Eudaemonia

Saturday

2009-12-28T22:36:00.005-07:00

Saturday by Ian McEwan spans the course of a single Saturday in the life of London neurosurgeon Henry Perowne. It's February 2003 and Henry wakes before dawn. As he stares out his window he sees a bright light that he at first assumes is a comet, but then realizes must be a plane on fire headed into Heathrow. The image and reporting on the plane will follow Henry throughout the course of the day

Instead of Talking About Saturday...

2009-12-22T22:28:00.002-07:00

I'm reading this.

Library: An Unquiet History

2009-12-21T21:54:00.004-07:00

When I opened this book and saw the opening quote from Jorge Luis Borges, I knew this would be no ordinary chronicle. Matthew Battles, a rare books curator at Harvard's Widener Library opens with his experience of trying to "read the library" and I was immediately captivated.Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles is an exciting and comprehensive journey through the history of the written

Falling Man

2009-12-20T23:38:00.005-07:00

It seems fitting that of the books I've read in 2009, only two were audio books and both of them were 9/11 novels. I say fitting because I don't feel the same connection to an audio book that I do to a tangible book. I can't dog ear a page or highlight a paragraph. When I want to write my impressions about it, I can't go back and skim through to remember the names of characters or to refresh my

Inherent Vice

2009-12-19T19:29:00.006-07:00

One of the benefits of being a selective reader is that I like and often love almost every book I read. It pains me to say anything negative about any book, but I do want to talk about this one. Of the books I've over the last few months, I least enjoyed Inherent Vice. See, I can't even come out and say I didn't like it.I should make a couple of points before I explain my problems with

Death in Venice

2009-12-18T23:43:00.005-07:00

Thomas Mann published Death in Venice just prior to the start of World War I. At 73 pages, the novella doesn't waste a word. It's infused with signs and symbols rooted in Freudian psychology and Greek mythology.This story is about the artist and art and the balance (or imbalance) between intellect and passion.It begins:"Gustave Aschenbach -- or von Aschenbach, as he had been known officially

One a Day

2009-12-18T00:01:00.003-07:00

Something was changing for a long time. It took about a year to understand it, but now I do. People who've been coming here for a long time know that the original focus of this blog was on writing. For a long time I couldn't stop writing and I couldn't stop talking about it. I took classes and workshops and attended retreats and wrote the better part of two bad novels before I stopped to try to

Filling in the Gaps -- What I Said and What I Read

2009-11-30T08:18:00.006-07:00

Back in April, I joined a group of readers who, at Moonrat's suggestion made lists of 100 books to "fill in the gaps" in their reading lists. I am such a fickle reader that I knew it was unlikely I'd work my way through my own list with any consistency. There's a list of books I've read in 2009 at the sidebar and clearly, I have a short attention span. What was I thinking when I read The Iliad (

What I've Been Reading and Thinking

2009-08-23T23:17:00.000-06:00

There's a funny thing that happens to me when I read great literature. I wonder if it happens to anyone else. I become mute. I feel incapable of communicating with other people in any meaningful way. I live in my head and I immerse myself in more literary work that knocks me out. The author who first got to me this way was Marcel Proust, but David Foster Wallace just about finished me off.I want

The End of Spring and On to Infinite Summer

2009-06-28T23:01:00.012-06:00

Blogging and working out are very similar in that if you stop doing either, the longer you wait to get back into the routine, the harder it is to get started again. I've been reading so many great books lately and since two of them were written by friends and published this month, I want to send some positive vibes about them out into the world.I will dedicate separate posts to each of these fine

What I Look for in a Book

2009-03-25T23:07:00.012-06:00

In a joint statement from the campaigns announcing their decision to visit Ground Zero together, the two men vowed to come together 'as Americans'

Can't We Agree to Disagree?

2008-09-09T23:42:00.009-06:00

I've noticed a trend lately where bloggers who normally stick to one particular topic (like books or writing) are talking about the election and they're always apologetic about getting off topic and jumping into the political discussion.Me too. I can't help it.The funny thing is that no other election before this one has made me feel quite the sense of urgency that I do right now and I think most

Books I Read in August 2008

2008-09-08T08:19:00.012-06:00

Every book I read in August left me with lingering thoughts. I could write volumes about each, but I'm going to resist the urge and instead, provide a link for each to a review that echoes my sentiments.Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen was a book I resisted reading for quiet a while, due to its popularity. I was particularly interested in reading it because of the shifts in time the story takes

Working Without a Net

2008-09-01T21:23:00.005-06:00

Working my way through the first draft of a novel has been very much like walking a tightrope without a net.Word count as of Wednesday night, 9:57 MST: 43,610It's been quite an education so far and something about the process has shifted. I wrote the first first chapter of The Foundling Wheel (that's not a typo -- I've written a new first chapter) between Christmas and New Year's Eve of 2007. At

A Very Unimportant Announcement

2008-08-26T22:31:00.004-06:00

Tonight, I discovered my first gray hair.To be honest, I saw it a week ago but I pretended it was a blonde highlight.I don't look in the mirror much. When I think of myself -- the person I feel like I really am -- I'm somewhere in my late twenties or maybe early thirties. Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't want to go back. It's been an interesting, rich life so far and I can't wait to see what

Books I Read in July 2008

2008-08-25T23:49:00.014-06:00