Saturday, April 10, 2010

Samuel L. Jackson was in The Piano Lesson Once

I'm reading The Piano Lesson by August Wilson for the first time. That's something interesting about being an English teacher, actually. You re-read a lot of books. Dan was surprised that I actually bother to re-read each year, but you have to. I don't know a single English teacher who doesn't. Some of the books get better with re-reading (all of the ones by Cormac McCarthy), and some lose a little bit of their magic (Peace Like a River, for one).

Anyway, I'm reading Wilson's Pulitzer-winner (his second Pulitzer) for the first time. It's about a money dispute between brother and sister. It hinges on a piano that dates from the time the family was in slavery in Mississippi. I'm not sure what I think about it, yet.

In addition, I read Birthmarked for an hour at a coffee shop, and I was intrigued. The main character is a teenaged midwife in a dystopic society. She's supposed to hand over a certain number of babies per month to "The Enclave," which is a community of privileged people who live within a wall.

Reading alone at a coffee shop was a delight, and I needed this solitude to fortify myself for Shef's rock climbing party this afternoon. That party was a real challenge.

6 comments:

Indiana Rock on a California Roll said...

Rock Climbing field trip day is never a highlight of summer as a Y Camp counselor- feel ya.

By the way, I brought up the phenomenon of people perceiving boys as being SO funny with my friend Josephine. She said, "I think they just say funny things less often so it's more of a surprise."

Tim K. said...

Generally speaking, I do re-read the books every year, though each year it becomes more skimming than reading -- any notes you've made to yourself really help. And when we did The Odyssey for summer reading, it was more like "glancing." But I totally agree with you on McCarthy -- gets better every time.

AmyRobynne said...

Congrats on surviving the party!

I'm curious enough about Birthmarked that I requested it from the library (they have it on order).

Martha said...

dystopic NOT on mac widget!

LH said...

I have to also send congrats for being done with the party.

I am amazed at how much stuff the big kids read in your classes. You rock, super teacher.

kc said...

Dystopia is the opposite of utopia, basically. Yeah, I read how this is becoming a genre, too - a lot of the reviewers were talking about that regarding this book. So far, I really like it.