Weekend Guide: 11.05.2021
when passion is both meek and wild
I buy a lot of books. If I am in a new place my first google search is “used book store”. I am disappointed when this search retrieves no results. I am overjoyed when I get a hit. The byproduct of this favorite past time of mine is that I have accumulated a ton of fucking books.
My bookshelves are overflowing. Books line the walls of my office, slowly crawling their way up to the ceiling. I am being overrun, sinking in the quicksand. I am being swallowed whole by a paperback wave.
When I think about the why - it’s the potential. The idea that somewhere amidst the colors, the chaos, is my next great love affair.
In preparation for a few days away from the homestead I grabbed a book off of the floor of my office. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.
This cover does not speak to me at all. But I am familiar with Richard Yates. The Easter Parade may be in my all time top ten. First wave Weekend Guide subscribers will surely remember our discussion around The Easter Parade and it’s sub-genre, devastating fiction. Needless to say, Yates delivers.
You can probably figure what this one is all about. Suburban unrest on the East Coast. My favorite type of novel. When published, in 1961, The New York Times called it “a deeply troubling book”. I agree. It is deeply troubling. It is fucked up. I love this book.
I now have to watch the 2008 film adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Already queued up for the weekend.
I reached for something that I wasn’t so sure about. It came up roses. Greatness is only right around the corner. Passion can be both meek and wild.