Fri 31 Mar 2006
After talking to Masha about books, I decided to list some of the books traveling with me: those I’ve read on my trip, and those I’m reading now. I find time to read in transit, before going to sleep, waiting for others, and whenever I need a break from walking.
Around New Zealand and Sydney, I read Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, about the son of immigrants reconciling the Indian and American influences as he grows up. It was Maiken’s recommendation, and a good book, even somewhat unsettling because it got close to home. I resented the author a little for disturbing me just as I started to enjoy my vacation. I got over it quickly though, and continued with the enjoying.
Driving down from Cairns, I read Prague by Arthur Miller (I think). Despite the title, it’s about five expats in Budapest after the fall of the Iron Curtain - discovering themselves, making money, wishing they were in Prague. Also well-written, fortunately ambiguous, and ultimately appealing in a voyeuristic sort of way: I could easily see myself choosing this kind of path after college, and I know people who did.
On the plane from Sydney to Bangkok I finished Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, a crazy account of an American travelling to the Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Holocaust. It’s a little gimmicky, but in a funny way that mostly works: half of the narration is by the hero’s Ukrainian translator who uses a thesaurus to improve his broken English. The story itself is pretty good, I’d recommend it.
In Israel during naptime I read Terry Pratchett’s first two Discworld novels because I keep hearing people praise them. Yeah, it’s amusing in a clever-British sort of way, but I think he tries a little too hard to be clever and Douglas Adam does it better in the Dirk Gently books. I don’t think I’ll read the 22 sequels in the series.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime by Mark Haddon was a convenient purchase for the flight from Israel because it was a tiny paperback and Amazon had recommended it to me repeatedly. An easy light read, and no complaints, but I’d say it’s more in the “young adult” category. The basic deal is that an autistic kid wants to be Sherlock Holmes, so he investigates the murder of a neighborhood dog and discovers some secrets that deeply affect him. If you like this, try Rats Saw God.
In Amsterdam I managed to finish Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s definitely the best of the books I’ve read on this trip so far - damn, the guy could write. It’s not a truly GREAT book - not conistent enough, especially in the end - but there’s great passages everywhere. Fitzgerald took 10 years to write this, and it’s a semi-autobiographical story of a psychiatrist, his wealthy wife, and a young actress who meets them in the French Riviera in the pre-Depression 1920s.
I try to travel light, but that rule has to stretch for books, because I find more and I can’t resist. I’m also greedy about reading several books at once. Right now I’m reading Stendahl’s The Red and the Black (Bettina’s recommendation for visiting Paris, took me a month to find), Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and China Mieville’s Perdido Street Station (Laurel and Joe’s recommendation). Waiting for their turn in my bag are Freakonomics (left by Kenny after he finished it), and Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre.