Give yourself a break and read War and Peace...
it's wonderful and so easy to read...
the Only problem is you want to swallow it whole and just can't do it because of it's length...
but it's so good, you read until you drop and are forced to re-trench...
Tolstoy again brings you into intimate family groups within a larger society and various social strata with
such ease...The characters are beautifully alive...and above all, the beauty of natural life, the effect of
natural beauty is breathtaking...I don't think anyone does it better and it's magical here...
I can still "feel" myself with the characters in the Russian countryside...
when you read Norman Mailer, let me know what you think...
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Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
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- Kevin
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Pulitzer Prize Finalist
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Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
I'm going to give myself a break and read The Naked and the Dead instead. I went to a 1/2 price store today with the intention of picking it up but they didn't have it. I walked away with four musician biographies: Thelonius Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, The People's Artist: Prokofiev's Soviet Years, Willie Nelson: An Epic Life and Einstein's Violin: A Conductor's Notes on Music, Physics, and Social Change. In addition I picked up The Monopoly of Violence: Why Europeans Hate Going to War (I'll need some convincing to buy the subtitle, but we shall see) Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, and NORMAN MAILER's Barbary Shore mostly on the strength of the backcover blurb: "At the height of the McCarthy era, Norman Mailer proved his audacity by writing a novel about socialism,[...]"icindy wrote:Give yourself a break and read War and Peace...
I intend to pick up The Naked and the Dead tomorrow. I had been doing so well at staying away from bookstores lately...
I am quite a fan of a Tolstoy collection of short stories I have called The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories and expected to take to Anna Karenina as well... well, I've slogged through approximately half of it now and intend to pick it up again later on.I can still "feel" myself with the characters in the Russian countryside...
I will.when you read Norman Mailer, let me know what you think...
The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? - Jeremy Bentham
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Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
Hilarious!...might have to look for that one particularly! Since I assume the blurb was not meant ironically, I"m intrigued by any arguments supporting this the author would propose... You got an armload...that's always fun...i've been more immersed in online texts lately, as gutenberg's rarities continue to fascinate and as you know, one thing leads to another...although I have Powell's bookstore stacks to peruse and that's disneyland for booklovers.In addition I picked up The Monopoly of Violence: Why Europeans Hate Going to War (I'll need some convincing to buy the subtitle
Does anyone else dream longingly of visiting Larry McMurtry's bookstore? ("While at Stanford he became a rare-book scout, and during his years in Houston managed a book store there called the Bookman. In 1969 he moved to the Washington, D.C. area, and in 1970 with two partners started a bookshop in Georgetown which he named Booked Up. In 1988 he opened another Booked Up in Archer City, which is one of the largest single used bookstores in the United States, carrying somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000 titles. Citing economic pressures from Internet bookselling, McMurtry came close to shutting down the Archer City store in 2005, but chose to keep it open after an outpouring of public support.")
Just afraid I might never leave and be found dessicated and lifeless among the stacks...lured on and on by one title after another...
In fact, did anyone read his memoirs??
2008: Books: A Memoir
2009: Literary Life: A Second Memoir
2011: Hollywood: A Third Memoir
I read the first two and found them interesting and share his gluttony and passion for books, if not his artistry and resourcefulness. Fascinating that he grew up in a household without books for one...it's also nice to find someone else has loved passionately an obscure favorite of mine, and to discover
those beloved by others...
- Kevin
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Pulitzer Prize Finalist
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Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
(EDIT: The author's name is James Sheehan.) I think I know what it will be - that Germany, France, England, and their smaller cousins don't invade one another, or other countries, at the drop of a hat anymore like they used to. Still, Vietnam, Falklands, actions taken as member states of NATO, and particularly "investment" capital sent overseas should moderate the hyperbole of the subtitle.icindy wrote:Hilarious!...might have to look for that one particularly! Since I assume the blurb was not meant ironically, I"m intrigued by any arguments supporting this the author would proposeIn addition I picked up The Monopoly of Violence: Why Europeans Hate Going to War (I'll need some convincing to buy the subtitle
Books are a weak spot for me... better to just avoid stores entirely. I haven't developed the ability to read online for any appreciable length of time.... You got an armload...that's always fun...
Speaking of pressures from Internet bookselling I went to a Barnes & Noble to pick up The Naked and the Dead. It had been years since I had been there, as I get all my books from used bookstores. Well, talk about an inventory that has shrunk! I could hardly what had become of their once once robust collection of literature (not that it ever approached McMurtry's goliath) - 2 novels by Mailer, that's it. I recall the last time I was there was there to pick up a rather obscure Philip K. Dick novel (Counter-Clock World, I believe) and browsing through an impressive array of his titles... yesterday, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (titled instead, Blade Runner ::facepalm::) A Scanner Darkly, and VALIS. gah...Booked Up in Archer City, which is one of the largest single used bookstores in the United States, carrying somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000 titles.
Anyway, on to The Naked and the Dead.
Last edited by Kevin on Wed May 09, 2012 3:54 am, edited 3 times in total.
The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? - Jeremy Bentham
Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
"Dragon Soul" by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
"Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll
I like to switch between different books.
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
"Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll
I like to switch between different books.
- Doulos
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Asleep in Reading Chair
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Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
'The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan' by Kanigel
'Islam in China' by Broomhall
'Krispos Rising' by Turtledove
'Goodnight Moon' by Margaret Wise Brown
'Apple Cinnamon Cherios' cereal box, by General Mills
'Islam in China' by Broomhall
'Krispos Rising' by Turtledove
'Goodnight Moon' by Margaret Wise Brown
'Apple Cinnamon Cherios' cereal box, by General Mills
- EndlessLaymon
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Devoted Member
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Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
Knife Edge by Shaun Hutson
It's a scary night in the lonesome October
- Damifino
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Intern
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Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
I'm currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. On page 76 of 588. I had a feeling there would be a thread here on Book Talk about it and sure enough there is. I'm probably going to need it to figure out what is going on. So far I am enjoying it.
- EndlessLaymon
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Re: Reading for pleasure! What are you reading now?
Insomnia by Stephen King.
It's a scary night in the lonesome October