The Songs Of Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs

Pierre Louÿs was a nineteenth century French author known for lesbian and classical themes in his writing. His short work The Songs of Bilitis includes both of these themes. It is a sensual collection of prose poems that were originally published as translations from the ancient Greek. Louÿs alleged that Bilitis was an actual lesbian poetess from Sapphic antiquity. But this was a hoax; Bilitis and the poems are the creation of Louÿs.

Many of the short prose poems are very beautiful. Some are erotic, but in a subtle rather than graphic or lascivious way. I rather enjoyed the short work. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I read two translations of The Songs of Bilitis. One by Michael Buck published by Capricorn Books in 1966. The other by Mary Hanson Harrison published in 1995 by Evanston Publishing. Buck's translation is more archaic, a thee and thou kind of translation. Harrison's uses more modern language. Both are beautiful in their own way, but Harrison's is often easier to read. Harrison's translation is part of Two Erotic Tales by Pierre Louÿs, which includes The Songs of Bilitis as well as Aphrodite, a better known work by Louÿs.

3.75/5

Read for:

• Decades Challenge (1920s)


• What's In A Name Challenge (Music Term In The Title)


• GLBT Challenge

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

What can I say about The Old Man and the Sea? It lived up to all the hype I had heard about Ernest Hemingway. The sparse prose, the theme of man against nature, and absolutely brilliant writing. The story is rather minimalist. An old man, fishing in the sea hooks a large marlin. What ensues is an epic battle between the man and the fish. Written so beautifully, Hemingway kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire novella. I know that I am gushing, but really I cannot say much more than brilliant, simply brilliant! If you love literature and you have not read The Old Man and the Sea, do so as soon as possible.

5.00/5

Read for:

• Book Awards IV Challenge (1953 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award of Merit)


• Decades Challenge (1950s)


• What's In A Name Challenge (Body of Water in the Title)
  

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

I am not much of a reader of Westerns, but Riders of the Purple Sage is a classic. On the Utah frontier, Mormons and Gentiles are in constant struggle. Jane Withersteen, the wealthy owner of a prosperous ranch finds herself at odds with her fellow Mormons, squarely in the middle of the struggle. What follows is a moving tale of intrigue and secrets, of sorrow and love.

I enjoyed reading Riders of the Purple Sage. However, I found that language a little archaic and the pacing somewhat slow. Still, as I said Riders of the Purple Sage is a classic and deserves to be read by any bibliophile.

3.5/5

Night by Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel is the heartbreaking memoir of Wiesel's experiences in Nazi concentration camps. It was an emotionally difficult read, probably not the best choice for the Readathon. But, if you haven't read this book, get a copy and read it as soon as possible. Remembering the injustices of history can help us prevent injustices in the future.

4.50/5

House of Cards by William Cohan

House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess On Wall Street is an engaging look at the fall of Bear Stearns. Mr. Cohan makes an admirable attempt at explaining how the giant investment bank imploded. Unfortunately, I expected a better book. Cohan's book suffers from it's length and from the sheer number of people that about whom he writes. I found myself taking notes just to keep track of who was who. Also, at the end of the book, Cohan tacks on a little bit about Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. But this coverage of Lehman Brothers is shallow and irrelevant to the main story of the book, that of Bear Stearns.

My overall feeling about the book is that Cohan rushed to get it published, and his haste shows. It reminds me of Blaise Pascal's quip about writing a long letter because he didn't have time to make it brief. Perhaps Mr. Cohan didn't have time to make his book clearer and shorter.

3.5/5

Who's Been Sleeping In Your Head? by Brett Kahr

London based psychoanalyst Brett Kahr's book Who's Been Sleeping In Your Head? is not for the faint of heard. Subtitled The Secret World of Sexual Fantasies, this book is intended to be a scientific study of adult sexual fantasy. Kahr, through both online surveys and in-depth personal interviews, gathered data on the sexual fantasies of over 23,000 men and women from the U.S. and Britain. In the first section, Kahr gives the reader some initial information on his credentials an the psychoanalytic view of sexual fantasy. He then poses some questions he hopes the study of the data will answer. The second section is a sample of the fantasies gathered during the study. It is here that the warning not to read on if you are faint of heart applies. Many of these fantasies are quite disturbing. In the third section of the book, Kahr gives a more in-depth look at sexual fantasy and its development through several case studies. He posits hypotheses as to the cause of the sexual fantasy in each individual case. For some of these cases, the childhood trauma that caused the fantasies are even more disturbing than the fantasies themselves. In the fourth and final section, the author attempts to draw some conclusions from the study.

I have to admit, I am ambivalent about what to say about this book. I would not necessarily recommend it to anyone I know. As I stated, some of the material in the book is upsetting. In addition, I am quite skeptical about Kahr's conclusions due to their psychoanalytic nature. In the end, he appears to conclude that the most adult's sexual fantasies are produced by traumatic childhood events. But, even though he admits but ultimately discounts to the possibility of bias, I cannot help but wonder if he simply found what he what he was looking for in the first place.

2.75/5