I just finished reading Chaim Potok's The Promise, which is the sequel to The Chosen. I think I like The Chosen better, but still, there were long passages in The Promise where I'd get to the end of a paragraph and realize I hadn't been breathing for about a page and a half. This is what literature is supposed to be all about.
So what I want to know is: why don't we read this stuff in school? When I think about all of the crap I slogged through in junior high and high school, it's no wonder to me that so many kids leave their primary education and never pick up another work of fiction. Ethan Frome is the worst thing Edith Wharton ever wrote. The Iliad is barely comprehensible if you have a bad translation. The Red Badge of Courage just plain bites. Why don't we read good literature like Chaim Potok's instead? Is it the Jewishness? Does the Jewishness bother people? I was all sorts of bothered by the relentless hellfire-and-brimstone Christianity of The Scarlet Letter, but I read it anyway. People go on and on about the primacy of the father/son blessing in Hamlet - what about Danny, who walks away from his father's dynasty? Man v. Nature? Man v. Man? What about Reuven and his father, who take on the entire Orthodox population and - I swear - G-d Himself? I'm not denying that any of those other works are important and should be read in our schools. But why not this, too? Why not something students might actually enjoy?
The North St. Paul public library is closing due to lack of funds. But, yeah, the recession's over and the economy is doing much better. Whatthefuckever. Anyway, they despatched all the books they could to other libraries, and then they sold everything else. There is truly nothing like walking into a library and being able to just pull books off the shelf - to buy. Anne and I hit the sale; when hardcovers are going for $1 and paperbacks for 50¢, being unemployed doesn't seem like such an impediment to a massive book-buying orgy. I think I showed admirable restraint, all told. But I'm just so proud of my list:
1. Holes, Louis Sachar. Yes, it's a children's book that's now a Disney movie. It's a damned good book. Leave me alone.
2. Fool's Joust, Crystal Wood. I've never heard of this book or its author. It just looked good, in a cheesy way.
3. Lucky Jim, Kingsley Amis. "This is my newest piece, which I've titled, 'Not Untitled.'"
4. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
5. All Rivers Run to the Sea, Elie Wiesel
6. Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury
7. The Gift of Asher Lev, Chaim Potok
8. The Book of Lights, ditto
9. Davita's Harp, yet again...they were just sitting on the shelf together. Of course I had to grab them all.
10. The Wind Done Gone, Alice Randall. Mmmm...parody....
11. Mrs. Demming and the Mythical Beast, Faith Sullivan. Have I mentioned that I want to be Faith Sullivan someday?
12. Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger
13. Soon to be a Major Motion Picture, Warren Dunford. The title made me laugh. And the synopsis sounded too much like too many of my friends to pass up.
14. Barrel Fever, David Sedaris. Heh.
15. An Echo of Death, Mark Richard Zubro. What can I say? I've a weakness for gay murder mysteries.
16. How Town, Michael Nava. And a weakness for Henry Rios....
17. Losing Absalom, Alexs Pate. As Anne is to Sherman Alexie, so am I to Alexs Pate.
18. Father of Frankenstein, Christopher Bram. The novel that Gods and Monsters was based on.
And, ah, one other thing. I mentioned this at New Moon Circle this morning and now feel I need to pimp myself widely. I am actively seeking out a job in the wind energy industry. If anyone knows of any such openings, or how I go about getting myself hooked up with the people who can get me hooked up with that, please let me know.