A couple of days ago, my friend, James, slipped me a little
list of suggested reading:
Isaac Bashevis Singer -- Autobiography
Saul Bellow -- The Victim
V. Nabokov -- Search for Lolita
He is a great reader but, hello, there is no way I'll get to any
of this. I read Saul Bellow years ago. Singer, ditto. I read a lot of Nabokov also a long time ago and remember little. Mainly, I think of the passage about N. seeing letters in various colors in "Speak Memory." Also, I hear James Mason reading a book on tape: "Lo, Lo, Lowleetahhh..." On Sunday, I came across some sparkly heart-shaped sun glasses and I thought of Lolita, the movie. But mainly, all is a blur, like everything else in my reading life.
James. Your list is too serious, too real. What you don't know is
I've gone down the tubes to junk reading and binge watching
TV series such as "Orange is the New Black," and the English
and Swedish versions of "The Girl Who..." After that, I am
re-reading the trilogy (now in the first third of "...Dragon Tattoo")
and it is like new! Ha. The aging brain does not recall much of
any recent reading.
More reveal: I bought from Amazon Kindle and read "Make Me" the latest Reacher by Lee Child. In this one Reacher goes on with his heroic monologues and the action is a little bizarre but clever and he does seem to like a girl so that's a little dimension. He has his toothbrush but no change of clothing, taking traveling light to the extreme. He uses cash only and I'm not sure how he gets it. ATM card? He doesn't drive. He takes trains and buses. Flying requires too much ID.
I've taken a break from Regency Romance but will probably reread when I need some happy endings. I've said this: some of
the writing in this genre is v. good. Much is bad but what isn't?
I know. The books on James's list require thought and effort and that seems so beyond me now. I have notes on the good stuff but forget to look at them.
Here is a question: is all reading a waste of time? Is only some
reading a waste of time? Is watching TV, looking out the window,
driving around doing errands a waste of time? Isn't it all just
living life?
