Sunday, April 15, 2007

Stealing is the highest form of flattery

I am reading Nick Hornby's book Housekeeping vs. The Dirt which is a collection of columns that he has written for the literary magazine The Believer in which he writes about the books he has read for the month. It is an entertaining read but it has left me feeling that I am reading far too much non-fiction and not nearly enough literature. Hornby makes a great case for reading what you enjoy and lately that has been practical books on finances, parenting, and the doomed middle class. I think the issue I have at the library is that I know what I'm getting into with non-fiction. The title pretty much sums up the book and if that looks interesting to me then the book will be interesting as well. With Fiction you have more of a crap-shoot. Who knows if this book is going to be good or not? I mostly go by the cover of the book to get an idea of how I will like a book but that has been rather hit or miss as well. I think I will just go through this book and pick out the books that Hornby liked to see how close our tastes run. From what I have read so far we have a similar take on some of the classics so maybe this will work. I also thought that I would borrow from his idea to write about what he is reading and maybe post a little monthly blurb on what I have been reading myself. Seems kinda of strange to write about a book I am reading that is a collection of writings on books that he is reading. Almost like pointing the video camera at the TV that is showing what you are filming. Soon we will be sucked in to an alternate universe and controlled with a high power remote control 100 times more powerful then the one Christopher Walken created in Click. Anyway I am setting out to read more Fiction , please email any titles that you have enjoyed lately (except for Linsey, your books are too hard for a college drop out like me) and I'll tell you what I think.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

As it turns out, I don't understand them either.
(But *somebody* has to read 'em!)