Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Reading two books

I'm reading two books at the moment, and both are slightly unsatisfying.  Now, I adore Barbara Kingsolver's work, always and forever, everything I've read, till this one, which is a struggle for me.  Two reasons, she's got two parallel stories going- very fashionable, but lord I hate this.  There's always one that's less interesting.  And the principle story is a mother with financial problems, a couple of nearly grown / grown but childlike kids with problems and a house that needs a lot of repairs.  Now, I love historical novels, I love books set in other parts of the world partially because if the writer is even half way worth their salt, you learn about how people lived in other times and places.  While I don't have all the same things going on in my life, this story really isn't - so far anyway - about a life that is all that unfamiliar. Beautiful writing, uninspiring to boring to depressing plot (her family has a LOT of problems!)

The other book is Kilian Journet's latest book, Res es impossible - Nothing is Impossible.  Kilian Journet, for those of you who don't know who he is, is a top mountain runner and ski mountaineering athlete, he's also Catalan and a household name there.  He's also kind of nuts.  You may have heard about his speed climbing Everest twice in one week, I think without oxygen.  He is nuts.  His book is super interesting in content cause he does all these wild crazy ass things - so glad I'm not married to him.  He and his wife, Emelie Fosberg, also a top mountain runner and ski mountaineer, had a baby a few days ago.  I find that I am maybe going to have to stop following him a little bit because he takes his life literally in his hands so often (see this video on Instagram he posted about 3 days before his child was born) that I find myself getting angry as he is now a Dad. 

Anyway, see how I wrote that? Kinda all over the map and unfocused?  That's how his book is written. Interesting content, pretty crappy hard to follow meandering writing. 

Ho hum.