Beaucoup Books

So...I never got to finishing The Tale of Genji :(. I just got overwhelmed with the characters, and, honestly, Genji's death was a good closing point for me. Something tells me that the rest of the story, which seems to center on his son and the son of his brother-in-law, would only be repetitive and tedious. There are so many books that I'd want to read instead, why waste my precious summer reading time on a book I'm ready to put away? I truly hope to one day go back to it, though.

There was also the matter of Shards, by Ismet Prcic, which I mentioned in a last post and was dying to read. I am sad to say that it is already over :(. I read it in an under a week, the 400 pages going by faster than I expected. I used the Kindle for this read, which was a wonderful idea because the Kindle would make even a boring book seem appealing! Luckily, though, Shards would have been stunning under any conditions. The novel is about Ismet Prcic, who, though I would assume is based on many autobiographical facts, is not necessarily Ismet Prcic the author. Living in Bosnia in the late 1990s/early 2000s, he lived through much of the Bosnian wars that eventually led him to seek refuge in the United States at around the age of eighteen. There he is faced with the guilt of leaving his country instead of fighting for it and of leaving his family to face his absence, their problems and the war alone. 

Again, I regrettably waited to post until after reading. The novel was extremely thought-provoking; I only wish I could have elaborated on all the aspects of Shards that deserve some meditation. 
These include not only the brutally honest, heartbreaking portrayal of life in war, but also Prcic's talent at blending those issues of war with explorations of deep family ties and problems. Furthermore, Ismet struggles with his individual identity, saying he has been split into two sides (side A for American, B for Bosnian). 

Beautifully done, memories of a character named Mustafa are the culmination of this "blending." Mustafa seems to be a character just like Ismet (which he is at first) but parallel elements in both of their stories, and other obvious clues throughout the narrative, prove that these memories are just imagined by Ismet himself. Having escaped Bosnia, Ismet was lucky enough to not have to fight in the war, but that he is frequently imagining (and obsessing over) Mustafa's "war experiences" is a testament to the long-lasting, deeply impactful ways wartime can affect an individual.

Once I finished Shards (which had a fantastic ending, one that at first reading is extremely sad but is really quite hopeful!), I was so excited to think of a new book to read! I ended up with a slight problem..way, way too many books on my hands! I was using Amazon.com/books to search around for my next read, as well as the awesome book 1001 Books to Read Before You Die. 
The latter led me to two options:
1. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft (which I ended up buying on the Kindle...only $0.99 and ~200 pages!! I only slightly started this one, since it is so short and I have 6 other reads on me right now, but I really liked it. The beginning introduced Ward, a patient in a mental hospital with a very odd but intriguing disease 
2. The Good Soldier Svejk (more than 700 pages and it looks hilarious...I'm saving this one for sometime soon!!). 

I also went to Barnes and Nobles, where I bought two books: 
3. Shōgun by James Clavell- a teacher in high school who loved to read once gave me Tai-Pan, the sequel, which I had also left unread and hope to finish. I figured what a better way to start than to read the first of the series? 
4. Hopscotch by Julio Cortàzar - this book automatically attracted me, in the weird way books sometimes do. I can think of Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet, which I'll never forget I got in a Target in North Carolina when just a sight of the book cover had me convinced I was meant to buy it. This happened with Hopscotch, it being the first book I picked up after just glancing at its spine. Originally written in Spanish, the language of the novel is...overwhelming but in a good way.

Then, I started thinking about books I have put away without finishing, and realized there are quite a few I hoped to restart and actually get through. The three I decided on: 
5. The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox- I can't even remember how many years ago I tried this novel, but I remember that I got bored fairly quickly. In spite of that, I wanted to read it again because, for some reason, I thought this time around would be a better go. So far, so good. Though I'm still only in the beginning, I am already pretty invested! He came out with a sequel, which I saw in the bookstore and liked. The novel is a "confession," centered around a man seeking for what he claims is his birthright (what it is I have yet to find out). The novel is set in England in the Victorian Era, so perhaps the slightly elevated language threw me off at a younger age? I think it was the relatively slow plot, though, which I definitely don't mind nowadays! 
6. Ulysses by James Joyce- I wrote a little about this in another post, in regards to it being extremely difficult. I remember thinking, though, that even when the meaning of the sentence (or paragraph...or page....) was unclear, the language, the words, were absolulelty beautiful. So, for this book I hope to read as much as I can before I lose hang of anything, maybe get a better understanding of what I read through the first time! 
7. Swann's Way by Marcel Proust- Another book I loved the language of but got bored with, though I can see by markings I made that I got pretty far into it. I still remember most of the novel but will probably start from the beginning, anyways. 

That's it, for now! I can't wait to curl up in bed again, surrounded by so many books :). Happy summer!