Picked up a book by Grace Lin called The Year of the Dog, about the life of a Chinese-American girl. It's entertaining, with bits of Chinese and culture thrown in. Though fiction (?) it appears to be somewhat autobiographical. I'm especially looking forward to the sample Chinese legends in back, though being the good reader that I am, I've decided to put them off until I read the whole book - wait, upon further inspection, that section is, in fact, a sneak-peek at the sequel, The Year of the Rat. But there is a Chinese legend tossed in, perhaps told by the main character's mother. That's how the story is written, with other stories and asides mixed in!
For my other bit of fun, I turned back to my mainstay for literary-ness, C.S. Lewis. I recently received The Pilgrim's Regress as a gift and, seeing the invitingly short chapters, decided to give it a whirl. Lewis never disappoints! 'Tis the tale of Lewis' own conversion to Christianity and is, naturally, witty to the core. Though written in his usually sarcastic and clever style, Lewis invokes The Pilgrim's Progress' manner of naming people and things, from Mr. Humanist to the wishy-washy Mr. Halfways, and the harrowing Reason to old Wisdom. If I remember, though, Mr. Bunyan was pretty clear with his characterization and his prose, and by contrast I find myself creeping and stumbling along with Lewis this time. Most of the book is easy to follow, though the purpose to Mr. Neo-Angular and the lengthy discourses with Wisdom threw me off a bit. I'm told that Lewis wrote this hastily after being dragged "kicking and screaming into the kingdom" and that he later regretted not taking his time. If that is the case, I can understand where some of the allegory and biblical apology might have gotten bogged down. But no matter. Lewis is Lewis and where else can you read the line, "But Gugly made no reply, for Gugly could not talk, owing to an accident in infancy." Brilliant!
