This and That

After reading a lot of old stuff, I'm feeling the need to take a break and read something newer. Over the past couple of months it's been about Shakespeare, Ovid, Balzac, Proust, Forster...I'm tired. So, here is the list of newer novels I'm hoping to read this summer:

Alice Walker's "Color Purple."
Toni Morrison's "Sula."
Nella Larsen's "Quicksand."

They are all written by African-American women, so I think this could make for an interesting study. But, knowing me, I'm probably going to start feeling like reading old, British things again soon after.

Upon writing the above I realized that I just finished E.M. Forster's amazing novel called "A Room with a View." I will write more about it soon.

Nella Larsen's Passing

My Women in Literature class has introduced me to some really interesting works that I would probably not have heard of otherwise. Among those is Nella Larsen's Passing. It is a story about Irene and Clare, two black women who are able to pass as white because of their light skin tone. Irene criticizes Clare for lying to everybody, including her racist white husband, about her race, while she herself does try to pass on some occasions. The story questions racial pride and choices: in a world where people of color have to endure so much prejudice and discrimination, is it wrong for Clare to choose to luck out?

I think Larsen writes brilliantly, despite much ambiguity that appears throughout the text. There possibly is a homoerotic undertone, as well as some parts, including the ending, that are not clearly explained. But I don't think these are flaws; if they're not intentional then they are divine accidents that make the text more complex. Larsen has definitely become my favorite writer because of this. I encourage everybody to check it out immediately.



Nella Larsen