RAB DAR GAB
So I've realized that I've mostly used this to bitch, whine, and moan about things I hate. How self-destructive is that? Let's bring a little bit of sunshine and bunnies into this motherfucker. I enjoy reading. A lot. Right now I've overwhelmed myself with the books that I am reading. Currently I am about to start East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Then on deck is Shampoo Planet by Douglass Coupland and after that is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I haven't decided the order after that but I have The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, and Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. The books I still want to buy are Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov. I feel like I'm getting lost in classics. I need some modern books! My favorite subject matter is dark humor. It's always so beautifully flawed. My favorite novel so far is the 2003 Pulitzer Prize winning novel Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Its ironic nuances quenched my thirst for purity. It was above beautiful and I recommend it anyone and everyone. It tells the tale of Calliope "Cal" Stephanide's journey from she to he. But the story begins far before that in a war torn Greece and a brother and sister who lose their identity in love and chaos and flee to America. The book has a perfect blend of colorful history, both fact and fiction. Wonderful, simply wonderful. In close second would have to be Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. This painfully poignant novel is about a boy nine-year-old, Oskar Schell, who has recently lost his father in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. It follows Oskar as he travels around New York City to find the answers of a mysterious key which belonged to his father. Foer utilizes two very overlooked techniques in this story. First Foer does a wonderful job of adding pictures so that we may see what Oskar sees. I know it sounds a tad childish, but this is after all a first person narrative of a nine-year-old boy. What this accomplishes is that we get to see the clues as he finds them and make assessments of our own. Not only that, but it adds power into the explosion of emotions this novel already has. The second technique Foer harnesses is typography. I can't explain what he does, its something you have to see for yourself. At one point the letters become closer and closer until the its a black block. At another point Oskar holds his ear to the door and the words I are separated so you only read what Oskar hears. Overall two very powerful novels with some of the most memorable characters I have encountered. I also have plenty of other favorites, but this post seems to be getting a bit drawn out. Thanks to those of you who read it! Just a little something about me. Expect more soon because I didn't get to everything I wanted to~