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.

What is Your Title?

I'm a little over halfway through Native Son right now, and it's fantastic. Right now, it would be in my top five books from the list. But while I've been reading it, I keep finding myself thinking back to my last book, Their Eyes Were Watching God. What I keep thinking back to though, is on line I read, on the 160th of 193 pages; specifically, the line "They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God."

Whenever I read the title of a book, in the book, I can't help but think of the "Family Guy" episode where Peter says he "usually only gets this excited when they say the title of the movie, in the movie." We then see Peter watching "Clear and Present Danger," "As Good as it Gets," and "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace." I must admit it does excite me in some small way as well.

Reading the title of the book in the book this time, started me thinking of what other books from the list have had this happen. However, unlike references to other books on the list, I haven't been keeping track of every instance, so I'm forced to go by memory.

Holden Caulfield Boards the Train

I don't really have much to report, as I continue reading Possession. I'm still going at a rather slow pace, which I continue to blame on small print, italics, and the rather boring prospect of reading what others are reading. But a slow pace is better than no pace, and I am making progress. I'm probably about 60% finished.

In other news though, something finally happened this weekend that part of me thought would happen more often; I saw somebody on the train reading a book from The List. This weekend, taking the train downtown, somebody sat down across from me, pulled out a copy of The Catcher in the Rye and began reading.

Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye,

While I mentioned a while back that I don't really have any interest in collecting books to fill a shelf in my home, I have nonetheless been slowly acquiring books from the list.

Every time I visit a used bookstore, in search of a couple of elusive titles (Loving by Henry Green), I naturally stumble across other books from the list. And often those books are pretty cheap, and as I result, I now own seven books from the list.

Three of the books are ones I've already read, Catch-22, The Catcher in the Rye, and Brideshead Revisited. The other four books are of course unread, and will almost certainly be saved until the end of this journey, as I'm guaranteed to have a copy available.

But seeing these seven books on my shelf often cause me to re-think my policy of not buying books. I'm really not into 'clutter' and I see books that I'll likely never read again, as clutter. But then I think of having all 100 books on a shelf, to sit and admire, and reflect on the journey that was reading through them. 

As if a man were author of himself

As I wind down number 55, Money by Martin Amis, I thought I should comment on something this book had, which I believe to be very unique.  I'm sure I haven't seen this before, and doubtful I'll see it again, at least not from this list.

Several of my previous reads from the list have mentioned other books on the list, and Money joins those ranks after the protagonist reads both Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, as well as mentioning The Catcher in the Rye.  And other books have mentioned authors of books from the list, be they mere mentions or actual characters like Theodore Dreiser was in Ragtime.  Money joins that group as well, when the protagonist meets an author who lives in his neighborhood, a certain Martin Amis.

I'm not sure what I think about having the author of the book as a character in the book.  And it isn't as if Amis is a once off, mentioned only in passing.  Quite the contrary, Amis becomes a rather important character in the book.  There isn't anything wrong with this, and the character is entirely believable and fits the book, it's just such an interesting technique.  Since starting this list two years ago, I've always, for whatever reason, gotten a kick out of these mentions and I think Money has now taken the cake.

One could argue, I guess, that Kurt Vonnegut makes an appearance in Slaughterhouse-Five, as 'Kilgore Trout,' but I don't think an appearance by what could at best be described as an alter-ego, is the same as the Amis cameo in Money.  Not only is the character named Martin Amis, he's also a writer and son of a famous writer.  Of course I really can't speak to whether or not the character is anything like the author when it comes to personality, as I don't really know Martin Amis very well; especially not 1984 Martin Amis.  But in the end, it does not really matter as the book is fiction.


For the record, this is the 11th book I've read so far that mentions another book or author.

#7 - "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

I spent a fair bit of time reading today, and was able to finish The Catcher in the Rye. What a great book. I loved it when I read it over ten years ago, and that still holds true. It's the story of Holden Caulfield, who’s been kicked out of yet another boarding school. Instead of sticking around for the last few days of classes until Christmas break, Caulfield decides to head to nearby New York, for a few days of R&R before breaking the news to his parents.

In addition to a great, or rather, an entertaining story, the main character is very likeable. Half the time I found myself thinking how similar I was to Holden Caulfield; and especially how similar I was when I was the same age. Thinking I was more mature or smarter than reality. Come to think of it, I still think that, but that’s another issue altogether. Caulfield talks about having a few drinks, or making time with a girl, or getting a job. All areas he believes himself to be an expert, but really areas he doesn’t have the faintest clue about. Take for instance when he decides to get himself a prostitute, ready to “give her the business.” But at the sight of the young girl removing her dress, Caulfield becomes scared, ends up handing over more money that he’d agreed on to the pimp, and is left in his hotel room, crying and alone; admitting to the reader he’s a actually a virgin.

Like most kids his age, Caulfield often feels as if the world is against him. His teachers, his parents, taxi drivers and bartenders, they’re all against him. Nothing but a bunch of “phonies” he’d tell you, all trying to keep him down. He sits down in a lounge, but the waiter won’t serve him any drinks; because he’s 16. He wonders aloud how he’s supposed to handle a phony joint like this, sober. His teachers are all phonies, teaching him things he doesn’t feel he’ll ever need to know. He can’t be interested in such phony material. I mean who really uses algebra? If I had a nickel for every time that went through my head when I was in school…

But through these adventures, or misadventures, it is nearly impossible not to become sympathetic to his foibles, and find yourself cheering for him through all he encounters. After all, he’s just a good kid who’s a little messed up, and he’s got his whole life ahead of him.

One of the things I like the most about this book is the way it is told. All in the first person, the author is speaking to the reader, as if someone is sitting there telling you a story. The language used is laid back and informal, almost as if it is exactly what is going through the main characters head. He see things or events, and gets side tracked, telling stories that happen to pop into his head. Maybe it’s the familiarity that makes it so appealing. The way Caulfield talks about different people, or they way his thought process works, seem so realistic, and so understandable. It’s a perfect book to be reminded of one's youth, and escape to that simpler time in life.

Time Magazine’s original review from July 16th, 1951 can be found here.


Next up is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Seventh sweet, adieu

It happened today. I gave up on a book. I've been reading Neuromancer, or rather trying to read it for almost a month. But after all this time, I've only read fifteen pages. Yes, you read that correctly, fifteen lousy pages. I have all kinds of excuses, which I will list here:

1. It's science-fiction. I don't like science-fiction, so it's tough for me to get into the story. Of course I went in with the wrong attitude, but none the less, I don't really care for sci-fi
2. The Winter Olympics. They're on TV constantly all day and all night, in glorious high-definition. I don't normally care for the Olympics, but I've had a hard time not watching. Let's see, I can pick up a book I don't really like, or I can watch people crash down a mountain at 100km/h. That's a no-brainer.

Okay, that isn't a very long list, but its' points are powerful. I think.

The final nail in the coffin for Neuromancer came yesterday, when I buddy of mine brought me two books from the list; Catcher in the Rye and Catch-22. Seeing these two books sitting on my desk beside Neuromancer is like going in to you garage and seeing a Porsche and a Hyundai. It's hard to not drive the Porsche until the Hyundai's ran out of gas.

So, to make a long story short, Neuromancer is out, and Catcher in the Rye is in. I will, of course, come back to Neuromancer at a later date, but it just isn't working for me right now. I've chosen Catcher, as I need to make up some time again, after wasting three weeks essentially reading nothing. Yes, I've read it before. Yes, that'll make three books in a row that I'd already read before starting the list. But I don't care. I really liked Catcher in the Rye when I first read it, and am excited to read it again.

I'm not proud of what has happened here, but I have to move on.