elainegrey (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
elainegrey) wrote2009-06-09 06:09 am
elainegrey) wrote2009-06-09 06:09 am
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Sorry about spamming LJ with the Torture Awareness post. I was having a frustrating time getting a successful post. I've had a weird thing happen with Wordpress where an edited post disappears from the interfaces -- particularly when it's issues with the timestamp -- but the post continues to exist if you go directly to the post number.
I finished The Enthusiast last night. In this rare occasion of me reading a recently published book, i'm hesitant to write what i think of how it concludes. The journey of reading it, all the way to the end, is pleasant and rich. I don't read many contemporary American novels, but I'd enjoy more like this one. There's both a contemporary humor and a sensual richness to the detailed descriptions of place and environs that appealed to me.
I think one of the things i don't like about the American novels i was reading in the 80s and into the 90s (and, hrm, yes i may have been too young for them, but i don't think that's it), was a certain jacked-up drama, a heightened focus on the anxieties of modern life, and a sense for me that the editorial act of writing was generally leaving out the gentle moments where we get the clues, tools, wisdom, to resolve those anxieties in a human day-to-day way.
The Enthusiast that captures the slow accretion of relationships, knowledge, wisdom. While the protagonist Henry Bey travels from small magazine to small magazine, exposing himself to different enthusiasts, everyone is an enthusiast to some degree, even, if there's not a name for it (yet). I'd argue it would take a remarkable person to not experience that slow accretion and, given the modern anxieties and concerns of life, not have the resources and catalysts at hand to change and grow under pressure.
I suspect that if you read Live Journals to connect with a broad group of people, both people who share your passions and people who are different, you might find The Enthusiast a rewarding read. (And then i want to ask you about the last chapter, although i'm growing to appreciate it more and more as i write this.)![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gurdonark -- you will be delighted by this book, i suspect.
I finished The Enthusiast last night. In this rare occasion of me reading a recently published book, i'm hesitant to write what i think of how it concludes. The journey of reading it, all the way to the end, is pleasant and rich. I don't read many contemporary American novels, but I'd enjoy more like this one. There's both a contemporary humor and a sensual richness to the detailed descriptions of place and environs that appealed to me.
I think one of the things i don't like about the American novels i was reading in the 80s and into the 90s (and, hrm, yes i may have been too young for them, but i don't think that's it), was a certain jacked-up drama, a heightened focus on the anxieties of modern life, and a sense for me that the editorial act of writing was generally leaving out the gentle moments where we get the clues, tools, wisdom, to resolve those anxieties in a human day-to-day way.
The Enthusiast that captures the slow accretion of relationships, knowledge, wisdom. While the protagonist Henry Bey travels from small magazine to small magazine, exposing himself to different enthusiasts, everyone is an enthusiast to some degree, even, if there's not a name for it (yet). I'd argue it would take a remarkable person to not experience that slow accretion and, given the modern anxieties and concerns of life, not have the resources and catalysts at hand to change and grow under pressure.
I suspect that if you read Live Journals to connect with a broad group of people, both people who share your passions and people who are different, you might find The Enthusiast a rewarding read. (And then i want to ask you about the last chapter, although i'm growing to appreciate it more and more as i write this.)
gurdonark -- you will be delighted by this book, i suspect.