White And Nerdy

I just finished reading Stephen King's book "Cell" which I enthusiastically give two thumbs down. I lost interest somewhere in the middle of the novel, but felt obligated to finish. (I started the book sometime in early August, if that's any indication) . The premise is a little creepy, yet completely unrealistic. Someone, somewhere created some sort of sonic wave that transmitted through cell phone currents so that whenever anyone answered or spoke on a cell phone, they turned into a nocturnal zombie like creature with no regard for anyone else and is lulled to sleep with soft elevator-esque music. The three main characters travel from Boston to northern Maine to flee for safety. Oh, did I mention the zombies can read minds too? The ending was sappy but didn't tie up any loose ends and never really explained the origin of the "boom". Maybe it's because I'm just not into science-fiction type reading or movies, but this book was a snooze. I used to be an avid reader of Stephen King, and especially loved "Dolores Claiborne" and "Misery". (Both movie remakes, by the way, are flawless). "Cell" seems to be a throwback to King's earlier book "Desperation" or even "The Regulators" (written under Richard Bachman). Both of which have a similar world-ending science-fiction feel.

But, with the completion of this book, my summer reading pile is officially completed (with the exception of a book about atheism, which reads more like a textbook than a novel, so that was just skimmed for ammunition).

My newest book is somewhat of a classic by Nobel Prize winner Herman Hesse "Siddhartha", which is a story about a young boy in India who meets the Buddah and eventually becomes enlightened himself. It's a short book, and was recommended to me by a colleague. I also saw it on a list of "life changing books" somewhere, but I think that might be a little too much pressure for me in 120 pages.

After "Siddhartha" I plan to start "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac. I never knew much about Kerouac until earlier last month when it seemed almost every magazine or newspaper I picked up had an article about the 50th anniversary of this book. Kerouac became big with the "Beat" movement in the 50s, along with Allen Ginsberg. ("Howl" by the way is probably one of my most favorite things ever written). I always thought the Beat generation was very interesting, and actually, when I was in Ecuador got to meet an author who was big there at that time. A very cool experience. (Insert finger snapping here).