July Miscellany - Books + Life

It seems the theme of my life in 2019 is "life gets tougher, books get better."  Well, some books anyway.  I have to say, I haven't been reading as much as I would like, but in spite of that, am pretty pleased overall with the books I have read so far.

I've also highly enjoyed reading other's blogs this year and found many new ones to follow.  I've been thinking about doing a post series sharing links to blogs I follow, if that would interest anyone (?).

Ok, let's talk about some books.

Another one bites the dust...

Here's one of those "not so great" reads of the year.  I had every intention of posting a review on The Scapegoat, by Daphne du Maurier.  But after reaching a glorious 44%, I came to a screeching stop.  The plodding repetition of the plot was one thing... the narrator's nauseating "aha!" moment was the cherry on top.  I thought I'd take one for the team, finish the book, and present you with a scathing review, but sanity won, and I had to shelve it.  So alas, no review of The Scapegoat.

Jonah, revisited

I may have mentioned it before, but over the past year, my family and I have been watching a YouTube series on the Bible by a preacher named David Pawson.  While I don't agree with all of his views, the series is nonetheless thought-provoking, as he goes in-depth on the historical and geographical context of each book.  The last episode we watched was Jonah, which, coupled with the upcoming Moby-Dick readalong in August, prompted me to re-read it.

Jonah has always been one of my favorite Old Testament books.  At just four chapters, it is incredibly short, but there's much to unpack - judgment, mercy, high-seas drama, miracles, and even humor (maybe it's just me, but I always thought the worm eating the vine was hilarious).  Pawson observes the references to Sheol (the grave), as well as the succeeding lines in chapter 2, suggest that Jonah may have actually died and was resurrected, as a precursor to Jesus.

I grew up with the 1956 Moby-Dick film, starring Orson Welles as Father Mapple.  The sermon on Jonah is one of the most memorable scenes.  I just recently noticed how the camerawork cuts to Starbuck during the line, "preach truth to the face of falsehood," as a foreshadowing of his moral dilemma to come.

The Professor, and writing what you know

Cleo mentioned she'd be reading The Professor by Charlotte Bronte this month, so I picked up where I'd left off (not very far).  Why oh why is this book such a struggle for me to read?  Here's some theories:

• Male narrator - Bronte is not bad at it, but you get the sense of her holding something back.  It just doesn't sound entirely natural, compared with Jane Eyre and Villette.
• Plot - The plot, thus far, is like a much more boring version of Villette - English teacher moves to French-speaking country.  However, while our narrator has some unfortunate circumstances, it is nothing compared to the heart-wrenching, excruciatingly depressing life of Lucy Snowe, which grabs you immediately.  To be fair, The Professor feels much more realistic, more akin to naturalism than the other novels.  It is more like Anne's novel Agnes Grey, though even there, Agnes's conflict is more pronounced.

While The Professor was indeed based on Bronte's own experiences, so far I would say she did not perfect that story until Villette.  I think the lesson for us writers is...go all in.

Anyways, I will be finishing this one, so maybe it will get better later on.  :)

Other stuff

I am considering trying to pare-down my 700+ list of books to-be-read.  It disturbs me.  On the other hand, it may be a waste of time trying.  I already cheat right now with a bookmarks folder of "Books" that I haven't added to Goodreads, out of the sheer number of them (some of them are links to other people's lists) and/or embarrassment.  But I'm genuinely concerned that the list will grow (has grown??) so large, it will cease to be useful.

I would also like to publicly confess that, thanks to the election season beginning, I've become slightly addicted to YouTube, particularly binge-watching political commentary.  This is part of what is taking time away from my reading.  Not sure if it's time well spent (though I am learning things).  Hopefully I will eventually get sick of it.

Overall I would, as usual, like to take a more simplistic approach to life.  I am a very organized person, but unfortunately I am not a minimalist.  I get bored way too easily and am interested in a wide range of things, which is a dangerous combination.  See, I've always had escapism in my life, but it used to be books almost exclusively.  Now the internet has taken over that role, and it's endless rabbit-hole of genuinely useful information.  Still, I probably need to change some habits, because there is still something important about reading a book, a whole composition, that the internet can't give you.