Love Me with Literature

Today I decided to start reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I'm also currently reading Aesop's Fables but reading fable after fable tends to get a little monotonous. I want to get the most out of them so reading a whole bunch at one time without taking the time to really think about the lesson defeats their purpose in my opinion. Anyways. I tend to buy most of my books from thrift stores. And if you were ever to see my vast book collection you would find that most of them bear a Goodwill or Salvation Army or Half-Price Book sticker still stuck haphazardly along their bindings. But I'm also a huge supporter of e-books! But I do only tend to buy an e-book if it cheaper than the actual book itself. I do download a lot of books that are now in the public domain and are free for my kindle through different sites. I also on occasion buy a few books here and there through amazon. One thing that I don't do often anymore is buy from bookstores. And it's a shame. At one point my dream job was to own my very own bookstore. But bookstores are becoming…dare I say it, obsolete. And also I love chemistry. Anyways. a person's got to keep up with the technology. And in my opinion. If a person is reading. Who cares how or where they get their reading materials. Reading is reading! And a persons imagination shouldn't be limited to paper pages. BUT…when I can afford it (being a super poor college student and all that will soon be forced to start paying back her student loans…) I do on occasion try to support book stores. And that's where I bought this book. Bargained Priced. But it still counts. 

This fable really hits home. Not in the fact that I live in a country decaying from social oppression and tyranny. (opinion up for objection I suppose.) No this hits a little closer to home. Actually it is my home. Though this is taking place in my very own apartment, it doesn't mean the relevancy is any less valid. Roommates. They're a touch bunch. So basically what happens is this big bad wolf...

And what I find most interesting is that the characters represented by these animals almost always have the same characteristics throughout every fable. The wolf is always the bad guy. The fox is always sly. Etc. Etc. And what I learned is that this is a major staple in fables. This is done so that every person who reads or traditionally hears the fable will (hopefully) receive the same lesson or instruction. The meaning of the fable will be clear and easily understood by all. 

Anyways, there is a lamb that is separated from the fold and is confronted by a wolf who wants to eat him. The wolf makes up every excuse as to why the lamb has wronged him and therefore deserves to be eaten. With each new excuse the lamb is able to refute him until eventually the wolf just gives up and eats the lamb anyways. The moral of the fable is that a tyrant will always find an excuse to rule the way he does. There is no reasoning. 

Alright. First book of the year. What will it be. One of the hardest decisions ever is choosing a new book. After much debating and Humming and Hawing I decided on Aesop's Fables. One of the challenges that I set for myself a while ago was to expand my reading horizons. Actually I can pin point it to my fist college level English class. I had a fantastic professor who introduced some great literature. I realized that I could enjoy other books and genres besides YA. (A guilty pleasure I'll admit to having but have no intentions of stopping.) This was helped along with my humanities class in which we covered a great expanse of greek literature. So when I came across the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list, I thought why not. Though I don't exactly intend to read every book on the list it's my goal to read a great may of them. This book happens to find its home on this list. Everyone knows a few of Aesop's Fables whether they realize it or not. Some more well known ones including: The Lion and the Mouse, The Ants and the Grasshopper, The Hare and the Tortoise. I've actually read this book before but I didn't want to start out with something too heavy considering classes start up again on Monday. Hopefully it will give me the momentum I need to get out of my book slump.

Translated by George Fyler Townsend. Aesop's Fables

I decided today to attempt one of those reading challenges. Since starting my college career I haven't had much time to read. Less to do with available time maybe and more to do with guilt. I never want to pick up a book because I know I could be studying instead. But then I find myself consumed with social networking and Netflix and realize I may have more time than I think. Besides, it's my last semester before I graduate. There are literally no more fucks to be given. I'm determined to break this never ending cycle of should I's to finally start scratching the surface of my long list of books to read. I thought 25 was a good number to start with. That's two books a month plus one more to give a nice round number. Now the hard part. Deciding what book to read first...