My wife wants me to blog...
I want to start reading again...
I have decided to combine the two! (I know...genius.)
Here's my dilemma: I have a healthy library of classic, ne0-classic, and will-not-even-approach-classic literature, but never actually do any reading. I have copies of some of the better known works of Dante Alighieri, Joseph Conrad, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Heller, C.S. Lewis, John Milton, George Orwell, Sir Thomas More, and Upton Sinclair, but have read a pathetic few. I am depriving myself of the literary wealth secured by sturdy hardback bindings and contained between flimsy covers of so many paperback Barnes & Noble Classics.
And why, you ask? That's a good question. That's a tough question. I don't like tough questions, so stop asking them. But seeing as the question has been asked, I will venture an answer: I am lazy. I prefer the complete lack of interaction required by absorbing what I can only believe as toxic and brainwashing waves emminating from my television to the freeing and engaging act of sitting down with a good book and letting a story take a hold of my very being.
I'll give myself a C for that answer. It contained the necessary information, but was not long enough (don't worry, I'll explain in a future post...maybe). Now, for my solution to that laziness: accountability.
That's right! My various high school teachers and the threats of failing grades could not keep me on the ball, but the anonymity of the WorldWide Web will be the motivation that will provide me with the drive to stick it out!
Well, we'll see anyway.
So, now to the point of this post and this new blog as a whole: unus vir [Latin for "one man" (yeah, I know, it's lame)] will serve to document the findings and discussions of my one-man book club (from now on referred to as OMBC) and will also be the home of my various rambles, rants, and tirades. Knowing me, OMBC will never get off the ground and I will be too lazy to commit the time to write down any of my other random thoughts.
Back to OMBC! My quest to enlighten myself and the world as a whole will begin with a not-so-in-depth study of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. I was going to start with Sir Thomas More's Utopia because I actually made it through 82 pages of that work about a year or two ago. However, I re-evaluated that decision once I opened the book and was reminded that my copy is a 1551 translation of the original Latin. I thought I'd start out with something easier to digest and regurgitate for the masses (that may not be a bad metaphor considering the things I have heard about The Jungle).
And so, my one-man crusade to end my own creeping illiteracy begins. I will struggle through such masterpieces as The Divine Comedy, Crime and Punishment, and Heart of Darkness, all the while documenting my thoughts, interpretations, and identification of universal themes (loss of innocence, anyone?) for posterity. Your comments are welcomed, but please, do not attempt to debate me. I will not be lured into such things, primarily because I am lazy. Just posting will be hard enough for me.
