Don Quixote Was Just a Warm Up

My Bookman hand delivered to me the copy of Clarissa that I ordered (that's the one by Richardson, not the one by Carol Talley). If I had realized what I was getting myself into I may not have been so enthusiastic. Because, you see, it turns out that the Don Quixote Mind/Body Workout was actually just a warm up. 1,500 pages doesn't just sound like a lot, it is a lot! In terms of dimensions my hardcover DQ is about 6 inches wide and 9 inches tall not including the cover. Clarissa, a paperback is 5.75 inches wide and 9 inches tall. DQ, not including the cover, is 2 inches thick while Clarissa comes in at just over 2.5 inches. Wow. It's a rather daunting sight. I will not be carrying the book with me anywhere. I will also have to employe the reading pillow my friend (aptly named) Clarissa made for me several years ago because I will not be able to hold this book up to read. But read it I will. I figure if I can make it through this book, everything else will seem short by comparison! As I mentioned before, I'll be starting Clarissa on October 1st. Anyone who would like to join in on the fun still has time to get a copy. And there will be no chickening out and reading the abridged version. I didn't get any farther along in Nabokov's lectures last night because I have been engrossed in reading a train wreck of a book called Lessons in Taxidermy. This book is not for anyone who does not have a strong stomach. I'll be done with it in the next day or so and will give the full skinny on it then since I haven't quite figured out what to make of it just yet. But since I mentioned Nabokov, the Village Voice has an historical perspective essay on Lolita and a blurb on pulbishers trying to capitalize on the popularity of Reading Lolita in Tehran.