Beaten myself into all the colours of the rainbow;

As I make my way through #78, Wide Sargasso Sea, I can't help think ahead to the next book, which I plan to be Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. I'm not sure where my fears originated, but I think I've had them for as long as I've been reading through this list.

My first mention of these fears on this blog was on October 1, 2010, when I admitted I was intimidated by the book's 750+ pages. I've since read several books that were 750 pages, and some quite a few more, so I don't think that really turns me off anymore. Unless, of course, it's 750 pages of something I'm not enjoying (see The Recognitions). It could turn into a disaster if I'm not enjoying it.

It was soon after that post, that I first started to think I might not enjoy the book, when I heard from a couple of people, who I would describe as 'advanced readers,' that it was complicated and difficult to follow/understand. One person said they had to keep notes just to avoid getting lost. While I often make notes while reading, it isn't because I can't follow the book; frankly I don't think a book should require that much effort.

#71 - "The Adventures of Augie March" by Saul Bellow

I'm happy to report that I'm finally finished The Adventures of Augie March, my 71st read from Time's list of 100 All-TIME novels. Sure, it was on the longish side, at 612 pages, but really, this one shouldn't have taken this long.

Unsurprisingly, this book follows the adventures of one Augie March, a Chicago-born middle child in a poor, single-parent home. Augie seems to drift from one situation to another, without any real aims in life, or any drive to change his situation. Almost every change for Augie is the result of happenstance, not because of some conscious decision he had made to do something.

Augie drifts between various jobs, never sure of where he's going, and never really concerned with what happens. His long list of occupations include human trafficking, book thieving, training an eagle, dog keeping, and a hitch with the Merchant Marines. Sprinkled among these odd jobs are a series of women who Augie tends to feel passionately about to a point, before losing interest in them; much like his career.

The story is told in first person, as if Augie is writing his memoirs, and most chapter focus on a different occupation or woman, without any real connection to previous or future chapters. It's almost as if he remembered a story, put it to paper, and continued adding little anecdotes until he had reached 600 pages.