What are you currently reading?

[CaughtintheGaze]

First Look at Communication Theory by Griffin (communications)
Mass Communication Theory by Baran and Davis (communications)
Stagecraft and Statecraft by Schill (communications)

To the first: Foundational text for communication theory, covers every major aspect with considerable depth offering full critiques of each (some from the creators of the theory). Makes for really entertaining and engrossing reading.

To the second: Only perused, the information in this book is covered in the books by Griffin and Schill.

To the third: A pretty fantastic text which will make you question the veracity (if you already don't) of those things you see on television. This was more about stagecraft than statecraft. Although, the latter can be subsumed under the former. Gives some really good example, and gives an insider look into the construction of media events and offers a cogent response to our contemporary political situation. My favorite part was about the planning of spontaneous events, so much lovely irony. The book is quite short, not lacking but concise. The writing is definitely academic but it deals in things that everyone can understand making it readable by the layperson.

[Bogey]

Finished Copperfield today after a marathon session last night.....went into the wee hours until fatigue prevented further reading.  I found myself cheering aloud for Micawber and Traddles (probably my favorite character in the book) as good news was penned.

Thread duty:

On to A Tale of Two Cities.

[lisa needs braces]

I loved that chapter in David Copperfield called "Two Penitents." Yea, pretty unnecessary in terms of plot but it was Dickens trying to be as comical as possible in order to satisfy his subscribers as the book concluded.

A Tale of Two Cities was the first Dickens I read, and one that gave me a wrong impression about his earlier works. The book, like much of Dickens later work, is pretty tightly plotted, and I had a similar expectation for Oliver Twist and his other earlier works and was somewhat confounded by their more meandering plots as he most likely just made those up as he went along.

[Bogey]

I loved that chapter in David Copperfield called "Two Penitents."

It was a bit too convenient, but fun....I do wish we had not had another visit by Mr. Pegotty toward the end.  The newspaper article about Micawber finding its way to Copper would have sufficed.   Sometimes not wrapping up every question of the reader is a stronger suit to play.  ...but I ain't Dickens, so....

I loved that chapter in David Copperfield called "Two Penitents." Yea, pretty unnecessary in terms of plot but it was Dickens trying to be as comical as possible in order to satisfy his subscribers as the book concluded.

A Tale of Two Cities was the first Dickens I read, and one that gave me a wrong impression about his earlier works. The book, like much of Dickens later work, is pretty tightly plotted, and I had a similar expectation for Oliver Twist and his other earlier works and was somewhat confounded by their more meandering plots as he most likely just made those up as he went along.

Are you referring to such plots like the The Five Sisters of York from Nickleby?   However, without these alley ways, how would the books break 800 pages?   I am learning to embrace them as nice short stories and try to take them in and not rush back to the plot.

[Bogey]

A Tale of Two Cities was the first Dickens I read,

His description of Tellson's Bank was worth two reads through.

[lisa needs braces]

It was a bit too convenient, but fun....I do wish we had not had another visit by Mr. Pegotty toward the end.  The newspaper article about Micawber finding its way to Copper would have sufficed.   Sometimes not wrapping up every question of the reader is a stronger suit to play. 

Indeed. Mr. Micawber is the secret hero of the book and I remember rejoicing when he got his big moment.

Are you referring to such plots like the The Five Sisters of York from Nickleby?   However, without these alley ways, how would the books break 800 pages?   I am learning to embrace them as nice short stories and try to take them in and not rush back to the plot.

When I got through Oliver Twist I realized that Dickens was more free flowing and meandering (though no less entertaining) in his early years and went on to enjoy his subsequent books with that fact mind. I adored Nikleby.

My least favorite Dickens work is Dombey & Son. Skipped The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.

I only, regrettably, read half of The Pickwick Papers, despite enjoying what I read immensely.

I'm saving Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend for the future...

[Bogey]

Indeed. Mr. Micawber is the secret hero of the book and I remember rejoicing when he got his big moment.

When I got through Oliver Twist I realized that Dickens was more free flowing and meandering (though no less entertaining) in his early years and went on to enjoy his subsequent books with that fact mind. I adored Nikleby.

My least favorite Dickens work is Dombey & Son. Skipped The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.

I only, regrettably, read half of The Pickwick Papers, despite enjoying what I read immensely.

I'm saving Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend for the future...

There are so many I have not read.  I started the Pickwick, but did not finish.  I believe that because it is what it is, I might take a certain night and read it then....like a tv show.  I have not read The Old Curiosity Shop, but was wondering why you did not care for it.  My wife is familiar with it through movies and finds it too depressing.  I am with you with Nikleby.  That is one that I can read wherever I open to it!

[lisa needs braces]

Barnaby Rudge and The Old Curiosity Shop aren't very well regarded, which is why I've avoided them. Dombey and Son simply bored me to tears, though I did manage to complete it. A lot of people seem to like it however.

[Scarpia]

Completed two relatively short books recently.

The Prague Orgie - Philip Roth.

Talk of sex but no sex in this book.  It describes a trip made by an American author to Soviet dominated Prague to retrieve a supposedly great book written in Yiddish by an acquaintance's father.  The trip turns into a Kafka-esq farse when the American must deal with a community of writers distorted by political oppression and their own insecurities.  An insightful, entertaining and interesting book.  Not necessarily a great book.

Home - Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is one of my favorite writers.  This book did not disappoint.  It is a very short book (150 pages) but packs a lot in those few pages.  The subject is an black American soldier who has returned from Korea to a racist America.  He must deal with traumatic war experiences, as well as traumatic memories of his upbringing in the rural south.   He finds strength in a mission to save his sister from harm, but in the end it is not clear who saved who.  A worthwhile read.

[Todd]

A few chapters in.  The first chapter is weak, in that it basically rehashes material from prior books, but it gets going with mini bios of the Kennedy brothers.  Caro's style is as page turning as before.

[jwinter]

I started the first book in that series a couple of months ago, and then got distracted into other things -- I need to go back to it.  I often end up losing interest in the early parts of biographies -- there's often that initial chunk of dense stuff about the grandparents and siblings et al to plow through, hopefully not followed by tons of Freudian fictionalizing.  Caro was much better than average on that front, if I recall.

Still, I'm in no rush -- even if I do a chapter a month, I'll probably be caught up by the time he finishes the next one.

[Ataraxia]

My buddy Jon on Kindle.
[asin]B004KSQVBA[/asin]

[Brahmsian]

The Omen - David Seltzer

[Florestan]

Just finished Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.

[Corey]

Unsurprisingly:

[CaughtintheGaze]

All the volumes:

[val]

CLAUDE ALLÉGRE:    "Peut-on encore sauver l'Europe?"

The title seems too dramatic, but this book presents a good diagnostic of the situation in Europe today. Allègre shows the danger of the excessive power of the Commission (whose members are not elected), the catastrophic results of a liberal conception of the economy in special the financial system and the mystake of including in the same monetary union countries with very different level of economic development.

[DavidRoss]

Unsurprisingly:

[Ataraxia]

Good stuff.
[asin]0062025821[/asin]

[Scarpia]

Being an admirer of Joseph Conrad was a bit of a trial before electronic books.  Conrad's best known books have always been in print, but some of the more obscure titles have been out-of-print or difficult to track down.  At one point I was was considering trying to get a copy of the collected works of Conrad (either Malay Edition or Canterbury Edition, published in the early 20th century).  But now there is Project Gutenberg, and as far as I can see, all of Conrad's books are available as free Kindle editions on Amazon.   So I am currently carrying the collected works of Joseph Conrad in my pocket.

Just finished "An Arrow of Gold."  One of those more obscure volumes, but a beautifully written Novel about a goatherd turned wealthy heiress, her cousin, a smuggler, a southern American gentleman, and a pretender to the throne of Spain, and true love.  (No, I'm not kidding.)