Oakland, CA
I’m home, or as home as I can get these days. I left London Monday afternoon and arrived in San Francisco (after a grueling delay on the runway in Chicago) at midnight. Dave picked me up and I crashed as soon as we got to his place. Then woke up at 7am every morning since. I think my favorite thing about traveling between time zones is coming back to Pacific Time and suddenly being a morning person. I understand the appeal of getting up early and getting things done, but at heart I will never be a morning person without the aid of time zone changes.
Anyhow, as you could tell from my blog entries, the trip was a complete success. I think the only thing the girls and I wished had been different was our Switzerland time. We wanted to use the great Swiss land as a stopping point between sending Charity back to London and jumping the train to Amsterdam for Rebecca and yours truly. Unfortunately, the only thing that worked out was Geneva, which proved to be like any other big city. Plus with the terrible fog, we couldn’t even see the Alps. Oh well, one bad thing in a three-week period is pretty great.
Moving on from my European Vacation, I wanted to use my blog as a place to rave about a book and conversely complain about another. First let me recommend a great book to all of you looking for a great read. Do any of you remember why we love to read? Maybe it’s just me, but I can remember as a kid, 12 years old, 3 am, flashlight under the covers, losing myself in books (and we wonder why I hated getting up for school). Whenever I really loved a book it was because I became the book. I was each character. I felt every event, every detail. I felt like a part of the book and that was so much better than the hell life of middle school that I dreaded every day.
Well, this book reminded me of what it was like to really care about the characters. Mostly, I realized it had been a long time since I was preoccupied with a book. When I wasn’t reading it, I wanted to be. Since the girls weren’t reading it, I was frustrated because I wanted to talk about it all the time. The funny thing is I just grabbed the book off the only English bookshelf in Salzburg (all of ten books to choose from). The book is “What I Loved” by Siri Hustvedt. I don’t think I’m going to tell you anything about it. Just trust me and read it. If you don’t like it, well that’s just fine. Rebecca’s reading it right now so you can ask her what she thinks as well.
But now to balance out my praise I have to gripe a bit about another book. I’m not sure who recommended this book to me (I was sure it was someone whose opinion I respected) but because of this recommendation and all the hype about it, I had high expectations. The book is “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown. Here’s the thing, because I had high expectations I was expecting something more in lines of a well-written intellectual masterpiece that would make me think. Instead, I was shocked to find it was written almost as poorly as the bounty hunter cheesy series I’ve been reading. Within a few pages I felt the book was insulting my intelligence by thinking that I wasn’t seeing what they were going to reveal. Not to mention how much I hate the italicized “thinking to themselves” kind of writing. For example, while I’m writing this to I may be thinking, what if someone out there likes this book and I’m insulting them? Well, maybe this is how I’ll measure my willingness to be friends with them. Did you like DaVinci Code? Oh, that’s too bad.
Get my drift. But if you are interested in a quick read of a mystery that occasionally touches on interesting concepts that any Ricki Lake watching fool could comprehend, then by all means, read it. The entire time you read it I’m sure you’ll think to yourself, this would make a great movie! Because I am positive that’s what Dan Brown was dreaming would happen. So very Michael Crichton of him.
And I’m done. Thoughts?
Read “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” instead. That’s the historical research upon which Brown based Da Vinci Code. You’ll get all the info you want on the same topics touched upon in Da Vinci Code (Templars, Merovingians, medieval conspiracies, Jesus’ possible wife/offspring, etc.) without the boring story thrown in. Besides, the most “out-there” nonfiction is always more interesting than any fiction.
I welcome your suggestion and am excited now because THAT is precisely what I was hoping for in this book only to discover that it was a waste of my time. Thanks for the title. I’ll get it once enough time has past for the topic not to be tainted by Brown.
Katie,
Siri Hustvedt is a Minnesota author!!! Good job promoting her. I love her, too, and wish she would write more, more, more.
I look forward to reading about your reading.
B
despite the demands of being a pointy-headed academic, i’ve always prefered movies to books… The leather-elbow-patch squad will probably come take me away now.. maybe this belies my lack of imagination, which frau Toft can boast in spades 🙂 So are you going to come meet us in Portland, KT?
When are you in Portland? I forget. I will try because I feel like I haven’t seen you for years.
When are you coming back to Atlanta again? Next week?? :-0
KT! I finished THE BOOK before I even landed on US soil. I read over hald the book on the flight from London to Newark and was upset when I didn’t have anything to read on my fianl leg. Loved it immensely.
I read 100 pages of the Da Vinci code and couldn’t agree more. When you start hoping the hero bites it, it’s time to put the book down. And the villains were equally boring. An albino killer! And Jesuits (or whatever that evil sect was called)! Actually, given those two plot elements it could have been a good book.
Hmmm…I may completely alienate myself here (and risk a huge insult to my intelligence), but I liked The DaVinci Code. It’s interesting–I’m feeling the same kind of shame in this discussion as I do when I say that there is some pop-music that I totally dig.
I for one hadn’t ever read or even heard of the theories and ideas Brown brings forth. And I was fascinated. (I wonder where I’ve been all this time…)I will certainly seek out “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” as Aaron suggested.
But really, does it matter that much if someone likes something you do not? I’m thinking of myself here because I may also be guilty of thinking less of someone when they like something I think is stupid or unintelligent or just plain uncool.
Well Tracey, I really shouldn’t judge since I read the Evanovich books and the Anita Blake series, but for some reason I think even those are better. But again, I don’t expect much from those and I did expect a lot from DaVinci Code. I agree though with the pop-music analogy. I’ve finally stopped hiding the fact I adore top 40 JT, Britney, Christina, Beyonce, etc. It’s a guilty pleasure and we should all be forgiven.
Sheesh, KT and Tracey. Next thing we know, you Philistines will be saying that Stephen King deserves a lifetime literary achievement award or something.
Oh wait, he does.
And he got one.
Cool.
DiVinci Code…It was intellectually insulting. My girlfriend liked it and insisted I read it. As a member of the FreeMasons, I can tell you that this sort of tripe is exactly what people think Masons are about. What crap! Besides, nearly everything in the book has already been articulated in clearer form in other publications. Just my $0.02!
Since you brought it up.. What are FreeMasons all about? 😉
p.s.
I agree the plot in DV code could have been better and the characters are a bit shallow, still a very intresting subject.
As a Freemason and Knight Templar I would like to give you a quick familiarization as to what we are about as quickly and exactly as possible;
1)charity-masons give 2 million a day,salvation army, red cross, homeless shelters etc. etc.
2)tolerance-any religion, race, creed or color is welcome however athiests are barred as well as those lacking moral character
3)community service-blood drives, child id programs, masonic angel fund etc. etc.
4 medical/learning treatment for children-shriners hospitals, knights templar eye foundation, scottish rite learning centers completely free of charge
5)we are essentially an organization which promotes the propagation of moral character of a man through brotherly love, peace and charity
6)we are not a secret society, or religion. I myself attend catholic mass
hope this helps
I was amazed at your response to the book, The Divinci Code. It was not intended for a text book read. It is a NOVEL…intended for fun for the avid fiction reader. So needless to say I was disappointed in your review of it as to you expecting more from the author. This book was intended for recreation and the imagination…your responses lead me to believe you are not avid practioners of either. Your loss I felt it was a decent combination of fiction with historical information and was masterfully combinded to entice the reader without stressing them out with too much detail.
I am however, thankful for your recommendation on the book the “Holy Blood, Holy Grail.” This topic is of high interest to me and I am always eager to read as much as possible on the topic. So thank you.
To the freemason I only have one comment. You are correct in your description of what the freemason society is NOW but I think you might want to do some extensive research into the roots of your society, you might be surprised that your society was not always so pure as you make it out to be (nor is it totaly pure today, but that information is harder to come by in today’s world).
To the rest, be aware the world is not always what it seems and the idea of a secret society is not as crazy as it sounds. You all would be humbled by the reality if you only knew it.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you all an enriching future.
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