So today, I posed myself an easier challenge. I said, "Self, choose your 3 favorite books. Numbers 1 and 2 are for the ages. Number 3 can change as the years go by. The first 2 were easy for me. Number 1 is TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, which I believe is the greatest book ever written. There is so much in the story about children, and friendship, and family, and courage, and doing the right thing, and being an adult, and on and on. And of course, for me anyway, the amazing character Boo Radley, a sort of literary eye and hand of God. Number 2 is OF MICE AND MEN. I love the story, but my favorite aspect is the wonderful simplicity of style. I think it's a textbook in developing simple settings and in writing dialogue. Interesting, that my first two books have often been banned by libraries and schools, MOCKINGBIRD for racial issues, OF MICE AND MEN mainly for Curly's wife, aka "the tart."
One of the earliest banned books was THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, which is still being banned. HUCK wasn't banned at first for the way it dealt with race, though. It was first banned because the characters were unclean, grammar-challenged lowlifes.
HUCK FINN, although I really love it, isn't #3 on my short list. It didn't even make my list of 15. Maybe that's because I could never manage to teach HUCK as well as I wanted to. For now I think I will choose WATERSHIP DOWN even though I forget it yesterday. Is there something strange about my identifying with rabbits, here? Lennie wanted "to tend the rabbits, George,"and WATERSHIP DOWN is full of them. Also, I don't know that WATERSHIP DOWN was ever banned, but maybe. After all, you know what those rabbits are always doing.
I'd love to hear other people's top three!! Remember #3 is always subject to change.
Sad news department, we found out this morning that the Old Hotel Cafe will be closing at the end of the month or thereabouts. It's really sad, because it's a great place, run by great people, and it's where we go every Saturday for breakfast. Apparently a cafe just can't make it in that location. It also leaves another empty storefront in Chittenango, and that fact belongs in the sad news department, too. Also, the Anthony house and the building that housed so many people's favorite restaurant, the Canteen, are going under the wrecker's ball. I understand that the large lot will be offered for speculation buying. I won't comment on the franchise I hope DON'T want to build there.
What Chittenango village really needs to thrive are some nice apartments in the village. The new homes are all to the west of downtown, and as a result, people who live there tend to do their buying on the way home from Syracuse. As a result, village business have a hard time flourishing.
If I were rich, I'd buy up a bunch of property that runs back to the creek on the west side of Genesee Street from just north of the Blue Barbecue. I'd knock down the old buildings and build apartment houses on stilts, like the amazing beach houses in the Outer Banks. Park your car underneath your apartment, and in the event of the creek going over its bank, you drive your car away, but your apartment and furnishings are high and dry. Plus the apartment house yard can go nearly back to the creek and abut the Creek Walk. Too bad I'm not rich.
Finally, as we are going to take care of some family stuff, I won't be blogging until Wednesday. The next writing thing I'm going to do is develop a cover letter to try to market ARTHUR REDUX with. I'll use the letter as part of my blog.
Be thinking about your list of 3!
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