My Antonia

I just finished reading My Antonia by Willa Cather. It started slow, but once I was engaged in the characters and setting, it really took my imagination back to the late 1800's and early 1900's. I could really feel the atmosphere of those times. Not just the physical and lifestyle differences, but the differences in social interaction among people, when day-to-day life was less complex, but perhaps harder in comparison to the things we take for granted nowadays.

I can't remember the last time I read a fictional book for enjoyment. It may have been on occasion during high school or college, but I don't think so. I think it goes back to 4th or 5th grade. Once reading becomes forced and "graded", it loses its luster. After taking up non-fiction reading immediately after graduation from Carolina back in May of 2005, I really learned to love reading again. Especially when they were books I wanted to read, and when I began reading them for good reason. I shall revisit those books in future postings. But my reading of My Antonia can be attributed to a friend who let me borrow it in a sort of pact we made. As a reader of non-fiction, and he being one of fiction, I suggested we trade fiction for non-fiction as to advance both of our interests. I think there should be a good balance between the reading of fiction and non-fiction, to balance the functioning of the right and left brains; in essence, balancing the rational, analytical mind with the creative, uninhibited mind. I intend to strike this balance as I move forward in life. Thanks Chris, for helping me begin to tilt the mental scale back to my personal equilibrium.