Summer Book List 2009

Over a year ago, I set out to recreate a part of my childhood that I held dear: summer book lists. I only read 2 out of the intended 4 books, but in my defense, the books I did finish were Atlas Shrugged - weighing in at over 1,000 pages - and a theological book which I was writing a review of for my university's academic journal (it should be out in the fall issue of BYU Studies! keep an eye out!). Anyway, this summer, I'm going to try again, but this time, I'm going to tackle smaller books and books that I know that I can get through before Fall semester. I've even already read one, and I'm partway through another.

I finished reading Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men" last week and I have a hard time describing my experience with it. To be clear, I loved it, but my emotions while reading it were so confusing. I had loved the movie and upon reading the book, I saw just how well the movie captured the spirit of the book. As most book readers tend to do with books made into movies, I liked the book better, but due to of the limitations of the film medium only, and not the film makers. You can't have as many monologues as a book does in a movie. It'd be corny. [For the record though, Tommy Lee Jones absolutely was Sheriff Bell. Nobody could have played that role any better.] Cormac McCarthy is very much an Existentialist in his themes and narrative, and is a minimalist in his prose. He achieves maximum effect with minimum words, and does so like a true artist. Existentialists often strike a chord with me, but this book affected me in a profound way. When I finished the book, even though I already knew the ending (from the movie), I felt like crying. And to be honest, I couldn't tell you why. In the end, it is a very moving book, and I recommend it to anyone.

I'm currently in and out of reading House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. It's kind of terrifying and intense, so I have to take it in small doses, but I like it so far. This will probably take me all summer.

Other Books for the Summer:

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers. I've heard nothing but good stuff about this book from everyone I know who's read it, and I need to read more non-fiction books that aren't philosophy books or textbooks.
• The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Since I adored both the book and film versions of "No Country for Old Men," and since The Road is being made into a movie (starring Viggo Mortensen!), I really want to read this book.
• The Varieties of Religious Experience, by William James. I've already read this book, and loved it with all my heart, but I wanted to try it on for size with a few years under my belt since my last read-through.

That's all I'm going to put on myself. I may read more, but this is all I'm going to propose to undertake at this time, and I won't add any more books to the list until I've read all of the ones that are already on it. I'm going to be disciplined here. I swear.