#83 - "The Death of the Heart" by Elizabeth Bowen

This is the second book in the "Death Trilogy" that features on this list; the others being A Death in the Family, and Death Comes for the Archbishop. I guess the novelization of Death to Smoochy just didn't make the cut.

I didn't know anything about this book when I started reading it, but shouldn't have been surprised that I enjoyed it. First off, it's on this list, and I've enjoyed most of the books on this list. Secondly, it's set in inter-war Europe, and I don't think there has been an inter-war European book I haven't enjoyed (remember, Gravity's Rainbow was during the war).

#80 - "Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon

From dictionary.com:

unreadable

[uhn-ree-duh-buh l] 

 

• Examples
• Word Origin

adjective

1.

not readable; undecipherable; scribbled:

His scrawl was almost unreadable.

2.

not interesting to read; dull; tedious; an unreadable treatise.

3.

extraordinarily difficult to read or comprehend; obscure;incomprehensible:

an unreadable dream; an unreadable expression.

Time's Richard Lacayo starts off his summary on why this one is on the list with "no, it is not unreadable." He then describes the plot as "unsummarizable," which as far as I know isn't a word.

Different Books, Same Design

Well, I'm on the homestretch with Gravity's Rainbow. Really, I am. With only 47 pages to go, I should finish it in the next couple of days. Actually, it's a nice night out, maybe I'll sit on the patio and finish it right now. I can smell the freedom already!

But before I do that, I thought I would share some more book covers with you. Many times I've found the same photo on two different books (three different books on one occasion!), but yesterday I found something new.

These are two very different books; one is a novel by Martin Amis (who wrote my 55th read from the list) and one is a political book about how Stephen Harper is evil. I read Lionel Asbo: State of England a couple of years ago when he was appearing at WordFest, so I was familiar with the cover. When I came across the 2nd book at the library, looking for something else, it jumped out at me.

The Infinite Rainbow

I've now decided that my current book, Gravity's Rainbow, is my toughest assignment so far. And I can't imagine any of the remaining 20 book will be this difficult either.

I'm currently sitting on page 605 of 776, and feel completely helpless. I'm not really sure what is going on, nor who the main characters really are, which makes it difficult to pick it up. For the past six weeks, this book has rarely been more than five feet away from me, but has spent more time as a paper weight than an open book. I just can't bring myself to open on most days. This results in me not reading anything else either, as I feel guilty when I do so, knowing I should be reading Gravity's Rainbow.

Sadly I think I am now at a point where my only goal is to finish the book, even if that means my eyes are only glossing over the words within. I'm still reading it, but I don't think very much of it is sinking in. This is a book, perhaps the first from the list, that I definitely would not finish, were it not for this project. And I don't think I can really imagine anybody finishing it voluntarily.

Non-List Reading in Thailand and Malaysia

I'm back in Canada now, after a fantastic trip to Thailand and Malaysia. Like most of my trips, I am never afforded as much time to read as I think, so most of my reading was confined to airplanes and trains. Fortunately for my reading habits, this trip included two flights over 12 hours and a 15 hour train ride, so I was able to get something done.

Reading over the
Gulf of Thailand

From the list, I read Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust (review to follow), and not from the list, I read The Great Train Robbery and American Psycho; two very different novels, to say the least!

I first read Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery over 15 years ago, and enjoyed it very much. I've also seen the 1979 movie with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland about 300 times, so it's one with which I am quite familiar.

That what they do delay, they not deny.

Gravity's Rainbow. What can I say? It's living up to all of my expectations; it's difficult to follow and quite a tedious read. But I have been slowly making my way through it.

I'm leaving on a trip to South East Asia today, and was hoping to have it finished before I left. Things were seemingly going well, as in I thought I'd be able to finish before today. Or at least by today. But last week, I had an accident of sorts, and found myself in the hospital for a spell, which sort of put my reading pace off track. I learned quite quickly that Gravity's Rainbow is not the book to read when you've been given several large doses of morphine.

My first attempt to read while lying in a hospital bed, stoned to the bejezus, lasted less than one sentence before dropping the book and falling asleep. My second attempt a few hours later ended after one paragraph. Although to be fair, there probably aren't any books that would be ideal for reading after the amount of morphine I'd been given!

#78 - "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys

After reading three consecutive 500+ page books, I enjoyed a well-deserved break, with the 156 page Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. Not only was it short, but also very readable, and I suppose I enjoyed it somewhat.

Written in 1966, the book is billed as a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. And I'd guess it is the first ever prequel, coming out over 30 years before "Star Wars Episode 1" created one of my least favorite cinematic terms/trends. For me though, it was just a book, as I haven't read Jane Eyre, nor do I know anything about the plot or characters. Now I just have to determine who in Wide Sargasso Sea is the equivalent of Jar Jar Binks.

Beaten myself into all the colours of the rainbow;

As I make my way through #78, Wide Sargasso Sea, I can't help think ahead to the next book, which I plan to be Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. I'm not sure where my fears originated, but I think I've had them for as long as I've been reading through this list.

My first mention of these fears on this blog was on October 1, 2010, when I admitted I was intimidated by the book's 750+ pages. I've since read several books that were 750 pages, and some quite a few more, so I don't think that really turns me off anymore. Unless, of course, it's 750 pages of something I'm not enjoying (see The Recognitions). It could turn into a disaster if I'm not enjoying it.

It was soon after that post, that I first started to think I might not enjoy the book, when I heard from a couple of people, who I would describe as 'advanced readers,' that it was complicated and difficult to follow/understand. One person said they had to keep notes just to avoid getting lost. While I often make notes while reading, it isn't because I can't follow the book; frankly I don't think a book should require that much effort.

The Final Twenty-Five Books

Yesterday I wrote of my planned reading list, but didn't mention what it was. Since I've spent countless hours planning this reading order, I figure I should share it. It will be a road map of sorts for the next year of my reading.

A lot of the order is because I own nine of the final 25 books, so they all find themselves in the final 10. I also wanted to be sure to space out the more difficult reads, which right now I am anticipating to be Gravity's Rainbow, Call it Sleep, and A Dance to the Music of Time. Not only are these three quite lengthy, but I also just have a feeling they will be quite taxing reads.

To ease the pain, so to speak, of reading these tomes, I have followed them with books I anticipate to go quite quickly. Two of the remaining books that I've previously read, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird, will follow Gravity's Rainbow and A Dance to the Music of Time respectively. And I plan for Watchmen to follow Call it Sleep.

Chuck Barris: Television Auteur, CIA Hitman, Literary Fan

We'll be back with more...stuff!

I slipped in a little non-fiction this past week, when I read Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Or maybe it was a little fiction...? The book, written by Chuck Barris in 1982, bills itself as an "unauthorized autobiography." Since it was first published, it has generated a lot of debate as to how much of it really is true, and if you've read it, you know what I'm talking about.

For those of you unfamiliar with Chuck Barris, he was the creator of such infamous shows as The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and The Gong Show (which he also hosted.) What is up for debate is Barris' claim that while working in television all those years, he was also a contract killer for the CIA.

Naturally it couldn't be true. Or could it? The debate has gone on for over 30 years, even by those who knew him best.

#71 - "The Adventures of Augie March" by Saul Bellow

I'm happy to report that I'm finally finished The Adventures of Augie March, my 71st read from Time's list of 100 All-TIME novels. Sure, it was on the longish side, at 612 pages, but really, this one shouldn't have taken this long.

Unsurprisingly, this book follows the adventures of one Augie March, a Chicago-born middle child in a poor, single-parent home. Augie seems to drift from one situation to another, without any real aims in life, or any drive to change his situation. Almost every change for Augie is the result of happenstance, not because of some conscious decision he had made to do something.

Augie drifts between various jobs, never sure of where he's going, and never really concerned with what happens. His long list of occupations include human trafficking, book thieving, training an eagle, dog keeping, and a hitch with the Merchant Marines. Sprinkled among these odd jobs are a series of women who Augie tends to feel passionately about to a point, before losing interest in them; much like his career.

The story is told in first person, as if Augie is writing his memoirs, and most chapter focus on a different occupation or woman, without any real connection to previous or future chapters. It's almost as if he remembered a story, put it to paper, and continued adding little anecdotes until he had reached 600 pages.

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.

Dear Blog, Happy 4th Birthday!

Today is a milestone of sorts for my reading through this list of 100 novels. It was four years ago today,that I began reading my first book, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. This wasn't exactly the day I started this project, as I hit a few stumbling blocks at the beginning. I remember thinking I was going to start with Nineteen Eighty-Four, but when I went to start reading my copy, I discovered the first few pages were missing. Not wanting to start the project off skipping the first eight pages, I began with a different book.

After that and a couple of other delays, it was November 21, 2009 that I actually began reading. Fast forward to today, and I've completed 68 novels, and am nearly finished my 69th; Possession.

Then 'tis but reason that I be released

Now that I've unshackled myself from The Lord of the Rings, I feel as if I am Dbryan Unchained (the 'D' is silent). My lack of progress reading these past few months has resulted in my lack of posting about my reading. It's difficult to write about your reading when you're doing so little of it. But now that I'm finished with that seemingly never ending read, I'm ready to get back at it; both reading and writing.

The next book I've decided to read is The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, one of the authors with two books on the list. I wasn't fussy about his other book, Light in August (which was my fourth book), and have to admit that I was a little gun shy about reading this one. But after being bogged down in Middle Earth for so long, it really doesn't feel that intimidating.

Of course it is over 1,000 pages shorter than the last one, so its size is a lot less intimidating. Silly as it may seem, there is something comforting about reading a book that doesn't cause ships to list to starboard; it fits in a jacket pocket and can be held with one hand. And after being able to slog through a 1,300 page book I wasn't really interested in, I feel a 320 page book, regardless of whether or not I am enjoying it, will seem like a breeze. I'm feeling so confidant with these books now, I even considered reading Gravity's Rainbow next, but couldn't track down a copy in time.

I have a few other books lined up right now, waiting to be read, and plan to really make some tracks this month. Also on my shelf are Possession, A Clockwork Orange, The Big Sleep, and The Grapes of Wrath. I'm not going to think about what #64 will be until I'm nearly finished The Sound and the Fury however. I've got to keep my eye on the prize.

#51 - 'All the King's Men' by Robert Penn Warren

Two years ago today, I returned All the King's Men to the library, without having read it.  That would be the first time I did so, but not the last; and I have since returned 32 books from this list without having read them.  In fact, it wasn't even the last time I borrowed this particular book from the library and returned it without reading it.  I have taken All the King's Men out four times.  It wasn't as if I was ever avoiding it, quite the contrary.  It just always seemed to slip through the cracks for one reason or another.  But no more!  Number 51 is finished, the fourth Pulitzer-prize winner from the list, and the second who's movie also won Best Picture (the other being Gone With the Wind).

I previously wrote this book was about Huey Long, or at least the Huey Long-esque character of Willie Stark, Governor of Louisiana.  And while he's obviously an integral part of the story, All the King's Men is a character study of four individuals, each flawed in their own way, with the polarizing Governor Stark binding them together, while at the same time, driving them apart.

Willie Stark is a smart, but uneducated man, who climbs his way from the poorest of farms to the Governor's seat, on a campaign of hard-work, honesty and integrity.  A populist candidate if ever there was one, representing the opposite of the other candidates, as somebody any citizen could identify with.  Of course we quickly learn that while Stark is full of good intentions, wanting to build highways and provide his state with free, universal (gasp!) health care, he isn't exactly the model citizen he portrays to the world.  Stark uses a combination of blackmail, intimidation, and corruption to achieve his goals and retain his grip on power, and he's a prototypical advocate for the end justifying the means.

Carrying out much of the dirty work is Jack Burden, the book's narrator.  A former PhD candidate in History, former newspaper man, and current assistant to the Governor, Jack grew up in what could only be described as a wealthy family, not really wanting for anything, yet still possess a very "down-to-earth" view of the world, and lives without any of the upper-crust cliches one might expect from such a character.  He began working for Stark at a young age, and in a way, has come of age with the Governor.

Also entangled in Stark's web are Ann and Adam Stanton, siblings who grew up in Jack's 'aristocratic' neighbourhood, but do not share his enthusiasm for Willie Stark.  Adam is a doctor hired by the Governor to run his new hospital, despite their complete disagreement with how he runs the State, and Ann is his sister and Jack's former fiancee, who despite disagreeing with his methods, has a soft spot for both the Governor and for Jack.

After a bit of a slow start, I become very engrossed in this book, desperate to see what would happen next, as well as finding myself completely shocked and outraged and a couple of developments.  My like or dislike of Willie Stark as a person and as a public servant would swing wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other.  While many of his ideas were intoxicating and inspirational, so many of his actions were despicable.  These are the same struggles Jack Burden finds himself experiencing as he narrates for the reader.

For the most part, Burden thinks of himself as merely 'doing his job', not blackmailing Stark's political and personal opponents.  He chooses and succeeds for a long time, at divorcing his conscience from his actions; something so few are able to do.  But when people he is close to become the subject of Stark's blackmailing, Jack begins to see the consequences of his actions, as he learns how everything in his world is connected in one way or another.  No longer can he pretend there aren't unwanted consequences to what he is doing, and no longer can the Governor's goals make up for the manner in which they are achieved.


While I enjoyed the story, the writing, and the character development, I think what I really enjoyed about reading All the King's Men were a couple of major plot twists.  After setting the scene, developing each character and letting the reader really get to know everybody, Warren drops a couple of bomb shells that left me speechless.  But these plot twists didn't have the corny factor that can plague such a technique, rather they are explained in a rational, plausible manner, and not only left me anxious to keep reading, but also emotional, usually angry, and what had developed.  It was my sympathy for Jack Burden, and dislike of Willie Stark that brought me into the story and the dramatic plot developments that kept me going.  Without a doubt, one of my favorite books so far.



For my next book, I've chosen Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.  Her other book on The List, To the Lighthouse was one of my least favorite so far, and I'd be lying if I said I had any interest in reading this one.  However, it's part of The List and must be read, so I've decided to get it over with right now, in an effort to avoid having too many 'unwanted' reads (see also Gravity's Rainbow and The Man Who Loved Children) at the end of this adventure

#42 - "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon

It's well documented that I've sort of been avoiding Thomas Pynchon.  He has two books on The List, and one of them, Gravity's Rainbow has been borrowed from the library twice.  Twice it has been renewed the maximum of four times, and twice it has been returned unread.  When it sits on my desk, it stares at me, intimidating me with its 750 pages, and scaring me with its tales of woe from other readers.  But his other book, The Crying of Lot 49, is only 152 pages.  I refuse to be intimidated by something the size of a Reader's Digest.

Where to begin with my 42nd read... The Crying of Lot 49 could best be described as a cryptic and mysterious read filled with intrigue, confusion, and comedy.  I'd classify it as postmodernist, but I only use that word because of Moe's description on "The Simpsons," where he describes 'po-mo' as "weird for the sake of weird."  This book fits that definition perfectly.

Oedipa Mass has just been named co-executor to the estate of her late boyfriend, the mega-wealthy Pierce Inverarity.  Through Oedipa's travels in Southern California, in her attempt to piece together some of his life, she first stumbles upon the acronym W.A.S.T.E on a restroom stall.  In her attempt to find out more, she finds herself immersed into a bizarre world of underground post offices, and a world-wide conspiracy for domination of the mail system.  Or at least I think that's what it was about.  It might have been about rare stamps or LSD or pop music.  I think part of the appeal of this book may be the reader's ability to interpret it so many different ways.  Oedipa's travels, and the characters she meets, while loosely connected, really act as a series of vignettes; and at times don't seem connected.  One begins to wonder if this whole 'conspiracy' is a set up.  But if it is, the reasons for the set up are unknown and I had to wonder if it was Oedipa or me, the reader, being had.

The other appeal of this book is the style in which it was written.  Pynchon seems to be a fan of word play, with every character, every setting, basically everything in this book seemingly named for some humorous purpose.  It's as if the entire novel is one continuous string of puns and allusions.  There's the Confederate Ship named the "Disgruntled," or Oedipa's contact at a bar named Mike Fallopian.  There's the pop band 'The Paranoids,' the play within a play, 'The Courier's Tragedy', and the fictional town of San Narciso.  It's a book I'd have to read again, or perhaps a few more times to even begin to grasp the many puzzles and riddles Pynchon uses.

My first impression was this book wasn't my style; I'm just not a fan 'weird for the sake of weird.'  But as I contemplate it, I appreciate what I was able to take from it.  The word play is clever, funny even, and allowed for me to enjoy the book, even when I was finding the story confusing and hard to follow.  And I think in the end, that's the best part of this book.

Because it's on the short side, and because it has these witty aspects, it allows a heavy author like Thomas Pynchon to be accessible to most readers.  Or at least more accessible then I'm sure his more daunting books, like Gravity's Rainbow, would be.  In a way, The Crying of Lot 49 allows a broader audience to experience a novel of this type or style or complexity, without getting a headache.  But while I could make my way through this book, and even enjoy it on some level, I fear for the much more in-depth, much more cryptic, and, let's face it, much longer, Gravity's Rainbow.


You can read the original TIME magazine review from May 6, 1966 right here.  It seems they didn't really like this book in 1966, referring to it as a 'nosepicking contest.'

You can hear me discuss The Crying of Lot 49 on the Calgary Eyeopener, right here.


Notes: One of 'The Paranoids' songs in the book makes references to Humbert Humbert from Lolita and his quest for nymphets.  It turns out, that Pynchon studied under Nabokov at Cornell in the late 50's.
The meaning of 'the crying of lot 49' isn't revealed until the last line of the book.  But it doesn't really explain much!


I don't know what I plan to read next.  I'll have to visit the library today as my supply of books has dwindled.

#41 - "The Moviegoer" by Walker Percy

I finished my 41st book from this list yesterday, The Moviegoer, and I'm at a little bit at a loss as to what to think.  I didn't dislike this book by any means, nor did I find it boring.  I liked the characters, I liked the style, I liked most things about it.  But while I was reading it, I never really felt pulled in by it.  Never was I longing to read more.  Sure, I was curious as to what would happen, but it wasn't a book that was on my mind all the time, even when I wasn't reading.  I can't figure out why a book I liked basically everything about, hasn't left me thinking I just finished a great book.

The Moviegoer is about John "Binx" Bolling, a New Orleans stockbroker, who's just about to celebrate his thirtieth birthday.  He's very successful in his business career, he sleeps with his secretaries, so one could argue he's successful there as well, and he goes to the movies, usually alone.  But really, he's someone who's afraid of what he terms 'everydayness,' worried that he'll be forgotten once he has shuffled off this mortal coil.  He's bored of the routine of life, and he uses the movies as a way to escape.

I enjoyed the style of the book immensely, and it was an easy to follow, accessible read.  Binx seems like the kind of guy almost anybody could have a coffee or a beer with, pleasant, intelligent, well-meaning, and all around likable fellow.  He reminds me a little of Forrest Gump in his happy-go-lucky demeanor; he just happens to be a lot smarter and less naive.  The deeper we get to know Binx though, the more we see what's actually going on.

Behind that exterior, the one that's been chasing the 'American Dream', and quite successfully at that, we see that he isn't being fulfilled.  Sure, he's got the house, a good paying job, and a nice car.  But is the dream complete, or does he also have to go to medical school, get married and have children as well?  It's almost as if he feels pressured to take these next steps, and he's unsure if he wants to because it might be nothing more than a means to an end.

There lies Binx' great dilemma.  He doesn't want to get married, though everyone else seems to.  He doesn't  believe in God, but almost everyone else does.  He likes being a stock broker, though everyone agrees medicine would be a more respectable profession.  He knows he's missing something, but he's pretty sure it isn't these entanglements everybody else is interested in.  But despite the desire to avoid these 'traps', he is constantly being pressured from every angle, and it's only a matter of time before he's completely shut in, trapped by the very dream he had been chasing most of his life.  In the end, he knows he'll have to give in. 

I often thought back to Rabbit, Run's Harry Angstrom when reading about Binx Bolling.  Both men seem to be aimlessly wandering through the desert of life, unsure of both what it is they're missing and what it is they desire.  But both men know what they really want is change.  I suppose the similarities no doubt arise from both books having been written only a year apart, in a time when the very American Dream they are both chasing was going through some major upheavals.  Gone were the glory days of the 1950's, and in came the much more gritty, social-uprising 1960's.  It's only natural that literary characters of the time would reflect those changes.


You can read TIME magazine's original review from May 19, 1961 right here.


You can hear me discuss The Moviegoer on the CBC's The Eyeopener right here.

Up next is a book, or rather an author of been fearing since the beginning of this list; Thomas Pynchon.  While I don't really know anything about him, I've never heard anybody say he's was an easy straightforward read.  Pynchon is one of nine authors with two books on the list.  Twice I've had Gravity's Rainbow out from the library, twice it's been returned unread.  So instead of trying that one more time, I'm giving his other book a try; The Crying of Lot 49.  It looks a lot more manageable and a good way to ease my way into Pynchon.

forget, forgive; conclude and be agreed;

I'm about 10% finished my most recent read, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.  While there have been many books I didn't know anything about or had never heard of or had never heard of the author, this book has an extra air of...forgetability.  When I try to go through the list in my head, I usually miss about five books that I can't think of and they're always the same five.  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of those books.  So not only am I not familiar with it at all, I always forget about it too.


I have taken a bunch of books out from the library, again with the strategy of always having a variety of books to choose from when I finish my current read.  However this time I vow not to incur any fines on them.  Or at least not on the bulk of them.  My previous six loans, five of which I didn't read, I incurred fines of $0.70 on each, after having forgot to renew them for a couple of days.  Sure, it isn't much, but it's stupid to pay $3.50 when it takes two minutes to renew on-line.

I currently have out on loan, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Painted Bird, The Sheltering Sky, Slaughterhouse Five, All the King's Men, The Day of the Locust and Red Harvest.  I also have two books I've previously borrowed and returned without reading; Gravity's Rainbow and Gone with the Wind. I picked those two up because I happen to pass them on the shelves and figured, what the hell.  I'd like to read them at before I hit 50, so I think I'll try to squeeze one in next month.

Other than the one I'm currently reading of course, I have no plans to read any particular one next.  I guess it'll be whatever happens to tickle my fancy that day.

#23 - "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson

With only two days left until the unofficial one year anniversary of my starting this list, it doesn't look like I'm going to reach my goal of 25 books in the first year.  But, I have finished Snow Crash, my 23rd novel.  I've learned a few things, and I'm confident I can read 27 books in the next year, to make up for this year's short comings.

Snow Crash is the first Sci-Fi book from The List I've read, and one of only a couple on The List.  While I enjoy the odd Sci-Fi movie, I'd be lying if I said I was a fan of the books.  For that reason, I was a little nervous going into this one; worried that I'd become disinterested like I did with Neuromancer, and that it would take me forever to read.  I'll be the first to admit it, that wasn't the case, and I actually enjoyed reading this book quite a bit.

The protagonist, or hero, is aptly named Hiro Protagonist (I'm not making that up).  He's a computer hacker who delivers pizza to make ends meet, and is known as the greatest sword fighter in the world.  He spend his time in the Metaverse; a virtual-reality world that people hang out in, socialize on, run businesses, own homes, travel, communicate and learn.  After meeting a young female kourier (there is no post office in the not-too-distant future) named Y.T., they become entangled in a plot to spread a deadly virus known as Snow Crash.  This virus not only disables the computer it's opened on, but also the mind of the person who opens it.  Hiro and Y.T. must find the source of the virus and help destroy it, before it destroys them and their world.


The world they live in, in this not-too-distant future, does contain many of the elements that tend to drive me crazy about Sci-Fi novels.  Why does the future have to be so bleak all the time!?  Why can't it just be like today, with more technology?  But despite the world Hiro and Y.T. live in not having countries (they've been replaced by privately run 'burbclaves') or laws, or seemingly any order, it doesn't come off as bleak as other books I've read or movies I've seen.

While the time period is never specified, I get that feeling that since the book was written in 1992, the story takes place sometime in the early 21st century, or to put it another way, what is currently referred to as "the past."  And it is this I found so interesting about the book.  Many of Stephenson's descriptions are very accurate for his future, our past.

The Metaverse, the virtual-reality world so many spend their time in, isn't much different from the Internet today.  While there isn't any real reference to a similar type of social networking, the Metaverse is a place where people meet from anywhere in the world, not unlike Facebook.  Relationships tend to be less personal, like Facebook, but often more informative, also like Facebook.  One of Hiro's ex-girlfriends hates using the Metaverse for relationships, complaining they "...distort the way people talk to each other, and she wants no such distortion in her relationships."  It fits Facebook and Twitter friendships to a tee if you ask me.

Another program frequently used throughout the book is the Librarian, which I have equated to Wikipedia or even just Google.  The Librarian is simply a computer program in the Metaverse that is there to answer questions.  From anywhere in the world, one can access the Librarian to find out the information they need.  When Hiro needs to learn something about ancient societies or if he needs the blueprints of a famous cargo ship, he heads to the Librarian to find the answer.  Like most answers found on-line, the Librarian's information is merely a compilation of information entered by various different people, from all over the world.  But, unlike Wikipedia, it seems it doesn't need to be taken with a grain of salt.

And perhaps the most similar program Hiro uses to today's actual programs is called 'Earth.'  Basically, it's Google Earth, providing satellite imagery of the entire planet and directions on how to get anywhere from anywhere.  It even provides street views to the more prominent locations and lists businesses and attractions; exactly like the program so many people use everyday now. The only difference between the Metaverse version and the Google version might be that in the Metaverse the images are only a few minutes old, where as on Google Earth they can sometimes be a few years old. (The horrors!)

For all his accurate descriptions of future technologies, there were a few misses.  While everybody in this future records video of nearly everything, they do it on 'videotape.'  And while people in the future listen to music everywhere they go, they still use Walkmans.  Ironically, these were officially discontinued by Sony last week, where I would have thought they had been discontinued ten years ago.  Who has been buying Walkmans the past ten years to warrant their continued production?  Lastly, not really a technological miss, but I found it funny; Hiro describes how it is possible to stop a viral idea, then says, "...as happened with Nazism, bell bottoms and Bart Simpson t-shirts."  I guess Stepheson could never have imagined that a show only two or three years old at the time this book was written, would still be on 18 years later, so I'll cut him a little slack.


When trying to decide what to read next, I picked On the Road by Jack Kerouac.  I currently have 18 books from The List, sitting on my desk; 13 from the library, and two that I own.  As a result, I recently incurred three fines, $0.70 each for On the Road, Gravity's Rainbow and Herzog.  Since I've had these books for over a month, I figured I should start reading one of them instead of going to one of my more recent checkouts.

Might have found easy fines: but there to end

I had to go to the library today to return a book.  Yesterday, I had gone on-line to renew all the books I currently had out, but ran into two problems.  Firstly, Portney's Complaint had been put on hold, so I couldn't renew it.  That makes it the second book I've borrowed from the library and not read, after All the King's Men, which was also put on hold before I could read it.  My second problem was I missed renewing one of the books on time.  It's no mystery how this happened either, as I've been borrowing so many books at one time, and until today had six checked out, it was only a matter of time that I'd forget to renew one  on time.  If you recall, on October 1st, I had written about this very problem:

"As an aside, while at the Central library, I picked up a bunch of books, as my local branch doesn't have near the selection. I already had Housekeeping (which I'm reading), Deliverance (which I had delivered to my local branch), and Gravity's Rainbow (which I'm delaying, because I'm intimidated by its' 750 pages). I've now added Portnoy's Complaint, Herzog, Ragtime, Snow Crash, and On the Road to my loan collection.  My thought was they can be renewed several times and they can be returned to any branch, so while I'm downtown, why not grab a bunch...just in case. Only time will tell if this is a move so shrewd it's worthy of an Arab spice trader, or if this is a quick path to increasing my fine total."

Apparently I'm no Arab spice trader, as I had forgotten to renew Gravity's Rainbow, which has now incurred $2.10 in fines for being seven days overdue, bringing my fine total to $10.15  This was the first time I've incurred a fine on a book I have not read or even started to read.  To be honest, I had a feeling this would happen at some point, and I'm sure it will happen again as well.

While returnning Portney's Complaint and Ragtime, I grabbed a few more books; Infinte Jest, Gone with the Wind, Lolita and Animal Farm.  As it stand right now, save the books I have already read, I have every single book on The List from my local library branch and a total of 8 books right now.  The only question now is, which one will I incur fines on next!?