I basically have two genres of literature that I read: Science fiction/fantasy and Mom/Kelly books. I think that everybody who reads regularly has a secret pulp fiction vice. For me, I love losing myself in the imaginary worlds of science fiction and fantasy. I need a healthy dose of fantastical literature, especially when I am on vacation or thoroughly depressed. The other genre, Mom/Kelly books, consists of recent fiction, local fiction, and classical fiction. My mother and my sister Kelly both read voraciously and seek out the best literature that our society has to offer. They are my filters. When they read a really good book and suggest that I might like it, I know that they have read at least one hundred books before that one which weren't quite as good. I try to always follow their suggestions, with one caveat: I don't like to read books with sad endings. I get too emotionally attached to the characters. When a book ends sadly, it wrecks my whole week. So if I know a book has a sad ending, I will avoid it if I can.
It usually takes me a while to get around to reading all of their suggestions. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has probably been on my reading list for about ten years. I read One Hundred Years of Solitude when I was in high school and loved it, but heard some reports that this one wasn't quite as good, so I put it off. I started reading it about a week ago and I am really enjoying it. It took me a while to get into it because the language is so dense; it's a little bit hard to read. I found myself re-reading paragraphs and falling asleep after a few pages. Now I've gotten into the story, and I've been eating it up. The characters are interesting and loveable. The story is written cyclically, so that it starts at the end, swings around to the begining, swings again to the middle, and then scoops up the beginning again. But it is easy to follow and not in the least confusing. I'm about two-thirds of the way through, and I'll let you know if I still like it at the end.
Quote of the day:
"A man should have two wives: one to love and one to sew his buttons."
Or maybe the wife he loves just needs a personal assistant. Don't you think?
9 comments:
Yes the wife needs a personal assistant, or maybe the wife needs two men,
one to love and one to run the house, you know, since we all work now...
Love in the time of Cholera, now that's a title, do be sure and let us know how it turns out, sounds like I might be needing to find this one for myself.
xx, Lori
The wife definately needs an assistant!
Lori -- I'm not sure I'd want to turn over the running of the house to anyone. I like to be in charge. I just need someone to boss around.
I'm almost done with my book...I can't put it down
Sassy -- Yes!
Two men? Two Men?
Then I get a pool girl and a Sherpa.
Just as long as we can share the Sherpa.
Heeeeeee, yeah, I totally agree, I just didn't think that one through. I am afraid I like to be in charge too, especially of my own house. Yep.
I remember my grandma, she had a cleaning lady come in one time, and the day before she got there she worked her brains out cleaning the house...she didn't want the cleaning lady to think she was a pig.
xx, Lori
My mom has a cleaning woman come up to two times a week and they clean the house together, and then she gets whoever is living at home to help her clean the house on sundays after church. That's three days out of seven that her house gets a thourough cleaning. Sometimes I have to remind myself to keep my expectations reasonable since I only have time to clean my house once a week at best, and I don't have any hired help.
And my kids think I'm anal about cleaning, hah!
I clean on Thursday nights, no matter what, this house gets it, and my kids used to freak out, they still think I'm a compulsive freak, and I think they are slobs...
I like to clean on Thursdays so when I get home on Fridays it's nice and clean and I don't have to spend Saturday doing it.
xx, Lori
Hmmm, a good concept. I'll have to try it out one week.
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