January 16, 2007
A Zero-Book Balance: Part 1
Everyone’s always giving me books. And if they’re not, they’re recommending them to me.
Have you read ‘The Bridge of San Luis Rey’? No, I reply. You Must! It’s a classic. What about ‘The Grapes of Wrath’? No, it’s on my bookshelf, though. Does that count? Of course not! It’s Steinbeck’s finest work, you must read it. But I’ve seen the movie, does that count?
An icy glare is my response.
In time, I’ve developed a book problem. Not a problem with books, the object; no other set of instruments can produce such incredible music. Nor to I have problems with books, the material; even if I know the plot (and I am the most awful of reader, the plot kind: one who takes little pleasure in the little details, I could care less if Mme. Bovary’s shirt is red or polka-dot green) I have still read a book, boring as it was.
My problem is one not with books, I suppose, but with the physical world: a lack of space and a plethora of fiction. But if I loathe one thing, it is *not* finishing a book: no matter how droll, how dreary, how damnably awful, there is nothing more satisfying than the final close of the back cover. (I have, of course, on occasion, skipped a few pages here and there, like watching an awful movie on fast-forward)
I am seeking resolution; I crave empty shelves. Laid before me is a stack of some thirty books, the bulk of which have plagued me from afar, on shelves here in Florida while I ponder about them in bookstores and libraries in Massachusetts. Have I read ‘The Death of Vishnu’? Do I own it at home? No more will these books take up space. I’m going to read them, one by one, over the semester, and then donate them somewhere.
There is nothing more embarrassing than having not read a book *everyone* else has read. I know ‘Huck Finn’ is required for damn near every school in every state, but we didn’t read it, ok? And there’s nothing worse than having someone say “I hated book so-and-so” just as you’re about to start reading it. So I’m not telling which ones they are, at least not now. Maybe when I finish a few, I’ll make a small note of it.
The goal is to finish all of these, these 30 damnable books, by the end of the semester. It’s not going to be easy: that’s roughly a book and a half a week at a place where time is already at a premium. But, I’m going to view this as an extra 4 credits: 12 hours a week spent doing something interesting and engaging for myself, not for a professor. Live long learning at its best, no?
Filed by Adam College at 3:56 pm under Life
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