I've neglected this blog (and other things) for a few months because I've been sad. My best friend passed away from cancer in September, and I haven't gotten over it yet -- I imagine I never will.
Sorrow interferes in ways we can't imagine until we're stuck in its grasp. Anger steps in to help wreak a bit more havoc on the life and good intentions of an already sad person. Generally, it can pull a person deeper into an inescapable mire.
I felt like I was there for a while. Then, another tragedy happened, and I suddenly lost another great friend on Christmas Eve -- also to cancer. For a few days, I was utterly devastated with sorrow.
Then, I became very very angry. Yes, I know anger is one of the steps of the grieving process and that ultimately acceptance can see a person out of the anger. I accept that two of my dearest friends are gone, and I know that I will miss them for the rest of my life, but I'm still angry.
So, what does any of this have to do with reading? The anger I feel about losing two amazing people way too soon has compelled me to examine things that are important to me.
Here it is the first day of a new year, the day we often make resolutions for a better self. My resolutions are the same as they've been every year:
Write more!
Read more!
Ride more!
Roam more!
I fall short some years, but other times I do actually accomplish one or more of those goals. Where I feel I fall short the most often, though, is with my reading goal, and I'm tired of it. Reading matters to me, so why can't I make my goal? Sure, I have lots of excuses because of my busy life, but those are just excuses. So, I'm angry at myself.
About nine years ago I started writing a regular column about books. My plan was and still is to read all of the Pulitzer Prize winners of fiction, and I own them all, so it's very easy for me to get my hands on them. Yet, I still haven't read them all!
Since the first fiction (or novel) was awarded in 1918, there have been 90 winners in this category so far. In 1920, 1941, 1946, 1954, 1957, 1964, 1971, 1974, 1977, and 2012 no work of fiction was awarded the prize; thus, the reason for only 90 winners in a span of one hundred years.
Of those 90, so far I've read 52 of them. O.K., that's a decent share of the total, but what the hell's my problem?! I could easily have read them all by now.
In examining my record of reading, of which I keep a separate tally of the Pulitzers, I noticed that aside from the novel that almost everyone has read, To Kill a Mockingbird, I have completely ignored the winning books from the 1960s. What the heck?!
To Kill a Mockingbird won in 1961, and it won the nation's vote this past summer for the best-loved novel during the Great American Read. It's long been in my top five for favorite novels (books, really, since I tend to mainly read novels), and even though I can brag about having read this novel multiple times, I still haven't read any other winners from the 1960s!!! Good grief.
What's odd about me neglecting this decade is that it's the decade in which I was born. So, you'd think I would have had more of an interest in reading the nine books awarded during that time!
So, that's my main reading goal and resolution for this year -- I will read the eight other award winners from my birth decade. And many other books as well -- no way is my reading goal for a year only eight books!
I will be starting with the 1965 winner, The Keepers of the House, by Shirley Ann Grau, and I will be writing a column about it yet this month.
Here are the winners in the order in which they won:
1960 Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
1961 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
1962 The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor
1963 The Reivers by William Faulkner
1964 (no prize awarded in this category)
1965 The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
1966 Collected Stories by Katherine Anne Porter
1967 The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
1968 The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
1969 House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
Porter's Collected Stories is probably what I'll tackle after The Keepers of the House. They won't all become column pieces because I don't read the Pulitzers solely for that reason. I read them because they are a linear record of what was considered quality literature the years they were published.
I am a connoisseur of quality literature.
That is why so often my taste in books is not everyone's cup of tea. That is also why I struggle a lot with my own writing because while I love to read quality literature, I'm not capable of creating it -- at least, not yet.
I suspect that most Americans wouldn't recognize most of the above-mentioned books even though they were all Pulitzer Prize winners. To Kill a Mockingbird stands out, naturally, but the others have faded out of the nation's consciousness.
They won the Pulitzer for a reason, and it's that reason that keeps me (and others like me) reading these books. Yet, I keep letting myself get side-tracked! Aargh! No more, I say!
So, my anger at losing my friends has propelled me to stop dawdling and to complete my personal goal of reading all the Pulitzers of fiction. When the 2019 winner is announced this spring, I will purchase that book, add it to my collection and read it. No more dawdling!
Additionally, I will write more -- I have just released my second book, a collection of stories dedicated to my friend, Amy, who passed away in September. It's called State of Georgia . . . and Other Writings for anyone who is interested. I have other novels and books in various stages of writing, and I continue to record ideas for future pieces weekly.
I will ride more -- the weather, trips and other things really interfered with my motorcycle riding this past year. My bike is tired of being neglected.
I will roam more -- usually by now I have a summer trip planned. That isn't the case so far, so I'm a bit uncertain where my roaming will take me this year, but I will go somewhere I haven't been yet. I'm leaning toward the Grand Canyon or the southeast states -- maybe both!
If you've read all of this, thank you. If you care to join me with the Pulitzers of fiction from the 1960s, welcome aboard. If you have other quality literature you'd like to recommend for me to read, I welcome your suggestions.
Happy New Year and happy reading!
