With just half an hour to go before the official... • The Automaton

With just half an hour to go before the official start of the event, I finally decided to sign up for this month’s 24-hour Readathon, the second one this year. The readathon, also called Dewey’s Readathon in honor of its proponent, Dewey, who passed away in 2008, is an event where readers all over the world attempt to read one or more books nonstop for 24 hours and blog about their progress, however glacial, within the period. This semiannual book blogging community-driven event kicked off three years ago, but I, having just learned of its existence a few weeks prior, am just about to be initiated this year into this worldwide society of endurance readers.

Since it’s my first time to participate, I think it’s only fitting that I do this with a couple of my favorite authors: I chose, for the 24 hours between 8 pm, October 9, and 8 pm, October 10, (or at least what’s left of it) to be stuck with the late J.D. Salinger and the Great American Novelist™ Jonathan Franzen. I thought of the former because he wrote my most favorite (it’s come to a point that such a phrase must be used) book, and since I’ve already reread that most favorite book of mine this year (shortly after I learned of the author’s death in January and again during an emotional slash mental slash spiritual slash financial dry spell in June) I opted to reread his other novel (sort of), Franny and Zooey. As for the latter, I chose him because he‘d have me killed if I didn’t. I reckoned that if I didn’t pick any of his works of Serious Fiction®, Capt. Shteyngart and Lt. Safran Foer, at his behest, would be after me once he caught wind of my apparent disloyalty. So Freedom, the novel that put him on the cover of Time and led to the stealing of his glasses right from his nose, it is.

Well four hours have come and gone, but I’ve only finished Franny’s part in Salinger’s book, which is just about a quarter way through. At this rate Franzen’s will end up being some form of self-flagellation. It’s going to be a long and crazy ride. Now pass me that energy drink, please.