Learning to Read

Somewhere between Wan Chai and Fortress Hill, I finished my book this evening. This is a sign of new things but I just don't know what yet.

I'm still reading Jan Wong's Red China Blues, which I would have finished by now if it wasn't so emotionally and physically heavy; I've read pieces of Everything Bad Is Good For You, which Maggie gave me before I left Toronto; and I'm on page 13 of the more than 700 page Tachen book on 20th century art. These are on-going experiences.

The book I finished was Joan Didion's The White Album which I loved and transformed me into a Didion-wannabe. She filled every page with simple, unpretentious language and an unbelieveable eye/nose/ear/nerve for detail. I hope I can somehow capture Hong Kong (or whereever I end up travelling in the universe) like she captured California in the sixties. No other book has made me think about or respect time and space as much as The White Album.

I was tempted to buy Didion's latest book, The Year of Magical Thinking which LL told me about on Christmas. Has anyone read it? I fear her truths are a little too close to my own personal experiences and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that.

In general, I'm looking for reading suggestions. You may have noticed, I prefer non-fiction, but it's not deliberate descrimination. I'm a journalism geek, for one, but I've also not read any fiction that has impressed me in the past year except for maybe Bright Lights, Big City and High Fidelity.

So like, what the hell are you reading?

Comments

[teri]

i really liked "the year of magical thinking", but it's a pretty depressing book, so be prepared to have your heart kind of ripped out. i've been reading more of joan didion's novels these days (i really enjoyed "play it as it lays" and "run river").

[Nic]

I'm reading Hip: The History by John Leland it's a great read,although I really don't think it is making me any cooler. But it will take my nerdy trivia knowledge to new heights.

[brian]

i'm a third into maggie macdonald's kill the robot. the time shift is confusing me a little bit, but i just need to find a few hours and finish it all in one sitting instead of my sporadic subway reading.

[miss lambert]

Hamlet! That Shakespeare dude is genius. Will finish it today before class.

[Andrea]

My uncle is buying The Year of Magical Thinking today. Or did already. L, I've already read Hamlet, in OAC I think. Remember OAC? Those were the days.

[miss lambert]

I've nearly been out-casted in my lit. class for not having read Hamlet til now. I feel ashamed and like a failure. Will enter therapy next week.