the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell

I've been working on correcting my educational gaps off and on for a year now. Perhaps the best way to get an education is to be an autodidact, but I know there is too much to be said for really good teachers who help you see the brilliance of some writings, and there's definitely much to be said for having unlimited access to JSTOR.

Ooooooh but I do miss JSTOR.

In less than a year, access will again be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine.

Right. So. I read stuff that I should have at some point, stuff that most people read under threat of academic failure. Considering how much time I've spent in school studying English and the liberal arts, it's absolutely stunning to me that I escaped without ever having to read, oh, Dante's Divine Comedy, Iliad (or Odyssey), Aenead, The Stranger, any Hemingway, The Great Gatsby, anything by Ovid, Machiavelli's The Prince, anything by Dostoevsky, The Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, Lord of the Flies, Huckleberry Finn, anything by J.R.R. Tolkien, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, any Robert Louis Stevenson, All Quiet on the Western Front or Red Badge of Courage, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Siddhartha, Paine's Common Sense, Lolita, Tristram Shandy, Beowulfferchrissakes, Infinite Jest, Things Fall Apart, The Communist Manifesto, The Golden Bough, Morte d'Arthur, and and and.

What was I spending all my time reading, then? There are other classics out there that I did manage to lay my hands on, read, and actually emerge at the other end with a heightened respect for the writer and an earned love of the work. Shakespeare, of course. Milton's Paradise Lost is a good example of a book I was forced to read, but by the end of it, it flowed--much like Shakespeare, really...you just have to keep walking and the fog will clear--and I only then realized how bloody brilliant it is. Tons of Romantic poets. Emerson. Thoreau. Conrad. Kafka. Plato. Hume. Hm. Dickens. George Eliot. T.S. Eliot. Harlem Renaissance works. A little bit of Russian stuff (although I still haven't read Gogol's Dead Souls). Conrad's The Secret Agent. Pilgrim's Progress, parts I and II (godhelpme).

At home, I read more classics, occasionally, or books that don't really qualify but maybe they should, like Leon Uris' Exodus. 1984. Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. A Tale of Two Cities. Madame Bovary. Jude the Obscure. Oh...the bible, of course. :)

When I began teaching at USAFA, I filled in more gaps, reading more Hemingway than I ever wanted to (and still just not liking his work, but it hasn't been for lack of trying), Beowulf, Iliad. Toni Morrison, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Heart of Darkness.

I remember my boss, early in my employment there, being deeply concerned that I had not read so many of the classics. The book he focused on when he said this? Huckleberry Finn, of all things.* I had read a lot of Mark Twain over the years. Tom Sawyer was probably his best work of fiction, in my opinion, but I far prefer his nonfiction (Innocents Abroad and his Autobiography). So in this case, I'd read the right author but not the book my boss thought was key.

* If I had to suggest a book that is a must-read for an English teacher at the Air Force Academy, I think I'd go with Catch-22 or maybe All Quiet on the Western Front. Y'know?

There's a reason he thought it key, of course. It is, after all, listed in almost every "Books you should have read in college" or "Books you simply must read before you die" lists. But I read it and found it both annoying and imminently forgettable. But TONS OF PEOPLE SAY YOU SHOULD READ IT. Ok.

I'm not faulting him here. He was and is both a dedicated and inspiring scholar as well as the best boss I ever had. I have no doubt that he finds if not entertainment, at least literary value in the work. So do many, many other people, apparently. It's just lost on me.

Which brings me to my next point: just because these are all classics doesn't mean everyone will or "should" like them. I've already admitted that Hemingway and I are just on different planets; I simply don't understand what's so great about his writing. I've read much of it as well as far more criticism on it than your average monkey, so I know what he brought to the table, etc. It's just too minimalist for me, I guess.

I've also read some Dickens here and there (Bleak House, Great Expectations), and while I love his sense of humor, it's painfully clear to me that he was being paid by the word. Also, his scenes dripped with melodrama. Melodrama sold--and sold handsomely--in Dickens' time, and is still popular with some people, but I don't care for it. We all have our personal tastes, and we are not required to like anything simply because "it's a classic!"

So once I got to Izmir, I started reading stuff I wanted, just for pleasure. Some of this stuff is classic; some is not. I make no apologies (nor should you) about my choices in reading material. If I decide to (re)read every Harry Potter book before I watch the latest HP film, more power to me. I'm enjoying being in a well-created world by an excellent writer. Or...Twilight. I haven't read this, but perhaps I'll give it a go soon, and if you think it is or should be beneath me, you're a snob and you can stuff it.

So I've read Catch-22, which I absolutely love. 100 Years of Solitude was Marquez-amazing. I tried and tried to read The Golden Bough, but finally gave up. I think I was a third of the way through, maybe. It's a good one to keep for reference. I've tried to read Morte d'Arthur, but it's not exactly gripping; its collection of very short stories make for good bathroom reading, though, and if you're interested in English literature, it's good background to have.

I went through a few Terry Pratchet Diskworld novels, then read The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. Then The Hobbit, which I realized I should have read when I was 10, but I didn't. The voice is perfect for a child, and the humor is delightful. This book isn't really adult literature, though. Yesterday, I started The Divine Comedy, which is interesting so far. I'll probably hit Lord of the Rings next, then maybe sample some Dostoevsky.

But literature isn't the only thing my education has missed. Oh no. I tend to be perpetually out of touch with popular culture, particularly since I don't watch television and rarely go to movies or rent them.

Right. Digest that a minute. How much am I missing by not watching TV? Not much, really, in my estimation, but there are some really good shows out there that are worth watching (and coincidentally, none of them have anything to do with "reality").

I just finished watching all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was just an awesome show. It's been over a while, so I didn't have to do that whole watch-one-show-then-wait-a-week-or-until-the-season-premier-to-see-what-happens-next thing, too. I've decided to sample some Dr. Who (the original series), as well. I've never seen an episode of this show, but I've heard about it all my life. I think I'm missing something important, or at least a lot of fun.

I should catch up on my Dexter soon, too. I stopped following the show a couple of seasons ago. (Also? The books are great fun, particularly for Englishy types like me. Highly recommend.) And Bones. And probably Lie to Me. And 21 Rock. The Office.

Is there other good stuff out there I'm missing that I should be aware of? Like Good Christian Bitches, maybe? American Horror Story? What else? I'm collecting suggestions.

(I guess I could also be working on my dearth of science education, but it's hard to find stuff that's written well enough to engage me yet helpful in my dangerously-lacking science education.)

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