My reading more books plan is off to a poor start. Though I’ve been able to streamline my otherwise time consuming activities, I haven’t yet gotten into the habit of picking up a book when I find downtime. Working on that.
Presently reading Walden…still. It’s a rather short book, but I had several stretches of days (weeks) where I didn’t pick it up, so I’m still working my way through it. One of the most striking things about this book is how much of its sentiments have worked their way into our contemporary culture. I was going to write ‘mainstream culture’ instead of ‘contemporary,’ but that’s probably not correct. I tend to have a poor grasp on what is common knowledge and what isn’t. But its ideas and sentiments are quite familiar to me, which is quite impressive for any work. Thoreau is a very witty writer, and I can see why he is quoted so often. It took me a few sections before I started highlighting passages and lines I found exceptional. At the same time, he can be incredibly pretentious (as he is with books) or dry (as he is with sounds).