The Book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow (07/11)

Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Stitches by David Small (06/11)

I think my friend Will and I have inverse relationships to comics and alcohol.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (05/11)

Schlubby, techie men of the world, rejoice! Here is your Homer.

No quantity of hack novels will ever heighten your sensitivity to the world around you. That, if it exists, would be the province of literature. This does not have to, but often does, coincide with a general lack of titillation and thrill. Something about the stirring of synapses by plot-driven drama seems to inure them to nuance. 100 pages into Cryptonomicon, and it remains to be seen what this will be 1000 pages later.

For all its detailed invention, reaches for stereotypes too often with its characters.

In the end, more like Battlefield Earth than Gravity's Rainbow.

The Sound and the Fury (05/11)

Look at the rate of book consumption for 2009-10. Compare it to 2011. What does this say about the working life? Something execrably boring for whoever is not living it.

Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow (12/10)

pg. 10, maybe 11: doctorow demonstrates the power of strong, simple sentences (abrupt shifts in startling imagery or intimate statements of fact, presented in basic, repeated structures) building a rhythmic crescendo of slightly ironic, limpid, and engrossing prose. for some reason, i have the impression of a perfectly transparent frozen thing, but i think this is meant to be warm.

apparently, doctorow is frequently lumped with roth, more by geographic and ethnic proximity than any resonance in their work--from what i've seen so far.

Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson (11/10)

Don't say a word.

The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius (10/10)

Remember when you read books? When your mind wasn't a scattered mash of quotidian responsibilities, crusting like spilled soup in the fridge?

Don't ever expect either 1) thoughts or 2) culture from me again.