Blazing World | 
so-soFinished this yesterday! I loved the premise of the book; however, I found it oftentimes to be repetitive. The different perspectives throughout the book were very similar and even indistinguishable sometimes. The primary character Harry did not face much development. Many of the psychological points seemed to just be thrown in there without context or appropriateness to the story. It did make many important points about sexism and discrimination
pickI really loved this cerebral novel about a woman artist who lived under the shadow of her art dealer husband until he dies. And then she creates art shows fronted by male artists to see if they receive more success. It‘s told in an epistolary format with her “found journals” and interviews of people who knew her telling the story. So glad my book club chose this one.
Looking forward to #bookspinBingo. #bookspin is tagged book club pick for this month. #Doublespin is One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson, on my TBR for awhile. Got a number of #Scarathlon2020 and Screamathon books on here. Plan camping, fishing and reading this weekend for #CYOreadathon. @TheAromaofBooks @Clwojick @Sace
pickHustvedt is terrific. She plays with a lot in here, as an art critic looks into the life of Harriet Burden, an artist who had men present her artworks as their own to explore the influence of perspective and to embarrass the sexist art critics. Burden‘s sort of feminist crusade is also part brilliant, part ego, part need for revenge, part psychological complexity and part bitter disappointment making for a complicated text.
belief is a complex mixture of suggestion, mimicry, desire, and projection
Next audiobook. Back to Hustvedt, and ready for it!
(Side note: starts out sounding so much like nonfiction I started googling characters... they‘re fictional. I mean, of course... ☺️)
Welcome home, Cindy!
😩😩😩😩
Hubby is out of town this week, so thank you Book Outlet for brightening up my Valentine‘s Day 🥰 ! Also I treated myself to this chocolate bar 🍫 🤤
pickThis is a really wonderful book, a deep and challenging (but also very readable) story of art, identity, and being a woman. I was surprised at what a good companion read it was to the book I read just before it (Rage Becomes Her) - the main character Harriet brings the issues surrounding women‘s anger (its basis, suppression, potential, etc.) to life. So, so glad to have finally read one of Hustvedt‘s books, and I‘m sure I‘ll read more. #24in48
Haven‘t had as much #24in48 reading time as I would like today, but now that I‘m sitting down with an extra-crunchy grilled cheese and this so-far-SO-good book, on a sunny 73° January day, I can‘t complain!
#NoFemmeber Harriet (Harry) Burden is the consummate artist, and as her identity is explored through various accounts, so is an experiment in how art is viewed based on ideas about its #creator. With lyrics like "Me I'm a creator/Thrill is to make it up", I think Harry would be a Santigold fan. And I just learned that Santi White and I share a favorite book in The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (she's a huge Murakami fan apparently) ? @Cinfhen
pickReading this at the same time as Mr. Loverman. Harriet Burden puts on a series of exhibitions using three male alter egos/ fronts for art. Makes huge points on misogyny in the art world, no one believes her when she reveals the performance.My mom was an artist and seeing her struggles makes this close to home.
pick#BlazingWorldBR
This one is going to stick with me- it reminded me of why I love art so much in the first place but also how mysterious the process of evaluating art can be. It also reminded me of a time when I recognized a bias in my reading toward male authors and less cultural diversity. Correcting that has made a huge difference in the richness and satisfaction of my reading life, and even my broader social and political outlook.👇
pickIn this dazzling piece of work, the author makes us reflect on sexism, identity and perception in the art world. A revenge, a hoax that backfires. Harriet is an amazing character study (the others are no less), who just needs to be understood, heard and appreciated for her own self. Truly a memorable character. It‘s heartbreaking but beautiful at the end. 👇
#blazingworldbr buddies, I made myself stop for a while before the final chapter. I am so heartbroken to continue.
#BlazingWorldBR @batsy @saresmoore @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @vivastory
My review is coming, but for now....some fun. I love anagrams, as is probably clear from my prior post. I took all the letters of HB's notebooks compiled by I.V. Hess (itself a suspect name) and looked for messages. I think I found one that sounds like a wink from Hustvedt. I'll post it with a spoiler mask in the comments- feel free to give it a try 🤓
#BlazingWorldBR
I know some of us are finished (I'm 10 pages away!) but I still want to reflect on the events in Part 3:
-I'm curious what everyone thinks of The Barometer whose taped account opens this section- The theme of Maisie's film seems relevant.
-Rune is creepy- both with Maisie and how he seems to genuinely appreciate the long discussions with Harry at times, but throws in unsettling, cryptic comments that are hard to decipher👇
#24in48 Hour 6 Challenge: Marvelous Opening Lines
“All intellectual and artistic endeavors, even jokes, ironies, and parodies, fare better in the mind of the crowd when the crowd knows that somewhere behind the great work or the great spoof it can locate a cock and a pair of balls.”
pickIn the fierce & intelligent protagonist, "Harry" Burden (that name!), Hustvedt has created an unforgettable portrait of a female artist. Creativity, sexism, ageism, responsibility, the feminine grotesque—the novel's themes are vast & complex. Identity is shown not to be static but fluid; subject to the relations you have with those around you. By the time I got to the end I was so moved. A deep, poignant book that I'll be mulling over for awhile.
#BlazingWorldBR As we cross the halfway mark, lots to chew on from the 2nd section. There's a 2nd exhibition- one more completely H. Burden and also more confused by the author mask. We also meet Rune, and even though he and HB hit it off, their art seems entirely different: HB seeks for others to understand her more completely; Rune appears indifferent, and to actively resist having an identity, which seems to fuel more audience speculation.👇
Oof. Out of nowhere there will be lines that completely floor me and I'll have to put the book down and recollect myself.
(They're talking about Le Guin talking about Tiptree and of women artists adopting male personas.)
#blazingworldbr @Billypar @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @saresmoore @vivastory
This is a wonderful and intense read so far. But custard donut and coffee first, then book 😁
#blazingworldbr
#blazingworldbr .... “ and then came Delia who worked exclusively in old shoe installations.... “
I would love to see those installations !
There is something about old shoes that can break my heart ( pics of shoes my son drew for me when he was in school , I know the owners of these shoes) There is a deep intimacy in this writing ... She really touches obscure & forgotten parts of us ... I‘ve had a few flashes of memory 👇🏻
#theblazingworldbr week 2
Harry and Phineas worked together so well, I wonder why Harry ditched him for the third guy to represent her works. Here Phineas told a story of what he saw Harry did one night..quite unsettling. The rage in her..
@Billypar @Cathythoughts @vivastory @batsy @saresmoore
As we begin Week 2 of #BlazingWorldBR here are a few random things I'm chewing on from the first quarter of the novel:
-Loving the structure: we know we're going to see the events during HB's creation of the 3 exhibitions, but no idea whose perspective we will get next.
-For all of Harriet's mysteries, Hustvedt draws her so vividly- you already feel like you know her intimately this far in.
-HB's two children could not be more different👇
#BlazingWorldBR some quotes, I‘m way behind & feel out of my depth. But I love it too.
“Nonexistent, impossible imaginary objects are in our thoughts all the time, but in art they move from the inside to the outside, words and images cross the boarder”
Of Husserl, she says - He knew that empathy was a deep form of knowledge
I also am strangely fascinated - in awe- with the art piece ( installation? ) she is making of Felix.
From pg 68-69 : it has often taken women longer to gain a hold in the art world than men..Lee Krasner‘s work was subsumed by her husband‘s in the eyes of the art world.
Krasner, one of the female artists highlighted in the book, was only "rediscovered" by feminist art historians during the 1970s and lived to see a greater recognition of her art and career.
#blazingworldbr
I confess that my reading is going very slowly because it feels like I almost have to readjust segments of my brain with this book. Hustvedt's style is incredibly cerebral and requires focus, which is interesting, but it's just that I'm back to being in a World Cup frame of mind today 😆⚽
I'm loving Harriet so far ... Always so unexpected. I love this bit in particular.
#BlazingWorldBR
One more #BlazingWorldBR post and then I'll try and shut up for awhile 🤐
During the buddy read I invite you all to post any potential anagrams or other puzzles (like this one from page 43, Story 4 of Burden's first exhibition). Then everyone can feel free to post their interpretations as comments with the spoiler mask so everyone can tackle them at their own pace. @batsy @saresmoore @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @vivastory
#BlazingWorldBR
"Some smart-ass from Art Assembly had written that the picture of a Brillo box on Venus's left buttock referred to the philosopher Arthur Danto, who had claimed that art came to an end with Warhol's Brillo."
I'm delighted that, like What I Loved, TBW features more of Hustvedt's dreamed up art installations- I just wish I could see them for real!
@batsy @saresmoore @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @vivastory
The Blazing World buddy read has begun, and if the 'Editor's Introduction' is any indication, this promises to be a dizzying spiral of references to art, literature, philosophy, feminist theory, and science, all packaged a web of intertextual fun and games 🤓 Be wary of anagrams, erudition, and unreliable narratives, and enjoy! #BlazingWorldBR @batsy @saresmoore @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @vivastory
Two 7-day loans, the first in a series, and a buddy read scheduled for July 1: challenge accepted!
Here is the schedule for The Blazing World buddy read. Go at your own pace- this will just frame which part we'll be discussing.
If anyone else is looking for some art and intrigue this July, it's not too late to join! #BlazingWorldBR
@batsy @saresmoore @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm
Hey @batsy @saresmoore you still interested in a Blazing World buddy read? I was contemplating a July 1st start date, but I could do later if that's too soon. Let me know and I'll send out a schedule.
If anyone else is interested feel free to join in- the only other Hustvedt I've read- What I Loved - seems to get rave reviews on Litsy and I've heard good things about this one too. 🔥🌍
Looking forward to this potential summer read about a story borne from the #NewYork art scene that, as far as I can tell from the jacket description, begins as one artist's attempt to shine a light on gender-based injustices faced by new artists, and it gets into darker territory from there. I'll also take this prompt as an opportunity to display my long-suffering Strand bag (not sure it can hold novels larger than 400 pages anymore 😋). #Aprella
I just went into the tiniest bookstore and found books by two of my favorite authors. I was so impressed with their choices. 😎😎😍
I also snagged both of these Kindle books today. $1.99 each for those of you in the US.
pickThis was an intelligent book with emotional depth. Harry fights for recognition in an artworld dismissive of woman artists (it still is). She comes up with the plan of having men be the visible face of her art, but it doesn't work out as she'd thought.
It was easy. It's still easy. You simply refuse to answer a woman. You don't engage in a dialogue. You let her words or her pictures die.
