notthemarimba (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notthemarimba) wrote2011-09-19 07:43 pm
notthemarimba) wrote2011-09-19 07:43 pm
Entry tags:
stuff I've been reading 2: the wrath of the stuff I've been reading
Super Sad True Love Story- Gary Shteyngart
Abandoned at page 48 because I was so sick of how clever this book thinks it is (let's pretend that was grammatical, shall we?). Three separate people recommended this book to me. I no longer trust them.
Sylvia Plath: A Biography- Linda W. Wagner-Martin
I wanted to like this more? I feel like the author took what could have been a really interesting subject and went to great pains to make it as dull as possible, focusing too much on things like what Sylvia Plath spent her lunch money on the summer she went to camp in elementary school (I wish I was joking) and leaving other things behind.
Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA- Richard English
This got added to my reading list after a discussion about the blanket protests withwrabbit awhile back wherein I realized I did not really know anything about the IRA. I felt like this book was a decent overview, although it does assume that you have a pretty good knowledge of Irish history (which I don't, so there was much consulting of wikipedia).
Imagined Masculinities: Male Identity and Culture in the Modern Middle East- edited by Mai Ghoussoub and Emma Sinclair-Webb
Found while browsing the Middle East studies section. Best parts: "Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada: A Cultural Politics of Violence" by Julie Peteet and "Male Homosexuality in Modern Arabic Literature" by Frédéric Lagrange. Best possible essay title that has maybe happened in anything ever: "Those Two Heavy Wings of Manhood: On Moustaches" by Hassan Daoud.
All The Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters- Craig R. Whitney
I read this on a whim. I think my grandma (who is an organist) had the right take on it. When I asked if she'd read it, she said "Yeah. It was pretty interesting but there were too many parts where I was thinking 'do I really need to know this damn much about organs?'"
Abandoned at page 48 because I was so sick of how clever this book thinks it is (let's pretend that was grammatical, shall we?). Three separate people recommended this book to me. I no longer trust them.
Sylvia Plath: A Biography- Linda W. Wagner-Martin
I wanted to like this more? I feel like the author took what could have been a really interesting subject and went to great pains to make it as dull as possible, focusing too much on things like what Sylvia Plath spent her lunch money on the summer she went to camp in elementary school (I wish I was joking) and leaving other things behind.
Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA- Richard English
This got added to my reading list after a discussion about the blanket protests with
wrabbit awhile back wherein I realized I did not really know anything about the IRA. I felt like this book was a decent overview, although it does assume that you have a pretty good knowledge of Irish history (which I don't, so there was much consulting of wikipedia). Imagined Masculinities: Male Identity and Culture in the Modern Middle East- edited by Mai Ghoussoub and Emma Sinclair-Webb
Found while browsing the Middle East studies section. Best parts: "Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada: A Cultural Politics of Violence" by Julie Peteet and "Male Homosexuality in Modern Arabic Literature" by Frédéric Lagrange. Best possible essay title that has maybe happened in anything ever: "Those Two Heavy Wings of Manhood: On Moustaches" by Hassan Daoud.
All The Stops: The Glorious Pipe Organ and Its American Masters- Craig R. Whitney
I read this on a whim. I think my grandma (who is an organist) had the right take on it. When I asked if she'd read it, she said "Yeah. It was pretty interesting but there were too many parts where I was thinking 'do I really need to know this damn much about organs?'"