I did not make a new list this Friday because I already have a fair amount of books and not as much time to read them as I would like, so I would like to keep my list as it is until I make a dent in it. Meanwhile, some quotes from "Reading Lolita in Tehran" pertaining to the theme of relating reality with fiction:
"Again she repeated that she would never get married, never ever. She said that for her a man always existed in books, that she would spend the rest of her life with Mr. Darcy-" -pg 32
"Reaching for a pastry, Mitra says that something has been bothering her for some time. Why is it that stories like Lolita and Madame Bovary- stories that are so sad, so tragic- make us happy?Is it not sinful t feel pleasure when reading about something so terrible? Would we feel this way if we were to read about it in the newspapers or if it happened to us? If we were to write about our lives here in the Islamic Republic of Iran, would we make our readers happy?" -pg 44
"Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fairy tale offers you freedoms that reality denies. In all great works of fiction, regardless of the grim reality they present, there is an affirmation of life against the transience of that life, an essential defiance. This affirmation lies in the way the author takes control of reality by retelling it in his own way, thus creating a new world. Every great work of art, I would declare pompously, is a celebration, an act of insubordination against betrayals, horrors, and infidelities of life. The perfection and beauty of form rebels against the ugliness and shabbiness of the subject matter. This is why we love Madame Bovary and cry for Emma, why we greedily read Lolita as our heart breaks for its small, vulgar, poetic, and defiant orphaned heroine." -pg 47
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Reading Lolita in Tehran
They were what you would call loners, who did not belong to any particular group or sect. I admired their ability to survive not despite but in some ways because of their solitary lives. We can call the class "a space of our own," Manna had suggested, a sort of communal version of Virginia Woolf's room of her own.
(Nafisi, 12)
Another reason why I enjoy novels and biographies and manga etc. is because every one in a while you find a story that is so different from your own life story, but at the same time you can identify with it. Nafisi writes, "The theme of the class was the relation between fiction and reality," (6). As I began the book last night, I could not help but identify with these quotes. In a flash, I realized how amazing it was that I had chosen this book first.
First of all, I started this blog with a specific theme. I wanted to share my thoughts on the biographies/haikus/whatever that I wanted to read this year. I wasn't quite sure what I would write about, since I didn't want to write reviews per say. But as I read, I realized that, at least sometimes, I can also use this blog to explore the relation between fiction and reality. Only in this case it's not quite fiction, since I am reading mostly nonfiction. How about we say the relation between two or more people's life stories? Two or more realities of different people? Of different places? Or different time periods? Of different cultures? For instance, while I do feel a connection with the female students in this book, I am not from Iran, I do not have to wear a headscarf, I do not have to worry about reading forbidden novels. I love reading books such as this because I am able to learn about women's lives in different cultures. And sometimes you can find a connection, even though they are so far away or so different from you.
The first quote posted at the top struck me last night. I too am a loner, especially this semester at my college. My three closest friends went to study abroad in England for an entire semester. I am without a roommate, and I am much to shy to want a new one. I have a group of girls I hang around with, but I do not know them as well as my other three friends. I feel shy around them, but I also enjoy their company. We have a lot in common, but I can't seem to find my place within the group. Before the new semester began, I spent a lot of time worrying about if I would be able to survive by myself. My college is five hours from home, so I could not go home to be with family. I would have to become braver and put myself out there, again, as I had done when I first came to college. However, I had become accustomed to having my three closest friends. Not to mention the previous semester was a horror story. I was intensely worried about myself. "I admired their ability to survive not despite but in some ways because of their solitary lives." I wanted to be able to be able to say this about myself. Granted, attending college alone is not exactly something you have to "survive," at least in the context that some women in the world have to "survive" the oppressions put on them int heir home country. But still, bravery is bravery. Can't we all have our own woes and anxieties and braveries, even if they are at vastly different scales?
Anyway, I found these relations exciting, not only because they gave me a reason to write in this blog, hehe. I was also excited because I started this blog and project because I knew I was going to be mostly alone this semester. Whenever I feel lonely or sad, I always turn to fictional characters and worlds, just as these women are doing in "Reading Lolita in Tehran." However, I decided this time to take a look at the real world and real people who lived or are living in it. These relations made me feel like I had just finished a puzzle, and everything fit together. However, that is only with this book so far. I don't know what I will write about when I get to the next few books. We'll see.
(Nafisi, 12)
Another reason why I enjoy novels and biographies and manga etc. is because every one in a while you find a story that is so different from your own life story, but at the same time you can identify with it. Nafisi writes, "The theme of the class was the relation between fiction and reality," (6). As I began the book last night, I could not help but identify with these quotes. In a flash, I realized how amazing it was that I had chosen this book first.
First of all, I started this blog with a specific theme. I wanted to share my thoughts on the biographies/haikus/whatever that I wanted to read this year. I wasn't quite sure what I would write about, since I didn't want to write reviews per say. But as I read, I realized that, at least sometimes, I can also use this blog to explore the relation between fiction and reality. Only in this case it's not quite fiction, since I am reading mostly nonfiction. How about we say the relation between two or more people's life stories? Two or more realities of different people? Of different places? Or different time periods? Of different cultures? For instance, while I do feel a connection with the female students in this book, I am not from Iran, I do not have to wear a headscarf, I do not have to worry about reading forbidden novels. I love reading books such as this because I am able to learn about women's lives in different cultures. And sometimes you can find a connection, even though they are so far away or so different from you.
The first quote posted at the top struck me last night. I too am a loner, especially this semester at my college. My three closest friends went to study abroad in England for an entire semester. I am without a roommate, and I am much to shy to want a new one. I have a group of girls I hang around with, but I do not know them as well as my other three friends. I feel shy around them, but I also enjoy their company. We have a lot in common, but I can't seem to find my place within the group. Before the new semester began, I spent a lot of time worrying about if I would be able to survive by myself. My college is five hours from home, so I could not go home to be with family. I would have to become braver and put myself out there, again, as I had done when I first came to college. However, I had become accustomed to having my three closest friends. Not to mention the previous semester was a horror story. I was intensely worried about myself. "I admired their ability to survive not despite but in some ways because of their solitary lives." I wanted to be able to be able to say this about myself. Granted, attending college alone is not exactly something you have to "survive," at least in the context that some women in the world have to "survive" the oppressions put on them int heir home country. But still, bravery is bravery. Can't we all have our own woes and anxieties and braveries, even if they are at vastly different scales?
Anyway, I found these relations exciting, not only because they gave me a reason to write in this blog, hehe. I was also excited because I started this blog and project because I knew I was going to be mostly alone this semester. Whenever I feel lonely or sad, I always turn to fictional characters and worlds, just as these women are doing in "Reading Lolita in Tehran." However, I decided this time to take a look at the real world and real people who lived or are living in it. These relations made me feel like I had just finished a puzzle, and everything fit together. However, that is only with this book so far. I don't know what I will write about when I get to the next few books. We'll see.
The Problem With Memoirs by Neil Genzlinger; January 28th, 2010
That’s what makes a good memoir — it’s not a regurgitation of ordinariness or ordeal, not a dart thrown desperately at a trendy topic, but a shared discovery.
Read More
That’s what makes a good memoir — it’s not a regurgitation of ordinariness or ordeal, not a dart thrown desperately at a trendy topic, but a shared discovery.
Read More
Friday, January 28, 2011
Library Friday #1
Books List:
1. American Diary of a Japanese Girl- Yoné Noguchi
2. Becoming Bamboo- Robert E. Carter
3. Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism
4. Different Paths of Buddhism: A Narrative-Historical Introduction- Carl Olson
5. Embracing the Firebird: Yosano Akiko and the Birth of the Female Voice in Modern Japanese Poetry- Janine Beichman
6. Far Beyond the Field: Haiku by Japanese Women: An Anthology- Makoto Ueda
7. For All My Walking: Free-Verse Haiku of Taneda Santoka
8. Irish Haiku- Chris Arthur
9. Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U. S.- Roland Kelts
10. Laws of Simplicity- John Maeda
11. Mark Twain in Japan: The Cultural Reception of an American Icon
12. Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living: A Handbook for the Damned Human Race
13. Spygirl: True Adventures from My Life As a Private Eye- Amy Gray
14. Virginia Woolf: Becoming a Writer- Katherine Dalsimer
15. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath- Sylvia Plath and Karen V. Kukil
Current: Reading Lolita in Tehran- Azar Nafisi
Next: Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America- Linda Furiya
1. American Diary of a Japanese Girl- Yoné Noguchi
2. Becoming Bamboo- Robert E. Carter
3. Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism
4. Different Paths of Buddhism: A Narrative-Historical Introduction- Carl Olson
5. Embracing the Firebird: Yosano Akiko and the Birth of the Female Voice in Modern Japanese Poetry- Janine Beichman
6. Far Beyond the Field: Haiku by Japanese Women: An Anthology- Makoto Ueda
7. For All My Walking: Free-Verse Haiku of Taneda Santoka
8. Irish Haiku- Chris Arthur
9. Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U. S.- Roland Kelts
10. Laws of Simplicity- John Maeda
11. Mark Twain in Japan: The Cultural Reception of an American Icon
12. Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living: A Handbook for the Damned Human Race
13. Spygirl: True Adventures from My Life As a Private Eye- Amy Gray
14. Virginia Woolf: Becoming a Writer- Katherine Dalsimer
15. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath- Sylvia Plath and Karen V. Kukil
Current: Reading Lolita in Tehran- Azar Nafisi
Next: Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America- Linda Furiya
Library Fridays
I have always enjoyed biographies, whether about famous or historical people that I liked or about people I had never heard of before, living hundreds of thousands of miles away from me (or hundreds of years before me). I did not realize the full fascination I had with them until last semester when I had to read the autobiography of Malcom X for one of my college classes. I had not learned hardly anything about him in high school, nor had I ever thought about reading about him. even though it started out as a school assignment, I found myself immensely interested in the book for myself. Not only was it interesting because it was an autobiography, it was also intoxicating to finally learn about a famous American figure that I had only heard the name of. I realized that I was returning to what I used to love in high school: history. I used to love my history classes in high school, but I had not taken any in college. At my school, there are classes that are like a combination of a history and English class. I instantly loved this class and it inspired me to read more biographies (I had started to drift away from reading them).
What I love about biographies is... well, there's more than one thing.
1. They can broaden your knowledge about history of your country or the world. In history classes, some topics or people are not extensively covered.
2. They open up new points of view.
3. They can introduce foreign topics or ideas into your mind.
4. If you disagree with the person, you can see their point of view.
5. They can make you think about your stand on a certain topic or person.
6. They can give you alternate ways of thinking about yourself, other people, other cultures, etc.
Fictional books can do this as well, but I love finding out information about the world around me (while I am also a major fangirl of the many fictional worlds that exist :P).
So, now to the point of this blog. I am hoping to use it to catalog the biographies/autobiographies/nonfiction books I read this year (I have also become interested in Japanese, English, etc haiku poems and poets. I may include poetry anthologies). I may write essays or posts about what I read, but I'm not entirely sure yet. I usually don't like reviewing or criticizing what I read, so I'm not sure what this blog will be for. Other possibilities are posting quotes, etc. We'll see. I just want to have this blog here in case I do feel like posting about what I read.
Current book: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Next: Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America by Linda Furiya
The way I go about choosing biographies: Whatever strikes me fancy, pretty much. I have read biographies about women in the Middle East several times before, I always find them fascinating. I am also interested in Japanese culture etc. My sister read "Bento Box" years ago, and I always wanted to. For some reason I never got around to it, so I figured this would be the perfect time. I also will occasional choose biographies about famous people I admire, such as Walt Disney, Fred Astaire, etc. I'm looking forward to this adventure!
Oh, right. The name "Library Fridays" comes from the fact that I want to visit the library on Fridays to look for more books. I went a little crazy today and made a whole list, so I think I'll go along that path. Every once in a while I will visit the library on a Friday and do a random search and make a new list. I may also post my list on the Friday. That would be a reason to post here. Sounds good to me.
Anyway, I hope to keep up with this this year. Happy 2011!
-Bee
What I love about biographies is... well, there's more than one thing.
1. They can broaden your knowledge about history of your country or the world. In history classes, some topics or people are not extensively covered.
2. They open up new points of view.
3. They can introduce foreign topics or ideas into your mind.
4. If you disagree with the person, you can see their point of view.
5. They can make you think about your stand on a certain topic or person.
6. They can give you alternate ways of thinking about yourself, other people, other cultures, etc.
Fictional books can do this as well, but I love finding out information about the world around me (while I am also a major fangirl of the many fictional worlds that exist :P).
So, now to the point of this blog. I am hoping to use it to catalog the biographies/autobiographies/nonfiction books I read this year (I have also become interested in Japanese, English, etc haiku poems and poets. I may include poetry anthologies). I may write essays or posts about what I read, but I'm not entirely sure yet. I usually don't like reviewing or criticizing what I read, so I'm not sure what this blog will be for. Other possibilities are posting quotes, etc. We'll see. I just want to have this blog here in case I do feel like posting about what I read.
Current book: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
Next: Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America by Linda Furiya
The way I go about choosing biographies: Whatever strikes me fancy, pretty much. I have read biographies about women in the Middle East several times before, I always find them fascinating. I am also interested in Japanese culture etc. My sister read "Bento Box" years ago, and I always wanted to. For some reason I never got around to it, so I figured this would be the perfect time. I also will occasional choose biographies about famous people I admire, such as Walt Disney, Fred Astaire, etc. I'm looking forward to this adventure!
Oh, right. The name "Library Fridays" comes from the fact that I want to visit the library on Fridays to look for more books. I went a little crazy today and made a whole list, so I think I'll go along that path. Every once in a while I will visit the library on a Friday and do a random search and make a new list. I may also post my list on the Friday. That would be a reason to post here. Sounds good to me.
Anyway, I hope to keep up with this this year. Happy 2011!
-Bee
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