What's Mason reading?

I just want to take a moment to discuss what books I have read recently and what books are in the queue coming up. I'm not trying to review these books for you. Just trying to let you know what I'm reading on the Metro and see if they grab your attention or get your on radar...



In the beginning of the summer I really got into Russian lit. I read Crime and Punishment by Fryodor Dostoyevsky for a class in my spring semester and ended up enjoying so much that I got his later work (some regard it has his magnum opus), Brothers Karamazov. The novels are drenched with detail and are expansive in nature. Some might shy away from this, however, after you get into the bulk of the novels, you are engrossed with them. A dry, mundane piece of literature reaches its turning point and transforms into a page turner.

Dostoyevsky's character development is unparalleled. So human are the characters (Tolstoy was also a master at this) that you begin to assimilate with them as you continue through the storyline. The content may have been in the 19th century but it feels so organic and rich that you can't help but draw parallels to human interactions / relationships / dynamics in your own present day life. Both stories take a religious (religion through suffering) twist to them and the act of redemption. Another key thing that I appreciate about his writings is that they were originally published in segments for Russian literary magazines.  The end result are segmented novels that are approachable and unique for their time. Instead of reading 100 pages without finding a next chapter, the chapters are short and satisfying to finish. It helps keep the reader motivated.

****NOTE**** If you do decide to take the plunge into Russian literature, I would recommend getting works of literature that are translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. The two translators work in tandem to bring the most up-to-date, approachable translations of the novels.   

After reading those two pieces of lit, I got this urge to read long-ass books. I put in an Amazon order for the following books:

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - if you need an introduction to Tolstoy - watch The Last Station. People in Russia were cult-like over his ideologies. 
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - we only live on this earth once...
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - the story of how big government ruins everything was just too relevant to today's economical situation to pass up. 

While those were coming in the mail I read American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. This is a psychological thriller / satirical novel. It's not for the weak hearted. It involves the desensitization of sex and the onset of materialism in the 80's. The main character Patrick Bateman, is a serial killer by night, investment banker during the day. It's about a dashingly handsome, Harvard graduate who has it all, but has a weird fascination with grotesque situations. Some portions of the novel are hard to get through because of the graphic depictions of the killings. It was one of those shock-and-awe novels that really festered in my mind (and stomach) while reading it and had an open-ended feel to it that made me wanting more in some weird way - like watching a train crash, you can't help but watch. The materialism can get old at times as name drops of popular brands and fashions at their apex in the 80's fill most of the content. If you want a short and sweet version of American Psycho - watch the movie with Christian Bale playing the role of Patrick Bateman. 

I am halfway through Atlas Shrugged and had to take a break. Rand said that this book is the final summation of her revelations and that the only way to get through to people on her philosophical / economical teachings was to present them in a novel format. 

So far she has presented her "objectivity" many a time. She uses the characters and plot to show how there is a logical, right and wrong way of doing things practically beating you over the head with the examples. To her credit though, the story is intriguing - with a large element of romance and mystery intertwined it has this larger than life curtain over it. The characters are the categorized as the quintessential good and evil - forces battling it out in a time of great economic change. You can't help but relate it to the figures in the news today. 

Additionally, I find myself turning into a nostalgic from time to time when reading it. Set in the late 1950's, the era just seemed so absolutely cool. Men wore suits, top hats, and overcoats and drank constantly. Woman were dressed in lavish outfits, wore expensive jewelry. Tycoons evolved from growing industries, social gatherings seemed to be on a much more glamorous scale. To say the least - I really enjoy the book - besides the ideology of Rand. I just need a break from it. I plan on picking it back up on the first snowfall. 

To bide my time in the interim, I read The Centaur by John Updike. It's a coming of age tale set in small town Pennsylvania, with flashes of the story being told in the 1940s and 1960s. It has a Greek mythological twist to it surrounding the main characters, a father and his son. While most of the story is told through the eyes of his son, the plot rotates around the father - a man who is deeply depressed and downtrodden from the weight on his shoulders of trying to have his family set financially (with regrets from his past), being a teacher at the local high school, and being too intelligent to subdue both of the problems. The end result is having the frustrations all come boiling to the surface through his poor health and bad luck. 

It's set during the onset of winter, with the two getting stuck in a winter storm together for a portion of the story. In my opinion, it was a great book to read during the fall. It's one of those somber pieces that really fall in line with a cloudy, cool day during the fall. It's a short novella that I would definitely read if you have some spare time on your hands.

Right now I am getting through A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. His prose is short, stout, and to the point. His style of writing creates an environment within the story that is so matter-of-fact that when things do develop at a rapid pace, they explode off the pages. Glimpses into the main characters inner thoughts become scarce as gold and when they do come in small parcels you gobble them up with your eyes. The story is about an American who is serving as an ambulance driver for the Italian army in the beginning of WWI. He has been drunk for most of the book, just got wounded in a battle eating cheese... and...(spoiler left out).

In all seriousness - this story is a fictionalized autobiographical account of Hemingway's encounter with a beautiful Scottish nurse that he falls madly in love with. It's turning into another one of those doomed tragedies, however, you can't help but be drawn in. If you didn't know, Hemingway was the original bad ass. The man was a drinker, was impersonal (well he is right now in the story...) towards destruction and war, and loved women.  

Once I finish this book up the next book in the queue is.....

 The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. What can I say, I get in these kinds of grooves with authors. I really enjoy A Farewell to Arms so I thought I would go after another one of his books. I'll let you know how it all goes with Hemingway in addition to any other books I read in the interim.

Cheers!