Dear Augie March:

reading100 — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:22:41 +0000

You thought you got me, didn’t you? You thought I wasn’t going to finish the first book on my list. You thought you could make a failure of me. Well, guess what?

You thought wrong.

I will not give up on the very first book on the list. That would just be pathetic, and a waste of creating this blog. No, Augie March, you did not foil me this time. I am almost done. You heard me. I’ve been reading about you, even though it has been rather painful. Am I a better person because of it? Probably not. But, I triumphed over you, so…suck it!

Sincerely,

Reading100

100 Pages to go

Literary Tattoos

reading100 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:40:34 +0000

Last month I came across a fantastic website dedicated to literary tattoos. The website defines literary tattoos as “tattoos based on books, poems, lyrics, and many other literary sources.” The name of the website is Contrariwise.org, and I am happy to say it is my new obsession.

Personally I have no tattoos. I’m a major commitment-phobe; I’ve had horrible nightmares about getting engaged, buying a house, and, you guessed it, getting inked. I’m definitely open to the idea of some day getting a tattoo though, and if I were to, I think a literary tattoo would be wonderful.

Many of the tattoos on this website are repeats (such as “So it goes,” featured 16 times so far I believe), but some are very unique. I especially liked “It’s History. It’s Poetry.” from the Catcher in the Rye. I’ll post pictures of some of my favorites, but check out the site. You won’t regret it.

Does anyone reading this have a literary tattoo? If so, please describe it or post a picture!

Procrastination

reading100 — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:29:14 +0000

As everyone knows, I’ve been having trouble with this Augie March book. I’ve decided to take a break from reading to post a list of the main things that make me take a break from reading in hopes that I’ll be able to get back to reading. Ironic, I know.

1. My roomate’s collection of the seasons of The Office. Dwight, I love you.

2. University readings… I was supposed to be finished Frankenstein three days ago. I haven’t purchased Frankestein yet. Fml.

3. Looking through literary tattoos…they’re just so neat! I’ll expand on this in a post tomorrow.

4. Unpacking. My boyfriend and I just moved into a new place with our friend. Unpacking everything is a nightmare… but Augie March is far worse.

5. Spending time staring out the window. Less boring than this book, I’m not going to lie.

What distracts you from reading? Or do you just read books you enjoy so you don’t get distracted? Let me know!

Up to Page 80

reading100 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:17:36 +0000

I’m sorry to report this book has not gotten any easier to stay focused on. I hate to admit this, it makes me feel like an unsophisticated failure, but, I dislike this book. A lot. I’m finding it painful to read. So far it has only entailed description after description after description. Augie just LOVES to describe, and I would just LOVE to knock him out. (Kidding)

I do like some description in a book; I really do. I can appreciate the difficulty a great description takes, especially one that brings the book to life. Unfortunately, this book includes a description of every minor character and their third cousin (I may be exaggerating). I have no clue what’s happening in term of plot because I’m still trying to figure out who the hell Five Properties is, and how one ends up with a name like that.

I still have 456 page to go. Lovely. It rarely takes me so much effort to pick up a book, but I honestly can’t even concentrate on this one. Am I the only person who felt this way while reading The Adventures of Augie March? Wish someone was reading this blog so they could let me know!

Beginning Augie

reading100 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:50:43 +0000

The Adventures of Augie March is not what I expected. Saul Bellow and J.D. Salinger do not seem to have much in common…so far. Salinger is, of course, a fairly easy read; Bellow, however, is not. Nothing really seems to be happening in terms of plot, and I seem to be getting easily side tracked. To be fair, I haven’t read much yet, so I’ll probably start to get interested soon (Hopefully!). I also don’t have much quiet time. I live with two guys right now- my boyfriend and his friend. Either the TV is on or video games are being played constantly. I know this is no excuse, considering I obviously have my own room, but I’m just having trouble getting sucked into this book.

Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to look up any information on the books so I could avoid spoilers, but I caved. There are maaaany characters in this novel, so I searched a list of characters so I wouldn’t get confused. Don’t judge me.

WARNING: The list contains some spoilers :(

Book Covers

reading100 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:32:43 +0000

I cannot stand when a picture of the movie adaptation of a novel is featured on the cover of the book instead of the original artwork.

It looks cheap, unattractive, and unoriginal. I DO judge a book by its cover in this case!

It ruins my book collection and the atmosphere of my book shelf! I’m trying to appear smarter, not like a person who only reads the book because they watched the movie! Geez. Just kidding about this part. Seriously though, I just hate it. It is one of my biggest annoyances, yet I have never heard anyone else complain about it… am I alone on this one?! Let me know.

You may be slightly annoyed that I have time to bitch about something as minor as this while I still have 0 books completed… oops. I’ll go to the library now ;) !

Bildungsroman

reading100 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:07:32 +0000

I’ve decided to tackle the list in alphabetical order, so my first novel will be The Adventures of Augie March. I’m pretty excited for this book, because I think it’s a coming of age story (or a bildungsroman if you’d like). Coming of age stories are my absolute favourites. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m “coming of age” myself, or if it’s because I find younger characters more compelling than their adult counterparts. Younger protagonists usually possess all the wit of an adult protagonist, but without the cynicism and “worldliness”. Even when a teenage protagonist seems like a skeptic, underneath it they have a charming naivete.

I find it interesting to see an adult writer take on the mindset of a child/teenager, especially if they do a good job of it. An example of this would be in The Catcher in the Rye (One of my all time favourites!). J.D. Salinger completely brought Holden to life. After reading that book I didn’t just want to know Holden, I wanted to be best friends with Holden! Holden, however, probably wouldn’t want to be friends with me- but that’s beside the point! The point is, Salinger obviously “got” kids. He remembered what it was like; the insecurities, the loneliness.

Another great example of an adult writer who obviously remembers her adolescent years is Curtis Sittenfeld (the author of Prep and The Man of My Dreams). Think Holden Caulfield, but modern and female. LOVE IT.

I’ve actually heard The Adventures of Augie March compared to The Catcher in the Rye, so that adds to my excitement! I didn’t want to look up any information or summaries on it (I’m trying to avoid spoilers on this challenge!), so the comparison to the Catcher in the Rye is basically all the info I have. I still have to check out the library and find this book, so hopefully I’ll be able to start tomorrow.

Some of My Favourite Coming of Age Stories (Thus far!):

The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger

Prep- Curtis Sittenfield

A Complicated Kindness- Miriam Toews

To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee

She’s Come Undone- Wally Lamb

Kit’s Law- Donna Morrissey

The Girl with the Pearl Earring- Tracy Chevalier

Great Expectations- Charles Dickens

Lullabies for Little Criminals- Heather O’Neill

Child of My Heart- Alice McDermott

There are more of course, but those are the best ones I can think of at the moment! Does anyone else have any they would like to share? I wonder if I’ll want to add The Adventures of Augie March to this list when I’m done…