reading

Using means I shall not reveal publically, I have managed to get entire collections of works by some of my favourite South American writers in pdf form on my laptop. This is important because it would be unprofessional to be seen in the office, or in an important conference, sitting and reading a book. Yet for some reason, it is absolutely normal to be sitting in those same places looking intensely at the computer. Furthermore, as these pdfs are in a language few in England speak, I think I can just about get away with it. Of course I am meant to be doing other things, but with the state of the world economy in freefall….i wouldn't get too far even if I exhausted myself trying.
So I started with Carlos Fuentes's Los anos con Laura Diaz. I love Fuentes, but this book leaves me cold. It is a sweeping 20th century epic, as Laura finds herself witness to every revolution and upheaval of the age. Yet while there are fascinating moments, the book reads more like an attempt to fictionalise a history text than a story, set in a historic setting. Too many of the characters are flat, more symbols of their era than believable personalities. So, when they die, I find myself not caring in the slightest.
So I go back and reread Aura, one of Fuentes' older works. It is really a novella, so I finish it in the afternoon. It is one of the creepiest stories I know. I first read it back when I was in school, and I marvel now that the teachers dared give such a work to a bunch of teenagers. I doubt they would today. Tomorrow, feeling an urge for some pop culture influence, I think I shall move on to Manuel Puig
Reading Los anos con Laura Diaz reminded me a bit too much in its aftertaste of a film I saw recently, Clint Eastwood's production Gran Torino. Like Fuentes' book, this film, should have been a real masterpiece. Yet…somehow too many of the characters remain flat, never really evolving into people I care about. So while you stay riveted to the plot just to see how it will all end, the feeling isn't there somehow.
Yet such was not the case with Revolutionary Road, which I saw after arriving jet lagged back in London. Possibly one of the best films I have seen in the past year, every character here is grimly believable. It is not an easy film to watch, but it was certainly worth it, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a good film.
And if anyone has any nice thick books in pdf to recommend me, I shall be more than grateful.