I've been a Steinbeck fan ever since I read East of Eden in 2002 (no, it had nothing to do with Oprah, I had been eyeballing it ever since I worked with Leslie Starasta's crazy ass in the LCC library). I knew after that I would most likely read much much more which I have in the last four years including a few more faves The Winter of Our Discontent, The Pearl (you can read this in one setting and will be a better person for it) Of Mice and Men, and the Grapes of Wrath (probably my least favorite). I still have a few left to read and am currently working on To A God Unknown. The problem is, it is moving so slow that I just want to quit. It's a relatively short book but I can't seem to catch my stride.
The land has always been an important theme to Steinbeck as many of you know and in his context that makes sense but in this book I feel like I am going to die if i have to read any more details about the land. The premise of the story is fascinating, a young man named Joseph gets his fathers blessing to go out west to get his own land and a wife, his father promises that after he dies he will be there with him, Joseph acquires his land and his father dies and for some reason or another Joseph thinks that his father is in the huge oak tree right by his house and is blessing the land. One of his brothers gets worried about Joseph's pagan beliefs and kills the tree and a plague falls on the land. Unfortunately I'm 1/3 of the way through and we're still describing the land. I just want to get to the story already!
What do you do when you are in the middle of a book that you really want to finish but you can't bear to pick up? I can't just quit, right?
I've purchased Body Piercing Saved My Life (by recommendation of Gentry) and I really want to just chuck everything and read that but I also want to save it for the plane ride to Seattle in a few weeks. Quite a dilemma.
I'm also thinking about reading some current fiction for a time just for a change of pace and some freshness. The problem is, I know the classic authors very well but i don't know anything about current writers or what they are writing about. Anyone have some recommendations they would like to give of something that came out recently?
By the way, I apologize for the whiny, self-involved blog post. I'm bored.
Another by the way, the Cubs are beating the Cardinals AGAIN. I love the fact that the Cardinals cannot find a way to beat the horrible Cubs. Freaking hilarious.
4 comments:
Hey Dustin. It's Linsay. The Grapes of Wrath is one of my least favorite books as well. I think it's great that I can keep telling J.P. that the Cubs won! Church wasn't the same without you and Kelli. We miss you.
Dustin, It's not quite fiction, but The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost is quite good for those who might be experiencing culture shock. You will experience a bit of this traveling through wyoming. The book is hilarious.
Have you read any Nick Hornby? High Fidelity is required reading, but about a boy was also quite enjoyable.
And if you enjoy that (which you should) i would suggest looking up Chuck Klosterman - pretty much anything he has written.
good suggestions guys, those have all sounded interesting. Killing Yourself To Live looks like something I would like. I haven't read any Hornby but have heard a ton about him. might have to pick something by him up to.
the more i think about it, the more i realize i probably wont' have that much free time to read what I want once i start school in September. that really sucks.
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