Re: I like books

[Aaron Edwards <edwardsaaron2000 at yahoo_com>]

I can't decide on what books to read, so I'm reading
several titles at once. I have some reading for a
summer class to do, but on top of it I am reading
(simoultaneously, as my mood fits): Ghost in the shell
(a Magna), Take the Canoli by Sarah Vowell, Chineese
the easy way (if I'm going to China for three years,
then In guess it might help to learn the language),
the complete poems of Earnest Hemmingway, and lastly,
a book about the face on Mars.
Sheesh, I did not realize how much I am reading all at
once, no wonder my backpack is so heavy right now.

--- Nathan Swartzendruber <thefishpatrol at hotmail_com>
wrote:
> Summer reading time is here. Really the only thing
> that differentiates my 
> reading habits between seasons is, well, that they
> occur at different times 
> of the year. Anyway, here are a couple books I've
> read recently. Maybe we 
> can all hook each other into some new authors or at
> least new titles.
> I like books.
> 
> #1: Four Visits to Zimbabwe, by Doris M. Lessing
> Only non-travel guide about Africa in my local
> library branch when I got 
> back, so I picked it up. Certainly a very
> interesting picture of the slow 
> death of British colonialism, despite Zimbabwean
> independence in 1980. And 
> the successive trips provide a living view of
> changing attitudes and 
> opinions, both of European expatriates and
> Nationals. Her inner dialogue of 
> changes, good and bad (both very grey categories),
> is very informative as 
> well.
> 
> That said, there is only a loose thread of
> continuing story that flows 
> through the entire text. Granted, she's documenting
> her travels, but it 
> seems a bit more perspective (or a more involved
> editor) could have helped 
> give the book a bit more flow. I'd recommend it
> quickly to those interested 
> in an authentic look at Africa, but probably not for
> those looking for a 
> quick read during lunches.
> Out of five stars, I give this... Good but, kinda,
> maaaahhh.
> 
> #2, Bluebeard, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
> Picked this up because I watched "The Recruit" and
> said, oh yeah, I dig 
> Vonnegut. Once again, the only choice at the local
> branch, (I need to find 
> an apartment next to a bigger library) but one of
> the more rewarding 
> name-grabs I've made. Great book.
> 
> "Bluebeard" is a fictional autobiography about Rabo
> Karabekian, an Armenian, 
> raised in California by parents who had escape
> genocide by the Turks. He 
> discovered a talent for drawing and eventually
> learns under the great Dan 
> Gregory (no one can draw glum horses like Dan
> Gregory). His path also leads 
> to World War II and the Abstract Expressionist
> movement.
> 
> The story, however, leads the reader through the
> summer when he writes his 
> autobiography: the events that lead him to write the
> book, and so forth. So 
> what's built is a running commentary between his
> past and his present, how 
> both can affect the image or even actuality of the
> other.
> If that's the basic outline, what's missing is an
> impression of Vonnegut's 
> laughter and simplicity. He writes with a beautiful
> voice and clarity that 
> bring real joy to reading. Childlike, but not
> childish, he never strays from 
> his characters, yet speaks through them with a
> self-effacing wisdom that is, 
> I think, the book's intention: auto-biography,
> spoken of and to one's self.
> 
> Out of five stars, I give this... Yeah, you just
> need to read this. All of 
> you.
> 
> Up next, Blue Shoe, by Anne Lamott, in, well,
> another 90 pages. Then, if I'm 
> lucky, another Salman Rushdie. It's true, I like the
> books. They're like 
> flipping through God's catalogue of lives.
> 
> Nathan
> 
>
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=====
-----------------------------------------
 And I use these words pretty loosely. There's so much more to life than words. 
-Linford Detweiler
-----------------------------------------
Aaron J Edwards
edwardsaaron2000 at yahoo_com
http://clone316.tripod.com

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