ever so fickle

Yep, that's me. Seriously, I don't even know why I have this blog. I really don't.

Actually, when I started this new blog, it was a fresh start, with a new way of doing things. I had zero intention of even trying to do my pathetic version of a "review." Nope, I just wanted a place where I could record my daily observations on what I was reading. And that's how I started out.

Then as a few of my dear friends started reading it, well, I felt sort of stupid. I mean, who the hell wants to read that kind of rambly blathering. So I started going back towards the way I used to blog about books. Not exactly reviews, but something closer anyway.

Yeah, well here's the thing...I suck at writing "reviews." And I *hate* even trying! Yep, I hate it. I'm not insightful. And I'm not eloquent. And I never will be.

 But see, I still do love reading! And I love talking about what I'm reading. And I really want to go back to the way it was when I started this blog--where I just recorded what I'd read that day and what I thought about it.

I know that's not the kind of thing that anyone else will get much from. Really, I get that. So here's where I beg you not to feel like you have to read my blog out of any sense of obligation or anything of that sort!!!!!!!!!! I promise, promise, promise that I will not take it personally--I will not assume you don't like me as a person--I will not stop reading your blog!!!!

So yeah, this is one of many changes I'm making just for me.

See you at your blog, okay?

*****
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

It's not exactly that I had high expectations for this book/these books. More like I had high hopes. Hell, I knew there was a chance I wouldn't even like them. Ah, but those hopes...yeah, I really, really, really wanted to be utterly charmed and enchanted.

Didn't happen.

Sort of reflexively, I told myself that I might have fallen in love had I read them first as a child. But you know, I really don't think that's the case.

And it's not that I disliked these books at all. I didn't. I just didn't love them. Still, I am glad that I *finally* got around to reading them. Seriously, I wonder how many days one can make it through without running into some sort of Alice allusion. Just knowing that I will better understand those allusions alone makes it worth the time I spent reading it. I also really enjoyed all the word play...something I wasn't really expecting, but found sort of fun.

Pretty sure I won't be rereading it though. Unless it's with one of the boys, I guess. Now Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot...that I'd love to reread one of these days. :)

The Tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann...random thoughts

So, how embarrassing is it that I'd never read anything by E.T.A. Hoffmann before this? Well, let me tell you, it's not nearly as embarrassing as the fact that I don't remember ever even hearing of the man before. Oh yes, I'm serious.

But on a positive note, that has now been remedied. Something I am quite happy about. See, this whole homeschooling gig does have its advantages--as in taking me out of my comfort zone. Oh yeah, and teaching me about things I probably already should have known. ;)

 In this particular case, what I mean by "taking me out of my comfort zone" is making me read "old stuff." Why does this scare me so? Well, I've no freakin' idea really. Yes, I've read some "old stuff" that I've hated, that I've had a hard time understanding, that I found just plain boring. But then I've read my fair share of "new stuff" that fits those descriptions as well. And I've read plenty of "old stuff" that I've adored. So why I cling to this fear of all things written more than a hundred years ago (my technical definition of "old stuff"), I honestly couldn't say.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...but let's get on with Hoffmann here already. The Tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann (edited and translated by Leonard J. Kent and Elizabeth C. Knight) was a forced-upon-me RIP read, as I've already mentioned. But so utterly perfect for RIP it was! I was in turns reminded of Irving and Poe and Stoker. Murder and mayhem and madness and mystery. And perhaps best of all, there was ambiguity. Delicious ambiguity.

Contained in this book are seven tales, and I can't say there was a single one I did not enjoy. The first, "Ritter Gluck," is also the shortest at only ten pages. That ambiguity I mentioned...I think it first raises it head here...do we have a ghost story, or a tale of madness, or something else altogether?

The second tale is "The Golden Pot: A Modern Fairy Tale," the longest of them all at close to a hundred pages. But how to describe this one...uhhh... Okay, it's certainly fantastical. It is at times eerie. We meet witches and snakes with beautiful blue eyes. As in many of Hoffmann's tales, art and creativity play a large role. And again, there's that ambiguity...just "how" does it end?

"The Sandman" may just be my absolute favorite of the lot. And it probably most decisively embodies the RIP vibe...with tales of sinister apparitions to scare little ones, with dangerous alchemy, and with lots of creepy tidbits dealing with eyes...

Next up is "Councillor Krespel." What a sad little story this is. But I do have to admit that I really have no earthly idea what the very beginning of this story had to do with the rest of it...I almost felt as if he started writing one story but then couldn't figure out where to go with it so he decided to head in a different direction. (Note: This is very likely just me missing the obvious.)

"The Mines of Falun" is another fairly short tale...and another unsettling one. Another of my favorites. A tale of ghosts. A tale of madness. A tale of love.

And yet another of my favorite stories is "Mademoiselle de Scuderi." In my opinion, it is the most wonderfully atmospheric tale of them all. It is essentially a mystery, but a frightening, almost unearthly one. With lots of delicious bits of history thrown in. (But as much as I loved this one, I must admit that I was a tad disappointed in its ending...though not enough to change my feelings for the story overall.)

And finally, "The Doubles." Confession: I honestly didn't understand what was going on for a while in this one. But I think that was intentional on Hoffmann's part (at least that's what I'm telling myself :P). And eventually, I was able wrap my brain around it and begin to appreciate it, and enjoy it, much more fully.

So yep, all told, my first RIP book was definitely a winner.