What with all of the other weighty concerns filling our world with doubt and uncertainty, it grieves me that I find myself faced this week with yet another terrible issue, the search for a resolution of which is already causing me sleepless nights and loss of weight. I appeal to my readers for their thoughts on the matter.
You see, although I generally read two or three books at at time in the evening, for my metro commute I restrict myself to completing a single volume. For one thing, I only have a window of twenty-five to thirty minutes each way, and experience has taught that reading multiple books within that time-frame results in too slow and diffuse a perusal of any one of them. Plus there is the physical disadvantage of hauling about the extra weight.
Well, last Friday afternoon I finally completed William Hague’s biography of Billy Pitt. Thus, yesterday morning found me debating about what to read next. Something old? Something new? Something fictitious? Something historickal? Something humourous? Something tragickal? Well, at last, reckoning that it was time to give history a bit of a rest, I settled on an old favorite: Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop.
By the end of the day, I was well on my way through “The Stitch Service” for the umpteenth time and enjoying it thoroughly.
However, waiting for me at home last evening was a brand-new book recommended to me by Sir Basil, namely John Biggins’ A Sailor of Austria: In Which, Without Really Intending To, Otto Prohaska Becomes Official War Hero No. 27 of the Habsburg Empire.
Greedily, I ripped open the package and read the introductory chapter as I put together some din-dins (Mrs. R having gone out with the eldest gel for some Mommy/Daughter time).
Now my evening reading schedule is already pretty crowded and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Attempting to horn Mr. Biggins ‘novel into the rotation at this point simply will not do. So the alternative is to start bringing it along on the metro.
Here’s the dilemma, then: As I say, I’m already well away with Scoop and I would feel quite guilty abandoning it. On the other hand, I really want to get into Sailor of Austria as soon as possible. If I decide to do so, it will probably take me a week or so to finish up Scoop and frankly I’m not sure I want to wait that long.
What to do? What to do?
6 comments
Comments feed for this article
September 30, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Michael
Perhaps you might try something altogether different like Sudoku.
I like “WebSudoku” because of it’s four levels: easy, medium, hard and evil.
Frankly, I find the medium and hard puzzles to be of more or less equal weight with the medium gauged puzzles being a bit more of a challenge than expected because of the numerical symmetry of options.
Evil, of course, must be reserved for genuine down time just like a good book to savor the win or the read.
Remember. No extra marks. All work must be thought out. (You don’t read with your lips, do you? Or, DO you?)
In any case, a mental ’sorbet’ is just the ticket for those daily rides to and from.
Burn a bunch of copies. Its contagious.
September 30, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Robbo
As my eldest daughter would say, “What? WHAT?”
I have a big book of crosswords with which I usually attempt to take my mind off flying, but the concept of a numbers-based game has never appealed to me.
September 30, 2008 at 8:58 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
I find it astounding you would even considerabandoning a Waugh novel. For God’s sake, I urge you to finish it!
I find a good time killer on the train in NYC is the (London) Times crossword puzzle, found in the New York Post. They are excruciatingly difficult and I consider it a triumph if I can answer even one or two clues. A real workout for the brain, which (I am told) may slow the onset of seniltyrtrtedytd ooiijojjiojlx,l&*xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
September 30, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Robbo
Yes, those Times crosswords are killers – quite a bit different from the ‘Murican variety.
September 30, 2008 at 9:43 pm
basilseal
Yes, that’s a dilemma all right…Scoop being one of Waugh’s funniest…But please let me know what you think of Sailor of Austria when you do finish it. I would be interested in your learned opinion…
September 30, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Diane
I adore British-style cryptic crosswords.
Why not take both books with you, and read one on the way in, the other on the way home? Granted, it’s extra weight, but it will relieve the weight on your conscience if you were to abandon the first in favor of the second, or the angst if you make yourself finish the first before starting the second.