Andra
has 22 followers and is following 19 people
"I’ll be expecting you, sedentary gypsy, when the smell of gunpowder subsides." Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
I am also addicted to ellipses...
- Albuquerque, NM, USA
- member since May 16, 2008
has 22 followers and is following 19 people
What's going on, Andra? How did you like "The Marriage Plot." Also, please let me know what you think of "The Mysterious Benedict Society." I bought it for Kristin last year although she has yet to read it. Finally, no 1Q84 for you?
You must have worked your magic because we are back up.
"You will read what i am reading" seems to have been deleted by the authorities. I have no idea what has happened! I am trying to get an answer from "the man" but am completely unnerved by this.
Hi Andra! Always nice to hear from you. I started "The Marriage Plot" and love it....I love how he takes down Derrida, Barthes, deconstruction, etc while at the same time writing a modern day Jane Austen with a sweet deluded young woman character...her parent's are straight out of an Austen dinner gathering, almost comic caricatures.....I have been thinking about your desire to read something meaty by the fire.....do you hate Henry James? I have always meant to read "The Golden Bough"...I usually stick to more contemporary novels. I will keep looking around, haven't seen any reviews that make me desperate lately. I am doing well...just got married! Working out so far...three weeks ha. Best, Jane
i know how you work.
SLOW DOWN!!!
Yes and no. Sort of cheated and started skimming sections. Sort of fizzled out for me the last 150 pages. Still thought it a worthwhile read. Just felt like it was missing something that would have propelled it to the level of a great book.
Meanwhile, "Gravity's Rainbow" is taking forever but I don't mind. You can really see the similarities of DFW style to Pynchon. I think DFWs writing is a lot more straightfoward (if you can believe that) but there many moments - especially hidden social commentaries weaved into the characters conversations and observations - that make me feel like I am reading DFW.
i looked through the last two NYT Magazines and didn't see the article. Was it only online, perhaps?
I did not read it. Glad I still am working on the CWP otherwise I would have probably missed it. Thanks for the heads up. I up to my chest in Pynchon right now. Lot of work but a lot of fun.
i started it yea...i wanted just to ask to tell me about what's happening in it a bit, if you want...because ...just where i am....idk...is a bit borring....i'd like if u want an short review...
i love me some murakami. yum!
I am still working on it. Don't be sorry. Definitely a worthwhile read... just a while for the worth. I have just been so busy that reading time has been hard to come by. I am going to finish it over the upcoming weekend. However, I am ready to start a new book tomorrow and excited for a little Pynchon, who (as I have read), influenced DFW's writing style. Hopefully, you can join.
sold our place. wanted to be able to bid on a place with no contingencies. got our eye (and bid) on a nice house. we will see. how are you?
still reading... and packing to move in with the parents. hope to be done soon once all this craziness is over. then on to pynchon.
Hi Andra, do you like John Banville? I just finished "The Infinities" and thought it was great, and I've been fairly obsessed with his altar ego, Benjamin Black, who writes noirish literary mysteries with a fascinating character named Quirke. You might like the complexity of Banville, the classical references and so forth. He struggles while writing as Banville; he says the words just pour out as Black. In my low brow way, I love the Black books. Banville did win the Booker Prize though, which is on your list for this year, right? Hope summer is going well, that you managed a trip or too, and that all is well! Best , Jane
Good summer. Just miss my wife and baby when I am at work (Kristin teaches and is "off" for the summer).
Maybe frustrated was the wrong word... I look forward to reading "Wolf Hall" on my commute to/from work. It just is a little dispiriting only getting through maybe 30 pages a day when I am used to reading closer to 60 a day with most, er, many other works of fiction (I just thought of Bolano, DFW, to name a few, that I tend to read that do in fact take a long time). Either way, as "Wolf Hall" is historical fiction, it is reading much more like non-fiction, laden with a large cast of players and their complicated relations, and so long as it is interesting, I am okay.
Meanwhile ( laugh as you will), I just realized yesterday what a boob I am. I had been thinking about Oliver Cromwell the whole time - his great-great grand-nephew? This further illuminated how poorly versed I am in English/European history. In a related note, there is a new work on the Crimean War that was reviewed in the NYT this weekend. Apparently, the Crimean War was the first "World War" using modern warfare. Who knew?
How has your summer been?
I am going down to your part of the world - Scottsdale, AZ - next week. Really looking forward to 100+ temperatures for a week.
I am only about half way... as much as I like it, with my TBR pile growing, I am getting a bit frustrated at how slowly the pages are turning.
And a question while I have you attention (and I know the answer to this) - should I continue reading "The Savage Detectives?" I really loved the first part but it lost steam for me after (excuse me - I forgot the protagonists - eh, all the characters names) they hop in the car with the prostitute to get away from her pimp... it is choppy to say the least. many, many different speakers. i know a lot of people loved this one. maybe it just the wrong time. what say you?
Hi Andra! I certainly am.....can't wait to begin, but very busy week at work....I know there is trepidation about it being unfinished, but Wallace did so much research on it I feel he would want it to be read, even taking an accounting class, etc. I read a excerpt in the New Yorker several months ago that got me interested, the transcendence of boredom, etc....anyway, can't wait to read your comments and such. Best, Jane