What I'm Currently Reading
I'm one of those people that starts a lot of books and has them all going at once. After all, I never know what mood I'm going to be in at any given moment! So right now I have five books started, and who's to say what I'll finish when, but I wanted to share them in case anybody else is looking for something to read while quarantined (yes we should still be avoiding leaving the house when possible!).
1) Wuthering Heights
I originally read Wuthering Heights in high school like every other American, and at the time I hated it. Why should I like or try to relate to any of the book's myriad unlikable characters? Heathcliff is spoiled, cruel, ornery, etc. This time aour
2) The CharioteerI heard of this book on Tumblr from a user who does World War I reenactment, and is also a member of the LGBT+ community. This book is about a British soldier in WWII recovering in hospital after being rescued at Dunkirk, and the two men he falls in love with while there. It's well-written and I find the main character to be quite likeable, which is a nice relief from Wuthering Heights! It's fascinating to read about what gay culture and euphemism might have been like in the 1940s, and how it managed to exist and thrive despite rampant homophobia.
3) Devotion
This is Patti Smith's book in the Why I Write series (Karl Ove Knausgaard is currently the only other author in the series.) It opens with insight into why Patti wrote the book, what inspired it, and gets a little bit into what her writing process is like. The main story itself seems to be about a girl who is a skilled ice skater and the older man who takes an interest in her. I really like Patti's writing voice and find her very inspiring.
4) Caging Skies
This is the book that the award-winning movie Jojo Rabbit was based upon. I loved the movie (and the soundtrack, which I listen to regularly at work), so I wanted to dive deeper and see what the book was like. Its more serious, less twee, and Jojo is a bit older, so the general feeling is a bit less playful (no imaginary Hitler, for instance), but it's still a good read, and well-written.
The specific copy of The Odyssey that I'm reading is the version translated by Emily Wilson, the first woman ever to publish a translation of this story. To be honest, I haven't even made it into the story part of this book because the intro and author's notes are so long and interesting. She delves into so many aspects of this tale and sheds all kind of light on things about ancient classical culture that I knew nothing about! Definitely worth a read, even if you've already read the
Despite having started five different books, I'm always on the lookout for more. I'd love to find one story that really grips me, and devour it all in one day like I used to as a child. What's the best book you've read in quarantine? Let me know!