What are you currently reading?

[Bogey]

Quote from: jlaurson on Today at 02:14:08 PM

I would love to see a series of films that treats the Bond novels as period pieces, with excruciating attention detail in dress and drink and decor and behavior (the Mad Men advisers might be able to help); fairly unknown but talented actors (who won't distract from the story though personal fame, thus breaking the 4th wall the way cameos do)...

   

All fans of the books dream of this, JW.  In fact, it might be better off if a BBC type unit that has done things like the Brett Holmes or Downton or other period pieces (yes, this needs the "period" treatment) get behind them instead of a movie studio.  Novels become each a three part series instead of the ol' squeeze play.  Let each novel breathe fully.

Karl,
Our lad just had a waiter help him with his meal of chops and pudding.

[jlaurson]

I agree -- that would be spiffy.  I like the current run of Bond movies as action flicks, but they just don't feel very James Bondish, if you know what I mean.  Yes, they have the theme music, and he's got a fast car and all that, but it's not the same.  They're too brutally violent, for one thing -- yes, the books definitely have a harder edge than the films, but these last few seem modelled more on Hong-Kong style action movies.  They badly need a sense of style -- more escapist fantasy, less video game.  Bond should be violent when he needs to be, but there should be an elegance about it, he should be suave, with a bit of humor (just a bit -- I'm not big on Roger Moore's last few movies, which degenerated into extreme camp).  I seem to remember Judi Dench at one point calling the current Bond a thug -- nobody would have ever thought to apply that term to Connery or Moore, or to Fleming's character in the novels.

Sorry to go off on a movie tangent on the book thread.  Umm... I have the new Bond novel Carte Blanche on my Nook, but I haven't read it yet.  Any opinions?   

I couldn't agre more. Bond used to be about a leisurely pace, enjoying the good things in life, then short spurts of action and suspense. The late Roger Moore films had their problems, but except for the unsalvageable, geriatric "View to a Kill", they worked for me, because I was a kid and my sense of humor had only matured roughly to the point of that of an average adult movie-goer... not yet a sentient person. In retrospect the two Dalton films seem like an island of Bond-glory... but I was too young to appreciate them when they came out.
Golden Eye was the first I saw in the theater, and I loved Pierce Brosnan as the suave Bond -- and even had a poster in my college room, if I remember correctly. (Perhaps partly because of Onatop and the proper Bond girl.) Unfortunately the Brosnan films took a turn to the worse, each one more and more becoming exactly what you say: Hong Kong action flicks with lots of explosions, random machine-gunning, and a MTV music video editing. Not Brosnan's fault... but by Die Another Day, they had become nearly unwatchable. Casino Royale, despite the card-game adjustment and the somewhat heavy-handed avoidance of catch-phrases and Bond-clichees (and Bond-traditions), was marvelous... as if all the criticism of the previous films had been taken to heart. And then came Quantum of Solace... which I think caused a mild attack of epilepsy in me, and a strong case of utter boredom and disengaged anger. Th writer's strike is hardly an excuse for such a load of tosh... easily the worst Bond film to date... and that's saying a lot, given Die Another Day and A View to a Kill.

All fans of the books dream of this, JW.  In fact, it might be better off if a BBC type unit that has done things like the Brett Holmes or Downton or other period pieces (yes, this needs the "period" treatment) get behind them instead of a movie studio.  Novels become each a three part series instead of the ol' squeeze play.  Let each novel breathe fully.

Absolutely. Brett's Holmes and (to a slightly lesser extent) Suchet's Poirot are excellent examples. With lots of air, as you aptly describe it. There's a lot of doing little and boredom for Bond, after all. And then a lot of banging ladies -- a la 50 Ahades of Gray (which I've just read up on, on Wikipedia, so that I know what the hell is going on in the outside world).

[Karl Henning]

. . . In retrospect the two Dalton films seem like an island of Bond-glory...

(* pounds the table with his Walther PPK *)

[Karl Henning]

Karl,
Our lad just had a waiter help him with his meal of chops and pudding.

One of many scenes in Dickens which never stale, however many times you revisit them!

[Zizekian]

The first time I tried reading this I loved it, but for some reason I ended up stopping halfway through. This time, I'm going to read it from cover to cover...wish me luck!

[Brian]

The first time I tried reading this I loved it, but for some reason I ended up stopping halfway through. This time, I'm going to read it from cover to cover...wish me luck!

My favorite novel!

Your description of your first attempt is like my first read of Don Quixote. Finished it the second time, though.

[Zizekian]

My favorite novel!

Your description of your first attempt is like my first read of Don Quixote. Finished it the second time, though.

Funny you should mention Cervantes, because I was actually trying to decide whether to return to The Brothers Karamazov or to start Don Quixote! Maybe I'll tackle Cervantes next.

[Sergeant Rock]

(* pounds the table with his Walther PPK *)

I'd pound the table too, but I see you've already smashed it to bits    Speaking of Timothy Dalton, Mrs. Rock and I have been watching Chuck fourth season. Dalton's performance as evil master-mind Alexei Volkoff is a delight.

Sarge

[mc ukrneal]

My favorite novel!

I love it too. The first time I read it, I was reading it on the train to and from work. I couldn't wait to get on the train and continue reading every day.

[Lilas Pastia]

Art Spiegelman' Maus. Following the full, 11 volume series of Boneville graphic story (Jeff Smith)

[SonicMan46]

The Complete World of Human Evolution (Second Edition) (2012) by Chris Stringer & Peter Andrews - I've been reading about this topic since my teen days (e.g. Origin of Species by Darwin) and further stimulated by a couple of anthropology courses as an undergrad - a LOT of new discoveries & better understandings since my early days!

The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea (2012) by Callum Roberts - bought as a Kindle edition for my iPad (enjoy reading books on this device!) - purchase stimulated by an interview w/ him (Diane Rehm NPR show) - the rather shocking story of the impact of man on the present oceans and how climate change has interacted w/ these changes - 

 

[Gold Knight]

Stephen King--The Shining

[eyeresist]

http://www.spiked-online.com/site/reviewofbooks_article/12590/

An interesting reassessment of Allan Bloom's "The closing of the American mind." Handily saves me the trouble of reading the book

[listener]

Samuel Butler: The Way of All Flesh

[DavidRoss]

http://www.spiked-online.com/site/reviewofbooks_article/12590/

An interesting reassessment of Allan Bloom's "The closing of the American mind." Handily saves me the trouble of reading the book

Does it? Consider these two quotes from the review:

In a cruel twist, the culture wars that propelled Bloom to fame have also led his book to be largely misinterpreted. If you view The Closing of the American Mind through the prism of the culture wars, as most on the left and right still do, you miss what's vital and distinct about it.

It is annoying to read that he believes only a few are capable of accessing philosophical ideas (refuted, of course, by the number of people who bought his book).

[Karl Henning]

http://www.spiked-online.com/site/reviewofbooks_article/12590/

An interesting reassessment of Allan Bloom's "The closing of the American mind." Handily saves me the trouble of reading the book

Are there really "hymns to the joys of onanism or the killing of parents," do you think?

[jlaurson]

Are there really "hymns to the joys of onanism or the killing of parents," do you think?

Hello! What about" Copper Blimp's" infamous B-Side: "Getting off to Sister, offing Mom & Dad" and the "Flightless Jackson's" "Ride the Red Rocket to Orphan-Hood"... really gratuitous stuff.


Not to forget classics like:

"Two Ways to Pull the Trigger"

"A Real Load Off Me"

... feel free to chip in...

[Karl Henning]

Well, songs about ... is every song a hymn? : )

[eyeresist]

Well, songs about ... is every song a hymn? : )

Hey dude, did you hear? Hymns are the new thing, man - everything's got to be slow and worshipful of God or it just ain't groove.

[Florestan]

Orhan Pamuk - The Black Book

TBH, I don't even know where to begin learning why he has received the Nobel Prize. His style is very poetical but that is all. I have never read more disconnected books than his. He starts at some point in time and then the action is lingering on and on and on, with countless asides and notes until you lose track of the main action and just delight in well-written but completely disconnected chapters. The only Pamuk's book that I really enjoyed was "Snow". All others I've read  ("My Name is Red", "The White Fortress" (unfinished till now since 4 years ago - I know, I know: since doesn't match ago but neither does the book matches its times, one of the most boring books I've ever (tried to) read  -  and "The New Life") follow the pattern above. IM(not so)HO he should have been writing poems rather than novels...