Newly discovered, not-so-happy quality. A certain review mentions "The awkward doomed-romance plot at the center of this tight, concise novel" (http://www.amazon.com/Cities-Plain-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0679747192/ref=rcx_ser_title?ie=UTF8&s=books) Crap.

Just read a review for The Crossing, the second book in The Border Trilogy. It's not about John Grady Cole, but another boy. And the reviewer talked about the book, then said, "the female characters, who exist solely as ghosts to haunt the men." (http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Cormac-McCarthy/dp/0679760849/ref=rcx_ser_title?ie=UTF8&s=books)  I think that's an extremely appropriate way to put it, especially if the women in The Crossing are anything like Alejandra.

*newly discovered redeeming quality, the third book in the trilogy, Cities of the Plain, combines the stories of John Grady Cole, and Billy Parham(the boy in the second book)!

...maybe I will have to read the rest of the trilogy. but I am still ticked beyond all belief at Alejandra.

I read All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.

I'm not going to say that I liked this book, because honestly, it made me angry. Maybe not the whole book, but one of the characters did. And that character made me angry enough that it ruined the rest of the book for me.

The basis of the book is two teenage boys, looking to escape their lives which they see as boring, ride their horses down into Mexico. They only started in Texas, so it really wasn't that far away. Then there's the younger kid that rides along with them for a while, who eventually gets into some trouble. The two other boys, John and Lacey(Rawlins) find work on a ranch, called an hacienda. The ranch belongs to this super rich guy, and it's been in his famly for generations. John turns out to be amazing at breaking horses, and is a decent breeder, he knows how to look at more than just the outside of a horse.

     Now to the part that angers me. The ranch owner has a pretty daughter, named Alejandra. Of course. John falls for her, they have some, ah.. fun, and then they're told not to be together anymore. They go against the orders, and John is mysteriously arrested and taken to a Mexican prison. He and Rawlins both get hurt in the prison, but get out thanks to Alejandra's aunt.

     John talks to Alejandra's aunt, and it turns out Alejandra promised to never see him again if her aunt got John out of jail. Well, of course John goes and tracks her down, and sees her.

     She didn't really want to see him, since that would be breaking her word, but she did go see him. And they had some more fun. And then the stupid, stupid, stupid, girl said that she couldn't be with him, right after he told her that "if she would trust her life into his care he would never fail her or abandon her and that he would love her until he died." And she left him. I think that somebody really must be lacking a soul to do something like that.

     I watched the movie of All the Pretty Horses. Penelope Cruz plays Alejandra. And actually seeing that scene acted out, and not just reading it, made it even  worse. Hearing her stupid accent, which sounds more Spanish than Mexican anyways, just made me so angry. Merely imagining somebody doing that is completely incomprehensible to me. The fifth of the book was almost... meaningless, after John said "He saw very clearly how all his life led only to this moment and all after led nowhere at all."

     I don't even know how there can be two more books in the trilogy. I honestly don't want to read them. Well, a little bit. But looking at McCarthy's track record, I really don't know if the other books would redeem me from my current anger.

     After that scene, I didn't want to read the rest of the book, but in a way, I had to. The book made me. Crazy? Maybe. But it did. There was just some curiosity as to what John, a completely empty person would do afterwards.

The Handmaid's Tale = DONE. I'm glad I'm done with it. But not, at the same time. This book was pretty sweet. I wish it had ended differently, but I understand how the author didn't really have any other way to end it. There are just some books that have to have a crappy ending, much like The Grapes of Wrath.

This is the copy that I read.

I really like this edition of the book. But in a way, the other cover, with its spareness, is more compelling.

     This book was intriguing. I didn't really know much about it, other than it's set in the future, where women are "baby factories", to quote Mr. Arthur. How true that was. I just found out that there's a movie of the book. I'd like to see it. It's rated R, not surprisingly though.

     The society in this book is patriarchal. However, it's the women that are important. Before the start of this book, the President and all of Congress are killed. This leaves the government up for grabs, religious people take over, and the constitution is suspended. So basically, this is a dictatorship-like thing. Women are not really seen as people. The major concern with women is, after a nuclear war, most women are left unable to have children. Thus, the women who are fertile (able to have babies) are forced to become sex-slave baby factories. The book is just a story of one woman's views, experiences, and past during this turbulent change in society.

     This book was provoking, causing thought on different topics, from politics, religion, the environment, and more than anything, women's rights. Wikipedia called The Handmaid's Tale a "feminist dystopia novel" and I saw that before I read the book. I'm definitely not into the whole feminist thing. I like having choices, but I don't believe it demeans women to wear skirts, or heels, or makeup, or even to have babies. Sure, I think women should get paid equally for the same work, and things like that. Oh, well and the whole, they shouldn't have to be sex slaves thing. Did I mention that, after a certain period of time, if the women in the book don't get pregnant, they're killed? Yep, even if it's the man that's sterile, not her. The book also brings up questions of freedom. A quote that inspires the main character, Offred (she belongs to Fred. Of Fred.) is 'Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.', which means "Don't let the bastards grind you down," which is essentially the message of this novel.

     If you're easily offended, by swear words or sexual content, I'd probably stay away from this one. I personally don't think it's that bad, but there is quite a lot of it. It does add to the story though, it wouldn't be as powerful if that content wasn't in there.

Guess who just finished her narrative essay? And it's not even morning yet! Well I'm excited, for my essay, and for the fact that I actualy started my self-select, AND for the fact that I actually like it so far! So guess what I'll be doing at work this weekend, when I'm not playing with jewelry, moving tables, or putting up Christmas decorations..

     Let me see... I haven't been on in a while, and I missed all the days we were working on these in class. But since I haven't started my self-select, I guess that doesn't really matter anyways. I need to get cracking on that though, my narrative essay too. I don't have an idea for the essay. It's like as soon as I start to try to think about stories I have, I don't have any...

     But anyways. Eventually (well, this week I suppose, seeing as how it's due next Monday), I'm going to read The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. It's always looked pretty cool to me, but I haven't read it until now for whatever reason. It seems to have that same feeling or ideas as like Fahrenheit 451 and other dystopia (is that the correct word?) kind of books, but I don't know if that's right. I just kind of like to see what someone predicts/thinks/imagines the potential future could be like. It has some kind of draw for me. Maybe it's because I think the futures authors come up with are more interesting, though usually not more appealing, than what I think is probable. I really like those post-apocalyptic novels/movies too. Especially I Am Legend.

     Even so, I'm just not super stoked to be reading The Handmaid's Tale. This self-select round, nothing was jumping off the shelf screaming "READ ME," and nothing was whispering it either. So it was hard to choose. But as for my next one, I think I want to read The Road, especially since the movie's coming out, and I'd like to read the book first.

     Wish me luck on this one though.

     I'm reading, or rather, have read Cold Mountain  by Charles Frazier for my first self-select. I was pretty stoked to read it, seeing as how much I enjoyed the movie. Bonnell is convinced the book is so good, he won't watch the movie. I was a touch on the skeptical side, since I'd seen the movie, and I was convinced that it was definitely in the top... 25, ever. So this book had some huge expectations to stand up to. But it didn't stand up to those expectations.

     It blew them out of the water. This book gave me such an insight into each character, into each setting, each tiny tweak of the plot, that, honestly, no movie could ever convey. Take me seriously, I am a huge fan of movies. I am in no way bashing the Cold Mountain movie, I adore Nicole Kidman too much to ever do that, (props to her for the Southern accent, by the way). This book definitely had more feeling, more connection than anyone could feel from the movie.

     The way this book was written, was unconventional. There was dialogue, but no quotation marks, just dashes to denote spoken words. This made the book rather difficult to understand at times, but overall, I think it added to the feeling.

     The story itself is of two lovers, Ada and Inman, and their journeys to find one another. Inman's journey is a physical one, trying to find his way back home, after being wounded and then running away from the Confederate Army. Ada's is a more mental journey, moving away from being the pampered, childish girl she was, to becoming a self-sufficient woman, spurred by her father's death. This tale, based on stories passed down through generations, still connects with those of us journeying in this day and age.

>

--You fresh from killing men in Petersburg? she said.

--Well, there's the other side to that. Seems like men have been doing their best to kill me for quite some time.

That last phrase caught Inman's eye. He said it aloud. Pathway to the More Abundant Life.

--It's what many seek, the woman said. But I'm not sure a sack of flour will set your foot on it.

--Yes, Inman said. Abundance did seem, in his experience, to be an elusive thing. Unless you counted plenty of hardship. There was ample of that. But abundance of something a man might want was a different matter.

Ada shifted and turned and looked at him over her shoulder. He had unbuttoned his collar in the warmth, and there was the white wound at his neck. Others in the look of his face and in his eyes, which would not quite meet hers.