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starzkiPoor J. Been here only one
day and she's already tuckered out. Too bad I have so much
planned for us for the rest of her trip. *evil laugh* But
I'll let her sleep for now.
Since I've already been up for four hours, I started rereading John Irving's Hotel New Hampshire. I forgot how much I loved that book. John Irving is kind of like Steven King in the way I feel about the books and stories and writing. I love them beyond all reason. The writing isn't particularly good. I mean, it's good, but not Don DeLillo or J.D. Salinger or Virginia Woolfe good. It's okay, evocative and sometimes melodramatic, but nothing that people will just look at a sentence and wish they'd written it because it's so beautiful. The stories are pretty good, if not farfetched and often taboo. The characters are fun, tragic, and heartbreaking for both authors. But the intensity with which I love Steven King and John Irving goes way beyond what they probably deserve. Somehow they can combine adequate writing with crazy stories with amazing characters that make me go gaga over any little thing they write.
Seriously. I picked up The Hotel New Hampshire off my bookshelf and opened it to a random page and just started reading and found that I couldn't put it down. It was even the part of the book that was the culmination of the relationship between the brother and the sister. It should have weirded me out, but I was compelled to read it. And I liked it. It was good. Odd, disturbing, wrong on just about every level imaginable, shudder-inspiring, squicky, etc. But good.
I did the same thing this morning, only I opened it to a different random page, but I was immediately hooked again. I may have to just start from the beginning and read it all again to get it out of my system. There's nothing special about this book, especially in relation to Irvings other books: it has bears, prostitutes, heavy handed symbolism, and unusual sexual energy within the characters. But it's amazingly good. I would say it's my favorite of his. But then I think of and A Prayer for Owen Meany and The World According to Garp and The Ciderhouse Rules and I think those are all my favorites, too.
I should go wake up J. The day is beautiful and there's much to do.
Since I've already been up for four hours, I started rereading John Irving's Hotel New Hampshire. I forgot how much I loved that book. John Irving is kind of like Steven King in the way I feel about the books and stories and writing. I love them beyond all reason. The writing isn't particularly good. I mean, it's good, but not Don DeLillo or J.D. Salinger or Virginia Woolfe good. It's okay, evocative and sometimes melodramatic, but nothing that people will just look at a sentence and wish they'd written it because it's so beautiful. The stories are pretty good, if not farfetched and often taboo. The characters are fun, tragic, and heartbreaking for both authors. But the intensity with which I love Steven King and John Irving goes way beyond what they probably deserve. Somehow they can combine adequate writing with crazy stories with amazing characters that make me go gaga over any little thing they write.
Seriously. I picked up The Hotel New Hampshire off my bookshelf and opened it to a random page and just started reading and found that I couldn't put it down. It was even the part of the book that was the culmination of the relationship between the brother and the sister. It should have weirded me out, but I was compelled to read it. And I liked it. It was good. Odd, disturbing, wrong on just about every level imaginable, shudder-inspiring, squicky, etc. But good.
I did the same thing this morning, only I opened it to a different random page, but I was immediately hooked again. I may have to just start from the beginning and read it all again to get it out of my system. There's nothing special about this book, especially in relation to Irvings other books: it has bears, prostitutes, heavy handed symbolism, and unusual sexual energy within the characters. But it's amazingly good. I would say it's my favorite of his. But then I think of and A Prayer for Owen Meany and The World According to Garp and The Ciderhouse Rules and I think those are all my favorites, too.
I should go wake up J. The day is beautiful and there's much to do.
