Good things to come

Just thought I’d give you a preview of what I’ll be reading in the next few weeks…

Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. This famous work of the theater of the absurd involves two men who are waiting by a tree for Godot, who never arrives. Like Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, the conversation is more important than the setting; here the entire “tragicomedy” takes place in one location.

Feist, Raymond E. Betrayal at Krondor. I’ve read the Riftwar Saga, and I’ve watched the Romgi play the game that inspired this book, so now it’s time to continue forward with characters both new and familiar.

Haig, Matt. The Dead Fathers Club. Eleven-year-old Philip Noble has a big problem. It all begins when his dad appears as a ghost at his own funeral and introduces Philip to the Dead Fathers Club. Philip learns the truth about ghosts: the only people who end up as ghosts have been murdered. So begins Philip’s quest to avenge his dad.

Snicket, Lemony. The Miserable Mill. Accidents, evil plots, and general misfortune abound when, in their continuing search for a home, the Beaudelaire orphans are sent to live and work in a sinister lumber mill.

Winterson, Jeanette. Tanglewreck. Eleven-year-old Silver sets out to find the Timekeeper–a clock that controls time–and to protect it from falling into the hands of two people who want to use the device for their own nefarious ends.

Too Late the Phalarope

by Alan Paton

Having read Cry, the Beloved Country in high school, and having thoroughly enjoyed it, I always meant to get around to Paton’s other well-known work. This weekend I unpacked a box of books that was gathering dust in our apartment, and decided to read for a while before I went to bed.

The book had a completely different feel from Cry, the Beloved Country, although the writing style was (obviously) similar. It has been likened to a modern-day Greek tragedy, with an admirable hero whose one weakness brings destruction not only on himself but upon his family; the narrator is his aunt, and selections from the hero’s own writing add depth to the story.

Although some readers assume that Too Late the Phalarope is about apartheid or Puritanical morals, I disagree. What I saw as the central theme of the book was the inability to let other people see weakness, even if they can help. The protagonist had countless opportunities to stop the destruction he knew would come — but each time his silence won. In a way it reminded me of people who suffer from depression and are unable to admit their need, are unable or unwilling to cry out.

If you’ve read Cry, the Beloved Country (and liked it), I definitely think you should give this book a try. The writing is captivating, the story compelling. However, Cry, the Beloved Country is in many ways a richer, more textured work that may be easier and more enjoyable for many people to read.

reading list 2007

New books: 28 ( 9,080 pgs )

Longest book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (784 pgs)
Shortest book: The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip (84 pgs)
Oldest book: Hard Times (1854)
Newest book: Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows (July 2007)
Best book: Inkspell
Best children’s/YA book: Momo
Worst book: Waiting
Most disappointing book: Nickel and Dimed

Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed
George Saunders, The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip
Charles Dickens, Hard Times
Benjamin Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld
Alfie Kohn, No Contest
Diana Wynn Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle
Cornelia Funke, The Thief Lord
Ian Falconer, Olivia Forms a Band
W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk
Cornelia Funke, Inkspell
Peggy Ratham, Goodnight Gorilla
Michael Ende, The Neverending Story
Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays
Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Shadow
Steven Levitt, Freakonomics
Katherine Hannigan, Ida B.
Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness
Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife
Michael Ende, Momo
Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Gennifer Choldenko, Notes from a Liar and Her Dog
Debra Ginsberg, Waiting
Avi, Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Nora Ephron, I Feel Bad About My Neck
Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret

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