Aaron Sisson is kind of a jerk.

So I finally finished Aaron's Rod, and wow, what a jerk! Seriously. Grow up. You have responsibilities, so put on your big girl panties and deal. He is so self-absorbed. From page 178 in my copy (Chapter 14): "He knew well enough that the thought of any loving, any sort of real coming together between himself and anybody or anything, was just objectionable to him. No-- he was not moving towards anything: he was moving almost violently away from everything. And that was what he wanted." Well, maybe you should've thought of that before you got married and had two little girls and a house. I know people need to find themselves. I am working on that right now, being comfortable with myself and being the authentic me (which is partially visible but not totally because I think some of my authentic self is weird). But I think Aaron went about it in the totally wrong way and hurt a lot of people in the process. For example, the scene when he goes back to Lottie and she is pretty much distraught? Not cool!

This book reminds me a LOT of W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge except the main character in that story goes in search of meaning before he's really tied down. He does hurt some people along the way, but not like Aaron. I don't know if Maugham's book is on the list, but it's a great read!

It's interesting that Aaron's whole self is based on his flute, referred to as a rod. This is a not-so-subtle phallic symbol that Aaron is controlled by his own desire, sexual or otherwise. Interesting to note that once his rod is broken (ouchies), he really comes to understand that aloneness and singularity are what he wants. Broken rod, wants to be alone. Broken rod, has to be alone because he's lost his sense of self/masculinity? Hmm. Something to ponder.

I liked Aaron's Rod even if I didn't like Aaron. I really think Aaron could've figured out his issues beforehand. This book is a bildungsroman with a late start. I think most coming of age stories (bildungsromans) start when the main character is younger, but I suppose the War gives Aaron a perspective that he didn't have before. I think he's a jerk, but I do tip my hat to the fact that he won't compromise his true self. At the end, page 295 in my copy, Chapter 21, Aaron's pal Lilly says, "You can only stick to your own very self, and never betray it." Words of wisdom that we should all try to live by.

Marissa

Note: After this post I looked in the big book of books and Maugham's The Razor's Edge is on the list! And I forgot to check it off! So now with book 1 done, I've read 54. Yay!

Being an absentee landlord is BAD. (Also, romance! and incognito adventures!)

The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth really was quite fun and interesting, especially compared to the last few books.  And I didn’t think it would be – when I saw it was published in 1812 and was about Irish absentee landlords, I thought I was in for something really dry, old fashioned, and that I wouldn’t really relate to what was going on. 

Surprise!  I really liked this book.  The author was able to get her points across while weaving the ideas into a really interesting story (that does indeed have romance and incognito adventures, always fun to read about).  So not only did I learn something I had no idea about – I had no idea that absentee landownership even was a big problem in Ireland at the time – I also got to read a great story.  I’m looking forward to reading Castle Rackrent, Edgeworth’s much more well-known book, when we reach the C’s. 

Now…I go back to Nabokov’s Ada.  I’m about 200 pages in.  

Maybe I was supposed to read every OTHER word.

L’Abbe C has such a cool title!  Unfortunately, once I got past the title, I didn’t really get much else about what was going on in this book.  It’s super short, thankfully.  The characters are obsessed with sex and death.  I KNOW I’m missing something in this book.  It’s like I didn’t get the key or something. I hope that Mike or Marissa reads it and comes along and explains it to me.

Sometimes I think I’m not smart enough to be reading these.  I’m obviously struggling through some of them.

Here’s a recipe for Apple Cake.

5-6 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small pieces

1 c walnuts

1.5 cups sugar

4 t cinnamon

4 t baking powder

2 t vanilla

2 c flour

1 c oil

4 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix together all ingredients other than apples and walnuts in large bowl.  Fold in apples and walnuts.  Pour into glass Pyrex-type baking pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes.  (Optional: you can mix some sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle it on top).

I am not a hipster.

Apparently Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes is this hipster odyssey through London in the late 1950s.  Unfortunately, I just Didn’t Get It.  It’s a breezy read, especially just having read a William Faulkner book where you have to concentrate on every word.  But, I’ve missed something, or its coolness is completely lost on me.  Maybe I don’t know enough about England at that time and what was going on…but I didn’t enjoy this book very much at all.  I didn’t like the characters very much and I didn’t feel I could relate to them or what was going on.  And, although I’ve visited London, I don’t know the city well enough to picture where the characters were or what they were doing. 

 

Also, on an embarrassingly superficial note, the copy of the book I borrowed from the library smells very musty.  It is a few feet away from me on the dining room table now and I can SMELL it.  I don’t think this one gets into circulation too much.

 

Next up for me…Marissa has The Abbot C in Connecticut so I will get started with that.  She also has borrowed Ada for me to read during my visit.  It’s something like 589 pages!  (I requested The Absentee via interlibrary loan, but it won’t be in for a while yet.)

William Faulkner...

writes in these really, really long sentences where you start in one place and end in another, so that even great readers (like Marissa, or like my grandmother, who kept a list of every book she’d ever read for what must have been her whole life - a really long list) have to have trouble sometimes following what is going on, especially at the beginning, but then, as the reader keeps reading, it turns out that you get used to the way the sentences are structured, so that as you get further into the book it gets easier and it’s like talking with an old, very verbose friend.

 

AWESOME book.  

I am Sisphyus.

I am Sisphyus and Aaron's Rod is my boulder. Unlike Sisphyus, I will get to the top without my boulder crushing me. In more positive news, L'Abbe C came through interlibrary loan yesterday. I love interlibrary loan!

Marissa

I'm plugging along with Aaron.

D.H. Lawrence is watching me. He's saying, "Get with it already!"

Well, I am working on it, Mr. Lawrence. I'm enjoying the bit that I've read so far. I'm not very far, admittedly-- I keep reading before bed and then falling asleep mid-sentence. As for book #2, The Abbot C by Georges Bataille, I did a little detective work. The Connecticut state-wide library catalog indicated that only one library had a copy. I IMd a reference librarian there to see if the book was in English as it was first published in French in 1950. Alas, their copy was in French, but she did a more comprehensive search and found some libraries in Connecticut that had the translation. It was an awesome online reference transaction and I requested the book through interlibrary loan. (My library schooling is showing-- "online reference transaction.") I'll lend it to Emily since it's tricky to track down.

While I'm enjoying these European writers, I look forward to book #3, William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. Its original publication date is 1936 and it takes place here in the States. My senior year, my English teacher recommended Absalom, Absalom! to me but I never got around to it. Well, William Faulkner, here I come!

Marissa