tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post8181312797714291376..comments2024-02-08T05:04:18.484-08:00Comments on J'S THEATER: La Recherche du Temps du Commute + 75% Have Read 1 Book Last Year + Summer SoundtrackJohn Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-80232629931323985202007-08-24T13:28:00.000-07:002007-08-24T13:28:00.000-07:00Kai, I did finish The Road, and thought it McCarth...Kai, I did finish <I>The Road</I>, and thought it McCarthy's most reader-friendly book and one of his most moving. It is also his most transparently moral text, though the ending seems to force the issue in a way that wasn't necessary or earned. But then again, this has been his best seller too, so perhaps he decided it was necessary to take the final step. I really wished he hadn't, though.<BR/><BR/>Your anecdote is funny. I often see folks in cafés taking notes, intensely reading--well, some cafés. In most people are tapping away on computers. Perhaps the one I'm thinking most of has no wireless, so you have to be writing or editing something rather than websurfing if your laptop is open.<BR/><BR/>You're also right about the additional hassles of crowds, noise, etc. The bustle doesn't bother me so much; I still find it thrilling. When I commuted to Providence I'd take Amtrak, and Penn Station ALWAYS was a bit of mess, especially after 9/11, which was supposed to be my first day of classes! I used to love to change trains at the World Trade Center, but I cannot get the feeling of it being a tomb out of my head. I usually try to rush through there as quickly as possible. The worst by far is O'Hare Airport, which is always crowded, has long lines, requires you to dodge those passenger assistance carts, and constantly blares with semi-audible announcements about delayed flights. It's giving me chills just thinking about it now.John Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-62090033565453806572007-08-23T06:40:00.000-07:002007-08-23T06:40:00.000-07:00Oh, so you have read The Road now? I see your opi...Oh, so you have read The Road now? I see your opinion of it squares with mine (oh, that ending!! What was he thinking?)<BR/><BR/>Yesterday I saw an astonishing sight: a handsome young man reading and energetically jotting notes into a journal. There was eye contact, smiles, etc., and I became unreasonably hopeful. But, of course, he was only a Christian, and reading the Book of Mormon, which he attempted to pass off to me ("It's free. Read it!") I wonder how many gay nerds go through this--it's not the first time for me.<BR/><BR/>I once lived on the Upper Westside and commuted to work near Union Square. Going through Time Square every morning to change trains, and finally arriving at the school, traumatized by the crowds, I was well primed to passionately envy a colleague who moved within three blocks of the school and could roll out of bed 15 minutes before teaching his first class. He claimed (believeably) that the move had "added years to his life"--it didn't occur to me at the time that he might have meant that literally. For me, it's not so much the commuting (as you point out, one can use the time productively): it's the elbows, the jostling, the teenagers bellowing into cell phones, the anxiety of delays and late arrivals ...<BR/><BR/> <BR/><BR/>Kai in NYCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com