Crazy good.

You know those people who can get so absorbed in what they are doing and their own worldview that they can't see that anyone else has different motivations or goals? Dr. Peter Kien, the hero of Auto-Da-Fe, is one of them. His love for scholarship and literature blinds him to everything else and ultimately is his undoing.

This book was fantastic. I really thought 464 pages were going to drag but I was interested the whole time and couldn't wait to see what happened to everyone. I won't give away the ending, just say that what I wanted to happen, didn't happen.

55/1001 so far, or about 5.5% done!

A look at the Holocaust through a man's memories.

The book jacket of Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald makes it sound like a mystery story - a man is trying to find out his real identity. Which it is, but it is a lot more based in history and European life than the book jacket makes it sound. It is a sad, melancholy, complex book. Quite a bit of time is spent on descriptions of various train stations and public spaces in Europe. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand why it is on the list and I am glad to have read it, but it wasn't really what I expected either. Maybe I'm not sure what I expected.

Also, I have been telling my daughter that there aren't usually pictures in Mama's books - so much that she says, "No pictures Mama's book" when she sees one. This book made a liar out of me.

Marissa, I think you'll be interested to read the descriptions of libraries in this book.

An airhead exhibition.

One of the reasons that I have been enjoying this project is that I haven't really read a lot of great literature in my life and I think I can appreciate it now. However, sometimes some of these books just leave me shaking my head - I am clearly missing something. I usually get what is going on in most of these, but The Atrocity Exhibition exposes me as the airhead that I sometimes am.

J. G. Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition is a short story that is about 11 pages long. It focuses on (I think) a sort of World War III situation, a guy who might be insane, some other characters that are trying to take over his mind or have him do these weird things for him, and some mannequins. I'm glad it was short because I just don't get it and I felt dumb!

Read so far: 53/1001. It's been about a year and I'm about 5% through.

More than a historical novel.

I really liked Atonement by Ian McEwan and I can see why it was honored with so many prizes. It starts off and you think it is a really well written historical novel - and then as you keep reading you realize that the author is doing a couple of really cool things. You wind up questioning who the narrator is and how much he or she actually knows about the events described in the book. I don't want to say too much more because I don't want to spoil it. This is one that I think Mike would really enjoy and I hope he has a chance to read it soon.

Also, McEwan captured the 13-year old girl so well in the early part of the novel. I could definitely relate to her urge to write, create, put on a play, write a story and give it decorative covers, etc.

A book within a book within a...

At Swim Two Birds is a crazy, fun, sometimes confusing book. The main character is writing a book. In his book, the main character is writing a book. And the main character's characters do some writing of their own, too. It was very hard for me to keep the layers straight and remember who was who.

This book reminds me a little of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. That book didn't have the layers to it like this one but something about how it was set up called that book to mind. (Jonathan Strange is probably my favorite book I've read in the last few years before starting this project, by the way.) But weirdly, I can't decide if I liked this or not. It's definitely a cool concept and good writing and laugh-out-loud funny in places, but it was also pretty out there.

Great character name: The Pooka MacPhellimey

Should we be reading this at all?

H.D. wanted Asphodel destroyed and it was never published during her life. This fact makes me wonder...should we read this? Do we have a right to read something the author doesn't want us to? There is definitely stuff I have written that it would be embarrassing to go reread now (Business Planning paper, I'm talking about you) and I can't imagine how that would be on a larger scale. Anyway.

This book is about a somewhat navel gazing young woman based on H.D. who goes to live in Europe during the World War I era. I thought it was pretty good. I couldn't figure out what any of the characters did for money but I'm guessing they were supported by upper class families. H.D.'s style can be difficult to read at times. It's almost like a stream of consciousness.

Two Boys.

At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill is the first novel I've read, I think, where the romantic story at the center is about two boys. It takes place in 1915-1916 in Ireland, a time period where you'd think they would be faced with a lot of negativity about their choices. They do, but that's not really at the center of the story at all. Also woven in is the Easter Rising, which both characters play a role in.

This is a really well written, sad and interesting book. Not necessarily something I would have chosen on my own, but I'm glad I read it.

Books 51-60

I can't believe that after I read 2 more books, I will be 5% done with this project. That is amazing to me!

Here are the next 10 books on the list, 51 through 60.

51. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien (1939)
52. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)
53. The Atrocity Exhibition by J. G. Ballard (1970)
54. August is a Wicked Month by Edna O'Brien (1965)
55. Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald (2001)
56. Auto da Fe by Elias Canetti (1935)
57. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein (1933)
58. Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1975)
59. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899)
60. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922)

And we're into the B's! :)

Grateful for my safe life.

Slavenka Draculic's book As If I am Not There is also titled S., which made it a little confusing to find. This book was really difficult to read, but absolutely amazing. I like a lot of these books, but often they don't rivet me to my seat or have me thinking about them throughout the day. This one was a real page turner. I couldn't put it down. It really made me grateful for my life.

The story is really tough to get through, it's about a woman in a camp in the Balkans in 1992, so it is really upsetting and sad. The message at the end is hopeful though. Even till the last few pages, I really doubted it would turn out the way it did. (This was also a book I was so afraid of what was going to happen at the end, that I flipped and read the last page when I was only about 100 pages in. I needed to make sure that it wasn't going to turn out the way I feared. Embarrassing to admit, but true!)

While I was reading this, it really had an impact on me. Little things I complain about (Peanut, please don't throw your cars on the floor!) all of a sudden seemed so much less important. I wanted to give my husband and little girl a big hug. (Thankfully for me, my little girl is really into hugs right now too. Give Mama big hug!)

Extra spinach in postwar Japan.

I really enjoyed Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World. I liked the portrayal of postwar Japan and the look at arranged marriages. I also could identify with Ono and his attempts to do the right thing, what he believed in, and his later regrets about doing so when the political tide turned against him.

Ichiro, his grandson, stole the show for me though. I loved the discussions between them and how he was so very 8. Extra spinach on the Junior Lunch, please!

I never would have found this on my own and I'm glad I read it!

It's a hard стучать life.

What struck me about The Artamonov Business by Maxim Gorky is how difficult life in Russia was. Where Anna Karenina portrayed life among upper class Russian society, The Artamonov Business follows the life of a recently freed serf mill founder and his children as they build their mill and become involved in town life, and ultimately wind up on the wrong side of the revolution.

The book is a really good, if sad, story, but yikes. Life is tough. There are many dead children. People seem so unhappy. I can see why many people thought that the revolution would make a difference - because life was so difficult before, how could it get anything other than better?

I had not read anything by Gorky before and I'm definitely glad I read this book.

Oh, and Google Translation helped me with the Russian in the title. I actually studied Russian in school but years of disuse have made me incredibly rusty!

Babywearing and Nigerian culture.

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe Is one of those amazing books that I had no idea existed before I started this project. I had read Things Fall Apart in college and really enjoyed that but had no clue that Achebe had written other books. I'm really glad I read this. There are a lot of themes here that I hadn't really thought about.

I liked the story of the intersection of the traditional religion and Christianity. Even more, I liked learning about the culture of the people from Umuaro. I liked the glimpses of family life and childcare. They carried babies on their backs! (I'm convinced that is one of the most comfortable ways for me to carry a baby!) Interesting how the colonizers were convinced they were introducing the people to new and better ways of doing things, but now looking back, many of the older ideas and traditions (baby wearing!) are actually becoming more popular again. The new ways aren't necessarily better.

I really enjoyed this book. I was kind of sad it ended where it did.

Pretty thoughtful.

Where The Apes of God was long, silly, and unreadable, Arcanum 17 was pretty, thoughtful and WAY over my head.

The book is not really a story. It is more of a series of musings on the world in 1944 that the author assembled while spending time in Quebec. It is beautifully written with some really cool imagery. I liked that the author seemed to have a lot of respect for women and thought their contributions to society were undervalued. I'm sure I missed some important points because it was kind of confusing at times, but I'm glad I read this. It was short and really beautiful.

Thud.

Thud is the sound The Apes of God made when the reference librarian placed it on the counter in front of me. This book weighs a ton, and it is about 640 pages.

Thud is also the figurative sound this book made as I was reading it. Not interesting. Whatever Lewis was trying to do with this book ("tell a story" not really working out for him) doesn't translate to a contemporary audience. I was glad to see in the afterword that lots of people find it unreadable. I have to admit that I kind of gave up trying to figure it out and just skimmed to get through it.

Here is a recipe for Peasant Stew we had a few weeks ago and loved. It's not made from peasants or anything, don't worry.Peasant Stew from Cooking Light

The amazing race!

Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is like a book version of my favorite show, The Amazing Race! I loved it! I loved how methodical Fogg is and the different ways he devises to solve his various travel issues. I liked the servant and how he gradually became more trusted and able to make decisions as the journey progressed. And I liked the ending! This was super fun and over too soon.

I was amazed at how quickly they got out of the house and off to their trip once it was decided. They definitely weren't traveling with a toddler, that is for sure. (No! Burpies! Yellow doggie turtle! No! Green car! Ball! Snacks! Nooooo!)

Next up for me is The Apes of God, over 600 pages. Due back at the library on September 9, no renewals. I better get going!

Not many antics here.

I didn't know what to expect when I started Aldous Huxley's Antic Hay. I think I skimmed Brave New World at some point in my educational career but I don't remember anything about it at all. This book was kind of a disappointment. I could tell that the author was trying to put forth certain views but I honestly have no idea what those are. I am really not enjoying the books that consist mainly of characters sitting around talking to each other. DO something! I didn't like any of the characters and they just didn't seem real to me. I feel like the author just created them as mouthpieces for various views.

I'm sure I missed the point of this book but I'm just glad it's over!

From Russia with love.

Anna Karenina was a lot different for me this time around. A lot has changed in my life since I read this 5 years ago and I enjoyed this book a great deal more now. The last time I read this perhaps I didn't have the patience to really enjoy it, or wasn't in the right frame of mind. Plus I think there is something about reading a lot of great books...it's like I have more practice or something, so I'm getting more out of each one.

This book is just incredible. It's a novel but the reader also learns so much about the history and culture of Russia from the story as well. Mike said something interesting the other day when I was marveling at how much I was enjoying the book. He said, imagine how amazing it must have been when it first came out too. People must have been awestruck by what an incredible novel it was.

Lately I've been thinking that there is a very wide disparity among the 1001 books. There are some that are incredible like this one. Even people who aren't fans of Russian literature could probably appreciate what a masterpiece it is. On the other hand, there are also there random weird books that are stream of consciousness, or there's a hole cut out in the book, or whatever. Gimmicky things. It is just interesting the wide range of books that the editors considered the best.

Books 41-50.

Not that I'm going to be done with Anna Karenina anytime soon. But I thought it would be interesting to see what is next on the list.

41. Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley (1923)
42.The Apes of God by Wyndham Lewis (1930)
43.Arcanum 17 by Andre Breton (1945)
44.Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (1873)
45.Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe (1964)
46.The Artamonov Business by Maxim Gorky (1925)
47.An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986)
48.As if I Am Not Thereby Slavenka Drakulic (1999)
49.Asphodel by H.D. (1992)
50.At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill (2001)

I've never read any of these. I wonder if I will like the first few books of this grouping. Several of the books that were written around that era have not been my favorites, but I never know from book to book which I'm going to like and which I'm going to hate. I'm looking forward to the Achebe book and the Jules Verne book particularly.

Running amok.

Amok by Stefan Zweig is not really a book, it's more of a short story. The writing is incredible. I know it was originally German so the translator deserves credit as well as the author, but wow. Just amazing.

I never knew where the phrase "running amok" came from until I read this. It basically refers to a person who has gone crazy from the tropical heat, alcohol, etc and runs around doing crazy things until stricken down. So one of the characters here has run amok.

I just can't get over how fantastic the writing was! I'm also surprised I never heard of Zweig till reading this.

Next up for me is Anna Karenina which is super long. So it may be a while before I post again!

Where pigs rule the world. A fairy tale.

I'm glad I read the introduction to Animal Farm by George Orwell. I learned a lot about him and the background to this book that I wouldn't have otherwise known. I'm SURE I would have misunderstood the book if I were to just read it without having the background. I would have understood that it was a satire on Stalinism/Communism but I wouldn't have known or understood that Orwell was actually liberal and wasn't anti-socialism, but just critical of how it was implemented at that time in the Soviet Union.

I also found it interesting that Orwell referred to the story as a fairy tale. It can be read on the surface as a story of animals running a farm. I did that reading Lord of the Flies in high school. I just didn't get what the whole big deal was! I also liked how simple the language and story were. It was very straightforward describing events as they happened with not much character development. Not that you need much when the leading characters are pigs, I suppose.