Wreeding on a Trip

Well the wedding is nearly here and with it the honeymoon.  We’re determined to travel light this time – a four wheel drive seems packed for two weeks on the road but we’re talking two 32 L day packs – and we’re casting about for novels to take with us.

I’ve put Accellerando and Little Brother on my crackberry, as well as Ulysses and Pride and Prejudice – could re-read that anytime – but Cathy reckons she’s not enamored of reading stuff on such a small screen.  I, too, like the image of myself on a balcony in Portugal overlooking the Atlantic and staining the pages of some tome I’ve not had time to read.  The idea is to bring something with lots of pages and small print, or several books with small print – anyway, something to save us from the floating population of Airportery.  So far:

  1. Infinite Jest (I’m reading Consider the Lobster and love it)
  2. The Slap (Cathy’s book club is doing it, but, though it’s 580 pages, it’s big print and margins)
  3. The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts
  4. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (I know, it’s not long or anything, but it’s so beautiful and funny)
  5. Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land

See, the books have to be (1) swappable between us and (b) good value on the abovementioned basis of weight thrift.  If anyone’s got suggestions, do tell.

4 Replies to “Wreeding on a Trip”

  1. Alright, here is what I actually read. So I was a little more weight conscious and less diverse in my reading. So sue me, it was our honey

    Infinite Jest – Having finished Consider the Lobster I began Infinite Jest and did not persist. Perhaps the trauma and delight of world travel necessitated a bit of ease, and the size of the book meant I sent it back, still wanting to finish it, to Australia from the very patient post office in Sevilla.

    Pride and Prejudice – I read this on my phone, which seems to raise groans of dismay from anybody concerned about copyright and “the book”, whatever that is. Not to mention the groans from everyone who sees me reading P & P for the nth time. (Or watching the 2005 movie.) (Or the Aldous Huxley 1940 version, or 1980 TV version.) (Don’t get me started.)

    The War of Don Emmanuel… Which wasn’t bad at all and extremely good for a first novel. The human evil is probably the best bit and not detailed enough for my liking. Exactly how the torturer became what he was and how it continued is much more interesting (though not as holiday-friendly – see above on Infinite Jest).

    Mr Britling Sees it Through – also read on the BlackBerry. Also comes under the heading of a good holiday read. Brought tears to my eyes and tingling to the neck. What is it about WWI that fascinates?

    Accellerando – was it Christina Lake who commented that this is the novel that people read on a phone? Well, there aren’t many contemporary novels available for phones. Not bad at all, even if I disagree with the premise that intelligence has no limits. A bit smarter would make a lot of difference. And of course there is no real nod to the problem of depicting vast intelligence when you don’t have it yourself, as a writer (no offence Mr Stross, but you aren’t a god). If the Spike is something that you have, as a writer, to nod at why it hasn’t happened, in a novel of the future, then the impossibility of imitating the song of genius is equally demanding. That is the nature of the Spike.

    Northanger Abbey – see P & P above, but with different movie refs. Loved the recent one seen on ABCTV, very cute. Also on the phone. Now reading Little Brother on the phone, which I think my son might like, though the tech is above him.

  2. Paul

    Hope you remember!

    Many years ago we met through a mutual friend when you were at Vicnet.
    I was member of a 3CR group that presented the weekly “East Timor Calling” program and I was recording it off air on cassettes.
    You kindly offered to try hosting the program on Vicnet and I lent you a couple of “East Timor Calling” cassettes.

    Many years later and I’m now digitising the set of programs (~150 of them) for archival and re-use.

    Te question is: do you still have the cassettes?

    I realise it is a long shot, but I’m hoping!

    Thanks

    Rod

    0412 155 393
    —
    Rod Harris
    [email protected]

  3. Hi Paul,
    We went to Melbourne State Teachers College together in 1978. You were one of my first friends there. We were in the same Drama group. I am still in touch with Pam Ingram, a mutual friend who had attended the same Acting classes I went to in South Melbourne from 1975-77. I last spoke to you on the phone in 1987. Would like to catch up for a chat over coffee. I am living in Black Rock again. My mobile is 0438082355. Nice to see you are a published author and father. Cheers, Mike

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