What to do in Hessel

Nothing. But that's not a bad thing.

Okay, to say nothing isn't really true. There's always something to do no matter where you are, the refrains of your typical teenager notwithstanding. In my case, in the case of Hessel, the nothing to do is in fact something.

I read. So far I've read two Ellery Queen books and a book on the aftermath of World War II in Asia. I've read the Sunday paper and done the Sunday crossword puzzles (still in pencil, Pops). Sometimes I just sit on the porch and sip coffee. 

I watched a hockey game when I actually turned on the TV Saturday night (Vegas won) and listened to two baseball games in the garage. I've even cleared the driveway of cedar tree debris (yes, I was going for the rhyming alliteration there) and a bit of overgrown grass. That last bit was certainly not the nothing I praise. But I felt rather satisfied at the appearance of the driveway when I was done.

Today I will read a little more and finish what food I have, and return home tomorrow. This week, Tuesday is my Monday. I'm okay with that.

Comic books

By comic books I do not mean what you think I mean by comic books. While they're certainly some great comics out there, I'm talking about comedy books. Comic novels.

I have read some great books on thought, history, and personages. Many of my favorite books are classic detective stories, tales I would not have expected to like while still in my teens. I have read all the original Sherlock Holmes books and short stories (The Hound of the Baskervilles may be the best non-fiction book ever) as well as all the canon Ellery Queen murder cases. And On the Eight Day stands out even though it is the least Ellery like of all his whodunits; my favorite of those is The Egyptian Cross Mystery. One of his detective stories I think he might have meant as comic, There was an Old Woman, a book I found strange given EQ's overall collection of works. But that aside put aside, I can't recall reading any great comedy novels.

I've read Robert Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice but upon reflection I'm not sure it qualifies as a true comedy. He's know as a science fiction writer and I like his straight sci-fi better. Although I can't ultimately agree with his basic philosophy, he's one of those rare people whom I can read with profound enjoyment even though I firmly believe his outlook on everything wrong. His stuff is that well written and engaging.

I've read Magic Kingdom For Sale: Cheap, by Terry Brooks. I liked it, and if you like takeoffs on Tolkien style fantasy it's worth a read but not laugh out loud funny. But after that I can't think of any good comic novel I've even came across let alone read. The few I've tried never draw me in, never keep my interest. 

Any suggestions, dear readers? To save you trouble, the only comic novel I've really liked is Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. It was funny enough but became dry towards the end.

Reading within the lines

I wish I had read more in days gone by. Now I have a lot to read and nowhere near the time to do it. This is considering that I watch hardly any television anymore. TV entertainment quickly becomes the same old stuff; so too do movies I've found.
But it's finally struck me that with reading, you control the medium. No channel surfing, trying to discover something by chance. No risking ten bucks on a movie; let's face it, movies really are a great unknown. You're taking a chance that it won't be worth the time much less the money. I feel similarly with movies on TV, albeit with less cost.
Books, though, you control them. Yes, they do cost something. That's where patrolling discount shops and second hand stores comes in. The costs aren't so high. The risks are lower that you get a bad book than see a bad movie. You could, of course, get a bad book. But you at least get the chance to peruse it, at least a little bit, before purchase. And you learn what authors and genres you like.
When I discovered Ellery Queen and Sherlock Holmes I had built in supplies of new (for me) books to grab. Even before that, if you like a genre it's easy to find good, cheap books in subject areas you like. This summer alone I read my first book on black baseball, Shades of Glory, which I picked up at a discount store for $2.99. It was a good, informative, entertaining book. Similarly I'm now in the middle of The Kid, a biography of Red Sox slugger Ted Williams, which was at the same store for the same price and has been a good read too.
You get the picture. Can you turn on your TV and be assured of finding the entertainment you want? Maybe, but not necessarily. But your book is your book, and it waits patiently while you channel surf. That's a pretty good friend in my, uh, book.

I wish I had read more

Many people say this, and I don't doubt that most truly believe it. But the older I get the more I wish I would have read more. I read a lot now but, unless I'm on a short vacation as I am as I write, I don't seem to have enough time to read all I want.

My reading tends to be almost random. For example, since Thursday I've read The Football Hall of Shame (a book about less than stellar or impressive events in the game), and Till We Have Faces, an novel by C. S. Lewis (the second time I've read it, and I liked it better this time). I read The Murderer is a Fox, a decent yet not the most satisfying of the Ellery Queen mysteries, and am nearly finished with Joe, Rounding Third and Heading for Home, a biography of Joe Nuxhall. He was a longtime Cincinnati Red both on the field and in the booth for the team. Did you know he was the youngest player ever to appear in a Major League Baseball game? He was 15 years and 316 days old when he pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Reds against the Cardinals. He was okay until the great Stan Musial lined a single to right off him and rattled him so bad that he walked 5 batters after that. But hey, even in war depleted baseball, for someone just shy of 16 to record two outs at that level of play is not bad at all. And I read the newspapers each day, becaise the Internet is spotty up here in Hessel, Michigan.

So I guess my taste in books qualifies as eclectic. I like mysteries of the more traditional type such as Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen, and Lord Peter Wimsey. I can devour most anything about baseball, and I adore C. S. Lewis. His The Abolition of Man is perhaps the greatest nonfiction work ever, quite frankly. Be that as it may, I'll finish this post and go grab a Sunday paper and read some more. And when I come back up north in about 8 weeks, I'll bring several books and start all over again.

So, my advice to you is read, and to read in different subject areas. I find it quite rewarding anyway; you never know what my tickle your fancy.