Over the weekend someone tweeted a link to this video on youtube about interactive fiction. I remembered trying to play Zork as a kid and getting extremely frustrated by how easily I got myself lost. (I’ve been known to get lost in doctor offices and even houses. Give me something with no visual clues whatsoever and I’m sunk.) Instead I played World Builder games, which for those of you without a Mac in the early-mid 90s, were kind of a cross between point-and-click adventure games like Myst and interactive fiction like Zork. There were rooms with written descriptions, but there were also pictures. So I’d think, “Okay, here I am in the striped room with the funny chair. To the east the striped room continues and there’s a bathtub, but to the west is the peeling wallpaper room with the door to the outside.”

After watching the video, though, I thought it would be fun to play interactive fiction. There turns out to be a ton of it online. I played a couple of short games: Violet was a lot of fun and took place all in one room, so I didn’t get lost. Then I played Photopia, which was amazing. It’s more story than puzzles. It’s such an amazing story it would stand alone solidly without the interactive element which adds to the beauty of the piece. Make sure to play with color on for the full effect.

Other than interactive fiction, I’ve finished the first chapter of The Magus and I’m hoping to get far enough into that to warrant a first blog post soon! I’m trying to keep an open mind, dispite negative reviews from fellow Modern Library bloggers and the fact that the love interest is named Alison, spelled incorrectly.

I’ve also started reading A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin, and it’s been a long time since I’ve started a new fantasy series. I’m enjoying this one quite a bit, particularly because it focuses on political intrigue and doesn’t get stuck in the good vs. evil trap of most of the fantasy I’ve read.

Books Left: 93

My first re-read was very difficult, and it derailed me from the project again. One good thing about English classes was the deadlines. No matter how much a book bored you, it had to be read by a particular time. Of course, I was doing this until I took the time limit off my project. Things are different now. Not only do I have a full time job but it requires full time work; I can’t be sitting at my desk reading all day.

But this isn’t about how good or bad I may be at time management. This is about Jean Rhys’s Whide Sargasso Sea and how I tried to like it despite of itself.

The first time I read the book it was right after I’d put down Jane Eyre. It was impossible for me to separate the second narrative’s connection to the first. I couldn’t get over the fact that Wide Sargasso Sea seemed to be actively trying to ruin Jane Eyre for me. This time I tried not to think about Jane Eyre and read the story as something separate from anything else.

Is the book well written?

Wide Sargasso Sea uses exquisite language. The descriptions of the scenery are such that you can almost feel the sticky heat, smell the dying flowers thick with perfume, and see the colors that feel splashed around like in a painting. Jean Rhys spent a great deal of time writing and editing the book, which you can tell from the word choice and flow of the novel.

Other aspects of the writing are not perfect: if the intent is to make the reader feel for Antionette, this is difficult, since she seems to be stuck in a very childlike mindset throughout the book and to me seems to me to be actually, in some way, crazy. Not that being locked in an attic is the best treatment for someone who needs mental help, but given the time period, much worse things could have happened to her. I feel like the book is trying too hard to feel sorry for Antionette. I did pity Antionette, but I couldn’t empathize with her.

The book skips over what I think would have been the most interesting part: Antionette and Rochester’s courtship. In Part 2, which is narrated by Rochester, he claims to have had genuine feelings for Antionette during the courtship. But we don’t know if this is true or not, as he could easily be an unreliable narrator. This part would’ve been fascinating and enjoyable to read and it’s just skipped over. We get very few light spots on the novel. It goes from bad, to more bad, to worse, which I think is unaffected. One of the reasons why Shakespeare’s tragedies are so effective is because they included pieces of comedy, e.g., the grave digger scene in Hamlet right before the final tragic scene.

Does it speak about the human condition?

Wide Sargasso Sea discusses many aspects of the human condition: wealth and poverty, sanity, love, lust, race and racism, cruelty, and kindness. This is quite a long list for such a short book and it often feels as though it’s trying to stuff in too much at once.

Is it groundbreaking in some way?

It’s not the first work of post-colonial fiction. It’s not the first fanfic (yes, I went there). It’s the first critically acclaimed post-colonial fanfic? Yes, I think we can say that’s true.

Is it an enjoyable read?

It’s enjoyable if you can get past the plot, the characters, and the forced messages and concentrate on the language and descriptions. Unfortunately both times I’ve read it I was unable to do this, so I’m going to say no.

In the end, I would not say Wide Sargasso Sea belongs on the list of top 100 books of the 20th century. It’s a shame that Rhys’s wordcraft was wasted on this novel; I think I would like to read her other books at some point.

Next up is The Magus by John Fowles. Has anyone read it?

Here’s another thing: I don’t eat mammals. I’ve never eaten mammals, aside from some rogue bits of bacon and pepperoni pieces here and there. My parents didn’t eat mammals and so when my brother and I were growing up they didn’t feed them to us. We were welcome to eat them if we so chose, but both of us are technically grown-ups now and we don’t. I’ve alwasy found the bloody packages of meat at the grocery store to look completely disgusting. I don’t like even going near them. Eating the meat of something huge? With fur? That nurses its young? Disgusting! I’ve never eaten stake, or ribs, or even pork, and I’ve never wanted to.

Until I read Cleaving. The way Julie described cutting up, cooking, and eating that meat I wanted to try it. My craving for cooked animal parts was so intense that I had to eat the meatiest thing I could find in my kitchen, which happened to be a can of chicken noodle soup. Before reading Cleaving, I never thought to myself, “I wonder what ribs taste like!” The other day I was at a restaurant and spotted salad with skirt steak on the menu. It sounded good.

The butchery descriptions and recipes were not the only parts of Cleaving that I enjoyed. Partway through reading the book I went to Goodreads to update my status and I was shocked by the negative reviews. One reviewer on Goodreads wrote: “Now, ask yourself: would YOU want to read the true story of a fat, ugly, mildly famous chick’s crumbling marriage, her unabashed accounts of rough sex with her lover and complete strangers, all held together by the glue that is … (wait for it) … the art of butchery?”

Yes, please. (I have to add, though, that the physical appearance of the author never influences my opinion one way or the other.)

Then there are complaints that it’s “choppy.” I thought this, too, or to be more precise, I do think this. It is choppy. It chops back and forth from her work at the butcher shop, to her pining for her ex-lover, to her silently seething husband, to her field trips to various exotic meat capitols of the world. I was thinking about this choppiness and suddenly it reminded me of something. It reminded me of the chopping and pulling apart of meat at a butcher shop. Julie wasn’t just chopping up meat but her who life was being cut into pieces.

It’s a memoir. It’s about real life, and real life doesn’t always have the most smooth transitions or perfect build of climax and falling resolution. I’ve always been suspicious of memoirs that flow perfectly. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs would be a good example of a memoir that narrates just a little too perfectly.

Cleaving is a rough, dirty, dead-honest, and most of all choppy look at one woman’s life. Maybe I will, one day, try a bite of steak.

I’m behind again. This time it’s not because I left Wide Sargasso Sea in a plane heading to Michigan. This time I left it on a car heading to Michigan, and I was not in the car. Luckily, my parents own the car and were able to mail me back the book. I have it. I’m reading it. I don’t really have much to say about it right now. I’m still conflicted. I feel like it’s pushing a bit towards, “Rochester’s not the victim here, Bertha/Antionette is.” However, given what’s in the book itself, not just what I’ve read from Jane Eyre, I don’t completely see her as being victimized. I think that “who is the victim?” is the wrong question. I hope to have more on this once I actually finish the book.

In the meantime, I’ve gathered some interesting and hopefully amusing links over the past week:

The Brainstormer – A fun little do-dad that provides you with a plot archtype, a genre/time period, and a setting for stories, poems, pictures, comics–any creative outlet, really. It’s a lot of fun! Here are 5 random scenarios from the brainstormer (some of them make more sense than others):
“Letting Go” on a stuffy British pier.
“Rescuing a Loved One” on Al Capone’s oasis.
“Daring Enterprise” in an Eskimo hospital.
“Miracle” on a nuclear tree.
“Slaying of a Loved One” on a hippie expedition.

The Sketchbook Project – I’m hoping the brianstormer might help me with the sketchbook  project, which I recently signed up for. You sign up, get a sketchbook, fill it up by January, and then it goes on a “tour” of a few different US cities. You also get to pick a topic: mine is “…you’d be home by now.” So far I only have a few pages filled, but I’m hoping to share a few creations when I have more.

Will Independent Bookstores be the Last Bookstores Standing – This is a fascinating article about how bookstores are fairing against Amazon. While I love Amazon, it’s not quite the same as shopping in an actual physical bookstore, and I was sad when one of my local Borders closed (although quite happy about the sale, if you remember). I love independent bookstores, too. My favorite is Kramerbooks in DC.

Personal Library Kit – I need this. I’ve been loaning out books for years. I love sharing favorites with friends, and while I’ve always managed to get my books back without a fuss (I have good friends) it might be nice to make things a little more official.

I really wanted to like this book. I’d seen it in the bookstore on the shelves and thought about buying it for years. I don’t know why I actually thought it would present a realistic and relatable example of the high school experience. Right away Jessica Darling started going off about all the various cliques and their specific seat assignments in the cafeteria. Tell me, is this the way it was in anyone’s high school? Did your cliques have creative names that everyone in the school used? Were the boundaries between one clique and another that impenetrable? Was there a clear clique ranking system? Did everyone actually want to be in the “highest ranked” clique or were people actually happy being with their friends? Most high school books, movies, and TV shows have this highly structural clique system as part of the setting, which is something I didn’t experience. I feel like writers put it in because it makes for easy plot.

Another issue I had with the book was Marcus. I felt like the book was supposed to be capturing some sort of teenage romance, but I didn’t like him at all. I have an issue with drugs. I can’t stand to watch or read anything that shows or describes drug addicts. I can’t stand it. It makes me feel physically sick. I could never date a recovering drug addict, even if he cured my insomnia or some other such nonsense.

There were a few parts of the book I liked. I could relate to how Jessica felt without Hope, as my best friend moved away right before middle school. I found Hy to be quite an interesting character, and something that wasn’t resolved at the end of the book.

Although nothing was resolved at the end of the book. It ended without any resolution of the conflicts. It was probably an attempt to entice readers towards purchasing the sequal, but for me, this will not be happening.

If you’re in the mood for a good read that takes place in high school, I suggest Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison instead, simply because it’s absolutely hilarious.

A few of these rules apply specifically to the DC area. However, many of them can still be generalized to apply to other cities as well.

1. Don’t post your ad in the “district of columbia” section unless the apartment is in the District of Columbia. I don’t care if the apartment is two centemeters away from the Maryland/DC border. If the address says it’s in Maryland, then it’s in Maryland!

2. “Walking distance from the metro” and “close to the metro” is 8 blocks away or less, maybe a few more only if the blocks are very small. “10 minutes from the metro” refers to walking time, not driving time. “Close to the metro” refers only to the metro rail. It does not count if the apartment is close to a metro bus stop.

3. Always include the street intersection where the apartment is located, if not the full street address. Just posting the street name is not enough information, particularly if the street is long and spans the entire length of the city.

4. If you have a room to rent that includes use of shared living spaces, post in the “rooms / shared” category, not the “apartments / housing” category. Otherwise, everyone who emails you will be disgruntled to find out that you’re not renting out an actual apartment.

5. Always include this information in your post: what laundry facilities are available and what they are like (in other words, is there a washer and dryer in the apartment, a laundry room in the basement, or a laundromat 10 blocks away?), if pets are allowed and what the restrictions are, what utilities are included in the rent and what ones are not, AND

6. Most importantly, when the apartment will be available is essential. Also include if the availability date is flexible or not.

7. Realize that if you do not do 5 and 6 you will be bombarded with phone calls and emails asking those questions.

8. If the apartment is in a managed apartment building, include the name of the building. You might also consider adding the building management company’s website, if there is one.

9. Post pictures. Even if it’s just a screenshot from Google Maps Street View, it helps. If you’re taking photos of the inside of the apartment you might want to make sure it’s clean first.

10. If someone contacts you about the apartment, respond! It’s so frustrating to see the perfect apartment, send an email, and hear nothing back.

This entry contains spoilers for the novel Jane Eyre.

Here’s the thing about Wide Sargasso Sea. I read it for school, for this odd class called “Fiction” in which our professor had us read four sets of two novels: one older novel, and one more recent work. Each pair related to each other in some way. One of the pairs was Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea.

I didn’t want to like Wide Sargasso Sea because I loved Jane Eyre and I knew what Wide Sargasso Sea was about before reading it. I wanted to believe that Rochester was truly tricked into marrying some certifiably crazy lady. When I read Wide Sargasso Sea I had to make myself believe that Antoinette was in no way actually the same person as the woman in the attic. I read it as though the two books were just coincidentally similar. I refused to let Jean Rhys’s more-politically-correct-than-thou post-colonial attitude destroy my enjoyment of the 19th century classic.

Approaching this book for the second time, I realized I didn’t remember anything about it except that the existence of it bothered me. It’s place in the literary canon bothered me, because it was based on something else and it’s not like all those Pride and Prejudice “sequels” are going to be taught in school anytime soon. I didn’t want to read it again. I just wanted to write it off the top 100 list and be done with it.

I’m reading it again, and I’ve discovered two things:

1. Antoinette/Bertha really is kind of crazy. She’s kind of hard to relate to in the book because the parts that are written from her perspective are very muddled. This could also be because she’s young, but I like to think that when I was her age I had a clearer head than that.
2. This book is incredibly well written.

One of the Borders near my office is going out of business, so everything was on sale today! It was bittersweet, because I liked the particular Borders, but mostly sweet. I ran around the store with the sort of glee normally found only in TJ Maxx commercials and that Shopaholic movie. Here’s my loot:

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty – I’ve been wanting to read this since it came out when I was in high school but for some reason I never did. As you can see from the bookmark I already started reading it. I think my experience reading it now is going to be much different than it would have been back then (I believe I was in high school or the early years of college).

Cleaving by Julie Powell – I’m not sure why, but this book interested me a lot more than her other book, the one the Julie and Julia film was based off. I think it’s because I read a review of this book that said it detailed a downward spiral in Julie’s life and somehow that sounded appealing.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender – I was so excited that they had this in stock: a new book by my favorite author! (I guess this is like finding cheap designer jeans that fit at TJ Maxx.) I really wish Bender would write another novel, but I am overjoyed to have this short story collection in my hands.

JavaScript: Pocket Reference by David Flanagan – I’ve heard amazing things about the plot! (Alright, you got me. It’s for work.)

Mystery Book CD DVD Item by ? [Not Pictured] – Borders had a sign up suggesting that we shop for Christmas gifts while everything was on sale. I was determined to be purely selfish in my purchases, until I found the perfect, ahem, item, for my dad.

Yes, this means I’m procrastinating on the project. I even have Wide Sargasso Sea here on my right, staring at me with the evil eyed stare that only a book you’re supposed to be reading but aren’t can give.

Books Left

After losing my first copy on an airplane and taking my sweet time to read through the rest, I’m finally finished with Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net. I usually don’t touch on the lives of authors when I write in the blog, mainly because I don’t want to fall under the “what is the author saying here?” trap. I’m mentioning Iris briefly because I found it fascinating that she wrote so many books. There was also a “controversial” biography written about her by someone who apparently didn’t care for her much. A film was made about her life in 2002 starring Kate Winslet. I haven’t seen it, but I want to now because I like biopics and I like Kate Winslet. I fear though that the movie will get me in tears, because Murdoch dies from Alzheimer’s Disease. Nothing quite gets me sobbing like horrible dementias. (I cried for about a half hour after I watched Awakenings.)

Is the book well written?

Let me say this: it isn’t poorly written. I never found myself noticing any particularly profound language, perhaps with the exception of the short passage where Jack sends a drunken letter to his ex in the mail (which I read out-loud in the video post). I liked the description of the letters falling down once the sender has let go. It’s more physical than sending a text message, where you just type a few words, hit send, and somehow know that in seconds they are appearing on someone else’s phone perhaps miles away.

Is it groundbreaking in some way?

My gut wants to say “yes” but I’m not sure if my gut is the right organ to use to answer this question. To be completely honest, I don’t know. I think it’s impressive that Murdoch wrote the book at 25, that it’s humorous and well thought out and deals with fascinating themes, in particular assumptions: the actions someone takes when they believe things that are entirely untrue. But is that enough to call it groundbreaking? I don’t know.

Is it an enjoyable read?

I enjoyed Under the Net for the most part. It took me a while to read, although this was hindered by the fact that I left it on the airplane. I found some of the parts dull, like when Jack is running through Paris following someone who might be Anna. I loved the characters: Jack, Hugh, Madge, and most of all Mars. I felt that each character was worthy of his or her own “spin-off” tale. Mrs. Tinkham in particular, the woman who runs the newsstand and collects stories.

Does Under the Net deserve to be on the list of the top 100 books of the 20th century? Maybe. Possibly. A very tentative yes.

1.When Sebastian gets drunk, he starts violent bar fights. When Jake gets drunk, he sends love letters.

2.Neither of them make a great deal of money, but at least Jake works. Sebastian intends to go to the park and study law, and instead he flirts with his neighbor while his daughter is present. Jake, when he realizes he needs money, gets a job that sounds to me like one of the worst available: an orderly at a hospital cleaning up after patients.

3.Jake’s friends are much better people than Sebastian’s friends, some of whom are more disgusting than Sebastian himself.

4.For Sebastian, freeloading off his friends is a regular way of life. But when Jake thinks he betrayed his friend’s trust and friendship, he feels horribly. (Also, Sebastian does not have a conscience.)

5.Sebastian probably has STDs. Jake, on the other hand, goes after one woman throughout the entire book, and at the end when he realizes she’s really not interested in picking up where they left off, he stops. Jake also has opportunities with other women, which he politely declines.

6.While I wouldn’t trust Sebastian within a 50 mile radius of his own daughter, the relationship between Jake and the dog Mars is one of my favorite parts of the book. Jake begins by kidnapping Mars to use as leverage to get back something that was taken from him. By the time Jake finds out that the person who had Mars before has no desire to get him back, he and the dog are already close friends.

Jake is by no means perfect, but with a solid balance of positive and negative qualities Jake is a much more fascinating and relate-able fictional character than Sebastian will ever be.