Lazy Lazy Summer

Since I started my seemingly-perfect office job, I've really been on a summer kick that's going nowhere. It must have something to do with me being locked inside a coold room with the knowledge that summer is just outside the nearest door. Whatever the reason is doesn't change the topic of choice for today. Summer reading. Now, I looove to read. Have I ever mentioned that? It's an addiction. But what pop culture related item isn't an addiction with me? I began this summer with a lazy list of books that I thought I'd reread now that I've successfully gotten over the obligatory transition from college textbooks to leisurely reading which thankfully reminded me why I love reading so much. I love that summer gives you plenty of time to do whatever you want, sleep in, AND still have time to read.

So the book I am just about to finish is Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. Now, I've heard a lot about this book from various people and apparently it's a classic. When I got started, I didnt understand why it was so good. Well, about 1/3 through you realize that you can't put the book down, but the whole "classic" title you still aren't buying. Then 2/3 through it really starts to get good. Now I can't wait to figure out how this mess of a drama is going to end. This is one of the first books I read that followed the character(s)' life through a long expanse of time. I have come to the conclusion that I really enjoy that. Maybe it has to do with being young and not being able to see to the end of the tunnel type thing, but when i follow a character through his/her life, I find myself watching how the smallest decisions affected things down the line. It makes me consider the realities of my life. Rambling over.

While i only have a few pages left to read, I have already decided on my next book. Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. What do you think? Now, I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Hemingway's style of writing. Don't get me wrong, I grasp the genius that Hemingway's work was when he stripped away the excess and left only the important few, but I like the excess. I enjoy the creativity and the flow. so while his words have never really appealed to me (not as much as the man who wrote the words at least) I simply couldn't pass this book up when I found it in a stack of other classics. Why? Because as my finger traced the binding of the old copy, I opened it up to the first page and read:

"But after forty days without a fish the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky"

I just couldn't leave it on the shelf after that. I was interested.

~Ferdinando