Tales from the Train - What's He Reading Now

I know that question is burning on everyone's brain to the exclusion of any other thing you want or need to know. Not what is the meaning of life or what will happen tomorrow. Only what could he possibly be reading now on his daily traverse to and from central NJ to NTC.

I would like to tell you, I really would, and of course You shall in my own good time. Afterall, we are not even to New Brunswick yet so I have plenty of time to delay the answer to that question.

It's been a full year of reading all kinds of things, from business and leadership books to sci fi to a book about a rampaging polar bear god to a biography of LDV to long-winded novels by Ayn Rand. Have I averaged a book a week? Well, pretty near, pretty near.

New Brunswick is here and then comes Jersey Ave followed by Princeton Junction then my stop which is Hamilton. I have about 20 minutes left. I suppose I can draw out the agony for a while longer.

I once read a book by Pat Conroy whs character spoke about a list of the 100 must read books that was given to him by a literature professor. Seeing as how this story was fiction and the student and professor both fictional I was still slightly disappointed when the list was never provided. Not even the top 10, damn. Jersey Avenue station now.

I wonder if I could write Mr. Conroy for suggestions. Well, I work at one of the premier institutions of higher learning (for?) so I suppose I could chase down (or scare up) literary types willing to make suggestions. But the top 100 must reads. That has a certain pull to it. That has power.

Anyhow, I am sure the suspense is killing you by now or at least causing you impatient types to skip over these hard-types words to get to the answer. OK, here it is. The Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman is my read du jour.

I can tell this book is going to be interesting because while I like the writing the prose style is quite beguiling. What are the stones? They keep appearing in the text ina descriptive way but it is not clear. I feel that these works are literary IQ tests or methods for dwterming whether my brain is too left-brain-wired for anything truly artistic, anything truly abstract and symbolic. I hate doubting my own intelligence.

So what is it about? Read the damn book and don't take the short cuts. I know there is a documentary about it. I know I could Amazon or Google it. I choose the hard road.

Well, here is Princeton Junction so I need to prepare to detrain in a few minutes. I don't want to leave mid-thought. Have you read the Stones of Summer? If so, don't give anything away. I'll be back with an update. Enjoy the nightime.