Saturday, February 18, 2012

Who needs linear progression? - 2012 Book Quest

I finished Catch-22 last night and man, Joseph Heller must have had notebooks full of time lines!

                                       

The central premise of the book, to expose and ridicule bureaucracy in it's most extreme forms, made for a lot of laughs and since it mostly took place in two locations, the sense of never quite knowing when you were was very interesting.
The characters were all crazy in some way, even the ones who seemed rational were crazy. I guess we are all crazy in some way or another.
There were a couple of things that confused me, words and expressions that hardly seemed fit for the 1940ies. But I guess writing a book 15 years later, it must be hard to keep it completely era-correct. Or you know, maybe I am mistaken in thinking the words and expressions came later.

I had a little poll this week to see what I should read next. The result was Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, so naturally I have started on that one.

There really is nothing much to speak of lately. It's raining outside, ah the wonders of a Scandinavian winter, snow, ice and cold, miserable, unrelenting rain. I am not much of a winter fan, the short days seem to rush by and the nights are so dark and cold.
Summer and autumn are my favorite seasons. The summer days here are so long, 18 hours of daylight, it makes me feel so light. And it usually stays warm far into the autumn, no bulky jackets or gloves, no freezing wind tearing the flesh from my face.

So I am looking forward to May, when the temperature climbs and there is only a slight breeze. When the green grass on the banks of the river looks fresh, and tempts you to throw yourself down with a book and a cold beer.
Ah May, please come back soon!


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