Sunday, June 25, 2017

[bearshorty]

Ursula Le Guin Words are My Matter

I finished this book on Friday. It has four sections: Essays, Introductions, Book Reviews and Diary of a week at Writing retreat. Overall, I enjoyed it, although I slugged a little through the book review section as most books were unfamiliar. With Introductions I knew most books so I could compare my thoughts on it more. I did like it when Le Guin didn't like the book she was reviewing, and she was sharp and pretty witty about it and often didn't mince her opinion. But still, that section was least interesting. The rest had better pace to them.

In her essays and speeches, which were delivered between 2000 and 2016, there are mostly two themes. One is her strong desire to stop the separation of genre and litterature. She can't stand those who insist on separation. Genre should be more mainstream and should not be considered less than 'serious literature'. Her other main theme is her condemnation of modern publishung which is dominated by profit focused corporations who tend to go for short term profit rather than long term nurturing of authors. She returns to these two themes often. They are a little depressing as are her essays about women authors and how our culture tends to forget them.

I also really liked her essay on abortion and the Diary section of her book. In both, her voice and character get clearer. The Diary also proves why she is such a good writer. Wonderful descriptions. And it is good to see an author's week and process of working.

I do prefer novels to non fiction but it was a nice collection that let's you get to know the author. I read Gaiman's collection last year. I can't really compare them, the styles are different but I like hearing the authoral voice and ideas that are important to these writers.



Logan
Bear and I watched "Logan" on Saturday. I gave the DVD to Bear for his birthday. He saw it in the movie theater and really liked it, and I gave him the DVD also with an intent to see it myself. Contrary to many online opinions I really enjoyed the first Wolverine movie and really didn't like the second, but with this one I did have high expectations based on all opinions I read. And it was a very good movie. Good mix of (very brutal at times) action and emotional beats.

Some plot points were a bit too convenient (like having a convenient mutant tracker when most mutants seem to be not there, so as to make sure the bad guys can follow our heroes, or having Logan be on the Mexican border in the first place. And where did other nurses go who went with different kids?) but I could ignore that because of the great character work by Logan and Charles and Laura. Good job on relationships between all the principal characters. And Patrick Stewart was spot on as very old Charles, with more cursing and also prodding. And this movie didn't hold back. I didn't expect it to be set in the future but that worked and Logan got a fitting end. (I really liked that he used James, his birth name, through the movie too). It was dark but with enough hope at the end.


My Mom took Tanya for the weekend - they left on Friday early morning and will be back tomorrow (Monday) around noon - so Bear and I had a weekend to ourselves (and the baby), which felt very luxurious. Bear took Tanya to his parents last Sunday but this time both of us were home and could actually spend time together.

It's funny, when we just had Tanya, it was just us and the baby but it felt like a lot. Now, with just Olivia but no almost 3 year old around, it feels like freedom. Olivia is a demanding baby right now, she wants to be held all the time (gas and reflux, poor baby) and she cries a lot ( more like screams) but it still feel easier with just one kid around. Bear and I went for a walk, taking Olivia in her stroller. We stopped by a bakery to get some treats too, sat in the courtyard. Had lunch and dinner together. Watched a movie while Olivia napped on me. And that was just Saturday. So very nice weekend for us. When Tanya is home, she usually wants to play with Bear and we don't have lots of time to meaningfully interact. So nice break. I do miss her though, even her demanding energy.