Monday, September 19, 2005

as I lay sleeping

It was better than a Monday should be. I was busy enough so that I felt semi-productive, but not so busy that I couldn't have coffees, ponder life, and take a walk in the warm September sun. How I love the warmth. This summer has been a gift.

I met up with Shoshanna for a run after work. Thick grey clouds began to fade in over late afternoon and thunder storms were looming, but they held off for the whole run and then some. We strolled around the hood, stopping in various fruit markets, picking out the best produce. She got strawberries and rasberries. I bought blue prunes, which I had never had (they were delicious), and picked up some heirloom grape tomatoes of the most unbelievable deep orange and burgundy. They were like candy.

By the time I made dinner it was almost nine - just in time to watch Prison Break and eat frozen yogurt to the sound of thunder. I took a hot bath and I am about to read and go to sleep.

I so rarely have trouble reading - it's my thing, but not this book. I am trying to get into "As I Lay Dying", by Faulkner. I feel like I am reading chinese. The only good thing is that for an occasional insomniac, two pages in and I feel like I am reading an organic chemistry text - out like a light.

Bon Soir.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

that novel was amazing. i didn't attempt it in a state of relaxation, in bed, though. more like bolt upright, maybe standing, drinking coffee and shading my eyes from the sun. worth the chinese translation, though, if you wanted my 2 cents.

Rachel said...

I will keep on...Thanks for the advice. Perhaps it will come with me during the day and be read on the subway instead of in bed....

(S)wine said...

if you dug As I Lay, and you're craving some serious intensity, try his "Sound And The Fury."

that is the book (along w/Dostoevsky's "Notes from the Underground") that basically killed my dreams of being a writer.

Unknown said...

the sound and the fury WAS one of those books that makes you shrivel up, if you're a writer, asipiring or otherwise, but i don't know too many from any other demographic who wanted to finish it. any budding dreams of writing i may have had back when i read that were firmly squelched by at least five more years due to its effect.

An Epistemology said...

It has been a while since I have been able to read a complete book. As a child I would lock myself in my room for hours and read. So many times when I try to start a book do I feel like you so eloquently described, like I am reading Chinese. I hope you find that it gets easier to read with time.