First, a quick story. It is a brief moment between my sister Jean and I … which has gone on to become O’Malley folklore. She and I were flying to Ireland to visit my sister Siobhan. Now – for whatever reason – I really can’t remember – I hadn’t packed any books (this is shocking) – or maybe I had forgotten the books I wanted to bring. Whatever the case was – I ended up buying 3 or 4 “airport books” at JFK Airport. Being “airport books” they were crap. One was The Notebook<\/i> which was so bad that I ended up leaving it in a drawer in a Galway hostel with a note: “This book is really bad.”<\/p>\n
I had them in a plastic bag. Which I put under my seat on the plane. Or maybe I stuffed them in my backpack.<\/p>\n
As we were preparing to land in Dublin, I reached down to re-arrange my bag – and suddenly was confronted with the lunacy of my own behavior. Buying 4 books in the airport BEFORE I LEFT? Also … do other people bring bags of books when they go on a giddy trip with their sisters?<\/p>\n
I murmured, into my knapsack<\/i>, in a flat tired voice, “Toooo many books.”<\/p>\n
Well. That’s it. That’s the big story. But Jean lost it. We both did. It struck as insanely funny. We could not stop laughing about it. I was BURDENED by my own books. Also, my idiocy struck us as insanely funny. And now we ALL say it. All the time.<\/p>\n
“What’cha reading now?”<\/p>\n
“Oh, the usual. Toooo many books.”<\/p>\n
When we go on our yearly family trip: “I have to pack my toooooo many books.”<\/p>\n
Speaking of tooooo many books, here is what I am reading now.<\/p>\n
I am almost done with Farenheit 451<\/i>, by Ray Bradbury. A lightning-quick read. Very good. I love stories likethis one: Semi-futuristic, where humanity’s human-ness is crushed by some overly mechanical society … and one anti-hero bucks against the system. Sometimes to disastrous results, sometimes to happy results. 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World<\/i>. The writing is very good in this book too. I’ll finish it today.<\/p>\n
I continue to plow through Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon<\/i>. It is one of the best books I have ever read. I read a chapter every morning. The prose is so rich, so layered, you want to savor every moment. I don’t want it to end.<\/p>\n
I am also reading Madame Bovary<\/i>. I seem to recall I read it in high school, but I am giving it another go. So far …. zzzzzzzzz.<\/p>\n
Oh, and Bill<\/a>, I meant to blog about this: On my vacation, one of the “tooooo many books” I brought was the book you gave me for my birthday: a novel called Winner of the National Book Award<\/i> by a Jincy Willett. I started it on the train-ride home. I had no idea what to expect. I had read a very good review of it in The New York Times<\/i>. I knew it was a first novel, it took place in Rhode Island – and it had a funny premise. Twin sisters whose ancestor was the only person who went back <\/i>to England with the Mayflower. He took one look around and said, “Nope. Not for me.”<\/p>\n Anyway. I almost had to stop reading it on the train because I was laughing so loud. I COULD NOT STOP. There were certain images she put in my brain that I could not get out. One of the characters is this “local poet” – and if that conjures up any images for you – great – but they can’t be as hilarious as this character study. He is a vile and despicable character, and I was laughing until the tears rolled down my face.<\/p>\n I love a funny book. A wonderful read!<\/p>\n What are you all into at this moment, in terms of tooooo many books?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First, a quick story. It is a brief moment between my sister Jean and I … which has gone on to become O’Malley folklore. She and I were flying to Ireland to visit my sister Siobhan. Now – for whatever … Continue reading