No Country For Old Men

One nice thing about traveling is that I have much more time to read. It's a habit I need to get more into, because it has always brought me happiness and inspiration. 

Anyhow, I finished a book by one of my favorite authors Cormac McCarthy, and I highly recommend it. I actually had a wonderful chat about him with a house guest/friend recently. He pointed out that Cormac very rarely gives any physical description of his characters or surroundings. His stories instead are fleshed out through dialogue and basic narration. The reader very rarely gets access to the inner workings of his characters thoughts or feelings. What this does is universalizes his stories. The concepts we relate to as a reader aren't ones of race, culture, or geographic proximity. Instead we relate to the characters through fundamentally human similarities. Through their suffering, through their loneliness, through their desire, and as my friend pointed out, through starvation. 

One thing that was interesting to me was that as I read No Country For Old Men I couldn't help but picture the film preview in my head. Even though I have not seen the film yet, I couldn't help but put Javier Bardem in Chigurh's shoes. I love film, and I love literature. But I think the two are completely different mediums of expression. Apples and oranges. And if you ever need an example consider Cormac's books to the filmic adaptations. Completely different. 

Bottom line: Great book. Highly recommend it. 

A Great Book

While skimming through my local bookstore (Skylight Books), I ran across a small note encouraging me to check out The Great Gatsby. In not so many words the endorsement read something like, "Sure it was on your ninth grade summer reading list. But when was the last time you actually read it?" I said, "Wow, I really haven't read that in awhile, maybe I should check it out." I was very glad I did. 

Much like I was too young to truly appreciate international travel at a young age, I think I was too young to truly appreciate this book in high school. Blending metaphors with eloquent lexicon, he transports you back to the 1920's, where you can hear the Jazz playing and the smell the night air of the Long Beach parties. The story is superb as well. Telling the tale of a man blindly in love with a woman who's torn from him due to social constraints. Fitzgerald knows exactly when to show his hand, and when to keep you guessing throughout the book, exposing each detail with expert timing. I hadn't read the book in awhile, so thanks to my bad memory the book was still a fresh read.

I highly recommend this book if you haven't read it in awhile, and definitely if you have never read it. I picked up his other book Tender is the Night as well as a collection of short stories. I love his style, and as I'm trying to get more into writing I find his style similar to mine, and I only hope to be as masterful a story-teller as he is someday.