more thoughts. ha! thinking more ca serendipitous reading lists-----like mine. at some pt or other, i decided i oughta read the classics, if i could 1) figure out what they were & 2) find the time.


somewhere got me started on War &. i went thru a spell, of waking up middle o' the nite, so this is how i got thru W&P. but earlier, i was sick at home, flu as i recall, & tackled Look HomewardAngel. why? couldnt begin to explain. the, abouthe time i finished W&P i became motivated to find out more ca the South. (we had recently moved there, skimmed some Faulkner, but then discovered Walkr Percy who seemed to want to depict HIS South in a serious way. so i began with his 2nd book, Last gentleman which i enjoyed, so then his 1st-- the moviegoer, which i didnt think as good.

got to thinking about writing. fell into joseph conrad, nig. of the narcissus, & wondered how could someone who began speaking & writingin Polish, move over to geart stories in Eng. (i have an abiding interest in ships, the sea, etc.) still wonder about that question, now i have a fixation for Polish poets-----Zymborski, zagajewski, miloscz. their poetry is probably only considered 'quite good' but i am a total novice when it comes to reading good poetry,



but reading fiction, yes, i moved on. as atrained entomologist, i was naturally drawn to 'Lolita' but as i finished it, i realized, it had an audience best qualified who maybe had a few more birthdays & the occasional line in French threw me. i became fixated with his work, & his person. i have recently re-read Lolita & mainly what i got was what a wonderful writer he was. I may have read ALL his stories, some originally in German translated, but i must encourage anyone who enjoys GOOD short stories to dig out a cy of his 'Potato Elf.' I trulyliked his novel, 'Pnin' and it is well worth the read.