What I've been reading

Close Range: Brokeback Mountain and Other Stories
by Annie Proulx

"Tales of loneliness, quick violence, and the wrong kinds of love. Each of the portraits in Close Range reveals characters fiercely wrought with precision and grace."

All set in the wildness of Wyoming, the stories resemble one another in the setting and the general indignities of living in a harsh land, usually without enough money, reliant on climate and neighbours and forever on the brink of personal, emotional, financial or psychological catastrophe. There weren't any heart-warming tales of people getting along just fine, but she always writes interesting and believable characters even if you don't warm to them. And it's astonishing that the essence of the award-winning film is all contained here in just 35 pages. Unlike many film adaptations, in this case the story and the film are equally great.

Not About Being Good: A Practical Guide to Buddhist Ethics
by Subhadramati

"Buddhist ethics are not about conforming to a set of conventions, not about "being good" in order to gain material, social, or religious rewards. Instead, living ethically springs from the awareness that other people are essentially no different from ourselves."

I really liked this basic book on ethics, mainly because she uses such good examples. I borrowed it from someone else in the group and I'm slightly inclined to buy my own copy, but not enough to do it at the moment.

The New York Trilogy
by Paul Auster

"In each story the search for clues leads to remarkable coincidences in the universe as the simple act of trailing a man ultimately becomes a startling investigation of what it means to be human."

These were three strangely interconnected stories, each containing one or more characters from the other stories and one even including the author as a character. It was a clever device and I almost wanted more of it, even though it made the plots slightly confusing. This is one of the books on my 'classic' list, and there's another one on there by the same author that I might try.

Music & Silence
by Rose Tremain

"In the year 1629, a young English lutenist named Peter Claire arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV's Royal Orchestra. From the moment when he realises that the musicians perform in a freezing cellar underneath the royal apartments, Peter Claire understands that he's come to a place where the opposing states of light and dark, good and evil, are waging war to the death."

A long book but an enjoyable one, a saga masquerading as a historical novel by being set in Denmark in the 17th century. No complaints about this one.