Poetry and economics

I finished Mary Swann today, and although there was a shaky point about a third of the way in, found it intriguing and impressive. Basic plot: In 1965 an Ontario farmwoman named Mary Swann visited a local publisher who agreed to publish her poems. On her return home, her husband brutally murders her. Fast forward about 25 years (the novel was published in 1990), and a small research community has grown up around her work. But apart from the poems, Mary Swann herself is almost non-existent in the trace she left on the world. And that even that trace is fading.

There are four main characters in the novel (apart from Mary herself). A young, feminist academic, Sarah Maloney, who actually 'discovered' Mary's poems. Mary's biographer, Morton Jimroy - the most unpleasant of the bunch - his section was the tough point for me! Rose Hindmarsh, the small town librarian of Nadeau, Ontario (Mary's home town). Frederick Cruzzi, the publisher of Mary's poems.

A literary mystery - a bit like Possession - with really well imagined characters, and a good amount of quirk in the telling. And the mysterious Mary Swann about whom we know almost nothing, and the universe is determined to keep it that way.

Mary Swann is the poetry from my post title, Spousonomics is the economics, or perhaps I should say 'economics'. The conceit of this book is that common marital/relationship areas of conflict such as unequal sex drives, housework, finances, children etc are analysed using economic principles. For example, moral hazard is invoked to cover the basic problem of taking your spouse for granted, and comparative advantage to look at how a couple might divide household chores equitably (if not equally). And the negative sloping demand curve covers sex - basically the idea that if something is cheap you do it a lot, if its expensive you don't. Expensive doesn't necessarily just mean straight cost but also what you have to give up. Their advice to couples frustrated about lack of sex - lower the costs, and in 3 case studies show what this might mean.

This book was an easy read, and I liked their approach, which is very solution focused. The cases were interesting and detailed and the solutions often unexpected.

Words

Yesterday was a Saturday afternoon trip to the library, with the feeling of lots of time to browse and the feeling of lots of time to read as well, to read novels and thoughtful reflections on many topics. And I found myself in the fiction and literature section, so most of my haul comes from there.

But not Wartime farm. This was on the new books and other interesting stuff shelves just before fiction, and caught my eye. I don't think I watched the series it's based on, and maybe it never made it to NZ, but I like these sorts of historical reconstructions, and having read a bit in the last couple of years about life in Britain during WWII with rationing and what not, I'm curious. It does also have quite a few photos, so one of the most pictorial of what I got.

The other pictorial title, also not from fiction and literature, is Lost cat: A true story of love, desperation, and GPS technology. This came from the just returned shelf of the Animals section, and has lots of coloured drawings. From the blurb, I believe the authors attach a GPS unit to their pet cat and discover where s/he wanders. I'm sure I saw a Youtube video about this same idea.

Finally in fiction, I got out 3 novels: Mary Swann, by Carol Shields; The Winter Palace, by Eva Stachniak; and Needles and pearls, by Gil McNeil. Because we are going to Canada for a holiday in a few weeks, and I've just finished re-reading Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood, I was attracted to another Canadian author i.e. Carol Shields.

The Winter Palace is about Catherine the Great of Russia (warning - the link discusses salacious rumours surrounding C). I like historical novels, and novels about historical figures, so I'm hoping this will be a good one. And from checking the links, I see this author is Canadian as well - an emigrant not born, though that is the case with Carol Shields as well. Needles and pearls is definitely the most lightweight of the novels - it's in the knitting chick lit subgenre. This is book 2, and I've read 1 and 3. Interestingly in book 3, the heroine doesn't choose either of the 2 male main characters - not the glamourous photographer nor the dependable local who is nominally her boyfriend. So not completely predictable then.

The last book in my loan is In other worlds: SF and the human imagination, by Margaret Atwood. Alias Grace at work again here! I read a bit of scifi, enough to make that aspect interesting, but the author was the pull here.

I decided to start Mary Swann first, which is going well so far. I decided to start with this because it felt like a nice lead on from Alias Grace, but also (I admit it) that often I decide to start with the more literary works in case I don't get end up getting to them!

Decluttering

Flicked through Clutter's last stand the other day (it would be too much to say I read it properly), and since then have thrown out:

• Gardening and Family Circle magazines dating from the 1990s. Truly, when I get my personality transplant and take up gardening seriously, I can always buy some more.
• Old spectacles, apart from the most recent pair. I did wonder whether I should find some charity or other for this, but was dissuaded by Sightsavers' explanation as to why they don't accept them. 
• Glasses and sunnies cases. I did read a discussion on the 101 ways of re-using them, and then thought: Nah. 
• A pile of old takeaway menus, and one of our rolls of Microwave crisping paper. I can't remember the last time we used this, so probably both of them should have gone, but decided to give it one last chance. 
• An old diary with nothing written in it. What did I do in 2009?

I've also done some minor file sorting and shuffling, which involved a certain amount of stuff going into paper recycling, the to-be-shredded pile, and the paper reusing pile. 

So that is satisfying in a way, but still daunting how much stuff there still is around. Actually that was a really lowering statement to type. Talk about glass half empty! I'm going to blame it on the Pink Floyd triple play on the radio. LOVE Pink Floyd, but the Beach Boys they are not. 

Thanks, Mia

Well, the snuffles grew into a cold so I came home midday and re-read Mama Mia (Mamamia?), and am now going back through her posts on the website, mamamia. And I do like that book. How can I find someone who became editor of Australian Cosmo at 24 so relatable? High achievers normally intimidate the hell out of me, and to put things into perspective, at 24 I was at 'librarian bottom rung' level. But no longer a library assistant!

But it was fun reading about her time at Cosmo, and I remember some of those issues - Sara-Marie and Kelly Osborne on the cover. I find myself wishing I'd kept more of those issues! (Obviously I need to read Clutter's last stand next). Why did I enjoy Cosmo so much at that time? I think it was her approach to body image that appealed. There were a big range of women featured in the mag, including a lot of non-models. That was the 'real women' aspect that appealed - perhaps 'ordinary' is a better description. Or maybe not. Sure a lot of it was frivolous e.g. which outfit I do think is sexiest and which does my bestfriend/male bestfriend/boyfriend/mother think is sexiest, but...isn't that fascinating? Aren't women often constantly curious about how they come across to others? And not even in a 'OMG they think that I must change instantly to conform' kind of way, but in a 'huh, that's interesting' kind of way.

Body image at that time was a big thing for me. I'd gained about 20 kilos since I got married, and was in the process of moving it and at the same time trying not to turn into a weight loss obsessive. I didn't want to feel I was weak or bad because I'd eaten too much that day. I hated the view that fat people were worth less, weak, and lazy. I knew that wasn't true of myself and while I wanted to shift the weight I didn't want to get sucked into that mindset. Cosmo was a way to indulge my girly side and its emphasis on clothes and beauty was a motivator (because yes, one of my motivations was to look better and have a wider range of clothes available to me), but it also was aware of the complicated ways women view themselves, and how other people view them and judge. It felt safe.

In her book, Mia is also very frank about her family, which she kept very private while editor. Reading about her pain after her second child died during pregnancy is very moving, as is her empathy with other women and their struggles with fertility and family. Children, like body image, is another area where people are incredibly ready to judge others - too many, too few, too young, too old, too close, too far apart. Everyone has an opinion. And I'd like to thank Mia for this passage, which brought tears to my eyes:

But there are some women, women who always presumed they would be mothers, women who would have been incredible at it but who tragically miss their chance. Damn that biological clock and its inability to always synchronise with the myriad factors required to make a baby. Factors like a stable financial situation. A committed and supportive relationship. Medical problems. A partner who always thought he wanted children but then suddenly wasn't so sure. A partner who desperately wants children but discovers he's infertile. A hundred big and little things that divert you from the course of motherhood before it becomes a dead end and choice is no longer part of the equation.  (p. 351)

Not a complete description of my life, but yeah, it strikes a chord.

Loan 1 - Don't make me THINK!

Feeling snuffly, heading to the public library to kill time. Clearly not in a mood to be challenged, although there is some aspirational material here, in a very Women's Weekly sort of way. Jemima Kidd's Make-up Secrets and Anjum's New Indian, have, let's be honest, been borrowed for the pretty pictures. Although I do feel need I need more instruction in the art of eyebrow maintenance, and I have Anjum Anand's earlier book Indian Food Made Easy (her Paneer, Mushroom and Spinach Wraps? Yum scrum).

Spousonomics (subtitle: how to maximise returns on the biggest investment of your life) could be cheesy and dreadful, but will be full of those great little morality plays: 'John and Lisa have started arguing about finances. John wants to throw everything at their super fund so they can retire at 45. Lisa wants to buy a better house in a better school district.' Who will win? How will they sort it out? And hey, I'm married, so I might learn something.

Speaking of marriage, Clutter's Last Stand I will be carefully storing face down, or spine in. The library must have recently replaced this - they haven't had it for a while - so I grabbed it off the shelf. I love this book, but my husband gets veerry nervous when I read things like this. Whether he worries he'll come home to find I've biffed stuff, or just worries that my expectations will be raised that he should. I'm not sure. Anyway, I will re-read it and enjoy it. Clutter COSTS! Testify, brother!

Mama Mia is another re-read. Written by Mia Freedman about her years as Australian Cosmo's editor in the late 90s and early 2000's, it's a great inside look at the magazine industry. It's also about the growing disconnect between Mia's life as wife and mother and the fun-loving, single, materialistic Cosmo Girl. I often bought Cosmo while she was editor and there is still something about the magazine I really enjoy. Even though I'm years (if not decades) past their demographic. In fact that's probably it, because I didn't buy it when I was in that demographic. More pretty pictures I guess. I also like that it doesn't take itself too seriously.