Books

So I'm back from Mexico. I know everyone has been waiting for a blog update. But I must say, the blogosphere has been mighty quiet lately. I've checked my usual round of fav blogs and there's not too much there (not to detract from those of you who have written). So, I don't feel that bad.

So I pulled my abdominal muscles trying to be God knows what, and working out on vacation. I went to the resort gym and grabbed the biggest medicine ball they had and sat down on the severely inclined ab bench and began doing "exercises". Well, not only did I wake up sore the next day, but it turns out I've pulled my ENTIRE core. So now my belly is swollen (like a lot), I can't fit into any of my pants (like seriously swollen, 3 or more inches) and I'm stuck in sweatpants with an extremely tender pudge pod that hurts when I even slightly bend over. So that sucks. Also, can I just say that I took one of those online surveys for a friends psych study or something a while back about blogging and every time I've EVER mentioned anything about my health or body on my blog I can't help thinking about a question on the survey asking how often you discussed your personal health on the blog. Well, reading that question I reacted as thus "who the hell would blog about shit like that? Obviously, people who are really insecure or whiny, or generally the type of people I would find tedious at a dinner party"...well hah?. Apparently I've blogged about my health WAY more than I responded on the survey. That goes to show how accurate psych surveys can be I guess.

Anyway, none of that is important. I've got two new books I'm starting because I finally finished Anna Karenina. It got a bit long to be honest. It was 817 pages. Which is fine, but I think I approached in the wrong attitude. Anna Karenina is something you participate with for a while (i think the original format probably helped with this) but it's more like a TV show or series that stays with you for a while. It's not like a sit down and ready a story type mentality that I take with me on most trips to the literary world. This one I had to remind myself that several multiple major climaxes and subsequent denouements are possible and the story can continue. Once Anna confessed to her husband about her liaison with Vronsky, I thought we could've skipped to the end. And once Anna was resolved I thought the plot with Levin took longer to resolve than was necessary. And while going into the novel I knew that the reviews or secondary scholarship shall we say said that it was interesting novel because we come to pity Anna or whatever, I found that I did not at all pity Anna and actually, I couldn't really relate with her either. I did go through the stages of pitying the other characters, where I could tell I was supposed to as well, but grew out of it, also, in a timely fashion. But I must say, pity for Anna never fully grounded itself in me, especially toward the end when her fear of Vronksy's "cooling off" becomes a mania. I did however, consistently relate with Levin but since he was a fairly well grounded side story (as in not fading ever but never really assuming prime prominence) I didn't find it all that entertaining. So, meh, I wouldn't say it was a bad novel, but I don't immediately get the feeling to rant and rave and epigraphize and reference Anna or the novel twists in subsequent thought/work. Maybe I will, who knows. i think Tolstoy's view on the novel as a literary form is quite interesting though, which was spoken about briefly in a preface or something.

So I finally bought and have started reading "Again to Carthage" the sequel to my personal bible, as backstory for the rest of you "normal" people. Once a Runner by John L. Parker Jr., has become a cult classic in the long distance running world. It was published in 1978. Now, the rest of this might be rumor (wikipedia didn't give me any info, and to be honest, i don't want this myth/reality to be broken for me). John L. Parker, couldn't get his book published, nobody would pick it up and so he published it himself and sold copies out of the trunk of his car at the track meets he would travel around to (he was a runner himself). And, thus, it became a cult classic and was finally picked up by a publisher. It has since gone out of print, but is, like I said, my personal Bible, because, duh, its amazing. So anyway, 1978 is when it came out, 2008 is when the sequel finally came out. So, I'm reading it, and its shit. I don't know if its just my copy or what, but there are TONS of editing mistakes. Ugh, and then there's the detail discrepancies, like the one I pointed out in a sneak peak over the creation of Cassidy's nickname. And plus, currently I'm 100 pages in, and it's boring. Boring. so, pretty much everything I expected. Whatever. It's not one of the two new books I've picked up.

Numero Uno- I'll admit is shamelessly picked up because two people I respect have talked about it, so curiousity got the best of me and I've picked up Nabakov's Laughter in the Dark.

Numero Dos- One of my favorite contemporary authors is Haruki Murakami mainly because of Norweigan Wood (close to second favorite book maybe) and so I read another one of his books to test my esteem of him. Well it wasn't as good as Norweigan Wood (hard-boiled wonderland...) but, I liked it nonetheless, so I've picked up another one, one that is highly acclaimed as well: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I have yet to try Kafka on the Shore, a book I had heard of before reading Norweigan Wood but had no idea Murakami had written it. Sooo yeah.

I may end up picking up Norweigan Wood again. I just love it and thinking about it again has made me want to read it again. We'll see. I'll try these two new ones, while trying to get over my stupid swollen belly.

sorry I got distracted watching Mariah Carey videos. My mom was reading an article about her in People (sigh) and so I thought I would enrich her experience by playing some beats by the one and only. My mom hates Mariah Carey.

Ok, I've lost my trains of thought (yes there are more than one). Maybe some other topic will interest you more. but you'll have to tell me about it because, as much as unemployment is great for your free time, it doesn't always structure your thought. Or lead to exciting adventures (sorry Zeke). Maybe once I'm not bedridden.