New Read

I'm up to start a new read if anyone else is? I have a lot of free time, and I could use some intellectual inspiration! :)

A blog is a terrible thing to waste

Perhaps some Veblen is coming up soon...hopefully

Swing and a miss

I've made it through about a third. I guess I need a long flight or something to really get through Dunces.
Speaking of Ignatious, I'm really picturing John Candy's character in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." I think he even wears a similar ear-flap hat. I would even say it is his same type of comedy, funny on a late tuesday night, but generally skippable for a rerun of MythBusters. On the other hand, have we been ruined by all the imitators to really appreciate the original? Should this be regarded higher than it's more recent peers because it was a maverick of it's time?

I'm fine with choosing a new book, but if we choose a real snoozer, I'll probably keep chipping away at Ignatious\John. Maybe I could start doing like I did in high school and only read the first and last page of each chapter. :)

Let's Choose Another Book

Here are my suggestions:

• The Road to Serfdom
• Marxism: Philosophy and Economics
• 1776

I am reading The Hobbit, by Tolken for another book club this month... yes my book heart is spread between Renaissance and another. Last night I was conversing with Jake about how I just can't get into it. How now the last two reads of mine, The Hobbit, and Confederacy, were just not really my style, and how I should return to what I love most.... dark, ugly, non fiction. His reply was that I likely didn't like them both, because they are very similar. Why yes indeed they are Jake. Both Odyessy like epics, both odd and akward and fat heros surrounded by other stange characters. Both authors attempt at a quiet humor that I just don't fall in love with. Both highly awarded and acclaimed of course as well. Just a note.

Are Jake and I the only readers here or are others just not posting. It seems if I remember correctly this was the case in the 2002 original chapter of Renaissance as well, plus a Mindy. Commit folks, it ain't that hard.

Oh Fortuna - I Finished

I finally finished reading the Confederacy - I say finally, but from the lack of posting by the rest of yous, I can see I finished it before many of you. To start off, I must say that I am usually a plot driven man. I grew up on John Grisham, who writes books that are purely plot driven without any memorable characters. The lack of strong plot in Confederacy was the most disappointing thing. At first, I thought it might stop me enjoying or even finishing the book. The book starts slow. But as I got to know the characters, I found that I really did enjoy the book. By the end I was sad to see Ignatius go.

Throughout the book, I tried to figure out why Ignatius got himself caught up in so many crazy situations. I think Ignatius sought out trouble just so he would have something to write about. It's like journal writing. For those of you LDS church goers, I think the church has us write in journals because when you have to write about what you do each day, you try to make cool stuff happen during the day so that, at least on paper, you seem awesome. Ignatius thought himself a writer, so he created crazy situations that would give him something to write about.

My wife found a little tidbit about Confederacy on Wikipedia. It seems that the writer's curse lives on.
"There have been repeated attempts to turn the book into a film. In 1982, Harold Ramis was to write and direct an adaptation starring John Belushi and Richard Pryor, but Belushi's death would prevent this. Later, John Candy and Chris Farley would be touted for the lead, leading many to ascribe a curse to the role."