August was a continuation of “let’s clean off the shelves of the antelibrary”! Even though I did buy some new books in anticipation of an upcoming vacation, they have their own shelf and I’m not allowed to touch them u til the first day of vacation. But let’s get back to this past month, shall we? I read 7 books at a total of 2,006 pages. That’s an average of 65 pages a day. Staying above the average. So away we go!
Four Novels by Ernest Hemingway (878 pages total, I read 623). The novels were The Sun Also Rises (183 pages), A Farewell to Arms (236 pages. And no, I did NOT reread a book I’d just finished), For Whom the Bell Tolls (391 pages), and The Old Man and the Sea (49 pages, which was a reread from maybe middle school). Yes, I know I just complained about Hemingway. But this has been on the shelf for a long time and I want it out of the ante-library! First up, The Sun Also Rises. I actually enjoyed this one. Probably because it felt like a reread of portions of The Paris Wife (which I loved). Other than the names being different, it was literally a story from Hemingway’s life. It was an adventure in Pamplona to experience the running of the bulls and the subsequent bullfights. There was love, cheating, fights. It was actually good. Next, A Farewell to Arms. Which again, I did not reread. Didn’t like it a few weeks ago. Figure I probably wouldn’t like it again. Third, For Whom the Bell Tolls. I didn’t really like this one either. It takes place during the Spanish Civil War when a young American joins with a guerrilla unit to blow up a bridge. Finally, The Old Man and the Sea. Santiago is a down on his luck fisherman is Cuba. After a long streak of no fish, he feels that his luck has changed. He goes out alone. And hooks a huge marlin. A marlin who takes him for a 2 day ride before he can kill the fish. On the way back to shore, sharks attack the fresh marlin and Santiago has to fight them off. When Santiago arrives home, he is left with only the carcass of an 18 foot marlin. But he now has the respect of the other fishermen. So, for the record, here’s the order that I liked the novels. The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls. And also, for the record, I’m officially done reading Hemingway. I finished in 9 days.
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (353 pages). Dr. Marina Singh works for a big pharm company. When her coworker and good friend Dr. Anders Eckman goes down to the Amazon to check up on a long term fertility project lead by the elusive Dr. Annick Swenson and dies of some fever, her world is turned upside down. She is sent down to follow up on the work and Dr. Eckman’s death. And realizes that the world of the Amazon isn’t at all what she imagined. Nor is Dr. Swenson’s project. It was not what I expected from the cover blurb. But it wasn’t the worst book ever. I finished in 7 days.
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (432 pages). For a book that won the Nobel, I found it VERY confusing. Too many storylines that seemed all over the place. And for some reason, Pasternak referred to each character by different names (even in the same paragraph.). First their first name, then their last, then a nickname. It was beyond confusing. Long story short- over the course of his life, Zhivago has an affair with and loves Lara (despite being married twice and having children, never to or with her). And it takes place in post-Revolutionary Russia. But kind of like Anna Karenina, there were soooo many other storylines that the one of Zhivago and Lara covers less than half of the book. It was also very depressing. Sadly, the line from the 98 Degrees song kept running through my mind every time I picked up with book. I finished in 7 days.
The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb (305 pages). Am I the only person who knew the song about Tom Dooley but did not know it was based on a real life murder? I’m not? Okay, that makes me feel better. Tom Dula (yes, that’s the right spelling, but it was pronounced Dooley) was a confederate soldier. He had been involved in a long time affair with Ann Foster Melton (like since they were 12 and 13). But then he took up with her cousin Pauline AND her other cousin Laura. Despite Ann being in love with him and not with her own husband, Tom got Laura pregnant and planned to elope with her. She rode away on the morning she was to meet him and the next time she was seen, she had been stabbed and buried in a shallow grave. Tom Dula was found guilty of her murder and hanged. But was he actually guilty or was it really the result of a jealous rage by Ann? The novel was told from the perspectives of Pauline and Tom’s attorney Zebulon Vance. And the song has the story a little wrong, in case you were wondering. I finished in 3 days.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (293 pages). Another “classic” that has been on the shelf forever. And sorry, I’m with Paris Geller on this. I am not a fan. I don’t get the whole Beatnik generation. Dang lazy bums if you ask me. I’ve never understood the whole “stick it to the man, screw normal behavior” mindset. The idea of just bumming around the country, with no money and no job and no home gives me anxiety. I finished in 5 days.
This month’s favorite was ... The Ballad of Tom Dooley. Because you know I love some good historical fiction!
