Cohen Peart

In my younger years (Ok, I’m only 34 now, actually), I tried three times to read “On the Road.” And all three times, I bogged down in the first 50 pages. I thought it was a bunch of mindless typing, with no real plot. Well, I still think it’s that, but I love this book. I love the life that’s in every word of this story. I love the characters – even Dean Moriarty, whom I didn’t warm up to until three-fourths of the book had passed.

Living in Denver now (I’m originally from Wyoming), it’s cool to see the names of streets and places that I recognize in the story, especially the great Colfax Avenue. I like how Sal keeps coming back to Denver, and these great mountains I see every day. I like to think Sal and Dean’s spirit is still in this city, though it clearly doesn’t resemble the Denver that they inhabited.

All in all, I’d say this is a great book. I’m told by a friend that Kerouac’s “Dharma Bums” is much better – because it has more of a point – but I’m doubting it. To me, this one’s a masterpiece.

This goal is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I’ve run into some books that have really taken their toll on me and made me wish I never had to read another word. (Which is tough, because I’m a newspaper editor.) So I’m making some changes in the way I’m approaching this list. Instead of reading them in order, I’m going to pick and choose. I’m also going to count the ones I read before I ever took up this list. Here are the ones I’d previously read:

2. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
13. 1984 – George Orwell
18. Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut (I love Vonnegut)
45. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway (several times)
56. The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett (in high school)
64. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
65. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
85. Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad

Well, that wasn’t as many as I’d thought. Anyhow, that’s eight more, on top of the nine I’ve completed since I took up this project. So that’s 17. It’s a start, I guess.

Just to put a bow on this and call it done … I’ve quit running. It was ruining my knees. So now it’s five days a week at the gym, on the elliptical. That doesn’t hurt a bit, but my knees still hurt months after I quit running. I get the sense they’ll never be fully better. And I ran for only a few months. Glad I quit when I did.

My recommendation: Don’t take up running after 30.