Why do All Good Things Come to an End?

Have you ever read a book and didn't want it to end?  Well, I'm in that situation now; I've nearly finished A Prayer for Owen Meany but I don't want to finish it, I  just want to stay with these characters.

Owen is a great creation, his sarcastic and harsh observations are so full of truth that they really make you think. John Wheelwright, Owen's best friend and our narrator, has related a fantastic story of friendship, injustice and love, all bound up in a scathing commentary on The Vietnam War and (in our narrator's present) the Reagan Administration.  

It really is a pleasure to read something of this caliber especially after just finishing the brilliant Kafka on the Shore.  It is going to be hard to surpass these two novels in my next planned batch of reading.  This also compounds another problem that I have, the book that I am reading in tandem Spiral by Koji Suzuki reads like a piece of junk in comparison to Owen Meany and is very hard to enjoy.  I'm about half way through it and so far not much has happened at all.  I'm waiting for the horror and it's more about code breaking.  If I wanted to read about that I would have picked up Cryptonomicon again.

I've just started reading The Last Block on Harlem by Christopher Herz on my Kindle.  It appears this is a bit of a cult novel gaining recognition due to the hard work put in by Herz in trying to promote and sell it on the streets (and on Twitter which is how I came to know about it).  I've only read a few pages and it is a bit nerve racking trying something by someone very new after reading some really good classics and must reads lately.  I'm not too sure about a couple of character names at the moment, they need to grow on me, but I do like the writing style and I will write more about this novel in my post next week.

So! Here's to more reading, and have a great weekend every one.

PS:  I must mention too, the arrival of my new grandson Taj, who was born on Sunday.  His arrival didn't quite go to plan, but all's well that ends well and I can't wait until May when I go to Western Australia to cuddle him (and his mum, and his proud little brother Jayden) J