Reading 2011
Dec. 31st, 2011 12:00 pmI still haven't got around to upgrading my LibraryThing account, damn it. So I guess I'm still keeping a running list here.
( 2011 in books )
I have a feeling I've already lost a thing or two from this list, actually, since I've not been as obsessive about writing things down since I got ill. But this is probably most of it, anyway.
I was about to start a to-read list as well but then I remembered what happens with to-read lists.
( 2011 in books )
I have a feeling I've already lost a thing or two from this list, actually, since I've not been as obsessive about writing things down since I got ill. But this is probably most of it, anyway.
I was about to start a to-read list as well but then I remembered what happens with to-read lists.
[Svenska] Är det inte helgen än.
Oct. 14th, 2011 11:03 am- Ulf Lundell var på Babel igår. HUR kan han vara så tråkig och samtidigt så provocerande? -_- Och nästa vecka blir det fler tråkgubbar - Franzen och Umberto Eco. Jösses. NÄSTA TORSDAG ÄR INSTÄLLD P.G.A. GUBBÖVERSKOTT.
- Kulturgrammatik börjar småirritera mig. Författaren ska vara så jävla förstående och förklara precis allt om kulturella skillnader men verkar ändå har visa... döda vinklar, så att säga... som han är helt omedveten om. Han skriver t.o.m. om en kvinna som på en av hans föreläsningar försökte påpeka en sådan. Han tyckte ju att hon var lite dum. Sorry to say, gubbe, men det ÄR möjligt att kvinnor kan ha lite bättre kol på könsdiskriminering än vad du gör.
- Nu vill jag sjunga dig milda sånger verka i alla fall vara en bättre bok än grabben i graven bredvid, MEN. Det känns ganska underredigerad. Jag vill ta en röd penna till det och kryssa ut typ minst ett stycke onödig beskrivning i varje kort kapitel, och det upprepar sig själv ganska mycket, och människor pratar på något jävla konstigt sätt som ibland känns helt orealistisk. Alltså... människor i böcker pratar inte som människor i verkligheten, och det är helt OK, men det ska vara en stiliserad avbildning som känns i alla fall trovärdigt, va, eller som funkar på något annat sätt som del av bokens stil. Ehh... ja, det som jag ville säga var att det är sällan ett bra tecken när man känner att man redigerar en bok som man läser.
- Alliansen jag hatar er. Ja jag vet, vilken överraskning. Men! liksom! Alliansen smygavskaffade mål om delad föräldraledighet. -__________________- Visst kan man bli trött på hela grejen med föräldraledighet som Enda Stora Jämställdhets Mål, men inte för att det är en dålig grej i sig - snarare för att fler saker behövs utöver detta, och för att jämställdhetsdebatten som det ser ut i riksdagen är så jävla hetero. (Fast det är tillsyntes inte längre någon pågående debatt överhuvudtaget.)
I alla fall. Man får inte bestämma hur folk ska leva sina liv, eftersom man är liberal, säger jämställdhetsministern. Det vill säga, man får inte FÖRUTOM NÄR MAN FÅR, alltså, när det är en grej som vi tycker om går det jättebra! :D Liksom, det är helt OK att bestämma hur transpersoner och invandrare ska leva, men man får inte ens ha åsikter om att det kanske vore bra om kvinnan i ett heteroförhållande inte förväntades ta hand om barnen ensam. Nej. Det vore att ingripa i folks liv och inskränka dem. MAN FÅR HA FRITT VAL! JA! MAN BEHÖVER VÄL INTE JOBBA MED FOLKS ÅSIKTER ELLER STIFTA LAGAR FÖR ATT NÅ ETT JÄMSTÄLLT SAMHÄLLE, DET KOMMER UTAN ATT MAN GÖR NÅGOT ALLS. DET ÄR TYP TROLLERI VET DU VÄL. :D
Alliansens liberal"feminism", what the hell.
- Ja förlåt mitt svenska är säkert helt obegripligt idag, jag känner mig fortfarande ganska förkyld och jättetrött och jag sitter här och skriva inlägg istället för att läsa Kulturgrammatik. Suck. XD
- Kulturgrammatik börjar småirritera mig. Författaren ska vara så jävla förstående och förklara precis allt om kulturella skillnader men verkar ändå har visa... döda vinklar, så att säga... som han är helt omedveten om. Han skriver t.o.m. om en kvinna som på en av hans föreläsningar försökte påpeka en sådan. Han tyckte ju att hon var lite dum. Sorry to say, gubbe, men det ÄR möjligt att kvinnor kan ha lite bättre kol på könsdiskriminering än vad du gör.
- Nu vill jag sjunga dig milda sånger verka i alla fall vara en bättre bok än grabben i graven bredvid, MEN. Det känns ganska underredigerad. Jag vill ta en röd penna till det och kryssa ut typ minst ett stycke onödig beskrivning i varje kort kapitel, och det upprepar sig själv ganska mycket, och människor pratar på något jävla konstigt sätt som ibland känns helt orealistisk. Alltså... människor i böcker pratar inte som människor i verkligheten, och det är helt OK, men det ska vara en stiliserad avbildning som känns i alla fall trovärdigt, va, eller som funkar på något annat sätt som del av bokens stil. Ehh... ja, det som jag ville säga var att det är sällan ett bra tecken när man känner att man redigerar en bok som man läser.
- Alliansen jag hatar er. Ja jag vet, vilken överraskning. Men! liksom! Alliansen smygavskaffade mål om delad föräldraledighet. -__________________- Visst kan man bli trött på hela grejen med föräldraledighet som Enda Stora Jämställdhets Mål, men inte för att det är en dålig grej i sig - snarare för att fler saker behövs utöver detta, och för att jämställdhetsdebatten som det ser ut i riksdagen är så jävla hetero. (Fast det är tillsyntes inte längre någon pågående debatt överhuvudtaget.)
I alla fall. Man får inte bestämma hur folk ska leva sina liv, eftersom man är liberal, säger jämställdhetsministern. Det vill säga, man får inte FÖRUTOM NÄR MAN FÅR, alltså, när det är en grej som vi tycker om går det jättebra! :D Liksom, det är helt OK att bestämma hur transpersoner och invandrare ska leva, men man får inte ens ha åsikter om att det kanske vore bra om kvinnan i ett heteroförhållande inte förväntades ta hand om barnen ensam. Nej. Det vore att ingripa i folks liv och inskränka dem. MAN FÅR HA FRITT VAL! JA! MAN BEHÖVER VÄL INTE JOBBA MED FOLKS ÅSIKTER ELLER STIFTA LAGAR FÖR ATT NÅ ETT JÄMSTÄLLT SAMHÄLLE, DET KOMMER UTAN ATT MAN GÖR NÅGOT ALLS. DET ÄR TYP TROLLERI VET DU VÄL. :D
Alliansens liberal"feminism", what the hell.
- Ja förlåt mitt svenska är säkert helt obegripligt idag, jag känner mig fortfarande ganska förkyld och jättetrött och jag sitter här och skriva inlägg istället för att läsa Kulturgrammatik. Suck. XD
Reading Charlie by Margareta Suber. It's early 20th century Swedish lesbian fiction. It's pretty short, so I'll probably finish it today or tomorrow. Anyway, just have to say - o Charlie, be my drinking buddy?
Also, all the ladies plz to be having sex now? No wait, early 20th century. Longing looks and hands touching in suggestive ways it is then, I guess! (But rly, all the ladies.)
Also, all the ladies plz to be having sex now? No wait, early 20th century. Longing looks and hands touching in suggestive ways it is then, I guess! (But rly, all the ladies.)
[Svenska] Plugga plugga plugga
Sep. 8th, 2011 05:35 pm[Note: This entry is in Swedish! As you, uh, may have noticed. It's about school and reading. Basically: we are reading a romance novel for school and I do not like it. But I can bitch about it in class so it doesn't matter! :D And I'm still reading that biography of Bang/Barbro Alving that I mentioned. And a new Liv Strömquist book is on its way.]
Då så. Nu har jag gjort alla mina läxor. Så fint.
Skolläsning:
- Grabben i graven bredvid av Katarina Mazetti. Jag ogillar den. Men har man saker att säga om boken så är den nog en lyckad val i alla fall. Den handlar om kulturchock! På ett väldigt övertydligt sätt! Dessutom är den romans. Jättejättehetero romans. Och ibland skojar huvudkvinnan med sin kompis att det skulle vara så praktiskt om de kunde vara lesbiska eftersom män är ju så jobbiga! HÖHÖ. Tyst med er. (Alltså, det handlar om en beige kulturtant och en bondkille. De förstår ingenting om varandra och allting är jättetraumatisk för alla förutom när de har otroligt bra sex. Gäsp.)
- Kulturgrammatik av Gillis Herlitz
- Idéhistoriens huvudlinjer av Gunnar Eriksson och Tore Frängsmyr
och artiklar osv osv. Den har veckan en om Nobel och en om Diana. Diana! Fy fan, har man verkligen flyttat från Storbritannien bara för att läsa om Diana? Nåja.
I fritiden håller jag fortfarande på med biografin om Bang. ♥ Så badass! Fast också skruttig. Så kan det ju gå. I alla fall, nu är hon vuxen och journalist och hon resa tåg för att träffa Elin Wägner och tycker det är JÄTTESPÄNNANDE. ELIN WÄGNER. Awww.
Och snart kommer det en ny bok av Liv Strömquist! Babel ska ha en grej om den ikväll tror jag, som gör nånting att balansera faktum att Jan Guillou ska också vara med. Bläääää, Jan Guillou. Men JAAAAAAAAAAA, Liv Strömquist!
Då så. Nu har jag gjort alla mina läxor. Så fint.
Skolläsning:
- Grabben i graven bredvid av Katarina Mazetti. Jag ogillar den. Men har man saker att säga om boken så är den nog en lyckad val i alla fall. Den handlar om kulturchock! På ett väldigt övertydligt sätt! Dessutom är den romans. Jättejättehetero romans. Och ibland skojar huvudkvinnan med sin kompis att det skulle vara så praktiskt om de kunde vara lesbiska eftersom män är ju så jobbiga! HÖHÖ. Tyst med er. (Alltså, det handlar om en beige kulturtant och en bondkille. De förstår ingenting om varandra och allting är jättetraumatisk för alla förutom när de har otroligt bra sex. Gäsp.)
- Kulturgrammatik av Gillis Herlitz
- Idéhistoriens huvudlinjer av Gunnar Eriksson och Tore Frängsmyr
och artiklar osv osv. Den har veckan en om Nobel och en om Diana. Diana! Fy fan, har man verkligen flyttat från Storbritannien bara för att läsa om Diana? Nåja.
I fritiden håller jag fortfarande på med biografin om Bang. ♥ Så badass! Fast också skruttig. Så kan det ju gå. I alla fall, nu är hon vuxen och journalist och hon resa tåg för att träffa Elin Wägner och tycker det är JÄTTESPÄNNANDE. ELIN WÄGNER. Awww.
Och snart kommer det en ny bok av Liv Strömquist! Babel ska ha en grej om den ikväll tror jag, som gör nånting att balansera faktum att Jan Guillou ska också vara med. Bläääää, Jan Guillou. Men JAAAAAAAAAAA, Liv Strömquist!
(no subject)
May. 23rd, 2011 09:02 am1. I'm trying out 750 words at ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
littlebutfierce's recommendation and have in fact written 800 words this morning. So we'll see!
2. En Riktig Kvinna is continuing to be both really useful and really depressing. I've been reading about the background of social darwinism and race hygine and how these ideas can be traced forward to a lot of the construction of difference - both between genders and other groups - we have going on at the moment. About how the ways of describing women's biology have changed over time in ways which cannot only be explained with scientific developments, but which seem to have a coupling to contemporary social ideals.
Another book which falls under the heading of: I did basically know this, but thank fuck for good structure. Not new ideas but ones that I now have a firmer grasp on, I think.
3. Queerness in manga, especially from the 70s. We have:
- Rose of Versailles
- Claudine
- Oniisama e
- Orpheus no mado
- Heart of Thomas
- A, A'
- They Were 11
- A Drunken Dream
- Marginal (later, but relevant)
- Kaze to Ki no Uta
- The Poe Clan
- Shiroi Heya no Futari
- Applause (slightly later, and of which we only have the prequel, Bruges)
- Maya's Funeral Procession
- Eroica
Earlier related things:
- Rows of Cherry Trees
- Princess Knight
- girls magazines & their aesthetic
Later related things:
- Utena
- Ooku
- Sailor Moon
- all the yaoi
Misc:
- Takarazuka
... that I can think of! I have a big folder on an external hard drive which isn't plugged into this computer right now, so I'm probably forgetting stuff, but tell us about our glaring omissions, please. Note that we're not just talking about stuff which is positive about queerness (though putting together a talk about homophobia in this stuff is a project for another time), or stuff which is in every way a brilliant story. If you have links as well, including to raws or raws with a summary of some kind, then I will love you forever. (I am on the trail of some raws of other series by Hagio Moto and Keiko Takemiya, we'll see - I don't have that much info in English about them though. *wry*)
littlebutfierce's recommendation and have in fact written 800 words this morning. So we'll see!2. En Riktig Kvinna is continuing to be both really useful and really depressing. I've been reading about the background of social darwinism and race hygine and how these ideas can be traced forward to a lot of the construction of difference - both between genders and other groups - we have going on at the moment. About how the ways of describing women's biology have changed over time in ways which cannot only be explained with scientific developments, but which seem to have a coupling to contemporary social ideals.
Another book which falls under the heading of: I did basically know this, but thank fuck for good structure. Not new ideas but ones that I now have a firmer grasp on, I think.
3. Queerness in manga, especially from the 70s. We have:
- Rose of Versailles
- Claudine
- Oniisama e
- Orpheus no mado
- Heart of Thomas
- A, A'
- They Were 11
- A Drunken Dream
- Marginal (later, but relevant)
- Kaze to Ki no Uta
- The Poe Clan
- Shiroi Heya no Futari
- Applause (slightly later, and of which we only have the prequel, Bruges)
- Maya's Funeral Procession
- Eroica
Earlier related things:
- Rows of Cherry Trees
- Princess Knight
- girls magazines & their aesthetic
Later related things:
- Utena
- Ooku
- Sailor Moon
- all the yaoi
Misc:
- Takarazuka
... that I can think of! I have a big folder on an external hard drive which isn't plugged into this computer right now, so I'm probably forgetting stuff, but tell us about our glaring omissions, please. Note that we're not just talking about stuff which is positive about queerness (though putting together a talk about homophobia in this stuff is a project for another time), or stuff which is in every way a brilliant story. If you have links as well, including to raws or raws with a summary of some kind, then I will love you forever. (I am on the trail of some raws of other series by Hagio Moto and Keiko Takemiya, we'll see - I don't have that much info in English about them though. *wry*)
No, I never write, I know.
Feb. 27th, 2011 05:52 pmI've just had a week of not having to commute, and my mum and brother have been here. I think I need another week to recover, actually, but hey! Back to work tomorrow.
Here are the books I've read lately, from picture books through to theory (albeit in comic form). Children's and YA books dominate, obviously:
Liv Strömquist - Prins Charles känsla
Sue Mongredien - Headmaster Disaster
Eoin Colfer - The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
Clara Vulliamy - The Bear with Sticky Paws
Giles Andreae and Sarah McIntyre - Morris the Mankiest Monster
Helen Ward - Unwitting Wisdom: An Anthology of Aesop's Fables
Philip Reeve - Larklight
Philip Reeve - Mortal Engines
Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Jackie Kay - Trumpet
Takemiya Keiko - Andromeda Stories v3
Alison Bechdel - Fun Home
Joyce Carol Oates - Foxfire
Bernard Ashley - The Bush
Scott Westerfeld - Uglies
Eva Ibbotson - The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
Ama Ata Aidoo - Our Sister Killjoy
Heller Cresswell - A gift from winklesea
Dick King-Smith - The Roundhill
Wilson, Fine, Morpurgo - Three for tea
Liv Strömqvist - Einsteins fru
Sandra Dahlén - Hetero
I know I've talked about some of these already, but sorting through the list feels vaguely beyond me somehow!
More detail on the highlights:
Liv Strömqvist is still amazing. Einsteins fru (Einstein's wife) is a fairly miscellaneous collection of strips - about feminism, racism, heteronormativity and animal rights, to name just a few. But one of the things she does which I find really wonderful is that she lifts out really cool women and tells their stories. Some of them I actually hadn't even heard of before. And her comics have references. You guys, I can follow the footnotes to biographies and theory books. Many of them! More comics should be like this. Her other collection that I've read, Prins Charles känsla, is more focused, examining modern ideas of love and romance as well as the history of those ideas. (Liv Strömqvist is doing a comics workshop for 15-20 year old girls in a couple of weeks as part of Bang's 20 year anniversary celebration. If there was ever a reason to actually wish one fell into that age group...)
Jackie Kay's Trumpet is a book about a jazz musician who is discovered on his death to have a female body. I probably had some actual thoughts on it at the time, but I've been working like a maniac and about what I can remember is that it felt really interesting and that I spent a lot of time thinking about it afterwards but that I don't know if I actually loved it. I'm glad I've read it though!
Alison Bechdel's Fun Home was absolutely spectacular and felt like a revelation in terms of the things one can do with comics as a medium. And I already knew that one could do damn great things. I loved it as a story and as a work of art both and also it dealt with a lot of things that I felt were really, really useful for me in some way.
Foxfire is Foxfire. It pushed a load of my buttons, basically. I actually picked it up to read for work, but decided quite quickly that it wouldn't work. Female gang! Lesbians! Mad schemes! Nom.
Sandra Dalén's Hetero is amazing, you guys. (And in Swedish. Sorry.) It's the handbook for hetero people! What does it mean to be heterosexual? What are the problems? What's the history of the whole idea of heterosexuality? How do you know if someone is heterosexual? Interviews with famous heterosexuals! etc etc. Also really well put together and easy to read. God I am a bit in love with this book and I hope loads of teenagers (and other people) read it.
Most of the rest was work reading, which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it/get anything out of it, but I read it in a different way. Our Sister Killjoy I enjoyed but don't think I can use for work, I thought Uglies was really good YA, and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist was pleasant for being het romance. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have an allergy, but it does help that in that particular world non-het people do exist omg. I haven't forgiven Norah for her comments about Patti Smith, though.
Here are the books I've read lately, from picture books through to theory (albeit in comic form). Children's and YA books dominate, obviously:
Liv Strömquist - Prins Charles känsla
Sue Mongredien - Headmaster Disaster
Eoin Colfer - The Legend of the Worst Boy in the World
Clara Vulliamy - The Bear with Sticky Paws
Giles Andreae and Sarah McIntyre - Morris the Mankiest Monster
Helen Ward - Unwitting Wisdom: An Anthology of Aesop's Fables
Philip Reeve - Larklight
Philip Reeve - Mortal Engines
Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Jackie Kay - Trumpet
Takemiya Keiko - Andromeda Stories v3
Alison Bechdel - Fun Home
Joyce Carol Oates - Foxfire
Bernard Ashley - The Bush
Scott Westerfeld - Uglies
Eva Ibbotson - The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
Ama Ata Aidoo - Our Sister Killjoy
Heller Cresswell - A gift from winklesea
Dick King-Smith - The Roundhill
Wilson, Fine, Morpurgo - Three for tea
Liv Strömqvist - Einsteins fru
Sandra Dahlén - Hetero
I know I've talked about some of these already, but sorting through the list feels vaguely beyond me somehow!
More detail on the highlights:
Liv Strömqvist is still amazing. Einsteins fru (Einstein's wife) is a fairly miscellaneous collection of strips - about feminism, racism, heteronormativity and animal rights, to name just a few. But one of the things she does which I find really wonderful is that she lifts out really cool women and tells their stories. Some of them I actually hadn't even heard of before. And her comics have references. You guys, I can follow the footnotes to biographies and theory books. Many of them! More comics should be like this. Her other collection that I've read, Prins Charles känsla, is more focused, examining modern ideas of love and romance as well as the history of those ideas. (Liv Strömqvist is doing a comics workshop for 15-20 year old girls in a couple of weeks as part of Bang's 20 year anniversary celebration. If there was ever a reason to actually wish one fell into that age group...)
Jackie Kay's Trumpet is a book about a jazz musician who is discovered on his death to have a female body. I probably had some actual thoughts on it at the time, but I've been working like a maniac and about what I can remember is that it felt really interesting and that I spent a lot of time thinking about it afterwards but that I don't know if I actually loved it. I'm glad I've read it though!
Alison Bechdel's Fun Home was absolutely spectacular and felt like a revelation in terms of the things one can do with comics as a medium. And I already knew that one could do damn great things. I loved it as a story and as a work of art both and also it dealt with a lot of things that I felt were really, really useful for me in some way.
Foxfire is Foxfire. It pushed a load of my buttons, basically. I actually picked it up to read for work, but decided quite quickly that it wouldn't work. Female gang! Lesbians! Mad schemes! Nom.
Sandra Dalén's Hetero is amazing, you guys. (And in Swedish. Sorry.) It's the handbook for hetero people! What does it mean to be heterosexual? What are the problems? What's the history of the whole idea of heterosexuality? How do you know if someone is heterosexual? Interviews with famous heterosexuals! etc etc. Also really well put together and easy to read. God I am a bit in love with this book and I hope loads of teenagers (and other people) read it.
Most of the rest was work reading, which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it/get anything out of it, but I read it in a different way. Our Sister Killjoy I enjoyed but don't think I can use for work, I thought Uglies was really good YA, and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist was pleasant for being het romance. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I have an allergy, but it does help that in that particular world non-het people do exist omg. I haven't forgiven Norah for her comments about Patti Smith, though.
Media consumption
Feb. 5th, 2011 09:59 amReading:
- work books (YA & children's books in English)
- Alison Bechdel's Fun Home (♥)
- Liv Strömquist's Prins Charles känsla (♥!!!!)
- Andromeda Stories
Comics and work things. That's my level. Prins Charles känsla is a comic about love, as in, what the hell is this bullshit anyway, and it's pretty brilliant. It also has footnotes and references! Hoorah! And it makes fun of Viktor Rydberg (amongst many others), which I am all for. Alison Bechdel presumably needs no introduction in these parts.
(I'm currently feeling a bit like I want to buy ALL the cool queer & feminist comics, by the way. Or at least read them. Any ideas?
Likewise, lesbian films/films with queer appeal?
And really good YA books. Especially if an audiobook version exists. I have nerds and I have people who like "everything except sci-fi" and I have people who refuse to admit to liking anything at all, alas, so...
I know. I never write, I never call, and then I come in here with a little pile of requests for help. And I never did say what kind of music I wanted when some of you so kindly asked. This is either because I'm a terrible person or because I completely ran out of concentration & room for coherent thought when I started working. Or both!)
- work books (YA & children's books in English)
- Alison Bechdel's Fun Home (♥)
- Liv Strömquist's Prins Charles känsla (♥!!!!)
- Andromeda Stories
Comics and work things. That's my level. Prins Charles känsla is a comic about love, as in, what the hell is this bullshit anyway, and it's pretty brilliant. It also has footnotes and references! Hoorah! And it makes fun of Viktor Rydberg (amongst many others), which I am all for. Alison Bechdel presumably needs no introduction in these parts.
(I'm currently feeling a bit like I want to buy ALL the cool queer & feminist comics, by the way. Or at least read them. Any ideas?
Likewise, lesbian films/films with queer appeal?
And really good YA books. Especially if an audiobook version exists. I have nerds and I have people who like "everything except sci-fi" and I have people who refuse to admit to liking anything at all, alas, so...
I know. I never write, I never call, and then I come in here with a little pile of requests for help. And I never did say what kind of music I wanted when some of you so kindly asked. This is either because I'm a terrible person or because I completely ran out of concentration & room for coherent thought when I started working. Or both!)
Queer Universes (eds: Pearson, Hollinger & Gordon) is an anthology about sexualities in science fiction and it contains some pretty brilliant stuff, with varying levels of picking apart heavy theory required for enjoyment, from the entirely straightforward and entertaining to "I had to read a bunch of the sentences in this twice but it was fascinating." Sure, I didn't love absolutely every article, but the proportion of the book I felt like I got something out of was pretty high.
Otherwise I've been trying to read books and finding myself in rather the wrong mood. Theory seems to be going better than fiction, oddly enough, so maybe I'll try Tiina Rosenberg's Byxbegär next (about women wearing men's clothes in theater).
Though I do have a little list of authors who write some kind of queer sci-fi that I may want to check out too. If I can find them.
(I think the exams went OK, but I'm waiting on results.)
Otherwise I've been trying to read books and finding myself in rather the wrong mood. Theory seems to be going better than fiction, oddly enough, so maybe I'll try Tiina Rosenberg's Byxbegär next (about women wearing men's clothes in theater).
Though I do have a little list of authors who write some kind of queer sci-fi that I may want to check out too. If I can find them.
(I think the exams went OK, but I'm waiting on results.)
Reading, again
Nov. 22nd, 2010 08:22 amThings are still shifting around in my head. Settling in new shapes.
Books:
Anteckningar från en ö (Notes from an island) by Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä. Fairly miscellaneous assortment of notes on and thoughts about their summer home out on a tiny island, written by Tove and illustrated by Tuulikki. I really loved it, though obviously it's one for people who already have some investment in the whole thing!
Now reading: Lyssnerskan by Tove Jansson, Simone och jag by Åsa Moberg.
Manga:
Solanin by Asano Inio is manga which is about dissatisfied university graduates trying to get their lives together and figure out what they want. I rather enjoyed it, and it gave me a pretty good kick of emotional response, both good and bad, so I'll call that a success. (I've read a few manga which are basically aiming for realism lately, but I can't even remember the names of the others. Yes, that has prompted me to finally begin listing manga I read on librarything as well.) It's one solid volume, pretty big but easy to read. I read it in an afternoon and then I felt melancholy. But maybe that was partly November's fault.
Paradise Kiss by Yazawa Ai (as in Nana) didn't have characters I really fell for in the way I fell for Nana, but the manga as a whole really worked for me. Somehow. I'm not absolutely clear on how, but I suspect it's that as melodramatic as Yazawa Ai can be there's something in there which feels basically believable to me in the way people related to each other (and struggle to relate to each other).
Flower of Life by Yoshinaga Fumi has a similar kind of honesty coupled with absolute ridiculousness. It also delights in presenting the reader with a stereotype and then going BUT WAIT! and it did it in a way that surprised me and cracked me up. The whole thing cracked me up. A lot. One of the things I really do appreciate Yoshinaga Fumi for is her ability to tackle fucked up ideas while fully recognising precisely how fucked up they are. It appeals to me, in a "yes, sometimes people really do do stupid things" kind of way.
To Terra by Takemiya Keiko I'd read a whole chunk of before but lost track of somewhere in moving countries, so I picked it up from the beginning again and read it all in one go. I think this one is pretty much brilliant, category-defying anda giant metaphor for homosexaulity well put together.
Banana Fish is stupid. But kind of hypnotic. In a really, really 80s way.
I'm pretty sure I've got more but I should actually go and have breakfast now.
(We have a day off school for teacher training. And I've had a rather ill and sleep deprived weekend. I totally get to lie in bed being lazy. Right? ...no?)
Books:
Anteckningar från en ö (Notes from an island) by Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä. Fairly miscellaneous assortment of notes on and thoughts about their summer home out on a tiny island, written by Tove and illustrated by Tuulikki. I really loved it, though obviously it's one for people who already have some investment in the whole thing!
Now reading: Lyssnerskan by Tove Jansson, Simone och jag by Åsa Moberg.
Manga:
Solanin by Asano Inio is manga which is about dissatisfied university graduates trying to get their lives together and figure out what they want. I rather enjoyed it, and it gave me a pretty good kick of emotional response, both good and bad, so I'll call that a success. (I've read a few manga which are basically aiming for realism lately, but I can't even remember the names of the others. Yes, that has prompted me to finally begin listing manga I read on librarything as well.) It's one solid volume, pretty big but easy to read. I read it in an afternoon and then I felt melancholy. But maybe that was partly November's fault.
Paradise Kiss by Yazawa Ai (as in Nana) didn't have characters I really fell for in the way I fell for Nana, but the manga as a whole really worked for me. Somehow. I'm not absolutely clear on how, but I suspect it's that as melodramatic as Yazawa Ai can be there's something in there which feels basically believable to me in the way people related to each other (and struggle to relate to each other).
Flower of Life by Yoshinaga Fumi has a similar kind of honesty coupled with absolute ridiculousness. It also delights in presenting the reader with a stereotype and then going BUT WAIT! and it did it in a way that surprised me and cracked me up. The whole thing cracked me up. A lot. One of the things I really do appreciate Yoshinaga Fumi for is her ability to tackle fucked up ideas while fully recognising precisely how fucked up they are. It appeals to me, in a "yes, sometimes people really do do stupid things" kind of way.
To Terra by Takemiya Keiko I'd read a whole chunk of before but lost track of somewhere in moving countries, so I picked it up from the beginning again and read it all in one go. I think this one is pretty much brilliant, category-defying and
Banana Fish is stupid. But kind of hypnotic. In a really, really 80s way.
I'm pretty sure I've got more but I should actually go and have breakfast now.
(We have a day off school for teacher training. And I've had a rather ill and sleep deprived weekend. I totally get to lie in bed being lazy. Right? ...no?)
Recently finished books include...
Nov. 19th, 2010 08:07 amAtt springa by Maria Sveland is an incredibly depressing novel about rape, abuse and systems of power. It's a novel written with a really pretty journalistic motive, and I wouldn't say it's beautifully written, but it's really powerful social commentary. It's sometimes pretty fun along the way but in the end it's very, very bleak.
Ett nytt land utanför mitt fönster by Theodor Kallifatides is a book about being an immigrant, about language, and about how we perceive the world (and how it perceives us). It is beautifully written, with a lot of clarity and very elegant simplicity, and it says a lot of things that I've thought or felt (in fact basically all of the things I said about language on this journal recently, it turns out) but says them much more clearly. Also it's really nice to read a book by a not-so-young dude and think, when he describes relationships and how they work, "yeah, that sounds about right."
Now I zoom off to pack my bag. Giving a short talk about Swedish lit at school today as one of those "getting people to stand up and use their linguistic skillz in front of the class" things, then going to go and chill out at Val's parent's house, which is about the best place in the world for just curling up and reading for eight hours straight.
Ett nytt land utanför mitt fönster by Theodor Kallifatides is a book about being an immigrant, about language, and about how we perceive the world (and how it perceives us). It is beautifully written, with a lot of clarity and very elegant simplicity, and it says a lot of things that I've thought or felt (in fact basically all of the things I said about language on this journal recently, it turns out) but says them much more clearly. Also it's really nice to read a book by a not-so-young dude and think, when he describes relationships and how they work, "yeah, that sounds about right."
Now I zoom off to pack my bag. Giving a short talk about Swedish lit at school today as one of those "getting people to stand up and use their linguistic skillz in front of the class" things, then going to go and chill out at Val's parent's house, which is about the best place in the world for just curling up and reading for eight hours straight.
I read Baby Jane in two evenings. I couldn't quite stop. Now I have feelings. So many feelings! I think it's only through the wonders of dried frog pills that I have been having feelings rather than some kind of screaming breakdown, to be honest; it hit som critical areas. As it were.
I thought it was brilliant and also deeply depressing.
It's about depression and anxiety, and about destructive relationships. The main couple is lesbian; that isn't the point of the story at all but it was kind of, you know, one less barrier to identification.
Waagh.
I thought it was brilliant and also deeply depressing.
It's about depression and anxiety, and about destructive relationships. The main couple is lesbian; that isn't the point of the story at all but it was kind of, you know, one less barrier to identification.
Waagh.
...no. I don't have a problem.
Why do you ask.
Read ALL the books!
Nov. 7th, 2010 03:19 pmRight now I'm reading:
Sent i november by Tove Jansson (released in English as Moominvalley in November)
Ett nytt land utanför mitt fönster by Theodor Kallifatides (not translated as far as I know, but the title means "A new land outside my window".)
Theodor Kallifatides immigrated to Sweden from Greece in the 60s and the book of his that I'm reading now is a lot about that, being an immigrant, being a stranger to everyone. It's about identity. It's also really marvelously written.
I keep feeling like I need to read ridiculous numbers of books. Like I have a couple of decades of catching up to do on reading Swedish lit to even be roughly on the same level of understanding as people I talk with, on top of the general sense of Not Having Read Enough which I've been experiencing for ages. In absolute fairness, I want to work both with books and with words, so I really should read as much as I can - but that Must Read Everything sense just isn't helpful. There's too much. I will probably never feel really well-versed in anything. I just have to keep going and accept that I know more than I think and that no-one knows it all.
Sent i november by Tove Jansson (released in English as Moominvalley in November)
Ett nytt land utanför mitt fönster by Theodor Kallifatides (not translated as far as I know, but the title means "A new land outside my window".)
Theodor Kallifatides immigrated to Sweden from Greece in the 60s and the book of his that I'm reading now is a lot about that, being an immigrant, being a stranger to everyone. It's about identity. It's also really marvelously written.
I keep feeling like I need to read ridiculous numbers of books. Like I have a couple of decades of catching up to do on reading Swedish lit to even be roughly on the same level of understanding as people I talk with, on top of the general sense of Not Having Read Enough which I've been experiencing for ages. In absolute fairness, I want to work both with books and with words, so I really should read as much as I can - but that Must Read Everything sense just isn't helpful. There's too much. I will probably never feel really well-versed in anything. I just have to keep going and accept that I know more than I think and that no-one knows it all.
Still November
Nov. 5th, 2010 08:07 amDear Dreamwidth,
In the past week I have read all the manga I could get my hands on and a not insubstantial amount of queer and feminist theory.
The two have collided in my mind and there has been some kind of terrible explosion.
Send help.
Love,
Liz
(Manga, by the way, is the best way I've found to survive dark evenings when I just want to go to sleep at seven pm. The rest of the books I read are by that stage way beyond me, but can I read To Terra and go "oooh, the hair" for a few hours? Can I ever. By the way, I'm making a list of stuff I'm going to try and get hold of in the near future; do you have any interesting manga that's published in English or Swedish? whether it's in print or not, because by the wonders of public libraries many things are possible. So far it's all Hagio Moto! Takemiya Keiko! Yoshinaga Fumi! etc...)
In the past week I have read all the manga I could get my hands on and a not insubstantial amount of queer and feminist theory.
The two have collided in my mind and there has been some kind of terrible explosion.
Send help.
Love,
Liz
(Manga, by the way, is the best way I've found to survive dark evenings when I just want to go to sleep at seven pm. The rest of the books I read are by that stage way beyond me, but can I read To Terra and go "oooh, the hair" for a few hours? Can I ever. By the way, I'm making a list of stuff I'm going to try and get hold of in the near future; do you have any interesting manga that's published in English or Swedish? whether it's in print or not, because by the wonders of public libraries many things are possible. So far it's all Hagio Moto! Takemiya Keiko! Yoshinaga Fumi! etc...)
Books, authors, reading
Oct. 15th, 2010 12:07 pm1. I've finished Tiger by Mian Lodalen, and I think that if it'd been around when I was fifteen it would've been perfect, basically. It deals a lot with teenage girls' sexuality, terrible things happening to people who are marginalised, and various things to do with the culture surrounding sexuality, both gay and straight, and double standards, sexual abuse, homophobia and fear of homophobia. The main character deals with already being considered an outsider and then realising she's gay, and it's a big tangled mess. It's not going onto the list as Best Book I Have Evah Read, and I am rather past the stuff it dealt with, but it was interesting, the story was pretty well-told, and I can definitely think of people I'd rec it to.
Now I'm back on Birgitta Stenberg, who is also dealing with young female sexuality, namely, hers.
2. Mian Lodalen is giving a talk in our town next month along with Maria Sveland! This is a terrible small town where nothing ever happens, so you bet I'm excited. I'm also going to have to pick up one of Maria Sveland's books before then; I've seen her talk about them a couple of times on TV but have yet to actually read one. (This one sounds pretty great.)
3. Further name: Katarina Wennstam. Non-fiction and fiction, a lot of stuff about rape culture. Certain to be depressing but probably also worth it. Saw her in a discussion along with Maria Sveland the other day (Kunskapskanalen was running various stuff from the book fair) and they both said some really great things.
4. I need some stuff to read in English, though, occasionally, before I forget how. I don't have much around that I can read without having to concentrate completely, barring a few bits of manga.
Now I'm back on Birgitta Stenberg, who is also dealing with young female sexuality, namely, hers.
2. Mian Lodalen is giving a talk in our town next month along with Maria Sveland! This is a terrible small town where nothing ever happens, so you bet I'm excited. I'm also going to have to pick up one of Maria Sveland's books before then; I've seen her talk about them a couple of times on TV but have yet to actually read one. (This one sounds pretty great.)
3. Further name: Katarina Wennstam. Non-fiction and fiction, a lot of stuff about rape culture. Certain to be depressing but probably also worth it. Saw her in a discussion along with Maria Sveland the other day (Kunskapskanalen was running various stuff from the book fair) and they both said some really great things.
4. I need some stuff to read in English, though, occasionally, before I forget how. I don't have much around that I can read without having to concentrate completely, barring a few bits of manga.
Sofi Oksanen - Baby Jane
Mian Londalen - Tiger
Nina Björk - Under det rosa täcket
Maria Sveland - Bitterfittan
Tove Jansson - Anteckningar från en ö (illustrerad av Tuulikki Pietilä)
& I'm reading Birgitta Stenberg's Kärlek i europa (Love in Europe) now.
Mian Londalen and Maria Sveland were guests on this week's Babel and sounded well worth a look; they were talking about feminism and someone recommended Nina Björk (feminist writer) at some stage, Sofi Oksanen is in next week's episode which reminded Val to tell me to read her, and Tove Jansson is of course my hero.
P.S. Why does my history teacher from high school want to be friends on facebook? So she can throw sheep at me for all those times I talked back in class and didn't do my homework...? Slightly weirded out now.
Mian Londalen - Tiger
Nina Björk - Under det rosa täcket
Maria Sveland - Bitterfittan
Tove Jansson - Anteckningar från en ö (illustrerad av Tuulikki Pietilä)
& I'm reading Birgitta Stenberg's Kärlek i europa (Love in Europe) now.
Mian Londalen and Maria Sveland were guests on this week's Babel and sounded well worth a look; they were talking about feminism and someone recommended Nina Björk (feminist writer) at some stage, Sofi Oksanen is in next week's episode which reminded Val to tell me to read her, and Tove Jansson is of course my hero.
P.S. Why does my history teacher from high school want to be friends on facebook? So she can throw sheep at me for all those times I talked back in class and didn't do my homework...? Slightly weirded out now.
1. I've just finished Mina öar. Other than me, one person on LibraryThing has read it. And I live with that person.
Aren't we just such special fucking snowflakes. ♥
Anyway, Birgitta Stenberg. She's pretty cool, I think. If people have read her books even in Swedish they're probably the ones about her earlier life - which I haven't read about yet but I gather involved lots of sex and drugs in various parts of Europe. This book is about her later life on an island off the west coast of Sweden, Åstol. Mostly there's local in-fighting and fishermen who talk about god a lot, but I was thoroughly engaged. (I also recognised quite a bit of it. Different small community, some of the same things...)
Random:
...indeed. (They got a new boat, so they sold the old one. To a dentist! Who said he thought he would call it Dentina! They are very glad that he isn't a gynecologist. As I think we all should be.)
2. My exam is Probably Almost Definitely next Wednesday. I did practice tests last week and got them back today: almost perfect on everything but the writing, which was... you know, OK for SFI. I would say you have no idea how much it pains me to write those words, but I believe many of you have a comprehensive understanding, actually. I can definitely write better but then again I'd never written a formal letter before. Or been told how to write one.
I would really like to be done with SFI now so I can move on to being stressed over the next stage, possibly in a new locale!
I keep thinking that I should post in Swedish sometimes.
Then I get scared and run away from the idea.
Aren't we just such special fucking snowflakes. ♥
Anyway, Birgitta Stenberg. She's pretty cool, I think. If people have read her books even in Swedish they're probably the ones about her earlier life - which I haven't read about yet but I gather involved lots of sex and drugs in various parts of Europe. This book is about her later life on an island off the west coast of Sweden, Åstol. Mostly there's local in-fighting and fishermen who talk about god a lot, but I was thoroughly engaged. (I also recognised quite a bit of it. Different small community, some of the same things...)
Random:
Några år senare hade vi hittat en annan båt, R-yachten, som gjorde oss yra av gladje. Lholo sålde vi till en tändläkare som berättade att han tänkte kalla den Dentina. Vi nickade bifall, mycket nöjda med att han inte var gynekolog.
...indeed. (They got a new boat, so they sold the old one. To a dentist! Who said he thought he would call it Dentina! They are very glad that he isn't a gynecologist. As I think we all should be.)
2. My exam is Probably Almost Definitely next Wednesday. I did practice tests last week and got them back today: almost perfect on everything but the writing, which was... you know, OK for SFI. I would say you have no idea how much it pains me to write those words, but I believe many of you have a comprehensive understanding, actually. I can definitely write better but then again I'd never written a formal letter before. Or been told how to write one.
I would really like to be done with SFI now so I can move on to being stressed over the next stage, possibly in a new locale!
I keep thinking that I should post in Swedish sometimes.
Then I get scared and run away from the idea.
I'm perpetually amazed by the things people don't mention about books and authors. I know that for a great many years I had an impression of Virginia Woolf as some Classic Author who probably wrote very dry and dull things which no-one really liked but literary snobs claimed to. This can probably partly be blamed on the uneasy interaction between my mother's literary taste and my aunt's literary taste (the latter being rather more self-consciously high-brow than the former and clashes between the two being fairly common), which left me confused about a lot of books, really.
But also: no-one ever mentioned what they were about. If they did, they left things out. Things that I would have been interested in knowing, even quite a few years ago! Things like "Orlando is about the construction of gender" or "Mrs Dalloway is partly about sexuality, actually."
A lot of people - really a lot! - told me throughout my teens that I should read The Colour Purple, which I think was described as "about race" or possibly as "important" without elaboration. (Where to even start with this one...)
These are just the ones I can remember fastest. You've probably got more.
Do we just not mention the queer stuff? Is it not the done thing in polite conversation? Because really...
(Apropos of: thinking some more about Emma Donoghue's Inseparables - still recommended - and also suddenly remembering that I started reading Virginia Woolf finally because a few years ago Val said that she was a really good writer and also that there was stuff to be had on the gender and sexuality front there. And that I had this oh my god I had no idea moment.)
...and I'm going to go to class right now (and am totally going "oh my god and my teacher will have looked at my practice paper over the weekend and I know I spelt that one word wrong oh my god!" because I am ridiculous) so you get left with this mess of half-thoughts. Have fun!
But also: no-one ever mentioned what they were about. If they did, they left things out. Things that I would have been interested in knowing, even quite a few years ago! Things like "Orlando is about the construction of gender" or "Mrs Dalloway is partly about sexuality, actually."
A lot of people - really a lot! - told me throughout my teens that I should read The Colour Purple, which I think was described as "about race" or possibly as "important" without elaboration. (Where to even start with this one...)
These are just the ones I can remember fastest. You've probably got more.
Do we just not mention the queer stuff? Is it not the done thing in polite conversation? Because really...
(Apropos of: thinking some more about Emma Donoghue's Inseparables - still recommended - and also suddenly remembering that I started reading Virginia Woolf finally because a few years ago Val said that she was a really good writer and also that there was stuff to be had on the gender and sexuality front there. And that I had this oh my god I had no idea moment.)
...and I'm going to go to class right now (and am totally going "oh my god and my teacher will have looked at my practice paper over the weekend and I know I spelt that one word wrong oh my god!" because I am ridiculous) so you get left with this mess of half-thoughts. Have fun!
Quick question
Sep. 11th, 2010 06:17 pmBabel (a Swedish literature TV show which is the only thing we try to remember to watch right now) is talking about books about young men who are NEET. Val asks: are there books being written about women in that sort of outsider position too? Have there been books written? I second the question. We are assuming they exist, but we don't know what they are, and if we've heard any names/titles we can't remember them. Apart from Birgitta Stenberg.
Anyway: please help us, internets! Do you know of any?
Anyway: please help us, internets! Do you know of any?
