Friday, October 06, 2006

The World of Books in Other's Eyes

I didn't run today. Wimped out when I could see my breath and my neighbor overslept, which gave me the choice of walking by myself (my warm-up) or going back to bed.

I went back to bed. Grabbed two extra blissful hours of sleep. And don't feel one iota of guilt.

Yesterday, I watched Wednesday's season premiere of "Lost" not once but twice because the kids hadn't seen it, so I got to watch it with them, too. I found it hilarious that Henry/Ben boycotted "The Others" bookclub because they were reading Stephen King, an author whom I happen to love, and who I think is a lot more literary (I'm talking his recent works, not the Pet Cemetary stuff that even he admits were written under the influence) than people give him credit for.

There are passages in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, The Green Mile and other books that I look at and marvel at, the same way I have marveled at passages in T.S. Eliot poems and Joyce Carol Oates short stories. I am TOTALLY looking forward to his next book, Lisey's Story which comes out October 24th.



For a TOTALLY hilarious take on the world of books, you have to read the Gawker blog today. Both Miss Snark and ALG blogged about it. Yes, the Gawker column is a bit mean, both to editors and to authors, but hey, it's also some harsh truth. And some funny truths, too.

Anyway, speaking of the world of books, I better get back to mine before my editor finds another author to take my place ;-)

Shirley

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:27 PM

    I picked up "Rescued by Mr. Right" today up here in North Dakota! :)

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  2. Anonymous10:13 PM

    I'm not a book hopper...I do read several books at a time, which most find pretty odd, but I always finish...even when I don't care for a book, I always see it through to the end.

    There has only been one book I didn't finish and that was The Green Mile. I thought the writing, quite lovely, but it just broke my heart. I was never a King fan, but he was able to make me feel as though I was bareing direct witness to "man's inhumanity to man" and I couldn't stand to go on.

    Even a good person, at somepoint has to make decisions where there are no good solutions--no way to do the "right" thing.

    I'm saving the conclusion of that book for when I am old and wise and better able to understand the world, or better yet, understand my place in it. :-)

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  3. Wow, Pattie, a few days early, too! Thanks for buying it!!

    Shirley

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  4. I know what you mean about The Green Mile. How I saw the death of John Coffey was as putting him out of his misery -- the load of all the pain he had absorbed and seen was too much and he wanted to die, to not have that anymore. It was a tough book, I agree. And it did touch on a lot of issues that are tough to deal with. But it did have lots of interesting characters and lots of questions that presented quandaries I'd hate to be in myself.

    I love books like that, where I feel for the characters because they have to make decisions I'd never want to make.

    Shirley

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  5. Andie, do tell! What was your AHA moment? I am SO fascinated by Lost. I am a major puzzle fan (I beg my family for jigsaw puzzles, etc. for Christmas presents but they won't buy them because they know they won't see me until I'm done with them, LOL. I am so into that stuff and I'll forget the whole world until I've solved it) and that's why I love Lost so much.

    Shirley

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  6. Oh, then you HAVE to go back and rent the first two seasons. The kids and I rented Season One while we were watching Season Two and WHAM did so many things make sense. It was really cool. Like watching someone else fill in the New York Times crossword puzzle for us. And when you go back and rent the other DVDs, you see a LOT more of how the characters are way more intertwined than you think (like Jack's Dad, Sawyer and Ana Lucia, all being in the same bar at the same time -- Oh, and Jack and Desmond meeting each other when Desmond was supposedly already on the island...how can that be? Very cool stuff).

    I just love that show.

    Shirley

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