Next on the menu...

The next book I'll be tackling is Seven Men by Sir Max Beerbohm. This collection of short stories was originally published in Great Britain in 1919 and subsequently in the United States in 1920. The small amount of research I have done about this title indicates that it is a post-modern novel written before its time. That within its pages one finds commentary on the struggles of the 20th century citizen even before those struggles were defined. I am eager to begin this collection...

A sad tale of a poor soul...

Hamsun's Hunger was indeed a sad, sad story. It seemed that at every turn life was conspiring against the protagonist of this story. While starving, this character continues to pursue his literary career, however fails at each attempt. He goes days without food or lodging and is continuously writing, editing, revising, restarting his "article" without ever completing it. Speckled with some small successes, his life is endlessly tortured by the constraints of society and he eventually flees to escape his inability or refusal to become gainfully employed.

This novel is apparently based loosely on the author's own experiences prior to his success as an author. Hamsun does a fine job of painting a vivid image of the decay of the human psyche both as a result of solitude and starvation. He paints a gloomy and depressing picture of a man struggling to keep his integrity to the point of even his own demise.

I enjoyed this novel. I found it to be a far easier read than I intended it to be, and I cared for the protagonist, more than I have cared for other protagonists in similar novels. Hamsun presents us with the inner workings of the mind of an artist. He provides us with a glimpse inside the desires and motivations of the protagonist, and does not censor what we see. It is this honesty that makes Hunger a novel that I will reread in the future, just to continue to peel back the layers of its intricacies.

Forgot to mention... and what's next on the agenda...

I also read Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton since the last major update. By the way, I LOVED Ethan Frome, so heartfelt and tender, smoothly written and honestly I just didn't want to put it down, nor did I want the book to end.

Vanity Fair, on the other hand, which I finished just the other night, was a tedious, long-winded, tirade that simply could have been accomplished in about half as many pages as Thackeray used. I know that, at the time of publishing, this novel was considered a major form of entertainment and thus brevity was certainly not something that Thackeray would have paid attention to, but really, it should not take ten pages to describe a single moment in time. Well, let me rephrase, it should not take ten poorly written and tedious to read pages to describe a single moment in time.

I guess I just didn't care for the subject matter and the dueling story lines became tiresome at times. When I was reading about one of the characters and her troubles, I was thinking about what was happening with the other, and then when I'd get back to that other, I found her storyline to be boring and trite and wanted to get back to the first. I felt split and thus became disinterested in the whole thing. But, I got through it, all eight hundred some odd pages, which thoroughly impressed my first graders. They cannot believe that I read a book of over 800 pages, I'm kind of like a superhero now, a role I'll gladly accept.

Next on the Kindle is Knut Hamsun's Hunger. The beauty of using Bloom's canon to pick my books is that I'd never have stumbled upon some of these titles without his assistance. The Rise of David Levinsky is one example of this phenomenon as is my current encounter with Hamsun. Described as a Norwegian Dostoevsky (a comparison with which I am agreeing) by the scribe of the forward to the edition of Hunger that I am reading, Hamsun lived from 1859-1952.

Hunger was first published in 1890, and Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1920. According to the Nobel Prize biographical sketch of Hamsun, he was an individual who rejected society and civilization and focused his writing around the experiences of individuals who were outcasts and vagabonds. He was a Nazi sympathizer and after the end of WWII lost his property and spent his remaining years in poverty, essentially living the life of his character in the novel I am currently reading, Hunger. Hunger is, according to the Nobel Prize site, "regarded as the first genuinely modern novel in Norwegian literature."

I must say after two evenings with this book, I'm enjoying it's imagery and the pace of the story. I am eager to see where this tale goes and each night I have reluctantly put the Kindle down to get some sleep, now I am off to read again!

School has taken over my life...

Thus I've not written lately, but I have still been reading. I've got to check my notes, but I am confident that since I last wrote I have read at least one novel and am nearly finished with another. After Babbitt, I read The Rise of David Levinsky by Abraham Cahan. This was a terrific book about the successes and failures of a German Jewish immigrant to America. The tale itself was well crafted and held my interest. It painted a portrait of a man who through perseverance and tenacity succeeded in life, despite the deck being stacked against him. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it not only as a good story but also as a study of the lives of immigrants to America during the industrial revolution.

I am now nearly finished with William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. While this novel has been trying to get through I find it to be entertaining and witty. Originally published in 1848, this novel presents a satirical look at the aristocracy of Victorian London. I will have more to say about his novel by weeks end.

I've also picked up another Kindle and am eager to get back to reading on my e-reader. I love the feel and smell of a paper bound book, but also enjoy the comfort and ease of my e-reader. More later in the week...