waltondammerung

Brain exercise

I've given up on the triathlon training. Two hours at the gym each night took up nearly all of my spare time, especially once the training schedule starting requiring six days of training a week. I really enjoyed it, but I really enjoy doing other stuff, too. Maybe my life will slow down a little someday, and I will have another chance to try it. Or maybe someone will invent an exercise bike you can use while driving so I can exercise during my 80-mile, 2-hour commute. I'm not sure which is more likely. In the meantime, I took a two-week hiatus from going to the gym altogether, puffed up like a jelly doughnut (who knew how bad getting no exercise whatsoever after weeks of training could be??), came home early quite a few evenings to enjoy the late daylight, and started reading more again. I've decided to limit my gym time to three days a week, although that might change when the days shorten and I start to get a little stir-crazy in the dark again.

Here's what I've been reading lately, with an extremely short review each book:

The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
Both books are great reads, plus the artistry in the writing process just screams for admiration. As a comparativist, I get goosebumps observing how Larson knocks mundane, obscure history up against juicy, real-life murder mysteries and makes both stories richer and more exciting by letting the momentum in one story drive the anticipation for the other. And what a brilliant idea to write non-fiction about events in a time period from which there is copious information available--court documents and letter after telegraph after letter about the most insignificant events--about things no one in our century realized they'd ever care about. Who knew a book about the Chicago World's Fair and some long-forgotten murderer could be so exciting? The sheer volume of documentation that must have been available to Larson (okay, plus a little editorializing) really round out what might otherwise be very dry stories. I can't wait to get my hands on another of his books!

Catherine the Great: Love, Sex, and Power by Virginia Rounding Meh. I couldn’t make it through the whole thing.

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls Another really good one. Memoir of a woman whose parents just couldn’t seem to cope with the basics of adult life, like feeding and clothing their children. When her brother is molested by his grandmother, Walls’ mother basically tells him to suck it up. Could have been a nasty expose of her family’s (many, many) faults, but, like my mom said, your biggest impression after you read the book is that Walls loves her family deeply in spite of everything. Although I don’t think anyone would want Wall’s childhood, it still makes you think a little harder about what really constitutes a good upbringing. When we have kids, I’m going to make them root in the trash at school for their lunches because apparently it builds character and determination.

On the nightstand right now:
David McCullough’s John Adams I decided it’s time I learned a little more about John Adams. Especially since most of what I know I learned from watching the musical 1776 too many times. You mean to tell me he’s not actually much like Mr. Feeny in Boy Meets World?