One day this [wonderfully, beautifully] long weekend, I read two different books (well, finished one in about an hour, have not yet finished the second) that are completely at odds with each other.
Nicholson Baker was recommended to me by a friend. OK, check that: she recommended The Mezzanine. I could not find a copy of the book easily (unless I bought it, and I am loathe to buy new, modern authors without testing them out first, even if the author was highly recommended by a person whose opinions I trust), but did find a couple other books by Baker in my local library. I read A Box of Matches last week and found it rather amusing (albeit without too much plot). The man can write about minutiae in a riveting way. Plus, it was a quick read. So I picked up Checkpoint. Not nearly as good. The man would do better to stick to everyday minutiae instead of entering the realm of politics - even if it is political minutiae. It only took an hour, but I kept wondering when the book would end or how much longer it would take me to slog through it. Never a good sign. (I do have higher hopes for the other Nicholson Baker I found at the good ol' library: a piece of nonfiction called Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper.)
The other book I began reading that same day was the complete opposite to Checkpoint, and politically much more my style (though to be quite frank, I'm still not really sure what the political style of Checkpoint even was). I'm finally reading the most recent book of one of my favorite authors, Vince Flynn. So far, so good. And I definitely haven't been so bored I've had to wonder when on earth I would be done with it.
Nicholson Baker was recommended to me by a friend. OK, check that: she recommended The Mezzanine. I could not find a copy of the book easily (unless I bought it, and I am loathe to buy new, modern authors without testing them out first, even if the author was highly recommended by a person whose opinions I trust), but did find a couple other books by Baker in my local library. I read A Box of Matches last week and found it rather amusing (albeit without too much plot). The man can write about minutiae in a riveting way. Plus, it was a quick read. So I picked up Checkpoint. Not nearly as good. The man would do better to stick to everyday minutiae instead of entering the realm of politics - even if it is political minutiae. It only took an hour, but I kept wondering when the book would end or how much longer it would take me to slog through it. Never a good sign. (I do have higher hopes for the other Nicholson Baker I found at the good ol' library: a piece of nonfiction called Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper.)The other book I began reading that same day was the complete opposite to Checkpoint, and politically much more my style (though to be quite frank, I'm still not really sure what the political style of Checkpoint even was). I'm finally reading the most recent book of one of my favorite authors, Vince Flynn. So far, so good. And I definitely haven't been so bored I've had to wonder when on earth I would be done with it.
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