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.

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.

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.

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.

Feeling Festive

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

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.

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.

Party Time

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

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).

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.

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.

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!!

Best writing advice EVER!

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?

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...

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.

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.

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/

Getting there

I spent several hours at work today analyzing the short stories of some Iraqi women writers - I might actually pull this paper off yet.  If I can ever get there, it's going to be a damn good paper (if I do say so myself).

I will be so grateful to get it behind me so that I can get to work on enjoying Slaughterhouse Five.  It's been way too long since I got to curl up with some good Vonnegut.

Wait for it...

This procrastination is going to be the death of me - I have about a week to pull this paper together, and here I am, goofing off again!  Oh, well.  Such is life.

Good food today!

One boy has to work this afternoon and the other is going to his girlfriend's, so I made a nice brunch for the family:

 - Deviled eggs (the one item I have to make or my children will disown me!)
 - Bacon
 - Egg muffins (just eggs, cooked chorizo, and cheddar whisked together, poured into muffins tins, and baked at 350 for 25 minutes - simple and delicious!!)
 - Raisin Bread Banana French Toast
 - Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos
 - Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake

Everyone sitting around fat and sassy now.  Damn, I'm good!!

I hope everyone else has a good Thanksgiving day as well.

Feeling grateful

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all who might read this (and, actually, to all who don't).  For the most part, I am feeling grateful for all I have.  My only down spot is that Garry is not here with us, but I know he is watching over me, waiting to laugh if I overcook something.  Love and miss you, baby.

Feeling like all is going
around in circles, ever turning
upon itself to let me know
that even though you are
no longer visible
you will never be gone

Getting Busy

Okay - so here is a list of things I need to write:

1.  18-page Paper for class (two weeks left until that's due)
2.  Short article about survey I conducted with law librarians regarding their favorite books
3.  Text for my presentation on "A Dozen or So of the Most Important Laws and Decisions Affecting Women in the Military" which will be in March (I should also work on a shorter title!!)
4.  Articles for the daily paper that goes with the AALL annual conference, which is here in July
5.  Longer article (or book) on my research regarding women in the military on film

I'm worn out just thinking about it all!

Making Progess

Been working on my paper most of the day today - actually got my proposal done as well as four or five pages of the actual paper.  That means I can take a break tomorrow and read Slaughterhouse - sounds like a good compromise to me.  After all, I don't want to burn myself out, now do I?  ^_^

Bad Llama

Wow - can't believe it's been so long since I've posted.  Life sure does get in the way sometimes.  I still can't really get into Slaughterhouse Five until I finish my paper for the class I'm taking.  It's so depressing since I love Vonnegut SO much.  Oh, well - let me get to work on my paper, and then I can have fun with Billy Pilgrim.

Here we go

Finally got the time to start Slaughterhouse Five tonight.  Vonnegut has always been one of my favorite writers.  Love, love, love this book, so I can't wait to get deep into it again.

Done!

Now that I've finished off Ender's Game, I can get back to my list.  Next up is Slaughterhouse Five by the inimitable Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.  The book was first published in 1969 and is one of the most-often banned books.  This is a re-read for me, and I am quite looking forward to it.  So it goes.

Fast Read

Already a third of the way through Ender's Game - remembering why I liked it so much the other times I've read it.  Would be further along if I hadn't watched so many movies today, but that's been a lot of fun, too.  Matthew and I watched Much Ado about Nothing from 2012 - a Joss Whedon production, so we knew we'd love it.  Of course Nathan Fillian had a small part - he was definitely there for comic relief (especially since he was playing Dogberry).  If you've never experienced a Joss Whedon production, try this one (or Firefly or Serenity or...).  Okay - that's enough of that.  Back to my book.

Detour Ahead

I have to hold off starting on the next book on my list - "Ender's Game" is coming out next Friday, and I am going to reread the book before going.  I have been waiting for this movie for a LONG time - totally stoked.

Final Thoughts

Yes, you read that correctly - I am FINALLY done with Invisible Man.  It has taken me way too long to read this book, and it is certainly not because the book is not good.  Just life getting in the way.

Anyway, I really did enjoy the book, and the most important "truth" that I got out of it is to be true to yourself.  The protagonist spent most of the novel trying to become who everyone else thought he should be - it was only when he sloughed them off and listened to his own mind that he became comfortable in his own skin.  That was when he realized that "even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play."  In other words, we must all contribute to the society in which we live, even if at times we feel like we are fighting an uphill battle.

Important concept

I really liked the part I just read - it shows just how selfish most people are:  "Everywhere I've turned, somebody has wanted to sacrifice me for my good--only they were the ones who benefited."  How many of us have felt like that scapegoat, certain that we are just pawns in the big chess game of life, put forth as sacrifices for "the greater good," and finding out that that good is meant for others than ourselves.  Such was the promise of Communism, which is of course what the majority of this novel is about, and who benefited from that?  Certainly not the ones who were making the real sacrifices.  Guess that's why it's pretty much dead as of now.  Even China, which is supposedly still a Communist country, spends most of its time trying to profit through the channels of capitalism.  Guess they're not completely stupid at least.

Home Stretch

Covered about 50 pages tonight.  It's actually going to happen - I'm going to find the end of this book.  Right?  You believe, me don't you?  I know - I'm trying to convince myself more that you, but I have faith.

Working on things

I spent the better part of yesterday evening at IHOP working on my presentation for the Gordimer book, and I think I've got some really good points to bring up.  That being said, as you can probably now guess, the Ellison novel was nowhere to be seen (or read).  Taking it with me tomorrow for my meetings downtown do I can read some on my down time.  Wish me luck!!

On a sadder note, today is the one year anniversary of my son's untimely death, and I am barely making it through.  The only things that keep me going are my other children and the fact that Garry would be so disappointed in me if I handled things any other way.

So disappointed...

...in myself for not having this book done  yet.  I'm getting on it any minute now.

But in the "good going" category for myself, I have finished reading None to Accompany Me, which is the book I have to do my presentation on in class in three weeks.  Plus I've already done my research for the presentation as well, so I should be able to whip up my part of it in a day or so.  That will leave me free to finish Ellison's masterpiece.  Which is definitely what I think it is - it's just long and I have no time.  Lame excuse, I know, but as the phrase goes, it is what it is.

3/4 done

Really getting to the meat of the novel now - ideology has clashed with reality and our protagonist wil lnever be the same again.  It is time for him to shake off the names that everyone else has always given him and claim one for himself, even if that name is nonexistent.  No nmae is better than one forced upon you by someone else's issues.

Curiouser and curiouser

I find it so interesting how many times Ellison has his protagonist speak about how well known his name is becoming, how important his name is to so many people - yet the new name or any other name is never given.  I am not sure exactly what the symbolism is, what Ellison is trying to say.  I think I will look up some criticism on the book in order to better understand.

Inspiration

Not exactly what they said in the movie I'm watching - I adapted it to mean what I want it to:

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from stepping up to bat.

Let that be my motto from this day forth.

Running on empty

Haven't had any time to read - much less read what I want.  I swear I am going to finish Invisible Man this weekend!! Then I can get on with what I need to read and write for class.  Nadine Gordimer did win the Nobel Prize for Literature - it's hardly a chore to read her.  And the subject I've chosen for my paper - focusing on short stories written by Iraqi women - is highly interesting to me, so no chore there either.  It's just getting through this EXTREMELY long book that's kicking my butt.  But I have made a commitment, and I will persevere.  At least I know the next book is a much easier read (and a re-read, so there's that, too).  Wish me luck!

Opting for the Nobel

Had to stop reading Invisible Man for a while to start reading None to Accompany Me.  It's what I have to do my project on, and it is FANTASTIC.  She's such a wonderful writer, which, of course, is why she won a Nobel.  Such a strong feminist and advocate of human rights.  I'm a little over 1/3 of the way through the book, and I am anxiously awaiting what comes next.

ROAD TRIP!!!

Off to Dallas tomorrow to visit the State Fair for the first time ever - Matthew has a dance exhibition (actually four in the next two days), and I get to go along.  This is going to be FUN!!!

Inspiration

Watching NCIS tonight was very good.  There was a part that showed that when Zeva was a child, she wrote a list of things she was going to accomplish in her life.  This is something we should all do - and it shouldn't matter at what age.  So here goes:


I WILL:

Make it onto Jeopardy
Get a doctorate
Hear a song I wrote on the radio (not sung by me, of course!)
Do a stand up routine (yes, in public!)

These are the big ones for me, but I will add to the list whenever I feel strongly about something else.

Interesting plot line

Our protagonist is making quite a name for himself (pun intended) with the Communist sympathizers - wonder what happens when he lets them down, as I know he eventually will.  Things are going way too well for him right now, and since he was living in a abandoned basement at the beginning of the novel, I have to assume that things are fixing to go left.

Not enough time...

Haven't been reading Invisible Man because I've been reading a lot of short stories in preparation for writing a paper for class.  I've decided to focus on short stories written by Iraqi women.  Why?  I don't know.  The idea came to me, and now it's stuck.  I think this is going to be good.

Racial tensions abound

It's funny how the protagonist just "accidentally" became a Communist - it was so accidental, he doesn't even know it yet.  And it's sad to see that the Communists, who purported to believe all should be treated equally, still manage to make racial slurs against blacks and think there's nothing wrong with it.  Our protagonist's naivete is the only thing that keeps him from seeing, but I know this will happen soon.  And all hell's gonna break loose if I'm not mistaken.

Oh, Well...

I am enjoying Invisible Man, but life keeps getting in the way.  Sooner or later, I will get this book done.  I am only halfway through - I've got to pick up the pace if I expect to get these 26 books read in a year.

More Quotes

Now there a whole lot of truth in these words:

"Everything what looks good ain't necessarily good."

Can't argue with that, can you?

Or this:

"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"

Quotes to remember

Quotes from the book that I like:


"If I don't think I'm sinking, look what a hole I'm in."   I guess that means something like it's always darkest just before the dawn.



"Don't hope.  Make it that way."  This is something we could all do.  Don't just think about it - actually do it.


But my favorite quote today is from Dean Koontz's new novel Innocence, "Words are the wellspring of the world, and language is the most powerful weapon."  After all, who can argue with that?

Crazy Stuff

Well, he knows who he is again, but what does that mean - to both us and him?  Although his name has been remembered, this is the point where his invisibility begins.  One more chapter until the exact middle of the book - can't wait.

What the heck?

He's getting a lobotomy?  That seems to have come out of nowhere.  No wonder he never uses his name - I think he's forgotten who he is!  He is probably becoming invisible to himself first and then the rest of the world - crazy stuff going on here!  Almost halfway through the book now - Dr. Pressman told us that the literal middle of the book is wehre something big usually happens - this should be good!

And so it begins...

With disillusionment often comes bitterness.  It is far easier to sink than to rise, as most of us can attest to.

As with many of the stories I read, this is another case of someone not having a voice - no say in their own life.  I think this is how he gets to where he is in the novel's beginning - he was simply trying to be in charge of his own life, the master of his own fate, even if that meant becoming "invisible."

Hitting the fan...

I love alliteration, and here is one of Ellison's best instances of it - "sifting lazily in the sudden stillness, sliding sand-like down the chute."  Pure poetry.

Our poor protagonist (how many times am I going to have to say that?).  I knew Bledsoe was up to no good with those letters, and I sure was right.  A man with no name can never be anyone, and Bledsoe is making sure that's one prophecy that comes true.  Screwing someone over like that and feeling self-righteous about it - I just hope he gets what's coming to him.  No the main character's killing him, but damn close would be good.

The heart of it...

It seems to me that this line gets right to the heart of Invisible Man:

"Their hate, and mine, was charged with fear."

Our nameless protagonist speaks this line early in the novel, and I find it rife with implications.  Throughout the novel (and history), it is fear that drives people to hate and to act upon that hate.  Fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of stagnation.  Any of these will cause resentment, and it is all too easy for that resentment to turn into hate.

Something I ran across

Thank you very much for your time.

  感謝您抽出寶貴的時間

   谢谢您宝贵的时间

     ご協力ありがとうございました

      귀한 시간 내주셔서 대단히 감사드립니다

         Mange tak, fordi du har brugt tid på undersøgelsen.

           Terima kasih atas masa yang anda luangkan.

                   Vielen Dank für Ihre Zeit.

 

Forgot to mention that this is my 100th post.  Cool! (To me anyway.)

Keepers

Quotes I want to remember:

"Play the game, but play it your own way."

"The world is possibility if only you'll discover it."

Oh, well

Horrible thing for  a librarian to say, but I am just not into reading tonight.  Think I'll watch a movie I've seen a hundred times - I love watching movies where I can recite every line, don't you?

This sucks!

I hate that our protagonist got expelled for what happened to the trustee, but shit does roll downhill.  It's not like the President of the university was going to risk being blamed for anything, so a scapegoat had to be utilized.  This will be the beginning of the main character's actual bildungsroman, the one that takes him from a part of the world around him to where he is at the novel's beginning - hiding in a hole and invisible.  You just know it's going to be a tortuous journey.

All fall down...but the trick is to get back up

Our poor protagonist, whose despair is characterized thusly:  "I had kept unswervingly to the path placed before me, had tried to be exactly what I was expected to be, had done exactly what I was expected to do--yet, instead of winning the expected reward, here I was stumbling along."

But the best advice he is given is from the one who doles out his punishment, Dr. Bledsoe.  And these are definitely words for everyone to live by:  "If you don't become bitter, nothing can stop you from success."

Intense

This chapter has been really intense, and I'm not even through with it yet!  That's quite the story the old man told - I mean, really, how do you accidentally have sex with your own daughter? 

Trying to read it in the vernacular is also quite interesting.  Easy enough to understand, just different.  It kind of reminds me of one of the first interviews Loretta Lynn ever gave on the radio - she kept saying how the more her and her husband laughed, the hornier he got (which, of course, you COULD NOT say on the radio back then - and maybe not even now).  She though horny meant being silly, but it almost got her banned from airplay altogether.  Lucky for her and those of us who are lifelong fans, that didn't happen.  Enough reminiscing - on to the next chapter of my book now!

Another Long Week?

Work was kind of crazy today - can't believe how much I got done/didn't get done.  Actually tried to read some on my lunch hour, but even then I was interrupted by work (I don't mind so much).  It was actually a good day - helped a lot of students as well as public patrons.  Just why I went to library school.  school tomorrow night, so hopefully I'll get a couple chapters in before that.  Wish me luck!!

Thinking deeply...

Most memorable line so far:  "I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer."  Who hasn't been there at some point?  Why do we always seem to ask other people what's best for us?  Shouldn't we know better than anyone?  As Ellison goes on to say, "I am nobody but myself."  Why should that be that hard to figure out?  Yet it takes many people decades to get there, and some never manage.  They are forever looking outside for answers rather than within.

Catching my attention early

Not sure exactly what's going on in this book - crazy stuff so far.  The first couple of chapters have definitely been compelling to say the least - hope it continues to be good so I can make it through all 577 pages!

Introduction

I just finished the introduction, and, wow, does Ellison jump right into things.  His prose evokes many images, none of which are particularly flattering to the majority of the population.  And his verbal switch to speaking in vernacular lends just the right amount of flavor to the passages, allowing the reader to get a taste of what's to come.

Jump on it doggone it

That's it - NO MORE EXCUSES.  Going to start on the book tomorrow - unfortunately, I didn't get a chance the last two days, so that time I was ahead of the game is quickly slipping away from me.  Guess I need some discipline, don't I? 

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.

Hitting the fan now...

Just finished chapter seven, and I am still struck by Fitzgerald's ability to paint such a vivid picture with his imagery. You can just picture (whether you want to or not) Mrs. Wilson's limp body lying about for everyone to gawk at as her "left breast was swinging loose like a flap."  This was his true genius; it is truly what makes such a little novella like this still capture people's imagination almost 90 years later. 

Crazy Days

Been too much stuff going on this weekend - I swear I thought nothing was going to stop me from finishing this book, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen (at least not today).  We'll see if I can't get a couple chapters in tomorrow - after I play tennis with Becca, that is.

Cruising along...

A much easier read than either of the first two books on the list.  I am still in awe  of the fantastic imagery that F. Scott portrays.  There is no part of Gatsby's house that cannot be picture perfectly as he wrote it.  He paints such a vivid portrait that there's no way not to be running a movie in your mind.  Can't you just picture it, old sport?

The nitty gritty...

That was quite the reunion between Daisy and Gatsby.    Gatsby's sheer glee at seeing Daisy again up, close and personal, is evident - the first time in the book so far that he seems truly alive. Why are these two, clearly so much in love at one point, not together?  What secrets will time reveal?  Reading on...

The plot thickens...

I couldn't help myself - just got done with chapter four as well.  Things are definitely heating up.  All the subterfuge just to be near an old flame.  Coming up with the story line for this book - I wonder what Fitzgerald lived through or overheard to be able to come up with such a plot.  Most authors say that they write what they know, but it could be that Scott was just an old romantic at heart. 

Livening Up

Chapter three down.  It's no wonder this book has been made into so many movies - Fitzgerald's's imagery is amazing.  When you read this chapter, you get a really vivid picture of everything and everyone in it.  I have not seen the latest flick, but I think I will make an effort to do so, just so I can see if I agree with the casting and scenes.  The precise description of Gatsby and his house is just like set directions in a play - there is no way anything should be out of whack as long as a close reading of the material was made.  I hope so, or I will be sorely disappointed.