Saturday, March 22, 2014

Not Good

I cannot get going on this novel - hopefully that's just because I had a 2 1/2 day conference that just ended, but I don't think that's the biggest problem.  I'm just not into it right now.  So much for resolve!  Oh, well - to paraphrase Scarlett O'Hara, there's always tomorrow.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Torturing Myself

I don't know why I did that time interval thing, where I established how long it took me to read each book so far.  I knew I would not be able to get into Atlas Shrugged very quickly, so it seems like I just did it to make myself feel bad about taking so long with this one.  But I will persevere!  Not until this weekend, though.  Off to Austin this morning for a conference until Saturday, so I probably won't get a lot of time to read while I'm there, but I am taking the book electronically, so maybe!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

A Little Progress

Made it through three chapters today, so I'm about 100 pages in - only 975 left!  The plot is interesting so far - what there is of one.  I know the critics talk about Rand as focusing on capitalism and what it does to people, and that's what I'm running across so far.  It's all about the Benjamins in this book.  We'll see how it plays out.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Time Intervals

For the first thirteen books, here is how long it took me to read each one:

Catch-22 - 17 days
Lolita - 10 days
The Great Gatsby - 7 days
Invisible Man - 20 days

No reading from 9/25 to 12/12 - too much school/work/family stuff to deal with

Slaughterhouse Five - 16 days
The Catcher in the Rye - 4 days
The Sound and the Fury - 17 days
1984 - 6 days
Beloved - 13 days
The Grapes of Wrath - 9 days
To Kill a Mockingbird - 4 days
The Sun Also Rises - 6 days
An American Tragedy - 10 days

Not counting the nearly three months I went without reading anything for leisure, that is an average of 10 days per book, which puts me in pretty good shape.  If I adjust my time line to account for that period of time, that would have me finishing about October 15, which is doable if I can get through Atlas Shrugged in a reasonable length of time.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Better than nothing

Read two chapters last night (thanks to Google Books), which in a book of 1069 pages is not that much, but at least I started.  I also picked the actual book up today, so hopefully I can get some reading in later tonight.  I have studiously avoided reading anything regarding the plot of this novel, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on yet, but it will become a little more obvious as time goes by, I suspect.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Halfway through the list!!!

Got finished with An American Tragedy yesterday, so I am officially halfway through the reading list.  Yay for me!!  I am quite a bit behind my original schedule as you know, but as I said before, as long as I arrive eventually.

Dreiser's book was good, but like many (most?) of the books on this list, quite depressing.  He also drove me crazy with his irregular comma use - sometimes I had to read a sentence three times in order to figure out exactly what he meant to say.  I hate that!  Other than that, however, his writing style lends itself to easy reading, obvious by the fact that I got this 856-page book read (along with everything else going on in my life) in only 10 days.

Next up on the list is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - and it's over 1100 pages!  It was published in 1957 and was Ayn's last novel.  According to the Wikipedia page I just saw when I binged the title (for the publishing date), it is Rand's longest novel, and she considered it her magnum opus.  My co-worker said she thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and she and I often enjoy the same books, so I am now looking more forward to it than I was.  It is en route to my library branch, so I can't start it today, but hopefully by tomorrow.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Progress Made

Since I read an awful lot yesterday (around 250 pages), I have just finished Part Two.  Part Three is around 340 pages, so if I keep going like yesterday, I should easily get done before I go back to work on Tuesday. 

The book is certainly aptly named, as a tragedy it is, indeed.  The book is also a social commentary on what happens when you go against what was considered morality at the time.  Roberta acted against her religious upbringing, became a loose woman, and just look at what she got for her sin - death.  Clyde has had just as many problems in his life for exactly the same reason.  Dreiser apparently had a strict Catholic upbringing, but it appears he tended to write about those with not so strict morals.


Saturday, March 8, 2014

Funny thing is...

Well, I'm on page 341 out of 856 - doesn't sound like I'm making much progress, but I've read 14 chapters today.  One thing I have noticed about Dreiser is that he makes weird sentences - his grammar is quite odd.  It would help somewhat if he used commas properly - his meaning would become clearer in those cases.  But that would not fix everything.  He also tends to start a good portion of his sentences with the word "and," which I find rather annoying.  At other times, he will start three paragraphs in a row with the same phrase.  I have always been taught to vary these types of things, so it is another point of contention I have with this novel.

I am, however, interested as to when the crime part of this drama is going to materialize.  I thought it was coming at the end of Part One, but that was basically just a footnote in the plot.  I think part of my problem is that authors of cop/lawyer books these days do not afford themselves the luxury of telling their story in 900 pages - most books are around 300 pages, so the authors have to get to the nitty gritty a little more quickly.  It goes with the instant gratification society in which we live.  For this reason, I am determined not to flip ahead some pages and find out what's going to happen (as difficult as that may be).  I am willing to let Dreiser tell his story in his own time, knowing that the problem is with me and not him.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Part One Done

And that was not what I was expecting to happen.  We will have to see what becomes of Clyde and his friends, but that apparently will not be right away since chapter two begins with conversation about another family of Griffiths, ones who are infinitely better off financially than Clyde and his folks.  I only got the first chapter read of Part Two, so I haven't developed a sense of where Dreiser is going to take this family, but since I know this was based on an actual criminal case, I'm guessing it won't be down the Primrose Path.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Almost done...

..with Part One! (Part one is the smallest of the three parts of this book).  Got through 8 chapters last night, so I feel like I've accomplished something.  and I have to sit at a car dealership today for a couple of hours, so I know I'll get some more reading in this morning.

I know this is considered crime fiction and that it's based on a true story, so I'm worried about what is coming up.  Don't know if it's murder or not, but I'm not sure anything would have been written about, so I'm thinking that's it.  The way Clyde is so intensely attracted to Hortense is scary, so having watched way too many years of crime shows, I fear for her life.  As I go along, I guess we'll see if I've gotten the story right or not.

P.S. This is my 200th post - yay for me!!!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Off Work!

Off for the next five days, so I better get some reading in - I only read one chapter last night, which is pretty pathetic.  I know I can do this - in between everything else I have to do!  Here goes nothing!

Sunday, March 2, 2014

A little headway (very little)

I got five whole chapters read today, which is so few and too many to go.  The story is not uninteresting; I'm just daunted by how long the book is.  But any more will have to wait - the Oscars are coming on soon, and I love to watch and judge everyone's outfits! ^_^

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Slow Start

I wanted to spend the weekend reading, but I spent all of today with my daughter, which was much more important.  We went to lunch, to the movies, to a book signing of a friend of mine, and to get ice cream.  Great day, but I'm too tired to really get into the book yet.  I've read four chapters - but there are about 96 chapters altogether, so not much to brag about there.  I'll get through it, but that year long project is going to take longer for sure.  I just have too many projects that have to take precedence over reading for pleasure.  Oh, well - as long as I finish, I will not be disappointed with myself.