What are you currently reading?

[AnotherSpin]

I am not against kids reading the classics (I myself read a lot of them as a kid, even if for many of them real understanding came only when re-reading them later in life), I am against kids being forced to read them in school and being graded for that.

The longer I live, the less often I feel like I'm understanding what's going on around. Or, more precisely, the less I feel the desire to understand it. 

[T. D.]

Joseph Conrad was published in Romanian translation in the 1960s: Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo. He's one of my favorite writers, a truly unique style and a sumptuous use of English, despite him being Polish.

Yes, Conrad wrote beautiful English prose. He and Vladimir Nabokov stand out in that regard for me, despite English not having been their first language.

[DavidW]

I am not against kids reading the classics (I myself read a lot of them as a kid, even if for many of them real understanding came only when re-reading them later in life), I am against kids being forced to read them in school and being graded for that.

There is a spectrum though.  In high school, teachers usually expose students to short, easier reads like The Great Gatsby and not some gigantic Russian doorstop (at least in the US, it looks like the Ukraine is a different story).

[AnotherSpin]

There is a spectrum though.  In high school, teachers usually expose students to short, easier reads like The Great Gatsby and not some gigantic Russian doorstop (at least in the US, it looks like the Ukraine is a different story).

It was in USSR. There are no Russian doorstops in school program in Ukraine anymore.

[steve ridgway]

In Soviet schools we were not only forced to read, but also to make correct conclusions, in full accordance with Lenin's testaments.

That sounds frustrating; I found an hour's indoctrination at Sunday School once a week bad enough  .

[Florestan]

@AnotherSpin  @DavidW @steve ridgway

It's all a thing of the past, anyway. What with the internet, the e-books and the AI, reading books and thinking them over will become as obsolete as listening to vinyls: the province of a minority of fanatics. 

[Mandryka]

Joseph Conrad was published in Romanian translation in the 1960s: Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo. He's one of my favorite writers, a truly unique style and a sumptuous use of English, despite him being Polish.

I watched the Alastair Reid film of Nostromo last night -- very good. Tragic figures -- Nostromo and Martin Decoud. @vers la flamme -- this is one for you!

I'm turning into a Leavisite, reading James and Conrad!

[Florestan]

I didn't even know this existed, many thanks!

[Florestan]

TD:

[Mandryka]

Which only proves that Twain was much more palatable to the Soviet censorship than Conrad. 

Why is that? I mean Nostromo is so abused by the colonial capitalists that they even deprive him of a name - he's not a person for them, he's just a tool. I see it as a cautionary tale - workers of the world, unite - or they'll milk you till you end up a wreck like Giovanni Battista.

[Florestan]

Why is that?

Because as a lesser Polish aristocrat he was a Russophobe and an anti-socialist. 

As to discussing Russia it's the most chimeric of enterprises since it is there for anyone to look at. La Russie, c'est le néant ... Anybody can see it

I must be excused from joining in the ecstasies about the Russian Revolution... Russia was an untrustworthy ally before – and it remains so still. The immediate result is to eliminate it as an active factor from the war. It counted for little – and now it counts for nothing.

The great thing is to keep the Russian infection, its decomposing power, from the social organism of the rest of the world.

where's the man to stop the rush of social-democratic ideas?... Socialism must inevitably end in Caesarism... the whole herd of idiotic humanity are moving in that direction at the bidding of unscrupulous rascals and a few sincere, but dangerous lunatics. These things must be. It is fatality.

https://culture.pl/en/article/joseph-conrads-forgotten-relationship-with-political-activism

[Mandryka]

Ah yes - I remember The Secret Agent now. That was the first book by him I ever read - though I'd seem Apaocalypse Now of course.

[Florestan]

Ah yes - I remember The Secret Agent now.

Under Western Eyes as well.

I must say, I'm quite sympathetic to his views. 

[AnotherSpin]

@AnotherSpin  @DavidW @steve ridgway

It's all a thing of the past, anyway. What with the internet, the e-books and the AI, reading books and thinking them over will become as obsolete as listening to vinyls: the province of a minority of fanatics. 

I like e-books. As the meaning of home is blurred for me right now, I can't carry a lot of paper books with me any time, however I can feed as many as I may want to my computer. Not to mention subscription services like Scribd/Everand. I think I read a single paper book this year only.

[DavidW]

@AnotherSpin  @DavidW @steve ridgway

It's all a thing of the past, anyway. What with the internet, the e-books and the AI, reading books and thinking them over will become as obsolete as listening to vinyls: the province of a minority of fanatics. 

Well people said that about tv, but people still read books!

[DavidW]

I like e-books. As the meaning of home is blurred for me right now, I can't carry a lot of paper books with me any time, however I can feed as many as I may want to my computer. Not to mention subscription services like Scribd/Everand. I think I read a single paper book this year only.

Everytime I rebel against ebooks my presbyopia ends up pulling me back to the large fonts on my Kindle.  And no matter what when I travel I'm packing a Kindle and not several books.

[vers la flamme]

I watched the Alastair Reid film of Nostromo last night -- very good. Tragic figures -- Nostromo and Martin Decoud. @vers la flamme -- this is one for you!

I'm turning into a Leavisite, reading James and Conrad!

Conrad—like James, another writer I've been meaning to get around to for ages. I have Heart of Darkness, which I've tried before but never finished. Maybe that short book will prove as effective an introduction as Turn of the Screw had for James. Anyway I shall check this out, thanks.

I finished Turn of the Screw. I was blown away by the author's use of ambiguity. Truly unlike anything else I've ever read. Can't wait to read more James... I have Portrait on the way to me, though I understand it's a completely different kind of book.

[Ganondorf]

I read Portrait some months ago. A magnificent book though a trifle unbalanced. I enjoyed the latter half more.

Speaking of James, I started to read The Wings of The Dove recently while visiting a library. Blown away by the very first chapter already.

[Spotted Horses]

Conrad—like James, another writer I've been meaning to get around to for ages. I have Heart of Darkness, which I've tried before but never finished. Maybe that short book will prove as effective an introduction as Turn of the Screw had for James. Anyway I shall check this out, thanks.

I finished Turn of the Screw. I was blown away by the author's use of ambiguity. Truly unlike anything else I've ever read. Can't wait to read more James... I have Portrait on the way to me, though I understand it's a completely different kind of book.

I'm an admirer or Conrad but Heart of Darkness never really resonated by me. Lord Jim, Typhoon, Victory are titles that stand out in my memory from my period of reading a lot of Conrad.

[Florestan]

I like e-books. As the meaning of home is blurred for me right now, I can't carry a lot of paper books with me any time, however I can feed as many as I may want to my computer. Not to mention subscription services like Scribd/Everand. I think I read a single paper book this year only.

Everytime I rebel against ebooks my presbyopia ends up pulling me back to the large fonts on my Kindle.  And no matter what when I travel I'm packing a Kindle and not several books.

Mea culpa, guys! I meant audio books, not e-books.