Some Light Reading

I’ve been reading up a storm of late. Here are a few thoughts about what I've gone through in the last couple of weeks.

My Antonia by Willa Cather – brilliant work. I highly recommend it.

Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway – quite a disappointment after the way I felt about For Whom the Bell Tolls (which I think everyone who considers themselves a patriot should read). It had to do with the way he wrote the dialogue.

Lonely on the Mountain by Louis L'Amour – it was another dime-western. It’s a Sackett story, so the characters are interesting for the genre.

Cowboys North and South by Will James – autobiographical, this tells in pure (and disconcerting) cowboy vernacular the state of the cowboy in the early 20th century. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the era or cowboy history and methods.

The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’Brien – I found the first to books thought provoking and inspiring stylistically. The last book and epilogue were an immense disappointment in the harsh language and bitter cynical state of things. And coming from me that should say something.
Also the last book did this thing where it switched from first to third person perspectives by chapter. Lonely on the Mountain did that too, and I did not find that to be a satisfying gimmick in either book.

The Fortunes of War (of the Aubrey/Maturin or Master and Commander series) by Henry O’Brian – these books are incredible. Read them. Read them.

Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini – what these stories lack in depth and originality they make up for in the “Oh Wow” factor for being written by a kid. At least that’s what the New York Times Best Seller list would suggest.

Corpus Christi by Bret Anthony Johnston – This is a collection of moving short stories, beautifully written, and without a happy ending to be found. Stories of “empathy,” I believe BAJ would call them, and I recommend them to anyone who enjoys a bit of melancholy in their fiction.

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner – this was written in the “stream of consciousness” method, which to me is a lot like vomiting words on the page and sending it to the publisher. He probably poured over this stuff to make sure it was perfectly dense, though. Thank goodness for Wikipedia. Without the brief explanations they offered there of the time-warping through three different time periods text I don’t know that I would have ever followed it. It is a classic though, and interesting from the perspective of a writer.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque – this is a chilling tale about WWI and the horrors of war. It is one of the rare books I’ve encountered written in the first person present tense. I recommend it to writers just for that reason, and not just because it is an incredible story.

I’ve almost always got more to say, so if you want elaboration or any of that just say so. Write on.

R.