Hello? Is this thing still on? tap tap tap. Sorry for the lack of posts recently, my excuses are rather pedestrian, but they are real. I have been inspired and challenged by my good friend ANCIANT over at his blog here, where he promised and delivered on 30 posts in 30 days. I now vow to do the same. Some may be long, some may be short. So, here goes.
Today I realized that it has been over a decade since I have read a book of fiction. I read quite a bit, but everything is nonfiction. I don't dislike fiction, but I guess I get my fiction fix through movies. I would like to read more fiction, but that whole time factor gets in the way. I bought a book called The 100 Most Important Books In the World, where it summarizes each book in about 4-5 pages. Maybe I can get caught up that way. I want to be well read, I just can't sit down and read all of these books. Dammit.
I just finished a project that I started last summer. I have been summarizing/outlining the rather huge AP U.S. History textbook from which I teach. Today I completed the last chapter. Now I have a huge binder with awesome lecture summaries from this book. But the binder appears to be about as thick as the textbook. Hmm. It is that time of year when AP students realize that the AP Exams are coming up in about three weeks and that they better start paying attention. I have been enjoying their panic. At least they will really know about the Nixon administration. If only they had been this focused from the Colonial days through Vietnam.
Crap. The baby just woke up from her nap. I need to take her for a walk now in her stroller. She LOVES that stroller. There is a huge hill in our neighborhood, and I run full speed pushing her down the hill in her stroller, and she throws both arms in the air like she is on a roller coaster and squeals with delight. It is absurdly cute.
More tomorrow.
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7 comments:
That's really funny about the AP. It's also funny about the stroller, though somewhat disturbing, as well. Let's just hope you don't let go!
A book I think you would really like, if you're interested in recommendations, is "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene. I think it would dovetail with a lot of your interests, and it's reasonably short. It's even tangentially related to what you're doing in your history class.
Thanks, ANCIANT. I read that (and some other Greene) a long time ago. I think it would be good to revisit. Send more recommendations.
Dez,
Funny, when I was writing that out I suddenly had this memory that I'd already asked you about that book and you'd told me you'd read it. And then I decided I was making that up. But Greene is a writer I think you'd like.
I've been thinking about this and come up with this provisional list of books I think you might like. The first few are canonical and 'important' and the rest are not.
-Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice. (very funny)
-Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment (surprisingly engrossing)
-Melville: Moby Dick (madness made compelling)
-Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49 (conspiracy and mania. And humor)
-Dave Hickey: Air Guitar (essays and criticism)
-Douglas Adams: Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, Dirk Gentry's Holistic Detective Agency
-Penelope Fitzgerald: Human Voices
-Italo Calvino: Invisible Cities
Okay, that's a few names to start. I'm trying to give you options in various genres, that have varying degrees of seriousness. My guess would be that of all those books your favorites would be Air Guitar and Human Voices (which are two favorites of mine as well). It's not really that hard to figure out which 'important books' to read, I guess, but I do think some are better to start with. If I had to name my "top three books ever written" e.g. I'd list Anna Karenina, Middlemarch, and In Search of Lost Time. I'm not sure I'd recommend any of those to people right away, however. Well, yes, I would, but they're all long as hell and take some energy to engage with. (Anna Karenina less than the other two, probably).
Human Voices is historical fiction, set in London during the Blitz. Hickey writes about art, but also rock and roll (he used to write songs with people like Waylon Jennings), Looney Tunes, and LSD. The book's inscription is a Keith Richards quote. So, I think you're dig on it.
Of course that should say 'you'd dig on it.'
Probably should start to proof read.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely check some of those out.
Welcome back, Dez.
Sooo funny. I want to be in the stroller being pushed down the hill...wheeeeeeee. Bet daddy has almost as much fun as little one. Books... you'll be able to catch up on all you want to read when the kid(s?) off to college. Until then, enjoy what you can!!
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