A lot of fun. This is probably better as an audiobook than reading it to yourself.
One funny line:
"Childrearing is arguably the most important of my core values. I believe in it, I practice it, and I ceaselessly promote it to my friends and followers. That said, generally speaking, I’m against children."
Who would have ever guessed that a parody of conservative talk show hosts could be so funny so long?
McEwan is able to write about situational conflicts in such a harrowing, haunting way.
The story is of two virgins on their wedding night and set in the early 1960s.
The scenes in their honeymoon suite are amazing. When I read Murakami's sex scenes I am often struck by how he has no sensibility for sex and femininity. Those scenes were a stark contrast here as McEwan was able to capture so vividly and poignantly what the experience could be like for a woman who has experienced abuse in her past.
I have only read two of Murakami's books, so it might be a false impression, but I feel that, sexually, women are objects in Murakami's stories. McEwan left me amazed that a man could have such insight into a female experience.
Also, music plays an important role in this book. And I found myself thinking of both High Fidelity and Once. Although this one has the saddest ending, I think I prefer it to the other two.
At first I detested this book. I wondered how I would make it through the whole twelve hours. But eventually I realized that the narrative is both insane and very original.
The book is about human genes. And how they are becoming co-opted in strange ways by scientists and pharmaceutical companies.
The narrative is told without a main character. All the characters (and there are tons of them!) are given equal time. Some stories go somewhere, some don't. Some get picked up further down the line, others run into each other. Yes, it's a confusing as you would imagine, but it's also ingenious. It is the concept of genes as closely as could be represented in a textual format.
Didn't love it, but definitely can say I appreciated it.
(I would love to meet a parrot like Gerrard as well.)
The characters, while somewhat two-dimensional, are still fascinating in their personalities that range from well-meaning (but clueless) to all out psychotic.
One of the best aspects of the book is in how direct dialogue from two of the characters is limited. It lends an extra eerie quality to the story.
I would also recommend this book because it's one of the least predictable stories I've read in quite a while. I did figure out the "twist" shortly before it was revealed, and some in the book club felt it was contrived, but it's creative, so I can look past how unlikely it was.
First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.
The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.
When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.
It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.
Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.
As always, thanks for your patience.
This book gave me a better feel for Murakami. In the future if someone asks which book to start with I'll recommend this one.
As in Kafka on the Shore I had a really hard time believing in the characters (they all feel like the same person to me) and caring for them (they feel two-dimensional).
The part that really didn't work was Murakami, a man, writing about female sexual experiences. It just didn't ring true at all. Just one example: two women had sex with one particular man and it was so good they swore off sex for the rest of their lives.
But, as in the previous book, I did appreciate the overarching story. What would it be like to continually know people close to you committing suicide? Or to continually be involved in three-way friendships?
Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
Six in all, the pieces are a mix of essays and short stories. The short stories include baby murder and intentional self-dismemberment.
The essays are not quite as disturbing, but still not what I would call funny. Even Santaland, which is one of the author's most famous pieces, was never one of my favorites. But most people find that one fall down funny. I don't get it.
Maybe I don't get it because I can't join the Christmas -is-the-most-depressing-time-of-year mentality. I mean, it's not like my favorite time of year, but I think we've all become a little too dramatic about how depressing we think the holidays are.
I'm starting to think I'm a freak just because I can accept the holidays as another day, and I don't spend the rest of the year either dreading them, plotting against them, or harassing people who say Happy Holidays as opposed to Merry Christmas. Times are weird.
