Jane Austen's Birthday Today

I have posted several times -- most recently two days ago -- about various aspects of Jane Austen and my love for her work. Today I simply want to point out that she was born on this day in 1775. As I think about her life, I am sad that it took so long for publishers to recognize her as an author, and to publish her work; I am even sadder that she only lived long enough to write six complete novels. She died at the much too early age of 41; if only she had had another twenty or thirty years or more to write! But most of all, I celebrate and am deeply grateful for her unparalleled novels, a gift from her to us over two centuries later.

The Writer's Almanac today has a piece on Austen which is worth reading. The link is below. If it doesn't work, just Google the Writer's Almanac for today, 12/16/10.

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

Guest Blog: Romance, Regret, and Book Gifts

On 7/8/10, I wrote about how my friend "Z" connected a certain author ("A") with a certain time in his life and a certain romantic relationship (with "Y"), because he and "Y" had read "A"'s work together and even met her at an author event. After splitting up with "Y," "Z" no longer read "A"'s work, because of the association. "Z" has now kindly written a guest post with further thoughts and experiences related to connections between certain books and certain romantic relationships (see below). I think you will find the post as intriguing as I do; the intersections of literature, romance, regret, and memory are most evocative. Thanks, "Z"!

From "Z":
"Over the years, amid my growing library are books given to me by past loves and lovers. They all share one thing in common: a note from them on the front-piece or the first page. Some signed off "with all my love," or "love you." Others referred to a shared intimacy or moment. A confession is in order though. Depending on the memories of how these relationships ended, I have done several things to these books. I left several alone because I enjoy reading their sentiments from time to time and recall the exact circumstances of receiving the book. Other books fared less well. The most extreme are the one or two (or three??) I tossed out or sold because I couldn't stand to look at even the book's spine sitting there on one of my shelves, reminding me of love's failures, or rather love's disappointments and regrets. The compromise I reached with the other books was to tear out the page on which the sentiment was written. It wasn't because they were less emotionally connected, but it was simply because I like the book and wanted to keep it, minus the reminder of who had given it to me. However, I remember all gifted books, so the missing page with its sentiments in some ways is all the more present by its absence."

Shields on Austen

Readers of this blog know that my most-loved author is Jane Austen. It's not original, but that's the way it is. I have read each of her six completed novels over and over and over. A few years ago, I picked up a small (185 pages in a petite format) biography of Jane Austen by the late and much-mourned Carol Shields (Viking, 2001), one of my favorite contemporary writers (see my 2/20/10 post on Shields). A couple of days ago, emptying a bookshelf to move it for some flooring work at our house, I came across it again, and smiled to myself. I read it before with such delight; what could be better than one wonderful writer writing about another? Shields obviously loves Austen as well; she writes with such affection and insight about her life and work. This lovely book is part of a lovely series, the Penguin Lives; its subjects are writers, artists, and historical figures. The books are brief and accessible but not dumbed-down; they are written by some of the best contemporary authors. Writers have obviously been carefully matched with their subjects. Besides the Shields book, I have read Jane Smiley's contribution to the series, on Dickens, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Other books in the series include Edmund White on Marcel Proust, Elizabeth Hardwick on Herman Melville, Nigel Nicolson on Virginia Woolf, R.W.B. Lewis on Dante, Janet Malcolm on Anton Chekhov, Hilton Als on James Baldwin, and Mary Gordon (another of my favorite writers) on Joan of Arc, to name just a few. Now I think I will go and re-read Carol Shields on Jane Austen...a pleasure to look forward to!

Picture Books Forever!

The New York Times Book Review of 12/5/10 mentions a recent news story that “the tyranny of standardized testing has stoked anxiety among some parents, who feel they must press chapter books on their offspring at increasingly younger ages, thus diminishing the market for picture books and causing publishers to prune their lists accordingly.” This is completely wrongheaded and extremely saddening. Any parent, teacher, author, child psychologist, kid, or former kid knows that picture books are joyful fun for young children, and stimulate the imagination and the enjoyment of books. Who can forget being read to by our parents or other adults, or reading to our children, such picture books as the following classics? (Some of my personal favorites are starred.)
-Goodnight Moon*
-Babar series
-Dr. Seuss books
-Corduroy series*
-Angelina Ballerina series
-Jamberry*
-Brown Bear, Brown Bear
-Frances series (e.g., Bread and Jam for Frances)*
-Curious George
-George and Martha series*
-Madeline
-Make Way for Ducklings
-The Snowy Day
-Peter Rabbit books
-The Very Hungry Caterpillar
-Where the Wild Things Are
-The Polar Express
-Miss Nelson is Missing
-Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
-Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile
-and many many more...

"The Imperfectionists"

Wow! Who is Tom Rachman, and how did he learn to write so well? Granted, he has been a journalist for some years, but "The Imperfectionists" (Dial, 2010) is his first published novel, and it shows amazing control of his material. It builds on some classic topics and themes -- most notably that of the American abroad -- but it is highly original and most compelling. There is not one main character; instead there are many, all connected by being somehow involved with an international newspaper owned by Americans but published in Rome. There are reporters, editors, owners, stringers, spouses and partners, and one lovable dog. Each chapter focuses on one character, but brings in other characters from other chapters. The story ranges over a period of 50 years, and although dates are given, it is sometimes hard to keep track of whose story overlaps whose. Each chapter is a mini-masterpiece. Each character is vivid and illuminated through carefully etched, generous portraits, yet not a word is wasted. A common theme is that of people who stumble into a job and a life and somehow get in a rut it is psychologically hard to escape. Rachman obviously knows this setting and material inside out, not surprising since he also worked for an international newspaper in Paris and was a correspondent in Rome. But the novel goes far beyond the facts, deep into the lives and souls of the characters. Highly recommended.

"Celebrity Chekhov"

"Celebrity Chekhov" (Harper Perennial, 2010) is a collection of nineteen of Chekhov's stories "adapted and celebritized" by Ben Greenman, a New Yorker editor and author of several volumes of fiction. The conceit of the book is that Greenman takes the Chekhov stories as starting points, including plots and much of Chekhov's original (well, translated) language, but substitutes celebrities of today for the characters, and makes other adjustments as needed. Some of the celebrities that now "star" in Chekhov's stories are Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler, Simon Cowell, Eminem, Nicole Kidman, Beyonce, Lindsay Lohan, Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake, and several more...you get the picture. This is obviously a quirky book; as I was reading it, I couldn't decide if it was "quirky brilliant" or "quirky gimmicky." Although it is a real pleasure to revisit Chekhov's stories, and the melancholy wisdom they contain, it is jarring to encounter denizens of US Magazine in these beloved stories. I understand the author's concept of reinvigorating our appreciation of the stories, reminding us of the timelessness and universality of the human feelings and relationships Chekhov portrays. I also appreciate the gentle -- and sometimes not-so-gentle -- humor that Greenman teases out of the original stories and enhances with his own interpretations. I must admit that the book was enjoyable to read, but overall I have to conclude that the experiment is an intriguing but failed effort. However, other readers may well conclude otherwise, so if the concept appeals to you at all, do check it out; it is a quick read, and you will soon know what you think (although some of the best stories are in the middle to later parts of the book, so don't stop too soon).

Ten Favorite Books of 2010

Seeing several versions of "The Best Books of 2010" in various publications, I was inspired to make my own list of my favorite books published in 2010. The list is perhaps idiosyncratic and is quite biased in certain ways: the books included are all fiction, nine of the ten are by women, and all lean toward "domestic drama" and the character- and relationship-driven books that I favor. I have posted on all of these books on this blog, so without further ado, I list my "Ten Best from Twenty-Ten."

All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost, by Lan Samantha Chang
The Gin Closet, by Leslie Jamison
The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O'Farrell
In Envy Country: Stories, by Joan Frank
The Lovers, by Vendela Vida
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson
One Day, by David Nicholls
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender
Red Hook Road, by Ayelet Waldman
The Three Weissmanns of Westport, by Cathleen Schine