May 10

100 Words: On vacation in Portland, we've visited Powell's books, a downtown institution of a book store, massive, a block-sized store that goes up multiple stories. It's an amazing place. As we walked the aisles, I just felt so motivated to start reading again. I'm too smart to not feed my brain. Reading ignites my passions and I feel like I just stopped reading some time back. Maybe this blog is a glimmer of a spark in the dark of midnight, but I hope it's the beginning of me focusing on reading again. It's good for me, like the deep part of me, the "soul" of me, if I can borrow a word. Today just felt good. Like medicine good, like exercise good. I'm probably overdoing it, but I feel great about reading at this moment.

Summary: Trying to describe what this novella is about sounds simple. It's the life of a man born in the 1880s and dies in the 1960s. But it's so much more than that. It's a series of moments in his life, both the good and bad. From the hidden dark parts of his childhood, not knowing who his parents were, to the highpoints of happiness, his marriage and the birth of his daughter. But it's not a straightforward biography of this fictional man, there's mixes of magic -ghosts and wolf-girls- in the story. It's a beautiful story and Johnson's prose reminds me (and I know I'm out of practice, so I may disagree with myself later) of Cormac McCarthy's approach to storytelling. There's poetry in the prose, particularly in the image description, and it gives the whole book a feel of mysticism. The story would also read depressing to anyone who wants a happy ending. I would argue it reads true to life. People die, things don't work out, we get old, and then we die. It's the truth of life. Believing otherwise is unrealistic. I think the book was absolutely stunning and I enjoyed every page of it. Read it in a single sitting on vacation in the Rose City.

Quote: "And suddenly it all went black. And that time was gone forever,"