Wow, Long Time No Blog
by
, 01-05-2010 at 11:55 PM (3218 Views)
Well, it has been way too long since I posted to my blog. First of all, Happy Gregorian New Year to all.
I'm still sticking to the reading of the American novels of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2009, I completed the following:
Dos Passos
1919
The Big Money
Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises
Farewell to Arms
The Old Man and the Sea
Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Steinbeck
East of Eden
The Grapes of Wrath
The Moon is Down (lesser known but read it)
The Pearl
Faulkner No thank you.
The Sound and the Fury
Flags in the Dust
As I Lay Dying
Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio
Willa Cather
Death Comes to the Archbishop
O Pioneers!
My Antonia
Harold Fredric's The Damnation of Theron Ware
I particularly enjoyed my time with Hemingway and Steinbeck. I learned that it will be tough for me to hate Faulkner more than I hate Henry James, but it's darn close. I know, I know, many of you love Faulkner and hate Hemingway, but Faulkner really got on my nerves.
Along side all that, I found that I absolutely love Walt Whitman's voice. I have barely scratched the surface of Leaves of Grass, but what I've read just seems remarkable. It's wonderfully beautiful to me.
I have also resolved to write more this year. That was the original intent of this blog. I wanted to keep in the habit of writing and this blog was intended to keep my wit keen and my writing sharp. I managed to submit one short story for the competition last year. This year, my goal is to submit two. I'm also working on developing old Johnny Kickstool into a novel. Once I have some meat to it, I might post a sample chapter to get some feedback. I've already hacked the short story I posted hear to pieces and distributed its details across the novel.
Work, work, work.
Peace,
Q