In the future, they'll be read

While I was at the book store today I was looking at a couple of books from The List, reading the back cover; checking them out basically. I had no intention of buying any of them, as A, I'm not planning on buying any of the books for now. And B, I already have ten books sitting on my desk at home from the library, that need to be read.

One I looked at was Day of the Locust, which seems quite interesting. It's about someone trying to make it in Hollywood in the 1930's. Another was The Golden Notebook, about a divorced female author, suffering through writer's block. I was intrigued by both, but for the reasons stated above, left them both on the shelf. It got me thinking however, that although I've spent a lot of time thinking about my reading order, for the most part I haven't been considering the stories I want to read, and trying to spread them out amongst all the books I don't want to read, or at least think I don't want to read.

So far, I haven't done a bad job of this, and have managed to mix in Brideshead Revisited and Tropic of Cancer with Beloved and Housekeeping. This isn't to say I enjoyed or didn't enjoy any of these books, but rather that going into some books, I'm excited, and some I am not. Probably most of that is due to either the cover, or me having heard of the book somewhere else (this was the case of Tropic of Cancer which I knew only from 'Seinfeld'). So the two books I saw today seem like two books I would like to read, but I realize that I can't be reading them for a while.

Then it struck me, that going through a list of 100 books presents one with some odd situations. When I see Never Let Me Go, the book which I have decided I will read 99th, I realize that I won't be reading it for almost three years (okay, at my current pace, over three years). It's odd to say, 'Ooh I want to read this. I shall do so in 2014.' But I suppose that's what happens when you decide to make your way through a list such as this.  And of course my current read, Infinite Jest isn't helping this problem at all.

Speaking of Infinite Jest, I've basically reached the halfway point, sitting on page 529.  Only 540 to go!  It hasn't really gripped me yet, and I've basically lost any hope that it will.  Instead, it looks as if it will be a book a slug through over one thousand pages and then never speak of it again.

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

Book number twelve from The List, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, is by far the newest book I've read so far.  It was originally published in 2001, beating out Beloved by fourteen years.  It is also one of the newest books on the list, one of only five books to be published this millennium.

Having been printed so recently, it features many words that would never appear in the majority of books on the list.  Cell phone, email, and Internet have already been used quite frequently.  This makes sense of course, as it would be nearly impossible to describe any situation in today's age, without using the the word 'cell phone.'  But even having been written in 2001, the book is still slightly dated in a way, a testament to how fast technology is progressing.

In one scene, one of the main characters, Chip, is walking up Fifth Avenue searching for a functioning payphone.  Although nearly everyone he knows has a cell phone, he hates them.  However, it later occurs to him that the reason he doesn't like cell phones is because he doesn't have one.  I guess that is sort of a modern day Catch-22.  Fast forward to 2010, and everybody has a cell phone...everybody.  Okay, everybody under the age of 75.

Another interesting word caught my attention in the first few chapters of this novel, as it was used in its classical connotation; a meaning from a bygone era, that today holds an entirely different meaning amongst pretty much everybody on earth.  Referring to a school yearbook, Chip "...embarked on projects like digitally scanning Melissa Paquette's face from a freshman facebook..."  When I first read this line, the first thing that struck me was that 'facebook' was written with a lower-case 'f.'  I then realized this book was written before the world's most popular social networking site had ever been thought up, and the author was simply referring to an old fashioned college yearbook.  Nothing but paper and pictures.  How 20th century.

It is amazing how quickly a word like facebook, that has had one meaning for probably over 100 years, can suddenly become Facebook; an internationally known corporate name valued at over $15 billion.

Second edition: he will print them, out of doubt

I was thinking today about my earlier idea of one day owning all 100 novels. So far, I've checked eight out from the library, borrowed two from a friend, and own a copy of one. I probably won't read 95 of them ever again, but it could serve as a sort of trophy case for having read through the list.

As I day dreamed about the possibilities of owning all 100, my vision became quite clear. A tall mahogany shelf, lined with leather-bound copies of each book, all being embraced by the beam of a single lamp overhead. I think of it as something you'd find in an Agatha Christie mystery, lining the room where the guests all meet to sip brandy and talk about the recent murder. As they discuss who done it, and lightning flashes through the floor-to-ceiling windows, while thunder rattles the lamps which light the room.

Of course I don't have a Victorian-era mansion, and most likely never will. The bookshelf however, still might be a possibility. In order to fill the shelf, I did some on-line research to check the availability of first editions of some of these books. Looking on The Manhattan Rare Book Company website, I was able to find over half the books I've read so far. Unfortunately, as easy as they were to find, it appears they will be equally as difficult to finance. I found a first edition of Beloved, signed by Toni Morrison, for only $600. A first edition copy of Light in August can be had for $6500 and The Great Gatsby for $6800. The most shocking however, was the price of a first edition copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which can be yours for the bargain price of $17,500!

I've decided to return to the goal of simply having a copy of each book on my shelf, be it the first edition or the 500th edition. They can be paperbacks for all I care.

#9 - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison

I finished Beloved last night, when I was able to squeeze in the last few pages before falling asleep. It was an interesting read to say the least, and is yet another book that I would never pick up, if not for this list. I guess in that regard, the list is doing what I had hoped; forcing me to expand my horizons and read books I wouldn't normally be interested in.

I've also managed to pick up the pace in my reading a little bit, but I need to continue at an even quicker pace, if I'm ever going to finish this list before I'm 40...

Beloved is the story of Sethe, a former slave, who escaped from her Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky in 1855. Living in a house with her daughter, the book looks back at the events that led to her escape, and the events which led to her being a near total recluse in the community, living as a free woman on the outskirts of Cincinnati. In the end, it tells the story of her descent into madness, haunted by her past life and her past decisions.

What I found so interesting about Beloved was the harsh truth of the story. Reading about slavery isn't easy, as it seems such a despicable and tragic fate today. The thought of being under someone else's control and not really having anything to live for other than not dying, seems so foreign and almost fictional, which it wasn't of course. What I found most disturbing about the characters in Beloved however, was their acceptance of their situation. Having grown up as slaves, not being educated, and not really knowing any different, most fully accepted their lot in life, not fully aware of any better or any different.


When Sethe finally does escape, she experiences sensations completely new to her, like the ability to eat when she is hungry, or to spend time with her four children, at her leisure. However, after only a month of this new found freedom, some white poeple show up at her house, slave catchers, ready to return her to Kentucky, to her masters and owners. It is here that Sethe takes matters into her own hands, vowing to save her children from the harsh life of servitude she had endured for so many years. It is these actions that will haunt her for the rest of her life, when she spares her oldest daughter a life slavery, by killing her. The rest of Sethe's life is haunted by the memory of her actions and the ghost of her daughter; who's tombstone, marked with a single word, Beloved, is a constant reminder of the past.

Told through the eyes of people Sethe associated with in the past in slavery and the present as a freewoman in Ohio, the pieces of the puzzle are put together to explain exactly what happened that fateful day, why it happened, and how Sethe can possibly explain her awful deed. She feels justified in killing her own daughter, sparing her the same life she led, and at times it can be difficult to disagree with her, knowing what hideous things took place back at Sweet Home.

You can read Time Magazine's original review of Beloved from September 21, 1987 right here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965573-1,00.html


My next book will be Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller, the story of an expatriate writer and his experiences in 1930's Paris.

You're much deceived: in nothing am I changed

I started reading Beloved yesterday, and today somebody brought to my attention that this was a film, produced by and starring Oprah Winfrey. I had promised to read a book I knew nothing about, so you might be thinking I have broken this promise. Well, I can assure you that as much as I watch Oprah's show...I know absolutely nothing about this story. Well, except what I read on the back cover.