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005) The Road by Cormac McCarthy, finished January 24
- Great, great book. I wish I had been taking notes so I would be ready to teach it at a moment's notice. And (surprise!), not a total downer.
(Incidentally, a handy book to read for those who are frequently interrupted; it's broken up into small bitesize pieces. Get your today!)
almost three weeks
004) Poor Sailor by Sammy Harkham, finished January 19
- It's becoming quite a tradition for me to enter Pegasus and read an entire book while I'm standing next to the comics (cf. Robot Dreams, The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8). This book's look is like a cross between Jason and Tony Millionaire (and I don't just say Tony Millionaire because of the nautical theme). It's breezy and surprising and simple. Nothing I'm anxious to pay money for but a pleasant book that was nice to touch and quite sad with what I can only assume is an alternate ending.
The moral of this story: Do what your wife says. Which makes it a great anniversary present, I suppose.
Also: my Fobcomics review.
mere minutes
003) The Waitress was New by Dominique Fabre and translated by Jordan Stump, finished January 19
- My local library always has a good selection of short, foreign novels in the NEW section and I browse them everytime I'm there. Usually they look intolerable (the last one I checked out was intolerable --- I couldn't get five pages into it and me not finishing a book no matter how bleh is strange indeed), but this novella was quite nice. It's very short, very plain and about a very "normal" person, but it's 117 pages in the life of a Parisian barkeep and a pleasant way to spend a couple afternoons.
about a week
002) Stagger Lee by Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix, finished January 12?
- Great comic that mixes cultural history and historical fiction. Read more at Fobcomics.
about a week
001) The Arrival by Shaun Tan, finished January 8
- Greatest proof that fiction is decidedly better at some things than non, and the best immigrant story I have ever come across in any medium. For more on what I mean by this, see my Fobcomics post. Or just buy yourself a copy.
half hour
The Road: I bawled like a stinking baby for two hours after I finished that book. Even though I was assured that the boy would be alright or even better off with that family, my mourning was intense over the loss of the beautiful relationship he had with his father. For all that he didn't have, that boy had more than most people as long as his father stayed alive. The emptiness of the surroundings sweetened their bond so much that I couldn't stand it when it was taken away. Chase had a completely different reaction than I did though. I think that book hits everybody in a completely different way, which is amazing in its own right. Beside Chase, you are the only other person I know who has read that book! Everyone else is reading Twilight :). So sorry to ramble on.
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ReplyDeleteIt was excellent, wasn't it? and it was a huge bestseller so there must be more of us out there! But so far, you're the only commenter. I'm pretty surprised.
Geez, I hope I didn't spoil it for everyone else. I should have put "SPOILER ALERT" at the start - whoops!
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