Kelly,Well, my reading mojo seems to be completely gone. The combination of grief about my Grandma and the start of school means that watching TV has replaced reading as of late. I just find that it's harder to concentrate, especially if anything even remotely sad happens in a book. (This could explain why it took me 6 weeks to read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.)
Being that I'm already behind, I picked the shortest book left on my list: Toni Morrison's novel Love. It's a very tidy 202 pages. This will no doubt end up a pyrrhic victory, because 202 pages of Toni Morrison is probably equivalent to thousands of pages in a lesser writer. I find her work to be compelling and difficult. Beloved is my favorite of her novels, and I've read it several times. The first time while I was in college. I doubt I even "got" half of it. She's the kind of author that demands re-reading. I don't think I've read Beloved since Darius was born. Honestly, I'm a little afraid to. I can only imagine how much more brutal Sethe's choice would seem now that I am a mother.
I'm really wanting to get to Jose Saramago's Seeing, but I'd like to reread Blindness first. Clearly, that ain't happening this month. I'll keep you updated as to my progress.
Jenny
PS. This is not the cover of the book I'm reading. I have a hardback---I found the Amazon receipt inside. It was shipped to my house in Oakland, and I placed the order for it on October 31, 2003! I love finding the receipts inside of books---knowing the "where and when" of the purchase is strangely satisfying.
I thought I had commented on this post when you made it, but now it's all lonely with its "0 Comments!"
ReplyDeleteI only vaguely remember the plot of Beloved now, but I remember the feeling of reading it... it was engrossing, but so difficult to take. I guess that's sort of Tony Morrison's trademark though, eh? I agree with you that being a mother would add a fresh (even more horrifying) element to the read... oof. I could barely take it the first time!