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October 11th, 2004
08:09 pm - Lolita! and more
It’s been 3 months since my last reading update, so here goes:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: This was one of the most compelling reads in a long time. It was equal parts tragedy and comedy (the Episode of the Ineffective Sleeping Pill, in particular, was a wonderful piece of comic timing!), fantasy and gritty realism, and a psychological study infused with biting commentary on middle America of the ‘50s. The forward states that at one point he threw the manuscript in the trash. Fortunately for us, his wife fished it out. ( ”more )
Dearest Friend (author’s name forgotten). This was an autobiography of Abigail Adams; since John Adams was a rival of Benjamin Franklin’s, this biography was in some ways complementary to the biography I read earlier this year. I liked this one quite a bit less, however, as I felt that the author was too anxious to explain her faults and her actions instead of showing them to us. Still, the book provided a good insight into a woman who is widely regarded as an early feminist.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. One of the books in Nabokov’s Cornell lecture course. I’m not sure I’d agree that it deserved to be included. It was interesting, but Stevenson felt compelled to make his point (concerning the dual nature of man) in epistolary form, and the letter that ended the story read like an essay, so overall I was disappointed. The book included a number of other short stories on the same theme.
The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg. This was my daughter’s summer reading book for school. I thought it was a good choice, involving a disparate group of kids linked by events that came to support one another.
My current reading is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce. ( what I discovered )
In other news, we visited the new National Museum of the American Indian this weekend. Lots of good stuff there, starting with the architecture of the building (somewhat pueblo-like) and the Three Sisters (beans, corn and squash) growing outside instead of some sterile landscaping. We found the pre-Colombian gold from South America, which my son found very cool. He has chosen his favorites, and we’ve looked up the styles in our Colombian gold book at home, so I think the trip was a success. In two weeks we’re going to visit the Colombian ambassador for a program that I hope will be a good follow-up to the Indian adventure.
Yes I know I owe replies to comments, and I have all the greatest intentions in the world of actually doing it. Soon. This week.
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