Pipe Down, I Can't Hear What I'm Reading
Well, it took me almost a month, but I finally finished Red Meat's recommended summer reading, Sometimes a Great Notion, by Ken Kesey. This book was not so much read as endured. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, but it isn't something to breeze through on autopilot. It took quite a while for me to get into the story because the style was so chaotic. Narrators switched, sometimes several times, within one paragraph, interrupted on occasion with song lyrics playing from a radio or jukebox. The din was so great that I felt like reading with my ears plugged. After slogging through a few pages of this, the story would even out to just one point of view for several pages, and I'd get sucked right in to the story, only to get frustrated later on by the sliding narration. It is a story that lingers with me, though, and now that I'm done, I find myself still thinking about it. That, to me, is the mark of a good book.
I need a nice breezy read next, something less strenuous and taxing. The DaVinci Code.
Comments
A great breezy summer read is "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver. You, BA, can especially appreciate the setting of the book. It will remind you of home.
Posted by: Purple Fried Okra | July 28, 2006 07:47 AM
Please don't read the DaVinci Code. Don't give into that hype. It's insipid drivel, not very well written (really, it's not, everyone), and meant to be a Hollywood movie. The author's other book is even worse.
If you'd like some light fantasy (most attractive, well-adjusted females can't seem to get enough of this genre thanks to their Star Trek-loving boyfriends/husbands ;-)), I suggest MORT, by Terry Pratchett. Death takes an apprentice, and what follows is a comedy of errors. There are no chapters -- just scene changes, clearly indicated by a few skipped lines on the page. Very, very sarcastic writing, and you only take as much from it as you like.
But it's fantasy and while I love this book, it's probably part of the reason I'm not seeing anyone.
Posted by: Red Momo | July 28, 2006 08:05 AM
Also, I have have my email address in the "submit" area and even "remember personal info" checked, and it never seems to show up that way. I use Safari on my Mac (I LOVE IT) and wonder if it's a browser problem.
Thoughts?
Posted by: Red Momo | July 28, 2006 08:06 AM
Thanks for the new recommendations. They've been added to my summer reading list, which is growing quite long, yay! I've got my eye set on reading Andersonville next (suggested by Aqua Melted Butter), provided it isn't already checked out at the library. It's been checked out on most of my visits to the library, so I think that means it's a good book. But, I won't be able to go to the library until next week, so I'm reading the DaVinci Code this weekend. I'm doing it, and you can't stop me, Red Momo! I read the first book a month or so ago (it was loaned to me, as was TDaVC), and I read it in a day. You're right, Dan Brown's writing style isn't very good, but the story is so breezy and easy to read. And, at this point, it's cultural literacy. So, I'll devote a weekend to it, then I'll return it and the book will be off my bookshelf and out of my house, and I can turn my attention to books more appropriate for attractive, well-adjusted females.
Posted by: blue artichoke | July 28, 2006 10:05 AM
By the way, Red Momo, do you know who (in general) loves science fiction/fantasy? Libertarians. The girls, too.
And, I'm forwarding your browser question to parties better equipped to provide a reasonable answer.
Posted by: blue artichoke | July 28, 2006 10:09 AM
Libertarians! Wow! Who knew?
I'll try the recommendations, but I'm not sure what that will do for me... I don't have a very high level of security set up...
Posted by: Red Momo | July 29, 2006 10:12 AM