I was planning on reading a lot this break, but instead I find myself catching up on shows like Merlin and aimlessly using the internet. I’ll make sure to read at least two books out of the six that I borrowed though…just not today :p
Started reading Kafka on the Shore tonight and Johnnie Walker is a sick motherfucker…
Freakin psychopath!
Nope, I cannot read anymore of this tonight…
That’s enough.
I haven’t read a novel since the summer.
So Here’s my mini winter-reading list:
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling (I might try to read this next week, after my last final next Wednesday)
I started reading Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer today, but I can’t concentrate on it. I really like it so far, but I can’t get myself to completely focus on it. So I don’t think I’ll read it this summer. My thoughts keep getting in the way. I’m leaving for college in two weeks; two weeks go by SO fast. Three weeks ago I was saying to myself that I couldn’t wait for college. Now, I’m worried. No one becomes an adult from night to day and I feel as though that’s what I’ll have to do. I’ll need to budget my money, find a job, buy my own groceries (I’ll most likely end up sticking with water, fruits, salads, eggs, cereal, and sandwiches for the first few weeks), and make adult decisions that I never had to make before. The weather isn’t putting me at ease either. This past summer I would only sleep with a light blanket. However, I woke up today feeling a bit more chilly than usual, and I knew that the fall weather was starting to kick in, which only means that the fall quarter is right around the corner. Therefore, I’ll be attending college in no time… I guess the only way I keep myself from completely freaking out is by remembering that other people, in the same position as me, probably survived their first year of college. As long as I remember that, I’ll be okay. Plus, I have enough friends going to Irvine who I’ll be able to rely on for emotional support if I ever need it. Hmmm I was thinking that I should also make a list of SPECIFIC goals I have for this year. I probably won’t publish them here…but I’ll have them somewhere close by so that I can always remember them.
“Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.”
Mark Twain
(Source: agent-pond, via thanidaaa)
I finished reading A Clockwork Orange earlier and I have never gone through so many highs and lows with a book. I started off pissed off and upset because of the narrator’s cruel antics. So while that was going on I was trying my best to continue reading it. I was ready to stop reading it all together because I really couldn’t stand the narrator. I wanted to slap him for being so ughhh! However, halfway through, I was starting to understand, I guess, the existential question about choices that the author was bringing up. By the end, I kind of felt sorry for the narrator. He became more humane and less psychotic and sick. There was this specific chapter that had me so nervous for Alex. I was shitting bricks lol because as much as he deserved to pay for what he did, his mental state at the time was enough of a punishment I thought. I kind of hate to say it but Alex has become one of my favorite complex characters…but I still hate him a bit. I’m so conflicted… This book is making me deal with MORE existential questions.
Finally reading A Clockwork Orange. Oh, I HIGHLY recommend Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. It was a great read. Anyways, I should be done with Clockwork within the next two days :)
Summer is the one season of the year I read because I want to not because I need to. I don’t hate reading for myself. I just don’t make time for it when I have assignments to do. I thought that once I finished The Lord of the Rings that’d be my one summer read, but I got this book last month from the library, renewed it, and started reading it today. So far it’s been enjoyable and it has made me laugh a few times. I also have two more books on hold at the library, so I’ll most likely read them this month. Also, I’m trying to get used to reading more this summer because of my upcoming Humanities core class this year. Apparently, it involves a lot of reading and writing and it’s a bit hardcore so I feel like I’m training lol.
Day 1 Favorite hobbit
Samwise Gamgee
Sam is undoubtedly one of the most deep yet simple portrayals of friendship and loyalty. He doesn’t need to understand “big things” to achieve them and without his will of steel and strength of heart Frodo’s mission would have failed in the very end.
Just as it happens in life. Some of our biggest journeys need a friend who supports what we’re doing and remind us we’re not as alone as we think.
As I’m reading the final 100 pages of The Return of the King, Sam reminds me more than ever why I absolutely love his character and why I believe he’s the true hero in this. He’s the best. He was just a naive gardener who loved Elves, realized the mess he got himself into, but kept going no matter what. My inspiration right here. There aren’t enough words to describe how great and cool he is. Update: I’m laughing so hard right now because I’m reading the part where Sam has to get rid of his lovely pans. “The clatter of his precious pans as they fell down into the dark was like a death-knell to his heart.” Poor Sam lol It’s just one of his many sacrifices, but I’m sure this one’s the most difficult.
I want to read this book again. The first time I read it I thought I understood it but at the same time I knew that I didn’t. I really liked its style and how it can be read in a linear fashion but it can also be read by jumping around chapters. I want to see what I get from it this time around, you know? Plus, it made the bohemian life very appealing for a while :D
Buddha
I spent most of my morning reading half of Siddhartha and most of it is as I remember. The main reason I like it is because of it’s philosophical message. I like most things with philosophical life messages so yeah it’s my type of book. it makes me want to be a buddhist lol well not really I just agree with some of their teachings. There is no better way to go into the new year than with new thoughts. That’s all I wanted to say about that.
