Final Thoughts

Such a wild ride in so few pages.  Scott's feelings about the rich really interests me, since I believe he was one of them (or at least fairly well off).  What must he have thought of the crowd he hung around for him to be able to write, "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money...and let other people clean up the mess they had made."  Quite the social commentary there.

That was the third and final book that made 10 of the 11 "Top 100" lists that were consulted.  I started reading from the list on Sunday, July 28.  I was giving myself two weeks per book (26 books X 2 weeks each = exactly one year), so three books later, I should be six weeks in.  Since Gatsby is so short, however, it was just five weeks yesterday.  So I'm a little ahead of schedule, which is good because this next book is pretty long - almost 600 pages in trade paperback.

That book is the first of the novels that made it onto nine lists - "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison.  First published in 1952, this is a book I have been hearing about all my life but have never read. Knowing the subject matter and how it was especially heady and controversial at the time of publication, I can't wait to sink my teeth into this American classic.