He's Back!

I have been remiss in keeping up with this blog. Part of the problem is simple sloth. If I can spend some time playing Civilization 4 instead of working on the blog, I’m all too often inclined to pick the game. It goes beyond that though. After rereading some early entries a while back, I decided that they were lacking, and that I would spend more time working on them before posting. I suppose there’s something to be said for that, but it would mean spending an hour or two working on a single blog entry. If I was going to put in that kind of time, then why not spend it working on my novel? That was my reasoning, and the result has been a lack of blog entries. I want to keep blogging though, so I’ve decided that I’m going to try to write three or four entries a week. If that means dashing some of them off, rather than brooding over my writing, then so be it. Some of my entries might prove not to be that good, but so what? That seems to be more in the spirit of web logging anyway.

Three of my favorite novelists are coming out with new books this autumn. The first is Cormac McCarthy, with something that’s entitled The Road. From the description that I’ve read, it’s something right up my alley, being the story of a man and his son in a post-apocalyptic American. They are apparently traveling through a ravaged landscape, trying to make their way to the coast. My favorite McCarthy novel is Blood Meridian, and this one seems to be in the same spirit. I can hardly wait. It’s scheduled to appear in September.

Richard Powers’ latest will hit the shelves in October. I’ve read Powers described as our foremost novelist of ideas. I’m no expert, but I couldn’t disagree. My favorite novel of his is Galatea 2.2. There’s a twist at the end, so I don’t want to talk too much about it, but it’s an intelligent exploration of artificial intelligence and the nature of humanity.

And then in December, we have Thomas Pynchon’s latest, a 996-page tome covering the period from the 1890's until just after the First World War. I love Thomas Pynchon, and I’m currently rereading Gravity’s Rainbow. I won’t even pretend to can’t defend my affection for his work. If someone were to tell me that he’s wordy, self-indulgent, and difficult, I couldn’t argue. I connect with his work though, and I know what I’m going to be doing with my December.