Reading is FUNdamental

Reading: I've had some wonderful literary experiences lately, and as no one probably cares about what books I like, I'm going to write about the ones I've read anyway, because blogging is supposed to be a wholly narcissistic experience.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. This is book is about a girl who is going to an elite boarding school. She is not rich, but the thing I like about it is that she's not particularly brilliant, either. She does fairly bad in school, so it's not a whole, "Oh, I'm so nerdy I can't fit in" sort of story. The whole thing is written in the first person, which is hard to do, but man, it's done well in this book. The narrator is looking back on her time at the school, and the details that are used make the book incredibly accessible, because it's put in the perspective of someone who lived a real life after the events of the book. I've had a hard time explaining it to people lately, but really, it's just amazing, and left me feeling both awesome and sort of disturbed. There's also something strangely disarming about the cover - there is a picture of a lime green and bright pink grosgrain belt on a white background. It reminds me so entirely of a J.Crew-esque lifestyle, and I like it, because the book itself looks pretty and preppy on the outside and a complete mess on the inside.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This was not my favorite Austen novel (that honor either goes to Pride & Prejudice or Emma), but there was a wonderful cynacism about it. There were several parts where Jane broke from the story and just lamented about this or that, and when the heroine was being frivolous, Jane made from of her. Where some of Austen's other novels are more tongue-in-cheek, more subtle, this one was more blatant about making fun of the culture and the common form of a mystery/horror novel at the time. Really, it was almost campy, and it shows just how broad Austen's talent was. Someone who wasn't obsessed with her books (i.e., not me) might on first glance think they were all just glorified romance novels, but really, she used the romance as a way of making some bigger social statements (doesn't that make me sound smart? No, it makes me sound either (a) lame, (b) like I'm trying too hard, or (c) like I probably read that somewhere else.).

Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman. I read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, also by Klosterman, a few years ago. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. But this was on sale for $5 at Barnes and Nobel, so I picked it up, and it is so, so good. Klosterman seems to be an extremely honest writer, because even when he's bullshitting, he takes a step to admit it. I get that he's probably got the sense that because he's so self-aware, he is somehow better than others (because all people who write like he does seem to have that sort of problem), but also, that sort of self-awareness makes you think you're an idiot, too, so it balances out.

I usually read things more like the Klosterman book during school, because they are more episodic, and I can just read a chapter and then put it down to do something else. I patiently await the new David Sedaris book, which is due out later this year. He's a genius.