What are you currently reading?

[Dr. Dread]

I never heard of the Frankenstein stuff...this is getting VERY interesting.



Now reading:
Richard Wagner My Life

Yeah, I like those for goofy fun. Lots of people dislike them for some reason.

[Haffner]

Yeah, I like those for goofy fun. Lots of people dislike them for some reason.

I learned relatively recently that there are alot of people in the world that take things (including themselves) WAY too seriously.

[SonicMan46]

Boy, I've got a BIG pile of unread books ordered from the History Book Club in recent months, so started the one below yesterday:

American Lion - Andrew Jackson in the White House (2008) by Jon Meacham - just getting started; great review in the NY Times (main reason for purchase), but rather varied comments on Amazon; if you're interested in Jackson and have not done any reading yet, I would suggest Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H.W. Brands, published a few years ago and now available in paperback - covers his whole life.

Andrew Jackson's birthplace remains a mystery, i.e. there is no doubt that in was born in the Carolinas in 1767 of Scots-Irish immigrants; the area of his birth was known as the Waxhaw region of the backcountry South Carolina, however, the area overlapped the border w/ North Carolina (my home state) - this is south of Charlotte and north of Camden, SC; both states claim him as theirs and have memorial parks; however, nothing has been discovered as to his exact location of birth.  If you visit the old State House in Raliegh, NC, there is a statue showing 3 native born presidents from North Carolina, two for sure, i.e. James Polk & Andrew Johnson, and a third - Andy Jackson, but who knows? 

 

[Lethevich]

A pretty good, limited selection.

[karlhenning]

Well, the full Pepys would be quite an undertaking, yes, Sara?

[Lethevich]

Well, the full Pepys would be quite an undertaking, yes, Sara?

That much would make me cry 352 pages with tons of pictures is nicely digestable, but it is making me wish there were more - something which simply buying another book could make problematic, due to editing differences and duplication. But whatever, managing to whine about so mething I LIKE

[Sergeant Rock]

I've always had an interest in the battle of Mars-la-Tour (16 Aug 1870) because a great great great uncle participated in von Bredow's "Death Ride" ...sort of a Prussian equivalent of the Charge of the Light Brigade: an unsupported, suicidal attack against artillery and unbroken infantry. My uncle was a trooper in the 7th Magdeburg Cuirassiers, one of the units in Bredow's cavalry brigade. He was killed (along with half the brigade). Bismarck's son was wounded in the charge.




Although I've known about this battle since I heard the story on my grandfather's knee, I'd never read a history of the Franco Prussian war. So I ordered this one by a British author:



Eye opening. Europe was very different back in the day    ...with the French as the aggressors, and villians.

Sarge

[aquablob]

That sounds like an interesting read, Sarge.

[Sergeant Rock]

That sounds like an interesting read, Sarge.

It is... I'll probably get the second volume. The war's consequences for the 20th century were profound and I suddenly realize I know very little detail about that period.

Sarge

[Kullervo]

Finished Nostromo a few days ago; absolutely brilliant.

Now reading: Saul Bellow - The Adventures of Augie March

About a third of the way through now and enjoying it greatly. His all-encompassing nature that freely mixes nods to classicism with near-impenetrable argot, and his beautiful insight into human emotions and desires reminds me of Joyce (though certainly their respective styles couldn't be more disparate) -- which reminds me I still haven't finished Ulysses. Maybe after this. Or Il Nome della Rosa. Or The Tin Drum. I swear I'm not procrastinating! 

[rockerreds]

Calder Willingham-Providence Island

[Florestan]

Finished Nostromo a few days ago; absolutely brilliant.

Isn't it? Truly brilliant on all accounts: characters, plot, style... I'm very glad you liked it.  0:)

[Dr. Dread]

[Bogey]

I've always had an interest in the battle of Mars-la-Tour (16 Aug 1870) because a great great great uncle participated in von Bredow's "Death Ride" ...sort of a Prussian equivalent of the Charge of the Light Brigade: an unsupported, suicidal attack against artillery and unbroken infantry. My uncle was a trooper in the 7th Magdeburg Cuirassiers, one of the units in Bredow's cavalry brigade. He was killed (along with half the brigade). Bismarck's son was wounded in the charge.




Although I've known about this battle since I heard the story on my grandfather's knee, I'd never read a history of the Franco Prussian war. So I ordered this one by a British author:



Eye opening. Europe was very different back in the day    ...with the French as the aggressors, and villians.

Sarge

And your great great great uncle would be proud that you have this patch on your wall, Sarge:

[Sergeant Rock]

And your great great great uncle would be proud that you have this patch on your wall, Sarge:

There must be a defect in our DNA that makes us join the cavalry 

Sarge

[sound67]

"Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City" by Nicholas Christopher (2nd edition). An intriguing study of film noir by a fiction writer. Very well done.

Thomas

[Sergeant Rock]

Reading this:



Listening to this:




Sarge

[Dr. Dread]

Kansas City Public Library

[Benji]

Kansas City Public Library

Putting new meaning to the phrase 'large print'. 

[Kullervo]

Finished Augie March -- easily the best thing I've read since Broch's Sleepwalkers back in November. Excellent, excellent novel.

Reading now: Umberto Eco - Il Nome della Rosa