Flush

Flush by Virginia Woolf
1976
Weight: 10.4 oz
Method of Disposal: Leave in Lending Library

I love Virginia Woolf, and I love dogs so imagine my delight when I found this book after having read almost all the other Woolf books.  It felt like an impossibly wonderful discovery.  How had I never heard of it?  I got so excited that I bought it, took it home, put it on the book shelf, and then did not read it for years.  Why?  I have no idea.

I finally read it, and I found it to be sad, realistic, enjoyable.  It is not the best Woolf, but it brings to light some more of her quirk and point of view.  I wish all the classic authors had written a book from a dog's point of view so we could compare and contrast them all and explore the author's personalities through the text.  What fun would that be?  Anyway, this was fun, and I am passing it on in hopes someone else is delighted by its very existence.

Affairs of the Heart

Affairs of the Heart: Men and Women Reveal the Truth about Extramarital Affairs
Interviews by Virginia Lee
1993
Weight:8.8 oz
Method of Disposal: Leaving in a lending library

I got this book for the "special value" of $1.00--the sale sticker seems to say it was in Spring of 2005.  At that time I was very pro-polyamory and distrusted marriage, despite being a serial monogamist most of the time.  I still feel strongly that polyamory can be a great thing for many people, but I am obviously not at all anti-marriage.  I am quite happily married and, if I ever think of the end of my marriage, it is to worry about the horror of one of us passing away before the other.  This happens when I talk to my neighbor whose wife died 18 months ago or if I watch a sad movie.

This book really just feels like an anthology of people proclaiming that polyamory is better or more natural than monogamy, with just a few exceptions, and less like a genuine look at a random sample of people who had affairs.  The interviewer asks some very leading questions.  On page 153, "So many women do not feel whole unless they are with a man and will tolerate incredible abuse just for that security.  Them if they fail in such a relationship, they think there is something wrong with them.  Would you say that this is why you meet so many unhappy women?"On page 85, "When did you begin to feel that marriage was not the fairy tale you had been raised to believe in?"  On page 151, "It all comes down to forgiveness, which often reduces the 'unfaithful' one to the status of a whimpering puppy.  Don't you think that it creates more anger, resentment, and humiliation--especially if the person who had the affair doesn't feel that there was anything wrong with what he or she did?" pg 150, "Some people believe that having an affair can be a healthy thing, it can revive a relationship that has gotten stuck in its patterns, or it can fulfill one partner whose needs haven't been met.  Often loving a new person can open the door and let the light in.  An affair can rekindle some joy, spontaneity, and passion in life.  An often, there's more energy to take home to the other partner, if he or she can be open enough to accept it.  Do you think such a scenario is possible?"

I guess I was hoping that this would just be a random sample of people who all had different or unique stories or just different thoughts about their stories.  I felt like this was promotional material for affairs at worst and just annoying at best.  The interviewees took little to no responsibility for their own actions, frequently whining about and blaming their spouses.  I found most of them to be obnoxious and unpleasant.  Consent.  Consent makes all the difference always.  Polyamory is good when all parties have respect for each other, have open communication, and consent.  An affair by default has none of those things.

Don't get me wrong.  I think there are good people that have affairs for a variety of complicated reasons.  I just do not think this book really gave voice to that or helped anyone have a more clear understanding of that.  I just think there was too much bias.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void  by Mary Roach
2011
Weight: 9 oz
Method of Disposal: Returning to rightful owner (borrowed 4-5 years ago or so....I know...I am terrible)

I love all things space and thought this book was a lot of fun.  I have often dreamed about what it would be like to have the opportunity to board a space shuttle and leave Earth behind.  I have thought that I would do it even if I knew I would not make it back.  I have thought about how I would be pleased for my ashes after death to be shot up there, which is only a little weird because, otherwise, I do not care at all what happens to my dead body.  I've dreamed many many dreams about it and none of them included the oddities in this little book.

It was fun and disturbing to think about all the tiny details of astronaut life.  Roach covers bodily fluids, eating, human nature, fungal growth, relationships, sickness, and all the little things you likely do not want to experience in space, but you endure for the ultimate exploration experience.  There were times where she had me laughing out loud and times where she was just flat out uncouth, but the overall book was insightful and fun. 

I did not love hearing about animals in space, as it breaks my heart every time, but I am always glad to know all I can know about the history of space travel and that includes the poor dogs and chimps that were sent without their consent into the unknown. 

I know that not everyone is impressed with Mary Roach and her popular science books, but I think they are a great way to dip into worlds a lot of us do not know much about.  I like her upbeat writing and chipper personality.  I may not laugh at all her jokes, but she always gets me with a few of them.  Also, space is exciting whether you like the author or not so why not?  I think it is worth the read!

The Real Thing

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard
1982
Weight: 3 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating

I was delighted to find another play by Stoppard while unpacking.  I am not as impressed with it as I am with his others, though I know I would have loved it in college and, from reading other reviews, I am the only one who isn't.  At that time I was fascinated by infidelity, love or the lack thereof, the other woman, sexual prowess, and divorce statistics.  I would have been underlining everything and making notes--like the reader before me.  This time, I just left feeling a little sad, a little unimpressed, and wondering if there are many male author's that can write about women in a way that feels honest to me.  I remember my creative writing teacher telling us not to piss on our own characters but, so often, when I read some of the "best" books ever written it feels like all the women are drenched in a non-consensual golden shower.  Stoppard's women are,at least, smart.  At moments, it just seems like they are only there so that men can bounce words off them and pontificate about their own life.