I went on a week-long work trip, and just like that, the calendar did a page-turn on me!
I had expected to do a lot of reading on the planes and in between, and packed accordingly, but I could only muster attention for The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction. As a refresher to college history courses, it is solid. I was on cloud nine with McMahon’s vocabulary of words like “impervious,” “concomitant,” “juncture,” and “adventurism.” Does anyone write like that anymore? It was published in 2003, a long two decades past, but looking around at the current arguments on Russia and China, I find it is full of relevance for today. I have just 50 pages to go and will finish it this coming week.
An update on my ambitious August reading is in order.
Before my trip, I read 200 pages of Light in August, a novel of about 500 pages total. Reading it is like running in 90 degree weather. You feel like an absolute champion, but you can only go so far before you need a break. It’s a novel of heavy brilliance; Faulkner goes deep into childhood trauma in this one, and I found myself emotionally exhausted before the halfway mark. I will pick it up again soon.
As a bit of a palate cleanser, I reached for another Algernon Blackwood horror story, The Man Whom the Trees Loved. Most surprisingly, it was also an emotional read. It is vying for “book of the year” with John Steinbeck’s The Moon Is Down. It is short and (bitter)sweet, and I recommend it.
Speaking of Steinbeck, I did read two chapters East of Eden. It is getting priority treatment this month.
My time away from home was tiring but valuable. Living out of one bag has a way of making you think clearly. The actual experiences of the trip were also very thought provoking.
There are many uncertainties ahead of me right now. I have little hope of things easing up for long, but this moment on this Labor Day weekend is a window of calm I am grateful for.
Classics Considered 
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