Hemingway Stinks
Ok. I tried. I REALLY tried. But all I could bear was the first nine chapters of "The Sun Also Rises." I kept waiting and waiting, but "Ol' Sol" never so much as peeped over the horizon.
There was a clever turn of the phrase here, and a subtle treatment of character there. At least, in the first 3 pages. Then he started into the dialogue. Long, boring segments of banal, insipid talk. I thought, "Surely something of interest (not to mention a vague thread of coherence or plot) will come along. I just haven't read enough, yet." But, alas, I read too much. Approximately nine chapters too much.
Why is this fellow considered a famous author? Why was he published, more than once? Call me an ignoramus, just don't ask me to read Hemingway again. "Ma's" verdict? Thumbs down.
Speaking of rejection, the biopsy this morning registered the smallest amount, "1a." There are several stages of possible rejection, and you can click on the different types to see examples, if you are hankering for a stroll down biology lane. The coordinator stressed to us that "1a" is considered nearly the same as zero rejection. No change in medication is indicated, and it is almost expected to show up at some point in time. Still, it has taken a bit of wind from our sails.
Loren said they took 7 samplings, instead of the usual 4 or 5. When the instrument actually attaches to the heart wall to collect a sample, the heart jumps around, can race a few beats, or can seem to stop altogether. It's a little disconcerting, but Loren says it didn't bother him quite so much this morning as on other occasions.
We did discover that Loren's cholesterol and triglycerides are up, so his dosage of Pravachol is being doubled to 40mg. But the doc's overall assessment was very good. "You're a rose," he encouraged. (I'm not sure what he had been reading. Possibly Shakespeare)
_______________
Pizza party in the Big House, tonight, courtesy of the Edward Pompeian family. He developed the idea for the Gift of Life Transplant House, out of his experience with his mother donating him a kidney. She still works here! They told me she is close to 80, but I'd say she looks more like 60.
His son, a sophomore in college, favored us with beautiful violin music, accompanied on the piano by his mother. Extremely pleasant listening. The Mennonite girls (plus one guy :-) sang Christmas carols in another dining room. Quite the festive occasion. Just the right atmosphere to make one feel like crying. It might have been knowing that the kids put up the Christmas tree without us, this evening. Sharon sent us a great picture of Tannenbaum "in process." As soon as she gets it on a website, I'll link it here.
Well, now, when the going gets tough, the tough get chocolate! Thank you, MoM! A little care package arrived in the mail today. A bag of Ghirardelli Squares of Dark Chocolate with White Mint Filling. Yum! And of course, the ever necessary staple, Dove's Dark Chocolates.
Good timing, MoM :-) I think God had a hand in this.
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There was a clever turn of the phrase here, and a subtle treatment of character there. At least, in the first 3 pages. Then he started into the dialogue. Long, boring segments of banal, insipid talk. I thought, "Surely something of interest (not to mention a vague thread of coherence or plot) will come along. I just haven't read enough, yet." But, alas, I read too much. Approximately nine chapters too much.
Why is this fellow considered a famous author? Why was he published, more than once? Call me an ignoramus, just don't ask me to read Hemingway again. "Ma's" verdict? Thumbs down.
Speaking of rejection, the biopsy this morning registered the smallest amount, "1a." There are several stages of possible rejection, and you can click on the different types to see examples, if you are hankering for a stroll down biology lane. The coordinator stressed to us that "1a" is considered nearly the same as zero rejection. No change in medication is indicated, and it is almost expected to show up at some point in time. Still, it has taken a bit of wind from our sails.
Loren said they took 7 samplings, instead of the usual 4 or 5. When the instrument actually attaches to the heart wall to collect a sample, the heart jumps around, can race a few beats, or can seem to stop altogether. It's a little disconcerting, but Loren says it didn't bother him quite so much this morning as on other occasions.
We did discover that Loren's cholesterol and triglycerides are up, so his dosage of Pravachol is being doubled to 40mg. But the doc's overall assessment was very good. "You're a rose," he encouraged. (I'm not sure what he had been reading. Possibly Shakespeare)
_______________
Pizza party in the Big House, tonight, courtesy of the Edward Pompeian family. He developed the idea for the Gift of Life Transplant House, out of his experience with his mother donating him a kidney. She still works here! They told me she is close to 80, but I'd say she looks more like 60.
His son, a sophomore in college, favored us with beautiful violin music, accompanied on the piano by his mother. Extremely pleasant listening. The Mennonite girls (plus one guy :-) sang Christmas carols in another dining room. Quite the festive occasion. Just the right atmosphere to make one feel like crying. It might have been knowing that the kids put up the Christmas tree without us, this evening. Sharon sent us a great picture of Tannenbaum "in process." As soon as she gets it on a website, I'll link it here.
Well, now, when the going gets tough, the tough get chocolate! Thank you, MoM! A little care package arrived in the mail today. A bag of Ghirardelli Squares of Dark Chocolate with White Mint Filling. Yum! And of course, the ever necessary staple, Dove's Dark Chocolates.
Good timing, MoM :-) I think God had a hand in this.
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The Progeny
4 Comments:
I never did particularly well with Hemingway either. I've read "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea" and . . . no. He just doesn't do it for me. I kinda sorta halfway liked the latter of the two, but that was because it was short enough to finish in one sitting, I think. The former draaaaaaaaaagged. At the very beginning there was talk of blowing up a bridge, as if it would happen during the first 25 pages or so . . . 450 pages later, the book ended with it. Argh.
Maybe someday someone can teach me what all the fuss is about and I'll learn a little appreciation. But for now at least one English major shares your dislike . . .
--Blame Jared
Now that you've read some of it for yourself, I can honestly tell you that I hate Hemingway. I can think of a fairly long list of masochistic rites I would undertake before reading A Farewell to Arms again. Romantic authors tend to bother me, and Hemingway is the most exceptionally bothersome in my book. Try something else.
I'm glad. It was the English majors I was especially worried of offending.
Funny. I actually enjoyed A Farewell to Arms but couldn't make it through any other Hemingway novel. I think I liked the book because of the symbolism and such.
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