All posts by Carl V. Anderson

Nonfiction

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader ~Anne Fadiman

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Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader ~Anne Fadiman

–1998, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
–162 pages
–4.5/5 stars

“I have never been able to resist a book about books.”
~Anne Fadiman

Nor, of late, can I. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that this book would have ended up in my hands if it were not for the man dominating my reading of late, Nick Hornby. He mentions the book favorably in The Polysyllabic Spree. Like Hornby, Fadiman has an obvious love of the printed word which suffuses her essays with a warm glow. Reading Hornby and Fadiman back-to-back was an interesting experience. While the two have many similarities (in fact some of the subject matter in Housekeeping and Ex Libris actually mirrored each other), they also have some distinct differences. Nick Hornby is an obviously intelligent man who manages to write in an intelligent yet conversational style that embraces readers of all levels. Anne Fadiman is intelligent as well, but her writing seems to sit at a slightly different level. Not better, nor worse, just different. One is likely to find more words and references that need to be looked up in Ex Libris than in one of the three collections of Hornby essays. At first glance, Anne Fadiman’s essays seem to come off as more high-brow. But that image quickly fades as her essays ,manage to be every bit as accessible, because they cover a range of book related subjects echo the discussions had on book blogs the world over.

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Nonfiction

Housekeeping vs. The Dirt ~Nick Hornby

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Housekeeping vs. The Dirt ~Nick Hornby

–2006, Believer Books
–153 pages
–4.25/5 stars

It was with equal parts joy and sadness that I set out to read the second in Nick Hornby’s trilogy of books collecting his columns from Believer magazine. The sadness came from the fact that this was the remaining book of the three that I had not read and once it was over there would be no more. Had I harbored any intentions of savoring this and making it last (and believe me, I didn’t), those intentions would have been swept out the door as with a flood upon reading Hornby’s preface. In it he takes to task the idea of ‘proper’ vs. ‘improper’ reading. This book would have been worth reading just for this section alone.

“One of the problems, it seems to me, is that we have got it into our heads that books should be hard work, and that unless they’re hard work, they’re not doing us any good. I recently had conversations with two friends, both of whom were reading a very long political biography that had appeared in many of 2005’s ‘Books of the Year’ lists. They were struggling. Both of these people are parents–they each, coincidentally, have three children–and both have demanding full-time jobs. And each night, in the few minutes they allowed themselves to read before sleep, they plowed gamely through a few paragraphs about the (very) early years of a major twentieth-century world figure. At the rate of progress they were describing, it would take them many, many months before they finished the book, possibly even decades…The truth is, of course, that neither one of them will ever finish it–or at least, not in this phase of their lives. In the process, though, they will have reinforced a learned association of books with struggle.”

Hornby goes on to say:

“If reading is to survive as a leisure activity…then we have to promote the joys of reading rather than the (dubious) benefits…please, if you’re reading a book that’s killing you, put it down and read something else… All I know is that you can get very little from a book that is making you weep with the effort of reading it. You won’t remember it, and you’ll learn nothing from it, and you’ll be less likely to choose a book over Big Brother next time you have a choice.”

Many of us have made similar arguments about books and reading before, but I must admit that I get an extra shot of pleasure whenever a published author expounds upon the joys of reading and puts a fork in the overdone idea that there is a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ kind of reading.

Fear not, the serious tone of the preface doesn’t pervade the book, Hornby’s trademark humor is there in spades.

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book news

Read-a-thon Wrap Up

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It began with rain and ended with rain, but sandwiched between the downpours were moments both literally and metaphorically sunny. Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon, April 2009, has ended, and I can say with all sincerity that I truly enjoyed this, my first opportunity to participate. The read-a-thon began and ended with rain, but it also began and ended with a goat! And this is where the giddiness begins.

At the start of yesterday’s event, Mary was checking out my post and clicked over to the World Vision website, the link for the charity we chose to fund. Within seconds she mentioned that one of the things a person could donate was a goat. A goat! I immediately…and I kid you not (no pun intended), it was instantaneous…had this conversation in my head: “I want to donate a goat and I want to name it Chasuble!”*. And this made me giggle inside. In fact I thought about it often during the day, and as I read Ex Libris and came across Anne Fadiman’s mention of a Nordstrom’s catalog with a goat on the cover, I took it as a sign and declared to Mary that in addition to a donation to the educational fund of World Vision, we were going to give a goat.

The name “Chasuble” is, incidently, the surname of the reverend in The Importance of Being Earnest. Why in the name of all that is holy that name popped instantly in my head at the idea of donating a goat, I will never know! It just did, which, incidently, is what led to me choosing the movie adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play for our evening’s entertainment.

So there you have it. We came, we read, we donated a goat (and possibly 5 ducks, I haven’t yet decided for sure).

*for the record, you don’t officially get to ‘name’ the goat you donate. But that didn’t stop me.

And now, a recap of the read-a-thon experience.

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book news

The 24 Hour Read-a-thon Has Begun!!!

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“Real luxury is time and opportunity to read for pleasure.”
~Jane Brody

I decided it would be fitting to start this post, the one in which I will do regular updates throughout the day, with a sample of some of the books on my potential reading pile. The alarm clock in the picture is at least as old as I am, my parents purchased it in Germany, where I was born, while my dad was in the Army.

Mary has decided to join me in reading, at least through part of the day, and she suggested that we give a donation to the educational division of World Vision.

During the day I will post updates, each of which will have a header indicating that it is the latest update, so feel free to check back! I’m so psyched to be participating! It is raining (meaning no reason to feel guilty for not mowing the lawn) I have my everything bagel and my cinnamon twist from Einstein Bros. Bagels, a glass of orange juice, and my first read. And away we go….

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book news

The 24 Hour Read-a-Thon

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(Image by ToniVC)

“We read to know we are not alone.”
~C.S. Lewis

The person who says that reading is a solitary activity just hasn’t met the right people. Let one reader encounter another and time can stand still while they share the pleasures of their respective literary adventures, from their earliest recollections of story to the book they just put down. Reading is an activity that allows one to go on a journey with a group of friends the world over. This is more true than ever with the advent of book blogs. But even before the internet made it possible for us to share our passion for the written word with people all over the world, we were a community. I have read novels that are over 100 years old…the same road I traveled down has been traversed by many before me, from all walks of life…we shared the same road and yet all had unique adventures on that road with the same cast of characters. The knowledge of that kind of shared experience can be staggering if you take the time to ponder it.

The ease with which we can communicate with one another today has taken this idea of community to an entirely new level, and one of the people who helped form that community was Dewey. Many of you know that Dewey passed away last year and in her honor the book blog community has continued many of the events that she was a part of, one being the 24 Hour Read-A-Thon, now renamed Dewey’s Read-a-thon. This event occurs once in April and once in October. In the past I have not been able to participate due to being out of town on each occasion. This time it will be different.

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