Valmont's reading log

Valmont

Having finished college I no longer have a 2 and half hour commute so my reading for the majority of 2009 was lacking in that I had to adjust my reading to new times and locations. I hope this reading log can encourage me somewhat to increase my reading level. My list is pre-determined in that I have a huge pile of unread books.

Nothing right now but I hope to have one or two finished in a few days.

Valmont

Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote.

I didn't really like Holly at the beginning but just like the colourful characters in this book, I think I eventually fell in love with her too.

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The Naked Mountain- Reinhold Messner.

I had read the criticisms toward Messner about the choices he made with his less experienced brother while on Nanga Parbat but I always felt not enough attention was paid to the fact that Reinhold lost his closest friend and climbing companion. This book reminds the reader of this tragedy irrespective of its cause and also focuses on the extraordinary achievement the Messner brothers earned by traversing Nanga Parbat. My favourite aspect of Messner's writing is that he is unapologetic for his brilliance.

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Philosophy, Who needs it?- Ayn Rand

Despite my well worn copy of Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy, my passion for philosophy ended with the dangerously alluring yet hopelessly cynical work of the existentialist philosophers; primarily Sarte and Camus. I have Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand to thank for reigniting my interest in philosophy and this book has helped to cement the idea that philosophy does matter, in more ways than we think.

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The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules our Lives - Leonard Mlodinow.

Considering I'm trying to carve out a career in psychological research, I found this book very interesting. It is informative, historical and funnier than any other pop-science book I've read. I especially enjoyed reading about the important figures in the history of probability and statistics and I must admit that my own undergraduate level of understanding was definitely bolstered by reading Mlodinow's careful analysis of the theories and ideas that were instrumental in making the science of statistics such an important modern tool. I'll definitely be picking up some of his other books soon.

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For the New Intellectual - Ayn Rand.

I'm nearing the end of Ayn Rand's bibliography and I haven't lost any of the excitement that Atlas Shrugged ignited. Her non-fiction works are obviously not as easy to get through but are important when considering the greater body of her work.For the New Intellectual, while not as stimulating as Philosophy, Who Needs it?, was slightly more difficult to digest; the chapters don't really flow too well together and I think she jumps around a bit too much. I think I may need to start again to be honest. I greatly enjoyed revisiting the key speeches from Dagny Taggart, Howard Roark and John Galt.

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Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre - Keith Johnstone.

I won't lie, I read this so I would have something interesting to talk about with a really gorgeous stage actress I met last summer while in the states. My plan didn't work but this mad book is bizarrely interesting. Johnstone outlines many unusual ways (see the chapter on mask work) to increase or enhance one's creative and improvisational capacities. It doesn't matter if you aren't an actor, this book is very interesting and perhaps useful for anyone who likes to write or come up with original ideas in some shape or form. I'm half tempted to join an improv class because it sounds like such good craic.

ps. I read the last chapter tonight. I had read the rest of it last year.

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Herzog - Saul Bellow.

I haven't enjoyed a novel this much since Lolita, even though Herzog is different in many respects. This novel provokes introspection, inspired by the strange and wonderful letters Moses Herzog writes during this troubling period of his life. I felt that Herzog represents the human condition in startling clarity. His thoughts on life, happiness, and everything in between are so colourful and intriguing that I had to stop every few pages to mull over what he had said; it is an interactive experience in this respect. I don't know what else to say other than that I will definitely read this again and it is not often I do that with a book. Thoroughly recommended!

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The Revolution: A Manifesto - Ron Paul.

Ron Paul outlines the problems with America's political establishment and sets out a very convincing argument for economic freedom and strict adherence to the constitution. Paul is equally critical of the democrats and the republicans in that he seems to suggest that they are now two sides of the same federal reserve issued coin. This book is full of references to von Mises, Hayek, and Friedman and as such, it serves as a useful libertarian primer. There is also an interesting reading list after the appendix. I will probably read his book End the Fed next as his arguments regarding government interference in the economy are the most compelling.

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The Road to Serfdom - Friedrich Hayek.

Hayek outlines the many hypocrisies underlying the doctrines of socialism and central planning; he draws western parallels with the ideological underpinnings of national socialism and in doing so demonstrates that any attempts to plan or direct the economic life of individuals is doomed to fail. This book is infinitely more readable than the The Constitution of Liberty which I have never finished (I will now that I know more about Hayek's ideas) and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an antidote to the loud demands for more government control and regulation we regularly hear today.

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The Final Frontiersman - James Campbell.

Considering this is my first summer spent in Ireland for three years I really need the crutch of some armchair exploration. I've read dozens of books about Alaska, the people who live there, and about the animals that inhabit its wilderness and this one is definitely the most memorable and well written. Campbell chronicles the life, times and adventures of Heimo Korth and his family who live in the wilds of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. This story is underwritten with the sad fact that Heimo is the last person with the right to live on this federal reserve which has been earmarked for oil development. This book is also a requiem for his way of life- trapping, hunting and living off the harsh Alaskan landscape is a dying mode of existence. I'm glad I've finished this one because it made me yearn for the Alaska range even more than I usually do trapped here in Wicklow.

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The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon.

This book is strangely imaginative, involving an island on Alaska's south eastern coastline as the new home of the Jews following their expulsion from Israel. The protagonist is Meyer Landsman, a yid down on his luck living in a crummy hotel and struggling with alcolholism and apathy. The book's sequence of events stem from a murder two floors down from Landsman and along with his well-fleshed out colleagues and friends, he jumps headfirst into the fim-noir-esque twists and turns of a distincly jewish conspiracy. I bought this book solely on the fact that it said something about Alaska on the back and athough that turns out to be incidental to the plot, there is something about the jewish culture that fascinates me. This book is heavy in Yiddish and wistful references to the malady and fate of the jewish people and in a sense it is this intertwining of plot and culture that gives the book it's originality and zeal. It's cleverly paced and the plot gradually gives precedence to the story of Landsman's redemption and this latter theme is the the book's ultimate redeeming feature that, for me, made it reading it all the more worthwhile.

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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce.

Considering I'm emigrating, my grandfather gave me this book and said I would enjoy it. I found Dedalus' transformation of sorts very exciting; I know that's a strange word to use but Joyce imbues young Dedalus' musings on religion, art, family and Ireland with a tangible sense of a forthcoming metamorphosis. The moulding effect is obvious in certain passages such as the Jesuit priest's hellacious examination of the terrors of hell and the slightly more subtle influences of his friend's reactions to his artistic musings. I appreciated the gimmick value of the Dublin setting with the swallows flying over a house on Molesworth street and Dedalus' trip on the train through the Dalkey tunnel and his ambling walks around the city centre chatting to his friends from Trinity. The book really hits a dizzying crescendo while Dedalus is walking along Dollymount strand and I found it to be a very inspirational chapter, his optimism pregnant with the beauty of the world around him and his possibilities vague yet supremely exiting. I was almost tempted to pick up Ulysses after this but then I realised I couldn't afford the accompanying guidebook so maybe some other time:pac:

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Seize the Day - Saul Bellow.

This book follows around a talentless actor during a maniacally introspective day in his overly whimsical life. As the crushing weight of his life's decisions come to a head during breakfast with his father, he meets a mysterious conman who might be offering a certain chance at redemption. Bellow, as in Herzog, uses his bumbling protagonist to express his incisive, universally relevant observations of human nature. Bellow's books encourage introspection and empathy and as such, are quite intensive to read; Thankfully, the intensity is often softened by his humour which is quite subtle. If I read another Bellow book that is as enjoyable as Herzog or Seize the Day then I think I will have to rank him up with Nabokov and Kafka as one of my favourite authors.

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Imperial Bedrooms - Bret Easton Ellis.

This book annoyed me- well I think it did anyway. If you've read Ellis before that sentence makes some sense. This book didn't quite match the quiet profundity of Less than Zero or the ostentatious surrealism of Glamorama and it is mightily confusing. It is also quite short, the shortest of his novels since Less than Zero. The story does draw the reader in excellently and as the plot unfolds in Ellis' characteristic manner, the pages start turning faster and faster but I found it choked, stopped, died and didn't really get moving again. Having finished it, I feel unsatisfied and irritable and I might read it again, just in case, and out of respect for Ellis who has written quite a few great books that I have been through a couple of times. I'm more disappointed because the book was promising and did seem to be going somewhere bizarre and it's little puddle splash of ending just left a bad taste in my mouth.

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Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury.

What impressed me about this book was not so much the depiction of a dystopian semi-literate future but Bradbury's style of writing. His metaphors are a constant delight: "...confused like butterflies in autumn" and his descriptive prose is very carefully measured. The book is perfect in this respect, no one scene or topic is ever dwelt on for too long and they are strung together at a quite a fiery pace. It is even more impressive then that such a speedy page-turner can really pack such an existential punch; I've spent the last two days pondering the implications of an increasingly illiterate society and what it really means to read challenging, complex literature. I haven't actually gotten anywhere but it has been fun!

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Venus as a Boy - Luke Sutherland.

A friend introduced me to the concept of Magical Realism and recommended me this book. It is the story of Desiree, a man who is slowly turning into gold, about his gift of making people see the heavens. This book is short, perhaps too short considering how well it reads, and the prose is so poetically sparse that it really hits some dizzying heights. I finished wanting so much more, feeling that there was enough there to give more, and I expect that is how those who encountered Desiree felt too.

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The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

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We have always lived at the Castle - Shirley Jackson

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Keep forgetting about this!

The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon.

For such a small novel, this one really covers some ground; from sharp political theory to a fictitious revenge epic, the technicality of the plot is astounding and it's critical insights are nothing short of hilarious. If there is one book on this humble list that I would recommend to read twice, it's this one!

That covers me for 2010, and while I really enjoyed all of the books mentioned, it's nowhere near enough as I should be reading, and for the coming year I hope to take inspiration from EliotRosewater's Amis-esque reading abilities.

I measured my unread book pile, it's 1.2 metres high. For shame.