Required Reading (2)

Psst! I interviewed Libba Bray. She's hilarious and put up with the million questions I sent her.

I've finished all of the books from my first RR post, in addition to UNDERSTANDING COMICS by Scott McCloud. So here's the current batch of school books.

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS by Jonathan Swift
"Major Writers of the Restoration and 18th Century"
I've read this one before, which is a nice leg up. However, even reading a text with 18thC capitalization, Swift is pretty readable. On the other hand, my professor is on exchange from France, and she's hard to predict. I am still confused on a writing assignment where she told me to put my references in the text. I can look at it and see my citations. (I use parenthetical/MLA style.)

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
"British Novel in the 20th Century"
I've been meaning to read Woolf forever, so I'm glad this class is making me do it. Until now, I've read none of the Modernist classics. (Also, when I was in England I attended all the Woolf related trips - she and her sister had interesting personal lives.) I enjoy how she uses point of view. My sympathies change based on whose head I'm in. I am still working out the shape of the novel, or why certain characters are important enough to be narrators. It's faster going than I expected it to be.

MUSIC OF JAPAN by Bonnie C. Wade
"Studies in Music Ethnography: Art Musics of Asia"
What to say about a textbook? This one is simple and easy to read, though sometimes I wish Wade went into more depth. That's what lecture and the course packet are for.

ON PHOTOGRAPHY by Susan Sontag
"Narrative Photography"
Sontag is one of the first people to write serious photography criticism. I like her style, though I definitely don't agree with many of her arguments. I'm still trying to figure out how she's defining Surrealism - my professor told me to hold the question because it would fit better into lecture later in the semester.

QED by Richard P. Feynman
"Problems in Modern Physics"
I may dislike this class, but I do like Feynman. (I just read his memoir this summer, after I won it.) The man makes advanced physics sound as easy as pie. Then you try to work problems and you realize just how much he hasn't told you. This series of lectures is a good way to get some idea of what is meant by quantum electrodynamics, even though it makes true understanding elusive.

Required Reading

So I'm way behind on the "Books Read in 2009" list and don't know if I could remember everything I read since I last updated. So I'm going to try something new and tell you about what I'm currently reading for some of my classes.

SONS AND LOVERS by D. H. Lawrence
"The British Novel in the 20th Century"
Why it's relevant: Lawrence was a British writer in the twentieth century, duh. But SONS AND LOVERS displays the transition from the Victorian novel to the modern novel quite well, as it begins as one and ends as the other.
My reaction: I'm not very far into the book; I've just finished Part I. My mother likes SONS AND LOVERS, which prejudiced me towards this class when I saw it on the reading list. Victorian novels aren't really my thing (ugh, Thomas Hardy), aside from the fact abstract sex makes me giggle. Pretty much I'm just trying to figure out where this thing is going to go off the rails and goggling at how autobiographical it is.

THE BEGGAR'S OPERA by John Gay
"Major Writers of the Restoration and the 18th Century"
Why it's relevant: THE BEGGAR'S OPERA was a surprise theatrical success, playing off of Italian opera tropes in a play about the London underworld. The class is focusing on satire, and THE BEGGAR'S OPERA loves to stick it to Sir Robert Walpole.
My reaction: I'm halfway through the play; just finished Act I. I need to read Act II by Tuesday, which is no problem since it's even shorter and it's a very easy read. Gay is somewhat twisted, which I like. I love Peachem and his wife berating their daughter for marrying the man she's sleeping with instead of being sensible. Gay is not worried about subtlety.

INNUMERACY: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences by John Allen Paulos
"Problems in Modern Physics"
Why it's relevant: Apparently the first two chapters will teach me about solving Fermi problems, which is good since I have an entire problem set full of them due Thursday and there will be at least on per test.
My reaction: Haven't read it yet. I want to finish tonight so that I have two full nights to do the problem set.