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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
This book is one reason I wear contacts. "Boys never make passes at girls in their glasses."
She was so brash, her writing so achingly honest that you sympathized and wanted to pity her, but her dark humor deflected the idea. Such a great read.
One of my planes left late, meaning my layover in Cleveland was extended. By 6 hours. I read a lot of Dot P. that day. It made me want a bad marriage and a good martini.
Parker’s poetry is much more compelling than her short stories, which unfortunately make up most of the copy of this book that I picked up. I was very fond of her poetry in high school, and on a second read, it still hits pretty hard. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, but probably not just.
not fond of her poetry, even if she is the one who coined "boys don't make passes at girls who make glasses." was really into her short stories, until i realized halfway through that they all shared the same pacing and plot. had the eureka moment that i could stop reading and then did so. got to love her wit, even if this portable version is too much at once.
It's not that portable, but Dorothy Parker's a bracing companion for travel, and well worth the bother of lugging her around. I love how mean she was, and she was a fabulous letter-writer: funny, frank and gossipy. Her poetry and short stories do get a bit samey when read all at one go -- themes recur -- but she's such an entertaining writer that it doesn't much matter.
It pleases me that she took up the mantle when P. G. Wodehouse stopped reviewing drama for -- hm, some magazine or the other. Maybe it was the New Yorker. It amuses me that, like Wodehouse, she loathed A. A. Milne. I was surprised when I read her letters that she got so miserable over men -- one thinks of her as being eternally self-sufficient and witty, never discomposed -- but it really shouldn't have been a surprise, considering the stuff she wrote. This is not a good book to read when you are having relationship problems. Or maybe it is. It depends what you're looking for -- comfort and distraction, or somebody to wallow with.
Also interesting for the glimpse of how people -- well, okay, how a certain, fairly well-off section of American society thought and acted and spoke at the time.
I think Dorothy Parker would have been tremendously comfortable on LJ. She would have gossiped and feuded and made brilliant posts on everything.
ETA: Another thing I liked was her mocking of the Beat poets. It is pleasant to have your literary dislikes shared by your favourite writers.
It pleases me that she took up the mantle when P. G. Wodehouse stopped reviewing drama for -- hm, some magazine or the other. Maybe it was the New Yorker. It amuses me that, like Wodehouse, she loathed A. A. Milne. I was surprised when I read her letters that she got so miserable over men -- one thinks of her as being eternally self-sufficient and witty, never discomposed -- but it really shouldn't have been a surprise, considering the stuff she wrote. This is not a good book to read when you are having relationship problems. Or maybe it is. It depends what you're looking for -- comfort and distraction, or somebody to wallow with.
Also interesting for the glimpse of how people -- well, okay, how a certain, fairly well-off section of American society thought and acted and spoke at the time.
I think Dorothy Parker would have been tremendously comfortable on LJ. She would have gossiped and feuded and made brilliant posts on everything.
ETA: Another thing I liked was her mocking of the Beat poets. It is pleasant to have your literary dislikes shared by your favourite writers.
This book is the collected short stories and poems by Dorothy Parker. I must say this book is so...feminine. Dorothy wrote about every feelings a woman could possibly feel: love, longing, loss, desperation, anger, anxiety...towards men who mostly are ignorant and clueless. She wrote with sarcastic, witty humor, in some was even morbid. I could easily relate to the stories, my favorite especially are The Lovely Leave, The Sexes, Too Bad, A Telephone Call, Cousin Larry, New York to Detroit, and Little Curtis.
Have you ever heard of Dorothy Parker? I, of course, knew her from Rory Gilmore. The poem which Dean quoted in 'Rory's Dance' was actually from the poem titled Coda.
"There's little in taking or giving,
There's little in water or wine;
This living, this living, this living
Was never a project of mine."
Apparently, Dorothy Parker was best known for her wit and wisecracks, and her works claimed to be the most beguiling and witty of modern literature
Have you ever heard of Dorothy Parker? I, of course, knew her from Rory Gilmore. The poem which Dean quoted in 'Rory's Dance' was actually from the poem titled Coda.
"There's little in taking or giving,
There's little in water or wine;
This living, this living, this living
Was never a project of mine."
Apparently, Dorothy Parker was best known for her wit and wisecracks, and her works claimed to be the most beguiling and witty of modern literature
funny
reflective
medium-paced
This woman is a master at passive-aggressive female characters.
I like that I've read this book, that I now know what her writing was like but I can't say that I enjoyed the majority of her writing. Her stories seem to portray a deeply unhappy and bitter woman with some severe trust issues.
I found the stories a little depressing, Parker writes about the follies of relationships but instead of seeing the humour in the stories, all I'm seeing is the sadness that these really portray how some people live their lives. Maybe I missed the satire?? What I read instead was sarcasm, eye-rolling, you're an idiot, finger pointing sarcasm.
With so many of her stories about dysfunctional couples, I wonder just how her parents were and what her own relationships were like. The manipulative girl is a recurring theme and so is the bored unhappy marriage, I didn't like these but I did like the ones that are different, like Little Curtis, Clothe the Naked, The Custard Heart & Horsie, The Wonderful Old Man.
It certainly feels like she's writing about her own life and hating it in her stories and that she hates a whole slew of people around her, possibly because of that.
Was she trying to be ironic? Her stories never end up happy, though at the beginning of many you might think they would (specifically Big Blonde) and I get this idea that she is laughing at these characters, and not in a nice way.
I thought Part Two was much better. 'The Game' was one of the stories I really liked, the build up to the revelation at the end was very good and I thought this one had some great character development, you can envision just who they are. Possibly because it fits with modern sensibilities better than some of the others.
At the end of the book there is an interview with Dorothy where she is asked what the source of her work is and her answer is "It's easier to write about those you hate...."
That is definitely something that comes across for me.
I found the stories a little depressing, Parker writes about the follies of relationships but instead of seeing the humour in the stories, all I'm seeing is the sadness that these really portray how some people live their lives. Maybe I missed the satire?? What I read instead was sarcasm, eye-rolling, you're an idiot, finger pointing sarcasm.
With so many of her stories about dysfunctional couples, I wonder just how her parents were and what her own relationships were like. The manipulative girl is a recurring theme and so is the bored unhappy marriage, I didn't like these but I did like the ones that are different, like Little Curtis, Clothe the Naked, The Custard Heart & Horsie, The Wonderful Old Man.
It certainly feels like she's writing about her own life and hating it in her stories and that she hates a whole slew of people around her, possibly because of that.
Was she trying to be ironic? Her stories never end up happy, though at the beginning of many you might think they would (specifically Big Blonde) and I get this idea that she is laughing at these characters, and not in a nice way.
I thought Part Two was much better. 'The Game' was one of the stories I really liked, the build up to the revelation at the end was very good and I thought this one had some great character development, you can envision just who they are. Possibly because it fits with modern sensibilities better than some of the others.
At the end of the book there is an interview with Dorothy where she is asked what the source of her work is and her answer is "It's easier to write about those you hate...."
That is definitely something that comes across for me.