Sunday (Monday) Salon

Last week I managed to finish White Noise by Don DeLillo. It was a fairly compelling read even though it didn't really seem to have a strong narrative direction. Overall I would given it 3.5/5. One quote that I really liked:

...but I think it's a mistake to lose one's sense of death, even one's fear of death. Isn't death the boundary we need? Doesn't it give a precious texture to life, a sense of direction? You would have to ask yourself whether anything you do in this life would have beauty and meaning without the knowledge you carry of a final line, a border or limit.

Today, I finished Cold Skin by Albert Sanchez Pinol. It was recommended by Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution. I really liked it, even though it was pretty creepy. While not intensely so, it was one of those books you feel you have to read, but you aren't really sure that you want to keep reading it because it disturbs you. 4.0/5.

Last week, I made a trip to the used book store and bought four books:

1. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan: I want to read this one for the What's in a Name Challenge and it is a winner of the Booker prize.


2. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin: I cannot remember who recommended this one.


3. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa.


4. Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton: because I enjoyed How Proust Can Change Your Life so much and it was only $4

I also purchased Readings by Michael Dirda from B&N. Then also went to Borders and purchased Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? by H. Bloom and Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin from the bargain table.

So ... seven books purchased this week ... I have to learn to read faster.