May Wrap Up

 

When you're a teacher, May is both the shortest and the longest month. As the school year wraps up, all your deadlines loom large and student behavior degenerates. The days drag by in an endless cycle of paper airplanes and increasingly less funny pranks (I got a dead wasp on my chair this year). It feels like June, with its promise of lazy summer afternoons, will never arrive. At the same time, when you look back on everything that's happened during the school year, it feels impossible that it's almost over already. The days are slow but the months are fast. It defies the rules of time. 

My reading during the month of May didn't exactly help time fly by. I tackled two of the classics on my list that I suspected I wouldn't enjoy, and unfortunately, I was right. On the Road and Absalom, Absalom! are probably two of the worst classics I have ever read, and I had the misfortune of trying them both in the same month. I did enjoy some of the other books I picked up, but I ended up spending the majority of my time on things I didn't like. On the bright side, the overall amount of reading I got done exceeded what I was expecting. Here's the breakdown:

Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Tight by Torrey Maldonado

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

About 125 pages of Les Misérables 

My least favorites of the month were definitely On the Road and Absalom, Absalom!, which were not at all to my tastes and included a lot of troubling content. I found myself struggling a lot with how much racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc. to excuse based on the time period the books were written in. You have to do this a lot when you read classics; a lot of older books have passages that haven't aged well. These two in particular, however, were felt mean spirited and were difficult to get through. I don't think I'll be trying anything by those authors again anytime soon.

My favorite read of the month by far was Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes. This middle grades contemporary novel handled discussions of police violence in an appropriate and meaningful way. It was refreshing to read something so thoughtful and beautiful after suffering through the virulent racism of Absalom, Absalom!. 

June is my birthday month, and as a gift to myself, I'm going to try and pick up some classics that I think I will actually enjoy. There's not much left on my Classics Club list that I'm really excited about, but I'm going to take my best guess at what I will like the most from the books that remain. My plan is:

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

At least two books chosen from my owned-not-read list based on my mood

At least 100 pages of Les Misérables

As my summer break begins in early June, I will have more time to read this month. I'm hoping to read what I have planned and then maybe squish in another classic. I'm getting so close to the end of my Classics Club challenge that I'm starting to get excited about finally finishing! I do have some tough reads left before I get there though. Hopefully I'll end up liking at least some of it.  

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

 

**This review will contain spoilers for the first book in this series, Shadow and Bone.**

After the horror that was Absalom, Absalom!, I needed to read something a bit more fun. I decided to continue on with the Grishaverse books and start Siege and Storm, which is book two in the original series. I read the first book, Shadow and Bone, a few weeks ago and was entertained, but also a little underwhelmed. I thought that all the positive buzz I had heard about the series over the years would have equated to a more unique read, but it ended up being a pretty standard young adult fantasy. That's not to say it was bad though, I liked it well enough. I started off reading the sequel hoping to feel more of a connection to the protagonist, Alina Starkov, and also hoping to feel more engaged in her romance with Mal Ortesev.

The plot of this novel picks up shortly after the first book ends, with Alina abandoning the Darkling in the Shadow Fold and escaping across the sea with Mal. Their plan is to earn enough money to travel and then disappear as best they can together somewhere far away. Almost immediately, however, the Darkling reappears with his Grisha followers and captures them both. He has developed terrifying new powers and is still determined to seize control of Ravka. His plan is to use both of their talents to continue his war, but before long, a notorious privateer known as Sturmhond appears and whisks Alina and Mal away. 

Sturmhond has his own plan to defeat the Darkling, and Alina and Mal agree to work with him in order to save their country. This kind of work isn't easy though, as as Alina's powers begin to grow, she starts to grow further apart from Mal and feel that same desire for control that the Darkling has. Hearing rumors of the existence of a powerful amplifier, she becomes obsessed with the idea of finding it to strengthen her magic even further. Slowly, she starts to become a new person, one that Mal doesn't recognize and one that scares even herself with its ruthlessness. Torn between her old life and her new life, Alina must find a way to wield her power wisely and maintain control over her baser instincts if she wants to defeat the Darkling and preserve her relationship with Mal.

Similar to my feelings about the first novel in this series, I liked Siege and Storm. The world building continued to be a strong element in the story, and I enjoyed visiting the dark and magical Ravka once again. Bardugo does a nice job of making the country feel like a real place, with lots of little cultural touches throughout. I was reminded a bit of The Bear and the Nightingale while reading, as both of those books are influenced by Eastern European culture. The Grisha universe keeps its own (fictional) identity though; reading it truly feels like you're exploring a  unique, fantastical land.

I also felt like I got to know Alina better in this novel. Her struggle between wanting to embrace her powers and wanting to stay true to the person she was before her magic came out was well developed; I could empathize with the idea that once you go through some doors there's no going back, no matter how much you might wish to. I liked the the Darkling was a constant reminder of this idea as well. He isn't in this story a lot, but when he does appear, he serves to remind Alina that as the Sun Summoner, she will always be different from everyone else. Even among other Grisha, she is special. It make Alina feel endless turmoil. She doesn't know if she will be able to trust anyone again, if she can have normal friendships again, and, most importantly, if she can preserve her relationship with Mal. Her inner conflict felt genuine, and I appreciated this added depth for her character.

Speaking of Mal, I still found myself wishing throughout this novel that I cared more about his relationship with Alina. I think that the decision to have most their relationship building occur before the events of the first novel made it too difficult for me to feel invested in them as a couple. It's too bad too, because the pair goes through a lot of emotional struggles in this book that would probably have drawn me right into the story. Mal consistently feels like he's being left behind once Alina becomes the Sun Summoner. All of a sudden, the girl he's grown up with and loves has become incredibly powerful, and the hopes of an entire country rest on her shoulders. There doesn't seem to be a place for him in her world anymore. He goes through some dark times in this story trying to figure things out, but I didn't feel as much for him as I should have. I wish I got to see more of him falling in love with Alina prior to this book. I would have been rooting for him then. As it was, I didn't really feel their love for each other and I found Mal's behavior somewhat annoying a lot of the time.

One small critique I have for Siege and Storm is that it gets slow in parts. It's the middle book of a series, and it feels like the middle book of a series. A lot of time is spent waiting and preparing here, and I thought it dragged from time to time. However, the ending chapters were action packed and exciting. The story is left on a cliffhanger that made me very interested to continue on with the series. I'll definitely be picking up the third book next to see how the story ends.  

So ultimately, I felt similar about this novel as I did about the first book in the series. It's a very competent young adult fantasy. It's not going to end up being a treasured favorite for me, but I'm definitely enjoying my time with it. I liked Siege and Storm about the same amount as I did Shadow and Bone, maybe a tiny bit more, but not enough to push it past a 3/5 rating. Actual young adult readers, though, will probably rate it higher. In any case, I'm looking forward to reading the final book in the series, Ruin and Rising, to see how everything turns out.     

Challenge Tally

Clear the Shelves 2021: 13/50 (donate)

Total Books Read in 2021: 28

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

 

May is turning into the month of sneaking extra middle grades books into my reading list. First I had Tight, and now Ghost Boys. I had a colleague recommend this book to me, and since she loaned me her own physical copy of it, I felt honor bound to read it promptly. I went into my reading hoping to be more impressed with this one than I was with Tight, and happily, I really, really was.

Ghost Boys starts off with disturbing scene - a twelve year old African American boy named Jerome has just been shot in the back by a police officer and is dying on the pavement. He feels himself slip away as he lays on the ground, watching the police officers stand nearby. 

From that point on, the novel flips back and forth between "dead" and "alive" sections. The alive sections focus on Jerome and his family before the shooting. They show him to be a good kid with a loving family. He wants to become president, or a celebrity one day. He struggles with some bullying issues, but seems to be on the verge of becoming friends with a new student at his school. 

The dead sections show Jerome as a ghost. He watches the heartbreak and anger his family and community suffers through after his death. He is angry and sad as well. He knows that what happened to him isn't fair and he doesn't understand why it happened. Before long, he notices other ghost walking the streets alongside him--other black boys killed by police officers or other white people in positions of authority. There are hundreds and hundreds of them. One other ghost in particular, that of a young man named Emmett Till, talks to Jerome about what happened to him and explains about the racism and bias that has led to the deaths of many young black men. With his help, Jerome must try to process what has happened to him and do what he has to do to move on.

To be quite honest, I was blown away by this book. It's a middle grade masterpiece. Jewell Parker Rhodes explores the complicated issues surrounding racism and policing in America in a way that is both thoughtful and accessible to a young audience. The story is difficult to read in parts, and it openly addresses police violence and racism, but it remains appropriate for middle grade readers. The technique of flipping back and forth between the past and the present works to highlight the tragedy of Jerome's death and makes clear the unfortunate events that led up to it in a way that keeps readers on their toes. I was completely emotionally involved in the story from page one. 

I also liked Rhodes' writing style, which consisted mostly of short, blunt sentences. There was a beauty and a truth in the simplicity that both adult readers and younger readers will appreciate. It serves the dual purpose of highlighting Jerome's innocence and making the text easy for kids to navigate. The inclusion of Emmett Till and other real victims of violence from throughout history made their stories come alive. It was honestly so, so good. This would be a wonderful book for teachers to use in classrooms or for parents to read with their children. It's been a while since I've read a book that is so clearly both excellent and important. 

One of my favorite pieces of the story was when ghost Jerome reads the first line of Peter Pan. It says, "All children, except one, grow up." Jerome scoffs at it, realizing that there are a lot more boys than one that will never grow up. Himself, for example. I never thought about the way different readers would react to that line. As a kid, I was delighted with Peter Pan and was able to lose myself in the fantasy of it all. It never occurred to me that some people would read that line and be reminded of violence and tragedy. It made me think of the privilege I have reading classics. I've been struggling lately with the racism, sexism, etc. present in a lot of older books, so that part of the story made me think about that more.

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. I'm powering through it, but it's been awhile since I picked up something that I truly loved. I'm so glad that my coworker took the time to recommend this book to me. I think Jewell Parker Rhodes has created something remarkable here. I'm very interested in looking at some of her other novels as well. I know I'll be recommending this to a lot of future students!

Total Books Read in 2021: 27

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

 

I bought my copy of Absalom, Absalom! when I was in high school (which is about 18 years ago now). I was just getting interested in building up a personal library of classics, but I didn't really know where to start. My knowledge of literature was in its infancy, and all I had to go on was name recognition of certain authors and an appreciation for the handful of books we read in class. I decided to do some research and looked up a list of classics. The list I found was organized alphabetically by title, and this book was at the top of it. So that's how Absalom, Absalom! came to sit on my shelf. Obviously, I didn't end up reading it at the time and I've carried it from home to home over the years.

In the years since then, I have learned much more about different genres, time periods, and authors. I've learned enough to know that William Faulkner is probably not a good match for me. However, when I was making my Classics Club list, I decided to give this book a try since I had hung onto it for so long and because Faulkner is one of the most famous authors I've never read anything from. Reluctantly, I finally picked it up this week.

The plot of the novel follows the rise and fall of the Sutpens, a wealthy family living in Mississippi during the Civil War era. It's patriarch, Thomas Sutpen, arrived in the town of Jefferson prior to the war with a group of slaves, an architect, and almost no money in his pocket. Through some shady dealings with a Native American, he manages to purchase a large parcel of land and works throughout the next several years to build an empire upon it. He becomes rich and successful and eventually marries a local woman named Ellen Coldfield. They have two children together named Henry and Judith. For a time, it seems that everything has worked out according to Sutpen's plan, but certain events from his past soon come back to haunt him. His own past decisions, the decisions of his children, the fall of the Confederacy, and his arrogant, reckless attempts to solve his problems eventually lead to the downfall of everything he had built.

This story is told entirely in flashbacks from a few different perspectives, with most of the story being told through Quentin Compson, a young man living in Jefferson several generations later. He hears the story of the Sutpen family mostly through his  father and grandfather and partially through Rosa Coldfield, a cousin of the Sutpen family who was actually there when events were unfolding. The narration is difficult to follow, told out of order, and not always accurate. There are several instances in which information is merely guessed at or speculated upon and presented as fact. In doing this, Faulkner is playing with history and commenting on how "truth" will vary depending on who is telling the story. All of the information the characters give is accurate to the best of their knowledge, but it is invariably colored by their own feelings, prejudices, and life experiences. As such, we never get the true version of the Sutpen story, but we get enough to understand the key events and main reasons for the family's failure. 

Faulkner's difficult writing style is well-known, and it is a true challenge to read this novel and actually understand it. He uses stream of consciousness to convey the story, with most of his sentences going on for half a page or more. There are very few paragraph breaks as well. The subject and speaker of the sentences changes frequently, often mid-sentence, making it difficult to keep track of who is talking and what they are talking about. I was able to understand the gist of it while I was reading, but I did find myself consistently turning to chapter summaries online, just to make sure I was interpreting everything correctly. It wasn't as bad as Ulysses to make sense of, but it wasn't a fun read either. I could see Faulkner's skill throughout the novel, and I did get the sense that he was doing something difficult and significant in his writing. I can appreciate his experimentation and uniqueness, but it was not enjoyable to read this. I had to put myself on a strict regimen of 50 pages a day, otherwise I knew I would never finish. I was not happy to pick it up each day. I did end up finishing the whole thing, but this is not the way I want to feel when I am reading for pleasure. Like I thought, Faulkner is not a good match for me.

The writing style was not the only thing that was difficult about Absalom, Absalom!  The subject matter was probably the ugliest I had read in any book. This is a story of cruelty, rape, incest, murder, and unbelievably intense racism. The n-word appears hundreds of times in this book--almost on every page. Children and slaves are molested.  Every revelation about the Sutpen family involves something horrifying, disgusting, or illegal. It was rough. 

Faulkner is a Southern writer from the 1930s. His story is set from the perspective of a family living in Mississippi during the Civil War. Of course, one would expect the characters to be racist and for the story to contain racist elements. It felt like more than that here though. Racism was so deeply imbued into every aspect of this novel that it felt impossible that Faulkner wouldn't have been deeply racist himself. I found an article that explored an interesting contrast that seems to pervade his writing--his characters are often racist and suffer for it. He seems to point to the failure of the South as coming from he cruelty of and callousness of the institution of slavery. However, at the same time, he was openly and unapologetically racist in his personal life. This opens up an important question for me: how much of this can I excuse? I'm finding myself less and less able to stomach these kinds of attitudes in my classics as I get older. With so much out there to read, is it worth it to spend my time on a story like Absalom, Absalom! purely to experience the writing style? For me, I don't think it is. 

I'm troubled by the idea that Faulkner is so highly regarded. He is one of the United States' most celebrated authors. He's won the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer, and the National Book Award. Even now, the Goodreads reviews on this novel are glowing, calling Faulkner a genius. Most of the ones I skimmed through sidestep the content of the novel and focus on its construction. What must it feel like for a person of color to read one of his works or even just to see his books so highly regarded? Do we throw all decency and respect for each other out of the window to honor a writing style? I know this issue probably requires a more nuanced view, but I just can't do it. This will be my last Faulkner novel. At least now I know what he's about and I can say I gave him a try. He's unequivocally not for me.

Challenge Tally

Classics Club (#86 on my list): 93/100 books completed

Total Books Read in 2021: 26

Tight by Torrey Maldonado

I didn't plan on picking up Tight by Torrey Maldonado this month, but I basically had to for work. The language arts department at my school has decided to read this book in class next year with all of our students, so, being my usual overachiever self, I wanted to get ahead and start planning for it. I had never heard of this novel or this author before now, so I had no clue what to expect when I started. All I knew was the reasoning behind why this book was chosen--it had a diverse cast, it would fit in with our study of character development, and it would be relatable to the kids' lives. Whole-class reads can be a little dicey sometimes; you have to use a book with pretty widespread appeal, or a lot of your students will just completely disengage. I began reading hopeful that Tight would be interesting enough to hold the attention of a typical class of eighth graders.  

Tight follows a sixth grader named Bryan. He lives with his parents and sister in a New York City apartment. His father struggles with anger issues and is in and out of prison on assault charges. As the story begins, he's been recently released on probation. Bryan's relationship with him cycles between admiration and fear. He gets on much better with his mother, who he is extremely close to. She has high expectations for him, and his grades and general behavior reflect that. He's a good kid that dislikes drama and prefers to sit quietly and read his comics most of the time. 

At the start of the novel, Bryan's usually quiet life is disrupted by the arrival of a new kid at his school, Mike. The boys bond quickly over their love of superheroes and drawing and become fast friends. At first, Bryan loves hanging out with Mike and considers him to be a brother. After some time passes, however, he starts to realize that Mike isn't as great of a friend as he first appeared to be. He makes a lot of unwise choices, like cutting school and hopping turnstiles in the subway, and he begins pressuring Bryan to do the same. He also has a jealous streak, and makes quite a few mean and unsettling comments to Bryan and others. Realizing that his new friend is headed down the wrong path, Bryan must decide if he wants to go along with Mike's choices, or chart his own course based on what he knows is right.

This is a pretty simple, short coming of age tale. I know from looking at online reviews of this novel that I am in the minority with this opinion, but I honestly didn't love it. I thought that the plot was slow and lacking action. It was very repetitive too. Most of the novel felt like a long cycle of Mike being a negative influence and Bryan thinking about Mike being a negative influence.  There's a lot of slang in the book too, and while it is realistic to how kids speak, it was so present in the text that it became almost comical. I talk to kids all day, and while they certainly do use a lot of informal language, it's not every word of every sentence. I read a fair bit of middle grades fiction, and this just didn't feel like anything special to me. 

That being said though, I am certainly not the target audience for this novel, and just because I wasn't a fan does not mean that it isn't a great read for kids. I actually think many middle grade students will enjoy Tight. Bryan is certainly a relatable character for middle school aged boys, and his relationships with his friends and family are more layered than you might expect from such a short little book. The conflicts between him and Mike closely mirror what many students face in their own social lives. The diversity of characters is great as well. There are lots of positives to this novel, it just didn't reach me. That's okay because it wasn't meant to. This is just not a book with a lot of crossover appeal for older audiences.

So ultimately, my personal rating for Tight is a 2/5. I thought it was pretty slow and repetitive. However, I can see kids enjoying it. The prospect of teaching this to my classes next year is a little daunting; I'm not sure how they will react. It's hard to predict which stories kids will be engaged in sometimes. Hopefully they will see themselves in these characters and enjoy it! I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best!

Total Books Read in 2021: 25

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I needed a bit of a brain break after reading On The Road, so I decided to try a young adult fantasy next. I settled on Shadow and Bone, book one in the Grisha Trilogy. Leigh Barugo's Grishaverse books are immensely popular in the online reading community, but I had never picked one up before. I have been hesitant to start them and get into a long commitment with this universe. Right now it consists of the main trilogy of books, and two separate duologies. However, with the new show premiering on Netflix a few weeks ago, I was seeing a lot of chatter about these novels again and I couldn't resist. I decided to finally give the first book a try and see if this is a series I want to get into.

Shadow and Bone is set in the fictional land of Ravka, a country plagued by the Shadow Fold--a large swath of land decimated by dark magic and crawling with flying monsters called Volkra. The Shadow Fold cuts off most of Ravka from the ocean and the ports they need for trade. The people are eager to find a way to destroy it, but after many years and many attempts, they have not made any progress. In addition to their trouble with the Shadow Fold, the people of Ravka are locked in hostilities with the nations surrounding it. Their inability to trade regularly means that their political and military conflicts are difficult; they are unable to acquire the weapons and supplies they need to defend themselves. 

They aren't entirely without defenses, however. Ravka has two armies to protect it--a regular one and a special, second army consisting of Grisha. Grisha are magic users with a wide range of abilities. Some can control elements like water or wind. Others can hurt or heal others. Some can manipulate metals or fabrics. The regular army and the Grisha army work together to defend the land, although their is a lot of friction born from resentment, jealousy, and distrust between the two groups.

The story follows a young woman in the regular army named Alina Starkov. She grew up in a Ravkan orphanage with her best friend Malyen Oretsev, and both enlisted together as young adults. Alina is a cartographer and Mal is a tracker. On a dangerous mission to try and cross the Shadow Fold one morning, Mal's life is threatened and Alina is able to unleash a powerful and unique burst of magic that she didn't know she contained to save his life. Once it is known that Alina is actually a Grisha, the commander of the Grisha army, a mysterious figure known as The Darkling, immediately takes her to their headquarters to hone her craft. He believes that her kind of magic is exactly the kind that is needed to destroy the Shadow Fold and return a sense of normalcy and security to Ravka. Taken from her best friend, her cartography, and everything else she knows, Alina must go from being a quiet, unassuming girl to being a tough, powerful Grisha with the ability to destroy monsters and save her people. She must stay on her guard, however, as she soon learns a secret about the country that turns everything on its head and sets her on a very different path than she intended. 

I thought Shadow and Bone was a pretty entertaining read, if a little underwhelming. I think that all the hype I had seen for this series on YouTube set up my expectations too high. It was a good young adult fantasy novel. Nothing groundbreaking, but a solid read. The magic system was interesting and the plot moved at a decent pace. I was consistently engaged in the story and interested to see what would happen in the end. I don't have any major criticisms.

On the "meh" side, I thought that Alina's character was bland, but as this is the first novel in the series, and she is discovering her powers for the first time in it, I expect this will improve in the subsequent books. I also thought that the romantic storyline she had was underdeveloped. I felt nothing for the characters involved in it. I think the issue there was that they just didn't interact enough in the plot. Perhaps this will improve later in the series too. 

On the whole, I don't really have a lot to say about this novel. It was on the higher side of average for me. That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy reading it, because I did, I just don't have a lot of thoughts on it! These aren't the kind of books that I would want to read again and again, but I do think this series is worth going through once. I plan to continue on with them and see how the story turns out. These are perfect for quick brain breaks between all my classics, so I think I'll explore the Grishaverse a little while longer.  Like the true book hoarder that I am, I already own most of the series, so I might as well read them all now so I can donate them and clear some shelf space!

Challenge Tally

Clear the Shelves 2021: 12/50 (donate)

Total Books Read in 2021: 24

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

 

I put On the Road onto my Classics Club list based purely on its literary significance. This is one of those novels that "defines a generation," so I figured that I should give it a try. I knew nothing about Kerouac or about the Beat generation before I started reading, and what little I did know didn't seem appealing. The Beat Generation, popularized in literature throughout the 1950s, is generally defined by a rejection of materialism, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, sexual liberation, and a desire to explore or go on spiritual journeys. I'll be honest-- top to bottom, I can't relate to any of that. However, I was game to read On the Road anyway, as it's considered to be an exemplar of the genre and the time period. I thought it might help me understand the Beat Generation a little more, and broaden my literary horizons. 

 

The novel is divided into five sections, each following a man named Sal Paradise on different road trips he takes across North America. The trips are spread out across his life, so the story contains a lot of forward time skips. That's okay though, because the book is really not about what is going on in Sal's life apart from his traveling experiences. Brief snippets of information about him are presented from time to time. He's a struggling writer, he's served in the military, he was married at one point but isn't anymore, etc.-- none of it is important.

What is important in the story is Sal's relationship with his best friend Dean Moriarty. Dean is a free spirit with an inability to stay in one place. His personality is childlike and exuberant most of the time, and a lot of people, including Sal, are immediately drawn to him. He drifts from town to town, sometimes working, sometimes stealing. His behavior is often erratic and destructive; he's been in and out of jail in the past. He's had a few relationships with women and a few wives, but his restlessness makes it impossible for him to have a stable relationship. He accompanies Sal on three of the five road trips in the book, and they have some very memorable experiences together. 

There isn't much else to summarize beyond that. On the Road is about the journey. Unfortunately, I did not find it to be an enjoyable one. I thought that the continual hitchhiking and drifting from one town to another felt endless and meandering. I struggled to find meaning in anything Sal and Dean did. They did not have experiences that were enjoyable to read about. They drove fast, got drunk, stole things, hooked up with women, learned nothing, and then moved onto the next town. Over and over and over. The people they met were largely interchangeable and didn't stick in my memory. There was a lot of naked misogyny, racism, and homophobia. Logically, I can understand the impulse to just take off and explore the open road. In this novel, however, the journeys Sal and Dean went on didn't result in anything worth reading about. Dean was pretty clearly mentally ill and out of control most of the time and Sal enabled his behavior, believing him to be some kind of philosophical genius. The text was plagued by long speeches delivered by Dean that were basically gibberish, and a lot of Sal's inner musings didn't make much sense either. 

So obviously, this genre isn't a good match for me. I didn't enjoy the story or the way it was written. Generally, when I don't like a classic, I just leave my thoughts there and move onto my next read. Everyone has their own unique reading tastes and all that. This one bothered me though. The back of my edition describes On the Road as "the quintessential American vision of freedom and hope-vibrant, compelling, and full of wonder." I've seen other reviews and articles about this book speak of it with the same reverence, calling it the "voice of a generation." I would submit that perhaps this novel is ONLY the voice of a specific type of young, white, straight man. Women are treated as sexual objects, people of color are depicted as simple or childlike, and gay people are treated as threatening or weird. At one point, Dean breaks his thumb punching one of his girlfriends in the face. Another time, Sal pulls a gun on a man that made a pass at him. Throughout the whole novel, both Sal and Dean, both grown men, attempt to sleep with girls as young as thirteen. These men steal, lie, and leave nothing but damage, confusion, and heartbreak behind them. Why is this considered a vision of American freedom? What about all that is "vibrant, compelling, and full of wonder"? It's certainly not my "quintessential American vision." I don't think it is for most people, in fact. I think there's a much deeper discussion here about who get to decide what a classic is and why, and I'm not articulate enough to have it right now. It bothers me though.

This novel is largely autobiographical and supposedly mirrors the experiences Jack Kerouac had traveling with one of his friends. It was obviously a formative journey for him, but that did not come across for me reading about it. I guess you had to be there. On the Road is the novel that defined the Beat Generation. What I learned from reading it is that the Beat Generation isn't something I need to spend any more time learning about.

Challenge Tally

Classics Club (#88 on my list): 92/100 books completed

Total Books Read in 2021: 23

Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton

 

After reading a string of classics that I felt only so-so about, I really needed to get back on track with a classic that I would actually like. Out of everything left on my Classics Club list, the most appealing book there was Twilight Sleep by Edith Wharton. Wharton is one of my favorite authors and I have liked almost everything I've read from her so far. In fact, I have so much faith in her ability to entertain me that she made it into my challenge list four separate times--more than any other author. I figured she was my best shot at reviving my engagement in classic literature, so I decided to give the novel a go.

The plot follows the Manfords, a wealthy family living in New York in the 1920s. The matriarch of the family, Pauline Manford, is a whirling dervish of activity. She's on several different committees, hosts frequent dinner parties, and socializes with the best people all over town. She has a personal secretary to keep track of all her different engagements and is busy almost every hour of every day. To cope with the stress of all her activities, she visits all the trendy "spiritual healers" for expensive treatments designed to cure her anxieties and prevents wrinkles from forming on her face. 

Her husband, Dexter, is quite the opposite. He is a successful lawyer and longs for a simpler life. He's tired of being dragged all over town to parties and dinners and longs to live a quiet life at home. He's good at his job, but is becoming weary of it. He does like his fun however, and entertains himself by indulging in affairs every now and then. Pauline's first husband, Arthur, is also a part of their family life. He's a bit of a hypochondriac and spends his time dealing with various doctors and illnesses. Arthur's split from Pauline was amicable, and both her and Dexter visit him from time to time.  

The adult children in the family, Jim and Nona, indulge their mother's activities with good humor, but they have their own problems going on under the surface. Nona is hopelessly in love with a married man, but refuses to act immorally and start a relationship with him. Jim is married to a vivacious woman named Lita, but he can sense she's getting bored. She's a party girl, and settled family life really isn't for her. He fears that she's about to ask for a divorce so she can travel to Hollywood and become an actress. Watching all the characters sort out their problems forms the bulk of the novel. 

I thought that Twilight Sleep was okay. It's not my favorite Wharton novel, but it's not the worst I've read from her either. Each of the characters were interesting, there were several humorous moments, and lots of little critiques of high society popped up. It was a rather quick read too, so I didn't feel bogged down at all with it. Wharton's writing style is always a pleasure to experience. I'm not mad that I read this. It wasn't as entertaining as I was hoping for though.

The main issue for me was its lack of one central plot. As I said, it follows all of the Manfords as they deal with their various issues and try to find their own paths to happiness. What (supposedly) ties all their stories together is that all of the characters are hopelessly bored with their upper class, luxurious lives. Each one of them is looking for their own version of "twilight sleep" to make it through their days. Pauline has her social engagements, Dexter has his affairs, Arthur has his doctor's appointments, Nona has her hopeless romance, Jim has his glamorous wife, and Lita has her parties. None of these things truly satisfy any of these characters, but they do make the time pass. I could see how Wharton meant for their various plotlines to connect. I didn't think this commonality was strong enough to create a tight story in the end though. 

The plot does pick up at the end of the novel with a surprise burst of intrigue and violence. When it comes though, it almost felt out of place for me. Not enough time had been spent with any of the characters involved for me to fully understand what was happening. I kind of understood it, but I actually had to look up the ending online to make sure my inferences were correct. Edith Wharton is a master at saying something without really saying it, but in this case, I don't think her twist came off as well as it could have.

So ultimately, this ended up being a "meh" experience for me, but at least it was quick to read and still fairly entertaining. I know Wharton is capable of absolute masterpieces, so it's a little bit of a disappointment that I didn't end up loving this novel, but it did accomplish my goal of finding a classic to read that wasn't a slow torture session. It's bittersweet that this is the last Wharton book on my Classics Club list, but I am excited to cross it off and be one step closer to completing this challenge.

 

Challenge Tally

Classics Club (#85 on my list): 91/100 books completed

Total Books Read in 2021: 22