So what did we read in September, then?

[Kafka's Crow]

A pinch and a punch...!

I am getting back into the routine of reading now and thank God for it. I feel it a huge waste of a very limited supply of all-important life time when I don't read. I find myself relying more and more on audio books (or audiobooks) now as life gets busier with the kids growing up and school runs gone up from one to three twice a day every day. I spend the time in my car listening to audiobooks. My iPhone is full of them. Finished Ulysses, an absolutely amazing performance by actors at the RTE, the Irish national radio service. The performance (unabridged) lasts 26 hours which shows that Joyce's narrative is almost in "real-time":

http://www.rte.ie/readingulysses/episodeguide.html

I have read Ulysses so many times that now I have lost the count. This reading brought excellent understanding to me I never had before. CDs don't have the annoying commentry that the above link has.

I also re-read (listened to) Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground. I revisited this work after exact 20 years. I am 40 years old now, same age as the narrator. I remember I was in ecstasy after reading it the first time. My response this time round was a bit mellowed. It is a bit slow to start with and would not be a perfect novel in the eyes of purists because the protagonist has an agenda which the writer does not seem to be very found of. A lot of rigamarole going on there. Still I enjoyed it. I would say 8/10 and I can not give Dostoevsky any less than that because that would be blasphemy.

Heard Stephen Fry's excellent reading of Chekov's short stories:

http://www.audible.co.uk/aduk/site/product.jsp?p=BK_HCUK_000388UK&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes
Is Fry the best reader around? Really brought these stories to life.

I worked with a blind friend of mine many years ago when he was doing his MPhil in Eng Lit. He introduced me to audiobooks by bringing me this box-set of readings from Joyce when he returned from Lyola University, New Orleans:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/James-Joyce-Audio-Collection/dp/0007154305

Ever since that day I have been collecting audiobooks and have quite a few titles. I love Cyril Cusack's voice. He is the best Stephen Daedelus, Hamlet and Lear's fool (BBC Audio Shakespeare)

[Dark Muse]

A Confedracy of Dunces by Toole
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

[manolia]

The Castle by F Kafka
The subtle knife by Phillip Pullman
And half of Our mutual friend by C Dickens

[grotto]

It was a good reading month for me!

The Train was on Time - HeinrichBoll
The Post Office Girl - Stefan Zweig
Boredom – Alberto Moravia
The Sybyl - Par Lagerkvist
Will and Spirit – Rollo May
Stoner - John Williams
The True Believer; Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements – Eric Hoffer
The year of the Death of Ricardo Reis - Jose Saramago
The Serious Game - Hjalmar Soderberg

[Mariamosis]

'The Idiot' - Fyodor Dostoevsky 5/5
'The Masterpiece' - Emile Zola 5/5
'The Iron Heel' - Jack London 4/5
'The Financier' - Theodore Drieser 4/5
'The Garden of Eden' - Ernest Hemingway 4/5

[Page Turner]

Bleak House~Charles Dickens
The Trial~Franz Kafka
Inherent Vice~Thomas Pynchon
Death in Venice~Thomas Mann

[dfloyd]

Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad
Exit Ghost - Philip Roth
Sinbad the Sailor - Uknown Arabic tale
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
The French Revolution - Thomas Carlyle

[Desolation]

I started about 6 books, but I only managed to finish one:
Candide by Voltaire, which I would rate as one of the greatest things that I've ever read.

[dfloyd]

Doctor Pangloss said 'this is the best of all possible worlds'.

[Desolation]

I thought it was kind of odd how Doctor Pangloss came back from the dead twice. They just couldn't kill that guy, or any of the main characters, for that matter. Even the ones that actually died in the narrative.

[Drkshadow03]

I also re-read (listened to) Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground. I revisited this work after exact 20 years. I am 40 years old now, same age as the narrator. I remember I was in ecstasy after reading it the first time. My response this time round was a bit mellowed. It is a bit slow to start with and would not be a perfect novel in the eyes of purists because the protagonist has an agenda which the writer does not seem to be very found of. A lot of rigamarole going on there. Still I enjoyed it. I would say 8/10 and I can not give Dostoevsky any less than that because that would be blasphemy.


You know, I tried and tried and tried last month to read Notes and I just couldn't do it. I found it so painfully boring. Maybe if I try again this month? 12th times a charm?



The True Believer; Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements – Eric Hoffer


Review?

All links go to my reflections of each book:

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (link (http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/booklist-2009-45-the-canterbury-tales-by-geoffrey-chaucer/))

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (link (http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/booklist-2009-46-the-tale-of-despereaux-by-kate-dicamillo/))

Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac (link (http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/booklist-2009-47-eugenie-grandet-by-honore-de-balzac-trans-lowell-bair/))

Man, only three books.

[bohn]

How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler
The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1788 by David Hill
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

[WICKES]

I spend the time in my car listening to audiobooks. My iPhone is full of them. Finished Ulysses, an absolutely amazing performance by actors at the RTE, the Irish national radio service. The performance (unabridged) lasts 26 hours which shows that Joyce's narrative is almost in "real-time":

http://www.rte.ie/readingulysses/episodeguide.html

I have read Ulysses so many times that now I have lost the count. This reading brought excellent understanding to me I never had before. CDs don't have the annoying commentry that the above link has.



Would you say Ulysses is actually improved by hearing a series of skilled actors read it?

If you like audiobooks get John Gielgud performing Hamlet and Michael Maloney (an RSC actor) reading Evelyn Waugh. It's bliss.

The best readers in my experience are RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) trained actors with upper class English accents. Paul Scofield for example- oh and Ian McKellen

[Bloomsday]

Dissolution - CJ Samsun
Mythago Wood - Robert Holstock
Lasher - Anne Rice
Taltos - Anne Rice
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Shaman's Crossing - Robin Hobb
Interview with The Vampire - Anne Rice

not exactly what most people read on this board, was in a fantasy mood I suppose

[intoxicatedsoul]

sleeping beauty
brown bear ( i didn't just read the book, i sang the words too!)
grunter, a pig with an attitude
oh, the places you'll go
lemons are not red
guess, how much i love you?


i wasn't the only one who enjoyed reading these, my 3 year old students had fun listening too!

[Thespian1975]

Dark Fire - C J Samson :thumbs_up
No second chance - Harlon Coben :brickwall
The Mugger - Ed McBain :thumbs_up

Halfway through Dracula

[My name is red]

couldn't read that much.

My ratings are with smilies this time

The Lost Honor of Katrina Blum by Heindrich Böll:)
Pnin by Nabokov:confused:
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami:sick:
Tonio Kröger by Thomas Mann:nod:
Senin Köylerin by Cesare Pavese:thumbs_up
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad:nod:
Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (still reading):thumbs_up

[lupe]

Les Bienveillantes by Jonathan Littell ("The Kindly ones", started in August)
Poems by Octavio Paz
Xala by Sembene Ousmane
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (finishing soon)

[NickAdams]

As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (I'm definitely re-reading this one; it's an amazing novel and an accomplishment of character. I do not know who opened the book of the first-person narrative, but Faulkner realizes it and Beckett closes the book.)
ABC of Reading - Ezra Pound (A quick read with enough jewels to recommend.)
When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood - Saïd Sayrafiezadeh (A friend of the author suggested that I read it. The first few chapters end abruptly, leaving the most interesting situations without conclusion. It's about being raised as a Socialist, which can be a turn off to opposing parties, but Saïd points out hypocriscies to accompany his praise.)
Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson (I thought of AuntyShecky throughout the book, because Anderson favors telling and a lot of the stories aren't memorable due to it.)
Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts - Donald Barthelme :confused:
Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace (A refreshing perspective)
Inferno - Dante Alighieri(Re-read)
Poems by Keats and Longfellow. (Keats is wine and Longfellow is water.)
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky (started) (Marmeladov's monologue in chapter 2 of part one is masterfully written, at least in translation it is.)


couldn't read that much.

My ratings are with smilies this time

The Lost Honor of Katrina Blum by Heindrich Böll:)
Pnin by Nabokov:confused:
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami:sick:
Tonio Kröger by Thomas Mann:nod:
Senin Köylerin by Cesare Pavese:thumbs_up
The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad:nod:
Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (still reading):thumbs_up

:thumbs_upI like this rating system.:nod:

[Barbarous]

I read
Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare (reread)
Bleak House by Dickens
The Years by Woolf
Possession by A.S. Byatt
White Noise by Don Delillo
I also am almost done with both Blindness by Saramago and Underworld by Delillo.

[My name is red]

:thumbs_upI like this rating system.:nod:

Thank you,tells more than stars isn't it:blush:?

[mal4mac]

Twelfth Night by Shakespeare :santasmil :angel:
Confederacy of Dunces :banana:
Demons by Dostoevsky :rage: :alien: :bawling: :smash: :cool: :eek:
Ulysses and us by Declan Kiblan :idea: :)
The Case for God by Karen Armstrong :idea: :argue:

:thumbs_up for all of these.

[CARRIERI ANNA]

The Importance of Being Earnest by Wilde
Heart of Darkness by Conrad;
The Nigger of Narcissus by Conrad;
Howards End by E.M. Foster

[V.Jayalakshmi]

Dear Members,

I read in the month of September ,Mitch Albom's three books called,"Tuesdays With Morrie","The Five People You Meet In Heaven",and "For One More Day".I am continuing this month with J.Krishnamoorthy's "NoteBook".

[Three Sparrows]

Not to include reread stuff,(that would be way to much Shakespeare and Ovid;)) I've read The Four Feathers, by Mason, and Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott. Both I just love. I am still reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom, its great, but its taking me awhile to get through it.
:):nod:

[Modest Proposal]

8/10 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
6/10 Declare Tim Powers
8/10 Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe
8/10 Ulysses James Joyce
5/10 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
7/10 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
6/10 The Bridge in the Jungle B. Traven
7/10 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick
8/10 Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
3/10 The Tales of Beadle the Bard J. K. Rowling
8/10 Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man James Weldon Johnson
9/10 The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon

I feel a little unjust reducing an authors work of months and years (maybe decades for Joyce) and my time in reading into a mere number, but would rather spare the thread a tedious opinion on each book.