multitasking
July 28, 2008
I’ve heard that girls are better at multitasking than boys.
I feel like that’s true.
I often like to read multiple books at once, alternating chapters of the books. I’m still reading in order (if you don’t know what that means, that’ll have to wait for another post when I explain how I read systematically) so I just make sure I finish the right book first.
Anyway, at the moment I’m still working on Crime and Punishment and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. I’m pretty proud of myself because the first chapter in Mysterious Flame is titled “Cruelest Month,” and I immediately thought of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland…and it turns out the allusion in my mind was correct!
Mysterious Flame is another novel by the illustrious Umberto Eco. And by illustrious, I’m being literal because there are illustrations randomly throughout the book. I really like the concept. It’s about an old rare-book dealer in Milan who has suffered a loss of memory. But no worries, it bears no resemblance to Korean soap operas which also feature loss of memory quite frequently. No, the main character, can’t remember personal details of his life but he still has all his faculties and remembers every plot of every book he’s ever read and every line of poetry.
Lots of allusions in this book, obviously. But not in an annoying way.
July 30, 2008 at 5:40 am
First off- what’s Huies Email (and if you have it Criminger- they are like the eternal twins in my mind, an accidemnic Pollux and Castor- I have my own english and revelations and Sand from everwhere now (and pictures of lentiuclar clouds!))
Second, simply because you mentioned that other book, I might be diswaded from reading it :p (I’m reading Jack London right now- which might be alittle more up my ally when it comes down to it)
Third, write your own damn book to prove that you’re better than her
need to read Umberto Eco too:p
have you read David Mitchell or Italo Calvino – next on my list
Tah