Catching up

So as promised, here are some long-awaited reviews. I'm not posting as many as I expected, but here are 2 of them...

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

I read a short excerpt from Choke in my creative writing class back in high school, and I’d been meaning to read it ever since. I finally got around to it this summer, and let’s just say it was not at all what I expected. It’s not so much that I didn’t like it – it just made me kind of uncomfortable sometimes. Of course, it occurs to me that “kind of uncomfortable” might be just what Palahniuk was going for. Strip it down and look beyond the sex-addicted, less-than-morally gleaming main character’s exterior, and you’re left with an examination of human nature – when it comes down to it, we all just want to be needed.

I definitely don’t agree with the methods, but the message is clear, and once I take a step back  and examine my life and the world around me, I have to agree. Being wanted, being loved, doing something you love and feel is important – they’re the parts of life that people always identify as what they want or feel is important to them, but I think we all feel a need to be needed as well. It may have taken reading this book for me to realize it, but hey, every experience is a learning experience, right?

But that’s a separate issue.

Back to the book. Throughout pretty much the entire time I was reading it, Choke made me at least a little bit uncomfortable. That being said, I….something-ed it. “Enjoy” definitely wouldn’t be the right word, but it left an impression, and it was a good book.  It’s not for everyone, but I think I’d generally recommend it. I might just give a bit of a disclaimer.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

I don’t have much to say about this book other than it was amazing and Kundera might just be a literary genius. His use of language is almost depressing in its brilliance. Basically, I will never be able to write like this, so why even bother trying?

All the same, this book is somehow inspiring.

In conclusion: read it. 

The craft show the other day was kind of iffy. There was a lot of stuff, but not as much really amazing stuff as I was expecting. In any case, there was some amazing jewelry that I took some pictures of, so once I find my camera cord, I might share that with you guys. 

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the rest of my fall break by not doing anything useful with my life, but I need to get some work done, so I'm going to get on that.... eventually....