And Read All Over..

I've been reading books in the few and extremely fleeting moments that I've had free of late. I've only managed, in turn, to finish 3 of them. I finally succeeded in completing Jose Saramago's "Blindness", and when I needed a smaller, easier book, read "Slaughterhouse Five" (which I'd always felt like somewhat of a traitor never having read.). With nothing to read on last nights security shift, I found "Something Rising ( Light and Swift)" by Haven Kimmel and read that.

"Blindness" while difficult (I'm a fan of punctuation. Sue me.) was ultimately rewarding. He gives you the ending that you seek, but not before you realise that you don't really need it. It was a stunning, and at times horrific book, but you can easily see why it won the Nobel Prize in literature. It's an amazing book, but one of those books that you could never read twice. The devil is in the details, and I think I read too many not to have nightmares.

"Slaughterhouse Five" (while I'm sure everyone has read it except me) was NOTHING like I expected, and therefore a million times more than I hoped for. There was this moderately interesting boy in my highschool who used to carry it around in his back pocket, then his n'er do well loser buddy started doing the same thing (although I have serious and infinite doubts that he actually read it - or was capable of reading at all for that matter) and from that point I swore that I would never read it. I'm not sure if it was the association with those boys that held me back, or the idea that I would somehow end up in their back pocket if I read it... But I finally buckled down and found it a most enjoyable read. If you're holding back for fear of ending up in a loser boys pair of pants - don't.

And a surprisingly good book, "Something Rising (Light and Swift)".. I generally as a rule never read anything with "young girl coming of age" in the description (it conjures up too many thoughts of "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret.") I had nothing to read and so prepared myself for a badly written book about the embarrassment of underarm hair and such. In reality, it's a completely weird story of a girl in Indiana and her completely messed up yet sadly loving family. If there is one word.. it would be tragic. And if there was another? Excellent. I really enjoyed it, and was pleasantly surprised. I've never heard of her, or anything else she's written - but this is a good book, a "coming of age" exception.

So I've got 19 hours of security work this weekend, and intend to read for as many of them as humanly possible. My friend (ahem, you know who you are.... That confirms that I only have one friend.) is supposed to be reading "1984" at the same time as I, to help shed our collective shame over the fact that neither of us have read the purportedly important novel - and yet still feel free to make the cliched comic remarks about "Big Brother". So I'm going to read that, and hopefully some more Kurt Vonnegut. After "Mother Night" I was hooked, and I swallowed "Slaughterhouse Five" whole, so I'm going to go from there. Anyone with any other suggestions, they're welcome. I've got 19 hours to fill. At approx. 3 hours per book.. that's a lot of reading. Here's to the eye cancer.