2016 Reading: Diane Arbus

#40 A book that's guaranteed to bring you joy

I am so glad that I found this book in the system. I am a big fan of Diane Arbus's photography and I think her life story is so interesting. I first heard of her when I caught a strange movie (Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus) one night with Robert Downey Jr and Nicole Kidman. I thought to myself: "They made a movie together?! Why was I not informed of this?" I was fortunate enough to catch it from the very beginning and it was the best thing I have ever seen in my life. I am in love with that movie and it was made by the same people who made a few other movies that I really really enjoy and it introduced me to Diane Arbus.

She takes pictures that most would find odd or boring, but I find them beautiful and real. There's an introduction in the book where she talks about some of the adventures she's had and different things she likes to photograph. It was interesting and it definitely brought me joy.

2016 Reading: President Taft is Stuck in the Bath

#38 A satirical book

While I was looking things up on the computer, a coworker of mine and I were discussing the reading challenge and she suggested this for my political memoir and then we had a good laugh over it. I decided to make this my satire because... I mean, come on. It's hilarious.

I wonder if something like this actually happened. There are little facts in the back of the book about special bathtubs that he had to have made and delivered to the White House because of his size, but if he truly got stuck, that would be the best thing ever.

2016 Reading: The Poems of Doctor Zhivago

#31 : A book of poetry

I've had this book on the shelf for a while and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get to it. Most of the poems felt a bit long and drawn out to me, but I like some of the imagery that was described. I particularly like this image:

The dawn! It swept that last of the stars

Like flecks of ash from the vaulted sky.

("Star of the Nativity" ll 78-79, pg 44)

The poems also seemed to follow a descending pattern as well. They start about life and nature. Poems of spring and sunlight. From there it progresses to love and passion. After that it comes to loss, and everything grows cold and dark. Lots of winter themes emerge and ghosts. Lastly, after everything else, the poems take on a religious tone. Not even a tone, they just start becoming religious, literally. The last half of the book takes on an almost fanatical devotion to God and Jesus as if the person who had been through all the previous stages had nothing left to fall back on after the loss of the love and passion phase.

2016 Reading: High-Rise

#11 A book that's becoming a movie this year

I wanted to read this book especially because 1) it fits the criteria of the challenge because there is a movie of it coming out this year, 2) the book was written by the same guy who wrote Crash which I am a huge fan of, and 3) the movie will be starting Tom Hiddleston. You just can't get any better that that.

This book had me from the first sentence. 

Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr. Robert 

Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place 

within this huge apartment building during the previous three 

months. (pg 13)

I read that and immediately knew this was going to be amazing. I know that it took me a bit longer than I would have liked to finish it, but it was well worth it. The descent of the people in the book from society to a kind of primal, warring look into the heart of the beast that is humanity was amazing. There was a particular passage that struck me as I was reading it:

Lang knew that he was far happier now than ever before, 

despite all the hazards of his life, the likelihood that he would die 

at any thing from hunger or assault.  He was satisfied by his self-

reliance, his ability to cope with the tasks of survival--foraging, 

keeping his wits about him, guarding his two women from 

any marauder who might want to use them for similar purposes.  

Above all, he was pleased with his good sense in giving rein to 

those impulses that involved him with Eleanor and his sister, 

perversities created by the limitless possibilities of the high-rise. (pg 184-185)

And I am so excited for the movie to come out now. It is going to be fantastic. But I'll tell you what, if there isn't a scene of Tom Hiddleston crouching naked over a fire made of phone books cooking the carcass of a dog, I am going to be VERY upset...

2016 Reading: Clutter Control: Useful Tips for Getting Rid of the Mess

#13 A self-improvement book

I know that I really don't have a clutter problem AT THE MOMENT, but it's always nice to read about things to help in the future or other things that I could streamline and do more easily. However, considering this book came out over 20 years ago, I was seriously just laughing the whole time at most of the suggestions. One of the first things they told you to do was to clear off your typewriter table of all junk. There was also a whole chapter on how to store and label your VHS collection (I still have one, but I'm also weird) and also your record collection.

I don't agree with some of their methods of organization, but I guess that's up to individual. Though I keep a record of all my books and movies and HAVE sub categories in all of the descriptions, I don't like to arrange my books by subject. I find it easier to arrange them by author's last name and then by publication date after that. Of course comic books and certain graphic novels are put by themselves and there are certain books that I cannot fit onto my shelves and therefore do not fit into the system, but it's what works for me.

All in  all, this really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know but it was still a nice brisk read and I got a laugh out of it.