Reading Wednesday Thursday

[laceblade]

What are you currently reading?
Joanna Russ's The Female Man, which we're reading right now for beer_marmalade. I'm having a really hard time getting into it?! Which is disappointing b/c I loved How to Suppress Women's Writing, although that wasn't fiction. So if anyone wants to leave comments about why you do/don't love Female Man, lmk. It might help me continue reading!

Kokoro by Natsume Soseki. This translation was done by Edwin McClellan. This book is the first in this box, which I won from Con or Bust this year. The protag is a university student in Tokyo, who makes friends with an older, pretty depressed man. The story takes place at the end of the Meiji era; I think it was published about 1912. 50 pages in, I became pretty certain how the story's going to end, & purposely spoiled myself for it because I haven't been in the greatest head space lately. Overall, I like it. And of course, I ship protag/Sensei.

What did you recently finish reading?
I Just Need Your Company by smc_27 - Pezberry friendship fic. Santana's holding the flame to the end of her cigar when Rachel throws her leg over the window sill, then pushes herself out.

between us we'll get you there by astano - Tina/Brittany/Santana. The first time Tina kisses Santana, she almost gets slapped.

A Very Pezberry Purim by brittanyisinlovewithsantana - Santana and Brittany crash Rachel’s dads’ Purim party.

Pezberry Drabble: Rachel's Damn Pyjamas by astano - Based on the pictures Lea tweeted one Friday from set.

Heinous fic by miggy about Rachel & Santana & Kurt living together Honorable mention for the size of Kurt's dick.

What will you read next?
WELP I'm focusing on those two books.
I'm also planning to check out this ATLA fic by traxits

I'd like to make my way through the rest of that box of Japanese books, & also the box of books I got from Small Beer Press (also via Con or Bust).

Comments

[owlectomy]

My second semester in Japan I was quite depressed and my literature class assigned me (in Japanese, naturally) Kokoro, Norwegian Wood (apathetic college boy in love with a depressed girl whose boyfriend killed himself), and The Dancing Girl (college student overseas in Europe falls in love with a dancing girl there, has to go back to Japan, leaves her crazy and pregnant.)

NOT THE BEST HEAD SPACE, I will tell you that.

(I still like Kokoro and Norwegian Wood in spite of that, but...yeah.)

[laceblade]

Ugh, that sounds awful, :(

Waiting for a good headspace can be hard, too. I've been waiting for like, 3 years to rewatch Utena & keep being like, "Nope! Not a good idea, not right now."

[wild_irises]

I think The Female Man is kind of hard to get into in the 20teens, but I encourage you to go a little further. The (a?) problem is that Janet is a very difficult protagonist to care about; I think that's intentional on Russ's part, but she was so much more familiar to readers in the 1970s than she is now. I remember within the last year or so reading something by a younger reader who was totally thrown by the phrase "Mrs. Allison was a Negro," which again is historically interesting but now extremely off-putting.

Once the book diverges out of Janet's head and into the other protagonists, it flows better and there's more to think about even when we're in Janet's POV, so patience may reward you.

[laceblade]

I was definitely thrown by that sentence you mention (it's very early!), but not enough to stop reading.

I am hopeful for these other protagonists, &/or maybe sympathizing more with Janet as I go.

[wild_irises]

I think it's useful to remember that Janet is very awkward, which is (a small) part of why that sentence is so difficult.

[wild_irises]

I think I've been saying "Janet" when I mean "Jeannine." :-(

[laceblade]

I think I'm having a hard time keeping Janet v. Joanna v. Jeannine straight, which might be the biggest reason why I'm having a hard time falling into this book, lol.

The Female Man

[coffeeandink]

I know a lot of people find The Female Man difficult or off-putting, but it always surprises me, because I first read it when I was sixteen and loved it. It made me feel so vindicated in rage. I went around being cheerfully angry for a week afterward. Unsurprisingly, Jael was my favorite -- though you probably haven't encountered her yet. It starts off with Jeanine, right? I did not get her at all when I was sixteen, though I feel rather more rueful and depressed kinship now.

I also liked how witty it is, I always love that with Russ. But mostly I find her writing compelling and hard to put down, whether or not it has anything like a propulsive plot -- I just get pulled into reading it. I am not sure if that is at all helpful, since it is hardly something you can make yourself feel if you don't feel that way already.

In my most recent reread, I was surprised at how much my perspectives on the characters had changed, and just how unreliable the narration was. I also really liked the Marxist feminist analyses of things. There's a lot of emphasis on money and the interactions of economic and social constraints.

sanguinity liveblogged her reading a couple of years ago.

Re: The Female Man

[laceblade]

It starts with Jeanine, yeah. I don't think I've met Jael yet. I left the book at home so I would actually review my Japanese textbook today before class, but I think I'm still before page 20.

I definitely felt that pull with How to Suppress Women's Writing! Maybe I just need to get into this one more.

Thanks for that link, I'm now going to go read the notes for the pages I've read so far.

[skygiants]

I had sort of a mixed reaction to the The Female Man -- like, there are the parts that are fascinating, and there are the parts that made me go "yes, that," but at the same time it does sort of have 1970!!!! stamped on the page in giant blinking letters, and those blinking letters can be difficult to see past. It wasn't precisely a pleasure read for me, but I am glad I read it.