Smile at Strangers

Susan Schorn has written an entertaining, educational, and amusing memoir about the lessons learned in her practice of karate. I'm not a martial artist, I have no desire to be a martial artist, but I really like her writing style and her sense of humor, both of which are very approachable and relatable.

Schorn is an imperfect person (a real person, thank God), who uses what she learns in the dojo to deal with pushy people, disappearing contractors, family illness, and all the other little things that can annoy us. Along the way she also gives the reader some great hints for setting limits, finding personal strength, and making oneself feel easier in difficult situations. This is a good read that I enjoyed enough to want to read more from its author, so I'll be looking up Schorn's web site in the very near future.

Smile at Strangers

The Beautiful and Damned

Since I just finished reading a novel about Zelda Fitzgerald, I thought it fitting to read one of Scott's novels, so I picked up The Beautiful and Damned for my Nook at the library. I've read a bunch of his short stories and of course Gatsby, and Tender is the Night, and I loved all of them, so I thought I would love this, his second novel, as well.

I did not love this novel. I know, it's shocking, but it's true. In my opinion this novel just doesn't stand the test of time the way the others do. The language is stilted, the characters are unlikeable, and the story just feels very old-fashioned to me. I got about two-thirds of the way through and then my check-out expired and I just didn't renew it. I feel horrible about it, I do, but I just don't care anymore what happens to Anthony and Gloria Patch,  I just don't.

I'll try to read his first novel, This Side of Paradise, at some point. But I wonder if maybe I just prefer an older F. Scott Fitzgerald (although he never did get that old). We'll see. But I'm damned disappointed that I just couldn't enjoy this one.

The Beautiful and Damned