Tag Archive for 'feed the soul'

These last few weeks have been very active weeks, and as such, I didn’t have enough downtime to read an entire book this week, but all is well. It has been a great three weeks, packed with performances both given and received, immense fun with a few good friends, and good food courtesy of Mrs. Salehian, not to mention two awesome books written by two Johns.

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Week 7: John Irving, The Cider House Rules

I bought this novel at a Goodwill-esque thrift store for fifty cents. It had one of those “Now A Major Motion Picture” covers which I promptly ripped off and replaced with one made from the side of a cereal box. I promise this did not detract from the quality of the prose — it was a very poignant novel about the history of an orphan. If that sounds like a Dickens novel that is because it is similar, and some of both Dickens and Brontë’s works are referenced as motifs. As a whole, though, the novel was hypnotizing. As with A Prayer for Owen Meany I thought about the characters weeks after I finished the novel — they felt like familiar friends. Let me put it this way: the protagonist of Cider House Rules has a tendency to say, “Right,”  in response to most any question. Now I do too.

Week 8: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

This was an assigned book for my Literature class, and I’ll be darned if it didn’t intimidate me. I’m used to reading long novels, longer than this one, at least, but I think the reputation of the novel preceded itself. It is, however, extremely accessible. The first third of the book was hard for me to get into — I felt like I didn’t know enough about the characters to sympathize with them (I’ve been reading too much Irving, if there is such a thing). Once the narrative gets rolling it was hard to put down, though, and I don’t think I will ever forget the ending to this novel. It will have me thinking for a long, long time. I sure won’t give anything away, but I will say that Steinbeck’s publisher wanted him to change the ending scene. He refused.

No week nine this time, but that’s okay. I’ll make up for it somehow because one way or another I’m getting to at least fifty-two this year. Again, it’s been a special few weeks, and check back soon for SuperForest’s coverage of Feed The Soul. We really outdid ourselves, and if you saw a few of us there and said hello, it was a pleasure to meet you. It was amazing to meet so many strangers in the course of a few hours; an enlightening experience.

I’m full,

Chris