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Sep. 8th, 2004 03:23 pmI had a very lovely long weekend. It's amazing what a difference a rocky beach; a late afternoon sun; and a vast stretch of shallow lake, the water cold and clear to the sandy bottom, can make. And I got lots and lots of sun, so I'm finally, finally tan. Not nearly the way I used to be, but more than I have been for the past few years. Still, I have the foolish sense that it's Too Late: the summer is over, I have no one to show it off to...
In addition to mourning my lost youth in the form of my lifeguard's tan, I also finished Free Love in Utopia while at Lake Ontario. It was a bit of a strange read. The majority of the book was composed of letters and journals and other records kept by members of the Oneida Community. Reading these first hand accounts was fascinating because they provided exhaustive detail about exactly what life was like in this strange commune/cult. The depth of detail meant that parts of the book were completely captivating, but other parts were just deadly dull. I wound up skimming or skipping sections on the finances and accounting practices of the Community, the plowing of the back field, and things like that. The most remarkable thing about reading the correspondence and the personal writings of these people was how intensely earnest they all were. These people really did believe that what they were doing was right, that they were working toward a more perfect way of living, that it was their role to create god's kingdom on earth. And maybe it's just that their earnestness is persuasive, but I'm not entirely sure they were wrong. Their only mistake was pitting themselves against all of human nature...
And now, on the recommendation of the lovely![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
joy_hulga, I am reading Andre Gide's The Counterfeiters. I'm not very far along yet, so it's a bit early for me to make any statements about its quality. The story is certainly intriguing so far, although I can tell that it's the kind of book that takes a little getting into. The first chapters are full of so many names and different characters and widely divergent story lines, and I can tell that soon I will feel myself to be wrapped up in the world of the book and it will cease to be confusing, but I'm not quite there yet. One strange thing about the book is that I cannot seem to locate the narrator. There is an omniscient voice that relates all the action and the inner thoughts of all the different characters, yet that voice sometimes breaks through with 'I' statements that are somewhat jarring, such as "Lillian irritates me rather when she puts on this affectation of childishness." I don't dislike the effect that this creates, I just can't quite figure it out...
In addition to mourning my lost youth in the form of my lifeguard's tan, I also finished Free Love in Utopia while at Lake Ontario. It was a bit of a strange read. The majority of the book was composed of letters and journals and other records kept by members of the Oneida Community. Reading these first hand accounts was fascinating because they provided exhaustive detail about exactly what life was like in this strange commune/cult. The depth of detail meant that parts of the book were completely captivating, but other parts were just deadly dull. I wound up skimming or skipping sections on the finances and accounting practices of the Community, the plowing of the back field, and things like that. The most remarkable thing about reading the correspondence and the personal writings of these people was how intensely earnest they all were. These people really did believe that what they were doing was right, that they were working toward a more perfect way of living, that it was their role to create god's kingdom on earth. And maybe it's just that their earnestness is persuasive, but I'm not entirely sure they were wrong. Their only mistake was pitting themselves against all of human nature...
And now, on the recommendation of the lovely
joy_hulga, I am reading Andre Gide's The Counterfeiters. I'm not very far along yet, so it's a bit early for me to make any statements about its quality. The story is certainly intriguing so far, although I can tell that it's the kind of book that takes a little getting into. The first chapters are full of so many names and different characters and widely divergent story lines, and I can tell that soon I will feel myself to be wrapped up in the world of the book and it will cease to be confusing, but I'm not quite there yet. One strange thing about the book is that I cannot seem to locate the narrator. There is an omniscient voice that relates all the action and the inner thoughts of all the different characters, yet that voice sometimes breaks through with 'I' statements that are somewhat jarring, such as "Lillian irritates me rather when she puts on this affectation of childishness." I don't dislike the effect that this creates, I just can't quite figure it out...
