As I write this journal entry, I'm sitting on my front porch swing with my two St. Bernards looking out into the woods surrounding my home. The woods remind me of this passage from OF TIME AND THE RIVER by Thomas Wolfe:
"All things are lost and broken in the wind: the dry leaves scamper down the path before us, in their swift-winged dance of death the dead souls flee along before us driven with rusty scuffle before the fury of the demented wind. And October has come again, has come again."
OF TIME AND THE RIVER is my favorite book of all time and I believe I picked it up after reading about editorial legend Maxwell Perkins. I wanted to read all the books Perkins ever guided through the editorial process at Scribners. (If you are interested in publishing, I feel it's important to read about the time of Max Perkins. Two suggestions: MAX PERKINS by Scott Andrew Berg, and UNSHAKEN FRIEND by Malcolm Cowley.)
OF TIME AND THE RIVER is a coming of age story that encompasses just about everything in life. A word of warning: It is a tough read. A friend of mine says Wolfe is just too verbose. And to tell the truth, I often find it laborious to wade through the verbiage until I hit a passage that is so striking in its use of language that it is worth the time and attention. What’s fascinating is that when I reread the book, I find sections that did not affect me at all on an earlier read, now make me catch my breath and marvel at Wolfe’s genius all over again.
Of Time and the River: A Legend of Man's Hunger in His Youth
