I graduated Friday, I let my husband pick out my new luggage yesterday and today I a celebrated our anniversary by dusting. Within days I will finish teaching and have the house clean, and then….free time. The hell of a rudderless ship, a runaway train, a life without purpose, a vast expanse of time that is my own with nothing to do and no one to evaluate it – that’s all I have to look forward to.
I have plans: fix blog since Darling Husband “lost” it, knit like mad, get my “to be filed” stuff taken care of, get a job. However, in the meantime I thought I could beg you, my gentle reader, to give me an assignment. I may not finish it, I may not start it, but I will feel hugged knowing that if I do loose my way in the world of intrinsic motivation, I always have you to fall back on.
Here is a list of books that I own, but have not read. I don’t want to buy anymore books until I have made it through these. I have not included books on education, knitting or cooking. Nor are there any of Darling Husband’s books on theoretical and dramatic future or killer microbes or body parts. Everything else is here, pick one. I could even do a book report and then you could grade me so I won’t get DTs.
Remember these are the books that I have not read, but own, so they only say something about the person that I am and am not.
Tell me what to read in a comment. Your choices, in no particular order, are:
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison -hurts to admit I haven’t read this
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner -ditto
Little Dorritt, Dickens -the title seems really festive – good holiday read?
Tales of Hoffman, Hoffman -no idea why I have this
Shirley, Charlotte Bronte -eh
The Question of Palestine, Edward Said -Honestly, I bought this book so I could debate a Zionist. I am a jerk. People like that don’t change their minds. And that is a really shallow reason to read a book.
Wild Swans, Jung Chang -Recommended by a coworker in The Land of the Lost. Looks depressing, but I trust the guy.
The Illustrated Zleika Dobson -pretty pictures
Twilight of the Superheroes, Deborah Eisenberg -new short stories. will probably just piss me off
The Loved One, Waugh -I think I may have read this, but I can’t remember how it ended, so it’s back on the list
Wuthering Heights, Bronte -this would be a reread, I think at 12 a lot of this book went over my head
What is English, Elbow -need to read this, been meaning to for a year
The Fearie Queen, Spenser -Alfred Bloom claims he can recite this from memory
A Handful of Dust, Waugh -Waugh not?
Discipline and Punishment, Foucault -should, haven’t
The Confidence Man, Melville – best book on my unread list, have struggled with it for five years
Secrets of the Flesh, A Life of Collette, Thurman – she wrote a book about Dinesen I really liked, and I have read a ton of Collete, but this book has never quite worked out for me
The Ring and the Book, Browning – love Browning in a philistine-y kind of way. This book will give me cred
The Man Who Shocked the World, Some Guy – biography on Stanley Milgram, who I love
England Made Me, Graham Greene – not sure why I never read this
The Power and the Glory, Greene – read it in high school and thought it was “boring.” not reading it so I can continue to pretend I was never that dumb
The Awakening, Chopin – I always think of her as another Wharton, and Wharton is a bummer
The Border Trilogy, McCarthy – some one told me these were super gory and I figure it’s got to be cow gore because these are about cowboys, and I really like beef so I have kind of put these off until I felt more vegan-y. I saw SuperSizeMe last week, so maybe it’s time
The Wings of the Dove – I always think of late James as another Wharton, and Wharton is a bummer
My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist, Leyner – Recommended in the Land of the Lost. need to read it.
Cruddy, Lynda Barry – started it and it’s totally depressing
Sula, Morrison – haven’t read this one, or Jazz, or Love, but I heard Love sucked
The Unconsoled – Ishiguro, another Land of the Lost recommendation. They seem to all center around desperation and misery. Very little triumph coming out of Land of the Lost.
Bastard Out of Carolina – I always think I will hate books about the South
cod, Kurlansky – so totally want to read this. may start it tonight
The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro – it was a buck and I liked the movie
Doctor Zhivago, Pasternak – my mom gave it to me and I have been meaning to read it, but VN said Pasternak was not so good
An Equal Music, Seth – people that bought this book seemed like awesome or awful. no in-between. I was intrigued.
Eugene Oegin, Pushkin – feel like a jerk to not having read this
Wanderlust, A History of Walking, Scinit – I was really excited about this when I got it
Illiad and Odessey, Lombardo translation – again, tons of excitement and never opened the cover
The Time Traveler’s Wife, Neffenburger – started it and it was crappy
