Einstein's Dreams

Like a ship ready to set sail, it must be christened on it's journey with a jolly smash of a champagne bottle. So must this new year start, by being christened with the turn of another page. I have no doubt that one of the two titan tasks seems foolish to accomplish, but I will continue it. I'm betting I'll only be able to read 2,000 books but it's worth a shot. For the first month, I plan on cramming in the shortest books ever written. I'd like to share with you the first book I've read in 2010.

What a start. I like this book not just because it's different, but that it challenges your imagination. The story revolves around Einstein working at a patent office. He has frequent dreams which reveal a new perception of time. In one chapter, time is like a circle, where we constantly repeat the same actions. In another, time runs backwards. In one, possibly one of my favorite chapters in the book, describes a period where people are always in motion but that the elusive time they seek to slow things down are nightengales that people must capture in jars. Isn't that inventive? While some may struggle with this book, which is only 124 pages and had very little dialogue, I found the book inspiring. It sticks with you after you read it. Alan Lightman sort of writes like Kevin Brockmeier in certain parts but it is a very fluid book with mind-bending vignettes. Pick it up and read it and, who knows, it may help you out of your writer's block. I plan to pick up his other book: Ghost. He amazed me with time, now let's see him wow me with his take on the supernatural.

The books I will tackle next are The strange case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Notes from the Underground, Casual Lex, No one belongs here more than you, and The Shack.

If any of you have a suggestion for any light reading, by all means let me know. Wanna cram my head with as much lit as possible.