7
Dec
2009
Alexander’s Bridge by Willa Cather
The first thing you have to know is not about this book, or about Willa Cather. It’s about me. I have an abnormal love of suspension bridges.
15
Nov
2009
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
It’s possible that Jane Austen’s wit is at its height in Northanger Abbey. Those biting little sentences that describe characters, and their quips to one another ring throughout the walls of bath and the great house Northanger Abbey.
21
May
2009
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
I’ve been thinking about this book for a couple of reasons lately. The first is that they did a parody of it on The Simpsons where Maggie’s preschool teacher wouldn’t let her build the kind of towers she wanted to (this is the 2009 version in which she goes to Mediocri-tots, not the 2007 version where she attends the Ayn Rand School for Tots). Before the story started, Marge mentioned it to Lisa, who said of this book, “Isn’t that the Bible for right-wing losers?” In a very real way, she was right. I think that that is the perception of this book.
20
Apr
2009
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
This is an epic book. 973 pages. But Follett makes it go by fast, both because there is always something happening, and because of his straightforward writing style. He owes this, I suppose, to his years as a thriller novelist. But this is not another pulp novel that just happens to be set in the Middle Ages. This might just go down as a classic.
13
Apr
2009
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Holy shit, this is one of my favorite books. The first time I read it, I already knew the ending, having read about it in Helen Simpson’s short story, Heavy Weather. Let me be explicit in saying that that did not ruin it for me. In fact, knowing the ending made the lead up that more painful. But by painful I mean that in a good way. If we didn’t enjoy pain, sorrow would be nixed out of all forms of entertainment, when it fact it seems to be the central theme for thousands of years’ worth of it. So, yes, tragedy is never as exquisite as in Thomas Hardy’s world.
