Two Months

Well, in about 5 hours I'll have completed my Second Full Month of unemployment. Hooray! I keep looking for jobs, digging far to find any that I may qualify for with little hope to see more than one or two new ones pop up per week, frantically send out an expertly crafted cover letter and resume, only to... be completely ignored. D'OH!

Anyhow, here is a list of books I have read so far:

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft
This quickly flew up the list of my favourite Lovecraft stories. Usually I find his lengthy pieces not quite as rewarding as his shorter works, but this one was definitely an exception. The visuals were incredibly powerful, the characters very memorable, and the story gripping. I felt a little let down by the oversimplified ending but overall I was quite pleased.

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
This was the third and final book in this His Dark Materials series, which I never entirely loved, but obviously remained interested enough in it to read all three books within a one year period. I found myself occasionally glossing over the details of some passages, to me it seemed like a bit could have been trimmed to make the story flow a little better, but at the same time it was quite easy to get lost within and watch the chapters fly by. The Golden Compass movie was awful by comparison, as they changed far too many details, reduced the venom of the anti-religious aspect, and quite literally dropped the real ending. If they end up making movies two and three, they had better improve things, post haste!

The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris
Magical. Amazing. Wondrous. The only thing wrong was that the ending was too short, but I'm searching for something to complain about really, this was incredible. Written in 1894 and a precursor to many great things, I can't imagine anyone even vaguely interested in fantasy literature not loving, or at the very least respecting, this work. Given that this is now part of the public domain, nobody has any excuse not to read this.

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
First Steinbeck, finally decided that I should join these ranks I suppose. I was not very impressed the first 50 pages, and usually if a book doesn't grab me by then, I give up. However, I sallied forth and was pleasantly surprised on numerous occasions. The simple lifestyle of the pro/antagonists was perhaps a little mocking at times, but nonetheless enjoyable. The world may return to such basic existence soon enough, and honestly, things could be a lot worse than living in a small town fighting over jugs of wine simply for lack of anything better to do.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Second time I've read this one, just felt like going through it again before the movie comes out in November OH WAIT Warner Brothers is trying to squeeze a few extra shekels from the summer crowds. Joke is on them, nobody will be able to afford even a simple movie ticket by July, 2009! But seriously, what a dick move. Fuck them. As it were, this book lost none of its power the second time through. Since I already know the full outcome I was able to pick up on certain things I may have missed the first go round, but the fact remains that Rowling is quite the amazing author indeed. Sure, her style may be aimed at a younger audience, but that doesn't mean she isn't compelling. The Lord of the Rings was written for Tolkien's children after all, and while I doubt anything will ever surmount that amazing pinnacle of literature, I think history will at least place the Harry Potter series in a nearby rung.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Well for starters, my life isn't that bad. At all. Really. I mean christ, jesuspoop. I didn't like this book as much as I expected, but watching how dedicated Shukhov was to his difficult life requirements (I'm not sure how else to refer to his daily arrangements, as his tasks aren't chores, his ways of survival not rewarding, and his living not a lifestyle), was a very sobering experience. We may all end up in prison camps some day, and it might behoove one to be at least a little prepared.