What are you currently reading?

[Florestan]

Honestly, it must be very difficult to translate Ulysses into any language!!

It has been translated into Romanian but I very much doubt I'll ever have the wish and time to tackle it. Heck, I didn't even finish A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. 

[Mandryka]

It has been translated into Romanian but I very much doubt I'll ever have the wish and time to tackle it. Heck, I didn't even finish A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. 

I think you're missing something special. A lot of it will be untranslatable, but that's not the special bit. The special bit is the first two chapters of Part III.

The story is about a day in which two men who don't know each other just wonder around Dublin, they meet by accident, and then go their separate ways. Leopold is a father in quest of a child, his child died. And Stephen is an orphan, a son in quest of a father. When they meet, in Part III, it almost could happen. You think that Leopold could be the father for Stephen and Stephen could be the son for Leopold. But -- and here's something wonderful -- they transcend that. They go their separate ways. Stephen, young man, goes to live his life, and Leopold, middle aged man, lets him go, and kisses his wife in bed.

That process of them meeting and then separating is, for me, one of the high points in all the literature I know. And in fact, it is not at all hard to read, the language there is simple and the plot is linear.

[aligreto]

Balzac: Lost Illusions





My version was, I think, a good translation by one Ellen Marriage. I was quite satisfied with it.
This is a sorry tale of naivete, stupidity, loyalty, deception and narcissism. The plot and the characterisation are both well developed by Balzac. I found it to be a page turner despite the frustration regarding the faults of the main protagonists. As is often the case with men, it is the women in their lives who have the real strength, fortitude and grip on reality.

[aligreto]

After 30 years, I am perhaps 20% of the way through. There are parts of the book which are magical, and other parts of the book which seem pointless and/or unintelligible and I have the feeling that I am missing some essential reference and not getting it. A annotated version where I am endlessly referring to notes explaining what I am missing has no appeal. I want a novel to immerse me in a different world.

Joyce's Ulysses certainly immerses one in a different world. There can definitely be no question about that. Whether one comprehends that world seems to be the question. I, for one, did not fully grasp this particular world. However, I did grasp enough to realise that this is quite a unique take on Life.

[aligreto]

I think you're missing something special. A lot of it will be untranslatable, but that's not the special bit. The special bit is the first two chapters of Part III.

The story is about a day in which two men who don't know each other just wonder around Dublin, they meet by accident, and then go their separate ways. Leopold is a father in quest of a child, his child died. And Stephen is an orphan, a son in quest of a father. When they meet, in Part III, it almost could happen. You think that Leopold could be the father for Stephen and Stephen could be the son for Leopold. But -- and here's something wonderful -- they transcend that. They go their separate ways. Stephen, young man, goes to live his life, and Leopold, middle aged man, lets him go, and kisses his wife in bed.

That process of them meeting and then separating is, for me, one of the high points in all the literature I know. And in fact, it is not at all hard to read, the language there is simple and the plot is linear.

That is a very fair appreciation of the work.

[Jo498]

It has been translated into Romanian but I very much doubt I'll ever have the wish and time to tackle it. Heck, I didn't even finish A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. 

Portrait of an Artist... has the distinction being one of two books I started reading but never finished because I lost them while travelling! and could never be bothered to buy another copy to finish (the other one was "Sophie's Choice").

[vandermolen]

A friend visiting from South Africa gave me this book which I finished recently. Despite the gloomy subject matter I found it paradoxically uplifting and very moving in places:

[aligreto]

A friend visiting from South Africa gave me this book which I finished recently. Despite the gloomy subject matter I found it paradoxically uplifting and very moving in places:

Dying is one of the basic inevitabilities of Life. We should all give it some thought at some stage. It will happen to us all at some stage.
I remember some years ago a person whom I knew died from a very unforeseen and unusual death. That person was not in the least prepared to die in any legal sense [personal affairs not in order nor any will made]. Tragically, when that person realised that death was a reality the unpreparedness caused that person much grief and distress at the end. It took years for the estate to be sorted by the family. This was definitely not something that this person would have wanted to be imposed on the family.

The other aspect, of course is the emotional, spiritual or psychological preparedness for our transition. I have also known someone who did know that they were dying and who finally allowed themself to pass. That was quite a thing to experience.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

A friend visiting from South Africa gave me this book which I finished recently. Despite the gloomy subject matter I found it paradoxically uplifting and very moving in places:

The book has been on my list. I think Michel de Montaigne said something like that freedom is an absence of fear of dying. I have tons of books about dying.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life. David Quammen
Nice book about evolution.


 

[Mandryka]

The book has been on my list. I think Michel de Montaigne said something like that freedom is an absence of fear of dying. I have tons of books about dying.

If Montaigne said that he was completely wrong. Freedom is the absence of fear of living, obvs.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

If Montaigne said that he was completely wrong. Freedom is the absence of fear of living, obvs.

  Well-done.

Actually Schopenhauer wrote that we should be frightened of the life rather than death, something like that.

[vandermolen]

Interesting follow-ups to my posting the Kathryn Mannix book - thanks.
Now I'm reading this. I heard the last part read on the radio recently and am enjoying it:

[Artem]

One of the recent books that I finished that had greatly impressed me. Mieko Kawakami is a really good contemporary writer.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

One of the recent books that I finished that had greatly impressed me. Mieko Kawakami is a really good contemporary writer.

I think I remember her name in Japanese alphabet. She won a few prestigious literary awards in Japan.

[Artem]

She and Yuko Tsushima are my recent favourites from Japan.

[Karl Henning]

.

[aligreto]

Henry James: Daisy Miller





This is the story of the relationship between two young Americans touring in Europe who meet in a hotel. Daisy Miller is a self willed young woman who does not conform to the standards of social behaviour expected of a young woman of the time. She ignores all advice offered to her and chooses to go her own way. This decision obviously has consequences. I enjoyed the re-read.

[Florestan]

First time reading Thackeray's Vanity Fair, five chapters in. So, far, so good, I love the humorous style.

[aligreto]

First time reading Thackeray's Vanity Fair, five chapters in. So, far, so good, I love the humorous style.

Very nice looking edition, Andrei.