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Stop the Presses!! XIV

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So, what are you reading? It’s winter, it’s cold(ish) most places. Pull up a heated bean bag chair and tell us what you’re reading, please. We serve hot cocoa every day from noon to six pm. Sometimes after dinner but only on Fridays.

Halo started this discussion 6 months ago. ( reply | permalink )

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mark s

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Stowaway to Mars by Wyndham...aka john beynon aka john beynon Harris

posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

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I'm reading the last of the Ink Heart trilogy by Cornelia Funke, Ink Death

posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

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- Odd_Duck
  
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  Oh that's a good one. :)
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  I liked it better than the second one, so I was happy overall. I didn't expect much because of the second one but feel that it finished the trilogy well.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Amester

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Just finished 'The Elegance of the Hedgehog'. SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON.

posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

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- Halo
  
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  I take it the ‘SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON’ means you liked it? What did you think of the ending? It really toasted Mimsy’s buns, I recall waiting waiting with bated breath to see what she’d think- her reaction was so worth it.
  
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- Jerry M
  
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  Or maybe she is playing 'possum?
  
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- Mimsy R (edited)
  
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  P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Wants to know what Amester thought about the ending. Yup. I do.
  
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- mark s
  
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  Bet it had a Sonic boom.
  
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- Amester
  
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  **SPOILER**
  I had a feeling partway through that someone was going to die, but would have sworn it was going to be Ozu. I was terrified that they wouldn't get to have their dinner before it happened - at least the author let them have that moment. So, since I thought it was going to be so dire (Renee with the rug pulled out from under her before she even had that dinner with Ozu, which I'm sure would have led to a downward spiral of epic proportions) it was less horrifying than it would have been had I not seen any of it coming, and than what I was expecting. Ozu, at least, has the resources to go on. Not sure what would have happened to Renee had he been the one to die, so in a twisted way it was kind of a relief.
  But, crappy? Yes. Crappy. Sad. Wrong.
  Loved the book anyway.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Il'ja

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I'm finishing up Alienation in Harold Bloom's "Literary Themes" series. It's kind of uneven. The classicists know their stuff, but the deconstructivists are full of crap, metaphorically.

posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

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- mark s
  
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  And here I was going to ask how George and detective Sikes were portrayed...like the TV show or the movie.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

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I finished Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and really liked it a lot. I will actually try to write a review of this one.
I started The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. It is exceedingly strange so far (about p.70) which is saying a lot from a fan of Meiville, McCarthy, Kafka, and Lovecraft

posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

show 1 reply
- Il'ja
  
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  Bulgakov & Gogol are like red wine and beef: one demands the other. I look forward to what you have to say about the Grossman as well.
  
  posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )
llevinso

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Just started I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

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- Michelle G
  
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  Good one!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Amester
  
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  I watched the film last week - luckily I saw Romola Garai in 'Emma' first or I'd avoid everything she does like the plague. Blecchy.
  Is the book good? The characters all seemed so self-serving in the film.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Halo

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Just finished Quiet by Susan Cain, which I thought was really awesome, started Kraken by China Mieville and I’m about eight hours away from the end of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (audio) - which is fantastic because it’s nearly fifty hours long. Sheesh. Something fantastic better happen in the next eight hours, because I’m just about at the end of my rope. I love Murakami- but I’m finding 1Q84 very long winded and quite repetitive, really.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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Finished Peter's Angel (4 stars) by Aubrey Hansen and God Rest Ye Merry (5 stars) by Douglas Wilson. That puts me at around 109 books. If I can make it to 110, I'll be happy. :)

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

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Finished Grail by Elizabeth Bear awhile back and just finished the book after that, Jim Butcher's Blood Rites. Now I will go back to Saberhagen's The Second Book of Swords.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

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- Rina
  
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  So did you like Bear's trilogy?
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Yes I did. I think I finally was able to explain it tonight while talking to my cousin's husband. We like to talk books, and I was telling him how good the series was. I enjoyed it.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

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Wrapped up Ink Death and now I'm hitting some classic sci-fi with Andre Norton's Web of the Witch World. It's the second in the Witch World series.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
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the Ink Slinger removed this reply 5 months ago.
- Jerry M
  
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  That's kind of an oldish folk song. My dad saw that movie and didn't like it, what did you like about it?
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Moisture Farmer
  
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  Did you watch the version with subtitles, or why is this in the reading thread?
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Oh, The Comma is expanding his role of justice around here in these parts.
  
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- Moisture Farmer
  
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  :) Just something I noticed, that's all. Post wherever you want.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

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Finished The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and was overwhelmed. I was so in awe that for my next read I am turning to pure mental chewing gum so that as the plot unwinds I can be really thinking about M & M. I am chosing a book whose author has been so dissed in these annals that I'm keeping it to myself. I'll be back in a few days without details.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 11 replies
- Rina
  
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  Your reading FSOG aren't you?
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
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  It's gotta be that or 'Twilight'. ;-p
  
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- Rina
  
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  Oooo, what are the betting odds on The Fish for what Wiley is reading?
  
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- the Ink Slinger
  
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  He better not be reading either one... ;-)
  
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- Halo
  
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  Wiley would never! Nevah, I tell you. Not after M&M- that’s just a travesty.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  Nevaaaah, you say. Well, Talulah what are the betting odds in the gambling house of the fish on Wiley's reading habits?
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  I think the odds are real good that he is not reading those two tomes of the dark arts. From what I've heard, you physically can't read M & M and then read that other stuff. It's like trying to make two magnets attract when they repel.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
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  Well then, which author has been so maligned here on the fish that he won't fess to reading them? I don't expect an answer out of Wiley as he did say, "I'll be back in a few days without details".
  He really is a wiley one...
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  He does read YA to keep abreast of the kids reading…
  At the moment I'm too tired to think about this
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
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  "...pure mental chewing gum..."
  Hmm. Benioff? Tom Rob Smith?
  (slinks from room)
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  Not an author you have dissed Il'ja, but the fish has dissed. The dissing of the many outweigh the dissing of the few or the one.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Michelle G (edited)

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Finished Hard Times by Dickens and the audio of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Rated both 3/5 stars. Soooo behind on reviews!
Currently reading In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien which is fantastic (by the author of The Things They Carried) and listening to the audio of Delerium by Lauren Oliver, a YA book a group read that I am really enjoying more than I expected :)

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Moisture Farmer

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Presently I'm over halfway through Notre-Dame de Paris, and just started Madeleine L'Engle's The Moon at Night.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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Finished Shutter Island. Loved the writing and the premise - not so much the gratuitous language and sexuality.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

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A long time ago I worked various jobs at Alderman Library of UVa one of which was shelving books in the literature section where I came across The Chancellor Manuscript by Robert Ludlum. I liked it so much that I read everything Ludlum had written up to then . So I do not know how I over-looked this but I am now reading THe Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

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- nuclearblonde
  
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  It's his only book I've read so far, but I liked it a lot. I got a random copy from someone in a stack of books they didn't want anymore.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  I've read two of his and they are good. But I've yet to read the Bourne stuff.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  I’ve read all the Bourne books- I liked the a lot- but not the ones written by the other guy. They were just ok.
  
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- nina d
  
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  The Bourne Identity and The Parsifal Mosiac are two of my favorites of his.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
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  Haven't read Ludlum in years & years. I remember liking 'The Aquitaine Progression', 'The Scarlatti Inheritance', and 'The Osterman Weekend', which was also turned into a movie, (Rutger Hauer was in it I think?). The only ones I recall any details from though are the 'Bourne' books - and only because the movies reminded me how good they were.
  The 'Other Guy' is Eric Van Lustbader. I have not read any of his sequels - but I've read other stuff by him. Different style IMO so not sure why he was tagged to take over. Probably not a good literary fit but I bet he makes plenty'o $$$ for the Ludlum Estate. IP law is so weird.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  I finished it yesterday and wow, why did I put it off for so long? It was really "thrilling" and took many little twists that were not entirely anticipated even having seen the movie and having the general story line.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  I liked the movie and the book, but the book really held my attention well.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
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  Read a lot of Eric Van Lustbader stuff. Liked The Mako, Jian and Black Heart.
  Did seem to be a strange pick; so much of Van Lustbader's stories are in the orient.
  There is a lot of action with a highly skilled person of some sort in his work.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo (edited)
  
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  My favorite Lustbader is 'The Sunset Warrior' trilogy. Very similar theme as 'City of Ember' but predates CoE by a few decades. And yes, many touches of the orient exist in his work. For instance, the protagonist in Sunset Warrior is named 'Ronin'.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

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Finished The Bourne Idemtity by Robert Ludlum and really liked it for a fast-paced holiday read with just a touch of literacy.
Will be starting The PLague by Albert Camusthat has been on my tbr for at least 5 years.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- Halo
  
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  I read The Plague a while back- I liked it.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Oh, The Plague and The Stranger are two good works from Camus. I've been on the lookout for The Myth of Sisyphus.
  And I like how you descibed Ludlum's writing, Wiley, very apt description- fast-paced with a touch of literacy.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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Y'all know that books are the ultimate Christmas gifts.
My family knows it, too.
Which is why I'm pleased to be welcoming The Christian Imagination by Leland Ryken and The Creedal Imperative by Dr. Carl Trueman onto my bookshelf. Cheers!

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

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I'm starting The Princess Bride. I just love the movie and hope the book is just as good!

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 9 replies
- Moisture Farmer
  
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  It's quite possibly better, IMO--once you get past the first fifty or so pages.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  I've noticed. It wasn't as I expected but I really liked it!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Amester
  
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  I had my kiddo watch the movie with me last week and he loved it - hurrah! There's hope for his little Tron-brain after all!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  I met someone who hated the movie. I don't know if I can be friends with them any more.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
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  I saw a poster someplace that said that NB. Funny, I would feel funny about someone telling me they didn't like it.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  I don't know how I would react to someone hating that film. At worst, I've only seen mild indifference and that's ok by me. I mean not everyone can have sapien brains, I guess some people have to have left over neanderthal brains.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  I just don't get hating that movie at all.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Moisture Farmer
  
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  Nor I.
  
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- wiley
  
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  One of the few movies I have seen and enjoyed multiple times. I really need to read the book.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

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Finished The Princess Bride (quick read for me) and now I get to start N. K. Jemisin's The Kingdom of Gods. It's the last of her trilogy which makes me a little sad because I loved her first two. I need to see what else she's putting out there.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

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- Mimsy R
  
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  I might need to read that again. Am listening to Fight Club on my phone and Perdido Station in the car - could do with some something warm and fluffy.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  I picked it just for that reason, Mimsy.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Halo

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I started Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son last night, I needed a break from Kraken by China Mieville (which I’m not loving, but I’m not disliking it, either- it feels like there’s a great story in there somewhere). It’s a tiny book- but it will take me a bit. I’ve been working oodles of hours and doubles.... sigh. I wish someone would pay me to read so I could just stop going to that place. No one will let me read there!

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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Picked up The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. (Gifts cards to bookstores don't last long in my house)

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

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- Jerry M
  
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  I waited three whole days once before using a gift card. I know, I couldn't believe it, either.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- the Ink Slinger
  
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  Impressive.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Moisture Farmer

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Done with Notre-Dame de Paris! Now I'll take a bit of light reading before next year: Bored of the Rings, a funny (and rather crude) parody of LOTR.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- Mimsy R
  
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  I thought it was funny, especially if one has read The Silmarillion
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  I’m going to add that to my list- sounds fun!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
nina d (edited)

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The Informationist by Taylor Stevens
Not yet halfway. Author does too much telling and not enough showing. The beginning is packed with him telling how dangerous his protagonist is instead of letting us discover it through the story.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 1 reply
- Jerry M
  
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  Well...he's the informationist.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb

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I'm currently reading THE TWELFTH PLANET by Zechariah Sitchen and I'll probably read the whole series. But since I'm getting back to fiction for 2013, I think I'll begin with Robinson's GILEAD or THE MASTER AND THE MARGARITA by Bulgakov, since so many here like it and it seems like something I would like. I've also been wanting to read Charles Bukowski's POST OFFICE for a while, a friend highly recommends it and says it's not for the faint-hearted. I told him I love Cormac McCarthy and he said I should be able to handle POST OFFICE then..:)

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 5 replies
- Rina
  
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  I like Bukowski. Booze, women, betting. He's hilarious. I read his poems last year. More like poem/stories. Booze, women, more booze…
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb (edited)
  
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  Booze and women? My friend didn't mention that part, lol. I hope it's not like Kerouac...not that Kerouac isn't good, but ON THE ROAD was enough booze and women for me.
  Hmm, I just read the description..."booze, women..." and the author is referred to as "The Dirty Old Man." What the heck, I'll still try it!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  I've known some dirty old men in my time. I had one for a photography teacher. He said he would like to live to the ripe old age of 75 and then die at the hands of a jealous husband :)
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  Hi Angel!!
  You’ll LOVE Master & Margarita- I know you will :)
  As for Bukowski, I’ve been wanting to read Bukowski for quite some time now- but my library doesn’t carry a thing by him. This makes me really want to read Bukowski.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  Sooooo, kindle
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Michelle G

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Started Graham Greene's The Comedians

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

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I'm starting The Black Count by Tom Reiss. It's a biography that got good reviews on Alex Dumas, the father of the famed author. He was a mixed race slave that made his way to being the highest ranking black general ever in Europe to being kept prisoner for years. He would inspire many of the stories that his son would go on to write.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb (edited)

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I started Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist today; it's been on my reading list for years and I've never gotten around to it. It's a short book, but I'm liking it so far and it will keep me reading while I wait for The Master and the Margarita. I should have M&M by Friday.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

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Wohoo! Finished Fred Saberhagen's Third Book of Swords which finishes the trilogy, the first trilogy of this metaseries. It also gave me 55 books on the year and I was shooting for 50, so go me! Not sure what SF/F I will tackle next, but I have a whole night to figure out what I want to read next and for the whole year.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 5 replies
- Amester
  
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  I need a good SF/F - I just finished the first Jemisin book you all loved so much (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms) and am hesitant to put any more time into it. The premise is so intriguing but the characters seem flat to me and the writing gets kind of - I don't know, pulpy? Overwrought? Soap-opera-y? And Yeine was disappointing - being from a female warrior race I expected her to really dig into her situation instead of doing the dance of hesitant hotness with a deity and searching for scraps about her mother. Her backstory and her actions never matched up. More layers and more intrigue all around would have really helped.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Well, I would hesitate to recommend the Book of Swords series. Saberhagen's good on the epic fantasy part (gods moving about and such) but on character development, he suffers a little like some early SF/F writers do. The characters don't tend to mature or progress like you would expect them to.
  R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing Series is pretty good (fantasy). Maybe Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children would be a good series as well for you (science fiction).
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Amester
  
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  I'll look into those, Jerry - thanks!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  Try the Chanur series by C. J. Cherryh
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Oh, yeah, Amester, you might like that series. One of my favorites from CJ Cherryh.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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I'm about halfway through The Crossing now. I'm taking it slow - it's a book to be savored in small bits, I think - but there's no way it's not going to be a favorite. Such a beautiful story.
Also halfway through One Shot (Jacker Reacher #9) by Lee Child. It's my first Jack Reacher book, but I've been told it's one of the best, and a good introduction to the character. I'm enjoying it so far: great writing, lots of intrigue, and a very cool protagonist in Mr. Reacher.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Moisture Farmer

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Currently 6% through North and South and (SPOILER!!!) there's already been one marriage proposal. Go figure.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- Jerry M
  
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  Wait. Is the marriage proposal in the book or in real life???
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Moisture Farmer
  
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  Oh, definitely in real life؟
  Bazinga! :-)
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
nina d

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Finished The Innocent by Taylor Stevens
3 of 5
This book is better written than her first book, The Informationist. There wasn't hardly any 'telling'
in this book. And though there was less of it, the words used by the author when doing the internal
dialogue of the main character is irksome. At times it may be she is trying to make more of what is
there. For example, the hero rarely just falls asleep...instead she falls into an abyss. Although this
book was written better than the first, the story itself was less interesting. What I like best about
her books is she takes you into countries not usually not in other books. And though she might not
be the best writer in the world, at least she can describe the environs.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Mimsy R

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Just finished Fight Club. Interesting. Sick, wrong on so many levels yet compelling story teller. Almost a philosophical psychological treatise.
I am not inspired to read more of the same author's books at this time.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 6 replies
- Moisture Farmer
  
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  Apparently the movie might be much the same:
  http://xkcd.com/922/
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
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  Nice one.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  Fight Club was my favourite by Palahniuk, I kind of like his writing, but some of the subject matter. Well.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
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  Rant was really good. Unlikeable character that somehow grows on you.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- mark s
  
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  I watched it cause Ophelia from mel Gibson's Hamlet was in it with Brad Pitt...
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
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  Helena Bonham Carter has been in tons of things, admittedly mostly in projects over in England.
  She played Olivia in a version of Twelfth Night that I like.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Halo

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I finished Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson- I’ll definitely read more Johnson. Really liked his writing, just not the subject matter. I’m starting A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace. Holy cow. He was one smart, funny dude. And I’m in love with his footnotes.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 7 replies
- angelb
  
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  Wallace sounds like a fun read...the first "comical" book I truly loved was Lamb by Christopher Moore, which you recommended to me. I could go for some laughs again! It's good to break away from the pain and suffering and despair stuff that I usually read, lol!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
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  Lamb is just plain brilliant. One of my all-time favorite comedic books.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  While I liked Lamb, I found (don't hit me) Fool much funnier. I read it and laughed all the way through, then I listened to the book tape and had to stop the car several times even though I had heard the jokes before.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  I loved Lamb too- I tried to read one of his vampire parodies- but it fell flat for me. I do plan to read others by Moore- I think I'll try Fool.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
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  Must admit that Moore has been hit-or-miss for me. Absolutely loved 'Lamb'. Liked 'Fluke' and 'Dirty Job'. Thought 'Practical Demonkeeping' and 'Coyote Blue' were merely so-so.
  That covers my reading of Moore thus far. Mayhaps I will squeeze in 'Fool' this year - it do look good. Anything that makes you stop the car to avoid crashing has to be checked out. Of course, Wiley may be driving an Acme car, in which case...
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
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  Moore has been hit and miss for me as well. I have a pal from work who adores him, so I read several. Some middlin' funny and some really stupid - not in a good way.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  I agree with the hit and miss and funny not in a good way assessment of Moore's body of work, but Fool was a hit with me. Especially having recently seen a wonderful production of Lear (Fool refers to Lear's fool, who is a bit part in the play but tells the whole story in the book).
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Mimsy R (edited)

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Started Engines of Change a book on how 15 cars changed America. Liking very much. Good writing, fascinating subject.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Moisture Farmer

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Started Augustine's Confessions last night.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 3 replies
- the Ink Slinger
  
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  I just finished it the other day. :)
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- jkdavies
  
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  I thought there were too many mentions of it to be just one person ;)
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- mark s
  
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  I like the part with the whipping
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
jkdavies

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Finished I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir yesterday, an Icelandic crime/ghost story circling around the disappearance of two little boys, 50 years apart, and a house in an abandoned village. It's her 5th novel (at least, 5th translated to English that I know of), and somehow I missed the 4th, but it is a stand alone one anyhow. I found the tying up of the plot lines to be intriguing, but even though I didn't care for the trio of people in the abandoned village at all & was rooting for the ghost, overall I felt the supernatural stuff didn't really add a great deal to the story. I like my supernatural stuff to be totally fantastic, or "real" and explainable :) Having said that, I understand that ghosts, pixies and other supernatural beings play more of a role in rural Icelandic culture than in mine :)
Now I am starting (yeay!) the amazing K J Parker's The Belly of the Bow, the second in the Fencer trilogy. A great writer of slightly downbeat intelligent "engineering" fantasy - the books are heavy on warfare & battle weaponry, siege engines, and the like... and wonderfully marketed, in that we only know K J Parker is a pseudonym, not even whether the writer is male or female. Which doesn't normally bother me, but if someone goes to the trouble of hiding it, well then I want to know (predictable like that, humans...)

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
nina d

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started The Master of Ballantrea

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb

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Just picked up The Master and the Margarita and cannot wait to start it.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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Had to share this, considering why this Island is named what it is...
“A friend once told me that the real message Bram Stoker sought to convey in 'Dracula' is that a human being needs to live hundreds and hundreds of years to get all his reading done; that Count Dracula, basically nothing more than a misunderstood bookworm, was draining blood from the necks of 10,000 hapless virgins not because he was the apotheosis of pure evil but because it was the only way he could live long enough to polish off his extensive reading list. But I have no way of knowing if this is true, as I have not yet found time to read 'Dracula.” - Joe Queenan

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 8 replies
- Michelle G
  
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  hahahahaha
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  Very nice!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
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  fun!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  Hmmmmm... I can sparkle. I eat my steak blue. I’ve read Dracula several times.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  But I never considered sparkly vampires to be very literate.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  I could be the first.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Marguerite M
  
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  Makes total sense to me. My reading list just keeps growing and growing.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
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  Clever!
  Don't want to read it, but compelled to just to see the style of writing.
  One day...maybe :D
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Michelle G

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Currently reading:
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp (real book)
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell for online group read (Nook)
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (audiobook on CD)
Also need to squeeze in:
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather for my F2F book club this month

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
Halo

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Gone Girl by something Flynn! Finally- I’ve been waiting weeks for that one.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

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I just finished The Plague by Albert Camus and it was deep and dark and wonderful.
Starting A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by Jemison and listening to The Cry of the Halidon by Robert Ludlum.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 4 replies
- angelb
  
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  Deep, dark and wonderful sounds like a good book to me! On my list!
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  I enjoyed The Plague- deep and dark and wonderful is an excellent way to describe it- must get to more Camus. I have a lovely hardcover of The Plague, The Fall, and The Stranger.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  I liked The Plague so much I put The Fall on my TBR.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
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  The Plague is very good. Really excellent depiction of an epidemic.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
ScoLgo

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Just finished a re-read of The Stress of Her Regard last night. Nice to start the year with a 5-star read! Next up is the sequel, Hide Me Among the Graves. Also started a printed copy of Gravity's Rainbow late last night. Only ~25 pages in and my head began to swim (in a good way).

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 4 replies
- Halo
  
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  Head swimming in a good way? I might get to that after Infinite Jest, it’s on my list.
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
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  Have re-read sections of Gravity's Rainbow to try and get a grip.
  One day I might finish it. Remember one (or two) page scene about candy that
  was simply beautiful to read.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
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  The prose is beautiful and very, very smart. Currently managing between 3-8 pages per evening. At this rate, I should finish in the summertime... ;-]
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  Sheesh. Sounds like my book count for 2013 probably won't top 2012... That's ok, quality over quantity. I'm looking forward to Gravity's Rainbow now- I like beautiful and smart prose- doesn't get any better.
  I was just reading that Pynchon is releasing a new work some time this year.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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Finished The Crossing. Another beautiful work from The Man. Can't wait to start Cities of the Plain.

posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

show 7 replies
- angelb
  
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  Ohhhh...I'm so excited for you!! I just love The Man, and the trilogy! Enjoy...:)
  
  posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  I need to reread the trilogy soon- it's been a while. In the last six months or so I reread Blood Meridian, Child of God, and Outer Dark. I think The Border Trilogy is next. Glad you liked it Ink :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
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  I was a little put off by 'The Road'. Found it entirely too depressing but. . . I did think the writing itself was incredible.
  Blood Meridian and the Trilogy are both on my TBR. I intend to start w/All the Pretty Horses as BM sounds very dark & gruesome, (I gathered this from 'Islander' remarks I have seen).
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  @ scolgo -I seem to be alone in my opinion of BM. I found The Judge to be a product of his times. Is he evil? Yes. But he did and does not affect me as he does Halo. The beauty of the sky, weather, and desert of the southwest are among some of the most beautiful I have ever read.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
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  I think The Trilogy (ATPH) is a good place to start, although it's not "mild" reading, it is far less brutal than BM. Somehow though, even with it's brutality, BM (because of the author's writing and unique literary talent) I find to be one of his best works. The Road was my first McCarthy novel, but of course it's quite different from the rest. I like to call McCarthy celestial because I feel like the events, the setting, and the characters somehow transcend their place...as though the writing somehow reaches the heights of the universe and calls out to the heavens.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- the Ink Slinger
  
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  The Road is still my favorite McCarthy book (and favorite novel period), but Blood Meridian is terrific, too. One of those books I appreciated even more after I had read it - it's an incredibly thought-provoking work.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- BooknBlues
  
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  I loved The Crossing, it is perhaps my favorite of the trilogy and I think my favorite that I have read of McCarthy.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
New Title

Marguerite M removed this reply 4 months ago.
nuclearblonde

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Now beginning A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger (edited)

New Title

Finished Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I liked it, but it seemed rather repetitive at times. 3.5 stars.
Also finished One Shot by Lee Child. Loved it, and I look forward to checking out more of the Jack Reacher books. 4.5 stars.
Girding my loins for the tackling of The Brothers Karamazov. Also reading The Suicide Club and Other Stories by R.L. Stevenson, and The Children of Men by P.D. James. I saw the movie last year and didn't particularly care for it, but I'm liking the book much better so far.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 4 replies
- angelb
  
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  I loved The Brothers Karamazov. Next to Cormac McCarthy, Dostoevsky is my all time favorite author. Enjoy!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- jkdavies
  
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  oh now I could watch Clive Owen in that film several times Ink ;)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- the Ink Slinger
  
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  Yeah well... ;)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- the Ink Slinger
  
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  To be clear, I thought the film was well made, and Mr. Owen is one of my favorite actors. It just seemed lacking, for some reason, and I felt cheated by the ending.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Moisture Farmer (edited)

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Just finished North and South, over halfway through Augustine's Confessions, and preparing to read Abélard's Historia Calamitatum (Story of My Misfortunes).

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

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Now starting Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham. I'm interested to see where he goes with them and whether he gets into all the details of the two men.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb

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Just started Shattering Glass by Gail Giles; it's something I picked out of my teen son's room...looks disturbing.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

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Finished a Christian study book my pastor wanted me to read, Deep & Wide by Andy Stanley. Good thought-provoking book, glad I read it. Now I am picking up another non-fiction work a friend of mine gave me to read, Stuart Isacoff's Temperament: How Music Became A Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization. It's music theory which I am not all that familiar with, so we will see how well this goes.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 4 replies
- the Ink Slinger
  
  New Title
  
  Let me know what you think of Temperament... I'm not a musician or anything, but I love music and the book's subtitle is intriguing.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  My son read the prologue out loud one night and it was pretty good. But music theory can get a bit geeky, so I will let you know.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
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  If you want an unexpected and amazing story of the history of radio and country music in the US - read Charlatan. It is two stories.
  1. How the AMA got its fangs
  2. How radio changed because of patent medicines
  It is not particularly well written, not bad, just not amazing. Still, the story is just - well - give it a try. You will learn things they will never teach you in school :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  That sounds interesting to me. I love early music. My friend and I discuss its origins often.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

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Finished A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemison and I liked it ok. I thought the world building was good, the first person showed the unfolding of knowledge, but the character development was not the best and I really wondered about the realm she left to enter Sky. Maybe the sequel?
Reading The Arabian Nights in a classical illustrated edition. I have read some of the stories ages ago so, to some extent this is a re-read.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb

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Just starting Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It's not on my TBR list for this year, but none of my TBR books were available right away at my library so I came home with this.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger

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Started The Call of Cthulhu and Other Dark Tales by Lovecraft. Excellent so far.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 3 replies
- Jerry M
  
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  hehehehe (maniacally)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  Dark spirals of chiaroscura in tunnels of the mind twisting with the agonies of near-truth almost realized.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- mark s
  
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  Follow up with some Deralith and Clark Ashton Smith...some machan and blackwood...
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nina d

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Snow Crash By Neal Stephenson - re-read

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 4 replies
- Halo
  
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  I really liked that one- Hiro Protagonist. Best protagonist name in a book, ever. :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
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  Yes, nice bits of humor in the novel.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
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  I liked this one too.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- mark s
  
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  It wasn't bad. Quite entertaining really.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

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Just finished book 2 of N. K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy, The Broken Kingdoms. Really smart fantasy writing and definitely not YA material. Each book so far has been a story all on its own which is a good sign. Also a good sign is that as soon as I finished this book, I wanted to go out and get a copy of book 3 (which I do not have yet).
Now I am starting Fred Saberhagen's The Book of Lost Swords series, which may really be a continuing of his Book of Swords Trilogy. I like Saberhagen, he has his moments.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- mark s
  
  New Title
  
  I finished both and then realised that the Empire of the East was a prequel
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
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  Empire is a prequel. That's moving up on the TBR list now.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Moisture Farmer

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Finished "Story of My Misfortunes"; now I'm planning to continue the Middle Ages theme with the "Travels of Marco Polo".

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Halo

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I just ordered a whole whack of short story collections that I’ve been meaning to read for a while:
Sixty Stories By Donald Barthelme; The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories by Raymond Carver
The World of the Short Story: A Twentieth Century Collection which includes stories by Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, Barthelme, Capote, Mishima, Hemingway, Faulkner, Nabokov, Marquez, and *shivers* Atwood. :D
I’ve been feeling like a short story or three for a while. I’m pretty freakin’ excited for the last one! All my favourites in one teensy (ok, 900pg) book! I can keep them all safe in one place on my bookshelf. I love me a good short story anthology.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 20 replies
- Rina (edited)
  
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  Cheever's writing is well…delicious. And a Marquez short story delightful. And I like a Hemingway. Sparse and to the point. After I got over the trauma of The Old Man and the Sea. I like the dude. And When I want a great drunk short story writer Capote is my man.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
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  The Twentieth Century Collection sounds terrific. Hopefully you'll come across a short story by Thomas Mann...all excellent. Except for Death In Venice...NOT excellent. It's semi-autobiographical and reveals a disturbing truth about the author himself. Even the most gifted, brilliant authors have their faults. But that's another discussion, another thread altogether.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  I'm inclined to think that the most brilliant, gifted authors inherently have faults. It's what makes them interesting... historically speaking. No average, run of the mill person could write like some of our best do without some dirty life behind them.
  See, now I want to read Death In Venice.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb (edited)
  
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  I agree, brilliant people come with all sorts of colorful, human condition, character-behavior "stuff" attached...I'm completely okay with all of it and I judge none of it personally, except for this one particular thing about Mann...I can't get over it. I remember in college when I was studying all of Mann's works, beginning with his masterpiece, The Magic Mountain, then all of his short stories and I thought he was the greatest German writer ever. I was blissfully unaware...then I decided to do my semester long research paper on him and I read Death In Venice and found out the truth behind it and I was completely crushed and disturbed. Still, he is the same brilliant author yet, I just cannot think of him the same way anymore...sigh. What does one do when they are faced with a disturbing truth about someone, or something that they thought was monumental greatness? I don't know the answer to that...to this day I struggle with my thoughts about him.
  If you do read any of his works, I cannot wait to hear what you think of him.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  What did he do?
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb (edited)
  
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  Unfortunately, Mann was attracted to young boys. It sounds sort of ridiculous to use the word "unfortunately." I don't know any other way to put it...but there it is.
  And just to be clear, I don't mean young like 21, I mean young as in, say, 11.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  Hmmm... yes. That's definitely an issue. Interestingly, I was just thinking the other day- that the one thing I don't like about Murakami's works is that in every book by him that I've truly enjoyed there is a young, teenage girl just madly in love with the much older male protagonist. If he could just make those girls, say eighteen or twenty, it wouldn't be such an issue- they all seem to be sixteen or seventeen.
  I will read some of Mann's short stories, perhaps even A Death In Venice- but I'm not sure.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
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  He really is worth the reads, he really is brilliant and I didn't mean to discourage. It's just that one story, which he himself admitted was semi-auto-biographical. What perplexes me is that he, his wife, and the people his literary circle gave interviews and talked about this as though they were talking about anything...they treated it like a "sensitive subject" with all sensitivity and respect due to their literary god. The boy in the story was 14, but in real-life, he was 11. Mann's wife said in an interview (after Mann died) that after that vacation where he first met the boy, Mann wrote letters upon letters to the boy but the attempts at (?) were not reciprocated, which "broke Mann's heart." It's all so perplexing and disturbing!! I have to say, if Mann were just an ordinary guy, then people would not have been so forgiving. I think (just my opinion) that Mann used his brilliant skill to take a disturbing story (about himself) and via beautiful words, references to the Greeks, etc., he managed to take this disturbing story and twist it into a story which turns the old man into a victim, or the "hero" of the human condition, so that the reader has empathy for him while the child is somehow the antagonist...because the child does not reciprocate the old man's love..???
  Lucky for me, I read most of his works before I learned all of this...before DIV, and that's when I truly enjoyed him.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  That is a quandry in a larger context. Not just Mann, himself, but other authors as well. We like a certain author so we want to know more about that person and then find out they are less than stellar people in real life. How does one adjust to that or excuse it or try to rationalize it. Or is it something that you really don't care about? Where is that line in the sand for you or for a people in general. And realize, what lines we draw in the sand today will be erased tomorrow and redrawn elsewhere, it's inevitable. For the early Greeks and Persians, what Mann wanted there would certainly have had no line in the sand at all, it was acceptable. But we are not living in the Greek and Persian worlds today. In fact, what Mann and company could gloss over about a 100 years ago would certainly not be glossed over today. The line always moves.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  BTW, no spoilers here, I won't say anything that is not in the book's description on amazon or shelfari:
  Yes, I think so too, about the lines in the sand. I really have no lines as far as the authors, except one for this particular issue. Even still, I love all of his other books. And I agree about the Greeks too, I think this is why Mann set the story in the Mediterranian and kept referring to the Greeks and described the boy as a beautiful "Greek god." I think he knew the story would be more acceptable this way.
  I'de like to mention too, that I was just checking out readers' reviews on shelfari and amazon. I found that not many people have a problem with the story, and rate it very highly, and the reviews that i read don't seem to mention the "child" issue. Also, it bothered me that some reviewers referred to this book as "homo-erotica" or made some other mention of it being about homosexuality, which it is not!!! It's not about homosexuality at all, has nothing to do with it.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  No, that wouldn't sit well at all with me, angel. Regardless of whether the boy was eleven or fourteen. Dress it up any way you want, justify using our forefathers (there are some things in which we've advanced as a society), all you want- a pederast is a pederast (uh- not a homosexual). Throughout history, and today, we can find numerous examples of this- different laws for different people as well as different levels of acceptance.
  I am intrigued, however, and I will most likely read the story. I'm interested to see how the boy is portrayed, why someone would refer to it as a homoerotic story as opposed to pederasty. It's why I (tried to) read that horrid Fifty Shades of Grey. Regardless of the 'love story' taking place in those books- what it boiled down to was sexual abuse, at least initially, for which I have no tolerance. Ok, I realize comparing Mann and whoever wrote Fifty Shades of Trash is quite a stretch, but it creates a similar type of conundrum, does it not?
  Oooh, I love juicy book discussions!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  It is an interesting question. I have read discussions where some will tolerate most anything in a private life as long as the work or art is stellar. And then others who would not even finish reading LOVE IN THE TIME OF COLERA because of the 623 love affairs kept in a diary in the story and they were offended. How one decides is even more interesting than the line in the sand over which they may or may not cross.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  The only way I can explain DIV's success is to say that only a very, very gifted writer could write a story about pedophelia and turn it into something considered a masterpiece...he could have been an excellent defense lawyer I think. You are right Halo, one can dress it up to brilliance, but still, it's a story about a grown man and a boy and I can't for the life of me understand the praise and gloss it still gets. It's a short read, you could probably read it in an evening or two, and I wouldn't mind hearing what a sensible person thinks of it, lol Also, The Magic Mountain (not a short story) is truly excellent, as are his other stories...which puts me in the weird position of recommending his books on the one-hand while wanting to stick a fork in his eye with the other hand!
  As for 50 shades...haven't read it and don't plan to.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  I've not read Garica Marquez yet (yikes), but I've heard a lot of discussion about him on the Fish and on the sister group (Who Doesn't Love A Classic?) and most people are generally not attracted to the use of the old man/young woman attraction. However, you could see that in a different light, say a metaphor between Marquez' young virginal South America and the ties to the old established Spain. I can easily see that. Might Mann be doing the same thing? Even though he was creating a story from a real life incident? The question would be, what is then the metaphor?
  Another great book to bring up, which relates to this discussion, is Nabokov's Lolita. I've never really heard any notoriety about Death In Venice (until now) like I have heard about Lolita. And, as far as I know, Nabokov wasn't anything like Humpert Humpert.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  I read Marqez' LOVE IN TIME OF CHOLERA, but I didn't find anything offensive at all...actually I found it very boring and I was disappointed because I kept hearing so much praise for the author. I heard 100 YEARS of SOLITUDE is much, much better and plan on giving that one a try, eventually. I think I just picked his least entertaining book for my taste.
  Mann certainly does make use of metaphors, mainly the sickness in Venice at the time (cholera,) and the references to art, beauty, and the Greeks...but he does it (I believe) to make the literal parts of the book above reproach. I did consider the possibility that "maybe that's not what Mann meant...maybe he wasn't talking about an aging man's attraction to a young boy, maybe this is not a case of pedophelia..." But, there is no way around it...it is what it is.
  I did notice, while checking out reviews, that it seems to be middle-age/older people who give the most praise to the book while teens and younger adults are the few who describe the book as "Creepy child stalker," or something like that. Usually I would go with the opinion of the former, but in this case the younger people have seen through Mann's adroit prose and have called it for what it is.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
  New Title
  
  Exactly, Jerry and yet the prose of Marquez is beautiful.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  So, that’s interesting. I loved Lolita- not the subject matter, but the prose. It was my first experience with literature other than Steinbeck- who was great, in his own right- but Nabokov’s prose I loved.
  I also loved Marquez- however, to be completely honest, I don’t remember either of the books that I read in their entirety. I couldn’t tell you what they were about. I remember passages and scenes, but not the whole.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  I would find the pedaphilia unacceptable. In Lolita there was not the sense that the author approved of Humbert, more he was trying to crawl inside his head from a perspective not a pedaphile's. I read Buddenbrooks and Magic Mountain and loved them both.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  The Magic Mountain is my favorite German masterpiece, and Wiley, I think you're the first person I've "met" on shelfari that has read it! There are reviews, but no-one in any group I belong to. Whenever I think of the Swiss Alps, I always remember "little Hans Castorp." sigh
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  Yes, it is a masterpiece and a beautiful book.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nina d

New Title

Different Seasons by Stephen King.
Grabbed this from the library primarily to read The Body (inspired Stand by Me movie)
and reading that story first from this collection.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 9 replies
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  Apt Pupil (which I think is part of Different Seasons,) is a very disturbing story that surprised me...there is no horror or supernatural in it, but very creepy. Enjoy!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  I love that book! Enjoy :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
  New Title
  
  Read Apt Pupil some time ago...very twisted. Don't like stories where there is
  no one to root for. Over the years, learned to step carefully through SK works :D
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- ishabali (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  Apt pupil was a riveting, disturbing, horrifying story - all the more cos somewhere i find it possible, it could be true and it was a ortrayal of true evil. It has stayed in my mind for years. i think it was made into a movie too. I find Stephen King very very readable, but don't like all his books cos there is too much weird mumbo-jumbo.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
  New Title
  
  Exactly! The terrible things that actually could happen are so much scarier.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- mark s (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  I liked the movie better than the story Apt Pupil...the story was indeed disturbing for anyone with kids.
  No its not in Different Seasons.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
  New Title
  
  Actually, Apt Pupil is in Different Seasons... along with The Shawshank Redemption, The Body, (Stand By Me), and The Breathing Method.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
  New Title
  
  Just read it and ScoLgo is right about the story list.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- mark s
  
  New Title
  
  Really? That's odd. I guess I was wrong. Sorry about that. I think I got it mixed up with four past midnight in my head...
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

New Title

I'm starting Persuasion by Jane Austen now.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb

New Title

I begin If On A Winter's Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino tonight, an author I've long wanted to read.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  Oh, that's cool. Calvino is in my top five favorite authors.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Marguerite M
  
  New Title
  
  I enjoyed reading this book for the pure pleasure of the writing. I look forward to your review.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Mimsy R

New Title

I finished up Perdido Street Station by China Melville. Still thinking about it. Will review when I am done simmering.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 6 replies
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  Really liked that one.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
  New Title
  
  I like it. I do. I just, uhm...want to know what happened to Issac and the crisis engine. He writes two more books about the city - but I don't see Issac as a character. Le pout.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  Isaac has a teensy mention in The Scar, possibly in Iron Council also, but only the briefest of mentions and I don't remember if we find out about the crisis engine. Double pout. I can't remember.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- mark s
  
  New Title
  
  Perdido is Spanish for....;-)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  Sometimes, and Perdido Street is one of them, I like to be forced to finish the book in my imagination. What happens to Isaac and his engine? The possiblities are infinite and was that the point?
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
  New Title
  
  Possibly the point Wiley, but I thought perhaps not. It was certainly left wide open. Open for interpretation or for another story?
  I found it VERY odd that with the criminals, the government, the underbelly of the world etc looking for them - that they stayed hidden - other than a wronged female garuda. Was it the weaver that wove that hidden place for them? Their luck seemed disproportionate - hence my thought that more information might be forthcoming.
  I am okay with an open ending, I just felt like he had more to say.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Michelle G

New Title

Started audio of The Night Circus.
Started reading Death Comes for the Archbishp by Willa Cather.
Still reading (Nook) North and South by Gaskell and still reading One Thousand Gifts.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- Mimsy R
  
  New Title
  
  I thought the audio version of the Night Circus was very well done.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Michelle G
  
  New Title
  
  Can't beat Jim Dale!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

New Title

I need something light and fluffy so I'm starting Chalice by Robin McKinley. She writes a nice fantasy read that tends to make you feel good.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- Mimsy R
  
  New Title
  
  True. I haven't read that one. I particularly like The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword
  Both are favorites.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
  New Title
  
  I really liked Beauty by her.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

New Title

Finished Henderson the Rain King</B> by Saul Bellow and, while loving the prose, was mostly disappointed.
Started The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemison.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb

New Title

I've started The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman, and refrained from chucking If On A Winters Night A Traveler out the window.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 5 replies
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  Oh boy. Don't tell Jerry about If On a Winter's Night. It's, like, his favourite book in the universe. I started it a while back, but put it down for something I had from the library, and have yet to pick it back up- but I will. Soon. I was enjoying the writing.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  Awww...no disrespect to the author or those who love him. "It's not the book, it's me." lol
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  What did you not like about it? You can tell me. Honest. I am not Mr. Plum. This is not a wrench in my hand. And we are not in the library :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  ***Possible Spoilers***
  LOL Jerry! Let's see, I found out that I don't like to be addressed by the author/narrator in a novel quite sooo much, and this novel speaks to the reader so much...I wanted to get to the story, and I found it a long road to get to the story, having to go through all of the author's psychological analysis of the reader's mind, expectations, etc. The author/narrator became another character, and I found myself wanting him to be quiet! On the chapters which I did find story related prose...I found it confusing since none of it seemed to mesh together until the end. I felt the author was playing tricks on the reader for fun...he was really, I just had no patience for it. Any one of the story chapters could have expanded into it's own novel, just when a story would begin to take off, in comes the narrator like an annoying intruder. It was like a labyrinth!! And by the end, I felt too annoyed with the author to care about the story. I don't mind being addressed by a narrator occasionally, throughout a story, but this was completely different. I could tell though, and appreciate, that Calvino is a good writer and I know I would enjoy something/ anything else written by him in the more traditional form. I know this was his experimental novel, so it's probably different from his others.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  Different in the unique approach, yes, but his style is unique all by itself. The whole gest of the story was that the story never really ends. The reason you kept reading different stories that would break off and branch (Borges would say bifurcate) into other areas is an ageless idea used by storytellers worldwide. The Thousand and One Nights did it so well back in the day. But there is a subtle message going on, that there is no perfect read out there. If we were to capture THE perfect book, why would we need to bother ourselves with reading anymore? But each read has its own flaws, some not so big while others are fatal. Just as the reader couldn't finish one book but found that all books had something to do with each other is an idea boiled down from its meta state. The idea that, all books are really conversations between authors sometimes separated by time but they are still conversations. The books through time become The Book, and all readers become The Reader and all authors become The Author.
  But I could see if you didn't like being talked to by the author how this book would grate on you. Too bad. Hope another Calvino is a better fit.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

New Title

Now starting Watchmen. I found it tucked away in my sewing room and realized I had forgotten I owned it.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 4 replies
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  Lol, you are lucky it was the sewing room and not, say, a book store, like I have done on a few occasions. Then I find out I own two!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
  New Title
  
  My sister lucks out on my duplicate buys. She has a few good ones now thanks to my poor memory.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  I have learned to make a one page list and work off that. That helps sometimes lol.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
  New Title
  
  I have a catalog of what I own on a thumb drive. I need to put it on my phone so I have it with me.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nina d

New Title

Cadillac Jack by Larry McMurtry
Nice departure. Still early on, but so far the story follows the travels of a Texan who searches the country for antique finds (no sure if this is so believable given sites like Ebay and the story was written in 2002). Still I'm enjoying the character's laid back attitude.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  I like McMurtry and have perused many of his novels, but not this one.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
  New Title
  
  McMurtry is a group read in another group.
  Was going to re-read Lonesome Dove (again!) but decided to pick another because
  Lonesome Dove is still too fresh in my mind from the last time.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

New Title

I finished Watchmen (loved it) and found The Elegance of the Hedgehog at the library sale for $.50 so I'm 100 pages into that. Very different but great so far!

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Il'ja

New Title

Faulkner's Go Down, Moses. Oh, wow.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 10 replies
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  I haven’t read that one- I love Faulkner. I should read that one before I read ‘Flags in the Dust’ and reread all the others that I have read.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  I've only read one Faulkner (holding my Proust out, so anything Amester throws at me gets blocked). But I do have a book of some of his short stories, Light In August, Intruder In the Dust and The Sound and the Fury.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  Moses is seven stories in one. Perhaps something like Mitchell was going for in Cloud Atlas. I'd just finished a Hemingway; following up with a Faulkner. Like a snack before a meal.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  Just like Jerry to use Proust (the ultimate philosophical hedge better) to protect himself. Good ole Proust. Well, there might be a god. That is all well and good. The ideal thing to do if you are not sure, or convinced is to give a lot of lip service - just believe because the consequences of not believing are so onerous, but the rewards are awesome. Eternal bliss. Proust - the philosophical car insurance salesman and hamster shield.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  I loved Proust's Swann's Way but that is the only stream-of-consciousness novel I ever liked....I didn't care for Joyce or Virginia Wolff for some reason, but Proust I loved.
  And, not that is has anything to do with anything...Jim Morrison's gravestone is right next to Proust's gravestone in the cemetary in France.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  Um, Jim Morrison is not actually there. Everyone knows he's not dead.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  Jim Morrison, Andy Kaufmann and Bruce Lee go around reading Withing A Budding Grove at coffee houses in Copenhagen. It's true.
  Ok, weirdest play idea: one act play where Camus on a chair and Proust in a bed are locked in a cell together. And every once in awhile Oscar Wilde comes in as the jailor. Not sure where that came from but it would be intriguing.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
  New Title
  
  I'm lost here. Proust's existence is an argument for God's existence? The poltoonological argument? And Wilde may be the jailer, but Dostoevsky is the prison warden. Crisis is reached when there are no pastries or confections of any sort to be had in lockup because Fyodor is caught up in a card game with Proust's personal madeleine chef. Hijinks ensue! Morrison is certainly un-not-dead. His lyrics, lifeless as ever, are proof. Oooh...burn!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  Pfffffft. Just pfffffffft, and maybe a tttthhhhhhpppt.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  Ooo, Halo just introduced the Billy and the Boingers angle. This changes everything. Yes. Everything.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

New Title

All the Pretty Horses came in today for me from the library! On to McCarthy!

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 20 replies
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  A beautious tale.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  I absolutely agree- enjoy :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
  New Title
  
  Was going to read this ...but...
  ran across the movie and thought I'd watch it first...and stopped at a real nasty point.
  Don't think I'll read the novel. The beginning looks okay and that one character who tags along seems like a real hoot.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
  New Title
  
  AtPH is on my list for 2013 and I have not yet seen the movie
  nina d said, "... and stopped at a real nasty point." Hmmm... too violent? Too lascivious? Too grim? My curiosity is piqued.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  I didn’t think the movie was nearly as good as the book- and I don’t really recall anything overly nasty in the book, I’ve always considered AtPH one of his most tame works... but that’s in comparison to things like No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  I saw the movie and wondered, who is this McCarthy guy? That's how I got introduced to him, and then I read the book. Oh, the sublime writing. I do have to admit, while I was reading it, I was also reading one of the worst SF books I have ever read. Wait, I take that back, it was THE worst book I have ever read. So maybe that made All the Pretty Horses that much sweeter. But probably not.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
  New Title
  
  I'll second Halo's thoughts on "tameness". But "tame" for McCarthy can still be fairly intense. The film - at least the cut they released - was a letdown for me. Made the whole thing far to episodic, choppy. And Cormac may be a lot of things, but he ain't choppy.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
  New Title
  
  ScoLgo...when they were in the prison
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- the Ink Slinger
  
  New Title
  
  I love the book, but haven't bothered with the film (even though I like Matt Damon). Part of the beauty of ATPH is McCarthy's magnificent use of language, and I'm wary of any attempt to translate that to the screen.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nina d
  
  New Title
  
  Ink...think his best passages are the background...landscapes, architecture ...which would all be put into a background visual and you never get the benefit of his prose.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- nuclearblonde
  
  New Title
  
  I loved it and did find it rather tame. I think I'll have to watch the movie now to compare them.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  I loved ATPH...my second McCarthy novel and he's been my favorite contemporary American author ever since. I did see the movie later on...it was directed by Billy Bob Thornton and he was forced to cut at least an hour out of it. I liked Matt Damon as John Grady but was kind of disappointed with Penelope Cruz.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- the Ink Slinger
  
  New Title
  
  Is there any movie where Cruz doesn't disappoint? ;)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
  New Title
  
  Vicky Christina Barcelona
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
  New Title
  
  Been a long time since I watched it but I don't remember hating Cruz in 'Vanilla Sky'. Pedro Almodovar also seems to coax decent performances out of her, I thought she was good in both 'Volver' and 'All About My Mother'.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  I want to see that one. There has only been one Woody Allen movie I didn't really enjoy, so I would probably like this one as well.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  Scolgo. Before Cruz was in Vanilla Sky, she was in the original movie, Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) which was a really good film.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
  New Title
  
  angleb - I remember reading something about how Thorton was pretty ticked because of the studio cuts. A quote from Matt Damon, something like, 'cut out an hour and you're watching a different movie than the one we made.' He wasn't happy as well.
  Plus, Penelope Cruz just told me at breakfast that it's impossible for her to be bad in anything.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  Belle Epoque
  I liked the movie, but it was a whole different piece for me than the book.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- ScoLgo
  
  New Title
  
  Il'ja: So that's where Penelope goes for breakfast after she leaves here! ;-]
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
the Ink Slinger (edited)

New Title

Been busy with school and work, but I did manage to finish Dr. Trueman's The Creedal Imperative (absolutely fantastic) and Einhard's The Life of Charlemagne (good, but not great). I'm a quarter of the way through The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky continues to impress), and I just started The Rhetoric and Poetics of Aristotle (which I'm enjoying much more than I anticipated).

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 5 replies
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  So glad to hear you're liking The Brothers Karazamov! Excellent Russian classic!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
  New Title
  
  Inky, you might enjoy Nabokov's Lectures on Russian Literature. He was no fan of Dostoevsky, much preferring the 'aristocratic' Tolstoy and the artistic Gogol. By examining his critique through a confession/redemption hermeneutic, I've stumbled across a theory as to the drive behind Nabokov's dislike of the writer. I'd be interested in your take. No rush. :) Oh, and, Notes from the Underground is also required reading.
  Finally, Aristotle will help sharpen your critical eye. Apologies if my assumption is unwarranted, but if you're working in translation, don't let the woodenness of the work throw you off. Rhetoric & Poetics are indispensable to a theologian who would write.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- the Ink Slinger
  
  New Title
  
  @Il'ja: I read Notes from the Underground last summer... probably one of the strangest books I've read, but so good. I'll need to read it again; it's a remarkably rich story despite its short length.
  Lectures on Russian Literature sounds fascinating, though I'm struggling with the idea that someone could read Dostoevsky and not love him. :) I tried a bit of Tolstoy last year (The Death of Ivan Ilych), and will probably be adding War and Peace to my list at some point.
  And thanks for the encouragement about Aristotle's work... :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  I've read The Life of Charlemagne. It's from a Penguin Classic that also has Notker the Stammerer's version of Charlemagne's life as well. Don't really remember all that much about it, it was back in school when I had a million things on my mind.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Mimsy R
  
  New Title
  
  Il'ja is correct about The Rhetoric & Poetics of Aristotle Rhetoric was an art then. Young men who had a mind for a political career were tutored in this skill, their families/father's vying for the best tutors for their sons.
  I have to admit, I enjoyed Gorgias by Plato very much. It gives a very good window on how rhetoric was viewed during the time.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

New Title

I'm going to be starting Essays of E. B. White today.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

New Title

A while back I finished a fantasy series by Fred Saberhagen titled The Book of Swords series (some have called it The First Triad). Now I've started his second series, creatively titled, The Book of Lost Swords Series. Just finished the first book the other day, and it's also creatively titled The First Book of Lost Swords: Woundhealer's Story. The first series was pretty good and Saberhagen had flashes of pretty good storytelling but overall it was a decent read. This first book is lacking in that area. There are sparks where before there were flashes and some of the passages seemed sort of lazy to me (a wizard announces that he knows what going on with the main characters who are far away on an adventure- instead of letting us know how he found out, which would have been probably another 10-20 pages of storytelling, he just announces that he found out). I hope this is an aberation since this second series is much longer than, almost triple, the length of the first series.
Now I am reading Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, his Harry Dresden series, the 7th book. Jim Butcher can write rather well, and he has mastered his niche in the noir detective/paranormal market.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 1 reply
- wiley
  
  New Title
  
  The First Triad is on my list.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Moisture Farmer

New Title

Completed The Travels of Marco Polo; now on to two more Middle Ages reads: The Adventures of Ibn Battuta and Christine de Pizan's Book of the City of Ladies. The latter looks to be especially interesting, as some consider it to be one of the earliest feminist works.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

New Title

I just finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk. Oh my, that was a good read, a 5 star and a favorite for me. It's early yet, but it's a contender for my favorite read of the year. It was fun thinking about it while reading it.
Now I am going to read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 9 replies
- Il'ja (edited)
  
  New Title
  
  Snow. Cool! no pun intended. If you enjoyed that, you should give his My Name Is Red a shot. It might be his masterwork. Relentless, painstaking, like Snow, plus murder and mayhem abound!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  Snow is on my TBR list for this year...the book description appealed to me. Glad to hear it's a good read.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
  New Title
  
  At times it's an arduous read and it has it's Kafkaesque moments. But it has that strange afterlife that stays with you after the last page is read. In that regard, it reminds me a lot like Arundhati Roy's A God of Small Things. I read that about 2 years ago and it's still living inside my head.
  And Il'ja, I have My Name Is Red on my shelf along with The Museum of Innocence. I will read Red first, it looks like something I can get into easier (when I get around to it that is).
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
  New Title
  
  Of the two, Red is the one to make time for. I really, really didn't like Museum.... The writing has the obsessive character of Snow and Red but, I don't know, it just fell flat for me. We talked about this, right? I'm gettin' old, Jerry. For others interested, Pamuk is a bit of an acquired taste. A couple of literate Turkish friends are conflicted about the writer, despite his international success. Sort of the way Russians feel about Pasternak.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  Then who do your Turkish friends think people should be reading?
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  I remember you talking about it, Il'ja. I hadn't read any Pamuk at that time so I wasn't able to talk about him. I do like the way he writes, he has this sense of absurdness that creates a sense of truth underneath it. I got more of a sense of that town, Kars, in the book Snow, as a social unit rather than a brick and mortar unit. He mentioned the brick and mortar but it was mainly covered in snow and that part of the town's character was mostly covered up. So what came alive, to me, was the town's social character. Everyone spying on everyone else, or hiding from the spies.
  I did hear an interview by Pamuk when Museum was just out and I liked his ideas about why he wrote the book and that put him on the map for me. Whether I will like it, who knows?
  And yeah, what Turkish writer should we be paying attention to? The only other one I know is O. Z. Livinelli (Bliss).
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
  New Title
  
  For Rina and Jerry and all comers, a list. In no particular order...they mentioned
  Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, and a 16th-century poet named Fuzuli. As well as Aziz Nesin, Refik Halit Karay, Cemil Kavukçu, and Orhan Veli Kanik. I've read some of these in an amazing, wonderful, and otherwise supercalifragilisticexpialidocious compendium of Middle Eastern writing titled Tablet and Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East. I've also read one of the Mehmed series They Burn the Thistles by Yaşar Kemal and thought it was outstanding. Truly brilliant.
  That compendium mentioned above also contains a ton of Persian, Arabic, and Urdu lit. Worlds uncovered.
  The Turks I know are mostly concerned with an 'accurate' portrayal of Turkey, and feel Pamuk tends to tailor his writing to European preconceptions/tastes. I don't know, I enjoy his writing a lot. One writer they laugh at, expectorate toward, and generally heap scorn upon: Elif Şafak, the Forty Rules of Love chick.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  Thank you, if you don't mind Il'ja I'm going to copy your list to another group . People there are very much interested in reading from all parts of the world.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Thanks, Il'ja, I can now go look some books up. That never gets boring.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Halo

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I just finished In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka. **shivers** That Kafka was one messed up cat. I loved the weirdness, grotesquerie, and sheer absurdity of The Metamorphosis, but this was just downright disturbing. I kind of liked it- a good short story to discuss for anyone that’s interested. I feel all creeped out and the inside of my head feels dirtier for having read it.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 7 replies
- angelb
  
  New Title
  
  I remember the story (In The Penal Colony) and understand the creepy feeling! For some reason, I liked it though, and I still have his short story collection at home on my bookshelf. Maybe I'll give it a re-read tonight, since Sunne In Splendour is good but not something I'm racing home to...it's just sort of passing the time until my next book. I recently read Huxley's Brave New World and that creepiness has stuck with me, maybe I can shake it off with Kafka creepiness instead!
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  Ooh that would be fun, Angel! I did like it- but man was that disturbing. I might even read it again tonight.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
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  Good choice. Hospody, it's been years since I even thought of that story. Kafka was prophetic, and prophets, by definition, are creepy. They had us reading Kierkegaard at the same time, which helped, though I'd be pressed to remember why exactly. Probably no harm in adding it to my list...
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
  New Title
  
  Il’ja! You can’t add it to your list- it doesn’t fit. Your whole list will be messed up, Kafka wasn’t North American. I suppose you could add it to your 2014 list?
  I’d never read this one before and the collection of short stories I’m reading right now, to be honest, thus far is mostly boring. I hadn’t even checked the author and I knew within the first two pages it was a Kafka story. Kind of weird, it’s smack in the middle of all these boring, tragic romances. A pleasant, if creepy surprise.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
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  I'm not sure if Jack London's To Build A Fire is in your collection, but that's an excellent, not-boring one.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  It’s a 20th century collection- there are some pretty great ones coming up- it’s just this first part of the book is a wee bit boring. I will add that to my list, however, I like Jack London- I might even have that one.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  That London story is about a man in the Alaskan wild trying to get to another town, right? He kind of gets stranded and needs to, well, build a fire? If so, I have heard that one before and it's a great story. The silent dog is a great character.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
llevinso

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Sorry for my absence. It's been a very slow reading year thus far. I've only finished two books: Broken Harbor by Tana French and North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (discussion questions for which are now posted over in Who Doesn't Love a Classic).
But now I'm on to The Secret History by Donna Tartt and I must say I really like it so far. Very intriguing and...curious...

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 9 replies
- angelb
  
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  The Secret History does sound intriguing! It's already on my TBR and I look forward to hear what you think of it.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  You have a full plate, Lara, so no need to apologize :) But we can now call in the search parties. I think one was down in the game room and two others were in the kitchen.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
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  Wait. There's a game room?
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Halo
  
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  Uh, yes. It’s where we play parcheesi. Duh.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Rina
  
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  Great game that
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  It's right next to the kitchen, so I think our search parties didn't get too far.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  Il'ja, no wonder all that Slavic brooding, you haven't found the game room yet.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Il'ja
  
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  It's our fundamental problem, Wiley; to Slavs, every room is a brooding room.
  Speaking of, does this one have a chessboard?
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Cheeseboard?
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

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I finished The Broken Kingdoms by Jemisen and found that one of the things I liked about it was my impression of her growth as a writer, not that it wasn't a fairly unique story in a well put together world.
I am reading The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff for my YA book club.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- nuclearblonde
  
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  I think she got better as she got further into the trilogy.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Cool, because I need to read book 3 and I did like her writing in book 2.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

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Finished Temperament by Stuart Isacoff, the musical theory book I was reading. It had its moments but a lot of the theory didn't settle for me since I've had hardly any musical theory at all and this books assumes some idea of what's going on. His historical placement was a lot better. That was easier to grasp. I will try to get a more detailed review up later, too tired to do it now.
I am going to resume my Lovecraft reading and try to finish up The Call of Cthulhu and Other Dark Tales which I've been claiming to have been reading for over a year now.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
mark s

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Reading a collection of Harold Shea stories.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
wiley

New Title

Now reading The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves-and Why It Matters by B. R. Myers.
Listening to Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs after having finished listening to Tsar by Ted Bell. Tsar was a nice beach read spy thriller with a superhero spy, a beautiful woman, and a nefarious evil genius set out to blow up the "free world" and Canada.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 2 replies
- Il'ja
  
  New Title
  
  And Canada? Poutine everywhere if he succeeds.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  That's a lot of sacrificial touques.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
Jerry M

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Finished reading Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, book 7 in the Harry Dresden Chronicles. Good book, even when Harry comes riding in on a dinosaur it didn't seem silly (and I was prepared to roll my eyes- crisis was averted). Now I am back to Saberhagen with his Book of Lost Swords series, aptly named, The Second Book of Lost Swords: Sightblinder's Story.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
angelb

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Started The Plague by Albert Camus, a classic I had never gotten around to. I have found that some books, right off in the beginning, have me hooked. This is excellent and I'm already loving it.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )

show 5 replies
- Halo
  
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  I really liked The Plague, enjoy :)
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Jerry M
  
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  Mmmmm Camus.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- Moisture Farmer
  
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  I mean to try more of him sometime; The Stranger was fairly weird but thought-provoking. "Mère est décédée..."
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- angelb
  
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  I'm going to add The Stranger, I'm really enjoying his writing style.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
- wiley
  
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  I liked Plague better than Stranger myself.
  
  posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
nuclearblonde

New Title

I'm starting The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrecht.

posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
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Slippery Fish Island

Stop the Presses!! XIV

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