No Pulitzer for you! Or: On highly appraised books

I wanted to post this discussion last week, but I was just swamped with work. As you guys may know, this year there was no winner for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I have to admit that I haven’t read any of the competitors (David Foster Wallace's "The Pale King", Karen Russell's "Swamplandia" and Denis Johnson's "Train Dreams.") but in a recent podcast, the Bookrageous team made me wonder if I should give Swamplandia a chance.  But this whole situation remained me of a long term challenge I auto-imposed on myself, to read at least one book of every Nobel Prize of Literature winner. Needless to say I haven’t quite achieved my goal yet (So far there is 108 laureate and I’m up to 15), but it’s still there. However, the books I’ve read for this challenge put a seed of an idea on my brain and the “debate” about this year’s Pulitzer made the seed finally crack open. Is wining an award such the Pulitzer or the Nobel enough to say is a good book? 

Don’t get me wrong, I think it means is worthy of reading, means it changed something in the “typical” writing. But just as with movies, or songs, the fact that it wins an award does not mean other people will like it or will consider it a good one. I know people that will only go and see a movie when they realized that it is nominated to the Oscars, or on the other hand will not give a film an opportunity because one critic didn’t like it.  A lot of wonderful things are being offered to us, but because they are not praised enough we let them pass by, or because they are over praised, we devour them without thinking. 

In my case, I don’t like reading poetry, is not that I don’t like poetry, I just don’t like reading it, that or plays, it’s just not for me. But some of the laureates of the Nobel Prize were poets, so that makes it harder to complete my challenge. Does the fact that they won a Nobel should make me read them even though I know it won’t be a pleasant reading? I think not, even when you consider the criteria for the Nobel award of literature:

1. "To those who [...] shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind".
2. "During the preceding year"
3. "No consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates".
4. "To the person who shall have produced ... the most outstanding work"
5. "in an ideal direction or 'in a direction towards an ideal' 

This will make you think, that this people did something outstanding, and that is the main reason why I wanted to read at least one book from a laureate, but I’m not sure I will make it through the poets…sorry.  I have to add, that those are not the ONLY criteria, since depending on the moment of history, other things have been considered, such as the style, the groundbreaking subject, amongst others.

Anyway, back to the Pulitzer point; the fact that this year the Pulitzer for fiction wasn’t delivered should not be a synonym of absence of amazing American fictional book, it just means that this year’s criteria weren’t met and that’s all right, you should not limit yourself to read award winner books nor should you ignore them assuming they are overrated.Go out there, go to you public library, to your favorite bookstore and wait for a book to "call" you. Did it won and award? Great!, It didn't? Great. Both cases are a chance in the waiting for you to share an experience!

Before I forget, I found this blog today, just in case any of you guys is interested in a similar challenge than mine. I haven't joined yet, but  I'm considering it :)

The Mercury Fountain by Eliza Factor

I got this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers and here is my review

Book Summary (from the book’s side flip) 

The Mercury Fountain takes place at the turn of the twentieth century in a remote and beautiful stretch of the Chihuahuan desert near the border of West Texas and Mexico. Rich with mercury, the desert attracts a visionary northeastern, Owen Scraperton, who settles in the southern wilderness to establish a utopian community called Pristina. Owen quickly finds in mercury the economic foundation for his new world. The metal’s hypnotic beauty and fluidity are perfect emblems for his social theories, and his sincere heart and rich voice attract a heterogeneous mix of followers who join him in disregarding the metal’s more harmful qualities.

A dark cloud gathers over Pristina after Owen’s marriage to Dolores, a Mexican beauty from an impoverished aristocratic family. She had thought she was marrying an American millionaire who would help her escape the desert, but instead finds herself cut off from the advancing civilization she yearns to join. As the mercury market bottoms out, Dolores musters enough courage for an act of defiance against Owen that divides the community’s allegiances.

Emerging into this combustible mix is their only child, Victoria, a remarkably talented girl who inherits her father romanticism and her mother’s independence. Owen grooms Victoria to be the inheritor of Pristina, a role she embraces with zest and earnestness. However, as age, love, and experience cause Owen to modify his original vision, Victoria remains true to Pristina’s founding principles –setting them up for a major conflict that captures the imagination of the entire town.

My Review

The book basically follows Victoria’s life, since it begins with her birth. We have the three main characters, Victoria, Owen and Dolores, but there are important secondary characters such as Ysidro and Badinoe. 

The book, as I mentioned, starts with Victoria’s birth, Owen is utterly exited but Dolores goes through a slight post-partum depression. On the other hand, Ysidro, a young boy who dreams to start working in the mines has his first encounter with the shafts, when he is looking for Owen to deliver the news of Dolores starting labor. This encounter will mark the rest of his life and will dictate the road that he takes. Also, we are introduced to the town’s doctor, Badinoe, who seems gloomy and determined to demonstrate to Owen the dangers of mercury poison.

From the beginning the book is well written, with an easy to follow language (not over the top mine terminology), and a nice rhythm. However, I didn’t find myself yearning to continue reading, which is way it took me 2 weeks to finish the book.  I think the books is properly researched too, the references to Roman gods, different aspects of the town at the time described, etc, where beautifully described. I have to say though, (**SPOILER**) that the tongue cast that Victoria has at a certain moment, is just not plausible, for she would not be aspirate with an immobilized tongue, let alone swallow (**END OF SPOILER**).  

The big minus for me in this book, is the fact that a lot of situations where introduced and were either never resolved, or appear there to explain another happening, but I found them to be unnecessary. Example of the first is the mercury poisoning Badinoe was pushing in the first pages…then it gets lost, I thought we would get cases of serious mercury poisoning and Owen’s problem with it, but no. For the second, I come back to Victoria’s accident…I just didn’t get the need for this moment of the story, unless it was to introduce the serpents in the story, in which case, I still find the accident unnecessary. 

I liked the way the story fuses with the war, how it touches segregation and different cultural positions considered normal for the time, and the idea of a pristine community (hence the name Pristina) and the precepts established by Owen. But a little bit more of Owen’s past would’ve made it easier to understand why he dreamed of this society. 

On a personal note I did not enjoy the throwing of Spanish words here and there. I assume the reason is the fact that we the story takes place in the border with Mexico, but as a Hispanic person, I can tell you that I do not go around throwing Spanish words in my English or French conversations, unless I can’t find the word. But as I mentioned, that is more personal. It also bothers me when the Hispanic character in a movie speaks perfect English but can only say “Por favor”, because apparently he never learned how to say “Please”.

Anyway, back to the book. I think Ms. Factor should be very proud of her first novel, it was well presented, very well written, and the story had a lot of potential. I think she still has to find that extra that forces you to continue reading, even though is 3 am, but I believe she will find it with a little bit of time.

TSS: Earth day

 Hello everybody, I almost didn't post today! This week was such a gray week, weather wise I mean, that I felt like hibernating...I couldn't off course, since I had to go to the lab during the week-end, but never mind that. Yesterday I learnt about the Read-a-Thon, 24 hours of reading, reading, reading. However, since I read about it at about 21h, well...didn't happen to me, maybe next year. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't have a lot of reading news, I'm almost done with The Mercury Fountain (review should be up this week) and I will be starting Behind the Dream soon too. Then again, since my experiment is picking up, I'm afraid I will get behind on my reading (books, articles do not count, unfortunately) My boyfriend started Drop Dead Healthy, and is reading it at the same time with The Greatest Show on Earth, 2 books I'm really looking forward to read. Fingers crossed I will this summer. This week I also added a new "discussion", a follow-up to The Book Lady Blog post. 

Anyway, that's it for now, have a nice week everybody!

What are your dirty little secrets?

This is a post in response to The Book Lady's last Post. I realized that the list might be too long to just go in the comment section. I will however limit myself to 5.

1. I don’t like Gabriel García Marquez that much.  So sue me. You see, all through school we were forced to read his books, because, you know: He is the only Colombian Nobel Price, and blah, blah. Except for 100 years of Solitude, I didn’t like his books that much. Granted he has a unique style, I think there are several good books amongst his work, and I appreciate the “magic realism” in his books, but he is just not for me.
2. I rarely finished the books forced on me at school. I passed every single test, which makes me wonder how come people actually failed them. But I have problems finishing something I was forced to read; somehow it kills all the joy I usually find on books. Maybe that explains point 1.
3. I cannot, for the life of me, watch a movie based on a book, and avoid saying (at least once): That’s not how it was on the book. I’ve tried, I’ve really tried, but even under my breath, there will be THAT moment. There are really good adaptations out there and I realize you cannot put EVERYTHING that happens in the book in the movie…but even then, I can’t help but say it…sorry.
4. I have a collection of what I call “sherbet” books. You know sherbet or sorbet, as in the light frozen dessert. See, in multiple course meals the point of having a scoop of sherbet between entrées and main dishes and even the dessert itself is to clean the palate. The flavor won’t be overwhelming, but you will probably enjoy it and it will allow you to enjoy the next big flavor. So yeah, after a big book, sometimes I like to “have a sherbet book” (Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Southern Vampire Mysteries or even Hunger Games, short and sweet). I would say is a guilty pleasure if it wasn’t because I do not feel guilty at all. Which reminds me, I’m a couple of books behind on the SVM series…I guess it will have to wait until the Early Reviewers books. 
   
5. On that topic, I read the whole Twilight series. Ok, so maybe that is not a secret if you visit my GoodReads page. But even today if I try to explain the story of the books I feel funny. I will be the first to admit it wasn’t a life changing life, and girls should not take their ideas of “ideal” relationship from this book. But hey, it was fun to read, to discuss with my friends and Grandma (she read it to understand what the fuss was all about).

TSS: Busy Week

Hello everybody! This was a busier week that I expected. Not only in the lab, but in my blog too! Fingers crossed corrections for my first article should be finished soon. First things first, I got my first follower! And right after her, 3 more came. I feel a bit silly that this makes me so happy, but it’s a great feeling when someone acknowledges your work. So thank you!

Now, you might have noticed, but I finally have some tabs in the blog. Is a work in progress, but I wanted to take out the gadget for Reviewed Books and make it a proper page, so I could have ratings on it, organize it, etc. Yeah, yeah, I’m a bit of an order freak. Believe me, if I had the time I would go back to all my old posts and unify fonts, etc. Maybe one day. 

I also have a “Discussions” tab now. Sometimes I find an article or something, reading related that makes me want to share it and…well, discuss it. Since I’m getting more and more of this type of posts, I decided it should be organized too. This week post is about Book Critics. Oh and a TSS tab, you know, just to keep everything in order ;)

    Books wise, I have several reasons to celebrate. 

1.  My boyfriend’s book finally arrived…Drop Dead Healthy, by A.J. Jacobs. He was so happy! (I’m happy too, since I will be borrowing it).
   
2. I got 2 books from the LybraryThing Early Reviewers program, and they are now on my to-read list officially.
3. Last but not least, I finished book 1 of 1Q84. As you will see in the review there is a lot (more than I expected) to talk about. I have to finish the book before the 25^th of April, since there is a long waiting list in the library, and I don’t want to keep people from reading it. But so far it has being easy to read, so I’m not worried.

Book critics...

Hello everybody! Today I write to share something that has been in my head for a couple of days now. As you know, I’m currently reading Murakami’s 1Q84, and I love it. However, when I was reading some of the reviews about it in Goodreads I was mind blown.

The language! OMG, when I first reviewed From Adam to Noah or Knife ofTruth, two books that I didn’t like, I felt I was being harsh. But reading some people’s comments I sadly quote, “a steaming pile of hot garbage”, “I’ve been assaulted enough” and “Get out, all of you: 925 pages was more than your fair share, and more than its fair share was squandered on wordy mediocrity”. 

I get it; you people didn’t like the book. Do you need to be so insulting? Have any of you attempted to write a book? Has it reached so many people? I do not mean to say that everyone should like the book. No, is not for everyone, I realize that. Just as I do not enjoy Self-Help books, people are entitled not to like a particular book. But is the level of aggressiveness that shocks me. I’ve read other bloggers that didn’t like it either, but most of people dedicated to books who didn’t like it didn’t seem to need to bash it, to use demeaning words. I’ve found “too-long for it’s own good”.

As I mentioned in my “about me” box, I am working in science, and yes, reviewers of articles can be particularly harsh, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such terms in these types of reviews! And even then, when you read what might be considered professional reviews (New York Times’ Kathryn Schulz called it “psychologically unconvincing and morally unsavory”) they use blunt, direct words, yet not aggressive or vulgar, and they always acknowledge the good points.  

I just don’t feel I have the right to be offensive with any author that took the time to write a book and managed to be published. I think one think is to dislike someone’s work and other to bluntly brutalize it. Freedom of speech is one thing…but I think there is a limit, no? Also, nobody is forcing you to read the book, if you don't like it, don't finish it, if is not for you, there is no need to denigrate someone else's work. On this subject I would recommend Jacob Schriftman's post: Judging Books: The Golden Rule of Criticism.

So what do you think?

TSS: Happy Easter and News

Happy Easter Everybody!  and in case you do not celebrate it, happy long week-end. This week was a good one in terms of books, I finished and reviewed Death with Interruptions and I finally got my copy of 1Q84. If I continue reading it at this rate, I might finish these 2 first books during this week, although life at the lab will be a bit more busy this week too...we’ll see. As I mentioned before it's only books 1 and 2, but soon I will get the version with the third book, so you will see a change in the version of the book.  Also, I got the paperback version of Before She Dies, from the Member Giveaway in Lybrarything and...I found the paperback of The Ice Princess on sale!!! So Goody for me. I also bought a new book for my boyfriend, but since it’s a surprise and he reads my blog, I shall not mention the name (yet). I guess I could also say that I’m reading the Handbook of the Driver, since I will be taking my Driver’s exam in may to validate the permit I have from my country and hopefully be able to drive here...but I just don’t feel like I’m actually reading it! If I did, should I add all the text books I’ve read through school to my library? Because the fact is, I don’t read the whole thing when it comes to this book...I don’t know, but I’m rambling here.  Finally I hope I will be accepted at BookBlogs, which reminds me, I want to thank whoever posted my Hobbit review in Sherry’s semicolonblog, because it took me to this new blog :).

Oh before I forget, today I got a comment on my review of Death with Interruptions, from a friend of mine, saying after reading my review he wants to read the book too. That make me really happy, since that has been my main goal here, to share what I think about a book with people and to make them want to read!