My favorite part about the holidays is reading. There's something about being with your family that brings you back to High School days. This Thanksgiving break I finished two books and read two others: Influencer, The Long Tail, Three Cups of Tea, and A Separate Peace.
The Long Tail - I already did one post about this book, but I have to mention it again. There was a whole chapter which had the sole purpose of refuting what Barry Schwartz claims in his book The Paradox of Choice (another of my favorites). It was fascinating to read a well-researched rebuttal. Although Chris Anderson doesn't address all of Schwartz' points, he does have some powerful ideas of his own. Read both books.
And did I mention that The Long Tail is the perfect length? He stops writing when he runs out of things to say - a rare trait in this day and age.
A Separate Peace - This was, without a doubt, my favorite book I was assigned to read in High School. Re-reading it led me to do a lot of reflection. The first chapter contains so many resonant quotes that the reader can't possibly stay emotionally detached. If you haven't read it, you should.
I drew a lot of ties between A Separate Peace and Atonement, by Ian McEwen. Characters in each of those books completely destroy the lives of other characters. The stories are of guilt and lies and envy and fear. It's fascinating to see the inner struggle of some of the characters. What I realized is that we all, from time to time, and in a more minor sense, destroy the lives of others. I've done my fair share of destruction, and I've also been on the receiving end. The good thing is that people heal and continue their lives (except in the case of Phineas, who died).
3 comments:
I was underwhelmed by Atonement(although the twist at the end was heartbreaking). It's hard for me to love a book where, like you said, all of the characters destroy each others' lives. There wasn't anything redeeming in it to me like there was in Kite Runner, for example. Amir destroyed lives, but he was redeemed in the end.
A Separate Peace was also my favorite high school read! I'd like to reread it and see how it resonates now.
A funny story. First day of Sophomore year our English class is introduced to our brand new teacher, a recent transfer from southern California. Imagine a gay hippy, slightly resembling Janet Reno (mind you, teach was a man). So, he walks in, tells us to get out A Separate Peace and begin reading as a group. Ninety pages in he tosses the book at the wall, calling it a heap of garbage and for us to forget about it. We weren't tested on it and I ended up never reading it. So, maybe it's about time!
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