What are you currently reading?

[North Star]

I really like the bits Amazon has spotlighted from the reviews here
(and no, I am not currently reading this, nor have I bought it.)
[asin]032109333X[/asin]

[Drasko]

I seem to have started a bit of an Eco bash, unintentionally. The Name of the Rose is actually one of my favorite novels, and I enjoyed both Foucault's Pendulum and The Island Of the Day Before immensely. My only disappointment was Baudolino which I found really flat, with little spark in ether ideas or characters and a lot of tedium in unfolding of the story. It felt like the author was far more interested in the way he is telling than in what he is telling (which I presume works much better in original language). Loana doesn't look too promising at first 30 pages but I'll persevere.

also:

[Jo498]

I like The Name of the Rose a lot as a teenager (probably read it twice, but it's been ages), slogged dutifully through the Pendulum which I found boring and of course I didn't know anything about postmodernism it might have been a satire about. I might have started the one with the shipwrecked person but I certainly didn't finish it and have since ignored the author...

[jochanaan]

Dan Brown: Inferno.  Another in the Robert Langdon crypto-thriller series.

[Karl Henning]

I seem to have started a bit of an Eco bash, unintentionally. The Name of the Rose is actually one of my favorite novels, and I enjoyed both Foucault's Pendulum and The Island Of the Day Before immensely. My only disappointment was Baudolino which I found really flat, with little spark in ether ideas or characters and a lot of tedium in unfolding of the story. It felt like the author was far more interested in the way he is telling than in what he is telling (which I presume works much better in original language). Loana doesn't look too promising at first 30 pages but I'll persevere.

I've not read any Eco yet . . . I think I'll give that Island a try.

[Karl Henning]

. . . that the collective term for wild cats is a destruction.

[North Star]

. . . that the collective term for wild cats is a destruction.

Post more details in the thread "From which source are you currently reading?"

[Lisztianwagner]

Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg.

[Florestan]

Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg.

Italian or English translation? or the original Mittelhochdeutsch text? 

[Florestan]

Re: Umberto Eco

I think that in appreciating his novels an interest (at all levels) in the historical period his novels are set in is very helpful.

Personally, I have a keen interest in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque, not only musically, but also literary, scientifically, philosophically and theologically --- hence my immensely enjoying his novels dealing with precisely those historical periods, and possibly my lack of interest in his more "modern" novels, such as Moana-whatever and The Prague-Cemetery-Whatever.

Now, of course this is not a sufficient criterion by itself. For instance, there are two Orhan Pamuk´s novels set in historical eras roughly corresponding to Renaissaance and Baroque, yet one of them (My Name Is Red) I reluctantly finished, lingering the reading over almost a whole year, and the other one (The White Fortress) I never made it past the introductory chapters. Boredom, thy name is Pamuk! (But then again, his other novel "Snow" --- set in modern Turkey --- was a captivating page-turner).

[Ken B]

Re: Umberto Eco

I think that in appreciating his novels an interest (at all levels) in the historical period his novels are set in is very helpful.

Whiskey helps too.

[Florestan]

Whiskey helps too.

Whiskey helps pretty much any situation a man can find himself stuck in... with obvious exceptions, of course. 

[Lisztianwagner]

Italian or English translation? or the original Mittelhochdeutsch text? 

Well, Italian translation; but I would really like to try to read Gottfried's romance in its original Middle High German text.  I read the English translation of Wolfram's Parzival.

[kaergaard]

I've not read any Eco yet . . . I think I'll give that Island a try.

Karl, please do give it a try. I never knew Eco has a sense of humour but he shows it in this book.
Lis

[Cosi bel do]

Re: Umberto Eco

I think that in appreciating his novels an interest (at all levels) in the historical period his novels are set in is very helpful.

Personally, I have a keen interest in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque, not only musically, but also literary, scientifically, philosophically and theologically --- hence my immensely enjoying his novels dealing with precisely those historical periods, and possibly my lack of interest in his more "modern" novels, such as Moana-whatever and The Prague-Cemetery-Whatever.

Now, of course this is not a sufficient criterion by itself. For instance, there are two Orhan Pamuk´s novels set in historical eras roughly corresponding to Renaissaance and Baroque, yet one of them (My Name Is Red) I reluctantly finished, lingering the reading over almost a whole year, and the other one (The White Fortress) I never made it past the introductory chapters. Boredom, thy name is Pamuk! (But then again, his other novel "Snow" --- set in modern Turkey --- was a captivating page-turner).

I don't agree with you on Pamuk. I loved My Name is Red, and found The Black Book (set in contemporary Istanbul) a little less gripping (but still a good book). I still have to read Snow, though, but I wouldn't say his historical novels are less interesting than contemporary ones.
And I'm also very keen on the periods you name

[Florestan]

I don't agree with you on Pamuk. I loved My Name is Red, and found The Black Book (set in contemporary Istanbul) a little less gripping (but still a good book).

Oh yes, how could I forget The Black Book? It bored me just as much as My Name Is Red, although it has some redeeming qualities in Galip´s newspaper articles, which are quite poetic. As a whole, though, it´s way too long and prolix. Seems like once Pamuk begins to put pen to paper, he is unable to stop.

I still have to read Snow, though, but I wouldn't say his historical novels are less interesting than contemporary ones.

That´s the only Pamuk I liked. I might try again The White Fortress, at least it´s short. 

And I'm also very keen on the periods you name

Very good! 

[Henk]

Schopenhauer - About philosophy

[Ken B]

"All you need is a bit of cold water in your left ear!"

This is the most remarkable thing you will read today.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/20/the_apologist_and_the_revolutionary/

[Henk]

Investigating this free online magazine. http://epicmagazine.com/

"AS FUN AS FICTION,
BUT FULL OF FACTS.

You know that feeling you get when a good true-life tale grabs you right from the start? You can't stop turning the page — because you realize incredible things happen to real people — and it's hard to believe that what you're reading is non-fiction. That is the kind of story we like to tell.

Epic writers travel the world searching for encounters with the unknown. Wartime romance, unlikely savants, deranged detectives, gentlemen thieves, and love struck killers: stories that tap into the thrill of being alive."

[Ken B]

Some Tim Minchin. He has recorded some of his stuff too. Here he reads a dandy little poem, which will offend many.

http://youtu.be/HhGuXCuDb1U