Stuck in my craw (aka Prof Bhaer WTF?)

There are just some things in books that you can't get over.  The author invested you so deeply that one issue continues to stick in your craw days, months, sometimes decades later.

For me, and I know I discuss this over and over again, it is Jo choosing Professor freaking Bhaer over Laurie.  Not only did she choose the old German dude over the guy next door but she subjected Laurie to a life with Amy.  Amy!  I swear I won't ever let that go.  The past twenty years indicate that I am right.  I will continue to maintain that LM Alcott was having a crazy episode when she concocted that storyline.  The 1990s film adaptation didn't help matters - Christian Bale versus Gabriel Byrne....no contest.

Weirdly I can deal with Beth's death but the old German dude is something that makes me irate.

And yet, Little Women is a book that I love.  Just not that part.

How about you?  What story do you continue to read hoping that an element might change?

Reading Matters 2011

SLV image.

Reading Matters is the two day conference organised by the State Library of Victoria every second year.  As old time Persnickety Snark readers may remember, I attended in 2009 and had a ball.  Seriously, I met John Green and a whole host of authors who won me over with their charm.  If you haven't spoken to James Roy, Amra Pajalic, Sue Lawson, Michelle Cooper, Mo Johnson, Tristan Bancks or Anthony Eaton in person then I feel bad.  Lovely, lovely people.

I was also very privileged to interview MT Anderson and Mal Peet one on one which was incredible.  Whip smart gents the both of them and frightfully funny.

Read about my experiences here - summary and more specifically the John Green / librarian scrum exchange here for those of you who haven't experienced my mortification already.

The SLV has posted the schedule for the 2011 conference and it is a beaut!  May 27th-28th will be fun for the librarians, teachers, etc that attend.

Guests include (as originally listed on the Read Alert blog):
Cassandra Clare (US)
Markus Zusak
Melina Marchetta
Rebecca Stead (US)
Karen Healey
Ananda Braxton-Smith
Kirsty Eagar
Ron Brooks
Brenton McKenna
Leanne Hall
Lucy Christopher
Delphine de Vigan  (France)
Kate Burridge
Zoe Sadokierski
Denis Wright (NZ)
Cath Crowley
Jane Burke
Laura Buzo
Oliver Phommavanh
Richard Newsome

Reading Matters doesn't have the freebie book distribution that the American conferences have on offer.  To be honest, it isn't something that is missed.  It's all about the fantastic panels and discussions that take place on stage and over a muffin.

The panels for 2011 are amazing:
Monsters ink: Ananda Braxton-Smith, Karen Healey, Kirsty Eager, Brenton McKenna
Damsels in distress: Leanne Hall, Lucy Christopher, Delphine de Vigan
Great expectations: Markus Zusak, Melina Marchetta, Cassandra Clare
Dangerous arrangements: Jane Burke, Kirsty Eager, Denis Wright
Love and other bruises: Melina Marchetta, Cath Crowley, Laura Buzo
Truth and dare: Jane Burke and Lucy Christopher
Genre bending: Oliver Phommavanh, Lili Wilkinson, Richard Newsome

While this sounds as fascinating and fantastic as it is sure to be, there is more.  Authors give readings, performances accompany speeches and there is a reception where people can have a drink and a chat.

If you are Australian....have you booked yet?  If you aren't, what panel makes you salivate?

The Lag

I am sure you know what I am talking about....that period of time between posting your review and then the first thought of 'my feelings have changed'.  I used to write reviews immediately after finishing the final page of a title and I would be happy with the review.  These days I wait a couple of days, mull over my thoughts and post.

The Lag is a somewhat recent development that has affected my reviewing over the past year.  I have a reputation for being 'harsh' or (as I prefer) critical but if I changed my reviews after the lag they would in some cases be worse.  The more time for thought, the more analysis goes on.  I am an analytical person.  I analyse everyone and everything but I am worse on myself.  With people, I analyse people's body movements, their tone, their phrasing etc which isn't all that different to how I approach reading a narrative. It hurts the brain.  I blame my mother.  I come from a  long line of overly analytical broads.

Back to blogging...  Being analytical has been a great tool professionally and blogging but it also robs some of the joy.  Even books I really really enjoy, I have irks.  That isn't the case for all of them though - some books escape judgment and just are.

For a real life example - I viewed the Emma Stone movie, Easy A, last week and upon finishing it found myself quite enamoured.  Two days later I had issues.  I listened to the podcast (download here) featuring the screenwriter and fell in love with his ridiculous funny career and his influences and liked the movie again.  Writing a review immediately after reading a book means that you are in the zone.  You're still (hopefully) unaffected by outside influences eg online reviews, friend's opinions etc.  While in the case of Easy A I was unduly influenced by an extremely charismatic and hysterical gay screenwriter, I am normally thwarted by my own thought processes.

Emotional resonance of a title is something that is clarified with time away from the book.  I read a book a few months ago that is getting widespread praise across the blogosphere.  At the time it really hit me hard.  I wrote an email to the author expressing the personal impact of that book.  A week later my feelings on the book turned.  Yes it was VERY emotional but nothing about the book stayed with me.  The construction of the book wasn't bad but it wasn't extraordinary either.  The material, the style, was elevated by the emotional context of the story.  Three steps removed and it wasn't as jaw droppingly impressive in my eyes.  I haven't reviewed it.  I don't think that that would be fair.  In this scenario, and most in my case, lags are helping in me removing myself from the initial hype - whether outside or internal.

While we are all very used to the hype we are exposed to from other bloggers, we don't often think about our own.  Most of us refer to it as a gush fest, we pass on our love for a title to others.  We have all done it and it is a great things - to share the book love.  But sometimes our initial impression and love of a book can be shaky.  There are books I enjoyed immensely and hyped it up in my mind.  When I re-read it I would think 'was I on crack?'  This doesn't mean that the content was horrible and I didn't see it, more likely a premise swept me away or the anticipation of the climax.  I find that a unique perspective or style can sometimes blind me more than anything else.  But with distance, I realise that my mood or another factor had blinded me to less than stellar aspects.

I've become increasingly aware of my tendency to do that.  This past year I don't tend to tell people when I have immediately finished reading a book that I liked.  I give it a couple of days to breath.  I don't want to sound wishy washy or worse, a hypocrite.  Most times, even if I love the book, you can't tell.  I am stone faced and silent.  That's because I am thinking...not that I am a serial killer.

This was a problem a few months back while in NYC when I was handed a book not yet released as an ARC.  I was one of the first people to read it - big honour.  Except the author witnessed me read the WHOLE thing.  I don't know who found it more uncomfortable, me or the author.  I might go with the author as I would laugh and they said something along the lines of 'it's not funny ' completely confused by my reaction.  Which they were right, it wasn't a funny book.  But there was a sarcastic line that was worthy of laughter.  I repeated the line to the author and they nodded slightly in understanding.  Awkward!  (Seriously, it could be a reality television show.  Plonk an author and a reader in a plexiglass cube and see what ensues!)

Later the author busted me crying my snarky, cold heart out.  I suspected this might have pleased them but I am not entirely sure.

Afterwards I was faced with talking about the book with the author.  It was a great book.  Very different from what I expected but in a great way.  I was so cautious with what I was saying, not because I was nervous about being honest but because I was still processing the story.  I ended up sounding less than convincing in my thoughts.  It would have been wholly unsatisfying experience for said author.

The longest lag would be that of Forever by Judy Blume.  I read it as a child (and got in BIG trouble at school for proliferation of unsuitable material) and loved it.  It was informative and entertaining.  There were moustaches and hooked rugs.  While I appreciate now that Forever isn't the gold standard of YA literature, it's impact surpasses the turn of phrase and the 70s overtures.  It is important because of what it imparted to its readers, how it informed young girls and better yet, made them wary of guys who name their appendages.  The Lag might have helped me see Forever in a different light but it gave me a better, new appreciation of the book.

What about your lag?