Fantastic Five Friday!

Last Friday I did a post about five great feminist books in the non-fiction realm. Then in my comments I was asked about some FICTION titles so I figured that would make a good post today. Now, in all honesty, I just started to get into my fiction literature craze about a year ago, so I don't have too many titles to even look at and pull from here. But I still think the selection I've chosen is a good one to start. I can't revisit after I've read more and make a new list of course, nothing is set in stone...yet. Please, if you have any good ones I need to get to reading, TELL ME! I love reading a good feminist fiction book. But there is something to be said for having no idea that said book you're reading is going to have a feminist theme and then being utterly surprised. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :) So here you are: five fantastic feminist fiction novels!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Who hasn't read this one? My mother read it to me when I was a little girl. Ah memories! And of course I identified with writer and tomboy Jo.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

My favorite novel of all time. There have been debates on the feminist aspects of this book but I believe it is definitely in the feminist camp. Jane is a woman that follows her own voice and makes her own way, even when it goes against her heart. Read it for yourself and decide.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

The only Austen novel I have read thus far but it won't be the last. I was very pleasantly surprised at the feminist themes throughout the book and I have discussed in particular a very interesting quote about men being in control of the written word that I found enlightening!


Washington Square by Henry James

I did not know what to expect when I opened this, being my first James novel. And what a treat! The protagonist evolves throughout the novel into a shining feminist role model in my opinion.


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

This is probably THE feminist dystopian novel. Not a full-on classic yet, but it surely will be in time. I've discussed this book before so I'll refrain from getting carried away again, but really...you should read it! 


What are yours? Please share!

An Unrealistic Dystopian Novel?

There has been a lot of talk lately about dystopian novels. Lucky me because that is one of my all-time favorite genres. Unfortunately, one of my favorites within that genre, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, has come under fire by a lot of my friends during many of our discussions. Not by everyone, but by some. I’ve found it’s a love it or hate it kind of book.

Now, if they don’t like the book then they don’t like the book. I can’t change that. However I do have a tendency to a little personally offended when one of my favorite books is on the attack. It’s a flaw of mine, but then it does lead me to some good post topics, so it can’t be all bad!

Maybe they don’t like the way the plot develops or the style of Atwood’s writing. I could perfectly understand those points (and I have come across those people as well). However, one of the reasons I’ve heard for some of their dislike is…well a bit odd to say the least. How do I put this? They find the premise unrealistic. Um, it’s a dystopian novel. It’s supposed to be about a futuristic society. There are dystopian novels about ZOMBIES for crying out loud people. ZOMBIES! But this one, a dystopian novel where the United States has been overthrown and women are basically used solely for the service of men (it’s literally a feminist’s worst nightmare), is the unrealistic book? I cannot for the life of me think of any future that could possibly lead to being at war with zombies, yet I still think that would be a fun book to read.

But let’s continue with this “unrealistic premise” idea. Because it is true that at the core of most dystopian novels the point is that they’re making a statement about our current society. Then you take that statement and you push it to the extreme. But to say it has no basis at all in reality missing the mark. I mean, if it’s not what am I doing with this blog? I must be missing my pair of rose-colored glasses for sure. Wasn’t it about three years ago that Senator Clinton was giving a speech and some guy held up a sign asking her to “Iron My Shirt?” She was running for President at the time but still the sexist remarks came. And not just by college jerks that I think did it to win a radio contest or something, other politicians and pundits were no better, more subtle sure, but no better. Sarah Palin got it too. Sexists jokes and remarks are so prevalent that so much of the time people are unaware of how they are even being offensive. And have you read a book by “renowned” author Philip Roth? Yuck! The misogynism literally drips off the page. And he’s won about every literature award under the sun. Hooray! While Roe v. Wade is still in place today, politicians are trying every day to overturn it and who knows what is going to happen in the years to come. Some pharmacists won't even give you your own birth control prescriptions because it goes against their conscience (which is all fine and dandy until you think about the poor woman who lives in the middle of nowhere and only has access to one pharmacy within 70 miles or so, she can't just go to the other Walgreens down the block).

But I guess it’s still ridiculous to imagine a dystopian novel in which a sexist world (way way way way way in the future) has taken over. And I'll stop now before this post turns into a full-on feminist rant. Bring on the Zombie War!

Are These Really Classics?

So I'm making my post today from Wall-to-Wall Books’ post about this list of “New Classics” over at Entertainment Weekly‘s website (I don't know when the list was made because I can't find it, maybe in 2008?). I find it especially funny since they’re listed as being from 1983-2008 and so these would really be the classics of my lifetime…apparently.

Now, no offense to Entertainment Weekly, but this is not the website or magazine I go to when I’m fiending for book reviews/knowledge/tips/anything book related really (okay maybe that is a shot at Entertainment Weekly but the only books I’ve seen highlighted recently on there are Bristol Palin’s memoirs and the Twilight series).

Anyway, I’ve only read 11 books on this list of 100 “New Classics” but even still I can’t say that out of those 11 all of them should be on there. I thought The Daily Show’s book America was laugh-out-loud hilarious, but would I ever deem to label it a classic? Um, I don’t think so. Sorry Jon Stewart. I still love you! And while The Road is the only Cormac McCarthy novel I’ve read so far (and I did find it incredible) I’m surprised that’s the one that was picked of his works since I’ve heard so many people like other books of his better. In fact, of the ones I’ve read I can only really say there are two I fully agree with: The Handmaid’s Tale and Beloved. I fully see those being classics in 100 years. I want to say The Poisonwood Bible as well but I’m not quite done with it yet so I’m refraining. The Corrections? Yuck!

So here’s the list (along with the date of publication). I’ve bolded the ones I’ve read.


1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

So what do you all think of this lovely list of “New Classics?” Are there any glaring omissions? Any huge question marks looming in your mind? What did they get completely and utterly wrong?