I'm back in catch-up mode with book re-caps. Full disclosure (not that you could possibly care!), I read this one way back on February 19th and 20th (yes, just two days... but don't be impressed just yet). While that might not seem that long ago, it was pre-Rocky... and the resulting reading momentum hiccup seem like eons ago.
I always feel a bit silly at this point, announcing my reading selection. I am assuming your eyes have were first drawn to the graphic on the left, but nevertheless it was Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree. I am a fan of Hornby's fiction... most recently A Long Way Down from my 2006 reading romp. If you are not familiar with Hornby, you may be aware of the some of his works that have been made into movies ... High Fidelity, About A Boy, and Fever Pitch.
This one is a non-fiction... more specifically, a compilation of his monthly columns from the literary magazine The Believer from September 2003 thru November 2004 (a sequel of sorts, Housekeeping vs. the Dirt, was released late last year).
So what's this book about? Well, let's just say I read a book about a guy reading books. Pretty funny, huh? It was pretty amusing to me... and any book addict will be quite entertained by Hornby's literary odyssey. Each month, Hornby lists "Books Bought" and "Books Read" and the first list is usually quite longer than the second. I have admitted that my love of buying books probably exceeds my love of reading them.. so I immediately felt a kindred spirit with Hornby when I read this passage in the very first essay:
I don't want anyone writing in to point out that I spend too much money on books, many of which I will never read. I know that already. I certainly intend to read all of them, more or less. My intentions are good. Anyway, it's my money. And I'll bet that you do it too.
Likewise, after a "heavy" book I have often saying I need something "quick and easy" (something that I experiencing right now)... Hornby eerily echoed this:
I'm beginning to see our appetite for books is the same as our appetite is for food, that our brain tell us when we need the literary equivalent of salads, or chocolate, or meat and potatoes.
Additionally, if you think a successful author like Hornby has problems "getting" a book every now and then... well he does... and don't we all:
I just lost my grip on the book. Also, someone gets shot dead in the end, and I wasn't altogether sure why. That's a sure sign you haven't been paying the right kind of attention. It should always be clear why someone gets shot. If I ever shoot you, I promise you there will be a really good explanation, one you will grasp immediately, should you live.
The collection of essays is filled with witty gems like these... I had a hard time deciding which ones I would share with you. I should mention that I have not read (or, in some cases, have I even heard of) the books Hornby writes about... and at a quite skinny 127 pages (now see why it took me only 2 days to read!), you don't get a whole lot of bang for your reading buck... but it was a very enjoyable read and quite worth it for me... so much so that I am pretty confident I will buy (and read!) the next installment.
2007 10K Reading Challenge: + 127 pages (Total Pages: 2105 pages)
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