3 posts tagged “books”
I think my new favorite author find for the year has to be Christoper Moore. If you already like him, you should check out his site. I only wish his blog had an actual RSS feed!
He has, hands down, made me laugh out loud more than any other book, movie, or any other form of entertainment this year. Not just 'lol' but seriously laugh- waiting for a doctor's appointment, on BART, just wherever. I've gotten quick a few looks, but it was all worth it.
The other weekend I finished 'Bloodsucking Fiends' and his newest 'You Suck'. Both were entertaining, although the first was my favorite. It involves SF, vampires, and loads of references to goth culture (while I no longer dress like a goth, a piece of me will always identify.) He can make fun of goths in a way that is hilarious and yet not insulting. It's that, but so much more. I'm really looking forward to picking up my next book of his from the library!
For the past couple of years, I've kept a reading list updated throughout the year- so I could look back and remember what I read. Since I did that on LJ, I figured I'd move the list over here for now. So this is 2007 so far:
Albert, Susan Wittig- Cuckoo Brow Wood
Avinasha, Bodhi - Jewel in the Lotus
Bronte, Emily - Wuthering Heights
Burton, Tim - The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories
Chabon, Michael - Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Chodron, Pema - Start Where You Are
Clavell, James - Shogun
Cott, Jonathan - Wandering Ghost: the odyssey of Lafcadio Hearn
Cox, Lynne - Grayson
Desai, Kiran - The Inheritance of Loss
Dick, Philip K - The Broken Bubble
Didion, Joan - The Year of Magical Thinking
Dooley, Dr. - Beyond Flat Earth Medicine
Eisenberg, Lee - The Number
Erdrich, Louise - The Beet Queen
Feinberg, Leslie - Stone Butch Blues
Ferris, Timothy - The 4 Hour Work Week
Gallico, Paul - The Snow Goose
Graham, Barry - Before
Hagen, Steve - Buddhism, Plain & Simple
Hansberry, Lorraine - A Raisin in the Sun
Hearn, Lafcadio - Kwaidan
Huxley, Aldous - Island
Karr, Mary - Liar's Club
Kapur, Kamla - Ganesha goes to Lunch
Kieves, Tama - This Time I Dance
Kostova, Elizabeth - The Historian
Lansky, Anne - Impossible Cure
Levine, Stephen -
Who Dies?
Turning Toward the Mystery
Lynch, Scott - The Lies of Locke Lamora
Maugham, W. Somerset - Of Human Bondage
McDonald, Ian - The River of Gods
Moore, Christopher - A Dirty Job
Nix, Garth -
Sir Thursday
Lady Friday
The Ragwitch
O'Halloran, Maura - Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: The Zen journals and Letters of Maura "Soshin" O'Halloran
Parkhurst, Carolyn - The Dogs of Babel
Patchett, Ann - Bel Canto
Pessl, Marisha - Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Pollan Michael - The Omnivore's Dilemma
Roth, Philip - The Ghost Writer
Rowling, JK - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Ryu, Murakami - In the Miso Soup
Sante, Luc - Low Life
Savage, Dan - Skipping Towards Gomorrah
Scrambly, Crab- The 13th of Never
Shaara, Michael - The Killer Angels
Shaw, George Bernard - Pygmalion
Smith, Alisa & Mackinnon, J.B. - Plenty
Steinbeck, John -
East of Eden
Of Mice and Men
Stirling, S.M. -
Dies the Fire
Meeting in Corvallis
The Protector's War
Island in the Sea of Time
Against the Tide of Years
Sutcliff, Rosemary -
Sunhorse, Moonhorse
Warrior Scarlet
Suzuki, Shunryu - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Vonnegut, Kurt - Cat's Cradle
Welsh, Irvine - Porno
Westerfeld, Scott -
Midnighter's- The Secret Hour
Midnighter's - Touching Darkness
Midnighter's - Blue Noon
Whitman, Walt - Leaves of Grass
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is all about the life and death of the "kid" (he was 24) who traveled to the Alaska wild by himself in the early 90's and ended up dying in an abandoned schoolbus. It's an exploration not only of the events that happened, but also of the personal story behind it. What impels a kid who grew up in a middle class home in the Suburbs of Virginia to cut all ties with family and friends, to drop every possession, and to explore the farthest reaches of the wilderness alone? Krakauer does a good job of discrediting the easy accusations- he goes on to prove that this kid was smart, he was prepared, he was fully capable of being social, he was not mentally ill. So what drove him? The author compared his own experiences as a mountain climber as a young adult, and the grave risks that he took. His conclusion was that it was pure luck that he survived, whereas the kid didn't. He explored quotes from John Muir, Thoreau, and other authors who venerated living in the wild, outside of civilization. It really puts some perspective on a sad story.
The movie Touching the Void was pretty dramatic. It was the re-telling of the experience of two young mountain climbers, who each faced death and improbable odds. There was a 'recreation' of the action interspersed with interviews of the two climbers, adding what they were thinking or experiencing during this ordeal. It is really gripping, and amazing that either of them lived to tell the tale. Again, you get a glimpse of what motivates people to push their physical limits to experience nature far outside of the comfortable realm of society.
After watching the movie and reading the book, certain similarities became apparent. They both referred to people with a love of nature, and a desire to experience it. There is a driving need to get away from people, if only for a while, in addition to a test of your wits. It's a challenge to the universe to see what you can accomplish in the face of incredible odds.
What was most striking to me was the description by one of the mountain climbers of what it feels like. What does it feel like to be hanging from a cliff of ice, thousands of feet above any secure area? Your life relies on your skills, your tools, and the luck of the draw. One wrong move, one bad storm, one faulty piece of equipment- and you're dead. The description he gave was that your perception of the moment expands and contracts to where all you perceive is your situation. All of the petty details in life fall away completely. You perceive yourself as a part of the universe, but you aren't thinking so much as living in the moment. It really reminded me of Buddhist texts that I've read. This is almost word for word a description of the state of mind you aim for with meditation. It's a different way of achieving the same state. Fascinating!
As far as my brother is concerned, he does love nature. I can see the appeal in the action and adventure side of these tales. I don't believe he has the driving need to prove himself, or to expose himself to exaggerated risks that these guys did. I think the stories are appealing even to those of us who have no desire to go into the wild beyond the scope of a day hike.