Collegiate on Books

The Chronicles of Narnia

2009-03-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Magician's Nephew
By C.S. Lewis

This is the first novel I've read by C.S. Lewis, and I have fallen in Love. His prose is enchanting, not only because of the content, but because of how easily and naturally it flows.
For those of you who do not know about Narnia, this book was actually the second to last book written on the series, but the first one in the chronology of the story of Narnia.
The book introduces us to Digory and Polly, who are forced to go to another world by Digory's uncle, Andrew. When in this new world Digory and Polly realize they are actually in an in-between of sorts. A world between the worlds. They begin exploring these other worlds, getting into adventures all along, and end up discovering the new forming world of Narnia.

The continuation of this book is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Cambodia Calling: A Memoir from the Frontlines of Humanitarian Aid

2009-02-20T06:14:00.000-08:00

By Richard Heinzl
This memoir, written by the founder of the Canadian branch of Doctors Without Borders (DWB), takes the reader from Africa, to Canada, the Caribbean and Cambodia, all while showing the making of a man and of a humanitarian aid organization.
The novel starts with Heinzl, young and daring, when he goes to Africa in an elective from college. This trip, the people he meets, and the decisions he makes around this time in his life, lead him to begin working towards founding a branch of DWB.
The most important assignment towards achieving this is to go spend at least a year in Cambodia in 1991.
The book is well written and entertaining, and reading it is akin to living Heinzls adventures yourself.

Tid-bits : Alice Sebold

2009-02-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

For a review of Alice Sebold's newest best seller, "The Almost Moon" look at The Collegiate Live Arts and Entertainment web page, or grab a copy of Collegiate.

Also from Sebold:

"The Lovely Bones"

This eloquently written novel surrounds the rape and murder of a 14 year-old girl. She watches down from heaven at her family and the police. She watches them as they cope with the struggle of everyday activities. She watches them try to solve her murder. Sebold writes with a peaceful, flowing rhythm unlike that of most murder novels. If you choose one book of hers to read, this is by far the best. Hands Down.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

"Lucky"

The story of a rape victim who struggles everyday to regain her identity. A tale of empowerment, though filled with graphic details, as one relives the rape with the victim. This gripping and powerful memoir contains Sebold's usual grace and charm as she deals with yet again, overcoming the situations in life that come with no instruction manual.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God by Louise Rennison

2008-12-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

Georgia Nicholson is back, with “On the Bright side, I’m now the girlfriend of a Sex God“ just as boy crazy and hilarious as ever. Just like in the first one, “Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging,” Nicholson talks about the mishaps that her and her gang go through in “Billy Shakespeare’s country.”

Once again, this is not safe for work nor school, as it will have you laughing uncontrollably.

During this sequel everything is going wonderful for Georgia, since, as the title suggests, she is finally going out with the Sex God, or Robbie. But things turn upside down for her when her family breaks the news to her that she has to go to Australia, to visit her father.

And then Robbie breaks up with her, since he doesn’t consider her mature enough.

From then on Georgia works hard in what she calls “Operation Elastic Band,” in which she tries to prove her “maturiosity” to Robbie by being a heart breaker.

The book is not as funny as the first one, but it’s a great way to just crack up, and relax. Perfect for a quick procrastinatory read in between exams, or even better, as a way to relax after the exams.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, by Chelsea Handler

2008-12-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Chelsea Handler’s second book “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea,” (Simon Spotlight entertainment, 264 pages, $24.95) continues to give us a peek in Chelsea’s outrageous life.

Chelsea starts the book from her childhood, giving us a picture of how adorable she was, as she waits for a boy, “I nervously attempted to release my wedgie while waiting for him to catch up. (A futile effort, as it turned out, when wearing two mittens the size of car batteries.)”

She goes on to tell all her classmates that she is going to play the daughter of Goldie Hawn in the sequel to Private Benjamin. Chelsea is tired of her classmates teasing her, and this is her way to get in everybody’s good graces.

As outrageous as that story was at the age of nine, the stories she tells as a woman are even worse.

This book is simply not for the faint of heart. Chelsea faces midgets, a boyfriend that seems interested in a Peekapoo, goes to jail thanks to her sister, and babysits children with sugar highs that attack her, and put buckets of ice cream in her head.

Throughout the craziness Chelsea uses the most logical thing to stay afloat – Vodka, and occasionally pot.

Although the book is easy to read and entertaining, it is a bit of a waste of time. As humorous as she can be during standup, the book is simply not that funny.

Promiscuities by Naomi Wolf

2008-12-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

Eleven years after Naomi Wolf’s groundbreaking “Promiscuities” (Random House, 286 pages) was first published it still resonates today.

Wolf’s message is that female sexuality and coming of age has been taken hostage by our society and culture. This way, out of women’s own hands, it has been distorted into something that is usually only beneficial for men, and that tends to cause confusion and pain in women.

The novel explores Wolf’s own sexuality and coming of age, along with the friends she grew up with in San Francisco. She admits from the beginning of the book that her experience and that of her friends paint a picture of only white-middle class experiences, yet I’m sure many of their thoughts and sexual episodes will resonate with many women regardless of race and income level.

For example, I’m sure many girls in this time and age have experienced a diminishment of the importance of their virginity, in the same way that Wolf’s friends have. And, also like Wolf, many girls thought, “that was it?” after it was all said and done.

Or the fact that girls, growing up and even once they are at the workplace, tread a blurred line between being good girls and being sluts. And wherever the woman falls in this spectrum, it’s her own fault she got there in the first place, or so society says. “One thing was certain: if you were targeted, […] whether you had moved not fast enough or had moved too fast […] in some way your exclusion was your own fault.”

Through the pages Wolf also explores how female sexuality was seen and treated throughout history. She explores the history of the slut, for example, and how it happened that women’s sexuality in American is at the point at which it is.

What she found is that through history, and in different cultures even today, female sexuality is revered, respected and uplifted. “It is neither natural nor inevitable that women’s lust should be punished,” Wolf declares.

As a memoir “Promiscuities” ranges from touching to enraging, and may even be surprising to some people. She analyzes moments of women’s lives and analyzes the culture that made this moments happen.

Through the cultural and historical references that she cites we, the reader, see that things don’t necessarily have to be as they are, that women have been truly liberated, sexuality and all, and that that was a betterment for the society as a whole.

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin

2008-12-11T08:07:00.001-08:00

Browsing the shelves of my nearest Schuler’s Books, I came across the reader’s group table. One title in particular caught my eye. It wasn’t the bold neon yellow typography used, or the pumpkin orange and violet cover that warranted a closer look. Instead it was the need to satisfy my literary hunger, by finding out what does happen when a crocodile eats the sun.

About one third of the way through journalist, Peter Godwin’s captivating memoir, and my question would be answered. “When a Crocodile Eats the Sun,” published in 2006 by Back Bay Books, is a worth-while read, that gives a compelling account of Zimbabwe, and a journalist who only in his later life begins to understand his father, and why he won’t leave the country he loves.

Set in modern day Zimbabwe, Godwin takes us on a journey through his self-discovery, and also one of a nation in turmoil. Not only is Goodwin’s Zimbabwe suffering an aids epidemic, but also a race war, and battle for democracy. He shows us how he starts out as an African journalist, travels the world, only to find out he longs to be nowhere but his own home.

“When a Crocodile Eats the Sun” contains more than dates and historical mumbo jumbo. Godwin uses imagery intertwined with African folklore to paint the reader a portrait of the characters and places in his memoir.

He says, “The celestial crocodile… briefly consumes our live-giving star as a warning that he is much displeased with the behavior of man below.” It is this analogy Godwin links the appearance of two solar eclipses in the course of a year to Zimbabwe’s internal conflict. Godwin is also dealing with a personal struggle, when he learns his father has been hiding a secret that changes his life forever.

His father is actually a Polish Jew, who lost his mother and sister in the Holocaust. This explains his parents’ reluctance to leave the home they have known for fifty years. As a white Zimbabwean, Godwin compares his father’s struggle in the Holocaust to living in the Zimbabwe they now know.

“When a Crocodile Eats the Sun” is a complex read that takes perseverance to get through. However, his unique journey and the moments of literary brilliance that shine along the way make the read all the more worth-while. This book is a must read for history buffs, or anyone in search of a well-written story of self-discovery and a recollection of current events in Zimbabwe.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging By Louise Rennison

2008-08-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

Outrageously hilarious. This book is not safe for work nor class since you will begin cracking up uncontrollably as you read it. And how do explain to your boss or teacher that the reason you can’t stop laughing is because the main character of your book accidentally shaved her eyebrows off or some other mishap like that?
Said main character is Georgia Nicolson, a British, self-centered, klutzy teenager into whose fictional diary we get a peek for a whole year.
This book is the first of eight written by Louise Rennison about Georgia Nicolson. As I read the book I kept wondering whether I liked Georgia or not. I read it when I was thirteen and found it the most amusing thing ever written. Now, seven years later, I needed a laugh and picked it up. It turns out that although Georgia is selfish, shallow and at times mean, she is also incredibly witty, caring (sometimes), and endearingly unlucky.
That, added to the array of crazy characters –such as a father whom she describes as having the intelligence of a Teletubby, just not as developed, a little sister who has pooping accidents at the pool, and a wild cat who is trying to eat the poodle next door- this book is an easy, quick read that will make you laugh until you hurt.

Soon to Come: “On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God”, the second book in the series.

Breaking News by Martin Fletcher

2008-05-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

This book was at the top of my reading list, and it really surpassed my expectations.
Simple but engaging, the book depicts the story of Martin Fletcher, the NBC News Bureau Chief in Tel Aviv. Written by himself, Fletcher explains that the main reason he wanted to become a foreign correspondent is because it seemed to mean Free Travel.
But after he launched his career with Visnews, the world’s largest news film agency, he quickly discovered that things wouldn’t be as simple as he thought.
Shortly after arriving in Israel as a young reporter he was thrust into the 1973 war between Israel and Egypt and Syria. Things only got complicated from here. Fletcher explains in vivid detail of times in which he witnessed starvations, met parents of young children just killed in bomb attacks –some of the children were friends of his own children-, and even saw his own friends blown apart by land mines.
Throughout the book Fletcher talks about the decisions war correspondents need to make in order to get the story. At times he had to interview, and even kind of befriend, the men that were blowing up his own friends in bomb attacks. The men that could one day blow up his own kids or wife.
But the book gives no answers to the possible questions that might arise as reading it. Fletcher stresses that being a successful war correspondent is more about luck than about anything else. He explains that there is no booklet that helps the reporter make a decision in a difficult situation –such as, should the reporter film the murder of two people, if they know ahead of time that it’s going to happen? –. And he also can’t answer the question of why he would engage in such a dangerous job in the first place, and for so many years.
The book is not about answering questions, but rather it is about shining a light in the world of being a war correspondent.
In his closing chapter Fletcher writes a few of the possible reasons why somebody would engage in such a job: “In a world obsessed with celebrities, wealth, and success, I have focused on those left behind, on those who paid the price. I have tried to answer the question: Why should we care?”

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

2008-05-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Personally I love all things Sex and the City. I became obsessed with the show and was sure I would love the book. Well, I was kind of wrong.
The book is definitely easy to read, and even if it was written in 1996 Bushnell’s style is clever and that makes the book fresh. How can you help but to not fall in love with Carrie and her lifestyle? Any fun loving writer –such as myself- would enjoy to party until four in the morning, write about sex and relationships, and oh, yes, live in NYC. But as you keep reading the book you do wonder what the heck is wrong with the characters, and at points even feel sorry for them.
The book is drawn from the real life New York Observer column that Bushnell used to write. When you realize these characters are quite possibly real people, you begin wondering whether everything is OK in the psychology department of said characters. Are “The International Crazy Girls” really such shallow gold diggers? Don’t the “Bicycle Boys” sweat in their tweed jackets and make them stinky? Is Carrie actually Candace? And is this how life truly is in the great city of NY?
The biggest drawback that I found with the book is that the women are obsessed with marriage. Even Carrie seems obsessed with it, even if she doesn’t want to admit it to herself. This makes me wonder, does Ms. Bushnell only know how to write about successful women who are incomplete because they don’t have a man?
In the end Carrie and Mr. Big can’t make it work out though, Mr. Big disapproves of Carrie’s lifestyle, and Carrie seems to become annoyed at Mr. Big’s nonchalance.

The movie of Sex and the City is coming out this Friday, 30 of March. A wedding is definitely in the plot, so I wonder if marriage will mean closure in this whole story.

Soon to Come

2008-05-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
Breaking News by Martin Fletcher

Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, by bell hooks

2008-05-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

I would recommend this book to anybody and everybody. While reading this book my eyes were opened. Although I've always considered myself a feminist -even before I knew what the word meant- this book showed me things that I never even thought about before.
hooks says that she wrote it as little manual on feminism that was easy to understand. Well, she achieved her goal. This book is easily understandable and although small at 118 pages, it covers subjects well, teaching the reader along the book. The subjects range from the history of feminism to feminist parenting and feminist sexuality.
When I find a book that I really, really like I prefer not to write much about, in order to not spoil the book for the possible reader. I feel that way about this book.

Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell

2008-05-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

What a disappointment.
Maybe because I like the show, or maybe because New York magazine describes it as "pop feminism" (whatever that means) I thought that this would be a really good book, with strong female characters. I thought it would be a fun, and kind of dirty, read.
Well, I was completely let down.
The book is well written, the descriptions are clever and imaginative at times. And, in theory, any strong woman would like the characters.
Based in NYC, it describes the lives of 3 women who are at the top of their fields. There is Wendy Healy, president of Parador Pictures, and mother of three. The second girl is Victory Ford, self made woman, and fashion designer, and last there is Nico Reilly, Editor in Chief of Bonfire magazine.
But no matter how you look at it the characters are weak in the most pathetic way: when it comes to men. Don't get me wrong, we all get weak when it comes to our attractions every now and then, but all three characters throughout the whole 435 pages?
Let's begin with Wendy. She is smart, strong, clever and a workaholic. She is married to a man named Shane. Shane is a good for nothing assho*e . Why is Wendy married to a man that hasn't worked in the last 12 years and that treats her like she's a doormat? It seems that it is because she can't fathom the idea of being alone. Even after he leaves her without an explanation she takes him back over a month later, because she doesn't know what she would do without him.
Finally, he does leave her for good. Less than a month later she finds herself in love and pregnant again
Then there is Victory. Her career begins staggering because instead of following the beaten track she chooses to do something new, and the public doesn't seem to understand it. She seems like a very interesting person, but most of the book is centered around her relationship with Lyne Bennet, an eccentric (aren't they all?) billionaire who is very interested in her. Slowly Victory takes care of her career, and picks it back up, but although she is self made, - she comes from a small town to NY, and becomes her childhood dream - she can't seem to either let go of Lyne, who drives her absolutely bonkers, or to hold onto him and make the relationship work.
Nico is another story. Portrayed as cold and driven, she is married to Seymour, a professor at Columbia University. Seymour is a good man, but also very cold. After a series of encounters Nico decides to have an affair with a male model named Kirby Atwood, who makes her feel like she has never felt before. Although she wanted the affair to be a one time thing she lets carry on for over a year, until, afraid that the New York Post has gotten a whiff of the affair she breaks it off.
Throughout this whole process the women win Oscars, get promoted, and sign multimillion dollar deals. It seems, looking at the book from thousands of feet in the air, that the women grow towards the end of the book. But once you get closer you realize that the truth is that they don't, and I'm sorry, but 435 pages are not worth stagnation, regardless of how "fabulous" the characters might be.

Stealing Buddha’s dinner

2008-04-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

By Bich (pronounced Bit) Minh Nguyen

Based in Grand Rapids, MI in the 1970’s, and 80’s, this book depicts the real story of Bich and her family. Escaping Saigon right before its fall in 1975 Bich, her dad, grandmother, two uncles and older sister are sponsored by a family here in Grand Rapids.
Bich is completely different in every single way. She is Vietnamese, and therefore different from all the blond blue eyed girls that surround her. She doesn’t believe in God, but in Buddha, also unlike the community she lives in. She is a self-imposed loner who takes a book everywhere she goes. Her father marries a Mexican-American woman, Rosa. This adds a whole new layer of complication to Bich’s life, since Rosa is an activist, and the opposite of the perfect mother’s Bich’s friends seem to have.
Oh yeah, and she eats radically different food from her American friends. It seems that Bich saw American food as the way to get closer to the unattainable culture she is surrounded with, since food is the basis in which she builds the book.
The book is very engaging and well written. Even though it is 256 pages it’s a quick read.
It was very interesting to read about Grand Rapids in the 70’s and 80’s. Personally I find that although Grand Rapids has grown culturally and has become more accepting, different is not the thing to be. So reading about the experience she goes through pains my heart. At such a young age no girl should be getting the message “Come on in. Now transform. And if you cannot, then disappear.” (Page 11) from the community she lives in.
Nevertheless this is not a sad story. Bich grows up and finds herself, her mom and her culture.

I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou

2008-03-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Another wonderful book. This is the first one I’ve read by Angelou, even though I’ve wanted to read her books for a long time. I’d read some of her poetry before –Phenomenal Woman, Still I Rise– and fell in love. The book was up to par to what I’d read previously.
In it Angelou describes what it’s like growing up a not-so-feminine black girl in Stamps, Arkansas. Her grandmother owns the only black store in Stamps, but that doesn’t keep any racism at bay. The book gives a truthful and intimate insight into what it was like for her, and other black people, in the racist south. Even ‘powhitetrash’ treat black people like they themselves are trash.
At one point her brother, Bailey Jr., witnesses the cadaver of a black man that drowned, and the reaction of the white people. When he describes the situation to his grandmother she decides is time to take them north to their parents. They move to San Francisco to live with their mother, and Angelou and her brother experience a different kind of life, and different adventures.
The narrative is just beautiful, and the stories engaging. This is a good book to read and get some insight into what life was like for black southerners. Angelou is a clever writer, and this book is a very good read.

Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton.

2008-03-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

I wondered whether I should write about this book or not, since I pretty much hated it. But I suppose this blog wouldn’t be of much use if I just spoke of good or entertaining books.
I don’t know much about May Sarton, but I guess she’s written a good number of books, especially poetry ones. This book is her journal for a whole year. In it she focuses on what is like for her to be living in almost complete solitude in her house in Nelson, with only some animals for company. She sometimes has human company such as friends and neighbors, and she also travels to different colleges to do speeches.
But most of the time she is alone with her plants, and that’s basically all she writes about. She is also very depressive, and the book, being focused on being alone and depressed, is at times very sad. But most of the time is just boring; because lets face it, not many people want to read 200 and some pages of flowers and solitude…

Their eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

2008-03-24T12:17:00.001-07:00

Beautiful, amazing book. As much as I like to read I think it’s hard to find real fiction that truly speaks to humanity, to our souls, through space and time. This book does that and more.
The story talks of Janie in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. She is a young black woman, only 17, and terribly romantic. But her grandmother forces her to face reality by marrying her to a very old man.
The story shows how Janie fights to find herself through three different marriages, and also alone.
Through the whole thing Hurston shows amazing insight into what relationships are like even today, and how they were like back in the day. Not only between man and women, but also between races and between the same sex. (It’s kind of sad to see that the way women behaved back then is also the way they behave now. It’s just modernized.)
Hurston’s narrative is beautiful, and very poetic. They way she changes between the dialect of the Southerners and the narrative is clever and fantastically done.

This is a must-read book. I didn’t go into much of the plot because the book is such a pleasure to read that I believe the plot should be discovered while the person reads the book.

Confessions of a Video Vixen By Karrine Steffans

2008-03-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

Although the writer of this book claims she is writing it to warn young girls who might be lured by the apparent glamour of the music industry, to be honest it seems more like a “who’s who” of sex and drugs.
Karrine Steffans talks about her life from the very beginning of it. She explains her roots, and the path she takes in life to become a video vixen. Her mom, and members of the opposite sex mistreat her consistently, so she ends up running away in order to escape all of it.
She meets a woman who introduces her to the world of stripping. Although she is only 16 her path is already set before her. After marrying a rapper and divorcing him, once again escaping abuse, she moves to California under the protection of Ice T.
She gets initiated in the world of movies, music videos, sex and lots of different drugs. She abuses all of it, and describes closely how and with whom.
She falls in a downward spiral, and although she had a lot of very wealthy male friends –Ja Rule, Fred Durst, Diddy- she gets no help. She is addicted to drugs, with no money, and with a little boy she has to take care of.
Years after becoming one of the most sought after “video vixens” she is homeless. For over 9 months she lives with her little boy in a car and random hotel rooms.
She then explains of how he gets herself back together, and also finds God.
It is a fast, interesting read, and it gives what is probably the closest insight into how women are treated in the music industry.
Nevertheless, I don’t completely buy the “let me warn young girls of the dangers” song. To me it sounds more like “lemme make some money with my life experiences.”

The Vagina Monologues

2008-02-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

Well, this is not exactly a book perse, but rather a play, whose monologues were published in a book. It's very good. Whether you are a man or a woman you will learn a lot by reading this book. The monologues are witty, humorous and at times they make you want to cry. It's specially incredible to me how elegantly she exposes the monologues, taking into account the subject matter.
"Reclaiming Cunt" is just hilarious, and "My Vagina Was My Village" and the "Coochie Snorcher" monologues tear you apart inside.
If you are not much for reading and can't catch the real Monologues there is a DVD made by HBO. Eve Ensler does her original show, and it's TRULY interesting and inspiring. My husband watched it with me and he actually liked it, so to all you Vagina loving guys out there, don't be deterred by the name!

Woolf

2008-02-12T09:20:00.001-08:00

Our first book for Women's Lit. was Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own." I'd heard a lot about Virginia Woolf, mainly that her writing was very complicated and hard to read and understand, so I was a little bit afraid, but excited to be reading a classic.
Well, I was blown away. Woolf's writing can get a little bit hard to understand and make the reader weary at times, but her insight is absolutely amazing.
The book is based on two lectures she gave to women's colleges about women and fiction. Instead of a forward lecture on exactly what she thought about women and fiction she explained her confusion at that point in her life and in literature.
At the beginning of the book her writing seemed a bit aimless, but as she explains the situation and hardships women faced when it came to write anything they wanted, the reader begins to see a point. As the book continues things began making more and more sense, and the writing becomes very engaging. But what I love the most is the way she ties everything together at the end. I won't spoil it, but whether you are a man or a woman, it's very satisfying.
Now I want to read more Virginia Woolf, I was recommended "Moments of Being" so when I have time I'll get to it.

Soon to Come:

Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Karrine Steffans: Confessions of a Video Vixen

Warning

2008-02-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

I want to let you know that
A) I've never done this blog thing before, so please bear with me.
B) Right now I'm mainly reading books related to Women's issues and will mostly write on them, since I'm taking a Women's Lit. and a Women's Studies class. I will try to read a variety of books and report on them here, but sadly with the little bit of time I have I have to stick to material that's school related.
C) There will more likely be some sort of spoilers when I speak about a book.
If you like what you read, then keep on reading....

New Edition of The Collegiate

2008-01-29T21:51:00.001-08:00

The new edition of The Collegiate will be around campus by Thursday afternoon. (Instead of Wednesday, due to inclement weather.) If you cannot wait to check it out, head on over to www.collegiatelive.com to get all the latest news, opinions, sports and A&E news.