Reflections on the puddle of life

Hey Fifth, that's a great selection of books you haven't read, which shows that you must have a wonderful library of books that you have read. I'm sure I've got a big list of good books that I haven't read too, many that I've picked up from second-hand book sales, but I'd have to admit that some of them, though they might be good, might not be good for me at the present time.I'm probably not the best person here to give you advice on which of these books will bring you out of this 'uninspired by fiction' stage, though I have read some of these, but for a train-reading book maybe it is better to find a book among these that you enjoy reading. Maybe, one evening, start at the top of the list and start reading the first page of each book until you find a book you've read several pages without meaning to, a book that hooks into your present interest and mood.

I have exactly the same problem, Fifth. Maybe I'll post mine this weekend. Of the ones you listed, I would probably enjoy "Empire of the Sun" the most. So start there. Start with something fun.

Whatever you do, don't read Blindness! For the love of god, throw that depressing-for-the-sake-of-being-depressing in the fire immediately. I guess this is the opposite of what you asked us to do, but it's one of my missions in life to spare as many people as possible from experiencing the crisis that is Blindess at all costs. Just don't do it, man.

Silas great suggestion. Appetite for reading is linked to mood isn't it? I watched a programme last night about the origins of the Greek myths in Hittite (sp?) mythology, and it was fascinating. Made me want to read more ancient Greek literature and, oddly, some ancient literature from my own land like Beowulf (yes, I must) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Mabinogion. My wish list is getting bigger!

Qimi Empire of the Sun is a great suggestion. I am very tempted by Ballard, knowing how much I've loved his other works. But part of me wants to keep it in reserve. I don't exactly know why, but I suppose it's a little bit like having a stash of chocolate; something you can turn to in an hour of great need. It's a good choice though. It may be next on my list. You make a good point; a lot of the books on my list are quite heavy and perhaps that's why I'm put off reading them. Plus a lot of them are over 300 pages long and that always gives me pause. I'm so uncommitted Do post your list. Hopefully we can inspire each other

Juniper goodness, I've never come across such a vociforous response to Blindness before! The only thing is the perverse little demon inside me is now very intrigued as to what it is that's so depressing about Blindness that it should be avoided at all costs and I am now tempted to read it! I do love Saramago, but I think I'm not in the right state of mind to tackle his walls of text so perhaps I'll quash that little demon and take your advice instead.

Thanks all.

I' posted my list, Fifth. I notice it's considerably shorter than yours. I am still determined to read these. I bought them because I was interested in them, after all.

Question-why do you hate your job? I thought you liked it. You've only had it for about a year, haven't you? Is it that you want to write more?

Sigh. My job. I am constantly reminding myself that changing jobs has a cycle. For the first 6-9 months, it's great; there's a lot to learn and it's interesting learning new things and trying new things out and mastering some of them, if not all. But after that gestation period I start to get frustrated that I'm not progressing as I expect, and I start to discover the parts of my job that are really going to hack me off. So I am there right now.
I love the work, the actual work involved in what I do. But that's only a small proportion of the job. The rest entails trying to get consensus from a management team of 8 people who aren't going to agree about anything in a million years so inevitably I'm going to annoy them all at some point and I spend an awful lot of time to-ing and fro-ing between their egos well aware that once they get in a room together they'll bat it out in 5 minutes, but in the meantime I can have spent hours trying to come up with a mutually satisfactory solutions only to end up with a solution which satisfies no one, not even me. It feels like a large exercise in wasting time. So most of the time I feel like one of those army messengers, you know the one's that come back with their head chopped off? It's kind of like that. Brutal, mostly.
I know once I've gained a bit more confidence, and I'm more sure of what I'm doing I'll be able to handle it, but at the moment I'm just being batted from one thing to the next and it's pretty exhausting.
That's it. Moan over

Hey Fifth, bought 'Empire of the Sun'. Really enjoyed it for about 30 pages, then started reading a Jeff Lindsay 'Dexter' novel and temporarily forgot to go back to Ballard. Will return to it after I extract myself from crime fiction.
Do you use De Bono with your team? Maybe you can get them to put on different coloured hats or shoes. Maybe then use the 'White Pillow' technique: giving them all white pillows to fight each other with and shutting the door.

Hi Silas I started reading Empire of the Sun. It's really good. If you ever get back to it, I'd be interested in your thoughts. It doesn't have Ballard's customary lyricism; it's not quite as trippy and lush as I'm used to from him, but it is very good. A good choice there. Before that I read a book called Men in Space by Tom McCarthy who is my new favourite novelist. I was saving it, but decided to read it anyway. It's intensely clever, almost too clever. I feel like I ought to read it again, which is how I've felt about all McCarthy's books. Pick up what I missed.

I like your idea for the creative writing class. I'd love to do it, but sadly it's all online. Maybe I could start an online pillow fight. That'd be a first. Forum activity has picked up this past week. We now have 4 people contributing (including me). It's a start.

I meant for your work...

silly me. Yes, it's a good idea. Unfortunately it'd probably turn into a fist fight or a 'who can disparage who the most' verbal battle. Then someone would get sacked. Probably me. It's probably the only thing they could agree on

Hey, went back to 'Empire of the Sun'. Wonderful writing! I'm still reading it.

I'm glad you're enjoying it Silas. J.G. Ballard is a pretty good writer. I finished Empire a few days ago, and found it a very affecting read. Sad, disturbing, and yet non-judgemental. It's weird to think that Ballard actually experienced something of that, as although the story isn't 100% autobiographical it is based on his experiences in a Japanese POW camp as a child. I find Ballard a fascinating read. Good call by Qimi!

Lucky Jim is a blast of fun. You should enjoy that. The Leopard is a fine novel. Hope you've gotten inspired by now.

Nice to see you around Virgil Lucky Jim is a good call, I'm pretty sure I'll read that in 2011. And The Leopard; I've nearly chosen it three times now so it's bound to come out soon. Hope you and the family are all well.

Thank you Fifth. Everyone is doing well. I will have to provide an Matthew update blog. Thanks for asking.