What a find! This is definitely among the finest writing I have had a chance to read.

At the end of the first few chapters, I had to look online for the point of these stories all of which have sudden and open endings. No major event happens in any of the stories. Events that do not seem to be out of the normal in normal people’s lives all of whom are miserable in some way.

Carver once said

“It is possible to write about commonplace things and objects using commonplace but precise language and endow these things — a chair, a window curtain, a fork, a stone, a woman’s earring — with immense, even startling power.”

There aren’t better words to explain his writing. I have never read imagery where each and every single detail so effortlessly conveys so many things. The misery of the characters is relatable and so are their actions(mostly). And most importantly of all, Carver paints very complex emotions through extremely simple words.

I read the last story, the book’s namesake, holding my breath. The tension and the emotions in the story were almost palpable. So real. One rarely finds such well-written in-sync imagery of surroundings and emotions. These are sad stories so well written that you cannot help be in awe of the author’s craft.

Oh, and bonus points for the amazing name! It makes me want to get a life size poster of the book cover.

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Book Review : Will You Please Be Quiet, Please by Raymond Carver was originally published in One Life Lived on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This is the week 1 of my 1000 day experiment to read and write.

As promised, here is my reading list for week 1 :

Poetry : A Boy’s Will by Robert Frost

Contains 32 Poems

Robert Frost is one of the best poets to start reading if you are new to poetry — I gathered this advice from many articles online and my mother. I remember reading his poem “The Road Not Taken” in my childhood.

The book is in public domain and if you are not hell bent on reading a hard copy, you can get the ebook versions on Project Gutenberg.

Short Stories : Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, Will you please be Quiet, Please by Carver

Interpreter of Maladies — contains 9 stories

Jhumpa Lahiri is a brilliant writer! Her writing is more than just beautiful. I find that she conveys very complicated thoughts and experiences in simple words. Her stories are about the simple things that define us — the fears for our loved ones, our anger, hopes and everyday interactions with people around us. The imagery is on point, the characters are very real. Some might find her stories incomplete. And yet they leave a mark in your mind.

I have read 5 of the stories from the book, and I will have 4 more to read this week.

Interpreter of Maladies

Will you please be quiet, please? — contains 21 stories

A find from articles about best short story collections. I picked this up because my friends and people I follow on goodreads seem to have quite enjoyed this book.

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? (Vintage Classics)

Essays : Essays First Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays First Series has 12 essays, two of which I have read, partially understood and despite that, immensely enjoyed.

Ralph Emerson’s essays are a product of deep contemplation by a spiritual and practical mind. They are not an easy read at all. But I would suggest anyone who is mildly interested in individualism to explore his works. His thoughts resonate a lot with the ancient eastern philosophies of finding spirituality within and he explains where his thoughts are coming for with brilliant examples.

I am glad these are the first essays I picked up for my personal education. I think I will be coming back to these essays multiple times over the coming years.

All of Emerson’s work is in public domain and available on Project Gutenberg. Kindle edition for this book is available on the kindle store for free.

Essays - First Series

Novel : Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

I started the book in March. Life happened with its busy days, lazy days, sad and happy days and this classic was again left in the middle. I am picking up the classic again for this month. (*Why do I leave things in the middle?!?*)

This book is in public domain as well. Both kindle editions and Project Gutenberg ebook editions are available.

Les Misérables (English language)

If you like what you read please ❤ it below — you will make me very happy.

Reading List — Week 1 was originally published in One Life Lived on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

She is currently pursuing her own degree and came up with a simple but aggressive routine for those lacking the sources or time to go get a degree in Fine Arts. This is the routine to be followed for 1000 days :

I found it an effective but difficult commitment. So I did a casual 2 weeks trial. I missed more than 7 of the 15 days in the trial. But I ended up reading gems that made me realise once again how much there is to learn and read.

(I have skipped the movies for now because I haven’t found the willpower to give up watching mindless sitcoms and youtube videos. Sigh!)

A list of the readings I managed during those 2 weeks:

Essays

History, Self Reliance by Ralph W. Emerson

Politics and the English language by George Orwell

Poetry

She walks in Beauty by Lord Byron

Good Bye, Each and All, The Problem, To Rhea, The Visit, Uriel by Ralph W. Emerson

Started reading the modernized version of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Quite a few poems on poetryfoundation.org by largely unknown poets

Short Stories

First 5 of the short stories in The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

I even published a short story that was accepted by the publication The Coffeelicious and it became my most recommended and read short story so far. (Yay me!)

Nevertheless, this is not anywhere close to the reading and writing I should have done in the 2 weeks. It’s important for me to understand the reasons behind this if I want to read and write everyday for 1000 days.

I think there were two things that kept me from reading and writing more:

1. Lack of a pre-decided reading material

Since this is my foray into serious literature, I wanted to read the best material. I did not want to pick up easy reads that did not challenge my thinking. But I did not want to demotivate myself with difficult topics and dense writing that I currently find difficult to understand.

So every morning, I spent over an hour sifting through goodreads reviews, listicles and articles about the best written literature in English and Hindi. There happens to be more literature that I want to read than I can possibly read in my lifetime.

So I spent another hour choosing what to read first.

My time and the decision fatigue could easily have been solved had I decided the reading material for a week or month beforehand. (That is a difficult task itself. But better than doing this exercise everyday.)

2. I did not allot a fix time for reading and writing

I read on my kindle while commuting, waiting for anything or anyone and whenever I can squeeze in any time. I try to read a physical book everyday before I go to bed. And I write when inspiration strikes.

So if I had a busy day at work, or was caught up in a phone call on my commute or simply found some interesting content on instagram, I miss my reading goals. And inspiration almost never strikes, so I miss my writing goals too.

I hope to solve this problem by alloting myself 2 hours every morning to just read and write.

There is also a certain lack of external motivation. I am going to tackle it by publishing my reading lists every week and my completed readings a week later with reviews on One Life Lived.

I start my 1000 Day MFA on 15th May, 2017. Gratitude to Shaunta Grimes for creating this program and inspiring me to take it up on my own.

The Start of my 1000 Days MFA Program was originally published in One Life Lived on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.