Spring Broken
I'm back at school. Last week was spring break; we spent the first few days in Philly and then went to L.A. to visit friends and family for 4-5 days. I got to meet Stella, which was awesome. I also met a baby at the wedding I totally wanted to kidnap. Dear Drew: I want a baby. Just FYI.
It was a good break blah blah blah. Now I'm back, trying to get into the studying mode again blah blah. Enough of that.
I've been trying to read one fiction book per block. Block Four was supposed to be Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift. I didn't finish it until the plane touched down last night around 8:45. So I definitely have to be more disciplined if I'm going to make it through Block 5's book. I chose a much easier one this time, though: The Citadel by A.J. Cronin. The Bellow book disturbed me. I started reading him a few years ago in an attempt to get to know the "Great American Novel" writers (DeLillo, Updike, Bellow) who were mentioned in an article about Jonathan Franzen. Because I continue to be obsessed with The Corrections. The first Bellow I read was The Adventures of Augie March, which I loved but I must admit hasn't hung around my brain all that much. I don't remember much about it. Then I tried Herzog which was a total disaster. I checked it out from USC's undergrad library. I think I was taking physics at the time, and all the philosophizing was too hard for me to follow. The same goes for huge parts of Humboldt's Gift. I can't follow what these characters are thinking, and get so frustrated that I start to blame Bellow for obscuring his ideas behind these circuitous monologues -- for purposefully making these passages unclear in an effort to make me hate reading. There is some rich emotional stuff in there, but my mind keeps wanting to leap from one plot point to another and just skip the "deep" stuff. And that makes me feel inadequate and makes me think my interest in "literature" is dilettantish and that I'm wasting my time.
Then I read Franzen's essay on reading and writing from How To Be Alone and felt refueled and wanted to keep at it. So I'm going to try to think about Bellow some more, but I'm also going to move on to something a bit easier in Block 5 (the Cronin book) and try to find the joy in reading a good book again. I'm all for being challenged, but Bellow might be too much for me right now.
I'm also going to stop editing these posts. Which means I'll probably make "your/you're" mistakes and misspell things and some sentences won't make sense. But it will also make it easier to write every day. Normally an entry takes me 30 minutes and I just can't spare that much time anymore.
We're studying the brain. Fascinating but frightening. It just seems like a big spongue of neurons to me right now. Okay, I'm going to review some images and then go home and try to do a long run. Because besides reading a book in Block 5, I'm also going to try to get back in shape.
It was a good break blah blah blah. Now I'm back, trying to get into the studying mode again blah blah. Enough of that.
I've been trying to read one fiction book per block. Block Four was supposed to be Saul Bellow's Humboldt's Gift. I didn't finish it until the plane touched down last night around 8:45. So I definitely have to be more disciplined if I'm going to make it through Block 5's book. I chose a much easier one this time, though: The Citadel by A.J. Cronin. The Bellow book disturbed me. I started reading him a few years ago in an attempt to get to know the "Great American Novel" writers (DeLillo, Updike, Bellow) who were mentioned in an article about Jonathan Franzen. Because I continue to be obsessed with The Corrections. The first Bellow I read was The Adventures of Augie March, which I loved but I must admit hasn't hung around my brain all that much. I don't remember much about it. Then I tried Herzog which was a total disaster. I checked it out from USC's undergrad library. I think I was taking physics at the time, and all the philosophizing was too hard for me to follow. The same goes for huge parts of Humboldt's Gift. I can't follow what these characters are thinking, and get so frustrated that I start to blame Bellow for obscuring his ideas behind these circuitous monologues -- for purposefully making these passages unclear in an effort to make me hate reading. There is some rich emotional stuff in there, but my mind keeps wanting to leap from one plot point to another and just skip the "deep" stuff. And that makes me feel inadequate and makes me think my interest in "literature" is dilettantish and that I'm wasting my time.
Then I read Franzen's essay on reading and writing from How To Be Alone and felt refueled and wanted to keep at it. So I'm going to try to think about Bellow some more, but I'm also going to move on to something a bit easier in Block 5 (the Cronin book) and try to find the joy in reading a good book again. I'm all for being challenged, but Bellow might be too much for me right now.
I'm also going to stop editing these posts. Which means I'll probably make "your/you're" mistakes and misspell things and some sentences won't make sense. But it will also make it easier to write every day. Normally an entry takes me 30 minutes and I just can't spare that much time anymore.
We're studying the brain. Fascinating but frightening. It just seems like a big spongue of neurons to me right now. Okay, I'm going to review some images and then go home and try to do a long run. Because besides reading a book in Block 5, I'm also going to try to get back in shape.
Labels: Books, Drew, Medical School, Running
1 Comments:
I am sad I missed you. I bet Stella is freaking adorable. Everyone I know is having babies right now.
My boyfriend has lots of family in Philly though so maybe one day we will make it out there. Or we'll catch each other next time you're here.
My friend is getting brain surgery in May. It is scary.
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