WHAT MADE THE HAMSTER THRILL TODAY IN A WINGED-BACK CHAIR WITH GOOD COFFEES AND HIS NON-CYBORGIAN SPOUSE NEARBY

so i'm in this science-fiction bookclub. i've never read the science-fiction before. it's all new to me, as if i'm listening to klingon war ballads set to ukuleles. in the sci-fi, my eyeballs feel as lost on the page as my feet on the intergalactic dancefloor. but i'm learning. and the rhythm is climbing up my thighs, just about to hit my swinging hips. watch out, all ye worlds.

my friend tim recently got the sci-fi ball rolling with a small klatch of us bryan, texas literarians. thus far we have read FRANKENSTEIN by mary shelley, THE TIME MACHINE and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS by h. g. wells, and huxley's A BRAVE NEW WORLD. we're having a smashing good time working chronologically through six packs of pale ale and the major eras of science-fiction literature. at the moment, we are reading a smathering of short stories, compiled by our fearless leader tim, all penned and published during the golden age of science-fiction. 

today in a coffeeshop with my lovely bride, who is human and not made of robotics or cyborgian synthetic skin, we grabbed the only two winged-back chairs in the whole place and sat down to our readings. we have found that words and caffeine go so well together, a little tip i give to all of you. and while my wife enriched herself with gabriel garcia marquez, i plowed through the first of fearless leader tim's stories. and then i plowed through that damn thing a second time. and i freaking loved it both times. 

i am writing here to say that i have written my likings of the story over there, quite yonder in another webiverse where i sometimes fly my hamsterian planetary flags. please, i invite you to go there, to roam about and see this thing that made me thrill in that coffeeshop, in one of the only two winged back chairs remaining. life, really, it is too short not to thrill over words in winged back chairs, with good coffees and beautiful spouses nearby. so, yes, i invite you, even if you do not read the sci-fi, as i recently did not read the sci-fi, life is too short not to share in the bettering thrills of one another. 

thanks to clarks for reminding me to place my musings over here. i would have carried all this around in my pockets for weeks, my pant's legs getting heavy, thereby losing the ukulele war ballad groove that's almost to my hips by now. 

The (not-so) Great Gatsby?

Since this is open game on here I was going to write a mock book review on "Twilight" and suggest that everyone read it in light of the fact that it's a major block buster thriller movie right now, but as much as I really did enjoy it, I couldn't do it with a straight face. :)

So on a slightly deeper literary note:

I wonder if anyone was ever insulted by the word 'scally-wag'. "You scally-wag". Really?

Today I just finished the book The Great Gatsby after completing it 10 years ago as a mandatory High School reading assignment. I read it in two days which may have been a little too quick because I still don't get it. Please don't slap me my literary genius friends! It's called The Great American Masterpiece. Why? Don't get me wrong, I like it and all, it was enjoyable and great with a lower-case "g", but as far as Great goes, na-uh. I wish I was smart. I'm not trying to be self-deprecating or anything, just when it comes to literature comprehension I suck. That is probably why I never got into poetry, too speculative. I would always guess 'sex' when my teacher asked what the poem was about and usually that was the right answer. I could just get online and look up the cliff-notes version on this and appear more intelligent and then snobbily say "ohhh now The Great Gatsby is a classic piece of American literature that well captures the pre-depression area of the roaring twenties and the post Great War attitudes of the people escaping from the Victorian-era moral confines." I totally just made that up. That is how I got good grades in High School. I bs'd.

But back to The Great Gatsby, what is it about it that draws people in? Gatsby isn't a really likable character, he's a liar and a self-absorbed jerk. Daisy isn't likable either for even more reasons. Please don't say something like, "it's their flaws that make them so beautiful" because that's crap. They are so careless of what their actions do to harm everyone around them. I enjoyed reading about the culture that they were living in, the fabulously wealthy people who were probably similar to F. Scott Fitzgerald's own friends and contemporaries. The writing was great, he is amazing, and my argument isn't against him or the book itself, it's against this book being called the Great American Masterpiece. I mean really. Tell me why you think it's so great, pretty pretty please.

Aw, man.

I know it; I totally stink. Rottenness.

I'm only on chapter 13 of this, so far, amazing book, and one day, be it forty months from now, I will write about it, and anyone is welcome to write about it now, and By George!, you can write about any ole book you please.

Come on! Don't wait on me. Write about what you're reading. We want to know. Rules are out the window, people, can't you tell?

Apartheid

I did not know until yesterday that apartheid means "separateness" in Afrikaans.

butterfly in the sky

Oh how I need to and want to read Cry, The Beloved Country. 

Let me know what you think about this reading schedule.

Intro - Ch. 6 by Sept 29 

Ch. 12 by Oct. 6

Ch. 19 by Oct. 13

Ch. 28 by Oct. 20

Ch. 36 by Oct 27

Cry, The Beloved Country

Is this the book we're reading next? Just wanted to make sure....

Dillard the Dullard or Wholly the Worm

I want to get this stuff going again.

I read Dillard. I read her in 3 days, devoting one day to each section. I will get into more detail later as we get rolling, but i have some initial statements that may spark your opposition.
I enjoyed her writing. She can write, i'll give her that. I did not like all of it. I felt as though the first section was fantastic. I did not, however, enjoy section 2 for a couple of reasons.

First, it is difficult to critisize poetry as it does not carry with it the same literary logic of non-poetic literature. I am not skilled at critiquing either, but i felt as though some of her sentences, possibly even sections were nonsensical. I thought after reading that section that she wrote some stuff that did not add at all to her subtle points or to her overt ones.

Secondly, i didn't enjoy the sections of blatant critical questioning and asserting she did regarding God. This is just me. Some people eat that stuff up because it makes them feel better knowing that others have questions too and also that they can formulate them so systematically. I do not. It makes me have a sour feeling in my belly. It makes me think of when one boy in gradeschool flips someone off and then another boy gives him a high five. I know it's wrong as a little kid, and even though i do think of giving the finger sometimes, it doesn't mean i take pride in the fact that someone else is doing it.

She redeems herself though in the last section which i also thought was fantastic. To date, one of my favorite sections in the book was her description of the moth catching fire and the way she brings it back at the end. OH, SO GOOD.

What say the masses?
Will i be alone in my critical ditch again?

PS. the title was just to catch attention. i quite liked this stuff.

OPEN LETTER TO A STRANGER

dear olivia,

i am still reading SILENCE. got slowed down by the onslaught of the semester. but this book is double-capital GGood. seriously. i may need to ask you for a small list of literary recommendations. go ahead and toss in some film choices, too. i'd be interested to know what films you dig up in all your reading.

i may be further delayed in my finishing of SILENCE because i'm scheduled to lead a bookclub discussion of FRANKENSTEIN next week with some dudes here in the republic. i think we're going to sip some ales and talk some monster and watch a FRANKEN-groovy film of some sort. i'll keep the online bookclub posted how that turns out. should be a bolting blast of a good time.

yes, i am completely aware that i have not answered your question about me and the wife's churchiness. not that i think you're out there losing sleep over it - but you ask, and i told you that i would tell you. just trying to keep us both true to our word. truth is: it's complicated. or maybe it's too simple to get into words. honestly, i've starting writing you that response about four times, only to go "what the eff am i saying?" we'll get to it.

also, i accidentally made my oatmeal too lumpy this morning. you see, i made it in this little transparent tupperware container as opposed to the normal white ceramic bowls from crate and barrel somebody gave us for a wedding gift. i think the transluscence of the tupperware disrupted the depth-perception of my visual field, causing me to pour in less boiling water than usual. not that i want my oatmeal soupy, you see, but i sure do not like the sensation of eating volleyball beach sand. life is one big school room, and i'm getting learned in the finer things every damn day.

alright. enough already. peace out.

-hamster

Book #3?

Let's get some comments going with books you're wanting to read. We already have a few listed on the side, too. 

What do you think should be our voting options for book #3? 

There are a few books I think would be amazing to read back to back: 

• Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
• Remembering Babylon by David Malouf 
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy

and

• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
• A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

I REALLY want to throw in Walking on Water: Reflections on Art and Faith, because so many cool folks I know have said it's their favorite book.

Any thoughts on this about order? Want to suggest different books? Am I the only one that hasn't read The Road?

Start some chatter up here if you have any thoughts.

the day is real

Sweet Sassy Molassey, I hope we're still reading buddies after all the ruckus. Seems like it's over now. Is it? Are you ready to forever hold your peace on The Shack?

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Guys, I know Fall schedules are getting all scribbly and filled. This is such a fussy time of year, but keep clicking here and get ready to vote on the side for the book to follow Holy the Firm? Do you have Holy the Firm? My copy is only 76 pages long.

Listen to this. Read it aloud. "The day is real; the sky clicks securely in place over the mountains, locks round the islands, snaps slap on the bay. Air fits flush on farm roofs; it rises inside the doors of barns and rubs at yellow barn windows. Air clicks up my hand cloven into fingers and wells in my ears' holes, whole and entire. I call it simplicity, the way matter is smooth and alone" (pp. 12-13).

Poetry! I can't wait to read Dillard with you. What do you say we read it by September 8th and just write as we want? I'm sure we'll breeze through it like chocolate, wishing it wasn't over when it was.