Reading Journal: Wednesday 28th October 2009
October 29, 2009 by Rob
Filed under Reading Journal
A busy day other than reading today guys so give me a break K? The biggest but most satisfying chore was taking Steinbeck (the dog) to get his stitches out, following that nasty dog attack last week. He’s been confined to the lead for nine days so Mrs. Rob and I just had to take him for an even bigger walk than usual.
That didn’t mean the reading stopped though – No Sireee! Firstly I had my 28th 31 Shots of Short story to read – An account of some strange disturbances in Aungier Street by J. S. Le Fanu. The story was as scary as I thought it was going to be, but I was surprised at the amount of humour in it. Case in point:
If the apparition of the night before was an ocular delusion of my fancy sporting with the dark outlines of our cupboard, and if its horrid eyes were nothing but a pair of inverted teacups, I had, at all events, the satisfaction of having launched the poker with admirable effect, and in true “fancy” phrase, “knocked its two daylights into one,” as the commingled fragments of my tea-service testified.
That’s funny no? Also a nice line about ‘keeping spirits up by pouring spirits down’. I’m telling you Le Fanu is as funny as he’s scary. Anyway my official afterthoughts have been posted so head on over to those if you want to know a bit more of my thoughts on it.
The book of the moment for me right now is of course Legend of a Suicide by David Vann (penguin Books). I said in yesterday’s journal entry that I’d hoped to be finished it by today (it’s official publication date is tomorrow – 29th), but I’m not quite there. I passed a critical point in the book earlier though, and when I first hit that point I cried out Holy F&*k! That’s the first time a book’s made me do that and Mrs. Rob wasn’t best pleased. 60 pages to go so I should have that ticked off by tomorrow night’s entry.
::Reading planned for tomorrow::
I’ll be taking to the high seas tomorrow with my 31 Shots of Shock selection – The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford. Finishing off Legend of a Suicide is of course a priority. All other reading I’m playing by ear, although I’m well overdue starting Knut Hamsun’s Mysteries (Souvenir Press), so that’s the favourite (provided I can post up my forethoughts on it beforehand. Arghh..busy busy 
).
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
Hehe . . . I think I can guess which point that was! I’m very much looking forward to reading your review when it’s ready. I think I’ll be heading back to Legend of a Suicide for a reread soon, which is most unlike me.
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