The Wars

Just started with True Grit. The trench scene from St. Eloi mine destruction rings true. The mud scenes and the "pee on your shirt" scenes could be used in a history and/or ELA class. Ok, so the gang rape of a fellow soldier and the subsequent "going off the deep end" moments that follow might be where the controversy comes in. I only remember people at university hating the book and I was unclear then, why. Still and all a good novel about WWI.

True Grit

Just started..along with The Wars. Abandoned. Boring. Great movie though.

Vietnam and Hell

More Tim O'Brien is never a bad idea and it will get me caught up on my short story monthly quota. In theory. "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is one of the greatest war stories ever written.

Loves Life Like Henry!

Possibly my favourite poet (after Brecken of course). "To the Whore who Took My Poems" is a good place to start. It is often about the genius of his poems' endings.

Kill Jesus!

And I will be finishing this tonight. Terrific novel. A little Vietnam, a little mystery, a massacre, a "murder"...Who really knows? And I'm certainly not telling. I think I'll re-read Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried

Grade 11 Pick

And this!Good storytelling. I would use this in the Middle Years if, God forbid, I had to teach Middle Years...

The Subtext is Killing Me (No Pun Intended)

What a bunch of drivel. I knew it would be, but I thought maybe the super obvious spirtual/Christian undertones would fade a little bit. Yup. nope.

Ferlinghetti is 93!

One of my favourite poets of all time. As such, I decided to re-read this one as it was on the shelf near the last one. Over time I realize that my tastes have changed in many areas, but not my taste for true beat poetry. Like Henry Miller, he will always be an important part of the literature I own and read. Sadly, the lame poems I wrote in the back of it are still there...until I get an eraser and eliminate them. They were written in 1997 while I was teaching in Moosomin. From "Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes"...last line..."And the very red light for an instant/holding all four close together/as if anything at all were possible/between them/across that great gulf/in the high seas/of this democracy"...His endings are often perfect. The poem "The Love Nut" is just straight up awesome. Dear Status Quo please read "The Billboard Painters". And one last passage from the middle of "Home Home Home"..."home to the 98 lb housewife/driving two tons of chrome and steel/three blocks to the supermarket/to buy a package of baby pins"..In other words, 1979 could be 2013. To continue with great endings from "Wild Life Cameo, Early Morn"...without looking back/disappear forever/like certain people/in my life.

Sold

Another pick by a student for her novel analysis. It is not a novel in the strictest sense,in that the narrative is delivered via a collection of "poems". However, it's an interesting read nonetheless. It deals with the Nepalese/Indian child sex trade. Horrific, for the most part; however, there are some moments of pure joy as well (though they are often hidden in the simplest moments).

Home Schooling

I have read "What Saffi Knows" at least five times now. And it still freaks me out. This book is worth buying or stealing for this one story alone. There is something dark hidden in the literature of Canada. Makes me want to finish The Way the Crow Flies a novel I have abandoned at the 1/2 way mark, twice.

Thirst by Ken Kalfus

"Notice" is just the author having a little silly fun. However, the title story is excellent in that it brings up the unanswerable question, "How thirsty would you have to be before you drank poison?" Love it.

Pinecone

Michael Cera's short story "Pinecone" is awesome. Funny take on the life of a washed up, has been, mostly over actor. Cera's got skills. It's also found in the 30th volume of McSweeneys.

Revolution

This was the first novel I finished this year. I read it because a student did an analysis of it, and it seemed like a worthwhile read to me. It was. If you like music, the French Revolution, some teenage angst, keys, and catacombs then this is a book for you. It is a better than average YA novel. It has one minor plot flaw, but I will let you determine what that might be.

No Gems Yet!

This is the magazine/book that "Stowaways" and "Bad Karma" are from. Just finished Carson Mell's "Diamond Aces". A story about strip clubs and fathers...unfortunately not very interesting. Sorry, but the gems are far and few between. Time to switch up my short story picks.

Lying to Our Mothers

This will be the first random book of Poetry I will read. The first section offers very little. In fact, it seems like the poet is trying to convince her reader that she was a "bad" kid and that these poems are an apology of sorts. Or, I have no idea because the voice is 100% female. So I finished section two and it was almost completely made up of the speaker from section 1 talking about protecting her daughter from all the creeps and the rapists out there in the world. However, one poem stands out from all the rest..."Learning to Read" with a dedication to Elizabeth Brewster is, at this point, the best poem in the book. It will be a part of my Creative Writing 20 course and possibly a poem I use when I talk about reading and writing during class discussion of The Book Thief. So, if a book of poems has ONE great poem then I would argue it was worth buying or stealing it. Sadly the third section uses the tired A, B, C, et al pattern to start each poem...poems about the daughter leaving home. The final section sees the female speaker musing on her current life and quietly wishing for a different one. Mostly, all of this is boring. As mentioned, only the one poem matters to me.

Two Short Stories So Far...Oops

So, It's the fifth and I have read only two short stories. This simply means that I will catch up tomorrow. Both of the following come from McSweeny's Volume 30. The first one I read was "Stowaways" by Nick Ekkizogly. First Impression...boring jobs = drinking. Second impression = chess is cool. Final thought = a story of suicide and regret. The second story was "Bad Karma" by Etgar Keret. It is essentially a story of a coma survivor who misses being in the world of the coma...a seemingly happier place than the Israel that he lives in. Neither story struck me as that great, nor that bad.

The New Year's resolution was thus: Start reading all the books I actually own before buying more. This includes: 1. A short story a day 2. Five books of poetry a month 3. Five novels a month 4. One work of non-fiction a month. With any luck, some sort of writing will emerge from this as well. I would like to examine how everything I read is connected to everything I read. For example, earlier today I was reading the June 1999 Madison magazine (a very cool magazine that had a short run) and Richard Lourie's The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin was mentioned. I of course ordered it without thought of all the books I have yet to read.