WWW Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I just finished reading “The Fourth Hand” by John Irving, one of his later novels. It doesn’t have the sweep of “Owen Meany” or “The Cider House Rules”, but it includes some very funny satire on TV news and modern sexual mores, and some very touching insights into the nature of love.

I also just finished my long-time bedside book “The Chinese Have a Word for It”, which cloaks an extensive discussion of how Chinese society evolved within an alphabetic list of common Chinese words and idioms. If you are interested in visiting China, or doing business with Chinese, this is an easy way to learn a lot.

I’m currently reading “The Belton Estate”, a minor Trollope that focuses on the plight of a well-born but un-monied young woman whose only authority over her own future is the right to choose her husband. And if she chooses wrongly, there is no acceptable escape. We have made some progress in a century.

Next I’m going to read “Celtic Myths”, a book I picked up because despite studying W.B.Yeats in college and loving his poetry, I never got the Celtic myth references. Never too late to get educated!