Random Musings

Well, the blog poll regarding Dan Brown's soon-to-be-released book was an abject failure (since I accounted for 50% of the votes).  The poll concept for this blog is dead (well, mostly dead) ["There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do."  "What's that?"  " Go through his clothes and look for loose change."] [Princess Bride Quote No. 1]

I am trying to blog every few days (whether I need it or not).  I haven't made progress on the book I started after Zeitoun (we'll get back to that in a moment).

What I have often done for book recommendations in the past is read a "favorite all-time book" suggested by someone whose opinion I trust.  One such book that I read a few years ago is "The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon.  The novel is an outstanding read (and Pulitzer Prize winner).  The only other Chabon book that I've read is "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" (which inexplicably won a Hugo Award--I say "inexplicably" because I would not consider the book to be a science fiction book).

I like to think that I have a decent vocabulary.  Above average even. Chabon, though, makes me feel like a moron.  Not only are there numerous words unfamiliar to me, but invariably, context doesn't help.  I look at a word and I feel like I'm Inigo Montoya looking at Vizzini and saying, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."  [Princess Bride Quote No. 2]  But the word means exactly what Chabon thinks it means.  Both times I've read his novels, I've googled "bookmark dictionary" [they do exist] and considered purchasing one (I haven't yet).

Some have asked how I find time to read as much as I do.  While I probably spend less time reading than you think, it helps when I can read in the family room while the kids are watching Nick or Disney or whatever.  Chabon's dense language slows my reading down.  It took me an unusually long time to complete "Kavalier and Clay."  You just can't read Chabon with Hannah Montana singing in the background.

Enter Blindness by Jose Saramago.  I've gotten through all of 56 pages in three nights.  I've never read Saramago, and it's the first book I read based on a recommendation from one of the three people who read the blog.  WAY TOO MUCH thinking involved in order to read Saramago.  His style (due, in part, to the fact that Blindness is translated from Portuguese) is unconventional and takes some getting used to.  So, this one's a struggle (but a good one), and the only deadline is that I need to finish it in the next two weeks when my two Big Red Machine books are due to arrive.  (PS:  There is a book that I saw, but didn't buy, at the Book Loft in Columbus that I might try to sneak in between)