smothered 27 year old leaves behind... a lot of books
I'm trying to be very Pollyanna about all this, but last night, the heat was literally making me crazy. At 2 am, after who knows how many showers and after consuming who knows how many liters of water, I really didn't know if I would make it through the night. I literally thought I would be smothered and show up on "the Today Show" with Katie Couric talking about "another fatality due to this summer's intense heat." Not only would I never make it into "The New Yorker;" I'd end up on "Today."
Part of the feeling of desperation comes from reading two entire issues of "The New Yorker" along with 230 pages of Monica Ali's "Brick Lane." When will things improve for Nazeen? I hate being tortured by characters who appear to have no way out of their wretched situations. I am hoping for a good payoff in the end.
Also, those "New Yorkers?" Nothing makes you feel worse than reading about Iraq, conservative maniac, a Mormon from Nevada who is leading the Democrats in the Senate (!). And even Jonathan Franzen is making me panic about Global Warming which is exactly what I need to hear when I am about to smother to death in Manhattan.
I gave up when I got to Philip Gourevitch piece on Sri Lanka. I had to draw the line at some point. Who knew I was leaving the Tamil Tigers only to stumble upon the Bengal Tigers in "Brick Lane." In the morning light, I'm surprised I didn't crack myself up thinking about Muslim Lousiana State University football fans (Bengal Tigers? Get it? Geaux Tigers!).
I guess the heat did smother one thing: my absurb sense of humor.
Part of the feeling of desperation comes from reading two entire issues of "The New Yorker" along with 230 pages of Monica Ali's "Brick Lane." When will things improve for Nazeen? I hate being tortured by characters who appear to have no way out of their wretched situations. I am hoping for a good payoff in the end.
Also, those "New Yorkers?" Nothing makes you feel worse than reading about Iraq, conservative maniac, a Mormon from Nevada who is leading the Democrats in the Senate (!). And even Jonathan Franzen is making me panic about Global Warming which is exactly what I need to hear when I am about to smother to death in Manhattan.
I gave up when I got to Philip Gourevitch piece on Sri Lanka. I had to draw the line at some point. Who knew I was leaving the Tamil Tigers only to stumble upon the Bengal Tigers in "Brick Lane." In the morning light, I'm surprised I didn't crack myself up thinking about Muslim Lousiana State University football fans (Bengal Tigers? Get it? Geaux Tigers!).
I guess the heat did smother one thing: my absurb sense of humor.
posted by lequincampe at 10:29 AM
7 Comments:
Brick Lane hurt my heart. Icky. I'd rather read about the Tamil Tigers than that book - I got all twisty in my stomach reading that. Thanks, auntie who recommended it to me! [not]
IT HURT MY STOMACH, TOO! Wish I would have conferred w/ you first before recommending it to my book club who will probably now stone me for depressing them. I read it in two days because it was making me so sad and making me feel horribly guilty about being a nice little American lady going about her lovely life in NYC. Now I am reading something I hope will be easier on the heart and tummy. Miss you, R.
You're clearly Geaxing crazy.
By which I mean "Geauxing".
And, of course, I don't really mean it at all.
:)
I miss you too. I kind of can't believe you don't have an air conditioner, woman! Those thoughts are not necessarily related, tho'.
Next time recommend "The Time of Our Singing" by Michael Powers. It is delovely.
And stay the fuck away from "The Hiding Place" by Trezza Azzopardi, aka The Only Book I Ever Put Down In The Middle Because It Was So Fucking Disturbing. It turns out that dreading each page turn is, in fact, not required for serious reading.
I will be sure to let the book club know... I think we're actually reading "Pattern Recognition" next. William Gibson, I believe? I could be wrong.
Yeah, I don't have an a/c. What can I say? I can't face the utility costs. And I'm a hardened Southerner for the most part... Aside from the handful of brutal days like this past weekend.
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