Reading...

So I have been reading "The Keepers of the House" I should be able to finish before the weekend and then I will write my thoughts, my "review" as it were. I am loving this book.

Got my book

I got my book from Amazon, so I am going to start reading this afternoon. I am so excited about this goal!

List of Pulitzer Prize Winners

I was able to find a list of Pulitzer Prize Winners from 1917 until the present. I've not yet been able to find from 1904 to 1917. Here it is:


2008 The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Waoby Junot Diaz
2007 The Roadby Cormac McCarthy
2006 Marchby Geraldine Brooks
2005 Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson
2004 The Known World by Edward P. Jones
2003 Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2002 Empire Falls by Richard Russo
2001 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
2000 Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
1999 The Hours by Michael Cunningham
1998 American Pastoral by Philip Roth
1997 Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser
1996 Independence Day by Richard Ford
1995 The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
1994 The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
1993 A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
1992 A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
1991 Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
1990 The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
1989 Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
1988 Beloved by Toni Morrison
1987 A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
1986 Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
1985 Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
1984 Ironweed by William Kennedy
1983 The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1982 Rabbit is Rich by John Updike,
1981 A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
1980 The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
1979 The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
1978 Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson
1977 (No Award)
1976 Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow
1975 The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
1974 (No Award)
1973 The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
1972 Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
1971 (No Award)
1970 Collected Stories by Jean Stafford
1969 House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
1968 The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
1967 The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
1966 Collected Stories by Katherine Anne Porter
1965 The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
1964 (No Award)
1963 The Reivers by William Faulkner
1962 The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor
1961 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
1960 Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
1959 The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor
1958 A Death In The Family by James Agee
1957 (No Award)
1956 Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
1955 A Fable by William Faulkner
1954 (No Award)
1953 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
1952 The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
1951 The Town by Conrad Richter
1950 The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
1949 Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens
1948 Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
1947 All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
1946 (No Award)
1945 A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
1944 Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin
1943 Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair
1942 In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow
1941 (No Award)
1940 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
1939 The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1938 The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand
1937 Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
1936 Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis
1935 Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson
1934 Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller
1933 The Store by T. S. Stribling
1932 The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
1931 Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes
1930 Laughing Boy by Oliver Lafarge
1929 Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin
1928 The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
1927 Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield
1926 Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
1925 So Big by Edna Ferber
1924 The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson
1923 One of Ours by Willa Cather
1922 Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
1921 Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
1920 (No Award)
1919 The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
1918 His Family by Ernest Poole
1917 (No Award)

Looked up the list of Pulitzer Prize Winners

So I looked up a list of all of the winners of the Pulitzer Prize. I was dismayed to see how few of them I have actually read. However, the ones that I have read I loved, so I think this is a good idea for me.

I have read:
Edith Wharton won for Age of Innocence in 1921. This is one of my all time favorite books, so I will thoroughly enjoy writing a review of sorts about it in another post.

1953- Ernest Hemingway won the Pulitzer for The Old Man and the Sea. Well, this is my favorite Hemingway novel (there are some short stories that I love more) so again, writing a post about it will be fun.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" won in 1961- of course this would be on my list of books I've read and loved.

"The Executioner's Song" won in 1980- Being as I live in Utah and remember when Gary Gilmore was executed, this one fascinated me. So again, writing a post about it will be enjoyable.

I've decided to read first:
The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau. Why? Because it won for 1965, the year I was born. So I ordered it from Amazon and will begin to read it as soon as I have it.

I hope that others reading this post will want to tackle this project with me.

Read all of the Pulitzer winners?

So if I decided to let my review of Breaking Dawn rest, what should be the next book I review? I'm thinking about reading Three Cups of Tea , I've heard some good things about that. I also have been wanting to get back on track with my goal for reading all of the Pulitzer Prize winners since the inception of the award. Maybe that's what I'll do. That actually sounds like a great deal of fun.

Unnecessarily Harsh?

Am I being unnecessarily harsh in my criticism of the Twilight series? Probably. As one of my daughters pointed out to me this morning, bad writing is nothing new. There have been horribly written books in the past. And she was right when she said that 10 years from now no one will much remember these awful books. Just a few die hard fans.

And who knows, the movie may be good enough that more of the books will be made into movies. I understand that Stephanie Meyer is not writing the movies, and unless they decide to go with some awful voice over narration type of thing the movie won't all be from Bella's point of view. Blessed relief! Bella is so boring and self centered, and her internal dialog is all about how Edward looks, so it is painful to read.

As you may have guessed, I don't much care for Bella, and really spent much of the first book hoping one of the vampires would indeed kill her. I know that is harsh, and not very nice of me, but there you have it.

Throughout all four of the books (okay, 3 and one quarter books) I kept hoping for something more. But every time there was a character or story line worth pursuing in more depth I was disappointed. More background on the vampire family that did not glorify or trivialize them? Nope. A more fulfilling relationship between Bella and Charlie? Any type of relationship between Bella and Charlie for that matter? Nope. Jacob coming to terms with the profound way his life changes and is no longer his own? Nope.

I have not bothered to read any fan fiction relating to this series of books, but one can only hope that somewhere out there, a writer with ability took Meyer's half hearted (arsed?) attempts at story telling and wrote a version of this story arc that approaches the potential that it truly has.

Perhaps when Meyer writes things from Edward's point of view (as I understand she has threatened to do) she will be able to tell the story in a better way. Hopefully the characters will not be as boring and flat as they are in the current series.

I'm glad that I took the opportunity to read theTwilight books, so that I could talk about them with my girls. I feel bad for all of the girls who are reading them without an adult to mitigate the negative influences. I'm also glad that my girls were able to recognize most of the flaws of these books on their own. That they believe they have worth outside of a man. That they know love is not stalking or obsession and that 17 is not nearly mature enough to know what love really feels like. That they have read enough well written "fun" books, and true works of literature that they could recognize these books for what they are. It has been fun to share thoughts about all of this with them. It also makes me wonder what other awful things I've let slip through as a parent...

Breaking Dawn Worst Book I've Read in a Long Time!

In writing Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer just may have written the worst book of the year. Maybe even of the decade. And that's really saying something because her first three books were terrible too. But none of them are as poorly written as Breaking Dawn.

Let me begin with a few disclaimers and clarifications here. I am not a writer, nor do I review books for a living. I just read books. A lot of them. Like many of you out there I just simply love reading.

I am not a reading "snob" Although I love literature and appreciate it as the beautiful art form it is, I can also enjoy "fluff" writing as well. Reading just simply for enjoyment or escape is perfectly acceptable to me.

I believe with all my heart that Stephanie Meyer should be applauded and commended. She wrote four books and got them published. Congratulations Stephanie! I mean that sincerely. This is something I myself have failed to do (mostly for lack of even trying, but still....) This is a fabulous accomplishment.

I've read all of the first three books- not because I love them or am a fan, but because I wanted to be aware of what my daughters were reading. It was a chore, because they were all awful. This last book however, Breaking Dawn, I could not even finish it. So while I am writing a review of sorts of this book, I need to honestly say I've not finished it and that should be taken into account when someone reads this. I was unable to finish it due to disgust and revulsion. I cannot believe I wasted my money, and worse my time on the book. It is not only poorly written, but is also a profoundly disturbing view of love and life.

Now for my "review" as it were....
(and yes there are "spoilers" here, although I tend to think of them more as warnings)

I shudder to think that there are thousands of young girls out there reading this series. They have been exposed to its distortions of love by the first three books and now with the fourth book are reading content that literally made me sick to my stomach.

Let me just list my complaints specific to Breaking Dawn. Then- if I'm not all "typed out", I'll talk about the rest of the series. (Criticisms are in no particular order)

First- I'm only guessing here that Meyer considers Bella's fervent protection of the "baby" and her refusal to even consider termination of the pregnancy to be a strong "pro-life" stance. (Guessing here because of Meyer's LDS faith and the LDS church's position on abortion, if I have this wrong I apologize.) I actually found it to be a very strong "pro-choice" story line. Bella is the only one who has any say in the matter because it is her body. What I find disgusting is that Edward is not part of the discussion. There is no regard for his feelings, the possible safety repercussions, the health and well being of the "baby", whether or not it is even a "baby"... nothing- once again Bella is so selfish, she shuts out all viewpoints other than her own. She manipulates everyone around her and Meyer seems to portray this as selfless and even at one point refers to Bella as a martyr.

I don't care either way what viewpoint on abortion is presented to young girls; when done honestly and fairly I believe most girls are able to come to the conclusion that works best for them regardless of the agenda of the author. I'm not bothered that Meyer seemed to be pushing an agenda here.

However, it would be great if an author writing for such a young audience showed a young girl facing an unplanned and dangerous pregnancy as having to confront and work through all of those issues. Instead the entire thing is romanticized and Bella is shown as "noble", when in fact real "nobility" in this case would have been to address Edward's feelings as well as all of those things and then come to a decision, with Edward. (either keeping the baby or terminating the pregnancy could be viewed as "noble") As it was written, Bella just looks plain stupid.

Next- She named the "baby" what? For pete's sake, this is the type of thing that you might attribute to an 11 year old, not an older child (even though Bella is profoundly immature) or an adult. GAG! Bella never showed any regard for anyone other than herself, it is an insult to her readers that Meyer would want to show Bella having anything more than a passing notice of either her own mother or Esme at this point. Same goes for the middle name, only it is slightly less ugly. (Oh, and once again, does Edward get a say? Nope, Bella decides and all bow to her will. Honestly, he really should have put his foot down that time!)

Third- the whole Jacob imprinting on the baby thing. This is perverse! Seriously gross. 'Nuf said...

Marriage at 18?!?! Yes, let's glamorize that.... especially Bella's immature and selfish 18. I loved the crap about Rene supporting Bella because, to paraphrase, "you've always been an adult" Unless this is Meyer's way of reiterating the weak story line of Rene always being irresponsible it is just plain unbelievable. This mother does not even know her child! And if it is some weak attempt to give Rene more dimension I would say "why now and why her"? You've let all of the characters of these books have no personality or dimension, why start now? This is just utter crap.

Too much sex anyone? Hey, this is a children's book! Not enough sex to make it worth reading? Darn right! What gives? Either you don't mention it at all, in keeping with the target audience's maturity level, or you admit that you are writing a trashy romance novel and put a little substance there. Trying to keep it clean just made it crappy. It could have had no mention of sex and been a nice honeymoon story (its been done well before, and been enjoyable to read) there is no need to mention sex. They are married, so the sex is assumed.

Last, and probably the most disturbing to me is the version of love that Meyer presents in this book (really the whole series) I weep to think that young girls are being allowed to think that this is what love is. Edward and Bella do not love one another. Love sees imperfection and does not gloss over it or ignore it, or worse not even see it. (Bella's laughable character flaw of clumsiness does not count here) Love sees imperfection and loves in spite of it, sometimes abhors it, sometimes tires of it. Love is not based upon physical beauty (when do Edward and Bella ever have a meaningful conversation?) Love is not obsession. Love lets the other go if needed, but then goes on itself. Real love has basis within self, before there is ever another involved. (none of this crap about not being able to live without each other)

One has to wonder if Meyer herself has such an immature definition of love. I certainly hope not. And I cannot for the life of me understand why she chose to portray this type of love to her young readers. Why can Bella and Edward not evolve? Why do they have to only think of each other in such superficial and idealized ways?

I understand from other reviews I've read and from talking with my daughters that there are other serious flaws. (one daughter has been able to read almost the whole thing, although she is literally having to force herself to finish it) One of the complaints that I have seen is that Bella ends up getting everything she wants without having to pay any price for it all. There are no negative consequences for Bella's poor decisions. Why? That's boring. One dimensional. And again, it was irresponsible.

But let's address that. Does a writer have a responsibility to present "correct" views and ideals to their readers? I would say no, not even writers of children's books such as these. I would think, however, that most would be interested in doing so.

If the "wrong" message is part of a story, that is okay with me, as long as the story is well written. Writing as an art is worthwhile all on its own. It needs no agenda or purpose, it can just "be"

And that is my biggest complaint with this series of books- the writing is horrible!! Stephanie Meyer cannot write. We see glimpses of good writing here and there in the stories, but for the most part- DRIVEL! And this is a shame, because she obviously has some great ideas and imagination. In the hands of a better writer this "story arc" would have been a joy to read and share with others.

My daughters and I have had a great deal of fun discussing how things might have been presented if the books had been written by a more accomplished writer. And we have had even more fun laughing at the sheer awfulness of the writing in these books. One only has to read young adult books like those by Avi or Madeleine L'Engle, or the wonderful works that are the Catcher in the Rye, the Chosen or Sarah Plain and Tall to see the difference. Whenever I see a review or blog post talking about what a wonderful writer Meyer is, I have to wonder how well read the writer of those comments is. And are our children exposed to so little quality literature that they can't tell the difference between the two?

As I mentioned before, I don't mind reading "fluff" I love Eloisa James, wait impatiently for every Clive Cussler book. What a great escape those can be! But even though those and others like them might not ever be considered the same as the works of Edith Wharton or Jane Austen, the fact of the matter is- the writing in those books meets a certain standard. The writing is good.