Over too soon

Damn!
There I was happily reading along towards the conclusion of a great book. I knew I was getting to the end, recognized that the climax had indeed climaxed, when-- much too abruptly--I turn the page and see a blank white page. The story was over. I didn't know I was so close to the end-- there were about ten white, empty, lonely pages after the last chapter. I thought I still had some more to read. I wanted there to be more. I didn't want it to end. There is nothing like the sadness that comes from finishing a book-- from having to leave that world that you loved so much, never really able to go back, to completely go back, again.

Why do publishers include so many empty pages at the end? Leading me on like that...

I highly recommend this excellent book: Zadie Smith's latest, the 2006 Orange Prize winning On Beauty. It was very good. I got so caught up in the characters and the setting (academic life in suburban Boston, gee, why would that appeal to me?)-- and now it is all over. The characters are so Real. Very well done.

So, yes, I am still alive. I have had such a busy summer at home and at work, that my poor little blog has been neglected. I'll try to do better. I have loads of articles saved to report on, but now they are so out-of-date, who knows if they will make it out of the Drafting stage!