1. Begin with a poem: blessing the boatsby Lucelle Clifton (at St. Mary's) may the tidethat is entering even nowthe lip of our understandingcarry you outbeyond the face of fearmay you kissthe wind then turn from itcertain that it willlove your back may youopen your eyes to waterwater waving foreverand may you in …
Continue reading A 27-item instruction manual for a 27-year-old gemini
This book, like the house in Bluestone Road, breathes and lives. Like one of the characters, Beloved, it demands that you keep going, haunts you the moment you’re finished. Toni Morrison depicts the psychological effects of slavery by personifying pain and trauma into an unexpected visitor who is nevertheless welcomed by a mother, Seth, and …
In this book, Jacques Barzun discusses the mechanistic philosophy shared by three men he considered influential in the 19th century. His comparisons of the pre- and post- Darwinism/Marxism/Wagnerism are illuminating, underscoring the impact of the works of men who redefined science, economics, and art. Barzun begins each critique with the three men’s failure to acknowledge …
Continue reading WEEK 6: Darwin, Marx, and Wagner: Critique of a Heritage by Jacques Barzun
How to Pronounce Knife reminds me a lot about Anthony Veasna So's Afterparties (minus the length). The writing style may not appeal to those who believe that auto-fiction is not fiction enough, but I personally like the work's intimacy and simplicity. This work collects stories of Lao immigrants who work as worm pickers, bus drivers, …
Continue reading Week 5: How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
I'd be lying if I say the first quarter of this sci-fi novella did not confuse me. But re-reading some pages to make sure I got an information correctly meant going over for the second (or third!) time a beautifully-written prose. The premise of the story is simple and may even come across as a …
Continue reading Week 4: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Reading Lucia Berlin's A Manual for Cleaning Women is like catching up with a close friend, listening to a talkative stranger at a park, or hearing a co-worker's genuine answer to your "How's life been?". The stories are very short, but one sentence could be very illuminating. Berlin is, for me, one of the very …
Continue reading Week 3: A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
In her collection of critical essays, Arundhati Roy brilliantly traces the source of the world’s suffering. Roy reminds us of the role of the imperialist US in India’s most controversial policies and projects, from nuclear bomb tests to mega dam constructions. It’s horrifying how patterns of displacement, violence, and state oppressions discussed in the book …
Continue reading Week 2: The Algebra of Infinite Justice by Arundhati Roy
My initial thought was that this book about a fictional African village occupied by an oil company would tell me things I already knew. And it did but in a more close-up account. Alternately told from the perspective of the protagonist, her family, and her group of friends, How Beautiful We Were exposes not only …
Continue reading Week 1: How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
I am geeking over the new-ish Greg Daniels series, Upload, which I started watching on Amazon Prime a few days ago. I've only finished the pilot and the second episode so far, but already I have a lot thoughts and questions about the show. Upload is still a comedy series (comedy-drama) but it does not …
Continue reading There is something odd about how ‘Upload’ depicts our future streets
I just finished my first medical drama. Well, not technically "finished" because Season 3 is still airing, but, at least, I finished all two seasons that New Amsterdam has in Netflix so far. I had always been trying to watch medical dramas - from Grey's Anatomy to House to Code Black - but I could …
Reil Benedict Obinque 