What are you currently reading?

Started by facehugger, April 07, 2007, 12:36:10 AM

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Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Guy de Maupassant. Short Stories.

aligreto

Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on October 13, 2021, 05:24:08 AM
Guy de Maupassant. Short Stories.

I have always liked the short stories of Maupassant.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: aligreto on October 13, 2021, 06:06:14 AM
I have always liked the short stories of Maupassant.

Yes they are colorful and dark!

aligreto

Balzac: The Country Doctor



That image could be anything but I wanted to show the appealing binding.


This book is delivered in two sections. The first section is a treatise by the Country Doctor on the creation, maintenance and development of both a society and an economy. The second section is an autobiography by the Country Doctor and it explains how and why he came upon his formula for a better life. Added to this there is, in musical terms, a very fine coda to round things off with a sting in the tail.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Daughters of the Vicar, by D. H. Lawrence

Spotted Horses

Finished Jennifer Egan's Manhattan Beach.



A novel centering on Annie Kerrigan and her father Eddie. Eddie was a former vaudeville performer who became a stock broker during the roaring 20's, who was left as a low-paid bag man for a local mobster. He switches loyalty to a mob-connect night club owner and has to disappear to escape a mob hit. After her father's disappearance Annie goes to work in the Brooklyn Navy yard, where she becomes involved with he night club owner, who she had met years before when accompanying her father to a meeting with him.

An interesting and engaging book, although the plot points sometimes don't seem to make sense.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Casanova's Women, Judith Summers.

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

SimonNZ

#11588
Along with everything else on the go finished this in two sittings:



that subtitle: "The Cold War and the Mysterious Death of Dag Hammarskjöld"

Which intersects with many subjects I find fascinating Hammarskjöld himself, the murder of Patrice Lumumba, decolonizing in Africa, the "heroic" era of the UN, cold war paranoia and the d"domino theory" etc. The second half of the book goes chronologically through all the theories about the plane crash, their strengths and weaknesses, where they contradict and the current state of disclosed files.

Also started this which has been on the to read pile for far too long:


Artem

Blecher's book was a difficult read. Quite experimental, existential tale. I'm rarely in the mood for that type of text. Diop's book was not a favourite either. All my attempts reading Booker International Prize winners of past few years have been a big disappointment.


Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Bertrand Russell: Autobiography.

Artem

That must be a fascinating read.

Florestan

#11592
Quote from: Artem on October 23, 2021, 09:23:57 AM
That must be a fascinating read.

In my late teens I found the part about masturbation particularly fascinating... Made me proud of myself --- I mean, if Sir B. R. himself practised it then it must have been a badge of honor! Then I discovered the joys of having intercourse with flesh-and-blood women and consequently Sir B. R. receded, never to recover his formerly exalted position again. To this day, I'd rather have porn than philosophy... ;D ;D ;D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

I like porn, philosophy, and dark chocolate.

BR was born in a prominent aristocratic family, and his grandfather was a prime minister. In spite of the wealth, love, and respect surrounding him, young Russell seriously thought about committing suicide several times.
He was jailed for his protest against WWI when he was 44 years old, and again jailed for his protest against the nuclear armament when he was 89 (!) years old.
Personally, I do not agree with his philosophy much. He thinks that the world as it appears to us is the real world.

SonicMan46

Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on October 23, 2021, 06:24:36 AM
Bertrand Russell: Autobiography.

My father was a Bertrand Russell fan and had many of his books, so I read a number as a teenager, including the autobiography, Why I Am Not a Christian, and parts of A History of Western Philosophy - I was brought up Catholic but after exposure to Russell, stopped going to church at about 16 years of age and got more into Darwin and other evolutionary writers of the era.  Dave :)

SonicMan46

My current readings w/ two on my iPad and the Circus book hardcover:

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America (2009) - born in my state of North Carolina (Pineville near Charlotte), resided in Tennessee, and an Andrew Jackson protégé - won the presidency in 1844 as a Democrat - many accomplishments in his single term (1845-1849), including seeing Texas annexed to the USA, settling the Oregon Territory boundaries w/ Great Britain, and the acquisition of much of the American southwest/California following the Mexican-American War - he increased the size of the United States more than any other president.

Battle for the Big Top: P.T. Barnum, James Bailey, John Ringling, and the Death-Defying Saga of the American Circus (2021) - a short but concise look at the rise of the American circus in the 19th century, the main and minor entrepreneurs, and the subsequent demise in the next century - just half done - highly recommended to those who (or have not) experience the excitement of the circus many years ago.

The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women: An Inside Look at Women & Sex in Medieval Times (2020) - I've been a medieval history fan for decades, having read numerous books and owning several video courses - about two-thirds through this book which is a fun read - thoroughly researched and ALL you want to know about the sexual relationships between men (and the clergy) and women from Medieval times.  Dave :)

   

aligreto

Eliot: Silas Marner





This book is known to a few people here, I remember. It has been many years since I last read it and I had forgotten many of its details.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Quote from: SonicMan46 on October 23, 2021, 11:22:50 AM
My father was a Bertrand Russell fan and had many of his books, so I read a number as a teenager, including the autobiography, Why I Am Not a Christian, and parts of A History of Western Philosophy - I was brought up Catholic but after exposure to Russell, stopped going to church at about 16 years of age and got more into Darwin and other evolutionary writers of the era.  Dave :)

Cool father, Dave!

LKB

Quote from: Florestan on October 23, 2021, 09:37:18 AM...To this day, I'd rather have porn than philosophy... ;D ;D ;D

+1 ( Though it would be preferable to have access to both [ heavily weighted towards porn ] .)

:laugh:,

LKB
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen...

SonicMan46

Quote from: Dry Brett Kavanaugh on October 24, 2021, 06:59:48 AM
Cool father, Dave!

Hi Brett - I was thinking of getting Russell's A History of Western Philosophy as a Kindle edition but stated to be 930 printed pages - at my age, I rarely read books over 400 or so pages (just don't have the attention span of my younger years); so looked at the Five Best Books on Western Philosophy and Anthony Kenny's name is mentioned multiple times, but his 'best book' below is 1000 pages - YIKES!  He has less daunting other books (e.g. 'brief history').  Finally, in my consideration is the Columbia History of Western Philosophy stated to be 800+ pages, a book edited by Richard Popkin w/ 63 contributors.  I may explore Kenny's shorter books?  Dave :)