The Reading Club
This is what I’m reading right now. What about you? If you have anything that you think I’d enjoy, please drop me a line.
The Blue Sword
Written by: Robin Mckinley
Published by: Penguin Classics
ISBN: 014130975X
In addition to being an excellent fantasy story that thrusts the protagonist into an unfamiliar culture and setting, The Blue Sword explores themes of alienation: Alienation from society, family, and even destiny. Whether its teen-age angst or a midlife crisis, almost everyone has some idea of what it’s like to be lost on a road while having no choice but to walk it. The Blue Sword walks that road with you.
Arabian Sands
Written by: Wilfred Thesiger
Published by: Penguin Classics
ISBN: 0141442077
The non-fiction story of Thesiger’s travels through the Horn of Africa and the “Empty Quarter” of Saudi Arabia which is described with a briskness of language that makes T.E. Lawrence seem flowery. The dichotomy of Thesiger’s writing comes from his view of people, born of the English aristocracy, and his wonderful eye for individuals. Even if his tone is, at times, incredibly imperious. But hey, he’s British.
Collected Fictions
Written by: Jorge Luis Borges
Published by: Penguin Books
ISBN: 0140286802
Borges writing is both unworldly and incredibly beautiful, a bit like a Guillermo del Toro film, but with a more of a blurring in between fiction and reality. When I began reading Borges I didn’t realize the Argentinian was blind. When I was told he was, I nearly cried. It’s completely selfish of me to be so deeply, deeply jealous of a blind man.
Man and His Symbols
Written by: Carl Jung, et al.
Published by: Dell Nonfiction
ISBN: 0330253212
Until I read this I didn’t even know the difference between the Unconscious and the Subconscious. The theories of symbolism Dr. Jung and his compatriots go into are illuminating far beyond that.
