The Book Discussion Thread

[lovejuice]

Awesome. Really glad you liked it, and I'm in complete agreement that it's a tad too short. As for more Greene, I'm afraid I don't have any other recs for you. I've only read the five that I've mentioned (The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, The Tenth Man, Brighton Rock, The Third Man), and I'm pretty sure you've read all of them. I own The Human Factor, The End of the Affair, A Burnt-Out Case, Our Man in Havana, and The Quiet American, but haven't gotten to them yet.

haven't read the third man actually. but i'm a lazy ass, so i might watch the film instead. :P

[Kurosawa Fan]

haven't read the third man actually. but i'm a lazy ass, so i might watch the film instead. :P

It's basically a glorified screenplay anyway. He wrote it in preparation for the film, so it's short and concise and not much different from the film. I'd say you have the right idea.

[monolith94]

I kvetched about it a little bit in the writer's thread. She is very insistent that:

A. Commercial fiction is plot-based, while Literary fiction is character based, therefore:

B. You should absolutely not ouline a plot for your novel but

C. Simply write good characters and go wherever they take you.

There was a strong implication that anyone who disagrees is a bit of a hack.

I don't doubt this approach works for some people, but with the book I'm writing, I really want the plot to go a certain way. (It's an adventure sort of novel.) I had a mild elitist crisis about it.

Don't stress over it; she has her opinion, and it is one that I don't share, either.

[Melville]

I finally finished Kant's Critique of Pure Reason the other day. Kant is my co-pilot.

[Qrazy]

Finally finished Sartre's Nausea. I'd have to say I found it to be a mixed blessing. I really enjoyed both the beginning and ending of the book but there was a long middle stretch that I found grew quite monotonous, repetitive and felt ultimately superfluous. I liked it for the first 60 pages or so up through the first dissipation of the nausea (jazz/ragtime record)... then it got tedious... then I started liking it again from the tree/root thought sequence up through to the end.

[Qrazy]

Awesome. Really glad you liked it, and I'm in complete agreement that it's a tad too short. As for more Greene, I'm afraid I don't have any other recs for you. I've only read the five that I've mentioned (The Power and the Glory, The Heart of the Matter, The Tenth Man, Brighton Rock, The Third Man), and I'm pretty sure you've read all of them. I own The Human Factor, The End of the Affair, A Burnt-Out Case, Our Man in Havana, and The Quiet American, but haven't gotten to them yet.

Watch Brighton Rock, great Attenborough performance and very quality film as well.

[Qrazy]

I kvetched about it a little bit in the writer's thread. She is very insistent that:

A. Commercial fiction is plot-based, while Literary fiction is character based, therefore:

B. You should absolutely not ouline a plot for your novel but

C. Simply write good characters and go wherever they take you.

There was a strong implication that anyone who disagrees is a bit of a hack.

I don't doubt this approach works for some people, but with the book I'm writing, I really want the plot to go a certain way. (It's an adventure sort of novel.) I had a mild elitist crisis about it.

So tell her your good characters ended up taking you through an interesting plotline.

[origami_mustache]

Bought Irvine Welsh's Glue for $5...I guess that will be the next novel I read after finishing a couple of academic texts.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Finished Beloved. Wonderful book. Fizzled a bit in the end, but still a wonderful read. Definitely worthy of its reputation.

[Benny Profane]

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Plastic surgery for the intellectual. They stole my idea!

[Qrazy]

Wow... frontin' made easy.

[Kurosawa Fan]

All this talk of Graham Greene made me go with The End of the Affair as my next novel.

[SpaceOddity]

All this talk of Graham Greene made me go with The End of the Affair as my next novel.

One of my fave books.

*yays*

[Duncan]

One of my fave books.

*yays*

I read Wuthering Heights. I question your taste in men.

[SpaceOddity]

I read Wuthering Heights. I question your taste in men.

I like 'em otherworldly 'n' sadistic.

*persists*

[Mara]

I read Wuthering Heights. I question your taste in men.

Wuthering Heights is many things.

Romantic is not one of them.

(Sorry, Sp.Od.)

[SpaceOddity]

Wuthering Heights is many things.

Romantic is not one of them.

(Sorry, Sp.Od.)

What do you consider romantic?

[Qrazy]

I've only seen the film but at least Wyler's Wuthering Heights seems pretty obviously romantic to me.

[Mara]

What do you consider romantic?

I see Wuthering Heights being about obsession and vengeance. The emotions are powerful, but they're not actually very loving.

I'm not sure how to answer your question, because romance can be lots of different things. For this instance, though, I will narrow it to one point: Romance is caring about someone else more than yourself.

[SpaceOddity]

I see Wuthering Heights being about obsession and vengeance. The emotions are powerful, but they're not actually very loving.

I'm not sure how to answer your question, because romance can be lots of different things. For this instance, though, I will narrow it to one point: Romance is caring about someone else more than yourself.

[

Show Spoiler

Catherine rennounces heaven to be with Heathcliff.

]That qualifies as caring about someone else more than yourself.

[Mara]

[

Show Spoiler

Catherine rennounces heaven to be with Heathcliff.

]That qualifies as caring about someone else more than yourself.

I understand where you're coming from, but it's too little, too late for me. Catherine is a selfish, shallow person and I don't think she's capable of much genuine self-sacrifice.

[SpaceOddity]

I understand where you're coming from, but it's too little, too late for me. Catherine is a selfish, shallow person and I don't think she's capable of much genuine self-sacrifice.

Yet, there is no more self-sacrificing character because there's nothing greater to sacrifice.

Which novels do you regard romantic? P&P?
Austen's incapable of representing love on account of her observational orientation and ideological opposition to transcendence.

[Raiders]

Picked up Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain. Will begin shortly.

[Mara]

Austen's incapable of representing love on account of her observational orientation and ideological opposition to transcendence.

I think we may be getting to the root of the problem.



I, myself, have an opposition to transcendence.

Don't get me wrong-- I really respect and admire Wuthering Heights. But I think our ideas of romance are very different. No harm in that!

[Kurosawa Fan]

Finished The End of the Affair and loved it. Definitely among Greene's best work. I'm now about 100 pages into The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.