So, getting into the Halloween spirit, I recently started reading Frankenstein. I thought that I hadn’t read it before, but two or three pages in, I realised that I had in fact already read this book. Since I totally forgot about this fact, and because I didn’t realise on the first page that I had read it, I came to the conclusion that this must not be a very good book. Well, I have just finished Volume 2 and I can say that it is pretty much a fairly lame and not entirely entertaining book. However, it’s not all bad, as I am going to finish it. 

Some things have struck me during my reading, though. In the opening ‘letters’ section, it became evident to me how irritating it would have been to live in the 1800s, when the book was first published. The writing depicted in the letters is excruciating. How proper and boring, even when addressing a sibling. God, I would have just screamed and invented a time machine to get to at least the 90s. And the people in the period are depicted as wusses. The slightest fright causes them to come over with a terrible fever, bed-ridding them for what seems like months. Man, I just wanna smack Frankenstein and say ‘Snap out of it, moron.’ Ugh!

...

Although I am now into Volume 3,  I still haven’t finished reading this book yet (this time) but I wanted to get the post out for Halloween... I still am not really impressed by the book. In general, it is a good enough story. It has a good idea and – if you like this sort of thing – you can take lessons about humanity, etc from it. I personally prefer not to do that sort of thing. I just like to read a book and if I do notice it touches on society and junk like that, I tend to ignore it. My major qualm with this book is that it is not graphic enough. It leaves too much to the imagination. Maybe it is due to the fact that it is not the 1800s anymore, but where are my graphic details about HOW the monster was made!? There is no description about the techniques used to create the monster, nor (as of yet) how it was ever brought to life. It borders on extremely boring. Happy Halloween! 

Get Lost

So let’s go back to my last blog... What books get you so wrapped up that you get lost in them; they can transport you to another place/time? Or that you just don’t want to put down because you enjoy them so much? For me, these are probably often the same book, but not always. For instance, sometimes I read Stephen King books even though I don’t altogether like Stephen King (except for a few oldies). Usually I will read his books when I want something that will take me away from reality and either just help me pass the time cuz I’m bored or just take my mind off of ‘real life’ for a bit. However, I don’t feel that I ‘just don’t want to put down’ his books. Oftentimes I actually feel quite annoyed with his similar plotlines and character profiles. Still, I tend to read such stuff cuz it does allow me to escape reality for a bit and cuz his books are so easy to read. 

Then there are books that I just don’t want to put down because they are incredibly good and I don’t want them to end even. You get caught up in the characters’ lives and their ordeals and stuff. These books are on my favourite books list, which I will have to write a separate blog about. But there are three of them: A Confederacy of Dunces, A Clockwork Orange, and Candide. These books are just incredible and they are all so entertaining in their own unique way, and there is nothing else like them. (And they all start with the letter C!)

Finally, there are some books that can completely transport me to the place/time the book takes place. One example I can remember doing this for me vividly is Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. While I was reading these books, I was living (momentarily, during a time I’d rather forget) in Lake George. Driving around at night with the lights showing on the ski mountain and all the snow around ‘reminded me’ of the Svalbard parts of the books. I think that being in an environment that brought to mind what was happening in the books – here a cold and snowy environment – really helped me to get lost in the book. I wonder if I would have the same experience if I had read these while in a hot, desert-y environment... Actually, I think I should read this series again, as well as his newer book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. Apparently it’s meant to be quite good and we’ll see if it can take me away from reality too...

Don't Look Away From My Blog, Or Else...

So...I haven’t written a book blog here in a while but with good reason... I had company two weeks in a row, moved house and went away to a 5 day music festival. It was all very good and exciting, but having returned from the festival one week ago today, I spent the week recovering (I am exhausted still!) and trying to unpack everything (still not done, no surprise there). I have been thinking about various things to write about and have some good ideas. But the first thing I am going to write about since I haven’t written in so long relates to something I saw today.

On my way home from the gym tonight, I saw a girl reading a book. This might not be such a big deal, but I should say that it was raining a bit and it was very windy from these hurricane induced winds AND she was walking. This must have been a very good book.  Or she just took the name of the book too literally... ready for the punch line? The book was called Never Look Away.

 I never heard of this book before, so I just now googled it to find out more. It is a thriller and does sound exciting enough as thrillers go. (I should also note that I don’t normally read thrillers. The only one I have recently, and possibly ever, read was Shutter Island because I wondered if the book was just like the movie; it mostly is.)

Anyway, my point is that (funny joke about how this woman couldn’t look away from the book aside) the woman reading it was obviously wrapped up in this book enough so that walking thru some very unpleasant weather couldn’t stop her from reading. This leads to one of the topics that I wanted to write about: Books that totally engross you. Leading to a closely related topic: Books that let you escape reality. What books have you read that get you so wrapped up you don’t want to stop reading? Also, what books have you read that allow you to escape from reality and transport you to another place and/or time? Think about it. These could be the same books, I suppose. Oftentimes if a book has you totally engrossed it is because it has the power to transport you out of your reality. But that is not always the case. For length sake, I am going to write about these two topics together in another blog entry, because this entry is long enough already and I don’t want to bore you too much. Stay tuned.

Why Travel?

 This is the book that I was reading when I started this blog. One line that caught my attention was on p.123. It says, "Of course world travel isn't as good as it seems, it's only after you've come back from all the heat and horror that you forget to get bugged and remember the weird scenes you saw." Hmmm.....I really don't agree with this at all. First of all, it seems like he doesn't like traveling, like maybe he's only doing it to write about it. Second of all, I don't understand what he means 'forget to get bugged'. Anyway.....

Why don't I agree? Because I think world travel is as good as it seems. Yeah I guess you can be miserable sometimes while you're traveling if it is hot and horrible. But then, if heat and horror aren't for you, go somewhere that is for you. Duh. Traveling is the best. I wish I could go everywhere and see everything the world has to offer. That is another blog I would love to write if only I had the funds to go everywhere and see everything I want. (If anyone wants to fund me on such an adventure, I would gladly take you up on the offer.) But still, I have been really lucky to travel as much as I have so far. I say so far because I plan to keep traveling when and where possible...just gotta get out of debt first. Even before I moved to Scotland, giving me closer access to the rest of the world, I was lucky enough to travel to several countries (Canada, Germany, Spain, South Africa and Namibia) and I was able to travel and live extensively throughout the USA. I have traveled to many states and driven across country a few times. And I have lived in 7 different states (CT, NY, ME, TX, MA, ND, CO). Now that I live closer to continental Europe I have closer access to many of the places I do want to go. And although I haven't traveled nearly as much as I would have liked to by now, I have been to some cool places. I have traveled to Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, England, Norway and Sweden. I have seen so many cool things in these places and even when it was blazing hot and I got a horrible sunburn in Sweden, I still loved every minute of it. In fact, Sweden has been my favorite so far and I want to go back and visit more of it and live there too. You see, even when you are uncomfortable and feeling a bit miserable, you do remember how lucky you are to experience these things and see the things that you always wanted to. Unless you're traveling just to say you've traveled or so that you can write a book about it to make money (Bill Bryson), then my guess is that you'll probably enjoy yourself no matter what. And if you can't find ANYTHING on your trip to make yourself happy, then you need to give me that plane ticket and I'll write a book about it for you.

Second reason why I don't agree with Kerouac's quote on p.123: I think the opposite about 'remembering' things from my trip. As I've already established, I DO enjoy the trip while I am on it. But when I come back home from my trips, it is right back to reality. I guess Kerouac would remember his trip more when he came back because he had to write about it. But for me, although I do of course remember my trips after returning home, I have other things to do and think about and I can no longer wallow in that moment as I wish to do. On my most recent trip to Norway and Sweden, I was traveling for a week. In that week I was almost removed from my own reality. Of course I was in the real world and even had contact with friends and did realistic things. But I did not have one stressful experience relating to work. I was able to do the things I wanted and enjoy them. I didn't have to worry about going into work or paying my bills - I was removed from that reality for the time being - what traveling and taking holidays is all about for me. Which is why I want to travel all the time! So who's gonna pay me to do it?

What books have helped you become the person you are today?

I just read a post on Facebook from NPR books about Michele Bachmann (gasp!) and what books and beliefs shaped her. My post isn't really about that because I really don't want to get into political or religious arguments here. But rather, my post is just to ask what books have shaped you? And why/how?

It's hard for me to think right away what books have affected me and how. I've always read so much from early on and mostly it's just for fun. Sometimes I even just space out while I'm reading and don't even remember what I read shortly after reading it. But there are a couple books I guess have helped me develop into the person I am - or maybe more like they helped shape what I wanted and strived for in life. These are, first, On the Road and, second, Desolation Angels - both by Jack Kerouac.

 

This is because I always wanted to travel and 'get away' from where I had spent my life up until the time I read On the Road as a freshman in college. Desolation Angels just kept that fire burning. Sure, these books aren't the best and they definitely aren't my favorite books ever (a topic for a later date), but they are pretty darn good and definitely helped fuel my travel desires and got me moving.

              

What is the point of this blog?

So you may be asking what exactly is the point of this blog? I don't really know... I guess it is just because I really wish that I could read every book that has been written ever, and that someone would pay me to do this. Of course, achieving both of these goals are highly unlikely. So instead I am just going to read what I can and talk about it here. I don't want to review books, but just make connections with books. Write what these books make me think about, what they remind me of - people, places, experiences I've had - and maybe talk about whether or not I like the books. I will probably go off on a tangent most of the time, but hopefully you'll follow me and tell me your own thoughts or what these things remind you of as well.
Also, you can suggest books for me to read and talk about.