poetrylover3 Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Samuel Johnson: The Struggle is a fascinating new narrative of Johnson's Life which includes information suppressed by Boswell and new revelations about the great man's masochism. His whole life was a struggle for balance and he was never satisfied with himself either. Johnson had never done enough and he lived in constant fear of damnation Unlike many, Johnson's wisdom was hard won and unflinching. He loved the poor and was a champion of the underdog. He despised cant. Socially, his poor hygiene and various tics, his wolfen voracity at dinner and his satirical bent made him unpopular among many, yet the force of his intellect and the goodness of his heart won him many loyal and devoted friends. If you enjoyed Boswell's Life of Johnson, this is an excellent supplement to experiencing one of the most fascinating men who ever lived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedwork Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 just finished this: very fun/interesting read if you've ever gone through any kind of Grateful Dead phase - even a short one. also a decent read if you're just a regular rock-music-listening-joe who's interested in the scene. my (short) review of it will be coming out on/in Blurt! soon. am back to reading this now: i love me some Gaitskill! she's a great, great writer. i'm not as blown away by this as her 1st set of stories Bad Behavior, but their kicking my ass just the same. she's a bad ass writer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 I'm reading some of Ernest Hemingway's short stories, as I don't want to jump into a new novel quite yet. the sun also rises is one of my favorite books and i've read it quite a few times - strangely i never made through more than 50 pages of any of the others.... You're ahead of me; all I've read of Hemingway is short stories. Lucky... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Carlos Ruiz Zafon: Shadow Of The Wind I just bought this book yesterday. Heard nothing but good things about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 (edited) Tessa B. Dick, "The Owl in Daylight." Edited May 7, 2009 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 More chazza shop fare: Albert Camus - "The Fall". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 HP Lovecraft - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Did anybody here read Stieg Larsson's trilogy? "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire", "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest"/"Castles in the Sky", not sure about the last title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Tessa B. Dick, "The Owl in Daylight." You just can't get enought Dick, can you? Wait, that came out wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 More chazza shop fare: Albert Camus - "The Fall". I've got to try some more Camus some time, just to see if I still like his work if nothing else. I think I completely wore out my copy of The Stranger, and The Fall wasn't in much better shape. But then, that was in my teens and early twenties. HP Lovecraft - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Another author I haven't read in decades. But then, I don't wonder if I'm missing as much with Lovecraft... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 More chazza shop fare: Albert Camus - "The Fall". I've got to try some more Camus some time, just to see if I still like his work if nothing else. I think I completely wore out my copy of The Stranger, and The Fall wasn't in much better shape. But then, that was in my teens and early twenties. HP Lovecraft - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Another author I haven't read in decades. But then, I don't wonder if I'm missing as much with Lovecraft... so far i don't feel much like going back to camus which i read as a teenager... i can understand anyone who says "the case of dexter ward" is a badly written novel - but i enjoy it a lot going back to something else from my early teens now - just started my fifth round through the lord of the rings (but for the first time in english) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Samuel Johnson: The Struggle is a fascinating new narrative of Johnson's Life which includes information suppressed by Boswell and new revelations about the great man's masochism. His whole life was a struggle for balance and he was never satisfied with himself either. Johnson had never done enough and he lived in constant fear of damnation Unlike many, Johnson's wisdom was hard won and unflinching. He loved the poor and was a champion of the underdog. He despised cant. Socially, his poor hygiene and various tics, his wolfen voracity at dinner and his satirical bent made him unpopular among many, yet the force of his intellect and the goodness of his heart won him many loyal and devoted friends. If you enjoyed Boswell's Life of Johnson, this is an excellent supplement to experiencing one of the most fascinating men who ever lived. Very interesting man, Johnson. I once read Boswell's Life of Johnson. I had it as a bedside book and it took me two years to get through! A single paragraph used to have the same effect as a blow to the head with a blunt instrument. A wonderful sleep inducer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Now reading J G Ballard, The Unlimited Dream Company. Surpassed by its immediate predecessors, Crash, Concrete Island and High Rise, but still pretty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Very interesting man, Johnson. I once read Boswell's Life of Johnson. I had it as a bedside book and it took me two years to get through! A single paragraph used to have the same effect as a blow to the head with a blunt instrument. A wonderful sleep inducer! High praise indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkeith Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 On a Raymond Chandler kick, so I'm reading the Phillip Marlowe series. Also reading Ross McDonald's Lew Archer series, and I have Stanley Dance's THE WORLD OF DUKE ELLINGTON going, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted May 9, 2009 Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 Brad Warner - Zen Wrapped in Karma, Dipped in Chocolate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavenport Posted May 9, 2009 Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 I'm going to try again to read Henry Miller's "Tropic Of Cancer", which I started about 3 years ago (I read about 30 pages). I had a quick look this morning; the signs aren't good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted May 9, 2009 Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 Never mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted May 9, 2009 Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 Did anybody here read Stieg Larsson's trilogy? "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire", "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest"/"Castles in the Sky", not sure about the last title. I think only the first one is available in the US. Second one now out in UK. Don't know about the third one. I've read the first two. I like them but I think because he died before they were published nobody edited them. (Or at least they read that way to me.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medjuck Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Carlos Ruiz Zafon: Shadow Of The Wind I had a strange experience with that one. Bought it before I went to Barcelona but didn't read it until afterwards. Big mistake. One of the characters lived exactly where we were staying. Would have been fun to know that in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 (edited) I'm a big Henry Miller fan, I think his writing is important to American literature. I like the Sexus/Plexus/Nexus trilogy better than the two Tropics. I really like two posthumous releases, Moloch, and Crazy Cock. I'm also a big fan of less "fictional" more "opinionated" works like The Books in my Life, The Colossus of Marousi, and The Air Conditioned Nigthtmare. Edited May 10, 2009 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 I had some time to read on my recent trip, and so I read Handling Sin by Michael Malone. It is a wonderful book that is about life and death, family and isolation, God and religion, father and son, what it means to belong to a family, about friendship, about how we shut down in life, about handling sin in our lives -- in other words, about life. The characters are people that you care about, and you don't want the trip that is at the center of the book to ever end. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetrylover3 Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 I had some time to read on my recent trip, and so I read Handling Sin by Michael Malone. It is a wonderful book that is about life and death, family and isolation, God and religion, father and son, what it means to belong to a family, about friendship, about how we shut down in life, about handling sin in our lives -- in other words, about life. The characters are people that you care about, and you don't want the trip that is at the center of the book to ever end. Highly recommended. Agreed. A very funny novel. Besides the fascinating Samuel Johnson: The Struggle, I picked up Baseball Prospectus 2009, which to me is always a stimulating read. Like most baseball junkies I enjoy new perspectives on baseball players and the unique skill sets that separate the star from the scrub. I also use it to draft for Fantasy Baseball and to evaluate trade proposals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 (edited) Samuel Johnson: The Struggle is a fascinating new narrative of Johnson's Life which includes information suppressed by Boswell and new revelations about the great man's masochism. His whole life was a struggle for balance and he was never satisfied with himself either. Johnson had never done enough and he lived in constant fear of damnation Unlike many, Johnson's wisdom was hard won and unflinching. He loved the poor and was a champion of the underdog. He despised cant. Socially, his poor hygiene and various tics, his wolfen voracity at dinner and his satirical bent made him unpopular among many, yet the force of his intellect and the goodness of his heart won him many loyal and devoted friends. If you enjoyed Boswell's Life of Johnson, this is an excellent supplement to experiencing one of the most fascinating men who ever lived. Very interesting man, Johnson. I once read Boswell's Life of Johnson. I had it as a bedside book and it took me two years to get through! A single paragraph used to have the same effect as a blow to the head with a blunt instrument. A wonderful sleep inducer! I have loved Johnson ever since picking up a collection of his letters at a book sale years ago. By chance, I opened the book to the page containing his famous letter to Lord Chesterfield - a masterful dismissal of someone much higher than Johnson on the social scale. I love Johnson, warts and all, and enjoyed Meyers' Samuel Johnson: The Struggle very much. It sent me back to Boswell's biography, which I'm reading for the second, and probably last time. I find it fascinating for the most part, but it puts in mind on Johnson's line about Paradise Lost: "No man ever wished it longer." Edited May 10, 2009 by jeffcrom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.