As New Year's Day nears, it's time for some book-related resolutions!
1. I resolve not to get too upset that 2012 will be only the third year since 1997 without a Harry Potter novel or movie. Besides, that void frees up Lord Voldemort to be drafted as a last-minute candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
2. I resolve to avoid books authored by (or ghostwritten for) GOP presidential hopefuls because those tomes are usually spin-filled rubbish. I'd rather read stories and blog posts to stay informed about the hypocrisy of Newt, the flip-flopping of Mitt, and other nonsense from politicians trying to please the ultra-rich and Tea Party.
3. I resolve to not re-read Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope as he seeks a second term. His Dreams from My Father was a compelling 1995 memoir, but his 2006 Audacity was oh-so-careful pablum designed to not offend anyone as he sought higher office. (Yet Audacity was prescient in its way, because Obama became an oh-so-careful president who compromises too much with conservatives.)
4. I resolve to continue reading many 21st century and late 20th century novels along with older classics. After all, the past few decades saw the publication of many titles -- such as Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible and Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin -- that might be considered classics in 100 years. They would certainly deserve that designation.
5. I resolve to continue shopping at independent bookstores. (I'm lucky to have two in my town.) Sure, these retailers stock just a smidgen of the selection one gets online, but they happily order anything you want if you're willing to wait a few days. And independents pay local taxes, hire local people, and provide a very pleasant place to visit.
6. I resolve, when buying presents for birthdays and other occasions, to continue to first think of books as gift possibilities.
7. I resolve to raise a (nonalcoholic) toast to the 50th anniversaries of these 1962-published novels: Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook.
8. I resolve to also toast the 100th anniversary of Alexander's Bridge. That 1912 book was not one of Willa Cather's better novels, but it was her first -- and many great fictional works subsequently flowed from her pen.
9. I resolve to also toast the 150th anniversaries of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. If nihilism is the plan, Turgenev is the man! (At least in that 1862 novel.)
10. I resolve to keep writing for HuffPost Books, because I love the interesting and intelligent comments that readers submit.
Do you have any book-related resolutions for 2012?
Next year I would love to finish reading Richard Power's novels ( I loved Galatea 2.2, and Plowing the Dark), I would also love to read Don DeLillo's Ratner Star, Joahnna Russ' The Female Man, Kathy Acker's the Empire of the Senseless and Blood and Guts in Highschool, Bret Easton Ellis Glamorama, Pola Oloixarac Las Teorias Salvajes, Roberto Bolanos's 2666 ( I haven't enjoyed a book as much as Bolanos' the Savage Detectives in a long time ), Bruno Latour's Aramis or the love of technology ( a weird hybrid between academic research and literature that for a lack of a better word we might call scientific fiction).
I will love to finish Houellebecq's Elementary Particles, and Cronon's Nature Metropolis, perhaps one of the weirdest history books out there, after reading the first chapter it seems that Cronon have replaced any human protagonist in favor of things like logs, coal, trains, in theory this is a book about economics but Cronon refuses to make it "boring" ( those are his words) getting rid of the statistics to create a narrative of things, who are the heroes of this story.
David, yours:
#4 – Anything Atwood. I’ve lost track of her work in recent years.
#7 – I like it but after Burgess and Kesey, one might need a drink (for the subject matter, not quality)
#9 – Good!
One resolution started by itself (without a conscious decision) a few years back: reading more non-fiction.
One unfulfilled: the weighty classics never read in college: Dostoyevsky (I got by with just Notes from the Underground which is very good.). I started The Idiot on a Kobo reader (poor man’s Kindle) and didn’t get very far.
It’s particularly tough reading anything for pleasure during semesters when I teach.
David, do you have a website?
I'm thinking at least half of Atwood's novels could still be eagerly read a century from now, which is an enviable thing for any author. Yes, "A Clockwork Orange" and "One Flew" are by no means pleasant reading, but are definitely worth reading. I admire your wish to read more of Dostoyevsky. I read two of his classics many years ago, and should re-read them to see what I think now that I'm allegedly more mature.
I hope you're on a teaching break now -- in order to temporarily have more time to read!
Perhaps one of my non-book resolutions should be to launch a Web site this year. I have my little areas on HuffPost and on the site of the newspaper I write a freelance column for, and my pages on Facebook and LinkedIn, but not my own personal site.
I look forward to seeing JoeyDee2's response if he visits the comments section of this post again!
On reflection I'm going to accept that right now modern fiction can't hold my interest beyond a quick skim and read about the authors and artists and the times they lived in as well as books written in the self help genre before 1960. The latter are endless proof that we have, for sure, come a very long way, Baby ;o)
I hear that libraries are dying, yet what I see with my own eyes says they are still vital places utilized by a wide cross-section of the communities they serve. Librarians have done excellent work keeping their buildings relevant: providing computers, hosting lectures and music recitals, showing films, offering literacy programs and seniors services, and so on.
And, yes, their original purpose--lending books--still matters.
I'm thinking as I write this of my nephew and his wife, a young couple with three small children. They simply can't afford to buy all the books the kids want -- even with the help of kindly old Uncle 3finger. Their weekly trips to the library, and the armfuls of books they return with, mean so much to this young family. The eldest child, especially, is quite precocious. (Her proud pop says she checks out up to nine books at a time!) I'm certain she'll grow up to be a credit to us all -- she may even be the first in our family to make it all the way through Finnegans Wake awake! But without the neighborhood library, her wonder years wouldn't be quite so wonderful. Perhaps there's a similar story in your own family.
The death of a library diminishes the quality of life in any small town or big-city neighborhood. Donate a new book, a few dollars, or your expertise and help keep the barbarians from the gates.
Besides my disdain for James Patterson'r Book of the Week Club, I am extending this category to include prominent authors when they write with co-authors. To this category, I add Tom Clancy and, reluctantly, Clive Cussler. I will continue to buy Cussler but only when he is the sole author of one of his Dirk Pitt Series.
Another category I resolved some time ago to boycott and have succeeded thus far is any series by a great author which features a recovering alcoholic because they are just too dreary and depressing: Lawrence Block's Scudder, James Lee Burke's Robicheaux, and Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger. I love Block's Burglar series and Tanner series and everything by Hunter, I just don't have the stamina to walk twelve steps any more.
One resolution I pondered but decided against for the time being was whether to create a category for Stuart Woods and his Book of the Month Club, but he does write them all by himself and he is entertaining.
I loved Hemmingway's novels...but for some reason or other, could not get by the first chapter of "The Sun Also Rises". This will be the year.
1. Finally get around to reading more of Henrik Ibsen's plays. I have a book that is a collection of six of his plays. I have only read "A Doll's House" and "Hedda Gabler", both of which I loved. I have to get around to reading the rest.
2. Finish reading "House of Leaves". I started it in September, but had to stop as life got too busy. Now that my workload should be freeing up soon, I plan to start reading it again. I'm excited to get back to it, as my putting it down was not at all because I didn't enjoy it.
3. Read "Paradise Lost". Still can't believe I haven't got around to this classic yet.
4. Find more of Djuna Barnes' work to read.
5. Read Chelsea Handler's books. I have two of them, both I've heard are quite funny, but haven't yet read them.
I also want to find more classics by female authors to read, particularly from the early 1900s. I might even check out the book about Steve Jobs. Depends on how busy this next year will be!