The Book Discussion Thread

[Mara]

Started To the Lighthouse as my new commuting book. Very dreamy and reminiscent of Mrs. Dalloway, which I enjoyed.

I'm also rereading The Lost City of Z as part of my current obsession with the Amazon. It's an interesting story, but I'm not sure that Grann's prose is really up to the task. His interjections about his own voyage are kind of boring, and he often dwells far too long in speculation about the mental and emotional state of the historical figures involved.

Also, now that I've read a couple other historical accounts of Fawcett, Grann's portrayal of him seems overly rosy. He all but ignores Fawcett's racism and poor judgment, which led to his death.

Still, it's not a bad book.

[D_Davis]

John Christopher, the author of the Tripod Trilogy, recently passed away. He wrote one of the first SF books I ever got into. I still have memories of the comic book version serialized in Boy's Life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Youd

[Mara]

John Christopher, the author of the Tripod Trilogy, recently passed away. He wrote one of the first SF books I ever got into. I still have memories of the comic book version serialized in Boy's Life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Youd

Sad. I totally love the Tripod Trilogy, although not the unnecessary prequel.

[dreamdead]

Finally reached the halfway point of To the Lighthouse after about a week away from the text. It still feels a little diaphanous in that it's hard to sustain a narrative arc for me at times (largely because I'm reading it in 10-20 page spurts), but whenever I put aside the time I'm pleasantly surprised at how full the world is, and how deep its connections go. I'm hoping to be more consistent with the reading at night, which I think will also deepen my appreciation.

[Grouchy]

So why did I deprive myself of the inmense pleasure of reading Terry Pratchett until now? Possibly because he's not even nearly as popular in the Spanish-speaking world, but still...

Just finished Mort. Hell of a book. Killer premise, interesting characters and the best cosmic sense of humor this side of Monty Python. The man has a unique sense of timing and a knack for making cinematic tricks work wonderfully in the printed page.

I've now bought The Color of Magic and Witches Abroad and plan on reading a lot more.

[Morris Schæffer]

I bought

[Benny Profane]

Anyone read any Thomas Wolfe? (Not to be confused with Tom Wolff).

I'm about 125 pages into Look Homeward, Angel which supposedly gets lots of love in lit circles but I'm having a difficult time getting into it.

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Anybody here read Tristram Shandy? Did a quick search and it looks like a few burned out on it -- something I'm feeling unfortunately close to after 200 pages. I dig the whole extended loopy digression shtick, but it can be just intimidatingly dense.

[Watashi]

Finally finished A Clash of Kings. I'll probably take a break and read some other books before I dive in to A Storm of Swords.

I also have to juggle a lot of early American literature for classes.

I think the next book I will read from my ever-growing backlog will be The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I think the next book I will read from my ever-growing backlog will be The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

You should think again.

[Mara]

Anybody here read Tristram Shandy? Did a quick search and it looks like a few burned out on it -- something I'm feeling unfortunately close to after 200 pages. I dig the whole extended loopy digression shtick, but it can be just intimidatingly dense.

That was pretty much my experience. But I'd like to finish it someday. I didn't dislike it-- it's just kind of a chore.

[Watashi]

You should think again.

You are the first person to tell me this.

Nearly all my professors tell me to read this.

[Melville]

Anybody here read Tristram Shandy? Did a quick search and it looks like a few burned out on it -- something I'm feeling unfortunately close to after 200 pages. I dig the whole extended loopy digression shtick, but it can be just intimidatingly dense.

One of my favorite books. I found it amusing the whole way. "Amusing" is too small a word though—more like it set off a constant stream of bright sparks in my head. It's bursting with wit and energy. It does a lot of the same things postmodernists do, but without the glibness and irritation. The story it eventually centers on (about his uncle) has a nice, sympathetic homey warmth too. My favorite bits are probably him talking about how he'll write a chapter on buttons and a chapter on chapters.

[Kurosawa Fan]

You are the first person to tell me this.

Nearly all my professors tell me to read this.

Blech. They must be big Stuart Scott fans. That's who the narrator reminded me of from start to finish. Annoying as all hell.

[dreamdead]

Shaila Abdullah's Saffron Dreams tells a story of Pakistani-American Arissa surviving the after-effects of leaving her homeland, struggling through the racism in New York City after 9/11 (and losing her husband in the Windows of the World), and working to recover a new post-widow identity. Abdullah's narrative voice is strong, and the writing is frequently strong and well-rounded, with only occasional lapses into a simpler (and thus delimiting) story. It's solid and quite informative in its study of ethnic identity, and useful to understand another perspective. While I find its treatment of Arissa's stunted child interesting, there are parts where I think Abdullah could have further developed her characters.

[dreamdead]

Woolf's To the Lighthouse definitely picks up in the second section, which is admittedly wonderful. The narrative voice, from none of the characters but rather from time itself (outside of human experience in many ways), is awesome and the way that Woolf reconciles and undercuts narrative developments with this device is wholly remarkable. I find that I had a hard time internalizing the plot because so much was stream-of-consciousness and moving between sketched characters, which impeded my ability to consistently have a firm grasp on each character. That, ultimately, is more my problem than Woolf's since I've typically gotten other high Modernist experiments by Faulkner, Dos Passos, and Eliot, but it did make for a never quite engrossing read.

I'd like to go back and finish Mrs. Dalloway someday, since I remember that text's psychology being more connected to plot as well.

[ledfloyd]

this is weird, i was about to agree with KFan saying that i had high expectations going into Oscar Wao but it was ultimately an unfulfilling experience. then i remembered i blogged about it when i finished it, so i went back and dug this up. and i apparently really enjoyed it. it's strange how your memory can distort your reaction to something over time. if someone had asked me today what i thought of the book i would've said it wasn't worth reading, but that's not what i thought when i was reading it?

[dreamdead]

Goodness, Miller and Shales' Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN is a longass book. It was interesting to read about the formation of the sports empire, but so much of the narrative reveals how assholey and regressive the corporation was regarding sexual misconduct that I now find myself less respectful of ESPN than I was before. And again, damn, what a long work of nonfiction.

I did like Bill Simmons's notes, as they took the piss out of the grandiosity extolled by others. But when Simmons is your least cliched individual...

[dreamdead]

John le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was thoroughly engrossing. Full of ideological twists and reversals, the characters struggle against their beliefs, or co-opt new beliefs, without censure. I wish le Carré would have further interrogated some of the ideas of Jewishness around which the plot revolves; there are instances where Jews are judged or belittled without much development. While I understand such bald prejudice is commonplace, I think he could have critiqued that mindset a little more. Otherwise, the ending recycles the central nihilism that opens the novel, beautifully exposing how cosmic, and futile, Cold War politics were viewed at the time.

[Mara]

I'm reading Brideshead Revisited, which I have a sneaking suspicion that I haven't read. I'm sure I've read part of it, and also seen part of the miniseries of it from the 80's, but never actually the whole thing at any given time.

[ledfloyd]

i reread slaughterhouse five over the weekend. good times. if you're ever in cody, wyoming, just ask for wild bill.

[Mara]

I'm reading Brideshead Revisited, which I have a sneaking suspicion that I haven't read. I'm sure I've read part of it, and also seen part of the miniseries of it from the 80's, but never actually the whole thing at any given time.

I was enjoying this (it was read by Jeremy Irons!) but the CDs are so damaged that I can't keep going with it. I'll have to finish it in book format.

I am having so much trouble with audio books lately.

[dreamdead]

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a solid short story collection. It had been fairly consistent in the early goings, but the title story and "The Approximate Size of my Favorite Tumor" were both exceptional, and so my appreciation multiplied as I kept reading. Although the subject matter is frequently defeatist, there's a humor throughout the text that levels that same sense of defeatism. Looking forward to reading Alexie's Indian Killer in a few months.

[dreamdead]

Through the first of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club's four sets of stories. It's reading effortlessly, and thematically its treatment of multiple generations, ever fearful of being ignored by the succeeding generations, is powerful material. I'm glad that I finally decided to start this book.

[Dukefrukem]

Anyone read? It's amazing. I can't believe how long Madoff got away with his scheme.