I've been re-branded

Yay! Amore made me this FABULOUS new logo and gave me the name "the word nerd." So perfect. So much better than whatever lame thing I came up with on my own. THANKS THANKS THANKS, AMORE. Isn't she great?!

#98 - The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore

Hmmm... so this was interesting. I had never heard of this book before reading it. And I’m having trouble deciding what I think. After reading LOTR, there couldn’t have been anything more different. The focus here is on philosophies, politics, metaphors ... oh, so many metaphors ... and definitely not on action. The language was beautiful, which is probably the nature of it having been written in Bengali, and some of the concepts were ones that I won’t easily forget.

Set in India in the early twentieth century, this novel focuses on a love triangle that develops between a man, his wife, and his friend, against the backdrop of national political upheaval. Rabindranath Tagore is considered one of India’s premier novelists, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. This work was published in 1916, and my copy from the library is actually stamped June 20, 1919. It even smells nice and old!

The book is structured as a series of first-person accounts from the three main characters: Nikhil, a wealthy and well-educated maharajah; Bimala, his traditional wife; and Sandip, his childhood friend and leader of a revolutionary movement called Swadeshi that is like the whole anti-foreign goods/”buy American”/”freedom fries” kind of thing. The basic premise of the story is that Sandip comes to stay at Nikhil’s estate, and there is an instant connection between him and Bimala. As this forbidden relationship develops, everyone’s life is thrown into chaos both in the home and on a broader scale throughout India, and the true nature of the three characters is revealed. Essentially what we get is an allegorical representation of India’s struggle for independence boiled down into this one love triangle.

This is way more a story about philosophies than action. The characters are more metaphorical than dynamic. Nikhil is a man who sits quietly back and watches as his wife is caught up in the excitement and manipulation of Sandip and his politics. He struggles with the thought of losing his wife but also believes that ultimately giving her freedom is the only way to give her love. It’s the old idea of if you love her set her free. To Sandip’s perspective, this just proves that Nikhil is a huge coward who is afraid of fighting for what he wants -- both in his home and for his country. This contrasts, of course, with Sandip, who will go to any length -- no matter how immoral -- to get what he wants. He’s greedy and selfish and whips naive Bimala into a frenzy of nationalism and passion that she has no strength to resist, just like he does with all of his political followers. He made me think of an Indian televangelist. Bimala for the first time is put in a situation where she must think for herself and decide between her husband, her home, and her country. As much as I was partial to Nikhil and despised Sandip, I also felt kind of sorry for Bimala who is annoyingly naive and makes dumb choices but only because that was the role she was forced to play in that society.

This was not a particularly easy novel to read and was a little deep for reading at the beach, but I don’t regret the time I spent with it. Conceptually it was thought-provoking and will give me some things to think about for quite a while.

Up next ... # 97 - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Is this sci-fi? Gross.

# 99 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird: inspiring white suburbanite rap since 1960. Inspiring my laughter for the last ten minutes.

Who hasn't read this one? It's a total American classic. I'm not going to re-read it since I already have a couple of times.

#100 - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

I did not want to read The Lord of the Rings. At all. I was glad it was the first book on the list so I could get it over with. I’m not into fantasy/weird/nerdy/boy kinds of books with creatures and battles. I mean, sure, the movies were entertaining, but hardly the same as forcing myself to read this gigantic book. So I decided that in order to satisfy the terms of my agreement (with myself) to read all the books on the list -- even the yucky ones -- I would read The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the three books that make up the LOTR epic. Yeah, it was sorta cheating, but still. No way.

I started reading, and it was awful. The first 60 pages or so were the most tedious history of all things hobbit in the most excruciating detail. It was mind-numbingly boring. I found that it helped to drink a beer before trying to read.

Then, once I got through that prologue and was finally introduced to Frodo and Gandalf and The Shire and embarked on this wild adventure story, you know, something happened. The next thing I knew, I had read a hundred more pages, and then I didn’t want to put it down. I didn’t want to sleep. I didn’t want to watch tv. Maybe I had unleashed my inner nerd. I found myself craving more. I HAD to know what was going to happen to these characters and this world that I found myself actually caring about. After only a couple days I went back to the library and picked up The Two Towers and then a few days later The Return of the King. Basically, I was hooked.

J.R.R. Tolkien is an exceptional story teller. All the rich detail that was such a killer at the beginning turned out to be what kept me interested once the story started. When I could really picture the characters and places -- things that don’t even exist in real life but which were described so well they seemed possible -- I was compelled to keep reading. (It also helped that I kept the IMDB page open on my computer to the LOTR movie pages so I could remember, now which hobbit was played by Dominic Monaghan? And what did Boromir look like? Was it cheating? Meh.)

I’ve gotta say, there is a lot to keep track of when it comes to characters and places in these books, with impossible-to-pronounce names and words that look similar -- Mordor and Gondor, Sauron and Saruman -- and multiple names for the same person -- Aragorn/Strider/Elessar/Elfstone. Reading requires a fair investment of time and concentration. However, it’s a commitment that I found relatively easy to make. The adventure aspect of the story in combination with the imagery is so engaging it’s hard not to find yourself wanting -- needing -- to continue, and the characters themselves keep your attention. I found myself cringing whenever creepy little Gollum entered the scene, and likewise maybe sitting up a little straighter when Aragorn was around. Ok, so maybe I had a bit of a crush on Aragorn. I can’t help it! He kept saving the day! And he’s all tall and strong and kingly!

I think my little adventure in reading is off to a promising start. I went in with low expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. Turns out I really liked The Lord of the Rings and would recommend it to anyone who isn’t a fantasy fan but who likes a good old-fashioned story of adventure, friendship and good versus evil. Just skip the prologue... It’s ok to cheat a little.

So I had this idea ....

How do these things always start? It's generally sort of a joke, right? You say something on a whim or have a random idea, and before you know it you find yourself saying, yeah, let's do it! And later you stop and go, wait, what was I thinking!?

That's how I decided to start reading 100 books.

I was trying to come up with a book to read - my usual dilemma - and I mentioned to a friend that I'd read an article called "100 Novels Everyone Should Read." "I should just read all of them," I said. Next thing I knew, ten minutes later I was at the library checking out book #100 on the list.

Lists like this are inherently contentious, and I'm really not here to argue the merits of this particular list one way or the other. People make a living out of these kinds of arguments - and I'm not one of them. One of my grad school friends wrote his entire master's thesis debating the canon of Canadian literature. Ugh. No thanks. I'm sure I won't agree with all of the choices on the list, but this isn't about that.

Really, I just want to read some books. Some of these I've read before; some I may want to read again; some I've never even heard of; some I'm dreading, really, really dreading; and some I bet will surprise me with how good they are, or how bad. Ultimately, I'll learn a lot as I go along and will enjoy having the opportunity to talk about what I read.

For now, what I know for sure is that I don't have to worry about not having something to read for a REALLY long time... and this silly adventure of mine just might end up being a lot of fun!