Gone with the Wind

       “That’s a hefty piece of literature you have, there!”

       So I heard more than once while reading Margaret Mitchell’s 960 page epic of the American Civil War, Gone with the Wind.  This is one of those books that you will want to pick up right after work and will have in tow when you return to work the next morning with bleary eyes, coffee in hand, so that you can read in a cozy restaurant during your lunch break, where waiters will be compelled to comment on the book’s size. Hell yes, it is a hefty piece of literature and well worth every hour of sleep omitted from your schedule due to the especially late reading hours you will start to keep when you read this one. This is easily one of the most elegant, intoxicating, exciting, and informative books I have ever read, and it is now one of my personal favorites.

       I’m not going to recount an outline of the story, as most who have seen the movie probably think they know the story already. I assure you, if you’ve only seen the movie, you are missing out. So, instead of a synopsis, I’m going to suggest that this be the next book you decide to pluck off the shelves. True, it’s a commitment, but one you will find yourself absolutely devoted to. 

A Mermaid's Tale

      Melusina is a mermaid who chooses to live as a human to be with her true love, spending only one day a week indulging in a warm bath with a submerged tail in place of legs. Her tail is a secret that is sacred to her and is kept private, even from her husband, who has promised never to interrupt bath time. Her tail is hers and hers alone, and when she catches her husband spying out her intimate secret during her bath time, it is enough to make her retreat to the sea, returning to shore only to see her human children.
      River is a mermaid whose tail has been replaced by beautiful, sensual legs, the color of sandy amber. She wears neither clothes nor makeup and has no earthly possessions except a necklace of shark teeth and jade. She lounges on the beach day after day, night after night, swimming as she pleases and rolling in the sand when she desires.
     Yemaya is a mer-woman of many names: Jemanja, La Balianne, Agwe. Her tail is sparkling blue and white, her body warm and soft, her voice comforting. She is often sought out by mothers-to-be as a source of maternal inspiration. Godess of motherhood and fertility, she is the great nurturer and protector of women and children and is most honored and revered for her compassion. All the earth's oceans and waters are the result of her womb bursting with life.

      Melusina, Yemaya, and River are some of the sea-women you will meet in Amanda Adams' book, A Mermaid's Tale. Adams draws on oral tradition and folklore, poetry and literature, history and archaeology, as well as personal experience to sculpt a magical portrait of the mermaid, in all her forms. Plunging into the mermaids' stories, Adams traverses through land and sea to understand exactly  what the mermaid has meant to society, especially to women, as a symbol, a guide, a warning, and explores what it is about the mermaid's story that has captivated our imaginations since the beginning of time. The mermaids whose stories are here described are much more than sexy creatures to be feared by lost-at-sea sailors. Drawn under Adams' pen, these mermaids become enchantingly reminiscent of ourselves and the women we adore.

A Note on Rey Swimwear

     Lately many of my friends (both male and female) have been sharing a video on Facebook that I finally had to watch, out of curiosity. The video is Jessica Rey's introduction to her new swimsuit line. Perhaps you've seen it. If not, here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJVHRJbgLz8.

In her presentation, Rey uses statistics from a Princeton University experiment in which undergraduate men viewed multiple images of women both dressed "modestly" and "scantily-clad" women (what exactly "modesty" and "scantily-clad" mean in this context, has yet to be determined. I researched the experiment and could not find a definitive answer. Since we are discussing swimwear, let's just assume that it means the "scantily-clad" women were wearing bikinis and the "modest" women were wearing very conservative one pieces with shorts). According to the experiment,  brain scans revealed that when the men viewed the "scantily-clad women" the area of the brain associated with tools lit up. Read into that what you will, according to Rey this experiment supposedly proves the fact that men tend to see women as objects, particularly  the more "scantily-clad." Okay, so it's no surprise that women have been objectified by men for centuries, and vise versa, of course. Since no one wants to be objectified, this is clearly something that needs to be remedied. Enter Jessica Rey. Her solution is simply to change the way women dress. Change the way women dress, change the way men view women. Only, there is conveniently no evidence provided on how men view women who are dressed, "modestly." I can only speculate that the "tool" area of the brain may or may not light up exactly the same for "modest" women as it does for "bikini women." Rey sees more of a problem with the way women are dressed than the way men see them. Some people call that blaming the victim. 

     I googled "Rey swimwear" and found Rey's online retail website very easily. Before even entering the site, I saw that her logo phrase is, "Who says it has to be itsy bitsy?" in reference to the  song, "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini." Well, who does say it has to be itsy bitsy? and on the other hand, who says it has to be "modest" or must cover everything head to toe or must cover her head or must cover the midriff or must have shorts no shorter than the knee or a skirt must cover the ankle? What has been considered "appropriate" or "modest" or "slutty" has changed through the years, decades, and centuries, and also differs from culture to culture, religion to religion, country to country. There are endless voices trying to tell women what to do and how to dress: society, religion, husbands, employers, parents, siblings, friends, designers of the fashion industry, the media, Jessica Rey. In fact, it seems that just about everyone has a say in what a woman wears except the woman. This is only true, though, if the woman accepts one of these predetermined rules for her body instead of using her own mind, intuition and power of choice to make her own decisions and what is best for her.  I want to be abundantly clear that I am in no way arguing against modesty, or any type of clothing, look, or fashion. What is right for one woman is not right for all women. If being "modest" feels more appropriate for you, then be modest. If a bikini  is more appropriate for you, wear a bikini. Most of all, appreciate yourself. What you put on your body should be your decision. It is your decision what to wear or not wear. Whatever makes you happy, confident, and comfortable is what you should wear, regardless of what others may or may not think of you. 

The Way to Rainy Mountain

     Intended to be read aloud, The Way to Rainy Mountain is a beautiful flow of stories, from the oral tradition of the Kiowas. The Kiowa are a nomadic people, best known as Plains Indians, buffalo hunters, and close allies to the Comanches. This is as much as many people know about the Kiowa Indians. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday tells a deeper story: the story of Kiowa history, legend, culture. In the preface, Momaday says, "I was first told these stories by my father when I was a child. I do not know how long they had existed before I heard them. They seem to proceed from a place of origin as old as the earth."  These are stories that have been part of an oral tradition in Kiowa culture as long as memory serves; stories that were passed on to Momaday from his father.
     The Way to Rainy Mountain is told in three different narrative voices. The first is the voice of Momaday's father, the traditional, ancestral voice. This voice is the primary story-teller. The second voice is a historical commentary. The third voice is Momaday's personal voice recounting relevant scenes from his own life. Again, these stories are meant to be read aloud, and I found myself reading several of the stories aloud to myself, and it is indeed the appropriate way for these to be read.
     A review of this book would be incomplete without an appreciation of Al Momaday's (N. Scott's father) striking illustrations that accompany many of the stories in the book. Printed in black and white, each illustration deservedly consumes one entire page. The illustrations of this book made an emotional impact, as much as the stories, if not more. I resist from saying they detracted from the stories, as they seem obviously meant to be accompaniments to the stories, but if I am honest, more than once I did not feel the full impact of the story until I saw the illustration. Simple as they are, they are also powerful, much like the stories themselves.
     Take the time to read this book slowly, to gain better understanding of a culture so often overlooked, or simply read to discover something new. This book is well-worth the read.

Dubliners

     I recently finished my first reading of James Joyce's, Dubliners. I say first, because, although I rarely will read a book more than once, I found Joyce's work to be quite difficult, and I think it deserves another read.  Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories. Though each of the fifteen protagonists are all from different walks of life, their respective stories all deal with many of the same themes. One of Joyce's primary motives in writing Dubliners was to detail common life in Dublin and to chronicle the changes taking place in Ireland at the time. A couple of the stories deal with politics and Irish Nationalism, and those required a little outside reading and a quick lesson in Irish History to understand. All in all, Dubiners is really a difficult and thought-provoking read. As I said before, some of the stories required background knowledge of Irish history, and much of the vocabulary includes old Irish slang terms, which had me reaching for the dictionary often, and almost just as often, finding descriptions of the words to say little more about the word than to reference Joyce's use of the word. Additionally, the themes are approached very subtly in most of the stories, which, for me, meant, after reading a story, I spent just as much reflecting on the meaning as I did reading. And in fact, it wasn't until I was a couple stories in that I began to understand the stories and the themes within them at all. The general tone of the stories also has me shying away from using the term, "enjoyable" to describe this book, although I did enjoy making sense of some of the abstract ideas, and attempting to understand the importance of each story. The entirety of the book, story after story, is dark, and morose, leaving quite a dismal picture of turn-of-the-century Ireland. I'm not sure I would recommend the book to anyone who is looking for nothing more than a pleasure read, as Joyce is far too realist for escapist readers. On the other hand, if you are at all interested in studying literature, history, anthropology, psychology, politics, or even philosophy, Dubliners is a worthy read, I suggest picking it up for a good cerebral read, perhaps on a cool October evening. 

Hello, there!

     As this is the first post of my first ever blog, I find it appropriate to say, 'Howdy,' to all of my fellow bloggers,  as well as to set an intent for the blog, long term.  

    Being of an experimental nature, this blog is most-likely destined to feature a smorgasbord of recipes, personal rants, practice essays (as I am preparing to take the GRE), book and movie reviews, as well as commentary on current events. Eventually, I may decide to start separate blogs for each category, or may simply make this blog more specified, as time goes on. As it is, if you have stumbled upon this blog, I hope you will either learn something or discover something to make you smile! 

     Thanks for visiting and happy blogging!