It is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, where all you need is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.
~ 1999 MTV Books Edition
Why the Book was Banned
1. Homosexuality
2. Drug use
3. Sexual content
In general, all the normal stuff teens go through.
Synopsis
Charlie writes a series of letters to an anonymous friend (the reader) about his freshman year of high school. Unlike most books this week, the back cover actually said what the book was about, so just go back and read that. Thanks.
My Thoughts
I really don’t want to give too much of this book away. I didn’t feel bad about revealing plot lines for the other books; as most are over 50 years old, you deserve to have the plots spoiled. However, Perks was written in 1999, so it’s only about 14 years old. This was the most enjoyable book I read all week. This was the book I couldn’t put down and stayed up until three in the morning to finish. So, if you haven’t read the book yet, and you really want to, stop reading now.
Read the book before seeing the movie. Obviously.
At various times, Charlie experiments with drugs, and notjust pot. Charlie experiences the highs – and lows – of cigarettes, alcohol, acid, marijuana, and hard liquor. Even though his friends enable him, Charlie’s imbibing doesn’t ingratiate himself to them. Rather, they clean up after him, help him down, and drag him out of snowbanks. Charlie could be both the “before” and “after” model for a DARE poster.
Charlie’s family looks like the model family from a 1940s or 1950s magazine, but inside the bounds of the white picket fence things are far from perfect. His parents favor their oldest son, remain ignorant of their daughter’s shenanigans, and essentially ignore Charlie. His family reminds us not to judge appearances. I know that when I was growing up I thought other kids’ families were better than mine. Now I know better; every family has drama.
Chbosky accurately portrays the double-edged sword of friendship. Charlie’s friends help him through some dark times; one even helps him break through a repressed memory. However, some of those very same friends were the ones responsible for Charlie’s despondency in the first place.
Charlie also experiences love in its many forms: lust, infatuation, affection, and familial. As expected, each introduces unique challenges into Charlie’s life.
Perks addresses teenage sexuality. This topic is the main reason the book was banned. Charlie is a witness to abuse, date rape, homosexuality, unplanned pregnancy, and abortion. Written from the perspective of someone who doesn’t want to be there, this is the stuff you probably won’t learn in health class (and I should know – I teach it). Again, Perks isn’t glamorizing these things; it’s a warning against them.
Finally, Charlie writes. Charlie’s first letters talking about his English teacher and the “bonus work” meant to develop Charlie’s natural abilities. Throughout his letters, we learn what Charlie reads (mostly banned classics) and how his writing improves. The letters themselves indicate Charlie’s progress; there is a dramatic change from the first letter to the last in quality and substance. By the end, Charlie opens up and lets us into his life.
Even wallflowers bloom.
Photo Credit: keltiecolleen.buzznet.com
Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn’t stop for anybody.
Everyone behaves badly . . . Give them the proper chance.
Warning: This post may contain politically incorrect language and expletives. They exist for the purpose of example and edification; they are not intended to disparage or defame any particular person, race, creed, color, or religion. If you feel you may be offended by such language, stop reading now. You have been warned.
From the Back Cover
An absorbing, beautifully and tenderly absurd, heartbreaking narrative….It is a truly gripping story, told in lean, hard athletic prose . . . magnificent writing, filled with that organic action which gives a compelling picture of character. ~ The New York Times
~ 1970 Scribner Edition
Sounds like a Mad-Lib, doesn’t it?
Why the Book was Banned
1. Language and profanity
2. Focus on sex and adultery
3. Overall hedonism
Synopsis
Jake Barnes (the narrator), Robert Cohn (a writer), and Brett Ashley (a nymphomaniac divorcée) live a hedonistic lifestyle in post-WWI Paris. Jake and Brett love each other, but aren’t together because Jake’s war wound rendered him impotent. Cohn falls for Brett and the two secretly travel to San Sebastian, Spain. When they return, the group – which now includes Jake’s friend Bill and Brett’s fiancé Mike – plan a trip to Spain, where they will fish and watch the running of the bulls in Pamplona.
The group separates due to illness, so only Bill and Jake fish. The group reunites in Pamplona for a week of alcohol-imbued celebrations. Of the group, only Jake cares about the bullfights, everyone else is there to party. Nevertheless, Brett falls for a bullfighter (shocker); and Cohn’s jealousy leads him to pummel the man to the point of death. Rather than rejuvenation, the excursion causes tension within the group.
Jake stops over in San Sebastian before returning to Paris. While there, Brett telegrams him; she is in trouble in Madrid and needs help. Jake agrees, but there is no hope. He and Brett agree that although they love each other, there is no future for them.
My Thoughts
As I was reading, I felt I was reading someone’s diary. Therefore, I found a several repeated themes, such as
Dissatisfaction. Every character seems focused on immediate satisfaction. The constantly find “fun” things to do, but never find happiness. Jake wants Brett; it’s obvious that this will never happen. Cohn wants someone to love him rather than use him; good luck with that Mr. Semi-Famous Author. Brett wants security, but is generally unwilling to show her insecurities. Bill wants money; he’s always in debt to someone. Mike just wants another drink, but one more is never enough. In the world they inhabit, it is not just difficult, it is impossible for them to find true satisfaction.
Exile. Although the novel is set in France and Spain, none of the central characters are French or Spanish. Instead, they are American and British nationals living in self-imposed exile from their home countries. Defined by their upbringing, they attempt to make their way in a culture completely foreign to them. Never truly fitting in anywhere, we can add “fish out of water syndrome” to the reasons for their dissatisfaction.
Identity. Every character has a facade. As the novel progresses, we see the effort exerted in keeping the facade from crumbling.
Love. Every character desires love, but few realize what love actually is. Although set in Paris, the “City of Love,” there is little – if any – romance in the novel. Instead, the so-called “love” exhibited by the characters centers mainly around coercion.
Manliness. The men of the novel are constantly posturing to prove themselves men, especially when it comes to impressing Brett. However, each male character experiences insecurities causing each to doubt their own masculinity.
Substance Abuse. Everyone in the novel is an alcoholic. For Mike, it’s practically his job. Alcohol provides a short respite from fears and frustrations, but it is only temporary. Therefore, most characters spend their time talking about which bar to visit next.
It was a good story, but nothing really made sense for me until the last line. On their way back to Paris from Madrid, Brett remarks, “Jake, we could have had such a . . . good time together.” Jake replies, “Yes, isn’t it pretty to think so?” I wanted to scream “NO! It isn’t pretty, it’s stupid! You’re all a bunch of despondent alcoholics with manic-depressive tendencies. Continue this way and you’ll all end up dead.” But since that would have annoyed my wife at 2:30 in the morning, I thought the words in my head instead.
There is no real satisfying conclusion to the story. The characters have not changed since the beginning of the novel. We have seen their thoughts, their actions, their motives, their mistakes. At times, these flaws are visible to the other characters, but nobody actually learns anything. One reviewer called The Sun Also Rises a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. If that is, indeed, the case, the remake is far worse than the original. As least in the original play there was the chance for happiness; in Hemingway’s novel happiness isn’t even on the table.
Overall, The Sun Also Rises can be summed up with one line:
Oh, darling, I’ve been so miserable.
I imagine this played a major role in their misery.
I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.
Warning: This post may contain politically incorrect language and expletives. They exist for the purpose of example and edification; they are not intended to disparage or defame any particular person, race, creed, color, or religion. If you feel you may be offended by such language, stop reading now. You have been warned.
From the Back Cover
They are an unlikely pair: George is “small and quick and dark of face”; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a “family,” clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation.
Laborers in California’s dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of these dreams seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie’s unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.
~ 1993 Penguin Book Edition
Why the Book was Banned
1. Offensive language
2. Racial slurs
3. Promoting euthanasia
4. Anti- business ideas
Synopsis
A short book begets a short synopsis. Lennie and George eke out a living in Depression-era California. Forced to leave town when Lennie causes a “misunderstanding,” the two find work on a ranch in Salinas County. Hoping to own their own land, this will be the last time they work for someone else. Then Lennie causes another “misunderstanding.” You know what Shakespeare said about “the best laid plans of mice and men…”
The polar opposite of Ockham’s Razor
My Thoughts
Steinbeck covers a variety of themes in Of Mice and Men, including dreams, prejudice, weakness, and violence. Here’s several that stood out to me:
First, he addresses the idea of equality.
Ranch workers represent the plight of migrant workers. Set during the Depression, Lennie, George, and others are forced to find work where they can, often traveling long distances on the mere rumor of work. Employers negotiate pay upon their arrival and renegotiate at will. Workers receive substandard room and board while their masters (for lack of a better word) live in luxury. In his sympathy for the overworked and underpaid, Steinbeck calls attention to the abuses of impersonal corporations.
Crooks, the stable hand, highlights racialinequality. Although born and raised in California, Crooks is treated as an outsider. The men force him to live apart and constantly refer to him as “nigger.” Even the name Crooks is insulting; it refers not to his given name, but to his crooked back. Nevertheless, Steinbeck shows Crooks to be a normal human being. Neat and bookish, Crooks dispels the “ignorant savage” stereotype common in the 1930s (and still existing today). Crooks even opens up to Lennie and begins to dream of partnering with George and Lennie in their dream to own some land. Sadly, Crooks’ dream dies when Curely’s wife threatens his life in front of Lennie and some other men.
Curley’s wife highlights gender inequality. She possess no name in the novel; she is the property of her husband. The only woman on the ranch, she must make do with “men talk” and tolerate Curley’s narcissism. Desiring her own form of freedom, she dreams of Hollywood. Admittedly, she is self-obsessed and cruel, but I also feel sympathy for her. When she dies, we see what she might have been under different circumstances:
[T]he meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly.
Second, Steinbeck addresses the ruthlessness of big business. Curley, the boss’ son and main antagonist of the novel, embodies this idea. Relatively small and weak, Curley is obsessed with appearance and power. Some might say he possesses a Napoleon Complex, but that would be insulting to Napoleon. Curley habitually picks fights with larger men (often ambushing them) to “prove” his prowess (not unlike a corporate businessman in an unfriendly merger). To Curley, power is everything: sexual power, physical strength, and business acumen are his goals.
Third, Steinbeck’s overarching theme is friendship. The relationship between George and Lennie resembles that of a bromance, after all, their friendship is the only real constant in either of their lives. However, I’m not sure what Steinbeck meant to achieve with this theme. For Lennie and George to be so close, why do they choose a job seemingly more well-suited to loners? Was Steinbeck trying to show that their friendship was solid, or that it was merely superficial? Was it even friendship, or was George just using Lennie? After all, he constantly had to protect Lennie from getting into trouble (something he wasn’t always successful at doing) and spends some time telling us how much better off he’d be if he didn’t have Lennie to look after. If that’s the case, why not just leave him? Furthermore, if that’s how he really felt, is George’s final act done to protect Lennie or to free George from further obligation?
To the chase: Overall, I’m not sure what to think about Of Mice and Men. Throughout most of the book, Steinbeck keeps the reader hopeful of a happy ending. George and Lennie’s friendship seems to last insurmountable odds. The men find work (and good work at that) and a partner to help make their dream a reality. Hope disappears in the last 17 pages. Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife and runs away. George tries to help him, but this time there is nothing to be done. George must either turn Lennie in, or . . .
This is too depressing. Here’s what another reader thought of the ending:
Even though the dream never becomes reality, Steinbeck does leave us with an optimistic message. George and Lennie do not achieve their dream, but their friendship stands out as a shining example of how people can live and love even in a word of alienation and disconnectedness.
I wonder what book this reviewer read; it certainly wasn’t Mice and Men. What optimism is there? Facing the loss of his dream and the necessity of turning Lennie over to the authorities, George opts to shoot Lennie and claim “self-defense.” How then does their friendship “stand out?” That the people you trust the most will be the one to stab you in the back? That the mentally challenged should be treated like animals, to the point of being “put down” if they pose a danger to society? I might be confused about the book as a whole, but I’m not confused about George and Lennie: George used Lennie, and, when Lennie was no longer useful, threw him to the wolves.
I wish I could end this review on a happy note, but I can’t. Instead, here’s a picture of my cat:
How do you know what you’re going to do until you do it?
Warning: This post may contain politically incorrect language and expletives. They exist for the purpose of example and edification; they are not intended to disparage or defame any particular person, race, creed, color, or religion. If you feel you may be offended by such language, stop reading now. You have been warned.
From the Back Cover
This is one of the most remarkable books published in years. It is the story of sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who wants desperately to find himself, but who goes underground in New York for forty-eight hours when he is overwhelmed by the perplexing circumstances of his life. Read the first page – and you will not be able to stop until you have completed this wild and magic adventure with him.
~ New American Library Edition
Why the Book was Banned
1. Profanity
2. Advocating Rebellion
Synopsis
Set in the 1950s, Catcher in the Rye is the story told by the central character, sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield, of how he came to be at a sanatorium in California.
Saturday: Expelled from a prep school in Pennsylvania and annoyed by his professors, neighbors and roommates, Holden makes an early return his Manhattan home. Rather than face his parents, he checks into a hotel; there he spies on his neighbors, smokes cigarettes, attempts to find a stripper, and connives to get drunk. Holden ends up flirting with women twice his age and paying their tab. Undefeated, Holden makes his way to a jazz club in Greenwich Village, where he watches the other patrons and ignores a family acquaintance. When he returns to the hotel, Holden is swindled out of $10 by the elevator operator and a prostitute.
Sunday: Holden arranges a date with his old friend, Sally. He eats breakfast with 2 nuns while discussing Romeo and Juliet. He starts to look for his sister, Phoebe, but instead heads to the Biltmore Hotel for his date. The date fails: Sally spends her time talking to someone else and she and Holden fail at ice skating. When Sally refuses to run away with him, Holden calls her a “pain in the ass” and she leaves. After driving off another acquaintance with talk of homosexuals and foreigners, Holden drunk-calls Sally, visits the frozen lagoon in Central park, and breaks into his own apartment. Here he reveals to Phoebe his fantasy of being “the catcher in the rye.” His parents return, Holden creeps out and calls up an old English teacher, who in turn offers him a pace to sleep. When he perceives the man making homosexual advances, Holden instead spends the night in Grand Central Station. Later, Holden decides to run away for good, but he tells Phoebe, who tries to go with him. To make up for refusing her, Holden takes Phoebe to the carousel, where he is overcome with emotion and moved to tears. The story abruptly ends here with Holden declaring that he’s not going to tell anything else.
My Thoughts
Without a doubt two of Catcher‘s themes are alienation and adolescence. However, phoninessoutshines all other contenders. On nearly every page Holden finds something hypocritical to complain about: a headmaster’s favoritism, a teacher’s mannerisms, jocks, nerds, football, his Dorm Mother, tabloids, taxis, magazines, and night trains. All this and more in the first 52 pages.
It is ironic, therefore, that Holden is the biggest phony in the book.
He considers magazine discussions phony, yet continues to buy them.
He can’t stand emotional girls; yet will do anything to keep his sister from crying.
He hates jocks who get it on in the back of cars, yet tries at least twice to hire a stripper.
He hates people who use other people, but he uses his brother to meet girls and old friends to get drunk.
He despises people who arbitrarily judge others, yet he constantly does the same.
He lies multiple times about who he is and why he is leaving Pencey.
He thinks people should work for their money when he hasn’t had to work a day in his life.
He wants people to act the same all the time, yet he act different every time he meets someone new.
He wishes people would be better than they are, yet he refuses to better himself.
In short, he is the exact definition of a hypocrite.
I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It’s awful. If I’m on the way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I’m going, I’m liable to say I’m going to the opera. It’s terrible.
Holden Caulfield thinks Philosoraptor is a phony.
In my opinion, this quote throws the entire story into question. If Caulfield is such a terrific liar, what’s to keep him from inventing a story about how he came to the sanatorium? We’ve seen from his story that, above all else, he craves sympathetic attention. Perhaps we’ve spent several hours with Holden for nothing; the whole thing was an elaborate ruse to gain some sympathetic human contact. Challenge: read it for yourself and come to your own conclusion. Otherwise, Holden Caulfiend might think you’re a phony.
When one reads these strange pages of one long gone one feels that one is at one with one who once [was].
~ James Joyce, Ulysses
Warning: This post may contain politically incorrect language and expletives. They exist for the purpose of example and edification; they are not intended to disparage or defame any particular person, race, creed, color, or religion. If you feel you may be offended by such language, stop reading now. You have been warned.
From the Back Cover
The revised edition follows the complete and unabridged text of ULYSSES as corrected and reset in 1961. Like the first American edition of 1934, it also contains the original forward by the author and the historic court ruling by Judge John M. Woolsey to remove the federal ban on ULYSSES. It also contains page references to the 1934 edition, which are indicated in the margins.
A Truncated Summary, with Themes and Motifs in Bold
Part I: The Telemachiad
Telemachus
Stephen Dedalus and his roommate, Buck Mulligan, breakfast. Stephen experiences guilt over the passing of his mother. Mulligan demands a loan; Stephen determines to move out.
Nestor
Stephen teaches history and wonders how parents love unattractive children. Stephen collects his pay from his anti-Semitic employer.
Line I love to hate: “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”
Proteus
Stephen broods about Sandymount Strand contemplating life.
Joyce’s wildly-shifting stream of consciousness becomes the norm.
Part II: The Odyssey
Calypso
Like an episode in Dr. Who, the reader shifts time and place. Now we meet Leopold Bloom, an ad-man of Jewish descent. Bloom cooks and eats a pork kidney, reads correspondence from his wife’s lover and his daughter, and completes his morning constitutional in the outhouse.
Lotus Eaters
Bloom ambulates to the post office, where he receives a letter from his love interest. He then ogles a woman in stockings and destroys his letter. Wandering into church, Bloom ruminates on theology before visiting a chemist, where he purchases soap. Leaving the chemist, Bloom meets an acquaintance. When the two part ways, Bloom heads towards the baths.
Hades
Bloom attends Paddy Dignam’s funeral, where he converses with Stephen’s father about death and burial traditions. From his taxi, Bloom also observes both Stephen and Blazes Boylan (Molly’s lover). Evidencing his own guilt and need for paternalism,Bloom reflects on the death of his son, Rudy. After the service, Bloom leaves with the funeral cart.
Aeolus
Here, the layout mimics a tabloid newspaper.
Bloom attempts (unsuccessfully) to place an advertisement in the Freeman’s Journal. Although Stephen is also in the office, he and Bloom do not meet. Stephen and a group of office workers then head to a pub.
Line I love: “We were always loyal to lost causes.”
Lestrygonians
Bloom searches for lunch. Repulsed by animal-like manners of diners at Burton Hotel, Bloom instead patronizes Davy Byrne’s pub, where his repast consists of a gorgonzola cheese sandwich and a glass of burgundy. Lunchtime musings light upon the rise and fall of Bloom’s marriage and the anatomical correctness of Greek sculpture. On his way to the museum, Bloom glimpses Boylan and seeks refuge in a gallery adjacent the museum.
Scylla and Charybdis
At the National Library, Stephen Dedalus debates the origins, merits, and authorship of Shakespeare and his works. Looking for an old ad copy, Bloom also enters the library. He and Stephen briefly cross paths at the end of the episode.
Wandering Rocks
Taking a short break from Stephen and Leopold, the plot follows various characters through the streets of Dublin. The procession of the Lord Lieutenant, William Ward, Earl of Dudley, unifies the narrative.
Sirens
Music dominates this episode.
Bloom dines with Stephen’s uncle while his father sings. Molly rendezvous with her lover, Blazes Boylan.
Cyclops
The narrative now follows an unnamed Dubliner who witnesses an argument between Bloom and an anti-Semitic diner in Barney Kiernan’s pub.
The episode is notable for its tangential thoughts, including legalese, the Bible, and Irish mythology.
Nausicaa
This episode caused Ulysses to be banned and burned by the United States Postal Service.
Copying the style of a romance novel, the episode shadows Gerty MacDowell. Bloom watches her, fantasizing to meet his carnal desires. His mood dies as Gerty reveals her lame leg. Several asides later, Bloom decides to visit a friend in hospital.
Oxen of the Sun
Bloom visits his friend and heads to a bar where he meets Stephen Dedalus.
In this episode, Joyce uses wordplay to tell the history of the English language. Joyce moves from Latinate through several eras and various authors, ending the episode with unintelligible gibberish.
Circe
This episode mirrors a play script.
Highly intoxicated, Bloom and Dedalus enter Dublin’s red-light district. The pair begins to hallucinate; their fears and passions are brought to life. Stephen vandalizes a brothel and attacks an English soldier. Bloom “sees” his son brought back to life.
Part III: The Nostos
Eumaeus
Bloom and Dedalus find refuge in a cabman’s shelter, where they encounter a drunken sailor. Confusion and mistaken identity ensue as their identities are repeatedly questioned. Rambling and strenuous, the narrative reflects the psychological state of the men.
Ithaca
The pair returns to Bloom’s home; Stephen refuses Bloom’s offer of a place to stay. After relieving themselves, the two part ways.
Written as a catechism, this episode is one of the easiest to understand, since the questions preceding each section alert the reader to the topic at hand.
Penelope
Bloom and Molly lie in bed, where Molly’s thoughts flit about before settling on a remembrance of her and Bloom’s engagement.
We can only assume that the next day was unremarkably similar.
My Thoughts
Disclaimer: I read this book on an e-reader, and hated the experience. I tried not to let that fact influence my judgement; however, the fact that I could not easily mark pages or flip back to reread segments annoyed me to no end.
Just Say No
I read Ulysses as a bet to myself. I’d attempted the work several years ago, but failed to read past the first five pages or so. This time, though, Banned Books Week provided the motive I needed. Although a myriad of guides exist to help readers tackle Joyce’s epic, I chose to go alone.
As most of you probably know, critics consider Ulysses one of the greatest – if not the greatest – modern work of English literature; it is without a doubt the greatest work to ever come out of Ireland (well, there is the Book of Kells…) Written over the course of seven years, Joyce follows Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus through Dublin on June 16, 1904. Ulysses is well known for its plethora of allusions, references, and outright gibberish. Joyce once said, “I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I mean.” He wasn’t exaggerating.
What can I say about Ulysses that hasn’t already been said by people much more intelligent than I? The sprawling work threatens to consume the unwary. Joyce modeled Ulysses after Homer’s Greek epic The Odyssey (something I figured out halfway through), and – like Odysseus – Ulysses is a long journey home.
In my opinion, Joyce’s key theme is the heroicism of the common man. One common complaint levied against Ulysses is its outright commonality: there is no obvious story arc, no clear motive, no cheer-worthy hero. These complainers miss the point: the very commonality of Ulysses is what makes it great. Consider: Joyce takes us into Bloom’s innermost thoughts. When you think, are the thoughts full-formed? Probably not. Do you relate present circumstance with past experience? So does Bloom. In reading Ulysses we see the thought process. We see the relations and allusions as they form; it is stream of consciousness at its best. Therefore, by far my favorite passages are the ones that deal with food, like this one:
Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.
I might not enjoy giblets as much as Bloom, but I appreciate the imagery. Joyce’s mastery allows me to see, taste, and smell the food Bloom consumes. This is just one of many instances; Bloom was a foodie before it was hipster.
However, I cannot help but think that every character in Ulysses is a lost cause. Stephen’s mother is dead; he can never gain the forgiveness and absolution he seeks. Bloom’s son is dead and his wife an adulteress; it is highly unlikely he will ever have the progeny he desperately desires. The food, the alcohol, the prostitutes, the music, and the workplace all provide distraction, but they do not provide answers. When they awake on June 17, their plights will be exactly the same.
Nevertheless, don’t let me dissuade you from embarking on your own journey. Ulysses cannot be described; it must be experienced.
After getting back to work and being able to take a break from my vacation, I’m back into my writing routine. I took a look at the articles that have been simmering for the past few weeks; it’s a wonder some of them haven’t boiled over! The good news is that I can finish these up and stay on schedule for the next few weeks while I polish some of the latest ideas I’ve been working on. The question remains: what to write about first? My answer: the post closest to completion: my first experience with an e-reader.
As you may remember, a few weeks ago I began preparing for Banned Books Week. No, I’m not going to tell you my list, but here’s a hint: at least one of the 7 is in the public domain, available on Project Gutenberg, and listed on GoodReads. I’ve always had an aversion to e-readers, but in this case reading the book in some kind of electronic format would save me 14.99 +tax. (Jinkes! A clue!) My wife kindly volunteered the use of her Nook, a gift I had (begrudgingly) bought for her a year or two ago.
I’m sure you’re all on the edge of your seats with anticipation.
It wasn’t long before I found my first complaint. Unlike real books, the Nook required charging. Despite the fact that I had successfully downloaded the file (and could read it in Notepad if I really wanted to), I had to wait for 45 minutes while the Nook charged. Really!? I like to be able to start reading as soon as I get home. However, I wasn’t going to give up just yet.
Once I transferred the file (and found it in the right folder), I started reading. It took me a few tries, but eventually I was able to consistently turn the page without highlighting anything. That night I read for several hours with no further complaints.
I loved the fact that the Nook remembered my place. I have a nasty habit of either not using bookmarks or having them “accidently” fall out. In fact, I just like thumbing through books and grabbing random phrases. But in this case, it would have been catastrophic to lose my place. (Look gang! Another clue!)
Eventually I had another problem: lighting. I’m used to reading in low light, but the Nook doesn’t really allow that. Despite touting itself as having ink and paper qualities, the screen just doesn’t reflect light the way white paper does. Since I’m not a caveman and pay my electric bill, this was not a hardship.
It took me a couple of days, but I eventually finished the book. Then I sat down and made some lists.
Pros:
Easy to transport. Being able to take my book almost anywhere was a tremendous advantage.
Free books. Need I say more?
No worries about losing my place
No paper cuts
Something to write about
Cons:
Dependent on electricity
Difficult to look back for information since I don’t make a habit of remembering page numbers
Difficult to highlight or take notes
No paper feel/smell
The result? The Nook didn’t win me over to using e-readers, but neither did it alienate me. I’d probably use one again if there was a book I really wanted to read and could get it for free. Other than that, I’d gladly pay more for the real thing.
Running In My Head 