Published : 2021 || Format : print || Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El
Not Christmas, not Thanksgiving, not any of the other holidays, but it's the Fall Back day. The clocks in most of the US have gone back an hour today, so that means there's an extra hour in the day to be used up any way one wants to. Ever since I came to the US years ago, I have always looked forward to this one day. I never made big plans for that hour; I just had the feeling one gets when you unexpectedly come into some good fortune. Being an introvert, my favorite way of spending it was by reading, or doing stuff online; and some years, especially during my university years, I used it up by catching up on lost sleep.
It takes a good long while before my body clock syncs up with the actual time, so I probably will end up sleeping earlier and starting each day sooner. I'm so lazy that whenever I make resolutions to wake up earlier each day, I generally plan to start the resolution on Fall Back day. It isn't soon before the rest of the universe conspires to upset my plan, but hey, at least I can't say that I didn't try.
For the record, my absolute worst day is the Spring Forward day. It feels almost vicious to have a day with just 23 hours. When has anyone ever felt that even 24 hours was enough for a day? Eight months ago, I rued about this clock jumping tradition in the US, and from the comments, it doesn't look like anyone likes the concept either. I doubt the lawmakers like it even! It's one of the most disrupting practices ever. Even though I generally like Fall Back day, I don't like how dark it is by the time I get home in the evening. Looking forward to a bunch of sweater-clad, dark, gloomy evenings - yay! #sarcarsm
This Friday, as soon as I left work, we had a big issue crop up - I spent all of Friday evening and Saturday morning working to resolve it, so I'm now scavenging the remains of what feels like a much shorter weekend. I will have to clock in couple more hours today, but I'm trying to postpone that as much as possible. Guess where my extra Fall Back hour is going. Hmph.
Last week, I started reading The Martian and The Blind Assassin. I had already listened to half of The Martian, five months back, but never quite finished it. I loved the half I listened to, so now I'm looking forward to reading it. Also, Trish mentioned last week that there were lots of exclamations! I picked up The Blind Assassin to feed my long-time desire to read an Atwood book but always feeling intimidated by the idea of it. I'm only a few chapters in, but what a delight it is so far!
For the rest of today, I don't have any major plans, except some work and some shopping. I'm still knitting stuff on and off and looking forward to wearing all these handknits and dressing up my folks in them too. What do you have planned for your Sunday?
Comments
I hate DST too, though. The whole concept. South Korea doesn't use DST and their economy is doing just fine, I wish everywhere else would catch on.
I've heard that Bad Feminist would be better read a little at a time so it doesn't come off as so repetitive. Which is a bummer.
Yes, totally understand what you mean about Bad Feminist. I really enjoyed the first half of her essays but became so discouraged and irritated the further along she got. And this: "I believe the best way to solve gender bias problems is to get the men involved, but no one likes to be put in a corner and berated at." Yes. I think this is a big failure of a lot of feminists. It's a tough Catch-22. I'll look forward to your final thoughts.
The more I hear about The Martian, the more curious I get about it. But whenever I read the description, I am turned off. I may eventually read it. I know it's well liked. I hope you enjoy the Blind Assassin. It was a slow read for me, but I loved Atwood's writing style. I look forward to reading more by her at some point in the future.
I haven't read Bad Feminist, but it seems to be causing a bit of a stir in terms of discussion. Trish's review of it made me add it to my wish list. The bias against men you mention of the author's does concern me though. I'm curious in what context she's getting down on men. I think the majority of feminists, like myself (and my husband too--he's a feminist as well), do not have anything against men in general nor do we think of men as failures. Anyway, like I said, I haven't read the essays, and so wonder what my take would be on it. Like with any group or philosophy, there are always varying opinions within. But in my mind the whole anti-man theme is another misconception perpetuated, in part, by those with more extreme views. It makes me sad.
I hope you have a great week! I have a doctor's appointment in the morning, and am hoping I can get hubby to buy me breakfast. We'll see.