I did not intend to take an unannounced break but I was able to fly out to California for my grandma’s funeral. The services were exactly right and though we were all sad, I feel like it was also a celebration of her life. Thank you all once again for the numerous kind thoughts and comments. You are all so very wonderful.
Since it wasn’t a vacation, airplane reading was a bit weird. I wanted to read but nothing really appealed so I ended up reading a London Review of Books on the way out and another on the way home. Which means, for the moment, I am caught up on my LRBs.
Monday was a holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and I had the day home from work. I watched President Obama’s inauguration with special anticipation for the poem by Richard Blanco. I liked it! It is a very American poem I think. Some chatter around the interwebs has noted echoes of Walt Whitman. Yes, I can hear those too, the celebration of the common, the everyday and the urgency that pervades the poem and propels it forward. I like how Blanco uses the light, sky, ground and moon to gather together all the individual pieces into one country. There is a definite feeling of e pluribus unum, out of many one, which is what the United States at its best is all about. What do you think of the poem?
I had hoped to be able to read more yesterday but I caught a cold while I was away and felt generally blah. I was able to focus for an hour or so and start reading Doctor Glas. So far I am liking this little book very much. It is written as a diary, a device that when well done I am always a sucker for. Oh, and how could I forget, I also read the introduction to Ben Yagoda’s How to Not Write Bad. He made some good jokes, but he always does. He says that there are plenty of books out there to tell you how to write well but not many that tell you how to not write bad(ly). He’s been teaching and grading for years and the book is going to focus on the mistakes he finds people make most often. It is intended for students but he also has non-students in mind he says, like bloggers and people who just want to improve their writing. I look forward to delving into the nitty-gritty shortly.
Last week I finished the third part of Margaret Atwood’s serial e-novel Positron. I liked parts one and two quite a bit but part three felt short and rushed. I suppose that is one of the dangers of serial novels.
In progress on my Kindle at the moment is The Wind in the Willows. I was in the mood for something easy and comforting. Except I never read the book when I was a kid. I had a picture book of a Frog and Toad story but I never read Wind in the Willows. Reading it for the first time as an adult, I am enjoying it, but there are also some weird things about it. Like the animals seem to keep changing size. First they are small like a water rat or mole would be but then they are riding in a coach with Toad being pulled by a horse. Wha??? And I find it rather disturbing that they eat bacon for breakfast and lobster is a dinner option. It is not magical like it would be for a child, but it is fun nonetheless.
Also in progress is Wolf Hall. I am enjoying it very much. I am reading it with Litlove and she is waiting patiently for me to finish since she has run along merrily to the end already. I’m about two-thirds of the way through.
Maybe Wolf Hall would be going along faster if I didn’t have so many other books on the go? Because in addition to all those above, I am also reading Stag’s Leap by Sharon Olds, Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon (excellent book!), How We Became Posthuman by N. Katherine Hayles, and Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector by Benjamin Moser. At the same time I am reading all of those, I am looking forward to when I can slip in Testing the Current by William McPherson and The Canon by Natalie Angier.
Yesterday I spent the book gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket on The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco and The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara Comyns. I have no intention of jumping into either of them when they arrive. I must get my in progress books under control. But I am looking forward to reading both of them. I just don’t know when that will be!
I could go nattering on all night but Waldo is giving me the look that says I have been at my computer too long already and I had better stop now before he takes matters into his own paws. So off I go to make a cup of tea to soothe my sore throat and I should probably read something too.
That’s funny. I grew up having Wind in the Willows read to me, a few times by my dad and then I read it again a couple of times on my own. Not once did I notice the size discrepancies- although now that I think of it, how could Toad be the right size to drive a car? I’m sure to pay attention now, next time I pick i tup.
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Jeane, I could go along with Toad driving a car, imagining it as a little Toad-size car, but the horse and then dressing up as a washerwoman to escape from prison. If I had read it first when I was a kid I am sure I never would notice the size discrepancies even rereading it as an adult like you have. There is something to be said for the more magical view of things in childhood.🙂
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I think if you pay too much attention to the discrepancies in ‘The Wind in the Willows’ you might find yourself in danger of missing the point. Have you got as far yet as ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’, which is central to the whole book?
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Hi Stefanie, nice to have you back and I’m glad you got to your grandmother’s funeral. Even by your standards you seem to have a lot of books on the go! I see yo have bought a copy of Barbara Comyn’s The Vet’s Daughter which I remember as a Virago Modern Classic which I remember enjoying reading. Just now I’m reading Oscar’s Books by Thomas Wright which is sort of Wilde’s biography through his library and it is fascinating stuff. Keep on the good reading!
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Have had a very cursory look at the Blanco poem. It is a brave effort at a public poem aimed at a mega-sized audience. There is enough sharpness and particularity to avoid banality but …..I think he had an impossible task. It will be interesting to see what people in the USA have made of the poem.
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Ian, thanks! Yes, I seem to have gotten myself into quite a few books. I have no idea how it happened. After the New Year I had only three books actively on the go and then I must have blinked! The Comyns book has been republished in the US as a New York Review of Books Classic and has been getting noticed. I’ve not read Comyns before but I have heard good things about her so I am looking forward to reading her. I’ve seen ads for Oscar’s Books and it looks interesting. I am glad to hear it is fascinating. There is also a book out about Proust’s library which looks intriguing. Writing an inaugural poem is a huge challenge not only because poets don’t generally write for occasions any longer, but also because of the immensity and expectations surrounding the occasion itself. The Guardian called the poem a flop, but it has been generally well received and well reviewed by Americans.
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Alex, I have been trying to not pay attention to the discrepancies but it is hard not to sometimes. I did read the piper chapter and it was really familiar so I think I have read it before, not as a kid though but I can’t place when and why I read that chapter. It’s a chapter like none of the others in the book. I like how after meeting the piper/pan/god Rat and Mole gradually forgot about what they had seen. A nice touch that.
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I am interested to hear what you and Litlove have to say about Wolf Hall. +Did the present tense bother you at all. For some reason, I found it annoying. I tried reading Bring Up The Bodies, but had to take it back when it was due. No renewals allowed due to the waiting list. And only got 1/3 of the way through. Drat. Now I’ll have to get back in line. I was enjoying it, but again, present tense was annoying me. I’m sorry you aren’t feeling quite up to snuff, but I am happy that your grandmother’s life had such a fitting celebration.
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Grad, I am enjoying Wolf Hall immensely, it is so detailed. I do have trouble keeping track of who all the members of Cromwell’s household are though. I don’t mind the present tense. It gives the story a certain immediacy. That’s the trouble with fat books from the library that don’t have renewals because of a waiting list. I bought my copy of Wolf Hall secondhand and when I get to Bring Up the Bodies I will buy a copy of that one too just so I don’t have to rush. And thanks, I suspect a restful weekend will do wonders.
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“Maybe Wolf Hall would be going along faster if I didn’t have so many other books on the go?” And then you go on to name what seems like 20 books. So the answer to the question is “Yes.” Of course, I’ve always been a monogamous reader (for the most part) so I never can understand how others can read so many books (no pun intended) at the same time. I sometimes get confused with just reading one book.🙂
Aside: I also wanted to let you know that even though I rarely comment, I do follow your blog religiously. I find it to be one of the better written book blogs out there and I’m glad to have it in my reader. I’ll try to do better on commenting, but rest assured, I’m still out there reading (so beware ;)).
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Oops, commented with old blog link. I’m at http://www.stillunfinished.com now.
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unfinishedperson, before college I used to be a serial book monogamist but then after majoring in English lit and having to read multiple books for multiple classes each semester I’ve become quite profligate. I tried once college was done to return to reading one book at a time but it just didn’t work out. And now, well, sometimes things get a little out of hand! Thanks for you kind words. There are lots of blogs I read but rarely comment on for various reasons so I completely understand!
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I’m glad you were able to go to your grandmother’s funeral–very sad, but it sounds like it was nicely done and a nice remembrance of her. I am nearly finished with Doctor Glas and really liked it–it should be an interesting book to discuss! I am reading Cashelmara (another chunky book) along with Litlove and I hope she has been too busy with Wolf Hall–as I am only halfway through my book! It’s good, but like you I am also dipping into other books along the way. And I broke down and started Testing the Current, which reminds me sort of, of The Go Between (only in that the narrator is a young boy–I really like stories like that–that deal with memory and perception). Anyway–so I can relate. Hope you’re staying warm up there!🙂
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Danielle, thanks, it was nice to have the closure. so you are almost done with Dr Glas? I am glad to hear you liked it and I am looking forward to discussion. Litlove finished Wolf Hall a week or two ago so she is probably speeding through Cashelmara😉 We are like bees and our books are flowers, a little from here and a little from there. Staying warm is hard right now but we are trying. Hope you are managing!
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“Maybe Wolf Hall would be going along faster if I didn’t have so many other books on the go?” You think? LOL!
I wondered where you had got to – it seemed I hadn’t heard from you for a while. And then I saw this post yesterday and clicked on the Blanco poem and didn’t come back. I like it. It’s very much set in its time with references like the 20 empty desks but good on him for going there. I’m going to read it again as it’s pretty long – there’s a lot to take in, but I reckon Obama would have been happy.
Oh, and I’ve never read Wind in the Willows either. I have done Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland. Does that count?
And finally, get well soon.
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whisperinggums, heh, I know, right? I appreciated the reference to the empty desks too. It was surprising but so very appropriate. I was surprised how long it was and worried people would get antsy and the general reception would turn negative but I have been pleasantly surprised by how well liked it was. Obama looked really serious while it was being read which was kind of funny and a quick shot of Eric Cantor, Republican House Majority Leader showed him looking rather nonplussed and confused during the part of the poem that had the greetings in various languages.
I love Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland! One of my favorites. Let me tell you, it makes much more sense now that I am reading Wind in the Willows.
Thanks for the well wishes!
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I should try to find it on You Tube.
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Eh, I wasn’t horribly impressed by Robert Blanco’s poem but then again, I wasn’t wowed by Elizabeth Alexander’s either. So new fangled. /waves cane around
And yes, reading a million other books might be slowing you down! I enjoyed Wolf Hall although the interchangeable use of “he” was a bit confusing. I still need to read the sequel.
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How odd, bacon is a perfectly normal breakfast food here. I mean we don’t eat it all the time (and I never eat it) but a full english has bacon and depending on where you go black pudding too. Only the rich eat lobster for lunch though🙂
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Well dear friends, I am not speeding through anything at the moment, boo hoo. I haven’t picked up a book in FIVE days, my brain has been too fried, so I am giving you and Danielle plenty of time to catch up! What’s annoying me is that I haven’t got to start Doctor Glas yet and I really want to. My copy has an introduction by none other than Margaret Atwood – as soon as I saw that, I knew the book had to be fabulous!
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