Currently reading IT (for what seems to be the twentieth time heh heh). I'm going to be starting the Tower series again after that though as my friend is going to read it for the first time and I thought I would kind of hold his hand as he made his way though it lol
BEEP BEEP Richie! They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!
The Jungle. I don't know what it is about classic literature, but it bores the shit out of me.I think I'm supposed to feel enlightened or cultured or something, but nope, just boredom.
Ooh, Iranian kick. That one about Khomeini looks interesting, I have only a vague idea of what went on since I was pretty little when it was all happening. Did you read Reading Lolita in Tehran? I'm kind of thinking you did since it's fairly well-known, I really enjoyed it.
I've only skimmed it, but I really like Azar Nafisi.
She did a great interview with Kurt Anderson a few years ago where she covered a lot of the subjects in her memoir.
http://www.studio360.org/yore/show092703.html
The book by Taheri is very interesting, because before he became a journalist/commentator/speaker in Europe he was the editor-in-chief of the largest daily newspaper in Iran. He goes into a lot of the history that's never discussed when the topic of Khomeini and the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty comes up. For example, how many of the laws in Iran were still based on Islamic precepts under the Shah, the fact that most of the Shiite clerics in the Middle East don't subscribe to Khomeiniism, how Khomeini tried to erase the national identity of the Persians, etc...
I just read The city and the city by China Meiville
now I'm onto The Northwood Chronicles by Elizabeth Engstrom.
Speaking as an English major and ex-English teacher (a LONG time ago), you really have to understand the milieau of The Jungle before you can really appreciate it. It's one of the first "muckraking" books published and created a firestorm when it was first published.Originally Posted by ka-mai
The Jungle. I don't know what it is about classic literature, but it bores the shit out of me.
John
I LOVE The Jungle. (Another English major - go figure!)
"People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard
"You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain
I totally gave up on Infinite Jest like 2 weeks in...and am reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. It is really cute and funny.
Before that I started reading Heart Shaped Box, which I found pretty entertaining. You can definitely notice the similarities between Father and Son.
"The wise are not wise because they make no mistakes. They are wise because they correct their mistakes as soon as they recognize them."
-Orson Scott Card
You did better than me. I read one page of that novel, then returned it to the library.
David Sedaris's essays are hilarious though. My favorite ones in that collection are the title essay, and the one about a family reunion where he has to extricate himself from a bathroom filled with someone else's unflushed feces.
I am just reading the song of susannah! (i am ashamed!!) but i guess i will finish it in about couple days. than the last book, with no delays!
1. The Tempest
2. Insomnia, finally. Enjoying it thus far.
3. W&G
4. Voyage of the Fox Rider - Dennis L. McKiernan
5. The Book of Ratings - Lore Fitzgerald Sjoberg
you're solid gold // i'll see you in hell
You did better than me. I read one page of that novel, then returned it to the library.
David Sedaris's essays are hilarious though. My favorite ones in that collection are the title essay, and the one about a family reunion where he has to extricate himself from a bathroom filled with someone else's unflushed feces.
Yes that is hilarious. I also laughed out loud on the bus when he is discussing his learning process with the French language and he says to the butcher "Is that what cows thoughts come out of" referring to the cow brain.
"The wise are not wise because they make no mistakes. They are wise because they correct their mistakes as soon as they recognize them."
-Orson Scott Card
See, I can understand that, but... reading about how people a hundred years ago suffered constantly is, to me, something you read for a research paper, not pleasure reading. I kind of fail to see where this is going other than more suffering and inevitable death... and I'd like to read something a little more fun.Speaking as an English major and ex-English teacher (a LONG time ago), you really have to understand the milieau of The Jungle before you can really appreciate it. It's one of the first "muckraking" books published and created a firestorm when it was first published.The Jungle. I don't know what it is about classic literature, but it bores the shit out of me.
John
Although I am frankly amazed our species lived past then, what with the food contamination and freezing and all.
I don't think The Jungle was ever supposed to be entertaining, even back when it was published. What he describes in the book is gross, admittedly, but think what things may have been like back in the Middle Ages!
John
- written by my favorite author, Dmitry Bykov, about one of our most famous poets, Boris Pasternak. Absolutely great. The depth of analysis, the insights, the writing, everything. It's about 1,000 pages long, and being now in the middle I can't but deplore it being so short...
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jean, you've mentioned Bykov before. I wonder why he isn't being officially translated into English. I keep noticing more and more contemporary Russian literature show up here in the States. For example, just off the top of my head, I noticed a couple of books on my last trip to my local Barnes & Noble, one of which was by Akunin and another a female writer.
do you remember who the female author was?
The main difference between Akunin and Bykov - to take just two, maybe the most typical - is that Akunin, although a rather good writer, is translatable, while Bykov is not; I mean, he is, of course, but translating his best novels would mean total rewriting them into the context of the English language. For example, the only possible translations of Alice in Wonderland are total rewritings; in Bykov case it is aggravated by the fact that in addition to this (that is, to his way of writing being very much based on exploring the limits and the very structure of our language) and to his being a thoroughly entertaining writer possessing immense, if rather macabre, sense of humor, he is a deep philosopher and social thinker, deeply ingrained in history and culture of our country; I am afraid all that would make an adequate re-writing next to impossible.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The female author was Tolstaya, the book being The Slynx.
Wish it was someone else, for example Ulizkaya... I personally don't really like Tolstaya , especially not The Slynx, - she has some good stuff (although not my favorite under any circumstances), but not this. Tastes differ, of course, and I know that some people consider it a masterpiece (for example, that's what it was called, as I've just learned, in The Times Literary Supplement).
Learn Russian, pablo!!! bears will help.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just bought this at Border's over the weekend :
I love the whole gritty-western theme, and McCarthy hasn't let me down yet. I'm going to start it as soon as I finish the other books I'm currently reading
Ooh, loved the movie, let me know how the book was.
"People, especially children, aren't measured by their IQ. What's important about them is whether they're good or bad, and these children are bad." ~ Alan Bernard
"You needn't die happy when your day comes, but you must die satisfied, for you have lived your life from beginning to end and ka is always served." ~ Roland Deschain
It's the only Hannibal book that I haven't yet read. Hopefully, it's as good as the others.
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