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jloucks

jloucks

has 39 followers and is following 35 people

Semi-retired educator (English and American History) and college administrator

I'm a book and movies-made-from-books and plays lover, and I track all of them on my shelves.

Historical fiction, history, drama, humor, satire, mysteries, thrillers....I relish them all!

Please write me a personal note if you would like to... more »
  • Phoenix, Az, USA
  • member since August 2, 2007

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Public Notes

  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Hi- what have you been up to? I am back in school working on a degree and my time for leisure reading has shrunken greatly. In my spare time I am reading THE GENERAL AND HIS LABYRINTH by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and some poetry by beat writer and founder/ owner of the famous City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco- Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The weather is great here in SC. It has gotten up into the 60's almost every day this month, as I am sure that your daughter can tell you- she lives near Columbia, right? Lexington? I hope all finds you well.

    posted 2 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Amanda L

    Amanda L says

    Hi Judith. Nice to hear from you. I've gotten a bit distracted with other books lately and haven't read one from the 1001 list for a month or so, but I plan to get back into it soon, maybe with Kafka on the Shore by Murakami. I've been meaning to recount how many I've read from the list and hadn't gotten around to it yet, so your note was the nudge I needed for that. You've got me beat by quite a bit as I've read 182 so far. I don't even expect even to be able to find them all let alone read them all!

    Out of the books that I've read recently, I really enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. I wasn't as thrilled with Unless by Carol Shields and The Shining by Stephen King. What are some of your favorites and least favorites?

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Hi Judith- I just wanted to check in and say hello. i am heading over to the North Georgia mountains in a few days to visit my Mom. Of course I plan to pack some good books. i have been rereading some of my favorites lately. I just read THE CATCHER IN THE RYE for at least the fourth time and it still holds up. I am currently reading EAST OF EDEN by Steinbeck, which is also good. It has been over 20 years since I last read it. I am taking THE DRIFTERS by Michener and CRIME AND PUNISHMENT with me on my trip. I have also been reading the Beat poets as well as my favorite "academic" poet- Pablo Neruda. His verses flow perfectly...so how are you? what have you been reading lately? anything you would like to recommend? I look forward to hearing from you soon. Jason

    posted 11 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Merry Christmas, Judith! I am just finishing up THE LOST SYMBOL by Dan Brown- pretty decent for mass market fiction. I am in Atlanta presently where there are still a few good indie bookstores and picked up some hard to find books on the Beat Generation, a big interest of mine.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Merry Christmas, Judith! I am just finishing up THE LOST SYMBOL by Dan Brown- pretty decent for mass market fiction. I am in Atlanta presently where there are still a few good indie bookstores and picked up some hard to find books on the Beat Generation, a big interest of mine.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Bibliophile!

    Bibliophile! says

    Borges is my all-time favorite writer. For me the pleasure of reading him has rarely been matched by any other experience. I am glad that you liked him. The Andrew Hurley translations is the best. Borges' *Complete Fictions* is the most treasured book in my Library! Some other Latin American authors I like are Cortazar, Fuentes, Llosa, Marquez and Lispector. I wouldn't say that Latin American works are very popular in India. Except for Marquez, Allende and Llosa you'll be hard pressed to find any LA works in your average book shop. But yes LA works are popular among the so called "intellectual elite" in Kerala (which is the state where I live in South India)

    I read the Double a long time back, maybe 2 or 3 years back (Was it my first Saramago?). Don't remember much of it except that I found his writing to be hypnotic - like it's a portal to another world. I guess it's time to revisit the book again. And I tend to enjoy works that deal with the erosion of identity - best seen in Bergman's Persona. Saramago is the latest in a long line of writers who have dealt with the subject - Shakespeare Poe, Nabakov, Dostoevsky. And Auster - The New York Trilogy is another wonderful example. Have you read it? And reg Portugese writers have you read any of the Novels of Saramago's 'rival' and fellow Portugese novelist Antunes? I am told he's good. (In 1998, when a reporter for The New York Times called him for a comment about Saramago's Nobel, Antunes said, "This phone doesn't work!" and cut the connection. See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/arts/23iht-bookwed.1.20370707.html)

    Is "A Woman's life" a short story? He's best know for his shorter works, isn't he?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Bibliophile!

    Bibliophile! says

    Hey Judith. Been a while hasn't it? How are you doing? What are you reading these days?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    I am really glad that you got around to reading ON THE ROAD- if you liked that one you may want to check out THE DHARMA BUMS at some point. I have read a couple of Borges' stories, but not enough to have a well formed opinion. Another famous writer in the school of Magical Realism is Gabriel Garcia Marquez- he is one of my favorites. I loved both of Tolstoy's masterpieces, but I think i would recommend to anyone who wanted to undertake W&P to read AK first to get acclimated to his style. Both books are excellent and engrossing.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Hi Judith- how are things with you? Have you read anything that really blew you away recently? I have mostly read what have turned out to be 3-star (average) reads lately. The best thing I have come across in a while has been Maugham's THE PAINTED VEIL. I am currently reading an anthology called NEW STORIES FROM THE SOUTH 2010- like most anthologies it is somewhat uneven at times. This is the 5th or 6th volume I have read in that series- they have a guest editor each year. It is finally starting to cool down here in SC as I am sure your daughter has told you. 70's in the day- low 50's in the mornings- typical early fall weather and a relief after a very long, hot, and dry summer. I hope you are doing well- Please write when you have the time. Jason

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    So the "Enormous Room" is a non-fictional prose work or am I understanding that all wrong?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    "A Day in the Life" was quite depressing- but that was to be expected given the subject matter. I am reading a good one by Barbara Kingsolver "Prodigal Summer". My favorite by her is "The Poisonwood Bible".

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    I really liked "Life of Pie", but I didn't end up liking the story collection by Munro "Runaway"-- I would give her a second chance, though. I have read some Poe, but haven't read Lovecraft yet, I would really like to. I tried to read "White Noise" twice, but stopped at the halfway point both times- I was perusing one of Delillo's other novels "Underworld" in the library the other day, but it didn't catch my interest. I am reading "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Solzhenitsyn right now. I just read two very good short story collections- "New Stories From the South 2009& 2008".

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Hi Judith- How is your summer going? I seem to be on the pace to read about 90 books this year. I suppose That I could push it to 100 if I read shorter books, but quality is more important than quantity, right? I am reading some short stories by Canadian author Alice Munro- decent. My coffee table is full of books that I would like to read over the next few months-- I really like to vary the type of book that I am reading...what have you been up to? I know it is hot there, but we are having upper 90's and low 100's with the humidity also, yikes. I hope you are doing well...Jason

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • uplandpoet

    uplandpoet says

    i own it, i havent read it, i should, thanks for reminding me!

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • uplandpoet

    uplandpoet says

    good, maybe i better start reading again to stay in front of you:)

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • uplandpoet

    uplandpoet says

    sorry, that was a big note, hope it helps. you might like end of the affair, i did not find it credible, maybe im just not english...

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • uplandpoet

    uplandpoet says

    hey there! power and the glory, the comedians (sorry you didnt like it), the honorary counsel, some folks like the end of an affair, but i did care for it, the quiet american is good, but very different, as is the first one of his i read, the bomb party, well, lets do it this way, and by the way, i would not be the one to say what the academics think are his best work. The following, I have read:

    # The Confidential Agent (1939) Great! kind of dated, though the next, one year later doesnt seem to be, to me
    # The Power and the Glory (1940) (also published as The Labyrinthine Ways) Wow!
    # The Ministry of Fear (1943) read, but dont remember
    # The Heart of the Matter (1948) Great!
    # The Third Man (1949) (novella, as a basis for the screenplay) not impressed
    # The End of the Affair (1951) ugh!
    # The Quiet American (1955) really good
    # Our Man in Havana (1958) Great!
    # A Burnt-Out Case (1960) Great!
    # The Comedians (1966) Great!
    # Travels with My Aunt (1969) not his best work, maybe, but i still remember parts of it, 35 yrs later, should reread it!
    # The Honorary Consul (1973) Great!
    # The Human Factor (1978) Great!
    # Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party (1980)
    # The Tenth Man (1985) pretty good, for anybody but greene

    i didnt realize i had read 15! plus two short story collections, i think he was a better novelist.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Hi Judith- I thought that I would drop by and say hello. I have been reading somewhat lighter fare lately- presently I am reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo"- a mystery by Stieg Larsson. It is very readable. I still have a huge stack of unread paperbacks from a booksale that I went to at the first of March. I also frequent the thrift stores around town- Goodwill, Salvation Army, SPCA, etc... It is exciting to find forgotten and largely underpriced treasures at those types of stores. One more difficult book that I want to take a crack at again is "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez- this will be my third attempt. I see that you have been reading Dorothy Parker- I have her on my wish list. Have you read anything noteworthy lately? How are you?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    Really? I gave up after 65 pages- didn't care for it. I did put it back on my PTR list, maybe I'll try it again in the future when I am in a different mood. I am reading "The Shining" now. Have you ever read W. Somerset Maugham?

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )
  • Jason R.

    Jason R. says

    The only Doctorow book that I came across was "The Waterworks" and I am reading that one now.

    posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

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