Reading

"The Corrections"

This was supposed to be a great book. The New York Times said its “everything we want in a novel.” Pat Conroy called it “The brightest, boldest, and most ambitious novel I’ve read in many years.” Even Oprah loved it.

And I didn’t like it.

This is not to say that it isn’t well written. Esquire is right; “The Corrections” is “a stunning anatomy of family dysfunction.” I’m just not feeling sufficiently bitter to appreciate that right now. Maybe I should only be reading books about rainbows, teddy bears and pretty, pretty flowers.

That being said, there were a few phrases that rang true for me:

… “She’d always been a pretty woman, but to Chip, she was so much a personality and so little anything else that even staring straight at her he had no idea what she really looked like.” …

… “Not being theatrical, Chip felt disadvantaged around people who were.” …

… “What you discovered about yourself in raising children wasn’t always disagreeable or attractive.” …

Reading

On reading

I was not tagged for this meme by anyone. Specifically not by Doppelganger. But I’ve been getting a lot of book recommendations from her site and then, today, this was there. And I thought I’d give it a shot. So.

Name five of your favorite books.

  • “Freddy and Fredericka”
  • “Catch 22”
  • “A Prayer for Owen Meany”
  • “The Time-Traveler’s Wife”
  • “The Westing Game”

    What was the last book you bought?
    I don’t remember. I buy books very, very rarely. The library is my friend.

    What was the last book you read?
    “Housekeeping“

    List five books that have been particularly meaningful to you (in no particular order).

  • “The Bridge to Terabithia” was, I think, the first book to make me cry.
  • “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat” made me want to do something courageous.
  • I read “The Lovely Bones” just a few months after Poppy was born, and it devastated me. I don’t get torn down very easily (although Rockford might tell you otherwise), but I felt this one deeply.
  • “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” is the first book that captivated Poppy. I hope it’s just the first of many.
  • I read the Seamus Heaney translation of “Beowulf,” and it wasn’t for an assignment. I was proud of myself for getting through it. Not only that, but I enjoyed it.

    Name three books you’ve been dying to read but just haven’t gotten around to it?
    I don’t know about “dying to read,” but here are a few on my to-read list:

  • “The Year of Magical Thinking”
  • “Our Man in Havana”
  • and someday I’d like to finish “Anna Karenina”
    • Flotsam / Jetsam

    Penguins on treadmills? Comic genius!

    According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, penguins are finally starting to earn their keep.

    Bumble Bee nods his head, then waddles down the runway with what looks like complete confidence, looking around at the lights, the buckets, the water hoses, the visitors, his own reflection in Plexiglas and the research scientists, who with their laptop computer collect data generated by the penguin’s every footfall. …
    They hope to gain information that can be used to help people with walking challenges, including those with leg or foot injuries and the growing number of the elderly whose fear of falling often causes loss of self-confidence, which in turn can lead to loss of muscle tone and then to falls, broken bones and loss of independence. …
    Next, Kurz wants to put penguins on treadmills and study how they balance when running on those little short legs.

    Adorable photograph (of a king penguin in a sea of penguin chicks) courtesy Ryan Holliday.