Things Jelani and I Talk About

A few months ago, Rebecca Makkai gave a reading on campus as part of the English department's Visiting Writer Series. The selections she read to us were very good, and her responses during the Q&A session were really interesting (her characters were so thoroughly three dimensional, as it seemed from the snippets she read to us, and good character development is something I really admire).

As usual during these sorts of events, I sat with my good friend, Jelani*. Every once and awhile, he will lean over to tell me something about whatever it is we're watching or listening to, or something he finds interesting. During Rebecca Makkai's reading, Jelani made a noise of recognition. I looked at him, curious. He paused, and I offered my notebook to him.**

Humbert is the name of the, uh, main character in Lolita, he wrote along the long side of the page.

Ah. Well. I responded. A minute or so went by, and then I added, I need to read that book. I haven't yet. 

make sure it's the annotated version. the footnotes really enhance the experience.

In a good way or bad way?

very very good. you will need the novel in your right hand, a dictionary in your left in order to make it through that book, btw

Coolbeans. Noted. Will do. 

it's perversely one of the best books ever written. 

Then, later, when Makkai confirmed that she slipped many literary allusions, including Humber from Lolita, in to her book, The Borrower, I gave him a nudge, and pushed my notebook over toward him.

Yay you! 


*He leaves bits of brilliance and intellectualism on The Hype Weekly, and bleeds genius and, on occasion, whimsy, on his personal blog. I also owe him about a billion Poetry Nights at Auntie Mae's. I should probably get on that.

**We have had a lot of conversations over the years, and while most are verbal, there have been a few that have taken place on paper.

A Brief Note about Wizard Rock

I have a lot of things I'd like to write about regarding my trip to the SigmaTD convention last week (New Orleans!! Amazing!!), but I have been trying to keep up with various BFA and classwork things since my return on Sunday. Plus, I have class in twenty minutes, so I need to be really, really quick about this.

Saturday is the fifth wizard rock concert here at K-State. It's this great evening full of book nerdiness and celebrating reading and Harry Potter and His Dark Materials and Hunger Games and other such awesomeness. It has become one of my favorite things about the spring semester, and there's just something really wonderful and special about being around people who love reading as much as you do and listening to really quality music celebrating the power of story and the books you love. 

For time's sake, I'll save more gushing about this until I have a moment or two. But for now, I leave you with Ministry of Magic's "Don't Leave". Happy Thursday! (And see you Saturday at the Alumni Center!)

Banned Books Week Goodness

Happy Banned Books Week! I always look forward to BBW; I get warm fuzzies around this time of year, not only because of our freedom to read but in the sheer amount of books and stories that we have at our fingertips. It's such a wonderful thing, to have the right to choose. And really, that's what this week is about. We can make the decision for ourselves.

First, FYA continues to promote awesome by poking fun at censorship. I love them so much. They are amazing. Also, this from The Literary Snob (who also reblogged this amazing post earlier this week).

Throughout the week, there have been readings and panels and other such awesomeness celebrating reading. I read from The Perks of Being a Wallflower at the Union earlier this week (the scene when Sam is up in the truck bed as they're going through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, my favorite part).

The ALA has posted many lists of challenged and banned books, including those most frequently challenged in the '90s, the 2000s, as well as by year (here's the list for 2010). If you're interested, poke around a bit. They have some really great resources and bits of information.

My Top Five Favorite Banned/Challenged Books

1. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson: This was one of the first books I fell for once I came to the realization of how awesome reading was (and more than just a means to get A.R. points). 
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: <3
4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison: ...and the rest of the series that followed this amazing and hilarious novel.

There are more, as always. Reading is wonderful. <3 What are your favorites?

Tight-Rope Walkers

On clear days when the weather is nice in the spring and fall, there will occasionally be groups of four or five people various places on campus, gathered around cords that have been strung between two trees. Some locate themselves in the Quad, others in other areas in which there is a reachable distance between any two trees. The cord, I assume, is some kind of durable, elastic material that can withstand pressure and stress (I don't know what it is, but it looks sturdy).

The cord is strung only a few feet above the ground. They take turns stepping up onto the line and balancing; there is a little bit of a pause as they (presumably) test the rope, wiggling it back and forth with their bare feet, and then they step up. They hover for a moment, trying to keep their balance, and then either step down to solid ground or try to step forward.

Though on the rope they are only a foot or two off the ground, I get nervous thinking about if I were to ever try to walk the rope. I can only make it to the second step of a ladder, and can't peek too far over railings to look at the ground below. Thoughts about all the bad things that could happen--spraining something if I fall off, humiliation, [insert disaster here]--fill up the left-over brain space in my head. I don't think I'd have the physical ability to propel myself up to balance on the single line of cord, let alone stay up there. It would take a huge amount of courage and self-trust to be able to stay up there.

In junior high P.E., we spent an entire class period doing trust falls and related activities. I remember this day very vividly, because it was one of the worst days I ever had in P.E.. I remember crying and crying and crying because I had no desire to fall backward into the unknown (it didn't help that they had us climb up a few of the steps of the folded-up bleachers to fall from a higher point). Why couldn't I just metaphorically trust others without having to risk injury to prove it?

To this day, I still don't quite understand what the lesson was that day. I mean, I understand much more than I did then: trust should be something you have in any situation. But did they mean in others? Or did they mean in oneself? What was it they were trying to instill in me, the one who cried herself dry because she was afraid of heights and unwilling to believe that her group members would catch her? What was I supposed to put my trust in?

Today, when I saw a group of the tight-rope walkers, I thought about that day. Trust comes in many forms. Though I'm still unsure of many things, I know I understand that fact. In this case, one must trust that this single line is enough to withstand your weight, your body, and your expectations--even for the briefest of moments.

If I were a bolder person, I would try it. And, perhaps, one day I will. I think about it whenever I see them at it, though. What would it feel like, suspended on air, with seemingly nothing below your feet but space and a moment? That line would not break. Then, what?