Happy New Year! I hope that 2019 has gotten off to a good start for you and that you are enjoying some great reads to start the year off right. Here’s how things are progressing here.
Clash of Kings (George R.R. Martin) – The story has finally started to grab my imagination and I’ve found myself drawn into the pages. Even though this is a relatively quick read, I’ve not made as much progress as I would have liked because I’m absolutely ENTHRALLED by the Chopin biography. Current status: 252/728 pages (98 pages read this week.)
Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times (Alan Walker) – I cannot get enough of this book right now. I have always loved Chopin’s music and been interested in the Polish composer who found refuge in Paris, but this is the first time I am reading a thorough biography of the composer and his works. I find myself pausing at every turn to reflect and digest as much as I can. This leads to a slower reading pace, but I am thrilled with the experience and don’t want it to end any time soon.
Let me give you a sample of what I’m enjoying so much about Walker’s text. As an introduction to Chopin’s significant impact on piano repertoire, Walker provides the following commentary. I think you will see right away why I am really having a lot of fun with this well-written, insightful, and witty biography.
When Chopin arrived in the French capital, it was full of composer-pianists, each one vying with the others for a place of supremacy at the keyboard. ….. It did not take Chopin long to assess the situation in which he found himself, and he delivered an opinion from which he never wavered: “I really don’t know whether any place contains more pianists than Paris, or whether you can find anywhere more asses and virtuosos. Is there a difference?” (Alan Walker, Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times, 239-40.)
Yep….that’s the kind of commentary I need to keep my attention while helping me to connect and identify with the composer. Current status: 279/671 pages (126 pages read this week.)
For those of you who enjoy stats (I certainly do!), that’s 224 pages read this week and over 850 pages still to read in these massive tomes. I hope I can pick up the pace once I’m back in west Texas and my normal routine. If all goes as planned, I’ll begin my journey back to reality on Monday. Tune in next Friday to see how things turn out in my reading adventure.
Have a great week and enjoy your own reading view!
Kennith
Reading for Me 
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