When I read Sleepy Hollow (more than half a lifetime ago!) it did not even occur to me to consider a supernatural interpretation - it felt extremely obvious to me it was a prank, and that van Tassel was in on it. Not sure if I'd feel the same today.
The "shrug" you highlight reminds me of Vivant Denon's more pithy conclusion to his story No Tomorrow "I searched for the moral of this tale... and did not find it." The end!
Amazing reading month! I did try to read All Fours but abandoned it. I didn't like it. I liked your and ny feliows' comments, though. Dream Count is next in line. I haven't read the other Adichie's novels, but immensely enjoyed her nonfiction works about feminism. I look forward to learning something new about Nigeria, too.
Sentimental literature is fascinating--and I agree often unfairly dismissed. But it wasn't until I read EDEN Southworth's novel Retribution (1856) that I truly understood why the genre was so reviled! Clumsy sentimental novels--and the majority of sentimental novels, as with any genre, were probably not so good--can be painfully bad, even if good ones (Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson, or A Singular Life by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, anyone?) can be surprisingly powerful.
My first job out of college was working at Irving Trust Company, at One Wall Street. And when it was founded it was named in honor of Washington Irving, and his likeness was on their banknotes and bonds. He wasn't an investor in the bank or anything, they just named it in honor of him. I always thought that strange, and couldn't think of another bank named after an author or other artist. Anyway, I guess it attests to the esteem in which he was held when alive.
I find it so interesting that women have rebelled against being housewives for so long, yet so many upper-middle-class career-oriented, perpetually-single women seem so unhappy to me today. It's a failure to moderate imo. I've known women with families who took time off, but then went back to work. It's not easy but you can find a balance. In my experience as a software engineer, women with children were often the best managers. They had a confidence that I think often comes with motherhood and they had better people skills than most men.
As far as sentimental literature I certainly like books that create these feelings, but to me it's a question of indirection. Good literature often conceals for a while, starts as one thing and turns into something else. It's dynamic. When I think of "sentimental literature" I think of literature that doesn't contain enough indirection for me: it's just laden with the same feelings all the way through.
I haven't read All Fours, and have no desire to. I supposed it to be that - the loss of youth is equated to the loss of womanhood, to becoming less of a woman somehow.
I wrote about Mary Wollstonecraft in my last book review also; thank you for articulating what I found questionable about her work.
I just want to say that I consider myself a big Washington Irving fan, and I cannot tolerate most of the Sketchbook—I lament that, because of two admittedly good stories (Rip Van Winkle and the Spectre Bridegroom), this is the Irving that gets reprinted and the Penguin Classics treatment etc. Much better (I think) are his Tales of the Alhambra and his nonfiction on Islamic and Spanish history. There’s a lot I haven’t read, but everything I’ve ever read by Irving has been better than the vast majority of the Sketchbook.
All of this I say merely in case someone tries out the Sketchbook and gets turned off. There’s more to the man and it’s very witty, engaging, and beautifully written!
I think the only Irving stories I've read are the two you mention as having survived, and I read those back in high school.
I have a copy of Piazza Tales and I've been meaning to get to it. For, yes, the only short fiction I've read by Melville is indeed "Bartleby the Scrivener", and, yes, it was assigned in high school. Also -- I am hoping you get to The Confidence Man: His Masquerade sometime! I think it's a remarkable novel. Very different from his sea stories (it's a river story.) I haven't read his other post-Moby Dick novels, but I get the sense that they are just as strange (or stranger) than The Confidence Man, but to less good effect.
You read an amazing amount. Can I ask - do you feel like you spend much time on other artforms, or do you dedicate all your time to reading and writing? Do you watch much/any film or TV, for example?
No, my film/TV watching has really gone down since this newsletter took off. I used to watch lots of movies, but I'd usually watch them at my local theater, during the early afternoon. Now I spend a lot of that time writing. I haven't seen a single one of this year's Oscar crop for instance. At some point I was trying to see a lot of the _great_ movies--Citizen Kane, Psycho, Rules of the Game, etc--and I saw a number of them, almost always liked them, but didn't stick with the project.
I've definitely been paying more attention to visual art though! I went to the Legion of Honor and to the De Young last year and spent entire days at each--planning on doing something similar soon at the SFMOMA.
Just about everything I read about non-monogamy (or poly, most people conflate the two) misunderstands it, including the post you linked to. And of course most people misunderstand it - we are all swimming in the same monogamous water. But it's still frustrating.
July's book does sound depressing, and I haven't read it (and won't) so maybe I'm wrong. But to me it mostly sounds depressing because it's yet another story about a hetero (or hetero-culture) woman who made poor hetero-typical choices and then had to undo those things, which is really destructive. Maybe that's the same as what you said.
Usually when my friends get into non-monogamy, there is a period of two or three years when they become intense boosters for the concept. It feels very much like July's book is the one they'd write while they are in that phase.
Non-monogamy seems to work for many of my friends, but this book heavily implies that monogamy is unrealistic or unworkable, which seems silly. I'd never write a book saying everyone should transition. If you're trans, you transition. Seems the same with non-monogamy, you do it if you're called to it.
I think you are literally the only person I've ever met who's read OMOO, a novel kept in the public consciousness almost entirely by crossword constructors :')
(I did however read Jane Smiley's MOO last year, and at various points said "Oh, Moo!" which seems close enough!)
I'll be at AWP!
When I read Sleepy Hollow (more than half a lifetime ago!) it did not even occur to me to consider a supernatural interpretation - it felt extremely obvious to me it was a prank, and that van Tassel was in on it. Not sure if I'd feel the same today.
The "shrug" you highlight reminds me of Vivant Denon's more pithy conclusion to his story No Tomorrow "I searched for the moral of this tale... and did not find it." The end!
You are amazing! That is all.
Amazing reading month! I did try to read All Fours but abandoned it. I didn't like it. I liked your and ny feliows' comments, though. Dream Count is next in line. I haven't read the other Adichie's novels, but immensely enjoyed her nonfiction works about feminism. I look forward to learning something new about Nigeria, too.
Amazing list of books! Thanks so much!
Sentimental literature is fascinating--and I agree often unfairly dismissed. But it wasn't until I read EDEN Southworth's novel Retribution (1856) that I truly understood why the genre was so reviled! Clumsy sentimental novels--and the majority of sentimental novels, as with any genre, were probably not so good--can be painfully bad, even if good ones (Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson, or A Singular Life by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, anyone?) can be surprisingly powerful.
My first job out of college was working at Irving Trust Company, at One Wall Street. And when it was founded it was named in honor of Washington Irving, and his likeness was on their banknotes and bonds. He wasn't an investor in the bank or anything, they just named it in honor of him. I always thought that strange, and couldn't think of another bank named after an author or other artist. Anyway, I guess it attests to the esteem in which he was held when alive.
Found it :) I definitely did read this when you wrote it. Will remember to like it next time
I find it so interesting that women have rebelled against being housewives for so long, yet so many upper-middle-class career-oriented, perpetually-single women seem so unhappy to me today. It's a failure to moderate imo. I've known women with families who took time off, but then went back to work. It's not easy but you can find a balance. In my experience as a software engineer, women with children were often the best managers. They had a confidence that I think often comes with motherhood and they had better people skills than most men.
As far as sentimental literature I certainly like books that create these feelings, but to me it's a question of indirection. Good literature often conceals for a while, starts as one thing and turns into something else. It's dynamic. When I think of "sentimental literature" I think of literature that doesn't contain enough indirection for me: it's just laden with the same feelings all the way through.
I haven't read All Fours, and have no desire to. I supposed it to be that - the loss of youth is equated to the loss of womanhood, to becoming less of a woman somehow.
I wrote about Mary Wollstonecraft in my last book review also; thank you for articulating what I found questionable about her work.
I saw that. That was a good post.
I just want to say that I consider myself a big Washington Irving fan, and I cannot tolerate most of the Sketchbook—I lament that, because of two admittedly good stories (Rip Van Winkle and the Spectre Bridegroom), this is the Irving that gets reprinted and the Penguin Classics treatment etc. Much better (I think) are his Tales of the Alhambra and his nonfiction on Islamic and Spanish history. There’s a lot I haven’t read, but everything I’ve ever read by Irving has been better than the vast majority of the Sketchbook.
All of this I say merely in case someone tries out the Sketchbook and gets turned off. There’s more to the man and it’s very witty, engaging, and beautifully written!
Good to know!
I think the only Irving stories I've read are the two you mention as having survived, and I read those back in high school.
I have a copy of Piazza Tales and I've been meaning to get to it. For, yes, the only short fiction I've read by Melville is indeed "Bartleby the Scrivener", and, yes, it was assigned in high school. Also -- I am hoping you get to The Confidence Man: His Masquerade sometime! I think it's a remarkable novel. Very different from his sea stories (it's a river story.) I haven't read his other post-Moby Dick novels, but I get the sense that they are just as strange (or stranger) than The Confidence Man, but to less good effect.
I should try that one someday! I think after Piazza Tales I just lost steam.
Love that you’re doing this! It’s a very cool project - and I agree that Irving is an easily-overlooked writer.
Thanks =]
You read an amazing amount. Can I ask - do you feel like you spend much time on other artforms, or do you dedicate all your time to reading and writing? Do you watch much/any film or TV, for example?
No, my film/TV watching has really gone down since this newsletter took off. I used to watch lots of movies, but I'd usually watch them at my local theater, during the early afternoon. Now I spend a lot of that time writing. I haven't seen a single one of this year's Oscar crop for instance. At some point I was trying to see a lot of the _great_ movies--Citizen Kane, Psycho, Rules of the Game, etc--and I saw a number of them, almost always liked them, but didn't stick with the project.
I've definitely been paying more attention to visual art though! I went to the Legion of Honor and to the De Young last year and spent entire days at each--planning on doing something similar soon at the SFMOMA.
Just about everything I read about non-monogamy (or poly, most people conflate the two) misunderstands it, including the post you linked to. And of course most people misunderstand it - we are all swimming in the same monogamous water. But it's still frustrating.
July's book does sound depressing, and I haven't read it (and won't) so maybe I'm wrong. But to me it mostly sounds depressing because it's yet another story about a hetero (or hetero-culture) woman who made poor hetero-typical choices and then had to undo those things, which is really destructive. Maybe that's the same as what you said.
Usually when my friends get into non-monogamy, there is a period of two or three years when they become intense boosters for the concept. It feels very much like July's book is the one they'd write while they are in that phase.
Non-monogamy seems to work for many of my friends, but this book heavily implies that monogamy is unrealistic or unworkable, which seems silly. I'd never write a book saying everyone should transition. If you're trans, you transition. Seems the same with non-monogamy, you do it if you're called to it.
I think you are literally the only person I've ever met who's read OMOO, a novel kept in the public consciousness almost entirely by crossword constructors :')
(I did however read Jane Smiley's MOO last year, and at various points said "Oh, Moo!" which seems close enough!)
Wow, if you ever write a book you should give it a great crossword clue name! Then it'll be assured of immortality.