The Virgin Suicides

Because I really enjoyed this book so much (and I really wasn’t expecting to at all for some reason – mostly because the movie was so very, very good), I’ve decided that I should just shut my mouth and show a few images that I find to be everything that could encapsulate this sad, eery, wonderful tale of five sisters who commit suicide within their suburban prison of a home. 

DISCLAIMER: Some may be disturbing to viewers.

“Basically what we have here is a dreamer. Somebody out of touch with reality. When she jumped, she probably thought she'd fly”

"In the end, the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full of flaws.”

"Following the homecoming dance, Mrs. Lisbon closed the downstairs shades. All we could see were the girls' incarcerated shadows, which ran riot in our imaginations. Moreover, as fall turned to winter, the trees in the yard drooped and thickened, concealing the house, even though their leaflessness should have revealed it. A cloud always seemed to hover over the Lisbons' roof."

“All sixteen mentioned her jutting ribs, the insubstantiality of her thighs, and one, who went up to the roof with Lux during a warm winter rain, told us how the basins of her collarbones collected water.”

“She had done more than take the girls out of school. The next Sunday, arriving home after a spirited church sermon, she had commanded Lux to destroy her rock records.”

 

 

  

 

Son of a Witch

I read Wicked by Gregory Maguire a while back. I actually really liked it. I thought it was an interesting spin on a childhood classic. So, when I was shopping and came across Son of a Witch, the sequel to Wicked, I had to buy it.

This novel is about Liir, the (could be) son of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West). It picks up where Wicked left off, Dorothy has splashed water on Elphaba and she dies. Liir is left with no one, so he tags along with Dorothy and her crew.

A decade after this incident, Liir is found near death on the side of the road. Nearly all of his bones are broken and he is in a deep comatose state. He is taken to a Mauntery where he is cared for by the women who live there. A young girl, Candle, is taken to Liir’s room and shut in there with him. She plays a musical instrument in hopes of bring Liir back to life. Between these, snippets of  Liir’s life over the last ten years are brought to light. He was emotionally lost after Elphaba’s death, and haunted by not knowing whether she was his mother or not, he wanders around Oz looking for a purpose in life. Finally he joins the military.

A lot more happens within Liir’s life. Finally he awakens at the Mauntery, tries to find a purpose for himself again - and then the book ends.

I can’t say I loved it, or even really liked it that much. It was very political. Not a lot of action. A bit confusing at times. I think maybe I should have reread Wicked just to remember everything that had happened in it. Liir was flat and uninteresting – I felt nothing for him. He was this emo little brat, sniffling the entire time about not knowing where he came from, or what he should do with his life.

If I come across A Lion Among Men, I'm sure I will read it. But, I was not overly impressed by this second novel. At all.

On to reading!

Book Sale.

The library downtown was having their annual book sale a couple of weeks ago. I’ve always wanted to go to it, but it’s one of those things where I ALWAYS seem to have something going on at the exact same time. But I luckily made it this time around.

At the front door they give you a plastic bag, you can fill it up and pay $9.00 for the whole bag, or buy the books individually.

I opted for the bag.

This is what I acquired:

Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers which I’ve always wanted to read.

Stephen King’s Four Past Midnight – four of King’s novellas. Should be some quick easy reads.

The Theme of Love what appears to be an old paperback text book, with collections of essays, poems, plays, fiction works – all about the theme of love. It just seemed really interesting and old to me, so in the bag it went.

Volumes 1 & 3 (Volume 2 was nowhere to be found) of Greek Tragedies. These two little gems include plays like Antigone, Hippolytus and The Bacchae. It should be interesting to read those old Greek Classics again.

Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh which sucks because I ALREADY BOUGHT IT. [I need to write down books I already have.] So anyway, apparently I REALLY want to read this book, or else I wouldn’t have bought it. Twice.

Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride  I was on the hunt for a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale which I believe I mentioned I left on the plane on the way back from Ireland. Shucks. But I found this one, not sure what it’s about, but so far I’ve liked Atwood and want to see what else she has to offer. I’m still keeping my eye open for “T.H.T.” though.

Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We which was a book I had seen on “Must Read Dystopian Novels”, I think on Goodreads.com. Anyway, I love dystopian, so hopefully this doesn’t lead me astray.

And last but not least, Edgar Allan Poe’s 8 Tales of Terror which really just reminded me of a book my mom bought me when I was in the 4^th grade, a collection of Poe’s stories. They were a little too much for me to completely comprehend at that age, so now I can read them all again.

The book sale was mostly made up of completely random books, as well as a plethora of Stephen King & Dean Koontz novels. So I was happy with the hoard I got.

On to reading!

You Can't Spell Bradbury without the RAD

RIP
Ray Bradbury