Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Missing the Point

Sometimes I do that. In graduate school, we read an excellent book titled Slave in a Box, about the history of Aunt Jemima. I knew the book was about racism, not pancakes, but it gave me such terrible cravings for pancakes that I drove 30 miles to get some, racism and exploitation be damned.

I've been reading a fascinating article in the most recent New Yorker titled "The Postmodern Murder," about a murder case in Poland that was solved when a novel came out featuring a murder with the same M.O. The article talks about the writer/killer Krystian Bala and his philosophical beliefs and literary influences, and it's not supposed to make you want to go out and read all the same books, but it had that effect on me anyway. One of his favorites was Crime and Punishment, and now I want to test it out. Most of the books I got on this most recent, most dismal haul were new. Next time, I'll go with something tried and true. I know that the fact that it's been around for a century doesn't automatically make it a great book (Edith Wharton, anyone?) but it can't suck any worse than Gay Blades, and I'm guessing it won't be completely forgettable, like whatchamacalit and whatsitsface were.

3 comments:

Nathan said...

Hi Library Diva

Thanks for your comment on the young museum professional site. Frankly, its hard to keep up the new posts. We have been adding some new people and trying to get some new perspectives. Would you be interested in becoming a contributer too? I'd love to have some more lively conversation.

nathan
nrichie@freedommuseum.us

Nathan said...

Hi Library Diva

Thanks for your comment on the young museum professional site. Frankly, its hard to keep up the new posts. We have been adding some new people and trying to get some new perspectives. Would you be interested in becoming a contributer too? I'd love to have some more lively conversation.

nathan
nrichie@freedommuseum.us

Nathan said...

hi library diva. I hope this isnt a repetative post, but i was trying to respond to your comment about the yound museum professionals blog. do you think you might be interested in becoming a contributor?

nathan
nrichie312@gmail.com