Leaving on a jet plane in a little while, so this will be short!
I always think Atwood is going to be harder to read than she actually is, though this might be because I gravitate toward her books about women and their complicated, often hurtful, relationships with each other.
However, because of this, it was also emotionally wearing to read. I was bullied as a child when I was around Elaine's age and there were times when I had to put the book down because my skin was crawling at the spot-on voices of Elaine's friends, the things they said to and *how* they said it, the way they used niceties to police her in really not-nice ways.
And yet, the sections about her life as a child were the most vivid, the most interesting to me - the descriptions of her unusual family, their trips away, the day-to-day minutae of being a child and finding out piece-by-piece how the world works. Elaine the grown woman, the artist, while she continues to talk in first person, seemed to become more and more distanced from the reader, from the world around her, as she reveals more about her past, revels more in the stories of the past than in her present.
But in the end, I liked it - couldn't say I enjoyed it, but I liked it. And hopefully this makes me more willing to read more Atwood.
**
Also, RIP Diana Wynne Jones. My first DWJ book was Black Maria (which hardly anyone mentions anymore) at around age 9 and it was creepy and wonderful and made me want to read more about magic worlds. I then went on to read Magicians of Caprona, then in quick succession all the Chrestomanci books. I will miss the joy of coming across new DWJ books in Kino - I will continue to look out for those books of hers I haven't managed to read yet.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Belle and Sebastian - 10 Mar 2011 - Opera House
Set list
I Fought in a War
Expectations
Dirty Dream No. 2
I'm Not Living in the Real World (Stevie)
Piazza, New York Catcher
I Want the World to Stop
Antony
Sukie in the Playground
Fox in the Snow
A Century of Fakers
Travelling Light (Stevie)
Write About Love
I Didn't See It Coming
Boy with the Arab Strap
Judy and the Dream of Horses
Sleep the Clock Around
Blues Are Still Blue
Me and the Major
I Fought in a War
Expectations
Dirty Dream No. 2
I'm Not Living in the Real World (Stevie)
Piazza, New York Catcher
I Want the World to Stop
Antony
Sukie in the Playground
Fox in the Snow
A Century of Fakers
Travelling Light (Stevie)
Write About Love
I Didn't See It Coming
Boy with the Arab Strap
Judy and the Dream of Horses
Sleep the Clock Around
Blues Are Still Blue
Me and the Major
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