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I hit my goal of 100 books read cover-to-cover this week, and so now it's time to decide whether I want to exceed it by several more volumes or do a winter reread of The Lord of the Rings instead.
What I Finished Reading This Week
The Witches Are Coming – Lindy West
There were moments when this book was very, very good, but it was much less consistently so than Shrill, West’s previous volume. Part of this is because fewer of her essays resonated with me this time. Part of it is because some of them are just plain mediocre. “Is Adam Sandler Funny” is an example of the former. I recognized his movies as lowest common denominator crap when they came out and so found nothing revelatory in watching West reach this conclusion decades later. West's extended insistence that women’s clothing should never have pockets because they ruin the female silhouette is a weird gripe from someone whose writing has so often focused on stupid social demands on women’s appearance. West’s essay on Goop, by contrast, is an example of the latter mediocre category, and reads as though she was forced to scramble for an angle after she pitched a hit piece on Paltrow’s cookbook but discovered that the recipes were—by West’s own admission—good. Her solution—namely to claim that the recipes are beyond all but the socially privileged because they require chopping vegetables to prepare—is specious (after all, someone, somewhere is doing the prep work that goes into all prepackaged food people presumably eat instead), and an odd choice given the many other valid criticisms she could have made concerning Goop. But there are also brilliant essays, such as the opening piece in which West recounts an encounter her husband had in a bar, and her dissection of why the Adam Corollas of the world are terrified of social and cultural progress. I’m glad I read this one once and will certainly revisit individual pieces, but I’m unlikely to reread the entire book again.
The Dream Hunters – Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano
Gaiman kicks off his extensive acknowledgements by thanking Harvey Weinstein, a decision that has…not aged well. The story itself does better by comparison, although I suspect the things I like most about it are the original Japanese elements, and not Gaiman’s retelling of them per se. Still, the original story does lend itself eerily well to incorporation into the Sandman universe, and Amano’s illustrations are, of course, stunning.
The Silver Bough vol. 3 – F. Marian McNeill
One of the things that most fascinates me about Scottish year-end celebrations from early recorded history to the mid-twentieth century is how many parallels there are with their Japanese counterparts. You have the same function of the communal religious holiday as a way to momentarily abandon social hierarchies and behavioral constraints, the same imperative to drive off demons and other dangerous supernatural beings by throwing things and making loud noises, and the same emphasis on auguries to determine one’s luck in the coming year. It’s also interesting to see how many modern day cognates have evolved from the Scottish customs: community hurling matches aren’t a thing in the US, but we do have the Rose Bowl, for instance.
What I Am Currently Reading
[Title] – [Author]
For reasons.
Mongolia – Michael Dillon
As preparation for my read of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.
The Broken Raven – Joseph Elliott
For whatever reason, my brain won’t focus on this one, so I’m proceeding slowly.
The Pursuit of Harmony – Gustav Heldt
Early days for this one, which hopefully will not become as preciously academic as the introduction suggests it might.
Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones
Another traditional winter read for me. I love this book so much.
[Title] – [Author]
For reasons.
A History of Japan to 1334 – George Samson
Definitely an artefact of the 1950s when it was written, but with plenty of good information all the same.
片づける 禅の作法 – 枡野俊明 (Katazukeru Zen no Sahou – Makino Shunmyo)
Oddly enough, another traditional seasonal read for me.
What I'm Reading Next
I picked up Buffie Johnson’s Lady of the Beasts and Barbara Walker’s The Crone.
これで以上です。
What I Finished Reading This Week
The Witches Are Coming – Lindy West
There were moments when this book was very, very good, but it was much less consistently so than Shrill, West’s previous volume. Part of this is because fewer of her essays resonated with me this time. Part of it is because some of them are just plain mediocre. “Is Adam Sandler Funny” is an example of the former. I recognized his movies as lowest common denominator crap when they came out and so found nothing revelatory in watching West reach this conclusion decades later. West's extended insistence that women’s clothing should never have pockets because they ruin the female silhouette is a weird gripe from someone whose writing has so often focused on stupid social demands on women’s appearance. West’s essay on Goop, by contrast, is an example of the latter mediocre category, and reads as though she was forced to scramble for an angle after she pitched a hit piece on Paltrow’s cookbook but discovered that the recipes were—by West’s own admission—good. Her solution—namely to claim that the recipes are beyond all but the socially privileged because they require chopping vegetables to prepare—is specious (after all, someone, somewhere is doing the prep work that goes into all prepackaged food people presumably eat instead), and an odd choice given the many other valid criticisms she could have made concerning Goop. But there are also brilliant essays, such as the opening piece in which West recounts an encounter her husband had in a bar, and her dissection of why the Adam Corollas of the world are terrified of social and cultural progress. I’m glad I read this one once and will certainly revisit individual pieces, but I’m unlikely to reread the entire book again.
The Dream Hunters – Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano
Gaiman kicks off his extensive acknowledgements by thanking Harvey Weinstein, a decision that has…not aged well. The story itself does better by comparison, although I suspect the things I like most about it are the original Japanese elements, and not Gaiman’s retelling of them per se. Still, the original story does lend itself eerily well to incorporation into the Sandman universe, and Amano’s illustrations are, of course, stunning.
The Silver Bough vol. 3 – F. Marian McNeill
One of the things that most fascinates me about Scottish year-end celebrations from early recorded history to the mid-twentieth century is how many parallels there are with their Japanese counterparts. You have the same function of the communal religious holiday as a way to momentarily abandon social hierarchies and behavioral constraints, the same imperative to drive off demons and other dangerous supernatural beings by throwing things and making loud noises, and the same emphasis on auguries to determine one’s luck in the coming year. It’s also interesting to see how many modern day cognates have evolved from the Scottish customs: community hurling matches aren’t a thing in the US, but we do have the Rose Bowl, for instance.
What I Am Currently Reading
[Title] – [Author]
For reasons.
Mongolia – Michael Dillon
As preparation for my read of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.
The Broken Raven – Joseph Elliott
For whatever reason, my brain won’t focus on this one, so I’m proceeding slowly.
The Pursuit of Harmony – Gustav Heldt
Early days for this one, which hopefully will not become as preciously academic as the introduction suggests it might.
Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones
Another traditional winter read for me. I love this book so much.
[Title] – [Author]
For reasons.
A History of Japan to 1334 – George Samson
Definitely an artefact of the 1950s when it was written, but with plenty of good information all the same.
片づける 禅の作法 – 枡野俊明 (Katazukeru Zen no Sahou – Makino Shunmyo)
Oddly enough, another traditional seasonal read for me.
What I'm Reading Next
I picked up Buffie Johnson’s Lady of the Beasts and Barbara Walker’s The Crone.
これで以上です。
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THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE READ TODAY.
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