Stories for the road:

Over the past couple of weeks I've taken advantage of my ample free time to do a lot of reading.  One of the most rewarding aspects of finally being done (for now) with my formal education is the great freedom it affords me to read and learn as I wish.  With that in mind, I have been both adding to and chipping away at a long list of books I have been meaning to read for some time now.  I've checked a couple of big ones off the list, but as many others have discovered, the more one reads, the more there is to be read.

Anyhow, both because I still have several large piles of library books and because I'll probably have significant chunks of unscheduled time while on the road, I'm bringing a bunch with me.  And although they are mostly a collection of randomly accumulated books from my bedside table, together they comprise a quintessential road reader -- perfectly curated for a few weeks kicking around the American continent:

You Can't Go Home Again - Thomas Wolfe

More or less self-explanatory.

A Time of Gifts - Patrick Leigh Fermor

About the author's months-long trek through Europe -- on foot.  Although my journey is both shorter and less compelling than his, perhaps I will be inspired to parlay my travels into a much longer adventure.

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

Although I'll be staying off the high seas, I suppose I am searching for something.  At the very least, it is one of the great American novels.

The Monkey Wrench Gang - Edward Abbey

Should I feel compelled to engage in any vandalism / beautification of the American Southwest.

Democracy in America - Alexis de Tocqueville

To discover, as many have, that so many of de Tocqueville's insights still hold true.


These should make for some good reading on the road.  We'll see how many I'm actually able to get through, as I always seem to imagine I'll have far more free time than I actually do.  Regardless, I'll get through a few of them, and perhaps if we're lucky these works of great stature will seep through my fingertips out onto the digital pages of this blog, for all to read.  A hopeful sentiment at best.