I like to think of myself as well educated and open to enjoying of good literature. I have been attempting to read the classics over the last few years and have enjoyed many of them.
Hearing cultural references to Dylan Thomas frequently as a great poet and of course knowing that Bob Dylan himself took his name from Dylan Thomas I decided to educate myself.
I have been reading the collected poems of Dylan Thomas. After reading about half the book I have to call myself.....completely unmoved. Perhaps my brain does not appreciate poetry. Clearly this would appear to be the case. In my later in life readings I have loved Hemingway and marveled at Steinbeck, think Updike's Rabbit series is some of the best writing I have ever seen. But that said I found Cheever to be not that enticing and still have not built up the courage to attack Faulkner.
Dylan Thomas and poetry may well be south of my ability to appreciate it. I regret it. I tried. It may be time to move on to Faulkner and see how I do with that.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
After reading reviews of this in about five different magazines it became clear that this novel was the buzz worthy novel of the moment. Interestingly in many of these reviews the author wanted to stress and have people be sure to know that he had started this book long before the TV series Big Love came to be.
The book was good. It tells the story of a man who finds himself with four wives, 28 children, a business that is failing and in the process of building a brothel and having feelings for another woman. Much of this story is superficial and for me at least was uneven.
Some small parts of the book however were extremely moving. A flashback telling about the death of one of the children a few years earlier, an afflicted child with cerebal palsy that a special relationship with her father Golden Richards who dies in a tragic accident. Another child, the clear misfit in a family of 28 children in a plea for attention has an accident that will have long lasting repurcussions for the family. After reading both of these segments I went and checked on my children in bed and kissed them while they slept.
An interesting backstory is also of the nuclear bomb testing in the Arizona and Nevada desert in the middle of the century and how it had long lasting effects on the lives on the inhabitants.
Fiction is hard for me to be embrace at this point in my life. I am glad I read this but it was only good..it was not the Great American Novel. The character of the patriarch was not one easy to embrace. Were it not for the child of trouble named Rusty and the trials of the 4th wife Trish the book would be devoid of embraceable characters. This is a flaw that is hard to repair in a 500 page book.
The book was good. It tells the story of a man who finds himself with four wives, 28 children, a business that is failing and in the process of building a brothel and having feelings for another woman. Much of this story is superficial and for me at least was uneven.
Some small parts of the book however were extremely moving. A flashback telling about the death of one of the children a few years earlier, an afflicted child with cerebal palsy that a special relationship with her father Golden Richards who dies in a tragic accident. Another child, the clear misfit in a family of 28 children in a plea for attention has an accident that will have long lasting repurcussions for the family. After reading both of these segments I went and checked on my children in bed and kissed them while they slept.
An interesting backstory is also of the nuclear bomb testing in the Arizona and Nevada desert in the middle of the century and how it had long lasting effects on the lives on the inhabitants.
Fiction is hard for me to be embrace at this point in my life. I am glad I read this but it was only good..it was not the Great American Novel. The character of the patriarch was not one easy to embrace. Were it not for the child of trouble named Rusty and the trials of the 4th wife Trish the book would be devoid of embraceable characters. This is a flaw that is hard to repair in a 500 page book.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Bob Dylan
I love Bob Dylan. My oldest son in affirming that as uncool as I am in most things accepts my judgment in music more than any other matter. Recently I have been making playlists for him to listen to on his IPOD. I have added to the most recent ones some Bob Dylan songs he may not have heard as much.
In doing so I am again and again filled with wonder at the art of Dylan.
Visions of Johanna is a masterful song from Blonde on Blonde. Desolation Row is one of Dylans long songs that tells a wonderful story.
Tangled up in Blue from his signature Blood on the Tracks remains one of the best Dylan songs ever wrote.
For me the real happiness has been hearing him playing a couple of more obscure songs that I have sent him. Highlands the 16 minute epic from Time out of Mind has Dylan sing talking a long story with " my hearts in the highlands " as the main theme and at one point proclaiming that he is" talking to myself in a monologue" which he surely is.
Then there is Tight Connection to my Heart a long forgotten song from Empire Burlesque in 1980's which has some great lines that are pure Dylan such as " Someday maybe I'll remember to forget" and " what looks larege from a distance close up ain't never that big.
Bob Dylan .....the love transferred to my son. At least he gets that from me. Thank you Bob
In doing so I am again and again filled with wonder at the art of Dylan.
Visions of Johanna is a masterful song from Blonde on Blonde. Desolation Row is one of Dylans long songs that tells a wonderful story.
Tangled up in Blue from his signature Blood on the Tracks remains one of the best Dylan songs ever wrote.
For me the real happiness has been hearing him playing a couple of more obscure songs that I have sent him. Highlands the 16 minute epic from Time out of Mind has Dylan sing talking a long story with " my hearts in the highlands " as the main theme and at one point proclaiming that he is" talking to myself in a monologue" which he surely is.
Then there is Tight Connection to my Heart a long forgotten song from Empire Burlesque in 1980's which has some great lines that are pure Dylan such as " Someday maybe I'll remember to forget" and " what looks larege from a distance close up ain't never that big.
Bob Dylan .....the love transferred to my son. At least he gets that from me. Thank you Bob
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Letter by The Box Tops
Is there a better song than The Letter. Two minutes approximately of a great song. Alex Chilton had a career in reverse. This was a perfect song.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Free Books on Kindle
My wife bought me a Kindle for Valentine's Day. With my disability I have trouble holding things and certainly a heavy book gets to be a task. However in the interest of financial conservatism we returned it. I am about 10 books behind, I like to get books at the library ( free ) and I " like books" That said I do understand the appeal of having a Kindle.
Currently I am reading three books, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, The Great Upheaval, And David McCullough's Truman biography. All will be noted here upon completion. To have all of those on a kindle with my place held digitally would be a wonderful thing.
However recently Amazon has made the Kindle available for Apple users as well as PC users. Once an download the kindle device onto their computers and read books on their computer screens. One can still adjust the font etc. Accompany this with the fact that many classics such as the aforementioned Odyssey and my next selection Moby Dick are available free on Kindle and you have a very happy frugal book reader.
There are enough classic books I have never read that I could keep very busy reading free books on my Apple kindle.
It took me 3 weeks to read The Odyssey. In addition to all my regular reading if I can read 12 to 18 classics this year by spending 15 minutes a day on the Apple kindle that will be time well spent both economically and educationally.
Currently I am reading three books, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, The Great Upheaval, And David McCullough's Truman biography. All will be noted here upon completion. To have all of those on a kindle with my place held digitally would be a wonderful thing.
However recently Amazon has made the Kindle available for Apple users as well as PC users. Once an download the kindle device onto their computers and read books on their computer screens. One can still adjust the font etc. Accompany this with the fact that many classics such as the aforementioned Odyssey and my next selection Moby Dick are available free on Kindle and you have a very happy frugal book reader.
There are enough classic books I have never read that I could keep very busy reading free books on my Apple kindle.
It took me 3 weeks to read The Odyssey. In addition to all my regular reading if I can read 12 to 18 classics this year by spending 15 minutes a day on the Apple kindle that will be time well spent both economically and educationally.
The Odyssey by Homer
Somehow I escaped having to read this in high school. Looking at my son's freshman English syllabus I saw that he was not going to be so fortunate. In a spirit of both solidarity and my desire to go back and read all the books I did not read when assigned in school I have today finished this Homer classic.
It was finished just about an hour after the " child of morning rosy fingered dawn" appeared." Anyone who has read The Odyssey will get this reference. I wonder if the several repetitive phrases that appear in The Odyssey such ss this were in the original or are a result of the translation.
The book itself was a good one. As a young boy I read the Tales of Hercules and of many of the mythology that appears in this book. Mortals and Immortals interact with the hero Ulysses.
In short Ulysses goes to war, takes 20 years to return and his wife is holding off suitors intending to marry her now that her husband is dead. He returns. He corrects things.
I really did enjoy the story. I am glad I read it. I will be interested to see how my son does with it.
It was finished just about an hour after the " child of morning rosy fingered dawn" appeared." Anyone who has read The Odyssey will get this reference. I wonder if the several repetitive phrases that appear in The Odyssey such ss this were in the original or are a result of the translation.
The book itself was a good one. As a young boy I read the Tales of Hercules and of many of the mythology that appears in this book. Mortals and Immortals interact with the hero Ulysses.
In short Ulysses goes to war, takes 20 years to return and his wife is holding off suitors intending to marry her now that her husband is dead. He returns. He corrects things.
I really did enjoy the story. I am glad I read it. I will be interested to see how my son does with it.
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