Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Torture coming up..

Over two-thirds of the way through Catcher already - it really is an easy read.  Still can't figure out what psychopathic serial killers glom on to in this novel, but it is entertaining.  Poor Holden is always calling everyone a phony, but he's the one who can't figure out who he really is, which makes him a phony, too.

I ought to slow down since my least favorite author is next up on the list, but I guess I'll just buck up and get it over with.  I can't pick the book up at the library until Thursday, so maybe I'll get some Dean Koontz in in the meantime.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Zooming Along

Really in the mood to read, I guess, since I'm a third of the way through Catcher in  the Rye already.  Interesting to me for a 1951 book is the amount of cussing in this one - didn't catch that before when reading it, but as I said, that was about 35 years or so ago.

Something interesting that struck me is how many times the phrase "sort of" comes up - not sure what it really stands for or means, but it's in there as many times as Vonnegut says "So it goes" in Slaughterhouse Five.

Two quotes that really stuck out to me:

"When I leave a place, I like to know I'm leaving."  Giving a place you're leaving that last middle finger can be so cathartic.

"Life is a game that one plays according to the rules."  The hell with that - I'm playing by MY rules from now on.  So it goes.

Final Thoughts

All finished now.  I really do love Vonnegut for so many reasons, not the least of which is his wonderful sense of humor.  But there is also the wonderful imagery imbued by a simple phrase.  One I know I will use for the title to a short story is "Dollops of Molten Glass."  Well, either a short story or a painting.

I love that the bumper sticker on the back of Valencia Pilgrim's car says, "Reagan for President."  At first I thought it prophetic, but I just found out he did first try to win the Presidential nomination in 1968, so not so much after all.

A favorite detail is the mention of Billy's collection of cuff links.  Just picturing some tiny little roulette wheels can give you quite a laugh!  So it goes, I suppose.

Anyway, on to the next book on my list.  First published in 1951, this book has been the inspiration for many a serial killer on film and television - can't wait to get inspired myself! (Just kidding!!).  Time to go - Holden awaits!




Moving Along

I just found out that Catcher in the Rye is ready for me at the library, so I need to finish up Slaughterhouse Five today.  Shouldn't be too hard - I only have 50 pages left.  Then it's on to a book I don't think I've read in over 30 years - should be interesting.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Finally...

I am now three-quarters of the way through Slaughterhouse Five, and Vonnegut has finally gotten around to talking about Dresden, which is, after all, what the entire book is purportedly about.  He has spent more time talking about Trafaldamore, time travel, and optometry, which, to me, speaks volumes about Vonnegut's real feelings about anything that happened during World War II - which is if we talk about it, we are in a way glorifying it, and that was definitely something he never wanted to do.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Feeling Good

A good Christmas haul - I got chocolate, movies, and books!  Who could ask for more?

Can't wait to read the new Dean Koontz - Innocence.  Thanks, bro!

I also got Catching Fire and Deadly Heat by "Richard Castle."  I guess my children really do love me!  Or at least they know what I like.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a relaxing holiday season.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Feeling Festive

No ruminations about reading today - just early Christmas wishes for anyone who needs them!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Halfway Through

Funny how much progress you can make when you know you don't have to be anywhere.  Halfway through Slaughterhouse now.

A couple of things I noticed that I didn't think about before - Vonnegut might have been somewhat of a male chauvinist, but that was probably the way he was raised.  There are a couple of comments about things like women's work and one comment about how sad it was that one women couldn't have children any more.  They kind of took me by surprise. 

I also noticed again how intertextual his books are.  He is always bringing up the fact that he is writing and mentioning characters from other books of his, like Kilgore Trout and Mr. Rosewater.  I love that about him.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Funny thing is...

It is truly amazing that Vonnegut is able to take such a horrible subject and make it funny enough to want to read about it more than once.  His true gift, however, is making the absurdity of war so obvious.

I also still love the concept of getting unstuck in time, but reading it this time, I notice in this book, as well as in Timequake, Vonnegut makes it clear that when you travel in time, you are just an observer - Unlike the Back to the Future movies, nothing can be changed to fix past mistakes or to stop you from making new ones.  Sad, but so it goes.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Party Time

No time to read tonight - off to see Robert Earl Keen at the Majestic - going to be great!!

Monday, December 16, 2013

Never do today...

...what you can put off until tomorrow.  Not a page read today - I'm so ashamed.  I need to hurry up or I am so not going to make my one year deadline I gave myself.  Time to man up (so to speak).

Friday, December 13, 2013

Slaughterhouse Thoughts

Just a few pages in (up to page 28), but loving this book again.  Vonnegut was a true master.  The way he draws pictures of the ordinary and makes them extraordinary keeps me coming back again and again.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Feeling special

I got notice today that one of the poems I submitted will be published in the Pecan Grove Press literary journal, put out by St. Mary's.  I'm so excited - I never really thought one of mine would be chosen (but maybe they just didn't get enough submissions).  Either way, I'll take it!  Definitely motivates me to get to work on one of my short story ideas.  I'd say wish me luck, but what I really need is time and focus.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Tell me a story...

I have noticed that I have quite a few views of each of my posts - perhaps you can tell me who you are and what interests you here?  I know curiosity killed the cat, but I would still like to know.

One down...

Paper done - check.

Tomorrow I will get on finishing my article for AALL Spectrum.

When I'm done with that, I have to get on the presentation I'm doing in March regarding the most important laws that have affected women in the military.

And that will be right in the middle of the class I'm taking on the history of the English language.

But tonight, it's all about Slaughterhouse Five!  Yay!!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

A little help please...


A literary exercise

Today, my friend Melissa posted this "challenge" on Facebook and tagged me in it:

 

List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take more than a few minutes & don't think too hard - they don't have to be 'right' or 'great' works, just ones that have touched you.
 
In no particular order, here is my list:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith

Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E.L. Konigsburg

Blackboard Jungle – Evan Hunter

Odd Thomas – Dean Koontz

The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Charles Dickens

The Bird’s Christmas Carol – Kate Douglas Wiggin

My Year of Meats – Ruth Ozeki

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Finnegan's Week - Joseph Wambaugh

There are so many more books I could come up with, but these came to mind fairly quickly.  How about you?

Friday, December 6, 2013

Just a thought...

If you think about it, doesn't everything come back to a Taylor Swift song?

Feeling 22
Never, ever, ever
Love Story
Everything has Changed
Fearless
I Knew You Were Trouble
Begin Again

So many more I could mention...

Thursday, December 5, 2013

What's up with that

So I was cruising along with my paper, and then all of a sudden, my flash drive came up missing - you know, the flash drive that had my working paper on it (and no, I did not have a current copy on my desktop).  Luckily, I had printed out a copy of the paper not too much prior to the last work I had done on the paper, so all I had to do was re-input my paper from the hard copy.  Basically just a lot of time lost when I'm already almost out of time.  Hopefully, I can pull this thing together on time, but I am really not sure right now.

But that was nothing next to the news I got today that a friend of mine has stage three cancer.  That one really hit me hard.  Too many people around me getting sick and leaving this world too soon.  I am not ready to lose another friend, so keep your prayers going for Ginger.  I have a prayer chain going across the country, so your help and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Extra Spending Money

Making easy money doing surveys online (no bull).  I've already gotten over $30 in Amazon gift cards, but they also do cash through PayPal and other things - try it if you feel like it.  Here's a link if you're interested:
   
http://www.opinionoutpost.com/general/en-doi/?Referer=ZLP0a8y8TbiW-cCKz4p9a4R18uK6yp9h


It's been fun and relatively painless.

Monday, December 2, 2013

So it's going

At least I managed to finally start Slaughterhouse - just a few pages in, and I am already loving his sense of humor again and the postmodernism of the book.  Normally I am not a big fan of postmodernism, but Vonnegut is definitely an exception. His melding of fiction with real life is so wonderful because you can never tell for sure which is which.

Apropos

Love it - right when I'm about to start the book, this was just posted on Facebook by the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library:

15 powerful insights from Kurt 

Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five


1. “There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.”
2. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to always tell the difference.”
3. “Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue… Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times.”
4. “That’s one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones.”
5. “They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.”
6. “Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.”
7. “Everything is nothing, with a twist.”
8. “America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves…. It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters.”
9. “All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist.”
10. “There is one other book, that can teach you everything you need to know about life… it’s The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but that’s not enough anymore.”
11. “It is just an illusion here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone, it is gone forever.”
12. “People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore.”
13. “I think you guys are going to have to come up with a lot of wonderful new lies, or people just aren’t going to want to go on living.”
14. “All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.”
15. “So it goes.”

From:  http://inktank.fi/15-powerful-insights-from-kurt-vonneguts-slaughterhouse-five/