What are you currently reading?

[Scarpia]

Do you mean Angels & Demons? Yeah, the science bit (in the book -- I haven't seen the movie) was terrible, but as a story I remember finding it better than The Da Vinci Code.

Duh!  You're right.  Hard to keep those Brown books straight.   

[Lethevich]

Come to think of it, we Americans are fortunate to have that huge empty section in the middle of the country which facilitates listening to extensive novels.  Driving from East to West in the UK would only give time for Hawthorne short story, I would think.   

Hehe, the British sense of distance is remarkably skewed - the place may be tiny, but everybody acts as though it's enormous. I've long been putting off making a one hour journey to a neighbouring town on account of the terrible inconvenience involved in travelling such an enormous distance Ditto why I've never been to London. It's four hours away, absolute tops, and several times someone from North America has heard my excuse for not yet having visited the place and wonder what is wrong with the people here.

[MN Dave]

James Duffy: Sand of the Arena

Sand of the Arena is a "prince and the pauper" story that plays out in the arenas of ancient Rome. A rich Roman, Quintus Romanus, has his identity stolen by his conniving slave, Lucius Calidius, after a shipwreck kills Quintus' family. The epic adventure that follows sends Quintus across the Roman Empire in search of a new life and a new family. He finds both in the gladiatorial schools and arenas of Britannia, Rome, and Pompeii where he develops strong bonds with Lindani, an Ethiopian arena hunter, and Amazonia, one of the first female gladiators in the Empire. Quintus' rise to primus palus status, the best of the best among gladiators, is paralleled by the rise of his arch-rival, Lucius, in Imperial politics. As both reach the top of their game, they clash once again in a final battle that settles all scores. Set against the turbulent and erotic setting of Nero's Empire, Sand of the Arena is a tale of graphic arena battles, family devotion, friendship, and vengeance.

[Scarpia]

Hehe, the British sense of distance is remarkably skewed - the place may be tiny, but everybody acts as though it's enormous. I've long been putting off making a one hour journey to a neighbouring town on account of the terrible inconvenience involved in travelling such an enormous distance Ditto why I've never been to London. It's four hours away, absolute tops, and several times someone from North America has heard my excuse for not yet having visited the place and wonder what is wrong with the people here.

I visited London once, took 5 hours (on a Boeing 767  ).  As long as we've been discussing the da Vinci code, I should mention that I saw these blokes when I was there.

[MN Dave]

Tasty!

[listener]

jetlag travel guide: MOLVANÎA         
Recommended if you are a fan of Sellars and Yeatman

from the introduction:" ...the intrepid traveller will find plenty to enjoy within this unique, landlocked nation state -- from the capital Lutenblag with its delightful gas-powered tram network to the heavily forested Postenwalj mountains in the south, where visitors can share a glass of locally brewed zeerstum (garlic brandy) after watching a traditionally-dressed peasant labourer beat his mule."

[Franco]

You Are Not A Gadget
Jaron Lanier



Looks to be a very good read.

Reviewed here.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

...in original, baroque writing.

[SonicMan46]

Viruses, Plagues, and History: Past, Present and Future (2009; revised & updated) by Michael B.A. Oldstone - several of the early chapters on virology & immunology could be a little daunting, but after those introductory discussions, the chapters explore the various viral histories, starting w/ smallpox! 

[MN Dave]

At the height of China's Cultural Revolution a powerful general fathered two sons. Tan was born to the general's wife and into a life of comfort and luxury. His half brother, Shento, was born to the general's mistress, who threw herself off a cliff in the mountains of Balan only moments after delivering her child. Growing up, each remained ignorant of the other's existence. In Beijing, Tan enjoyed the best schools, the finest clothes, and the prettiest girls. Shento was raised on the mountainside by an old healer and his wife until their deaths landed him in an orphanage, where he was always hungry, alone, and frightened. Though on divergent roads, each brother is driven by a passionate desire—one to glorify his father, the other to seek revenge against him.

Separated by distance and opportunity, Tan and Shento follow the paths that lie before them, while unknowingly falling in love with the same woman and moving toward the explosive moment when their fates finally merge.

Brothers, by bestselling memoirist Da Chen, is a sprawling, dynamic family saga, complete with assassinations, love affairs, narrowly missed opportunities, and the ineluctable fulfillment of destiny.

[greg]

Out of curiosity, what might be considered the Mahler 9th of books? (if there is such a thing)

Any more suggestions? 

[Maciek]

Ha, ha, ha! Have you got through the Camus yet?

I personally would second the Tolstoy rec (though I'd point to Anna Karenina). Dostoevsky is not bad, if you're in a wallowing mood (I rarely am). But there's really so much to choose from. How about Cervantes? I have a feeling you might enjoy him. Or, better yet, Jan Potocki (Manuscript Found in Saragossa/Saragossa Manuscript)!

[greg]

I decided not to read it (i just read the first chapter).
I get the point of how strange it is that he's so emotionally detached from the death of his mother and that he talks about silly details of the funeral instead of expressing his grief. It just didn't do anything for me. Does it get more interesting? 

I guess I'm looking for something cathartic... deep... intelligent... I don't know, maybe something like if Schopenhauer wrote a novel? (I just didn't see any signs of it in my preview)

Thanks for the suggestions- I added them to a list. Like I said, it might be summer when I decide to start reading stuff- after I finish that 70-hour long game that I don't want to hold on forever, since I'll need to give it back.

Anyone else have suggestions? 

[zorzynek]

I decided not to read it (i just read the first chapter).
I get the point of how strange it is that he's so emotionally detached from the death of his mother and that he talks about silly details of the funeral instead of expressing his grief. It just didn't do anything for me. Does it get more interesting? 

I guess I'm looking for something cathartic... deep... intelligent... I don't know, maybe something like if Schopenhauer wrote a novel? (I just didn't see any signs of it in my preview)

Thanks for the suggestions- I added them to a list. Like I said, it might be summer when I decide to start reading stuff- after I finish that 70-hour long game that I don't want to hold on forever, since I'll need to give it back.

Anyone else have suggestions? 

lol

[Florestan]

Any more suggestions? 

I personally tend to think that, if one needs to read only one single book that should teach him everything about life, it would be Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.

I also second Maciek's recommendation of Dostoievsky and Cervantes. Gogol and Tchekhov are also very good.

And if you like Mahler, I see no reason why you wouldn't like Thomas Mann or Hermann Hesse.

There are also the great masters of the Latin American literature, like Carpentier, Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa or Roa Bastos.

As Maciek said, plenty to choose from.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Or, better yet, Jan Potocki (Manuscript Found in Saragossa/Saragossa Manuscript)!

This is an amazing book, but quite hard to get through - make sure you're not doing anything else while you're reading it. The author was quite a character 

There's a film version, which I haven't seen, but which no less a figure than Luis Buñuel called his favorite film ever.

[zorzynek]

This is an amazing book, but quite hard to get through - make sure you're not doing anything else while you're reading it. The author was quite a character 

There's a film version, which I haven't seen, but which no less a figure than Luis Buñuel called his favorite film ever.

Movie's excellent, but it lacks a lot of plots and subplots from the book. Also, I don't recall Manuscript as extremely hard or very absorbing. Then again, I like Pynchon and Beckett so I might not be very good advisor here.

[greg]

I personally tend to think that, if one needs to read only one single book that should teach him everything about life, it would be Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.

I also second Maciek's recommendation of Dostoievsky and Cervantes. Gogol and Tchekhov are also very good.

And if you like Mahler, I see no reason why you wouldn't like Thomas Mann or Hermann Hesse.

There are also the great masters of the Latin American literature, like Carpentier, Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa or Roa Bastos.

As Maciek said, plenty to choose from.

Nice! Thanks for the suggestions. 

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Movie's excellent, but it lacks a lot of plots and subplots from the book. Also, I don't recall Manuscript as extremely hard or very absorbing. Then again, I like Pynchon and Beckett so I might not be very good advisor here.

Problem with the book (to the extent I remember it) was the difficulty of keeping all the plots-within-plots straight. If you stop reading it for a while and then go back to it, it's kind of hard to pick up the track again.

[zorzynek]

Problem with the book (to the extent I remember it) was the difficulty of keeping all the plots-within-plots straight. If you stop reading it for a while and then go back to it, it's kind of hard to pick up the track again.

Yeah, when you put it that way I must agree. It's a labyrinth book for sure.