Sunday, June 29, 2014

Oh, Boy

Clearly some chapters are going to be MUCH longer than these first ones - I just finished chapter 6, I am only on page 96, and there are a total of 657 pages in this book.  All I can do, though, is plod on through.  I am not really enjoying the book due to the chaotic nature of the writing, but there's no way I am not going to finish it - and on time, no less.

Favorite quote from today:

I hope you are well and not in hell.

And I forgot to post this from an earlier chapter - who's hungry???


Saturday, June 28, 2014

Episode Four Read

Done with episode four, and at last we have the introduction to Leopold Bloom.  He was not in section one, which consisted of episodes 1-3, and from this, I'm guessing he won't be in the final three episodes either, 16-18, which comprise section three of the novel.  But from what I've read, he will be the main character in the middle and largest section, which consists of 12 episodes.

So far not much has happened.  He made his wife breakfast in bed, read a letter from his daughter who's off at school, and took a crap.  Yes, for some reason, Joyce felt it necessary to FULLY describe everything surrounding Leopold's daily constitutional - a natural part of life, yes, but necessary to describe?  I think not.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Part One is Done

I am three episodes in, and I haven't a clue what's going on.

All I know is that Joyce did not have anything to do with stream of consciousness - it's quite apparent to me that he was ADD in a major way.  He flits from image to image and subject to subject so willy-nilly that being ADD is the only thing that makes sense. Or maybe he was so hopped up on drugs that he couldn't concentrate.  One or the other, I am sure.

And what's the deal with the alliteration?  He about killed me with the Fs in Episode 3. Listen to this:

"It flows furling, widely flowing, floating foampool, flower unfurling."

That was the end of one paragraph.  Then there is a full paragraph, and the paragraph after that starts with, "Five fathoms out there.  Full fathom five thy father lies. See what I mean?  Way too many Fs. 

And that's just one example - there is a lot of alliteration in the book so far, and I am left to wonder if that was intentional or not.  One would think so since Joyce is considered a genius, but why?  What does too much alliteration do for a novel?  I guess that's for me to figure out.

Fearlessly facing Episode four for fun.  How's that for alliteration? ^_^

Just a Funny

Got our copy of Foreign Affairs at work today, and the cover was reminiscent of Ken Jennings when he and Brad Rutter were playing against Watson.  Too funny to me:



Thursday, June 26, 2014

And so it begins...

I have begun the last novel on my list.  That is all.

Okay - just kidding. 

This book is in 18 chapters, or as Wikipedia calls them, "episodes."  So if I read one a day, that will get me to a finish date of July 13 - a full two weeks ahead of schedule.  I am not sure I can manage that, but I did manage to read Episode 1 today.

My immediate thought is, "Wow - did Joyce have a problem with organized religion or what?"  I'm not really sure I made much sense of this episode, but that's okay.  I have about 600 more pages to figure it out, right?

For my first foray into Joyce, it wasn't so bad.  I know - I should have read him before, but I think we've established that I am a terrible English major.  I spend no time on the classics and an awful lot of time on cop books, lawyer books, and Dean Koontz.  But I say, "F#%$ the classics."  The books of the Odd Thomas series are classic to me, not to mention his other 70 books that I know and love.  No worries - I like being a low brow.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

And then there was one...

Whoo hoo!  Finished with To The Lighthouse.  At least the ending was somewhat satisfactory.  They made it to the lighthouse; she finished her painting.  Oh, I'm sorry - should I have said spoiler alert?
My final analysis goes with what I've been saying all along - beautifully written but boring. I was about ready to shoot myself in the foot so that I would be sent to the hospital and be laid up in bed and have nothing to do but read and finish this book.  Thank goodness such extremes turned out to be unnecessary.

Anyway - on to the last book on the list!!!  Yes - just one book left and exactly 32 days in which to finish it.  Then I will have achieved my goal of reading these 26 books in one year.  As much as I don't want to read this book, I am very excited to get it started and finished.  Here comes Ulysses  by James Joyce.

According to Wikipedia, "Ulysses is a modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce.  It was first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach in February 1922."

This novel chronicles what happens to the main character, Leopold Bloom, on one particular day in 1904.  At least the day is my birthday - June 16.  Much of To the Lighthouse, about 2/3rds of it, happened all in one day as well, and I found that quite remarkable for how limiting it would seem to be to write.  I did not care for Woolf's version too much - let's see how I feel about Joyce.  Well, I'll see tomorrow - I am done with reading tonight.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Almost there

34 pages more down today - 20 pages to go, and I just can't finish.  I cannot take any more today.  As you can tell, this has not been my favorite of the books I've read.  I mentioned it before, but it's just a little too slow for me - too much thinking and not enough action.  I read cop and lawyer books for a reason - they are fast paced and come to a satisfying climax.  I am sure that is not going to happen here, but I know, come hell or high water, that whatever happens at the end, I will find out tomorrow.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Well...

Not so much progress on the way to Austin yesterday - only 11 pages read, but like I said before, it's better than nothing.

The better news is that I turned my paper in today (a full day early!), so I should be able to kick this book out within the next few days.  I certainly hope so, because it's starting to feel like I'm never going to get done - or get on to Ulysses.  Time to (wo)man up!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Progress...Such as it is

Does reading two pages count as progress?  As the saying goes, it is better than nothing, although not by much.

What I did accomplish today was to get seven pages done on my ten-page paper, so I definitely call today a productive day.  Hopefully I can finish it up tomorrow morning and get to turn it in early, but that's probably just a pip dream.

The really good news is I'm heading to Austin tomorrow, and I am going to make my husband drive, so that's an hour's worth of reading time - should put me damn near at the end of the book.  I'm always just a silver lining kind of girl - any opportunity to read!

Friday, June 20, 2014

Getting Nowhere Slowly

I'm about five pages into my paper, and it feels like it'll be rather difficult to get to 10 pages at all.  But I must persevere - and if I only get to 9, so be it!

At least then I can get back to reading Virginia Woolf - it seems such a shame to have come to a complete stop when I only have 1 1/2 books left on the list and a mere five weeks or so to get done, but I only have a few more days until the paper is due, and then it's full throttle ahead.  Wait - that actually sounds like I'm looking forward to reading Ulysses.  Say what???

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

I Still Have Time

There is no way in hell I will have tome to read anything from The Lighthouse  in the next week - I have a ten-page paper to write, and I'm only about 2 pages in.  Oh, well, some things are more important, right?  Look for updates on Woolf soon (but not too soon!).

Monday, June 16, 2014

50 Today

And Feeling Fabulous (even if I don't look so great!! ^_^).  It's been an interesting trip so far - can't wait to see what comes next.

Here's another passage from To the Lighthouse that made me reflect on obtaining this milestone in my life:



 Today, I got the better.


And here's me with my shirt I bought myself five years ago - at least I could still find it today!!