Recent Readings

Winter months mean lots of reading, and the past few weeks have found me with not a whole lot to do. I've been reading like a madman and finally paid the library back all of the fines I owed, hence the "WANTED" poster with my picture on it had been taken down and I'm able to borrow books once more. In case anyone is interested I've reviewed some of my recent reads below.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
This is the second book I've read by Erik Larson. He has an amazing way of writing historical narratives and making them read like a novel. This particular book deals with the American ambassador to Germany right after Hitler's rise to power. It's an interesting perspective on the Third Reich. So often books only touch on the events leading up to World War II, this book starts a whole decade earlier and gives insights into the growing anti-Semitism in the region. Good read.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Franzen is perhaps most famous for his 2002 book 'The Corrections,' which is one of my favorites. This books came out about a year and a half ago but I just finally got around to reading it. It was excellent literary fiction. Franzen has an amazing way of writing about American culture, suburban Midwestern life in particular. This book wasn't quite as quirky as 'The Corrections' and a lot of reviews on the internet complain about Franzen's misanthropic edge. Which, has some truth. Also, the book can be a bit of a downer. Despite these criticisms, I really enjoyed it and I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre or into pop culture and politics. This book is unique in that there are probably a lot of people I wouldn't recommend to read it. I would say check out the first chapter (which perfectly sums up what is to come) and if you aren't sucked it {which...just seems impossible}, ignore this one.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
One of my favorite books that I've read over the past few years was Mario Vargas Llosa's 'Feast of the Goat,' a gripping (cheesy word, but this book is GRIPPING) tale of the last days of Rafael Trujillo's regime in the Dominican Republic. Trujillo is one of those dictators who gets briefly mentioned in classes (He was a bad motherfucker who had a reign of terror blah blah blah). It wasn't until I read that book that I realized what a profound effect the man (and his nearly three decade long regime {el Trujillato}) had on the island. He defined a whole generation. He was a genuinely terrifying man (even those in the United States dare not criticize him. When a Columbia grad student did take the dictator to task in a paper, he was kidnapped and [rumor has it] dropped into a vat of boiling oil. You know...like a frozen chicken MCnugget.) While Llosa's book was some great historical fiction, this book uses the literary fiction genre to observe the effects Trujillo had on one Domican family. The book starts out describing the {terrible} life of Oscar, a fat and acne faced Dominican teenager, destined to die a virgin (the only Dominican man to do so!). The writing style is perfect, with a mix of both Spanish and English, and includes a plethora of fun factual footmarks. As the book progresses, we read the histories not only of Oscar, but of his mother, grandmother, etc. A central theme of the novel is the fuku, an ancient curse that haunts the family. This book is fun, quick, and full of history.

Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution
This is the behemoth of a book I'm currently tackling, though I'm not sure for how much longer. I'm about a hundred pages in and this book is a difficult read. Maybe it's the super small print, or the fact that it weighs about ten pounds (seriously?!?!?! it's only 600 pages, they must have printed this on the most dense paper money can buy), or it could just be that it's not all that exciting. It tells the enthralling love story of Karl and Jenny Marx. Okay, not so enthralling. I do enjoy reading about Marx's life and how he came to view the world and shape his economic theories, but it's...difficult. I became interested in the book when I saw the author doing an interview on TV and found her a pretty capitivating storyteller. I'm hoping the book picks up a bit.

Well, that's what I've been up to lately. Now I should review some of the TV shows I've been watching, because I would have LOTS of stuff to say about that!

And the panic sets in...

I just glanced at the calendar and noticed this coming Wednesday is February 22nd, the day I would be leaving on to go to Honduras. Of course this managed to stress me about a bit because in my head I'm thinking there's no way I could leave on Wednesday! I still have so much left to do! Well then the other part of me says no shit, you have so much left to do because you weren't preparing to leave. Of course the more I think about it there's really not all that much left to do. I've been preparing to leave since...well forever. At this point there some basic things that have to get done: I still have to get flights booked to staging, but from what I understand this is usually done about a month before the departure date. Glancing at other blogs it looks highly likely that the staging for Rwanda will be in Philadelphia. Also, I have to head over to town hall sometime soon so I can register to vote absentee for the upcoming elections (I already know who I'm voting for...can I just jot it down and slip it in the ballot box early?) (That last parenthetical was a joke btw. I am a PolSci major.) There are still some things I want to buy for my trip. Few clothing items, some other necessities. AND I have to figure out how I'm going to pack everything.

Finally, I have to say my goodbyes. It's one of those things nobody actually wants to do, but you pretty much have to. Of course I shouldn't panic so much, I mean, I don't leave until MAY for godsakes. So, plenty of time, right?

My life lately has been...boring? Without excitement? That's not totally fair to say, but I'm definitely in an in between stage. After quitting my job, I went a few weeks without anything to do. Which was boring and basically meant I watched trashy TV all day. In early February my uncle was nice enough to get me a job (that's right...I'm that kid) at his furniture store answering phones and doing some surveys. It's not the most exciting thing in the world but it's something to do and some money in my pocket.

This past week one of my good friends from High School (who's now living in Florida) came back to Stevens Point to visit. We really hadn't seen each other in quite a while but really it seemed like no time had passed. To many it's no secret that my mind is a bizarre vault of random trivia. I love talking with Kevin because he really is one of the only people I know who catches all of my references, and who has seen all of the movies I've seen. He's probably packing more trivia than I am.

This time of year is always difficult because the days are so short and the weather soooo cold. But oddly enough, this February has felt a lot more like spring. The temperature rarely dips below thirty, which is rare for Wisconsin. I'm not complaining, you see I hate being cold (and hot for that matter), but really...40 degrees in February?! This can't be a good thing. I'm not sure if it's related to global climate change, I can only imagine it is. I curious to see how the next few months shape out to be.

On a final note, I've been relentlessly changing my blogging template and can't seem to find one that I like. I've settled on this look, granted I'm going to be making a few changes because it seems rather blah right now.

A disjointed entry, but that's where my mind is right now.