Reading Update - End of January
In the past couple weeks, I've read a few more books to talk about a bit!
Toni Morrison - Song of Solomon
I really loved the effect that The Bluest Eye and Sula managed to achieve through how indirect they are, and that's something that's made me consider Morrison one of my favorite authors (I'll probably write more about that later). Unfortunately, this one is far more direct, and thus misses what I liked so much about her earlier books. Plus, I've never been able to read more than a chapter or two of Morrison's work at a time, so combine my relatively sluggish pace with a story I'm less interested in, and it combines for my least favorite book of hers yet.
Meanwhile Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy by Transgender Writers
This one is *so* much better than the previous Topside anthology had been. That one didn't really work for me because the authors seemed too self-conscious about their work as a way to highlight "you know, trans people can write too!" I guess it was an understandable impulse in 2012? But when this one first came around in 2017, there was a bit more of a trans literary canon, for better or for worse. And so the pressure to be *the* trans writer that helps breakthrough is off the backs of the authors included, and they can just write. Still a mixed bag qualitywise, but the average story here is still probably worth your time.
Oscar Wilde - A Picture of Dorian Gray
I gotta be honest with y'all; I kinda didn't care about the story here. But then, that's not the point, is it? We're all here for Oscar Wilde's witty remarks and/or homosexuality, the plot is just an excuse to read it. The witty remarks were pretty witty, I suppose, but they're just relentless, so their impact gets dulled after the fiftieth or so of the chapter. If Wilde was even half this witty in person, I suspect that people got real tired of it by the end of the evening. I was pretty shocked at how overtly gay it felt, though, like I guess it wasn't explicitly stated or anything but I thought that the veil over all of that would have been a lot thicker.
