She Was A Little Ambitious At Times

I really am still doing this! Since posting last, I've read The Postman Always Rings Twice and Ironweed. After reading them I needed a handful of antidepressants and a little break from sad books (though they do say so much).

Ironweed is the tale of a bum and his lady friend. They drink, they fight, they look for places to sleep, and....yeah, that's what they do. I think this book might have spoken to me when I was 19, and there are parts that are just beautiful and heart-breaking (too heartbreaking), but these days a book this dark leaves me empty.

Which brings us to the carousel ride that is Postman. I've struggled so much since opening a business with the feeling that people are always out for something and this book makes me think, well, yes! They are! And they will kill you and push you over the ridge in your car if you let them get you drunk!

We watched the movie versions of Ambersons and Postman (the original, not the Jack Nicholson one). Ironweed is not available on DVD. Huh?

My little break from the list has involved Stillmeadow Daybook, one of several chronicles of life in the country by Gladys Taber, The Emperor's Children. Are there books about good people??

According to the list, I should begin The Ginger Man now. I hope it is filled with birthday parties, trips to the beach and sundaes. The back of the book says it's "nasty and lyrical." Yay!

Baby, You Can Drive My Horseless Carriage

Still reading, and enjoying, the Ambersons. The novel has indeed been tracking the (still young) life and times of George Minafer, who is currently in love with the daughter of a fellow who is working on horseless carriages - he calls them automobiles - who also happens to be George's mother's first love. The plot thickens, and how!

So, I mentioned that this book won the Pulitzer. I believe it. When Ashley and I watched Citizen Kane for the first time last week, I felt like I was watching such a beautifully crafted thing...I really was awestruck (especially the scene in the newsroom with Kane and the girls dancing in the background...Good Lord). There's something similar about Ambersons (in more ways than one, come to think of it) in it's straight-forward brilliance. Tarkington is so subtle, so funny, that one really does feel swept along with the characters.

I hope to finish this book and move on to the next one during my long birthday weekend, which starts in about five hours. I'd also like to post some choice selections from the novel when I next post.

(Lest we get too highbrow around here, we watched Knocked Up last night, which was better than Anchorman, but not as good as The 40 Year Old Virgin or Citizen Kane.)

Switching it Up

So, I've decided that it makes more sense to start from end and work my way up. Ulysses seems a better way to end, I think. With that in mind, I picked up #100 on the list, The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington.

I love this book so far. I'm only about 40 pages in, but I'm hooked. The book was published in 1918, and went on to win the Pulitzer. The story, so far as I can tell, is that of a family of great fortune and their town. Much of the first 40 pages is dedicated to (hilariously) recounting the fashions and trends of the day. If I'm right, the book will now begin focusing on George Minafer, the grandson of the man responsible for putting the Ambersons on the map.

Now, I love a good saga and a good laugh. The Magnificent Ambersons feels like a book that will offer both. I also hear, from Ashley that Orson Welles made a great movie of the novel, which we will surely watch as soon as I finish the book. I'd like to try to watch any movies that come from the books on this list...like a little reward at the end of the book.

It's challenging for me to write about books. I feel like I either sound like a 7th grader writing a book report or like a spazzed out valley girl in my enthusiasm. I'm just going to go with it, though, and see if I can be authentic in this assignment - I'd love to feel more competent in writing (and talking, really) about books.

100 Best Books

This morning I was reading some literature from Wordstock and discovered a list of Modern Library's List of 100 Best Novels. I excitedly got out my little marker to tick away all the titles I had read, and came up with.....19.

How can this be? The list is a good one....books I really should have read by now. I was a Literature major(ish...I went to one of those colleges without majors, and read approximately one billion pages each week. How did I not read Invisible Man? The House of Mirth?

Granted, it's just a list....biased (all the novels were written in English after 1900), I'm sure, but a start nonetheless.

Today I am going to pick up a copy of Ulysses, the first book on the list. What a way to start! But hey, there's no time like the present, and I feel like digging in.

This will be a journal of this task. I really want to complete this list...so many wonderful titles to sit quietly with while the baby naps, between customers at the cafe, during any peaceful moment. I think I need a little structure in my reading life right now, and this seems like the ticket! I used to read such great books, and now I seem to pick up whatever decorating magazine is nearest (nearest the TV, I'm afraid) and leave it at that.

So here's to good books! I'm going to make up the rules as I go along, but hopefully in a couple of years (gulp) I'll make it through. I think it'll be a great way for me to wake up my tired new mom brain.

I'll list the books I have read in the next few days, and if they feel really foggy to me I'll reread them, as well.

Anyone care to join me?