#81 - "Pale Fire" by Vladimir Nabokov

My exodous from blogging about these books is over. I continue to find it difficult to not just write this blog, but also to read the books from the List. Since my last post, I have read this one and only one other, Invisible Man. Very little progress to say the least, but I am continuing, and just picked up The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen.

After taking such a long break from writing here, it became more and more difficult to start up again.  The good news is I've decided I needn't dwell on why I haven't been reading or writing, but instead just to start up again, and continue on.

WIth out further ado, my review of Pale Fire, which I finished reading in September.

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!

#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.

Here's a change indeed!

I was reading Pale Fire. In fact two weeks ago, I started it. But in reality, I only read three pages. Then I was out of town for a week. Normally, I find a lot of time to read when I'm away, but this was a trip to Disneyland. Disneyland does not afford me a lot of time to read. My days were occupied by trying to go on as many rides as possible, while my nights were spent recovering from having spent all day trying to go on as many rides as possible.

While Disneyland continues to be as fun as ever for me, if not more fun, I've found that the older I get, the harder a 12-hour shift at the Happiest Place on Earth becomes. What attempts I did make to read ended with me falling asleep, and having no recollection of the previous one or two pages.

I was surprised at how many people I would see reading at Disneyland. 100% of these people were ladies over the age of 70, who I'm guessing aren't the biggest fans of rides, but it was still odd. I've also seen, on more than one occasion, people reading at sporting events. I guess if you love to read, you bring a book with you wherever you go, as you never know when you might have a couple of spare minutes.

Upon my return to Calgary, I realized my copy of Pale Fire was due back to the library while I had been away, and since somebody else had placed a hold, I was unable to renew. I debated just holding it until I finished, but having only progressed another two or three pages, didn't feel I'd be able to get it done soon enough. So, for the second time, I have stopped reading a book on this list (Neuromancer was the other) and moved on to The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene.

This isn't a reflection of Pale Fire at all, in fact it was one I was really looking forward to, having enjoyed Lolita  so much. The timing just didn't work out I guess. I have since placed a hold on it, and should be able to make it number 69 or 70.

My progress on The Heart of the Matter is going much better, and I am about a third of the way through it. And it's very enjoyable.

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Will bring this labour to an happy end.

I have finished The French Lieutenant's Woman. And it was a great book in so many ways. In fact is was great in so many ways, that I'm having trouble putting them all down on paper. It was unique, that is for sure, and it was well written (as most of these 100 seem to be), but most importantly it had a really...enjoyable quality to it.

But alas, I need more time to put all my thoughts into something cohesive, and today is Labor Day. This means two things for me: I will not be doing any laboring, and I will be watching football. It's currently 26C and climbing out...a perfect day for reading, but an even better day for tailgating and watching the Stampeders destroy the Eskimos. I'll try and get my review of #67 up in a few days.

I've already decided what I'll be reading next too; Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita was one of my favorite so far, so I head into this one with lofty expectations, and great anticipation.

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