The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

A few days ago, Paperback Reader wrote a post on The Lottery by Shirley Jackson that really captured my attention.  I had to stop what I was doing and immediately read the story.  A single word sums up my reaction - horror.  I was utterly and completely horrified.

The Lottery, first published in The New Yorker in 1948, centers on a very ritualistic  yearly lottery that occurs  in  a small, pastoral village.  The story is very short (just 5 pages) and to say much more could spoil it.  Read the story for yourself here, if you dare.

Throughout her life, Jackson (1916 - 1965)  shied away from interviews and refused to promote or explain her work.  However, The Lottery aroused such controversy that Jackson issued a statement in The San Francisco Chronicle on July 22, 1948:

Explaining just what I had hoped the story to say is very difficult. I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives.

The Lottery is truly an amazing read.  I've never had a story evoke such strong emotions. Jackson is also well known for The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle  It sounds like these would make excellent Halloween reading fare, and I'd like to read at least one of them this fall.

To see who else is talking about short stories today, visit The Book Mine Set.

The Sunday Salon - Is there a "magic number"?

Good morning, saloners!  For my post this week, I'd like to pose a question.  How many books does it take to be a book blogger?  

I started Lakeside Musing seven months ago to share "thoughts on books and life from here by the lake".  Not sure exactly where I was going or what my focus would be,  I wrote posts about food and recipes, weather, travel, and the lake in addition to posts on books and reading (which I figured would, eventually, end up taking center stage).

In the past several months, I have settled into a somewhat comfortable blogging routine.  Late last winter, I rediscovered short stories and started participating in Short Story Monday.  I joined The Sunday Salon two months ago.  Booking Through Thursday is always fun and I seem to have fallen into the habit of posting a book review on Fridays.  Occasionally, I do a Library Loot post, play along with Teaser Tuesdays, or highlight my book club meeting.

This leads me to my question.  How many books does it take to be a book blogger?  Is there a magic number to strive for? In the best of times, I rarely read more than one book per week. Now, with all the usual demands on my time plus a new-found interest in blogging and reading blogs, I'm struggling to maintain that 'best of times' pace.  Is one book review and one short story review per week enough?  Will people notice/care if it's less than that?

I'm not a very fast reader to begin with.  My college-aged daughter says the problem is that I read everything closely.  "Don't you ever skim, Mom?",  she has asked more than once.  For that reason, really chunky books have become intimidating since I started blogging.  I'd also love to join in with some of the recent extended reading projects, but I'm afraid I won't get anything else read.

I suppose the answer is that since I'm blogging mainly for myself, I should not feel pressured to post anything at all.  But, it just seems to be part of my personality to keep striving to improve on this blogging hobby.  So, thanks for taking the time to read my ramble.  I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.

Finally,  I'd like to share one of the highlights of my week.  Becky, from One Literature Nut..., has presented me with the Literary Blogger Award.  It is described as:

...an award which acknowledges bloggers who energize and inspire reading by going the extra mile! These amazing bloggers make reading fun, and enhance the delight of reading!

 Becky, who is much-deserving of this award herself, features wonderful reviews (like her most recent on The Inheritance of Loss) and other reading-related posts. Her blog is on my 'must read daily' list! 

I'd like to pass this award on to:

Jackie at Farm Lane Books

Matt at A Guy's Moleskin Notebook

Claire at Kiss a  Cloud

They review so many wonderful books, and have lead me to several I may not have found on my own.  They've also caused some significant growth in both my tbr pile and list!  If you don't already know these bloggers, I urge you to stop by and say hello.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend and are able to carve out some time for reading!

The Big House by George Howe Colt

The Big House:  A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home

by George Howe Colt

Scribner, 2003

319 pages

Summary:

The title nearly says it all.  Colt gives us a brief history of his well-connected Boston family and the summer home they built on Cape Cod in 1903.  He recounts childhood summers spent at the "big house" and details the family struggle to maintain this vanishing way of life.  Ultimately, the house must be put up for sale. The book is, perhaps, Howe's way of saying good bye.

My thoughts:

The Big House was the May selection for my book group and the original plan was to incorporate my thoughts with the group's overall reaction.  However,  the meeting was cancelled at the last minute, and there will be nothing left if hold my thoughts for another month!

May was a perfect time to read this book, so I was not surprised to see it featured on Barnes & Noble's summer reading table.  It is so evocative of time and place, that it made me nostalgic for a way of life I have never known.  My favorite quote describes the rhythm of a typical day:

"Two weeks in, the days have a comforting sameness to them:  mornings at the Bluff, afternoons at the Big Cove, evenings on the piazza.  We live in our bathing suits.  Our feet, callused from going barefoot all day, no longer cringe on the rocky shore.  Rubbed by sun, wind, and water, our city edges are wearing away.  I feel as weathered as driftwood, as smoothed as sea glass.  When I woke this morning I couldn't remember what day it was."  (page 173)

There are descriptions of sailing races, the big tennis tournament at summer's end, indoor hide-and-seek, and, of course, summer reading and the books found all over the Big House. Summer has a rhythm that Colt compares to an ocean:

"Summers have their own oceanic rhythm.  June, when the water is cool, people are scarce and the bay is empty, is low tide.  In July - as families arrive, the houses fill, the sun ripens - the tides rises.  August - the tennis tournament is in full swing, the bay is full of boats, the Red Sox making their annual run for the pennant - is high tide.  And then the tide slowly ebbs:  the days grow shorter, the nights cool, the Red Sox fade.  There is a surge of false hope on Labor Day weekend, but then the streets and stores are empty, the crowds are gone. Low again." (page 173-174)

As time passes, lifestyles no longer allows for entire summers off, family wealth is somewhat diluted, and it is a struggle to maintain the Big House and it's way of life.  Eventually, the house is put up for sale.  It languishes on the market for several years.

Most potential buyers wanted to subdivide and develop the property. Living in a small, historic village, I could easily relate to the zoning laws, efforts of preservationists, and the negative impact this may have on potential buyers (our town successfully fought off Wal-mart nearly ten years ago).  Eventually, there is a mostly acceptable resolution.

It was also interesting for me to note that Colt is married to writer Anne Fadiman.  Her book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, lead to one of my book club's best discussions ever.  I am also a fan of her essay collection Ex Libris.

This book is a perfect choice for summer non-fiction reading. I found a couple of sections slow-going, and would have really appreciated a map of Cape Cod, but these are just minor complaints.  This virtual trip to Cape Cod was an enjoyable start to my summer reading.

My rating: 4/5  

Booking Through Thursday - Niche

Today's question:

There are certain types of books that I more or less assume all readers read. (Novels, for example.)

But then there are books that only YOU read. Instructional manuals for fly-fishing. How-to books for spinning yarn. How to cook the perfect souffle. Rebuilding car engines in three easy steps. Dog training for dummies. Rewiring your house without electrocuting yourself. Tips on how to build a NASCAR course in your backyard. Stuff like that.

What niche books do YOU read?

My answer:

I suppose my 'niche' books have changed, or evolved, over the years as my interests have developed.  Of course, there have been constants. My collection of cookbooks has been growing and changing for almost 25 years.  Some I use often, while others come out only for holidays, a specific season, or a special occasion.  Here are a few of my favorites:

The number of gardening books seems to be increasing. They are kept on an easily accessible shelf for quick reference.

This higher shelf is home to niche books I don't use as much anymore.  Some of my antique furniture and pottery books are her, as well as a few dog books, and child/adolescent/parenting books (I should probably pull these down for a  "teen" refresher!).

The needlework, craft, and decorating books can be found on another shelf, along with various travel guides, and an assortment dictionaries and atlases.  Most of the home remodeling books were donated to the library book sale (we're not doing that again!). If you add in my husband's niche books, the collection looks even more eclectic! 

Read more answers to this question at Booking Through Thursday.

Teaser Tuesdays - June 9

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anyone can play along!  Here's how it works:

- Grab your current read 

- open to a random page

- share two teaser sentences from somewhere on that page (avoid spoilers!)

- be sure to include the title and author, so other TT participants can add the book to their tbr list if they like your teaser

My teaser:

" It was a long journey across the Atlantic, she knew, at least a week on a ship, and it must be expensive.  She had a sense too, she did not know from where, that, while boys and girls from the town who had gone to England did ordinary work for ordinary money, people who went to America would become rich."   page 26

Brooklyn: A Novel

by Colm Toibin

TSS - At least I'm thinking about reading

Good morning, readers!  As the school year is winding down, the end-of-the-year activities are in full swing.  This week we've had a concert, awards banquet, and the first graduation parties of the season.  It almost goes without saying, but there hasn't been much  reading going on.  However, I have been thinking about reading.  In particular, I've been thinking about authors I have 'discovered' over the course of the school year.  Here are ten authors whose work I have sampled and want to spend more time with. 

Tobias Wolff

Old School, featuring literature and loss of innocence, is set in a New England prep school in the 1960's.  

Next:  This Boy's Life, a memoir, or a short story collection.  Wolff is probably best known for his stories.

Colm Toibin is my most recent discovery.  I just finished listening to Brooklyn and was totally captivated!  

Next: I've heard good things about The Blackwater Lightship and The Master.  Both are on my tbr list.

W. Somerset Maugham

The Painted Veil was one of my favorite books of 2008.   The character of Kitty Fane is not easily forgotten.

Next:  Of Human Bondage? The Razor's Edge?

Emile Zola

Therese Raquin will surely be on my list of favorites this year. It paints a fascinating psychological portrait of lovers who commit a horrible crime in order to be together.

Next:  ???  I don't know much about Zola's work and welcome any suggestions.

Alan Bennett

I wrote about The Uncommon Reader in last week's Sunday Salon post.

Next: The Clothes They Stood Up In - I've decided to try the audio version.

T.C. Boyle

The Tortilla Curtain was another favorite of 2008.  Set in California, this novel put very real faces on both sides of the illegal immigrant question.

Next:   The Road to Wellville, a short story collection, or his new novel The Women

John Cheever

The Wapshot Chronicle, the saga of the Wapshot family of New England, won the National Book Award in 1958. 

Next: The Wapshot Scandal or his collected stories

Alice Walker

I posted about "Everyday Use" a couple of weeks ago for Short Story Monday.

Next:  The Color Purple, of course

Tillie Olsen

I stumbled across Olsen's story  "I Stand Here Ironing"  in the Norton Book of American Short Stories and wrote a Short Story Monday post about it.

Next:  Tell Me A Riddle

Cynthia Ozick

I read her story, "The Shawl", in The Best American Short Stories of the Century.  It was a very short, brutal story set in a Nazi concentration camp.

Next: I brought The Shawl home from the library last  week. It pairs the title story with a novella that picks up the same character living in Florida thirty years later.  Her novel, Heir to the Glimmering World is near the top of my tbr pile.

I'll also mention Sebastian Barry here.  I've recently started The Secret Scripture and, after just 50 pages, I know this an an author I will come back to.

So, there you have it - my new authors of the school year.  Of course, there are countless others 'discovered' earlier that I've yet to get back to.  And the many authors still on my tbr list?  We won't even go there...

What authors have you discovered this year?

What's Your Word?

Your Word is "Think"

You see life as an amazing mix of possibilities, ideas, and fascinations. And sometimes you feel like you don't have enough time to take it all in. You love learning. Whether you're in school or not, you're probably immersed in several subjects right now. When you're not learning, you're busy reflecting. You think a lot about the people you know and the things you've experienced. What is your word? I found this fun quiz at Fleur Fisher reads today.