What are you currently reading?

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

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aligreto

E. Bronte: Wuthering Heights





The opening section of this novel very well depicts a harsh, brutal, wild and intemperate environment.  And so it is with the introduction of the occupants of Wuthering Heights at the time. This portentous opening sets the tone for the tale that will ultimately be told. This is a re-read after decades and I did not remember the extent of the barbaric brutality that was contained in large tracts of the novel.

Dry Brett Kavanaugh

Those who are interested, Haruki Murakami talks about Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Please use Google translate.


https://trilltrill.jp/articles/2676392

vandermolen

Quote from: aligreto on July 06, 2022, 12:45:26 AM
E. Bronte: Wuthering Heights





The opening section of this novel very well depicts a harsh, brutal, wild and intemperate environment.  And so it is with the introduction of the occupants of Wuthering Heights at the time. This portentous opening sets the tone for the tale that will ultimately be told. This is a re-read after decades and I did not remember the extent of the barbaric brutality that was contained in large tracts of the novel.
Never read it but I love Jane Eyre by her sister.
"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).

coffee

Quote from: Spotted Horses on June 30, 2022, 08:37:53 AM
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold.



A short novel which tells of the slaughter of the central character in plain sight. The murders told everyone they met of their intentions to commit the crime, apparently hoping that someone would stop them. It didn't work. Mesmerizing, in the manner of most books by this author.

My humble opinion is that this book is misunderstood more often than understood. If you enjoy it, it's worth one or two more reads. GGM is a tricky fella. A reader has to watch him closely.

Liberty for the wolf is death for the lamb.

aligreto

Quote from: vandermolen on July 06, 2022, 05:24:28 AM
Never read it but I love Jane Eyre by her sister.

It is well worth a read, Jeffrey. It is always interesting and engaging but it does not always make for pleasant reading.

SonicMan46

Well, I've not posted for over a month, but below are the books on my agenda - done w/ the first one and still reading the others - Dave :)

Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII (2011) - see first quote below; Chester Nez, one of the original Navajos who as Marines developed an unbreakable code using their native language.

Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty (2021) by Anderson Cooper & Katherine Howe - Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt and a great etc. grandson of the Commodore writes selectively about the Vanderbilt family - reviews somewhat mixed but I'm enjoying (on the last few chapters) - my interest relates to the famous Biltmore House in Asheville, NC (just a 2 1/2 drive for us and a place we have visited often).

Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution (2022) by Eric Jay Dolin - brief synopsis third quote below - over the decades I've read numerous books on American wars, especially the Revolution and the Civil War, but the finding of the American Navy and the Revolutionary War exploits is often not well covered - just starting but excellent so far.

River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile (2022) by Candice Millard - finding the headwaters of the White Nile - synopsis in the last quote.  About a third into the book - the only hardcover in the bunch, the rest Kindle purchases.  Dave :)

QuoteCode Talker - during World War II, the Japanese had managed to crack every code the United States used. But when the Marines turned to its Navajo recruits to develop and implement a secret military language, they created the only unbroken code in modern warfare—and helped assure victory for the United States over Japan in the South Pacific. (Source)

QuoteVanderbilt - a dramatic tale expertly told of rapacious ambition, decadent excess, and covert and overt tyranny and trauma. . . . With resplendent detail, the authors capture the gasp-eliciting extravagance of the Vanderbilt Gilded Age mansions. . . . With its intrinsic empathy and in-depth profiles of women, this is a distinctly intimate, insightful, and engrossing chronicle of an archetypal, self-consuming American dynasty. . . . Irresistible. (Source)

QuoteRebels at Sea - the heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America's first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation's character—above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos. (Source)

QuoteRivers of the Gods - for millennia the location of the Nile River's headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was  a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires. Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark. (Source)

   

Ganondorf

Finished L'assommoir yesterday. What a book! Initially I had problem with how Zola, determined to depict wide ranges of personality within human beings apparently didn't seem to consider women human beings since it appeared she way too often makes his female characters either idealized angels or veritable she-devils. But then I realized I just didn't catch all the subtleties of his writing. For example, Lorilleaux (both wife and husband) seemed to me mere malicious gossips until I read Zola's comment that they represent "les esclaves et les victimes de la petite fabrication en chambre". They are not malicious people who happen to have awful jobs and conditions, relfecting their awful personality but rather they've become awful because of their awful job and conditions, and in this way they seem closer to Gervaise. Baroness Sandorff in L'argent seems like your typical ice queen... but it is mentioned that she actually feels horror and despair at not being able to feel any passion and thus she turns to gambling because it is the only thing left which gives her sense of feeling passion. Unfortunately, this gambling of course damages her further and in this respect she appears to be entrapped and truly a tragic character.

stingo

The Choice by Dr. Edith Eger
Go Tell The Bees I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon
Wool by Hugh Howey (re-read)
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

SimonNZ


San Antone

After reading four Faulkner novels -

The Unvanquished
Intruders in the Dust
The Hamlet
Flags in the Dust


I have started Cormac McCarthy's early novel, Outer Dark.

vers la flamme

Quote from: San Antone on July 12, 2022, 04:29:49 PM
After reading four Faulkner novels -

The Unvanquished
Intruders in the Dust
The Hamlet
Flags in the Dust


I have started Cormac McCarthy's early novel, Outer Dark.

I read Outer Dark early last year, and loved it. Amazing atmosphere. I was also reading some Faulkner around this time last year, and loved all of it. Of those you've mentioned the only one I've read is The Unvanquished, which was really good.

Artem

I thought about reading Cormac McCarthy novels in their publishing order. Never read him before. Would that be a good idea?

vers la flamme

Quote from: Artem on July 15, 2022, 01:16:26 PM
I thought about reading Cormac McCarthy novels in their publishing order. Never read him before. Would that be a good idea?

Not a bad idea except you might find that the earlier ones are less accessible than those he wrote from Blood Meridian onward.

aligreto

Daudet: Letters from my Windmill





This is a wonderful book of short stories. They are what all good short stories should be, moments in time. They illustrate characters and moods wonderfully, sometimes quite poetically.

André

#12014
Quote from: aligreto on July 18, 2022, 09:14:11 AM
Daudet: Letters from my Windmill





This is a wonderful book of short stories. They are what all good short stories should be, moments in time. They illustrate characters and moods wonderfully, sometimes quite poetically.

A true classic indeed, and exactly as you describe it. We read it in school. It sprang to my mind last May as we were visiting the back country in southern France. We passed by a place called Cucugnan and immediately I thought of Daudet's book. One of the stories is titled Le Curé de Cucugnan. It had never occurred to me that it was a real place (pictured below). It felt eerie.


Spotted Horses

#12015
The Sellout, by Paul Beatty.



This is a high profile book (won the Booker prize) dealing with race relations in the United States, addressing the racism that remains in "post-racial" society. I reminds me a little of The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, in that it seems to reside on a border between realism and surrealism as it exposes the world inhibited by black people in this country. The beginning of the book is absolutely brilliant, depicting a Supreme Court hearing dealing with the events that the narrator goes on to reminisce about. There is thinly veiled portrayal of Justice Clarence Thomas, and every sentence seems to explode with scathing sarcasm. The novel descends a bit from that high level as the author takes us into the body of the novel. If I had to boil the book down to one oversimplified core idea, it is that the narrator finds that re-imposing segregation and slavery in his town actually improves conditions, because the implicit racism that dominates life becomes explicit again, and can be confronted.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

aligreto

Quote from: André on July 20, 2022, 03:58:46 AM
A true classic indeed, and exactly as you describe it. We read it in school. It sprang to my mind last May as we were visiting the back country in southern France. We passed by a place called Cucugnan and immediately I thought of Daudet's book. One of the stories is titled Le Curé de Cucugnan. It had never occurred to me that it was a real place (pictured below). It felt eerie.



Very nice and I am sure that it was a wonderful trip.
Yes, Daudet was essentially sending essays back to Paris for publication based on his observations of his rural life in the region.

Mandryka



Richard Millet could just be a great writer, he certainly has style and I think he has ideas. I think I'lll read all his books (the only other one I know so far is Le goût des femmes laides.)
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

aligreto

C Bronte: Jane Eyre





It has been a very long time since I first read this novel. This time around I found it to be an extremely compelling and well crafted work. The depth of characterisation along with the sequencing of the plot were all very impressive. This work undoubtedly deserves the title of a Classic.
I found Jane Eyre to be a compelling read and I really liked C Bronte's writing style. I recently read E Bronte's Wuthering Heights and I can safely say that Charlotte was, for me, the greater craftswoman because of the greater depth and perception in her wonderful writing.

Spotted Horses

Dark Tales, Shirley Jackson



A collection of short stories, some of which seem like ghost stories, others sarcastic commentaries on middle class life. All of them were engaging to me. Thoroughly enjoyed.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington