Books

[Mofo Rising]

EARTH ABIDES (read it - just love it)

Here's something interesting. I love buying enscribed books, not grafitti but books with messages written in them. Earth Abides had an interesting message, you sorta wonder about the people back in 1980 who read it - who they were to eachother. Anyhow, I also love OLD books, the feeling of others who have read through it. So I decided to choose the older looking Rosemary's Baby book over the new one.

Well, now you've piqued my curiosity.  I read Earth Abides for a class I took on Politics and Science Fiction (which also gave me an excuse to reread The Demolished Man).

I'm currently reading Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, which is somewhat outside the norm for me.  I don't normally read fantasy, but I got a hankering for an epic fantasy novel.  Be careful what you wish for.  It's a good book, but man it's long.

I'm also making my way through the Star Wars universe (it's the fault of Karen Traviss), so I'm currently reading Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves.  It's not very good, but don't hold that against me.

I would love to sit down and reread Gravity's Rainbow with annotations, but that's more of an endeavor than I'm looking for at the moment.  I'll probably just read Memoirs of My Nervous Illness by Daniel Paul Schreber instead.  I believe that book was brought to my attention by another thread somewhere on this board.

[Zapranoth]

I have been re-reading (for the nth time) _Protector_ by the great Larry Niven.

I have _World of Ptaavs_ on the shelf waiting to be read next.   Then _A Gift From Earth_, and all the rest of the Known Space books.

=)

Booyah.

[Pilgermann]

This poor thread's been dormant for a while...

I just read The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.  It won't rank among my overall favorites of his, but it's still full of some beautiful work.  I nearly cried at the end of the last story.

Currently going back and forth between The Changling by A. E. van Vogt, and The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany.

[Khaz]

I will try not to post on this thread too much, but it will be hard..
Currently munching through this weeks books..
Ghost - John Ringo (at home bathroom book)
We Few - David Weber & John Ringo (at work book)
Sanctuary - Mercedes Lackey (whenever I get a chance book)

[Mofo Rising]

Amusing, because in my last post in June I mentioned I was reading Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, and now I'm in the middle of reading it's sequel, A Clash of Kings.  I had taken a break between the two.

Has anybody ever read The Descent by Jeff Long?  It's one of my favorite genre books of recent memory.  Unfortunately, it looks like he's written a sequel, Deeper, which fills me with dread.  I hate it when people tarnish my memories.  Oh well, I'll read it anyway.

[Killer Bees]

Not long ago, finished The Book Of Lost Things - John Connolly (which I've already written a review of)

But at the moment I'm reading:

Secret Societies - Sylvia Browne
The First Casualty - Ben Elton
Fat Land - Greg Critser (just finished yesterday)
Freedom Next Time - John Pilger

[BTM]

I recommend reading all of the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher.  The series is REALLY cool, and a lot different from the sci-fi channel version.  The books are exciting and funny, and unlike another popular "Alternated universe when vampires/werewolves exist" that I won't mention (coughAnitaBlakecough) it was degenerated into one sex scene after another.

[lester1/2jr]

i would highly recommend "the Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism" by Robert Murphy.  It is very easy to understand but will blow your mind

[threnody]

I started reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls last night. Normally I don't read this kind of material, but my aunt insisted. It's a true story about a girl who grows up in a crazy family and has to get away.

[frank]

Just finished "Ulysses" and read the better part of "Finnegans Wake"..








                                                                                                                 .......HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[Rev. Powell]

Just finished "Ulysses" and read the better part of "Finnegans Wake"..








                                                                                                                 .......HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Where is the better part of Finnegan's Wake hidden? 

[frank]

Just finished "Ulysses" and read the better part of "Finnegans Wake"..








                                                                                                                 .......HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Where is the better part of Finnegan's Wake hidden? 

That's one great mystery in literature! Wherever it is, though, it is definitely not in the book!

Seriously, I have never read Finnegans Wake, and I do not intend to... Somehow the concept doesn't work for me. But I'm still serious about finishing Ulysses one time, I have started reading three times now, but could never finish it. That's rather strange, because there definitely is something to this book and in a more general sense, I find it quite interesting. But I just can't finish it, strange....

The reason I came up with this, is that I was at a public talk about James Joyce a couple of days ago and got very upset about it. The women giving the talk wouldn't stop pointing out how professional she is about literature and how entertaining her talk will be and how all the others that have dealt with Joyce's bio totally screwed up. Afterwards she joined the chorus about him being the greatest Romancer of his times, just to announce  a couple of minutes later that she did not read Ulysses nor Finnegans Wake (half of his published novels), because she finds them rather hard to read but still so interesting and glorious if you do/would read it... Not what I call a scientific talk, but then I'm not a humanist.

I was just left wondering, what makes a great author, or what makes James Joyce great?
And why can't i finish this §%$$*** book!!!!!

[Derf]

I was just left wondering, what makes a great author, or what makes James Joyce great?
And why can't i finish this §%$$*** book!!!!!

Not to get all serious here, but with "great" authors, you often must be very familiar with the times they lived in and interested in the school of thought they espoused. James Joyce was "great" in his time as a progressive thinker and innovative writer. However, if you dislike/disagree with his outlook on humanity, his work will be hard to read. Very few authors can be transcendent enough to draw in an audience that is philosophically opposed to the themes that author presents. As an example, I have to admit that William Faulkner was an innovative author, and I like that he "invented" a county in Mississippi and populated it with characters that would appear throughout his stories and novels. However, I hate reading him because I find his view of humanity (at least in the South) as being brutish, mean, cruel, etc., distasteful. There are very few "good" people in his work, and I can't bring myself to espouse the philosophy that humans are universally that diminished and petty and stupid.

Also, if you read much modern fiction, you are unused to the pacing of authors like Joyce. He wrote for an audience that was willing to take the time to stroll liesurely through a novel, considering carefully what was happening and pondering the themes being presented. Today, we want a faster pace, more action and less thought (not in every case, but overall).

And yes, I do teach English.

[Mofo Rising]

I read about three hundred pages into Ulysses several years ago. I stopped when I realized that I wasn't understanding over half of the stuff I was reading. The only book I finished by Joyce was Portrait of the Artist.

Right now I'm rereading Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon with a book of annotations. I love the book, but there's fascinating digressions on almost every page. I've also got some other literary discussions on the book and discussions of the times (70's). Basically I'm using the book as a springboard to look up other things I would otherwise not.

Other than that I've got a book on curse words, Why People Believe Weird Things and A Storm of Swords to get through.

[Rev. Powell]

I have read only the last sentence of "Ulysses", and actually I rather liked it.  (SPOILER: the last word is "yes").  Someday I hope to go back and read the whole thing.

I'm reading Henry Miller's "Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch," basically a ramshackle collection of essays, and "Love in the Time of Cholera," which I picked up at an airport when I forgot to bring Miller with me on the trip.