I stopped writing in here because I had no access to books for a while. That did not mean that I was not reading for I never stop reading. It was that I was doing it a bit differently. A few people who did read this blog for time to time stopped because I was not adding posts. That was certainly understandable.
I spent a lot of money getting things that were taken from my house including my car. I am living in one room in my house while my youngest son and his family live in the rest of the house. In turn, he takes care of the place and pays the utilities. I will have to wait until I make up for the loss of someone who took it upon himself to clean out my house including hundreds of books, my furniture including bookcases, cars, and so much I can't even put down without bursting into tears. That person no longer has access to my house. That also means not buying books for now.
I can dream though. One book that I am dreaming about is "Bird Cloud, A Memoir" by Annie Proulx. I had read "The Shipping News(1993) and loved it. What has really endeared Proulx to me is the book of short stories, "Wyoming Stories" that I checked out of the library. It included the finest short story I have ever read in my life, "Brokeback Mountain." It appeared in the magazine, The New Yorker. I went to see the movie and thought it was very good but the short story was absolutely outstanding. The use of flashback which was not in the movie and his talking about the relationship he had with his friend and lover was haunting and the movie caught some of it.
The memoir which is listed in the magazine, Bookmarks (No.50 Jan/Feb 2011) states is about the building of her dream house on 640 acres in Wyoming. I just want to know more about who this author is. The house went hundreds of thousands of dollars over budget. I have never built a house in my life and can't see myself doing it. I did buy a new car once and that was nice, but that was years ago. I drove it until it was time for it to go to the junk yard.
One of the reasons I loved Proulx's short stories is that they were easy to understand although not simple plots. They were written in language that used language that is in use today and in simple prose but clear and concise language. When she talked about Wyoming, one could see it quite readily. I did not have to go there in person to see it although I had. Too often I read a story and I don't really understand what is happening. That is one of the reasons I love reading W. Somerset Maugham's stories. There is no doubt what is happening and where my feet are in the telling of it. Perhaps that is why I love murder mysteries.
