Finished

I finished Travels With Charley the other day. Now I'm just sticking with Eat, Pray, Love, though I'll probably finish that this weekend. I might start another one after that, but I have an acting scene I have to memorize so the extra reading might fall by the wayside a little bit. Then again, if it's nice out this weekend, I might make a trek to the library...Maybe find the new Dan Brown book. YEAH!

Anyway, surprisingly, I don't recall really coming across any quotes that really stood out to me in TWC. It seems strange, it was a very beautiful, descriptive book about traveling across the country, but for some reason, there wasn't a lot that I came across and thought, I really need to write that down. There was this one quote I marked, he had just been talking to an actor and said this of the theatre:

"So it went on--a profession older than writing and one that will probably survive when the written word has disappeared. And all the sterile wonders of movies and television and radio will fail to wipe it out--a living man in communication with a living audience."

It was an enjoyable read. I wish I could say more about it than that, but really it was enjoyable. The writing was great, of course, but I can't say I was blown away by it. It was nice.

I'll let you know if anything new comes along this weekend.

Seriously changing gears...

I finished Home yesterday afternoon. I had struggled through it a bit, but I was very pleased with the end. It made the struggle worth it and somehow when it started to wind down, I finally started to gain some deeper understanding of what the book was trying to say.

Here are some quotes I wrote down since last time:

"I am hungry in general. It is the particulars that discourage me." (198)

"How to announce the return of comfort and well being except by cooking something fragrant. That's what her mother always did." (252) - This quote and other parts of the book where food was discussed make me want to cook more and provide that kind of comfort.

"You can hate thoughts. That's interesting. I hate most of my thoughts." (287)

"... the table and sideboard with their leonine legs and belligerently clawed feet, like some ill-considered, doiley-infested species of which they were the last survivors." (299)

"His hair had been brushed into a soft white cloud, like harmless aspiration, like a mist given off by the endless work of dreaming." (304)

"If Jack had been here, he'd have felt that terrible shock of joy- no, worse than joy, peace- that floods in like blood pushing into a limb that has been starved of it, like wild rescue, painful and wonderful and humbling- humiliating as she remembered it becasue she had been so helpless against it." (322)

********

The changing gears refers to going from the above book to my next book, which is The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer. When I went to the library the other day, none of the books I was looking for on my list were in and so I started to browse. I recognized this title and then remembered it was a book from the Top 100 list. It is a war novel set in the South Pacific during World War II. Definitely a change of scenery from Home, which is about coming back to a home in Gilead, Iowa.

1986 REPRESENT

Pulitzer Prize in Fiction: Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry

Nobel Prize for Literature: Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)

I swear I've read something by Wole Soyinka. I definitely know the name. Maybe I read one of his plays...or at least learned about him in some theatre class somewhere along the way.

Books of note:

• The Old Devils, Kingsley Amis
• The Progress of Love, Alice Munro
  
• A Summer to Memphis, Peter Taylor
  

1963 (Beth)

Note from the Editor: Christie--that photo just cracks me up! I remember (I think)Mammie bought the tee shirt. With U.J.'s influence perhaps??

Now for the entries for 1963. Beth--there will be a quiz.

Nobel Prize for Literature: Georgio Seferis
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Reivers by William Faulkner

Other books of note:

The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin
73 Poems, ee cummings
The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
V, Thomas Pynchon
The Centaur, John Updike
Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

and last but by no means least: Happiness is a Warm Puppy by Charles M. Schultz

1943 (Guess Who?)

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair

No Nobel Prize for Literature awarded in 1943---the war perhaps?

Popular books published in 1943:

The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
Mere Christianity, CS Lewis
These Happy Golden Years (#8 in Little House series), Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Razor's Edge, W. Somerset Maugham

Who's Next?

Yep, a fun idea...

Cool idea, Mom! Here are my book related entries for 1984:

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction: Ironweed by William Kennedy

Nobel Prize for Literature: Jaroslav Seifert (Czechoslovakia)

Books: Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner and Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie

I'm going to add Ironweed and the books of note to my reading list. As for Seifert, I'm going to look up some of his poetry online. Here's something I found already (from "Dance of Girls Chemises"):

Love,

which we inhale and feed on,

disenchanted,

love that our dreams are keyed on,

love,

that dogs our rise and fall:

nothing

yet the sum of all.

An aside: the album of the year, "Thriller," may explain some things...

Thanks for the suggestion Mom! Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

A fun idea....(maybe).....1962

Darnelle sent me this cool e-mail where you click through to find out the history for the year you were born. Included in the information: Who won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Nobel Prize, bestsellers, etc. I thought I would share the ones from the year I was born, 1962:

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Edge of Sadness, Edwin O'Connor
Nobel Prize for Literature: John Steinbeck

Books of Note:
Another Country, James Baldwin
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
In the Clearing, Robert Frost
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Gunter Grass
The Colossus and Other Poems, Sylvia Plath
All My Pretty Ones, Anne Sexton

http://www.infoplease.com/year/1962.html

Not a happy year, 1962. I think the books truly reflect the turmoil of the time. If you want to see your books--click through and change the year OR let me know the year you were born and I will post for you. The next challenge? Actually reading the books!

Quotes

This is a neat topic and I'm enjoying the discussion going on here and seeing how others keep track of the words that most inspire them.

If I own the book, I sometimes highlight or underline quotes I like, but most often I just write them in a little notebook that I keep handy, with pen, while I'm reading. When I start a new book, I write in the title so I'll know where the quote comes from and then write the page number next to the quote for future reference.

I also have a blank journal that I keep a lot of my favorite quotes in. I haven't updated it for awhile, but it's a combo of images and favorite quotes I've gathered from all over.

Here are couple of quotes from the book I'm currently reading (Home by Marilynne Robinson):

"She opened the windows to cool the kitchen and air out the dining room a little, and the breezes that came in were mild, earthy, grassy, with a feel of sunlight about them" (105). -- I love that last part about the "feel of sunlight."

"You feel that heart in there? My life became your life, like lighting one candle from another. Isn't that a mystery?" (116)

Collection Quotes Part Deux

Grama/Mom/Barbara says:

I think the neatest books of collected quotes I have seen/read are Father Tim’s 2 books from the Mitford Series. Some of the quotes are scrawled in, some are neat, some are typewritten on scraps of paper and look like they are stuck in.
I myself kind of followed that example and I have 2 or maybe 3 different books of quotes going at the present. I never gave it much thought but I LOVE quotes and they are about anything, anything at all as long as the words touch some deep place in my being. A lot of mine are magazine clippings, some are written out of books, out of cards, off of all kinds of things that catch my eye. I am not a purist, I will lift a good from ANYWHERE I see one.
Be loose, write them in colors, all colors, all size markers and pens , CRAYONS, whatever you have when you read it, but always put them all together in the same place. Date them if you want and watch your life wander through the words across time.

Collecting Quotes

Christie brought up a good question. How do you collect quotes? As I learn more about art journaling, I wish I had kept a collection in a more organized way over the years. I read once that Madeline L'Engle kept a big book of quotes throughout her life. I think she talks about it in the book "Walking on Water, Reflections on Faith and Art." (Good read by the way)

I guess it's like anything else. You need to have the desire and the means. And then the discipline. I love a good quote. Maybe I need a journal JUST for that purpose. (another journal? Egads.)

BIt of a change

After being on the verge of tears in El Fuego reading Eat, Pray, Love today I have decided I will only read it at home or when I can take it in and react appropriately if necessary. Which means I will return to Travels With Charley as my take-with-me book that I can read in public/at work etc. So I'll keep posting about them both.

AH HA

I am alive in the world of reading. :)

I must say I have read, but mostly fluff stuff. I finished a book by Janet Oke, "A Bride for Donovon". It was about a mail order bride. It was Sweet, and easy to read. :)

I have a couple of others on the burner... James Patterson "The Midnight Club" and one by another famous guy that for the life of me I will have to either Google or get off my butt to find out.... UGH! He wrote "Time to Kill' , "The Chamber", "The Client", "the Firm".... It is coming to me, John something. Garner? No.... Grisham I think....

Oh, well, life has been to crazy for much heavy reading. I have a couple of things on the sidelines. They have been there waiting for me for so long, I am afraid the dust may have sucked the words out of them. :) Nah, I know that isn't true. "Living Artfully" was hauled out of it's hiding spot this evening, prior to the arrival of Des and her prom dress. (Story for another blog.) I will be taking some quiet time to myself and reading a bit this week. I can't wait. :)

Trudging along...

I'm kind of struggling through my current book, Home by Marilynne Robinson. I think it might be because I'm having a hard time focusing and getting the deeper meaning out of the story and the writing. I think all the snow days threw me off track and now I'm trying to get things back in alignment, which funks with my reading. I'm working through it though and hope to get as much out of it as I can... after all, she's a Pulitzer Prize winning fiction writer!

Readin like a fool

Well, last week I started reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. And I think I will enjoy it. But Saturday I bought Eat, Pray, Love because from what Mom said about it, it seemed an appropriate book for me to read at this particular time in my life. Turns out, that couldn't be more true. I am amazed at how similar her experiences are to the ones I've been having. But I guess that's the point, that it's so similar to what most women go through at some point or other. But the exactitude of it all is uncanny. So I think I made the right choice. Travels with Charley will just have to wait.

Annnd finished another.

When I got the call last night that I wasn't working today I decided to stay up and finish my book. It took a turn after my first post about it. I said how the main character is so optimistic and took the time to enjoy the small things around her, and of course I knew it wouldn't last but the way she changed and how quickly it seemed to happen was very unexpected. I won't go into the details since Mom mentioned she might want to read it, but it was unusual how easily she changed her views on life and how she decided to handle the changes that were happening to her. In terms of my similarities to her I have to say that the way she behaved toward her sister in light of certain developments was very unlike me, but in the other ways she handled her emotional state was unfortunately quite similar. As can be expected, in the end she had grown up quite a bit and was making adult decisions that she knew were right even if they were against her personal feelings.

I wish I could go to the library today since I have the day off, but it is very unlikely that any will be open. So I shall have to do some more borrowing. Kyle has plenty, so it shouldn't be a problem. I also did just read the play from which I am doing a scene for acting class called Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man's Blues. It is pretty strange a little hard to figure out but I will have to read it a couple more times anyway so I can understand it for my scene. It is interesting, though and will definitely be a good challenge. I'll be sure to report back with my new read when I find it.

New Read

I haven't been posting because no one else has, which is a silly excuse. Partly because I'm lazy too I guess. I started a new book last week after finishing Lolita. (I very much enjoyed Grama's post on it :) ) Now I am reading one called I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I really, really like it. It's from the perspective of a 17 year old girl living in England in a very old castle in the 1930's. It is written as if it is her journal and what I find so fascinating about it is that I feel like I could have written it. I very much relate to the character and feel like I could be reading my own journal as if it were me living as a poor family in a castle in England, writing about her life and the people around her and the small things she notices and appreciates. She has a rather optimistic view on life (so far) and leads her life at times as if it is a fairy tale, even though it is far from it. It is a very easy read and I'm sure I will breeze through the end. And maybe my next one will be one I choose rather than one Paige has. Though, that has been working out rather well for me. Glad to hear from everyone again. Keep on truckin!

For those of you who can't....

I know some of you can't e-mail directly to blogger because of work e-mail restrictions. Keep the posts coming whatever way works!

I'm still plugging away at the same old books. Maybe I need to pare down to just one or two instead of five or six. Or go to bed earlier.

I love reading what other people are up to. Mom--I totally loved the story about the librarian's offer to put Lolita in a paper bag. How times have changed!

TEST TEST

Hi reading friends!

Just testing to see if the e-mail publishing address works.  If you want to publish through e-mail because you can't get onto blogger, please send your posts to dolphnsatsunrise.readingnuts@blogger.com.

Happy Reading!

Lolita Revisited

A post from Grama/Mom/Barbara:

I remember reading Lolita. I was about Karen’s age, a ‘married lady’ with young children. There was such a stir about the movie that was coming out based on the novel, oh my, and on such a forbidden topic too, sex with an underage child. I was not intimidated by any of that, it simply made me more curious than I probably would have been about reading the book.
I walked into the Westerly Public Library, past the desk and into the stacks. I knew, from years of loving and exploring the place, exactly where to go. I found what I was seeking and took to the desk to be checked out, where Mrs. Benson said, “Oh, MY! Barbara, I will have to put this one in a bag for you”.
I took it home and read it, then badgered my poor husband to take me to see the movie!
We saw the film starring James Mason and, I think, Carol Lynley, in New London. They wouldn’t show it in Westerly, it was too scandalous and the churches were opposed to it.
A tiny piece piece of film trivia. The town that is shown from a moving train in the film is Westerly, RI, the very same one that would not allow the movie to be shown in their town!
I thought the book was excellent and the movie was good. The scandal of it all was even better

Ding dong, the witch is dead...

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is an awesome book, which I'm sure no one will be surprised to hear.

It was a lot more of an "adult-read" than I had expected. I hadn't exactly expected it be a children's book, but it was a lot more grown-up and intellectual than I anticipated. There was a lot going on and I found it amazing that someone could create a whole 'nother world like that of Oz, with various political parties and lives intertwined. I really look forward to reading the sequels, and of course hopefully someday seeing the play.

Next up for me is Home by Marilynne Robinson. Like I said before, it's a title I saw when browsing at Borders. I guess Robinson wrote another book set in the same town, but completely independent, that was extremely popular.

done da-done done donnnnneee

I finished Lolita today. It actually did not end the way I thought it did, but it's just as well. It was a very enjoyable read, I have to say. One would think that in writing a story from the perspective of a character like this, he would make himself out to be the good guy, in a relatable and sympathetic fashion. But he doesn't glamorize it. He knows the extent to which what he did was socially unacceptable, to say the least. But he is not particularly apologetic about his behavior, for he was acting out of pure, almost otherworldly love, as unorthodox--and illegal--though it was. In one of the last pages of the book, he is talking about his Lolita saying "I looked and looked at her, and knew as clearly as I know I am to die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth, or hoped for anywhere else." Vanity Fair is quoted on the front cover as saying "The only convincing love story of our century." I understand how it could be hard for a lot of people to not dismiss his story as a one of a creepy, disgusting pedophile who took advantage of a young girl. And it indeed is that very thing, but it is revealed at the end that his love for her was more than just a lust or infatuation for a child, but a pure, real and eternal love for a person that he takes with him to his grave. It is also clear that he is aware of his crime and ashamed of what he had done.

Anywho, I definitely recommend this book, though I think it is likely to be interpreted and accepted in many different ways by different people. I don't have my next book lined up, but chances are I will have one picked out before the night is done and will post about it tomorrow.

Quote

"Spring tipped in like green well water, frothing at the hedges, bubbling at the roadside, spalshing from the cottage roof in garlands of ivy and stringflower" (32).

Reading List

Still reading Eat, Pray, Love. Still Meadow and Sugarbridge is still on my nightstand. I have been reading a book on creativity called Creative Time and Space. I'm also reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, using it daily as a devotional/reflection.

"You don't bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring him enjoyment by being you." (pg. 76)

Do you know your purpose? Just wondering.

Lolita

I am really enjoying this book. As I said before, the subject matter is rather disturbing, but the writing is really beautiful and descriptive. I wish I had been keeping track of more quotes and his word choices, but it's hard to remember to mark the page or write them down while I'm reading. Here is one quote from today that demonstrates pretty well his inventive and almost lyrical writing style:

"While a few pertinent points have to be marked, the general impression I desire to convey is of a side door crashing, open in life's full flight, and a rush of roaring black time drowning wih its whipping wind the cry of lone disaster."

I read this one ages ago and I can't believe I found it again. Thank goodness for my photographic memory so I remembered what part of the page it was on...Hello alliteration...

"I spend my doleful days in dumps and dolors."

I am towards the end and am very interested in how it turns out. I have a vague idea, but nothing specific.

And just for fun, a few things to be happy about from my book:

• baby bootees
• secret caves
• old tintypes
• the cat acting foolish
• sweeps of white beach that surround the ocean's edge
• the dancing of fireflies as the moon rises

Happy reading!

Wicked

Since Karen and I weren't able to see the show, I've gotten the book instead. Maybe someday I'll get to see the show too! I also hope to read the two other books in the series, Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men.

I also took out Home by Marilynne Robinson, which is one of the books I saw at Borders that I thought might be good.