What are you currently reading?

[Florestan]

the guilt of entire Germans, who only blame the war criminals but not themselves.

If Schlink's idea is that of a collective guilt, I am strongly opposed. A person is responsible amd therefore guilty or not for their own actions only. There is no such thing as collective guilt and least of all in totalitarian systems. Besides, why is it that we never hear or read of the guilt of entire Russians or Chinese, who only blame Stalin or Mao but never themselves?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

If Schlink's idea is that of a collective guilt, I am strongly opposed. A person is responsible amd therefore guilty or not for their own actions only. There is no such thing as collective guilt and least of all in totalitarian systems. Besides, why is it that we never hear or read of the guilt of entire Russians or Chinese, who only blame Stalin or Mao but never themselves?

That's an important issue I wouldn't take casually. But the subject is beyond the intended scope and depth of this site.
Thank you for your response. Have you read Sholokhov? I have a feeling that you would like it if you a have not already done so.

[Florestan]

Have you read Sholokhov? I have a feeling that you would like it if you a have not already done so.

I've always intended to read it but somehow never managed to do it. I must rectify it asap.

Btw, I heartily recommend you Bulgakov's The White Guard, and of course his masterpiece The Master and Margarita.

And now that I think of it, you must read Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate --- if only for the fact that Stalin considered Grossman even more dangerous than Pasternak and I think he was actually right.

[Artem]

Life and Fate is a really great book. Maybe the best Russian novel.

[vers la flamme]

Life and Fate is a really great book. Maybe the best Russian novel.

I picked it up at Barnes and Noble earlier but put it back on the shelf. Too long for my purposes, though it looked amazing. I reckon I'll get around to it in time. I don't think it's possible to name a best Russian novel with how many phenomenal ones there are. The great Russian writers, or at least most of them, seem to have a way with trying to put the entire world into each book.

[Florestan]

Life and Fate is a really great book. Maybe the best Russian novel.

I see it as sort of a 20th Century War and Peace.

[Florestan]

I don't think it's possible to name a best Russian novel with how many phenomenal ones there are. The great Russian writers, or at least most of them, seem to have a way with trying to put the entire world into each book.

+ 1.

[DavidW]

I see it as sort of a 20th Century War and Peace.

I've heard that and it is has been on my wishlist for at least a year but my tbr pile is quite long.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Andrei, great recommendations! I read excellent reviews on Amazon. I will get the copies.

Yes, so many excellent authors in Russia. While not mentioned much here, I like Gogol, Pushkin, Chekhov and Maxim Gorky as well.  I even named my dog "Chekhov."  When I was a child, I always liked (translated) children's books written by Soviet authors.  There were books of Asian, European, and American stories as well, ie. Huckleberry Finn.  But the Soviet stories were always my favorite. They were modern, cool, and non-childish.

Confession: When I was a teenager, Tolstoy, as well as Hesse and Stendhal, was my favorite author. I don't care his works much anymore..

Now reading Nevsky Street and others by Gogol.

[The new erato]

Neil McGregor's Germany- Memoirs of a Nation.

Currently the most important and interesting European country. Fascinating book.

[vers la flamme]

I finished Slaughterhouse-Five and another Vonnegut novel related to World War 2 and the Nazis, Mother Night. A good read but not nearly as good as Slaughterhouse-Five, and perhaps not as good as I remember it (first read it back in high school). Those are the only two Vonnegut I still have copies of. I'm going to try and get some of the other classic ones, Cat's Cradle especially I have been meaning to reread.

Now reading another by James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room. So far so good...

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Sons and Lovers. D. H. Lawrence.
Beautiful story with sensual and psychological aspects. I m a big fan of Lawrence.

[Jo498]

I finished Slaughterhouse-Five and another Vonnegut novel related to World War 2 and the Nazis, Mother Night. A good read but not nearly as good as Slaughterhouse-Five, and perhaps not as good as I remember it (first read it back in high school). Those are the only two Vonnegut I still have copies of. I'm going to try and get some of the other classic ones, Cat's Cradle especially I have been meaning to reread.

I don't know "Mother Night", but of the handful I read, my Vonnegut favorite is "Cat's Cradle"; my odd favorite among the lesser known ones is a more traditional SciFi story "The Sirens of Titan". (Admittedly, I read all these probably in my late 20s around 2000 I have not re-read them since.)
Your timing was spot on as the anniversary of the Dresden bombing was just a few days ago. Interestingly, when Vonnegut wrote his book in the 60s, the official number was around 300k deaths, so Vonnegut claimed it was the worst massacre in history (because the atomic bombs each killed a smaller number immediately, although more due to the later deaths from radiation). This number was apparently exaggerated, it has been corrected many times, only downwards, and now we are at about 30k... go figure...

[vers la flamme]

Sons and Lovers. D. H. Lawrence.
Beautiful story with sensual and psychological aspects. I m a big fan of Lawrence.

Ah, that's the copy I have. I've been meaning to read it for about a year but haven't gotten around to it.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Ah, that's the copy I have. I've been meaning to read it for about a year but haven't gotten around to it.

Somehow very English (and very good). I like the fact that the story is about a blue-collar family and the people are depicted as sensitive, delicate, and refined.
In contrast, the people in Sholokhov's Quiet Don are rough, violent and vulgar. I like it as well.

[Biffo]

I have been bingeing on Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, The Long Goodbye and just finished The High Window. I bought most of his works in paperback around thirty years ago and read several of them more than once. I have started reading them again on Kindle and greatly enjoying them.

[steve ridgway]

Carl Zimmer - A Planet Of Viruses.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Carl Zimmer - A Planet Of Viruses.

Looks very interesting. I have a few books about bacteria but not virus, and have been looking for a book on the subject.
Though bacteria help the people and earth tremendously, I don't know much contributions by virus.
Perhaps they make us strong?

[steve ridgway]

Looks very interesting. I have a few books about bacteria but not virus, and have been looking for a book on the subject.
Though bacteria help the people and earth tremendously, I don't know much contributions by virus.
Perhaps they make us strong?

It's a small volume of short essays so I might be able to comment more next week, but has already suggested that viral and bacterial infections in childhood may be protective against immune disorders later in life.

[ritter]

I had seen the film (who hasn't), but hadn't read the novella it's based on, Colette's Gigi.


I had read a couple of Colette's Claudine books years ago, and found them wonderfully funny. Gigi is bittersweet (much more so than the musical adaptation), full of melancholy, but also a sharp take on the position of women of a certain class and time in France. A pleasure to read. Let's see how the other short stories in the collection are.

And no, the Maurice Chevalier character in not in the book, and there's no "Thank heavens for little girls".