Vacation Reading

[papayahed]

I am going on vacation in a few weeks and want to take two paperbacks. I think I want something fun and easy and the other a little more on the heavy side. Any recommendations?

I know if I bring my kindle I will have way more then two books at my fingertips but the whole point of the trip is to go low tech.

[Calidore]

What kind of stuff do you normally like re. light and heavy?

[papayahed]

I'm a sci-fi, chick lit kinda gal when it comes to my escapism for the heavy stuff I'm a fan of some Russians (Dostoevsky - ok one Russian). Nothing political or too sad or animals. I really dislike DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf.

[Basil]

Nothing political or too sad or animals.

So I guess Old Yeller Goes to Washington would be out of the question.

[Calidore]

Can't really do chick lit, though I have read and enjoyed The Joy Luck Club (movie was good too) and the first three novels in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Those last are certainly meaty enough to last a vacation. For something sci-fi related but different, you could try Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun, which is a very funny murder mystery set at a sci-fi convention. I think it won an Edgar award that year. For actual sci-fi written by women, you can't go wrong with Ursula Le Guin. I've heard lots of good about C.J. Cherryh also.


Nothing political or too sad or animals.

So Animal Farm is right out then?

[Lokasenna]

I second the suggestion of Ursula le Guin as a female writer of truly excellent sci-fi: The Lathe of Heaven, The Dispossesed and in particular The Left Hand of Darkness are all superb.

I share your dislike of Lawrence and Woolf. Hmm. What about Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita? Whilst it does have political overtones insofar as it is a withering satire on life under Stalinism, it is nevertheless an extremely engaging, entertaining and intellectualy accessible novel.

[Helga]

Well 'A Hero of Our Time' is both Russian and of a lighter sort and I really enjoyed it, by Lermontov. I once got in a bookclub a book that isn't a best seller (or anything that will be remembered in years to come) but I enjoyed it and it made me want to read Austen again called 'The Jane Austen Bookclub' simply about people reading Austen.

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

For your sci fi fix how about Karel Capek's R.U.R. - (Rossum's Universal Robots) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.

[papayahed]

So I guess Old Yeller Goes to Washington would be out of the question.

Wasn't that Hitchcock's last movie?

[papayahed]

I second the suggestion of Ursula le Guin as a female writer of truly excellent sci-fi: The Lathe of Heaven, The Dispossesed and in particular The Left Hand of Darkness are all superb.

I share your dislike of Lawrence and Woolf. Hmm. What about Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita? Whilst it does have political overtones insofar as it is a withering satire on life under Stalinism, it is nevertheless an extremely engaging, entertaining and intellectualy accessible novel.

I read The Master and Margarita and liked it very much.

I have an irrational dislike of Ursula le Guin. So many people have recommended her I may just have to give in and try at least one book,


Can't really do chick lit, though I have read and enjoyed The Joy Luck Club (movie was good too) and the first three novels in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Those last are certainly meaty enough to last a vacation. For something sci-fi related but different, you could try Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun, which is a very funny murder mystery set at a sci-fi convention. I think it won an Edgar award that year. For actual sci-fi written by women, you can't go wrong with Ursula Le Guin. I've heard lots of good about C.J. Cherryh also.



So Animal Farm is right out then?

You had me at the name "Bimbos of the Death Sun"


Well 'A Hero of Our Time' is both Russian and of a lighter sort and I really enjoyed it, by Lermontov. I once got in a bookclub a book that isn't a best seller (or anything that will be remembered in years to come) but I enjoyed it and it made me want to read Austen again called 'The Jane Austen Bookclub' simply about people reading Austen.

Thanks, I'm going to add both to my list to look for at the bookstore.


For your sci fi fix how about Karel Capek's R.U.R. - (Rossum's Universal Robots) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R.

$22.46 for a paperback???

[qimissung]

As far as Sci Fi is concerned, do you like dystopian novels? "Divergent" was pretty good, I thought.

[Lokasenna]

I read The Master and Margarita and liked it very much.

I have an irrational dislike of Ursula le Guin. So many people have recommended her I may just have to give in and try at least one book,

I really like le Guin - not only as a writer, but as a person. She strikes me as an extremely intelligent and eloquent woman, with a mind like a corkscrew. There is an aphoristic quality to a lot of what she says - so much of her writing just screams for quotation.

[mal4mac]

I recently read "Left Hand of Darkness" and found it rather heavy going. For sci-fi-chick-lit, why not try Anne McCaffrey? I found her first dragon book a lot more fun than Le Guin, and went on to read several others. I would recommend her for your "lighter" option.

For the heavier option, though not that heavy, what about Dickens? I'm re-reading "David Copperfield", at the moment. Do novels get any better? Dostoevsky was a great fan of Dickens, and this was one of his favourites. He identified with Mr Micawber during his periods of poverty.

[Calidore]

I recently read "Left Hand of Darkness" and found it rather heavy going. For sci-fi-chick-lit, why not try Anne McCaffrey? I found her first dragon book a lot more fun than Le Guin, and went on to read several others. I would recommend her for your "lighter" option.


I've never read Left Hand, but I've heard that about it, i.e. more allegorical and Important than entertaining. Her Earthsea trilogy is wondrous, though. Or maybe start with a short story collection like The Wind's Twelve Quarters (which includes a couple of terrific stories set in the Earthsea universe).

The recently departed Iain M. Banks made a habit of writing some of the best and most original space opera out there--try Consider Phlebas or The Player of Games for starters.

[Lokasenna]

For the record, I found tLHoD utterly gripping, as well as important. Heck, I was even motivated to write a review of it:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?70629-The-Left-Hand-of-Darkness&highlight=

[almonde]

Have you tried Sophie Kinsella? My favourite from her books will have to be "Can you keep a secret?" Very light and funny read.

[papayahed]

Dude, you guys. The only one I could find at my book store was one Le Guin book but it wasn't any of the ones mentioned her and it seemed dry. I ended up with The Sun Also Rises and Year Zero. You can't go wrong with Hemingway and Year Zero may be just so so as I haven't finished it yet.

[Helga]

The Sun also rises is one of my favorite books by Hemingway. I read the first volume of his collected letters a while back and now I am waiting for January to order the next one (I told myself I shouldn't order more books this year).


Now I am looking forward to holiday reading, my last exam is December 11 and then I have nothing to do but read, watch tv and eat until mid January! My holiday reading list is getting very long though and I don't know if I'll get through it all.