So, I finished this book awhile ago and just never got around to writing about it, which seems fitting for my experience with this book. I got this book as a birthday present from my aunt Lisa in 2006, and I meant to read it many times over that period, and just never got around to it...until now!
This book was delightful. For anyone who has a pet or a love for animals in general, it is quick read and very entertaining. This is a memoir of Sy Montgomery's life with her pet pig (complete with pictures) and various other animals. It was entertaining and endearing, and there was a lot of little tidbits of information about pigs that I didn't really know. I also found it really interesting to see how similar the silly stories about Christopher Hogwood (the pig) were to my silly stories growing up with my dogs Doc and Ranger. Not necessarily that they were the exact same stories (although Ranger definitely shared a very similar obsession with food), but they just resonated in a very familiar way. I hypothesize that the sentiments that people have about their pets are universal no matter what the pet is. (Since my experience with pets has been limited to dogs, a bunny, and fish, I can't vouch for this, yet.) Also, I couldn't help notice the similarities in physical descriptions [especially in regards to noises] between Chris and my delightfully snorty bulldog, Abe. =]
I'll also admit that after reading the book, I was definitely obsessed with having my own pet pig [something I won't give up on, but know it won't happen anytime soon]. I'm also really interested the author herself. She is, basically, a nature writer. Her life sounds extremely interesting with lots of trips around the world to research and observe animals in their native habitats for her books and other publications. She's definitely someone who I'm going to add to my list of authors to read more of.
Now, how to get a pig.....
Monday, April 29, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
2013 Book 7: Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Despite being an avid reader for basically as long as I can remember, taking AP English in high school, and graduating with an English degree, I've never read Fahrenheit 451. Until now.
It was a super quick read (I actually finished it several days ago) and really interesting. It definitely got me in the mood for utopian/dystopian fiction. [As a side note, I took an upper level literature course in my senior year of college titled "Utopian Fiction" which was extremely interesting (and taught by possibly my favorite professor [possibly, because we all know I can't pick favorites] and after that course, the books we read, and the intense discussion we had, I will never be able to separate utopia from dystopia because they are not at all mutually exclusive.]
Alas, if you haven't read this, I highly suggest it. 1: It's not a time suck. 2: It immediately draws you in. 3: It makes you reevaluate the society we live in now, where society could be headed, but more importantly how you are living your life.
The book in it's entirety started out as a short story that Bradbury wrote in the late 1940s, which developed into a novella, which developed into the book [the first US copy was printed in 1953], which later developed into a million other medias. The only reason I'm sharing that is to point out that this whole concept was basically developed in the late-1940s!! I cannot believe how how everything Bradbury describes is still so fitting (or even more so) to this day and age. It just blew my mind, and, as I said earlier, made me think more consciously about how we are living nowadays. Without getting on a soapbox here, there's way too much that people take for granted. Definitely in most recent history, but especially now. Most shocking, infuriating, and dismal is how often people take knowledge for granted. Books! Read books! They're amazing! Think! Think for yourself! Take advantage of the resources all around you and be open to learning and thinking and creating your own thoughts and opinions! You can learn, you can experience, you can travel - all within a book. [Key theme song to Reading Rainbow]
It was a super quick read (I actually finished it several days ago) and really interesting. It definitely got me in the mood for utopian/dystopian fiction. [As a side note, I took an upper level literature course in my senior year of college titled "Utopian Fiction" which was extremely interesting (and taught by possibly my favorite professor [possibly, because we all know I can't pick favorites] and after that course, the books we read, and the intense discussion we had, I will never be able to separate utopia from dystopia because they are not at all mutually exclusive.]
Alas, if you haven't read this, I highly suggest it. 1: It's not a time suck. 2: It immediately draws you in. 3: It makes you reevaluate the society we live in now, where society could be headed, but more importantly how you are living your life.
The book in it's entirety started out as a short story that Bradbury wrote in the late 1940s, which developed into a novella, which developed into the book [the first US copy was printed in 1953], which later developed into a million other medias. The only reason I'm sharing that is to point out that this whole concept was basically developed in the late-1940s!! I cannot believe how how everything Bradbury describes is still so fitting (or even more so) to this day and age. It just blew my mind, and, as I said earlier, made me think more consciously about how we are living nowadays. Without getting on a soapbox here, there's way too much that people take for granted. Definitely in most recent history, but especially now. Most shocking, infuriating, and dismal is how often people take knowledge for granted. Books! Read books! They're amazing! Think! Think for yourself! Take advantage of the resources all around you and be open to learning and thinking and creating your own thoughts and opinions! You can learn, you can experience, you can travel - all within a book. [Key theme song to Reading Rainbow]
"Do you know why books [...] are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features This book can go under the microscope. You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more "literary" you are. [...] Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies."
Read it; it's delightful.
Friday, April 12, 2013
2013 Book 6: The Visible Man - Chuck Klosterman
Ugh.
Chuck Klosterman has really just been losing it for me. This book was ---- pretty bad. Klosterman excels at non-fiction. I really [mostly] enjoyed his non-fiction pieces, and I really like the collections of essays. I think he does a really great job focusing on both music and sports. BUT - it's clear that Chuck thinks he's an expert, and he gets really pretentious really fast.
This book is supposed to be FICTION. And I can't help but hear Chuck's voice throughout the whole thing. There were several times where I couldn't believe that an editor [or even a friend who read it prior to being published] didn't take some of that stuff out. It's most apparent in the music references that have NO BEARING AT ALL on the story that Chuck is trying to tell. If you're writing fiction, you need to take yourself out it. At the very least on the surface.
Overall, I think the concept was interesting, but the execution was beyond poor.
Chuck - perhaps I'll read Killing Yourself to Live [by far my favorite of his] and like you again, but you're really just getting on my nerves now.
Chuck Klosterman has really just been losing it for me. This book was ---- pretty bad. Klosterman excels at non-fiction. I really [mostly] enjoyed his non-fiction pieces, and I really like the collections of essays. I think he does a really great job focusing on both music and sports. BUT - it's clear that Chuck thinks he's an expert, and he gets really pretentious really fast.
This book is supposed to be FICTION. And I can't help but hear Chuck's voice throughout the whole thing. There were several times where I couldn't believe that an editor [or even a friend who read it prior to being published] didn't take some of that stuff out. It's most apparent in the music references that have NO BEARING AT ALL on the story that Chuck is trying to tell. If you're writing fiction, you need to take yourself out it. At the very least on the surface.
Overall, I think the concept was interesting, but the execution was beyond poor.
Chuck - perhaps I'll read Killing Yourself to Live [by far my favorite of his] and like you again, but you're really just getting on my nerves now.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
2013 Book 5: Live From New York (An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live)
I have been an on and off fan of Saturday Night Live for years. (As I think most Americans are, even if they don't realize it.) I remember my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles talking about different sketches over the years (far before I was allowed to watch it). I remember catching episodes here and there from the mid- to late-90s. I very specifically remember going to prom my junior year of high school (on a Saturday night), staying for maybe 3 songs [I don't even remember if we danced to any of those songs] and then leaving to go to my date's house where we watched SNL with his dad.
In the last two years or so, Zach and I have been watching SNL on a pretty regular basis. (Actually, I'm sure we haven't really missed any episodes. Thank you, Hulu.) Since Zach and I have been together, I've gotten into the comedy world a lot more (Thank you, Zach.) and I've been getting a lot more interested in some of the history of comedy, and I think SNL is a really interesting cross-section of the comedy world.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book because it is very anecdotal. The book is written (or rather compiled) by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller, but it is "told by it's stars, writers, and guests." Basically, they interviewed a bunch of people and organized all kinds of direct quotes into a chronological history of the show. As I said, I really liked the stories - I liked hearing about all the personalities, the struggles, and the highs and the lows of all the cast members.
I had two complaints (sort of) about the book: 1) I wished it was a little more current. I don't know if there'd ever be a revision that includes later casts, but I'd really like to see a lot more from people like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Will Ferrall etc, especially to see how their thoughts about the show evolved and how they look back on it after having left. 2) There's just something that didn't quite work with the format. It's not that I don't like the format, because I read Please Kill Me: An Oral History of Punk Rock 5 or 6 years ago, which is done in the same exact way and I loved it. I think the subject matter fits a little better. I think the topic of music lends itself better to this format. Mostly, I just wanted to see this book as a documentary - because I really would have liked to see some of the sketches that they addressed, and I think the people they interviewed would have been really fun to watch on video, to actually see the animation and the emotion as they recall their time at SNL.
Anyways, overall, interesting book. In closing, one of my favorite lines from the book was:
"Alan Zweibel: I remember Gilda used to say that she would search through Lorne's desk hoping that she'd find a note in there that said, 'I really like Gilda.'"I laughed when I first read that, but there's so many other emotions tied into that statement, and I think it sums up the feelings of most cast members (and not even necessarily tied directly with Lorne Michael's, but the show itself, too,)
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