Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (Freud)

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality by Sigmund Freud
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Again, I find some ideas that were probably ahead of his time (just a handful), others that just demonstrate the scientific state of the study of human & child development - both physically and psychologically - of Freud's time that make me wonder how his theories would change if he were writing today, and then there's others that I suspect stem from the culture of the time/place he's writing in that make me roll my eyes. Reading with the cultural bias of my physical and cultural background, methinks he & the whole Western culture of the time (late 19th to early 20th century) were waaaay too obsessed with masturbation & its supposed ill-effects on one's psychological well-being.

Recommended for those interested in psychology or gender studies, otherwise, I'd probably go with a more general book about Freud and his ideas.

View all my reviews

O, Pioneers!

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think what I like about Cather's novels is their 19th century characters confronting the turn of the century and it's upcoming shift into "modernity." Changes in season that have always existed mirror changes in technology and values. How the characters interpret or confront those changes are really the interesting part in her stories. I also respect that while Cather admires the pioneer people (often, but not always Scandanavian immigrants) none are portrayed as perfect. All her characters are flawed in some way and even the "happy endings" are more accurately described "not as tragic as it could've been." It makes them hard to read because they bring out the pessimist in me & I am relieved at the end that few of the things that I imagine happening really do.

I think that with so many of the characteristics of modernist novels, that these are a good choice for introducing those concepts to high school readers since it does have an overall plot, chapters, punctuation, etc... that make others (Woolf, Joyce, among others) more difficult for teens to approach. That being said, these novels are not for everyone. I think having a Midwestern youth helps me a bit, but isn't necessary for appreciation.

And for my skeptical friends, she does kill several characters during the course of the novel.



View all my reviews

Mind's Eye

Mind's Eye by Paul Fleischman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Quick read as it's in a play format - without most of the set descriptions & stage directions. The main character, Courtney is not very likable, but neither was Pollyanna right after her accident, so I can cut her some slack. Overall, it was a good book about imagination & the value that literature can have for an inner, mental life that other forms of entertainment don't always provide enough substance for.

I would definitely recommend this book to teens who need to do a book report in a hurry. I'd also recommend it to young people who like the sort of tearjerker where the main character (probably) dies in the end because she had sex once & got HIV or fell in love with a boy who dies at the end, etc... because this book is sort of like the book that comes after that. There's a terrible accident & the girl gets paralyzed, but that's not what this book is about. This is about her first few months in the hospital doing physical therapy & slowly recovering a will to live. It's not a tearjerker, but it deals with a terrible calamity that's befallen a beautiful girl.


View all my reviews

Bunny Drop

Bunny Drop 1 by Yumi Unita

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am enjoying this since it takes on a lot of grown-up issues: do parents "sacrifice" themselves to raise kids? should they? what makes a family? how should adults explain things to children like death? Probably because I have a lot of similar thoughts floating around in my mind, I find it a little comforting to have a comic story with a lot of the same issues. I don't like a lot of the novels with these topics because they're too melodramatic or the characters are too self-centered to be enjoyable.

Recommended to parents who enjoy comics/manga.



View all my reviews

My Heartbeat

My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I liked that the book was really less about sex and sexuality than about how we "know" those around us - especially those closest to us. How are we really communicating with those we love? I think that this way of exploring identity and sexual identity is much more subtle and thoughtful than what I'd expected.

I also didn't mind that the characters read/discussed classic literature - I read some of that on my own too as a teenager (not the ones mentioned in this book, but others). For somebody looking for clear boundaries, this is not that book - it's more of a reminder that we are all works in progress & that's fine. :) We're only in trouble when we don't realize it.



View all my reviews

The Joy of Sex

Ok, ok, I know... Everybody's heard about it. I figured I'd read it to see if this book by Alex Comfort was in reality what I expected it to be. If all you expect upon opening this book is a racy book full of exotic photos, you'll be surprised. The Joy of Sex is actually very down-to-earth and not really at all titillating (pardon the pun). It's almost like a Chilton's guide to heterosexual sex. That being said, this book is most likely to be of help to relatively inexperienced couples, but even those of us who have been around the block a time or two will probably find out something previously unknown.

Comfort's direct writing style and factual information will likely irritate those readers who picked up the book thinking it'd be a quick thrill. However, for those readers interested in improving their lives in the bedroom, it's worth at least a skim-through.

Highly recommended for the relatively inexperienced couple. Recommended for all others.