The law of intention keeps popping up. "Cuando una persona realmente desea algo, el Universo entero conspira para que realice sus suenos." That's from the book I'm currently reading in Spanish, "El Alquimista." It tranlates: When a person really wants something, the entire Universe conspires for them to realize their dreams.
Wish I had known that earlier. (Let's see the Universe make that one come true!... me knowing earlier.)
Does anyone else get excited when they acquire a really fat book? We just got two. One is an English/Spanish dictionary that is heavy enough to be a doorstop and the other is a fantasy paperback that Ramon the Gringo Formerly Known As Raymond recommended. It's entitled "A Clash of Kings" and runs to just short of a thousand pages. It's the second of a trilogy and the only one we could find at our nearby English language book store. (Ramon, if you are reading this and you have it, send me the first.) I haven't read much fantasy apart from the Lord of the Rings books, Harry Potter (in Spanish and here I would much prefer skinny books) and accounts of George Bush speaking intelligently, but, if best seller lists are to believed the genre has become huge. (As you know, I like to keep up with the times and be in touch with what's happening, so along with reading fantasy I'm going to get a transistor radio and one of those Pong games. They sound like fun.) The thing about a nice fat book is you know it's going to be with you for a long time (unless you are Woowoo Charly who will polish it off before breakfast) and if it's good you're in for a nice long ride and not the damn it's almost over feeling you get from a good, but short book. Is this making any sense? I didn't think so. Maybe it's just the visceral sense of a fat book, the weight, the heft, the feel of the thing. Or maybe I'm just impressed that anyone could write such a lengthy tale. Whatever. My favorite of the fatties I've read is Mailer's "Harlot's Ghost" which ran over a thousand pages and ended with "to be continued." I've been waiting for the sequel to that puppy for years, but Mailer now says he won't be able to finish it because he's too old to start another tome. Bummer.
Now that all you commenters have become a chatty lot, why don't you tell me your favorite fat books. Or just your favorite books, period. Inquiring bloggers INTEND to know.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
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12 comments:
"War and Peace" and Henry James's "The Ambassadors."
My wacky Aunt Elizabeth (whose husband, the even wackier Uncle Freddie, was the grandson of the first man to pilot a ship through the Panama Canal) read "War and Peace" at least once a year. So, essentially, she read it all the time throughout her life.
#1 son- I'd say Winds of War and War and Remembrance - two books in one or maybe Shogun
I'm really excited to read Vikram Chandra's 900-page epic SACRED GAMES. What's more fun than Mumbai gangsters?
'In The Skin of a Lion' Michael Ondaatje
'Bastard Out of Carolina' my god I forget her name - Ruth...
'Seven Story Mountain' Thomas Merton
'Solace of Open Spaces' Gretel Ehrlich.
'The Girl With Curious Hair' Foster Wallace.
'Mischief' Alistair Macleod
'Bay of Love and Sorrow' David Adam Richards.
oooo, I can't think....
Funny. I just remembered that I was talking to D&D last week about big books and how satisfying it is to know that you've got one waiting for you on the bedstand.
Here are a few favorites:
Zadie Smith's WHITE TEETH
Mary McCarthy's THE GROUP
GONE WITH THE WIND (guilty pleasure)
DR STRANGE AND MR NORRELL
all the HARRY POTTERs
Proust's IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME
Philip Roth's AMERICAN PASTORAL
Ooooh, how could I forget A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY?
Pops, have you heard about Mailer's new one? - THE CASTLE IN THE FOREST. It's a fictional biography of Hitler as a child - a study of the twisted family dynamics that created his psychology.
Mailer took on Jesus, now Hitler...guess he has to pick on guys his own size, eh?
I've read many of those books, though none of yours BB. I have read other books by some of the authors you mentioned, but not specifically those books. I've read everything on K and #1's list and War and Peace from Bonnie's.
The book is "Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrel" and was read by Kira Strange and Woowoo Mama... Two of the few people I can imagine actually liking that book without being on drugs.
Leveled Books for Readers grades 3 through 8, by Fountas and Pinnell.
Definitely a compelling read.
Oooooh, #2Son, that sounds AWESOME! Can I borrow it when you're done? Hee.
By the way, Bonnie, I love the idea of reading a book regularly throughout our life. A very cool idea. Every year it would be different. Because every year we're different.
Proust is my guy for that kind of thing, although I don't yet have the discipline of your wacky Aunt Elizabeth!
Wow, this Law of Intention really works! I intended and I got. Everyone chimed in.
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