So in between doing interesting things like complaining, procrastinating, feeling sorry for myself, getting irritated with everything, bitching, and just being a waste of space I've been doing some reading. Both on and off the internet. And that has been good.
On the internet-is it just me or is McSweeney's website just chock full of good reading? I'm positively addicted to it.
Off the internet-shame on me for never reading any work by William Faulkner earlier in my life. I've just started Light in August and I'm enjoying it a lot. It's much different than the books I usually read, which are, well, easier to read. I do not mean to imply that I am a dolt who reads romance novels every chance I get. I mean to say that the books I read are usually fast-paced, frenetic jaunts through a plot which reveals itself in the first 20, 25 pages (think Tough Guys Don't Dance, Vonnegut, Sedaris). This is not that kind of book. It is slow, deliberate, painstakingly detailed. It's got it's own mood and pace that you must surrender to. And I'm finding that I enjoy that.
Off the internet and through my ears-I am currently enjoying the audio CDs of John Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise. ITunes was running a promo or something, offering it for free. It caught my eye and now my ears are hooked! I've been listening to it during my commute to and from work and in between different places I go during the day and it's just the best. He's done work for The Daily Show and McSweeney's. Most recently he has played the personification of the PC on the new Mac commercials.
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3 comments:
And you don't even bother telling anyone that your super-intelligent and highly sexy husband bought you the Faulkner book! For shame. :(
Dear Sexy Beast,
My husband is free to blog about whatever topics he sees fit!
Actually, I felt a pang of guilt over not mentioning it and was thinking about adding it in later, but you beat me to the punch!
Yes...It is difficult to return to real literature after reading more pedestrian stuff. You really need to be devoted to it and let yourself be completely absorbed in it. Surrender is a very good choice of words to describe it. Surrender as opposed to giving up and putting the book down. But when you let it wash over you and finish one of the great works of literature you do so with a real sense of accomplishment, of having taken a journey, of having engaged with a great mind, and of having conjured up a world of people and ideas that always will stay with you. I must confess that my prior attempts to read Faulkner have all ground to a halt. But sometimes I think there's a time and place for everything. What once may have seemed difficult, later may just become so much easier. Like most things you choose to tackle in life, I guess you just need to be ready. So maybe this year will be the year I read Faulkner or accomplish some other meaningful things.
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