#6 "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath & #7 "The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides

With the existence of blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc...our censorship has found no bounds. Maybe you guys can relate but I have a great deal of nerve when I am in the safety of my car to scream obscenities to other drivers. What would I do if right after the confrontation we pulled into work at the same job. I don't think I would behave the same way. In fact, I would be more pleasant. My wife was unpleasantly surprised to be introduced to Ohio's drivers way of saying your a bad driver. We don't honk, we give them the bird. I thought that was universal! My point being when writing about these books I will only say what I would have no problem saying to the author's face. I hope to be more of a Nigel Lythgoe in my statements than Simon Cowell. We find harshness to others entertaining but these behaviors are not to be mimicked. We all have feelings we desire to express. I have a great deal of anger on occasions and it's ok to feel that emotion but we need to work on how we handle the anger. Ok so I will get off my soap box now.

I decided to write in one blog about two books because both have to do with the same moral issue. Suicide. Each novel, "The Bell Jar" and "The Virgin Suicides" depict the same issue but in very different perspectives. The first story is told in first-person, the other in third-person. The first, a description of Esther Greenwood's personal journey towards this devastating outcome, the second, an investigation by a few neighbor boys to discover what really happened to the 5 young girls they new from childhood that led them to take their lives. Both stories are sad and depressing but it is an unfortunate occurrence we see often in our lives, whether on the news or personal experience. The most common statements I hear about suicide is that it's selfish. I agree, but can I tell a girl who was kidnapped into sex trafficking, having to endure such vileness, that living through that is better than death? Or a child locked in a cage starving and neglected that her life is worth living and that suicide is not an option? I thank God I haven't been in a situation bad enough to look at death as a sweet friend. Our beliefs are molded by our life experiences and upbringing. There are other cultures that view suicide for a good cause worthy of great praise and honor. I don't agree with their motives at all but these cultures look at us with the same criticism. I just say sometimes we need to set aside preconceived notions and allow ourselves to look at these issues from a different perspective. Saying to someone who tried to commit suicide that they are selfish doesn't really help anybody does it?

"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath is a novel about Esther Greenwood's life told from her point of view. Both Sylvia's and Esther's lives parallel each other to the point "The Bell Jar" in essence is considered an autobiography. Sylvia's early fame in winning a Pulitzer Prize for poetry and Esther's early achievement chosen as a guest editor for a fashion magazine; all expenses paid and in the company of other bright and successful men and women. The joy Esther assumed she would feel from this achievement didn't bear fruit. The feelings she had suppressed: fear, doubt, insecurities, all floated back to the surface. Thoughts she never wanted to revisit again, buried for good.

I remember senior year of high school, ready to move toward the next stage of life. Being an ADULT. This means making decisions for my future. What college will I attend? What career will lead me down the path of ultimate happiness? My future was like a blank canvas. I heard others talk as though they knew exactly what they wanted. Their canvas had already formed a clear picture. I looked at mine and felt fear. Scared of where each decision will lead. Will I make a wrong choice and BAM stuck at a dead end, lifeless job.

The example I loved in Sylvia's story, "The Bell Jar" was of a fig tree that bore fruit. Each fig on the tree represented a path in life. Every moment she waited to make a decision a fig would fall to the ground and decompose. A path that will never be fulfilled. Can you imagine the anxiety she felt? Sometimes the fear of failure can lead to inactivity. Others jump into a decision too hastily which may result in a bad decision too. Both can lead to a potential satisfied or dissatisfied life. This dilemma was what Esther faced. She commented that she was stuck in between what she should do and shouldn't do. She chose to do neither. When we usually say pick between A or B and we choose C. Hmm...Perhaps suicide is for some "Option C" like Sylvia Plath whom eventually did take her life.

What I got from reading this story is I should decide to be content with whatever direction I choose for myself. To not fear the future but to welcome it like a newborn baby. It's ok to dream and have hopes but recognize they may never come to fruition, so I need to be joyful in the few that do become fulfilled.

"The Virgin Suicides" movie

"The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides however isn't just about the 5 girls suicide as much as how it has affected those around them. The story begins as it ends, with the girls' suicides. The authors, "Let's get this investigation out in the open right away, the girls killed themselves." Now what?? This isn't a CSI episode figuring out who did it. We know. It's all about what compelled these girls to commit suicide. Jeffrey ushers the reader through multiple theories. If you have any preconceived notions of the role parents, society, friends, neighbors, and ourselves have on events like this he brings that bias out of you.  It interested me while reading how I immediately pointed at a specific target as the cause. However in the end the author's goal was to show that everyone plays a role in the quality of another's life. A parent's idea of sheltering their kids early on to prevent outside influence isn't full proof. As a child we should hold ourselves accountable to our actions regardless of our previous experience. As neighbors and society in general we are partly responsible for the way the world is today. Our major concern is for our own well being and to take care of our stuff and to accumulate stuff while our neighbors endure suffering. We like to say that this world is the way it is because we have taken God out of the picture, but I believe Jeffrey points to the fact we failed each other first. Does our involvement in each other's lives change the suicide rate? Jeffrey does recognize that some people are predisposed to suicide. That each of us may already have one chamber loaded in the gun. These girls had the whole gun loaded with each element contributing to their ultimate death.

The topic of both novels has been sad and depressing to examine, but I have learned something valuable after reading them. I'm glad it's over though.

#5 "Saturday" by Ian McEwan

Hello, it's been 8 days since I started blogging and I have posted about 6 novels. My blog title did state "Bookinthroughbooks" and that's what I plan to do. "Booking" is a term I remember from the 80s which means moving fast. If I read 1 book a week, 52 weeks in a year, I should be done at the beginning of the year of 2032. I will be 55 years old. That means I have completed 0.00599401% of my objective thus far. I can't wait to complete a whole percentage, that will be a reason to celebrate. Right now I am a long way away. Hopefully I still have all my faculties in working order. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to download all that information into our brains like in "The Matrix" and this feat will be null and void.

Looks like a military thriller

The point of this whole post besides rambling is to talk about "Saturday" by Ian McEwan which is a story of a day in the life of a neurosurgeon. If any of us were to write about one day in our life we wouldn't write about that day we laid around in our pajamas and watched old movies while we ate a pint of ice cream.  Perhaps if that ice cream were chocolate moose tracks, mmm...I still wouldn't want to read it. Well, Henry Perowne the neurosurgeon's day however was more exciting. Besides doing some surgery, playing, as I could tell, racquetball, running into some thugs, and seeing a protest of the Iraq war his day was like any other day.

Ian McEwan

I like the idea about writing about a day in a person's life but I don't think I would want to write about a neurosurgeon playing racquetball or doing surgery. Just not that thrilling. I can however see why they included this novel on the list of, "The 1001 Books to Read Before You Die". The concept of the novel and the details of the inner workings of the brain while Henry was working on his patients were interesting, however the rest of the story wasn't enough to make this a great book for me. Running into some thugs sounds exciting but it was toned down. "Hey, give us your money!", "No go away!", "Okay, have a good day!". Not exactly as it happened but that's how I felt while reading it. Where's the panache?



They will eat you alive!

I did enjoy reading his thoughts when he was doing surgery. I won't bore you with the details though, but since I have a daughter with a neurological disorder and have taken 2 anatomy and physiology courses (that I did well in) I am familiar with the neurological terms used in this novel. The neuro part of the story wasn't over my head but the part discussing poetry did lose me. I don't get poetry. It's beautiful like when I've read "The Song of Solomon" in the Bible. I would love to tell my wife her hair is as beautiful as a donkey's and stuff like that but I just like to tell her, "Your hair looks gorgeous today!"

What I've noticed about these types of novels is the focus on providing the reader with intellectual information with a story to entertain. One of the authors objectives I imagine is to kindle a fire to the point that the reader will desire to learn more about it's subject matter. In this attempt the novel failed. The flame was doused with gallons of water to never burn again. That sounded kind of harsh. Sorry Mr. McEwan!! 1 1/2 thumbs down, 1/2 up because I like your last name.

#4 "2001: A Space Odyssey" By Arthur C. Clarke

Scanning the seemingly never ending list of "1001 Books to Read Before You Die", I will admit my decision initially is based on familiarity with the title thanks to Stanley Kubrick's film version. "2001: A Space Odyssey". It is on both my book list as well as "1001 Movies to See Before You Die" but I have never actually seen the movie. Going into it I know the setting is in space. DUH!! I know it was a movie made in the 1960's. The story depicts where this world would be technologically in the future. I guess I pictured something like "Back to the Future II" but more in the weird style of the 60s-70's.  The 70's science fiction movies like "Blade Runner"and "Logan's Run" are just weird to me. I guess you just had to be there. Lastly, I recall Hal, the mind of the spaceship, and how he created many problems for the travelers as if he was plagued with a computer virus. I suppose what I knew about "2001: A Space Odyssey" could be gleaned from a movie preview.

Why won't you die?!

Movie Previews!! They are so funny sometimes. Every movie looks like a blockbuster in previews. There's BIG explosions, people getting KILLED, funny lines, and if that's not interesting enough- a little sexy make-out blurb giving the fellas that thought maybe there will be some BOOBIES in this!! Come on guys, if this wasn't true the marketing guru's wouldn't keep making previews like this. When we finally choose to see one of these movies we are flabbergasted to find out that what the previews sold us on was a sham!! The only funny scene in the movie, the only skin shot, and the mass carnage we hoped for consisted of what was shown in the previews.

This is how I felt when I finally finished the novel. So this is it? Hal wasn't even a blip on the screen. It was interesting but it lasted 10 pages maybe and the rest was weird psychedelic details only Sheldon Cooper and his gang (The Big Bang Theory) would appreciate. Ok, so the story is a big black monolith sent down to Earth by aliens or some greater power in the beyond looking to experiment on the minds of Earth's inhabitants. Why? I have no clue. Interest? Boredom? It manipulated the minds of a few apes that eventually spurred on the advancement of the new race to what we see now in humans. It caught my interest initially. The story continues to the present time where humans found a black monolith on the surface of the moon and the rest of the story basically was trying to discover what the black monolith was. The story of Hal was just a side story. What else can I say about the novel. I would much rather have wasted my time watching a bad movie than enduring this novel. On this list I suppose I will run into quite a few stories that are not up my alley. Oh well. C'est la vie!!

#3 continued "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time"

Mark Haddon

I had to make this two parts because it would become a short novel if I didn't and who wants to read a blog that long right?? Layla's life has been anything but easy. We found out about her disorder when she was four months old. We strapped on our superhero outfits and told ourselves we would make the best of this and love her unconditionally. We told ourselves that she was going to blow the doctor's diagnosis out of the water. Layla started conventional therapy immediately and we continued to look at alternative therapies. She was already doing more than many of the kids with her disorder could do. She was rolling over, clapping, and saying "Ma's" and "Da's", and eating by mouth. This encouraged us to continue pressing forward with positive hopes. At around 2 years old we saw a rapid decline in her skills as we were constantly changing her seizure medications because she was having many breakthrough seizures. Layla had multiple hospital stays for surgeries and tests. We fought with her for a year to keep her healthy since she decided that she didn't want to eat anymore and was tired of her medications. We knew she was physically able to eat but her aversion to medication made her hesitant to open her mouth. Occasionally she would finally concede and open her mouth and try her food. To get her to this point of eating and taking her medicine meant trudging though kicking and screaming and tears on both our parts. This was all to keep her healthy. It got to me when I was holding up a spoon to her face getting ready to feed her and she looked at me with sadness in her eyes like I am about to torture her again. As a parent the last thing we want is for our actions to cause our children distress. I never dreamed when I had a child that I would be at this point where my kids looked at me in that way. I won't even describe the many sleepless nights that we went through and continue to go through with Layla. A child that wants to sleep so bad but because of reflux or seizures or whatever else and you can't do anything to help them. This is FRUSTRATING!!

So, when I opened up "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon I only

Max "Parenthood"

knew it was about a child on the autism spectrum. My only familiarity with the disorder was from watching "Parenthood" which has a character named Max who is a teenager with Asperger's syndrome and watching a TV show called "This is Autism". However, I trust Mark Haddon to paint a clear picture of a child with autism in his story due to his work in the past with people with autism. The book also received praise from medical professionals stating, "This magnificent essay in communication is compulsory reading for anyone with the slightest interest in autistic spectrum disorders," -Dr. Alex McClimens, a senior research fellow in the Centre for Health and Social Care Research, United Kingdom.

The story begins with a teenager named Christopher who has an autism spectrum disorder who encounters a dog that died from a yard fork in his neighbor's backyard.  He decides to investigate what happened to the dog as well as journal his findings to make into a book and eventually discovers much greater mysteries than how the dog died. Through his questioning of those in his neighborhood about the events surrounding the dogs death you can see clearly the social disability he possesses. One of the interesting parts of the story is seeing everything through the eyes of a teenager with autism. He doesn't seem to comprehend his social awkwardness and how it affects those around him. It is sad that our patience with people like Christopher is often very thin.

Haddon describes in detail the FRUSTRATION others around Christopher experience because of Christopher's handicap and how it affects them. The single father of Christopher who's patience is at it's breaking point mirrored how I have felt and feel about our daughter which is why this book really hit close to home. Sometimes the social confrontations were quite humorous knowing Christopher's disability beforehand. It really is a good book to read. Besides all the serious stuff in the book Haddon reveals a more quirky lighter side of Christopher which is funny, entertaining,
 and helps the reader to enjoy who Christopher is without the label of his disability. He likes prime numbers to the point that all his chapters are labeled only prime numbers. Imagine getting ready to read and you open it to the first chapter and it has "Chapter 2" there. I thought someone ripped the 1st chapter out. As I continued reading I would try to guess what the next chapter number will be. It was upsetting to see how often I was wrong, I guess I don't remember prime numbers from school. The story about a kid battling with autism, a splash of an interesting, "Sherlock Holmes" type mystery, and a dash of odd humor, I'm not surprised that "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" has won many awards in literature.

A must read!

#3 "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time " PART I

Princess Layla

Irish lass

My wife is getting our youngest daughter Maggie (16 months) ready for bed, sitting her down on her lap reading a book that our daughter chose before rocking her to sleep. I am in the kitchen with my oldest daughter Layla (3 1/2 years old) feeding her homemade ground up spaghetti by mouth from the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook. We're trying to sneak in those veggies our youngest isn't too fond of. Soon after feeding Layla I put her on the floor and get her nightly bath ready putting a mixture of Epsom salt and baking soda in the tub. While the tub is filling up I go to her room to lay out all the items she will need after her bath: her pajamas, a diaper, Tubie Topper, lotion, Aquaphor, and a cover to put on the bed to keep the bed sheet from getting wet. After the bath is over I take all the items and put them all on our daughter. She looks at me like I am her hero as she pushes out with some exertion of her lips and tongue: "Da". I smile at her and respond back with "yeah I'm your Da" and give a kiss on her soft cheek. I bring her out to watch one of her favorite shows, Jeopardy, a nightly routine. While she watches her show I get her nightly medicine prepared to administer after her show is over with. So with this small allotted time while she is on the floor giving smacky kisses to Alex Trebek I turn on the computer to write my next blog.

I'd like to mention that two things occurred which are not a routine in the Blanton household.  1) Our 3 1/2 year old Layla ate a whole meal orally and 2) she said the word Da. Our 3 1/2 year old suffers from a brain disorder called Lissencephaly. Basically this disorder disables a child to the point where they completely rely on others to do everything for them and it is terminal and degenerative. Having a daughter like Layla gave me a unique perspective while reading my next book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" by Mark Haddon.

Haddon's book is about and written from the perspective of a 15 year old boy named Christopher Boone who has a disorder that's on the autism spectrum. He found in his neighbor's backyard a dead dog and he makes it his goal to find out how this dog died. This story is much more than a detective story about a dead dog.  The book takes us though the mind of a teenage boy with autism while he jots down in his own detective book his observations and the interactions with the people around him while he tries to discover what happened to the dog. Stay tuned for my next post giving more detail about the book, my thoughts, and how this struck me personally.

#2 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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Hello again. Did you know that novels are the movies of the written world??  Of course you did. Ever since the beginning of films back in the 19th century novels have inspired the making of many remarkable movies. The written word has been around much longer so there is a large pot for many people in the movie industry to take from.  I didn't realize that "All Quiet on the Western Front" was a novel before it was made into an award winning movie.  Others like "The Godfather", "Gone with the Wind", and "World War Z" owe a lot to the creative minds of the authors of these novels. I love movies. My wife and I have seen 263 of the "1001 movies to see before you die" without even trying!! We both were raised watching movies. My dad loves his John Wayne and other action movies and mom loves her "guys-that-don't-take-no-for-an-answer-kick-your-ass-for-looking-at-me-wrong-but-at-the-same time-will-dance-their-way-through-the-ladies-hearts".  Can't begin how often I've seen or heard "Dirty Dancing". My wife was raised around the old classics. We both introduced each other to a different side of film. I got to watch all the classics that weren't interesting to me at an early age like Alfred Hitchcock. I showed her a different side of Joe Pesci whom she was only familiar with in "Home Alone". The "Casino" and "Goodfellas" version scarred her for life. She often repeats her memory of Joe Pesci beaten

heavily with a bat. Sorry!!

This blog is about books right?? Sorry, ADD moment. As much as I love movies I realize now that authors are the ones who developed most of these amazing stories. The directors are the ones who translate it to film. I read because the origin of the stories are in these books and there are so many stories we have yet to hear because someone hasn't adapted it for film or some books would never do well as a film. Who has the patience?

Onto Huckleberry Finn. I just typed in "Twain" as a search and the definition is an "archaic term for 2". It's fitting since Mark Twain is known for his two most famous novels  "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".  The 2 that are 1."The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is about a 12 year old boy who runs away from his father and encounters a runaway slave(Jim) along the way. They hop on a raft together and the adventure ensues.

While the story of Tom Sawyer centers around the mind of Tom, Huckleberry Finn focuses on the activity around Huck. When he escapes from his drunk negligent father, who sounded to me a lot like Tim McGraw on "Friday Night Lights", "Can't hold onto the football, can't hold onto the lamp", Huck encounters Jim also running away. They decide to head up the river together on a raft and the adventure unfolds from there. Although "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" contain the same nuances as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", the former lacked for much in the "chuckle" moments I greatly enjoyed in the latter and the adventures were not interesting enough to make up for it.  Sequels are almost always not as good as the originals and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" followed this rule to thumb.

#1 Tom Sawyer

In the words of Ned Ryerson in "Groundhog Day", "Watch out for that first step, it's a doozy!"

Let me begin by telling you that my goal isn't to give you a summary of these fictional novels I've read but to take you through my experience of reading them. 



Why did I ever write this dern book?

I am not a particularly fast reader so one method I use to read is by audio books (thank you very much Fort Wayne library).  I work at General Motors installing a small part of the Silverado and Sierra, 400 or so times a day.  By now I mostly let my muscle memory do the work while I dive into a new world described to me in these audio books.  Occasionally I have to check my footing before I take a step or I would have a funny story to tell medical of how I hurt myself.  If each week I post about a new book this doesn't mean I am like awesome or something but because 40 hours a week gives ample time to get through a book.  My selection of what novels I choose to read is purely up to the library's availability. I do notice I will have to do a lot of real reading since many of these books are not currently available in audio form yet.  Oh botha!!

One of the main reasons that I chose "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" first is it was my first "grownup" book I ever read.  I recall sitting in my room at the age of 12 while living in Dale City, Virginia when my mom asked me which book I would like us to start reading together besides my reliable Sweet Pickles books and other childhood favorites.  Deciding to challenge myself and to make my mom proud that she may have a genius in her midst, I chose to read Tom Sawyer.  Mom giving me that questioning look resigned to my request against her doubts and we chugged on.  I don't remember if we actually finished it or if I read a few pages and mom finished it herself. Kind of like when I told my parents that I wanted to make spaghetti for the first time, and then seeing that I got the gist of it moved onto something more challenging like climb a tree. See? I told you I have ADD.

I think it's about time I talk about the actual book, don't you?!  "Tom Sawyer" is about a 12 year old boy from a small town in Petersburg, Missouri who has an overactive imagination which leads him and his friends through many crazy and humorous adventures.  Hence the title of the novel.  Tom Sawyer is a kid if I have ever saw or read one before.  The adventures are mostly in his mind.  From the start of the book I was immersed into Tom's mind.  As the ringleader of his band of misfits, Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper, they created many adventures.  I would compare Tom to the country boy version of Peter Pan.  His imagination creates quests for him and his friends to take.  From pirates that don't steal from others because its wrong to stagecoach robbers.  One quest they undertook was to run away so that their families would feel sorry for what their parents did to them.  Everything I've read brings me back to my childhood where playing make-believe was an everyday game.  I put on my Davy Crockett coonskin hat and I'm off to battle whatever lays yonder.  I said yonder, how this book has corrupted me!! 

One memory befitting Tom Sawyer was the quest for my baby brother and I to go to McDonald's on our own.  I believe I was a few years old and my brother just became a skilled walker.  We found our way out of the house, my brother still in diapers and got pretty far before my family caught up to us.  Or the story of when my brother and I told our parents that we were going to run away at a very young age.  Well, mom and dad packed a laundry basket of our stuff and a bag maybe and set us and our stuff outside the front door.  They obviously called our bluff and we sat out there bawling our eyes out for what felt like an eternity and we never attempted that again.

Another part of "Tom Sawyer" that I found so entertaining was the ideas and concepts Tom and his friends had on life.  Their rules to live by.  For instance an excerpt from the book:"You only just tell a boy you won't ever have anybody but him, ever ever, ever, and then you kiss and that's all. Anybody can do it." Tom's describing to a girl what it means to be engaged. He also has many discussions with his friends befitting a chuckle.  Example.  "Aha! Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! Why, that ain't a-going to do any good. You got to go all by yourself, to the middle of the woods, where you know there's a spunk-water stump, and just as it's midnight you back up against the stump and jam your hand in and say:

    'Barley-corn, barley-corn, injun-meal shorts,
    Spunk-water, spunk-water, swaller these warts,'

and then walk away quick, eleven steps, with your eyes shut, and then turn around three times and walk home without speaking to anybody. Because if you speak the charm's busted."

I don't even know what spunk water is. 

Last of all, I enjoyed the way it was written. I suppose it is the 1800's southern speech.   I don't know if it's because my grandmother was brought up in Louisiana or the fact I lived there for 4 years but I didn't have a hard time understanding Mark Twain's writing at all.  While I was reading the book, I felt I needed some Bodacious BBQ and one of those Drive thru Daiquiris where they serve you an alcoholic beverage in a Styrofoam cup and put a piece of tape over the straw of your drink and this is considered an unopened container in Louisiana.  Crazy huh?? 

The one downside to "Tom Sawyer" is that its has its share of vulgarities to compete with Good Will Hunting.   Not so much the bad words we use today but what they used in Mark Twain's time if you catch my drift.  It was painful to hear but it went right along with the style of the age. All and all I would find it fun for all ages to read if you can just change those nasty works into "sandwiches" instead.  The novel is definitely worth reading just for a good chuckle about crazy antics.  So, in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."