Weekly Wrap-Up: First Week of April

What's New:
The semester is coming to end in about three weeks, so I've got lots of big due dates coming up. I've been able to make some downtime for myself this past week though which has been great! So here's an update on what I have read since my last wrap-up.

I've finished (and will be reviewing)

 

I'm Currently Reading

Next, I'm Planning to Start

What I Bought:

The Sky is Everywhere, Jandy Nelson

It's no secret that I love I'll Give You the Sun so naturally I wanted to pick up Nelson's debut. 

The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde

I've heard great things about this and it looks like so much fun!

What I Posted:
Monday- I reviewed Jane Austen's Emma (Mr. Knightly might be my new favorite Austen love interest! <3)
Tuesday- I discussed ten characters I would like to catch up with over tea.
Wednesday- I asked an important question: Is Taylor Swift the Confessional Poet of our Generation?
Thursday- A new addition to my Poetry Spotlight Series: T.S. Elliot's The Wasteland

Last Week's Wrap-Up

What's Next: 
This upcoming week I will be reviewing Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, participating in Top Ten Tuesday, discussing an adaption of Emma, and discussing more poetry.

Stacking the Shelves hosted by: Tyngas Reviews
The Sunday Post Hosted by: The Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Leave me a link to your wrap-up!

Poetry Spotlight: The Wasteland by T.S. Elliot

In my second year of college I took an Introduction to Poetry class and I fell in love with reading poetry. Before then, poetry was always a little intimidating and a medium that I didn't have much experience with. But after that class, I became addicted to reading poetry, and during the class I actually found myself thinking in and expressing myself in poetry- which I never would have guessed would happen in a million years. So, with this series I'm here to share some of my favorite poems in a way that I'm sure will turn out rambley and unorganized.

So, I just read T.S. Elliot's "The Wasteland" for my American Literature class, and it was an interesting experience to say the least. If you have never read anything by Elliot before I should warn you, he is not a very good place to start if you are new to poetry or looking to get into poetry. The explanatory footnotes are ten times longer than this poem, and he makes many allusions to mythology, history, Shakespeare, and the Bible. This is a rather challenging poem, but it is also really interesting. 

T.S. Elliot 

Read the poem here. This version has footnotes, but I'm not too impressed with them. The poem contains a lot of lines in German and a lot of allusions that need explaining. Here is a link to the Sparknotes Page on the poem, which I consulted after reading it and found it very helpful. 

A few helpful tidbits about this poem:

• It was published in 1922.
• This poem is considered one of the most important pieces of modernist literature and is considered Elliot's masterpiece.
•  It is dedicated to Ezra Pound, who is a really fascinating person who had a huge influence in the literary sphere even though he didn't publish many well-known works of his own. 
• The first line of the poem, "April is the Cruellest month..." is very well-known and often referenced within literature.

This poem was published during a time when majority of art was a response to the horror and violence of WWI; this piece is no exception. It is a rather pessimistic look at the moral deterioration of culture after the war. (Fun stuff, I know!) The poem is divided into five sections, and each section is a new poem within itself, meaning they are not continuations of each other and each section switches speakers many times within the section. Now you can see why this piece is so complicated.

Okay, so the first thing I noticed about this poem was the abundance of female speakers and allusions in this poem, that was quite unexpected to me. I found the second section of the poem entitled, "A Game of Chess" to be the most interesting section of the poem. Here Elliot portrays two women, one a powerful rich women who is associated by allusion to Cleopatra, and the other a common woman in a bar in England. Elliot makes allusions to the myth of Philomela and Procne from Ovid's Metamorphoses. This myth is about sisters Philomela and Procne. Philomela was raped by her brother in law, who then cut out her tongue to keep her quiet. She relayed her story to her sister through a tapestry she made. Procne preceded to gain revenge over her husband by killing their son and feeding him to her husband in a pie. (Yay mythology!). The two sisters were then turned into birds, Philomela became a swallow because of her missing tongue and Procne a nightingale.But Ovid mistranslated the piece and made Philomela the nightingale, and she is now often associated with the nightingale in history and art.

So, what is Elliot saying about sexuality, and female sexuality specifically, in this section? He's not a fan of it. He associates the woman of power with historical women who committed suicide because of love related reasons, and the rich woman becomes jealous, paranoid, and needy when her lover arrives. The disapproval of sexuality continues in Section Three of the poem as well. I find it interesting that with all of the violence that was just committed during the war, Elliot chooses to focus on sexuality as the cause of all of society's problems. The idea of a wasteland and barren relationships and land is quite constant through out the poem. 

Overall, I respect this poem's place in history and the literary cannon and I think it is a piece I will have to reread many time and work with for quite a while before I can really get a grasp on all that it has to offer. I would recommend checking out Elliot though, I prefer "The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock" to this one, and he has an entire book of poem's dedicated to cats which I own and plan to pick up soon, so that's cool. Anyone who write a book of poem's dedicated to cats is alright in my book.

Let me know your thoughts on this poem or any of Elliot's other poems.      

Is Taylor Swift Our Generation's Confessional Poet?

I love Taylor Swift. She's funny, sweet, a great writer, and so stinkin' adorable. But the other day while listening to 1989, I had a thought, "Is Taylor Swift the new breed of confessional poet?" I think she is.

Ah, Yes! A perfect spokeswomen for our generation.

So, some examples of poets who have been labeled as confessional poets that you are probably familiar with are Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. Both women were labeled as confessional poets and each had a impossible time shedding that label, Sexton was not a fan of the label at all. 

What is a confessional poet? A poet who makes confessions in their poetry, or writes autobiographical poetry. Are you starting to see where I'm coming from? A lot of  Plath's poetry deals with images or themes relating to death so people love to read her poetry as one long suicide note or proof of Plath's instability or obsession with death, blah blah blah. And while Plath did write some poems from a place of personal experience, it doesn't necessarily mean every poem was autobiographical. Taylor Swift has often talked about writing her songs from personal experience and the public loves to guess which hot Hollywood hunk each of her songs is about. 

Another shared trait Swift shares with confessional poets is how they are viewed. People read Plath's poetry and judged her as a person based on the poetry because they assumed every single thing she wrote was something she had experienced. People tend to label Swift based on her music as well, and I love that she tackles that issue on 1989 with Shake it Off and Blank Space. 

Because is that really fair to believe that an artist has to have a first hand encounter with everything they write about? Because an author writes a poem about two men in love, they are stating that they themselves are gay? No that's silly. And that is what some people are doing to Taylor Swift, each song she writes has to correlate to a specific relationship she has had, and then because we feel this way, we decide she dates to many boys. 

So, I guess the point to this post, besides the fact that Taylor Swift is the new Sylvia Plath, is be careful when reading an author's work, or listening to music or whatever, not to try and apply the author and the author's life to the work. Separate the art from the artist and don't limit yourself to one interpretation. 

What do you guys think? Is T-Swift our generation's confessional poet? Do you love her? Hate her? Let me know your thoughts! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Characters I Would Like to Catch Up with Over Tea

This topic is a little difficult for me because I think there is a point where you can have TOO MUCH information about the characters after the ending of the book (J.K. Rowling, I'm looking at you!) If an epilogue describes every detail of the characters entire life after the book ends, I usually get annoyed. That's too much information! I like to be able to imagine my own epilogues and futures for characters, and I like a bit of mystery. That being said, there are some characters I wouldn't mind sitting down with for a cup of tea and a brief chat  about what they have been up to. 

Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

1. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I would love to hear how my favorite literary bffs are handling retirement.

2. Noah from I'll Give You the Sun-- Review

Oh man! I loved reading from Noah's perspective, and I would keel over from excitement at the chance to read more from his p.o.v. But, I would love to catch up with him and see all of the beautiful art he has made.

3. Tessa Gray from The Infernal Devices 
I'm sure she would have tons of awesome stories because of you know, spoiler reasons.

4. Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar

I would love to see what happens to Esther after the end of this novel! The end is a little ambiguous, so I would love to see how things turn out for Esther. (I'm thinking things work out for the better.)

5. Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice

Doesn't everyone want to meet the Darcy children?

6. Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's 
Holly Golightly is a woman who will have a million adventures in her life and I would love to hear about them. She is such an interesting character.

7. Eleanor and Park from Eleanor and Park

I love these two! They are so sweet and genuine. I would love to hear about how Eleanor's life is going and how sweet Park still is to her.

8. Tom and Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby 

I would love to see if these two are happy together and if things have changed! I'm guessing the answer to both of those questions is a big ol' nope!

9. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye
Does Holden get over his angst? Does he become a phony adult himself? 

10. Olivia Mead From The Cure for Dreaming
I know Olivia is going to do cool things with her life (well, you know, she would if she was a real person) and I would love to hear about all of the awesome girl-power adventures she has had.

Leave me a link to your post, I would love to come check it out!

Recently Read: Emma

Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Classic
Publication Date: 1815 
Page Count: 495
Rating: 5/5

Also by Jane Austen:
Pride and Prejudice
Persuasion

Emma is the first book I have finished off of my 2015 Rereads and Classics List, and my third Austen novel.

Emma Woodhouse is twenty-one years old, and completely uninterested in marriage. To amuse herself, she attempts to play match-maker with those around her. She takes in a young girl Harriet Smith, in the hopes of finding her a suitable match, but Emma may have gotten herself in over her head. 

I love the other two Austen novels I have read, and I loved this one too! Her novels always make me laugh, and this one was perhaps the funniest of the three I have read. Austen writes annoying characters so brilliantly, and her humor is so witty and timeless. I know a lot of people complain about not liking Emma as a character, but Emma is supposed to be a little unlikable! She is spoiled and thinks very highly of herself, but she is also fiercely independent and in charge of her own life AND she is only twenty-one! Any 19th century woman who declares she never wishes to marry at the age of twenty-one is all right with me! 

Emma also undergoes huge character development, which is really great to see. I loved that the romance was not the main focus of this novel; the characters really drove this novel forward and each character was so well developed. Although this novel is rather long, I never once found myself bored with it or thinking to myself that it was dragging on. Austen's writing is so timeless, as are her plots, and I will be very sad when I run out of Austen material to read. 

I would recommend checking out this novel, or any Austen novel, even if you aren't a fan or usual reader of classics. Austen's novels are very approachable and entertaining. Proof of the modernity of her works is in the sheer number of adaptions to film and television her works have received. I plan on watching a few adaptations of this novel and then posting about them (of course) but if you have seen the movie Clueless, (yes, that one that is the epitome of the 90's) then you have already watched an adaptation of Emma. I love Clueless and loved finding all the parallels and characters that cross over, and I'm really excited to watch the newest BBC adaptation as well as the adaptation with Gwyneth Paltrow. 

What's your favorite Austen novel? and your favorite Austen adaptation? 

Weekly Wrap-Up: Long Weekend

What's New:
I'm currently on a four day weekend for Easter, and let me tell you, that's great. I've got a lot of school stuff to catch up on (as always) and a lot of reading in particular. I did finish a book this week! I finished Emma by Jane Austen (review to come, but of course I loved it). Other than that, there's not much to report.

What I Bought:
I made a Book Depository order to purchase a gift, so of course I grabbed a couple things for myself too. I have been buying lots of classics lately, particularly out of the two series below, so the next batch of buying I do I want to focus on getting some YA new releases- or perhaps getting some from the library.

Penguin Great Ideas Series

 

 


Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson
Where I lived, and What I lived For, Henry David Thoreau
Silly Novels by Lady Novelist, George Elliot
A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft (I can't find the Great Ideas version to save my life)
Days of Reading, Marcel Provst 

Penguin Little Black Classics

The Beautifull [sic] Cassandra, Jane Austen

What I Posted:
Monday- I did the Book Cake Tag
Tuesday- I highlighted ten recent additions to my TBR (and added a million more books to it after reading everyone else's posts!)
Wednesday- No post courtesy of school work
Thursday- I posted a Theme Spotlight about Gender and Sexuality in YA

Last Week's Wrap-Up

What's Next: 
Next week I have a few things planned (whoo! go me!). I'll be sharing my thoughts on Emma as well as some of the poetry I have been reading in my American Lit class lately.

Stacking the Shelves hosted by: Tyngas' Reviews
The Sunday Post Hosted by: The Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Theme Spotlight: Gender in Young Adult

I've been noticing a really great trend in YA books being released this year: gender and sexuality themes. This is something I'm really excited about because it can be a bit of a rarity to find a YA book that deals with these themes well. I thought I would highlight a few 2015 releases that deal with gender and sexuality that I am eager to read. Let me know if you have read any of these and what you thought of them!

Feminism:

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger Add it on Goodreads Release day: May 12

In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa, though, doesn't want to be a wife, and Kiran, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Kiran thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view-Sudasa's in verse and Kiran's in prose-allowing readers to experience both characters' pain and their brave struggle for hope.

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neil Add it on Goodreads Release Date: May 12

Where women are created for the pleasure of men, beauty is the first duty of every girl. In Louise O'Neill's world of Only Every Yours women are no longer born naturally, girls (called "eves") are raised in Schools and trained in the arts of pleasing men until they come of age. Freida and Isabel are best friends. Now, aged sixteen and in their final year, they expect to be selected as companions--wives to powerful men. All they have to do is ensure they stay in the top ten beautiful girls in their year. The alternatives--life as a concubine, or a chastity (teaching endless generations of girls)--are too horrible to contemplate.
But as the intensity of final year takes hold, the pressure to be perfect mounts. Isabel starts to self-destruct, putting her beauty--her only asset--in peril. And then into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride. Freida must fight for her future--even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known.

Gender Identity and Sexuality: 

Simon vs the Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli Add it on Goodreads Release Date: April 7

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio Add it on Goodreads Release Date: April 7 

A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex . . . and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.

But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned--something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts."

Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?