On a personal level, things have been busy and this is the first day I’ve had to catch up with the little blog. I was in Las Vegas last week for work and thanks to the reviewathon I was able to have posts scheduled but beyond that, I haven’t had much time to read posts or comment. I cleared out my Google reader yesterday and called it a night.
I’m slowly reading A Visit from the Goon Squad. There are two ways I read — 1.) I devour a book not stopping at any point, 2.) I slowly savor, stopping frequently to wonder. I’m on speed 2 the last few days. Honestly, I’m not sure what I think of the book. It’s brilliant, strange, the writing is fantastic but it’s sad in so many ways I keep putting it down. But not for long. I can tell now this is going to be a tough one to review.
Here’s a small snippet:
“Structural Dissatisfaction: Returning to circumstances that once pleased you, having experienced a more thrilling or opulent way of life, and finding that you can no longer tolerate them.
But we’re getting off the subject.”
It may have been the fact that I was dead tired on a redeye flight but this struck me as so funny I did something I never do, I dogeared the page. Yes, I did that.
Have you read this one? Thoughts?
“This the good woman promised, and, wishing her a good sleep, returned to the kitchen. ‘God bless the poor lady,’ said she, ‘why she is as weak as a child; sure you must have come a great way from home.’” (page 3 of 187 on my Nook)
“Anaesthesia’s hand sought Richard’s. He held it tightly, her tiny hand in his.” (page 102)
“Quentin rode a gray horse with white socks named Dauntless. He wore black leather boots up to his knees, different-colored stockings, and a long navy-blue topcoat that was richly embroidered with seed pearls and silver thread.” (page 3)
“People in D.C. like to drive in the middle of road, Leo had noticed. The narrow side streets lacked lane markers, so each car tended to glide down the center, staying clear of the parallel-parked cars on either side, seemingly confident no other traffic would dare come its way. Opposing drivers waited until the last possible moment to pull to their own sides.” (page 29)
“I turned to see an old man standing in the door. White hair showed beneath the bandage that swathed his head, and he was so thin and so weak that he had to lean on the door frame for support.” (page 247)
“No, no, Master. A virtuous mind allied to a cultivated understanding must ever—” (pg. 62)
“Hock Seng shelters in an alley as tanks and trucks rumble down Thanon Phosri. He shudders at the thought of the fuel burning.” (pg. 323)
Just Book Reading 