Book Review: A YALE ALBUM: THE THIRD CENTURY by Richard Benson

As indicated by the title, this is a photographic history of Yale University from the nineteenth century through the 1990s.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this book. I ordered it for a research project I was thinking of doing, but then lost interest in. I figured I might as well flip through it before I returned it to the library, and was surprised by the amount of great information and great photography that was contained in its pages!

For someone from Colorado, Yale seems pretty highfalutin. So you can imagine my surprise at seeing the nineteenth-century photographs of the university, which show practical, blocky buildings; tiny classrooms packed with cheap, very worn seats; and descriptions from undergrads stating they came to Yale expecting "an assemblage of Parthenons and cathedrals" and instead getting "rather dingy halls, [and] boxes...." Why, that sounds like the university I went to!


Pictures of Sterling Law Buildings, Yale University, 1930-1960. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.

The architecture we now associate with Yale only came about in the twentieth century thanks to generous financial gifts and support from New Haven. This is the "New Yale," and includes iconic buildings like Sterling Memorial Library and Harkness Tower. The stone facades were artificially aged to look like they'd been standing since Yale's establishment in 1701 and hid the real architectural foundations, which consisted of twentieth-century-style steel construction.

The book isn't all about Yale's architecture, though; it's also about the "college experience" and how the university developed key aspects of its institutional character. There's an entire chapter on the arts, which is very interesting, and Paul Mellon looks super-nice and I want to give him a hug. There's also an entire chapter on the development of the library, which the book mentions frequently and definitely treats as the centerpiece of the school.

To be sure, this is a very pro-Yale narrative. Even the secret societies are painted as traditional and supportive rather than über-creepy (they still seem creepy, though--sorry, Benson); and unless you're specifically looking for it, you'll probably miss the fact that female undergraduates weren't accepted into the university until the '70s. The freaking nineteen-seventies!!!! Behind the times much, Yale? Although there is one picture of a black arts student and one or two of Asian students, I don't think anyone will be surprised that the portraits in this album are mostly of white males, despite the book's claim that, "the earlier conservative nature of the [university's] population had been transformed" in the 1960s. Yeahhh, still don't see Yale as a center of non-conformity, sorry. But going to Yale still looks like a total blast!

In spite of its one-sided nature, I think this book is great. It really does give one a sense of what going to Yale has been like through the last 100-ish years. The pictures are evocative of a privileged collegiate experience, and the descriptions are interesting and to the point. Overall this is a fascinating snapshot of one the US's greatest universities--minus most of the weirdness and snobbery that many might associate with it.

I definitely recommend this book if you have any interest in the subject.

Movie Review: COWBOYS & ALIENS

First released: 2011
Starring: Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Based on: The graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

Jake Lonergan wakes up in the middle of the desert. He has no idea who he is, where he is, how he got there, or why he has a metal thing strapped to his wrist. After finding some tight-fitting clothes, he makes his way to the nearest town, where he quickly deduces some very pertinent information: one, he has an absolute gift for punching people in the face. Two, he's an outlaw who stole from the cattle baron, Mr. Dolarhyde, who also happens to run the town Jake is in. And three, the thingy on his wrist blows up alien spaceships.


'What the...?!'

This movie is pretty dumb, which is fine. Believe it or not, I have a pretty high tolerance for dumb movies (or so I like to think). But what really bothered me was that it was surprisingly one-note. As I overheard a little kid telling his dad as they left the theater, "That was kinda boring."

No movie with as many explosions and special effects as this one should be boring. That's, like, a rule.

Part of the problem is that it's super-derivative. As the preacher, who for some reason acts as the doctor even though there's another character named Doc (?), said, "I've seen bad men do good things and good men do bad things." Uh, isn't that line straight out of No Country for Old Men? Like literally a direct quote? And isn't that scene where the alien breathes in the little kid's face and drool drips from its pointy teeth an almost EXACT COPY of that scene in Alien where the alien breathes in Sigourney Weaver's face and drool drips from its pointy teeth? Come on, guys.

Daniel Craig was also a huge disappointment. Item the first: he only took his shirt off once. Item the second, he did nothing in this movie except scowl and point his wrist thingy at aliens. Honestly, the monoexpression of scowl was enough to make me suspect he has really bad teeth and not lifting his upper lip is part of his standard contract. And item the third, his American accent was suuhuhuper sketchy. Why didn't he just speak normally if he had that much trouble with it? It's the American West, for god's sake, there are people with different accents.



Anywho. The film wasn't completely bad. The biggest plus was Harrison Ford, who played Colonel Dolarhyde. I gotta say, the guy's still got it. Heck yeah. While Craig was phoning it in, Ford was bringing it to the table. Almost as if he believed he was in a good movie! To be fair, Ford's character had most of the good lines and the only discernible story arc in the entire narrative, but still.

The other thing I liked was the Indians. When the movie started, I naturally thought--because of the title--that the aliens were a metaphor for Indians. And about twenty minutes in, I quite frankly was really missing the Indians. But! I was wrong. The aliens are actually a metaphor for European colonialism and the western settlers band together with the Apaches to defeat them. I was so happy to see Indians in the picture my brain didn't explode with annoyance when they used peyote and there was a lame vision sequence straight out of a 1960s B-movie. Yes, let's just ignore that.

Overall, this movie is worth a Saturday afternoon viewing at home, but paying to see it in the theater? Meh. I expected everyone on this project to have a lot more fun with it, considering it's about cowboys and freaking aliens, but it felt like a chore and the ending was anti-climatic. All I have to say is, thank god for Harrison Ford.

Looking for the Hero in Melissa Marr's FRAGILE ETERNITY

In Fragile Eternity, Aislinn continues to be torn between Seth, her human boyfriend, and Keenan, the fairy king of the Summer Court. Who owns her heart was definitively laid to rest in Wicked Lovely, so what machinations are at work to tear her and Seth apart in this book?

Although this series is pretty clearly marketed to girls and the synopsis centers around Aislinn, I don't think she's the protagonist of the novel--in fact, I'm beginning to have my doubts she was ever the protagonist. Wicked Lovely was a fight between Keenan and Seth over masculinity; Ink Exchange was a battle between Niall (the sassy gay friend) and Irial (the king of the Dark Court) for Niall's soul; and now there's Fragile Eternity, in which Seth and Keenan continue to struggle for possession of Aislinn and power in faerie.

Despite the fact that Keenan is the one with the super fairy powers, Seth is obviously the more masculine of the two. Instead of manning up and following Seth's example, Keenan has responded to his emasculation--exacerbated by Aislinn refusing his sexual advances and the lack power he has within his own court--by being a conniving little bitch. Instead of Fragile Eternity, this could just as easily be titled Everybody Hates Keenan:

• Donia (another fae and Keenan's long-time girlfriend) is snarly because he wants to have his cake and eat it, too--in other words, he wants to bang both her and Aislinn and have them be okay with that. YEAH RIGHT.
• Seth's annoyed because Keenan's trying to keep Aislinn all to himself. Not cool.
• Niall's still enraged over the whole Leslie thing and keeps threatening to kill Keenan if he gets the chance.

The only main character who doesn't hate Keenan is Aislinn--but she should hate him, because he's totally manipulating her for his own ends.

It's not that there aren't strong female characters in this novel, but the main action is driven by the activities of the two male characters, Keenan and Seth. While Keenan's playing mind games, Seth goes on a quest to prove his intentions to Aislinn and join faerie so they can be together as equals. Unlike Keenan, who responds to his stronger queen by guilting her into yielding to him, Seth works to make himself her equal. The women in the book--Donia, Aislinn, and Sorcha--are powerful, but their actions are a response to what the male characters do. The only exception to this is Bananach, who is one crazy bird lady.

In addition, Seth's quest leads him to make a deal that is very Persephone-esque. His story is framed in terms of myth and adventure, and this leads me to believe Seth is the true protagonist of these books, not Aislinn. Even Bananach recognizes that it's upon him the coming action will hinge; and he's the common denominator between all the fae courts and their leaders. In the first book he proved his masculinity, and in this book he demonstrates his mettle by going on an odyssey.

Like all heroes, though, Seth has a weakness: when he is in Faerie, his will is subverted to that of a woman's, which creeps everyone out. Will this prove important in the coming books? I'll have to read them to find out!


Musical notes: "Waiting for the End," by Linkin Park

Book Review: CONVINCING ARTHUR by Ava March

Leopold Thornton, "Handsome as sin and wicked as all hell," is a total slut. But! There's a good reason (well, a reason). Ten years ago he was going to profess his love for Arthur Barrington, attorney at law, but someone else beat him to it by, like, minutes. Now Arthur has finally broken up with the cheating bastard, and Leopold has one weekend at his country estate to convince him they belong together.

This novella is really delightful and well-crafted. The two protagonists--brooding Leopold and conservative Arthur--are character tropes, but they feel unique and authentic. Arthur is a workaholic who has never felt like he's been fully accepted by anyone--indeed, he's never expected to be. His only ambition in a relationship is to "find an amiable man with similar interests and goals in life." Aim high, dude. Leopold, meanwhile, is an extremely high-strung individual. One could say that he has the same acceptance issues as Arthur, but being the youngest son of a wealthy and titled family precludes him from working, so he anesthetizes himself with alcohol and sex instead of work.

Like the other m/m novellas by March that I've read, Convincing Arthur has a lot of sex in it. And the sex scenes are super-hot. But they don't feel gratuitous because the sex really does advance the plot and the development of the characters. Honestly, I think March is one of the best writers of sex scenes in fiction right now.

I also loved the way this story was told. The narrative flowed perfectly and had me really nervous at the end, when I honestly didn't know whether Arthur would agree to stay with Leopold or not. I really wanted these two to be together!

After reading a few books by Ava March, I don't think you can go wrong with her. She writes novellas that are absolutely perfect for a fun, quick, escapist read. I'd recommend her whether you're a fan of m/m romance or not.

YA Scale of Hero Stalkerdom

Chloe, I will stare at you creepily until you admit we belong together.

Once upon a time, if a guy liked you, giving you long brooding stares and following you around were considered not only socially acceptable, but romantic. Times have changed, though! Expressing any interest in another person is not only a sign of weakness, but liable to creep the object of your teenage affection out. To avoid this fate worse than death, one need to turn to YA novels in order to learn how stalkery one can get before a girl will call the cops.¹

Level One: Unauthorized Looks

Staring is the number one sign that you are a stalker. Don't do it. Especially don't do it while your imaginary girlfriend is talking to another guy; this is liable to get you punched in the face. If you have to stare, use sunglasses or mirrors to disguise the fact.

Level Two: Gathering Information

Questions like, "What's your name?" "What are you doing tonight?" or "Where do you live/work?" may seem innocuous, but are fraught with stalkerish possibilities. What do you care where she's going? Are you her mother? Of course, to avoid an uncomfortable confrontation about why you're asking all these questions, you could always just look at her FaceBook page or follow her twitter account, but unfortunately this is just as bad. If not worse.

Level Three: Sharing Space

You've noticed your prey crush's physical existence and gained some basic info about her, so now it's time to make sure you two are in the same places at the same times. You might try driving by her house, sitting next to her at lunch, showing up at the same parties, or watching her sleep like a vampire bat. The latter is only recommended for actual vampires.

Level Four: Thinking

Despite your best efforts, you can't spend all your time with the girl (she does have to go to the bathroom on occasion), so to fill up the mind vacuum when you're not "sharing space," you're thinking about her. Perhaps even writing a song about her, or practicing a song someone's already written that uses her name in the chorus. PS-this level is also called "obsessing."

Level Five: Presumption of Intimacy

You've gained a more-than-acquaintances level of info, with or without her consent. You've shared several hours worth of space, even if said space was the cafeteria and you were on the opposite side of it. You've obsessed thought about her a lot and imagined the house you both will eventually buy and your future children. Now you're tired of thinking; it's time to make your move!

This is when the stalker boys are separated from the men. Planning and not going with the heat of the moment is the key. Under no circumstances is blurting out something along the lines of "We belong together," advisable. Unless you man up and take a chance you'll always be a stalker; but the trick is to make the YA protagonist believe it's all her idea. Aha, now you're thinking.

As you can see, YA romance is fraught with a minefield of possible mistakes. But if you use your noodle--and I mean that in every metaphorical sense--and progress intelligently through the five levels of YA Hero Stalkerdom, you too can get the girl, though it may seem beyond the scope of all possible outcomes. Just remember: true love may conquer all, but first you have to convince her you're not a stalker.



FOOTNOTES

1. Note that this post addresses fictional romantic relationships and not RL stalking, which is of course very serious and scary. Obvs.↑

Book Review: FAIRY CASANOVA by Gracen Miller

Sadie is lawyer who decides to treat herself with an anonymous hook-up in a Las Vegas brothel after she loses her job and her fiance in one day. Jace is the future king o'the fairies who wants to fulfill his dream of sexxxoring a human before being married to a fairy queen. Put these two in a hotel room and let convenient plot devices do their work.

This isn't the type of book I normally read at all. Did I buy it because the name Casanova was in the title? Because it was on sale for $2? Because I'd just drunk way too much and was really bored? MAYBE. However my purchase came about, this novella proved to be an edumacational experience.

Things I learned from this book:

• Real women are curvaceous.
• Fairy (read: fake) women are skinny. Like the bean poles, as they say.
• Real women also give head. Which is something no self-respecting not-real woman would do. I mean, fairies! Fairy women!
• Watch out for wing globules.
• Also thigh humidity.
• Osculate: verb. Def 1. Mathematics (of a curve or surface) touch (another curve or surface) so as to have a common tangent at the point of contact : [as adj. ] ( osculating) the plots have been drawn using osculating orbital elements. 2. Formal or humorous kiss.
• "... thick, uncut and nestled in a bed of..." lettuce? Is this a penis or a piece of meat? You decide.
  

I wouldn't call this book "good," necessarily. It was completely silly and ridiculous and there some INSANELY cheesy lines. It was fun, but was it worth $2? The jury's still out on that one.

Book Review: HAUNT ME STILL by Jennifer Lee Carrell

MacBeth: to this day, Shakespeare's most notorious tragedy. Legends of its malevolence haunt every production; scenes and lines from it are a familiar part of our culture--even to those who have never seen or read it. "Double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble," is one of the most recognizable lines in English wordsmithing, be it in a play, novel, or film. But most people don't know about the mystery and mythology surrounding the work. Is "the Scottish Play" considered cursed for a very good reason? Former Ph.D. student and current director of Shakespearean plays, Kate Stanley, is about to find out in an ill-fated getaway to Dunsinnan Hill, the place where MacBeth met his fate.

This novel is the second in a series of Shakespearean mysteries, the first being Interred with Their Bones. I really enjoyed that book, and overall I liked this one even more. It has the same Da-Vinci-Code-for-Literature-Buffs sensibility, and feels like a faster read. You don't have to have read Interred to get what's going on Haunt Me Still, but it will probably help.

Kate is invited to Dunsinnan Hill by Lady Nairn, formerly an actress famous for playing the role of Lady MacBeth, to direct the so-called Scottish Play. This being a mystery and all, things quickly start to go downhill, people die, an annoying teenager is kidnapped, and Kate has to travel hither and thither to find Shakespeare's original version of MacBeth before the kidnappers do.

This novel is full of magic, history, and cool discoveries. The part with John Dee's obsidian mirror being Aztec blew my mind. I learned so much about MacBeth from this book, and it really made look at the play in a new light. It's not just about the history of the play; it's about the incredible power art can have over life. MacBeth is scary not because of the witches or spells or evil plots, but because it doesn't stay put on the stage and then quietly folds back into storage once the production is over--it bites back. Or so theater legend would have one believe. Even outside of legend, it appears that the play was edited down significantly due to its commentary on contemporary politics, something Haunt Me Still also discusses, mainly through historical flashbacks.

As much as I enjoyed the history in this novel, the book isn't perfect. It does drag significantly in the middle, mainly because it feels like it's being set up as a country manor mystery (I'm a total sucker for those, by the way); but then Kate leaves the manor to go chasing after the manuscript and the story loses a lot of momentum as it switches gears. Also, the whole thing with Kate's former luhvahr Ben was just ridiculous, especially the ending. I'm so over him.

ANYway. Even when the pages weren't turning quite so quickly, I was thoroughly enjoying this escapist mystery. I'm not as completely in love with Shakespeare as I was at the end of Interred with Their Bones, but I am utterly fascinated by Scotland and John Dee! If you're the type who enjoys academic mysteries, then I would most definitely recommend this.

Fun video of the day: Blackadder encounters the curse of the Scottish Play: