Planning/Format

So, I intend to roughly follow Nick Hornby's format. Although his was a monthly column, I will try to update more or less daily, as this will allow me to cover more books and have a better memory as to each that I read. I will also post periodic updates of the books that I purchase. So, for the first of those, I will list the books that I bought in my two most recent trips to Half Price Books:

• Nick Hornby: The Polysyllabic Spree
• Nick Hornby: Shakespeare Wrote for Money
• Timothy Zahn: Night Train to Rigel
• Timothy Zahn: Cobras Strike
• Vikram Seth: Beastly Tales

The two Nick Hornby books are pretty much the same--The Polysyllabic Spree is described below, and Shakespeare is basically a same-again sequel. Night Train to Rigel is the first in a series of Timothy Zahn books to which I already own the second book, and Cobras Strike is actually a book I've already read in a collection called Cobras Two which, no doubt, will be discussed later in this blog. Zahn is one of my favorite authors, since I discovered him in one of the few Star Wars books that are worth reading, Heir to the Empire and its progeny, which introduced the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn. The Vikram Seth (author of A Suitable Boy) book is written in couplets, which intrigues me. I'm not generally one for poetry, but these are actually stories written in verse, like the old Latin poems that I translated in college. Not enough people write in verse any more, so I'm hoping that this will be good, and even if it's not, it is something that I bought with an eye towards a gift for my father.

The Polysyllabic Spree

On a recent trip to Half Price Books, I picked up The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby. I like Nick Hornby's other books, so I figured I'd pick it up, especially after reading what it's about: according to the cover, it's "A hilarious and true account of one man's struggle with the monthly tide of the books he's bought and the books he's been meaning to read." This is a phenomenon with which I am familiar. I have a ton of books on my shelves that I've bought because I intend to read them, but never seem to have the time. Furthermore, when I do have the time, I often find myself unmotivated to read some of them, or decide to reread a book I've already enjoyed once instead. Thus, this book seemed like a great idea. I bought it, and began reading it a couple of nights ago.

One consequence that I hadn't anticipated (although I probably should have) is that it's already added three books to me "to read" list, and I'm only on page 45. But it also inspired me to start this blog. In particular, there was a passage in the book where Mr. Hornby is talking about how he cannot recall any details about the Charles Dickens' Great Expectations states:

And I realized that . . . with just about every book I consumed between the ages of, say, fifteen and forty, I haven't even read the books I think I've read. I can't tell you how depressing this is. What's the fucking point?

While Hornby goes on to extol the virtues of forgetting the details of a book a few months later (the book is a compilation of monthly essays,) I was well aware of how I could enjoy re-reading a book several years after first reading it. While I could often remember the bones of the plot, and the "punchline" as Hornby describes it, I also shared his disappointment at not remembering details about books that I've read. Even worse, I hate remembering a book that I've read but being unable to recall the title or author.* Thus, I decided to start this blog, where I'm going to not only talk about the book(s) that I've just finished, bought or begun, but also to document the books currently residing on my shelves, in boxes in storage, or on my bedside table. I hope to document the books that I've read, what I remember about them, whether I liked them, to whom I've recommended them etc. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up on it, it's a simple enough, and enjoyable enough concept, but updating two blogs daily is a goal that I'm uncertain I can keep. But we'll see how long I can keep it up.

* There is a book that I read on vacation over 10 years ago while on vacation in England, about a human child who is marooned on a planet and raised by aliens who we later discover were formerly slaves of the human race. I remember really liking this book, and have looked for it for years, but have had absolutely zero success finding it. And it still irritates me.