Christmas holiday reading

[Cailin]

With a new baby in the house it's so hard to find time to read but I still have my traditional list for Santa of the books that I would like... What's on yours?

This year I'm asking Santa for:

Love of the World: Essays by the late John McGahern
Twitterature: The Worlds Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mohsin Hamid
Anything by Herta Muller - have heard great things and want to venture into her writing
Love and Summer William Trevor (read a beautiful extract from this in a Saturday paper and it has haunted me ever since.


Happy Christmas everybody!

[Dinkleberry2010]

There are four books on my Christmas wish list:
Look Homeward Angel
A Farewell To Arms
Absalom, Absalom!
The Magic Mountain

[mortalterror]

1.Bajazet- Jean Racine
2.Dream of the Red Chamber- Cao Xueqin
3.Fasti- Ovid
4.Jerusalem Delivered- Torquato Tasso
5.Journey to the West- Wu Cheng'en
6.The Shahnamah- Firdawsi
7.The Plum in the Golden Vase- Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng
8.Tragedies- Seneca
9.Thebaid- Statius
10.Institutes of Oratory- Quintilian

[*Classic*Charm*]

My Christmas book list is three typed pages long :blush:

[Lumiere]

The library has agreed to let me check out any books I want for Christmas. I suppose you might say I've got connections...:santasmil

[dfloyd]

but I just bought myself a couple of books to add to my collection: the first is The Education of Henry Adams who was a descendant of two presidents and wrote a highly readable autobiography which is on Clfton Fadiman's book list for lifetime reading. It was published by the Limited Editions Club in 1943. The second is Melville's Typee bound in native Tapa with beautiful color illustrations made before process colors were used for book printing. It was published by The Limited Editions club in 1935. My Christmas shopping is now complete.

[Homers_child]

Harry Potter et la Chambre des Secrets by J.K. Rowling.
Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d'Azkaban by J.K. Rowling.
The Aeneid by Vergil.
Dracula by Bram Stoker.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
The Strange Case Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser.
The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls by Emilie Autumn.

I haven't done my usual, 'roam around the bookstore and take down titles' thing, so my choices are just obvious ones that I haven't read yet.

[Bastable]

Ulysses by James Joyce. But i don't think i'll get it, i'm pretty sure my family thought i was joking when i asked for it...

[Night_Lamp]

As Christmas approaches, I am continuing my now five year tradition of always reading a Dickens novel over the break. There's something of a connection between fat, dense 19th C. literature and Christmas to me. Does anyone else have favorite reading for the holidays, not necessarily about Christmas? Maybe you read Thomas' A Child's Christmas In Wales? I also find the long dark nights at this time of year perfect fro ghost stories as well.

Tell me about your own holiday reading traditions.

[Dark Muse]

I have only recently started a holiday reading tradidtion. In the past I never really changed my reading habbits for the holiday's or intentionally read with a particular theme in mind but last year I read The Doll's House by Isben during the Holidays, and this year I read A Christmas Carol and other Christmas Writings by Dicken's, and I just started reading A Turn of the Screw.

Haha I am thinking about starting some sort of ghost story Christmas tradidtion. I rather like that idea that in the Victorian times people sat around telling ghost stories for Christmas.

[dfloyd]

how about Sweeney Todd,

[TheFifthElement]

I really enjoy reading The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder this time of year. It's based on the premise of the advent calendar, so there's a chapter a day in the run up to Christmas which I've always found really nice.

This year I read The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago. It's a really interesting read and it made me want to go and read the Bible, which I'll probably do when I'm off work next week. It's a long time since I read it.

[The Comedian]

The Christmas Cat by Efner Tudor Holmes (Author) and Tasha Tudor (Illustrator). My parents read it to me when I was young. And now I share that tradition with my own family.

[Dark Muse]

how about Sweeney Todd,

I completely agree!

[Pecksie]

Orhan Pamuk's latest novel (about an Istambul family) (I asked my mom for it); Boswell's 'Life of Johnson' (I asked my brother); Marosa di Giorgio's 'Wild papers' (I bought it myself). Let's hope Santa brings some other gem, amidst all the silly toiletries and unwearable clothes it usually pushes down the chimney, courtesy of less affectionate relatives ;)

[Pecksie]

I don't have a special Christmas tradition, but I did make an end-of-year resolution to read Dickens and other thick 19th century stuff over the next year! I remember reading Burney's 'Cecilia' (800-something pages) and how I had trouble getting into it, but when I did, I couldn't stop! This is part of a more complex intention, which involves achieving a longer attention span and reading more carefully :)

[calebjross]

I've never thought about re-reading a book at the same time each year to create an association with the text. Great idea, really. I do a lot of reading when it rains out, so I have a general association of books and rainy weather. The seasonal thing, though, could be nice. Maybe I'll do that this weekend. But what book to kick off the tradition?

[Red-Headed]

A MacBook. ;)

[Desolation]

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev.

I'm getting an iPod Touch this year, so I couldn't really ask for (m)any books...

[stlukesguild]

As my library grows ever larger... inching toward some 3000 books... it becomes harder and harder to find new books that I just must have... or rather it becomes more difficult to justify buying this new book when I have so many still waiting to be read. Nevetheless... here are a few that I am currently lusting over:

Selected Writings by Rubén Darío (As a great fan of Spanish and Latin-American poetry, Dario is a central figure whose works I surely wish to become more acquainted with).

Travelling in the Family: Selected Poems by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, tr. Mark Strand (Another Latin-American poet missing from my collection... and in a translation by the talented poet Mark Strand, no less)

Andromache; Britannicus; Berenice by Jean Racine

Iphigenia; Phaedra; Athaliah by Jean Racine (The great French playwright has long left me feeling cold... and so I look forward to reading him in these translations recommended by Mortal Terror... and his is all the blame if I find he still sucks.:D)

Without Title- Geoffrey Hill (Hill has long been one of my favorites among living poets)

Altazor by Vicente Huidobro (The Amazon.com review... written by the poet Octavio Paz reads: "Huidobro's great poem is the most radical experiment in the modern era. It is an epic that tells the adventures, not of a hero, but of a poet in the changing skies of language. Throughout the seven cantos we see Altazor subject language to violent or erotic acts: mutilations and divisions, copulations and juxtapositions. The English translation of this poem that bristles with complexities is another epic feat, and its hero is Eliot Weinberger." What more could I want?)

The Book of Fables by W.S. Merwin (Combining elements of Borges, Calvino, and Kafka with his own poetic sensibilities, I have been fascinated with Merwin's fictions/fables since first coming upon them.)

Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan- (Japan is probably the Asian culture that has most fascinated me with its art, architecture, calligraphy, and poetry. This collection has been in my radar for some time)

Leopardi: Selected Poems (By general consensus, Leopardi is the greatest Italian poet after Dante... but I have long needed to take his reputation on faith with the exception of a few poems. This translation by the Irish poet Eamon Grennan has been praised for managing "to clear away the cobwebs, judiciously employing a loose blank verse reminiscent of Wordsworth and Coleridge." I look forward to being convinced of Leopardi's merit.)

The Sound of Water: Haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets (Another volume of Japanese poetry I have long been looking at... and such a gorgeous cover of Japanese calligraphy!)

The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien (I have translations of most of the most central of the Chinese poets. This is another that I have been looking at for some time)

The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Onono Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan (Still one more volume of Japanese poetry in translation)

Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation by Stephen Mitchell (I've long admired Mitchell's translations... especially of Rilke...)

Selected Sonnets: A Bilingual Edition by Luís de Camões (No... I haven't given up on Western literature. In this instance I'm simply blown away that a respected translation of Camoes' poetry.. beyond his Lusiads... actually exists... and at a more than reasonable price!)

Lyrics of the French Renaissance: Marot, Du Bellay, Ronsard (Still more examples of poets I have long needed to take on faith... although I have struggled my way through a few in the original French... especially of Ronsard.)

An Oresteia: Agamemnon by Aiskhylos; Elektra by Sophokles; Orestes by Euripides (Selected and translated by the brilliant Anne Carson this has been termed a "strange masterpiece". Enough to pique my curiosity when combined with my admiration for Carson's other work)

[Veva]

The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mohsin Hamid


I heard him talking about this book of his on BBC radio Book Club and it touched me, so probably I will get a copy myself. :thumbs_up
But I have 2 books on my list this year..
Welsh - If you liked school, you will love work
Rice - Vampire Lestat :rolleyes:

[mal4mac]

As Christmas approaches, I am continuing my now five year tradition of always reading a Dickens novel over the break. There's something of a connection between fat, dense 19th C. literature and Christmas to me.

Dickens is the easiest to read of the truly great writers. There is no greater present you can ask for. So Christmas has to mean Dickens!

Or similar.

I'm reading Tom Jones at the moment - which (so far) is up there with Dickens. Middlemarch is also a good fat one.

[mortalterror]

Selected Writings by Rubén Darío Good choice, I've been meaning to look deeper into this poet myself. His To Roosevelt was pretty good.

Andromache; Britannicus; Berenice by Jean Racine

Iphigenia; Phaedra; Athaliah by Jean Racine (The great French playwright has long left me feeling cold... and so I look forward to reading him in these translations recommended by Mortal Terror... and his is all the blame if I find he still sucks.:D)You won't be disappointed. The opening of Iphigenia is what pulled me into the world of Racine and one of my sharpest literary memories to date. Athaliah is also probably the greatest tragedy in the French language. It's such a perfect piece of writing. I also have a soft spot for the characters in Andromache. I think it's his most passionate play.

Leopardi: Selected Poems (By general consensus, Leopardi is the greatest Italian poet after Dante... but I have long needed to take his reputation on faith with the exception of a few poems. This translation by the Irish poet Eamon Grennan has been praised for managing "to clear away the cobwebs, judiciously employing a loose blank verse reminiscent of Wordsworth and Coleridge." I look forward to being convinced of Leopardi's merit.) That slim volume sits astride my top shelf next to my Racine. So full of longing and sadness and thought. Imagine, a romantic with self-discipline!

Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation by Stephen Mitchell I read the Edwin Arnold translation two weeks ago. Blew...Me...Away.

An Oresteia: Agamemnon by Aiskhylos; Elektra by Sophokles; Orestes by Euripides (Selected and translated by the brilliant Anne Carson this has been termed a "strange masterpiece". Enough to pique my curiosity when combined with my admiration for Carson's other work)What an interesting pairing. Of course, those are all the bloodiest versions, and every character will come off as a psychopath by the end; but it has a strange logic to it. Instead of ending on a note of peace and justice preserved, things will run out of control and slam to a halt after escalating violence.

If you're going to mix things up with different authors telling various parts of the story I'd start with Thyestes by Seneca followed by Iphigenia by Racine and concluding with Iphigenia in Tauris by Goethe. Six great tragedies, six great authors, one great tale.

[Red-Headed]

I read the Christmas Books of Dickens actually at successive Christmases. I am determined to finish James' The Turn of the Screw this Xmas. I know it is only short but I never seem to get past chapter nine for some reason.

[Lokasenna]

I already know what I'm getting, mostly because I had to go and get them myself, and then give them to my parents to give back to me...

The Shadow-Walkers: Jacob Grimm's Mythology of the Monstrous by Tom Shippey and Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend by John McKinnell are my two for this year, though I'm also secretly holding out for a nice, hardcover edition of The Lord of the Rings.

[Pecksie]

Selected Writings by Rubén Darío (As a great fan of Spanish and Latin-American poetry, Dario is a central figure whose works I surely wish to become more acquainted with).

Try Delmira Agustini, too. Her erotic poetry is even more avant-garde if you consider the restrictions society placed on her as an upper-class woman.



The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Onono Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan (Still one more volume of Japanese poetry in translation)

Exquisite. And I think one of the translators is Jane Hirshfield, a talented poet in her own right.

Lyrics of the French Renaissance: Marot, Du Bellay, Ronsard (Still more examples of poets I have long needed to take on faith... although I have struggled my way through a few in the original French... especially of Ronsard.)

All good, and Louise Labé too!

Good luck with your reading list!

[calebjross]

I heard him talking about this book of his on BBC radio Book Club and it touched me, so probably I will get a copy myself. :thumbs_upWould you happen to know if there is a link to this interview online? I tried searching, but couldn't come up with anything. I read this book last year, and I felt that it lacked quite a bit (here's my few words (http://www.amazon.com/review/RQQRMF8DIXIC3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm) at Amazon.com). But, perhaps if I heard the author himself speak, I could develop a connection. I hate to rely on the author to get my empathy flowing, but I just wanted to like this book so much.

As for my list:
Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
Memoir: A History by Ben Yagoda
Naked Lunch by William Burroughs (I've gone my whole life without reading this; I think it is about time)
Seeing by Jose Saramago
Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago
Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein
Ledfeather by Stephen Graham Jones
and a few others

[Veva]

Lokasenna!

This exactly same thing happens to me each Christmas, because my mum usually says to me - "I would love to give you some books, who is your favourite writer?" And since I really, really, really dont think that telling her about Chuck Palahniuk is a good idea, I always suggest to go and get them myself. :lol:


Would you happen to know if there is a link to this interview online? I tried searching, but couldn't come up with anything. I read this book last year, and I felt that it lacked quite a bit (here's my few words (http://www.amazon.com/review/RQQRMF8DIXIC3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm) at Amazon.com). But, perhaps if I heard the author himself speak, I could develop a connection. I hate to rely on the author to get my empathy flowing, but I just wanted to like this book so much.

As for my list:
Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
Memoir: A History by Ben Yagoda
Naked Lunch by William Burroughs (I've gone my whole life without reading this; I think it is about time)
Seeing by Jose Saramago
Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago
Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein
Ledfeather by Stephen Graham Jones
and a few others

of course...you can list it here among the podcasts, but hurry on, they tend to replace them quite fast and often :)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wbc

[calebjross]

And since I really, really, really dont think that telling her about Chuck Palahniuk is a good idea, I always suggest to go and get them myself. :lol:You never know, telling her about Palahniuk may be a great thing. If you and your mother every disagree on books, but still talk about them at least, giving her a palahniuk book may be a good way to connect. For a mom, maybe Diary. Save Snuff and Choke for later :)

[Travis_R]

Anyone get any good reads for Christmas this year?
I got quite a few:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Faust by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence

and a $50 Chapters gift certificate. I'm set for a few months anyways ;)

[Virgil]

I guess all I have to do is go to my Amazon wish list and copy it over. :D

Rituals - Cees Nooteboom
Lost Paradise: A Novel - Cees Nooteboom
The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke - Rainer Maria Rilke
Omensetter's Luck - William H. Gass
A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helprin
D. H. Lawrence's Paintings by D. H. Lawrence, Keith M. Sagar

But really I'm an impulse buyer when it comes to books. At least once a week I spend my lunch hour wondering the local bookstore, picking up a book and reading in once of those comfy chairs they have out. :D

[kiki1982]

Rituals was very good. I read it in uni, but couldn't enjoy it due to lack of time. I'll have to read it again some time.