Tonight I returned a book to the library because of an allergic reaction. Apparently, my respiratory system took issue with the previous reader’s favorite perfume. I will most likely buy the book instead of endangering my existence but … what a silly experience. The good news is that I discovered a Connie Willis book I [...]
Category Archives: Books
The Book Project (the world's smallest book club)
People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.
-Saul Bellow
Randy and I read lots of books. We read books that we shouldn't as well as those that deserve multiple readings. This project started out by the collective realization that of the so-called 100 greatest English-language books of 20th century, we had only read about a third. To fill that gap in our education we set out to complete the list. The progress is recorded in the The Book List and the discussions are chronicled in blog format here.
The readings completed to date for this project in chronological order (the last may not be finished) are:
- Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (finished before discussing on-line)
- Lolita
- Red Harvest
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Under the Net
- At Swim-Two-Birds
- The Adventures of Augie March
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- The Berlin Stories
- The Blind Assassin
- Camera Lucida
- Brideshead Revisited
- East of Eden
EoE Favorite Quotes
18 November 2009 – 5:28 pm
At the beginning of Part 2, Steinbeck’s narrator goes on about how horrible the 19th century was, glad it is over, time to wash our hands of it and start fresh. But he repeats this lovely bit before moving on to the thirteenth chapter: Oh, but strawberries will never taste so good again and the [...]
East of Eden
3 November 2009 – 12:31 am
It is Fall of 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower has just become president of the United States with Nixon as his running mate, the Korean War has not yet ended, and John Steinbeck publishes East of Eden. The Salinas valley is a rich agricultural area, “America’s Salad Bowl,” and most of my memories are of travels [...]
The Door in the Wall
28 May 2009 – 2:19 pm
This short story deserves a second reading. It has an interesting narrative voice that relates a story of a friend’s memory. Throughout the reading I couldn’t help thinking that the door in the wall is meant to represent opportunity. It is a peculiar telling.
