What are you currently reading?

[Brian]

That's a striking title!
What's it about, sir?

[Bogey]

That's a striking title!
What's it about, sir?

Just cracked it open a bit ago, Brian.  This synopsis seems to fit the intent:

Yancey is an astute author who challenges Christians' assumptions without alienating them. In The Bible Jesus Read, Yancey encourages readers to consider how Hebrew Scripture what Christians call the Old Testament is relevant to their own lives. His premise is that although many Christians tacitly consider the New Testament more important than the Old, the New Testament was written after Jesus' earthly ministry, making the Old Testament "the Bible Jesus read." Hebrew Scripture was the greatest influence on the mind and spirit of the founder of Christianity, a fact that, in the author's estimation, obligates Christians to know it well. Yancey acknowledges the difficulty of transcending the cultural gulf between modern civilization and ancient Israel and seeks to bridge the gap by highlighting sections of the Old Testament that he initially found hard to appreciate.

[lisa needs braces]

Shogun

Author:  James Clavell

And yes, it's very good!     But long 

I remember I was about 6 years old when the "made for TV" movie with Richard Chamberlain was on.  I watched some of it with my parents (even though it probably wasn't meant for a 6 year old to watch  )

"Shogun" is one of my favorite novels and I read it twice when I was a freshman in high school. I think a book being long is never a problem so long as the author justifies it--and the Shogun's gargantuan plot and multitude of characters always keep you engaged.

[Brian]

Thanks, Bill!

Currently reading One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty.

[Lethevich]

Not at all recommendable for everyday reading. It is surprisingly mind-boggling in the amount of formulas, diagrams, proportional sums, and so on used in it. The majority of the book is schematics rather than description, and as such seems more aimed towards people actively studying the forms. (This impression runs strangely contrary to the two Amazon.com reviews.)

[Brian]

N.B. Any book with "poetics" used as a singular word should be avoided at all costs!

[Renfield]

N.B. Any book with "poetics" used as a singular word should be avoided at all costs!

cf.

(and I also have a rule that one should always be highly skeptical of anyone named Kevin or Brian, but that is another essay)

And why avoid Aristotle, anyway?

[Bu]

[Brian]

cf.




And why avoid Aristotle, anyway?

This totally made my day. 

[Solitary Wanderer]

[karlhenning]

Browsing the old GMG; great memories!

[Kullervo]

That, along with Perec's Life:A User's Manual are two books that I want to read before I die soon. Please do comment on it when you are done 

Zeno's Conscience was excellent. The titular character is, by all accounts not an admirable person -- he has the will of a goldfish (as shown in his countless "last cigarettes" and the story of his essentially accidental marriage and, of course, his subsequent affair with his mistress), but the flatly humorous way he narrates the story of his travails, failures and small triumphs makes his life as a comedy-of-errors that much more affecting and human. He is the anti-hero par excellence.

Attempted once again Henry James's Golden Bowl but only got about a fifth of the way through. The prose is just too awkward and unnatural -- and this is coming from a Proust lover. I enjoy difficult novels, but only if the challenge has some benefit of greater insight and nuance, rather than merely obscuring the meaning of the text. Perhaps I'll try James again, but it will be some time before I can get the bad taste out of my mouth.

Reading now: Roberto Bolano's 2666. I know next to nothing about the author other than he was Mexican and died a little over a year before the book was first published (the English translation was published this year). So far (I am about a quarter of the way through) the scope is remarkable -- he goes effortlessly from exegeses on contemporary German literature to describing a cheap Japanese horror movie to relating (politely, yet bluntly) impromptu backseat sex scenes. I look forward to finishing it and reading his other work.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Attempted once again Henry James's Golden Bowl but only got about a fifth of the way through. The prose is just too awkward and unnatural -- and this is coming from a Proust lover. I enjoy difficult novels, but only if the challenge has some benefit of greater insight and nuance, rather than merely obscuring the meaning of the text. Perhaps I'll try James again, but it will be some time before I can get the bad taste out of my mouth.

Perhaps you remember I had started on The Golden Bowl, too, a few months ago? I have great admiration for James's human understanding and his artistry, and I read the first hundred pages or so with - how shall I put it - strenuous pleasure. But after a while I became tired of the supersubtlety. James goes so far in his exquisite discriminations that you lose sight of the figures, their surroundings, the story. I'm afraid that late James and the 21st century won't be getting along... So you are forgiven for giving up! I did, too...

[karlhenning]

"strenuous pleasure" . . . oof!

[Benji]

Philip Yancey.... isn't he a character in a Philllip K Dick short story? Definintely something like that, and in the story everyone hangs on this character's every word and then it turns out he's a complete fabrication designed to manipulate the public into civil obedience.

Sorry, completely off-topic, well mostly.

When i'm not reading PKD i'm reading Slaughterhouse 5 for the first time. I've just read the introductory chapter, though for most of it I was unable to decide (being a complete Vonnegut newbie) whether it is Vonnegut writing as himself or just a narrating character of some sort or something inbetween. It's a very disjointed style of writing, which i'm loving, but being a newbie I can't tell whether that is Vonnegut's unique style, or whether it is the style of writing of his narrator/author character.    And so it goes.

[karlhenning]

One of Vonnegut's soggiest, Moggiest!

[Benji]

One of Vonnegut's soggiest, Moggiest!

Not a fan, Dr Karl? (also, hello!)

[karlhenning]

Well, perhaps as with rum cake, the soggier the better! (Or, the rummier . . . .)

Delighted to see you back in action, Ben!

[Kullervo]

Perhaps you remember I had started on The Golden Bowl, too, a few months ago? I have great admiration for James's human understanding and his artistry, and I read the first hundred pages or so with - how shall I put it - strenuous pleasure. But after a while I became tired of the supersubtlety. James goes so far in his exquisite discriminations that you lose sight of the figures, their surroundings, the story. I'm afraid that late James and the 21st century won't be getting along... So you are forgiven for giving up! I did, too...

That makes me feel a bit better. It's funny, I never have this sort of struggle with music. For instance, I don't care for Bartok (an objectively "great" composer), but that fact has never made me feel insecure in my understanding of his music. Whereas with James I feel like a cretin because I am unable to keep up or even know exactly what he is talking about. I think now I am comfortable with the fact that I really just don't enjoy his style of writing.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

That makes me feel a bit better. It's funny, I never have this sort of struggle with music. For instance, I don't care for Bartok (an objectively "great" composer), but that fact has never made me feel insecure in my understanding of his music. Whereas with James I feel like a cretin because I am unable to keep up or even know exactly what he is talking about. I think now I am comfortable with the fact that I really just don't enjoy his style of writing.

But I think you do, Corey. The Golden Bowl is only the most extreme example of his (in)famous late style and not really the best introduction to James. Why not try, e.g., The Turn of the Screw or The Spoils of Poynton? Henry James is a great writer...