updated reads

As if I didn't have enough on my hands already, I decided to deep six the books on drums and drumming, and grab something else. Having read updates on the new Jane Campion film, I picked up Susanna Moore's In the Cut off the shelf {synopsis and review}. The book is interesting -- I've never read Harold Robbins, but the erotic/racy/explicit slant of the book gave me vibes similar to those that I might have got from Robbins' ouevre. I liked the opening of the book, which introduces us, in first-person narrative, to our protagonist and narrator, and her profession (creative writing teacher), in addition to setting the tone of the book -- short economic sentences. It seems understandable to treat it as highbrow sleaze, but my interest has been piqued -- both by Jane Campion's decision to adapt this novel (which was optioned by Nicole Kidman, the original choice of lead), Meg Ryan's ambitious move to go against type, and some of the passages in the book. Here's the extract of the opening (courtesy: Amazon.com).