The Next Chapter

My renewed interest in reading this list is still alive and well. But unfortunately this current book, The Golden Notebook, is one that isn't going too quickly.

Whenever I start a new book, I can usually tell within the first fifty or so pages, if it is going to be a quick read or not. This one is the latter. There are a few reasons for that. First and foremost, there doesn't seem to be much of a plot. It seems to be written more as a diary than a novel; despite parts of it being excerpts from a novel. There isn't a lot of character development, and it seems to jump all over the place, often without warning. Through the first 200 pages, I sometimes feel as if I've started a new book five or six times.

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.