irish Country Doctor
by Patrick Taylor
2004
337 pages
Books from the time that I was doing a crappy time keeping track: 7 books, 2220 pages
April
Brain Surgeon:
A Doctor's Inspiring Encounters with Mortality and Miracles *
by Keith Black
2009
225 pages
The Book of Lost Things*
by John Connolly
2006
339 pages
Sarum: The Novel of England *
by Edward Rutherfurd
1987
1032 pages
Tell Me Where It Hurts
by Nick Trout
2008
304 pages
Outcasts United
by Warren St. John
2009
320 pages
Totals for April: 5 books, 2220 pages
May
Neuromancer
by William Gibson
1984
271 pages
Delicate Edible Birds
by Lauren Groff
2009
306 pages
Bright Shiny Morning
by James Frey
2008
501 pages
What is the What
by Dave Eggers
2006
538 pages
Fantastic Voyage
by Isaac Asimov
1966
186 pages
Between Late May and Late July (with Promises to Try Really Hard to Do Better!)
Cutting For Stone
by Abraham Verghese
2009
541 pages
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
1844-1845
1243 pages
The Given Day
by Dennis Lehane
2008
720 pages
A Wolf At the Table:
A Memoir of My Father
by Augusten Burroughs
2008
256 pages
Full Circle:
One Man's Journey by Air, Train Boat and Occasionally Very Sore Feet Around 20,000 Miles of the Pacific Rim
by Michael Palin
1997
320 pages
Embracing the Wide Sky:
A Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind
by Daniel Tammet
2009
304 pages
A Study in Scarlet
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1887
90 pages
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
by Marisha Pessl
2006
514 pages
The Angel's Game
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2009
531 pages
An Instance of the Fingerpost
by Iain Pears
1998
685 pages
My Stroke of Insight:
A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
by Jill Bolte Taylor
2009
224 pages
Different Seasons
by Stephen King
1982
508 pages
What Patient's Taught Me:
A Medical Student's Journey
by Audrey Young
2004
228 pages
The Overacheivers:
The Secret Lives of Driven Kids
by Alexandra Robbins
2006
439 pages
The Children's Hospital
by Chris Adrian
2006
615 pages
Weekends at Bellvue
by Julie Holland, MD
2009
308 pages
ARC
The Elephant Keeper
by Christopher Nicholson
2009
298 pages
ARC
Strength in What Remains
by Tracy Kidder
2009
272 pages
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
1932
268 pages
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