Since it is the end of the year, looking back at books we’ve read seems the appropriate thing. At our age, many of us have a large number that we remember with pleasure. We might have bookshelves that contain books we just want to own even if we won’t reread them. When thinking about these books, there are always the favorites that come to mind. What happens when, many years later, you reread that favorite book and it is a disappointment?
That is what happened with Nabokov’s Pale Fire. The language is still poetically beautiful and funny. The story is still outrageous. Nonetheless, it was also more boring and incomprehensible than I remembered. Is this typical of memory – we make things nicer than they were? Or have our tastes just changed? This kind of literature requires a lot of effort and maybe we just want something more accessible. Nonetheless, this rather difficult novel is worth thinking about. And if at its end we’re left wondering, “Really, what is the truth of it all?” Maybe that is the point.
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I’ve always loved a good story and sometimes that story appears in a movie not a book. Brigsby Bear, creative and original, is one of those movies. It isn’t a mystery; it isn’t a love story; there isn’t any violence. It is a tale of compassion and kindness, a story about people helping a unique main character adjust to reality and come into his own. I hadn’t heard much about this movie beforehand so it was an unexpected pleasure.
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Speaking of reality, I am sometimes reminded that reading can have a very utilitarian use. In this time of semi quarantine, I entertained myself one day by cleaning the dishwasher, in particular the filter. Afterwards, I decided that reading the manual to see how often this activity is recommended would be a very good idea.
For Christmas, we tried to combine safety with visiting our family. We rented a trailer to park in their driveway. It was a learning adventure for all especially when the furnace stopped working in the middle of our first frosty night there. Glamping definitely lost its glamour. But manuals, Google, and a couple of phone calls bailed us out.
All this reading for information got me thinking about more serious topics, non fiction books available about the environment, poverty, or civil rights.
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As readers, we often turn to books to educate ourselves on these problems. I have just started to read Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. It is an overwhelming examination of race and its affiliates in the United States, India, and Nazi Germany. She is an excellent teacher who gives clarity to difficult-to-define words such as race, class and caste. As all good teachers, she gives many examples which is where the overwhelming part comes in. More to come on this one when I finish it.
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Now that the solstice has come and gone, we are all looking forward to the new year and lighter days. In the excellent NYT article, “How We Survive Winter,” Elizabeth Dias says, “Look for the smallest bit of beauty around you…at a time where it seems like the mega-systems are all broken…return your gaze to the small….The great irony of winter is that the moment darkness is greatest is also the moment light is about to return. Each year the winter solstice comes with the promise that the next day will be brighter.” Sounds good to me.
I tried to read Pale Fire and found it difficult. I probably did not give it a good enough chance. I have found a book called Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks. It is dreadfully long but I am finding it very good.
How nice to have your post just ‘show up’ in my inbox.
Looking forward to seeing you on Zoom next week.
I enjoyed this blog, as I’ve enjoyed each of the ones you’ve posted so far. The parting shot about how to get through the winter, really spoke to me. The idea of focusing on the smallest bit of beauty is a good one for bleak days. Today (raining hard and has been for awhile, and looks like it will continue) is a good day to practice.
Fun read, Diane. I just ordered Wilkerson’s “Caste” on Audible. Another friend mentioned it yesterday while we were playing cards. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention. Looking forward to it. Somehow I am more drawn to books of that sort, current events/problems, than stories in which to escape right here right now.