August 2013: Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is in for August! Have you read her before? Is she everything the hype claims? What are you planning to read?

For being such a prolific writer, I haven't read any of her works. I think I'll start with them, one of her earlier works that has been on my TBR list for a long time. Looking forward to it!

I read Blonde several years ago and loved it. Brilliant writer. I've also seen her speak before and she read some of her short stories. Dark but good stuff.

I've had We Were the Mulvaneys at home for years and just haven't gotten around to it, so I'll start with that one.

My library has Blonde, among several others, which seems to be her very highly regarded title, so I'll probably go for that one.

I haven't been taking part in this group because much of my reading got diverted into background for my vacation, but that's over now.

I've read three of Oates's novels: A Garden of Earthly Delights, Expensive People, and them. They are the first three in a series, at least the publisher says it is (they don't seem related to me), called the "Wonderland Quartet." So I may read Wonderland to finish the series. If there's time in the schedule I may read Blonde, or I may opt for two of her shorter works that are also on the 1001 list (another group project): Marya and Black Water.

Ah I didn't think about the 1001 list, I may have to see if either of those are at the library!

I have We were the Mulvaneys and a short story collection on my TBR stack. I will bust out one of those.

I've read a number of novels by JCO over the years. A fine writer, often with complex and uncomfortable material.

I will try and read one of her books in August.

Kally, you are not actually a member of the group, and LT has rules about authors promoting their books. Namely, not doing it. If you wish to be active on LT and join in this group, that's great, we'd love to have you. But self-promotion will not be tolerated.

I just finished Zombie - highly disturbing but oddly fascinating. I might give Blonde a go next.

I started reading Black girl/White girl today. I've only read a few pages but I'm really drawn in.
I think Joyce Carol Oates is not widely known in France, though many of her books seem to have been translated, and I hardly had heard of her before joining this group. So far I'm glad I learned about her! :)

I finished Black Girl/White Girl. Here's my review:

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Genna and Minette are roommates during their first year in a prestigious colloge. Genna is white, the daughter of ex-hippie, idealistic parents, and Minette is black, the daughter of a preacher, able to attend the college thanks to a merit scholarship.

Genna believes strongly in the equalitarian principles her parents taught her, and she is determined to become Minette's friend and to do anything she can so that her roommate feels comfortable in this predominantly white college. Her determination only grows when Minette starts reporting anonymous harrassment (thefts, degradation of her belongings, ...). We feel all the more oppressed because we know right from the beginning of the book that Minette will die during this first year.

Genna is moving because of her goodwill, but also because she frequently blunders in her attempts to get close to Minette, and she sometimes seems to not want to see that these attempts are not welcome... While telling of her struggle to become Minette's friend, she also tells about herself, and little by little we realise that she may not have the nice childhood that you could expect given her parents' occupations and political ideas.

There were several occasions where I was annoyed by the style (Oh how many sentences without a verb and ending with an exclamation mark!) but my irritation quickly subsided when I got immersed in the book.
This is a touching, complex book, in which few things are what they first seem to be.
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Has anybody else read it? I have spoilerish questions to ask, because reading other people's reviews made me wonder if I had hugely misunderstood the book.

I have read most of The Gravediggers Daughter. Its about a family that has immigrated from Gremany and the father takes a job as a grave digger and they live in a stone house right beside the grave yard. The Father shots and kills her mother and she falls in love with a man that is gone most of the time and when he is there treats her like crap. So now her and her son is on the run. Now I just need to finish the book to see how everything turns out. I know I have given away most of the book.

Nice review chlorine. Unfortunately I haven't read it...yet.

My own Oates reading is slow going. I started them over the weekend, but work and school have really been cutting into my reading time. Plus the book hasn't grabbed me yet, I'm hoping I too will get immersed in it soon to make the 500 pages fly by.

#15: I read somewhere that them was one of the books the author herself would like to be remembered for, so it looks like a better choice than Black Girl/White Girl for a first read. Too bad it's not so exciting for you.

I finally got to a JCO book. Just finished Black Water and I was pretty impressed by it. Here is my review.

This novella definitely packs a punch. It is obviously a retelling of the famous scandal surrounding Ted Kennedy's car accident where he drove his car off a bridge with a female passenger inside, escaped, and didn't call the police until the next morning. The passenger, of course, died. Apparently there is quite a bit of controversy about what really happened (I missed this as it happened before I was born) but Oates skips most of the controversy and keeps the focus on Kelly, the passenger. The book is told almost completely from the Kelly's point of view as she drowns in the car. It's dramatic - time flying back and forth, hallucinations vs. memories vs. her present of drowning - and short. Oates could have chosen to make this a long novel, delving into The Senator's motivations for leaving this woman to die, presenting more background and aftermath, but instead she keeps the focus on the mind of Kelly as she slowly loses air and drowns. This is a powerful and haunting book.

Black Water was my first foray into the dozens of book Oates has written. I was impressed by it and will continue dipping into her vast array of books.

I've got Blonde sitting here, but I've still not cracked it open. Eventually, I will read her work!

I just finished Blonde. Wow. I've never been especially interested in Marilyn, but figured this book is so highly praised so what the heck why not? Very glad I did. She hooked me from the first page, and got me really interested in Marilyn; I'd like to read a "proper" biography of her now, thanks to this book. The writing is just fabulous. Even for someone not interested in the subject it's a great read, just pulls you right in.

I read Black Water early September - just past the timeframe for this challenge. I'm going to read Blonde in October.

Black Water was interesting to me because it educated me about the scandal involving Ted Kennedy which japaul22 mentions above. I knew nothing about not only because it happened ages ago, but also because the Kennedy's to me seem to be bit sacred to Americans, the American royal family as the media here portrays them. So I was amazed to hear about this. It was written in short sharp chapters that seemed to rush past like water gushing in and adrenalin pumping. Then towards the end the chapters stretched out a bit more and become a bit more meandering and nonsensical. Till the fatal end. I'm glad I read this one.

My first book by Oates was We Were the Mulvaneys about 5 years ago. I really liked it, though I was surprised by how many didn't. It was about a solid mid-western American family who seemed to have it all and were picture perfect, which is what the youngest son thought too when he narrates the story. Then a crime is committed and what affects one family member affects them all their hidden skeletons and warts become all too visible and impossible to ignore. The family seems to fall apart and then rebuild itself.

Then I read The Gravedigger's Daughter I found that interesting too, the early childhood part most of all. Oates has said it's semi based on her grandmother's life which made it all the more interesting.

Finally I've read After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away which is a Young Adult book. I feel really cynical for saying this but it felt formulaic, like a calculation had been made as to what makes a successful YA book, and that was what was written, and because of that it felt a bit detached or remote.

> 19 I loved that book, and I've definitely heard that reaction before. There are a TON of Marilyn Monroe biographies out there, but some are a lot better than others. Offhand, I recall Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe by Anthony Summers being pretty good, but I read it about a decade ago now!

> 20 Wow, thanks for all the insights. I have We Were the Mulvaneys on my bookshelf and really hope to get to it sooner rather than later. Based on yours and japaul22's posts, I'd like to read Black Water now also. And, The Gravedigger's Daughter sounds intriguing!

>21 sweetiegherkin: Thanks for the tip! :)

You're welcome :) Although as I do recall, it gets a bit conspiracy theory surrounding her death ...