photo by steph byce of me in rome in front of the colosseum
i’m settling back in after 10 days in italy! we had a marvelous time in tiny hilltop towns in tuscany and florence and rome (as you can see from the photos - view all of them by clicking on steph’s my fiancee’s name above).
poem (click here for my full list of poems on the docket for 2023)
William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18”
it’s nice to read this in full after hearing the first two lines ad nauseum in early aughts rom coms. one thing i like about shakespeare is the efficient economy in which he works - temperate describes both the weather and a woman’s temperment, for example. he’s also obsessed with money as he was writing under the dawn (see what i did there) of capitalism. it’s a sweet poem even if the last two lines in all of his fourteen-liners feel awkward to me.
books
lives of girls and women by alice munro, 1971
when i try to write about this book, i keep thinking the word outrageous but not for its traditional sense - there’s something provocative about slipping into these intimate, domestic, mundane moments inside young women’s heads, especially young, poor women whose ambitions and dreams and quirks are invisibilized. alice munro is such a gifted writer that you don’t even realized you’re being led on such intricate narrative paths. her writing is slow, slippery, perfect.
tangerine by christine mangan, 2018
on vacation i have a higher tolerance for plot-driven stories like mysteries so this came into play. as a competitive/obsessive female friendship narrative (a favorite trope of mine), this was well-written and visceral. mangan was intentional and ambiguous in showing-not-telling which left lots of room to project my own fantasies (i.e. a lesbian subplot). the setting of tangier, morrocco in 1956 gave such an electric and tense stage for the drama to unfold into. and this review is great for more substance.
give me your hand by megan abbott, 2018
this tried to be a competitive female friendship book but lost the plot. the setting of a PMDD research lab swallowed all landscape-as-character possibilities and induced a feeling of shallowness, like wading into a kiddie pool when you want to be underwater. the plot was predictable and the characters were flat with an egregiously neat and tidy ending. this is fine if you want a quick mystery read while you’re stuck in the maze that is the fiumicino airport but other than that, it’s a no from me (dog).
maame by jessica george, 2023
more coming-of-age tales about young people in their early 20s like this one are sorely needed. many people (me included) had experiences at that age that made them feel like they were behind, were missing out, and would never catch up. the narrator in maame embodies that restlessness because of familial (absent mom, dad with parkinson’s), cultural (ghanian family in london), and interpersonal (dutiful, resentful) barriers and george writes about in a beautifully modern, textured, and non-linear way. this review encapsulates my feelings - though i will say it read a bit like a young adult book so it’s up to you if that’s a good or bad thing.
the humans by matt haig, 2013
this was delightfully weird! normally i would not be into an “alien takes the place of a married professor because the professor unlocked a key mathematical theory that the alien’s alien government wants ownership of” story but this was charming, irreverent, and well-paced. (i do think the characters being in the UK helped endear them all to me.) the plot is fairly predictable (the alien’s unexpected relationships with humans take center stage) but it was amusingly (forgive me) human and real.
the cabinet by un-su kim, 2006
the cabinet is a weird tale about “symptomers” in south korea - people with unbelievable characteristics like sleeping for years at a time, or growing ginseng trees out of their pinkies, or eating only steel or glass. the narrator - the research lab worker who fields calls from these symptomers - is listless, depressed, and stumbles into a billion-won extortion plot introducing an element of subterfuge and mystery under the surface. despite the outlandishness, the book is rife with themes of belonging, unrequited love, and individuality in the bleak, soulless landscape of late-stage capitalism.
films
babylon directed by damien chazelle, 2022
amsterdam directed by david o. russell, 2022
i’m going to discuss these together because i watched them on the way to rome on a tiny airplaine screen and margot robbie stars in both so they blur together for me. these films are witty and lively and portray an unbelievable series of events - babylon details the high highs and low lows of the stars of the silent film era and amsterdam traces a post-WWI america where black veterans are treated like dirt and fascism is digging its fingernails into the american consciousness. bablyon has a sadder ending but both finales were heavily foreshadowed. you get the feeling watching that these were designed to be oscar contenders but both fell short, despite christian bale’s excellent performance in amsterdam.
thanks for reading - more to come -
bria