Author: Alanna McFall

Reading Resolution Year in Review

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I just sat down to look at my list and come up with my Best and Worst books that I read in 2018 and came to a really nice conclusion: I read a lot of good stuff this year. There have certainly been years where even the middle of my list was not that good (looking at you, 2017). But I feel like even the “worst” books of my 2018 are just ones that I have some issues with, nothing that I felt was a complete waste of time. So here’s a fairly positive sum-up of what I read in 2018:

Best Book: On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City by Alice Goffman. Maybe it’s my upper-middle class white upbringing showing, but this non-fiction study into over-policing in urban black communities was eye-opening and really great. If you’re ever in the mood for a solid piece of non-fiction that doesn’t read like a textbook, I would recommend it. (Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith is a close, close second.)

Most Enjoyable Book: Behrouz Gets Lucky by Avery Cassell. Of everything on my reading list, this is the one that I’ve picked up and reread parts of over the course of the year. A cozy mix of queer BDSM erotica and domestic fluff, it’s not the most riveting or best-written book, but damned if I don’t love it.

Worst Book: Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu “Worst” feels like far too harsh of a term for this novel, but it just really didn’t do it for me. The main characters manage to be so indecisive that I stopped caring what decisions they ultimately made. Some good parts, but the bottom of the list from a good year. (The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu also graces the bottom of this list for having one of the most rushed endings I’ve ever seen.)

Biggest Surprise: The Shining by Stephen King This was my first King, and with this as my intro, I’m ready to try some more.

And that’s been my year in reading! My friend and I are making some slight adjustments to the categories for the coming year, and I’m excited to hit the ground running with some great books! And thank you to everyone who has read along with me!

Reading Resolution: “The Teeth of the Comb & Other Stories” by Osama Alomar

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6. A book written in the Middle East: The Teeth of the Comb & Other Stories by Osama Alomar

List Progress: 25/25!!!

So for a random find on the library shelf, this ended up being a pretty pleasant read, but if I’m being honest about what drew my eye to 2017’s The Teeth of the Comb & Other Stories by Osama Alomar, it’s that it was short and I wanted to finish my reading list. But “short” would turn out to be a more central idea for this book than I would have thought. Alomar, a Syrian writer, is well-known for working in the “very short story” medium, flash-fiction that is less structured than poetry, and varies (at least in this book) from a few pages, to no more than a single paragraph. At the collection’s bests, this is just enough space to paint a vivid image that speaks volumes beyond the wordcount. At its worsts, the stories become tossed off thoughts that sound like an overworked sermon trying to force a parable.

Originally written in Arabic, The Teeth of the Comb was translated into English by CJ Collins and Osama Alomar himself, which feels like an important aspect when dealing with such concise work that could easily be shifted through word choice. Some of my favorite pieces in this collection are the very, very short ones that are simply one line of set-up, one line of imagery, and one line of conclusion; those are where Alomar really shines. The stories on the longer end of the spectrum can easily overwork their imagery or metaphors, occasionally speaking about big flowery concepts in a way that feels like a parody of overly dramatic poetry. But by their very nature, you don’t have to dwell on the rougher ones for too long and can move on to the next. This book was perfect for reading on the train, where I could snap off a few without feeling like I had to move as slowly as working through poetry.

I don’t know if the ratio of good to bad was enough to send me seeking out more of Alomar’s work, but as a single volume, I’m glad I spent the time on it, and it felt like a solid way to round out 2018. Here’s to a bright new year of reading!

Would I Recommend It: Yes

Reading Resolution: “Doubt: A Parable” by John Patrick Shanley

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14. A play: Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley

doubt

List Progress: 24/25

Trigger warning for child abuse.

As I’ve been working more and more as a playwright over the last year, I feel like my perspective towards reading plays has changed. I no longer read them the same way as I would novels, but spend more of my time wondering how it would appear on stage, what an actor could bring to the table and how the pacing would work to see it all in one sitting. This especially comes to mind with this show, Doubt: A Parable, by John Patrick Shanley. The script is strong, but I would say this is absolutely an actor’s play, the script forming the bones for a strong performance to be built around. Because if you didn’t have strong actors in these four roles, this play could be a slog to sit through.

Almost all of Doubt is private conversations, interspersed with the occasional sermon delivered to the audience. Set in 1964 Brooklyn, the play takes place at a strict traditional Catholic school. The principal, a very, very traditionalist nun, comes to suspect that the more liberal-minded and approachable priest has started molesting one of the boys, the school’s first ever black student. A younger nun who is caught between the two and the boy’s mother round out the entire cast, and each role is incredibly rich and leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

Interpretation, and the titular “doubt”, are the main themes of the play as a whole, navigating an emotionally fraught situation with complications from all sides and no clear answers. At one point the younger nun asks the priest why he uses made up stories as parables in his sermons, rather than drawing truth and meaning from real events. He answers that fiction can have a more clear meaning and message, since real life is so rarely narratively satisfying and conclusive. And for a show with so many question marks, Doubt is very satisfying. I would love to see it on stage at some point, though I hesitate about the 2008 film adaptation, as the sparseness of the script works so well and could be cluttered with a full movie context. But I am intrigued to see and try and keep wondering, which means this play very much succeeded for me.

Would I Recommend It: Yes.

Reading Resolution: “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas

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20. A book we read in high school/college and hated:
 The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

List Progress: 23/25

I was originally going to do Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen for this slot, as I had a class in high school where I was very annoyed with the teacher. But while browsing the Classics shelf in my local library, my eyes fell upon this book and I felt a rush of pure literary rage from my adolescent self. It was eighth grade, I was homeschooled for the only year of my academic career, and my mother’s favorite book was The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.

I loathed it.

More specifically, I loathed all four of the protagonists and sided completely with the villain, to my mom’s dismay. But with fourteen years, a lot of maturity, and some more nuanced understandings of feminism, classism and character development under my belt, it is time for me to dive back in.

Let me start off: I still hate D’Artagnan, Athos and Porthos as people (I have a grudging fondness for Aramis). They are pretentious, misogynistic, violent, incompetent, hot-headed jerks who follow codes of honor and law when it suits them, and make the lives of all around them more difficult. They are terrible, terrible men (and given how clearly this is conveyed at points, there feels like a strong element of satire here from Dumas). But I have grown enough as a reader in the intervening years to be able to acknowledge that they can be interesting characters.

I had a lot more fun than I expected with The Three Musketeers, because above all it is a quick-moving action story with a lot of races against various clocks and court intrigues. When the book treats the Musketeers as pieces on a game board, moving them quickly around as tools of the plot, I can get caught up in the fun of the chase. It is when the narrative tries to make me care about the “nobility” of Athos or the heartbreak of D’Artagnan that it loses me and I start cheering for Milady.

Milady de Winter is the best part of The Three Musketeers and I will challenge anyone who disagrees with me to a duel. She’s a cunning, devious villain who can get her way out of almost any snare, and the narrative clearly finds her the most interesting as well. Near the end of the novel, there are over six chapters where none of the protagonists appear and the plot focuses entirely on Milady getting out of prison. It is great and I literally groaned when the “main” plot resumed.

I had fun reading The Three Musketeers, which was not what I expected. I don’t think it was mind blowing or vital to read, but there were a lot of points where it was fun. If you’re willing to read over 600 pages for some fun, I’d say give it a try, but there are probably better places to get that experience. And Milady de Winter 4 Life!

Would I Recommend It: Ehhhh, a soft yes.

Come see my 10-Minute Play, “December 26th”, at Monday Night PlayGround, Dec 17th!

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I am thrilled to announce that, for the third month in a row, my short play has been chosen for a staged reading with PlayGround SF! Join us on Dec 17th at Berkeley Rep to see six shows based on the prompt “Holiday Miracles”. My piece is titled “December 26th” and follows a family waiting and waiting and waiting for their own holiday miracle.

holiday miracle

Purchase tickets here and join us for a great night of theater!

My 10-Minute Play “Hiiiii” to be performed at Monday Night PlayGround, Nov 26th!

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For the second month in a row, you can come see a 10-minute short play with PlayGround! This month’s theme is “Fall Down, Get Up” and I cannot wait to see what the other selected writers have come up with.

My comedy titled “Hiiiii” follows a woman trying to return to work after a traumatic event, and her well-meaning but smothering co-workers doing their best to “support” her. You can purchase tickets here and come see the show at Berkeley Repertory on November 26th, 8pm.

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“The Most Just” announced for the October People’s Choice Award at PlayGround!

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I am thrilled to announce that my short play, “The Most Just”, has been announced as the People’s Choice Awards from the October Monday Night PlayGround.

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Thank you to everyone who came out to see the show and support my work. If you didn’t get a chance to see it, you can read the first two pages on PlayGround’s website.