1 down 99 to go

Well, Lucky Jim is finished. Desperate for the thing to be finished, I skimmed over the last few pages, happily closed it and threw it, a little hard, away the other end of our overly huge couch. I needed it to be away from me. It was like a Morecombe and Wise sketch; funny 50 years ago, but just bemusing now.
Dixon, the nail-scrapingly painful hero, floundered through one slapstick situation to the next. One minute burning holes in bed clothes, the next fighting the absurdly named Bertrand like a teenage girl, then finally fainting on stage after drunkenly bumbling his way through a "Merrie England" lecture. After all of this, he somehow ended up with the prized job and the pretty girl. He didn't deserve the happy ending.
It was a story about questioning the status quo. This must be the reason it's included in the 100. Dixon represents a "new" man who fails miserably to fit in with the old-boy world of the university. The problem is he doesn't have any desire to be part of that world; it is like he was blindfolded and dropped into his life against his will. Grow a pair Dixon.
I did giggle at the lecture scene but Lucky Jim annoyed the crap out of me. I'm hopeful things will look up with book 99.

Next up: Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. Thanks to "Lost in Translation" the only thing I know is Evelyn is a man. Those were some funny parents.

Sunday brunch

We had a wonderful brunch today; a three courses banquet of mango and sweet potato soup, banana and bacon french toast, and chicken fried chicken eggs benedict. It was a pleasure to be out with my family. We really haven't been doing it enough. We have been trying so hard to get a regular schedule going with Rose and I finally feel that we are have achieved it. The problem now is that interrupting the schedule with outings etc. means Rose is cranky for the remainder of the day. But a little crankiness is much more preferable than staying in every weekend.

I've been spending so much time in the house it has become stale in my eyes, but I have little desire to spruce it up. I think going back to work part-time will be a very good thing. I'll get some space from home me, while getting back into work me. I miss the act of work - bringing in money, being relied on, planning and preparing for a new day. I do not want the demands of last year, but there is a part of me that has missed it. Being a mother brings immense responsibility, yet I want the responsibilities of work as well. Do I want too much? Is the balance that everyone gripes about ever really attainable?

Not such a Lucky Jem

The challenge is off to a halting start. This week has been hampered by a pain in the arse cold/flu thing that will not give in. I have spent the last five days trapped in a lethargic, depressed, stir crazy state that really needs to end. I keep thinking that it has, and then it hits again. I'm now resorting to wine - tea just isn't comforting me anymore. It's a slippery slope!

Anyway, Lucky Jim is being read, but in five minute bursts before falling into cough wracked sleep. I then pick up the book again and have to reread everything from the previous night. Needless to say there are good and bad points so far. On the positive side, the book has a lighthearted colloquial style. Faulkner at this point may have killed the challenge before it had even begun. Jim, a recent University hire, has, so far, been stuck in situations with people he doesn't want to be with - a baboon-like boss, bosses son he already started a fight with and girlfriend (?) who has recently tried to kill herself. He spends a lot of time making fun of these people and doing supposed hilarious faces behind their backs. This has not endeared me to Jim. Knowing a lot of university professors, Jim really doesn't seem like a successful candidate. He seems to hate his subject (Medieval history), hate teaching and cannot stand schmoozing with his colleagues. I predict he will have changed jobs and girlfriends by the end of the book.

Why is this in the top 100? Maybe because it shows academia in a negative light? It's a groundbreaking 1960s attack on the establishment. For me it's a man who doesn't really know what he wants getting drunk and ruining bed sheets.

My Challenge

I'm inspired by Julie and Julia. Watching the film on the flight from England to Philly with a cranky baby, I came up with my own challenge. Instead of cooking my way through a cookbook, I am going to read my way through "Penguins Classic's 100 Classic Books You Must Read Before You Die" . This challenge has a thrifty budget - I plan to check out each book from Philadelphia Free Library. This means I have three weeks to read each book, so I'll be done in 300 weeks or 6 years. Crap, now I have written that this seems like a bit of a extreme undertaking.

Challenge Rules (because I am an anal teacher)

1. Books must be checked out of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
2. Books must be read in the three weeks allowed by the library.
3. There must be at least two blog entries per book.
4. I can only give up on books after reading the first 100 pages.

First up is Lucky Jim by Kinsley Amis. I thought it would be a Conradesque novel (probably because of Lord Jim), but after reading the blurb it is about 1950s university professors in England. Judging the book by its cover. the chances of me reading this outside of the challenge would be zero. But, happily I have no choice in the reading materials. All I have to do is read and opine.