Reading Log (1)
January 7th, 2024
This is something that I write down in a notebook. I think maybe transferring it onto the computer and editing it slightly may allow me to remember the books I read better as well as generate thoughts and ideas about books which I haven’t been able to see before.
Haruki Murakami — Sputnik Sweetheart
Already my second book read this year. This was nowhere at the level up Wind-Up Bird. If anything, it seemed like an extension of it. It has Greece like was mentioned in Wind-Up, and this idea of another world / splitting selves. The idea of the book feels unfinished though, and somewhat hollow. And the end feels disconnected. By far the worst Murakami I’ve read (not to say it was bad, just wasn’t anything exciting). Though, I will say, some of the lines towards the end about time and memory — their fleetingness — were really good. The phone call right at the end makes for an odd, open end, characteristic of him.
Homer — The Iliad (Book II)
Much like its title suggest: “The Great Gathering of Armies” is just a description of all the people and armies about to take place in this huge battle. The plot of the story seems to have gotten lost to me in this lengthy, drawn-out listing of people. It was dense, but I guess it speaks to the scale of the battle about to take place.
Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin — American Prometheus
I finished the Oppenheimer movie for the second time, and so I was moved to pick this back up again. The movie is just so fantastic and sad. Everything leads up to that ending which is so grand it feels as though the true weight of everything comes crashing down upon him. That moment is the best I’ve seen in film.
But back to the book. I read the first chapter a little bit back and didn’t care all that much for it. But now that I’m back at it, and after that first chapter, the book becomes so wonderful. Detailing his life at colleges and into his early teacherhood. He really is neurotic and crazy, something not all that captured in the movie. He was clearly a genius from youth. Hearing all the books he read and being able to see some of the poetry he wrote is a joy. He was well-versed on a lot of subjects and open-minded. I can’t help but to admire and idolize his genius. And the amount of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners around him! No Wonder they all flourished intellectually! He seemed to be a little bit of a brat, but I can’t help but find similarity to him in myself.
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