(no subject)

[decemberthirty]

I am still reading Franzen's How to Be Alone. Progress is slow. The essays are interesting, and Franzen's writing is extremely readable, but as usual I need some kind of narrative to really draw me in. The essays that I find most interesting are those about writing and reading, the audience for literature, and literature's place in society and in our lives. I like Franzen's thoughts about what literature can and can't accomplish, and I like knowing that he thinks very seriously about what he is doing when he sits down to write. What I should do, of course, is sit down immediately after reading those essays and write about my responses. I would be able to provide more detail that way, and would also be able to clarify my own thoughts before I forget everything... Unfortunately, I'm not in college anymore, and taking the time to do that kind of thing now falls into the category of "easier said than done." There are certainly some essays in the book that are thought-provoking enough to deserve more than one reading, so perhaps I'll give a few of them a reread and try to follow my own advice.