17 | March | 2008 | Care's Books and Pie

Ok, maybe I’m on an elephant theme? I’m now reading Still Life with Elephants and I’m not that into it.

by Judy Reene Singer

But my friend gave it to me with a heartfelt review (and it’s checked out under her name), plus I want to honor my friend by completing it and giving it a fair chance to thrill me.

I’m on page 71 and have to change the oil in my car (or, more accurately, sit in the waiting room while the very capable automobile maintenance dudes change the oil) so I have a block of time to dedicate to this book.

It’s going fast, but I don’t identify with the character. At all. I think she is flighty and her non-listening strange translations of what she thinks people are saying to her annoy me rather than endear me.

However… don’t they say that what you don’t like about others is usually a sign of something you don’t like about yourself!? egads. I better start taking a less nonjudgmental view of this chick before I declare anything more.

Anyone read this?

Trish has a giveaway and a great review of the new book Did I Expect Angels? by Kathryn Maughan. So here’s my post so I can have double entries… Isn’t the title intriguing?!

I wonder if I’m on a theme of death and grieving… I enjoyed Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking and recently finished Everyman by Philip Roth. [mini-review: what a cad… Except that ‘cad’ isn’t the right word. So I have to take it back. Maybe, it’s the timing of this book and what’s going on with the Gov of NY that makes me think of a party we had in college. My roommate had just been ‘wronged’ by a fellow and so we had a party with the theme “Men are Pigs”. But since most of the people we knew were guys (we were in the College of Engineering), the ratio of guys to gals at the party was 6:1. Free beer gets ’em everytime. My point? The main character of Everyman just coasted through and acted on his whims, failing to consider what is truly important to him. He had no depth of character to consider the consequences of his actions…]

Does it not seem that good books that touch on the end of life encourage a gratitude and appreciation of the LIVING of life? A reminder to really think about what is important? Celebrate each day now, don’t just regret what’s gone or soon will be.