Often give us soldiers the lie: but we pay...

I started reading my 16th book last night, Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis.  The book was published in 1953, making in the fourth book I'll have read from the 50's.  I haven't yet read any books from the 70's or 90's, so when I was at the library, I had tried to find a book from either of those decades; sort of a way of evening out the list I guess.  However, none of the nine books on The List from those two decades were available at my local branch.  In fact one book, Dog Soldiers, isn't even available in the entire Calgary Library system.  Might I have to actually buy one of the books from The List?

#15 - "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf

I finished To the Lighthouse today.  It's the third shortest book I've read so far, but took almost twice as long as any other.  I blame summer weather, golf courses, the Stampede and beer on patios.  The real reason it took so long however, was a combination of the aformentioned things and that I really didn't like it.

The problem I had with this novel is the style in which it was written.  Instead of describing actions or using dialogue, most of the book consists of describing different characters' thoughts and emotions.  The book also jumps from one character to another, making it very difficult to follow.  One review I found even said that plot was secondary to philosophical introspection.  I don't even know what that means, other than I'm not going to like it.  How am I supposed to follow a book that doesn't really have a plot, or even any descriptions for that matter.

Throughout the entire novel, I never really had a feel for any of the characters or settings and was unable to picture them in my mind.  I guess the good thing is, if I ever see the movie, I won't be dissapointed with the casting.  "That actor filled the blank face I had in my mind perfectly!" I'll exclaim leaving the theatre, or more likely from the couch.

The plot, a term I use very loosely, centered around a family's desire to visit a lighthouse in Scotland in 1910, and then their actual visit to the same lighthouse in 1920; after half the family had died.  I don't know if lighthouses were a lot bigger attraction a hundred years ago, but I don't see myself itching to visit one for ten years.  Anyway, a bunch of stuff happens in the middle, or rather nothing happens, but all the characters think about how nothing happened.  They all seem to wonder why they couldn't have visited the lighthouse ten years earlier.  Of course, they could hvae, as the trip only involves a thirty minute boat ride, but they didn't because the father thought it might rain.  That's really the reason they didn't go.  I'm not kidding.  But after ten years, the remaining family members were able to risk rain, and visit the lighthouse.  The book however ends just as they arrive, so we never even find out what's so great about the goddamn thing.

I have to wonder what's wrong with me.  This book received high praise from Time Magazine when it was first released in 1927, and again when The List was put together.  Perhaps I'll mature, with regards to literature, as I continue reading the list, but again, I didn't like this book.  Only Naked Lunch surpassed it in...un-readability.

I visited the library today, and picked up two more books, I, Claudius and Lucky Jim.  Both continue my trend of not knowing anything about the book before I read it.  I, Claudius was mentioned in a episode of "Cheers" I saw recently though, as Frasier exclaimed "We can go upstairs, I have all twelve episodes of I, Claudius on tape!", much to Sam's chagrin.  I like to think that I have more sophisticated reading tastes than Sam Malone, but only time will tell.

As for fines, it turns out I incurred $1.05 on both To the Lighthouse and The Power and the Glory.  That brings my fine total to $5.90.  And if you were wondering, I returned both those books today, which means I've been renewing Power all this time, even though I finished reading it almost two months ago.  It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I wanted to conserve fuel, and not drive to the library twice.  Let's go with that.


You can read the original Time Magazine review from May 30, 1927 right here.

No more a briton, I have resumed again

All right, this time I mean it, I have resumed my quest to finish To the Lighthouse.  It's been a sad display of late, but it's tough to read during the summer months, when there are so many other things to do; mainly watch TV.  Despite my near zero comprehension of what is going on in this novel, I am charging ahead, and vow to finish it within the week.  While I don't really have anything to report on the story itself (as I don't understand it), I have come across a couple of noteworthy things.

First off, there was a line in the book that caught my attention.  "Every one could not be as helter skelter, hand to mouth as she was."  Helter Skelter?  I always thought that was a kooky line the Beatles made up, like 'Mean Mr. Mustard' or 'Glass Onion.'  An acid trip set to music really.  However, as this book was published in 1927, there obviously is a little more history to helter skelter than I thought.  Turns out, the actual meaning of helter skelter is in chaotic and disorderly haste, and its use has been found as far back as 1592.  Interestingly (or more likely not), the two words have no meaning on their own.  So, maybe John and Paul weren't on a bad trip when they came up with some of their lyrics, maybe 'I am the Walrus' is how British people have been saying 'I am having a fat day' since the 1700's.

The second thing I came across in this book was chapter 15.  What's odd about Chapter 15 you ask?  It's one sentence, that's what's odd.  I always thought of chapters as dividing different plot lines or settings, sort of a like a star wipe in a movie or TV show.  But what's the point of having a one line chapter?  I guess it doesn't really matter, but it was odd.  The plus side was that I was able to say I read a couple chapters today.