READIN

Wednesday, February 25th, 2004

I started reading House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III, yesterday evening. It is nice, at least two very strongly drawn characters (Massoud and Kathy) -- the blurb description of it as "tragic" (I see this term in two of the quoted reviews) seems accurate. I am identifying very much with Massoud and a bit with Kathy as well, and feel a sense of dread hanging over the book at the thought that their dreams will be thwarted...

This is the second-and-a-half Oprah's Book Club selection that I have read; the other two were The Poisonwood Bible, which I enjoyed not at all but made a good gift for my mom, and The Corrections, which I enjoyed a great deal but which only counts as half an Oprah's Book Club selection.

I bought House of Sand and Fog at Clovis Press bookshop, a fine used and new shop at 229 Bedford Ave. in Brooklyn. I have poked my head in there several times before -- nearly every time I'm in Williamsburg I stop in for a few minutes -- but had never bought anything there. I saw a sign on the front door announcing a memorial evening for Clovis the Dog, after whom the bookshop was apparently named.

posted morning of February 25th, 2004: Respond
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Monday, February 23rd, 2004

Don Quixote, Chapter XLIV: The web of coincidences in the last section of Part I was really threatening to lose my interest... But somehow it has pulled me back in over the last two chapters.

posted evening of February 23rd, 2004: Respond
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Wednesday, February 18th, 2004

Don Quixote, Chapter XXXVI: A weird change of gears -- I expect to continue on with the story of "The Queen of Micomicona" but instead I find myself suddenly returned to the story of Cardenio and Don Fernando... it is testament to Cervantes' skill as a story teller that I was able to get back up to speed on this lapsed story very quickly. The way the stories are interleaved together is what I am finding most memorable about this book -- Cervantes can jump with little effort from one to another, and there are always little reminders planted of the stories that are currently in the background.

posted evening of February 18th, 2004: Respond
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Monday, February 16th, 2004

Don Quixote, Chapter XXXVI: I just finished the Tale of Reckless Curiosity and found myself won over to its presence in the book. Although it distracted me from the main story of Don Quixote, it was itself a good story and I got interested in the characters almost despite myself. I was glad Cervantes interrupted the action of the enclosed story midway through to talk about the main story -- that kept it in my mind.

posted evening of February 16th, 2004: Respond

Friday, February 13th, 2004

Don Quixote -- I am bogging down slightly on Chapter XXXIII, the story-within-a-story about Anselmo and Lotario. A footnote at the end of the previous chapter says Cervantes was criticized for including this story as it detracted from the flow and pacing of the story; I'm with the critics. This story reminds me a bit of the stories-within-a-story of the Decameron, which I found quite difficult to get through and not really that engaging. (Not to criticize Boccaccio -- people with far better taste than I have think he's the bee's knees -- I just had a hard time with it. Perhaps when I am older and more patient I will return to it and enjoy it.)

posted evening of February 13th, 2004: Respond

I finished Nickeled and Dimed last night, what a wonderful book that is! It really opens up a world I don't see much of from day to day. The writing style is exceptionally up front and lucid; all Ehrenreich's cards are on the table. Bill said to me the other night that the book should be required reading in the run-up to the election. I agree completely.

posted afternoon of February 13th, 2004: Respond
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Tuesday, February 10th, 2004

Reading Nickeled and Dimed on the train this morning. I feel a lot of sympathy for Ms. Ehrenreich -- plus, she has a marvelous sense of humor. Some things it makes me think about: the summer I spent washing dishes (1987 or 88, I forget which); my own class consciousness and how it affects my relations with people around me; the relative ease of my current employment. I feel a bit guilty about having commandeered the book while Ellen is still reading it; but she is doing most of her reading at night, when I will be back home and it will be available for her.

posted morning of February 10th, 2004: Respond
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Monday, February 9th, 2004

I finished reading After the New Economy tonight -- I am glad to have read it and hope some salient points about finance (in particular) stay with me. I will give it to a friend tomorrow. And yes, I'm still reading Don Quixote, and enjoying it; I have just begun the fourth part, in which (I am guessing) the priest and the barber will return Señor Quexana to his home village and attempt to cure his mania.

posted evening of February 9th, 2004: Respond
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After the New Economy: This morning I started reading the chapter on Finance, which is so far equally engaging and thought-provoking, as the previous chapter. I am finding the second half of this book far stronger than the first half.

posted morning of February 9th, 2004: Respond
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Friday, February 6th, 2004

🦋 Pangloss' Dialectic

An idea I'm slowly working on vis-a-vis After the New Economy is along these lines: The arguments Henwood makes in favor of globalization seem quite similar to those made by conservative commentators at Crooked Timber, Semi-daily Journal, and Calpundit -- the three sites where I most consistently encounter conservative pro-globalization commentators. (This is a generalization and I need to go back and figure out what arguments I am talking about, and confirm that they are really employed by the commentators in question.) Why is it that they seem so much more trustworthy to me in this book? Part of it is obviously a question of authority -- Doug Henwood has more of it on this question than people I know only from the Blogosphere -- but the idea I'm working on is that when conservatives put forward rational arguments in favor of globalization, it has the sound to my ears of a siren's song.

When Henwood praises globalization, he is simultaneously pointing up the many failings of our modern economy and presenting our current situation as a stage in evolution. My fear with conservatives is that the end point of their argument is "Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds" -- that change and progress toward equality are to be viewed with suspicion. This idea needs more development, it does not really hold water as presented here.

posted evening of February 6th, 2004: Respond

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