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[jlhoots]

Tana French: The Trespasser

[paul secor]

2 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Tana French: The Trespasser

I've read her first two novels. I keep hoping to find more in her books, but so far haven't done so.

[jlhoots]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

I've read her first two novels. I keep hoping to find more in her books, but so far haven't done so.

This is the first one I've tried - suggested by a friend. I'll see what happens.

[HutchFan]

Just finishing up this one:

A fascinating read.  Per Winchester, the final and loudest Krakatoa detonation -- the one that vaporized the island itself -- was the loudest event in human history. It was clearly heard nearly 3,000 miles away (!) on Rodrigues, a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  It's analagous to an explosion in Philadelphia that's so loud that it can be heard in San Francisco.  Unimaginable. 

 

Edited December 12, 2017 by HutchFan

[paul secor]

Fumio Sasaki: Goodbye, Things - The New Japanese Minimalism

Some interesting ideas and concepts presented here, but I'm not converted.

[Brad]

On 12/8/2017 at 0:12 AM, BillF said:

Went back to my old copy which looks like this. Though I have never been to southern Spain and its favourite holiday destinations for Brits, I was surprised to find I've been to almost all Orwell's civil war places - Barcelona, Tarragona, Lerida, Zaragoza - as a result of a visit last year to my daughter, who was teaching English in the last-named city. 

As you might expect from this master of English prose, there are some spectacular action episodes, though the lengthy passages of political debate drop the temperature considerably.

If you're looking for a tremendous book to read on the Civil War, I recommend this one. 

****

Just finished this. A fantastic book, both about Homer's Odyssey and the author's relationship with his father, who takes his class on the Odyssey. 

Edited December 17, 2017 by Brad

[paul secor]

6 hours ago, Brad said:

 

 

 

Just finished this. A fantastic book, both about Homer's Odyssey and the author's relationship with his father, who takes his class on the Odyssey. 

I read the New Yorker article, and have wondered how much the book might add to that.

[Brad]

I didn't read the excerpt but I will take a look. 

[BillF]

Thanks, John Tapscott, for recommending this fascinating read.

Edited December 19, 2017 by BillF

[erwbol]

[Brad]

Following up on Mendelsohn's An Odyssey, I have now started Emily Wilson's new translation. 

I'm also reading 

I'm a big fan of Magda Szabo. 

[ejp626]

>> Reve's The Evenings

On 12/6/2017 at 1:54 PM, lipi said:

I had to read that in high school, and I found it excruciatingly boring. My teacher claimed there are two kinds of readers for this book: those who find it boring beyond belief, and those who are impressed by how the author manages to convey mind-numbing boredom so convincingly. I suspect most of his students fell into the former camp, though he claimed to fall into the latter.

This is pretty terrible stuff.  I'm kind of shocked that it has the reputation that it does.  I'm quite torn on whether to just push through to say (to myself) that I've read it or just skip it, since I'm quite sure it isn't going to get any better.  I wouldn't mind the aimlessness and the limited "action" so much, but the inner monologue of Frits is frankly that of a simpleton.

 

 

[Brad]

On 12/17/2017 at 1:54 PM, paul secor said:

I read the New Yorker article, and have wondered how much the book might add to that.

I just read the article quickly and the book is richer in detail and you learn a lot more about The Odyssey than you do the article.  That being said, if you don’t want to read The Odyssey or learn more about it, the article is sufficient and it’s a great article in and of itself.  On the other hand, reading the book has motivated me to learn more about Ancient Greece. 

[paul secor]

2 hours ago, Brad said:

I just read the article quickly and the book is richer in detail and you learn a lot more about The Odyssey than you do the article.  That being said, if you don’t want to read The Odyssey or learn more about it, the article is sufficient and it’s a great article in and of itself.  On the other hand, reading the book has motivated me to learn more about Ancient Greece. 

Thanks. For now, I'll stick with having read the article, but I'll file your comments on the book away in my mind, and perhaps sometime in the future ....

[ejp626]

Almost halfway through Trollope's The Way We Live Now.  There are a lot of people behaving quite badly (or at least selfishly) and traditional values have broken down, including several young near penniless minor aristocrats (it is tough-going for me when they are on stage, since they are so pathetic).  It is interesting that Trollope does seem to slightly undercut the standing of the presumable "hero" of the book, Roger Carbury, by making him a bit too much of a prig.  Still, this is a novel that I may admire a bit more than actually enjoy...

Has anyone read Ernest Cline's Ready Player One?  There is a pretty devoted fan base (mostly of nostalgic Gen Xers) but also some insightful negative reviews (that seem to have a lot of truth to them).  I'm not sure which camp I'd fall into, though I suppose I'd know within a few pages.  Anyway, since the movie was announced (and I'll probably end up taking my son), the demand for the book has gone through the roof, and it looks like it would take 4 or 5 months to get the book through the library, but there are a few other options I am exploring...

Edited December 30, 2017 by ejp626

[jlhoots]

Jesmyn Ward: Sing, Unburied, Sing (National Book Award winner)

[Larry Kart]

3 hours ago, ejp626 said:

Almost halfway through Trollope's The Way We Live Now.  There are a lot of people behaving quite badly (or at least selfishly) and traditional values have broken down, including several young near penniless minor aristocrats (it is tough-going for me when they are on stage, since they are so pathetic).  It is interesting that Trollope does seem to slightly undercut the standing of the presumable "hero" of the book, Roger Carbury, by making him a bit too much of a prig.  Still, this is a novel that I may admire a bit more than actually enjoy...

Has anyone read Ernest Cline's Ready Player One?  There is a pretty devoted fan base (mostly of nostalgic Gen Xers) but also some insightful negative reviews (that seem to have a lot of truth to them).  I'm not sure which camp I'd fall into, though I suppose I'd know within a few pages.  Anyway, since the movie was announced (and I'll probably end up taking my son), the demand for the book has gone through the roof, and it looks like it would take 4 or 5 months to get the book through the library, but there are a few other options I am exploring...

IIRC, that Roger Carbury is a bit of a prig is crucial to effect of the novel. When you think about it, a good many of Trollope's novels have to do with the emotional/moral education/expansion of vision of its initially rather circumscribed central characters. I'm thinking in particular -- title will come to me in a while (it's "Can You Forgive Her?") -- of the one where the at once rather priggish but romantically minded heroine rejects her dutiful and suitable suitor because he's not quite dashing and ambitious enough to suit her vision of what a suitor should be. It's the one where the guy she is drawn to instead -- a financially needy cad -- at one point breaks his sister's arm because she won't renounce her legitimate claim to family funds he wants to get his hands on. In context, it's one of the most shocking scenes I've ever encountered.

[BillF]

Continuing my theme of English language accounts of the Spanish Civil War, I went back to my 1966 copy of Hemingway's classic.

[kinuta]

I read the first and second volumes years ago but have put off starting this, the final volume.

The 1200 pages seem a formidable read but I've decided to start the new year in bulldog spirit.

[T.D.]

First book in a series by an author my brother recommended. So far (about halfway through) an excellent British spy novel. I was less impressed by the earlier Herron novel (Down Cemetery Road) I read, though.

Edited December 31, 2017 by T.D.

[jlhoots]

Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

[kinuta]

Halfway through Defender Of The Realm.

It's a surprisingly gripping pageturner and a worthy finale to the brilliant trilogy.

[jlhoots]

Kirstin Valdez Quade: Night At The Fiestas

[ejp626]

On 12/30/2017 at 9:38 AM, Larry Kart said:

IIRC, that Roger Carbury is a bit of a prig is crucial to effect of the novel. When you think about it, a good many of Trollope's novels have to do with the emotional/moral education/expansion of vision of its initially rather circumscribed central characters. I'm thinking in particular -- title will come to me in a while (it's "Can You Forgive Her?") -- of the one where the at once rather priggish but romantically minded heroine rejects her dutiful and suitable suitor because he's not quite dashing and ambitious enough to suit her vision of what a suitor should be. It's the one where the guy she is drawn to instead -- a financially needy cad -- at one point breaks his sister's arm because she won't renounce her legitimate claim to family funds he wants to get his hands on. In context, it's one of the most shocking scenes I've ever encountered.

I read CYFH? and the rest of the Palliser novels, but it was a very long time ago and not much has stuck with me.  I don't recall the scene you are talking about.  About the only things I can remember are Lady Eustace and her diamonds and the unlikely promotion of one of the main characters to Prime Minister.  It would be great to tackle them again, but it is so far down on my reading list that I can't predict when I would ever get around to them.

In any event, I am 2/3rd through The Way We Live Now, and the plot is definitely thickening...

I'm gearing up to read Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate and the other associated novels, like The Blessing and probably Don't Tell Alfred.

[Larry Kart]

"Though he stops short of murder George [Vavasor] causes [his sister] Kate to break her arm in what must be one of the few instances of violence directed by a brother to a sister in Victorian fiction.” 

 

IIRC, George wants Kate to release her legitimate hold on funds that he needs. When she refuses or hesitates while they are on a walk through the countryside, he angrily throws her to the ground, breaking her arm.