I just wanted something good to come out of all this.

It's a good old fashioned hole diggin' and by gar it's been a while...
Did I say hole diggin? Oh, sorry I meant to say blog writing.

In the immortal words of Staind, it's been a while since I've pounded on these here key pads and I don't really have an explanation as to why so I'll just get on with it. I've broken a record for myself that I'm rather proud of, I've read two complete books in three weeks. Now I know that's probably nothing to sneeze at for some of the blue noses out there, but for me who desperately wants to be an avid reader but just seem to be alble to get off his big fat can and do it, I'd say it's a wingtip.

First I read Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis which is a retelling of the cupid and psyche myth which I remember reading in high school for a fairy tales class where a friend and I were scolded one day after class for constantly reading the Journey of Luke Skywalker, an analysis of all the imagery and symbols in the star wars trilogy and pointing out passages we thought were "awesome" I should point out we were both giddy with anticipation for attack of the clones that spring so excuse our childesness (sp?), the teacher sure didn't.

Anyway I enjoyed Faces quite a bit, it was a radical alteration of the original text in that Lewis really got into the minds and hearts of the characters and my favorite moments were the beautifully written and sometimes shattering insights the main character/narrator offered about herself. It was also one of those books that reads so cinematically off the page, I don't know if it would make a good movie, but it sure made for some great visual images in my head. It gets very religious-y at the end and almost to the point where you feel like lewis wants to underline the word over and over again. It wasn't self destructive or anything I just personally had a hard time following it because of my lack of familiarity with the subject, I felt like he was making all these really grand statements and while I could follow somewhat if he were to say act out this part of the book in a one man show format I would probably just be sitting there nodding saying ah-ha, ah-ha that's whatever you were talking about for ya. That aside it's a beautifully written book and if anyone's interested let me know, since I have my own copy and everything.

The second book i read was called Goat and it's a memoir by Brad Land, a newbie. I read that this is going to be David Gordon Green's next movie either before or after Secret Life of Bee's, I'm not sure which. Anyway the subject matter intrigued me, it's about Brad Lands early college expierences at a fraternity in Clemson. But the book begins with him getting carjacked and brutally assualted by two strangers after giving them a ride back from a party. It's quite stunning how Land weaves together one form of destructive violence (crime) and another that is a little more accepted (hazing). But the book is not just a tell all gossipy thing about fraternities and the horrible things that go on inside of them, that would be too easy. It's more about isolation and the feeling of never being able to connect with your environment no matter how often you move or how hard you try. One gets the feeling that the Land character would be alone and miserable no matter where he wound up, hopefully he's gotten better after this book. And since it's a memoir Land does some really interesting things with the first person narration, it reads just like a thought stretched out for two hundred pages, really remarkable stuff. It's almost like we get to enter his mind during and after all of the events described so as to give one the feeling of a happening memory, he describes it in present tense but offers the insight and recollections of time passed. Green's gonna kick this things ass.

That's pretty much it, now I have Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison which the back of the book describes as "Ellison's nightmare journey across the racial divide." Sounds like fun, hope it's good.


"And it's fine that it's been this way with girls for a while now, these random things, because I know I'm too much for anyone, that if I let myself, I'd love them all, I'd think they could fix me. But I know they can't, and it's enough, because every so often when a girl kisses me, touches my hand, my face, I remember that the world has light."