Thanks to you mighty crew of 30 or so folks who made it to the finish line. And thanks as well to the many fab folks who joined for part of the way.
For me, this was classic Meander material. First off, the book itself kind of, you know, ambled — from year to year, from genre to genre. Like many Meander-tomes, this was also a book I might not have finished on my own, but one I’m super glad to have experienced all the way through. I’m still not quite sure why the sci fi tale went sooooo deep on the details. But as a master class character study, it’s rare that we get to know someone so well, and from so many angles, as the mighty Iris.
I hope you all enjoyed the journey. As for the magnet, it’s not fiction, or even a story within a story, but a very real collections of charged atoms that we’re sending to the Vortex Industries factories for manufacturing this very week.
Here’s a look at the gorgeous design, created by Meander-mate e (aka eb):
TBA magnet in all its trippy bridge over the 5-moons-of-Zycron glory, full credits below….
We’ve also got a lovely 17-song playlist for you to rock along with.
What’s next?
Our next Meander is already on the books — on August 16 we dive into Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, the mega-Booker Prize winning classic. TBA was my first Atwood, and MC will be my first Rushdie. I’m really excited to kick this off and will check in with folks as we get closer — it would be great to have you along for the ride.
What’s also next?
I was wondering what folks are reading post TBA? If you’re inspired, let’s use the thread to share a book or two on our lists that we plan to tackle in the next stretch weeks….
Thanks to all for being part of this excellent crew. These are strange and challenging times, flat out. I’m glad though to spend part of these strange times reading great books in smallish increments with all of you….
best!
-Cecil
Magnet credits….
The magnet was produced from modified versions of the following images:
Roadway View Looking East—Sprague Bridge. 1988. Edwin G. Cordes (creator).
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HAER WIS,29-ARM,1–1
Saturn’s moon (Titan) via Cassini Orbiter; visual and infrared mapping spectrometer.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Nantes/University of Arizona, PIA21923
O’Followell, L. (1908). Le Corset. Radiographie (grandeur naturelle) du corset cambre devant (vue de dos) [Radiography (life size) of the arched corset in front (back view). PLATE II].
Kicking of the “what I’m reading next” thread for those interested, I’m about halfway through “There, There” by Tommy Orange (a great debut, based in my beloved Oakland….)
https://www.amazon.com/There-novel-Tommy-Orange/dp/0525520376
After that I’m hoping to read The Buried Giant — my first Kazuo Ishiguro — stoked about that. 🙂
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N6PCXME/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2
What about youse?
-Cecil
Now that’s a magnet!
Currently Reading:
“All About Love” – Bell Hooks. Essays on, well, love.
“Magdalene” – Marie Howe. Big fan of Howe’s poetry. I came to this collection after hearing this:
https://onbeing.org/poetry/magdelene-the-seven-devils/
“The Collected Schizophrenias” – Esme Weijun Wang. Essays on the author’s experience with mental illness. Came to this after reading “Hidden Valley Road” this spring, which was interesting in terms of the subject, but not, in my opinion, particularly well written.
It’s was a blast, fellow meanders, until the next one!
“Winter’s Tale” by Mark Helprin. Because there’s no better time than a pandemic to tackle 700+ page books that’s you’ve been putting off for years. (Beautifully written story. Only ~200 pages in, but enjoying it immensely.)
Oooh, Rushdie! I’m looking forward to this.
I’m currently reading “Where the Crawdads Sing” — Delia Owens…just started it so I can’t offer a summary or thumbs up/down yet.
Since I wasn’t around for the old deathmarches, I’ve been slowly working my way through that reading list. I’ve just finished mile one (and footnote 38) of Infinite Jest.
bold move!
-Cecil
Another excellent Meander, Cec!
Crazy coincidence, I will start The Buried Giant, also my first Kazuo Ishiguro book, shortly.
I’m also reading a backlog of National Geographic magazines (my fave mag), natgeo positioned mid-2017.
Looking forward to Rushdie’s MC Meander. Can we refer to the book as MC Rushdie?
Advance Rushdie fun fact, echoing MA sci fi:
-Salman Rushdie’s first published novel was Grimus. It was released in 1975 and did not gain much acclaim or attention from critics. It was a partial science fiction story.
Meanderers unite!
Signing up for the next meander. Also thanks for leaving some time in between meanders, that’s good for my staple of books waiting to be read.
Just started Dirty Havana Trilogy, a book that I’ve been meaning to read since my trip to Cuba in 2017. It’s intense, and dirty.
Can’t wait for the Rushdie. I’ve tried Rushdie before and couldn’t make it through past the first third of another of his titles. This time, I’ll count on my fellow meanderers, with their collective interpretive genius, to help me through the rough patches!
I’m currently reading the Mirror and the Light, the third in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy by Hilary Mantel (the other two being Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies). Political intrigue and backstabbing, misogyny, racism, protests, plagues, topped off by random beheadings. What could be better following the Blind Assassin!
that’s my next ‘un
I’m just approaching the end of the first book of Don Quixote. If you don’t see me in mid-August, assume I got stuck in La Mancha.
What next? I’ve started We Are Not Ourselves, an Irish-American Family Saga, but not sure I’ll get through it. Maybe I’ll return to Memoirs of a Geisha.
My very first post-TBA was a chapbook of “Ringtime,” a short story by Thomas M. Disch, who was an actual science-fiction writer likely to be of interest to at least some Meanderers.
Made it! Great ending. Happiness is a garden walled with glass… worth the journey!
Made it! Things hinted at early proved true (who was narrating what, etc.), but I still found things revelatory at the end. Strongly political in its own way.