What I’m reading: I tried Richard Flanagan’s novel, The Unknown Terrorist
What I’m listening to: A new Mad Mix I just finished putting together.
What I’m watching: Finishing up season 2 of Arrested Development
What I’m drinking: Blue Point’s Toasted Lager and my above-standard G&Ts.
What Rufus is up to: No hike this week, due to snow! Aaiee!
Where I’m going: Nowhere in particular.
What I’m happy about: Getting birthday wishes from a bazillion friends and my family yesterday. Thanks, everybody! I hope 38 is as fun as 37 was!
What I’m sad about: That my uncle in Israel is likely going to need bypass surgery. This means that Dad and both of his brothers have needed this procedure. Looks like I better add red wine to my What I’m drinking section. (Oh, and the Giants lost to the Eagles. Grr.)
What I’m pondering: Whether Sting knows how bad he looks.
(AP Photo/NBC,Paul Drinkwater)
Did you read Flanagan’s “Gould’s Book of Fish?” Now THAT was a book I could not make heads nor tails of. Instead of “The Unknown Terrorist,” try Mohsin Hamid’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” It’s short but will stay with you. Also has an interesting formal device: the entire thing is a monologue by one of the characters. And, in the end, we are left unsure about both his identity and that of the other character in the book.
I really enjoyed Gould’s Book of Fish, actually. It’s the only book of Flanagan’s that I’ve read. Sure, it’s a little … circular, and has that crazy self-writing section when Gould’s in the wild, but I thought it was a pretty gorgeous read. Maybe I’ll revisit it this year and letcha know how it stands up, with five years between readings.