A Peaceful Progress...

Look at me go! With my rejuvenated zeal for this project, I'm already 20% finished #77, The Golden Notebook. I'm still not really sure what to think of the book yet. Some parts are interesting, some not so much. As a result, some parts seems to be moving a little faster than others. And the way the book is written, I think I have a good idea of which parts are going to be the quicker reads. Regardless, this shouldn't be one that gets me bogged down too much.

One thing of note is a reference to another list book, something that has always interested me. In The Golden Notebook, one character calls another couple "The Gatsbys", an obvious reference to Fitzgerald's novel, to remark on their social nature.

I recall the first time a list book referred to another, when Gary from The Corrections was reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to his children. At the time I found it very interesting, and I suppose quite surprising. Having read an additional 64 list books, it isn't as surprising anymore but it is still interesting. To me anyway.

The last book to reference another, was White Teeth, which easily holds the current record for most references to other list books, with six. A Passage to India is read, Judy Blume, EM Forester, and Vladimir Nabokov are quoted, The Catcher in the Rye is burned, and Salman Rushdie is protested.

I suppose I should summarize all these references sometime...another day perhaps.

The excuse that thou dost make in this delay

I seem to be making the same mistake I've been making for quite some time now, in that after I finish one book, I don't seem to start the next book for a week or two. The good news is I have started #76, A House for Mr. Biswas, but the bad news is I didn't start it until yesterday.

I'm not really sure of the reason for doing this, but I think the problem might be that there are currently 199 books on my "to-read" list, and only 25 of them are from the list. Add to that, I have 17 non-fiction books out from the library right now, and they're all screaming to be read!

After finishing a list read, I think my mind set is that I'll just whip through one of these non-fiction books, and then start my next list read. Of course I never read as fast as I think I'm going to, and before I know it, a week has passed.

The culprit this time, since I finished White Teeth, was Walls: Travels Along the Barricades by a Calgarian author, Marcello Di Cintio. He travels the world, visiting different places where walls have divided a society or city or culture. It was kind of a combination political essay and travelogue; basically it was right up my alley.

But that book is finished, so I have moved on to #76. I just really need to make sure I go back to reading two books at the same time; one list read and one non-fiction read. When I have done this, it's really worked well, and I seem to get a lot more reading done.

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#75 - "White Teeth" by Zadie Smith

I've finished #75, White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Actually, I finished it about a week ago, but haven't had a chance to write anything until now.

It's tough to say what, or rather, who this story is really about. I suppose it's the story of a group of people, three families, whose lives become intertwined over the course of several decades. It begins with Archibald Jones, recently divorced from his wife, as he attempts to commit suicide. After being rescued by a passer-by, Archie gets a new lease on life, and before too long, is re-married to a Jamaican woman named Clara, who is 30 years his junior.

After marriage, Archie is reunited with an old Army pal, Samad Iqbal, a Bengali Muslin who has recently immigrated to the United Kingdom. Both men are married to much younger women, and both are soon raising young families. From there, the book follows their lives, as they struggle with a variety of topics, including race, religion, substance abuse, infidelity, and...genetics.

I know this; and thus I challenge it.

I'm about three quarters of the way through number 75, White Teeth by Zadie Smith, and am happy to report it I'm enjoying it. I started it a couple of weeks ago, but was away at a golf tournament last week, on an annual trip that doesn't afford me much reading time. Looking back at the Victoria Day weekend the past few years, I see there is always a gap in my reading each time. But I'm back on track now, and plan to finish it before I leave on another trip this Thursday.

When I do finish it, I might be in a bit of a conundrum with regards to what to read next. Right now I'm planning on reading A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul, and I do currently have it out from the library. The problem is that it is getting more and more difficult to plan my next read, simply because there are fewer books to choose from.

To go out of my dialect, which you

I've slowly been making progress on my latest book from the list, Their Eyes Were Watching God. I find I always seem to go pretty slowly when I first start a book, as I just haven't gotten wrapped up in the characters or the writing, and as a result don't feel as much of an inkling to read it.

In the case of this book, I'm finding myself reading even slower, because of the dialect the Southern, African-American characters speak. This is the same problem I've had with quite a few Southern novels, like Faulkner's two books, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Only 30 Books to Go!

As I begin to read The Adventures of Augie March, I realize that I really am on the home stretch right now, with only 30 books, including Augie, to go. I'd like to say I'll be done in a year, but I'm probably going to be close to a year and a half or more.

Regardless of when I end up finishing, the fact remains that I have only 30 books to read. While I was reading American Pastoral, I did manage to amass almost all of the remaining books at one time. I'm not sure why I felt compelled to do this, maybe as a way to see exactly how much I have left to read.

That hath contrived this woful tragedy!

Here I write, not quite halfway through The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski, wondering what is taking so long.  I look at this book and its' modest 234 pages, and figure I should finish it quite quickly.  But here I am, a week in, not having reached the halfway mark.  The book itself isn't a difficult read, and I always feel as if I am making good progress.

When I first starting reading this, I had thought it was 'about the Holocaust,' a general statement if ever there was one.  This only really came from having once seen the book described as 'Holocaust literature' though, not from having read any details about plot or theme.  I now know, that while it may have taken place during the Holocaust, it is about a boy, alone, struggling to survive.  He roams from village to village, staying with whoever will take him in, trying to avoid death.  But each encounter seems to end in some sort of horrible tragedy.

It occurred to me yesterday that it is these tragedies that are slowing me down.  Each chapter seems to begin relatively calmly, as the boy finds a new home, and while life isn't all peaches and cream, it could be much worse.  But as the chapter develops, things begin to unravel, as each chapter crescendos into a roar of horror and tragedy.  At the end of each, I feel as if I need to put the book down and allow the things I just read to soak in, like the pause one experiences after witnessing a horrible car accident.

But the tragedies in this book, despite being depressing as hell, aren't stopping me from enjoying the read.  The only problem is they may be stopping me from picking up the book.  While it sits on the coffee table, I can think of a million things to do instead of reading it, but once I do pick it up, it's quite enjoyable, despite being so horrific.

I would like to finish it sometime before the weekend, and have stopped reading any non-fiction on the side until it is finished.  I also need to start thinking about what books I'm going to read as I approach the halfway point.  I have often said I would read Lord of the Rings as my 50th book, and that still may be the case.  But what to read for number 49?  I currently have Native Son, All the King's Men, The Sot-Weed Factor and White Teeth out from the library.  Having read that The Sot-Weed Factor is as funny as Catch-22, it may be a nice fit after this less than funny read.