6.26.2007

Tuesday travails

Just a quick note to say I'll be blogging erratically for this next week or so. My life is a bit out of kilter, and I'm trying to catch up.

Oh, I finally got the short story colllections of my avowed reading from my challenge: Jean Stubbs and Italo Calvino, to be exact. More in a future post...

Over the weekend, I read Sleeping Where I Fall by Peter Coyote. This memoir about his adventures as a participant in Sixties counterculture gives one person's view of communes and the perils of trying to "forge a new culture." I never get over at how idealistic some of the old Sixties folk genuniely are -- I grew up in the Cynical Seventies, after all. I am forever reading books on that era in an effort to understand how a huge swath of young people could really believe they could change the world...all seemingly by virtue of growing their hair, opening their beds and ingesting some drugs. I know that's simplistic, but then again, it is pretty simplistic to think you can change the world by changing the surface. Anyway, interesting read, more from reading between the lines than from the text itself.



So, that was a diversion from the real reading of Don Quixote, which I shirked for the most part. Oh, well. I loved all of the comments from my previous DQ post. I am intrigued by the reactions to my description of the "bloodless dissection" of the literary theorist I quoted. I stand by my comment, as far as my personal taste is concerned; I prefer to read the living, breathing text first, and then subject it to the post-mortem.



Finally, for anyone who is interested: July is my Neglected Books Month. I will start with The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy, for anyone else who wants to read and comment along.

I also have some genuinely lost books on the docket (maybe I will decide that should have remained lost, who knows?), including:
The Weekend Man by Richard Wright
Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West
Confessions of a Child of the Century by Thomas Rogers
Windows on the World by Frederic Beigbeder
Never Ask the End by Isabel Paterson

I also plan to offer some selections of Neglected Books that I've enjoyed, for others who may not know about them. I am hoping to get some candidates from all of you avid readers out there, too...more later.

'Til then, send some calming vibes my way!

9 comments:

Bobby D. said...

calm breathe serene woodland scene baby deer calm little waterfall green leaves slight cool breeze calm.

LK said...

Thanks, Ched!:)

darkorpheus said...

Ah, I've just picked up Dud Avocado - let's see if my schedule allows a July read.

But on a personal front, I hope everything settles down for you soon. From personal experience, a mindful, calming yoga practice can really help when our lives spin out of control.

Anonymous said...

Sending you calming vibes! I hate it when life gets crazy. I love your Neglected Authors idea. Can't wait to hear how that goes.

bhadd said...

Literate kitten
a literate muse me ow
Literate ow--me

Julie K. Rose said...

Hey you - also sending you mellow vibes. Just remember to breathe :)

Love the idea of Neglected Books. I personally don't think enough people these days read The Plague by Camus. And Norway's Sigrid Undset did an amazing trilogy called Kristin Lavransdatter, about medieval Norway, which is really excellent historical fiction.

Anonymous said...

Seems like lots of people are reading or planning on reading Dud Avocado. I am looking forward to hearing what all of you think about it so I know where to place it on my NYRB Classics wishlist.

Sending calm thoughts your way!

litlove said...

Sending you bucketloads of calming vibes too! Good books are the best therapy I know, that and shopping. I loved The Dud Avocado when I read it. Oh and there's also a good book called Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn that I find very helpful in combating stress.

Keep us posted as to how you are!

Anonymous said...

Many, many, many calming vibes coming your way - taking some time to catch up with one's life is always time well-spent!