When I to sulphurous and tormenting Flames

Looking back at my progress through the list these past couple of months, I realise I haven't been doing a very good job.  I finished The Blind Assassin on August 23rd, and I finished Under the Volcano on September 15th.  So even if I finish my current read, Portnoy's Complaint, in the next three days, I'll have essentially only read two books in one month.

But, I suppose that a two books per month pace is all I have ever shot for.  At that pace, I'd finish in just over four years, from start to finish.  But I had been doing so well, having knocked off six books in the previous two months.  That would have be finishing the remaining 55 books in about a year and a half.  Not bad.  But it looks like that isn't going to happen.

Though when I do look back at what I've read, I notice that while I'll only have read two books from the list in the previous month, I will have read seven other books, be they non-fiction or non-list books.  So I guess the real problem isn't that I haven't been reading, I just haven't been doing my assigned reading.

Previously I had mentioned my desire/need to read a couple of hockey books as slowing me down a bit.  And I fear that trend may continue.  Tonight is the Flames' first pre-season game, and I could become a little distracted.  But of course, I was able to get a lot of reading done during last year's hockey season, so I guess there is no reason to think this one will be any different.  Plus, I have a couple of trips planned for later in the year, both of which may provide me with ample time to squeeze in a few books.

I think the real key, is to re-focus myself onto reading the list, and stop spending so much time reading other books.  This doesn't mean I'll stop reading other books altogether, just not as much or as often.  Right now, I'm reading Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth for the list, and Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor on the side.  Both were started on the same day, so I've decided to use one as a yard stick for the other.  By this I mean, I'd like to finish Portnoy before I finish one-third of Stalingrad.  So far, I'm right on pace.

#44 - "Under the Volcano" by Malcolm Lowry

After three long weeks, I've finished number 45 from The List, Malcolm Lowry's 1947 novel, Under the Volcano.  There are a few reasons it took me so long to read this book; I've been doing some non-ficition reading and, it just wasn't my favorite book.

Under the Volcano is the story of Geoffery Firmin, a British Consul in Mexico, an alcoholic, and estranged from his wife Yvonne.  After being seperated for over a year, Yvonne has returned to Mexico in the hopes of rekindling their relationship, but is confronted with difficulties arising from the Consul's drinking and the appearance of his brother, Hugh, with whom she had a brief several years prior.

While both of them desire a reconcilliation, these other problems seem to be an unsurmountable obstacle, preventing them from ever being together again.  The Consul, capable of, but unwilling, to curb his drinking, and Yvonne's distraction from Hugh's presence, make it impossible.  As the day unfolds, and the Consul descends deeper and deeper into an alcoholic haze of despair and self-pity, the trio's worlds crumble.

So often, Lowry's descriptions left me depressed and uncomfortable, with both the surroundings and the characters.  I guess this was the intent however, as Lowry describes a day in the life of Firmin, a day that spirals slowly, but surely, to an inevitable, tragic ending.  But I don't think it was the depression that made this a long read for me; so many good books are depressing, in fact most are.  It was just that sometimes that long, drawn out fall toward tragedy was, quite frankly, a little tedious.  Malcolm Lowry himself decribed the book as "...superficial, profound, etertaining, and boring, according to taste."  I guess I know which camp I fall under.

But looking back at this book, I did appreciate it.  There were times when I was truly gripped by the writing.  But too often, I'd begin to lose interest as the situation was dragged out for a few dozen more pages.  It wasn't that it was bad, it was just very slow, and at times, very dry.

I began reading this book while I was in Mexico, and somehow felt more attached to it, as if I was somehow better able to appreciate a book set in pre-war Mexico, because I was sitting by the pool at a resort in 2011.  Upon returning to Calgary, I felt I had lost some connection to the book.  Of course as I write this, it doesn't really make any sense, but that's how I felt.


You can read Time Magazine's orginial review from February 24, 1947 here.

My next book is going to be Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth.  Roth is one of eight authors on The List with two books, and I've planned to read at least one from each, before I hit number 50.  After Portnoy's Complaint, I'll only have Orwell left, which means I'll need to read Animal Farm in the next few books.

You may as well go stand upon the beach

I've been lucky enough to spend the past few days, basking in the sun of the Mayan Riviera, in Playa del Carmen.  While the trip's true purpose was to attend a friend's wedding, one of the side benefits is the amount of time I have to read.

There's really something about a vacation that puts me into a good reading mode.  I suppose while I'm at home, there are other things on my mind, or simply other things that need doing.  While on vacation, besides eating and sleeping, there isn't really anything that needs to be done.  I can spend all my time reading, without any nagging voice in the back of my head.  Plus, it's really nice to read, while sitting in the sun, with the sound of waves crashing down in the background.  We rarely hear this in Calgary.

My progress on my latest list read, Under the Volcano, has been...adequate; I'm about halfway through.  Truth be told, I've sort of slipped this past week, and while I've had so much time to read, I've been using that time to get in some non-fiction; most notably, The Professor and the Madman, the story of the making of the Oxford Dictionary, and Freakonomics, an interesting and unconventional way of looking at the world.  But those are finished now, so I'll be able to get back to Under the Volcano.

Speaking of non-fiction, there was some book news this week from Time magazine.  Six years after this list I am currently reading, they have released their 'All-TIME 100 Best Nonfiction Books.'  I was a little surprised to see that I've only read two of them.  I've read a lot more non-fiction in the past ten years, and figured I would have read more of them, especially considering I'd read six of the novels before seeing this list.

I often thing about when I'm finished reading these 100 books, will I have less direction in my reading?  It serves as a motivator to have a list of books to get through, and also means that I always have a basic idea of what I'm going to be reading next.  Perhaps this non-fiction list can serve as that guide when I'm through with the novels.  But I think I've still got at least two years to think about that one, so I'll leave that decision for another day.

Yes, I have gained my experience.

When I started tackling this list over 16 months ago, my goal was to expand my reading horizons; to explore books that I wouldn't otherwise tackle. And for the most part, I would say it's been successful so far. I've been able to experience books I loved but had never even heard of, such as The Sheltering Sky and Lucky Jim, and I can now say that although I didn't enjoy them, I have indeed read To the Lighthouse and Infinite Jest. Without a doubt, I'd say I'm the richer for it. But as I near the halfway point (on schedule too I might add), the experience has done so much more than just introduce me to titles or authors I didn't previously know.

This summer I was fortunate enough to talk about these books on the Calgary Eyeopener on CBC radio. Not only was it a fun opportunity to discuss something I enjoy, with others, on the radio, but it was also very educational. Prior to being on the radio, my reading habits as far as this list was concerned were fairly straight forward. I picked a book, read it, wrote a blog, and moved on to the next one. The order or the speed weren't really paramount to anything. And since I was only blogging about them, I could simply spill my thoughts out onto the page and was done.

Being on the radio forced me to not only read quicker, doing a book a week, but also to pay more attention to what books I was reading. I had to make sure I was reading books from different kinds of authors and of differing styles, so as not to bore my listeners with the same thing each week. I also now had to answer other people's questions about these books; no longer was this a one-man show. This offered me a lot more insight into what I was reading, and offered me the chance to see this project from somebody else's perspective.

But most importantly, this reading project has allowed me to become more involved in the book community with people who share my passion for reading. I’ve met others who are reading and blogging their way through this same list (most notably Robert and Matt), and I’ve met people who are simply following my journey because they find it interesting, and hopefully a little educational.

I’ve also now become involved with WordFest, Calgary’s annual literary festival being held in October, as their Festival Blogger. This will give me the chance to work with other avid readers, and expose me to the world of publishing. I’ll be blogging about my experiences at WordFest, offering a behind-the-scenes look, and talking to authors from around the world. It should be a lot of fun, and I’m really looking forward to it!

It also means that I have a few more books to read. While I’ll still be continuing my journey through The List, I’ll also be exploring some of the books from WordFest. I’ve started with Funeral for a Dog, the first novel by German author Thomas Pletzinger. Also attending WordFest will be Lev Grossman, author of The Magician King and literary critic for Time magazine. He’s one of the guys who put this list I’ve been reading for the past year and a half together. I can’t wait to talk to him about it.

As for an update on said list, I have indeed started reading Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry, which will be my 44th book. Again, I don’t know anything about it.

#43 - "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood

I suppose in a way, I'm now more Canadian than I was last week.  Why, you ask?  Because I've finished my first Margaret Atwood book, The Blind Assassin.  No doubt one of the most popular and most highly respected authors to come out of Canada, I think of it as some sort of rite of passage to have finally read one of her books.

I'm happy to report, it was one I truly enjoyed.  I say I'm happy I enjoyed it because of the two types of reactions I seem to encounter when I mention to fellow Canadians that I'm reading an Atwood book.  For the most part people say, 'oh, I really like her books' or something to that effect.  But others look like they just bit into a lemon as they same something like 'She's okay, but I'm not crazy about her..."  It's almost as if they don't want to say they don't like her because it might be considered unpatriotic.  Being the honest guy I am, I'd probably just say I didn't like her, and could then be accused of being a maple leaf-hating traitor.  But, I liked it, so I guess I'm safe from those accusations.

The Blind Assassin starts out with a series of newspaper clippings outlining a young woman's death in a car accident in 1945, her brother-in-law's death of a stroke in 1947, and her niece's death in 1975.  From there, the story begins with the birth of Iris Chase Griffen, the dead woman's sister, the brother-in-law's husband, and the niece's mother.  She narrates the story of her childhood in a wealthy family, her marriage, and in the end, her tragedy.  And tragedy is really what the story is, as she explains the details and events which lead to said deaths.

Iris is the only person left who knows the truth behind the deaths, and looks to set the story straight for her estranged granddaughter.  The book jumps from present to past frequently, as Iris talks of her life now, and the changes that she has experienced, then revisits her past to make sense of those changes.  The book also uses passages of a novel-within-a-novel entitled The Blind Assassin, which her sister became posthumously famous for writing, and tells the tale of a wealthy woman and her elicit affair with a local vagabond.

At times I find books that use time shifts like this to be confusing, as I did in Faulkner's Light in August, but Atwood's use of them is very accessible.  Instead of losing the reader, The Blind Assassin is able to hold their attention, and the technique is very adept at piecing the plot together.  I found it fun in a way to guess how the combination of stories from the past and the allusions in the novel-within-a-novel would turn out in the main story.

I also really enjoyed Atwood's writing style and her use of words.  She uses a lot of similies and metaphors, so many of which I found create really vivid descriptions.  Plus, she writes with a wit I wasn't expecting.  There were so many great lines in this book, many of which left me smiling, if not giggling.  My list-reading counterpart in Nashville, Robert Bruce, has assembled many of these lines in a recent post on his site, 101 Books.

This was truly an enjoyable read and I'll be sure to revisit Atwood in the future.  After I read the next 57 books from The List, that is.


Click here to read TIME magazine's review from September 11, 2000.

You can hear me talk about The Blind Assassin on the Calgary Eyeopener right here.


Notes: This is the only truly Canadian book on The List. Neuromancer was written by William Gibson who holds dual citizenship but was born and educated in the United States, and Saul Bellow was born in Montreal but moved to Chicago when he was nine years old.

As a funny aside, I noticed in Time's explanation for why this book made The List, they refer to the book's setting as 'a chilly Canadian town.' I never got the feeling it was really cold in the book, save a couple of mentions of snow or ice in the dead of winter, but nothing to make me think they lived in a particularly cold place, and certainly nothing worth noting. Perhaps it is assumed all Canadian towns are really cold. But then wouldn't that be redundant to mention it, like saying a book was set in a warm Hawaiian town?


Next up is still to be decided, but I'm leaning toward Malcolm Lowry's 1947 novel, Under the Volcano.