Book 69 - Chris Horrocks "Foucault for Beginners"

Chris Horrocks "Foucault for Beginners" (Icon Books)





The Introducing series is always more comprehensive and informative than it appears. They are intended to break down difficult topics into graphical form and bite-size chunks, but there is rarely any dumbing down in this process. In fact, I think sometimes too little concession is made in this respect. Foucault is difficult and subtle, and it's no mean task to explain his philosophy to the general reader even with much greater scope than this format allows. At times, then, it is this determination not to oversimplify, combined with the restrictions of the format, that makes for a somewhat condensed reading experience at times. However, having read a few of these, I think this is a tendency that they all succumb to, to different extent. That said, it's still an enjoyable read, with great art.

Book 70 - Alice Walker "In Love And Trouble"

Alice Walker "In Love And Trouble" (The Women's Press)






A collection of thirteen of Walker's earliest stories (published in 1973) which shows her developing maturity and genius. Collections of short stories are always difficult for me to rate because the stories affect and engage me differently. Each story is distinct. A couple felt more like character sketches that Walker would develop later in her novels. Many characters reflected Walker's own experience in the sixties civil rights movement. A few will haunt me.

Early on we get "Really, Doesn't Crime Pay?", a story of a pampered, suppressed black woman artist--a cautionary tale for anyone who aspires to be a writer. Walker ends with a particularly sweet story of love, family, and community called "To Hell with Dying." In between we have a desperate mother trying to save her dying child in "Strong Horse Tea," an old woman who meets Jesus in "The Welcome Table," an obsessive wife searching for the woman who stole "Her Sweet Jerome," and a "Diary of an African Nun" reflects on the nun's choice to turn her back on the life-giving culture of people and turn to the sterile life of a bride of Christ. Altogether this was a short, but satisfying collection of compelling characters.