gaudy night

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The thing about reading a Dorothy Sayers' mystery is that you can enjoy it on different levels: the charm of Lord Peter, the moments of well crafted description, the overwrought but equally entertaining literary quotations, and then there's the Latin.  The Latin that lies at the crux of crucial moments in this novel that can serve only to remind those of us who, while overeducated (is there such a thing?), still, did not go to Oxford and do not use Latin in our every day speech. I for one, enjoy it when my "light" reading has a bit of heft to it.  And while I'm not the biggest Harriet Vane fan (the whole resistance/submission thing is annoying), still this book makes for a good afternoon read.  It certainly has its misogynist elements and certainly there's both an anti and pro-academic theme running throughout, still, Lord Peter shows up before it all gets too annoying and the brief moments of madness counterpointed against the calm of punting in the river make it a worthwhile read.


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another day of 100 degrees. and yet, the sidewalks were still clogged with tourists. with maps. spread wide in the middle of said sidewalks.  I've never understood that. Not once in all the traveling I've done have I ever stood blocking sidewalks while trying to read a map.  maybe I can give that a shot on my next trip.  which starts on Tuesday. and for which I am not yet packed. but at least I got everything else done. including watching X-Games (vert seems kinda pointless without Mr. White) and the latest episode of Longmire (with Lou Diamond Phillips playing a Cheyenne. who drinks. and runs a bar.) also read a couple more books this weekend & may post reviews if I get around to it.  had a conversation (over really really good iced tea at podunk) with a writer friend about the sad state of publishing.  kinda makes me want to go do something else for a living. oh. wait. never mind.

Don't Try This at Home by Dave Navarro

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I remember when Neil Strauss wrote for Rolling Stone (does he still?) and, along with a very few others, was the closest thing to a reporter I'd met in the music industry. Mostly for fans of Navarro this book is a scrapbook of photo booth photos (all unidentified - some obviously recognizable), limited & somewhat stilted prose by Strauss (some of the cliches are REALLY painful) and Navarro, supposed transcripts of conversations, even a diary entry from one of Navarro's "girlfriends." It makes for a quick and somewhat compelling read, albeit a sad portrait of drug addiction, self-obsession, and really, selfishness. Also a good reminder to me why I quit working with musicians.

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Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There are points in this book where I was so frustrated with the clunky attempts at post-post-modern structure games that I had to put it down. Reading through all the positive reviews of this work, I almost feel I must've read a different book. This is not a "rock'n'roll" novel but instead a mish-mash of prose about two sad people living pathetic lives. There's little here that's compelling although the character "Nik" has his moments. The forced connections between the narrator Denise's obsession with various current events (which, sadly all read as very dated at this point) and her inability to connect to the mess that is her life, left me frustrated not so much with the character (as was the obvious goal) but with the writer. The 2 main characters here are supposedly 47 and 50 but read more like they're in their late 50's. Of course, since the bulk of the narrative is told in first person removed - Denise's story told via a series of writings she creates on the event of her brother's disappearance - we cannot know what is simply Denise's skewed POV and what is actually happening in the narrative. The shifts from third back into stilted first person served only to break the narrative flow and did nothing toward creating a more compelling narrative. Overall, there is much that shows potential here and Nik's character (albeit a cliche of the failed rock musician/narcissist) reads as somewhat interesting. What this book needs is a good editorial spanking. Or at least an editor who would make this obviously talented writer work harder to tell a compelling, cohesive narrative. That this novel has received such rave reviews I find, to be honest, depressing. I'd give it a B minus at best.

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Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War by Deb Olin Unferth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wonderfully written, as is everything I've read by this writer. One of the few recent memoirs that is thoughtful, funny, sad and does a great job of skewering Westerners intent on joining other countries' revolutions. Told on an intimate level, it's both a coming of age and a love story. There's so much good writing here I finished the last 100+ pages in one sitting.

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Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was really looking forward to reading this one but ultimately, couldn't get through it. Lots of meandering through unimportant info, a definitely skewed view of the settlement of the West, and often there are no transitions from one chunk of information to the next. While the actual "story" here is interesting, Wickenden makes it an uninteresting, clunky read. Overall, really disappointed.



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men in kilts and other signs of spring...

another April, another Tartan Day parade. This one was smaller than usual though with the amazing weather the crowd was fairly large. Mostly just pipe & drum bands & lots of men in kilts (which, really, is the reason to go). I'll post photos later. Meantime, reading Deb Olen Unferth's Vacation. Which, of course, is wonderful so far. Finally giving up on "Monsters of Templeton" - nice cover art but beyond that, not much positive to say about it. Managed to miss the Black Angels (oops) but went to the Met's Tosca instead. Great seats and even better singing. Wish I could afford tickets to the new Ring productions. Hiking season soon which means lots more photos of paths near rivers, up hills, over mountains, and such like. Can't come soon enough.

finished up shane jones' light boxes. hmm. yes I liked it but it has some issues. just picked up 'monsters of templeton' which, after a promising start, is becoming very much bogged down in dullsville. *yawn* to another memoir-masquerading-as-fiction. I mean, seriously, who cares? get back to the monster already. nice cover art though. and winter, which seemed to be over, is back again with a biting wind off the water and through the tunnels between towers that they call streets here. not to mention this losing an hour to the Gods of Time nonsense. hate it. spent most of yesterday walking across town (horrified at how bland Chelsea's become) and then struggling through boxes in my much-neglected storage room. discovered that many boxes labeled "clothes" or "vinyl" actually contain...books. enough to open a library. I'll be shedding a lot of those soon. although I will NOT be getting rid of my box full of Breyer model horses nor will I be giving up my pristine copies of "King of the Wind," "Seastar...," or "Misty of Chincoteague" (sp?). I have to draw the line somewhere. Found some great clothes & assuming I don't find any more moth-driven damage, will be wearing many outfits from 198? since, apparently, they're in fashion again. had tea at podunk in the EV again. love that place though I do wish the chairs were more comfortable. all that wood isn't all that conducive to extended conversations and tea drinking. skipped the blasters/robert gordon show on saturday night. too many shows in brooklyn & the trains suck on weekends.