TRUE TILL DEATH

I finished The World According to Garp in two days, which is pretty good considering it is 600 pages. There are a couple of literary elements that are really intruiging about this book. For starters the book covers a tremendous amount of years with a clarity and depth that I have only seen in masterpieces like 100 Years of Solitude and War and Peace so go John Irving. The second was the story within the story element; Garp is a writer and the book contains both a short story he writes and the opening chapter to his final work (40 pages!). The actual content of the novel is very moving, and I found parts very relevant to my life, which made me think that the way Garp works is by playing on the universality of sadness and triumph.

next up is Love In The Time of Cholera

A picture of all the books I have read since I last "rapped at ya"

Rebecca had questionable (at best) politics, but for a novel that is essentially a mystery novel it is really well executed. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading Jane Eyre but doesn't want to deal language that is as dated.

The Heart of Whiteness is a book I really wanted to read for a while, for the following reasons
1) it is a discussion of dealing with white on other racism from a white person's view and 2)the title is a reference to a great, (albeit again questionable politically) novella. It did not disapoint, as it really attacked the question of what someone can do, knowing they are engaged in a system that benefits them solely because of skin color

Coraline is a book that interested me because I loved Gaiman's story telling techniques in Sandman and wanted to see how he could carry that out over the course of a novel. He did a great job and the book is really cute and also engaging. Coraline as a character is a perfect role model for anyone who is a) creative and b)oppressed in some manner. If I had a daughter I would read this book to her everyday, because it is not often a heroine makes it through a book without falling in love or needing the help of a man! She is like Kelly Clarkson, Ms. Independent!

The Kindly Ones and The Wake are the closing two graphic novels in the Sandman series and they are a perfect finale. The Kindly Ones is more action packed, while at the same time increasingly more philosophical about death. It is mind blowing to see loose ends from the first eight TPB brought back into this one and tied together. GO NEIL! The Wake had me in tears. Gaiman is honestly the best storytelling comic book writer, to the point where the line between Graphic Novel and Novel appears blurred. I have never read a series as cohesive and moving as this one, where even changes in art style are reflective in changes in content. FUCK, I hate the empty feeling when you finish something you love and know it won't go any further. No comic has given me that feeling as deeply as this did, and I will reread it to explore the themes deeper.

Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions) by Vonnegut was, as all his works are an interesting read. Since so much of his personal philosophy is distilled into his fiction, I found it a bit odd to get it so straightforwardly, but then again Vonnegut is always a little "to-the-point" without being straightforward. The best essay in here was the one about science fiction, because as someone who writes in worlds with machines, but who doesn't write sci-fi, I feel his pain/weirdness at his works being called sci-fi.

I am finally going to read The World According to Garp this week. Get psyched!

Book #3 - "The Time Machine Did it" - John Swartzwelder

130 pages, large text, and easily one of the funniest things I've ever read. A fictional story written by the author of "59 episodes of the Simpsons". I took it to work and read it during a slow shift. I found the humor similar to that in "I am America and so Can You", and, of course, to that of earlier Simpsons episodes. Definitely would recommend for a quick, amusing read.

Already started reading a second novel of his. "How I Conquered Your Planet". From what I've seen, he has 5 books, all involving the same dim witted detective, Frank Burly. I find myself less interested in the plots themselves, and more concernced with the next joke, which there are plenty of. Half way through this, will probably finish today.

Books 5 &6

I'm still reading "Acid Dreams", but continuing my somewhat bad habit of reading more than one book at a time. I just finished "Ham on Rye", swearing off my promise to never read another Bukowski novel. Reading him makes me feel dirty, but strangely attracted to him as a person. This story is kind of what I wanted to see happen to Holden Caulfield. Someone enveloped by their own self-hatred, not afraid to admit that their shitty parents turned them into a shitty human being without ever actually saying the words. Bukowski's simple language and snarky descriptions of everything are humbling and it's no surprise to me that I love this kind of fiction. The kind that doesn't require you to think, to process, the story, but instead leads you into thinking and processing your own story. Or maybe just me.

Next will be "A Seperate Peace" by John Knowles. A very good friend of mine sat down together putting back a few beers while watching the Superbowl and got into it about our tastes in literature. After arguing about the Beats and the "Lost Generation" we decided to trade book collections and see where each other are really at. He majored in French Lit in college which blows my mind because I find pretty much everything outside of 20th century American Lit to be boring out of context. Lucky for me everything he lent me is 20th century American Lit and I don't have to force myself through books like I did in high school. I haven't yet cracked the spine of "A Seperate Peace", but after reading the back cover I think I'll enjoy it, whatever it may be about.

3,4,5, etc

I guess I am going to start mixing school and pleasure books, sue me. Luc is doing it too!

I finished Naked Lunch by Burroughs a little while ago, it was very interesting to say the least. At first (and throughout most of it) I was really confused as to what was going on. He makes up a lot of words, and uses a ton of words that I do not know because I don't know a lot about drug culture. Reading the book front to back may not even be the best strategy since the entire book is made up of little segments of scenes and he doesn't tell you when the scenes change. You could pick it up at any point in the book and understand it just as much as someone who has been reading it from the beginning. I definitely want to read it again in the future after I read some criticism on it.

I also finished Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. My mom and I agree that Ellis is the most boring writer ever and he maybe used 5 adjectives throughout the entire book. I have concluded that I am NOT a fan of minimalist writing. It is so empty, I felt no attachment to any of the characters, and I could not engage myself at all. The book is about a rich college freshman home in LA from school for the first time. His friend's parents are all movie stars, and they all lead that glitzy cocaine and drugs filled lifestyle. One could say that Ellis' writing style is purposely empty to portray the emptiness of the rich lifestyle, but I think that is a total cop out. The book just went on and on with a feeling of boringness. It reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower but more grown up with less puberty. That said, I want to read American Psycho in hopes that it is better.

Have also read Descartes' Discourse/Meditations and Hobbes' Leviathan but I don't think anyone wants me to ramble on about Philosophy. I'm also slowly reading the Bible and The Art of Biblical Narrative for one of my classes.

Up next for novels is Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I think this will be the longest book I have read in my life so far at over 1,000 pages. I'm also slowly getting through One Hundred Years of Solitude. I wish I could just read it all the way through but I don't have the time.

Books 4, 5, 6, 7

Finished Persepolis about a week or two ago. Really enjoyed it, moreso than the movie which I saw prior to reading the book. The book explains the series of events FAR more than the movie. I didn't like the movie as much because it left me very confused as to why things were happening. Ohwell. I started and finished Galapagos, which was wonderful. Wholly recommend, was similar to Cat's Cradle in some aspects. Not a perfect book, or a good Vonnegut work to start with, as he jumps around quite a bit before beginning to tie anything together. However, it has all the most wonderful aspects of any Vonnegut novel (human race destruction/human beings sucking in general for the most part). At this point I have read 9/14 Vonnegut novels! I also have read The Little Prince about 3 times this year, so I figure I can count that at least once towards the total! Was told about The Little Prince years and years ago but I never picked up a copy until this year. Great book, very quick to read also. I should hope that everyone has read this book already, but if not they should! I am still slowely reading The Decline of American Power, doing a chapter at a time every few days because it is SO dense. Scholarly author who must not have supposed that normal people would ever pick up his book. Today I will finally begin reading a book I have wanted to read for a while, but it was checked out of the library for an entire semester during the fall. It was available yesterday so woo! I got it. The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved; Inside America's Underground Food Movements. I hope it rules.

3 and 4 - The Apprentice, and Brave New World

The Apprentice, by Tess Gerritsen, was on sale at Rite-Aid, so I bought it.  It was a typical crime scene investigation, but the crime connected with the person leading the case.  It was okay.  6/10.

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, on the otherhand, was a great, great read. Contrasting to 1984, it was a world where instead of being deprived of everything, everything was given out.  No one felt pain, or stress, and a simple drug cured all other problems.  Excellent, excellent read. It also reminded me of this Copper comic: here.  I give it a 10/10, and if you haven't read it, please do so.

I'm not sure what I'm reading next, but I know I want to read Catch 22, Absalom, Absalom, reread The Scarlet Letter, and read a bunch of Hemingway; For Whom The Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and The Sea.

002, 003, 004

I had to abandon The Great Gatsby because my semester reading crept up on me. Last night I finally finished Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, and ten minutes ago I finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I'm going to go start The Road now because I have to finish it by tonight.