The Reading Dilemma

I’m a reader. I wouldn’t stick “voracious” or “rabid” to that title, but I enjoy reading and do a fair amount of it. I peruse quite a few book blogs and follow some great lit folks on Twitter. Their recommendations send me to authors and titles I would never known otherwise. This is all great, great, great, great!

I have aspirations of attending a Books and Bars gathering sometime. Heck, I’d like to host my own Books & Bars type club one of these days (that’s a hobby/pipedream of mine). I dream of being really down with the kids on current literature by hip authors who write excellent stuff and then discussing it with folks in Rochester or somewhere. I don’t know (oooh, Sioux Falls would be due for one)

But now that I’m working on the grad school thing (which is happening, in case you missed the announcement), I have a dilemma that’s facing me in an immediate way:

WHAT DO I BRING TO READ FOR THE IBSEN TOUR?

I’m about to embark on a two-week tour through Minnesota (performing Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People), and a large concern of mine is what books I’m going to bring (and read, that’s the idea).

I have a “Monster Reading List” for grad school (you must know that is what the document is actually titled; I’m not giving it some pithy blogging name). I’ve started work on it. I’ve been racing through some Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, and Ibsen (haha) plays this past weekend. Okay, I’ve read one of each so far, but there’s a lot more.

Here's a small, tiny, tiny taste of the stuff that I'm working on for THE MONSTER READING LIST

So I’ve got homework. I’m accountable for 67 titles before orientation begins on August 15. This gives me less than five months to dive in. I think I’m on track with 3 books a week? I've read some of the titles before and feel comfortable talking about them, if there's time I'll re-read those. 

I’m not sure if this is entirely possible. Well, yes, it’s possible. But I haven’t done this kind of thing in a long time.

Let it be known I’m NOT complaining here. I’m just trying to get a greater sense of the reality of the situation.

And the reality of this “what do I bring to read” although it sounds petty, is one that grad school actually starts NOW. In turn, this may mean that I may have to eschew all semblance of a life NOW. This means reading for fun is done (among other things).

Must I come to terms with this now? Wasn’t there some kind of period of “LET’S LIVE IT UP!” that happens before I move to Texas?

Can I risk reading a hyped mystery like In the Woods whilst on tour (while simultaneously risking “you could be reading that O’Neill play, it’s another check off your reading list…”).

Mind you, I’ve been enjoying the grad school reading so far (and I’ve a good handful of them already and enjoyed them too), and I think I’ll continue to enjoy the reading. I’ve been obsessing over grad school for a couple years. Whelp…here it is.

Must I say "goodbye until 2013" to these guys?

I think I’ll end up bringing mostly grad school reading with one or two other titles. It all depends on how much I room I have in my suitcase and backpack (and time--keep in mind, I also have actual work for the theatre to do…so I may be overestimating the amount of time I truly have).

What I Read/Saw in 2010

I've been doing this for a few years, it seems. Here' s list of the plays and books I read this year (along with plays/theatrical events I attended).

2010

Books Read:

1.       Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (novel)

2.       A Director Prepares by Anne Bogart (non-fiction)

3.       Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (novel)

4.       Unincorporated Persons of the Late Honda Dynasty by Tony Hoagland (poetry)

5.       The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (non-fiction)

6.       The Play That Changed My Life ed. Ben Hodges (non-fiction)

7.       Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul Turner (non-fiction)

8.       Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (novel)

9.       Cruel Shoes by Steve Martin (short stories and poetry)

10.   If You Lived Here You’d Already Be Home by John Jodzio (short stories)

11.   Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (novel)

12.   The Song is You by Arthur Phillips (novel)

13.   The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender (short stories)

14.   Summer Blonde by Adrian Tomine (graphic stories)

15.   The Magicians by Lev Grossman (novel)

16.   Training of the American Actor ed. Arthur Bartow (non-fiction)

17.   Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (novel)

18.   The Art of Recklessness by Dean Young (non-fiction, poetry criticism)

19.   The Best American Non Required Reading 2010 edited by Dave Eggers (mix of non-fiction, fiction, lists, comics, etc – skipped a few stories, may come back later)
20. Skippy Dies by Paul Morris (I'm not quite finished, but I'm 450 pages in. It's about 630 pages long, so it's definitely a 2010 book rather than 2011. I make these official rules up).

Plays Read:

1.       Death and the Ploughman by Johannes von Saaz (re-read)

2.       John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen (re-read)

3.       White Lies by Peter Schaffer

4.       Black Comedy by Peter Schaffer

5.       Parfumerie by Miklos Lazlos

6.       Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin (re-read)

7.       An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen

8.       Blasted by Sarah Kane

9.       Marisol by Jose Rivera

10.   The Violet Hour by Richard Greenberg

11.   The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice

12.   Two Gentlemen of Verona by Shakespeare

13.   King John by Shakespeare

14.   The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

15.   The Crowd You’re In With by Rebecca Gilman

16.   The Retreat From Moscow by William Nicholson

17.   As Bees in Honey Drown by Douglas Carter Beane

18.   The Turn of the Screw by Jeffrey Hatcher

19.   Moonchildren by Michael Weller

20.   Love’s Labour’s Lost by Shakespeare

21.   The Odyssey by William Randall Beard

(I totally failed my "Shakespeare in a Year" challenge. I may revive it this year. Who knows. I'd like to be more well-read in more contemporary "canon" though. So we'll see....I don't feel too guilty about this.)

Plays Attended:

1.       Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage (Torch)

2.       Rock ‘n Roll by Tom Stoppard at the Park Square Theatre

3.       Hughie by Eugene O’Neil at the Goodman Theatre

4.       Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett at the Goodman Theatre

5.       Macbeth at the Guthrie

6.       Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl with the Prospero Theatre Company

7.       Brief Encounter Kneehigh Theatre Company at the Guthrie

8.       The Comedy of Errors at the Great River Shakespeare Festival

9.       Enchanted April by Matthew Barber at the Commonweal Theatre Company

10.   The Sweet Stuff with Chased by an Elephant Theatre Co. (world premier)

11.   A Streetcar Named Desire at the Guthrie

12.   Titus Andronicus at the Great River Shakespeare Festival

13.   Blue Collar Diaries at the Commonweal, presented by Michelle Myers Berg

14.   The Scotsboro Boys at the Guthrie

15.   Mother at the Commonweal, presented by Bente Borsum

16.   The Passion of the Hausfrau, presented by Bess Welden

17.   The Turn of the Screw at the Commonweal Theatre Company

18.   Is He Dead? at the St. Croix Festival Theatre

19.   Tartuffe at Concordia University, St. Paul

20.   La Bete on Broadway

21.   Brief Encounter on Broadway (some of the cast was different)

22.   A Little Night Music on Broadway

23.   Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera (not really “theatre” per se, but still goes on the list in my book)

24.   Little Women at the Commonweal

Here's my list from last year. I didn't read nearly as much, but I saw a lot more theatre (lots of different kinds). I suppose that's what happens when the Theatre/English degree isn't nipping me in the bud.

READ: Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Amazon Page


Set in the not-too-distant future, Lenny Abramov struggles with his job and budding love for Eunice Park. Mostly set in Manhattan, everyone carries an äppärät (think iPhone-type apparatus). No one reads books for fun; they scan text for information (streamed on their äppäräts, of course). Venezuela is the greatest threat to America. People are ranked according to their credit scores and f*@%ability. You don’t dare be seen or “streamed” with a Low Net Worth Individual.

Think 1984 meets Kurt Vonnegut and a dash of something else. I wish I could point my finger on what that is, exactly. Maybe you should just read it.

What is most striking about this reading experience is how I wavered between grinning at the ridiculousness to being quite horrified. This book is scary, hilarious satire. It reflects the world the world we live in RIGHT NOW. People don’t know how to communicate with each other. The English language is slaughtered. Everyone is consumed with their rankings in comparison to others.

Chapters alternate between Lenny’s diary entries and Eunice’s emails and online chats with other friends and families. What’s clear from these characters is that they yearn, need some kind of connection. They both find it through writing, which I find very interesting. They also love each other in a complicated, rather messy way. It’s not wrapped up in a nice package. It’s endearing and unsettling at the very same time.

This is a book that resonates and leaves you trembling.

I totally succumbed to this book because there was a ton of buzz about it on various blogs and things. And the book has a hilarious trailer, which includes James Franco.