Saturday, March 10, 2012

One Book, 2 Chapters

Front Cover

It has been so long since I have visited my blog that I could barely remember my login password. Not good, must remedy, somehow. So here is a little tidbit for now. It is a book called The Memory Chalet, by the deceased Tony Judt. It came to me via a friend. She has visited der Schweiz for business and can relate. I enthusiastically started to read the book, shoving aside the arduous pact I made with myself to finish my 3 stacks of trade magazines before I picked up another book.

After the preface and the first four chapters, my enthusiasm quickly waned, but I held fast to check out his insight about the tiny mountain country in the middle of Europe, from which some of my ancestors evolved. Judt's memoir is organized in a very nice fashion, particular to the cards he was dealt at the time. It is not that this is a bad book. It is pretty good, in concept. But I just can't bring myself to love it enough to read it in it's entirety. Too many other good things to read are sitting by my bedside, calling my name for attention, but still piling up because I have no time. But what I did read, I liked. What I did read focused mainly on Switzerland and was pretty darn accurate.

So if you choose to read this book looking for Switzerland references, allow me fill you in so you may cut to the chase. There are a few well chosen words in Chapter One. They very accurately describe the timeless vibe of a Swiss ski holiday. And then there is the more lengthy Chapter Twenty-five. This one accurately captures the essence of what Switzerland is all about, for better or worse, from an outsider's point of view. This, he really nailed. That's all I will give, for fear of spoiling your read.

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