Friday 31 January 2020

A Room of One's Own

A friend gave me a copy of Lisa Taddeo's best-selling Three Women for Christmas. I read it and passed it on to another friend to read, and we have have been talking about it continuously for the past few weeks. Most of our conversation is about the strange appeal of the book, empathy for the three women, and an overwhelming rage against the patriarchy.

Journalist Lisa Taddeo has spent ten years following these women and reporting on the 'true story' of their sexual lives. The book purports to be an exploration of female desire, but it is limited in its scope and is definitely not a story of female empowerment. In choosing these three women, Taddeo is not showcasing a full range of female desire. In fact, these women are more similar than not - each is lonely, submissive and consumed by notions of female sexuality stemming from popular culture.

Maggie was a high school student who was groomed by her teacher. He preyed on her insecurities, played with her emotions, and promptly ghosted her when other teachers questioned the appropriateness of his relationship. Devastated by his absence, Maggie is unable to move forward, drops out of college, pursues a series of dead-end jobs, cannot hold a relationship. Eventually, when she confides in a friend about the relationship, she realises that she was used and attempts to pursue justice in the courts.

Lina is a young mother in a lonely marriage who dreams of a perfect kiss. She remembers her high school boyfriend Aidan and reaches out to him. She believes she loves him and longs for him to love her too, but deep down she knows he is only interested in a booty call. Lina's story was heartbreaking as she goes to extraordinary lengths to please Aidan who is completely unworthy of her affection.

Sloane and her husband Richard own a restaurant together. Slim, beautiful and seemingly together, Sloane submits to Richard's desires. He encourages her to have sex with other people that he chooses for her. He will watch and sometimes join in as part of the threesome. While engaged consensually, Sloane also feels overwhelming guilt and shame.

The book is a bestseller because it contains unvarnished depictions of sex. The voyeurism is more creepy than salacious. Readers will not come away with an understanding of what women want or ideas to spice up your love life. The sex isn't sexy, it is sadly unfulfilling. It purports to be research, but feels more like a gossipy novel. It is an engrossing, page-turning read, but not well written.

These three women are looking for love and belonging. Maggie believes she and her teacher are star-crossed lovers like Bella and Edward in Twilight. Lina's one (unfulfilled) desire is for a long, deep kiss like in The Princess Bride. Sloane sees herself as the submissive in Fifty Shades of Grey. What they actually want is quite simple, but they are involved with unworthy men.

I was hoping that the book would end with some kind of redemption - a realisation by these women that they deserve better, that they can be fulfilled without relinquishing themselves, that they can move on. But, after having their stories published I do not think they will find any release. I can only hope that they move out of middle America and find peace for themselves.

Sunday 12 January 2020

Lost and Found

In my early 20s I was on a George Eliot kick, working my way through her novels. I adored Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss. I admired Adam Bede and Daniel Deronda.  But my Eliot obsession stopped with Silas Marner (1861) when, after reading the first few pages, I tossed it aside.

At the Sydney Writers' Festival in 2016 I went to a session in which Frank Moorehouse spoke about how he was re-reading George Eliot. At the time I got excited at the prospect of re-reading her too, but felt I should tackle the ones I had never read first. I pulled Silas off the shelf, placed it on the pile beside my bed and left it there. Every time I went to reassess my to-be-read pile, Silas gazed at me longingly, and each time I put it back on the pile. Then, late last year I decided to get it off the pile for once and for all by reading this long overdue novel.

Silas is a weaver who lives a simple life in a small town. Wrongly accused of theft, he is betrayed by those closest to him and forced into exile. In Raveloe he begins again, living as a hermit, hoarding his savings under the floorboards and becoming known as a reclusive miser. Like Gollum and his precious ring, Silas regularly pulls out his stash to count and admire it.

When Silas is robbed of all his money, he faces having to start all over again. He soon discovers that money is not the key to happiness, as he finds an orphaned toddler and raises her as his own child. In doing so, he becomes part of the Raveloe community, regains his faith and reconnects with others.

Eliot has a talent for writing with strong realism - creating a sense of rural England and the people who reside there. However, I honestly did not enjoy this novel, finding it quite dull until the last quarter when Silas became a father to the girl. So, while I am glad to have finally read Silas Marner, I cannot say it was worth the wait!

Saturday 4 January 2020

Planning for 2020

I am someone who likes to plan ahead and be purposeful in my decision making. At the end of each year I spend time reflecting on my past reading habits, and forward planning for the year ahead. Generally I gather books I want to read and stack them up in an accessible pile. I comb my bookshelves for forgotten titles, peruse lists of books that will be published in the coming year, and lodge reserve requests with my local library.

My real problem is when it comes to executing the plan. Because reading is so personal I find I am susceptible to falling off course. If I am busy at my day job with a lot of high-intensity thought work, I look for novels to escape in. I will often pick up a book and find that the time is not right to read that title. Or I may be reading something and then I head in a different direction when my library reserve becomes available, or I purchase something new.

My 'To Be Read' stack is high, and there are plenty of options there to keep me engaged. So rather than prepare a long list of books that I am going to read - only to wind up disappointed at the end of the year that I never read half of them - I am going to be free this year to follow wherever my reading takes me.

I want to remain diverse in my reading and will still focus on fiction. I have set myself an achievable target of 30 books to keep me on track. I have also set up another book Bingo board for a bit of fun.

BNGO
19th Century
Classic
First Novel
in a Series
Lesser known Book 
by a Famous Author
Features Strong 
Female Protagonist
Short Story
Collection
Essay
Collection
Pre-19th Century
Classic
Banned Book
Fiction Based
on a True Story
Australian Literary
 Prize Longlister
Book on the
1001 List  
Women's Prize 
Longlister
20th Century
Classic
Set in the
Future
New York Times
Bestseller
Set in Space
or at Sea
Mystery or
Crime Novel
Booker Prize
 Longlister
Published
in 2020
Book with a 
colour in title
Current Affairs
/ Politics
Biography 
or Memoir
Set during
Wartime
Poetry 
Collection
Adapted into a
Film/TV Show

As I plan my 2020 overseas travels, I will look for authors from those locations to deepen my understanding. As literary award longlists are released, I will choose from those titles the ones that most interest me. As new books become published, I will seek them out (yeah, I am talking about you Maggie O'Farrell) and have already put reserves on many. 

What I do know, is that I am looking forward to my adventures in reading this year! 

Wednesday 1 January 2020

My Reading Year - 2019

Another delightful year of reading has come to an end. Time to reflect on the year that was.

My reading goal for 2019, as documented in my challenge was 30 books. I narrowly missed out by one, having read 29 titles this year.


My list included only a handful of books which I wrote about in my planning for 2019 post on 1 January 2019. While I had intended to read a large stack of books, many of them fell down the list of priorities as new books came into my life. I did tick a few off my list though, including Becoming by Michelle Obama and Educated by Tara Westover.



For the past few years I have created a reading bingo card in an attempt to diversify my reading (achievements highlighted below).  This worked well this year, encouraging me to read different genres and new authors, although I missed out on a lot of categories I had intended to pursue.

BNGO
19th Century 
Classic
First Novel 
in a Series
Adapted into a 
Film/TV Show
Australian Literary 
Prize Longlister
Short Story
Collection
Essay 
Collection
Set in Space
or at Sea
Pre-19th Century
Classic
Fiction Based
on a True Story
Current Affairs 
Politics
Book on the
1001 List
Banned Book
Features a Strong 
Female Protagonist
Set in the
Future
New York Times
Bestseller
Spin Off from 
a Classic
Mystery or
Crime Novel
Booker Prize
Longlister
Published
in 2019
20th Century
Classic
Legal Thriller
Biography 
or Memoir
Set during 
Wartime
Poetry
Collection
Book with a 
colour in title

So here's what I read in 2019:


Fiction
I started the year with two compelling novels I had long wanted to read: Patricia Highsmith's Deep Water (1957) and The Children Act (2014) by Ian McEwan. Both are thin books which have hidden depths, and both involve failing marriages. Highsmith's novel is full of suspense and intrigue which had me gripped from the outset. McEwan's is multi-layered with a strong female protagonist. I loved them both.

Next, on the advice of my aunt Jeanne, I read Belinda Bauer's Snap (2018) which was an enjoyable, page-turning crime thriller. Then I read Nora Ephron's Heartburn (1983) which I didn't like at all, followed by Meg Wolitzer's The Wife (2004) which I loved.

After attending the Sydney Writers' Festival in May, I started gathering books written by authors I heard speak. Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, The Serial Killer (2018) is a delightful, darkly comedic, debut novel set in Nigeria.

While travelling throughout Morocco in June I read An American Marriage (2018) by Tayari Jones, winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction. This is the book that I recommended most often to people this year. On that trip I also read The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2018) by Heather Morris which I found to be a terribly written fictionalisation of a true story.  


My reading took off in August and September when I read some terrific novels. John Lanchester's dystopian The Wall (2019) was a great cautionary tale about climate change, nationalism and isolationism.  Then I was hooked by La Belle Sauvage - the first of the new 'The Book of Dust' trilogy by Philip Pullman - which took me back twenty years to my love of Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' series. Then I returned to Gilead with the hotly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood's The Testaments (2019) which was well worth the wait! This was followed by Brian Bilston's delightful Diary of a Somebody (2019) which had me laughing aloud. 

I also read some Australian fiction this year. Bruny (2019), a political thriller set in Tasmania by Heather Rose, was an interesting read although it didn't meet all my expectations. John Purcell's The Girl on the Page (2018) was great fun as well. Set in the London publishing world, it is a book-lovers delight.  

I finally got around to reading Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2003) and can now see what all the fuss was about. It was great! And, on the last day of the year, I finished George Eliot's Silas Marner (1861) a classic I had been meaning to read since the last century! 





Reflecting on the novels I read over the past year there were a lot about doomed relationships. - An American Marriage, The Wife, The Children Act, Heartburn, Deep Water all had failing marriages, while My Sister, the Serial Killer and Diary of a Somebody also focussed on relationship troubles.  If anything these novels served to reinforce the importance of trust and love and made me grateful for my own marriage.  I also read a lot of dystopian or speculative fiction, which is one of my favourite genres. The Wall, The Testaments, La Belle Sauvage, and to a lesser extent Bruny, all showed a world that I do not want to live in and one that is not so far out of step with the path the world is heading today.



Of the more than a dozen novels I read this year the one I would most recommend to others is Tayari Jones' An American Marriage. The story of newlyweds suddenly separated by incarceration is a deeply rich story of race, justice, hope and love. I described it at the time as 'heartbreaking and beautiful' and, of all the great books I read this year, it is the one I think about most often. 





Non-Fiction

I read a lot of biographies and memoirs this year. I started the year with Tara Westover's fascinating Educated (2018) - the story of a girl growing up in a Mormon survivalist family and her journey to become a Cambridge-educated professional. Vicki Laveau-Harvie's award winning The Erratics (2018) is the story of another dysfunctional family and a different kind of escape. The memoir centres around the author coming home to care for elderly parents after a long absence and coming to terms with the toxicity of the family environment.

Helen Garner's Yellow Notebook - Diaries Volume 1 (1978-1987) was published this year and I really enjoyed reading this decade in a writer's life. I am not sure what drew me to read Michael Caine's latest memoir, Blowing the Bloody Doors Off (2018) but I liked it, especially as I also listened to it read by the actor himself. 



Michelle Obama's Becoming (2018) was a refreshingly candid memoir and left me feeling great admiration for the author. Likewise Gillian Trigg's Speaking Up (2018) provided great insights into her time at the Human Rights Commission and the long way we need to go to improve human rights in Australia. For something quite different, I also greatly enjoyed Emily Nussbaum's essay collection I Like to Watch (2019) which is a compilation of her television reviews, interviews and though pieces.
In terms of politics and current affairs, I enjoyed Niki Savva's Plots and Prayers (2019) about the downfall of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a follow up to her 2016 book The Road to Ruin about Tony Abbott.  Michael Lewis' The Fifth Risk (2018) was recommended to me by my cousin Graham and I found it fascinating. Lewis focussed on the transition of government from Obama to Trump and the way in which three key federal agencies were impacted by the ignorance and arrogance of the incoming regime. I also read Annabel Crabb's Quarterly Essay Men at Work (2019) about the barriers men face in relation to parenthood. 

While I liked all the non-fiction I read this year, if I had to choose one favourite I would pick Michelle Obama's Becoming

Poetry 
Poetry was a bit hit and miss for me this year. Early in the year I borrowed Kate Lilley's Ladylike from the library and I could not get in to it. While I managed to read the whole collection, I never managed to write a post about it. 

In the year the world lost Clive James, I read his Injury Time in March which I found most enjoyable despite the dark spectre of death hanging over it.  But my favourite book of poetry this year, was a novel about a struggling poet. Brian Bilston's Diary of a Somebody was absolutely delightful and one of my favourite books of the year. 


Audiobooks

This year I took out a subscription to Audible and over the course of the year I have enhanced my physical reading with listening to audiobooks. It helps me on my commute to listen to the book while walking and taking the train, as I read along with it. My cousin Graham calls this 'power reading' and I have found it to be a great way to read, especially books I have struggled to read or where the narrator's voice adds to the storytelling.  

This year I listened to Michael Caine read his memoir Blowing the Bloody Doors Off, Andrew Sachs (Manuel!) read Silas Marner, Michael Sheen read La Belle Sauvage, and Gillian Triggs read her memoir Speaking Up. Plus, after I finished reading Atwood's The Testaments, I then listened to the audiobook and got to relive it again. 

Best of 2019

Of all the books I read this year the ones I regard most highly are Tayari Jones' An American Marriage, Michelle Obama's Becoming and Brian Bilston's Diary of a Somebody Honourable mentions would extend to Margaret Atwood's The TestamentsMeg Wolitzer's The WifeIan McEwan's The Children Act and Patricia Highsmith's Deep Water.



The worst books I read this year were Jim Broadbent's graphic novel Dull Margaret (2018), Morris' The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Nora Ephron's Heartburn.