Reading one heavy book after another takes its toll on the brain, so I look for books to "cleanse the palate" before I pick up the next Time 100 book.
I'm finding a lot of relief in books of my generation that I eschewed in the past. Tom Robbins's books, for example. I truly do love all of his word games and bad poetry. Meet me in Cognito, Honey. Oh, yes, let's do that. Such a riot!
This past week after three "thinkers" in a row: The Sound and the Fury, The Sun Also Rises and The Moviegoer, I took a "trip" back in time to the 1960s and The Electric Koolaid Acid Test. Tom Wolfe created an incredible history of the antics of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. He was there when Kesey was released from jail and interviewed Kesey and many of the Pranksters including beat-generation hero, Neal Cassidy. Great read! (Or should I say, Great skim!)
I am also finding relief in reading light, feminine books that balance the heavy, male-dominant Time 100 list. Chocalat and Julie & Julia fit the bill here, but I get bored with them quickly. I go for meatier books like The Book Thief and City of Thieves. I picked up Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides last night and am loving it so far. The mind glides across his prose like a skater on ice. Lovely.
So what's the next Time 100 book up? I'm still mulling it over. I sampled Delilo's White Noise last night and it looks very good. But I am expecting the 1st book of the Powell series, A Dance to the Music of Time, in the mail any day and am anxious to get that started. So stay tuned ....
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