Idiots

It's actually been a while since I've ridden the bus, due to breaking my ankle and not being able to walk to the bus stop. I'm back now,at least occasionally.

Reading The Idiot has been predictably slow. Myshkin's just gotten off the train. He talked a lot more to his fellow passengers than I do. The bus driver today is loud, yapping at some kid slouched in a seat five rows from the front. I'm trying to read, but phrases are pushed into my ears: steel cage death match, conjugal visits, butter knife. I wonder if I could construct a monologue out of those phrases. Probably, but it would make as much sense as I'm sure the bus driver is making.

I should point out that this is a later bus. The usual, early morning, driver says nothing. I tried to talk to him once, and he grunted his answers. He barely looks at passengers as they board.

What's he up to?????

Riding through the muddy streets of late March brings to mind -- Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. I loved the language in this book, the late 19th C. idioms: riding "the car" (meaning train of trolley) and working for a good "house" -- by George! It was cool to see Chicago being laid out, the suburb where I grew up being much further west than the open countryside Chicagoans would ride out to to get away from the city. And Carrie of course - a gutty girl, and what kind of guts did Dreiser have, placing his main character in his first novel in a series of "sinful" relationships. I imagine this would have been scandalous enough, in 1900, were the main character male. Character, plot, language - I loved everything about this book.

The mud in the streets of Omaha, BTW, is caused mainly by the construction of a mammoth shopping area where the racetrack used to be. I guess 69th and Center is forever meant to be a place to waste money.

Omaha/New Orleans

I have been informed there's a website called "Good Reads", where you can have friends with whom to share reading experiences. I joined it, but I'm doing my reviews here, not there. Here, it's all about Me!!! Bwah ha ha ha!

Two books by respected authors that kind of disappointed me:

Road to Omaha by Robert Ludlum: If not written by Ludlum, this book could not have been published. It's populated by caricatures, the plot is stupid, and the fun isn't funny. I made myself finish it, but it was torture. I doubt Matt Damon will be interested in the movie.

Moviegoer by Walker Percy: I picked this up for two reasons. One, I saw on the Lost website that one of the writers had recently read it, and thought it might hold a clue to the show. None that I can see. Second, Percy was instrumental in getting A Confederacy of Dunces published. So: Of all the books I've read by respected authors, this is the one I've forgotten the most about. I find I've underlined one passage: "Tropical air has seeped into the earth and the little squares of St. Augustine grass are springy and turgid. Camphor berried pop underfoot; azaleas and Judas trees are blooming on Elysien Fields." I don't know why I underlined it, but it's very nice, isn't it? It's set around New Orleans. It's all about "the search": "what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life." But it seems to me it turned out to be pretty much about everydayness -- and the guy didn't actually go to all that many movies. Good writing, I suppose, but not a memorable story.

Scout and Irving

By the way, the Goodwill-Bus thing isn't a gimmick, nor am I trying to make it into more than it is. It just is: it's how I get to work, and what I do on the way.

I should also mention that I've been a Buddhist for most of my life, so Buddhist concepts and experiences influence my perception and preferences.

On to books!

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
I'm kind of starting near the top here. Scout Finch has become my favorite character in fiction (past winners include Hector, Jethro Bodine, Henry V and Sam Gamgee). Here's a story about stumbling upon injustice, recognizing it, and fighting it. It must be difficult, especially for kids, to see beyond ones own environment; or, to recognize that there is an environment, and that you can affect it. It's a Buddhist theme: Gautama, born to privilege, was able to recognize the suffering of others, and realize that it mattered. A central tenet of modern Buddhism is that a change in a single individual can change his/her society, can change the world.

So here's the Finch family, a routine ritual of bigotry thrust upon them, and they (namely, Atticus), refuse to accept it as routine, don't abide the ritual. They suffer for it. They triumph for it. This book, I think, is essential for anyone who wants to understand America. It's got to be one of the top 5 works of American Literature, doesn't it?

I have never seen the movie.

THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE by John Irving
I've read two books by Irving. In both, he created a wondering, wounded little boy -- and killed him violently. I will never read Irving again.