Judgments

“If you’re a person who loves Alice Munro and you’re going out with someone whose favorite book is ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ perhaps the flags of incompatibility were there prior to the big reveal.”— Sloane Crosley

I’ve always believed that you can learn everything you need to know about a person by looking at their bookshelf. The problem with that though is that (a) they may not read at all and (b) even if they do read, they may not buy books because they’re on a pro-environment paper-saving binge, because they can’t afford them or because they’re miserly.

I read about people deciding whether to spend time on a relationship because of the other person’s taste in books the other day. As I read the write-up, it seemed a little far-fetched to me but a few minutes ago, I began to think of it after I almost unsubscribed from a blog which reviewed a novel which I’d like to read called ‘The Palace of Illusions’ by Chitra Divakaruni by saying that although it’s ‘not as good or as strong as Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’, it’s still very much worth reading’.

Judging people by their taste in books isn’t something I thought I did, but when I read that sentence, I almost unsubscribed from the blog. Dan Brown. Strong? I’ve enjoyed reading Mr Brown’s books but his writing is hardly great literature. If it weren’t for the subjects he’s chosen, I’m sure he’d be just another novelist in the list: John Grisham, Jeffrey Archer, Arthur Hailey, Stephen King.

Thinking about it, I realise that if someone told me that their favourite author was someone I didn’t think too highly of, I’d write the person off. Never mind that my own favourite authors are Beatrix Potter and A A Milne.

I somehow believe that a person’s tastes and choices reveal who they are with far more clarity than any of their assertions ever do. And those choices are not restricted to what they choose to read.

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About ‘The Palace of Illusions’ from Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s site:

“Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to the time of the Indian epic The Mahabharat—a time that is half-history, half-myth, and wholly magical. Through her narrator Panchaali, the wife of the legendary five Pandavas brothers, Divakaruni gives us a rare feminist interpretation of an epic story.”

Read the first chapter at randomhouse.com/doubleday/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385515993&view=excerpt

A History of Clichés

Another book on my wishlist:
The Cat’s Pyjamas: The Penguin Book of Clichés by Julia Cresswell
The book is exactly what it says it is: a book which discusses the origins of clichés.
And as for the title, according to Urban Dictionary, cat’s pyjamas is ‘1920s lingo’ used to describe someone or something who is the best. It goes on to say that it usually ‘indicated stylishness or innovation since pyjamas were a relatively new fashion in the 1920s. The term ‘cat’ was beginning to be used as a term to describe the out going and unconventional jazz-age flappers’.

Odd Books ; Are Women Human?

From Reuters comes a list of some odd books [1] including:
1. How to Write a How to Write Book
2. If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs
3. Drawing and Painting the Undead
It was the title ‘Are Women Human?’ which caught my eye. Not being entirely certain whether it was another one of those virulently anti-women books possibly trying to be funny or something else, I went and checked it out on Amazon.com.
As it turns out, it’s a feminist study by Catharine A. MacKinnon whose book ‘Women’s Lives, Men’s Laws‘ I read a while ago and think rather highly of. Ms Magazine has said:
“In this collection of essays, the pioneering feminist lawyer calls for international laws to protect women from the denial of property rights, the deployment of rape in war and other brutalities that flow from male oppression.”
I’m not sure why the book has been listed in a collection of odd books unless it’s supposed to be a list of books with odd titles.
Link:
[1] http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080222/od_nm/books_dc
Addendum:
March 28, 2008
‘If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs’ won this year’s oddest book title competition.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080328/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_britain_book_odd

The Terror Dream

by Susan Faludi
I've been reading extracts of the book online but I haven't been able to find it in a bookshop. I'd love to read the whole book through: it seems interesting and humourous (though more sarcastic than laugh-out-loud funny).
Reading the extracts reminded me of a conversation I'd had with a friend's mum some time ago where I'd told her that I felt as though over the last few years, the clock has been turned back in terms of women's 'liberation'. Not being an authority on the subject in any sense of the word though, I've rarely voiced the opinion.
It is, however, an opinion which the author of this book seems to share and build upon albeit in a different context: Faludi says that 9/11 revived traditional gender stereotypes.