Don't Read Good Books During Law School

So, I finally finished One Hundred Years of Solitude. It was Epic. Amazing. Awe-inspiring. Depressing. Magical. And exhausting.

That's right--Exhausting. Good books make me think. A lot. And I've already got lots to think about with property, civil procedure, contracts, torts and LWR (which may suck as a class, but the assignments actually cover law that's interesting...) In fact, I have so much to think about that I've been having fscked up dreams.

I spent much of today when I should have been working on my LWR memo thinking about Columbia and multiple generations of family living in one house over the years. Their trials and tribulations. The fact that life was totally out of their control and they were constantly forced to accept that fact. The death of the good. The long lives of the not-so-good. The illicit loves. The human reality and drama. And so much of it was the antithesis of the American Myth. This really got me thinking. Most 2nd generation (and anything beyond that) Americans of my generation were raised by parents who honestly believed that life was a ladder, a recipe, a formula. Work hard, get an education, prosperity is yours to achieve, if only you reach for it. But for the majority of the world's history it hasn't worked like that. Luck is a very large force. Death comes whenever it feels like it. War changes everything. The American Myth/Dream doesn't deal with those realities. Neither does our media. How could they get an audience if they did? But the myth is an abberation. Most people would claim it's not sustainable. Even more would claim it's just plain not true. And I'm stuck in law school in a contrived competition against a bunch of kids who know very little outside of the myth. I don't even know much outside of it. I think that'll change during my lifetime. But for now, I need to focus on school. Which is unfortunate, because after the book, school seems much less important.

{sigh} I'm on a self-imposed book moratorium until winter break. {laugh} I wonder how long that'll last. Perhaps the next choice can be a little less demanding? All I know is that The Cairo Trilogy is definitely out 'til after exams.