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books, music, letters! [booklog 2006]
Aug. 4th, 2006 08:03 pm50. Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi. not a light read, and one that i want to go back soon and page through, soak in more thoroughly, go look up references and history. i'm more than a little ashamed that i've never read most of the books that the narrative revolves around...clearly those should go on the list, especially with Nafisi's descriptions and teaching-notes close by them in my mind. in any case, an excellent book in many dimensions.
51. Numbers in the Dark, italo calvino. his writing makes me smile, makes me laugh sometimes at the way he picks random or little things -- black holes, water-transportation systems, pumping gas -- and weaves such delicate filigreed stories around them. and then there are the mock-interviews, with Montezuma, the Neanderthal Man, and Henry Ford, illuminating always in at least two directions, contrast and juxtaposition of imperfections. and "The Memoirs of Casanova" reminds me of Invisible Cities; in Cities, the names of the cities all sounded like women's name, each passage felt like a description of particular details of particular relationships. "Casanova" is a similar series of passages, this time obstensibly about different women, Cate and Ilda, Irma, Dirce, and Tullia...but much more about the narrator himself, and about the limitations of perception and connection.
i've run into Calvino a few times over the years, and each time i loved becoming enmeshed in his writing, but didn't follow up and read more. now i finally have three of his books for myself, and i suspect he's well up into my list of favorite authors by now.
and a small side-note:
an envelope arrived today, set on M's new batiked tablecloth on our dining-room table while i was out seeing the doctor -- a card and a mix-cd from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tyratae! my day is made better. *grin* i owe you a good letter soon, and i should have time this weekend to sit down and give it proper thought...and in the meantime i'm delaying going to simplykimberly's craft-night long enough to pull the new music down through the laptop to electric-mayhem (the ipod) so as to listen to it on the drive up to El Sobrante. thank you!
51. Numbers in the Dark, italo calvino. his writing makes me smile, makes me laugh sometimes at the way he picks random or little things -- black holes, water-transportation systems, pumping gas -- and weaves such delicate filigreed stories around them. and then there are the mock-interviews, with Montezuma, the Neanderthal Man, and Henry Ford, illuminating always in at least two directions, contrast and juxtaposition of imperfections. and "The Memoirs of Casanova" reminds me of Invisible Cities; in Cities, the names of the cities all sounded like women's name, each passage felt like a description of particular details of particular relationships. "Casanova" is a similar series of passages, this time obstensibly about different women, Cate and Ilda, Irma, Dirce, and Tullia...but much more about the narrator himself, and about the limitations of perception and connection.
i've run into Calvino a few times over the years, and each time i loved becoming enmeshed in his writing, but didn't follow up and read more. now i finally have three of his books for myself, and i suspect he's well up into my list of favorite authors by now.
and a small side-note:
an envelope arrived today, set on M's new batiked tablecloth on our dining-room table while i was out seeing the doctor -- a card and a mix-cd from
tyratae! my day is made better. *grin* i owe you a good letter soon, and i should have time this weekend to sit down and give it proper thought...and in the meantime i'm delaying going to simplykimberly's craft-night long enough to pull the new music down through the laptop to electric-mayhem (the ipod) so as to listen to it on the drive up to El Sobrante. thank you!
