No, that is not the title of a challenge…but it may as well be. I’m up to my ears in books and it’s wonderful.
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| Sweet peas and ocean breezes ♥ |
I spent most of my July weekends working on a large volunteer project for a non-profit. It was a beneficial experience, but more of a commitment than I realized. Now that that’s pretty much wrapped up, I can turn back to books.
Here’s a quick list of what I’ll be reading this month, at different levels of undivided attention and in no particular order:
- 1984 – George Orwell
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – Jules Verne
- Master and Commander – Patrick O’Brian
- Drawn from Memory – Ernest Shepard (illustrator of the original Winnie the Pooh)
- Psalms (almost finished)
- Tesla biography (yes, still)
- Smart People Should Build Things and The War on Normal People – Andrew Yang
- Nostromo – Joseph Conrad
- Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
- Other?? There’s sure to be more.
I probably mentioned before how many, many times I struggled to start Nostromo and stick with it. Well, I’ve finally succeeded making it past the start, and it’s every bit as engrossing as I thought it would be. Abandoned mines, haunted Englishmen, political unrest, and questionable investors…if you’re fascinated by 19th-century South American history, this book is all about it. Some parts are pretty funny, close to dark humor but more often like Dickensian absurdism.
Some quotes from chapter 6:
‘We shall run the world’s business whether the world likes it or not. The world can’t help it – and neither we can, I guess.’ – random American character
* * *
The parrot, catching the sound of a word belonging to his vocabulary, was moved to interfere. Parrots are very human.
I will never get over the fact that English was Conrad’s third language. Regardless of one’s views on his politics or perspective, the man was brilliant with words.
Tonight I think I will go read the first chapter of Moby-Dick, because it’s the moment I’ve been waiting for – the beginning of Brona’s read-along!
You can read a sample of my old thoughts on the novel here. I first read Moby-Dick back in 2010… it feels like a lifetime ago. Since then, these are some of the milestones which have happened in my life:
- Entering/graduating college
- Getting my first car and job
- Learning real faith
- Falling in love
- Cutting my hair short
- Writing drafts of two books
- Buying two Apple products (whaaat?)
I so rarely re-read books that I’m really curious how I will react to this one. Will I enjoy it as much as I did before? Will I notice anything new? I’ll be posting intermittently about it, so we’ll see how it goes. 🙂
Classics Considered 
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