It’s been a quiet weekend consisting mostly of sleeping late and reading. I decided to stay off the bike this weekend since I’ve been struggling with a cold for the past week or so, and I thought it would be better to just rest and try and recuperate. I think the decision has worked, I’m feeling much better today. The lungs are still clearing out, but I have the sense that’s exactly what is happening now when I cough…clearing. Sorry for sharing so much!
Mostly I read from The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao which is a novel, but I also read a fair bit of the latest issue of The Atlantic—July/August Issue. And today is Sunday so there was an article or two in the NY Times that Marcella gets every weekend; in particular a story in the Travel section about cycle touring in France that was interesting—maybe, someday!
And now I’m watching some of the Tour du Suisse on Versus channel on TV. It’s only about three weeks away from the beginning of the Tour de France. That time frame also means time for controversy and doping allegations to emerge. There seems to be a pattern of these things being revealed in the couple of weeks immediately prior to the beginning of the race. Oh well, we shall see.
The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
Calvino just has magic. This book really consists of two long stories or novellas. The first one, The Nonexistent Knight is the somewhat amusing story of a suit of armor without a body inside that is serving in Charlemagne’s army and of a girl in love with the knight she imagines inside.
But it is in the second story, The Cloven Viscount, that Calvino really lets loose. This is the story of a man cut in half by a canon ball whose two halves return home, one evil and the other good, and the adventures they have; one rampaging across the countryside on his black horse, killing plants and animals and people too, while the other good half travels about trying to cure all ills and heal all wounds.
The Cloven Viscount is a rich and humorous and visceral story that grabbed my fascination almost immediately and was hard to put down. The author’s sense of humor really shone and there are passages that are simultaneously ghastly and hysterical. I definitely encourage anyone to read this one.
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Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I probably have a slightly inordinate fondness for this book because of the many hours I spent in Junior High School listening over and over again to the “Let’s Get Small” and “A Wild and Crazy Guy” comedy albums of Steve Martin.
The book itself is a straight-forward and honest accounting of how fame, that seems to strike all at once, is actually the result of years of hard work and craft and an idea. It’s really a simple autobiographical accounting of where and how he grew up, how he learned magic and comedy and performing, and how over the years he developed a routine that suddenly became the hottest thing around in the late seventies and early eighties, and then how he walked away from being a stand-up comic when fame ruined the gig.
I found the brief passages recounting jokes and gags that he used to do onstage reminded me fondly of hearing these same routines on his albums. I was too young, really, to have attended any of his comedy concerts, but the albums were very important to me in my understanding of humor.
The book reads very quickly, I finished it in two afternoons, and found it to be well worth while.
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McSweeney’s Issue 28 by Dave Eggers
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
I like McSweeney’s, and I love the packaging of this issue, and in theory the idea of it is terrific—that is to “resurrect and reinvent the art of the fable.”
I think the reality is that the eight stories are moderately entertaining, but I feel slightly unsatisfied. As if I were only just getting started yet had already reached the end. I feel like the issue is missing having at least one slightly more substantial story in the mix.
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American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, is the story of Shadow, a large man, just released from prison, who suddenly finds himself a central player in a brewing war between the forces of old power and new power.
Gaiman is a very clever writer, and there are ideas and imagination aplenty here. All in all I found this novel to be very entertaining. I will admit that it took me a little while to become involved with the central character of Shadow. He’s kind of an enigma even to other characters within the novel who we expect to know things we don’t. This leads to a kind of remoteness that is sometimes a little hard to overcome.
The story is sprawling as the characters travel to and fro across America. There are many characters introduced seemingly at random meetings who then re-appear later and we learn that the earlier meeting was far from random. I would recommend staying alert while reading to best be able to make all the connections. Also, there are many scenes involving mystical experiences where the line between reality and un-reality blurs.
I personally found it very amusing that one of the climactic moments occurs at one of those uniquely American tourist attractions at the Tennesse-Georgia border called Lookout Mountain. I visited there a few years ago with a friend and remember the experience well.
This would be a great read for anyone who has an interest or fascination with pagan or other world religions and is entertained by stories built around those differing religions. As well as being a fun book for anyone who simply enjoys a good adventure.
