Cut To the Middle

My name is Joel and I have a problem. I am typically reading 8-10 books at a time. I am definitely not saying I am uber-cool and have to be absorbing new information constantly - on average, I'd say that most of these books I've been reading for at least a year.

The following is the most accurate list I can currently recall:
Autobiography of Malcolm X
Lolita
Gandhi - Autobiography
The Varieties of Religious Experience
Dylan - Chronicles Volume I
Bhagavad Gita
Fernando Pessoa - A Little Larger Than the Entire Universe
People's History of the United States
Miles - Autobiography
Middlesex
Virgin Suicides
Creating Love - John Bradshaw
The Sun Also Rises
The Bible (OK, so that one ups my average, since I'm on about year 3 right now and about halfway through)

I know there are more - these are the ones I'm aware of as I've started unpacking them onto my new bookshelves. (OK, I'm lying - I haven't started unpacking. I'm blogging instead.)

I tend to have the same "problem?" regarding personal/creative projects. I always have more than one going. I am convinced, however, that I will someday finish all or most of the aforementioned books and hope that the same will apply to that glorious day/month/year when all of my projects suddenly come together in some awesome celestial alignment. A boy can dream.

(D, this doesn't apply to collaborative projects. PS can't wait to see you in NY)

One thing that's interesting about committing myself to multiple acts of literature at a time is the themes that surface in unexpected ways. For instance, consider the story of Lolita - the story of a middle-aged man who falls for a 12 year old (reciprocating) girl. (Incidentally, an extremely well-written book - I don't think I've ever read anything so dense in vocabulary). Now, I'm not condoning said fictional relationship, but it's interesting to compare against two nonfiction books. In his autobiography, Malcolm X talks about the fact that the Nation of Islam prophet Elijah Muhammad preached that the ideal age for a bride is "half of the man's, plus seven years." Gandhi, as stated in his autobiography, was 13 when he was forced into an arranged child marriage (to a girl a year older - scandal!) as was customary in his Hindu society. I'm not currently reading any of the Little House on the Prairie books, but if I remember correctly the numbers in that book are probably not that far off.

So what does it say about anything? Particularly our current society's fascination with the mildly disturbing yet oh-so-successful "To Catch a Predator" TV series? Again, I'm not condoning anything here, just, per usual, a bit confounded by our culture's hyper-hypocracy.

In keeping (somewhat) with the theme of being in the middle of many, many books...an unrelated (yet relatable by title only) poem I wrote this morning:

Cut To The Middle

I don't want to know
how it ends
which one bends
who makes amends
I only want to see it
cut to the middle.

You don't need to show
how it begins
original sins
which one wins
I'm only here to see you
cut to the middle.

This pain down below
wears me thin
my Cheshire grin
stretches the skin
I don't have all that much time
so cut to the middle.

I don't want to know
autumn or spring
if there's a ring
if it was just a fling
I don't want to know
if they pay me to sing
I only want to remember
what's in the middle.