Changing Scope and End of the Year

I finished reading Francine Prose's "Reading Like a Writer." It was really a pleasant surprise to see her quoting Zbigniew Hebert at the end. Hebert is a Polish writer I discovered in 1996 when I purchased "Still Life with a Bridle" at an old bookstore in Georgetown right before I began graduate school. Prose's book was a nice way of ending the year, as I realize I have to change my presently passive mode of just reading and absorbing and take the more active approach of thinking like a writer. I have debated for years what it takes to be a writer, even after two degrees in writing. There's always some insecurity that makes me believe I am more of a poser than an actual writer. But there's quite a bit of blogging to prove otherwise. I mean, blogging should be categorize as a writing activity as well. And what about my Moleskine notebooks? That's a lot of writing indeed!

So I have changed the mode of this blog to include my ideas about writing and teaching as well. I believe this will add to the blog a more active approach, reflecting more of my daily ideas and thoughts. Since I am teaching all history the second semester, the blog might reflect quite a bit of my additional readings in history. I am looking forward to this new scope.

Reading Like a Writer

I've been hitting "Reading Like a Writer" pretty hard these last two days. I am on page 168. Francine Prose's eloquent writing is a testimony to her generous artistic gift. The book is more like a massive lecture on reading closely. She goes to great lengths analyzing long passages of dialogue, as well as specific sentences and paragraph structure in fiction. Her examples are broad and reflect an ample stable of literary heavyweights. The only one thing that I found a little off putting was her inclusion of one Henry Green, an author who no doubt has an incredible handle on dialogue. The problem is that the examples from Green's novel, "Loving" are way too long and while Prose does a good job of detailing the passages, the reader might lose interest half-way through. Other than that, this is an interesting reading for anyone who wishes to learn to read like a writer. Who needs that MFA program after all?

I am also happy to announce my inclusion of a book I got in Japan this past summer, "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" to my 2007 reading list. I got this book one day I went out with my brother-in-law and I was looking for something to take back home as I usually do when I visit Japan. Jay Rubin has been Murakami's translator for years and as a critic may have some interesting things to say. He confesses right away that he is a fan of Murakami's writing, so with that out of the way we might know what the book has to offer to Murakami lovers like myself. I probably won't be getting to read the book until the late spring, but until then keep checking the blog because I am reading "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" in the next few weeks.

Where to be happiest...

After finishing "Lolita," I find myself questioning which book to read before the 25th. The reason for the indecision is that I have 2 books I want to read between the 25th and the 3rd of January. Why the schedule? Because I suspect that once school starts up again I will have little time to do anything else. At any rate, the two books are "Reading Like a Writer" and "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" both by authors I really like. I am also in the plans of listing the books for 2007. Although the list usually changes during the course of the year, most of the titles stick and I do enjoy posting the progress on my website. But for now, the trick is deciding on a book that will take me from December 19th through the 25th. Candidates are 1) a volume from a series introducing philosophers, and 2) a book of essays by William Gass. Of course I will continue to read the fascinating letters of James Wright. Which reminds me... thanks to a healthy gift by a literary benefactor I will be able to acquire my first books of poems by James Wright this Christmas. Again, like the title of this post: my only problem right now is where to be happiest! Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!