I'm still re-reading "The Ambassadors." I was trying to finish it on vacation, because going to Central Ohio was almost like going to Europe, in terms of the lack of distractions, which is a situation I require when I am reading "The Ambassadors." There was no other media in English to claim my attention, no Internet, no grown-up TV, and we only got the newspaper twice, and once was mainly to get the fire going.

Reading: "The Ambassadors," Henry James, year (manyboooks.net)
Why: Talking about the death of the telegram last year. Made me think of this book.
Takeaway: The action of this book hangs on telegrams, but the text is also an insight into the way the telegram affected speech and thought. Conversations always seem to start on the second sentence, without preamble or even a lede. People open with sentences like "You are scared of me." Meanwhile, the inner monologue soaks up all the excess words and subphrases. This is one of my Top 10 books and I am thrilled to be reading it again, on my Palm this time.