Blue mooooon, you found me not at all alone, because I was online

[oursin]

I really think more could be made of this, but it is a slight movement in the right direction when an article on loneliness among the relatively young can say:

using technology to help you meet new people can be beneficial. And if for whatever reason you are unable to venture outside, the internet can bring solace. Mumsnet has been "an absolute godsend" for Maddy Matthews, 19, a student with a two-month-old daughter. Since the birth, she rarely sees her university friends and her partner works most evenings. "In the first few days, I was up late at night feeding her and I was worried I was doing something wrong. Being able to post on Mumsnet has helped me feel less alone".

Point thahr misst in the usual smack at FaceBook (not that I have any particular axe to grind for a not particularly satisfactory space): 'a study of social media at the University of Michigan last year found that... Facebook reduces life satisfaction': as I have remarked, FB tends to be about superficial interactions involving people already in one's social circle, rather than a place to meet new people who share one's interests/concerns/current situation. Duh.

***

However, it is the same old usual moonlight shining drearily down on this list of One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985. There are some odd choices there generally (Y O Y Chandler but not Hammett, WTF?), but do we not, my dearios, get the distinct sense that once we are past Mark Twain, the American Novel is SRS BZNZ?

Or, should I be making out this sort of list, which is, do admit, highly unlikely even when talking about areas which are more my Mastermind Special Subject than the Great AN, I would very definitely be including Anita Loos's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Because while a girl can't go on laughing all the time, neither does she want to go on being SRS all the time either.

Comments

[nenya_kanadka]

Whenever someone mentions Blue Moon, I hear it sung in the voice of Babe the pig from the eponymous movies. And then I remember that his farmer also played Zephram Cochrane and I don't know how to feel about that.

[kore]

If you ask me (nobody did, but anyway -- )'Blondes' is right up there with the best of Lardner -- it's so underrated!

[hunningham]

God save us all from having to read the 100 best of anything. I'd be much more interested in this article, if, while earnestly compiling a list of the 100 Best American Novels, our reader decided that he detested Henry James or Hemingway beyond all measure. Or if he fell seriously in love with Faulkner and was trying to convince us all why Faulkner was bestest bestest eva. But that's not what we have.

[hunningham]

This article How to Read More: The Simple System I’m Using to Read 30+ Books Per Year also rubbed all my fur the wrong way. Reading books to make yourself a better person, or to invest in yourself - just no. Also the author makes reading twenty pages sound like spending time on a treadmill, or eating a breakfast of raw vegetables.

[auriaephiala]

I read a book because I'm interested in it, and almost always also because I enjoy reading it. In some cases, I learn from a book or better appreciate another point of view, or learn to fight that POV. But I'm still the same person.

I do not read to make myself a better person. Volunteering at your local seniors centre or homeless shelter is a more effective way of doing that.

[hunningham]

Volunteering at your local seniors centre or homeless shelter is a more effective way of doing that

Lightbulb moment. The blogs about making yourself a better person are all about work harder, read improving books, exercise more, make your bed every morning - I don't think I've ever read one which talked about improving yourself or becoming a better person by helping others, or getting involved in your local community.

[oursin]

Apparently there is a movement towards making oneself mega-healthy by constantly measuring and monitoring intake, output, etc. Rather than, you know, improving the environment or health care systems. Ugh.

[oursin]

I envisage him reading latest business guru, on his treadmill, while chugging down a kale smoothie with extra woowoo ingredients. Not getting absorbed in Only A Novel.

[taelle]

I would like to (find time) to read more books - my TBR pile is scary - but since when thirty-some is a lot of books to read in a year?

[calimac]

As the list of 100 includes several books I read and hated - more than the number I read and liked, actually - I shall be paying it no mind.