Author: Thomas Pynchon
Published: 2006
The man can write, no question. After over a year of stalking then slogging through the latest by Pynchon, I have to cry 'Uncle'. I made it through about 325 pages, but to quote the famous line from Engineer Scotty: "I canna take na more!"
Beautiful prose, incredibly researched. The tipping point came on a paragraph describing the steeple of a church in some remote, Colorado town at the turn of the 20th century where one of the characters was getting married. An entire paragraph on the steeple. I got the sense that Pynchon not only could clearly see that steeple but probably knew how the paint was made and had background notes regarding the life of the backstage character who cut down the tree for the freakin' wood!
Beautiful. Exhausting. I give. Maybe I'll finish it some later time in my life.
Maybe.
Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Complete Food and Nutrition Guide
Author: Roberta Larson Duyff
Published: 2006
Published by the American Dietetic Association, and book one of three towards my summer reading goal.* It is a hefty tome, close to 700 pages, and more complete than one might need. But if you are confused about how to navigate through a supermarket, or what appetizers might be a healthy choice in a Greek restaurant, perhaps this is just what you need.
Well written, nice amount of bullets, sidebars, and myth-busting factoids to keep it interesting. One criticism is the book makes the FDA sound like it can do no wrong. So, bring a shaker of salt (just not too much, have to watch sodium intake).
The information on nutrition was interesting and prompted some meal-time changes on my part. We eat healthy anyway, but one statistic worried me. Calcium is good for teeth and bones, we all know that. The body deposits calcium to build those bones and teeth, but only until about age 30-35. Okay, I can deal with being past the deposit stage.
But wait, the body still needs calcium all through one's life. If it doesn't get enough, it starts leaching it out of the bones! Thus, the bones become porous, as in osteoporosis. Thirty years after your bone-account is full, you fall, break your hip, and die.
Um, why didn't someone tell me this in my 20's when I could have been saving more! Back then my fluid intake consisted mainly of beer and coffee! Oh, and by the way, alcohol and caffeine inhibit the body's ability to absorb calcium. Well, I probably wouldn't have listened back then anyway.
So, the lesson for today: Drink your milk, eat your yogurt, and sip your soy smoothies every day!
*The theme of the summer adult reading program at the local library is "Gray's Anatomy". My goal is three books on health, nutrition, and exercise.
Published: 2006
Published by the American Dietetic Association, and book one of three towards my summer reading goal.* It is a hefty tome, close to 700 pages, and more complete than one might need. But if you are confused about how to navigate through a supermarket, or what appetizers might be a healthy choice in a Greek restaurant, perhaps this is just what you need.
Well written, nice amount of bullets, sidebars, and myth-busting factoids to keep it interesting. One criticism is the book makes the FDA sound like it can do no wrong. So, bring a shaker of salt (just not too much, have to watch sodium intake).
The information on nutrition was interesting and prompted some meal-time changes on my part. We eat healthy anyway, but one statistic worried me. Calcium is good for teeth and bones, we all know that. The body deposits calcium to build those bones and teeth, but only until about age 30-35. Okay, I can deal with being past the deposit stage.
But wait, the body still needs calcium all through one's life. If it doesn't get enough, it starts leaching it out of the bones! Thus, the bones become porous, as in osteoporosis. Thirty years after your bone-account is full, you fall, break your hip, and die.
Um, why didn't someone tell me this in my 20's when I could have been saving more! Back then my fluid intake consisted mainly of beer and coffee! Oh, and by the way, alcohol and caffeine inhibit the body's ability to absorb calcium. Well, I probably wouldn't have listened back then anyway.
So, the lesson for today: Drink your milk, eat your yogurt, and sip your soy smoothies every day!
*The theme of the summer adult reading program at the local library is "Gray's Anatomy". My goal is three books on health, nutrition, and exercise.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Reading Like A Writer
Author: Francine Prose
Published: 2006
The subtitle of the book is "A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want To Write Them". Less a 'how-to' than a 'how-to-be-mindful', Prose stresses that rules and guidelines are often broken. Her examples lean heavily on the literary, and can be humbling (I've read that example sentence by Samuel Johnson five times and I still don't get it).
I expect, having read this, there will be some 'aha!' moments as I read the work of others. As in, 'Ah! Yes, the flow of the paragraphs, speeding up, slowing down, and that one line like a caught-up breath'. In a way, I've tried to avoid that, thinking it would reduce what I'm reading to more mechanical deconstuction. On the other hand, maybe I could learn something.
Published: 2006
The subtitle of the book is "A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want To Write Them". Less a 'how-to' than a 'how-to-be-mindful', Prose stresses that rules and guidelines are often broken. Her examples lean heavily on the literary, and can be humbling (I've read that example sentence by Samuel Johnson five times and I still don't get it).
I expect, having read this, there will be some 'aha!' moments as I read the work of others. As in, 'Ah! Yes, the flow of the paragraphs, speeding up, slowing down, and that one line like a caught-up breath'. In a way, I've tried to avoid that, thinking it would reduce what I'm reading to more mechanical deconstuction. On the other hand, maybe I could learn something.
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