Bookmarks for July 2007

All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (1992). A number of people have recommended McCarthy's writing to me, but for a number of reasons I have not gotten around to it. I decided that I wanted to change that this summer. And All The Pretty Horses is what I started with. This is the first of McCarthy's "Border Trilogy." I was caught up in the story immediately. In fact, what bothered me most was that I had so much going on that I had to keep putting it down and it took a few days to get through. This is the story of John Grady Cole, a young man who finds himself traveling to Mexico. His friend Rawlins goes with him and soon they meet up with a young boy named Blevins, whom they reluctantly allow to join them on the trail. The rest of the story is about breaking horses and men. But John Grady Cole is not likely to be broken.

I really enjoyed this tale of the changing west. It is set in Texas and Mexico after World War II and highlights a world in flux even as those in it try to make the best of what they have and are. I look forward to more from this author. I have started Blood Meridian and will try to review it next month.

I suppose I haven't read as many books this month as usual, particularly since it is summer. But I have worked on reading, little by little a couple of things. Last week I finished Late Wife by Claudia Emerson, which I was quite moved by. I suppose that should be reviewed now, but since I technically finished it August, I'll keep it for next time, when I can be more detailed. I started Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard. I don't know if I'll finish it. I started a volume of poems by Ovid, an anthology of narrative poems, and an anthology of short stories called 30/30. I'll probably finish the latter in the next week or so. The stories in this book (so far) have been quite enjoyable and readable. It appears to well represent modern American fiction.

So it appears I haven't read too many books, but I guess I have. I did add two feeds from a couple of my favorite websites to my My Yahoo page. These are from The Academy of American Poets and Poetry Daily. I love the idea of adding feeds, and these don't really disappoint. So nearly every day I have a new (to me) poem or something about poetry to read. I very much recommend these sites.