I can't remember if I've mentioned this, but this year I taught (and read) Invisible Man for the first time. Holy shit. Ellison? AMAZING. This is definitely on my best book list. Anyone read it?
I'm a single undead gal trying to make it in the big city. I have to start somewhere and they're evil here. They don't judge. They've got necro-tempered glass. No burning up. A great medical plan, and who needs dental more than us?
Harmony ,'Conviction (1)'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Kat - Nov 17, 2010 5:01:14 pm PST #12978 of 28282
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Sophia Brooks - Nov 17, 2010 5:03:15 pm PST #12979 of 28282
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
I've read it. Although long enough ago ( before HS) that I think I might confuse it with "Black Like Me."
Hayden - Nov 17, 2010 5:09:59 pm PST #12980 of 28282
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Invisible Man is indeed amazing.
brenda m - Nov 17, 2010 5:11:58 pm PST #12981 of 28282
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Weird. The opening quote on tonight's CM, which I just started watching seconds after reading this thread, is from IM.
Kat - Nov 17, 2010 5:51:17 pm PST #12982 of 28282
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Sophia, Invisible Man is really distinct. I had read both Native Son and Black Boy and had zero interest in teaching them. I had approached IM very cautiously because I thought it would be another book of a type.
But damn! It was so amazing -- I think the search for individual identity in the face of societal (of all races) expectations is a challenge and a great story to tell.
I loved it so much.
Polter-Cow - Nov 17, 2010 6:09:27 pm PST #12983 of 28282
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I loved Invisible Man too, Kat. I wrote a paper on it in college.
Kat - Nov 17, 2010 6:47:02 pm PST #12984 of 28282
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
There's a ton there to address so it must be a fun book to write ABOUT. It was extremely fun to teach. And I hadn't realized that the Battle Royale scene was actually written to be an intentional stand alone if necessary.
I've been delving into the Paris Review's interviews. The Ralph Ellison one [link] is excellent.
Liese S. - Nov 17, 2010 6:57:32 pm PST #12985 of 28282
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."
Invisible Man was one of the formative books of my childhood. I think probably I wasn't actually supposed to read it yet, but once I realized that nobody stopped kids from going to the adult book shelves in the library, it was all a lost cause from that point on.
Kat - Nov 17, 2010 7:05:04 pm PST #12986 of 28282
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Hmmm.... my formative books were Shakespeare's comedies, though I didn't get 80% of it read in 5th grade. Followed quickly by John Jakes books. Then when I hit high school it was the Brontes. Then there was a Leon Uris phase. I think Handmaid's Tale and Margaret Atwood came next.
Then the next really big memorable book was The Magus. Then a whole mess of nonfiction (Francis Fukuyama). Then Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa.
I didn't read TKAM until a few years ago. And I wish I had read IM in high school. But no. I had the Scarlet Letter and Huck Finn (ptooey) shoved down my throat.
Polter-Cow - Nov 17, 2010 7:56:22 pm PST #12987 of 28282
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
I went on a short-story kick recently and just posted my reviews of Fragile Things, Smoke and Mirrors, and Machine of Death (two Gaiman collections and an awesome anthology that everyone should read).