I am Kyle's self-indulgence

Because I’m not working this summer I’ve had plenty of time to catch up on all the reading I didn’t have time for during the school year. I feel like I’ve been devouring all the books I can get my hands on, reading them two or three at a time. Here’s what I’ve gone through so far.

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East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I believe Steinbeck is one of the best prose writers America has ever seen. He is able to balance vivid description, where needed, with a more understated style elsewhere. The language he uses is beautiful almost the point of poetry, and makes reading his novels a constant joy. I’ve read several of his other works, but East of Eden was a very nice treat.

Last Day in Vietnam by Will Eisner
This is a very fast read. It’s a collection of several short stories drawn from Eisner’s firsthand experience in World War II (in which he served as a soldier) and Korea and Vietnam (in which he was a journalist employed by the army). If you want to see great graphic storytelling from the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject, you must check out Will Eisner.

Persepolis 1 & 2 by Marjane Satrapi
I read the first volume of Satrapi’s autobiography a year ago, but I picked both up so I could read the whole story straight through. I actually liked volume two a lot more. After witnessing the cultural revolution in Iran as a child and leaving the country for her safety, Satrapi underwent her own transformation as a student in France, only to return to Iran as a young adult. These books give a good glimpse of Iran’s recent history, culture, and relationship with other Middle Eastern nations.

Epileptic by David B
This autobiographical comic was a very pleasant surprise, as I’ve written about here.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This is one of those modern classics that I’ve always known I ought to read, but just never got around to. The book is far better than I had hoped. I absolutely love the character of Atticus Finch, who is one of the best models of radical Christian love that I have seen in any fictional work.

Tales by H.P. Lovecraft
I’ve heard Lovecraft’s short stories referenced in other works for years, so I decided to see what they’re like. They are easily the creepiest stories I’ve ever read. Lovecraft’s strength is capturing unspeakable, supernatural horrors that are far scarier than physical monsters. I’m actually surprised more of his stories haven’t been used as the basis for modern movies. “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,” in particular, would make one great film.

Flying at Night by Ted Kooser
When I found out that the National Poet Laureate is a Nebraskan, I had to check out some of his writing. Kooser writes the kind of short, simple, imagistic poems that I really like. He makes me realize that the key to great writing is simply paying attention. He writes about everyday things that I’ve never really thought about before, but are instantly familiar when he calls them to attention: for example, the way a bird’s shadow crawls along the ground and up the side of a building, or the way dew droplets on a window create a hundred inverted images of the bank across the street.

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
I listened to this in the car, if you can count that as reading. I’ve already written my opinion here.

Blubeard by Kurt Vonnegut
I made Vonnegut my favorite writer some years ago, but I haven’t read a novel by him in a long time. At the library I picked up a couple of his books I hadn’t gotten to yet. What I love about Vonnegut is his very rapid pace of storytelling and the humorous phrasing that is unique to him. It makes reading his books a lot of fun, and I can usually get through them in just a few days without really trying.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Teaching The Canterbury Tales this past year renewed my interest in it, and I’ve been meaning to buy my own copy and reread the whole thing (I sold my Riverside Chaucer in college). When I was in Fremont, Nebraska last week I went to a neat used book/antique shop downtown and found a quality, hardcover copy of the complete works of Chaucer in the original language, for only $3 (It can be difficult to find a new, cheap copy that is not a modern translation). I was very excited. I’m in the middle of reading it right now, and I plan to eventually write a long post about why I think The Canterbury Tales is the greatest work of literature in the English language.