I have a half-written post on finishing "The Loving Spirit," but I'm not exactly in the mood to finish it right now. However, since finishing that book, I have read "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk. I'll start by saying how funny it is that on two separate occasions I was approached on the subway while reading this book. The first time, I was standing in a crowded L train when I felt a tapping on my shoulder. Like a good New Yorker, I ignored this, not wanting to be disturbed. If someone needed me to move over, they should've figured that out sooner. If they had been comfortable the first half of the trip, they'd be fine the rest of the way. But when it was about 10 seconds before the train would be dumping out 90 percent of its passengers, the tap came again. I caved and look over. A muscle-head type says to me, "That's a great book. You should read 'Rant' -- r-a-n-t." As though I didn't know how to spell rant, or that I knew nothing of Chuck's other works. I smiled and acknowledged that yes, the book was good, and we each went our ways. The second time, I was on a less crowded N train when a slightly older, less muscle-head type says nearly the same thing, but instead recommends "Snuff" because "it's about a big orgy." Hmph. What else is there to say? If I were looking to meet a guy, this would be the way.
I did enjoy "Invisible Monsters." It was slow to get into, but I let myself be surprised by all the turns. It might be a lazy way to read a book, not overanalyzing anything at all, but I like the element of surprise. I don't really get much satisfaction in figuring out the riddles before they have a chance to reveal themselves. Especially in a book like this, where the riddles are revealed, never left to the reader's imagination. The closest I came was figuring out one major point one paragraph before it happened. I think that was the point at which I began to care about the characters. Each mystery revealed brings the reader closer to understanding.
So now I need to decide what to read next, and today I've created my own riddle. How long do you wait to read something that you've had a negative interaction with someone about? Each page you read is shadowed by this person in your head saying things to you about this book that you never wanted to hear. Maybe it isn't measured in time but number of books read in between. Maybe one or two more unrelated books will get me to the one(s) I'd really like to conquer but can't yet.
