A Modest Proposal

Just finished A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, or rather, I should say, just finished A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or the Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to the Public by Jonathan Swift. That title is practically longer than the essay. It's an essay arguing that a way to cut down on the poor is for the poor people of Ireland to use the first year of their babies lives to fatten them up and then at around age one to sell them for food (No, that is not Sarah Palin's policy for the poor. It was only nine pages but still I believe it'd be a stretch to believe that she could finish it. I ked! I ked!). He stated that one benefit of this program would be the reduction in the number of Catholics. I feel like I shouldn't even have to state that it is of course a work of satire.

Next up is another selection from the book, A Modest Proposal and Other Prose, A Tale of A Tub. It's also rather short, but still much longer than A Modest Proposal.

Typical Woman

Just finished Harriet Hume: A London Fantasy by Rebecca West. At first I believed this to be a nice little modern-day fantasy yearn. The title character, Harriet Hume, realizes that she has the ability to read the thoughts of her lover, Arnold Condorex. Through this she finds out that he would assuredly spurn her if he was to meet someone that would better aid his ability to rise the ranks of society. So we get to the fantasy part. With this knowledge she casts him away. Through the years they meet at various times through the years and yet everytime she finds herself drawn to him. Now she knows for a fact that he is not worth a tinker's dam and yet inexplicable she is still drawn to him. Finally believing that she is the reason for his destruction, he decides to kill her, but before he can follow through the cops which she has called stop him. The story ends with her refusing to have him arrested and even though he married another woman it would seem that they end up together. This is no fantasy. This is exactly how women are really. Most women if given the choice women will always choose style over substance. For instance scoring on a ten-scale, if given the choice between Guy A, who would be 7.5 style and 1 substance, and Guy B, who would be 7 style and 10 substance, you could bet the farm that she would choose Guy A. Sad but true. I've witnessed it hundreds of times in my life.

Next and hopefully on a more positive note was suppose to be A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift. However, Keith's Book Quest supporter Dana suggested another Swift selection, A Modest Proposal. So I decided to put Proposal ahead of Tub. When ordering the book I found that it was included in collection of Swift's shorter works and..yes both were included. So I'll finish the year out with Jonathan Swift.

Can't sleep so I'll blog......

Ugh! I can't sleep and I have to be at work at 8:30 in the morning. Oh and also I'm freakin' exhausted so there is no reason I shouldn't be asleep. Stupid brain won't ever shut up.

....Anywho I'm in the middle of Harriet Hume by Rebecca West. I had to buy a used copy of it. When I first got it I liked to imagine who might have read this book before me. Now the copy I got is from the Virago Modern Classic collection. Virago is a publishing company based out of London which publishes exclusively women authors. So I'll assume that the previous reader is female. Which brings up many other interesting questions: Was this book assigned reading for a Women's Literature class? or was it just a book that that girl/woman found by happenstance? or Could it possibly be that somewhere in this world there is a woman who is on the same quest as me? Maybe she, like me, is reading through this list as a means to give her life some meaning. Maybe she, too, has been shunned by society and forced into a life of solitude. Maybe somewhere in this world I have a kindred spirit, a person who truly understands what I'm going through. Who knows, but it's interesting to wonder.

And with that I'll try to sleep.

The Book of Evidence by John Banville

Just finished with The Book of Evidence by John Banville. It is the testimony of a murderer. He matter-of-factly recounts the events which led to him bashing a young woman's head in. He finally decides that he killed her because he simply could. He didn't view her as an actual human being so he could do what he wanted. Isn't that the essence of most of our wrongdoings? Few people, I believe, are inherently evil in the James Bond-villian image. They just are able to convince themselves that what they're doing isn't wrong for whatever reason.

Next is a book called Harriet Hume by Rebecca West which was chosen at random via www.random.org. I must admit I know nothing of this book. Actually I believe it is currently out of print, since Barnes and Noble doesn't have a new copy online. The copy I bought is a used copy which I bought from the Atlanta Book Company via Barnes and Noble.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Just finished Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. And surprisingly it is not talking about the female heart it's actually about a trip into the depths of the African Congo. I had no idea until I just looked it up that it was the basis for Apocalypse Now. I don't know why...maybe it was the style of writing but I really didn't care for this book. It just never grabbed me. It was less than a hundred pages and felt like it took me forever to finish.

Next up is The Book of Evidence by John Manville as selected by my most trusted advisor Matthew.

Nice turnaround!

Finished with Atonement by Ian McEwan. As I said earlier, I didn't make it through very much of the movie. Also, when I first started with the book it didn't seem to be much better. I mean several mornings I woke up with the bedroom lights on and the book lying upon my bed. However once I got through the exposition which was the first about hundred and fifty pages or so, it became much better. The rest of the story especially about Robbie Turner's march to Dunkirk and Briony Tallis's experiences as a nurse during World War II really brought the story around and then the conclusion really finished the story off well.

So next on (or should I say off?) the list will be The Book of Evidence by John Banville as chosen by good friend and most trusted advisor, Matthew. However, it's not scheduled to arrive until Friday so in the intervening time I think I'll try to finish off Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad which I began before I started Atonement.

If You're Scoring at Home or Even if You're Alone

So where am I? Currently I'm reading Atonement by Ian McEwan as chosen by Justin. So far I don't expect this to be atop my favorite books' list. Its about a wealthy English family and it seems like every character is very neurotic and unsure of themselves. A movie was made of this book a few years back which received critical success winning an Oscar and being nominated for several others. I remember I only made it through about twenty minutes or so of it. But that was before the quest and now I must surge forth and vanquish this book.