I picked up the new Spenser novel today at the library. I been doing that a lot lately, going to the library. Partly because I spend too much on books, partly because I ‘m running out of room in my house. I’ll eventually buy Hundred-Dollar Baby, since I have the other Spensers, but for now I just wanted to read it.
When I asked for it, the librarian told me the only copy that wasn’t checked out was the large print edition
No problem, I told her.
So I got it home and cracked the cover.
Holy crap.
This is some big ass print.
Before my cataract surgery last fall, I could easily read without my glasses. When you have the lenses in your eyes replaced, you have to make a choice: distance vision or close up. I chose distance. Now, for the first time in my life, I can drive or watch TV without glasses. But to read I have to have the specs on my nose.
Not with this friggin’ book. I can read it without glasses. In fact, I’m thinking of asking my wife to sit on the other side of the room and hold it up.
I think I could read this in the dark.
I’m pretty sure if I stepped outside and held it open to the sky, some airline passenger would go, “Hey, that must be the new Parker novel.” In fact, if I had this book outside back in ‘69, Neil Armstrong’s first words might have been different.
Big ass print.
In fact, more than a few minutes of looking at it gives me a headache. This will be the first Spenser novel I haven’t read in a single day.
But is that going to stop me from reading one of my favorite authors?
What do you think?
3 comments:
Hmm, I had cataract surgery almost ten years ago and nobody gave me a choice
about near or far?? Really, I had the cornea in my left eye replaced with an artificial lens...and two days after the surgery, was 20/20 in that eye.
Of course the right eye is still farsighted, so you can imagine my lopsided glasses. Ha. Let us know what you think of the new Spencer when your finished, as I'm betting you'll get through it despite..THE BIG ASS PRINT. LOL
I listen to the audiobook versions of Parker's novels. I think Joe Mantenga does a great job playing Spenser.
Roddy: I also enjoyed Mantenga as Spenser in those A&E movies. He wasn't a physical match, but he delivered those Parker smart-ass lines perfectly.
Ron: It was a typical Spenser novel, which was exactly what I was hoping for. The sameness of the Spenser books doesn't bother me as it seems to do other readers. It's literary comfort food, I guess.
The difference in my vision after the cataracts were replaced was amazing. Since I had cataracts in both eyes, the surgeries were done two weeks apart. During the first surgery, I was on the table while the doc was in my eye, and I thought, "What if I sneeze?" Two weeks later I was in pre-op for the second surgery and the doc asked if I had any questions.
"Yeah," I said. "What if I sneeze during surgery?" I expected him to say "your head is restrained" or some other comforting answer. Instead, he said, "We hope you'll tell us you're about to sneeze so we can stop what we're doing."
Not the answer I wanted to hear!
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