"Catch-22" from Kelli

Reading Catch-22 is a Catch-22. It's not good enough to want to keep reading, but its not bad enough to want to stop reading. Out of the 450 pages there are to get through, I'm at 302 after reading for over two weeks! Usually, things do not take me the long. Especially when I'm on winter-freaking-break.

The short chapters, which I thought would make it easier to read, have proven to be excuses for me to stop reading after only a few pages each night - slowing my pace down tremendously. The book is picking up a bit - since approx. page 250, so hopefully these last 150 pages will start flowing. You'll get my full report soon (I think). Maybe Catch-22 was the wrong choice for the end of the year. I still need to finish this book AND another before the new year. Wish me luck!

"Lord of the Flies" from Kelli

I was the only one who hadn't read "Lord of the Flies" yet. Apparently it's a high school classic that I avoided at all costs so I wouldn't appear "mainstream" in my high school reading for pleasure class. Perhaps I should have read it in high school, because the novel is so impactful and has been for generations.

William Golding's symbolism is beautiful and timely (the book was published in 1954) and clearly reflects his own dissatisfaction with the current results of the human experiment with democracy and governing. In my estimation, Golding is like an earlier, less sardonic version of Kurt Vonnegut who comments on and critiques our society through this brief, but dense allegorical story.

In my brief research into the book, I found that it was not originally a success and went out of print shortly after its initial publication date. In the 60s though, the book rapidly gained popularity and has since been on three different "short lists" of the best novels of the 20th century. Perhaps the book was more appreciated in the 60s due to the rising anti-war sentiments in the Western world.

If you, like me, didn't find this book on your high school reading list, don't hesitate to add it to your current reading list,

"In Our Time" from Kelli

I hated Hemingway in high school. I found him to be a pompous, womanizing, uninteresting pile of shit. It turns out, he is pompous and womanizing, but he's actually quite interesting and his writing is understated, but beautiful.

When I first started reading "In Our Time", I thought I was going to be reading a series of stories about our country in its war-torn days during the first World War. Instead, what I found was a collection of stories chronicling everyday happenings during war. Hemingway has a wonderful way of weaving in the subtle ways that the people in the stories have been affected by the war.

About 60 pages in, I misplaced the book for 2 weeks and so I opted to pick up Franny and Zooey to continue my trek toward 100. When I thought all was lost and was ready to order the Kindle edition so I could keep going, I found it in the crevice of my couch and finished the book within the week.

My favorite story is the third to last in the book (the stories get better as you go on, so the end of the book held all of the jewels) called "My Old Man". It is written from the point of view of a small boy who idolizes his father, who is a jockey. The prose is so descriptive I was sure Hemingway had some experience with horse racing when he was younger. As it turns out, he did not, so I went in search of some other experience he may have had that shaped this wonderful story. What I found was that, for a short period of time right out of high school, Hemingway had a job as a journalist for the Kansas City Star and modeled his initial writings off of a sports writer he admired. His famously to-the-point style was taken directly from his first days as a journalist where he learned: "Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative."

Although I was initially tiffed that so many Hemingway novels were on the top 100 list (because of my deep-seated hatred), I'm now looking forward to reading more of his work. As long as he continues to be a straight-shooter, he's a-OK with me.

Defeated by "On the Road" - Lynn

I just can't do it yet.  I am supposed to have been reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac, but I can't.  This is the second time I've attempted to read this book.  The first time I got about thirty dogged, molasses, slo-mo pages in and couldn't proceed.  This time, with memories of the first slog in my mind, I gave up after a page.

Here's the thing: Jack Kerouac is a smug, self-satisfied, ass.  Of the most detestable, sexist kind.  What might have been hip in the 1950s, daddy-o, is insufferable in the 21st century.  Even his first, flip, sentence is a turn off, "I first met Dean not long after my wife and I split up."

I'll bet they split up.  I'll bet they split up because he was an insufferable boor who needed to be on the road because no one could put up with him for very long.

I'm going to have to be pushing a 100 books - goal well within reach - to be able to suffer this nowheresville drag.