What are you currently reading?

[aligreto]

And lo and behold! it has been translated into Romanian so I'll order it.

Serendipity 

It is not necessarily an easy read but it is an engrossing one. Enjoy it when you eventually get it.

[Florestan]

@Andrei, the book looks awsome. Please post your thoughts after reading it. We will discuss.

I'll surely do, Matt.

[Florestan]

Just ordered (Romanian translations all):

Shusaku Endo - Silence
Eric Emmanuel Schmitt - Madame Pylinska and the Secret of Chopin
Thomas Mann - Buddenbrooks
Thomas Mann - Lotte in Weimar
Flaubert - Sentimental Education

[vers la flamme]

Yes vg book and excellent writing/structure though the story is depressing and hard to take. Several people I know in the U.S like the book. Also, Endo's The Sea and Poison is considered to be his masterpiece in Japan while it won the Akutagawa Prize. It is a solid work and I recommend it.

@Andrei, the book looks awsome. Please post your thoughts after reading it. We will discuss.

Will definitely check this out next. Thanks. Endo has written a handful of very acclaimed books it seems, many of which seem to be eclipsed today by the success of Silence. It appears he is a Japanese writer of serious stature and is now very much on my radar, now that I've started reading this book. Can't wait to read more of his work.

Just ordered (Romanian translations all):

Shusaku Endo - Silence
Eric Emmanuel Schmitt - Madame Pylinska and the Secret of Chopin
Thomas Mann - Buddenbrooks
Thomas Mann - Lotte in Weimar
Flaubert - Sentimental Education

I read Buddenbrooks last year and it absolutely blew me away. Probably one of the five greatest books I've ever read. Mann was a genius. Please do let me know what you think when you read it. Same goes for Silence.

[Florestan]

Mann was a genius.

Wholeheartedly agrred. I read Doktor Faustus and The Magic Mountain several times each --- and each time I was spellbound.

Please do let me  know what you think when you read it. Same goes for Silence.

Will most certainly do.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Just ordered (Romanian translations all):

Shusaku Endo - Silence
Eric Emmanuel Schmitt - Madame Pylinska and the Secret of Chopin
Thomas Mann - Buddenbrooks
Thomas Mann - Lotte in Weimar
Flaubert - Sentimental Education

Haven't read Lotte In Weimar. I must get a copy.

Will definitely check this out next. Thanks. Endo has written a handful of very acclaimed books it seems, many of which seem to be eclipsed today by the success of Silence. It appears he is a Japanese writer of serious stature and is now very much on my radar, now that I've started reading this book. Can't wait to read more of his work.

Half of his literary works are collections of funny and silly essays while the other half are dark novels highlighting the lack of erhics in the Japanese society/culture. He personally thinks that 1) Japanese lack ethics/moral 2) because they are not Christian. Fine with 1), but not sure about 2).

[Florestan]

Haven't read Lotte In Weimar. I must get a copy.

I've read many moons ago (a loan copy) and I remember enjoying it greatly. Can't hurt having it permanently at hands, methinks.

He personally thinks that 1) Japanese lack ethics/moral 2) because they are not Christian. Fine with 1), but not sure about 2).

/OT Rant/

I'm a Christian (Greek Orthodox). I don't know about (1) because I've never been to Japan but I find (2) to be a non-Christian notion. Only God / Jesus Christ know who is a Christian and who is not, cf:

Matthew 7:21-23 (New King James Version)

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

I'm much more interested in practising my faith and correcting my own sins than in reproaching others for not following my own faith and being sinful on their own.

Cf. Romans 12:19 (King James Bible) --- Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

/End of OT rant./

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Just ordered (Romanian translations all):

Shusaku Endo - Silence
Eric Emmanuel Schmitt - Madame Pylinska and the Secret of Chopin
Thomas Mann - Buddenbrooks
Thomas Mann - Lotte in Weimar
Flaubert - Sentimental Education

Are these translations of the original text, or English text? What kind of people are these translators? Academics?
Thank you for the powerful quotes from the Bible.

P.s. I remember you indicated that in the Romanian language, a letter exclusively signifies only one sound, and one sound is wrtitten/expressed by a single letter exclusively, something like that.  Ghoti = fish

[Florestan]

Are these translations of the original text, or English text? What kind of people are these translators? Academics?

Usually they are translated from the original by professional translators, some of whom might be academics as well.

P.s. I remember you indicated that in the Romanian language, a letter exclusively signifies only one sound, and one sound is wrtitten/expressed by a single letter exclusively, something like that.  Ghoti = fish

Yes.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

History of quantum physics and the theory of Quantum Gravity, discussed by my favorite scientist. Always nice read.

[vers la flamme]

Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter



After reading Endo's Silence I decided to check this book out, as Greene was an admirer of Endo's work and this is one of Greene's famous "Catholic" novels. I read one of Greene's books back in high school; I remember I picked The Power & the Glory to write a paper on, though I can't remember what prompted me to make that choice nor do I recall much of the book today. As for this one, so far so good. Interesting characters, interesting setting.

[Florestan]

Endo's Silence has just arrived.

Note to Dry Brett Kavanaugh: it's translated from the original Japanese edition published by Monumenta Nipponica in 1969. (Japanese title: Chinmoku).

Will start reading it asap.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Endo's Silence has just arrived.

Note to Dry Brett Kavanaugh: it's translated from the original Japanese edition published by Monumenta Nipponica in 1969. (Japanese title: Chinmoku).

Will start reading it asap.

Wonderful. I thought that probably it would be a translation of the English edition/translation. Again, nice cover!

[Florestan]

Wonderful. I thought that probably it would be a translation of the English edition/translation. Again, nice cover!

The publishing house which published it is one the best, largest, most prestigious Romanian ones --- they can obviously afford professional translators for many languages. Plus, they hav a standard to uphold: they publish only high quality stuff, from classics to contemporary writers.

The Romanian title means exactly silence and derives from the Latin tacere --- which is actually obvious. 

[vers la flamme]

Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter



After reading Endo's Silence I decided to check this book out, as Greene was an admirer of Endo's work and this is one of Greene's famous "Catholic" novels. I read one of Greene's books back in high school; I remember I picked The Power & the Glory to write a paper on, though I can't remember what prompted me to make that choice nor do I recall much of the book today. As for this one, so far so good. Interesting characters, interesting setting.

Enjoying the latter two thirds of the book much more than I did the first third, though the plot does become slightly convoluted toward the end. I guess it shows that Greene was a writer of the genre of intrigue, to which this book does not belong.

Anyway, I'm very excited to read more of his work. Maybe Our Man in Havana or The Quiet American next, both of which ought to be somewhat easier reads.

Edit: Just finished the book. What a horrifically tragic ending that was...

[SimonNZ]

I've read The End Of The Affair three times now and at some point there will be a fourth - if you're looking for a Greene recommendation and haven't read that one.

[vers la flamme]

I've read The End Of The Affair three times now and at some point there will be a fourth - if you're looking for a Greene recommendation and haven't read that one.

Sounds excellent, I'll have to find that one. I did order a copy of The Quiet American which was cheap on Amazon, and I also have The Power and the Glory which I read in high school but would love to reread as an adult. I wasn't expecting The Heart of the Matter to become so bleak, and so powerful. I don't foresee a reread anytime soon. But I was overall impressed with Greene's writing. I've been meaning to see what he's all about for a long time now.

[SonicMan46]

Last few months - top row still reading, bottom row done - about half on my iPad and the others in paperback (still like to feel and smell a real book, so split my purchases) - Dave

   

   

[vers la flamme]

Yasunari Kawabata, Thousand Cranes



This just arrived in the mail in the afternoon and I've just started it. This book is written with such powerful subtlety that it comes off as somehow extremely intense, almost overwhelming. For some reason it brings to mind the image of drinking a glass of red wine that is really blood. (Maybe my recent reading of Greene has put me too much in the mind of Catholic liturgy ). I don't know how to describe my feelings toward the book itself, but I'm in awe of Kawabata's writing. It's clear to me that the man was a genius.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Yasunari Kawabata, Thousand Cranes



This just arrived in the mail in the afternoon and I've just started it. This book is written with such powerful subtlety that it comes off as somehow extremely intense, almost overwhelming. For some reason it brings to mind the image of drinking a glass of red wine that is really blood. (Maybe my recent reading of Greene has put me too much in the mind of Catholic liturgy ). I don't know how to describe my feelings toward the book itself, but I'm in awe of Kawabata's writing. It's clear to me that the man was a genius.

Mishima has a sharp knife and he shows it. In contrast, nihilism, beauty, pessimism and indications in Kawabata's works are subtle. They are disturbing stories without appearing to be disturbing. His works appear to be about ordinary/average people written by an average/normal man. The guy is a scary guy.
Anciet Capitol, Snow Country, Izu Dancer are good, but I like the Cranes, especially the ending.