Part Two, What We Read: The Plots thicken
"The wise ones brought us here from far far away. . . ."
-an alien in the Star Trek episode "The Paradise Syndrome"
We read so many things, all sorts of stuff. But as Emily Dickinson observed in that much (over) quoted ship metaphor about the power of books to transport, they often do take us Lands away- sometimes to new or exotic locales, but always far from the daily cares. When we read for pleasure we also translate, articulate and order our thoughts and feelings with the help of some invisible, writerly hand.
The act of reading a good book speaks to our world views, ideas and knowledge, likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, fears, experiences, curiosity, and the sheer need for escape from the everyday. Literary or just literate meditation, it relaxes and soothes, and may even enlighten.
From facebook and yahoo to emails and digital newspapers, we read those things too, but it's the books that remain with us: from the fraught and funny 1950's not-so-always- social teas, trifles and interesting conglomeration of Barbara Pym's Excellent Women, to Toni Morrison's brutally honest and moving The Bluest Eye of an American, racial badland, the many layered immigrant stories of Jhumpa Lahiri, an episodic, sharply satirical Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and the disordered, brilliant stream of Proust's much too highly detailed consciousness, we read on.
The choices seem infinite, despite our occasional whining about having "nothing to read. " In truth there are not enough hours in a lifetime to read it all, read it well, and read it twice.
The great American novels, the realism of Henry James, Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser vs. the minimal prose of Hemingway, Fitzgerald or Raymond Carver; the mid or late Victorians- Dickens, George Eliot or Hardy, anyone? The sci-fiers or alienated existentialists, the meta fiction of a post modern acrobat like Italo Calvino or lunacy of a Pynchon; the sharp, contemporary smartness of Zadie Smith; or a juicy and rich epic classic like Anna Karenina from the ineffable Count Tolstoi, any of the other unforgettable stories from around the world. There's an endless stream of "new fiction" and trendy bestsellers. Maybe you want to dig into an old fashioned mystery, be it Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie or J. K. Rowling. Others swear by non-fiction.
And then there are your all time favorites. Can you name your top ten?? As for great, classic novels, there are too many to mention- all vying for a place on a much too restricted list. On a spur of the moment however, and from other genres as well, I choose Amos Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness (non-fiction!), Jack Finny's Time and Again (creative, luscious historical sci-fi), and A Crown of Feathers by I.B. Singer (evocative, powerful short stories), just to cite a random few that popped into mind from waaaay back; apparently these stories sit cozily and quietly in the back of memory somewhere, refusing to be forgotten for this or any other list!
The choices of what to read often appear never ending, and life seems good. An almost infinite stream to which most likely one can never do justice- what more could you ask for? In addition, we read not only books, but everything- (a different topic to be sure, but to mention a few- images, art, screens of all sorts, movies, situations and people). Here though, I write only of printed words, pages, really good stories, devoted readers.
The desire to read is ubiquitous and universal. The fact that you are taking the time to peruse these very letters, words and sentences- paltry though they seem in light of the mention of great books- proves you are a bona fide reader! Who else but a dedicated reader would even want to read about reading?!?
We all differ in our tastes, speak and read a variety of languages, settle and live in diverse places across the globe, but the desire to savor all those words and stories connects us, and in a sense keeps us going; it comprises a record of who we are out there in the vastness, it imbues purpose!
"I've always wondered why there are so many humanoids scattered through the galaxy"- Dr. Leonard McKoy, aka "Bones," in "The Paradise Syndrome"
So whaddya reading these days??? (I'm willingly being hypnotized by Giorgio Bassani's newly translated Novel of Ferrara- a poetic journey in prose wherein a northern Italian town and its narrator serve as the microcosm for world changing events in the twentieth century; it's also kinda' huge, very stylistically detailed and would ease me through the rest of winter (if I took it slow, which I am not).
What are your "top ten" (or five, or three, or dozen, because there are two more you just cannot leave out)? Or perhaps there is a particular volume that currently has you in or out of its thrall this very winter too? C'mon readers, share!
. . . . . . . . . .
-As always, if you have trouble posting in the "comments" box (a not unusual blogspot glitch), just email me & I will post it- nystoryweaver@yahoo.com-
The act of reading a good book speaks to our world views, ideas and knowledge, likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, fears, experiences, curiosity, and the sheer need for escape from the everyday. Literary or just literate meditation, it relaxes and soothes, and may even enlighten.
From facebook and yahoo to emails and digital newspapers, we read those things too, but it's the books that remain with us: from the fraught and funny 1950's not-so-always- social teas, trifles and interesting conglomeration of Barbara Pym's Excellent Women, to Toni Morrison's brutally honest and moving The Bluest Eye of an American, racial badland, the many layered immigrant stories of Jhumpa Lahiri, an episodic, sharply satirical Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and the disordered, brilliant stream of Proust's much too highly detailed consciousness, we read on.
The choices seem infinite, despite our occasional whining about having "nothing to read. " In truth there are not enough hours in a lifetime to read it all, read it well, and read it twice.
The great American novels, the realism of Henry James, Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser vs. the minimal prose of Hemingway, Fitzgerald or Raymond Carver; the mid or late Victorians- Dickens, George Eliot or Hardy, anyone? The sci-fiers or alienated existentialists, the meta fiction of a post modern acrobat like Italo Calvino or lunacy of a Pynchon; the sharp, contemporary smartness of Zadie Smith; or a juicy and rich epic classic like Anna Karenina from the ineffable Count Tolstoi, any of the other unforgettable stories from around the world. There's an endless stream of "new fiction" and trendy bestsellers. Maybe you want to dig into an old fashioned mystery, be it Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie or J. K. Rowling. Others swear by non-fiction.
And then there are your all time favorites. Can you name your top ten?? As for great, classic novels, there are too many to mention- all vying for a place on a much too restricted list. On a spur of the moment however, and from other genres as well, I choose Amos Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness (non-fiction!), Jack Finny's Time and Again (creative, luscious historical sci-fi), and A Crown of Feathers by I.B. Singer (evocative, powerful short stories), just to cite a random few that popped into mind from waaaay back; apparently these stories sit cozily and quietly in the back of memory somewhere, refusing to be forgotten for this or any other list!
The choices of what to read often appear never ending, and life seems good. An almost infinite stream to which most likely one can never do justice- what more could you ask for? In addition, we read not only books, but everything- (a different topic to be sure, but to mention a few- images, art, screens of all sorts, movies, situations and people). Here though, I write only of printed words, pages, really good stories, devoted readers.
The desire to read is ubiquitous and universal. The fact that you are taking the time to peruse these very letters, words and sentences- paltry though they seem in light of the mention of great books- proves you are a bona fide reader! Who else but a dedicated reader would even want to read about reading?!?
We all differ in our tastes, speak and read a variety of languages, settle and live in diverse places across the globe, but the desire to savor all those words and stories connects us, and in a sense keeps us going; it comprises a record of who we are out there in the vastness, it imbues purpose!
"I've always wondered why there are so many humanoids scattered through the galaxy"- Dr. Leonard McKoy, aka "Bones," in "The Paradise Syndrome"
So whaddya reading these days??? (I'm willingly being hypnotized by Giorgio Bassani's newly translated Novel of Ferrara- a poetic journey in prose wherein a northern Italian town and its narrator serve as the microcosm for world changing events in the twentieth century; it's also kinda' huge, very stylistically detailed and would ease me through the rest of winter (if I took it slow, which I am not).
What are your "top ten" (or five, or three, or dozen, because there are two more you just cannot leave out)? Or perhaps there is a particular volume that currently has you in or out of its thrall this very winter too? C'mon readers, share!
. . . . . . . . . .
-As always, if you have trouble posting in the "comments" box (a not unusual blogspot glitch), just email me & I will post it- nystoryweaver@yahoo.com-
Wow Lynn I too love Amos Oz’ Tale of Love & Darkness. And of course Madam Bovary and Anna Karenina, Toni Morison's Beloved, anything by William Trevor, Anne Enright ot Alice McDermott, and Virginia Woolf’s perfect Mrs Dalloway, and Annie Prouxl’s Shipping News, and Old Filth and Passage to India, and Stoner and Andrea Barrett’s Ship Fever, and my hero James Joyce’s Ulysses and his perfect short story The Dead.
ReplyDeleteThanx for reminding me of these wonderful books!
Thanks Dana for joining in, and especially for reminding of some more truly great reads: "Mrs Dalloway"- as you say, perfect, not a wasted word, poetic, important, imagery that still resonates decades later as I go about my daily life; anything by Forster ("Howard's End"'s siren song calling me back for a reread a few years ago, but now that you've mentioned, this may not be the last of it. . .); Annie Proulx's dead on truths about people amid a fantastical setting; "The Dubliners"- moving, flawless stories; the ineffable Madam B. . . .
DeleteLately I’ve read a few contemporary works I found lacking, so re-reading good old, solid stuff is much more rewarding, altho now looking forward to Michele Obama’s Becoming, was just gifted with a cooy!
ReplyDeleteAgreed re: all that stuff on the shelves of bookstores. . . maybe the trick is to figure out which seem as if they'll be read a hundred (or even fifty) years from now-
ReplyDeleteComment from Diane-
ReplyDeleteWhat’s left to say?!! Really enjoyed the piece and the exchanges. I’ve never reread any books but if I had the time to, the first one would definitely be The Book of the
Dun Cow, by C.S. Lewis, and then A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. That makes them the first 2 of my top 10.
Diane no faint praise from a reader's reader- "Owen Meany" is something I've wanted to read and it's on my list now-
ReplyDeletethanks!
From Paula-
ReplyDeleteSomehow I keep thinking of How to Talk About A Book You Haven't Read, but this will be truthful:
Top of the list is Henry James Portrait of A Lady, Sido and Cheri by Colette, E. F. Benson’s Lucia series, Willa Cather Song of the Lark, Robert Graves’ The White Goddess because it changed howI thought about religion, and James Thurber, Toni Morrison Song of Solomon, Dostoyevsky Brothers Karamozov, Thomas Wolfe, John Irving, books that made me roll over and say wow that was really good, The Odyssey, also loved A Prayer for Owen Meany, My Cousin Rachel, House of the Spirits, Laughing Boy, Barbara Pym, my beloved detectives Montalbano, Brunetti, Zen and Guarniccia.
Paula
Paula, a reading list for the ages!
ReplyDeleteYes many times over to E.F. Benson, Thurber, and (you just reminded) one of my solid top ten, maybe even in the first three though that's a tough question- "Look Homeward Angel" by Thomas Wolfe- which was life changing in the appreciation, awe of his thoughts and style. As for the rest, clearly I have my work cut out for me. . . here's to many winters of reading fests (and maybe some lazy summer days too)!
Lynn,
ReplyDeleteYou still have me thinking about favorite books and thanx Paula, I never read Look Homeward Angel, must add to my bucket list!
And if you're still interested in more favorites, see About the Author on my blog! www.WorldThruBrownEyes