Ok so books 13 and 14 are not "Siddhartha" and "The Tempest." I stopped midway on both of those because I was too excited about my findings at the Humane Society thrift store. Adult onset ADD? Much!
Book 13 was "Jailbird" by Kurt Vonnegut. I love me some Vonnegut. My friend John thinks he is so overrated, and that just kills me. The guy's got it. Period. (Vonnegut, not John. Although John's got it too. Just a different "it." Hi John!)
Favorite passage, about a little dog obsessed with a rubber ice cream cone toy: "I observe how profoundly serious Nature has made her about a rubber ice-cream cone - brown rubber cone, pink rubber ice cream. I have to wonder what equally ridiculous commitments to bits of trash I myself have made. Not that it matters at all. We are here for no purpose, unless we can invent one. Of that I am sure. The human condition in an exploding universe would not have been altered one iota if, rather than live as I have, I had done nothing but carry a rubber ice-cream cone from closet to closet for sixty years." You would think this philosophy of his would make for extremely cynical and depressing books, but it doesn't. His characters are always happily resigned to their predestined fates, good or bad.
Book 14 was "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf. One of the best opening lines of any book. "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." The entire book is about one day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway. If you never knew a thing about Virginia Woolf, it would probably become pretty obvious to you after reading this that she was a deeply troubled soul, completely ill mentally. This book is a technical masterpiece. It is the "drip, drip of one impression after another." It will stay with you for days when you are done.
Book 15: "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim," by David Sedaris. Meh. Another collection of his family-based anecdotes. Second rate. Disappointing.
Next was "Laughable Loves" by Milan Kundera. A collection of short stories about male/female relationships. On the surface, some very problematic representations of women, and for the male characters, love seems to be almost exclusively about sexual conquests. But if you dig a little deeper, there is some great stuff in here.
I am starting to have serious doubts about making it to 100 books!!
3.18.2008
Book update
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Vonnegut is to authorship what Kournikova is to tennis. Everything looks pretty and flows really well until you realize there's no substance or results.
He creates reason and order, like a cult leader providing comfort. Drivel!
Thanks for the love though! -- John
Of all my friends, you and I have to agree to disagree on the most stuff. And I love that!
I disagree. -- J.
Post a Comment