Free From Obligation

For the next five weeks, I am free from obligation. I have the luxury of deciding how to spend my time.

I shall assume all household burdens during this period in order that Andrew and I may enjoy our evenings together.

However, household tasks will not take up much of my time—our apartment is very small, and we have no backlog of household tasks awaiting attention—and I will have an amount of time at my disposal that I may not have again for years and years.

If Andrew did not have to work, he and I could use this time to travel. However, Andrew DOES have to work—and, in any case, he and I shall be traveling from early July until the middle of August.

I think I shall undertake a reading program—something as far afield from the law as possible—and presently I am mulling over a few possibilities.

Edward Gibbon is on the table, but I am not confident that I am in the mood to attempt unabridged Gibbon.

I have given some thought to reading all six volumes of “The Pallisers”, but I have no especial love for Anthony Trollope and I am not confident that “The Pallisers” would hold my interest.

Leon Edel’s multi-volume study of Henry James is under consideration, but the prospect of reading the complete Edel does not excite me.

I am leaning, ever-so-slightly, toward Fernand Braudel’s three-volume study of civilization and capitalism. Andrew says that the Braudel is stunning. I think I shall make the Braudel my project—unless and until I come upon a better idea.