i should have expected this. posting my reading schedule seemed to promise some sort of rigorous literary exercise programme which would force me to read like a professional athlete. circle training: huxley, gaddis, crowley, and then a bit of marquez for cardio. what i failed to consider, however, is that i can only keep up that kind of discipline for a very short time. as so often, money is lost, gym memberships are abandoned, piles of books left unread.
i didn't stop reading though. far from it. the only thing is that i, despite of my impending bankruptcy, bought a huge load of other books. these i even managed to read, so there's an upside. let's have a look at some of them:
there's nothing more frustrating than coming up with a seemingly bright idea and then stumbling across someone who had that very idea way before you and acted on it far more convincingly than you'll ever be able to. case in point: this blog and nick hornby's "the complete polysyllabic spree." essentially a reader's diary he wrote for the US magazine believer, this is hornby at his best. even though i initially had little interest in most of his choices (a lot of british literature and remote american authors) , i still read the book cover to cover in two days. i didn't care for his last few novels, but once he's writing about his cultural obsessions - as he did in "fever pitch" and "high fidelity" - you just can't help being swept along with his enthusiasm. this man could probably even write a book about soccer and i'd still be interested. uh, wait, he actually did.
anyway, now i'll have to add another two books to my reading list: "citizen vince" by jess walter and "what good are the arts" by john carey. hornby's approach to keeping up a reading schedule also made me realize that it would help if i didn't only read novels but the occasional non-fiction book as well, just to spice things up a little. which leads us to another work finished during the christmas holidays:
yes, i know. uninspired and populist, this choice, no? well, i don't really mind because I'm ready to admit that i've been fascinated by the man ever since he decided to run for presidency. this book did little to lend further support to my enthusiam, but it also didn't diminish my view of the president elect. instead, what i got was page after page of deliberate dialectical reasoning which i've come to reckognize as being typical of lawyers. i don't know what it is, but being a succesful practitioner of the law seems to require a mock-regal, slighly dozy tone as well as tirelessly weighing one argument against the other without necessarily arriving at any sort of conclusion.
which, however, makes for a great meditative reading experience. on the one hand ... on the other hand ... still, there's no denying that ... relaxation guaranteed. the literary equivalent to a massage (although i never had a massage. it's actually supposed to be quite painful, isn't it?).
other honorable mentions: max goldt's "qq" (great as always, but since i'm writing about anglophone stuff here, i'll leave it at that). finished "the solitudes" and currently halfway through "love & sleep" (as promised, an entry on john crowley will follow sooner or later), while i've nearly given up on marquez. i wonder whether i should take to heart hornby's advice for people struggling with difficult books they're not really enjoying: "please, please: put it down. you'll never finish it. start something else."
i didn't stop reading though. far from it. the only thing is that i, despite of my impending bankruptcy, bought a huge load of other books. these i even managed to read, so there's an upside. let's have a look at some of them:
there's nothing more frustrating than coming up with a seemingly bright idea and then stumbling across someone who had that very idea way before you and acted on it far more convincingly than you'll ever be able to. case in point: this blog and nick hornby's "the complete polysyllabic spree." essentially a reader's diary he wrote for the US magazine believer, this is hornby at his best. even though i initially had little interest in most of his choices (a lot of british literature and remote american authors) , i still read the book cover to cover in two days. i didn't care for his last few novels, but once he's writing about his cultural obsessions - as he did in "fever pitch" and "high fidelity" - you just can't help being swept along with his enthusiasm. this man could probably even write a book about soccer and i'd still be interested. uh, wait, he actually did.
anyway, now i'll have to add another two books to my reading list: "citizen vince" by jess walter and "what good are the arts" by john carey. hornby's approach to keeping up a reading schedule also made me realize that it would help if i didn't only read novels but the occasional non-fiction book as well, just to spice things up a little. which leads us to another work finished during the christmas holidays:
yes, i know. uninspired and populist, this choice, no? well, i don't really mind because I'm ready to admit that i've been fascinated by the man ever since he decided to run for presidency. this book did little to lend further support to my enthusiam, but it also didn't diminish my view of the president elect. instead, what i got was page after page of deliberate dialectical reasoning which i've come to reckognize as being typical of lawyers. i don't know what it is, but being a succesful practitioner of the law seems to require a mock-regal, slighly dozy tone as well as tirelessly weighing one argument against the other without necessarily arriving at any sort of conclusion.
which, however, makes for a great meditative reading experience. on the one hand ... on the other hand ... still, there's no denying that ... relaxation guaranteed. the literary equivalent to a massage (although i never had a massage. it's actually supposed to be quite painful, isn't it?).
other honorable mentions: max goldt's "qq" (great as always, but since i'm writing about anglophone stuff here, i'll leave it at that). finished "the solitudes" and currently halfway through "love & sleep" (as promised, an entry on john crowley will follow sooner or later), while i've nearly given up on marquez. i wonder whether i should take to heart hornby's advice for people struggling with difficult books they're not really enjoying: "please, please: put it down. you'll never finish it. start something else."
Posts
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen