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Hiatus, Maybe
Feb. 27th, 2018 07:37 pmOnce again, I'm thinking about taking a break from my book club. On one hand, I've probably read a few things, considered some ideas, met some people, had some discussions that I wouldn't have without it.
On the other hand, I'd rather be reading and discussing things that I truly have an interest in or a passion for. And the chances of that happening, when other people have chosen the books--based on availability, no less--and have done so a minimum of six months in advance, is pretty remote.
My passion has always been Books and the people who write them. And by Books I mean literary achievements that are likely to retain their power and purpose beyond the generation in which they were written. And I've encountered few, if any, of those in the nearly 12 months that I've spent between two local book clubs.
And then recently, for whatever reason, I found myself musing about Steinbeck's Cannery Row, which I'd read many years ago on my own. In fact, as had been my habit when I found a book that I truly liked, I'd gone on to read several others by the same author.
My reading of Steinbeck, though, must've come near the beginning of my self-education in contemporary lit because I don't recall having read the author's biography, a practice which I took up somewhat later.
So, a couple of nights ago, I made a trip across town to the local Barnes & Noble hoping to find, not just the novel, but the movie as well which, as I recall, starred Nick Nolte as "Doc" and Debra Winger as "Suzy."
I was also hoping to find a Steinbeck bio, as well as a second, later novel, Sweet Thursday, which was the sequel to Cannery Row and was incorporated into the movie.
And I came up with zilch. Which I think might be Afrikaans for "nuttin."
Then, as I was trying to decide what the day ahead might look like, I happened to think of a second-hand bookstore, called The Books End, over in my old neighborhood on the east side. Probably because the other old guy in the book club had mentioned that he'd stopped there a few weeks earlier. Huh. Once again, the book club insinuates itself into my life, lol.
So I took some time, in the early afternoon, and headed over there, also stopping at the old house to, you know, check on things and also to pick up the target box that I'd built so many years ago for our basement air rifle range.
When I got to the bookstore, it took me a while to get oriented. It's basically a mom and pop operation which, while fully inventoried in their data base, presents some interesting navigational challenges to anyone who hasn't been there in a while. Which would be me.
After searching several possible areas, I hadn't found either of the novels I was looking for but did come across a second edition of one of Steinbeck's earlier books--which I probably should've bought--as well as a hardbound copy of a biography by Jay Parini from, I think, 1995. Kind of dated, perhaps, but probably still useful to me, especially considering my complete lack information on the subject.
The bio, which I got for 6 bucks, was originally 30 US dollars. And when I asked the clerk, who was ringing me up, to just double-check for me on the rest, she found an old Bantam paperback of Sweet Thursday which had been lodged on a VERY low shelf. (In the interest of full disclosure, I later realized that I had paid $3 for a paperback that had sold for $1.25 sometime around 1975, lol.)
I thanked her kindly and said that, if I'd managed to get that far down myself, someone in the store would've had to pick me back up. She laughed and commented that she was surprised they didn't have Cannery Row since it was so popular and I said, in my typical smartass manner, "Well, that's probably why there's none left in the store."
Which probably cancelled-out the "please" and "thank you" that I'd used earlier, but she was still being nice when she cashed me out. Which is why retail sales is one of two careers that I've never aspired to, being disinclined to suffer fools. (Being a cop, and in possession of a firearm, is the other one. For the same reason, lol.)
Anyway, I got my books, picked up the target box, which my idiot son had shot holes in, including what must've been a rimfire .22 through the back of it, and came home.
Tonight, I started the cleanup on the box, which I'm gonna repair, modify, and repaint, and tomorrow I hope to start the Steinbeck biography and will likely "bite the bullet"--you know, the figurative one--and order the novel and the movie online.
Hope that everyone has a good and restful night...
LPK
Dreamwidth
2.27.2018
On the other hand, I'd rather be reading and discussing things that I truly have an interest in or a passion for. And the chances of that happening, when other people have chosen the books--based on availability, no less--and have done so a minimum of six months in advance, is pretty remote.
My passion has always been Books and the people who write them. And by Books I mean literary achievements that are likely to retain their power and purpose beyond the generation in which they were written. And I've encountered few, if any, of those in the nearly 12 months that I've spent between two local book clubs.
And then recently, for whatever reason, I found myself musing about Steinbeck's Cannery Row, which I'd read many years ago on my own. In fact, as had been my habit when I found a book that I truly liked, I'd gone on to read several others by the same author.
My reading of Steinbeck, though, must've come near the beginning of my self-education in contemporary lit because I don't recall having read the author's biography, a practice which I took up somewhat later.
So, a couple of nights ago, I made a trip across town to the local Barnes & Noble hoping to find, not just the novel, but the movie as well which, as I recall, starred Nick Nolte as "Doc" and Debra Winger as "Suzy."
I was also hoping to find a Steinbeck bio, as well as a second, later novel, Sweet Thursday, which was the sequel to Cannery Row and was incorporated into the movie.
And I came up with zilch. Which I think might be Afrikaans for "nuttin."
Then, as I was trying to decide what the day ahead might look like, I happened to think of a second-hand bookstore, called The Books End, over in my old neighborhood on the east side. Probably because the other old guy in the book club had mentioned that he'd stopped there a few weeks earlier. Huh. Once again, the book club insinuates itself into my life, lol.
So I took some time, in the early afternoon, and headed over there, also stopping at the old house to, you know, check on things and also to pick up the target box that I'd built so many years ago for our basement air rifle range.
When I got to the bookstore, it took me a while to get oriented. It's basically a mom and pop operation which, while fully inventoried in their data base, presents some interesting navigational challenges to anyone who hasn't been there in a while. Which would be me.
After searching several possible areas, I hadn't found either of the novels I was looking for but did come across a second edition of one of Steinbeck's earlier books--which I probably should've bought--as well as a hardbound copy of a biography by Jay Parini from, I think, 1995. Kind of dated, perhaps, but probably still useful to me, especially considering my complete lack information on the subject.
The bio, which I got for 6 bucks, was originally 30 US dollars. And when I asked the clerk, who was ringing me up, to just double-check for me on the rest, she found an old Bantam paperback of Sweet Thursday which had been lodged on a VERY low shelf. (In the interest of full disclosure, I later realized that I had paid $3 for a paperback that had sold for $1.25 sometime around 1975, lol.)
I thanked her kindly and said that, if I'd managed to get that far down myself, someone in the store would've had to pick me back up. She laughed and commented that she was surprised they didn't have Cannery Row since it was so popular and I said, in my typical smartass manner, "Well, that's probably why there's none left in the store."
Which probably cancelled-out the "please" and "thank you" that I'd used earlier, but she was still being nice when she cashed me out. Which is why retail sales is one of two careers that I've never aspired to, being disinclined to suffer fools. (Being a cop, and in possession of a firearm, is the other one. For the same reason, lol.)
Anyway, I got my books, picked up the target box, which my idiot son had shot holes in, including what must've been a rimfire .22 through the back of it, and came home.
Tonight, I started the cleanup on the box, which I'm gonna repair, modify, and repaint, and tomorrow I hope to start the Steinbeck biography and will likely "bite the bullet"--you know, the figurative one--and order the novel and the movie online.
Hope that everyone has a good and restful night...
LPK
Dreamwidth
2.27.2018
