Wednesday, April 30, 2014

What else can you do?

Like I said, I am out of town without the book, so at least I got to read chapter one off Amazon. Very interesting so far - definitely some new material for me, and I am intrigued already.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Part Five - I Did Survive (just like Scarlett)

Done!  That didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would, but I am on vacation, so there's that.  The book definitely warns against the old adage of not knowing what you have 'til it's gone.  How many have failed to learn that lesson?

All in all, I did not hate the book.  It is not my genre preference, and I'm sure I won't read it again, but it was very well wrriten, and the historical parts were verry well-researched and interesting.  I am glad I read this, but it's on to the next book now!

Here comes Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, written in 1980.  This is definitely a new type of subject for me - Wikipedia says it's about India's transition from British colonialism to independence. Unfortunately, I am not at home and don't have the book with me, so I'll have to start with just the couple of chapters that are available on Amazon.  Whatever works, rightt?  Here we go!

Monday, April 28, 2014

Part Four - No More

We,, no wonder that part was so long - a heckuva lot happened.  I'm up to page 848 now, so one seection and under 200 pages to go!  The book has not been bad at all - just extremely long.  The hardest part of reading it has probably been "interpreting" the Black verrnacukar - always intteresting to me.

Now that Rhett and Scarlett are finally married, I wonder where the storry is going to go with her love for ashley, and I also wonder when (or if) Rhett is going to say, "Frankly, my dear..."  Been looking for it for a whle now, and zi'm fairly cerrtain it will have something to do with Ashley when it does come out.  Better get to it so I can find out1

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Interesting Reading Today

I am now up to page 720, and this section has bbeen interesing for one reason - Mitchell wass letting her feminist colors fly for much of the readn]ing I did today.  The way she harped on how men thi]ought of omen back then clearly showed how ridicullous she thought that was - what I don't get is how someone can feel like that and not be able to see the hypocrisy of seeing Blacks the same way.   People are people - some smart, some dumb, some industrious, some lazy.  None of that, however, is prefaced by race or gender.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Part Three - Complete

Finished with part three (and then some), which tok me to the exact middle of the book.  As I have mentioned before, one of my professors  said to pay attention to the middle of a novel because quite often something quite memorable/important happens then.  I would say that is definitely true here - at the end of section three, the war ended and Ashley came home.  Pretty important stuff for this novel,wouldn't  you say?

I have moved past that part now, and am currently at the moment when Scarlett has just made a dress from her mama's curtains and has arrived in Atlanta to find Rett.  No telling what;s going to happen next, but I bet it won't go like Scarlett thinks it will.

I don't know much about Margaret Mitchell, but I can see why many don't like the portrayal of the South here, especially the language and ideas she uses regarding Blacks.  It is easy to see how one could still, to this day, be put off by it.  Many time I have been offended while reading this, so I know of which I speak.  It would be interesting to learn whether Mitchell thought that way or not.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Progress made - check!

One hundred pages down today, and it's been interesting.  I thought Melanie would die (I did mention that I've never seen the movie, right?), but she has pulled through as of now.  Rhett got them a horse and carriage, and the the girls are now supposedly on their way to Tara - why do I think they won't make it, or if they do, not everyone will be alive when they get there?  Guess I will have to wait and see - just like I will have to wait and see what Rhett is up do (since I am having a problem believing he just up and joined the Army, being so out of character as it would be for him).  That will probably be the most interesting part of this story.  Plenty of time to read at the airport and on the plane tomorrow - my goal is to be done with part four by the time I touch down in Maryland, and I love making my goals.  Onward and upward!!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Part Two - Through

Making some definite headway today on this book.  I finished up part two, which puts me around page 300.  Part Two was all about Scarlett's life in Atlanta, starting as a proper-acting widow, but quickly becoming scandalous due to her association with that reprobate Rhett.  And then her heartbreak at being rebuffed by Ashley - poor little girl is going to really act up in Part three - I can tell.

The social rules that were in place for women during that time in the South were just insane - very glad I did not live in that time.  It would not have gone well - for me or for "them."

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Some Slow Progress

I am past page 200, so I'm 20% of the way through the book.  Scarlett and her selfish, spoiled attitude are just about to drive me to drinking, but what is even worse is the way women were expected to act back then, 150 years ago in the South.  It's insane, and I would have been way out of my element.  I am not a spoiled brat, but I care just as little as Scarlett does about the opinion of others - I'll do what I want when I want, and others are going to have to live with that.  Unlike Scarlett, however, I do have a social conscience of sorts, so not giving a flip about the war is just a little much for me, but I am looking forward to Scarlett and Rhett getting a little more serious.  I have never seen the film, but I have heard so much about it, and women are always drawn to the bad boys, so I have to assume that's what happens.  Hopefully, I'll find myself deep in that section of the book tomorrow.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Part One - Done

140 pages in,and I'm done with Part One of Five.  Mostly back story, we are introduced to the highly spoiled brat named Scarlett O'Hara, and Rhett is thrown in there for a couple of pages as well.  It's funny, but I wasn't even looking for him when he entered the story - all the talk of those other boys Scarlett was flirting with made me forget the main male character of the book! 

This book is pretty much an historical romance, which is not really my cup of tea, but I will soldier on.  I am assuming Part Two is going to be focused on Sherman's March to the Sea through Atlanta and how Tara is affected by it, so hopefully that section will be less focused on romance.  I will make sure I have my book with me for my lab appointments tomorrow.  At least sitting in a doctor's office gives me some spare time to get through some of these 1000 pages.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Couple down

I managed to get two chapters read (out of 63), but it was Easter and I went to visit family today.  Better some than none, right?  I know the gist of this entire book, so it may make it weird trying to read this, but that's what I'm going to do.  And off we go (again!).

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Fast Read

Two days, and done already!  Wow - that went fast!

As I knew I would, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  My favorite quote, speaking about how "great" utopias are: "The nightmare of swarming indistinguishable sameness."  And therein lies the problem.  Utopias - no such thing.

Another great quote:  "I don't want comfort.  I want God.  I want poetry.  I want real danger.  I want freedom.  I want goodness.  I want sin."   Aah, don't we all?!

I am also reminded of Miranda Lambert's new single, "Automatic," where she reminisces on the "good old days," with lines like "stand in line to pay for gas" and "let's take a picture, the kind you gotta shake."  This song came to mind as John mused about creating something with his hands, "after all those weeks of idleness in London, with nothing to do, whenever he wanted anything, but to press a switch or turn a handle, it was pure delight to be doing something that demanded skill and patience."

And my favorite part of the book - how often Huxley talks about television where there was no such thing at that time!  I find that totally amazing.  There were people working on the concept of television at the time, but it was not an actual  thing until several years after this book was written.  It's totally cool that he had heard about the work being done and put it in his novel.  And in the same vein, you can easily equate the "synthetic music box" with radio, but I think it could be a premonition of the iPod, and the sound-track rolls and the reading machines sound an awful lot like cassette tapes, don't they?!

I just looked it up, and Huxley died the day JFK was shot - becoming just a footnote in history at that point since the news programs would have had other, more pressing news to cover.  His death probably would not have even been mentioned for several days because of JFK, but at least I know he lived long enough to see how ubiquitous television become in the homes of most Americans and, I assume, the British as well.

On to the next book - we're up to Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, originally published in 1936.  The biggest downside to having to read this is it's over 1000 pages - in hardback!  It's got to be easier to get through than Atlas Shrugged, so on I go.  I don't know anyone who doesn't know the basic plot of this book, so I'll just jump right into it and hope for the best.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Big Difference

Actually huge - ginormous even.  I am already over a third of the way through this novel, and it feels GREAT!!  As I have mentioned, I like utopian novels, so this one is such an easy read.  I love to hear about how the state is doing everything for the people's benefit, but, funnily enough, they never seem to consult the actual people.  This novel is no different - there are already a couple of citizens who would appear to be divergent in thought, and isn't that always the way the "perfect" state always goes down by the end of these novels.  I can't wait!!

Done and done!

God help me if I ever get the notion in my head to read Ayn Rand again!  Oh, my goodness, that was tedious!  I mean, I get it - man's mind and ability to think is his greatest asset and achievement, but see how I put that in a few words and not 1168 pages.  I really do mean that I will try to rewrite that book in 300 pages or less; call it a fan fiction tribute.  I like the  ideas contained in the book, just not the length of pages it took her to spit them out. But what really surprises me is that is ONLY took me six weeks to read this!

Anyway - onward and upward.  Next up is the 1932 novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (a mere 199 pages!!!).  Somehow, I have managed never to read this, so I am wholeheartedly looking forward to it.  As I have mentioned before, utopian/dystopian novels are a favorite of mine, so that will make this an easy read.  And after the last two books, which together totaled 2000+ pages, this one will also be a quick read.  Here we go!!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Well, I tried...

I seriously tried to finish this novel tonight - only 40 pages to go, and I just can't do it.  Off to bed I go, knowing I will triumph over this book for good tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

And Now...

I am on page 1070 - so that's a mere 98 pages left to read.  I finally got through Chapter 7 of Section 3, which was nothing but 62 pages of Rand's soap-box speech.  Let me repeat - SIXTY-TWO PAGES of rambling that was mind-numbing to read.  There was even one point of Galt's speech where he mentioned he had been speaking for two hours - like anyone would have still been awake to hear him by then!  ^_^








I really wanted to like this novel, but at the risk of being as repetitive as Rand, repeating things four and five times on every other page is too much for me - as is the 1168 page magnum opus that holds me in its power right now.   With under 100 pages to go, however, I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, and a sweeter light has never been seen by anyone.

A Milestone

I just had to pause - in the middle of a chapter, no less - to let you know I am now on page 1000 of Atlas Shrugged.  Whoo hoo!!

Monday, April 14, 2014

Getting Frustrated

A couple more chapters down - only 200 pages left to go.  I am still struck by how full of herself Ayn Rand was - to call this her magnum opus when it's just the ramblings a blowhard who clearly thought too much of herself. I am glad to have read this book, for I now know what type of book I DON'T want to write.  I don't want to write words just for the sake of seeing how long I can go on spouting drivel (I know some can do that for about 1168 pages).  I think I will make it my life's work to turn this behemoth into a much more reasonable page length - without destroying any of the plot.  Not sure if that qualifies as plagiarism or not, but I want to prove it can be done, and that just because a book is bigger does not necessarily make it better.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

La Di Da

On page 830 of 1168 - now there's some real progress!  I am into the third chapter of the third section.  Good things come in threes, they say.  The good here is every page read gets me closer to the end. There are some good concepts and social ideas in the book, the most interesting one of which was her assertion that America is the only country built on the ideas of men rather than on the spoils of war and looting.  That's certainly something to be proud of, isn't it?

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Another couple down

Went through a couple more chapters yesterday, so I'm hoping I can make real progress by Sunday toward the end of this novel.  I feel like the next few will just fly by once I get this one "out of the way."

Thursday, April 10, 2014

I'll Take It

Actually got two chapters read today - while at work! (Okay - it was during my lunch hour! ^_^)
The equine is still dead, and Rand is still flogging him, but at least I feel like I'm making progress.  I'm over halfway through now, so that, in and of itself, is some kind of accomplishment, right?

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Better than Nothing

Got through ... one whole chapter tonight!  Yeah!!  As my title says, it is better than nothing, but not much better.  I need to do better if I ever expect to finish this infernal book.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

A Victory (of Sorts)

I have now made it halfway through this infernal book.  I should be more excited about that, but it means that I still have half of it to go, and it may be the death of me yet.  Unfortunately, throughout the 200 pages from yesterday and the 160 from today, Rand's predisposition for repeating everything twelve times has not abated.  I am fairly certain the expression "beating a dead horse" came to somebody after reading this book.  We could have gotten the gist of the evils of Communism in a book one-fourth the size of this one.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Kudos to myself

I actually hit my goal - I read almost 250 pages already this weekend!  Whoo hoo!!  Glad to see me making some progress finally.  I'm even into the second section of the book now.

What I have really noticed is how much Rand repeats herself.  She says the same thing five different ways before moving on, and it's getting a little tedious to read.  This book is reminding me of The Stand (which I liked infinitely better).  You could easily drop over 300 pages and not lose any of the important plot points.  I don't understand why some people think bigger is always better. 

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

I Amaze Myself...

...with how many ways I can procrastinate.  Not one word read from this book is way over a week, and I don't even really feel bad about it.  I will, however, get back to it this weekend - I will force myself to read 200 pages.  That is a promise.  I think.