Seized

Did you Seize the Day?

I’m seizing this hebdomadal check-in and turning it into a quick wrap-up.

I found Bellow’s brief novel to be a combination of Mrs Dalloway and The House of Mirth: a day in the life of a midlife crisis.

I was also reminded of our “city-bad, country-good” theme.  How many examples of that can we find in the WEM novel list?  I’ll start with Oliver Twist. Feel free to name others.

What did you think of our hippo-like main character?  Did you feel sympathy for him?

Oh, and what did you think of Dr. Adler?  Were his harsh actions toward his son justified?

One cannot read the phrase Seize the Day without thinking of its Latin counterpart:
Carpe Diem.  Did you ever wonder about the phrase’s popularity?  Where does it come from?  Do what I did.  Pick up your trusty copy of The Well-Educated Mind and read page 360.  The poet Horace includes the words Carpe Diem in Odes.  SWB paraphrases Horace’s philosophy: “Accept your mortality and always act in the knowledge that time is short.”  

Based on the short time we spent with Tommy Wilhelm, do you believe things will improve for him?  Is the ending of Seize the Day hopeful?

 

Seize the Day? Yes, Let’s!

It’s time to Seize the Day.  
Author Saul Bellow would approve.
WEM guru Susan Wise Bauer would approve.
My reading partners would approve.

Don’t you think It’s time we tackle the twenty-sixth book on the novel list?
Wouldn’t you like to read along with us?
It won’t take long.
Just a day.
How do I know?  (shhh… don’t tell anyone, but I may or may not have already read Seize the Day… in a day.)

We’d love to have you join us and get this literary conversation going again.