Friday, June 01, 2007

City of the Dead

I'm home today because I just don't feel well at all. We've had a short work week because of Memorial Day but it's actually seemed like the longest week in a very long time.

The Brief History of the Dead: Kevin Brockmeier. I just finished this odd little book and completely enjoyed it until the end. I don't know what I was expecting from the ending, but it let me down somehow. In this book, people exist in three different stages: alive, living dead (not vampires but people who have died but there are still people living who remember them) and dead (those people with no living people who actually remember being with them). The city of the living dead sounds oddly very much like Manhattan. Things proceed there just like they would in a city of the living. People work, they love, they go out to eat -- they just don't age from the time they died. One day the entire city empties out except for a few people, so the ones left behind know something terrible must have happened in the land of the living. A pandemic has killed most of the people left on earth except one woman -- Laura Byrd. The story shifts between the city of the dead and Laura's life. I liked it but it's not a book for everyone.

Friday Shuffle

  1. Under the Bridge: Red Hot Chili Peppers from Greatest Hits
  2. Come Pick Me Up: Ryan Adams from Heartbreaker
  3. He's Mine: The Platters from Enchanted
  4. Anthony: Nickel Creek from Why Should the Fire Die?
  5. Ukulele Lady: Arlo Guthrie from Hobo's Lullaby
  6. Afrika: Angelique Kidjo from Black Ivory Soul
  7. Do: The White Stripes from The White Stripes
  8. Pissing in the Wind: Badly Drawn Boy from The Hour of Bewilderbeast
  9. Jacqueline: Franz Ferdinand from Franz Ferdinand
  10. (Da Le) Yaleo: Santana from Supernatural
Funny how those mp3 players get in moods. I haven't had The White Stripes shuffle up in a long time but they did last week and have been all week. Apparently my iPod is waiting in breathless anticipation for the release of Icky Thump!

8 comments:

sari said...

The book sounds interesting - I think I'll check it out when I'm done with the one I'm reading now.

I'm excited for the White Stripes as well!

Feel better!

Kristina said...

I'm so excited for the new album, too!

It's weird how certain things seem to shuffle up for me all the time, and others not at all. My iTunes is weird...

Dixie said...

I have the same happen to me. I'll shuffle up stuff over and over and bands I know I have tons of songs from never pop up.

nutmeg said...

I will have to check some White Stripes out I think as I have enjoyed Jack White's work on the Cold Mountain soundtrack and on Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose.

And sorry about the delay - writer's festivals and the like have got in my way - but Missy Higgins will be winging its way to you by Friday of this week!

Kathy said...

Thanks Nutmeg! I can't wait. I love Wayfaring Stranger by almost anyone but Jack White's version on the soundtrack to Cold Mountain is one of my favorites. The Stripes are different though. They sometimes have a rootsy flavor to them but sometimes they are pure garage rock. I have a "My Favorite White Stripes" cd that I made for a friend of mine. Would you like a copy?

BabelBabe said...

I LOVED Brief History, but felt the ending was...anticlimactic at best.

I haven't read brockmeier's other book but i want to; i really liked his writing.

Kathy said...

I know -- that ending was what let me down. Loved the book -- underwhelmed by the ending.

lazy cow said...

I was reading this at the same time as you (and I think we both restarted swimming on the same day)! I listened to this on CD, and found it haunting. Loved Laura's story, but yes, the ending was disappointing.