(no subject)

I'm about halfway through The Corrections, and I'm really enjoying it. The characters are highly exaggerated, yet I find myself believing in them and even feeling sympathetic toward them. I'm particularly fond of Chip, despite the fact that he's literature's most self-involved fuckup since Rabbit Angstrom. Franzen has an amazing ability to get the details perfectly right and use them to illuminate and flesh out his characters. And there's a real sense of humor here that I wouldn't have guessed Franzen had from reading his essays. Thank god for the sense of humor, too, because otherwise it threatens to be the most depressing book ever.

The trouble with The Corrections is that in addition to being a very good book, it's also a very intimidating book. It's the kind of thing that I know I could never write, yet I can't help comparing myself to Franzen as I read. This is not a good thing, because I'm already petrified of even reading my first draft. I'm so certain that I'm going to find it terrible, and reading The Corrections makes me think, "Oh no, I'm not a flashy stylist, my book isn't the least bit funny, and Franzen has so much to say but I don't have anything to say about anything at all!" Ugh. I've been saying for ages now that it's time to get back to work on it, but I just can't make myself start reading. I've come up with reason after reason for postponing, but that really has to come to an end. So. I am stating for the record, right here, right now, that my task for the weekend is to read my own damn book. Enough of the excuses already.