What are you currently reading?

[Parsifal]

I wouldn't go that far.

The first 3 books are excellent, but some of Martin's flaws as a writer start to become more apparent in the 4th, and 5th book was a slog.  I get very annoyed by Martin's inability to move the story forward, and his insistence on continuously adding new characters I don't give a crap about.  That said, I hope he is able to finish the series.

Saying the TV series is better isn't a really a criticism of Martin, since he was involved in writing the screenplay, I believe.  In any case, some of the scenes in the book were livened up in the TV show by having nekkid women frolicking around in the shot.   

How many volumes are there supposed to be, anyway?

[Daverz]

How many volumes are there supposed to be, anyway?

7

[Lisztianwagner]

Émile Zola
The Ladies' Paradise

[kishnevi]

Tim Powers
Hide Me Among The Graves

published last year, but I didn't know about it until last week.

This is in a sense a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard,  one of the principals being the son of the hero/heroine of that earlier novel;  the famous literary figures who share center stage in this novel are the Rossettis (Dante Gabriele  and Christina); the central vampire seems to be Dr.Polidori.  I'm only fifty pages in out of a total of about 500, so it's too early to say how it measures up to the predecessors.

[Daverz]

This is in a sense a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard, 

Tim Powers is one of my favorite authors, but The Stress of Her Regard was not one my favorite of his novels, so I haven't picked up the new one.  I should probably re-read it.

[Todd]

A few chapters into Harlow Giles Unger's too-short bio of John Quincy Adams.  Mr Adams' life as a teenager would have been almost impossible to write as a work of fiction, with all of the people he met and all the places he saw and events he experienced - imagine breakfasting with Thomas Jefferson and watching a parliamentary debate in England with Edmund Burke speaking and being alone in Sweden as a 15 year old boy.  Unger's research is as solid as John Meacham's in his Jefferson bio, and his writing even more fluent and decidedly more focused than Amity Schlaes' in her bio of Coolidge, and it so far escapes the worship and puffery of the other two authors.  My only lament is that the book has only around three hundred pages of text, so it will be light on detail.  I couldn't find a really in-depth bio that intrigued me.  This book may make me search for something heftier on the younger Adams.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, one of my favorite books of all time. I enjoyed every single page of it! It is hard to find better villain than Smerdyakov!

[DavidW]

I wouldn't go that far.

The first 3 books are excellent, but some of Martin's flaws as a writer start to become more apparent in the 4th, and 5th book was a slog.  I get very annoyed by Martin's inability to move the story forward, and his insistence on continuously adding new characters I don't give a crap about.  That said, I hope he is able to finish the series.

He has Robert Jordan-itis.  I'm feeling the pain in the worst example of high fantasy bloat-- I'm in the middle of my Wheel of Time reread.  I couldn't stand to reread past Lord of Chaos so I switched to very detailed summaries in the Wheel of Time Reread by Leigh Butler to get me through.  Many characters not doing anything but walking around having inane conversations about things that we the audience already knows, but they the characters don't know.  And Jordan hyperfocuses on completely unimportant details like the fabric in the dress a minor character is wearing.

[DavidW]

Tim Powers
Hide Me Among The Graves

I picked this up as a Kindle daily deal a few months back, haven't read it yet.  Tell me if you like it.

[Bogey]

A few chapters into Harlow Giles Unger's too-short bio of John Quincy Adams.  Mr Adams' life as a teenager would have been almost impossible to write as a work of fiction, with all of the people he met and all the places he saw and events he experienced - imagine breakfasting with Thomas Jefferson and watching a parliamentary debate in England with Edmund Burke speaking and being alone in Sweden as a 15 year old boy.  Unger's research is as solid as John Meacham's in his Jefferson bio, and his writing even more fluent and decidedly more focused than Amity Schlaes' in her bio of Coolidge, and it so far escapes the worship and puffery of the other two authors.  My only lament is that the book has only around three hundred pages of text, so it will be light on detail.  I couldn't find a really in-depth bio that intrigued me.  This book may make me search for something heftier on the younger Adams.

Cool, Todd. Very cool.  I have been keeping my presidential reading to books that put the president in a situation or limited time span.  The bios within them are usually enough for me.  However, having been to this lads home(s), I might reconsider.  There are two presidential reads coming out this year on my radar that may or may not interest you:

 

[Brian]

I know Doris Kearns Goodwin is a bit of a celebrity "brand," but I'm a little intrigued by this one. There is a lot of discussion in Edmund Morris' great Theodore Rex about the way TR manipulated the media to achieve his ends; he played them so easily that reading about it you can't help feeling awe. Hmm. Maybe I'll just reread that book.

The JQ Adams book is intriguing. I don't know enough about him.

[North Star]

And if Rowling's books manage to cultivate a reading habit in more youngsters, then her work is immune from intelligent criticism, too.  I don't see how the opposition's viewpoint here is other than common sense, so if someone can draw me a diagram, I shall be grateful.

So, is there something wrong with Rowling's books or their success?

[Karl Henning]

So, is there something wrong with Rowling's books or their success?

As to whether there is anything wrong with the books, that is a question for those who have read them;  I restrict myself to observing that I have read intelligent criticism of the books, and that some of this has provoked impassioned (if generally orthogonal) response.

Personally, I applaud both Ross and Rowling for their success.  Perhaps they miss that servant who accompanied Cæsar on his triumphs, whispering in his ear, Remember, Cæsar, that thou are mortal.

[North Star]

As to whether there is anything wrong with the books, that is a question for those who have read them;  I restrict myself to observing that I have read intelligent criticism of the books, and that some of this has provoked impassioned (if generally orthogonal) response.

Personally, I applaud both Ross and Rowling for their success.  Perhaps they miss that servant who accompanied Cæsar on his triumphs, whispering in his ear, Remember, Cæsar, that thou are mortal.

I have read the Potter books - in fact I have read 2½ of them in the past 5 days for the second time, and can't think of anything negative about them. The characters and the story are extremely well managed over the series. I haven't seen or read anything that would lead me to think that Rowling is in any way arrogant. Fans are another matter, of course...
I would be genuinely interested to read this criticism, though, so any links would be appreciated.

[Karl Henning]

I have read the Potter books - in fact I have read 2½ of them in the past 5 days for the second time, and can't think of anything negative about them. The characters and the story are extremely well managed over the series. I haven't seen or read anything that would lead me to think that Rowling is in any way arrogant. Fans are another matter, of course...

I would be genuinely interested to read this criticism, though, so any links would be appreciated.

Well, if I seemed to accuse Rowling of arrogance, I apologize.  I have no reason to expect that she (or Ross) is other than an earthy, likeable person.  And her rags-to-riches story is touching.  My admittedly curt reference was not oriented to arrogance, but the matter of how overwhelming success may interfere with one's development as an artist, or with one's artistic filters.

It is some years since I read the articles, Karlo, and I know neither the URLs for them, nor whether those URLs are still valid.

[Cato]

As to whether there is anything wrong with the books, that is a question for those who have read them;  I restrict myself to observing that I have read intelligent criticism of the books, and that some of this has provoked impassioned (if generally orthogonal) response.

Personally, I applaud both Ross and Rowling for their success.  Perhaps they miss that servant who accompanied Cæsar on his triumphs, whispering in his ear, Remember, Cæsar, that thou are mortal.

A billion dollars would seem to imply there is more right with the Harry Potter books than wrong, or that, even if there is something overarchingly wrong with them, their "rightness" still trumps that.

Of course, perhaps they will end up selling for a quarter in some 21st-century antique store, not unlike the Tom Swift books of the early 1900's.  I just saw in one "junque" shop Tom Swift and His Photo-Telephone.



Or how about one of my favorites from Grandpa's attic?



Possibly the Potter books will persist the way the Oz books have persisted, or Beatrix Potter's (no relation to Harry).

[Karl Henning]

Karlo, here is an interesting (and warmly sympathetic) critique.

[Karl Henning]

And a quick-&-dirty search yields this potentially interesting resource.

[North Star]

Well, if I seemed to accuse Rowling of arrogance, I apologize.  I have no reason to expect that she (or Ross) is other than an earthy, likeable person.  And her rags-to-riches story is touching.  My admittedly curt reference was not oriented to arrogance, but the matter of how overwhelming success may interfere with one's development as an artist, or with one's artistic filters.

It is some years since I read the articles, Karlo, and I know neither the URLs for them, nor whether those URLs are still valid.

Okay, Karl. No need to go out of your way searching for them. (spell checkers are a PITA, btw - mine didn't even recognise ( ) likeable. Oh well, it's probably for the common good that Microsoft and their likes choose which spellings are acceptable and which are not  )
I guess I should read Rowling's two books written after the Potters to see how she has developed since then. Of course, quite a few artists have been influenced by 'overwhelming success', and, at least from the ones that are well known, many have continued to thrive. But then, there are probably many of whom most haven't heard, and some who never really lived up to their promising start.

---

Karlo, here is an interesting (and warmly sympathetic) critique.

And a quick-&-dirty search yields this potentially interesting resource.

Thanks!

A billion dollars would seem to imply there is more right with the Harry Potter books than wrong, or that, even if there is something overarchingly wrong with them, their "rightness" still trumps that.

Of course, perhaps they will end up selling for a quarter in some 21st-century antique store, not unlike the Tom Swift books of the early 1900's.  I just saw in one "junque" shop Tom Swift and His Photo-Telephone.

Or how about one of my favorites from Grandpa's attic?

Possibly the Potter books will persist the way the Oz books have persisted, or Beatrix Potter's (no relation to Harry).

Or Tolkien or Austen.
Curiously, there is a character named Beatrix Lestrange in the Potter books. But maybe that's just a coincidence...

[Opus106]

Curiously, there is a character named Beatrix Lestrange in the Potter books. But maybe that's just a coincidence...

Bellatrix. I haven't read a single volume of the series, but I know my stars.