Literature | The Hanslick Girls

August 13, 2018

Paint Her Deeper: Soolagna Majumdar’s “Marge Simpson Anime”

Gwen pulled the stack of letters out of their mailbox, and immediately caught sight of the yellowed envelope. A contrast not only due to its color and size, but also by its decoration: tiny stickers of a dinosaur, a fish, a llama, and a teddy bear surrounded their handwritten address. The package – the stamps indicated it had come from Australia – was addressed to Dania.

Near the bottom was a hand-drawn mouse creature, with a speech bubble reading “Do Not Bend Please.” Gwen flattened the package against the wall, soothing out the wrinkles that had formed after the envelope was shoved into their mailbox. The damage controlled, as much as it could be, she carried the mail into the house.

“Dania, you have a package,” Gwen called, dropping the package onto the center table of their living room. “Did you order something from Australia?”

July 23, 2018

Shooting The Breeze: Amelia Earhart’s “The Fun Of It”

Well, I’m never going to find better reading material on the flight than this, Eleanor thought.

Admittedly, she was very nervous to bring the book on the plane. While the library had facsimile copies of the book from the 1970s, Eleanor was a sucker for leather binding and had instead pulled the authentic 1932 edition of The Fun Of It off the shelf. Should anything happen to the book in transit, she was certain the fine would be hefty. Even the librarian, Eleanor recalled – did she glare at me?

But these concerns were shaken off quickly. The appeal of reading Amelia Earhart’s novel while literally soaring at 30,000 feet had a delicious appeal. She barely regarded the turbulence on the flight as she plowed through Earhart’s vivid account of early 20th century air travel.

June 25, 2018

Far From Home: Alexandra Silber’s “After Anatevka”

Despite being the one to suggest that they read it, Gwen was the last to finish reading After Anatevka. She had put it off: work got in the way, or she meant to bring it on the El with her but forgot, or it was lumpy to carry around anyway. Excuses, excuses, she knew. But the fact remained that, on the afternoon when Gwen finally closed the book shut with a satisfying slap, Eleanor was already waiting on the couch.

“Oh, finally,” she said, as Gwen sat up in her chair. “Now we can discuss.”

“Not so fast,” Gwen pulled back. There was much to be digested in the book, and Gwen wanted enough time. “I have to think about it first.”

May 28, 2018

Under The Covers: Ella Quinn’s “The Marquis And I”

The previous week’s viewing of Pride and Prejudice had left Dania longing for the romances. While she had appreciated hearing Eleanor and Gwen argue with Ellen about the film, she herself had found the film perfectly adequate. What it had stirred up in her, however, was a renewed desire to be lost in the rush, the sweep, the passions of a fantasy romance. The kind she had felt as a child, watching movies and not knowing that the female and male leads would always end up betrothed at the end.

All these thoughts swirled around her head as she entered the Barbara’s Bookstore in O’Hare Airport, on her way back home for a wedding. Love was in bloom, she thought, and perhaps if she could find a book to distract her from this during the flight ––

Category / Literature