Books by Alexandra Fuller

I am presently reading Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier by Alexandra Fuller. Her first, previous book was Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. It was a huge success with good reason, a small memoir of a wild, funny childhood in Africa. The voice, the writing, the humor, the whole story are terrific. It works on every level. Read it.
This second book didn't get the best reviews. The first chapter is confusing, lacks focus, maybe she is trying too hard. It must be tough to write a second book after such a successful first book. But then the books gets much getter, gets good, And again there is that wonderful voice and that really interesting, weird country.
I tend to think that Africa is just so crazy and complicated and irrational that it's not worth trying to understand anything or even get the map with its changing names clear. But this book does help.
What interests me as a writer is her voice, the imagination and enery that comes from her own emotional intensity and her intellect and imagination, which is, of course, her relation to her material, herself, and the reader. Sometimes, I think, she tries too hard, but.... (I really should have titled this whole blog elipses. Some English teacher would say the use of this demonstrates a lack of thought and discipline but I prefer to think I am inviting my reader to finish the thought....)
But--here is what matters--I keep reading, wanting to read, carrying the book around, which is why I am writing about it. But read the first one first and tell me what you think. JH

What I'm doing here...and the blog title...and.....

A DISCLAIMER
I am the last, the very last person, to do this. I love Emily Dickinson's lines from the little poem "I'm Nobody," ..."how public like a frog to tell your name the live long day to an admiring bog." On the other hand, the opposite of that is, I suppose, talking quietly to oneself beside a pretty stream, living alone in a small attic, and writing a few fabulous lines of poetry on small pieces of paper to be discovered once one is dead. And that's not appealing either. So.....

WHAT
What I want to do with this is pass on recommendations for books, films, etc. especially those related to spirituality (a terrible word) and psychology. I could have called this: spirituality, creativity, ideas, art, and my opinion. The Crack in the Wall title refers to my favorite metaphor for finding one's way--my way-- through the assumptions, conventionality, "in the box" state that close me in and down and.....Depending on my level of boredom, depression, pain, fear, and mainly mild dissatisfaction or frustration, I am always looking for "a crack in the wall."

SHAKESPEARE'S WIFE by Germaine Greer
This book got as good a review as I think I've ever read in the NY Times Book Review. But it is dense and complex. Since almost nothing is known about S's wife, critics, all men, have done what they wanted with her, which is mainly to say portrayed her as illiterate, uninteresting, and unloved. S spent most of his life in London. She was older and pregnant when they married. He left her only his second best bed. But Greer uses amazingly detailed research re: life in that place and time, e.g. how many couples were pregnant when they married, the difference between the vows and the the ceremony in time, the roles of women, to make a case that the male critics have been or very well may have been totally wrong. She writes wonderfully. The material is complex and interesting. And what I am coming away with is the insight that things are never what they seem, history is always crazier than we imagine, and we probably can't know exactly what happened and why... I adore Shakespeare. His language which is also his wisdom is another reason for believing in miracles, in "the divine." I am enjoying this book!