Having been "off" the blog for over a week, I feel a bit out of practice, and never you mind that I was never much in practice in the first place, anyway. Also nevermind that I spent most of that off time completely failing to read any novels that I could have been ranting and/or raving incoherently about. I can barely remember what the point of this blog is--I know it's got something to do with books, and maybe something to do with how much I suck as a writer (in that I spent most of the last month completely failing to write any stories that I could be ranting and/or mostly ranting about), and maybe something to do with...Solon? No, that can't be right. Medina, maybe? Getting warmer. Anyway, maybe I'm actually supposed to be telling you about my cats, which means I'm in trouble, because I have no cats. Unless I had, before my off time, imaginary cats, in which case, I'm really in trouble, since I seem to be fresh out of imaginary catnip.
Whatever. Point being. Everything sort of fell apart there for a while and I've got the construction teams of my mind desperately trying to re-erect the vague facade that is Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks world headquarters, and while that's happening, I've got, like, nothin', man.
But that doesn't mean that everyone else out there's got nothin'. No way, man, no sir; we don't even have to think about calling Howard on this one. There's been lots of interesting stuff out there recently, and some of it has taken the form of epic blog-post debates, combatants hurling comments back and forth in psionic waves of hurly burly that have left at least twelve coffee shop combatants each an extra buck-fifty short.
Take, for instance, the now 90 or so comments that met the announcement of the Litblog Co-op's first Read This! selection. The discussion is a fascinating read--though don't quiz me on it, since it's been a while since I've read it--and it might make for some good supplemental reading material while the decimated brain that is mine is made fitter, happier, and more productive in this time of introspection; oh yes, this nothingman will be a better man...okay, moving right along.
If you're just looking for a capsule summary: the LBC all got together and were like, "Hey, lets promote some books," and everyone was like, "Sweet!" and then when the LBC started promoting a book, half of everyone was like, "Sweet!" and the other half of everyone was like, "No way OMG! WTF? This isn't what we wanted!" (I'm oversimplifying for the sake of a failed attempt at light humor, one admittedly on-par with the random string of 90's bands music quotes up there.) In all honesty the conversation is an interesting source of material for those interested in the question of where literature stands today--what makes a writer really famous, what makes writing important, and who books are published for in the first place. Maybe someday I'll get around to coming up with an illuminating, carefully considered response to the whole thing, but most likely I'll just get distracted by some shiny bauble and lose track of time for another couple weeks. Shiny baubles--there's got to be a way to buy those things in bulk.
(Incidentally--I'm reading Case Histories now, and I'm enjoying it. I, for one, welcome our new LBC litblog overlords.)
If you're looking for more LBC recommendations--the first of the nominated but not selected titles has been announced which, too, falls prey to the "No way! WTF?" side of the argument, though far less drastically so. (I'm wondering whether the comments in question in this specific post are meant as satire--I suppose it's better that than the alternative, that the phenomenon of the Internet Troll exists even on the bookish blocks of the net; I mean, there's places on the net where that kind of behavior is not only not rude but the norm, net-equivalents to drunken bars where fights are going to break out now and then, whereas I can't help but think of a litblog troll being the equivalent of someone walking into a library and pulling books off the shelves while screaming that librarians are teh suck.) If you're just looking for more LBC fun, the Read This! selection's American editor drops in to chat and answer some questions. And Shaken & Stirred points you towards other blogs that talk more about related things, none of whom refer to imaginary cats, I believe. Which might be a plus or a minus on your score card--you make the call.
And if that discussion isn't your thing, or if 90 comments is just too darned many to breeze through over your lunch hour, head over to Conversational Reading for a briefer, though no less impassioned, discussion on audiobooks, and whether or not listening to an audiobook should really be considered equivalent to or as valuable as reading a book. Again, please don't quiz me, because my memory's a sieve and I lost the pasta before I even started cooking. I do chime in, in there, somewhere, though you shouldn't listen to anything I say in an on-line discussion of that sort, since I tend to forget that I like to believe I subscribe to the belief that people don't really know as much as they might like to think they do, and in forgetting I tend to open my mouth and let words come out which shine immediate light on my own fallible intellect, which is why I should really never enter discussions in which there are positions to be taken. (Plus there's the whole "on-line discussions tend to be done before I get there and when someone responds to anything I say I've already moved on to the next bit of bytes anyway" thing. There really ought to be a litblogger discussion board where such discussions could be taken; I suspect that they'd find better life in that format than in blogpost comment thread format, but then, this being the Internet, I am probably wrong, and someone is probably going to tell me so, and maybe if I'm lucky, they'll tell me I'm teh suck, too.) Check Technorati for other blogposts that point towards the NY Times article which sent C.R. off and running.
Oh, wait...I've got it. Parma! This blog is about Parma! Hmm...Parma...no, I don't know anything about Parma. Hmm...
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