Things to do to keep myself occupied

Can't go into details due to confidentiality laws, but as of this afternoon, I find myself lacking work in my day job (teaching at a residential treatment center) for the next 90 days or so.  No fault of my own, just a series of unfortunate events elsewhere.  I could apply for a transfer out of state, but that is unlikely, but again, I have a bit of free time that I've desperately wanted for several months now.

So...

Here are some tentative plans: 

1. Read and review more of the Library of America editions I'm collecting.
2. Write more commentary pieces, even if it means some people will disagree vociferously.
3. Translate a short story from Spanish into English that to my knowledge has never been published in translation before.
4. Write a few more critical analysis pieces.
5. Review more books from non-Anglophone countries.
6. Promote Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21)
7. Review the remaining novels by Umberto Eco that I have yet to review.

That, along with some recreational plans, should keep me active enough until I return to work.  Fear the squirrels' minion, as he has hoarded many nu...err, books, that will be unleashed on the unsuspecting.

Library of America titles

I am often attracted to collecting certain well-designed books.  In addition to owning the majority of the Easton Press 100 Greatest Books, I have slowly been building my collection of Library of America titles, as the design, thin paper, the scholarship, in addition to the classic titles themselves, appeal greatly to me.  It's not a cheap endeavor, as a new volume usually lists for $35 or $40 (admittedly, most are $20-28 on Amazon).  Over the past three years, I've managed to acquire nearly 50 titles, some of them used, and I hope to add to my collection in 2012.

Although I had planned to wait until New Year's Day to announce this, I do plan on reading (and likely reviewing) several, if not all, of the Library of America editions that I currently own, in hopes that it'll draw more people to read these stories and to support a non-profit agency.  Below are the current titles through this month.  Bold means I've read it in that edition, italics for books owned but not read in the LoA edition, and plain means I need to acquire copies in the future:

Edit:  Found a used two-volume bicentennial edition of Lincoln's speeches and writings in excellent condition this afternoon at McKay's, so the total is now up to 50 books acquired for this series, plus poetry collections by James Agee and Carl Sandburg for Library of America's Poetry series.

Edit (5/24/12):  Total volumes owned is now up to 101.  Updated listing to include forthcoming titles through the end of 2012.

Edit (2/24/13):  Total volumes owned is now up to  109.  Updated listing to include forthcoming titles through the end of 2013.

Edit (1/11/14):  Total volumes owned is now up to 128.  Updated listing is current through at least mid-2014.

Edit (1/12/15):  Total volumes owned is now up to 136.  Updated listing is current through at least mid-2015.

Edit (1/24/16):  Total volumes owned is now up to 165.  Updated listing is current through at least mid-2016.

Edit (3/5/17):  Total volumes owned is now up to 196.  Updated listing is current through the end of 2017.

Edit (6/23/2018):  Total volumes owned is now up to 227.  Updated listing is current through the end of 2018.

1.  Herman Melville,Typee, Omoo, Mardi

2.  Nathaniel Hawthorne, Tales and Sketches

3.  Walt Whitman, Poetry and Prose

4.  Harriet Beecher Stowe, Three Novels

5.  Mark Twain,Mississippi Writings

6.  Jack London, Novels and Stories

7.  Jack London, Novels and Social Writings

8.  William Dean Howells, Novels 1875–1886

9.  Herman Melville, Redburn, White-Jacket, Moby-Dick

10.  Nathaniel Hawthorne, Collected Novels

11.  Francis Parkman,France and England in North America: Volume One

12.  Francis Parkman,France and England in North America: Volume Two

13.  Henry James, Novels 1871–1880

14.  Henry Adams, Novels, Mont Saint Michel, The Education

15.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays and Lectures

16.  Washington Irving, History, Tales and Sketches

17.  Thomas Jefferson, Writings

18.  Stephen Crane, Prose and Poetry

19.  Edgar Allan Poe, Poetry and Tales

20.  Edgar Allan Poe, Essays and Reviews

21.  Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad and Roughing It

22.  Henry James, Literary Criticism: Essays on Literature, American Writers & English Writers

23.  Henry James, Literary Criticism: French Writers, Other European Writers, Prefaces to the New York Edition

24.  Herman Melville, Pierre, Israel Potter, The Piazza Tales, The Confidence-Man, Billy Budd, Uncollected Prose

25.  William Faulkner, Novels 1930–1935

26.  James Fenimore Cooper, The Leatherstocking Tales: Volume One

27.  James Fenimore Cooper, The Leatherstocking Tales: Volume Two

28.  Henry David Thoreau, A Week, Walden, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod

29.  Henry James, Novels 1881–1886

30.  Edith Wharton, Novels

31.  Henry Adams, History of the United States During the Administrations of Jefferson (1801–1809)

32.  Henry Adams, History of the United States During the Administrations of Madison (1809–1817)

33.  Frank Norris, Novels and Essays

34.  W.E.B. Du Bois, Writings

35.  Willa Cather, Early Novels and Stories

36.  Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie, Jennie Gerhardt, Twelve Men

37.  Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings

37.  Benjamin Franklin, Silence Dogood, The Busy-Body, and Early Writings

38.  William James, Writings 1902–1910

39.  Flannery O'Connor, Collected Works

40.  Eugene O'Neill, Complete Plays 1913–1920

41.  Eugene O'Neill, Complete Plays 1920–1931

42.  Eugene O'Neill, Complete Plays 1932–1943

43.  Henry James, Novels 1886–1890

44.  William Dean Howells, Novels 1886–1888

45.  Abraham Lincoln, Speeches and Writings 1832–1858

46.  Abraham Lincoln, Speeches and Writings 1859–1865

47.  Edith Wharton, Novellas and Other Writings

48.  William Faulkner, Novels 1936–1940

49.  Willa Cather, Later Novels

50.  Ulysses S. Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters

51.  William T. Sherman, Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

52.  Washington Irving, Bracebridge Hall, Tales of a Traveller, The Alhambra

53.  Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail, The Conspiracy of Pontiac

54.  James Fenimore Cooper, Sea Tales

55.  Richard Wright, Early Works

56.  Richard Wright, Later Works

57.  Willa Cather, Stories, Poems, and Other Writings

58.  William James, Writings 1878–1899

59.  Sinclair Lewis, Main Street and Babbitt

60.  Mark Twain, Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, & Essays 1852–1890

61.  Mark Twain, Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, & Essays 1891–1910

62.  The Debate on the Constitution: Part One: September 1787 to February 1788

63.  The Debate on the Constitution: Part Two: January to August 1788

64.  Henry James, Collected Travel Writings:  Great Britain & America

65.  Henry James, Collected Travel Writings: The Continent

66.  American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, volume one: Freneau to Whitman

67.  American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, volume two: Melville to Stickney, American Indian Poetry, Folk Songs and Spirituals

68.  Frederick Douglass, Autobiographies

69.  Sarah Orne Jewett, Novels and Stories

70.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Collected Poems and Translations

71.  Mark Twain, Historical Romances

72.  John Steinbeck, Novels and Stories 1932–1937

73.  William Faulkner, Novels 1942–1954

74.  Zora Neale Hurston, Novels and Stories

75.  Zora Neale Hurston, Folklore, Memoirs, & Other Writings

76.  Thomas Paine, Collected Writings

77.  Reporting World War II: American Journalism 1938–1944

78.  Reporting World War II: American Journalism 1944–1946

79.  Raymond Chandler, Stories and Early Novels

80.  Raymond Chandler, Later Novels and Other Writings

81.  Robert Frost, Collected Poems, Prose and Plays

82.  Henry James, Complete Stories 1892–1898

83.  Henry James, Complete Stories 1898–1910

84.  William Bartram, Travels and Other Writings

85.  John Dos Passos, U.S.A.

86.  John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1936–1941

87.  Vladimir Nabokov, Novels and Memoirs 1941–1951

88.  Vladimir Nabokov, Novels 1955–1962

89.  Vladimir Nabokov, Novels 1969–1974

90.  James Thurber, Writings and Drawings

91.  George Washington, Writings

92.  John Muir, Nature Writings

93.  Nathanael West, Novels and Other Writings

94.  Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s

95.  Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s

96.  Wallace Stevens, Collected Poetry and Prose

97.  James Baldwin, Early Novels & Stories

98.  James Baldwin, Collected Essays

99.  Gertrude Stein, Writings 1903–1932

100.  Gertrude Stein, Writings 1932–1946

101.  Eudora Welty, Complete Novels

102.  Eudora Welty, Stories, Essays, and Memoir

103.  Charles Brockden Brown, Three Gothic Novels

104.  Reporting Vietnam: American Journalism 1959–1969

105.  Reporting Vietnam: American Journalism 1969–1975

106.  Henry James, Complete Stories 1874–1884

107.  Henry James, Complete Stories 1884–1891

108.  American Sermons: The Pilgrims to Martin Luther King Jr.

109.  James Madison, Writings

110.  Dashiell Hammett, Complete Novels

111.  Henry James, Complete Stories 1864–1874

112.  William Faulkner, Novels 1957–1962

113.  John James Audubon, Writings and Drawings

114.  Slave Narratives

115.  American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, volume one: Henry Adams to Dorothy Parker

116.  American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, volume two: E.E. Cummings to May Swenson

117.  F. Scott Fitzgerald, Novels and Stories 1920–1922

118.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Poems and Other Writings

119.  Tennessee Williams, Plays 1937–1955

120.  Tennessee Williams, Plays 1957–1980

121.  Edith Wharton, Collected Stories 1891–1910

122.  Edith Wharton, Collected Stories 1911–1937

123.  The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence

124.  Henry David Thoreau, Collected Essays and Poems

125.  Dashiell Hammett, Crime Stories and Other Writings

126.  Dawn Powell, Novels 1930–1942

127.  Dawn Powell, Novels 1944–1962

128.  Carson McCullers, Complete Novels

129.  Alexander Hamilton, Writings

130.  Mark Twain, The Gilded Age and Later Novels

131.  Charles W. Chesnutt, Stories, Novels, and Essays

132.  John Steinbeck, Novels 1942–1952

133.  Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith, Elmer Gantry, Dodsworth

134.  Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky, Let It Come Down, The Spider's House

135.  Paul Bowles, Collected Stories and Later Writings

136.  Kate Chopin, Complete Novels and Stories

137.  Reporting Civil Rights: American Journalism 1941–1963

138.  Reporting Civil Rights: American Journalism 1963–1973

139.  Henry James, Novels 1896–1899

140.  Theodore Dreiser, An American Tragedy

141.  Saul Bellow, Novels 1944–1953

142.  John Dos Passos, Novels 1920–1925

143.  John Dos Passos, Travel Books and Other Writings 1916–1941

144.  Ezra Pound, Poems and Translations

145.  James Weldon Johnson, Writings

146.  Washington Irving, Three Western Narratives

147.  Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

148.  James T. Farrell, Studs Lonigan: A Trilogy

149.  Isaac Bashevis Singer, Collected Stories: Gimpel the Fool to The Letter Writer

150.  Isaac Bashevis Singer, Collected Stories: A Friend of Kafka to Passions

151.  Isaac Bashevis Singer, Collected Stories: One Night In Brazil to The Death Of Methuselah

152.  George S. Kaufman & Co., Broadway Comedies

153.  Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders, An Autobiography

154.  Theodore Roosevelt, Letters and Speeches

155.  H. P. Lovecraft, Tales

156.  Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys

157.  Philip Roth, Novels and Stories 1959–1962

158.  Philip Roth, Novels 1967–1972

159.  James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, A Death in the Family, and Shorter Fiction

160.  James Agee, Film Writing and Selected Journalism

161.  Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast and Other Voyages

162.  Henry James, Novels 1901–1902

163.  Arthur Miller, Collected Plays 1944–1961

164.  William Faulkner, Novels 1926–1929

165.  Philip Roth, Novels 1973–1977

166.  American Speeches: Political Oratory from the Revolution to the Civil War

167.  American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton

168.  Hart Crane, Complete Poems and Selected Letters

169.  Saul Bellow, Novels 1956–1964

170.  John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley and Later Novels 1947–1962

171.  Capt. John Smith, Writings, with Other Narratives of Roanoke, Jamestown, and the First English Settlement of America

172.  Thornton Wilder, Collected Plays and Writings on Theater

173.  Philip K. Dick, Four Novels of the 1960s

174.  Jack Kerouac, Road Novels 1957–1960

175.  Philip Roth, Zuckerman Bound: A Trilogy & Epilogue 1979–1985

176.  Edmund Wilson, Literary Essays and Reviews of the 1920s and 30s

177.  Edmund Wilson, Literary Essays and Reviews of the 1930s and 40s

178.  American Poetry:  The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

179.  William Maxwell, Early Novels and Stories

180.  Elizabeth Bishop, Poems, Prose, and Letters

181.  A. J. Liebling, World War II Writings

182.  American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau

183.  Philip K. Dick, Five Novels of the 1960s and 70s

184.  William Maxwell, Later Novels and Stories

185.  Philip Roth, Novels and Other Narratives 1986–1991

186.  Katherine Anne Porter, Collected Stories and Other Writings

187.  John Ashbery, Collected Poems 1956–1987

188.  John Cheever, Collected Stories and Other Writings

189.  John Cheever, Complete Novels

190.  Lafcadio Hearn, American Writings

191.  A. J. Liebling, The Sweet Science and Other Writings

192.  The Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now

193.  Philip K. Dick, VALIS and Later Novels

194.  Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Other Novels 1926–1948

195.  Raymond Carver, Collected Stories

196.  American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps

197.  American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now

198.  John Marshall, Writings

199.  The Mark Twain Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Works

200.  Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, Following the Equator, Other Travels

201.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected Journals 1820–1842

202.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected Journals 1841–1877

203.  The American Stage: Writing on Theater from Washington Irving to Tony Kushner

204.  Shirley Jackson, Novels and Stories

205.  Philip Roth, Novels 1993-1995

206.  H. L. Mencken, Prejudices: First, Second, and Third Series

207.  H. L. Mencken, Prejudices: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Series

208.  John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society and Other Writings 1952–1967

209.  Saul Bellow, Novels 1970-1982

210.  Lynd Ward, Gods’ Man, Madman’s Drum, Wild Pilgrimage

211.  Lynd Ward, Prelude to a Million Years, Song Without Words, Vertigo

212.  The Civil War: The First Year Told by Those Who Lived It

213.  John Adams, Revolutionary Writings 1755-1775

214.  John Adams, Revolutionary Writings 1775-1783

215.  Henry James, Novels 1903-1911

216.  Kurt Vonnegut, Novels & Stories 1963–1973

217.  Harlem Renaissance Novels: Five Novels of the 1920s

218.  Harlem Renaissance Novels: Four Novels of the 1930s

219.  Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary, Tales, & Memoirs

220.  Philip Roth, The American Trilogy 1997–2000
221.  The Civil War:  The Second Year Told by Those Who Lived It
222.  Barbara W. Tuchman, The Guns of August & The Proud Tower

223.  Arthur Miller, Collected Plays 1964–1982

224.  Thornton Wilder, The Eighth Day, Theophilus North, Autobiographical Writings
225.  David Goodis, Five Noir Novels of the 1940s and 50s
226.  Kurt Vonnegut, Novels & Stories 1950-1962
227.  American Science Fiction:  Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s volume 1:  1953-1956
228.  American Science Fiction:  Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s volume 2:  1956-1958
229.  Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Little House Books volume 1
230.  Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Little House Books volume 2
231.  Jack Kerouac, Collected Poems
232.  The War of 1812:  Writings from America's Second War of Independence
233.  American Antislavery Writings:  Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation
234.  The Civil War:  The Third Year Told by Those Who Lived It
235.  Sherwood Anderson, Collected Stories
236.  Philip Roth, Novels 2001-2007
237.  Philip Roth, Nemeses
238.  Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac & Other Writings on Conservation and Ecology
239.  May Swenson, Collected Poems
240.  W.S. Merwin, Collected Poems 1953-1993
241.  W.S. Merwin, Collected Poems 1993-2013
242.  John Updike, Collected Early Stories
243.  John Updike, Collected Later Stories
244.  Ring Lardner, Stories & Other Writings
245.  Jonathan Edwards, Writings from the Great Awakening
246.  Susan Sontag, Essays of the 1960s &70s
247.  William Wells Brown, Clotel & Other Writings
248.  Bernard Malamud, Novels and Stories of the 1940s & 50s
249.  Bernard Malamud, Novels and Stories of the 1960s
250.  The Civil War:  The Final Year Told by Those Who Lived It
251.  Shakespeare in America:  An Anthology from the Revolution to Now
252.  Kurt Vonnegut, Novels 1976-1985
253.  Various, American Musicals 1927-1949
254.  Various, American Musicals 1950-1969
255.  Elmore Leonard, Four Novels of the 1970s
256.  Louise May Alcott, Work, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, Stories & Other Writings
257.  H.L. Mencken, The Days Trilogy, Expanded Edition
258.  Virgil Thomson, Music Chronicles 1940-1954
259.  Various, Art in America 1945-1970:  Writings from the Age of Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Minimalism
260.  Saul Bellow, Novels 1984-2000
261.  Arthur Miller, Collected Plays 1987-2004
262.  Jack Kerouac, Visions of Cody, Visions of Gerard, Big Sur
263.  Reinhold Niebuhr, Major Works on Religion and Politics
264.  Ross Macdonald, Four Crime Novels of the 1950s
265.  Various, The American Revolution:  Writings from the Pamphlet Debate 1764-1772
266.  Various, The American Revolution:  Writings from the Pamphlet Debate 1773-1776
267.  Elmore Leonard, Four Novels of the 1980s
268.  Various, Women Crime Writers:  Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 1950s:  Volume 1:  The 1940s
269.  Various, Women Crime Writers:  Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 1950s:  Volume 2:  The 1950s
270.  Frederick Law Olmstead, Writings on Landscape, Culture, and Society
271.  Edith Wharton, Four Novels of the 1920s
272.  James Baldwin, Later Novels
273.  Kurt Vonnegut, Novels 1987-1997
274.  Henry James, Autobiographies
275.  Abigail Adams, Letters
276.  John Adams, Writings from the New Nation 1784-1826
277.  Virgil Thomson, The State of Music & Other Writings
278.  Various, War No More:  Three Centuries of American Antiwar & Peace Writing
279.  Ross Macdonald, Three Novels of the Early 1960s
280.  Elmore Leonard, Four Later Novels
281.  Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Complete Orsinia
282.  John O'Hara, Stories
283.  Jack Kerouac, The Unknown Kerouac:  Rare, Unpublished & Newly Translated Writings
284.  Albert Murray, Collected Essays & Memoirs
285.  Loren Eiseley, Collected Essays on Evolution, Nature, and the Cosmos:  Volume 1
286.  Loren Eiseley, Collected Essays on Evolution, Nature, and the Cosmos:  Volume 2
287.  Carson McCullers, Stories, Plays & Other Writings
288.  Jane Bowles, Collected Writings
289.  Various, World War I and America:  Told by the Americans Who Lived It
290.  Mary McCarthy, Novels and Stories 1942-1963
291.  Mary McCarthy, Novels 1963-1979
292.  Susan Sontag, Later Essays
293.  John Quincy Adams, Diaries 1779-1821
294.  John Quincy Adams, Diaries 1824-1848
295.  Ross McDonald, Four Later Novels
296.  Ursula Le Guin, The Hainish Novels & Stories, Volume 1
297.  Ursula Le Guin, The Hainish Novels & Stories, Volume 2
298.  Peter Taylor, The Complete Stories, Volume 1
299.  Peter Taylor, The Complete Stories, Volume 2
300.  Philip Roth, Why Write?:  Collected Nonfiction 1960-2013
301.  John Ashbery, Complete Poems 1991-2000
302.  Wendell Berry, Port William Novels and Stories:  The Civil War to World War II
303.  Various, Reconstruction:  Voices from America's First Great Struggle for Racial Equality
304.  Albert Murray, Complete Novels & Poems
305.   Norman Mailer, Four Books of the 1960s
306.  Norman Mailer, Collected Essays of the 1960s
307.  Rachel Carson, Silent Spring & Other Environmental Writings
308.  Elmore Leonard, Westerns
309.  Madeleine L'Engle, The Kairos Novels, Volume I:  The Wrinkle in Time Quartet
310.  Madeleine L'Engle, The Kairos Novels, Volume II:   The Polly O'Keefe Quartet
311.  John Updike, Novels 1959-1965
312.  James Fenimore Cooper, Two Novels of the American Revolution

Yumeno Kyûsaku, Dogra Magra

Often, reviewers will settle for analogues whenever they are unable to devise an explicit explanation for what a particular story contains in its form and content.  For example, "Kafkaesque" and "surreal" are often used to denote works in which the inexplicable is occurring, often in ways that seem to indicate a fatalism that underlies complex and often fractured narratives.  It is a handy catch-all, as it allows the reviewer to say with a straight face and with some gravitas that "this shit is weird, fo' sure."  Yet there are times where such catchphrases are useful shorthands for describing works that defy traditional description.  Japanese author Yumeno Kyûsaku's 1935 novel, Dogra Magra, is one of those novels.

Describing the premise for Dogra Magra will illustrate the problems reviewers have had in attempting to distill its essence in a few pithy comments.  Ichiro, the protagonist, wakes up one day suffering from amnesia.  He is in a psychiatric ward.  He comes to learn, through the eponymous "Dogra Magra," that he has attempted to kill his fiancée.  Yet there is much more to this than just a psychological portrait of what leads one to kill what one loves.  Turns out that much of the writing in the middle section is in the form of psychiatric reports written by two doctors who may or may not be characters in Ichiro's narrative.  Furthermore, the narrative fractures into an exploration of Buddhist concepts surrounding karma, particularly how it applies to Japanese culture in the period immediately following World War I, two generations removed from the beginning of the Meiji Restoration and Japan's rapid industrialization.  And if this does not sound complicated enough, Ichiro and a female character may or may not be reincarnated souls that are experiencing the memories and mental anguish of their ancestors.

Yumeno's novel easily could be a mess, given the elements listed above.  Yet it is a strangely coherent novel in which the narrative fractures reflect off of each other to create a fascinating detective novel in which the detective is an apparent criminal (or perhaps a victim of fate) and his search (a word often repeated in the narrative) for understanding leads him further and further down the rabbithole of madness and despair.  Ichiro's entrapment may remind readers of the mysterious imprisonment and trial of Joseph K. in Kafka's The Trial.  There are certainly some parallels with how Ichiro's search for his forgotten past resembles Joseph K.'s trial, particularly in how the damning information is revealed and the effect it has on the reader.  Yet there are key differences, namely Yumeno's narrative is even stranger, more weird, than Kafka's, particularly in how the mechanics of the psychological reports are employed within the novel.  These long, oddly clinical accounts, heavily dependent on the then-current Freudian theories of the mind and its impulses, provide a sharp contrast to the portions of the novel told through Ichiro's perspective.  Here we see ideas on how the psyche works clashing with the more metaphysical, philosophical notions expressed by Ichiro and a woman he comes to meet in the psych ward who talks of how ancestral memories may be transmitted through generations to affect (infect?) the descendents.  This alternation between the scientific and the Buddhist-influenced folk belief creates a narrative tension in which the boundaries of the "real" become stretched and one is left with a sense of estrangement occurring, as if one is stepping outside the bounds of a traditional plotted novel and into something that is odd, off-kilter, not "true" or "false," but lying somewhere beyond them.

It is in the latter half of Dogra Magra where this sense of surrealness occurs most often.  Before this midpoint, the story does resemble in form and structure a detective novel, albeit one that is odd in that the protagonist seems to be either truly amnesiac or insane.  Once the reader manages to process the contents of the psychiatric reports, one begins to question as to whether or not everything is as it seems.  Yumeno's digressions into the ancestral memories, into the repetitive nature of certain memorable (and perhaps infamous) actions, causes the narrative to careen sharply away from earlier reader expectations and toward something that is inexplicable for the reader.  Furthermore, there are hints that even those reporting on Ichiro may not be what they seem.  This results in a conclusion that loops back, creating what appears to be an infinite loop that alters slightly at its end what it had begun narrating.

Dogra Magra succeeds in creating a sense of alienation and purposeful confusion.  The reader, unlike in many detective novels, is no "smarter" than the characters and if anything, they (especially Western readers reading this in French translation – it is not yet available in English translation) are perhaps even more perplexed by what is transpiring than the characters, who seem to take the incipient weirdness in full stride before the narrative almost completely fractures in the latter third of the novel.  For those readers who love weird fictions and who can read Japanese or French, Dogra Magra may be one of the best examples of 20th century weird/detective/psychological literature available.   It is certainly a novel that will need several re-reads before I am certain that I have gleaned everything essential from it, which perhaps is the greatest compliment that can be paid to this seminal work.

Inherited Bookshelf and Portuguese, Italian, and German books

Yesterday, I received the bookcase that I inherited from my maternal grandmother (my grandfather built the case) and I moved my Library of America editions (46 so far) there, along with my old and newer Mark Twain editions and the Thomas Ligotti books I've managed to collect.  The other books are placeholders until I decide if I want them to remain there or return to the few stacks I still have.

To fill the void on another bookshelf left by removing the above-mentioned books, I moved several of my foreign language editions over to the vacated bookshelf.  Here is a picture of most of the 26 Portuguese-language books that I currently own, including three excellent books by David Soares that I wish were available in English translation so I could urge others to read them.

I have just over as many Italian language books (29).  Featured in this picture are the six Umberto Eco novels that I have in Italian editions (all of his novels).  Hope to write more reviews of his earlier books to go with the ones I've already written for The Prague Cemetery (the only one of his books I don't yet own in English translation) and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana.  Slowly reading Foucault's Pendulum around other works.

Here, among other authors, are my Italian editions of Italo Calvino and Dino Buzzati's works. Plan on reviewing some of these in 2012, either here or elsewhere.

Although my German is too rusty after 15 years of neglect, I've collected 54 German language books, making it the third-most foreign language books I have after Spanish (over 400) and French (around 120).  Here are some of the Goethe and Heine books I have, as well as a three-volume anthology.

Schiller and Kafka, two of my favorite playwrights/writers in any language.  I might devote part of 2012 to relearning German enough to read them without much need of a translation or dictionary.

A smorgasbord (almost the only Swedish I know) of other German writers.  I even have the German edition of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' The Communist Manifesto in there.  The Herman Hesse and Michael Ende books just missed the picture cut, alas.

Here's the German translation of Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, some Hegel and Thomas Mann, a Romanian book, and Romanian, Greek, and Polish translations of some of Jeff VanderMeer's work.  No, I'm not fluent enough to try to read the latter three without assistance, although the Romanian I can puzzle out through knowing the cognates in other Romance languages.

Follow-up on yesterday's rant

Yesterday's rant on the William Morrow letter to online reviewers has stirred the pot, I suppose, as even the LA Times' Jacket Copy blog has linked to my previous post and to others tweeting/blogging about that situation.  A lot of interesting points were brought up in the comments to my post, in a couple of forums where I linked to the letter, and on other blogs reacting to either those forum posts or to my original post here.  Some agreed with what I said, some had reservations, and a few disagreed completely, seeing little to nothing wrong with the situation.

I had planned on elaborating on a few of my concerns in the near future, but thought it might be best to strike while the iron is hot, so this sequel post will be more of an apologia than anything else.  What I'd like to cover here is a few points related to the receiving of review copies, perceived expectations, and the dangers associated with certain relationships.  Some will agree with what I have to say, others will disagree, and a few will likely shrug before going off to do something of a productive nature.  C'est la vie.

One common preconception about review copies is that the reception of them ought to imply a quid pro quo situation in which both the reviewer and the product producer have certain obligations.  To some small extent, this is true.  A reviewer should be expected to write reviews of something at some indeterminate date lest s/he be a fraud, but there is a fallacy here.  Some seem to think that there is an understood contract in which services are provided in exchange for material supply (reviews for books), but that is not how traditional reviewing has taken place.  I come from an academic background, having written critiques of fellow grad student papers and having mine critiqued as well.  It was there where I learned how to write reviews and where I derive my review ethics.  Scholars receive materials to consider for review; they often decline to review a work or if they accept it, it is not with the expectation that the review is payment for services rendered by the initial reception of materials (i.e. books).

As a fairly successful online reviewer (with hundreds of thousands, if not over a million – depending on the stat device used –, of page views over seven years), I was one of the earliest people to receive books from genre publishers, way back in 2004 (although that was because I headed wotmania's Other Fantasy section then).  For years now, I've received hundreds of books from a wide variety of publishers, from large conglomerates down to smaller "indie" presses.  I did a few contacts at first to have my name put on mailing lists, but I never considered myself a reviewer for hire by any press.  Instead, I viewed it akin to how a professor or school may solicit samples from several publishing firms in order to do textbook selections (something which I've helped in a minor role in my main career as a teacher).  They might receive dozens of materials and select only 1-3 out of those.  Only difference being there is no feasible way of returning the promotional ARC materials, this is how I've always viewed the process.  I am a potential user/reviewer, the publishers are vendors advertising their wares in hopes that I select one for consideration and then possible favorable recommendation to others.

Others do not see it this way.  They see it as an unspoken obligation between the two parties.  Some in the comments I've read on this issue get hung up on the "well, they requested the copies" quip.  People request information or, in this case, materials for a variety of reasons.  They may want to investigate further to see if the material warrants a full read/review (and in many cases, the story is unappealing to the reviewer and they would rather not finish the book than to write a negative review).  Some may view it as an obligation or paid-in-kind job that they must complete in order to be "paid."  Regardless of the rationale, there is that common belief that obligations exist for reviewers.  Here, it seems the main obligation is to read/review a book because the publisher expects that of reviewers and that to refuse to do so is somehow dishonest.  I think this is a misleading expectation, in large part because for some of the more well-known online reviewers (those at my modest level to those who receive tens of thousands of page views daily), we receive a lot of unsolicited materials in hopes that we will choose 1-5 a month that will gain enough visibility that they might start a daisy chain of other reviewers hunting down those books, posting reviews, and perhaps increasing potential sales by 10% or more.  Is it cost-effective for publishers?  Depends on the firm and their market strategy.  It may not be as lucrative as some thought, viz. the William Morrow marketing letter, which hints at a restriction on these unsolicited copies due to the gross inefficiencies of this scatter-shot approach toward distributing review copies.  It does make sense for those bearing the cost of review distribution to reassess and refine distribution.  That is not a problem for me and never was, as my perceived part in this is someone who sifts through what is sent unsolicited.

As I've said in the past, I no longer solicit copies and I seldom respond to direct publicist requests because I do not want to get into the game of promising tit for tat.  This is an important distinction to make here, as it also implies that I do not care one way or the other if a publisher feels these terms of engagement are not conducive to good marketing for them.  I would have no qualms about dropping publishing firms who demand that I cover X number of books by Y date, nor should they have any hesitation in dropping me from their mailing lists if I won't play by their rules.  Some commentators have made disparaging comments regarding "blogger entitlement," as if the reviewers somehow expect they should receive "free books" without obligation.  That's not the issue here:  reviewers ought not to be viewed as a (mostly) unpaid extension of a publisher's marketing branch.  I may read a book, say Karen Tei Yamashita's I Hotel, and praise it, but I'm not going to be a taint weasel and praise every single thing that Coffee House Books has done in hopes of receiving more copies (I should note that I bought the book and have never had any dealings with Coffee House Books other than buying a few books that I later thought were excellent).  To do so would compromise my ethical position when it comes to reviewing books.  Others might disagree, arguing that people such as myself cannot hold themselves distant from the fray and look down upon those who are trying to find good books and to promote those to their readers.

A related view, expressed in a comment to a post here, is that receiving review materials is a "privilege."  It is the different side of the obligation coin, where now the reviewer is somehow (unjustly?) exalted because s/he receives something that others do not and that therefore they better be sure to keep that in mind lest it be yanked away from them.  I disagree.  Reviewing is separate, or at least ought to be, from the means in which the reviewed materials are acquired.  I am no more or less of a reviewer because I bought my copy of Helen Oyeyemi's Mr. Fox before receiving a commission to write a short review of it for the upcoming issue of Bull Spec magazine.  I review because I want to and because I worked hard enough at my craft that I occasionally agree to write columns, reviews, and conduct interviews for paying venues.  There is no coercion there; my reviews, columns, or interviews could have been rejected or I could have not accepted the commissions.  There is neither privilege nor entitlement involved in reviewing.  I could have every single publisher-sent review copy dropped tomorrow and it would not affect me as a reviewer because I would then just buy what interests me, explore a few curiosities, and only be a few hundred dollars poorer every year.

This admittedly cavalier attitude is not a universal one.  There are those who are caught up in how to receive the copies, on how best to cover them, and how not to upset the hand that "feeds" them.  These are the ones who will work hardest on "Maggie's Farm," as they want to work harder to win the prize at the end of the day.  These bloggers are so earnest that I cannot help but marvel at them while being dismayed at the sometimes servile tone they strike.  For several, reviewing is something done in order to continue to receive something that they hope they can share with friends and other like-minded individuals who want to know what "the buzz" is going to be and where.  For these reviewers, the relationship between reviewer-product supplier is not that of vendor model (my attitude) or employer/employee as much as it is a cozy connection in which the blogger becomes a willing participant in the book promotion game, sometimes crossing over and joining the publisher in a paid position (this is not condemning those who take such jobs, mind you).  Perhaps the better term for this type of reviewer-publisher relationship is that of the lobbyist or advocate, where the blogger sees their main role as advocating (or recommending) certain books and not attempting to be critical or to place distance between themselves and the publishers.

This is where I have the largest problems.  I didn't address it fully (or adequately) in the William Morrow piece I wrote yesterday, but beyond the annoying claims put forth in that letter was this sense that it was written in part to address those who may be receptive to being a book lobbyist sort of reviewer.  This galls me.  Not the WM letter as much as the growing sense I've had that too many erstwhile critics are becoming too close to their clients and that the relationship does not have the necessary "distance" that would benefit both the reviewer and the publisher who wants a firmer gauge on what stories appeal to which audiences.  Giveaways by themselves are harmless, but the perception that the review is the "hook" for the giveaway is an insidious one that hints at a possible internal decay of the review infrastructure.  Who can trust those who may have lost their critical eye?

These issues outlined above have troubled me long before the latest teapot tempest.  While I don't expect people to agree with even part of what I have said, hopefully there is some food for thought here.  Later this month, I plan on reviewing several titles.  Virtually all of them will be bought and not received, but a few might be review copies.  When those reviews appear will depend on my health (I am scheduled to have dental surgery on the 13th to remove an infected wisdom tooth) and my time (I will begin shortly writing biweekly columns for Weird Fiction Review).  What I do hope readers will do is read what I write, look and see if there are other reviews, and make up their own minds, as I don't write reviews for fame, review copies, or much of anything else other than a love to spout off on occasion.

I Ain't Gonna Work on Maggie's Farm No More: William Morrow and Blogger Reviewers

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
No, I aint gonna work on Maggie's farm no more
Well, I wake up in the morning
Fold my hands and pray for rain
I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin' me insane
It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.

– Bob Dylan, "Maggie's Farm"

A little over a year ago, I made the decision not to solicit review copies or advanced review copies (ARCs) any more due to certain constraints that I felt might compromise my ability to write honest, reflective reviews.  I do not regret making that decision and even though I still receive a few unsolicited review copies, I do not promise to review any of the books I receive in case I find there is little to say about the book or because I do not care to read it at all.  That decision has worked well for me and I have found that I have reviewed more diverse books over the past year than I had done previously.  This may not be to the liking of those readers who want "the new shiny" when it comes to books and want to be able to compare reviews of particular "buzzworthy" books, but tough.  This blog has been dedicated to reviewing an eclectic range of works and if you hadn't heard of Donald Ray Pollock before reading this blog and then discovered that he writes darker, more twisted (in a good way) stories than the average Joes (Abercrombie, Piscopo), then this blog has served its purpose.

Other online reviewers probably enjoyed (and maybe still enjoy) the interactions with publicists, authors, and editors more than I have.  Maybe there's some fun in arranging contests, giveaways, and other promotional matters.  That's never been of interest to me, even when I arranged them at wotmania as perfunctory matter.  I preferred keeping my distance and viewing the review copies et al. as akin to textbook adoptions, where the districts (or in my case, the reviewer) consider what is offered but make no commitments, with none expected unless an arrangement is made.  Others might not like that reduction of all this down to its business core, but that's how I've viewed it for a long time, which probably has enabled me to sleep better at night than others who have fretted and worried over their "review commitments."

But I would imagine that even those who have cozier relationships with publishers than I ever will might be upset to learn of a letter sent to several online reviewers by William Morrow, a branch of HarperCollins.  I saw this posted today on Twitter and I was disgusted by what I read:

"Under the new system, you will no longer receive titles piece-meal.  Instead, you'll receive 1-3 emails during the month with all of our upcoming titles available for your review, one month ahead of the on-sale date.  You'll be directed to a Google form where you can request up to three of your choices.  Of course, we'll still happily pay the shipping.  Your job is simply to review the book within a month of receiving it and post your thoughts on your blog or site.  Ideally, we'd like for reviews to appear online within two weeks to a month after the on-sale date, so you might keep this in mind when selecting books."

Your job?  Uh, Hey-ull nah!  I ain't workin' for you!

"When you've reviewed a book you've chosen and sent us an email with a link to the posted review, you will be eligible for a free giveaway copy.  Just let us know in the email that you'd like to host a giveaway.  We'll pay for the shipping to the winner within the US and Canada."

How nice.  Write us a review and we'll be oh-so-kind as to offer you a promotional copy to promote your blog and our product.  Backs will be scratched, almost gratis!

"Additionally, you'll no longer receive books that you didn't order.  No more random books showing up on your doorstep!  You'll only receive the titles that you want."

Sounds super!  But what's the catch, dad?

"If it isn't already clear, WE LOVE THAT YOU LOVE OUR BOOKS!  And to allow us to continue to offer free copies and free shipping to you committed book reviewers, we will be tracking how many reviews we receive from you.  If we notice that you request books but aren't posting your comments or sending us the link, we may suspend your ability to receive review offers from us.  We know you're busy bloggers – if you don't think you'll be able to post a review within a month, please pass on that offer so we can continue to offer you free books in the future!"

And now we see the stick lying behind that dangling ARC carrot.  It's not enough that it is "your job" to review their books within a one month span before or after its release date, but they couch in sweet talk the threat to pull review copies because you don't want to play their game.  In other words, it's not the neutral relationship between a critic and a publishing firm, but it is a quasi-working relationship where it is implied that the blogger reviewers will act as paid-in-kind promoters for the publisher and get a few (up to three a month!) books in a quid pro quo arrangement.  No, I ain't gonna be working on Maggie's farm no more...and neither should any who actually received that letter from the William Morrow Marketing Team.

It's bad enough when some publishers imply such an arrangement is necessary for online reviewers to receive books, but to go so far as to baldly state it?  It's just a perversion of what a literary critic/book reviewer should be doing and seeing such a missive sickens me.  What's worse is that I know there are some out there who will readily grovel to receive such titles, even if it meant forfeiting any possibility of having a neutral, critical approach toward reviewing any titles received from William Morrow or any other publisher that might demand terms such as that.

Sadly, this letter is but a symptom of what I perceive to be an unbalanced and unhealthy relationship between those who produce objects and those who write about said objects.  Too often we hear these days of those "reviewers" who have been bought and sold by the companies whose products they are supposed to be evaluating.  I recently saw a link on Conversational Reading that dealt with "a crisis in literary criticism."  It is worth reading, but what I noticed was an implied reference to reviewers who are "careful" about what they say about books.  Let's be honest.  A large reason why reviewers in print publications have to be "careful" is that too often the ad/marketing people call the shots.  If the review pisses off a client, then money might be lost, so the reviewer is often reminded to tone it down.  There really are few firebrands out there blasting both barrels at works that suck donkey dong.  Whether it be online reviewers on their nascent blogs that receive a few score visitors a day or those who enjoy a regular readership in the hundreds of thousands, one doesn't want to lose their supply and/or money, so one just meekly parses their words to make scathing complaints into the mildest of rebukes while providing blurb-friendly comments to works that are disposable and easily forgotten after the sales cycle is complete.

What a sad state of affairs.  Maggie and her brother seem to have the upper hand for now.

Progress on "to finish" books for 2011

Nine days ago, I posted a list of 21 books/series I wanted to finish before 2011 was complete.  Thought I'd update the list for the beginning of December.  The titles in bold mean I have completed them and the ones underlined I expect to finish before the weekend is over.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, La sombra del viento (re-read)
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, El juego del Ángel (re-read)
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, El prisionero del cielo (copy should arrive in the next 2-7 days)
Umberto Eco, La Misteriosa Flamma della Regina Loana (hoping copy arrives in the next few days)
Umberto Eco, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (re-read)
Umberto Eco, Тајанствени Пламен Краљице Лоане (Serbian translation I received as a gift)
Milorad Pavić, Drugo Telo (re-read)
Milorad Pavić, Second Body (re-read)
Milorad Pavić, Unique Item - Delta Novel
Milorad Pavić, Blue Book
Catherynne M. Valente, The Habitation of the Blessed
Catherynne M. Valente, The Folded World
Caitlín R. Kiernan, Two Worlds and In Between
Geoff Ryman, Paradise Tales
Marcel Proust, volumes 3-7, in both French and English, of In Search of Lost Time
Russell Banks, Lost Memory of Skin
J.M. McDermott, Women and Monsters
Christopher Bollen, Lightning People
Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
Péter Nádas, Parallel Stories (in-progress)
Various, The King James Edition of the Bible (halfway through)