i finally had
some "just sitting and reading" time this evening - and finished The Solace of Leaving Early, by Haven Kimmel. i came here just now with the idea of writing about the book, but find i can't yet do it. if you read my review of her second novel, Something Rising, you know i am more than impressed by this young woman's ability to write. though her debut novel is less graceful than Something Rising, it is still a deeply moving book. this writer understands the pain and the wonder of life, and the way they are so often intimately entwined. i'll try to write my thoughts on Solace tomorrow, when i'll have more time. and when i will have had time to mull the complicated sorrow this book aroused in me.
in the meantime, i'm mulling the fact, the act, of reading itself. the constant kind of reading i do. have done all my life. well, since i learned to read, of course. there were a few years there when someone else had to do it for me, to me. but i learned as fast as i could. as a child i was constantly being told to "get my head out of that book." yes, well - what about getting the book out of my head? they couldn't make me do THAT! now, of course, there is no one who says such foolish things to me, and i read on, no matter what else is happening. in fact, i feel restless, irritable, not-quite-right, if i don't have a current book. is this pathology? is it escape from reality? because i don't read much non-fiction, as you can tell if you've been following my tracks in this journal. as most of my book-friends are located too far away for idle bookchat, it's nice to have some book sharing here in this journal. if you visit here, let me know what you're reading. i visit other journals, but don't see much mention of books. let me know if you're making journal entries about your reading, i'll come read.
6 comments:
Glad I visited your journal! I love to read, too. But I typically read non-fiction (Chomsky, Moore, and Franken are some recent reads). I'm going to start writing about some books in my journal. I'll let you know when I begin. http://edit.journals.aol.com/ibspiccoli/RandomThoughts
Good morning Marigolds, I absolutely love the way you express your passion for reading. It does feel good to touch bases with others that have that same love. I too have had a love for reading since early childhood. I quote things that have affected me in books that I have read more than I have made journal entries about them. I like supporting new authors, so right now I am reading: "Mrs. Kimble a first novel by: Jennifer Haigh. ~RC~
I'm not doing much reading lately; the last one I read was Paul Krugman's The Great Unraveling. I've borrowed the Secret Life of Bees and will be reading that next.
OH GOOD! you're going to read The Secret Life of Bees. i can't tell you how much i loved that book, i gave it to friends the year it came out, friends i thought would love and adore it as i did. maybe i need to read it again! keeping bees is actually a secret fantasy of mine. despite the fact that i'm deathly allergic to them.
I have a couple of non-fiction books going at the moment but have picked up "Mrs. Dalloway" again. That book has been haunting me lately. Everywhere I turn, it's coming up, and I do try to listen to those cosmic clues. I just finished "The Lovely Bones" which touched me incredibly.
The Lovely Bones is a book i haven't been able to read - and probably never will. i'm amazed that you, with a daughter, were able to stand it. there are too many beloved girls of a tender age in my family for me to even contemplate such a story. i know, i know, i've read tons of reviews and talked to people who've read it - i know it's not for me. and i'm sorry about that, i know i'm missing a fine piece of writing. i hope alice sebold writes something i CAN read.
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