Holiday Offerings

Having spent the weekend recovering. . .still, I elected to pick up Greene's Heart of the Matter and finished this fascinating novel yesterday at the breakfast table. Much like delightful Delillo's opening scene of the Body Artist, I think one has to be married to truly absorb the tone and temper of Graham's sweltering ordeal. My primary attention remains with the Pynchon, though a dearth of fellowship has annoyed me as of late, though a late barrage from Queens may have broken that stalemate today: we shall see. I believe I am going to read a book I bought used online about the Balkan Wars.

It is the holiday season and my wife asked me for a shortlist of books and books only. I browsed about on saturday eveing and came up with a list of four: two novels and two of a more historical orientation, though all four relate to some aspect of socialist struggle (ether towards or against such)I think she was disappointed that I didn't include anything new, per so - no Richard Powers or Haruki Murakami. I did think about the big Fisk book on the middle east and the Stoppard Coast of Utopia trilogy but thought I'd aim for the obscure on the shortlist.