50 Book Challenge

Every year a good friend of mine blogs about participating in the 50 book challenge, and I think, “I should do that.” But though I read throughout the year, I never get around to blogging about it or keeping track. It’s a new year and a new chance to get started. On top of reading 50 books this year, I am also working on sorting out my book collection. I have a lot of books that I have either never gotten around to reading, started and never finished, or read, but totally forgot I read. I am going to focus on reading these books, although I am sure my attention will stray. Is anyone else doing the 50 book challenge this year?

Here’s my first of fifty:

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (****.5)
Amazon | BookMooch

This is a sad, lonely, lovely book. Thoughtful and clearly written. The language itself, apart from the story, is a pleasure to read. At points, I found it difficult to read more than a few pages at a time. This was primarily towards the end, as Ruthie discusses her thoughts on loneliness, and I think my difficulty came not from the book itself, but from the palpable sense of loneliness it evoked.

Housekeeping reminded me of one of my personal favorite quotes, from Tennessee Williams, “Personal lyricism is the outcry of prisoner to prisoner from the cell in solitary where each is confined for the duration of his life.” Many of the characters in the book seem trapped within themselves, unable to connect. Ruthie and Sylvie seem to understand their isolation, and to connect because of it. From Sylvie’s arrival, boundaries begin to blur in a way that parallels the development of the relationship between Ruthie and Sylvie. The distinction between inside and outside weakens, reality and imagination overlap, and memories and new experiences blend together. I did not anticipate how this book would end, but in retrospect, it ended just as it should.

Currently Reading
To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf
Stumbling on Happiness – Daniel Gilbert