My Debut Post!

Steve twisted my arm, as well, so I've decided to write a little update on the blog. I'm doing it during a very quiet hour on my register shift at my bookstore, so I can't promise it will be lucid or well organized.

Instead of writing a single review, I think I'm going to borrow from previous entries and do my own little musing on summer reading, and what books I've been burrowing my nose in over the course of this dreary, rainy, humid Maine summer.

I've spent much of my summer this far delving into a genre that I have tended to neglect, or at the very least, only skim over in the past. That genre is graphic novels, which is surprisingly distinguished and fascinating with many of its offerings. There are, of course, an extensive number of titles which feature superheroes or other epically powered individuals, of course, but I've been pleasantly surprised with some of the works I've picked up. The first was one of the essentials, Watchmen by Alan Moore. I suppose I was pushed to pick it up because of the hype for the movie, but I found it to be really sophisticated and clever. Moore's got real talent, and it's impressive that something written so long ago, and with such a dated art style is still considered so relevant and fascinating to new readers. I also have checked out much of Greg Rucka's non-superhero stuff, specifically his Queen & Country and Whiteout graphic novels. Both are a bit gritty and violent, drawn in black and white, and lacking some of the artistic polish that other graphic novels seem to boast. However, I found myself really drawn into the two - Whiteout especially. U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko is a really intriguing, ballsy, and realistic individual. This is made even more fascinating how Greg Rucka conveys her so fully despite the Whiteout graphic novels being rather slim and skimpy on length. I really don't know how to put her into words, but I really recommend anyone interested in checking her out. The books take place in Antarctica, and the sort of sparse and bleak setting makes itself known in the almost-dirty, messy style in which they are drawn. Really top-knotch stuff, comes highly recommended from me.

I've had a few other graphic novels make their ways onto my shelf over the course of the summer, but Rucka's and Moore's are the two which impressed me the most. The rest of my reading this summer has been a bit eclectic. I started my summer off with Atwood's The Blind Assassin. The woman is a genius when it comes to storytelling - the nuanced, highly structured (and still surprising) means of revealing information and furthering the plot of the novel are really top of the line. And to be honest, Irish Chase might be the most interesting and enjoyable narrator I've ever read in a story. Despite all this, though, the novel definitely isn't one of my all time favorites. Definitely a good one, but not my favorite. I enjoyed Alias Grace more. Still a great read, though.

I moved on to one of the most ambitious and epic reads I'd ever partaken in after that. This was Gone With the Wind, which I knew very little about. I've never seen the movie and only knew that Scarlet O'Hara was a bith of a spoiled brat. Sure enough, I had an accurate idea of what she was like. But the sheer scope of Mitchell's novel was almost suffocating. No matter how much I read, no matter how many pages I got through in one sitting, I still felt like I'd started some futile task, that the book would never end. I did get through it, but it took about a full month of reading casually. Much longer than other books.

And even though the length was positively staggering, this was one of the richest, most fascinating books I'd ever read. A totally different view of the south, during and after the Civil War. Soem of the language was a bit disturbing to read as a liberal-minded, 21st century reader with black friends, but I managed to keep it in perspective and realize that Mitchell herself came from a family of plantation owners with their own views on slavery and the fall of the south. Definitely interesting, though, to get a distinctly southern point of view during Reconstruction. Epic in scale, that's for sure - and finishing it was one of the most rewarding experiences to me as a reader - very rarely do I find such a rewarding end to a book.

Alright, that's it for now. I have a couple other books I read and can discuss. Hopefully I can do a little bit more analysis about those when I come to them. I realize this was a verbal vomit session that didn't really dig into anything in particular.

Cheers, folks.