For the past few days, I’ve been looking at photos of Scotland, England, and parts of France (and even Pennsylvania) that show lots of beautiful white snow on the ground. I must confess, I’m a bit jealous. Here in Maine, we’ve seen only rain. While that’s fine, and as I’ve mentioned in my previous post, we’ve certainly needed it, I’ve got to say rain’s nothing compared to the first snowfall. And as for the locales I mentioned above, the folks who live in them are in their glory. They don’t see much snow at all. Except for those living in Pennsylvania. They get lots of it.
As I sit here and type, I’m listening to the wind howl outside my window. This is the time of year when vast temperature changes are common and with those temperature changes come differences in pressure, which causes the wind. Of all weather phenomenon, I dislike the wind the most. It sits just atop ice storms. Ice storms are terrible because they knock the power out for days on end, something wind usually does for just a few mere hours. They’re both horrible events, but I’m sure I’ve already said too much about it. Discussing the weather on this blog quickly becomes tedious.
In other news, I’m reading my first Hemingway book. It’s titled, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and apparently, it’s surrounded by scandal. I wasn’t aware of this before I began reading it because its description seems rather innocuous. And now that I’ve read past page 50, it remains innocuous. Little did I know until last night that the book ranks at #30 on the ALA’s list of most-banned classics. Why? Because it apparently contains material that the state deems inappropriate. Communism, Marxism, etc… Which is fine, I guess, because I’m not too interested in those topics, but it does seem somewhat odd to ban a book such as this. I suppose the state can never be too careful though, especially when dealing with revolutionary types. Here are some fun facts for you: In 1940, For Whom the Bell Tolls was declared non-mailable by the U.S. Post Office. In 1973, the book was banned in Turkey because the book included “propaganda unfavorable to the state.” I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose, but whether any of this banning is substantiated by actual content contained in the book remains to be seen. I’ll surely update this post when I finish reading.
I can’t say the book has completely captured my interest as of yet. It’s so far been a slow read at just a few pages completed before I fall asleep each night. When I love a book, such as The Name of the Wind, I’ll read chapters during every instance I sit down with it. When a book is slow, I only manage to make it through a few pages until my eyelids become extraordinarily heavy. And when that happens, I end up not remembering what I read anyway. The thing is, this particular book is rated very highly, so I’m hopeful it’ll pick up steam as I progress. And if I find this one appealing, I’ll dive right into A Farewell to Arms, another Ernest Hemingway novel. From what I hear, this other book is as excellent as excellent can get.
I’ve gathered that Hemingway novels require a certain level of tenacity to ingest, digest, and appreciate. I’ve listened to a few reviews on his different works and many of them have been described as flat out boring from the beginning through the middle sections, but as the endings begin, the lessons reveal themselves. And that’s what many reviewers have found value in. Hopefully I can find value in Hemingway’s lessons as well. I’m ready to hunker down to enjoy some of what can only be described as concise, straightforward, and realistic material – classic Hemingway. And that, my friends, comes with an Oxford comma. Until next time…
