Hello again, friends and readers. And about Thing One and Thing Two….
Here’s Thing One–Since I first began blogging on July 4 (no significance intended; I wasn’t in revolution against anything in particular), I’ve been turning out slightly over a post a day if you average it all out. My mind is aswim, of course, with all the good books and essays that still remain to be written upon. Still, my thinking processes are also bogged down with what to say, as I ask myself how I remember the writing best from when I first encountered it, and try to compare that with how I feel now about the same material. For, I think we have relationships with books the same way we do with people, or almost. Just to support that contention, perhaps weakly, what about that friend or relative who’s been divorced from someone for 15 years or so, and yet who can still only dish about that one relationship, as if nothing else matters? That relationship and divorce is clearly the “novel of life” they’re hooked on. And whether we want to hear it or not, they go over it and over it and over it, still looking for clues as to what makes the other person tick. There are books too which don’t give up their secrets easily, and which continue to tantalize: they’re just a lot more fun than a worn-out relationship, though I suppose we have to hope we can all learn both from books and from life, eventually.
So–and here’s Thing Two–since I’ve been writing and have written a little more than a blog a day (only about 4 of my topics previous to this one are non-literary), I feel that today I need a break from literature, to look around me, to (above all!) read and review more books. Thus, without much–or at least extended–apology, I’m going to take today off, while I read some more of Daniel Heath Justice’s gripping fantasy novel trilogy The Way of Thorn and Thunder: The Kynship Chronicles. Though it may be a while before I will be able to do a review of this hefty read (and already, just 3 chapters in, I can tell that it’s one of those books you can’t help but read in large chunks because you just can’t set it aside), I hope to share it with you before October sometime. Better yet, get a copy and read along: the trilogy is available in its revised edition as a single volume from Amazon.com. I promise, you won’t be disappointed. It may be available on Kindle as well (I don’t currently have a Kindle), and I read on Google that it is available online. Daniel Heath Justice is originally from Colorado, but is now a Canadian citizen and is a member of the Cherokee Nation. Most recently, he has taught Aboriginal literatures at the University of Toronto, and is going on to the University of British Columbia. To follow his insights about Aboriginal literature and such modern related movie topics as “Avatar,” just Google his name–there’s plenty there to keep an avid reader busy.
And this is my blog for today. Keep reading, and please pass along any comments, questions, or recommendations for reading that you would like to share. I hope to have another post up tomorrow or Monday (today’s Saturday in my part of the world).
creativeshadows 
You say you’re taking today off, then write a more interesting and much longer post than I ever have. Maybe I should take the hint and take a day off, too. maybe even a full week!
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Yes, well, when I’m writing a post without benefit of previously read material (the way some of us have relationships without benefit of clergy), I tend to rely a litle more on what I hope are snappy personality bits and pieces. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Interestingly enough, the post people have enjoyed the most so far is the one on Richard Ford’s newish book “Canada,” which I believe is prefaced with a quote about how many people have found their lives changed by a book. Having lived in Canada but never having been either to the American Northwest or to Sasketchwan, I have no ability to judge just how much he sticks to reality, but I “feel” the desperation the character feels about being stuck where he is in a small town. I did really enjoy the book and felt I have internalized the experience. Thanks for the compliment, by the way.
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Your welcome. The only Richard Ford book I’ve tried was The Sportswriter but found I had no interest in it. So I never read him again. Maybe it’s time for a second try.
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I’ve never read anything of his before this either, and I was afraid that “The Sportswriter” wouldn’t interest me if I wasn’t deep into sports, but there is a title of his that intrigues me because of a few other titles which cluster round it (in my mind, at least). First, Hemingway–Men Without Women; THEN Ford–Women With Men; Anne Beattie–Walks With Men; Estes–Women Who Run With the Wolves; movie–The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing; book, can’t remember author–To Dance With the White Dog; book about wolf culture–The Sight; and one more book (alas, I can’t remember the title)–something else about all this walking and dancing and running and so forth and so on. People are getting really funny with these kinds of titles, and yet they all suggest a kind of kinship ritualizing or something. A sign of our times? Could be.
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Sorry to interrupt your day off again. I just came back to follow. Go back to whatever you were doing!
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What I was doing was actually making my way through my e-mail, largely composed of notices from WordPress.com about conversations from sites. You didn’t really interrupt, and I’m glad you are still interested in following (sometimes I feel like I’m talking to myself when I get no response comments or only spam). What I’m reading right now actually IS the book I mentioned today, Daniel Heath Justice’s book, and it’s very exciting to see so many old stereotypes broken down within the first 3 chapters. But routines intervene, so I’ll have to have some more time to finish it–it’s the sort of book you want to live in for a while.
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I looked him up after reading this post and found his critique on Avatar. I think I’ll like his Kynship Trilogy. I’m sure I can find it for the Nook but maybe will splurge on the hardcover. It sounds like something I’ll want to keep and read more than once. The Nook always seems to me like I’m cheating and takes some of the satisfaction from reading a novel. It’s hard to explain.
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I bought my copy of D.H.Justice’s book in a soft-cover copy from Amazon.com (it was what I could afford), and it seems well bound enough to stand up to a lot of handling. Anyway, have a great time reading! He’s really a gripping and contagious author to read.
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Thanks again. now go back to your reading!
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