Opening Sentence of the Day: The Flaneur

"Paris is a big city in the sense that London and New York are big cities and that Rome is a village, Los Angles a collection of villages and Zurich a backwater."

-- The Flaneur: A Stroll Through the Paradoxes of Paris by Edmund White

January is the month for armchair travel and this book is just the ticket.

State of the Blog, Part Two: The Challenges

I am not a big challenge person, although I appreciate the effort and hard work that bloggers go to to host so many enticing projects. I am too compulsive to sign up for a challenge and not complete it, so I do not sign up for many.

In 2009, I joined and completed four challenges. There are more I want to sign up for in 2010, but I am sticking with challenges focusing on the types of books I like to read.

2009 WRAP UP

The Sunshine Smackdown: Battle of the Prizes



I had to participate in this one -- I hosted it. The idea was to read one book that won the National Book Award, one that won the Pilutzer Prize, and one that won both. I am going to host it again in 2010, but it will start earlier, so not be a summer challenge.

My wrap-up post is here. I read and reviewed three books:

1. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud (winner of both the National and the Pulitzer; reviewed here)
2. Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth (National winner; reviewed here)
3. Advise and Consent by Allen Drury (Pulitzer winner; reviewed here)
   

The 100+ Challenge



My book total for 2009 was 111, so I completed the challenge. But I was pretty lame about posting my reviews. I did for a month or so, then stopped, went back in the summer and added several, then tapered off completely. Here is my completed list of books read in 2009, with links to reviews. I am signing up again for 2010, but I probably won't be any better about active participation.


The Colorful Reading Challenge



This was fun in that it got me to read several books I probably would not have gotten around to if I hadn't been looking for colors in titles. I completed the challenge on December 31 and didn't do a final wrap-up post -- this post is the closest I got. I read and reviewed nine books:

1. RED: Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith (review) 
2. BLACK: Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke (mini-review) 
3. GOLD: Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California by Dinkelspiel, Frances (review) 
4. GREEN: Blue Planet in Green Shackles: What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom? by Vaclav Klaus (review) 
5. YELLOW: A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris (review)
6. SILVER: The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (review) 
7. RUST: American Rust by Philipp Meyer (review)
8. BLUE: Blue River by Ethan Canin (review)
9. WHITE: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham (review)

The Spice of Life Challenge

This one was super fun because I love books about food, and I liked that there were several different categories of books. I hope Rebecca hosts it again, because I want to sign up for a higher level. In 2009, I signed up for the "Sampler" level and read and reviewed four books

1. Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger (my non-fiction choice; reviewed here)
2. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones (my fiction choice; reviewed here)
3. The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (my cookbook choice; reviewed here)
4. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (my memoir/essay choice; reviewed here)

2010 CHALLENGES

Battle of the Prizes: American Version

It's the National Book Award winners v. the Pilutzer Prize winners, Round Two.

I am going to host this challenge again this year, but instead of just taking place in the summer, it is going to start February 1 and run to the end of the year. Otherwise, the same rules as last year will apply. I'll get the sign up page posted soon.

Battle of the Prizes: British Version

I am going to add a new challenge this year -- a British version of the Battle of the Prizes. This one will pit Man Booker Prize winners against the James Tait Black Memorial Prize winners.  I hope too get it up by February 1, but I have to make a challenge button first and I am having trouble finding a good picture.

Chunkster Challenge

I am kicking myself for not signing up for this last year because I read enough books to meet the requirements. So I am going to sign up in 2010 for the "Mor-book-ly Obese" level. I am not sure which six 450+-page books (or three 750+-pagers) I will read, but there are several biggies on my TBR shelf that are vying for my attention.


Bibliophilic Books Challenge



I am excited about this one, because I thought I had imagined it, but it turns out it really exists. The point is to read books about books. They can be fiction or non-fiction, so there are plenty to chose from. There are many qualifying books on my TBR shelves right now, and I have really been in the mood for them.

I am signing up for the "Bibliomaniac" level, which means I have 12 to read by the end of the year. I do not have a final list yet, but I have several in mind, starting with Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree.


100+ Challenge



Even with my anticipated mediocre participation (see above), I am signing up because I am pretty sure I'll read more than 100 books this year.

Opening Sentence of the Day: A Very Private Plot

"Senator Hugh Blanton addressed the problem as an Old Testament prophet might have done."

-- A Very Private Plot by William F. Buckley, Jr.

It is 1995 and Senator Blanton is trying to pass a bill outlawing covert government action. His most popular argument is that a botched covert CIA operation in the mid-1980s almost triggered a Soviet first strike. Only two people in America know the truth -- CIA master-spy Blackford Oakes and former President Ronald Reagan -- and neither are talking.

This is the tenth (of 11) Blackford Oakes novels Buckley wrote. I read the first eight books years ago, skipped the ninth book by mistake, and picked this up on a whim. They are all intelligent, elegant spy novels that span the Cold War. I will definitely finish the two I have left, but I have half a mind to go back and read all of them again.

Teaser Tuesday: One Fat Englishman

"He congratulated himself on his foresight in constructing that dipsomaniacal son for the friend who was putting himself up in New York. Letting them enter one's base of operations was to be avoided whenever possible."

-- One Fat Englishman by Kingsley Amis

In this passage, protagonist Roger Micheldene is pleased with himself for inventing a zany excuse for why he and his casual paramour cannot meet at his place. The whole book is Roger seducing various women, Roger drinking, Roger eating, and Roger arguing literature or religion with academic types. Typical Amis. And as hilarious as always.



Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Dear Rose City Reader . . .

A reader in distress! 

My friend is in a quandary over a book her uncle gave her to read. It's not just any book -- it's a 900+ page tome he told her is his favorite book. She has now slogged her way through 200 pages, but it has been a battle, as she describes so eloquently below. 


I'm still pondering what advice to offer. Any suggestions? We've all been in her predicament -- what would you tell her?

Dear Rose City Reader:

As a follower of your blog, I trust that you'll appreciate my angry book rant and related dilemma:

My uncle and I, who really only see each other once a year at our family reunion, have a great tradition of exchanging book titles. He loves to read and discuss books - if we had an opening for a sincere and enthusiastic 60 year old Canadian guy in our all-girl book club, he might consider moving to Portland. He is so jealous of me.

I confess I haven't read all of his picks yet, but I do keep track of them on a running list. This last August, he not only gave me titles but two actual hard copies of "favorites" of his - one in particular that he positively raved about. I am reading it now... it's a 900+ page behemoth called "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. I didn't balk at the length starting in, in fact I was kind of excited about a long, rich novel because he had raved about it so. But I am only a little over 200 pages in, and feeling like I have the equivalent of 7,000 pages to go rather than a measly 700. Basically I am using it to put myself to sleep at night. All my efforts to make friends with this book have failed.

The author is an Aussie who went off the deep end at some point in his young adulthood and committed a series of armed robberies, landed in prison, escaped from prison, lived as a fugitive for many years and ended up in Bombay where he started a medical clinic in the slums, bought and sold on the black market and got mixed up in the Indian mafia... and that just so happens to be exactly the life story of the "fictional" main character of the book. So for one thing... REALLY? But even if I could get past that, there is still the question of how, with subject matter like that, has the author managed to create a book so boring???

The story has the potential to be an intriguing page turner ripe with opportunity to explore the events and impact of a completely different kind of life than I will ever live... but somehow I find myself more excited about folding my kids' laundry than reading this book. It contains a mix of laborious travel journal, predictable philosophical musings, unsatisfying character sketches, and in the 200 pages I've read so far, tragically minimal plot or movement. There are entire paragraphs and passages that I just want to cross out in frustration, asking "why in the world did I need to know ANY of that?"

Case in point: "Abdullah rejoined us, bringing a cut-glass bowl filled with slices of mango, papaya, and watermelon. The scents of the fruits surrounded us as their tastes dissolved in our mouths. The singers began their next performance, singing just one song that continued for almost half and hour. It was a lush, tripartite harmony built upon a simple melody and improvised cadenzas." You've got to be kidding me. The protagonist has been whisked away in a car with two well-known mafia/assassin big-guys in Bombay, and he is unsure of the reason for their interest in him, and yet the author-who-is-actually-the-main-character dilly-dallies over the damn fruit bowl and the background music for an entire paragraph. Let me go back and read that again - was that CUT glass, you say? Did the tastes of the fruit dissolve in your mouth, or was it more of a melting sensation? Was there any pineapple? You didn't mention pineapple, but there could have been pineapple in the cut-glass bowl as well... Was it the song that lasted half an hour, or was it this plodding miscellany? It's beyond ridiculous. He chronically over-describes everything enough to make you think he was getting a kickback from his high school English teacher for each metaphor used.

The one saving grace is that the main-character-who-is-really-the-author meets and befriends a charming Bombay tour guide named Prabaker, and the dialogue between the two is hilarious. The accent and grammar are captured so well - I would guess a lot of it is taken directly from actual conversations with the real-life Prabaker. Prabaker's efforts to understand the crazy Aussie and to help the crazy Aussie understand Indian culture are priceless, and the affectionately nicknamed "Prabu" is described with respect and genuine care. I find myself especially fond of dear "Prabu," and sadly he has not been prominently featured in the last 50 pages or so. I miss him terribly.

So, Rose City Reader, I would very much appreciate your opinion or at least your commiseration. Here's my dilemma... I am 200+ of 900 pages in, with no sense that this book is actually going to go anywhere. Aside from Prabaker, I am completely over it. I could easily just put it down and move on to a Sylvia Plath for a little pick-me-up. Except for... my sweet uncle. He loved it! And he knows I'm reading it. And because books are a key element of our relationship, I would love to be able to talk with him about it. Even if I don't ever like the book, it would still be nice to know the full story arc and talk with him about the parts I did like. If I don't finish it, I won't be able to fully appreciate his insights and why he liked it so much vs. why I didn't. I know he would not be devastated if I didn't read it, but I do think it would make him kind of sad. I just don't know if I can make myself slog through it! My recreational reading time is so rare and precious, I feel like I am throwing it away on this book. But I'm also a big "finish what you start" type... Oh, the contradictions plague me like the relentless monsoons which fall from a slate-colored sky to form rivulets meandering like restless wanderers through the poorly planned avenues of the illegal slums of Bombay which sprung up during the construction of the city's tallest skyscrapers like bamboo shoots reaching thirstily toward the very source of the aforementioned monsoon rains... help!

-- Nervous Niece